Show Me Your Moves!! (Project Base & Control Freak)

[sylandro]

I think this one is pretty much done until any of you guys find anything.

This is all going really smoothly!
The (for me) ultimate version of Super Metroid is about to be realised.

But did you actually test the gravity patches? The heavy and floaty gravity patches might change stuff. I use the heavy gravity patch in order to make Super Metroid play like the GBA Metroids/AM2R.

Haha, nice Shadow. I don't remember the percentage I got last time, but it sure wasn't as high as yours :mad:
https://youtu.be/XbClKjsEvSk?t=18m27s
Oh wow, it wasn't that low :lol:

If you want to build the "ultimate" version of Super Metroid there's a bunch of resources on this page that you could consider, like Scyzer's mapitemcircles (shows circles/dots on the map when there's an item), JAM's spazer+plasma, DC's map patch which shows doors on the map, adamf's screw attack frozen enemies and so on... even my hard mode patch brings a little bit of QOL that's missing in comparison of the GBA games.

[Thirteen1355]

Yeah, but that all doesn't really work along with each other, let alone with the Control Freak+Project Base patch.

I remember trying Spazer+Plasma+Project Base, and it didn't work.

[ShadowOne333]

I haven't finished another playthrough, but still this is what I have bumped into so far, I will let you know if I find anything else:

Okay so far I have noticed two issues;

1) When you use Aim Lock aiming down, and you jump, Aim lock retains the position (Down).
However, if I were to press the jump button again while in midair and aim lock is still aiming down, the Aim lock is changed automatically to aim up instead. This happens with both left and right positions.

2) Morph ball after a fall off a ledge is still finicky. If you fall directly vertically and try to press Down+X, it doesn't morph. However, if I go slightly off a side like Down-Right or Down-Left and press X, then it morphs after the fall. Doing it with only Down+X doesn't work.

That's all I could get at the moment, I'll try to see if I can find more buggy stuff.

[sylandro]

I've fixed point #1.

As for #2, I tested it a little and Quick Morph is not programmed to trigger when you fall and are aiming down even on Project Bae. I could add it, though. It feels weird that you can't Quick Morph in this instance. The patch i'm uploading here includes it, let me know if I should remove it.

I want to know your opinions on a couple of things of Control Freak that bother me:

1. I was playing for a while with Auto-run enabled and had a hard time measuring my jumps because every time you jump while holding the run button it forces a spinjump. I could remove that mapping, because, you can spinjump if you hold Left+A or Right+A anyway.

2. I find annoying that when you are holding R to aimlock and press up, it makes you aim straight up, overriding aimlock. The only way to aimlock again is if you let go of all buttons and press R again. None of the GBA games or AM2R worked like this. Should I make it closer to the newer games? To test it, try to crouch, aimlock and try to stand while retaining the aimlock. You won't be able to.

[ShadowOne333]

I've fixed point #1.

As for #2, I tested it a little and Quick Morph is not programmed to trigger when you fall and are aiming down even on Project Bae. I could add it, though. It feels weird that you can't Quick Morph in this instance. The patch i'm uploading here includes it, let me know if I should remove it.

I want to know your opinions on a couple of things of Control Freak that bother me:

1. I was playing for a while with Auto-run enabled and had a hard time measuring my jumps because every time you jump while holding the run button it forces a spinjump. I could remove that mapping, because, you can spinjump if you hold Left+A or Right+A anyway.

2. I find annoying that when you are holding R to aimlock and press up, it makes you aim straight up, overriding aimlock. The only way to aimlock again is if you let go of all buttons and press R again. None of the GBA games or AM2R worked like this. Should I make it closer to the newer games? To test it, try to crouch, aimlock and try to stand while retaining the aimlock. You won't be able to.

Great!
I'll download it and give it a test. I'll let you know if I find anything.
So far I can confirm that both instances have been fixed indeed, I can now morph after a directly vertical fall, and the aim lock doesn't change when I press A again in midair :)

As for your points:

1. That might be good. I usually don't play with Auto-run enabled because being it the way it is and with the heavy physics I play with, it really gets out of hand with Samus going extremely fast. But if your idea modifies the mechanics ONLY when Auto-run it is enabled, I'm all up for it.

