And so, how many more rooms until you're done? I seriously am still waiting for it!
Edit: How does the security system work? Is there a set of screens with the bosses on each screen? Take Ridley's head on a screen, then it's in black and white or blank when done for (If alive, with full color).
None of the bosses from the original game will be required fights for accessing those areas. The true "boss fights" of this hack are all original.
I've still got to create Subverda, finish a couple rooms in each of the other areas, and create the final boss area. I've probably done about 70 rooms and this hack will be at least 100 rooms (most likely 130ish). These rooms are a lot bigger than the rooms in SM, though. Room count isn't the only factor, as there's bugtesting and a little bit of learning I have to do regarding PLM functions. Still, the tilesets are about all done and I've done pretty much all the non-designing work along the way, so...
Hmm. I really don't want to underestimate the work I have to do. I'd much rather overestimate on that. I can absolutely say that, barring some disastrous setback, there's no way it'll take more than four months. I'd expect it to be done sooner, but I'd rather that be a pleasant surprise than a disappointment. Rest assured, when the hack is near ready for release I'll be sharing that here.
Edit: My playtesters thus far have taken about two hours on average to get to the first boss. Though the pathway on the map is linear, it's not so clear-cut in game. This hack isn't quite as big as the original SM, but it requires the same type of exploration and gives you about as many hints, so I'd say it'll probably take players about 70%-80% as long to explore Corith as it took them to traverse Zebes the first time.
Well, I do suppose it is worth the wait. Probably if it's released mid-June, at least I have something to do over the summer for most of the while. At least I hope you're not putting Mother Brain as the last boss, I'm continually getting sick of that. And at least 130 rooms, making it almost like Golden Dawn [with the fact that it might take a degree of exploration].
Yeah, good ol' MB is.... well, getting old. I'm also trying to find a way to skip her, but to no avail yet. I think that if you do find a way to skip MB that works well as far as gameplay is considered, you'd be legendary (and I'd be uber jealous)
I was having a look at your map (amazing design btw), and I noticed the Wrecked ship is a G.F.S. Mine is also in Cliffhanger. Does this ship contribute to your storyline? I'm guessing it does? The Wrecked Ship is perfect for a mysterious story.
Well, I hope this is done in June, because that will be a relief of all the peach schnapps I have to go through in April and May, because they're the worst school months in my opinion.
Thought I'd go ahead and update everyone on the progress of Aegis. Best way I can do that is a mockup of what's done/left to do.
(Edit: Check first page for up-to-date... updates. Durh.)
This is based purely on rooms completed/not completed, not taking into account the creation of tilesets and whatnot (which takes about as long as making the areas themselves, and thankfully is mostly done now). I've been on vacation and only had my laptop, so progress has been slow, and what work has been done was bugbusting. The good news is that there's only one tileset left to make (Subverda) and all the "other" work has been done, excluding the hex madness I'll be doing for the final boss fight, but I don't think that'll take a very long time at all. I'll be back on campus tomorrow and my goal is to completely finish out Radia/Glacia by the weekend (about 20 rooms, so it should be doable). Terrenus will only take a day to complete, and Aegis maybe two. Then it's just Subverda, the final area, playtesting, and bugbusting.
Of course, I have to fit in two research papers in there somewhere as well. Aegis' completion is secondary to my passing classes. ;)
TBH I'm not thrilled about the Chozo Temple/Aegis Tilesets (unlikely the others, they're basically rips from Zero Mission/Fusion, albeit edited) but they look decent enough and I don't think everyone's going to want to wait another month-ish just for my own perfectionism. They're fairly small areas in comparison anyway. You can see both of them in the preview video (Temple is the room with the biped seahorse dudes and Aegis is the area with the space pirates). Am I right in thinking they're passable in quality or would you all prefer I take an extra week or two to rehaul them?
Edit: I'm not setting down a definitive date any time soon, but I can say with 95% certainty we're looking at a May release at the latest.
The new palettes look great. Can't wait for it to come out. I think the only suggestion I can make from seeing the video is to try to make the outdoor surfaces less blocky and maybe add in some plant life. Incredible job 8-)
I'd say: take your time, fix, polish, sharpen... whatever. A couple weeks ain't nuthing. :P
Maybe because I'm busy right now with a Legend of Zelda hack (playing).... And after I redownload Game Maker I might have to decide which of 2 or 3 games I'll (try) to make. But that's all off-topic... Meaning: I'll have enough to keep me busy till this comes out.
I would agree that you should release something that you are completely happy with, and comparts with your vision for the hack, rather than rushing it out to appease the masses. If you need to edit some tiles to make the hack what you want it to be, even if it seems minor, you should IMO. I'd be happy to wait an extra few weeks for an overall better hack, even if the differences are small.
This hack looks very very nice. I like the tiles and backgrounds. I can't wait to play this one!
Just a small tip for WMM. IF you want Samus to flash when she gets hit (including her original power beam). Go to settings and switch from NTSC to PAL so it compresses your files at 25 FPS rather than 30 FPS.
hey acheron, from the first three seconds of the video i saw, this looks awsome.... but my internet is really slow( :(), so i try to avoid youtube videos, so could you stick that bad boy in an RAR file and host it some where? i really want to see what the game looks like. also, (i've only read the first page, so i don't know if you have this worked out or not) but i've been trying to get custom music in my hack for awhile, and from what i understand, it's really hard to. you should try talking to MathOnNapkins, he knows alot about sound hacking. though it sounds like you want custom music; it'd be easier to just port a song from a different game.
I don't mind RARing the video, but I don't have/know of any good hosting sites that won't cost me anything. If you know any, I can throw it up on one.
I'd really wanted to do custom music, but it's likely beyond the scope of this hack. Aegis is a "warm up" project--if I don't get burnt out doing it (so far, so good!) I'll be attempting a much, much more ambitious hack, and that's where I'd do the big stuff (new items/enemies/music). Obviously that one will take a long, long time. We'll see how that goes. In the meantime, Aegis is looking like a May release.
I use mediafire for most of my uploading needs. Free to use, and I'm pretty sure signup is optional (though it's still helpful if you want to keep track of your uploads). You could also simply upload it here through Additional Options... on the post/edit page.
