[M1] Metroid Incursion v1.1

[Grimlock]

EDIT: Updated to version 1.1

1. Minor changes to title screen
2. Corrected an issue with the Norfair level design.  If a person falls to the bottom of the water/sewer falls without missiles then they won't be able to acquire the high jump and get out of that area.
3. Corrected map (minor graphics) in Plus version
4. Modified the level design so you need to have the high jump to acquire the bombs
5. Added/Modified creatures in areas
6. Removed one perma-stuck spot
7. Minor cosmetic modifications

Notice regarding version 1.0: Updated due to an issue in Norfair that can cause a player to get stuck if they fail to acquire the missiles and enter a certain area.


Final game title:    Metroid - Incursion

    100% Complete - Snarfblams Metroid Plus improvements where successfully applied to this MOD

    I have included 2 .IPS files, one with Snarfblams Metroid Plus improvements and one with the standard
    weapons and no mini map.  I found that the wave+ice made the final area fairly easy.  If you want more
    of a challenge I would say play through with the normal version first then with the PLUS features second.

    Metroid_Incursion.IPS = Standard Weapons and Original Gameplay
    Metroid_Incursion_Plus.IPS = Added pause mini map, Wavy Ice weapon, Save game feature

Description of modifications:

    All levels 100% redesign
    New title screen graphics
    New tile graphics - All levels (New level themes)
    New creature graphics (A few classics will remain)
    Animations created for all levels
    Level design focused on fun factor, game play, attempt at minimizing frustration (There are some difficult
         areas).
    Snarfblams save game and mini map hack applied


Screenshots:

[spoiler][/spoiler]

[spoiler][/spoiler]

Old Screenshots:

[spoiler][/spoiler]



Basic gameplay tips: (Minor spoiler - no specific details, If you have played Metroid before then don't read)

[spoiler]1. Much like the original this MOD have some back and forth movement to different areas (example: you need the bomb to proceed in certain areas)
2. The wave beam is hidden, not insanely hidden but look around and you'll find it.
3. You will need the ice beam to advance in one area.
4. Several missile tanks are hidden in Norfair.
5. None of the hidden items are randomly placed behind blocks such as the energy tank near the beginning in the original Metroid.
6. You will need to bomb to advance but not some insanely hidden spot like the original Norfair.
7. The hidden items are not difficult to find but they do offer a minor challenge to locate.
8. Many areas are like a puzzle, you will have to figure out to advance.
9. All items are acquirable, even though they may not seem to be at first.  (The ones you see as you go through the game).[/spoiler]

Secrets:

If you can't get through Tourian:

[spoiler]1. There is a hidden ice beam at the entrance to Tourian, (Just in case you have the wave beam only)
2. If you are killed in Tourian there is a hidden energy tank at the entrance before you use the elevator (respawns after you die)
3. Before you enter mother brains area you can repeatedly kill the Metroid to regain health/rockets. it will respawn if you walk a little to the left and return to the right where it spawns.[/spoiler]

[altoiddealer]

Ahhh nice!  Been looking forward to this one!

Judging from the screenshots this looks really awesome.  Congrats on finishing it!

[Retroo]

really cool!

[Kitsune_Phoenix]

*deleted post*

[altoiddealer]

Enjoying so far!  The animations are really cool.

[Grimlock]

Thanks, it was a long journey completing Metroid Incursion.  I first started it back in 2011 under the name of Metroid Homeworld  I owe the greatest thanks to the work of Snarfblam for his Editroid editor, with out it this MOD would not have happened.

Metroid Incursion is about 70% the size of the original.  I wanted to avoid the lost feeling that inevitably results in a lot of players not finishing a game mod.  I also tried to make each area unique to avoid blandness which results in getting bored and not finishing the game.  Keeping it fun was the idea, hopefully I achieved that.

The only area I feel that I could have done better is the title screen, I'm new to hex editing so it's a little bland and the text color is a little funky, the rest of the MOD has been thoroughly polished. I must have played through the game ten times in the last week with Editroid open on my PC making changes and corrections as I went.

I hope everyone thoroughly enjoys Metroid Incursion, I enjoyed working on it over the last few years.  I look forward to hearing about your experiences and opinions of the final product.

[Quote58]

Well this is the only m1 hack I've actually completed, but its still m1 and was infuriating at times. I found all of the new gfx and level design to be really great most of the time. Unfortunately there were points where the level design did not fit the m1 physics very well and were just painful to navigate. What I loved were those parts where you used multiple rooms (one horizontal one verticle) to make it seem like you were going back through/behind the room you already went through. When this was done for items (like that water etank) it was pretty awesome. The bosses felt way easier than m1 (ridley was a joke) but the enemies murdered me a good many times. The saving and map were a huge help though, so I'm glad those got in. The only spot that made me actually angry was mother brains room. It was waaay too cramped for its own good. idk if it was my emulater or the hack but I got maaaajor slowdown in that room and it was almost unbearable. I liked how the metroids gave like 30 missiles as their drop though, that was a big help. Anyway my real gripes with the hack are to do with the m1 engine itself. The new kraids lair felt nice and alien, I think that area would've been nice to see in the original (minus the bullshit block mazes with the respawning enemies >:( ).
All in all, best m1 hack I've tried. However I will stick to super for my metroid playing.
Congrats and good job on making a great hack though. And those animations really are pretty rad

[Grimlock]

Thanks for the feedback.  If you where playing with your keyboard I can imagine some parts being difficult like the vertical area in the sewer.  The slow down you experienced is unfortunately just part of the engine.  There where areas I would have liked to add more creatures but I wanted to avoid the lag where I could.

I have to say that's pretty cool that of all the M1 hacks this is the only one you played all the way through, I'll definitely take that as a compliment.  I'm glad you enjoyed the maze in Kraid too  :grin:.

[Grimlock]

Apparently I missed an issue with my Norfair level design.  If a person falls to the bottom of the water/sewer falls without missiles then they won't be able to acquire the high jump and get out of that area.  Not sure how I missed this I play tested over a dozen times.  Anyway I am going to have to revise this MOD to correct this issue. 

For anyone who has played this MOD please provide change feedback/requests if you have any.  If I am going to work on it more I'm going to try and bump it up a notch if I can.

EDIT: I attached version 1.1 to the first post

1. Minor changes to title screen
2. Corrected an issue with the Norfair level design.  If a person falls to the bottom of the water/sewer falls without missiles then they won't be able to acquire the high jump and get out of that area.
3. Corrected map (minor graphics) in Plus version
4. Modified the level design so you need to have the high jump to acquire the bombs
5. Added/Modified creatures in areas
6. Removed one perma-stuck spot
7. Minor cosmetic modifications

[Digital_Mantra]

Solid hack so far, really enjoying this one. The mini-map is a nice touch. The secrets are great. Love it.

[Grimlock]

Question for those who have played through the game regarding Kraids area (infested caverns):

Spoiler question:
[spoiler]I'm getting mixed feedback on the Kraid maze puzzle.  Some people seem to like the challenge and think it is unique where others seem to think it is a flawed level design.  I'm curious what you guys think about this feature of the MOD.  I personally as the creator thought it would be an interesting challenge.  There are two reasons I decided to make the creatures respawn: 1. so players could watch the movement of them to see where the walls are at. 2. It is supposed to be infested so I wanted the creatures to keep coming at you.  Anyway honesty is king so fire away, lets here your thoughts on it.[/spoiler]

Also I am wondering if you guys where able to locate the wave beam and screw attack ok?  (without saying where they are).  Also, where you able to get 255 missiles and all energy tanks by the end?

[Digital_Mantra]

I got wave and screw attack. More etanks than could be shown, and probably not all 255 but close. Secrets off the grid was cool.
I loved the city, sewers, military base, etc but that excavation site (infested caverns) did have some annoying lvl design.
Not knowing what's a surface or whats solid/air in those cluster rooms.
That's the only part of the hack that annoyed me, that and Ridley being about as powerful as a red door.

[altoiddealer]

I found Wave and Screw attack as well, and didn't have too much trouble anywhere really...

But yes, the respawning critters were pretty damn annoying in those tight quarters  :<_<:  I learned to just let them walk off and freeze them instead of killing them

[Daltone]

This is some solid work here, played through the + version on NES, everything works great.
ridley (the boss) needs some buffs, i never found wave or counted my missles, i feel like the items should have been spread out more instead of getting 2 so close to each other. i diddnt have any trouble with kraids area really.
great job nice gfx skills!

[Grimlock]

Thanks for the feedback, and FYI for those who didn't find all the weapons:

Screw attack
Wave beam

[spoiler]Not all rooms are displayed on the map (secret areas/rooms)[/spoiler]

Thanks for playing!

[Grimlock]

This is some solid work here, played through the + version on NES, everything works great.
ridley (the boss) needs some buffs, i never found wave or counted my missles, i feel like the items should have been spread out more instead of getting 2 so close to each other. i diddnt have any trouble with kraids area really.
great job nice gfx skills!

