Strange Allies - Twin Contests

[Moehr]

title: strange allies
start:   June 1st 2022
finish:  August 1st 2022
winners: September 1st

setting:
The mission has been compromised, and now Samus is trapped in dangerous territory. Escape will require help from some of the planet's inhabitants.

categories: There are two separate, connected contests and you can enter either or both:
1: "strange allies" community resource contest
- resources for hacks of official titles only
2: "strange allies" hack entry
- stick to hacks of official titles only, unless you are sure the other entrants can play your hack/fangame for scoring

Guidelines:
-Entrants should create assets or situations where players feel like they must rely on the creatures of the planet Samus is on for assistance.

-In the event of multiple judges, our scores will be divided by the total judges giving them.

-As I'm unable to play hacks of the 3D games, if somehow we get submissions I'll be recruiting a judge to review those.

Scoring:
Contestant scores are the combined total of Contest Points and Bonus Points as described below.

------------------

community resource contest rules:
Resources should be keeping with the theme of alien lifeforms that offer her aid or guide her. Lifeforms can of course be represented by static backgrounds, glows, or all manner of ideas! Contestants can submit as many resources as they like as part of their entry, with a single cumulative score for the entire asset set.
Contest Points are as follows (max 20pts):
4 pts: aesthetics / polish of all resources in the submission
4 pts each:
- each new background tileset (the visual tilesets used to create rooms)
- each new patch that includes art and AI for a totally new enemy
- each new song
1 pt: each new patch for an enemy sprite reskin to an existing enemy
1 pt: each new patch modding a different enemy AI for an existing enemy

Bonus points are in addition and come from your peers:
0-10pts: participant reviews:
- Contestants rank the other entries from favorite to least
- The top rated across all contestants receives 10, next 9, down to 0
- if there are more than 10 entries, some may receive 0 pts here.

Collaborations are permitted, recommended 2-3 collaborators max.
Notes: you are encouraged to make resources for those participating in the hack entry part of this contest (even your own hack - though if you submit something from your own hack expect that it might be used by your rivals as well!). If you submit a resource set, expect to review resources submitted by the other particpants.

-----------------

hack entry contest rules:
target length: 60-90 minutes

The hack should have situations where planetary lifeforms help Samus progress through the game. This could be done through enemy movement patterns, edits to enemies, enemies triggering progress through the world, background art for things like giant animals or plants, whatever you can think up!
Contest Points are as follows (20 pts max):
4 pts: aesthetics of the hack submitted (quality of the atmosphere, visuals, sound, experience)
4 pts: error checks of the hack (beatable (to credit role), no glitches, softlocks, bugs etc)
4 pts: theme - allied 'planetary lifeforms' make progress through the hack easier
8 pts: use of community resources for this entry (1pt per, 8pts max, provide a link to each so others can check these out as well!)

Bonus points are in addition and come from your peers:
0-10pts: participant reviews:
- Contestants rank the other entries from favorite to least
- The top rated across all contestants receives 10, next 9, down to 0
- if there are more than 10 entries, some may receive 0 pts here.

Collaborations are permitted, recommended 2-3 collaborators max.

Notes:
You are encouraged to try and release new assets from your hack as submissions to the community resource half of this hack. Assets released to the community for the Community Resources contest can be used to score points for this hack as well.
If you've submitted a hack, plan on playing the other entries.

[Moehr]

Clarifications:
Community Resource contest:
The term background tileset may have been too vague; what I am looking for is the tilesets you would use to make the level art with in a hack, like the Brinstar or Norfair tilesets (as opposed to stuff like pause menu tilesets).

Edited first post to clarify this a bit. Will do the same for any further clarifications requested.

[Tundain]

Here are my resource submissions for this contest for everyone to use.

This tileset is called "botwoon's garden".
It mostly uses vanilla gfx with new palettes, but has also some custom gfx to spice things up
Put in in SMART's export->tileset->SCE and rename it to first consecutive hex number.
Preview of the tiletable:
[spoiler][/spoiler]
Example room:
[spoiler][/spoiler]

Now also all the tilesets used in super metroid alliance!

I'll be adding more resources to this post, so make sure to keep checking if interested.

[Moehr]

Not much time left to finish up entries!

Anyone submitting a resource entry / entry set may want to feature it in Room of the Month.

[Moehr]

About a week left to enter/submit, let's see some cool stuff!!

[dewhi100]

Have some resources.

