Has Metroid hacking given you joy in the end of the day?

[Retroo]

Has Metroid hacking given you joy in the end of the day?
When i first found out about hacking Super Metroid it was very exiticing being able to hack my favorite game of all time, just placing spikes everywhere and doing others stupid shit to the game, and that will always be a good memory to me you could say. But thinking about all the hacks i started just to scrap them later on, has SM hacking for me really been a good experience in the end of the day? I remember 2 or 3 hacks that i have given alot more work than others, totaly that is probably is 2 years of "wasted time". Sure i can always go back to them years later and feel the memories come back to me but is that just good memories or are they filled with regret?

I have always loved being creative and hacking in SM has been a good way for me to bee that. Nowdays i am more interested of working with my music. I just have to wait and see how i feel about this in a few years. What is you guys "story"?

[Digital_Mantra]

I've never looked at a scrapped project as "wasted time" because level design is therapy for me. It keeps me busy, keeps me creative, and most importantly keeps me sane.
The allure of discovering Super Metroid hacking 10 years ago remains exciting to this day, and I can't think of a game I'd rather design more.
I can actually experience frisson after a rooms done, you know like when you take a piss while you're excited or that awesome part of a song. Shivers.

[squishy_ichigo]

I've completed FAR fewer projects than I've started, and their lackluster quality bugs me a bit, since I made them before I learned most of what I know today. But I always enjoy the process of hacking, or I wouldn't do it. Like right now, I haven't hacked in months, because I can't enjoy it right now, with everything else I have that I want to do, but that process of creating something is just.... grand.

I've started DOZENS of projects I've never finished. Some of them I knew I'd never complete, and was just working on for the hell of it, and others I'd lose inspiration or a time limit would impede my desire to finish it. But the process up to that point BEFORE I decide to stop is enjoyable. Why do I ever stop then? Why can't I finish a damn project.

I've had a project in the works (a few guys have playtested it a few times now) for the last several years. It was supposed to be a quick project, and honestly I was more then halfway done with it in three months. But then I put it down, and stopped working on it for long stretches of time, because I get distracted and interested in other things, and just don't feel like working on it. I have a full time job, and enjoy watching anime, and playing video games, and when I hack, I want to sit down for weeks at a time and ONLY hack in my free time, that's how I get my best work done.

Sometimes I wonder if/when I'm gonna give up hacking for good. But only because one of these days, I'd like to start on the path of creating my OWN game. But I don't want to even start on that until I'm finished with Super Metroid, so I at the very least need to get this damn project I've been working on done. I've learned quite a bit about level design and such from all my years in this community, and hope to one day take everything that I've learned and make my own game. So even if I never release my dead projects, I don't really feel like it was wasted time.

[personitis]

My philosophy is "there's only wasted time if you let it be wasted time." It follows along the lines of and is pretty much a rewording of "If you enjoy wasting time, it's not really wasted time is it?" Ultimately, it's up to you whether or not you want to look back at a past event or such and learn or take something away from it. To answer more directly, in one manner I would say that yes, it has been a waste of time because it's time I hadn't spent doing other more important things with my life. On the other hand, it's given me insight into the design and psychology that goes into these works of art I grew up playing with, and that's absolutely fascinating to me.

I've learned to pick up on subtle details when I slow down and observe my surroundings in what is, I suppose, some sort of heightened artistic sense compared to what I use to have. I've picked up on things that make good ergonomics. This goes from organizing my files and works when hacking, to making sure the level design of a room or area "flows" well, and having a more ordered approach to tasks (even though time management as a skill is still not my best).

I found these things out (and probably more) by simply making a list of ideas for a project I wanted to start a while ago. Whenever I had an idea, I'd add it too the list, then revise. Ideas would never be removed from the list, but simply okayed with their line starting with "o" or denied with an "x." I did this numerous times over (a fantastic way to get stuck in pre-planning and never get anything done) but there was always something to learn from it. Why I figured that idea A didn't fit the genre, why idea B was too clunky, or that idea C was a fitting change of pace. This eventually lead me into not just scrutinizing my ideas, but studying Super Metroid's and Metroid Prime's design and various pieces of other games. Finding the small details or the mental gears that makes it easy or fun to navigate that artificial world.

It's also shown me how much I truly despise sitting in front of a computer all day long. Some days I can do it, others it drives me nuts. There's a realization about how much of a hindrance checking the few sites I lurk or how having a chat client running in background distracts from my work ethic and ability to get up and do other things. Yet I stay because I really don't have much else in the ways of social activity and I've found that rather important since I've been shut away from the world for quite a while. If you haven't caught it yet, romhacking has been a chain of events that lead me into learning a way of thinking and observing. Maybe I'm full of shit, that the pieces fell into place and that the hobby just actually aligns with a particular way some people's brains develop, but I really don't think that's completely the case (there's a bit of luck in everything after all). It's something that's kept my brain active and not withered away like I've let some other aspects my life do.

