[SM] Z-Factor Hack v1.3

[Quietus]

Check your ROM first. It should be "Super Metroid (JU) [!]", unheadered (3,072KB, not 3,073), and when your emulator loads it, it should display the ROM's CRC32 as D63ED5F8.

If that's correct, try hard patching the .ips to the ROM, then soft patching (same folder - the emulator will apply it automatically). If that still doesn't work, try a different emulator. If you still have trouble, let us know. :^_^:

[MetroidX]

Thanks Quietus! Got it to work now > had to find the un-headered version 3072kb. Good thing I posted here first, I was thinking of deleting and adding some dll files but was worried. Glad i didn't.

[MetroidX]

OK completed this hack last night, playtim 18hrs, 96% completion rate. So for a quick review, I loved it for about 1/4 (especially at the start) then hated another 1/4 and detested the other 2/4ths. Overall, I give this hack 2 stars out of 5.

Ok for long review:
Keep in mind that I have played various hacks previously, including redesign, phazon, am2r, hyper, etc.
I really liked the initial pace and difficulty. Locating items was great as well as I quickly noticed the hints you provided. I was really having a blast and thinking this could be the best new hack out there since Phazon. However, this all went downhill once I got to Kraid. Why oh why did you have to make him so strong is beyond me. It's like the difficulty level was already at 6 out of 10. But facing Kraid made it seem like the difficulty level shot through 15 out of 10, lol. Anyways, after Finally finishing him off, things just got frustrating. Maridia just took a toll on me. The hints were not as relevant and the difficulty varied extremely from hard to super hard to ? at times. The entrace to the third tunnel without the space jump was unforgiving. Then to reach Draygon was a nightmare.
Once defeating Draygon, I thought Ok, let me just go to lower Norfair, hopefully its more structured. Dude, If Maridia was a nightmare, then reaching Ridley was like doing DMT, was fuc--- crazy. I actually think I went mad. I am still trying to recover. There was just to many run arounds, teaser rooms, and super secret entrances.
Tourian was much better paced and good difficulty level.
In the end, I blame myself for trying to figure things out and not asking or looking for help, but to me that is how I like to play.

I can only imagine what v1.0 was like. Probably as hard as SM Impossible. Just dumb.

[awedry]

We finished this one the other day. Thank you Metaquarius for all the hard work you've put into making Z-Factor! Was fun to play SM like it was almost new again. No screenshot, but we finished in 10h12m with 64%.

Some thoughts:
[spoiler]*We loved some of the thoughtful room designs. The exit puzzle from Wave Beam and the Shaktool room really stood out, but tracking the Metroids in the dark in Tourian was the highlight of the experience.
*We missed Charge on the first trip through Brinstar so the Crocomire fight was much more intense (his behavior change at the start made this particularly so).
*Phantoon's room background was inspired!
*We thought finding the winding path through Maridia quite the challenge, but rewarding to solve.
*Pretty frustrated with crumble block placement in several locations, as well as the grapple room before Ridley. A few missed tries with long paths to recover progress led us to use save states in those spots.
*We had one permastuck. In Maridia, the room with a few Powamps and the high ledge in the upper right - one of the Powamps hoisted Samus into the ceiling and out of bounds. She got stuck in the HUD with no way out except a reset.
*We might play through again to try to reach the super secret room that we've heard about...
[/spoiler]

~A

[skepticon]

Who did you intend to play this hack? [spoiler]You made Kraid nearly impossible. I can't imagine how much damage you'd take from him and the room before him if you got there without Varia. As it was I could barely hit him with 10 supers before dying; god knows how many more it would have taken? And I have more ammo than I 'should' at this point because of sequence breaking earlier.

Very disappointed.[/spoiler]

[Metaquarius]

Difficulty: Veteran

If Zaridia doesn't claim your soul, Lower Zorfair will make you cry.
Also sequence breaking is bad for health.  :^_^:

[personitis]

If you're having difficulty with the, er, difficulty because you sequence broke, that's usually a by-product of sequence breaking. That said though, the hack is definitely not on the easier side and I'm sure was built to give those who've become very familiar with the original SM some extra challenge. If things are giving you trouble, don't be thick-headed like I can be, remember that you're not locked into an area, and that you can always backtrack and look for any items you may have missed.

I personally never had issues with Maridia; just pay attention to you map. Lower Norfair on the other hand I have some complaints about (one of which stems from not collecting an item or two).

[andlabs]

Also remember that in hacks, the boss order is not going to be the same as the original, if there is one. I've already forgotten which boss I faced first in Z Factor.

[skepticon]

Difficulty: Veteran

If Zaridia doesn't claim your soul, Lower Zorfair will make you cry.
Also sequence breaking is bad for health.  :^_^:

I mean, your intended route to fight [spoiler]Spore Spawn[/spoiler] includes a pretty difficult mid-air unmorph jump. That's a lot harder than SBing with IBJ... not really fair to blame the players for that.

To be clear, I'm not complaining about the difficulty of any SBs. Just [spoiler]Kraid and also the room before him which forces you to take a lot of damage. With Kraid, his high health and damage, but mainly all the shit flying around at supersonic speed chunking my health and making it difficult to get more than a couple damage windows on him before dying.[/spoiler]

[MetroidMst]

I will suggest the same thing I suggest to people complaining about 30 Energy in NEStroid. Don't get hit. Yeah things move fast, but you have a great ability to not get hit, especially in Kraid's room since you can shoot the two projectiles, and the spikes coming from the stomach are all below you if you stay on the top platforms. (And you're pretty safe on the left one, as Kraid can't go all the way over there.)

