[SM] Super Metroid: Pantheon

2008-10-19 10:51:29 am

Hack Completed.

Clear Time - 5:00
Item Rate - 88% (Did not find X-Ray or Screw Attack)

Tiling errors aside, this was a nice way to waste several hours. No challenging spots, just have a fun time searching the planet for items and general exploring. Only early Norfair and GT w/out Supers or Spazer were the tricky points for me.

Escape was fun too. Had ~9 minutes and some change left when I got out on the ship.

Black Telomeres

Edit history:

Black Telomeres: 2008-10-19 09:57:39 pm

2008-10-19 09:55:06 pm

Quote from Bolognab:

I'm disappointed in you BT and Cardweaver for not pointing this out. :|

Uh, I did point out the fact that there were a large amount of tiling errors and screenshotted many of them. It doesn't assure that he was going to fix them. What did you want me to do, fix them for him? laugh new

Cardweaver

2008-10-19 10:10:02 pm

I too told him about many tiling errors, though I did not screenshot them. It would not have been feasible for him to be able to find everyone of them though. Many are impossible to find in SMILE without doublechecking that every single tile is in front of the background.

DonnyDonovan

2008-10-20 12:34:05 am

5:31, 56%. There were a ton of expansions I could have gone back for but opted not to. Fun exploration hack. I never did figure out how to get high jump.

I have no problem putting things like missile tanks and reserve tanks and stuff behind speed ball blocks and requiring advanced moves for 100%, but, I wish basic suit upgrades would have just been well hidden in keeping with the spirit of the hack. Both hi jump and spring ball would have come in handy. The other attributes and flaws of the hack have been well-documented and I have nothing else to add. I enjoyed it a lot.

Sturmvogel Prime

2008-10-20 01:31:49 am

Phazon Vasteel Autobot

Another hack that i beat, nice work. :D :D :D :D

attachments:

Super Metroid Pantheon_00000.png

Super Metroid Pantheon_00001.png

DMantra

(user is banned)

2008-10-20 07:13:45 am

Breathe in the Future, Breathe out the Past

Most of the criticism I have has already been said by others, but let me give you my own thoughts on it anyway. Sorry in advance if what I'm about to say comes off as rude, it's in my best interest to point these things out only to better your hack and I don't want to deter anyone from what they love doing, I'm just not good with constructive criticism so take this with a grain of salt.

The majority of your rooms felt vacuous. At times I felt like taking breaks from what I considered to be a bland ensemble of rooms without much thought put into the design. This is where Pantheon heavily reminded me of Legacy. Bear in mind I'm very picky when it comes to this and others will disagree with me. I knew what was coming next in most cases, more similar rooms with lots of doors to more similar rooms with loads of enemies I'd have to shoot multiple times to proceed. At times this drained my motivation to keep going. That's not to say there wasn't any good rooms, I did find many of your areas interesting, it's just a shame most after followed suit to the same copy and paste theme.

There is not much thought into enemy placement. It's basically a lot of enemies per tunnel/room that you have to shoot numerous times to get past. It's tedious and I really didn't like it.

As for the tiling errors and few slope issues, your beta testers told you about them, so why not take some time to change them? When you release a hack, the last thing you want is pages of people telling you this. Not fixing these problems makes your hack incomplete, plain and simple. It's also an insult to the quality control some of us unspokenly feel towards released hacks. I don't want to sound like the jerk here but I'd wager it's at the back of most our minds while playing Pantheon. I'm just trying to give you advice for the future, fix your errors. It's a blessing you had people point out their locations, don't take that for granted next time.

Some rooms don't show up in the right location on the map, the majority of them being boss rooms but I encountered a couple others. I'm just picky about this because I want my gaming experience to feel 'official'.

The bosses were way too easy. I wandered around and bumped into Ridley with 3 tanks left and little stock, I was going to loadstate to prepare better but I took a shot at him and defeated him effortlessly and savestateless.

I was actually going for 100% but there was an etank in a hidden sandy area in the Maridia section of Brinstar that I couldn't get because you forgot to create a path to it. After that I decided to just beat the damn game.

