Metroid: Blue Minerva

[Waker]

...Blue Minerva (or Blue Goddess, Blue Athena, etc) was to be about a transmission from a Chozo Architect on the end-regions of the universe to our well-known Samus Aran. Upon the request and the coordinates, Samus lands on the almost entirely water-based planet (save for a few large islands) with anticipation for finding some of her living brethren. What she finds is underwater ruins of the ancient civilization, and corruption that spreads deep within the planet's core. Her mission: Find the architect, eliminate the threat, and recover any lasting technology that might be under the waves.

Noticing the above quote I have to spoil something for you: the project has been dead for over a year. Now, why is this? Because the team had drama and drama == bad things happening.

In any case, Parabox proposed the "Why don't you restart it?" idea to me today. So here I am with some history of the project and essential story.

First, story.

In Metroid: Blue Minerva, you play as Samus (Duh) who has received a transmission from a long-dormant planet located in the outer-sections of the universe. The message, containing the words "Minerva awaits" written in Chozo scripture, was accompanied by a set of coordinates relating to the planet it was sent from. The author of this message identifies as, simply, the "Architect". Intrigued by this sudden event, Samus speeds off to see what's going on.

Let's backtrack a bit, shall we?

Now, many of you may know how the Metroids came to be. The Chozo engineered them to combat the virus known as X. Now, the X weren't specific to only a few planets; they were all over the universe.

During the time the Chozo were prominent throughout the galaxies, a Chozo colony existed on said previously unnamed planet. With it being made almost entirely out of water along it's surface, many chose to stay dry and on the large islands that were embedded into the core of the planet. However, eventually the X virus became aware of the Chozo residence, and took action. Many lives were lost.

Until the aforementioned Architect devised a plan.

Under the waves, he constructed a mass clump of tunnels and passageways to lead to his massive creation: an underwater City for the Chozo to escape the X.

Upon construction, he realized that the X were adapting to the underwater conditions; infecting several organisms and tearing apart the many interconnects of the city... that's when he designed Minerva.

Minerva, or Goddess, Athena, etc. was their defense system. A biological clump of intelligence that I cannot even explain, capable of expanding itself through the veins of the planet and eliminating all X existence.

The key factor: It could produce Metroids in a matter of seconds.

The cleansing, as the Chozo called it, took only a few months. No X were left behind, and the Chozo finally had their peace of mind. Until... the Architect intercepted a critical flaw in Minerva's design. The genetic code could be imprinted onto the Metroid's genome, and with Minerva's genes containing the algorithm for self-aware beings like itself, could generate self-aware Metroids.

The problem soon became evident halfway into his research. Incidents of Metroid attacks on civilians were popping up throughout the civilization, until it became an outbreak. Minerva shut the city down, and turned the very organisms the Chozo relied on for protection against them.

There was nothing they could do.

Many fled to the stars, some stayed to fight. The Architect simply lay in wait for what was happening to affect him, but when the Metroids arrived at his quarters for one final feeding session, he was nowhere to be found.

Detecting that all other Chozo on the planet were either dead or gone, Minerva went dormant, and so did the planet around it. Several cycles passed until the transmission went through from the city's communication towers and attracted Samus Aran's attention.

Her mission, as of yet: Locate the one called the "Architect", eliminate Minerva, and salvage/locate any existing technology or intelligence on the planet.






If you read all of that above, congratz. Feel free to post thoughts on the plot.



Now, the issue came to be "Why aren't you doing this?" Well for starters...

1. It was originally designed around the Source engine.
2. The team has split up, and the resources are gone.
3. After my last project fall-out, I don't really think I should do another.


What do you guys think should happen? Do you have any engine recommendations? Would you like to contribute to the reboot of this game? Hate it? Love it? Please, leave me some posts or PM me.

Until then, I'll be sitting back and looking around for good engines and means of development.


P.S: http://ompldr.org/vM2Y1bw (Concept wallpaper.)

[MultiK1llZ]

That, I must say, is pretty Sexy  :whoa:

[Waker]

Thanks.

I came up with the story on a cold afternoon way back in 09'.

P.S: Thinking of using OGRE as my rendering engine then coding everything off of that, but I'm still searching.