[metroidlover22]

How might one obtain this missile tank in Norfair? I've been liking this hack a lot. It's the third hack I've played!

[Quietus]

It's been a while since I played this hack, so I can't tell you exactly where to build the speed up, but you'll need to perform a speedball to break through there. Run until you reach booster status, then perform a mockball.

If you don't know how to mockball, there's a video tutorial here. :^_^:

[metroidlover22]

It's been a while since I played this hack, so I can't tell you exactly where to build the speed up, but you'll need to perform a speedball to break through there. Run until you reach booster status, then perform a mockball.

If you don't know how to mockball, there's a video tutorial here. :^_^:

Thank you Quietus. I'm going to try to figure out how jump without hitting the platform while charging the speed boost charge. I wish you could croutch to charge like you can in other hacks, but speed boosting in this is just like the original SM (which isn't necessarily bad ^^, gotta love SM).

[CaRmAgE]

I believe that's near Crocomire's room (a couple rooms away).

Thank you Quietus. I'm going to try to figure out how jump without hitting the platform while charging the speed boost charge.

Yeah, IIRC, you have to come from the room on the right. I think you need to tap down early in the air to reduce Samus's hitbox, so you don't hit that platform. It's been a while, since I played it, too, though.

I wish you could croutch to charge like you can in other hacks, but speed boosting in this is just like the original SM (which isn't necessarily bad ^^, gotta love SM).

Even if the hack would let you recharge shinesparks, the slope is too short to do a speedball.

[GaRan]

 :^_^: I am so happy that a TAS of this hack is done
[spoiler]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VEn0p7u0DFg&list=PLyfRNbNtI4K6IwS6uSCtRTMcThc5O7y9M&index=9&t=0s
Thanks for watching![/spoiler]

[Quietus]

Man. Never any love for the 100%. :sad:

[GaRan]

Man. Never any love for the 100%. :sad:

Yes, I always want to do 100% (because then I won't mind the ammunition management  :grin:)
But a 100% TAS will cost a lot of time to plan the route, and to make it, therefore I prefer to do an any% TAS first!

[Axatax]

:^_^: I am so happy that a TAS of this hack is done
[spoiler]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VEn0p7u0DFg&list=PLyfRNbNtI4K6IwS6uSCtRTMcThc5O7y9M&index=9&t=0s
Thanks for watching![/spoiler]

Can the bomb Torizo not be skipped because Samus comes through the ceiling?

You can also probably save about 8 frames going through the door at about 3:01.

[Ri2nOneRok]

is there some sort of trick to do in power bomb gate in maridia? there seems to be shaqtool dirt below , i already beat draygon. Also I am trying to get springball

thanks

nevermind, solved

[GaRan]

:^_^: I am so happy that a TAS of this hack is done
[spoiler]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VEn0p7u0DFg&list=PLyfRNbNtI4K6IwS6uSCtRTMcThc5O7y9M&index=9&t=0s
Thanks for watching![/spoiler]

Can the bomb Torizo not be skipped because Samus comes through the ceiling?

You can also probably save about 8 frames going through the door at about 3:01.

Bomb Torizo cannot be skipped because the door is closed-grey door (not open)
Can you explain the 8 frames saved?  :^_^:

[andronicus87]

I am running around and around this hack and I am still missing 2 energy tanks 4 missiles 2 SM and 1 PB... wish someone would do a 100% of this hack lol. I have been playing every damned SM hack and even ZM hack I can get my hands on lately and I love to 100% them all. Looking bleak for this one wasted a day and half already looking for the items I'm missing lol. Considering the way some of the items were hidden in this hack they are probably hidden extremely well.

[Metaquarius]

Take a look at the map here to find out which items you've missed : http://www.nordub.ca/Maps/Z-Factor.png
This map is from Danidub's map station, it features other hacks as well ;)

[andronicus87]

Lol thanks for the Help but it was actually Pantheon that I couldn't find the last 2 energy tanks on I 100% Z-Factor already.  This is what happens wheny ou play so many SM hacks back to back lmao.  It was actually Pantheon that I couldnt find any 100% videos of.  Z-Factor was awesome by the way and I am really looking forward to your x-fusion hack. If you are going to be able to sell it now you can bet I am going to buy it.

[Mod-troid]

Completion time: 15:49
Items collected: 98%
Aaaaand I beat it. Took me far longer than the stated 15 hours(blame savestates), and I know exactly what items I missed.
[spoiler="My thoughts"]Overall it was a superb hack, which is especially impressing for a vanilla thing. First off, the map. About every region is twice as vast as in the original game, which is both a blessing and a curse. Blessing, because there's more to explore and find. Curse, because there's quite some backtracking in a few places. Add the general open-endedness and we get a recipe for getting lost vey often. Not helping matters is that the path forward(most notably the entrance to Draygon's lair) was often so well hidden that it forced me to look up the map or X-Ray and bomb everything I come across(vanilla NEStroid all over again). Thus, the best parts were the two more linear, cramped areas: wrecked ship, which finally looks like a spaceship, and Tourian. Oh, that was indeed one of the best takes on Tourian I've seen, especially that whole sequence with the power going out... which was spoiled by how aggressive the metroids were. And then the escape. It was tense, it was difficult, it was satisfying. Only issue is that the default three-minute time limit was kinda strict for that, especially considering where the animals were. I'll give it four Chozo eggs out of five.[/spoiler]

[Metaquarius]

Yo, thanks for the quick review. Much appreciated. ;)