Passive Pirates
Turns off collision and hostility for walking pirates.

Event Station
Using the station sets an event flag of your choosing. Samus becomes a master hacker with this.

[RT-55J]

Here's an M2 resource for y'all:

Aut-Series Enemy Graphics
Sprite tiles and metasprite definitions to port over the Autector, Autclast, and Autool from Metroid Dread (so they can finally meet their buddies, the Autrack, Autoad, and Autom).

Enemy AI not provided.

[Mentlegen]

Alright Folks, here are 5 new songs for everyone to use.

I feel like these can be used in multiple contexts so i advise you -

GET HACKIN'

[Moehr]

Since there were some questions about it, submission deadline is 5am UTC on 8/1/2022.

I'll be making a post for "pencils down", but have em in before then

[MetroidNerd#9001]

Wow. I really shouldn't have procrastinated so much. Here's a hodgepodge of the stuff that I've been working on. It may or may not work super well, but I have demonstration videos of the ASM patches if anyone is interested.

Chainblocks Quarry.asm adapts the chainblock ASM made by Black Falcon. It fixes some of the minor issues with the old ASM patch and adds two new features:

• Allows for the toggling on and off of explosions
• Allows for the PLM to set an event bit based on the current room's Index

Multi Room Enemies.asm does two things:

• Adds Main and Setup ASM for rooms that allow for the carrying of enemy HP across multiple rooms.
• Modifies the Zoomer's AI to have it shoot projectiles in 5 directions based on how it is facing (gotta love K-maps).

Predestined_Fate.nspc is an arrangement of the song Predestined Fate from VVVVVV. It is very much a draft arrangement right now. If you want to use this in an actual hack, please DM me for the latest version or to get the .IT file to edit it yourself.

Chain Block Demo:
[spoiler]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wuXNmggFlxE[/spoiler]

Multi Room Enemy & Zoomer AI Demo:
[spoiler]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bqBx_SLGJb8[/spoiler]

[Mentlegen]

Super Metroid Alliance

Samus has been tasked with investigating a space pirate outpost on the moon of planet CRE002.
Inside information indicates that the space pirates have disregarded the code of experimental ethics...

Mentlegen: Music and room design
Tundain: GFX and room design
Dewhi: ASM

special thanks to Nodever2 for beta testing

2 months go by fast! A big thanks to the team for putting in the work during irregular schedules and hours.
- Mentlegen

[Oi27]

Custom Enemy submission - helpful baby metroid that clears blocks for Samus! Includes gfx for M2's Metroid crystals.
https://youtu.be/pINaDNm5L5w

[RT-55J]

Super Metroid Alliance

1:35, 25.0%

Neat hack. I like the way it incorporated the theme.

[Mentlegen]

Glad you enjoyed my friend. When I release it on the main site, it would be great if u would rate it

[Moehr]

As promised, this is the "pencils-down" announcement; no further submissions will be accepted.

Thank you to those who entered, now I'll start taking a look at the entries over the next couple of weeks

[Moehr]

Since there is only one hack submission, I feel safe declaring it the winner, congrats to Mentlegen, Tundain and Dewhi100 for getting Super Metroid: Alliance across the finish line! In a way it's kind of fun that so many of the entries ended up being assets.

Going to be a day or two before I can post feedback on things but I'll go over it in detail. I'll also put the resources to use and post the results of those as I go.

[Paragon]

Looking forward to livestreaming and/or recording a blind play of it sometime this month since I'll be at home.

(Right after I finish up Hotlands. I haven't forgotten.)

[Moehr]

Starting off playing Alliance, then messing with the other resource patches after.

Mentlegen, Tundain and dewhi100 - would you mind listing any public patches added to the hack (in addition to those posted for the resource contest)?

Resource contributors - If you can also take a look at the other resources and give some feedback based on the contest guidelines, that would be welcome! And if you would check out Alliance and posting some feedback, that would be welcome too :D

[Tundain]

Added all the tilesets used in super metroid Alliance to my post.

[Moehr]

SM Alliance hack entry contest scoring
+ target length: 60-90 minutes (note: my clear time was 2:32 but I spent a loooot of that taking notes down)
+ planetary lifeforms help Samus progress through the game.

Contest Points are as follows (19/20 pts max):
4 pts: aesthetics of the hack submitted (quality of the atmosphere, visuals, sound, experience)
3 pts: error checks of the hack (beatable (to credit role), no glitches, softlocks, bugs etc)
4 pts: theme - allied 'planetary lifeforms' make progress through the hack easier
8 pts: Songs released, ASM released, and tilesets released from this hack used in this hack
         (Assets released to the community for the Community Resources contest can be used to score points for this hack as well).

Notes:
[spoiler]Not even joking, this is a ton of spoilers meant for the authors or others who've beaten it.
[spoiler]Clear time: 2:32, percent: 25

;title/file select
  unchanged
- title crash on reset if you go to demos

;intro
+ new intro text
+ intro on theme
+ hm, a narrator! "your mission, Samus"
- rough transition at end of intro

;transitions
+ skipped ceres
+ lol, crashed!
- weird window layer on hive map
+ cool palette on loading map

;gameplay
- more than one map region X(
- more than two areas X((
- more than 3 areas X(((
+ roomstate avalanche :D
+ respin (community patch?)
+ interior, doorlocks are interesting
-   bad scroll in lower left of main room causes camera to desynch
+   security system gauntlet is fun to break through
+   laboratory map setup around a contained boss...o.o
+   queue custom music...!
+   scaffolding is generally well-done, fun to run around
- required damage boost for progression
+ learned how to damage boost
+ pyroxias is awesome
-   Crocomire is almost a letdown cause of the vanillaness
+ I like the mechanic used to hack the computers to adjust lava
+ really just lots of cool moments in the hack
+ I think the difficulty was on the lighter side but that there are a lot of opportunities for a skilled player to turn that into a really awesome run, while still being fun for players of my skill level

;enemies
+ custom pirate art, like the helmets
+ kzan as environmental
+ piratebot is hilarious
+ atomic resprite - maybe viral outbreak
+ stagnythryos fishman is dope :D
+   roomstate change with fishmen escaped
+   then headed left, next one has moved some boulders :D
+   then further left, interesting blockade
+   then watching the fishmen clear the rocks
+ Pyroxias pirate morph :0
++   protects from enemies and environment damage
+   Final boss was appropriately converted

;music
+   custom track after lab break-in :D
+   stagnithyros custom track :D
+   Pyroxias music :0
+   really, just a lot of custom tracks
-   sadly, sometimes rooms loaded vanilla songs in error

;tilesets
+ cool wrecked gunship and ring planet on surface BG
+    also digging the vines
+ inside tileset is pretty great
+   like the dark combined with the lag eye and the turret
+   computer banks
+   pirate chozo statue :D
+ stagnithyros tileset is pretty cool
+ same for pyroxias
+   magnet coil in pirate room
+   varia get room

;items
+ extreme anaesthetic, lol

;pause screen
+ pause screen has game time
+ map toggle :0
+ map works on surface
- map in laboratory may have scroll issue
- map in stagnithyros may be borked
+ different aesthetic

;data
+ save near game start!
+ saving works
+ good use of save loop on surface[/spoiler]
[/spoiler]

[Paragon]

I streamed this last night after I finished Hotlands. I'm not done yet, but here's what I've got so far.

Super Metroid: Alliance on Paragon Plays Twitch

[Moehr]

Have some resources.

Passive Pirates
Turns off collision and hostility for walking pirates.

Event Station
Using the station sets an event flag of your choosing. Samus becomes a master hacker with this.

Dewhi100, first off, awesome ASM resources, the code is super clean to read, and I was able to set it up (with a bit of mucking about) in under 20 minutes.

Code legibility aside, I had to make an adjustment to line 47 and 64 of the event station patch due to a missing $ on 47 and a missing ; on 64 in order to get it to patch. Then, I had to figure out I needed to use PLM FA80 in the room. Lastly, a QOL feature would be to include the event list for the vanilla events so a player can see useful values to add to the low byte of the PLM.

All that said, setting this up, stepping out of the room and seeing 'Zebes is Awake' when testing was pretty amazing, and the use of this PLM in Alliance was a blast.

As to the passive pirates patch, it could bear mentioning as a comment at the top that all you have to do is set the pirate's speed 1 value to #$0800 and then adjust it to do what you need from there. I tried some other things first just assuming the non-collision attribute was the collision flag or contact damage. But once I figured it out I had some cool non-aggressive Space Pirates ready to go.


Contest Points are as follows (max 20pts):
3/4 pts: aesthetics / polish of all resources in the submission
1 pt: each new patch modding a different enemy AI for an existing enemy
1 pt: the event 'hacking' station could be utilized to 'turn off bosses', effectively interacting with their AI / setting them to 'defeated', so I'll take it.

