[SM] Z-Factor Hack v1.3

[Weterr123]

I'm lost - but that's a good thing, reminds me of the first few times I played the original as a kid. My latest upgrades are varia and ice. Been up to crateria from varia (loved the lava rising thing there btw) to find a dead end, resulting in curses, which were quashed when I found an energy tank  :^_^:

Currently back down in Norfair, being blocked by gates, speed boost blocks and powerbomb blocks.  :mad:

However, I just want to reiterate that I love the fact I'm not breezing through this with ease, I'm really liking the challenge. I have died, many, many times  :lol:

This hack is fantastic  :grin:

[Quietus]

It's not clear whether you're asking for assistance or not...

If you are:
[spoiler]Now you have the Ice Beam, you need to head into the upper left corner of Norfair.  Start in a large room with bubble blocks, and use the Ice Beam to create a new path that you couldn't (without IBJing or a pretty accurate wall-jump) reach before.[/spoiler]

[Weterr123]

No, I don't want assistance, so thanks for hiding whatever you said in spoiler, I choose not to read it  :^_^:

I found wave last night, so all good  :grin:

[Quietus]

thanks for hiding whatever you said in spoiler, I choose not to read it  :^_^:

You are welcome. :^_^:

No, I don't want assistance

* Quietus mutters 'Zaridia' under his breath, and chuckles.

:heheh:

[danidub]

I am on the Secret Room quest and I just beat Draygon without Gravity suit. v1.3
Now I'm right here:
[spoiler]
[/spoiler]
with this:
[spoiler][/spoiler]
Am I on the right path?
How can I go farther?

[Metaquarius]

I am on the Secret Room quest and I just beat Draygon without Gravity suit. v1.3
Now I'm right here:
[spoiler]
[/spoiler]
with this:
[spoiler][/spoiler]
Am I on the right path?
How can I go farther?

This is not the right path. You don't even have to beat Draygon nor Botwoon to go where you want to. :^_^:

[danidub]

This is not the right path. You don't even have to beat Draygon nor Botwoon to go where you want to. :^_^:

:O_o: I have killed Botwoon and Draygon and went out this F hole without gravity
and you are just telling me that this is not the right path ???

Come on, give me a hint...  :bounce:

[MetroidMst]

Up the elevator to the Wrecked Ship. Which if I recall shouldn't be blocked by any locked doors from Botwoon/Draygon. Pretty much just North of the location you are at in the pic you posted.

[Metaquarius]

This is not the right path. You don't even have to beat Draygon nor Botwoon to go where you want to. :^_^:

:O_o: I have killed Botwoon and Draygon and went out this F hole without gravity
and you are just telling me that this is not the right path ???

Come on, give me a hint...  :bounce:

Hum....
IIRC danidub has made a map of Maridia, you might want to use it to help you out....... :heheh:  :heheh:  :heheh:

Hint
[spoiler]
You're supposed to go through the central turbo pipe to reach the topleft part of Mardia
[/spoiler]

[danidub]

I got it!  :razz:
This was very fun, I enjoyed it a lot.
Great level design.

Now I check the rest of the map for v1.3

Edit: Z-Factor's map v 1.3 is out.

[spoiler]http://www.nordub.ca/Maps/Z-Factor.png[/spoiler]

[ianfrombristol]

OK, having just finished this hack today I thought I would give my perspective (as a player of lesser ability).  This hack is HARD but also highly enjoyable. Firstly the good;
1. The size of this hack means that there is many hours of playability
2. Room and map design are up there with the best of any of the SM hacks I have played
3. I liked how progress involved interaction with the environment i.e. falling boulders smashing an impenetrable wall
4. A good stiff challenge

...and now the not so good;
1. Too many instances of forced damage taking
2. Off-screen hazards such as spikes occur far too often
3. Grapple points not visible on screen until you have committed to your swing. This continually forced me to result to IBJ rather than playing the hack as intended
4. Unforgiving re-tracks if you fail at a jump or grapple beam swing
5. Ultra short time for the final escape sequence (I had to break this down into several sections using save states and perform each section near perfrectly to make the time)

So, well done Metaquarius and thanks for all your help.

[DonnyDonovan]

I killed Phantoon, and read where I'm supposed to go, but I left the Wrecked Ship the way I came in and I don't know how to get over to the left side and do what apparently is next.  It seems to involve either an IBJ or crossing a bridge of crumble blocks that I can't cross.  I'm obviously missing something.

[Quietus]

Once you've beaten Phantoon, and if I recall correctly, you need to head down the lift that appears, and head out of the left-hand side of the ship.  You'll then need to get a serious Grappling Beam head on to get back in another door.

[DonnyDonovan]

Correct.  But, if you're stupid like me, and went back to the Wrecked Ship map station and the area where you first entered after killing Phantoon, from what I can tell, you've screwed yourself.  The only way to get back is to IBJ up the shaft with the mine enemy things.  Someone correct me if I'm wrong.  I may have an earlier save I can utilize, but, this would be annoying if true and should probably be corrected in a future release.  All it would take is one freezable enemy in the shaft in it's post-Phantoon state and problem solved. 

[Quietus]

Not necessarily.  Send me a PM with a copy of your save, and I'll IBJ you up there in no time. :^_^:

[DonnyDonovan]

Thanks!  But I'm sure I can either get lucky and do it or use slowdown and do it.  Or, like I said, I'm not sure where my last save might be.  Should still probably be fixed though since Meta has made clear he wants the hack to require no advanced moves.  It's an easy mistake to make because my instinct was to go activate the map since I had seen it on my way up when the ship was dead. 

[altoiddealer]

Thanks!  But I'm sure I can either get lucky and do it or use slowdown and do it.  Or, like I said, I'm not sure where my last save might be.  Should still probably be fixed though since Meta has made clear he wants the hack to require no advanced moves.  It's an easy mistake to make because my instinct was to go activate the map since I had seen it on my way up when the ship was dead.

I had this same problem, and I posted about it too.  I got lucky and was able to IBJ up the shaft with like a dozen savestates and a little luck.

It wasn't as bad as the time I played Oxide, and got to Kraid before obtaining high jump, speedbooster or Gravity... I gave up trying to IBJ up that shaft after a half hour and didn't make it half way without screwing up

[DonnyDonovan]

Not asking for help, just adding one more voice to the chorus of "Ugh.  Zaridia."  It's going to be awhile. 

I may be asking for help soon.

[Metaquarius]

Thanks!  But I'm sure I can either get lucky and do it or use slowdown and do it.  Or, like I said, I'm not sure where my last save might be.  Should still probably be fixed though since Meta has made clear he wants the hack to require no advanced moves.  It's an easy mistake to make because my instinct was to go activate the map since I had seen it on my way up when the ship was dead.

About that Wrecked Ship related issue, I did change the room before Phantoon (in v1.2 I think) so as to discourage people to go back to the Map Station after slaying him... but seemingly people really really wants to backtrack.  :portal:

I know this is not the best anwser to this for now, but technically, you're not stuck in that mentionned shaft (or even compelled to use IBJ to get back on track) because there's an alternate path to get up there. This path is hidden in one of the nearby rooms. BTW It also leads to a certain room containing Serris' remains. This might have some significance soon or later...

[DonnyDonovan]

I did finally manage to do it, snag Gravity, and hit Maridia.  After a long day of searching I found Botwoon and Draygon and only had to look up a small hint to do it, and, in hindsight, shouldn't have even needed to do that as the path is marked.  I've killed both and I managed to luck into the LN entrance with very little difficulty, so I'm on my way.

Edit:  Okay, I'm asking for a small hint.  Every path of advancement in LN seems to involve a nasty acid bath.  I'm assuming there's a way to lower it fairly early on that I'm missing?

[painghein]

Edit:  Okay, I'm asking for a small hint.  Every path of advancement in LN seems to involve a nasty acid bath.  I'm assuming there's a way to lower it fairly early on that I'm missing?

Short answer, Yes  :yay:
[spoiler=Hint]There is a small visual hint to for the place to lower the acid in LN(at least in v1.2, don't know about early versions).[/spoiler]

[DonnyDonovan]

I found it.  I'm slowly making my way through LN.  Currently looking for Ridley.  Not asking for help, at least not yet.

[Quietus]

Finding Ridley was the worst bit for me.

[spoiler]The HUD hiding the entrance is just daft.[/spoiler]

[DonnyDonovan]

Ridley has fallen (first attempt, although I admit I didn't have a lot of energy left at the end).  I'm now off to find Spring ball and X-Ray, which I never did the first time through, then off to explore this Tourian I've heard so much about.

This is a fun game, but I agree there are way too many places where an unfortunate fall is way too unforgiving.  I am abusing savestates like a madman, which I prefer not to have to do.  And I'm playing 1.3.  I can only imagine what 1.0 must have been like.

[Chaosfissure]

(V1.2)

I've successfully completed this game once, and yeesh, Tourian was absolutely amazing o.o That atmosphere was awesome!  Lots of unexpected things that kept me on my toes.  Savestates were pretty helpful too, because some of the backtracking was incredibly long. I actually didn't hate Maridia as much as some people I've heard on the thread, and found all the non-gravity navigation interesting.  It'd be interesting to have a hack where gravity only affects underwater navigation and you're forced to enable and disable it to proceed...

Anyways, I figure I'd try it again, and go for the 'super secret room' before getting to Phantoon.  So, I've managed to fish jump across that super missile room near the Map station, and explored pretty high up into Maridia itself, however I'm at a standstill.

[spoiler][/spoiler]

Either I missed a possible path somewhere else due to considering it a Gravity Suit requirement  or am blindly horrid at underwater sand physics and am missing a way to go left in this room.  Any advice?