Event Horizon (Demo)

[DSO]

I'm tired of waiting for something new to come along, and so is probably everyone else, so here's a little something to tide you over. This hack isn't going to be finished for so long you'll have completely forgotten this demo by then, so I have no objection releasing this.

Requires walljumping, crouch jumping, and paying attention (especially to the intro instead of skipping the text :P)
It's not kind to anyone unfamiliar with Super Metroid, there are some save stations but they're sorta spread out.
Item totals are:
Morph
Bombs
Charge
28 missiles
4 Etanks

Looking forward to reading your thoughts on this.

Patch is unheadered.

[Xaggoth]

I started it, found morph ball and six missiles.  I really don't see where I should be going for charge beam or bombs.  So far I really like the palettes and there are quite a few creative puzzles that took me a while. 
[spoiler]Ridley actually killed me because I stood in his tail like an idiot *facepalm*
[/spoiler]

I ended up damage spiking to my first missile pack on that column of smoke instead of doing what I was probably supposed to do.  I dislike how much underwater exploration has been involved so far, it get very tedious very fast for me.  The "current" is a cool idea, but very frustrating when you don't know where it is.  I really like the grotto, but it is just too much underwater.  My favorite part is the room names, it makes it a lot easier to remember where you are and some of them are nice little hints to the items.  As far as the story is concerned, I'm a little confused why a black hole has me landing on some planet, but whatever, it looked freaking sweet.  I also thought it was very strange to land to the boss battle music.  I'm guessing you really just wanted it for the second room there, it would be cool to do the same thing in the landing site.  That second room is death if you aren't expecting anything.  I also had no idea where the save points were until I accidentally stepped on one trying to figure out where to do where I am now.

[spoiler]
I'm wondering if one of the test of sight rooms is broken, the one with the really weird critters in it and the missile and energy stations, I shoot the block and hear a gate open, but it doesn't open?[/spoiler]

 

[DSO]

The map does give you a hint where to go, you probably just need to look for a way in from [spoiler]Eternal Pit[/spoiler].

[spoiler]The gate may behave oddly, but it's not broken nor impassible.[/spoiler]

[squishy_ichigo]

Having played up to bombs, I must say this game is rather.... odd.

And its not discreet about it either, its very 'in-your-face' odd.... I don't know what to think about that....

Also, Ceres really bugged me with the doors not matching the rest of the place.... and a few places I can get wedged into before morph...
But its fun. I give you that much! :D

[Crashtour99]

Pretty fun to play.   :^_^:  Got all the way up to charge beam.  Love the bomb block puzzle.  I would have to agree with Squishy that it's very odd, like the strange transparencies in Crateria and certain rooms underwater.  But you're in a black hole, so you kinda expect it to be odd.  LOL  Damn awesome demo though.  Can't wait till you finish it.

A few things that detracted from playing it...
[spoiler]The hidden missile door after you get your first missile pack.  Drove me crazy trying to figure out how to get past it...
That last underwater jump to get out of the underwater area was nearly impossible.
Found 1 permastuck (in addition to the countless places you can get jammed into the walls before you get morph ball, though I never got too stuck) where you can get wedged in between the door bubble and the slope right below spore spawn.  Without bombs you can't open the door to free yourself.[/spoiler]

[DSO]

Could you clarify about the "last underwater jump"? You're making me think you made a certain jump you're not supposed to be able to make in the underwater current room, cause the literal last jump to get out of the underwater area is very easy...

[Xaggoth]

Stopped after I reached charge beam, ended up with half the tanks and about half the missiles.  I liked playing it, but I would hate to have to backtrack through the suitless water and high gravity parts.  I hope there are roundabout ways around them.  I also got stuck in the door below spore spawn, which was a much more interesting fight than I had expected.  It made the serpent fight seem a lot less interesting though.  Maybe if you just removed the water from those rooms and removed the safe spots on the sides (adjusting his health accordingly probably)?

Regarding the gravity stuff and even the water current, it's really frustrating not knowing and needing to guess where it is.  Some animated tiles over them would make it much more enjoyable.  I thought the tall room with the blue pillar was a very good touch.  As far as enemy difficulty, it became a fair bit treacherous towards the end of the demo, rocks and crabs and pink pirates, oh my! 

[Crashtour99]

I guess technically it wasn't the last underwater jump, but the next to last.  I marked it with the yellow arrows.  

[spoiler]Tried every kind of jumping I could think of.  Crouch, aim, even morph ball.  Still don't know how I made it up there but one time it finally worked.  Maybe it's just me though.

[/spoiler]

I love how you make the player pay attention to tiny details though.  Very puzzle oriented.  And I thought the current room was kinda fun, even if you couldn't tell where the currents were.  The gate trick was especially cunning.   :grin:

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[squishy_ichigo]

That jump isn't hard if you know how to do it.

Crouch jump, then aim down as your reaching the ledge, you will gain a few extra pixels and make the jump no prob. (because Samus lifts here legs up JUST enough)

Crys ;D
^-- a perfect example of what I'm talking about. First jump.

[Scyzer]

Well I think i'm stuck :C
I've got 2 missiles... yes that's all. And i'm in the sea serpent grotto, and can't get to the upper left platform that the gate is supposed to get me to... Bah!

[Crashtour99]

The way I did it...

[spoiler]spin jump in front of the gate and let it push you over to the platform.  You'll just barely be able to make it.[/spoiler]

[Digital_Mantra]

Alright so here are my thoughts.

I thought the aesthetics were very nice, though overdone in some areas. So it was a bit inconsistent for me.
As were the palettes, some were majestic, simply marvelous. While others just annoyed me.

Some of your concepts/ideas were genius, others were downright silly. I was stuck for ages till I realized I had to shoot a wall to get lower. A bit cryptic if you ask me.

As for the area names at the top, a very nice touch. Something I wish I could have applied to Eris, my room names are simply on a map picture and text file somewhere. Very nice.

As for the game play and general flow, I found it somewhat inconsistent, nonetheless I was very impressed with some areas. The custom GFX were astounding. Especially the high gravity area.

There were quite a few bugs but then again this is just a demo and you're obviously still working on it. So we should all take the bugs with a grain of salt and mention them as we see them.

Hmm what else.. Spore Spawn. Having him move while his mouth was open was interesting, but also very annoying.

I felt that you overused the transparency effect, although I can understand the aesthetic you were going for in some areas. Sometimes there are foreground formations that Samus is behind, but with the transparency, you can see her behind them, which is what I'm guessing you were going for.

Also, love seeing the water reflection used more in hacks, it's a truly marvelous aesthetic when done right.

Thanks for sharing this demo DSO!