Another Super Metroid Advance Remake

[gymnastboatman]

With this new release of MAGE, and the three month lack of activity in the previous SMA attempt thread, I have decided that I want to attempt to use the Zero Mission Engine to recreate Super Metroid. And I do want to empathize that. This is really more of a port, than a remake, really. I just wanted to hijack DoctorM64's Title format because I like it and I'm as unoriginal as he says he was with the title. I want to be as faithful as one can be to SM, when putting it into ZM, besides the things that are obviously supposed to change. There are major differences between the two, but im just very confident in MAGE's capabilities of getting this completed. While projects like FSMR sound great, im just not looking for another PC-engine game. I want to make this playable on a real GBA.

This is gonna be really hard and gonna take a really long time, but im hoping by using the base game of ZM, and Mage, that this can be done comparatively quickly. Much of the work is already done for us, now its up to me, and anyone who would like to join, to put the pieces in the correct places.

[FelixWright]

Hello newfriend. I am a Metroid: Zero Mission ROMhacker. I was going to reply to the unnecessary Reddit thread you made But you've saved me the inconvenience of doing that. I'm not a mod of this forum but I have a feeling that this thread is going to get locked. I'm going to explain why, and hopefully you decide to stick around and learn a thing or two.

http://forum.metroidconstruction.com/index.php/topic,4503.0.html
http://forum.metroidconstruction.com/index.php/topic,1981.0.html

See these threads? Among other things, Porting Super Metroid to GBA is currently the MZM hacking meta, and it has remained this way for quite some time. Underages (read: inexperienced, if you are not underage) with this "new and original" idea come and go faster than employees at a burger joint. You aren't the first person to have an overly ambitious first post and you will never be the last. Here are some reasons why a project like this dies:

1.) In general, the creator figures out that more effort is involved than moving things in tools like MAGE and they give up.

2.) People like you start a thread with no previous existence in the metroid romhacking community, lacking any content to share.

3.) [spoiler=Drama llama.]In the most recent attempt to do this, decisions from the leader of the team about how the world of SM should be recreated in zero mission had not been finalized. (Should it be a 1 to 1 copy paste of SM world design, or somewhat adjusted smaller design to compensate for MZM being small and having different physics?) The leader has been keeping the project frozen because he has been unreasonably secretive about his contributions to the project. Hopefully, however, said leader will be replaced, and someone will fill in the gaps made by his departure from the project. [/spoiler]

If you have made it this far, I congratulate you for reading me out, and I'm going to tell you how you can avoid leaving these projects for the reasons above.

1.) MAGE is not enough. It is getting there, sure, but for SM to ZM you will need to learn:
- GBA Assembly Language (Metroid ZM and Fusion are almost exclusively THUMB, which is ARM but simpler and faster instructions.)
- GBA Hardware
- GBA Debugging with no$gba

2.) Wait to start hacking threads until you have at least 25% of the hack done. This is so that you have some real content to share. Otherwise, for all we care, this project's just more vaporware. How can you ever win over our support if for all we know you're just another child going through a phase?

3.) Join a team. There is a very high chance that you cannot and will not do this alone.

We who care will provide you with all the documentation you need. We who care can assist you as needed. It is up to you whether or not you are still truly interested in starting off with such an overly ambitious project. I suggest that you should do a smaller project first to prove yourself.

[Cpt.Glitch]

Hello there. Generally, a hack thread should only be created given there is actual progress behind the hack. Most of what I need to say/inform you about was already well stated by Cosmic above. However as a moderator I feel obligated to affirm what Cosmic has said. We are by no means bashing anything before you create it, just stating that having actual progress before making a thread is important. I hope your project goes well, as this has been attempted and has failed many times already. As for #3 of what cosmic said  "3.) Join a team. You cannot and will not do this alone. It's that simple." That's not necessarily true, as this is certainly doable by a single individual. So if you want to go that route, don't let that statement discourage you. That being said, having a small team is always a plus, especially if you are new at this.

[gymnastboatman]

Well, honestly, I started the thread now instead of later, hoping to see if anyone wanted to jump on board. Yeah, I've seen those other threads, and the other projects, and I just didn't see them going in the direction I imagine. Like ive been saying in the "unnecessary" thread on reddit's comment section, I see where the obstacles lie.
Major bosses are missing. Weapons are missing. Entire areas are missing.
Those cant be resolved by MAGE alone. Completing this is going to require a LOT of learning on my part. But if that's what it takes for us to complete this game, then that's what I'll do.
And if it takes eight years, then I guess so be it. Wow, I sure hope not, but I wanna see this through.

But I hoped not to do this alone, and I hoped this thread could help me with that. If it has to be shut down, oops, i guess. I would hate that, but rules are rules.

[FelixWright]

I sent you some stuff in Private Messages. If you require further assistance you should join The metconst Discord

[Steel Sparkle]

Im going to be the 3rd voice here and agree with Cosmic and Glitch. Start with something small. You will burn out fast and hard with something of this magnitude. Do small projects to learn the in's and out's of MAGE and whatever other tools you need then if you still think you can take it on and make this kind of hack then by all means go for it but as stated above and i will say again. Start small and work your way up.

[gymnastboatman]

Right now my goal is just to go through and complete the room layouts for the existing areas of Zebes (Crateria, Brinstar, Tourian, Norfair), just BG1 and Clip data, for now.
I know. The more and more I have to show, the more willing people will be to pitch in real effort, as they increasingly will feel it will not be abandoned.

I think a complete map of 4/7 areas would be a good place to show that the project is in motion. Just building room by room, little by little. A room a day, whatever it takes.

Tbh, ive already parsed out a good few ins and outs of how the games mechanisms work, like screen heights and viewing and sector heights, some things like that. And ZM's screen limit, as well, which is annoyingly lower than super metroid, which means im gonna have to squish the opening area of the game.

[FelixWright]

Right now my goal is just to go through and complete the room layouts for the existing areas of Zebes (Crateria, Brinstar, Tourian, Norfair), just BG1 and I know. The more and more I have to show, the more willing people will be to pitch in real effort, as they increasingly will feel it will not be abandoned.

I think a complete map of 4/7 areas would be a good place to show that the project is in motion. Just building room by room, little by little. A room a day, whatever it takes.

Tbh, ive already parsed out a good few ins and outs of how the games mechanisms work, like screen heights and viewing and sector heights, some things like that. And ZM's screen limit, as well, which is annoyingly lower than super metroid, which means im gonna have to squish the opening area of the game.

I originally wanted to clone the world of am2r like that but ran into a bunch of issues early on, what with it not having the limitations of consoles like GBA and SNES. I imagine SM to ZM will be somewhat easier in this respect.

Here are some limitations that may or may not be covered in the doc.
There is a limit of 254 Doors per area.
There is a limit of 24 sprites per room.
There is a limit of 8 graphics rows per spriteset. So you can have up to 24 sprites in a room, but theoretically up to 8 unique types of sprites in a room.

Worst case scenario, if any areas get too big you can do like Metroid: Fusion and put some of the parts in different areas. Or even like SM with blue brinstar in green brinstar.

[OneOf99]

I'm gonna be the 4th voice here and give my input. Don't start with such a big project. It doesn't work, trust me. Work on small stuff first (like contest hacks or small idea hacks) and work from there. It works better in the long run.

Also, it's a bit odd to post a thread like this without showing screenshots. It kinda makes it look like most other people who claim they will do something big and then do nothing at all.

[MetroidNerd#9001]

I was going to reply earlier to this, but I waited. I'll be a fifth voice in agreement in starting with a small idea. I've been working on my hack for seven months and I'm about 75% done, but that's because I'm not making something completely different that would require fundamental changes to the game. Hacking takes a lot more work than you think it does at first glance, especially to make things look good. A good room for me takes an hour or two to make, and if you're in school like I am, (Or have a job) you can't hack all the time. Things like this take a long time, and starting with something small will help you to learn the mechanics of hacking more easily.

[Cpt.Glitch]

Alright that's enough, he gets the idea. The thread will now be locked. Feel free to post another thread once you have some actual progress. (make sure to include screenshots with it.)