The Super Metroid Challenge

[ThatNewGuy]

Well, I'm starting to learn some basic hex editing skills, hurrah! Using the tutorials on this site I managed to do a lot of things I've never done before (like adding new doors) in order to add an extra shortcut from one place to another.

I also managed to free up a whole room that was used unnecessarily by the game (room D69A) by utilizing door scroll data and plm hacking in it's sister room (room D646). Feels good to accomplish something the original developers had trouble with. (Couldn't have done it without those tutorials though, heh...). Of course, I still have to figure out where to move this new room to.

Anyways, in the next couple days I plan to release some screenshots of the new palettes. They are already getting close to done (except bosses) but I've been busy figuring out these other things.

[Lunaria]

Sounds nice, me and others will provide palette feedback once you get it up.

[ThatNewGuy]

Here are six example screenshots of the adjusted palettes. Keep in mind they aren't absolutely final yet so changes could still happen. I know the images are small (SNES resolution) but you can zoom into them if you need a better view.

[crimsonsunbird]

nice palettes  :colonrightv:

[JAM]

What is it? Facepalm on screenshot number 2? =)

And agree... I liked everything so far. Great job!

[ThatNewGuy]

What is it? Facepalm on screenshot number 2? =)

Hahaha, didn't notice it until now.

Also, I'm glad you two like the palettes.

[Omegatroid]

I gave this hack a try and I'm enjoying it so far. This hack is kinda hard and helping me to learn new tricks. I'm in Norfair btw.

[Lunaria]

Some thoughts:

Screenshot 1: Not different enough from vanilla IMO.

Screenshot 2: It's certainly playable, but frankly, I think it's a bit ugly, and very same-y.

Screenshot 3: Looks good aside from the glaring water palette. I assume you just used the acid/lava one? You can configure your own FX1 palettes too, there are plenty of unused ones. Just make sure you backup your ROM before attempting it, the extended palette editor in the BS has tendencies to fuck over shit if you don't know exactly what you're doing!

Screenshot 4: Not too different from the original, but it's enough to be noticeable at least, and it does look good.

Screenshot 5: Works fine.

Screenshot 6: Looks pretty nice, I have messed with similar setups for those tiles before, it works fairly well.

[ThatNewGuy]

I gave this hack a try and I'm enjoying it so far. This hack is kinda hard and helping me to learn new tricks. I'm in Norfair btw.

Glad you are enjoying it!

Screenshot 1: Not different enough from vanilla IMO.

Screenshot 2: It's certainly playable, but frankly, I think it's a bit ugly, and very same-y.

Screenshot 3: Looks good aside from the glaring water palette. I assume you just used the acid/lava one? You can configure your own FX1 palettes too, there are plenty of unused ones. Just make sure you backup your ROM before attempting it, the extended palette editor in the BS has tendencies to fuck over shit if you don't know exactly what you're doing!

Screenshot 4: Not too different from the original, but it's enough to be noticeable at least, and it does look good.

Screenshot 5: Works fine.

Screenshot 6: Looks pretty nice, I have messed with similar setups for those tiles before, it works fairly well.

Thanks for the feedback. I'll take another look at Brinstar and see if I can't make it look a bit better. I do like how the ground looks like it's dying under the top layer of grass though. You might be right about screenshot 1; I'll revisit it too. As for screenshot 3, the orange water was on purpose, to make the area seem a little different. I haven't tried making my own FX1 palettes, but it sounds like it could help a lot with a few other areas too. Maybe the water will look better if it's a bit more translucent.

[MetroidMst]

I actually think the Brinstar palette is the best one you made. It is a very natural decaying look.

[Lunaria]

There is nothing wrong with orange water, in fact, I think it fits. It's just that the shades of orange is too bright.

[Omegatroid]

Crocomiro battle was very tricky.

[ThatNewGuy]

I actually think the Brinstar palette is the best one you made. It is a very natural decaying look.

Thank you.

Crocomiro battle was very tricky.

Yes he is... I'm thinking about making it (a tiny bit) easier by removing some (all?) of those holes in the ground. In my opinion he's one of the hardest bosses in the hack.

You can configure your own FX1 palettes too, there are plenty of unused ones. Just make sure you backup your ROM before attempting it, the extended palette editor in the BS has tendencies to fuck over shit if you don't know exactly what you're doing!

Could you give me some advice or link to a guide that can help me find these FX1 palettes? I can't seem to find a guide which lists their position and which ones are unused. Otherwise I might just go with the normal water color for those rooms instead. I understand that I'll need to use the beauty salon genius mode, but I don't understand what addresses I'm looking for here.


On another note, I recently played Project Base and enjoyed it a lot. It gave me several ideas for improving my own hack (though I hope it doesn't become too similar to Project Base). I've been messing with the AI of enemies and bosses a bit where I can, and fixing things I missed before like actually increasing enemy projectile damage since I had no idea how to do that previously (and the base damages for them are usually abysmal). For example, the Bomb Torizo now has a lot less time in-between attacks where he just stands there, and Kraid now raises from the ground immediately (in case you don't have enough missiles to get him to rise up so you can farm his claws for them). I also added some patches/hex tweaks like easier space jump and spinjump restart because they make exploring the game more fun without really harming the difficulty. Finally, there will also be a lot more potential sequence breaking in the next version (gates have been removed, and at least a few new shortcuts will be added, one already being done).

Still haven't figured out how to increase the drop rate on those Kraid claws any further though... Their drops seem to be programmed differently than normal enemy drops.