Developing romhacks is great when I don't have to slave away piecing together tilesets or bother messing around in a debugger. But placing tiles is the easiest, most enjoyable part of the hobby and overshadows the more difficult, underlying physical designs of the rooms. That's where I really enjoy creating a well-oiled machine or experience. Though, that would be one based on detail and fluidity. All that said, it's give and take as a hobby. I can't say I'd want all my time back because then I wouldn't have everything I've learned.

[Vismund Cygnus]

I've had fun.

[Grimlock]

I've only worked two Metroid projects:

Metroid Incursion
         &
Metroid Rogue Dawn

Both have been completed and released.  I have no regrets, I thoroughly enjoyed working on them.  When I work creative projects like these it's all about enjoying the journey, the actually experience of designing and creating.  I'm one of those people that HAVE to have a creative outlet in order to be happy in general otherwise the unspent "energies" become a burden.  I'm not working any major projects right now, I'm eying a few different possibilities but really more than anything I'm just tinkering around on KPs Minecraft server for the time being.  I'm itching to get something more challenging going though. 

EDIT: I've been tearing up my bass stings lately trying to perfect my slap bass technique, maybe I'll post one of my recordings one of these days.  That coupled with my recent minecraft bingeing have been the bulk of my creative outlet.

[benox50]

I got the joy down in my heart, down in my heart, but do you?

Yes and I dont consider learning a waste of time. Even if its a weird medium such as toying with an old snes game through Hex. Because break it down into categories; You found out that you learned level design, game design, level art, maybe pixel art or coding. Even if the project is scrapped you learned how to make art on a canvas with tiles wich is basically the classic modular workflow of 2D images.

I'm introvert so I'm driven by self passions and self building. I enjoy creating stuff on the PC. Even during a fun trip, I will always have moments where I could do that or this and I just want to come back to do more stuff on the PC lol. Its good to take breaks so you can have a stronger coming back to it and just by that you know that its your thing of joy. You dont need money from it, you dont need user friendly tools for it, there isnt lot of people talking bout it or doing stuff for it, you dont care how hard it is to do it or if its a tad illegal, but you'r crazy enough to do it : Then... then you know that it is resonating with joy. You dont do it because you need it to get a job, you dont do it because its a popular or recent game, you do it cause you lovin the sheit out of it.  :heheh:

For me what clicked with hacking metroid was ofc because I love the game, but mostly the alien maze style level design and visual. Where at every inches you unravel world building and surprises. You also have action while exploring so it doesnt get boring and you do it in 2D so its smooth and visible... we could continue talking, but the point is I consider super metroid one of the father of this genre so finding an editor for it was amazing. Even if the editor is fan made or hard I dont care I want to make my own mazes and play with that kind of level design.
I scrapped a first project to learn. Then, I'm working on one single hack project, I didnt know it would be that long, but its exploration and the world must be big enough and I'm also lovin doin it  :yay:
There is a point where I still like doing it, but there is other things I want to create, I want variety. However the project has gone far enough that I can look at the complete picture and see progress, so now I need to finish it.
I'm a work head, so sometimes its more about ''I must to'' than ''I want to'', but thats me. Anyway, what is the point of working if you dont like doin it, you must like it otherwise dont do it.

I'm not the kind of person that will continue to make more and more hacks, but rather switch to another medium, another genre, another challenge. Before metroid I was doing crazy weird race maps. After metroid I will maybe start my own game. Modding is faster so you can make many shorts projects, but making your own game could be a new challenge while using the knowledge you earn. Or maybe I could make another mod and learn the deep intricacies of the game which is part of the fun of hacking metroid.  :yay:

I got the joy down in my heart, down in my heart, but do you?

[Black Falcon]

For me at the time, hacking was both a creative outlet, and an incredible learning experience. Often times I'd have all kinds of crazy thoughts and ideas pile up during the day that give you the urge to rush home after school and later after work and get stuff done. I remember drawing map layouts on paper before I even knew about SMILE.
I never really had a definitive goal where I want to go with hacking in general, hence my non-existant list of completed hacks. However I liked thinking outside the box and coming up with ridiculous things and quirks.

Now that I think about it, what motivated me most was probably the restrictions I had to overcome at the time. Looking at other peoples' incredible ASM magic inspired me, I wanted to do that kind of stuff too! So I got to know how to use SMILE, and messed around with the game's inner workings using ASM and all kinds of tools.

Did I enjoy it? Well, that's kind of a silly question, because I wouldn't have done all these things if I didn't have fun in the first place.
Having learned ASM and how the SNES works helped me a shit ton during my training years when we had to program µICs and do programming in general.
Spending time with the community on the forums and IRC improved my poor school-english skills more than tenfold.

So yeah, I'd say it was definitely worth it. Sometimes I wish I still had the careless mind of my kid self with all the crazy-stupid ideas, even if it means adding on to the big pile of unfinished things. As I grew older, having more life-related things to do, my interests shifted and I took more and more time off hacking. I haven't done anything hacking related in over 2 years. However, I still consider myself part of this community, even if you don't see much of me anymore.

I very much enjoyed this part of my life, it's the reason I'm still around, lurking on the forums from time to time to see what people have come up with.
In conclusion, time well spent. I don't regret a thing :^_^: