Super Metroid SNES Custom Box Art

[Crashtour99]

To reiterate what others have said, yes making carts is awesome, so that's not an issue.

I think manuals/guidebooks is a great idea.  I'm thinking I'll have to make one for Rhizon when it nears completion just because of the new abilities/items/obstacles.

As for making a guide for something like Ice Metal?  How about making it like one of those multiple storyline books where you turn to a page based off of a decision it asks you to make.
Which item would you like next?
Springball turn to page X
Varia turn to page Y
Powerbombs turn to page Z

:wink:

[Quietus]

I actually thought that too, but didn't type it.  It brought back good memories of the numerous books I still have of that ilk. :^_^:

[Lunaria]

Those are called "chose your own adventure", never really had one of those myself. But making something like that would be more for a guide rather then a manual, don't you think? :p

[Quietus]

Yes, but guides were mentioned as well, and having both would be good.  Manuals would make the hacks seem more complete, especially for those adding new moves or techniques, and walkthroughs would just be a nice extra for the site.

[Zhs2]

I would jizz my pants for a copy of a "Players Guide" for a hack, filled with beautiful illustrations of concept art of graphics in said hacks along with text and images styled after an "official" writeup of the sequence of the game. Just saiyan.

This is probably one of the things that wouldn't have people questioning making a profit from, either. I'd buy one hands down.

[FullOfFail]

I wouldn't mind having my hack on cartridge. Even if it ends up sucking, I'd still get one just to play, and it would be an excellent conversation piece. Even if I have to pay. The originals are pretty expensive anyway, you'd just be investing a little more. I'm not going to make any type of profit anyway from hacking. I'd just be paying him for manufacturing costs, from the way I see it. But, I'd have to look at the deal, ect.

[Riffman81]

Strategy guides/walkthroughs is a good idea... although I have no idea when I'd find the time or team to actually write, and put one together. My idea for the manuals would just be like any original SNES manual. Basic story, some concept art, screens, new abilities explained, (If they apply to the said hack), control layout, credits, and maybe a mini walkthrough, or a "spoiler" section for advanced or open hacks like Redesign, Eris, & Ice Metal. I'll go ahead and put something together for one of the hacks I've just mentioned and post it here when done. Just have to get some free time... these long work hours are kicking my ass! My goal is to make a nice manual/mini guide that could be used while playing on a PC Emulator, or have it printed. The maps that have been made (I believe I saw one in the Ice Metal thread) could be useful as well. I remember Zelda: A Link to the Past coming with a foldout map back in the day.

So far it's been great to be a part of this community, and I realize I have yet to produce any hacks or whatever... I just simply don't have time right now to learn SMILE, and with only knowing the basics of the editor... well, I refuse to be one of those that start posting about a ROM hack the minute they learn how to change a tile in SMILE. However, I do want to contribute to metconst. so I'll get to work on a manual soon and we'll see how it turns out.  :razz:

[Crashtour99]

As a starting point for a custom manual, perhaps this could help.

http://metroid.retropixel.net/metroid3/manual/

Turns out someone has scanned and uploaded the original.

[Lunaria]

I'm not sure for other hacks, but I know for a fact that I never made any hard copies (or digital for that matter) of the concept ideas. :p

[advancedpillow]

http://metroid.retropixel.net/metroid3/manual/

Unfortunately, these scans are useless unless one would want to make a lo-res PDF for download. I'll see what I can do about making hi-res scans. Although, now that I think about it, the SM manual can be redesigned (no pun intended) quite easily. It's only the art that really needs to be scanned.

Echoing Riffman's sentiments, time is tight, from work to SMILE to everything else, but this is definitely something I will get to soon. "This" meaning a guide or manual.

Thinking out loud...my ultimate goal would be to physically create an old-school SNES styled guide like the original for SM. Maybe I could get like 50 or 75 manufactured and mail them out to anyone who wants them. Not sure which hack I would do this for, or maybe I would save this for mine when the time comes. But that's looking too far into the future, for now.

Still, this is a great idea to really flesh out the hacks here.

[Quietus]

I actually have a copy of the A4-size Player's guide that came with Super Metroid when I bought it.  I could always try and take some pics that you could copy / paste into a document.  If you're interested, let me know.

