General Hack Ideas

[Scyzer]

That sounds like something that should replace reserves altogether.
Otherwise it would be like having reserve tanks for your reserve tanks, so you can reserve the energy you would normally reserve but have already reserved. Then when you use the reserve energy you had previously reserved, you can use the reserve reserve energy to refill your reserves.

[Quietus]

Agreed.  It'd seem like health overkill, and would probably be best to replace the existing tanks with one big tank.

[Kitsune_Phoenix]

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[Quietus]

While I don't wish to dismiss the idea, each suggestion sounds like it isn't achieving anything that more reserves wouldn't.  If the health is only being added when your health is full, then it would seem like you weren't taking much damage anyway, which would then make any additional health  - reserve or otherwise - serve no purpose.

On a slightly related note, what about having a bonus granted when you are at full health?  Perhaps your beam could do slightly more damage, or you can only Screw Attack when at full health, or maybe you jump slightly higher, or run a little faster (excluding the Speed Booster)?  As long as it wasn't excessive, of course.  Ten times damage when at full health could break things. :^_^:

[Kitsune_Phoenix]

*deleted post*

[Vismund Cygnus]

Hmm... when you are at full health, your beam auto-charges or something?

Ten times damage when at full health could break things. :^_^:

Which is essentially what charge is.  :lol:
That being said, maybe a 50% damage bonus would be more viable, or perhaps a 50% increase to fire speed or something.
As for the other idea, while it still seems like just the same thing as reserve tanks, I would prefer that over reserve tanks.
(That being said, reserve tanks are basically pointless...)

[Zehq]

Hi, well as my previous project came to a drastic halt (I didn't like the overall layout, so I've scrapped it) and I don't even know why I'm mentioning it as you guys have never heard of it, I'll just get right into it eh?

The TL;DR (Idea in a nutshell):
My idea in a nutshell is a Zebes that has cooled drastically to the point of becoming a giant asteroid rather than a planet. Most areas from the original 1994 version of the game would make a comeback in an almost identical way... however with a twist. Brinstar would become brittle and browned, Maridia would lose most of it's watery aspect, rather replacing Brinstar in a way. Norfair would replace Maridia as the new underwater den and becoming the sole section of natural life, forced to delve deeper into the maze of Zebes caverns. Descending deeper into Zebes you come across a new section, the Mine (name is subject to change, couldn't think of anything lel).

The Mine is basically the Space Pirates suctioning the entirety of the planets core for valuable metals and minerals. The Mine is also the barrier to the ONLY heated section of the game, which would take place largely in lava (re-enabling dashing, however reinstating damage, albeit at a much slower pace of a point per second). Beneath the heated section you reach the core and the space pirates central mining facility. The key would be to eliminate the main reactor, destroying the facility and imploding the planet.

A few key aspect changes would be;
* The reinstatement of the Redesign physics (yes, you heard correctly).
* Removal of grapple (sorry ShyGuy) in replace of a new shinespark system.
* Chain shinesparking increases damage and distance.
* Allowing dashing within lava.
* Falling in lava without a suit results in death almost instantly without a suit upgrade.
* Falling in lava with Varia (name subject to change) results in near instant death, unless shinesparking.
* Falling in lava with Gravity (name again subject to change) is identical to the original game.
* Water will always affect you, no matter what suit you're wearing (unless shinesparking with Gravity).

So... that's a quick version of my idea. The thing is... I have no idea how to implement it. Specifically with the changes to the game code.

Cheers for listening guis, feedback is greatly appreciated, especially on the above line dilemma.

P.S. I hope this gets good reception, as I am rather fond of the idea.

[Vismund Cygnus]

Is this a WIP? If not, there's a thread for this. And if it is, screenshots should be posted.
Although by the sounds of it you definitely haven't started on it, in which case, please don't make threads about ideas.