Now with all that aside, I really enjoyed your item order. We expect to have some things a lot sooner, and not having them gave your hack a new edge. I also enjoyed the retro names you gave areas. That was really cool. The map layout and shortcuts were great. I may have felt annoyed at the sheer size at the beginning, but exploring and item hunting during the last half was a fun experience (up until that etank holding up a sign saying '99%'). It's always great to have another fullhack to dig into so thanks for making one!

Most of the criticism I have has already been said by others, but let me give you my own thoughts on it anyway. Sorry in advance if what I'm about to say comes off as rude, it's in my best interest to point these things out only to better your hack and I don't want to deter anyone from what they love doing, I'm just not good with constructive criticism so take this with a grain of salt.

The majority of your rooms felt vacuous. At times I felt like taking breaks from what I considered to be a bland ensemble of rooms without much thought put into the design. This is where Pantheon heavily reminded me of Legacy. Bear in mind I'm very picky when it comes to this and others will disagree with me. I knew what was coming next in most cases, more similar rooms with lots of doors to more similar rooms with loads of enemies I'd have to shoot multiple times to proceed. At times this drained my motivation to keep going. That's not to say there wasn't any good rooms, I did find many of your areas interesting, it's just a shame most after followed suit to the same copy and paste theme.

There is not much thought into enemy placement. It's basically a lot of enemies per tunnel/room that you have to shoot numerous times to get past. It's tedious and I really didn't like it.

As for the tiling errors and few slope issues, your beta testers told you about them, so why not take some time to change them? When you release a hack, the last thing you want is pages of people telling you this. Not fixing these problems makes your hack incomplete, plain and simple. It's also an insult to the quality control some of us unspokenly feel towards released hacks. I don't want to sound like the jerk here but I'd wager it's at the back of most our minds while playing Pantheon. I'm just trying to give you advice for the future, fix your errors. It's a blessing you had people point out their locations, don't take that for granted next time.

Some rooms don't show up in the right location on the map, the majority of them being boss rooms but I encountered a couple others. I'm just picky about this because I want my gaming experience to feel 'official'.

The bosses were way too easy. I wandered around and bumped into Ridley with 3 tanks left and little stock, I was going to loadstate to prepare better but I took a shot at him and defeated him effortlessly and savestateless.

I was actually going for 100% but there was an etank in a hidden sandy area in the Maridia section of Brinstar that I couldn't get because you forgot to create a path to it. After that I decided to just beat the damn game.

Now with all that aside, I really enjoyed your item order. We expect to have some things a lot sooner, and not having them gave your hack a new edge. I also enjoyed the retro names you gave areas. That was really cool. The map layout and shortcuts were great. I may have felt annoyed at the sheer size at the beginning, but exploring and item hunting during the last half was a fun experience (up until that etank holding up a sign saying '99%'). It's always great to have another fullhack to dig into so thanks for making one!

Gaius_4

2008-10-20 09:44:17 am

Right now I'm a bit lost, not knowing where to go next. I have ice beam and grapple (and missiles) and I'm in Tourian with the Blue'ish space pirates (and a couple red ones). I've been in that long/tall (escape) shaft, and down 2 ways to the left.

squishy_ichigo

Edit history:

squishy_ichigo: 2008-10-20 10:59:46 am

2008-10-20 10:56:04 am

. . .

DM: Well originally that Energy Tank was obtainable, I guess I forgot to go back and check again later. I must have accidently solid blocked it...
My bad...

Everyone: BT helped me find alot of tiling errors, you should have seen it before hand. I'm sorry you had to deal with all of that, and I will try my hardest to fix all the problems you guys had with this hack in the future. I want you guys to have fun, and if you're turned off because I was to sloppy, then I have failed you...

But if you can ignore my stupid laziness, and still have fun, thats what really makes me happy! Thank you all for playing and I hope you play with me again in the future!

Gaius_4:

You're going to want to leave Tourian for now, and head back up towards Crateria.

Lawrence Reyome

Edit history:

Lawrence Reyome: 2008-10-20 11:22:40 am

2008-10-20 11:19:50 am

Metroid Exp: Exploration - Great, Skills - Decent

Quote from DMantra:

I was actually going for 100% but there was an etank in a hidden sandy area in the Maridia section of Brinstar that I couldn't get because you forgot to create a path to it.

I had that same issue with a missle in the second large room in Pink Brinstar, where you end up if you take side route out of Red Brinstar. I XRayed for a path and everything, bomb, power bomb, super missle, etc.

Edit: Speaking of tiling errors, what error is it when you can see what you have paused in a minimized Winamp in the background in several rooms in Norfair, ex. Crocomires room? Anyways, time to go give Ridley a beating.

squishy_ichigo

2008-10-20 11:32:30 am

. . .

Quote from Lawrence Reyome:

I had that same issue with a missle in the second large room in Pink Brinstar, where you end up if you take side route out of Red Brinstar. I XRayed for a path and everything, bomb, power bomb, super missle, etc.

That one you CAN get. But its not the way you usually get it.

Lure an enemy towards those small blocks;)

Kriole

Edit history:

Kriole: 2008-10-20 07:00:57 pm

2008-10-20 06:56:01 pm

Meri Kurisumasu! ^_^

Actually trying to get 100% for this hack. So, as DMantra already said, please patch the e-tank which has no path. Also, where is the X-ray?

Oh yeah, there is another issue; in the area with the old mother brain room tileset, there is a room filled with golden pirates which you need power bombs to enter. Once you have screw attacked all the golden pirates, the grey door won't open. Fix plox.

A third issue. Same scenario in the shaft left to that golden pirate shaft. All the teal pirates are killed but the grey door won't open. Although that door could be for the escape. What do I know.

TwinNova

2008-10-21 06:36:09 am

Playing it, loving it and cant wait to see whats next.

squishy_ichigo

2008-10-21 10:38:31 am

. . .

Quote from Kriole:

Actually trying to get 100% for this hack. So, as DMantra already said, please patch the e-tank which has no path. Also, where is the X-ray?

Oh yeah, there is another issue; in the area with the old mother brain room tileset, there is a room filled with golden pirates which you need power bombs to enter. Once you have screw attacked all the golden pirates, the grey door won't open. Fix plox.

A third issue. Same scenario in the shaft left to that golden pirate shaft. All the teal pirates are killed but the grey door won't open. Although that door could be for the escape. What do I know.

All those doors work right. The first grey door only opens during escape. And the other one never opens. Its a one way only door.
And yes, I need to fix that... but I also need to fix the tiling errors, and I only want to release one fixed patch, so we don't have 30 versions running around;) But if you get 99% before I release the new patch, I'll just say you got 100%.

X-Ray, I think only a few people have found this one so far...

There's a SM door in Tourian.

[quote="Kriole"]
Actually trying to get 100% for this hack. So, as DMantra already said, please patch the e-tank which has no path. Also, where is the X-ray?

Oh yeah, there is another issue; in the area with the old mother brain room tileset, there is a room filled with golden pirates which you need power bombs to enter. Once you have screw attacked all the golden pirates, the grey door won't open. Fix plox.

A third issue. Same scenario in the shaft left to that golden pirate shaft. All the teal pirates are killed but the grey door won't open. Although that door could be for the escape. What do I know.
[/quote]
All those doors work right.  The first grey door only opens during escape.  And the other one never opens.  Its a one way only door.
And yes, I need to fix that... but I also need to fix the tiling errors, and I only want to release one fixed patch, so we don't have 30 versions running around;)  But if you get 99% before I release the new patch, I'll just say you got 100%.

X-Ray, I think only a few people have found this one so far...[spoiler]There's a SM door in Tourian.[/spoiler]

Kriole

2008-10-21 11:05:58 am

Meri Kurisumasu! ^_^

Quote from squishy_ichigo:

All those doors work right. The first grey door only opens during escape. And the other one never opens. Its a one way only door.
And yes, I need to fix that... but I also need to fix the tiling errors, and I only want to release one fixed patch, so we don't have 30 versions running around;) But if you get 99% before I release the new patch, I'll just say you got 100%.

X-Ray, I think only a few people have found this one so far...

There's a SM door in Tourian.

Actually found X-ray like 15 minutes after I said that =/. Also I finished the game first with 92%, then I fixed the bugged energy tank myself with some debris and just went ahead and got the last 7% over that. So yeah, I got 100% =). Finish time was 5:17. Was funsies.

attachment:

Phanteon000.png

Sturmvogel Prime

2008-10-21 01:24:11 pm

Phazon Vasteel Autobot

Congratulations Kriole, for achieve the 100%

petrie911

2008-10-21 02:18:04 pm

OK, I just got Varia and have no clue where to go. It seems like I should have Morph Ball by now.

aigamerDS

2008-10-21 07:02:54 pm

I have barely beat Ridley without any charge beam. Seriously, where's the charge beam?

attachment:

Pantheon HEADERED001.png

Lawrence Reyome

2008-10-21 07:16:42 pm

Metroid Exp: Exploration - Great, Skills - Decent

Quote from aigamerDS:

I have barely beat Ridley without any charge beam. Seriously, where's the charge beam?

Check the area near where you got Spazer. The Charge Beam is in the room where/if you fought Golden Torizo

aigamerDS

Edit history:

aigamerDS: 2008-10-21 11:54:17 pm

2008-10-21 11:52:16 pm

What the heck is this?

Escape without any explosion effect and have freedom to go anywhere during the count-down?

Anyway, I beat this game.

Clear Time: 3:39
Percent: 56%
Still, no charge beam found, and mother brain was beaten down fast.

It was fun, there are lots of bug that can be fix.

attachments:

Pantheon HEADERED001.png

Pantheon HEADERED002.png

squishy_ichigo

2008-10-22 10:40:12 am

. . .

Maybe I should say this again...
This is not a hard hack. This is an EASY HACK for casual players. If you beat Ridley so easily, its because your used to him being MUCH harder. I didn't even change this health, its the same old Ridley from before. I'm sorry if the difficulty level is a turnoff, but thats what I was aiming for. Now don't go thinking I can't make a hard game. If I wanted to I could, but there are already SO many of those kinds of hacks out there, I wanted to give you guys something new, something fresh.

Sorry if I'm sounding rude, I'm not trying to come off that way...
FUNFACT: Squishy_Ichigo never uses smileys! NEVER!

Lawrence Reyome

2008-10-22 11:36:41 am

Metroid Exp: Exploration - Great, Skills - Decent

Its sad that players have to put creators down for making easy hacks. Not everyone on this forum is a Red Scarlett or Saturn or anyone else who can master hard or 'impossible' hacks.

Luna_Aran

2008-10-22 11:50:13 am

Super Metroid Addict

Easy games are bad... Easy hacks are worst... C'mon, push on that a little...

Acheron

2008-10-22 12:08:14 pm

Acclaimed Threshold

Constant Sorrows

It is far better to make a hack too easy than it is to make it too hard. However, someone's always going to complain regardless.

I recommend for future hacks that you make two difficulties (like Cliffhanger did). It's not that much work and it pleases both crowds.

Opium

2008-10-22 12:58:13 pm

Quote from Luna_Aran:

Easy games are bad... Easy hacks are worst... C'mon, push on that a little...

That's really in the eye of the beholder....or player....you get what I mean. It doesn't make the hack good or bad, just changes who it appeals to. You can't make everyone happy at once. I just hope there's a good balance between hard vs. easy when it comes to the selection of future hacks. For a while we were seeing a trend of leaning towards higher difficulty. Kudos to DMantra for releasing an easy version of Cliffhanger, which I hope starts a lasting trend for the hackers who prefer to create the more difficult games because I thought it was an excellent idea. I like the so called easy version much more than the original, but as I said before its all a matter of perspective. Hell, someone who prefers moderate difficulty hacks could create a new hack with two versions: original version & hard version. Just depends on where you're coming from.

DonnyDonovan

2008-10-22 02:18:08 pm

I agree. Having multiple versions is a nice compromise that can please more players. It's a good trend. I also have no problem with a hack being reasonably easy to play through and get all the basic items needed for completion, but, having advanced moves required for 100% completion. Another possibility, while harder to implement, is to have a somewhat flexible boss order. Dependence did this. You can go to LN earlier and have GT and Ridley be quite difficult, then just breeze through Prototourian, or you can do it the other way around.

No hacks can (or should) be all things to all people. Some hacks I just don't play because I know they aren't for me. On topic, Pantheon is an exploration hack. The bosses are not tough, and no advanced moves are required (although good walljumping and midair morph skills are essential). I like that, but I know some people don't.