Metroid: The Blue Plague

[nodever2]

v2 coming soon... ^tm
by Nodever2                         

Explore an asteroid on a crash course with Earth, and find a way to destroy it.
This asteroid has a dark past, however, and you will soon find that you are not alone... can you survive on it long enough to find its weak point and save our precious blue planet?

The Blue Plague returns in all of it's 1.1 glory! If you've never played this hack, your experience will be even better with this patch, as the 1.1 version focuses on refining the experience that was already present in the 1.0 version. I hope you all enjoy, and if you have any bugs to report, I'll do my best to fix them!

[spoiler=CHANGELOG]
--------VERSION 1.1.2--------
BIGFIXES:
-Fixed a permastuck in spring ball area if you run out of powerbombs and wait for the missile to respawn.
-Fixed a permastuck in the bomb room save area if you run out of powerbombs and wait for the bomb blocks to respawn.

--------VERSION 1.1.1--------
FEATURES/CHANGES:
-Added a set of demos! There are only 6 and they're nothing super special, but it's cool to have custom demos and they no longer softlock the game. Shoutout to PJBoy's demo recorder tool!
-Made a secret in the first area hidden from the map
-Changed a pickup early in the game to prevent the player from getting Supers too early

BUGFIXES:
-Fixed an error where Samus could become offscreen in the Spring Ball area

---------VERSION 1.1---------
FEATURES/CHANGES:
-Fixed the intro to show an asteroid instead of Planet Zebes to avoid confusion
-Edited the title screen! Now the logo has a more fitting palette and the title screen has the name of the hack, yay!
-You should now be unable to save during the escape. Also, save stations can be reused without reloading the room if you walk away a few blocks and come back.
-Ending percentage *should* be fixed... if anyone gets over 100% let me know!
-Added 4 new secrets in some places where players often checked and were disappointed
-Changed as many platform supports as I could to air instead of solid. If I missed any that continue to hinder the gameplay please let me know!
-Added a map station to the first area, found just before Kraid
-Fixed beam pickup graphics to display letters that reflect the new item names
-Fixed other pickup graphics to not look bad with the palettes that were used in this hack
-Changed two power bomb pickups in the late game to a super missile and an E-tank, since PB's are so rarely used and players might need extra items for the boss
-Changed one missile pickup to a power bomb to offset the above change
-Made a secret near the beginning of the game more obvious
-Made Kraid take less damage to charge beam
-Made a hidden E-tank more obvious in the lower half of the first area
-Made the landing site item obtainable without IBJ

BIGFIXES:
-Fixed 2-tile gap before morph
-Slightly tweaked Spring Ball's area to make it easier to escape when out of PB's
-Fixed a tiling error in High Jump's room where an air tile was solid
-Made a powerup in the landing site no longer disappear during the escape sequence
-Fixed a permastuck when morphing into a slope in the room above Kraid's room
-Fixed a tiling error in the first pre-elevator room
-Fixed the right space room in the first area not having flexglows activated
-Fixed an issue where kihunters would sometimes spawn flying without wings
[/spoiler]

[spoiler=CREDITS]
CREDITS - PATCHES:
Door Cap Speedups from Project Base by Begrimed
Yellow Gate Fix by JAM
20 Tilesets Repoint by DSO
GBA Styled CRE by Crys
Chain Blocks by Black Falcon
Erodia Tileset by Cloud15
Blackout Speedups by Kazuto
Morph Lock by Cardweaver, Squishy, and InsomniaDx
Flexglow by Black Falcon
Map Fix by Scyzer
Map Patch by DC
Samus Graphics Redesign by Physix
PB Reveal Tiles by Black Falcon
Respin by Scyzer and Kejardon
Missile Station Enhancer by MoogleEmperor
Messenger PLM by JAM
Draygon Escape Timer by FullOfFail, Jathys, Mon732, Scyzer, and PJBoy
Expanded Title by PHOSPHODiTYL
Escape Timer Main ASM by PHOSPHODiTYL
Techno Tileset from Black Falcon's Random GFX Collection
Endingtotals by Scyzer

CREDITS - TOOLS:
HxD by Maël Hörz
jSM by Ostehovel
Lunar Address by FuSoYa's Niche
Lunar IPS by FuSoYa's Niche
Projectiler by Black Flacon
Python Demo Recorder by PJBoy
SMILE by Jathys
SMILE RF by Scyzer
SnesGFX by Vitor Vilela
Tile Molester by SnowBro
Tile Layer Pro by SnowBro
Xkas GUI by Noobish Noobsicle
Xkas by byuu
[/spoiler]