2. Actually, if you use Aim-Lock and aim up, sure Samus changes her aim directly upwards, but if you press down on the D-Pad, she goes back to the diagonal aim, and if you press down again she aims diagonally down.
Also, if you press down once again while you are already aiming diagonally down, you go into a crouch state aiming down.
I also tried what you said about crouching, aiming and then trying to stand up, you can by applying the same logic I mentioned. If you are crouched and press up, Samus changes her aim direction the next upper aim closer to her current state. For example, if she's aiming diagonally down and you press up, she aims diagonally up now, and if you press up again, she aims directly up now, another up button press and she'll go into standing position.
Don't know you if you already knew this, but if you already did and still want to change it, I'd like to try out what you have in mind and give you feedback regarding the changes :)

Thank you for your work!

Edit: I almost forgot.
Were you able to make a diagonal speed boost jump with the original Super Metroid?
I can't recall if it was possible or not, since I am having problems performing one with the current patches applied.
Don't know if I'm doing it wrong, or if it was possible in the original and got lost in the patches, or if it wasn't even possible in the first place. xD I can't remember haha.

[sylandro]

Oh, I hadn't noticed that about the aim-lock, I guess i'm so accustomed to the GBA controls that it just feels weird to me that samus can aim directly up while pressing R. As you said, i think i'll leave it as it is.

You can speedjump diagonally if you press A and then R while samus is doing her "preparing to jump" animation. For some reason, Up+Right or Up+Left don't work in the original either.

EDIT: Have you managed to trigger a Crystal Flash? I can't... Nevermind. I forgot my keyboard didn't register some buttons pressed at once. When i did it with a controller, it worked.

[ShadowOne333]

Oh, I hadn't noticed that about the aim-lock, I guess i'm so accustomed to the GBA controls that it just feels weird to me that samus can aim directly up while pressing R. As you said, i think i'll leave it as it is.

You can speedjump diagonally if you press A and then R while samus is doing her "preparing to jump" animation. For some reason, Up+Right or Up+Left don't work in the original either.

EDIT: Have you managed to trigger a Crystal Flash? I can't... Nevermind. I forgot my keyboard didn't register some buttons pressed at once. When i did it with a controller, it worked.

Ah! There we go, the diagonal boost jump is linked to the Aim-lock one for me, which is L. :)
Now I can do it just fine, thanks!

Btw, what's Crystal Flash? o.o
Never heard of it before.

[sylandro]

It's one the (not so) secret moves that are only present in Super Metroid.

http://metroid.retropixel.net/games/metroid3/secrets.php

I have just realized that my UI patch doesn't let you select Power Bombs while standing, and that's a requirement for the Charge+Bomb combos. I'm not sure how to proceed... I could map the combos to work when Grapple is selected, which wouldn't make much sense, or I could re-enable the Power Bomb selection, but then it wouldn't have much use other than the obscure PB combos. I think i'm leaning towards mapping it to Grapple.

EDIT: I've updated the UI patch. To perform a beam+PB combo, press Select if your charge is full and the appropiate beams are selected. It doesn't matter which item is selected. It's weird, I know, but better than nothing. I'm open to suggestion on this one.

[ShadowOne333]

Oh i actually didn't know about the Crystal Flash nor saving the creatures O.O
Well guess that's another reason to make a playthrough. xD

As for the changes to enable the special Beam combos, pressing Select might be a little odd since it keeps changing the selected item on the HUD.
What about mapping it to the Run button? Seems like it might be better suited to that one since:

1) To actually enable a full run, you need to hold down the button for a while.
2) If you tap the button quickly enough, you won't trigger the Run animation, but you can still trigger the Beam combos with it.
3) It's not used for anything else and doesn't interrupt the charge.

What do you think?

