Super Metroid : Darkholme Hospital

[Plutia]

http://puu.sh/6sdYG.png What's this supposed to be?

also, played pretty far into this and the enemy stuff feels really lacking, only 5 different enemies so far, one of which seems to just instantly kill you which is a huge minus to me

[DruidVorse]

I got velocity but I can't destroy the arrow gate in the same room.

[Cloud20]

You must make a short charge. Run 2 steps and press the B button, velocity will come early

Cirno : the bug is appeared one day, but only in spy mode.
Also I tried to add some more enemies. I know the list of them is quite short, but remember, this is an hospital, not a ZEBES or another planet. Darkholme plays on a minimalist ambiance who is increased progressively. Put a lot of random enemies is one thing, but I do not wanted too much recognizables enemies from the ORIGINAL game, also, did you think that enemies like sidehoppers, skrees, pirates space or something else will be really relevant ? They doesn't fit to the universe of this hack.
However, I understand your statement. Hoping that the rest of the hack will balance your opinion  :yay:

[Plutia]

i more don't like the fact that they all respawn indefinitely pretty much, minus the drones that have mochtroid behavior. and with a hospital that's falling into ruins it would make a whole lot of sense to see some non-robotic wildlife!

[Cloud20]

The problem is that the hospital is not falling to the ruins, and was evacuated one day before. The building is rotting on itself, because on something evil hidden the 6th floor. Well, if you've not played Darkholme former versions, I suggest you to finish the hack to find more elements of the story hidden somewhere.

Also, the first teaser I made will give you a better overview of the storyline :
SM : Darkholme Hospital 1.1 Teaser

Most of the storyline of Darkholme is inspirated by movies like Dark Floors and Dark Feed, or Fragile. Most of them have a mechanic involving a progressive deterioration of the place.

[advancedpillow]

That 1994 advertisement is brilliant!

I just sat down to play this so I haven't gotten far. I've been following your readme, particularly about the gates. I just shot a red gate with the starting beam, not a missile, on level 1 (through the floor, after you get the blast ball), and destroyed it. This shouldn't be, yea? The map has a save station "S" symbol. In "Darkholme" that means "switch"?

Not to post only potential issues I come across... I am seriously loving this. Not just the game itself, but the whole event you've cleverly crafted around your game. Well done, my friend. Well done.

Onwards!, deeper into Darkholme...

[Vexium]

Hi there. Decided to make an account on here to review this hack.

So first of all, thank you for a refreshing experience in Super Metroid short hacks. I like the new atmosphere, the enemy designs are fitting (if not a little monotonous), and the style is eery yet sterile.

First, here's what I was most impressed by.

Pros:

-The escape sequence was very unique and, for the most part, enjoyable. It was a little confusing at parts, but there's plenty of health to prevent fatal error.
-The 5th floor was actually my favorite. It had a sort of frantic, pressing feel to it, and the music and lighting fit well.
-All the custom designs/sounds and the actual level layout was enjoyable.
-The boss was a nice touch.

Here are a few things that I took issue with, which I think deserve attention.

Cons:

-The velocity short-run trick that is required to leave the room which you get speed boost (velocity) in is rather sudden and unexplained. I'm not sure if this is necessary. There's no indication that this is needed or even a mechanic, and so for many players who don't know this trick (myself included), you have to look up the solution.

[spoiler]-The 6th floor phantom 1-hit kills, yet there is no indication beforehand that an enemy like this may be encountered. Is it entirely necessary for it to be a 1-hit kill? Or perhaps some enemies on the 5th floor should do more damage, to indicate the increasing danger? As is, I was surprised and a little bit frustrated when I was 1-hit killed.
[/spoiler]

-As a native English-speaker, I was taken out of the story a little bit when the narrative had quite a few misuses of words. Normally you might consider this an unfair criticism, but I think the plot helps drive the ambiance of this hack. If you want the hack to be polished, which I believe it deserves and what I see you have done thus far, you should take the time out to correct these small errors, as it will help with the immersion into the story you're creating. Let me know if you need any help - I am willing and able.

~~

All said and done, it was a very enjoyable experience and it didn't overstay its welcome or feel too short. Very fun.

