Twisted Dreamscape

[Zhs2]

It'd be better if I accept as many beta testers as I can. More people can find more bugs in less time.

But if everyone plays it, nobody will play the finished version...!

[Zero One]

It'd be better if I accept as many beta testers as I can. More people can find more bugs in less time.

But if everyone plays it, nobody will play the finished version...!

If everyone is a beta tester, and I keep releasing it to the beta testers until there are no bugs and it's finished then logically EVERYBODY will play the finished version!

[Quietus]

I can answer a few for you:

I'd appreciate it if somebody could tell me the offsets for the Energy Tank graphics and the other item graphics.

If you mean the Energy Tanks in the HUD, they're in the same place as the rest - Gameboy format, at D3200.  If you mean the actual main item PLM graphics, it'll be SNES format, at 48000.  Use palette 1 to see them properly.

I will also be editing the CRE doors, or possibly remaking them entirely. I also intend on making new graphics for most, if not all the items in game, so the offsets for those would be brilliant too.

No offsets for these.  Just go to Tools > Graphics Editor in SMILE, and click GFX > CRE > Export.  You will likely wish to export the palette as well.

I plan on editing Samus' beam and missile graphics.

Beam graphics can be found in the ROM at D7800.  To get the palettes for these, click Tools > Beauty Salon in SMILE, scroll right underneath Samus, and select Beam Palettes from the drop-down box.  For the missiles check D5C00.

I'm also interested in editing the Status Screen, so any advice there would be very helpful.

Check DChronos's guide in the documents section of the site.

I also want to change the area names and some of the item text.

Area Names are simple.  Click on Tools > Text Editor, and select Area Names from the drop-down box.  For item text check DChronos's other guide on the same page as the above one.

Hopefully, that should get you started. :^_^:

[Zero One]

Ah, great! Thanks! I thought editing the area names had something to do with the Text Editor, but I never noticed that little drop-down box. I'm also pleased to see most of the stuff I wanted to know answered already! Hopefully, I'll have quite a bit of this done tomorrow, for which I'll most likely post a quick video showcasing a small section of the landing site. And on the subject of the landing site, do I need to place the Ship enemy in there to get the game to work properly through an emulator? Also, is it possible to make it so that I can still keep the intro, but not have Ceres? I'd like to throw in a little special something that I've been thinking of doing, but it's useless without the monologue at the beginning.

And on the subject of the monologue, does the monologue have its own text graphics and if so, where can I find them to edit them? Also, I'd like to know if that text is used elsewhere, as if it's used for certain things, then changing it won't work too well.

EDIT: Also, I've decided that I'm going to keep it to about 5 beta testers. I already have what, 3 or 4 now?

EDIT: Also, new problem. I'm creating a table so I can keep track of the Tanks that I've placed in the game and I'm a bit confused. Are there 0D energy tanks, or 0E energy tanks? If I'm thinking right, it's 0E, which would also mean that there are 2E Missile tanks in game. But my problem is that I'm trying to relate that to the PLM editor in SMILE:

[spoiler][/spoiler]

Is it the Low (Index) of the item that I want to change or the Value (0005) that I want to change? And if so, does 00 or 0000 count as the first one or not? Or can they just be arbitrary numbers of my choice? This is where I'm confused.

EDIT: Ok, it's the Low that I want to change. An I'm assuming that, as it goes from 00 to FF, 00 could count as the first one. However, for simplicity, I'll be starting from 01.

[Quietus]

do I need to place the Ship enemy in there to get the game to work properly

I would imagine not, since it's essentially just sitting there, and it's the actual load station you're using, not the ship.

Also, is it possible to make it so that I can still keep the intro, but not have Ceres?

Check Black Falcon's post here.

Also, new problem. I'm creating a table so I can keep track of the Tanks that I've placed in the game and I'm a bit confused. Are there 0D energy tanks, or 0E energy tanks?

