One of the biggest things I've wanted to avoid in developing the hack is having only ONE way to go or only ONE item to get through some important area. To that extent I really don't have anything that I HAVE to hide. Anyway, this map is very very likely to see changes, and I didn't include the one very important hidden area on it. I trust the player not to use it unless they really feel stuck. Anyone who's going to cheat is probably going to open it up in SMILE anyway.
Sorry if I spoiled any fun for anyone. No more content updates until release! Hur-hurh.
One of the biggest things I've wanted to avoid in developing the hack is having only ONE way to go or only ONE item to get through some important area. To that extent I really don't have anything that I HAVE to hide.
I'm at a crossroads. Aegis currently allows for completion with about half the suit upgrades inventoried, give or take, and which ones you have depends on the route you take.
I'm wondering which is better for a hack... which is more fun: -Being able to beat the game without even visiting several areas/grabbing upgrades (for a quicker playthrough) and having the option of getting everything if you want or playing through again on a different path -Being required to collect all the main upgrades to beat the game (keep in mind, this doesn't mean anti-SBs, it just means the game is "structured" to expect you to get all items [just like regular SM])
For Option A I can leave the original design as-is. But it's not hard to implement Option B late in the game (the final areas requiring use of several items to proceed). If I go with Option B it means the hack is a bit less nonlinear, but only late game--acquisition of 95% of suit upgrades would still be in whatever order the player preferred and I would just make a single required item (for example, gravity) be unreachable without use of the other upgrades. In other words, you can get everything before gravity (again, for example only) however you want, but you need gravity to beat the game and you can't get that without all the other upgrades (barring SBs).
As a hack designer this gives me the satisfaction of knowing the player will see all the different areas--but I don't want to force that kind of thing unless it's fun. On the other hand I don't want visiting all the areas in the game to feel "unnecessary". Thus I need the input of other SM fans. What would you prefer, Option A or Option B?
It depends on the severity of A. If you allow the player to skip hijump/screw/spacejump, then that's fine. If you let them go straight to the end of the game after getting morphball, I don't think so.
Generally I would prefer B though. Purposefully allowing players to skip items/areas seems a bit...odd to me.
Option A, but with restrictions naturally (you shouldn't be able to run to the final area at once of course). I think that requiring the player to get every major item in every playthrough severely reduces the replay value.
Option B, but not all of the items. It's a lot better if you can skip most of the missle/Super missle/pb containers, but still, the major upgrades are good. Not the x-ray scope, though... I've been looking at this, and I personally think this hack is better than redesign!
I like option A better, simply because if the player wants to see everything the hack has to offer, then s/he will probably do so. I wouldn't want to feel absolutely forced to have every major upgrade. Of course, if you could do option B with such subtlety that nobody notices, that might be better.
I personally like option B, but you said that this hack pretty much has all of option A already. Thus, I'm going with option A now, for an earlier release! Cannot wait for this to come out... This looks awesome right now!
I like the idea of being able to reach the end of the game without certain items but you should definitely make sure that the player knows that they are headed there. I wouldn't like to be playing and stumble upon the final boss area with few abilities because I was just wandering around.
On the other hand, having to get all the upgrades and then go to the end is fun too. It's traditional Metroid and if you work the sequence breaks into the game, it's more of a feeling of satisfaction when you can say to yourself, "Hey, that's cool! I didn't know I could skip this upgrade entirely!" Plus, I'd like to be able to see all of your lovely graphics.
I'm leaning toward option B more.
Of course, I'll play and love the hack no matter what direction you take it ;)
I wouldn't like to be playing and stumble upon the final boss area with few abilities because I was just wandering around.
Whats wrong with a bit of trial and error?
Seriusly I think people who votes for option B are pussies. Sure It may suck that you walk into the final area under equipted. But hey, it's just part of the game that you die once in a while. If any one here did beat super metroid on thier where first try with out dying. Do rise a hand.
At least you know where the final area is if you walk into it under equipted. And, in most cases you can tell if the area you walked into looks hard or not. If it looks to hard, just walk back. (Super Metroid-R fails here with the early norfair run.)