Thanks for the feedback, the items where placed fairly close together and in some cases easy to get by design.  I wanted the game to be an easy (over all) play, under 2 hours for the average player.  The game is about 70% or so of the original game size, with all the items from the original game.

[simus]

Solid hack so far, really enjoying this one. The mini-map is a nice touch. The secrets are great. Love it.

Very solid hack so far.  I'm struggling to get the energy tank in the sewers,  it is driving me nuts.  Any hints you can offer?

[Grimlock]

Solid hack so far, really enjoying this one. The mini-map is a nice touch. The secrets are great. Love it.

Very solid hack so far.  I'm struggling to get the energy tank in the sewers,  it is driving me nuts.  Any hints you can offer?

Hint 1:
[spoiler]Without the bombs you won't be able to get the E-tank.[/spoiler]

Hint 2:
[spoiler]To get the E-Tank you must start looking before you see it[/spoiler]

Hint 2 is a bit of a puzzle in itself but you'll understand once you figure it out.

Good luck!

EDIT: there is a secret energy tank very close to the starting point of the game, see if you can find that one as well (not possible to get too early in the game, power ups required)

[Qactis]

Hi. I played through the non-plus version. Really loved all the level design and new graphics. Fresh play on Metroid when I haven't touched it in so long. I couldn't figure out how to get that E-Tank at the top of the north-eastern sewers shaft with the sewage waterfall. I tried for maybe 15 minutes and couldn't figure it out. Got everything else in the game including 255 missiles. Killed ridley spamming wave beam for 5 seconds, that was pretty pathetic. On the other hand, Kraid killed me on first try. Got him second time around. The actual mother brain fight was extremely easy because the turrets couldn't shoot you where you needed to stand to shoot mother brain, but I lost 5 energy tanks simply navigating the room to get to her.

All in all extremely well-made hack. Would recommend. Excellent work Grimlock :D

[Grimlock]

All in all extremely well-made hack. Would recommend. Excellent work Grimlock :D

Thanks Qactis, I appreciate your feedback!

[Grimlock]

Game play videos on YouTube:

Complete play through by "KRocketneo's Retro Gaming"
(played plus version 1.1)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wEo3lt7UV1E

First play by "ShyGuyExpress" AKA "MetroidMst" here at Metroid construction.
(played non-plus version 1.0)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=33tA4J1ZHWk

(Yikes, I'm going to have to go lick my wounds after watching that, lol.  (Just finished watching video 10). I guess I can't expect to get much love from the super metroid guys... so anyway it's not exactly a "review" video for those who decide to watch it, it's more like a guy with a few friends, maybe a few beers (or more than a few, come on be honest MST :nod: :lol: ), just playing, occasionally poking fun at the design choices here and there). Even so I still managed to find some enjoyment watching it since it was raw footage of a first time run.  He missed several items but then again it was his first time playing..... and yes he fell for the most obvious of misdirections I could have brain farted into the game (non-plus version final sequence)  LOL.  Thanks for posting the videos MetroidMST, (I'll recommend them (your videos) since they are certainly "interesting"  :grin: )

[Grimlock]

"Bishop Bros. NES Reproductions" will be producing a Metroid Incursion cartridge for purchase (For use on original NES hardware).  Bishop has several games available and the labels look pretty awesome, here is a link that shows some of his work:

BTW, I'm not selling anything (He's just using my hack, among others), all of the $$$ goes to the hardware, label production and the time spent by Eric (Bishop) to put the rom on the hardware (cartridge).  If you have any questions then I would ask him directly.

http://nintendoage.com/forum/messageview.cfm?catid=6&threadid=123791

Metroid Incursion isn't available yet...

[Qactis]

That's awesome! Just checked out his work, it looks really good

[snarfblam]

I finally got around to playing this. I have to say, Grimlock, this hack is outstanding. The graphics were creative and effective, and I really appreciated some of the more subtle touches. Level design is good (and clever) and fun to explore. For the most part, you made excellent use of every facet of the game engine, sometimes in unexpected ways.

The bosses, especially Ridley, seemed to die too easily, but I played the plus version with the overpowered ice beam. I seemed to somehow pick up more e-tanks than I could carry. Can't really think of anything else to complain about. Definitely the best Metroid level hack I've played.

[Grimlock]

Thanks Snarfblam, that means a lot coming from the creator of Editroid!  :cool:   

I noticed the abundance of E-tanks when I play tested but I figured most players wouldn't acquire all of them.  I blew it off since I wasn't really trying to create a high degree of difficulty, I was aiming more at creating an enjoyable experience.  If I move forward with a second Metroid hack I'm going to ratchet the difficulty up a few notches.