Metroid - Rogue Dawn

[Quietus]

I think the lighter blue is fine for lights-on mode, but the other blue is waaay too vivid. Perhaps you could use a similar tactic to SM's Wrecked Ship, which changes from a greyish colour to a yellowish colour? Yours could change from a darker grey than your original (or something similar) to the lighter blue colour.

[biospark]

I think the lighter blue is fine for lights-on mode, but the other blue is waaay too vivid. Perhaps you could use a similar tactic to SM's Wrecked Ship, which changes from a greyish colour to a yellowish colour? Yours could change from a darker grey than your original (or something similar) to the lighter blue colour.

Actually, this explains how I feel better. The blue stands out way too much, especially for a game where the background is black. The lights-on mode looks fine though.

[PKstarship]

I was wondering, in Metroid: Rogue Dawn, will the majority of missiles be earned from the bosses like in the original Metroid, or will there be more missiles hidden in the areas?

[RealRed]

The inner blue on the new unlit version is way too saturated and bright. It's not helping your case in any way.

I'm also going to make it a point to disagree with PKstarship; the orange on the edges of the walls is beautiful.

[Grimlock]

Regarding the missile pick ups: We have reduced the boss missile reward and have added additional missile pick ups.  There isn't going to be any extra pick ups, in order to reach 255 all of the missle pick ups will have to be found.  The same applies to the E-tanks, there won't be any extras like the original Metroid, only what is required to max out.

Regarding the palette for the modified ship area: Thanks for the feedback everyone.  I'm scraping the vibrant blue and high contrast orange.  My current plan is to go with the teal palette as the lights on color set and go in a different direction for the dark areas.  I'm going to continue experimenting once I get the remainder of the area updated.  The Orange grey palette will still be used in maintenance areas and in wall passages.

[RealRed]

Track A has been ringing in my head today. It's just so good. I sure hope that one's a keeper for you, Grim.

[PKstarship]

Hi Grimlock, I had an idea for a new item for Metroid, and wondered if you would be interested in adding something like this to Rogue Dawn or a future Metroid hack. My idea was for the charge beam, where Samus starts flashing when you hold down fire, and when the beam is ready to be fired a sound effect starts playing. releasing fire after a couple of seconds fires a larger, more powerful blast, but makes Samus incapable of firing beams or missiles until the charge blast leaves the screen, and spin-jumping while fully charged would make Samus do the pseudo-Screw-Attack, eliminating her charge if she destroys an enemy. Anyway, just throwing this out there...

[Grimlock]

Track A has been ringing in my head today. It's just so good. I sure hope that one's a keeper for you, Grim.

I'm pretty sure Optomon is planning on going with it.  I think he might revisit it though since he's modified the sound engine to include some additional effects such as volume control.  He hasn't released a public sample of it yet but the track he wrote for the starting area is fantastic.


PKstarship, thanks for the idea.  At this stage in development we probably won't be adding any additional items that haven't already been mentioned. 


Announcement: So I stepped away from the ship area for a few days so I could think about how I wanted to approach the lighting and BAM, out of nowhere an entirely new secret "easter egg" area slammed it's way into the hack.....  see what happens guys, you leave your hack alone FOR A MINUTE and this happens......  Oh well, I guess we'll just have to see if anyone is able to find it.  :grin:

(No items in this area, it's just for fun.

(100% complete).

Screenshots:
[spoiler]Yea right!!!  :grin:  :lol:  Happy hunting, I'll include some hints in the readme file when the hack is released[/spoiler]

[PKstarship]

The original Metroid has a lot of slowdown sometimes, especially when the Wave Beam is aquired. Will the slowdown be fixed or reduced in Rogue Dawn? I'm sorry for asking so many questions, I'm just really excited for this hack :bounce:

[Grimlock]

The original Metroid has a lot of slowdown sometimes, especially when the Wave Beam is aquired. Will the slowdown be fixed or reduced in Rogue Dawn? I'm sorry for asking so many questions, I'm just really excited for this hack :bounce:

Well, it's still the same engine so there will be a few moments throughout the game where one has to expect it.  For example the final boss run has some slow down because of the number of things happening all at once.  For the most part though I have limited the number of enemies on each screen to address this.  Once we do a 2nd play test we'll try and weed out any slow down where we can.

[Quietus]

I thought it was just intended tool assistance for the players. :^_^:

[snarfblam]

Will the slowdown be fixed or reduced in Rogue Dawn?

Unfortunately, we aren't removing anything from the game, only adding more stuff. I've been trying very hard to have new code run only when necessary, so hopefully it won't be any worse. Like Grimlock said, we can try to mitigate slowdown when we're ready for another round of testing. I'd also love to profile some trace logs and see if there are any ways to optimize the game engine, but that involves a lot of work, and there may simply be too many other things that need doing.

[Grimlock]

I was asked at RHDN about where we were in development with this project.  I though it would be a good idea to share my response here:


Level/Area Design:

Nearly all area construction is complete, the starting area needs to be polished for final release, maybe over the course of one week.  The area recently discussed with the design changes is now complete, I need to decide if I still want to do any low lighting effects, after the next play test though.  The escape route after the final boss is going to be reworked some to improve it with some additional graphic elements that I've already created.  As is the game is beatable start to finish.

All sub areas are complete.

Minor palette fine tuning will occur in a few area.