Don't worry about how it relates to SMILE until you're further in.  Unless you're changing the number of expansions for your items (ETs, Missiles, et cetera), then you just need to track how many you've placed.  So, track your 14 Energy Tanks, your 46 Missile expansions, et cetera.  Once you're nearly done with your hack, you just go through all of them in sequence, and increase the low index by one each time.  For example, if you have five items in your landing site, you may have an ET with a low of 01, Missiles with a low of 02, another ET with a low of 03, and so on...  As long as you track how many you've placed, the low indices can be sorted later.

Lastly, as for item indices, they all usually have High 00, Low 01 (or whatever low you're currently on), but you can also use a High of 01, so you can use High 00 and Low 00-FF, and then High 01 and Low 00-FF for a bucketload of expansions.

Is it the Low (Index) of the item that I want to change or the Value (0005) that I want to change?

The value is the number of the item that you will be given when you collect it, so 0005 would be five, and 000A would be 10.  Remember that you can do this for each type of an expansion.  For example, you could have the Missiles in the Chozo orb give you ten, the ones hidden in the scenery give you five, and the open ones give you two.

[Lunaria]

It'd be better if I accept as many beta testers as I can. More people can find more bugs in less time.

See, there is a fatal flaw in that logic right there, and that's assuming people know how to beta test, in which I will tell you right now, very few do. I tried to get a big beta test with varied skilled players, you know what happen? It all tore down and I ask one of the people I least expected would be willing to help me, and he did ALL of it, and I do mean ALL of the testing. The others did nothing of value beside finding one or two tiling errors.

The smart thing to do with beta testing is finding someone you KNOW will stick to the job and pull it off in the end. There are few people like that, and even fewer of them want to test as they want to play the finished product. Another rule of thumb to keep in mind is that those that beg to test are those people you should ignore right away, as they will never do a good job and most likely only want to play the game early. :/

[Zhs2]

Another rule of thumb to keep in mind is that those that beg to test are those people you should ignore right away, as they will never do a good job and most likely only want to play the game early. :/

This is funny because this is completely what I was referring to when I said what I said...! Also, begging for this kind of stuff is against the rules anyway. The hack creators should come to you, and not the other way around.

[Zero One]

Well, I'm sure that I'll learn who I want to beta test when I start giving out beta versions. However, I have a problem.

I modified the HUD so that the items don't have an orange background but whenever I use the X-Ray Visor or pick up a HUD item, it has a transparent background. How can I fix this, if at all possible?

[Lunaria]

Don't use the "transparent" (AKA 0) colour for the HUD logos, you only got three colours to work with, good luck!

[Zero One]

Well then, transparency it is. I thought there'd be a way to alter how the HUD graphics show to put some black blocks behind it. Apparently not.

I suppose if I couple it with the Message Box Hack, then you'd only ever see it with the X-Ray Visor.

Also, progress-wise, I'm definitely moving on. 2.5 rooms in 3 days (I know, not much but I'm not one to spend long on SMILE.), I've learned how to create rooms from scratch, all new HUD graphics, 2 more map tiles, a lot of my first new tileset done, part of the map for the first area drawn up, got my item order and boss order, applied all the patches I wanted and then I came up with a few glitches that I can put to use (think enemy orientation). I'll probably get some flak for deciding to not fix it but I think it works and I'm going to keep it, but using it sparingly. I've also edited some of the message box text (which also comes with the Message Box hack... oops) and hopefully, by the end of the week, I'll have most of the rest of the graphical edits done.

For now, I'm going to edit the Morph Ball.

[Zero One]

Ok, I somehow managed to lose a room. I think between saving with SMILE, saving with HxD and relying on Dropbox, I screwed it up. However, the morph ball edit that I did AFTER creating the lost room still remains...

For now, I'm going to work on the maps for my game so I can figure out where I'm going to put everything. I'm hoping that it'll be a big world, but not redundant. Also, I have done several physics changes to the game, which should make it better to play.

