I repeatedly encounter some glitches/bugs while playing:

1. "Acceleration": Out of seemingly nowhere Mario accelerates IN his movement direction (but in the OPPOSITE direction of his hammer)

2. "Invisible Blocks": Out of seemingly nowhere Mario accelerates in the OPPOSITE direction of his original movement and in the OPPOSITE direction of his hammer. (I am pretty sure it's the same as number 1. However since I don't understand it I decided to list it extra)

3. "Getting Stuck In Blocks": if you have enough speed and hit a Block in the right place Mario gets Stuck in that Block. (I was unable to get him unstuck but I don't know whether it is possible at all.)

All of this glitches occurred to me without any upgrades/items but using the star / mega mushroom makes it way more likely and I feel like you can get them somewhat consistently using them in certain places. I think in the future we could use them to use faster routes. (I get glitch number 1 the most with the first star before the big gap).

I write this post to ask two questions to the rest of you:

1. (I use the Linux version of the game) Do these bugs also occur on the other versions / to other people?

2. Does anybody understand these glitches better than me and has ideas / actual setup ideas to use them?

If my description is to vague or whatever I've uploaded examples of these glitches with the same names on my YT. (Not an advertisement lol)

I think the acceleration you're talking about is explainable and matches the code. It's just tough to put a finger on how to take advantage of it and I'm no math wiz. My best strat is to try to bring the hammer to/through Mario's center after a launch instead of in a big arc around him. In your demo video it looks like your gentle arc and still hand allowed it to happen. I'd guess if you kept rotating a little you would have landed where you intended.

No idea how you reversed direction midair so perfectly in your other demo, but I think that's also perfectly valid movement that could be learned.

Getting stuck on corners happens because there's no special consideration to translate lateral/rotational force to sliding on walls.

Getting stuck in blocks should be equal across all platforms, but it's been a while since I looked at the code and can't remember if it's influenced by framerate at all.

Speaking of glitching into blocks, I remember it's possible to activate the second star from above if you hit it just right. I got stuck straddling it once and I'm pretty sure I activated with the hammer trying to unstick my Mario. Visual aid:

very interesting actually

I have no clue what actually happened here but it looks like I gained so much speed with the star upgrade that even the camera broke. If we find a consistent setup for it we could basically "warp" to the flagpole using the last star upgrade (In this case sub 1:10 would be possible).

Moreover it also looks like with enough speed Mario is able to teleport through blocks (presumably the collision checks won't apply) so if there is any chance to get something consistent out of it it wouldn't be all too crazy that we could "warp" using the first star to reach the flagpole. (In that case sub 40 seconds would be possible)

coins give you a speed boost, which is amplified by the star powerup

Just having coins or collecting coins while using the star powerup?

thanks for that info BlastMagic, it finally makes sense. My theory is the following: since picking up coins changes your "speed" the math doesn't work out for the hammer anymore allowing you to massively change the vector of your acceleration. I will be looking into it further ^^

I can't explain how your speed got high enough to outpace the camera in the first place, but here's what happens when you do:

• The camera reaches its maximum speed
• The object that follows your mouse isn't allowed to leave the screen
• Mario's hammer is attached to that object by a spring force
• Mario is pulled back towards that object at insane speeds
• He moves so far each frame that collision detection goes out the window
• Gravity eventually pulls Mario below the bottom of the screen to die

Is it possible to hit the flag at those speeds? Idk.

If you want to play with it more, fly mode in my trainer was so sloppily coded that you can easily find ways to fling Mario all over the place B-)

[Edit: this is just from memory, I could be kinda wrong in some ways]

Oh yeah I should have been clearer, I was saying collecting coins with or without powerups multiplies your speed by e.g. 1.1, and if you have a star it's e.g. 1.2. Not that I know how it's coded, it's an observation. This makes that last chasm jump before the flag really powerful but also risky cause you can clip into the level and either get stuck or get knocked under the level :P

Ok actually new theory. First of all, besides coins, when you swing the hammer in the air, you actually move slightly, as if you were pulling on the air. This effect is very amplified very briefly when you collect a coin after collecting a star.

Subject to change the more we play and learn the game

I managed to somehow successfully and usefully phase through a block.