[spoiler=KNOWN BUGS]Most of the ending sequence looks pretty broken, but it's only graphical. If you guys really hate it a lot then maybe I'll fix it[/spoiler]

EDIT 6-9-2019: Updated to version 1.1.1, mostly to fix the fact that I broke progression a bit in the last update. See changelog for more info. No more updates currently in development at the moment, subject to change if bugs are reported (which I would appreciate!)
EDIT 9-28-2020: Updated to version 1.1.2, fixing 2 permastucks.

Want more?

• Metroid: The Blue Plague Logical Randomizer by Ironrusty - Randomized item placements!
• Metroid: The Blue Plague Practice Hack by InsaneFirebat - Tools for learning speedrunning!
• Metroid: The Blue Plague Widescreen Hack by ocesse - Play it in 16:9! See this thread for more details. You'll need a modified emulator.
  

[DonnyDonovan]

93.1% in 55 minutes.   Not sure what I missed as I thought I grabbed everything.  Fun little minihack.  The graphical effect with earth was great as were the graphics and colors overall.  Only thing I found slightly difficult was the shaft climb to get supers.  I might increase the freeze time slightly as that challenge was slightly annoying/frustrating compared to the rest of the hack.  Great job overall though! 

[nodever2]

93.1% in 55 minutes.   Not sure what I missed as I thought I grabbed everything.  Fun little minihack.  The graphical effect with earth was great as were the graphics and colors overall.  Only thing I found slightly difficult was the shaft climb to get supers.  I might increase the freeze time slightly as that challenge was slightly annoying/frustrating compared to the rest of the hack.  Great job overall though! 

Thank you for playing! I'm glad you enjoyed :^_^:

[OhCwap]

Cool minihack, enjoyed it quite a bit, nice tileset you used for the base and the earth background looked fantastic.
Had some issues with some possible softlock places, i made a video of one of them.

[spoiler]https://youtu.be/DEhxz925VEw

I don't know if there is a missile or power bomb i didn't find but there is nothing you can do if you take a left in that intersection there.
[/spoiler]

The other softlock is with the shootable blocks, i got stuck in a 2 tile tall space right before morph before i recorded the video.
Overall, nice hack.

Time: 49 minutes
Items: 90.1%

[nodever2]

Cool minihack, enjoyed it quite a bit, nice tileset you used for the base and the earth background looked fantastic.
Had some issues with some possible softlock places, i made a video of one of them.

[spoiler]https://youtu.be/DEhxz925VEw

I don't know if there is a missile or power bomb i didn't find but there is nothing you can do if you take a left in that intersection there.
[/spoiler]

The other softlock is with the shootable blocks, i got stuck in a 2 tile tall space right before morph before i recorded the video.
Overall, nice hack.

Time: 49 minutes
Items: 90.1%

Thanks for the feedback! I see that I have to fix that nonsolid wall, and I'll look for that 2 tile tall space as well.
In case you didn't know, though, you are not softlocked at the end of that video (if that's what you're referring to when you say there is a possible softlock in the video).
[spoiler]Try using the accumulator beam on the eye door[/spoiler]

[OhCwap]

Cool minihack, enjoyed it quite a bit, nice tileset you used for the base and the earth background looked fantastic.
Had some issues with some possible softlock places, i made a video of one of them.

[spoiler]https://youtu.be/DEhxz925VEw

I don't know if there is a missile or power bomb i didn't find but there is nothing you can do if you take a left in that intersection there.
[/spoiler]

The other softlock is with the shootable blocks, i got stuck in a 2 tile tall space right before morph before i recorded the video.
Overall, nice hack.

