The Great Metroid Construction Collaboration Hunt - Post your resources here!

[Zhs2]

PS: .pdf format is not mentioned in the "allowed file types" list.... I hope there is no problem with this type of file ? I put the file in a .zip archive...

Thanks, I hadn't considered it. I'll fix that now.

[JamieWebb16]

I LOVE your level work there! and I will definitely use your tutorial. Making these elevator tricks for a hack that I had in mind will work wondrous! Thanks for the tut! :grin:

[MetroidMst]

That is some excellent info, might be able to squeeze this into Fear, but not sure if I've got room yet. Also, that is the best Green Brinstar tiling I've ever seen.

[Black Falcon]

Great tutorial!
I've been experimenting with this long ago (see my 'new elevator concept' vid), but I gave up 'cause I never got it the way I wanted (the maridian tube was never a good solution to my mind).
Due to the way the rooms are set up in your tutorial I think there can be even more rooms in between.
Combined with Sadi's multidirectional elevators you could even make a central lift through the whole planet.[/idea]
BigThanks, BigDomino!

[Smiley]

It's... actually possible?
*Reads .pdf*
That's freaking brilliant BD! How did you come up with that?
It's so simple, too.
I also love your tiling.

[silverpaw84]

[snip]

[A_red_monk_called_Key]

i used that trick to fake a boss. put two event rooms at the some local and set the event to an item when entering the room there is an enemy. after you exit 2nd door and come back the enemy is gone(keeping 1st door gray all the time). after the item is collected you come back to gray door flashing

[BigDomino]

Hi guys.
I'm pleased that this tutorial may enhance the current documentation of Metroid construction and was proving to be helpful.
It was a very small contribution in comparison with what I get, reading the docs and posts from you all.

I also want to say thank you for the nice comments about the level design of the rooms in the video.
I certainly will share more demo of my hack on my youtube channel, but I don't really know where to post links or preview on the forum – (Hack section are not intended for work in progress, as I know?)
Be that as it may, comments and critical would be highly appreciated.

I take the opportunity of this reply to post another tutorial about elevator combined with a room in between which use Maridia tube special scrolling ASM (original concept by black_falcon).

- see black-falcon video for an example:
  [spoiler]New Elevator Concept[/spoiler]

- see last part of my demo video for another example:
  [spoiler]Super Metroid [hack] - Elevators tricks demo[/spoiler]

@ SMILEuser96 : (sorry by advance for the heaviness of the following explanation)

How did you come up with that?

In fact, black_falcon video was the starting point of my reflection. I found it randomly on youtube and immediately want to try to understand how he does that :whoa:.
I quickly noticed the similarity with maridia scrolling tube and began to learn how the thing works.
After understanding the functionning, I tried the combination with the elevator...
I spare you the whole description of my first unsuccessful trying to make it work.
Actually, the principle is to set the first transition door, saying: "I'm not on an elevator!" (although you are riding one) and to put the maridia scroll pointer. Then, in second room, you set the transition door saying "hey, I'm on an elevator! Please, tell the elevator in next room to pick me up after transition (bitflag = E0)" (but you're not on an elevator). After that, It just made numerous trying to determine the 2 weird "distance from door" value (-> being on an elevator make samus appearing in a different position than during a normal room transition BUT you're telling the game you're not on an elevator! These two contradictory facts are involved in these unusual values).
Of course, the same principle prevails for the way back.
That's the general way to make it works but for more detailed explanation, look at the tutorial linked below – FX2 pointer of the central room have to be changed too, etc...

Finally, after all that was done, I asked myself if it was a way to improve the animation (because  samus wasn't riding the elevator anymore during the scrolling sequence) and tried to put an elevator in the central room...
The following things happen:

1) The elevator enemy cancelled the maridia scrolling special ASM (no more super speed in the room).

2) Samus immediately go back to his starting room after transition because.... she was once again able to collide with door block, even though she's riding an elevator in the second room !

(Basically, elevator transition is coded to disable any collision with door block in second room in order to prevent a forced U-turn caused by encountering the door blocks at the bottom edge of the screen – any of you who tried to do a 3-room elevator surely noticed the fact that samus go through these blocks in room 2 and cannot properly reach room 3 for this reason).
Although many other little setting interacts with the process, this is this property of the scrolling tube effect which put me in the picture and makes the 3 room elevator possible.
ouffff....

By the way, I don't plan to make a doc to explain how the two elevators can coexist in the central room of my vid because :
A) it's a very tortuous and unpleasant addition of tricks...
B) it's extremely restrictive
C) Sadistyk_Fish apparently create new enemies who do that far better that it could be done with my method.

For informational purpose, I can make a scan of my notes and scheme (in French). The method exploit the "move off screen" property of the enemies, require scroll PLM and door scroll ASM to stuck them off-screen, require that the enemies are separated with a space of 7 tiles (no less, no more), require that the two enemies stand in a particular position according to the screen boundaries, require two cloned rooms (one for each functional elevator enemy), require lateral rooms for the transition, require some tricky door connection because doors cannot be centered in middle of the screen (cf enemy position), require half cloning if you want to do lateral room like me, without wasting space for useless doors, etc, etc... It will be a waste of time.

Thanks for reading.

See ya.

[MetroidMst]

I certainly will share more demo of my hack on my youtube channel, but I don't really know where to post links or preview on the forum – (Hack section are not intended for work in progress, as I know?)

The Super Metroid board is for hack-in-progress topics.

[Quietus]

But remember to have screenshots / videos ready to avoid having it locked.

[silverpaw84]

This has a very limited usage, and is far from perfect

The double gate trick:

This will allow you to shoot one gate switch, and open TWO gates at the same time (wave beam is required unless you limit the space available to hit the switch). This also requires the use of a LOT of PLM's as well as the upside down gate PLM. Set up your arrow PLM's as shown: [spoiler][/spoiler] In this example, the bottom switch is used to activate both gates. Since I have blocked off the top switch, the player is less likely to shoot the top. Again, it's not perfect. Since the player has the wave beam, the shot activates both the bottom button, as well as the arrow PLM's. In game it looks like this:
[spoiler]Before the gates are shot[/spoiler] [spoiler]And after the gates are shot[/spoiler]

-EDIT- This could be made a bit easier by adding a solid block right next to the bottom switch, 1 tile away from the chozo statue, and dragging the arrow up onto said block. That way, the activation arrow is directly in line with the gate switch, instead of being in the floor

[personitis]

That's rather similar to one of my guides on the main site dealing with SMILE Tricks. And actually, you don't need PLMs to do that. You can use BTS. Much more logical and PLM savvy.

[silverpaw84]

That's rather similar to one of my guides on the main site dealing with SMILE Tricks. And actually, you don't need PLMs to do that. You can use BTS. Much more logical and PLM savvy.

care to improve on it? Ill edit my post out.

[personitis]

I suppose I could explain how it's done and its other practical uses. It'll take a a little time however. Also, don't worry about taking your post down.

[silverpaw84]

(I would like this added to the Docs page, and have formatted it as I would like it to appear)

Noob's Guide to the BTS Tab

One of the hardest parts of using SMILE for the first time is understanding the BTS tab, and I feel that not enough information is conveyed in other guides, so I decided to make my own now that I have learned for myself the secrets of the BTS tab. In this guide, I will provide two pictures, as well as a basic reference chart on the first, to make identifying blocks a bit easier...

First off, people are often wondering "What are the yellow BTS blocks for?" They are exactly the same as the green, however, they are not used in the game.
It's best to just not bother with them, and save yourself the confusion.




THE BTS SLOPES AND WHAT THEY DO:

A1. This is a half-tile sized solid BTS. Samus cannot pass through it going in any direction, and it does not act as a "riser" block for C5/C7, in other words, this block is not capable of making a half-tile-high slope.
A2. Same as A1, except vertical.
A3. This is a quarter-tile sized solid BTS. It is the same as A1/A2, except it is a square, half their size. Samus cannot pass through in any direction, and it does not act as a riser.
A4. This is an A2, with an A3 connected to it. Nothing special here.
A5. From what I can tell, this is nothing but a solid block. Samus cannot pass through it, enemies cannot pass through it, Samus cannot shoot through it, and it does not act as a riser. DO NOT USE! Save yourself a few bytes of data
A6. This is a self-contained half-tile sized slope BTS. Samus can run over it from either side, without affecting speed. Samus can also pass through it both horizontally, as well as traveling "up".
A7. This is a full-tile sized self-contained slope BTS. Samus can run over it, like an A6, however, Samus enters the "falling" pose on the descent, causing her to lose her speed. Samus can travel through this block horizontally. Under one A7 block with solid blocks on either side, Samus CANNOT unmorph, however, under she can unmorph in between two A7 blocks. Possible interesting uses
A8. This is a half-tile sized riser block. It is similar to the A1 block, however Samus can pass through it horizontally and vertically (up only). This is used for making half-tile sized slopes
B1 - B6. These are your generic riser blocks, used for making slopes, one-way floors, BTS elevators, etc. One must go behind every B8, C3, C8, etc.  slope to create a useable slope... Use two when you plan on shinesparking into it
B7. This is similar to the generic C3 slope, but has a more rocky, stair-like texture. Samus is unable to run down these, instead just entering the falling pose, no matter how slow or how little she travels downwards. Travel is possible horizontally and up, but Samus cannot unmorph under one unless the position is *perfect* slopes facing each other widen the area of unmorph. Possible interesting uses. These are unused in-game as far as I can tell, but can be substituted for the C3 slope anywhere it is used.
B8. This is a "dented" slope. Almost identical in reactions to the B8, however, Samus cannot unmorph under the edges, has to be in the middle. Travel is possible horizontally and up, cannot run down slope.
C1/C2. These are also unused as far as I can tell. C1 prevents grapple beam from passing through it, and it acts almost like a crumble block, in which Samus briefly pauses while falling onto it, then continues to fall, as well as messing with walljump if used as the air tiles near a wall. Possible interesting use might be to line the air with these where a rooms water line is, causing Samus to lose her full momentum, making it more realistic. C2 does nothing other than prevent grapple beam from passing through it. Both blocks allow a full range of movement through them.
C3. This is the generic slope. Samus travels up the slope, but gets stuck if there isn't a B1-B6 slope behind it. Travel is possible horizontally and vertically through it, unmorph only restricted when directly underneath one
C4. *See B1-B6* No differences from what I can tell
C5. This is a quarter-tile sized slope, used to connect to A8, C6, C8, D2, D5, and D7. Travel through it is possible both horizontally and vertically
C6. This is an elevated slope, used for connecting to half-tile sized tiles, such as A8, C5, C7, D4, and D5.
C7/C8. C3 slope in a two-tile version. Nothing special.
D1 - D3. C3 slope in a three-tile version. Nothing special.
D4/D5. Vertical version of the C7/C8 tiles.
D6 - D8. Vertical Version of the D1 - D3 tiles.



And now for the special blocks...


THE SPECIAL ROW AND WHAT THEY DO:

Super Missile Block: Drag this over a block and it will only go away if Samus shoots it with a Super Missile.
Power Bomb Block: Drag this over a block and it will only go away if Samus lays a Power Bomb nearby. Hex changes are available to change the reaction to be missile or bomb, if you want to add your own custom graphics. This is NOT recommended unless you are familiar with a hex editor as well as a tile editing program.
Speed Booster Block: Drag this over a block and it will only go away if Samus speedboosts/shinesparks through it.
Crumbling Grapple Block: Drag this over a block and it will allow Samus to grapple onto it for a few seconds before crumbling and breaking the grapple
Right Treadmill Block: This block pushes Samus to the right. Useful for making treadmills, strong wind, flowing water, etc.
Left Treadmill Block: This block pushes Samus to the left. Useful for making treadmills, strong wind, flowing water, etc. It can also be used with the [Flow-left] FX1 for more realism when underwater
Downward Treadmill Block: This block acts as air unless in Maridia. If in Maridia, it will slowly pull Samus downwards and make it difficult to jump out.
"Saw" Block: This block does not react to Samus in any way. It looks like a normal solid block until an enemy touches it, then it crumbles away.
Half Ripper Block: This block acts like air for Samus, but acts like a solid block for enemies and projectiles. Useful for when you want to hide paths but don't want enemies or beams to reveal its location. It appears as crumble blocks when x-rayed.

"ReSpawning" Checkbox: This is very important. Before you drag a special BTS to a block, you want to either check or uncheck this box. Treadmills and Half-Ripper blocks should always be re-spawning. It is up to you to decide if you want the other blocks to re-spawn.

WARNING: Placing re-spawning blocks that require ammo may cause Samus to get stuck if she does not have enough ammo to get back out. A re-spawning grapple block is *almost* impossible to pass through, so if you want it to open into another passage, turn re-spawning off.



-EDIT- DO NOT INCLUDE THIS
Here's a vid to help explain the C1 block at the water line
[spoiler]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d05jmn23lVA[/spoiler]

[personitis]

Since I have some spare time, I went ahead and put sliverpaw's guide into html format already, just to save some time for whoever (Grime?) updates the site.
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/31435028/silverpaw84s_bts_guide.rar

[Quietus]

The guide seems fine, but you should change the word 'speedboost' to 'shinespark' under B1-B6, as speedboosting is simply running with the Speed Booster equipped (once you get blue / echo status, anyway), and not the actual spark. :^_^:

[silverpaw84]

Shiddlyboop

[A_red_monk_called_Key]

this is the M2 ship form SM Parasite Echo its ship 6/7.  I may make more then 7 i dont know yet

[A_red_monk_called_Key]

sorry for double post. but its for more graphics give-a-way.
here are all the SM phazon 0.2 GFX that didn't make it into 0.3

(later i'll be making new GFX sets for the community)



(If you use this I don't need credit for it)

[P.JBoy]

Made a video on how to patch an ASM file using xkas/bass

[BigDomino]

Hi guys.

Find enclosed an excel software I made.

The program is intended for users who want to repoint CRE/SCE gfx without using the repointing patches available on the forum.

Hackers who want to repoint only a particular graphic set, those who want to copy a graphic set into another one or want to lay out gfx data their own way could get a total mastery of what they do while keeping their stuff clearly documented using this table.

Of course this material will prove to be useful for people who already have moved things and can't use patches for some reasons.

A) Content :

Original stuff and location :

  01) Name and short description of all the graphic set.
  02) Addresses of all the pointers leading to tile-tables, tile sheets and palettes.
  03) Start and End addresses for all the tile-table, tile sheet and palettes.
        (Reversed bytes, Lorom address, PC address).
  04) Amount of data for each of the 15 different original tile-tables, the 17 different original
         tile-sheets and the 25 different palettes of the game.
  05) Easy to read notations to keep in mind which sets share the same table, tiles and palettes.
 
Repointing device :

  06) Checkboxes to keep in mind which sets are intended to be moved and which are not.
  07) Integrated PC - Lorom address conversion (lunar address don't needed anymore).
  08) Offsets automatically reversed, ready for use.
  09) Reversed special CRE pointers, given with the correct syntaxes and the 3 extra
         non-effective bytes between bank byte and high byte.
  10) "Next address" auto-calculation device:
        Ex: User specifies how much free space (for expansion) should be kept after any repointed
        tile-table, the program calculates the next suitable address for the next tile-table.
  11) Address control device that prevent to repoint data at a non-valid address.
  12) Address control device that prevent to repoint data at an out-of range address.
        (it check the address of the last byte of [data+free space])
  13) Special feature to import the addresses of previously repointed data in others tile-sets
         which use the same data ( -> macros have to be allowed for that)
  14) Although this program is mainly intended for CRE SCE gfx repointing, I put 70 blank lines
        for other gfx data. These line offer the same features:  LoRom -> PC and PC -> LoRom
        conversion ; byte reverser...

B) Remarks :
- The sheet is protected for security purpose (protection can be removed without password).
- All data and address are hexadecimal.
- Addresses applies for unheadered Rom.
- Macros should be allowed in order to use some feature mentioned above.



C) Credit I give :
- Jathys : Pointers for tile-tables, tiles sheet and palettes displayed in SMILE.
- GF_Kennon : End addresses found via GF_Kennon's BANK LOG.

D) Credit to give :
- This table was originally made for my own use. Since I get almost all I know from this forum,
   it's perfectly natural to share my work with peoples here.
- No credit is needed for peoples doing a normal use of this table.


Thanks for reading.

PS: This document was made on Excel 2011 in compatibility mode. Versions lower than 2007 can handle this file without problems but are unable to catch the wonderful colors....

PPS: Although this table was extensively checked, feel free to report any bug or error via PM.
I'll do my best to fix it quickly.

PPPS: This document and the two previously posted tutorials could be placed in the doc page.

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Extract 1 : SCE repointing fields
[spoiler][/spoiler]

Extract 2 : CRE repointing field
[spoiler][/spoiler]

Extract 3 : "Out of range" warning
[spoiler][/spoiler]

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

[Smiley]

It's absolutely evil, horrible, sinister etc...
A patch that causes constant damage to Samus at all times! This includes standing on an elevator or saving on a savestation and so on.
Use at... your own risk or something.
Uses 25 bytes of free space at $82F720.
Download
DropBox Download

And I already have another patch ready. This one is the exact opposite of the above. This patch constantly heals Samus at all times. Uses a bit more free space than the above patch at the same place. 37 bytes to be exact.
Download
DropBox Download

A third one! This one is similar to the first patch, but is used with BTS and affects everything except reserve tanks.
Place a Fool X-Ray tile with BTS 06 somewhere, and when Samus stands there, she'll lose all her supplies steadily. (P-Bombs -> Supers -> Missiles -> Energy)
Download
DropBox Download
Here's a link to a BTS block that does the exact opposite.

[JAM]

In the day of 11.11.11 I'm releasing 11 patches. All of them are for unheadered ROMs. Some of them are improvements of existing patches. Please give credits.

1. Message Box v3.1
A patch allowing to add new messages to the game. Recoded to newbie-friendly format for easy usage.

Changes since v3
1. Button array is fixed by shifting the words. "X" letter now will be placed to correct position when collecting the Bombs.
2. Message constants are added to simplify message defining.

EDIT: contains an error in Button Array, discovered by chrismk. Version 3 is replaced with 3.1.



2. Start with items v2
Version 2 of patch allowing to set ammo and items from the start. Reserve energy can also be set in this version. This version is compatible with Scyzer's Save/Load patch.

Changes since v1.01
1. Added compatibility with Sadiztyk's Save/Load patch.
2. Added reserve energy support.
3. Added ability of having missiles at Ceres.
4. Added ability of Samus' ship to replenish ammo and reserve energy after leaving Ceres.



3. PLM repoint v2
Use this version only if you need compatibility with Ceres and Debug usage patch and if you want to use PLM bank $C0 or higher or if you want to repoint Special Scrolling Data.

You'll need to use Reserve Energy Safety Fuse patch first because it compresses the code and produces a free space in bank $82 in where some code of this patch is placed to make it compatible with Ceres and Debug usage patch.

Changes since v1.11
1. Code in bank $82 is relocated again to make the patch compatible with Ceres and Debug usage patch.
2. Offset in ASM file is corrected to work with current version.
3. Added Special Scrolling Data repointing ability.

EDIT: ASM file contained bug. Fixed version is posted instead bugged one. Please redownload it



4. Palette Blend v2

Highly compressed and optimized version of Area Palette Blend patch originally made by DSO. Now 80 new palettes can be used in game! This version is already compatible with New Map tiles patch.

Changes since v1.1
1. Size optimizition in over 20 times.
2. Palette amount increased from 64 to 80. Blend indexes from 80 to CF are working now.
3. Palette blends are grouped together, so you can freely copy palette rows from one palette blend to another without worries of code damage.
4. Use as many palletes of 80 as you need and use free space for new item graphics, code repointing or everything else you wish.

[JAM]

5. Stronger Orange Doors v2
A patch allowing to set powers of orange doors. Now in ASM format.

In original game all orange doors have power as 01, allowing to open them from any distance. Set it to 08 and you'll have to lay a bomb at least from half screen from door or else you'll need to set more than 1 bomb. Set it to 0F and you'll have to lay a bomb right in front of orange door to open it from the first time. Set power to 10 and you'll have to lay at least 2 power bombs to open horizontal orange door. As for vertical orange doors, max damage it can get from power bomb is 17 if it was laid right in front of one of weak points (where the shield is very thin). Set the powers to 18 and you'll have to lay at least 2 power bombs to open any orange door.



6. Ending time alteration
A patch that will change times that required to get different endings. This is just a bunch of hex tweaks joined into single patch for easy usage.

I didn't put any code to the patch except hex tweaks. Uncomment lines to change checking for minutes if you want to apply it to mini-hacks in which even sloweset turtle will get ending time less than hour. So, if best time is 03 and you have uncomment required lines, you'll get the best ending if your time is between 0:00:00 and 0:02:59 or between 1:00:00 and 1:02:59 or between 2:00:00 and 2:02:59 and so on... There will not be a check for hours anymore. Keep that in mind.

EDIT: contained bug. Constants were placed wrong and the whole patch was failed to apply. Fixed version is replaced the old one. Please redownload it.



7. New items percentage fix
This patch allows to calculate percentage correctly when having new items that are using item or beam bits unused in original game, like Wall Jump Boots or Chaos Arms.



8. CRE removing interval
A patch that allowing to set interval of rooms, in which CRE will be removed. It can be useful, in case of using Area 06 (Ceres) twice: as Space Colony and as regular planet area. By default, in any room in Area 06, located between 7DF45 and 7E0B5 CRE will be removed. Edit certain ASM file to change it.

This patch also have a code that will erase explored map data for Ceres. It should be executed only once to make illusion of using another area different to Space Colony. The map for Ceres in colony and at planet will be the same, but player will see only part of it while in colony and another part of it while on planet. Both parts even can have common sectors. Of course, Colony map can be freely edited.

Warning
To make rooms in Ceres with CRE you'll need to place them in another region while editing them. To do so, go to Edit > Room Properties in SMILE and set any area except Ceres. When done, just change area back to Ceres. Layout of the map will looks like it's screwed up, but it's OK. It's just because SMILE is visually removing CRE in any room in Ceres but not psysically.