[MZM] Removing/altering chozo hint statues with MAGE 0.7 (total newbie here)

[spiffy]

I'm working on a very basic hack for Zero Mission that retains the original game design/map layout but removes all the chozo hint statues that are directly in your path (i.e. the one near the start of the game), while retaining the ones with their own rooms/areas but 'demoting' them to basic weapon and energy recharge stations (i.e. sitting down w/ glowing outstretched hands).

Using MAGE 0.7, I've so far managed to delete all the statues standing in your immediate path and altered the minimap to reflect this. All that remains to be done is altering the remaining statues to circumvent the 'map-marking/sitting down' event and just have it so they are already sitting down in a position to recharge you when you first enter the room. I know that I'll probably have to tinker around with the game code and alter it so that the event (e.g. getting clutched by the statue that points you toward the ice beam) has already 'happened' before first entering the room, but I really haven't the faintest idea of how to do that (or even if it CAN be done)!

Any help here will be greatly appreciated!

[interdpth]

You'll need to modify the AI for all of them to do their animations and poses under different conditions.  Or just make a custom AI, and have it handle everything the way you need it.

[biospark]

Try the patch I've attached. Let me know if it works. If it does, I'll add it to the patch list in MAGE.

The patch simply skips the event check for each of the chozo statues that show you where items are.

Edit: Looks like this prevents you from progressing after morph ball. If you remove that Chozo statue, it seems to work fine.

[spiffy]

Try the patch I've attached. Let me know if it works. If it does, I'll add it to the patch list in MAGE.

The patch simply skips the event check for each of the chozo statues that show you where items are:

Edit: Looks like this prevents you from progressing after morph ball. If you remove that Chozo statue, it seems to work fine.

Did a 100% Normal run with the patched rom and it all worked perfectly! However, playing it again through Hard mode reinstates the Chozo statues I deleted. FYI, they are

• The very first one you encounter, in Brinstar room 2 (I cleared BG0 so you have a clear, visible path to the exit door).
• The very second one you encounter (Brinstar room 1E, decided to delete it as it is clearly too early in the game to introduce a seperate 'recharge station').
• The one in your immediate path just after obtaining the Ice Beam (Norfair room 6).
• The one just off the main shaft in Norfair, near where you obtain the Hi-Jump Boots (Norfair room 35, decided to delete it as the Hi-Jump Chozo statue already recharges your energy and is very close by)
• The one in your immediate path just after obtaining the Varia suit in Brinstar (room 26)

[passarbye]

really looking forward to any progress on this!

Did a 100% Normal run with the patched rom and it all worked perfectly! However, playing it again through Hard mode reinstates the Chozo statues I deleted.

It seems they would have separate AI for hard mode? I don't really know, just an idea/thought about what might be going on.

[biospark]

Did a 100% Normal run with the patched rom and it all worked perfectly! However, playing it again through Hard mode reinstates the Chozo statues I deleted.

Three of those rooms (Brinstar 2, Norfair 6, Brinstar 26) use separate spritesets for hard mode. Did you delete the statues for those as well? If you check the header editor for those rooms, you'll notice they have a spriteset for event 2 (which corresponds to hard mode).

[spiffy]

Did a 100% Normal run with the patched rom and it all worked perfectly! However, playing it again through Hard mode reinstates the Chozo statues I deleted.

Three of those rooms (Brinstar 2, Norfair 6, Brinstar 26) use separate spritesets for hard mode. Did you delete the statues for those as well? If you check the header editor for those rooms, you'll notice they have a spriteset for event 2 (which corresponds to hard mode).

Ah, that did it! Here is a version of the patch with those five aforementioned statues removed for ALL difficulty modes. I'll do a quick Hard mode run when I have some free time, but since all I did was remove those particular statues, I'll post the new patch anyway. Enjoy!

[spiffy]

I've made a few slight alterations to my patch:

• I was dissatisfied with the current state of room 1E (2nd Hint Statue, just after finding the locked entrance to Tourian), so I decided I'd do something about it - the 1x1 room is now an exact copy of the 'transition hallway' (room 6) that seperates the first and second shafts in Brinstar. That single unique 'hallway' in the remake always felt a bit tacky to me, even though it was in the original game. I figured the postioning made sense, seeing as it's on the highest floor, right before Tourian and Mother Brain. I'm still a bit iffy about this, so I'm willing to change it if there are any major objections to it.
• Norfair room 35 now shares the same BGM with all the regular rooms, seeing as there is no longer a Chozo statue there (the room can still function as an obstacle for sequence breakers who haven't obtained the Hi-Jump Boots).

[spiffy]

It's been quite a while, but the Chozo Hint Statue Removal patch is now live on RHDN:
http://www.romhacking.net/hacks/3317/

The patch itself has been pretty much left untouched since the last time I tinkered with it, but now it should hopefully be able to receive a much wider audience.