SM Redesign: Axeil Edition FINAL

[CaRmAgE]

SHIT... I tweaked the damage boost to cancel when hitting your head.  I never realized you easily hit your head. in that room I'll have to tweak that when I get back.  I am currently away for vacation and will be back in a week.  for now you will either have to wait, or cheat to get past that part :/

Ah, ok.  For a moment, I thought it was just my imagination that the damage boosting mechanic changed (clearly, it's been a while since I last did the EPB).  I think your change is justified, since the way it worked before (hugging the ceiling) really didn't make much sense, anyway.

At least the good news is that no other problems should pop up for the rest of the run (I would be surprised if I got blocked by anything else).

[Drewseph]

Fixed, the game breaker bug

[CaRmAgE]

Fixed, the game breaker bug

Ah, right.  Forgot to mention that I finished the EPB run (used the moon jump code to keep going, although I did go back just now to check that last DB).



[spoiler=EPB final expansion stats]12 Energy Tanks
1 Reserve Tank
209 Missiles
15 Super Missiles
18 Power Bombs[/spoiler]

As a result of v1.5 swapping expansions around, you get one extra Power Bomb in exchange for a Super Missile.  Beyond that, I am pretty sure I have completed exhausted what can be obtained in EPB during this run.  I did attempt to get the "speedball" expansion, but you can't ride the ceiling like you could in the original Redesign due to structural changes.  The above is probably the most that can be obtained during EPB.

I think I have seen enough to be able to do a thorough review now.

[Aran;Jaeger]

As a result of v1.5 swapping expansions around, you get one extra Power Bomb in exchange for a Super Missile.  Beyond that, I am pretty sure I have completed exhausted what can be obtained in EPB during this run.

Challenge accepted  :cool:
*adds Max% EPB-Route for (latest) Redesign Axeil version into TODO list*

[CaRmAgE]

Challenge accepted  :cool:
*adds Max% EPB-Route for (latest) Redesign Axeil version into TODO list*

lol, Good luck with that.  I had to use slowdown for two expansions.

[altoiddealer]

I have a question regarding the Super Missile expansion in Northwest Maridia
[spoiler]After getting up there with a long chain of Shinesparks, is there a special technique to get higher than you normally would from a walljump?  I've spent maybe 20 minutes just walljumping back and forth back and forth, many of the attempts looking pixel perfect...[/spoiler]
[spoiler] :stern: :stern: :stern: :stern: :stern: :stern:[/spoiler]

[Quietus]

I checked the map, and (unless things have been moved), I can't see a Super Expansion in that area. The one that's farthest west is the one on the long platform that you need to speedball for. If you're on about the energy tank that you need the long chain for, there's an old post here that has a map of the intended route (there may be minor differences in Axeil). If not, help us pinpoint the expansion, and we'll sort you out. :^_^:

[CaRmAgE]

I checked the map, and (unless things have been moved), I can't see a Super Expansion in that area. ... If you're on about the energy tank that you need the long chain for, ...

Yes, expansions were swapped in v1.5 (although I think this particular one was already moved in an earlier version).  The Energy Tank is now in Brinstar, outside Bomb Torizo's room (where the standard missile expansion used to be).

I have a question regarding the Super Missile expansion in Northwest Maridia
[spoiler]After getting up there with a long chain of Shinesparks, is there a special technique to get higher than you normally would from a walljump?  I've spent maybe 20 minutes just walljumping back and forth back and forth, many of the attempts looking pixel perfect...[/spoiler]
[spoiler] :stern: :stern: :stern: :stern: :stern: :stern:[/spoiler]

I know exactly what you're talking about.  That one's pretty tricky.
[spoiler=Really-long shinespark-chain expansion]You have to Space Jump once after the wall jumps.  It may take a few tries.[/spoiler]

[altoiddealer]

[spoiler=Really-long shinespark-chain expansion]You have to Space Jump once after the wall jumps.  It may take a few tries.[/spoiler]

I would assume this is impossible due to the number of times I've tried doing just that, but it sounds like you've actually done it... so I'm going to go ahead and try this technique only, instead of trying to make the jump directly.

[spoiler=Comment for Drewseph]You should really consider moving this down 1 tile because oh my god is this jump annoying[/spoiler]

[Drewseph]

Nah, I won't move it down one tile, the intention is to perform 2 wall jumps then a simple space jump, its pretty easy to do if you let yourself fall a little bit.

[altoiddealer]

I made the jump, but it's such a stupid maneuver  :bounce:   It felt like blind luck for the space jump to trigger.  I mean, is there a certain amount of time that has to elapse before it will start registering the jump command?  Or does it require a special combination of button mashing before it will accept the command?   It certainly felt like the latter.  Maybe consider making that corner block walljumpable, for an optional IWJ maneuver?  This is the first thing I encountered in the hack that felt "not fair" especially after having to pull off that really long spark chain.

So far I am very much enjoying this version of the hack, BTW.  It's really a huge improvement over the original. I'm very glad you came back around to update it.

[Quietus]

It's probably related to the environment. In Redesign, I believe Space Jump has different mechanics and jump timings for air, for water, and for sandfalls both in and out of water. Oh, and some of them aren't just timings, but also require you to hit a certain fall speed.

[CaRmAgE]

Maybe consider making that corner block walljumpable, for an optional IWJ maneuver?

That probably would've made it too easy, since you can just hold down the jump button to do all the wall jumps instead of timing them.

[altoiddealer]

I think a half tile can be a walljump block though, right?  So you would still have to make the first two jumps basically perfect to touch it.

The space jump mechanics are reasonable normal sandfall but that room is filled with heavy sandfall where it seems like heavy button mashing eventually results in one spinless, straight up jump.

[CaRmAgE]

I think a half tile can be a walljump block though, right?  So you would still have to make the first two jumps basically perfect to touch it.

The space jump mechanics are reasonable normal sandfall but that room is filled with heavy sandfall where it seems like heavy button mashing eventually results in one spinless, straight up jump.

IIRC, the wall jumps weren't that hard, because of the auto-wall-jump mechanic.  I just had to time pressing away from the wall while holding jump, and each wall jump would perfectly line you up for the next one.  The space jump can be hard to time, but you don't need to mash it.  You just have to fall a short distance (1-1 1/2 tiles, I think) before you can jump again.

Beyond that, I am pretty sure I have completed exhausted what can be obtained in EPB during this run.

Aaaand... I did, in fact, miss an expansion in EPB. :blush: Actual max% should be 67.5%.  Turns out that, after getting Hi Jump, I forgot to go back to Spore Spawn's room for the Supers.  Go figure.

[Vahn54]

Ok 2 things.
1. I wish Redesign was more mixed with aspects of Axeil because I like how both Speed Booster chain challenges in the southwestern part of Crateria(Getting that power bomb) were played out, except, in Redesign, I wish they could have put Axeil's starting area in Redesign except put a little bit of an upwards slope then put Speed Booster blocks on the upper portion past the slope. Just more work as far as Redesign goes.

2. Tourian does get pretty hard after the first save point in Axeil. The Metroids unfreeze faster, but still great job of the build of Tourian

[CaRmAgE]

2. Tourian does get pretty hard after the first save point in Axeil. The Metroids unfreeze faster, but still great job of the build of Tourian

[spoiler=Ice trick]You can use a crystal from the Ice SBA to freeze them the normal amount of time.[/spoiler]

[PKstarship]

So, I started playing 1.52 and found this problem right near the start.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/z8zw7yp69ps5cmt/RetroArch-1222-055740.bmp?dl=0

It seems that you can unmorph in that tunnel, and doing so can get you stuck, forcing a reset. I accidentallly pushed up and managed to get stuck, much to my displeasure. I figure this is worth posting about.

[CaRmAgE]

So, I started playing 1.52 and found this problem right near the start.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/z8zw7yp69ps5cmt/RetroArch-1222-055740.bmp?dl=0

It seems that you can unmorph in that tunnel, and doing so can get you stuck, forcing a reset. I accidentallly pushed up and managed to get stuck, much to my displeasure. I figure this is worth posting about.

Confirmed (although X-ray didn't reveal anything off).  You CAN get unstuck if you have bombs, but most players wouldn't have them at this point (and I'm assuming you didn't have them, either).

[Drewseph]

So, I started playing 1.52 and found this problem right near the start.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/z8zw7yp69ps5cmt/RetroArch-1222-055740.bmp?dl=0

It seems that you can unmorph in that tunnel, and doing so can get you stuck, forcing a reset. I accidentallly pushed up and managed to get stuck, much to my displeasure. I figure this is worth posting about.

Stealth fixed into 1.52 cause I hate changing numbers at this point.

[A Dummy]

Finally gave this a playthrough, and I gotta say I think you did a really good job with this one.
I didn't feel inclined to use savestates with this one like with the original. (*cough* Grapple area *cough*)

Time:  11:02 [spoiler]http://imgur.com/1xyKd9n[/spoiler]
Percentage: 85.1%[spoiler]http://imgur.com/a0auopf[/spoiler]

I could have gotten a higher percent, but I didn't feel like trying to get some of those trickier pick-ups.
Mainly these ones. [spoiler] The one in western Crateria that requires the long ShineSpark chain. (Power Bomb I think?)
One in northeastern Brinstar that look liked it required some kind of double diagonal bomb jump.
The missile in southwestern Norfair that also took some fancy bomb jumps to reach. [spoiler]I feel like this is probably the one singular spot that is worse than in the original Redesign, just because every time I fell down I had to go back up in this roundabout loop just to get back in there instead of it being a straight shot back to the top like in the original.  I would recommend adding someway of getting back in there that's in the same room, instead of having to traverse 3 rooms to get back in.[/spoiler]
2 in Maridia.
The one in Northwest that requires the long ShineSpark chain.
And a Power Bomb in the western area that looked like I needed to do an IBJ just to get up there. (I could have missed something there, but I wasn't really too worried about trying to maximize my percentage.) [/spoiler]