[Quietus]

saving the creatures O.O

I'm more surprised about this one than the Crystal Flash. It's funny because each year when I watch charity speedrunning marathons, there's always a massive donation incentive battle for 'save or kill (don't rescue) the animals', and it feels like everybody just instinctively knows what it is. Out of curiosity, since there's talk of lesser known things, did you know that you can hold item cancel when you're selecting Missiles, Supers, or Power Bombs, and the icon will flash, then automatically deselect after you've used the item once? Or how about the Golden Torizo code (watch the item counts)? :^_^:

[Thirteen1355]

The animals are a meme, Shadow. You must know about them.

[sylandro]

@ShadowOne333 Sadly, the PB+beam combo routine doesn't depend on the transition table (where all the moves are) so I can't code conditions whether a button is tapped or held. That means that if I use the Run button, the explosion will trigger even if you're holding it, which is annoying. The most unobtrusive button I could find was the Select button, but I know it has side effects. Perhaps I could map it to Brandish instead?

[vivify93]

Hello, if I wanted the most recent version of the ASM, would I just download Sylandro's ControlFreak2-UIUpdate.asm, or would I need projectcontrolfreakbase.asm in this post?

Thanks for your time!

Edit - I found my answer here. :)

[sylandro]

Download the latest projectcontrolfreakbase.asm I have posted, because it has bug corrections. Remember to apply it last, after begrimed's Project Base and kejardon's ControlFreak2.asm. Currently it's this one: http://forum.metroidconstruction.com/index.php/topic,4115.msg56558.html#msg56558, but I may post more updated ones later if you guys find more bugs.

Right now it's a tradeoff, the following moves introduced in Project Base have been lost in favor of compatibility:
- QUICK MORPH #2
- BACK FLIP
- UP SPIN

The ControlFreak2-UIUpdate.asm file is an optional addon that only changes the way items are highlighted in the status bar when you press R or morph, to make it closer to how it works in the GBA games.

[vivify93]

I did this.

1. Applied Dex909's "Super Metroid (JU) [!] [h] [2015]", which to my understanding is a slightly tweaked version of Begrimed's "Gameplay Only" Project Base patch.
2. Applied Kejardon's Control Freak patch.
3. Used Xkas to apply your ProjectControlBaseFreak.asm as of 11/16/2016.

I don't think I want the UI update. However, I still seem capable of Quick Morphing both ways (X-ray + Down both in midair and while standing still.) and Up-spinning. Back flip has indeed been removed, however; it's no big loss in my opinion. But the other two moves still being there perplexes me; did I do something wrong?

[sylandro]

Hmm.. I don't know about the first patch you mention, but following the GoodSnes nomenclature, [h] means headered ROM, and all of these patches are for unheadered ROMs, maybe that's why you're having issues?

EDIT: h means hacked, not headered.

[vivify93]

Ahh, sorry. Dex909 is the person who made Project Base Nintendit.

Their patch "Super Metroid (JU) [!] [h] [2015].ips" from Project Base Nintendit does the following: "Only the gameplay changes from PB as well as transparent item windows, less intrusive SFX, coloured Samus item window and smooth map scrolling." (Fanfare skipping is available in this patch as well.)

I should've specified. I'm not sure why they named the patch that way; it seems to be for an unheadered ROM, at least. I'm not running into any issues so far; the game is playable. I know I did everything in the correct order and I'm not having problems--I managed to combine Project Base and Control Freak with no problems. The game loaded, I passed Ceres, and I got the Morphing Ball and Missiles. Everything seems to run as intended.

But somehow, I'm able to do two of the three moves that are supposed to be unavailable now, and it makes me wonder if I did something improperly.

[sylandro]

Oh, you're right. It's working fine then!

Here are some clarifications about the other two moves.

- UP SPIN - This one is present in the 16/11 attachment. I talked to ShadowOne333 about removing it because it makes Control Freak's Auto-Run more annoying, but never uploaded the file. It will be gone if I post another update, though.

- QUICK MORPH #2 - This is the Quick Morph that is triggered by pressing L+Down while in air. Since L is now Aim Lock, it wouldn't make sense to keep it. Anyway, I saw it removed in the code, so it shouldn't be working...