[Quietus]

Sounds interesting enough, and almost everything would be relatively easy to implement.  The biggest thing I'd question would be the idea of an instadeath in lava.  It may be fair if you've warned players before they start that it's deadly, which may make them avoid it, but it's a bit harsh for any player accidentally falling in.

As for how to do things, most of the stuff you've mentioned would fall under basic room / area editing, so you should have no problems learning how to do it using the guides available here.  For the damage alterations, there are hex changes that will cover most of them.  Failing that, once your hack becomes more established, and you've shown that you're dedicated to your hack, there are users here who can usually help out with the more tricky stuff.

Good luck. :^_^:

[Zehq]

Sounds interesting enough, and almost everything would be relatively easy to implement.  The biggest thing I'd question would be the idea of an instadeath in lava.  It may be fair if you've warned players before they start that it's deadly, which may make them avoid it, but it's a bit harsh for any player accidentally falling in.

As for how to do things, most of the stuff you've mentioned would fall under basic room / area editing, so you should have no problems learning how to do it using the guides available here.  For the damage alterations, there are hex changes that will cover most of them.  Failing that, once your hack becomes more established, and you've shown that you're dedicated to your hack, there are users here who can usually help out with the more tricky stuff.

Good luck. :^_^:

Yeah I'm going to do some considerable designing before actual progress, as I don't enjoy releasing unfinished products. The instadeath in lava is simply to mimic throwing metal into lava IRL. Although it isn't really instant, as I'd prefer it to remove damage similar to the Mother Brain's hyper beam.

Anyway, I'll update with progress as I further on with this project. Cheers for the links and feedback. :)

[Zhs2]

Might be preferable to create a new thread when you do as I merged this with the general hack ideas thread. I can split it again, but it's probably going to be easier the other way anyway. Here's hoping you get significant progress underway :bounce:

[Kitsune_Phoenix]

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[Vismund Cygnus]

Okay, I am now officially insane.
I have been compelled to attempt to remake Metroid Prime on the Doom Engine and convert it to an SNES SuperFX ROM. I have even worked out a viable control scheme and the various mechanics.

Does this mean you've actually started working on this, or is it just an idea?
Because this sounds pretty damned awesome, I must say.

[Kitsune_Phoenix]

*deleted post*

[Quietus]

Sounds like a hell of a lot of work.  I wish you luck. :^_^:

[Kitsune_Phoenix]

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[Vismund Cygnus]

Thanks. I am wondering how the graphics should work. Should the sprites be done by hand, or built from Pre-Rendered 3D Graphics?

Well, that would definitely depend on how good your l33t drawing skillz are.
If you can draw, then by all means, draw them. I prefer to see drawn stuff. But whatever you feel like doing, do it. It's your project.  :^_^:

[Kitsune_Phoenix]

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[Quietus]

Then go with what you can manage.  You may find that as you progress with your project, somebody will offer their help.

[Kitsune_Phoenix]

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[Quietus]

Sweet.  You can arrange a dual-hack release with FEAR in 2032. :^_^:

[Zhs2]

Why not just... stick with Doom? There are quite a lot of us here who would appreciate the existence of such a product and it's certainly very doable with the range of features found in today's source ports, most notably the one linked here in this post. Reminds me of a previous time in life...
[spoiler=the good old days]

[/spoiler]

[Kitsune_Phoenix]

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[Quietus]

I thought it was a legal requirement to reach at least one week before abandoning projects. :oh:

[Quote58]

What about maintaining some difficulty on the bosses by having their HP and damage dictated by your equipment?  Each powerup has a value, and the bosses stats are a multiplier of your total equipment value when you enter the fight.  I recall that Lunar did this with at least soem of its bosses.

Well, you'll be glad to know I've done something similar in my contest hack. I needed a way to balance a certain new mini boss without forcing you to get a certain upgrade before fighting him, keeping things a little less linear. So I made it so that if you have the upgrade, his health is normal, but if you don't, his health is cut in half, making up for the lesser damage you deal.