I was wondering if something were possible with the SM engine....

[SonowRaevius]

Have been playing hacks for a while now, and I actually have started to gain interest in creating a hack myself.

Been looking at tutorials and any other source materials I could find that could possibly help me with this, but I was wondering about a particular feature I wish to add.

To put it simply, I would like the game to have some experience and skill trees added for each weapon and would like to know if this would actually be possible as a way to give people different ways to play.

There would of course be various one off upgrades that enhance the gameplay over all (pulling in power up when charging, able to re-spin in mid-air,etc.), but there would be main paths that you could fully invest in or mix and match to make what you like more.

If not, I thank those that took their time with this and getting back to me, if so, then I may be able to get to work on this soon.

[personitis]

With assembly coding anything is possible within hardware constraints (even then, anything is possible if you're creative enough). What you're thinking about though, is going to be a very complex addition that involves a new pause sub-screen (likely so that the player can view the skill tree), item specific checks for abilities in-game and during pause screen handling, you'll need some system to accommodate experience related tasks, then configuring any additional patches you plan to use and making sure they all fit, and anything else that doesn't immediately jump out to me. It's a pretty tall order of things to do, especially if this were to be you first experience ever with making a romhack; specifically a SNES and Super Metroid romhack.

If that's the case, my advice is to start with small goals that aim to build up to this system. A lot of people don't realize how much work making a romhack can actually be.

[SonowRaevius]

I have kept up with romhacks/fangames/etc. and I know that they take time and skill to make major changes and improvements to the game. That doesn't really deter me any to be honest, I just wanted to know if it would indeed be possible before moving on with the next phase.

If need be I will provide information on what I plan to do as well, if that would help anyone answering my question.

I know that is at least possible to add a purchasing mechanic to the game from another hack I played (forget the name at the moment, but it had some odd music in it, but it was fun).

[dewhi100]

A simpler, more hack-y alternative is to make some powerups disappear when you collect others. Anything beyond that will require CODE.

[SonowRaevius]

I know, and I am kinda new to all this, I figured I would test my hand at basic map editing first as one of the major things I want in my hack later on is a huge, open world where people can pick and choose their own paths and what upgrades they want first.

[Moehr]

A simpler, more hack-y alternative is to make some powerups disappear when you collect others. Anything beyond that will require CODE.

This is what I am doing with mine. You get one of four options off the bat, whichever you pick removes the other three at that spot, and you won't be able to reach the others for quite some time. However, the game is beatable via different routes and puzzle solutions that vary depending on which of the four equipment sets you grab off the bat. This way a replay would offer a potentially new experience.

A lot of new experiences can be provided via the basic equipment by messing about with enemy vulnerabilities and DNA, and the Projectiler program can also vary the experience in good ways if you are careful with the changes you make. Some of the beams in the hack I'm building fire faster than others, and that alone varies how you handle enemy interactions with different enemies - faster ones take less damage but require multiple shots in a short time in many different directions, other enemies shake off lighter damage and hit hard if you don't bring them down all at once.

Another way to approximate skill trees is to have room states set to change based on quantity of an item acquired, such as missiles. Make missiles only available when you have utilized a particular skill in a certain way to acquire the upgrade. Or kill all enemies in a room, in a certain number of rooms, where the enemies are only vulnerable to a specific weapon, in order to acquire the missiles. When you have enough missiles, the roomstate swaps the standard enemies with weaker versions vulnerable to the same beam weapon. If a player returns to rooms with these enemies, the enemies will feel like they have become easier due to levelling up the weapon.