[zephyrtronium]

I feel that the story would be more believable and more interesting with some changes to Samus' motivation. Have Minerva be some sort of legend (Magrathea-style?) and let the message be picked up by some Generic GF Satellite™ or something. A conspiracy to recover Minerva's power for the "good"/subjugation of the galaxy forms within part of the upper echelons of the GF, and Samus is dispatched to investigate the planet and/or clean up any dangers to future researchers.

It would be tricky to implement such a story. In my opinion, SM and Prime are great Metroid games because the story gives Samus and the player motivation to explore without subsequently interfering with exploration, and Prime was the better of the two in this regard with the story still being revealed and expanded throughout the game but pretty much optional. Thus, there shouldn't be any story forced upon the player after the exposition until the very end at least; but then how is the conspiracy revealed? Furthermore, with Samus once again screwing over the GF's plans, it's very similar to Fusion's story - perhaps have the capture of Minerva succeed? That would provide an opening for a sequel should one be made while not really requiring one should the developers be too lazy.

[Waker]

I feel that the story would be more believable and more interesting with some changes to Samus' motivation. Have Minerva be some sort of legend (Magrathea-style?) and let the message be picked up by some Generic GF Satellite™ or something. A conspiracy to recover Minerva's power for the "good"/subjugation of the galaxy forms within part of the upper echelons of the GF, and Samus is dispatched to investigate the planet and/or clean up any dangers to future researchers.

It would be tricky to implement such a story. In my opinion, SM and Prime are great Metroid games because the story gives Samus and the player motivation to explore without subsequently interfering with exploration, and Prime was the better of the two in this regard with the story still being revealed and expanded throughout the game but pretty much optional. Thus, there shouldn't be any story forced upon the player after the exposition until the very end at least; but then how is the conspiracy revealed? Furthermore, with Samus once again screwing over the GF's plans, it's very similar to Fusion's story - perhaps have the capture of Minerva succeed? That would provide an opening for a sequel should one be made while not really requiring one should the developers be too lazy.

In essence, she doesn't have a beginning mission other than "Find wtf's up." The Architect fills her in near the beginning of her journey via indirect methods (read: lore anybody?)

I wanted to keep the GF out of the mix due to their overuse and obvious interference with true story elements. Sure, yes, she is a bounty hunter, but I wanted to appeal to the ancestry side of Samus' personality. The Chozo were her family, and the motivation of finding a living one is enough for her to explore the planet.

The "Power" of Minerva can't be captured. It's embedded into the core, and is destined to kill anything that stirs on the planet other than local lifeforms. What will happen at the end is a surprise leading to a second game. The main goal after you find the origin of the Architect's signal is to, well, search the planet for necessary upgrades to defeat Minerva and prevent it from spreading further, while following the numerous clues to the Architect's existence throughout the game.

Whether you find him or not will be revealed throughout key areas of the plot. Near the end of course. :)

[Waker]

By the way...

I'll be working with the ShiVa 3D engine as of yet if I can find a decent full copy or even a limited copy.

Will discuss it over IRC with those interested.

Oh, and if you guys are worried about how it looks: Hi Quality 3d rendering in ShiVa Engine

[Waker]

So guys, been a few days, time for update.

I've got two guys sitting on the sidelines for resources. Taking a few 3DSMax courses, doing a few designs, and coming up with some uber concepts to fit around the ShiVa 3D engine.

Overall, I've managed to form concepts for prime-like world loading, materials, and our good old visors.

Also managed to form a projectile system relating to AIModels (scripting objects that can be attatched to different things) for beams.

All I need is the models, an example level, and some other shit to throw on top of all of it.

I'm not saying I'll have a build up any time soon, but it's fun as hell to mess around with. :)

[Waker]

Well guys, figured I'd post an update today.

Some crazy stuff happening, and my WIP arm cannon is in progress as of yet.



It's a little low quality, but as I said, it's a WIP and I might start over.

Anyway, thanks to those who are following this. You guys rule, and I hope to have at least something playable for you peeps soon! :)

Ciao for now.

[Black Falcon]

I must say I like what I'm seeing there!  :yay:
Your Shiva Engine preview was very impressive.
I really hope this'll reach the end.
Keep it up! :D

[Quietus]

I quite like the simple look of the cannon, actually.  I'd much rather have a fluid play style over fancy graphics.  Graphics are a nice bonus, but shouldn't be your fitst priority.