At first I was a little worried that maybe the auto-morphing and the auto-walljumping would take away from the experience, but after playing it I can say for sure that those definitely helped smooth out the gameplay.
The auto-shinespark charge was nice but it didn't feel quite tight enough for me, as I found myself able to charge it quicker just doing it manually.  Maybe make this one a little quicker if possible?
Same with the auto-spacejumping, I thought it was nice the feature was there, but I found myself able to climb faster just by doing it manually, although in this case I'm fine with it not going as fast, and more of being an assistance for people that have trouble spacejumping. (Same could probably be said for the shinespark charge, but some of those ramps are really small and don't leave much room for error.)

I liked the new acid as well, made it feel like it was something dangerous that I actually wanted to avoid, but it wasn't super unforgiving either.
And the new lava was really good too, made it not quite so frustrating to get through Norfair.
The Lost Cavern was way better this time around, with a more obvious clue that still requires paying attention or else it could be easily missed.  And not so much trial and error with a very vague clue like the old one. (Although part of me still wonders if it would be a good idea to let the X-ray show the path, especially since the X-ray is an optional item that doesn't get a hint on the map for it's location.)

I have to mention the amazing map you have, I really loved the hint system that even keeps track of things like power bomb spots and speed boost spots, made it to where I didn't have to keep track of so many things mentally.
And the fast travel elevators were amazing, I didn't use them a whole lot since I liked to explore for more pickups, but I still thought they were really cool.  And how did you even give them a dedicated menu like that?  I wouldn't have even thought something like that was possible for Super Metroid.

Tourian was so much better in this one, even in vanilla SM I would consider Tourian one of the weaker areas of the game, but here in this hack it actually feels like a place instead of just a few short corridors.
I liked the feeling it had of a high security area with all the laser walls and purple doors it had. (Some people may not like the purple doors, but what else am I going to do with 210 missiles? :P )
The metroids were way better too, they felt threatening and aggressive without being frustrating, and also weren't the pushovers that the vanilla metroids were.  Although I would like it if it took three bombs to knock them off instead of four so it could be done with one complete round, but it wasn't too bad as it just meant it was better to just do two quick rounds of two bombs.
There were two spots I thought could have been designed a little better.
[spoiler]This path should be blocked off until it's actually necessary to go here, as I ended up going this way first and ran into a dead end, at first being confused what I was supposed to do until I killed myself and found another path that I was supposed to take that's in this same room.
http://imgur.com/Zysw5tF

I didn't land on it myself, but this spot here is a cheap shot. Someone could fall down here trying to get over to the zebetite, making them have to go back around a rather long way just to try again The path should be extended by one block to left with the crumble block also moved to the left, or something at any rate so someone can't fall down this by accident.
http://imgur.com/T0EYKpu.png [/spoiler]

Botwoon nitpick.
[spoiler]I see what you were trying to do with the quick sand in this fight to try and stop people from cheesing the fight, it even got me the first time and I got to watch myself slowly sink in the quicksand, like the game was saying to me "Now you just sit there and think about what you've done."
But when I got back up there I figured out I could just keep jumping over and over again and never sink.
http://imgur.com/1FwYIVp
http://imgur.com/vZcdG8R[/spoiler]

And one last critique with the escape.
[spoiler]I liked the long epic escape this hack has, definitely way better than the one in the original redesign.  But there was one cheap spot that I think should be removed here, it just bothered me that I kinda got sucker punched here, maybe add one block in front of the exit door on the right so I don't have to be jumping as I go through the door to make it.
http://imgur.com/wtgF8A7

Also maybe add one extra block here to stand on, I was still able to get out, but only just barely reaching it.
http://imgur.com/M8puEu8[/spoiler]

Definitely a great hack overall.
I'd say it gets a 4.5/5, really good all around, but still room for improvement.

Edit: Added image links since they weren't showing up normally for some reason, it's not as graceful but it will have to do.

[Drewseph]

All of your pictures were broken and not showing up?  I'm glad you liked the hack though,  thanks for playing!

[A Dummy]

That's weird, they show up fine for me.  Could be an issue with Imgur?

[dis astranagant]

I think I might have gotten myself stuck in Norfair.



I don't have speed booster or power bombs and everything around me seems to require them.  I can't backtrack because of the shaft I used to get down here.

[danidub]

I think I might have gotten myself stuck in Norfair.
I don't have speed booster or power bombs and everything around me seems to require them.  I can't backtrack because of the shaft I used to get down here.

[spoiler]SB and PB are in Norfair.[/spoiler]