Time: 49 minutes
Items: 90.1%

Thanks for the feedback! I see that I have to fix that nonsolid wall, and I'll look for that 2 tile tall space as well.
In case you didn't know, though, you are not softlocked at the end of that video (if that's what you're referring to when you say there is a possible softlock in the video).
[spoiler]Try using the accumulator beam on the eye door[/spoiler]

[spoiler] Just tested and i take it back, oops! Weird cause i'm pretty sure i shot the gadora with charge, maybe i shot too early before the hitbox loaded.
That actually made the Kraid fight a lot more fun. :grin: [/spoiler]

[DarkHiei]

pretty good hack, there are some stucks or permastucks tho:

- if you take the right route, you can stuck in the spring ball section if you waste the powerbombs without normal bombs.
- if you take the right route, if you go to the save station with the "L" tank hidden in the left, if you use the last powerbomb to enter the "L" tank room, the bomb blocks regenerates and you get permastuck, or stuck until reset.

the thing that annoys:

[spoiler]- ice beam almost no freezes and getting super missile is sooooo hard.
- backtrack to get items is somewhat meaningless, after super missiles you are almost endgame anyways, and last suit is just before last boss.[/spoiler]

on the good side:
- pretty good mapping in first map, and the two-route section is pretty clever.
- pretty balanced hack, without annoying parts.
- pretty good custom gfx.

overall its a good hack.

[nodever2]

pretty good hack, there are some stucks or permastucks tho:

- if you take the right route, you can stuck in the spring ball section if you waste the powerbombs without normal bombs.
- if you take the right route, if you go to the save station with the "L" tank hidden in the left, if you use the last powerbomb to enter the "L" tank room, the bomb blocks regenerates and you get permastuck, or stuck until reset.

the thing that annoys:

[spoiler]- ice beam almost no freezes and getting super missile is sooooo hard.
- backtrack to get items is somewhat meaningless, after super missiles you are almost endgame anyways, and last suit is just before last boss.[/spoiler]

on the good side:
- pretty good mapping in first map, and the two-route section is pretty clever.
- pretty balanced hack, without annoying parts.
- pretty good custom gfx.

overall its a good hack.

Thanks for playing! Good to know about those permastucks, those seem like really easy fixes; I'll push out a hotfix real quick.
To confirm the one in the spring ball section, I realize now you could get stuck if you use your last PB and then go behind where the missile pickup is in the morph maze, is that what you're talking about? Or is there another one? It should also be noted that the bugs at the bottom of the spring ball area drop power bombs.
Here's a picture of the area in question viewed in SMILE, I fixed it by adding crumble blocks on the other side of the missile.
[spoiler]
[/spoiler]

[DarkHiei]

pretty good hack, there are some stucks or permastucks tho:

- if you take the right route, you can stuck in the spring ball section if you waste the powerbombs without normal bombs.
- if you take the right route, if you go to the save station with the "L" tank hidden in the left, if you use the last powerbomb to enter the "L" tank room, the bomb blocks regenerates and you get permastuck, or stuck until reset.

the thing that annoys:

[spoiler]- ice beam almost no freezes and getting super missile is sooooo hard.
- backtrack to get items is somewhat meaningless, after super missiles you are almost endgame anyways, and last suit is just before last boss.[/spoiler]

on the good side:
- pretty good mapping in first map, and the two-route section is pretty clever.
- pretty balanced hack, without annoying parts.
- pretty good custom gfx.

overall its a good hack.

Thanks for playing! Good to know about those permastucks, those seem like really easy fixes; I'll push out a hotfix real quick.
To confirm the one in the spring ball section, I realize now you could get stuck if you use your last PB and then go behind where the missile pickup is in the morph maze, is that what you're talking about? Or is there another one? It should also be noted that the bugs at the bottom of the spring ball area drop power bombs.
Here's a picture of the area in question viewed in SMILE, I fixed it by adding crumble blocks on the other side of the missile.
[spoiler]
[/spoiler]

yes, is that room with the missile, i think you can get out someway, but requires some hard tricks to pull

[nodever2]

pretty good hack, there are some stucks or permastucks tho:

- if you take the right route, you can stuck in the spring ball section if you waste the powerbombs without normal bombs.
- if you take the right route, if you go to the save station with the "L" tank hidden in the left, if you use the last powerbomb to enter the "L" tank room, the bomb blocks regenerates and you get permastuck, or stuck until reset.

the thing that annoys:

[spoiler]- ice beam almost no freezes and getting super missile is sooooo hard.
- backtrack to get items is somewhat meaningless, after super missiles you are almost endgame anyways, and last suit is just before last boss.[/spoiler]

on the good side:
- pretty good mapping in first map, and the two-route section is pretty clever.
- pretty balanced hack, without annoying parts.
- pretty good custom gfx.

overall its a good hack.

Thanks for playing! Good to know about those permastucks, those seem like really easy fixes; I'll push out a hotfix real quick.
To confirm the one in the spring ball section, I realize now you could get stuck if you use your last PB and then go behind where the missile pickup is in the morph maze, is that what you're talking about? Or is there another one? It should also be noted that the bugs at the bottom of the spring ball area drop power bombs.
Here's a picture of the area in question viewed in SMILE, I fixed it by adding crumble blocks on the other side of the missile.
[spoiler]
[/spoiler]

yes, is that room with the missile, i think you can get out someway, but requires some hard tricks to pull

Perfect. An update has been released which addresses these issues.

[UDtheAesir]

Love it, its a good mini-hack. Like how the intro's edited, as well as the planet background, very cool.

Beat it in 1:21 with 93.1% items. Progression was fun overall, if not initially bit confusing with morph ball and bombs.

Graphical glitches came on towards the end of the game. Golden Torizo's beak's replaced by numbers 96 and a letter E if I recall right. Then the whole leaving the atmosphere is glitched, then things continue on normally.

Overall I'd recommend.

[LetsPlayNintendoITA]

Here is a complete map of the hack:

[spoiler][/spoiler]
edit: made map clearer

[True Hyper Sonic]

How the heck are you supposed to get everything? No Space Jump, no Plasma Beam, no Speed Booster, and some of the upgrades are in ridiculously hard places to access. The L-tank in the Ship Room is impossible to get to, even once I have everything that is enabled in this hack.

[nodever2]

How the heck are you supposed to get everything? No Space Jump, no Plasma Beam, no Speed Booster, and some of the upgrades are in ridiculously hard places to access. The L-tank in the Ship Room is impossible to get to, even once I have everything that is enabled in this hack.

[spoiler]If you get High Jump, you can obtain the item by running off of the ship and wall jumping up the wall to get to the item.
Alternatively, you can simply Infinite Bomb Jump up to it at any time after bombs are obtained.
[/spoiler]

[Zincoshine]

You need to undo the ice beam nerf, your hack is currently unplayable because that nerf makes a mandatory progression pathway (the so called "ripper climb" to the super missiles) impossible to traverse. Let me know when you've updated the IPS file so I may complete this mod and give it a better score.

edit: After you fix the problem, I'll also contact others who have left negative scores because of this error and tell them to give the hack another chance.

[benox50]

Dont remove the mechanic, this is either a level design issue, or tweaking the mechanic to keep said level design section.
So either change the section to make it bearable or make longer "stunt" delay

[nodever2]

In playing Super Metroid and its hacks, we are often presented with challenges which force us to gain a deeper understanding of the game's mechanics and of Samus' abilities.
I am a big proponent of accessibility in games, but I do not believe the ripper climb is necessarily so difficult that it warrants a significant nerf - in fact, I already significantly increased the freeze time of the rippers compared to what it was originally planned to be in development versions of the hack.

It is just scary because it is a new type of challenge, and because the rippers start flashing almost right away (you still have about 2 whole seconds before they unfreeze when they start flashing). Figuring out the best way to traverse this climb is part of the challenge - think of it as a puzzle. I have seen experienced players clear the climb on the first or second try. There are movement strategies you can use to make the climb much easier, and the player is meant to experiment with it and figure it out.
If you want to know the exact technique I use, read the spoiler below:
[spoiler]
Hold the aim diagonal up button. Freeze the rippers when they are just above Samus and a little to the side, then jump straight up and move onto them. They move fast enough so that they should line themselves up for this before the one you are standing on unfreezes.
If not, it is easy to re-freeze the one you are standing on, giving you another chance - either by doing a short hop and aiming down and shooting, or by crouching and aiming diagonally down and shooting to hit the one below your feet.
[/spoiler]

If I was to change the design of that part of the game, the first thing I would try is locking the player into that climb with an energy refill station after confirming they have the paralyzer beam, so they know that this is the intended progression and that if they keep trying they will be able to overcome this obstacle.

Before assuming something is unplayable, it often helps to slow down and think about the problem. Super Metroid has a lot of depth to its gameplay and it takes time to flesh out your understanding of the game.

[Noxus]

You need to undo the ice beam nerf, your hack is currently unplayable because that nerf makes a mandatory progression pathway (the so called "ripper climb" to the super missiles) impossible to traverse. Let me know when you've updated the IPS file so I may complete this mod and give it a better score.

edit: After you fix the problem, I'll also contact others who have left negative scores because of this error and tell them to give the hack another chance.

How do you get to Carnegie Hall? Practice man, practice.

[LetsPlayNintendoITA]

You need to undo the ice beam nerf, your hack is currently unplayable because that nerf makes a mandatory progression pathway (the so called "ripper climb" to the super missiles) impossible to traverse. Let me know when you've updated the IPS file so I may complete this mod and give it a better score.

edit: After you fix the problem, I'll also contact others who have left negative scores because of this error and tell them to give the hack another chance.

How do you get to Carnegie Hall? Practice man, practice.

oh no it took me EFFORT to get an item. too hard. 0/5
I want them to try your hacks Noxus lol

[Noxus]

You need to undo the ice beam nerf, your hack is currently unplayable because that nerf makes a mandatory progression pathway (the so called "ripper climb" to the super missiles) impossible to traverse. Let me know when you've updated the IPS file so I may complete this mod and give it a better score.

edit: After you fix the problem, I'll also contact others who have left negative scores because of this error and tell them to give the hack another chance.

How do you get to Carnegie Hall? Practice man, practice.

oh no it took me EFFORT to get an item. too hard. 0/5
I want them to try your hacks Noxus lol

:whoa:

[Zincoshine]

You need to undo the ice beam nerf, your hack is currently unplayable because that nerf makes a mandatory progression pathway (the so called "ripper climb" to the super missiles) impossible to traverse. Let me know when you've updated the IPS file so I may complete this mod and give it a better score.

edit: After you fix the problem, I'll also contact others who have left negative scores because of this error and tell them to give the hack another chance.

How do you get to Carnegie Hall? Practice man, practice.

When even veteran speedrunners are ready to throw their controller at the screen, it is clear that something is very wrong. (I'm not referring to myself, I'm referring to youtube videos I've seen). Besides, this is a vanilla difficulty ROM hack so this sudden massive spike in difficulty is out of place.

[nodever2]

You need to undo the ice beam nerf, your hack is currently unplayable because that nerf makes a mandatory progression pathway (the so called "ripper climb" to the super missiles) impossible to traverse. Let me know when you've updated the IPS file so I may complete this mod and give it a better score.

edit: After you fix the problem, I'll also contact others who have left negative scores because of this error and tell them to give the hack another chance.

How do you get to Carnegie Hall? Practice man, practice.

When even veteran speedrunners are ready to throw their controller at the screen, it is clear that something is very wrong. (I'm not referring to myself, I'm referring to youtube videos I've seen). Besides, this is a vanilla difficulty ROM hack so this sudden massive spike in difficulty is out of place.

Could you provide a link to the youtube video you're referring to? Most players I've seen, especially experienced ones, take only a few minutes to get past the section with perseverance.

[FelixWright]

oh no it took me EFFORT to get an item. too hard. 0/5
I want them to try your hacks Noxus lol

Be careful what you wish for.

When even veteran speedrunners are ready to throw their controller at the screen, it is clear that something is very wrong. (I'm not referring to myself, I'm referring to youtube videos I've seen). Besides, this is a vanilla difficulty ROM hack so this sudden massive spike in difficulty is out of place.

Something may be wrong but most of the somethings you provide aren't it. You ought to accept the occasional challenge instead of calling them glitches or permastucks.

[Noxus]

You need to undo the ice beam nerf, your hack is currently unplayable because that nerf makes a mandatory progression pathway (the so called "ripper climb" to the super missiles) impossible to traverse. Let me know when you've updated the IPS file so I may complete this mod and give it a better score.

edit: After you fix the problem, I'll also contact others who have left negative scores because of this error and tell them to give the hack another chance.

How do you get to Carnegie Hall? Practice man, practice.

When even veteran speedrunners are ready to throw their controller at the screen, it is clear that something is very wrong. (I'm not referring to myself, I'm referring to youtube videos I've seen). Besides, this is a vanilla difficulty ROM hack so this sudden massive spike in difficulty is out of place.

Fwiw, I still have trouble with that part. I did throw the controller across the room when I first tried it, probably.

Which also means I've played it multiple times, as is something you might need to do to get good at these hacks.

[DonnyDonovan]

As I stated in my review near the top of the page, I found that part frustrating.  It's tricky.  It takes multiple attempts.  I suggested it be toned down a bit.  But, it's still a very good hack viewed as a whole.  And after perseverance, as is being discussed, I got it.  And I'm a very average player.