Sprite Work:

3 Areas complete, 1 area needs only a couple worked, 1 area needs about 4 enemies redesigned.  The sub areas use the same sprites as the parent (main theme) areas.  I can usually knock out sprites for an area in 1 to 2 sittings.  The mini bosses still need to be reworked.  The final boss is complete, I may revisit it a little just before a final release to polish more but it's good.

Storyline Elements:

Kind of a final layer of area details, I have already designed what will be added.  A lot has already been worked into the game.  I'm currently getting started on adding text where needed.  A few graphics elements still need to be created but nearly all is complete.

Music:

Optomon has shared a few tracks here at RHDN but he's completed more.  The music for the starting area is really good.  He still has some tracks in progress at the moment.  The music still needs to be added to the master copy.

ASM design and implementation:

Snarfblam is buttoning up the final ASM additions to the game, just like the level design it's nearly complete.  All of the new elements have been demonstrated (in our group) and most have been implemented to the master copy of the project.

Other stuff:

We're moving toward creation of the in game map, it's going to be more detailed than previous in game map systems.  Snarfblam is developing a custom editor for it's construction.  The graphics and build will take about a weeks worth of sittings to complete.

The title screen and mission screen are not developed yet, I have plans for the mission screen but M-Tee has expressed interest in designing the title screen something that he is exceptionally talented at.  It may or may not be in the play test 2 game patch.

The ending is not developed yet but again it is fairly designed but needs more attention before it is implemented.  This and the title screen are really among the final stages of development, my primary focus has always been on the actual game environments and gameplay first.  I plan on putting all involved with this games development in the final credits.

Several extras have been added to the area's, Easter eggs, and even a hidden area if players want to search for them as a fun extra.  Hints will be included in the read me file provided.  Area item counts will be provided as well for those that wish to achieve 100% item acquisition, just a number of pickups without specific details.  There is more pickups in this game than the original Metroid.

Rest assured that we are working hard to get this game completed.  As with all game hacks pin pointing an exact release date is difficult since we all do this on a volunteer basis.  Sometimes real life events limit our availability to work on our projects.  The best we can do is set goals for ourselves and share them publicly.  Our goal has been a late summer release but we may see a fall release in the end.  I can confidently say we are in the last 15% of development, maybe even 10%.  We have already put hundreds of hours of work into this project and we're determined to see it through to the end.

[PonchGaming]

Looking forward to it. Will it release before end of october?

[DSO]

This is my most anticipated project, really looking forward to what your team has put together. I believe this is the best NEStroid will ever be. (Because next time you should hack Super. With me.)

[PKstarship]

I like how there is going to be more missile pickups. In the original Metroid, there weren't that many missiles, and most of them were too easy to get. I can't wait for this hack :^_^:

[A Dummy]

Awesome to see this nearing completion.
Take your time as needed, even just knowing this could be finished within the month has me excited.

[Grimlock]

Thanks for the replies everyone.  Judging from a recent review of where everyone stands we're probably looking at the last quarter of 2015.  We're constantly evolving and fine tuning where we want to take this hack so as always it's difficult to pin point a completion. There isn't a whole lot remaining but we have to be careful now that we're down to the last 10 to 15% not to rush it out just to be done.  Also I believe that when you get to this point you have the greatest leverage to really fine tune and perfect your work (and that opportunity shouldn't be rushed). 

(Because next time you should hack Super. With me.)

I'd like to make some SM graphics in the future, SNES graphics look like a lot of fun actually.   :cool:

[mrrichard999]

Looking forward to seeing this release :D It breaks the 4th wall in Metroid hacking.  :bounce:

[Meeptroid]

Grimlock, gotta admit, I am really looking forward to this hack, I'm really interested in what you have thrown your way into the hack, especially the Wrecked Ship-esque zone.

[Grimlock]

Grimlock, gotta admit, I am really looking forward to this hack, I'm really interested in what you have thrown your way into the hack, especially the Wrecked Ship-esque zone.

Thanks, we're probably a couple months out still but we're in good shape.  The wrecked/abandoned ship theme was dumped in favor of a crashed science vessel in order to fit the storyline better.  I suspect it may end up being a love/hate change for some.  I think as a whole the area is significantly improved.  The new teal color was really the best compromise as the orange and grey palette just didn't work anymore with the new graphics.

[Meeptroid]

Meh, its still got the same vibe, so no biggie, although, this is one of those hacks that will probably be a must play for me

[Flower]

Damn, this looks downright beautiful.

I feel so small and unskilled when i see this. When i started my hack i just wanted to give Metroid a new level design for players who want to get a new environment for exploration, but this takes it to a new and higher level. I'm impressed!!

[Grimlock]

Damn, this looks downright beautiful.

I feel so small and unskilled when i see this. When i started my hack i just wanted to give Metroid a new level design for players who want to get a new environment for exploration, but this takes it to a new and higher level. I'm impressed!!

Thanks Flower but don't underestimate yourself too quickly, this is my second Metroid hack and what you see is over a years worth of work (literally hundreds of hours of work).  I started where you are with my first hack although custom graphics were always a must for me.  Set your goals high and work hard and you'll be surprised at what you can accomplish. 

[Grimlock]

Newly updated starting area (Pirate Ship):


Control Room:  (Basic mission objective information on screen)
[spoiler][/spoiler]

Item Room:
[spoiler][/spoiler]

Simple Map Usage Instructions Worked into Game:
[spoiler]

[/spoiler]

Health Charger:
[spoiler][/spoiler]


Updated Federation Science Ship:

Starting Screen:
[spoiler][/spoiler]


[spoiler][/spoiler]