Thanks for the hack!

[DruidVorse]

oh c'mon, you spoiled the 6th floor xd

[Vexium]

sorry! I totally forgot to think about it, i added spoiler tag.

[Quietus]

Regarding your short charge grumble: Almost all experienced Super Metroid players are aware of this, so it's not really advanced. :neutral:

[Vexium]

honestly i cleared Redesign and Super Zero Mission 100% and I've never known about that short charge. IMO it could be explained in the read-me for the hack. good to know the trick exists, though..

[Zhs2]

And just so you know for next time, this is a helpful site for tricks in all Metroid games. Pass it on to all your entry-level Metroid friends.

[Digital_Mantra]

Hands down, best SM hack ever made. Pure Brilliance. Since I'm DMantra I have to say lush.
Lush.

I'm only a ninja pirate so I have to consult the mother brain "Hey, put this in completed."

Now the ultimate test Cloud, make this whole keypatch thing work on console, yeah, a password system :D

[MetroidMst]

Beat it and only found two keypatch codes. So tomorrow possibly I may take a closer look at exploring it and trying to find the others.

It was definitely a fun little mini hack. Lasted a long time because I was busy looking closely for items and those hidden keypatch codes. The challenge might put off some players, but the only real improvement suggestion I have for it is that it would have been nice to put save stations by the elevators on each floor. That way they don't have to go all the back to the ship from level 5 just to save their progress. Even one save station at level 3/4 would've been great. But otherwise, an excellent piece of work, and I hope to find out all these keypatches soon.

[Digital_Mantra]

^Yes to the savestations. And to make item acquisition less time and possible a different sound, as this deviates so perfectly into it's own story.

[spoiler]That toilet thing was so duke nukem to me. First map I made back in 01, a hidden sewage room under a toilet if you kicked it in.[/spoiler]

[Cloud20]

Thanks for commentaries and criticism guys :)

Also important point
/!\ I replaced the actual Darkholme 2.0 package because it have a little bug into the crypted zip file. Indeed, I made a little mistake when I lock the password for Keypatch B. The zip file is now fixed, thanks AnonymousUser to had find this error. I apologize for it.

[bobisadrummer]

Finally beat it. I like it a lot. I'm going to put my feedback and opinions in spoilers though.

[spoiler]While it started off slow, I felt the mid game was great, differently my favorite part! The ending was brutal though. That escape sequence is so unforgivable. The recharge stations are nice, but boy did I keep getting stuck on that double fan platform...

Like others, I'm not a fan of the 1 hit kill phantoms. I noticed that sometimes the phantoms bug out and stay white and deal zero damage... Not sure how to replicate it but it usually happens when I shoot them a bit.

I also only found 2 keypatch codes. Code A and Code T. I have a feeling there's a code behind those three tiles that say "Laundry" but I couldn't figure out how to break them, I assume the combustion beam does that. I think if the keypatch consoles were a bit more spread out throughout the hospital and not necessarily hidden away as secrets, you could add more to the story of Darkholme and have the story progress with more fluidity.

I only found 7 E-Tanks, 65 missiles, 50 supers and 25 power bombs for a total of 72%. It's kind of funny to me because I always get completion rates in the 70's on my first play throughs. I'll have to go back and search everywhere so I can see what's behind those 100 missile, 60 super and 30 PB gates tiles.
Over all, really awesome hack. Right up there with my other two favorites, Phazon and Eris, in terms of aesthetics!

P.S. I noticed in the Spy Mode intro video, there's a clip with the X-Ray or something. Is the X-Ray still in or was it taken out? In the trailer it looked more like a head lamp than an X-Ray which could be pretty nifty in a blacked out environment if only you could have it face whichever direction you're aiming. I haven't unlocked the Generator Off mode yet, but I'm sure that's going to add even more to the spooky atmosphere. [/spoiler]

[Jordan5]

This was more than worth the wait, great job cloud! :grin:

I only found the one keypatch code which was a little annoying, probably because i was rushing because i'm late for work, i'll upload my thoughts later. And yes, we need savestations, especially on level 6.

