Note: Permission was obtained from the authors "metalgearhunter (aka antimatterhunter") and "S.C.O.R.P.I.O.N." to have their hacks showcased this year. As such, I, StrikeForcer, a beta-tester for the D4C, will be acting as the representative for the D4C for this year's event since the authors do not plan on attending.



The Devious Four Chronicles (D4C or D4 for short) is a series of SMW hacks started in 2008 that aims to provide a memorable experience with the unity of story and gameplay. It is centered around four ancient aliens that aim for the death of the universe. Their actions are not mindless, as each entry will show. Every entry in the Chronicles is connected to another in some way and every plot action has meaning.

The Hack Timeline:

Ep #1 - Debut
Ep #2 - Ragnashock
Ep #3 - The Crater
Ep #4 - Hunter's Revenge
Ep #5 - Hunter's Revenge 2
Ep #6 - The Fourth Sector
Ep #7 - Goddess Robes
Ep #7.5 - The Experiment
Ep #8 - Kingdom Offensive
Ep #9 - Revelation
Ep #10 - Retnuh's Fire
Ep #11 - The Black Hole
Ep #12 - Ascension
Ep #13 - The Four Orbs
Ep #14 - The Heal

Status of the hacks: Episodes 1, 2, 8, 9, 10, 12, 13, 14 have not been made. Episodes 3, 5, 6, and 7 are going to be shown in this booth with the download link below because they are in a showcaseable state. Episodes 4, 7.5, 9, and 11 are currently in progress but episodes 4 and 7.5 are currently being actively developed at the time of this writing.

Graphic Style: The Devious Four Chronicles also employs the combination of ripped graphics from various SNES and PC games along with the self-made graphics by the authors to further enhance the general aesthetic the Devious Four Chronicles employs. I ask that you do not rip the graphics directly from their hacks unless you contact them on SMWCentral or if they decide to release them on SMWCentral's graphics section.





Story (courtesy of S.C.O.R.P.I.O.N.): Racter has been defeated, but he's not about to give up. Before he falls, he sends a message embedded in light towards the sky. In a desperate attempt for victory against Mario to rule the Mushroom Kingdom, he calls down two of the mightiest threats Mario will ever face!

Description (courtesy of S.C.O.R.P.I.O.N.): Sort of like Star Wars, this is actually the first of the Chronicles storyline, but not the Official First Episode. antimatterhunter and myself have worked on this hack for a long time, and it is most definitely finished. Unfortunately, it is ZSNES only as it can not be transferred to a new rom due to all the source files being lost with my hard-drive crash.

If you can excuse some indulgence, I would actually like to say the villains in this hack are some of the darkest in a Super Mario World hack, granted they carry a Nintendo vibe to them. If you're looking for a Super Mario World hack with a decent story and a lot of game time, I suggest you give this one a go. You may be surprised!

Screenshots:



Story (Courtesy of metalgearhunter): With the crash of Hunter's Capital, the 3rd Devious Four is believed to be dead. With Bowser's sudden appearance and an attack from another member of the Devious Four, Mario and his new ally, Sonic, must take a journey full of challenges and hardship to outsmart the mastermind guiding them to their victory, only to find out everything is part a bigger plan.

Description: Hunter Revenge 2 as it stands, only works on ZSNES due to the AddMusicM ports used breaking on bsnes and SNES9X. A future version will be released to ensure support for accurate emulators.

Screenshots:





Story (courtesy of S.C.O.R.P.I.O.N.): Mario and Sonic have earned themselves a well deserved break from the Devious Four and Bowser. Sonic decides it's time they go on a normal adventure for once, but instead they come across a weird spire. This Spire transports them to a whole new world, where limitless discoveries are to be made. Unfortunately, there's a lot more than new creatures and environments to find, as Mario and Sonic discover they play a key role in a divine battle that has been brewing since the beginning of time.

Description (courtesy of S.C.O.R.P.I.O.N.: This hack is made by me. #tb{^V^} And it's actually in the pending section. I would very much appreciate it if you could download it, play it, and review it so it has a stronger possibility of getting accepted!

To anybody that's played previous versions of this hack, I recommend re-downloading the version which is [PENDING], a lot of new features and bug fixes have been made since then. I think you'll thoroughly enjoy what's been produced.

StrikeForcer's addendum:The hack was accepted into the SMW hack database as of 10-04-2014. Still, play and review, as it stands, quite a few members want the hack featured on SMWCentral.

Screenshots:




Story (courtesy of S.C.O.R.P.I.O.N.): Spiritia is a magi from another world who was transported to live in the Mushroom Kingdom thanks to Scorpion. As she's settling in, Bowser kidnaps the princess, and it's up to her save Peach as Mario and Sonic were called off to deal with another problem.


Description (courtesy of S.C.O.R.P.I.O.N.): There is no story in this hack yet, which is why I'm saying that The Experiment should be counted as the official Episode 7. Story will be added when I feel like adding it. Right now, I just want to focus on Level Design. When I do add story, I'd like to say it will have the least story development.

As far as progress goes, it's very good. I'm already on World 6: Ice World, and will soon move on to World 7: Sky World, then World 8: Pipe World, ending with World 9: Bowser's World.

StrikeForcer's addendum: The current demo has only 3 worlds playable.

Screenshots:






Description: Although they can be found in the legacy section of SMWCentral, the hacks needs to be debugged.

Screenshots:




Description: Recently being remade for the second time by S.C.O.R.P.I.O.N. to address the flaws the first remake of Hunter's Revenge has, as well as to add new content. Currently at World 3.

Screenshots (Courtesy of S.C.O.R.P.I.O.N. for the first 7 screenshots):




Description: An upcoming hack by metalgearhunter. The hack borrows heavy influences from the Rosenkreuzstilette series, though gameplay is still largely the same as SMW with a few benefits.

Screenshots:




Description: This hack is not actively being worked on due to the direction of the timeline the creators are taking.

Screenshots (Ignore the Star Counter):




To see more of what metalgearhunter and S.C.O.R.P.I.O.N. are producing for the Devious Four Chronicles, head on over to their official thread on SMWCentral: http://www.smwcentral.net/?p=viewthread&t=61122