Metroid Retried

[Stinktier]

Been using editroid for quite a while without being aware of this forum, can you believe that?!

Anyhow, hi all!

It seems like this is actually happening. It started out as a (well, several) level design exercise as i thought the level design of my own game-in-development hobby lacked ingeniuty. The excersice was to cram the most fun out of those 128kbs. I eventually got beyond my initial focus and merged the best parts into an expanded rom-in-progress which i've put in my calendar to work with in a slow but steady pace. But enough talk, have at you!



I'm not sure about the working title (Re:troid). There's apparently a musician and an arkanoid clone app for smartphones with that name, only without colon. Another suggestion is Metroid: Retried or even just Retried.

Difficulty in this one is a notch higher than the original, it should come as no surprise. But i think it's more of a puzzler than a platformer compared to the original.

[Retroo]

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[Stinktier]

Oh darn!  :pale:

EDIT: Well, luckily i've saved the title screen for last along with the other graphical tweaks that might or might not happen. Metroid retried it is then.

[Retroo]

for the hack, the rooms look good in my head. i can not say much on this becuse im more used to super metroid. Good luck  :^_^:

[Lunaria]

It's not like you own the name. Unless you got a done product with the name out there, I don't think you can really complain if someone comes up with the same name when it's something so generic.

The more varied level design you got here might actually make for a nice NEStroid experience, good luck with further work on it!

[Stinktier]

Well, beyond new level design the main emphasis could be said to be to circumvene some of the very rudimentary designs and limits of Nestroid (which at its core behaves pretty much like kid icarus - i wouldn't be surprised if parts of the code were perfectly matching if you ran the two games through an and logic gate, offsets aside), to give a feel that is closer to what we know and love in later 2d metroid games. Some of the limits are retained and highlighted, though. I've made it more of a feature that samus can't duck and shoot, for example.

i'm svensk.  :nod:

Crys: Thanks for the name defense and room comment! i'm not that attached to the name though. It's just working titles until/if something more specific comes to mind. But on the other hand, there's not much of a new storyline going on, so something generic might aswell fit.   :colonrightv:

[Lunaria]

i'm svensk.  :nod:

You mean you're a swede? :P

Vilket för övrigt är något jag själv är.

And yes, what I meant with level design is the new/changes to the mechanics that makes for more options when it comes to level design. NEStroid is very dated, and very simple, as such, it has not aged well. :P

[Retroo]

what det visste jag inte crys haha ;P

[Stinktier]

At least Nestroid is sweet vintage wine compared to the vinegar that is M2:RoS.  :heheh: But maybe that's just childhood and first exposure speaking.

[begrimed]

That makes three hacks carrying the title of Retroid. I wonder which one will be finished first!

[Quietus]

With Stinktier's avatar, it sounds like you should all do it.  You'll then have to distinguish them with nifty subtitles. :^_^:

Anyway, why wouldn't you go with the obvious one: Metroid Grime? :heheh:

[Retroo]

That makes three hacks carrying the title of Retroid. I wonder which one will be finished first!

3??

[Quietus]

Well, either Grime is admitting that he's making one too, or he knows a super secret person who is creating one in a dungeon somewhere, using a computer powered by a mutant hamster in a wheel.

Or maybe not... :O_o:

[begrimed]

ProjectXVIII started a hack called that a couple years ago, which was building NES Metroid's rooms in Super Metroid. He handed the ROM over to me when he stopped working on it. And, well, you've all seen how quickly I release hacks.

[Stinktier]

That sounds like a winner of the title from a content-based ground. What still bugs me the most is that arkanoid clone with the same name, though.. Even though these type of developers churn out so-so clones by the month from my experience.

I'm curious how grime's hacktakeover plays. I'm imagining that just a thing like downwards shooting while in mid-air or even diagonal shooting would completely break the original level design in all its seams.  :razz:

EDIT: I just remembered that my initial feeling towards diagonal aiming in super castlevania and super metroid was scepsis, haha. Or maybe that was just a defense mechanism when all i had was a NES and my friends had already gotten a SNES.  :blush:


Anyhow, here's a short instagram vid i just made for some friends a few days ago that simply shows that the hack is happening. But there's also that one-time room transition that happens when you break a view boundary. Unfortunately, i didn't capture when the view scrolls freely after that, but it gives a sense of how things work.
http://instagram.com/p/qLh-iJyqZk/

[Lunaria]

Also, being able to aim and shoot down is a huge thing, make it happen! :p

[Stinktier]

I'm really think downwards point and shooty would detract more fun than add to it, at least in this hack's level design. Let's just say it will be easy to see for oneself whenever i have something complete to release.

Falling through shafts while shooting downwards might be convenient, but then again one can also learn how to fall unhurt w/o shooting at all.

[Meeptroid]

Is this project still getting worked on?

[Stinktier]

Yes it is. From time to time. I'm working overtime a lot these days so there isn't much time to put into this thing, and i still need to iron out a big flaw in my attempt to implement a speedbooster. Testing level design can't carry on until that is done.

[Stinktier]

Just wanted to post a brief update here in case anyone is wondering:

This project has come back into development and improvements have been made. A lot of level layout has been added, and testing speeded up since i added an auto game over function which i can access from the second joypad. The kraid area is beginning to look good and consistent.

However, i got a bit frustrated with me waving sticks in the dark at the code, so i've taken the time and read through a lot of 6502 related books, and it has given me much needed clarity. I think the next step would be to do a few mini games from scratch (generic snake clones and whatnot) to get a more firm grip before returning to modding the engine of this metroid hack any further. Not that i plan for grand things, but it will certainly help.