I may also look at creating a guide.  It'd be fairly basic, as my art skills are lacking, but it'd give me something to do... :^_^:

[advancedpillow]

A4? I assume that's the UK version of the guide?

[Quietus]

Yeah, the game cartridge came in a big box with the Player's Guide / Manual included.  Let me just take a quick snap for you...
[spoiler][/spoiler]

[advancedpillow]

That's pretty sweet. So it was like an Earthbound-style release--cart with strategy guide? I can't believe I didn't know this.

[Parabox]

You should definitely try to scan it in. Even MDb only has the German version of this, and I believe only the area scans, so the more original English version should be pretty awesome to have up.

[Riffman81]

Just put in a 65 hour work week... ughhh! In order for me to get started on this, I'd like to know what hack everyone here would like to see a guide for? I guess we could take a vote... Ice Metal or Eris is at the top of my list but I wanted to see what the rest of you who are interested in this have to say.

I've also been working on making a instruction manual using the original as my base. Basically, the manual is something I'm doing just for fun... I see guides being more beneficial to the community.

[Charmander106]

I would like to suggest working on custom box art for my hack Super Metroid Underground. That is if you would like to...

But about Ice Metal and Eris, yeah I would like to see a manual for both hacks.

[Quietus]

Guides for any hacks would be welcome, but if you're going to start somewhere, I'd suggest starting with something smaller, so you get a feel for what you want to do, and get used to a certain setup before delving into a full-size hack.  Think of it as a trial run.

[advancedpillow]

I would love to tackle a guide for Eris mostly because I am more familiar with it than Ice Metal at this point in time. I design books for a living so my biggest setback would be the lack of content--screenshots, text, and whatnot. Of course I will take my own screenshots but the text is what I would need to spend the most time on. I'll get started on this this week and will budget my time to have worthwhile progress to report by the end of the month. Any suggestions, ideas, custom art(!), walkthough text are welcomed and ecouraged. But feel free to wait until I get back with progress, if you want, to prove that I'm committed to this and that you won't be wasting your time. 

[Digital_Mantra]

I've actually got some footnotes and pics for an Eris manual (the newest version).
Speaking of which, and this is probably not the most receptive thread to ask this..

I'm looking for 1-2 beta testers.
But there is a condition:
You've played Eris recently and are aware of it's item progression and room aesthetic differences.

That way I can get proper feedback to changes made and suggestions leading in the right direction of the new version.

Or hell, you could just replay the old one one and compare it. I don't care that much.
Please PM me if you're interested and are a skilled beta tester. Thanks.

*I only bring this up now cause it seems people are carting my hack and I feel like they aren't carting the 'right version'.

[advancedpillow]

DM, would you prefer I hold off on creating the content of the strategy guide until v2 is released? I have no problem doing that as the layout itself will take plenty of time anyway. And I can always just slug in the correct text, screenshots, and maps at that time, whenever that may be.

Really looking forward to v2 as well.

[Riffman81]

Bumping this because I found a new forum where others are making covers for ROM hacks and games that never made it to the US.

[spoiler]http://www.thecoverproject.net/forums/index.php?topic=3494.300[/spoiler]

Found a cover for Super Metroid Impossible. Just thought I'd share it with you guys. Maybe I should join up there and post the covers I made as well...

[advancedpillow]

Here I am, yet again, to bump this months old thread. But I come bearing pics...

I designed a custom box and label for MSZM, and Eris, which I'd like to share with the community here. I was lucky to be able to find a hi-res image of the GBA cover for Zero Mission. Bonus points for whoever can guess where the "Super" came from. Although it's probably pretty obvious.

As for the Eris design, my goal was to match DMantra's style and intentions with the hack. As for the backcover copy, I wanted to advertise the awards it received from the votes in the 2009 awards, much like an official release might have showcased. Personally, this is one of my fav games of all time. So, if you don't like Eris, please pardon the fanboy-ish praise that I wrote...but I think it's more than well deserved.

Hope you like 'em.

[altoiddealer]

Awesome!!  :grin: :grin: :grin:

[Riffman81]

 :yay: yeah, really cool! Was actually thinking of carting "Metroid: Super Zero Mission" myself. Just haven't got around to testing it on real hardware yet. Covers look really good. Working on a cover for Phazon hack now actually. Will post here when finished.