Metroid Prime 2: Unlimited Beams Authorized v1.0

[pucK]

                                                                  Formerly Metroid Prime 2: Ammoless

Metroid Prime 2: Unlimited Beams Authorized





[spoiler=Running on real hardware][/spoiler]
[spoiler=Normal screenshot of Prime 2, for comparison][/spoiler]
[spoiler=Keeping ammo bars on, one of the options in the patcher][/spoiler]


Metroid Prime 2: Unlimited Beams Authorized is an unlimited beam mod for Metroid Prime 2: Echoes and Metroid Prime Trilogy (USA) made by Dybbles and me. It removes all beam ammo spawns from the game, and instead gives Samus unlimited beam shots. Missiles, energy, and powerbombs all drop as normal. It only took two days to fix this 2004 aberration mod MP2, which I think brings other good news: Prime modding becomes fairly straightforward once you familiarize yourself with how Prime's files link together. Also, MP2 is pretty fun without ammo.

Metroid Prime 2 originally gave Samus limited beam usage. Many Metroid fans have wondered, however, what Prime 2 would have been like without an ammo bar on Samus' beam weapons. This was the guiding direction for this mod. The rest of the game has been preserved as much as possible. e.g. Beam ammo expansions are still a collectible pickup, and still count toward total completion percent as normal, and enemies, crates, and bosses all still spawn missiles, energy, and powerbombs as normal (see below). We're also testing creating an optional language patch which would help preserve some of the ammo-less immersion.

Highlights:

   
• Gives Samus unlimited beam ammo (hooray).
• Can remove Beam Ammo bars from HUD (user-choice at patching).
• Hides Beam Ammo counter from HUD (the numbers).
• Enemies and bosses no longer spawn beam ammo.
• Crates no longer spawn beam ammo.
• All other events no longer spawn beam ammo.
• Charge beam combos still cost missiles (unchanged).
• Enemies, bosses, and crates all still drop suit energy, missile ammo, and powerbombs as normal (largely unchanged, see exceptions below).

More highlights:

   
• Mod compatibility for all 3 GCN regions: USA, EUR, and JPN.
• Mod compatibility for USA Metroid Prime Trilogy.
• Save-file compatibility between U.B.A. and original versions of MP2 and Trilogy (only for same-region, of course). No save file corruption whether you load Unlimited Beams Authorized or vanilla MP2/USA Trilogy
• Drag 'n drop patcher. (Patcher is a .bat file.)
• "Hardmode" secret playable mode. (No ammo spawns... but no unlimited ammo, either!)
• No special requirements to patch. U.B.A. uses an unmodified Trilogy or MP2 .iso/.gcm.

Other side effects and (known) changes:

Despite having unlimited ammo, the overall difficulty of the game is more or less the same.

A very limited number of enemies and boss attacks that would normally spawn beam ammo now drop NOTHING - a small price to pay for unlimited ammo. This typically affects swarm-type enemies, and for example may be noticeable on boss attacks like Chykka's spawns, or in the final boss battle. This effect largely goes unnoticed, however, as most everything else in the game still drops health and missiles and powerbombs as normal (enemies, crates, bosses after you kill them, and powerbomb-specific enemies).

Multiplayer now gives ALL players unlimited ammo when firing beams.

Although this mod is fairly constrained in scope, we're happy to be contributing a Prime mod. Hopefully more complete mods can be made in the future.


Acknowledgements

Dybbles
Initial mod proposal, game research, AR code hacking and asm injection, documentation, testing

z_pucK
General research, documentation, patch creation, testing, writeups

Special Thanks To
Metroid Prime Modding- Antidote, Aruki, Cirrus, and Pwootage for modding and guidance help.
Prime World Editor - https://github.com/AxioDL/PrimeWorldEditor
Retro Modding Wiki - https://wiki.axiodl.com/w/Retro_Modding_Wiki
Paktool - https://wiki.axiodl.com/w/PAK_(Metroid_Prime)
NODtool - https://github.com/AxioDL/nod
John Nathaniel - .bat help for patcher

Also thanks to
MetConst - kkzero, thedopefish - patcher help
TJG Minty Meeo - getvalue, patcher help
encounter - Trilogy AR codes


FAQ

Q: Does this mod affect logbook scans?
A: No, item drops in MP2 don't give logbook scans, and therefore won't take away from your total logbook%.

Q: Can you remove beam ammo expansions from completion%?
A: Changes the save file, likely causes corruption if you load Vanilla or Ammoless in between gameplays. So we left it out from even being an option.

Q: Remove beam ammo expansions be from the game?
A: Possible.

Q: Make beam ammo expansions give missiles/powerbombs/new upgrade/change their models?
A: Possible. Missiles and powerbombs are capped at the in-game values, meaning you'll never go over the total. However, you could get a missile tank or something early, which could make for an interesting route.


Q: What is hardmode?
A: Beam ammo does not spawn, but Samus is not given unlimited beam ammo either. You will only be able to refill your beam ammo at ammo stations or your gunship.

Q: How do I access Hardmode?
A: When the patcher prompts you whether to HIDE or KEEP beam ammo bars, press the "h" key instead to activate hardmode 1, which will remove ammo from spawning, but give Samus limited ammo. If you want to access the hardest mode, press the "s" key instead and hardmode 2 will activate. Hardmode 2 is a "silent" mode where Samus won't know when she'll run out of ammo until she does. Hardmode 2 hides the beam ammo bars, in addition to the effects of hardmode 1.

MD5 of current patcher zip
MD5  177E4A85ADD79D06A06D4ECB6F80DF93  MP2-Unlimited Beams Authorized v.1.0.7z

[Scooterboot9697]

First of all, I'd like to point out that it is rather annoying that your initial description for this is just a keyboard mash rather than at least a summary, and one has to download the actual zip and read the .txt file inside to actually understand what this is moreso than just the filename alone.

Edit: I see it's fixed now.


Secondly... Prime Trilogy version when?

[Magnet Beam]

Secondly... Prime Trilogy version when?

W̶h̶e̶n̶ ̶P̶r̶i̶m̶e̶ ̶W̶o̶r̶l̶d̶ ̶E̶d̶i̶t̶o̶r̶ ̶g̶e̶t̶s̶ ̶b̶e̶t̶t̶e̶r̶ ̶M̶e̶t̶r̶o̶i̶d̶ ̶P̶r̶i̶m̶e̶ ̶2̶ ̶s̶u̶p̶p̶o̶r̶t̶.̶ ̶R̶i̶g̶h̶t̶ ̶n̶o̶w̶ ̶i̶t̶ ̶d̶o̶e̶s̶n̶'̶t̶ ̶e̶x̶t̶r̶a̶c̶t̶ ̶P̶r̶i̶m̶e̶ ̶2̶ ̶c̶o̶r̶r̶e̶c̶t̶l̶y̶ ̶a̶n̶d̶ ̶b̶r̶e̶a̶k̶s̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶f̶i̶n̶a̶l̶ ̶p̶h̶a̶s̶e̶ ̶o̶f̶ ̶E̶m̶p̶e̶r̶o̶r̶ ̶I̶n̶g̶.̶
It's now included in the patcher, feel free to download it.

[pucK]

Secondly... Prime Trilogy version when?

It's added now.


Updated with Prime Trilogy support and hardmode2. I have one small problem to fix with the patcher until I'll be 100% satisfied, but it should work for now.

[pucK]

Alright, I've updated the post with the definitive 1.0 version of the patcher.


Sometimes after it's finished the patcher will close on its own, but the game will be properly patched.


[size=78%]eHEH[/size]