[spoiler=finally got to it]I absolutely love this hack, I've been waiting a long time for it and it definitely didn't disappoint. The moment I started with the different intro I knew it would be good. I liked the fact that you had to go through toilets right at the beginning, it really set the scene for a human environment instead of the usual alien ones.

It's a huge improvement on v1.2 which I played last week; the layout, enemies, item placement etc was much better and made the hack a lot more interesting. I liked the addition of a new enemy, especially as they were stronger, but vulnerable to grapple but the others were not (like MetroidMST, I love grapple :yay:) I think you improved the escape sequence and just the general flow of the game a lot and I cannot wait to try all the keypatches. Keep up the awesome work Cloud, I can't wait to see what you do next :wink:[/spoiler]

[Cloud20]

Hum yeah you're not the first person to say it  :^_^:
It's true that the game have only the the ship for the saving. The ONLY good thing about is that the ship becomes an essential stuff.
The problem that create now, and I just see it, is about keypatchs :
If peoples complain about it, that means that savestations will really miss for the other modes, because they really making harder the original game.

Also I'm thinking to the disabled elevator leading to the 6th floor, who is activated later. It is really dangerous to use it from the 6th, because if you don't careful about ghosts, you can be killed during the going up animation. Beware of that  :lol:

One thing I'm really proud is that people for the moment find a very little number of evidence rooms, some of them are really well hidden or make some enigmas to enter it. Thanks guys for play to this hack :)

[FPzero]

So I played through last night blind with some outside commentators on stream.  Our general impressions follow:

The lack of enemy variety is really pretty boring.
The instant kill ghosts are not really fun and yeah I died on that elevator because of one.
I know there are so many items so that you can have those barriers (which I haven't passed yet) but there's still very little reason to use any of your subweapons except to open doors.  Screw Attack, once obtained, negates all challenge of killing the spheres, and even before that, they aren't very tough to deal with.
Lack of bosses made it feel like there's no true progression towards becoming more powerful.

I know a lot of what you've done in the hack have been conscientious decisions often in the name of the aesthetic and atmosphere (which I greatly enjoyed) but I feel like gameplay was sometimes sacrificed for the aesthetic.

Overall, I do like the hack (the atmosphere feels great!) but I feel like it has a few fundamental gameplays flaws (mentioned above) that could be addressed by lightening up on the aesthetic a little bit in the name of having more varied and fun gameplay.

So far I've unlocked keypatches A, E and T.  I think I might stream it again with Spy Mode enabled since that sounds the most interesting.

If you have time to spare and want to see the streams I have them saved on hitbox.tv: Part 1. Part 2.
Be warned, my commentators can exaggerate a lot and as time goes by some of them, one especially, started getting pretty bored by the hallways and ball enemies.  I don't think any of them really thought it was "bad" but of all the hacks I've streamed before with them I think this only hit about "average" on their scales.  That said, sometimes outside opinions can be useful so if you can listen between the lines they might have something interesting to say.

[bobisadrummer]

Do you ever plan to put different music in? I really like the track that you have in the trailers it really fits. Is it in your bandcamp?

[Cloud20]

No sadly the tracks were made independently from the Area XG discography/bandcamp. But maybe I can release the tracks used for different trailers one day, on another package.  :^_^:

[Digital_Mantra]

Edit: 3:11 / 100% / All keypatches.
Time to have some real fun now.

[DonnyDonovan]

I'm almost done.  The hack is fantastic.  The lack of enemy diversity and bosses fits what you are trying to do.  A save point near floor 6 would be a godsend.  Literally my only complaint is the one-hit kill enemy near the end.  Too much potential for a cheap end.  I am using savestates in that area.  I really didn't need them anywhere else.  The difficulty is perfect, although I'm dreading escaping from what I've read. 

[Digital_Mantra]

Fuck I'm trying to record myself on promode (all keypatches).
The avis sometimes mess about and glitch or just become audio. I know of emulators that record better, should have done that..
Love speedrunning this with a snes controller and a 100 minute time limit, it makes you weigh options frantically.
The change of item acquisition is genius, that patch/mode that changes the hospital very diversely (spy mode?). I see the eye, I'll prob get x-ray later :D