Total: 5pts.

Would definitely recommend both, especially since they're fairly non-invasive patches with few requirements and are set up with SMART in mind.

[dewhi100]

Wow. I really shouldn't have procrastinated so much. Here's a hodgepodge of the stuff that I've been working on. It may or may not work super well, but I have demonstration videos of the ASM patches if anyone is interested.

Chainblocks Quarry.asm adapts the chainblock ASM made by Black Falcon. It fixes some of the minor issues with the old ASM patch and adds two new features:

• Allows for the toggling on and off of explosions
• Allows for the PLM to set an event bit based on the current room's Index

Multi Room Enemies.asm does two things:

• Adds Main and Setup ASM for rooms that allow for the carrying of enemy HP across multiple rooms.
• Modifies the Zoomer's AI to have it shoot projectiles in 5 directions based on how it is facing (gotta love K-maps).

Predestined_Fate.nspc is an arrangement of the song Predestined Fate from VVVVVV. It is very much a draft arrangement right now. If you want to use this in an actual hack, please DM me for the latest version or to get the .IT file to edit it yourself.

Chain Block Demo:
[spoiler]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wuXNmggFlxE[/spoiler]

Multi Room Enemy & Zoomer AI Demo:
[spoiler]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bqBx_SLGJb8[/spoiler]

Is there a way to hear the track without putting it in an editor or a rom?

[MetroidNerd#9001]

Here's the SPC and IT of the current version.

[Moehr]

Wow. I really shouldn't have procrastinated so much. Here's a hodgepodge of the stuff that I've been working on. It may or may not work super well, but I have demonstration videos of the ASM patches if anyone is interested...

Chainblocks Quarry.asm
Multi Room Enemies.asm
Predestined_Fate.nspc

Chainblocks patch:
This is an upgrade to Black Falcon's patch, which causes explosions to appear as the blocks get destroyed. This patch applied without problems but was difficult to use due to the lack of documentation about setup. The ASM includes a link to a zip file which led to a 404; after hitting up the main site and searching for it I downloaded a zip of the original ASM which had a text file that you load in RF to access the setup details. Once I had that sorted it was smooth sailing from there, and it definitely seems like you could do some cool action with enemies who are allies or foes blowing up bridges or other structures with this patch.
Notes for others: The PLM ID you'll need as-is when placing the chainblock PLM is F060, and the high byte of its value sets the direction while the low byte sets how many blocks to break. I attached the text doc here in case anyone needs it, but adding those details in the comments of the patch would have been a nice touch.

Multi-room enemies:
This patch looked like a cool idea, and it applied fine as-is. But it then took a bit of figuring out and discussion with MetroidNerd to explain the setup, which also is not mentioned as clearly as it could be in the comments (though the code itself is pretty easy to follow).
The patch mentions setup ASM in the room you want the multi-room enemy to start in, and main ASM in all rooms you want it to appear in. The room assumes you'll be using two zoomers for this and that one will be on the ceiling and the other on the floor (though that part isn't strictly necessary). What's missing is an edit to the enemy header for the Init AI of the zoomer, changing it to F311, which is required for the patch to work.
From there, I had two powerful zoomers who shot projectiles at me just like in the video, who I whittled down in the first room and finished off in the second.
The zoomers on their own would have been a cool enough patch, maybe reached a little too far having both things in the same file. The multi-room enemy aspect of the patch seems like it could be a fun idea to integrate for a lot of people as well. having them both as separate submissions coulda been an extra point :D


Predestined Fate:
This is a very pleasant arrangement of Predestined Fate, it'll be a good addition to any hack that wants to create a sense of yearning and would make wide open surface areas have a nice haunting SM vibe they might otherwise lack, especially with rain, snow, wind (visual or otherwise), or dawn or evening. Listened to it a bunch while testing out the ASM files :D


Contest Points are as follows (max 20pts):
2/4 pts: aesthetics / polish of all resources in the submission:
4 pts: each new song
1 pt: each new patch modding a different enemy AI for an existing enemy
1 pt: the chainblock plm with its fancy explosions could be used for some mining or digging enemy alongside the enemy crumble BTS allowing an enemy ally to clear passages for you with some explosive flair, so I'll take it.

Total: 8pts.

Both of these patches are cool, and the song is really nice too. An updated set of patches for the site would be great, especially if you got the time to split the shooty zoomers off of the multi-room boss ASM.