[Zero One]

Haha, not as dead as you might think! Ok, progress has been pretty slow because of college and everything. Now that exams are around the corner, I find that I have nothing to do but procrastinate! So, to that end, here is a sample of the new item graphics that I've been drawing:

[spoiler=Want to see it bigger? Save it and zoom in Paint]

[/spoiler]

So far, most of the graphics are done. All I'm missing are the Energy Tanks, Missile Tanks, Super Missile Tanks and Power Bomb Tanks, but they're next. Any feedback will be much appreciated. I'm going to be focusing on the graphical edits that I want done first, then I'm going to refocus on drawing up maps for the game. If I do one task for too long, I lose all interest.

[Zero One]

Just a quick update. A lot of the mapping is done; all that's left is to add in the extra misc tanks for a few areas. The first area is completely mapped out already and I've been working on the rooms for it. I also managed to accidentally add in another room, which goes to show how good I am at reading my own maps...

Also, after complaints that my rooms were too bland, which they were, I added in some new tiles to the Crateria tileset:
[spoiler=Crateria Update][/spoiler]
As you can see, new stalagmites/tites and some new grass tiles. I've got plenty of space in that tileset after Squishy's great idea of removing the SkyBG, because it's pretty much useless in a cave. I've also done some slight redrawing of the Samus sprites to make it look more Prime style, Morph Ball included. But of course, it's difficult because the Samus sprites are such a mess.

Updates to the game will most definitely slow down, as I've got to start revising for a lot of exams I have to take in May. So Twisted Dreamscape is going to have to take a backseat for a while.

[Zero One]

[spoiler=The following contains a semi-psychotic rant with way more swearing than needed.]OVERHAUL TIME
Now that I'm done with college forever the next few months, I'm recommitting to my hack and almost completely starting again. Why?

Because my hack is a piddly piece of shit and I hate it. It sucks, it's plain, it's boring, it's unimaginative. FUCK THAT. I'm going on about how everything will feature custom graphics, and all I do is a shitty re-palette of an overused, shitty tileset. When I'm through with this hack, you will be jizzing from your eyeballs. Semen. Fucking. Everywhere. This shit will blow your goddamn mind.

[spoiler=My ultimate goal?]THE BEST FUCKING HACK EVER[/spoiler]

You will not play this and think "meh". You will look back on your days playing this hack and you will get a raging nerdboner. The size of that huge tower in Dubai. The first tileset has already been replaced with a mix of custom and vanilla tilesets, but with new palettes, so there's already way more variety than purple shitty Crateria. Over the course of this hack, I'll be drawing new tiles and, if I can stop sucking, I'll try my hand at completely new, entire tilesets. Also, new ASM (hopefully) to be in this hack to further enhance the game. New items? Not planned right now, but who knows. Maybe I'll go insane and fill up the remaining item bits. New enemies? Fuck yes. New enemy palettes? Duh. Crazy FX1 shit all over the place? Stupid question, of course. Graphical dickery that will make you cry because of how good it looks? Bitch, I will rub awesomeness in your face in every screen. And I will brave the murky depths of the N-SPC and deliver unto you the greatest soundtrack of all time. OF ALL TIME. Twisted Dreamscape will become more than a venture into Samus' dreams. This will be the embodiment of your hacking dreams.

But before I can begin my overhaul, I first have to overhaul the maps, which is where you awesome people come in. Before I can draw the maps, I need to figure out this hack, which I leave up to you, with two options.

1) Free-roam. There are no restrictions. You can go anywhere at any point, except straight to the final boss. Go fight Ridley with almost no equipment, you sadomasochistic freak. Obviously, there will be heated areas and under-water areas, which will make travelling a bit difficult.
2) Partial linearity. The list of items will be broken into segments. Every item within a segment can be acquired at any point, but you need all the items within a segment to progress to the next segment. You're still pretty free, but you're not likely to wander into an area completely unprepared.