[vivify93]

I might be getting Quick Morph 2 confused with another move then. I can post a video later today after I've had some rest if it's necessary, but here's how I can achieve it...

1. Press and hold Jump.
2. Immediately press X-Ray Scope and D-pad Down simultaneously.
3. Samus is now in Morphing Ball form in midair.

Does that sound like Quick Morph 2 to you, or am I mistaken?

[sylandro]

That's Quick Morph #1, Quick Morph #2 was supposed to be triggered by pressing Aim Up + Down.

Here's the details: http://www.begrimed.com/pb.php

[vivify93]

Oh, alright. So then, in the end we can still morph in midair, right? So it ultimately doesn't matter that Quick Morph #2 is gone?

[ShadowOne333]

@ShadowOne333 Sadly, the PB+beam combo routine doesn't depend on the transition table (where all the moves are) so I can't code conditions whether a button is tapped or held. That means that if I use the Run button, the explosion will trigger even if you're holding it, which is annoying. The most unobtrusive button I could find was the Select button, but I know it has side effects. Perhaps I could map it to Brandish instead?

Oh yes, that might work!
Actually pressing Brandish when you are using the Charge Beam does nothing, so that might be a very good option! :)
As for the other two things that got lost, I think we could live without those. Both Quick morphs could be mapped to the Down + Item cancel button combo (you know, the one  you can make in mid-air), although I have seen it you try to do it while in ground, it doesn't morph you instantly, so maybe adding it there could take care of both, leaving only Up Spin behind since it does get in the way of Control Freak and controlling Samus without getting too out of hand.

So far from what I've played, there has been no issues.
Everything is going good so far :)

[sylandro]

I couldn't make the Brandish+Bomb combo work, so I started experimenting with the controller inputs. Turns out I can check when a button has been tapped. I'm posting yet another update to the UI patch, this time it works like you were saying earlier, by tapping the Run button.

Back on topic, I noticed something. Quick Morph while standing doesn't work when you have the X-Ray Scope, it seems like triggering the scope is executed first. There's not much I can do about that. In any other cases, Y+Down should work just like in Project Base.

EDIT: I kept thinking about how Auto-run actually makes the game harder to play, unless you're a skilled speedrunner. I've uploaded another patch that makes the Speed Booster behave more like the GBA games (wait a little until you start running, run for a while, then boost). I timed the values to be as close as vanilla as I could, so all puzzles should be solvable. It's experimental, i'm not sure if I like it, but i'm sharing it anyway.

EDIT2: I updated the run patch because some obstacles in vanilla couldn't be completed (the crumbling bridges at brinstar). To cross the bridge with the closing shutters, you must run as a spring ball (project base mechanic!) or you won't make it. If that bothers you too much, I left a line commented in the asm that edits the shutter AI a little to time it passable. Sadly, running is triggered much faster now. To restore the previous timers, open the asm and change !RunDelay to $0003.

[ShadowOne333]

Oh wow syladro!
You nailed the timing for the Auto-run to make it really similar to Zero-Fusion!
I like it!
Although, I also like the usage of the crazy auto run for my speedruns (made 2:47 with 100%), so I'm thinking about making two patches of it, one for the original auto run, and the second with your autorun hack more akin to Zero-Fusion. :)

I haven't encountered any other issues so far, I think this is nearing perfection!
Would it be okay if I post those 2 patches I mention in the upcoming week?
I'll post a ReadMe here including all the credits right before the release to hopefully cover all of those involved, as well as listing major changes.
Let me know if you're okay with it to begin the documentation and the patches files for the package :)

[sylandro]

No problem by me :)

By the way, if you plan on using the run patch, please redownload it again from the last post, the bridges in brinstar were impossible to cross (read my edit2 note). You should make a playthrough using it just to double check if there are any issues.

This should be the last update. We discussed removing UPSPIN (Run+Jump to Spinjump) to make it easier to play using auto-run, but I never posted the patch. Here it is.