[Waker]

Without further adieu, I'd like to present the final design of the cannon.


[spoiler][/spoiler]
[spoiler][/spoiler]
[spoiler][/spoiler]

It's smoothed down enough so I can mess around with materials at will. With the lighting being the way it is, I'm sure I'll have no problem making it metallic. :)

Thanks for keeping up with me guys. I've been planning back and forth between work and other priorities, and it's nice to see some good coming out of all of it.

Cheers, thanks for reading, and here's to having something to look at within the next few weeks! :)



Edit: Damnit, I need to recolor the entire thing from scratch. Wings doesn't export vertex colors. :(

FFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUU-

(No worries though. Takes about five minutes, will start on it tomorrow. Hope you like the designs, guys!)

[Charmander106]

I'm definitely following this project. This is just pure awesomeness...
Hope that this gets done and doesn't die.

[Qactis]

^
you're the man bro waker

[Waker]

Minor update.


Finally got UV-Maps in somewhat working condition. Starting on recolor later today.

Also eyeballed a vertex corruption issue on the small hinge-like stuff in the back. Fixed it by smoothing it down, will post screens after work.

Gonna start doing BEAM DESIGNS! 8D

But, yeah, the problem is that I think I'll need different materials for each state of the gun. But perhaps I don't and I can alter the default UV-Map with a few commands. All in all, I can easily, however, group together different gun components for animation later on, and add a transitional material for the gun during animation.

tl;dr Shit is looking cash.

[Waker]

WE HAVE UV-MAPS!

(Sampled in MeshLab)

Flat shaded.
[spoiler][/spoiler]
Smooth shaded.
[spoiler][/spoiler]

I'm all for smooth shaded. Which do you guys like better, flat or smooth shading?

Answer that in a reply, as always.

The UV maps were PHENOMINAL. Thanks, Wings3D, I owe you a big hug, both for exporting properly and making it look damn nice.

[Zero One]

Smooth shading, definitely. Your arm cannon looks extremely awesome.

[zephyrtronium]

To me, the flat shaded one looks mechanical, and the smooth shaded one looks like clay. I'm sure that's just because they aren't reflecting anything in order to appear metallic, but eh.

[Waker]

To me, the flat shaded one looks mechanical, and the smooth shaded one looks like clay. I'm sure that's just because they aren't reflecting anything in order to appear metallic, but eh.

You're in luck.

I've imported it into ShiVa with great success. The lighting is AWESOME.

[spoiler][/spoiler]

[Quietus]

I suspect that some of it will come from texturing, but remember not to make things too shiny.  Samus's cannon is probably worn from all of the death dealing.

Also, I actually like the more angular look. :O_o:

[PY]

Don't forget, though, if at any point your shields drop to 0 you explode for some reason - so it seems equally likely it wouldn't have a scratch or blemish on it.
Cannon looks great: Step 1 of 100,000 complete :P

[Waker]

I suspect that some of it will come from texturing, but remember not to make things too shiny.  Samus's cannon is probably worn from all of the death dealing.

Also, I actually like the more angular look. :O_o:

Don't worry, I won't make it too shiny. I just wanted to see if it had the proper surfaces for HQ lighting.

Plus, a few guys at Retro are sending me over example lighting shots for the cannons of Primes 1-3. Gonna use those as a reference for materials.

Off to work with my sorry ass! :P

[Samus-Aran]

I cant believe retro is sending you some pics of the cannon  :holyf: .All hale Waker

[Waker]

Update from work.

The UV map is somewhat... *ahem* garbled. Meaning that it'll be TWICE as hard to do textures!

...

Yaaaaay.

*sigh* I really hate it when something has to go wrong. I can't post the UV map because it's, what, 50+ megs?

It's gonna be a fun night tonight.

Update: Redoing the UV-map for the model. I need to cut along component edges. I also need to UV-wrap different models for the beams and the transitions, but I'm OK with that.

[Samus-Aran]

does this game take place before or after fusion

[Waker]

does this game take place before or after fusion

Neither, and I've heard bad things about you, sir. :|

Update time. I FINALLY GOT THE UV MAP FINISHED! Thanks to blarget2, of all people! In the future I'll be contracting him for his expertise on Wings, because this left me frustrated but relieved. :P

Time for texturing. :D