I'm personally leaning towards the second option, but fuck what I want. You want free-roam? You've got free-roam. You want excellent graphics? You've got excellent graphics. You want new enemies? You've got new enemies?

You want Twisted Dreamscape? You've got awesome. Answer in the poll and in the thread.

[/spoiler]

[Mr K]

Wow after reading all that I guess I should probably say my part.

I think personally you should go for partial linearity, The reason I say this is because it would be to easy to wonder off into an area without the right equipment, which will cause a lot of unnecessary backtracking. People will get lost a lot, I don't mind that in fact I actually like it that way. but for the less advanced players they may find it a bit frustrating.

From what I saw it didn't look all that bad zero one, But I understand why you have done this as it was very well explained, So good luck with re-doing you hack.

[Charmander106]

Nice rant. I think your not the only one who wants to make the best hack EVAH!

I would choose the second option for the maps because, I am not an advanced super metroid player. It would be easier to get lost, LOTS of pointless backtracking and areas where you are TOTALLY unprepared to face them and end up dying a lot too. So that's want I would want with that.

Good luck making this hack a reality. :)

[MetroidMst]

I will also point out, making a somewhat more linear hack is also easier to do, because you kind of have a path to follow. Allowing the player to go anywhere has caused some serious stress for hackers. I do not mind exploring everywhere or backtracking, but linearity also supplies some reassurance to the player. (When they can continue on a path, they know they should likely be on that path, since it was blocked before.)

Also, hoping you do good with it. I have never officially restarted Fear, but I have redone the early levels multiple times to try to get a better feel to it. I also will say, us hackers tend to think our own hacks are crap. Don't get too down on your hack. If you feel like it is a pile of moldy turds, make it into the best moldy turd you know how.

[Metaquarius]

My ultimate goal? THE BEST FUCKING HACK EVER

You've just lost a lot of your credibility by saying this, if not all. Stop bullshiting and take some vacations.

[Zero One]

My ultimate goal? THE BEST FUCKING HACK EVER

You've just lost a lot of your credibility by saying this, if not all. Stop bullshiting and take some vacations.

Or, how about you deal with it and I'll put in the same amount of attention to detail that I always give my projects. Oh, how dare I use hyperbole! At the end of the day, I decide how much hyperbole is involved. And I always work at my highest capacity, hence why I'm scrapping everything I've done so far. If I don't like something, you can be damn sure I'll work hard to improve it.

EDIT: Anyway, it seems that most people prefer the partial linearity, so that's what I'm going with.

[Metaquarius]

My ultimate goal? THE BEST FUCKING HACK EVER

You've just lost a lot of your credibility by saying this, if not all. Stop bullshiting and take some vacations.

Or, how about you deal with it and I'll put in the same amount of attention to detail that I always give my projects. Oh, how dare I use hyperbole! At the end of the day, I decide how much hyperbole is involved. And I always work at my highest capacity, hence why I'm scrapping everything I've done so far. If I don't like something, you can be damn sure I'll work hard to improve it.

EDIT: Anyway, it seems that most people prefer the partial linearity, so that's what I'm going with.

I think you've clearly underestimated the amount of work and time a such hack would require. The best you should do is starting with something smaller and not to bother with "the best fucking hack ever" nonsense anytime soon.
Well, that's just an advice...  :^_^:

[Zero One]

I think you've clearly underestimated the amount of work and time a such hack would require.

No no, I know that this is a massive time sink and isn't going to be easy to do by any measure. I'm not walking into this blind and I'm certainly not walking into this thinking it'll be simple or easy to do; that'd be stupid of me.

[Metaquarius]

No no, I know that this is a massive time sink and isn't going to be easy to do by any measure. I'm not walking into this blind and I'm certainly not walking into this thinking it'll be simple or easy to do; that'd be stupid of me.

My bad, can't wait to jizz from my eyeballs then...  :grin: