[SM] Metroid Super Zero Mission

[Nikoshiba]

Damn...
(Thank you Jordan)

[cirric]

Thank you MW, but i found it out short time after my post ,)
So for those who play 2.4 and look for a walktrough, i made one.
Not much elegant, but think it's the only one for now.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vk-430ehGqw

there are six parts, shows how to get all items and bosses. (+ save the animals^^)
about 60% or so run.

[metroidplayer57]

Alright, can anyone help me? I've gotten every major upgrade in the game EXCEPT the X-Ray Scope. I think you have to hit four buttons in order in the Pirate Ship, and I think I've found all four. It's getting to number one that I am having a hard time with. There's a barrier there that closes too quickly to Shinespark through, and there's no room to Speed- or Mockball through. Anyone willing to help me?

[Quietus]

There's quite a bit of discussion, and a link to a video here.  See how you get on with those. :^_^:

[Nikoshiba]

At last, I beat the 2.3 version (in fact, "my" 2.3 version 'cause I edited the LVL4 Switch Room) in 13h33 and 66%... Poor stats for a great hack.
Tricky for a noob like me but great atmosphere... Could be a commercial game for sure (a little hard but really clever)

[PokeyTroid]

Hi guys! Just registered, first post, ect.

I really need some help.

I'm attempting a 100% run of this hack, and I've hit a roadblock. I got early Power Bombs, backtracked to pick up Plasma, then returned to Chozodia for my fully powered suit; I wanna skip Tourian for now.

I'm not sure I'm going the right way. I'm on the east side of Chozodia, in the lower of the two golden rooms with the statues. The roomstate is vastly different from usual; Those big blocks are everywhere, and Shaktool isn't here.

The only way through the room seems to be through the Speed Booster blocks on the left side. They're in front of a statue, and 4 tiles deep/downward. I had to Speedball under one of those big blocks to reach them, then somehow managed to break through them, but I'm not exactly sure how I did it.

But then there's another layer at the bottom of the room. These blocks are the only thing between me and lower Chozodia.

So, am I going the right way? I need to keep the Speed Boost/blue suit state while falling, but I don't know how. Help!

Oh, and is there anything I should know about 100% in this hack? I made sure I got the Power Bombs to the left of the landing site, cuz I know that those are missable. Are there any other one-chance items?

[cirric]

@ PokeyTroid

Not sure if i understand u right, but to destroy speedblocks downward u have to do this one ;
Run in boost mode to the speedblocks and when u reach the edge (i think a little before), press (diagonal) down and rapidly after up and hold it.

[ardh2005]

Wow... This game had 2 firsts at the same time... I had to use the infinite HP cheat on Spore spawn and the fight STILL made me want to give up...

[Zeke]

You may remember I was hacking away at the Hard version a while ago, and had a mini-FAQ in progress. It stopped at the red lock. I'm still stuck at the red lock. The obstacle makes no sense at all, and I struggled with it for so long it killed my interest for a while.

Let me show you that obstacle. Maybe somebody can help.

SZM Hard: red lock puzzle

This is a four-minute clip from the author's .smv of Hard mode. (Since failed attempts are left in, apparently he was running this without a lot of savestates... to which all I can say is, bravo.) He tries the speedball over and over, and finally it works.

WHAT THE HELL IS HE DOING DIFFERENTLY ON THE LAST ONE?!

Pardon my emphasis. This is just driving me crazy. To be specific, several of his attempts almost work, only to be stopped by the pillar. Yet somehow the final attempt, which looks just like the ones before, gets past the pillar. How?

[Zephoras]

i fail to see what you are asking. if you could explain alittle better?

[Zeke]

Fair point; I've edited to clarify.

[Quietus]

My guess would be that it's speed related, with him jumping into the mockball at the last second.  The gate closes on a timer, and is open when you enter.  Not having enough speed would mean that it closes before you reach it, similar to escaping the Ice Beam area in the origiinal game.  Jumping into the mockball too early may prevent Samus from reaching full speed.

[Zeke]

But how can she not be at full speed here? She's coming out of a shinespark; aren't those already at full speed-boost velocity?

[Quietus]

Again, I'm guessing, but it might be the difference between starting your jump on the ramp, and starting it on the flat at the top of the ramp.  I believe that Samus's horizontal momentum is reduced on slopes.  As an exaggerated example, slopes at that same angle, but vertical, make Samus look like she's running ridiculously slowly.  I know you probably want to do it legit, but if you try slowing it right down in the emulator, and testing on the ramp, then on the flat, you'll see if it makes a difference.  You will then know one way or the other, so you can try it legit.

[DonnyDonovan]

I watched the video and I agree.  On the successful attempt Samus is faster and beats the gate.  Quietus knows far more about this stuff than I do, but, that's definitely the difference. 

[Zephoras]

Qui is most likely correct

[Scyzer]

Quietus is correct. Samus's horizontal momentun when she jumps stays the same as the horizontal speed she was going at the time of the jump.
When you are running on slopes, samus's horizontal speed is reduced slightly, and her vertical speed increases. It's to make it seem like she doesn't speed up or slow down constantly as you run. With these changes, she is technically covering the same distance in the same time, if you count the hypotenuse of the slopes.
When you start a jump on a slope, you'll have less "forward momentum" than if you jump off flat ground.

[Zeke]

How, in all this time, did I never think to check where he jumped from?

Okay, actually I can answer that. It's because I assumed (as my previous posts indicate) that speed-boost speed was constant; either you were speed-boosting or you weren't. In retrospect, my knowledge of how super-short-charge works should've at least made me wonder.

And yet... it doesn't matter! I took a careful, frame-by-frame look at the attempts in that .smv, and there's not one where he jumps on the flat instead of the ramp. Somehow, it just works on his last try.

Regardless, I've made many attempts of my own in the last couple of days, always being careful to jump on the flat, which has to be done very quickly to clear the ledge. The PSP emulator won't go any slower than 10 FPS, but that's slow enough. (Quietus, you flatter me by assuming I don't want to use slowdown -- and on most other hacks, you'd be right. But this one has already forced me to use it many times. It's as close to a TAS-only hack as I've ever played.) Not a single attempt worked.

So last night, before going to sleep, I took one last crack at it. I jumped when I felt like it -- don't even remember where.

IT WORKED.

I don't know how. I don't know why. All I remember is that the jump felt different somehow, and then it worked. It was like finally getting a dash jump right in Prime. (Some people seem to find the Prime tricks easy; I suck at all of them. I make up for it by being a master of wall jumps in Super, which a lot of people hate.)

The only thing I can say for sure is that my high jump was disabled. That may or may not have helped. I don't know why it would -- if anything, HJ gets you off the ground faster, giving you a bit longer to make the jump. I don't even know if HJ is enabled at this point in the .smv, and I'm not about to fast-forward the whole thing again to check. (Does Samus's boot sprite actually change, or is that just on the info screen?)

In conclusion:
(1) I hate this hack.
(2) I can finally beat it now. I'll finish that FAQ after I go break all the power bomb blocks.
(3) I clearly should've asked for advice here ages ago. I have no idea if it actually helped, but it got me trying again. Thank you all.
(4) Somebody else play Hard already. I refuse to be the only one put through this. Anyway, my FAQ should help, and it's all worth it to find out why he gives you X-Ray after Mother Brain.

[Digital_Mantra]

[Vexium]

I beat this hack a while ago, and I just want to state that it is very original, has great concepts and designs, but there's one big, big issue with it.

The secrets. Some of the secrets are just absurdly unfair in their demand. I'm speaking especially about all the elaborate shinespark puzzles (there are just far too many, and eventually they get old/frustrating) and most importantly, about the X-Ray Scope and the damn Pirate ship locks. I loved the L4 lock and the L2 lock. They felt very intuitive, very enjoyable. But the L3 lock kills me. It is not fair, it is not intuitive, and you will miss it every time if you assume there is a logic behind its actual entrance location. There is a tiny indication from the room above that there is a way into that area, but with the countless other small little spots just like it throughout the Pirate Ship, you're bound to neglect the possibility that the author will decide to randomly throw a speed boost entry point three-fourths of the way into a speed boost path.

So as much as I enjoyed SMSZM, it is ultimately spoiled by the absurdity of some of the puzzles. The second I had to pick up a map to find the L3 lock, and the moment I discovered the actual entry point, I flipped a switch and started to dislike the hack. It was tons of fun until then, but that did it for me. Let's not even get into the elaborate shinespark-mockball-space jump speed puzzle in the right portion of Chozodia. Or the near-improbable missile puzzle in Tourian. But hey, at least you have X-Ray to help guide you somewhat. The L3 Lock is the deal-breaker, because it's a prerequisite to finding the last item you'll need to find secrets. It's just not fair.

Rant aside, amazing hack, but the secrets are not always intuitive, unfortunately sometimes in critical moments, and that puts it at a decisively lower quality than hacks of Redesign's caliber.

[Powellman]

Obligatory first post asking for help, I've just gotten out of the pirate ship and spent ages trying to figure out where to go next. I figured I should be able to get to tourain since I've beaten both ridley and kraid but that door is still grey into the statue room (the lvl1 door). I checked a walkthrough on youtube and the guy literally did the exact same thing as me but the door is blue when he comes out of the pirate ship. Could this be a bug with my version of the game or am I missing something? I know there's a power bomb block in the same room and after reading this thread it seems you can get power bombs by not triggering off the lasers in the pirate ship but eerrr I didn't do that.

[craighypheno]

I assume you have unlocked both the level 1 and 2 doors?

[Powellman]

I mustn't have if this door is still locked as it says its a lvl1. Is there a mechanism for opening these doors? or do I just have to defeat the bosses. Thanks for the reply  :^_^:

This is the room I'm talking about

[Powellman]

ok I figured it out, your message gave me a clue that I had possibly missed something so thanks :D I feel like an idiot now ha!

[craighypheno]

That's alright. I very nearly missed it during my first playthrough of it!  :blush: