The best thing about Super Metroid being released on the e-shop is...

Kitsune_Phoenix

Edit history:

Kitsune_Phoenix: 2013-05-20 11:00:12 pm

Kitsune_Phoenix: 2013-05-20 10:59:40 pm

Kitsune_Phoenix: 2013-05-20 10:58:39 pm

2013-05-20 10:56:33 pm

Ta'kaya as "Teyla the Demiphoenix"

Quote from Tyjet66:

Also, personally, I absolutely hate the beam/visor selecting in Prime.

It is still better than having to make multiple taps in one direction on the D-Pad to select a slightly different weapon that has more ammo *cough cough*...xboxversionofhalflifetwo...
As for the X-Ray Scope idea, maybe the camera could shift in that direction as well when you looked around.

Edit: I hate how you can't nest different formatting tools very effectively.

Quietus

2013-05-21 04:58:03 am

Super Secret Area - Dead Ahead!

I guess if you were following my suggestion for the X-ray beam, and if you wanted to maintain some difficulty / exploration, you could make it much harder to find.

Kitsune_Phoenix

Edit history:

Kitsune_Phoenix: 2013-05-21 05:11:45 am

Kitsune_Phoenix: 2013-05-21 05:08:30 am

Kitsune_Phoenix: 2013-05-21 05:07:05 am

2013-05-21 05:04:45 am

Ta'kaya as "Teyla the Demiphoenix"

I'm surprised there are so few 2D N64 games.

http://atariage.com/forums/topic/111199-is-the-n64-crippled-for-2d-games-or-how-many-2d-games-exist-for-n64/
http://www.sega-16.com/forum/showthread.php?19123-2D-Nintendo64-games
http://www.digitpress.com/forum/showthread.php?855-2D-games-for-N64
http://www.assemblergames.com/forums/archive/index.php/t-12940.html

If there were more (like a Super Metroid port similar to what we are brainstorming), I'm sure N64 sales would have been a lot better, especially since the N64 already had poor 3D capabilities due to the crappy architecture (I don't mind the 32-Bit bus, since it makes N64 emulators on 32-Bit OS' possible, but the inability for the CPU to access the RAM directly was a design flaw that cannot be excused), limited Cartridge storage space, and high prices for RAM, but as I mentioned earlier has far superior hardware specs compared to the SNES, which of course would have made it an absolute beast of a console for 2D games. And has anyone seen the 2D games on the Playstation? Not only did they still take advantage of the PS1's hardware (especially Castlevania: Symphony of the Night), but even without those occasional 3D effects they still looked amazing with those high resolutions and 32-Bit colors.

And of course, CD-Quality Audio was an absolute must in that generation of consoles, so perhaps Nintendo could've made better sales with their DD if it used CD's instead of proprietary magnetic discs (especially since you could use it as a music player, with a 3D visualizer! :D)

@Quietus What do you have in mind?

I'm surprised there are so few 2D N64 games.

http://atariage.com/forums/topic/111199-is-the-n64-crippled-for-2d-games-or-how-many-2d-games-exist-for-n64/
http://www.sega-16.com/forum/showthread.php?19123-2D-Nintendo64-games
http://www.digitpress.com/forum/showthread.php?855-2D-games-for-N64
http://www.assemblergames.com/forums/archive/index.php/t-12940.html

If there were more (like a Super Metroid port similar to what we are brainstorming), I'm sure N64 sales would have been a lot better, especially since the N64 already had poor 3D capabilities due to the crappy architecture (I don't mind the 32-Bit bus, since it makes N64 emulators on 32-Bit OS' possible, but the inability for the CPU to access the RAM directly was a design flaw that cannot be excused), limited Cartridge storage space, and high prices for RAM, but as I mentioned earlier has far superior hardware specs compared to the SNES, which of course would have made it an absolute beast of a console for 2D games. And has anyone seen the 2D games on the Playstation? Not only did they still take advantage of the PS1's hardware (especially Castlevania: Symphony of the Night), but even without those occasional 3D effects they still looked amazing with those high resolutions and 32-Bit colors.

And of course, CD-Quality Audio was an absolute must in that generation of consoles, so perhaps Nintendo could've made better sales with their DD if it used CD's instead of proprietary magnetic discs (especially since you could use it as a music player, with a 3D visualizer! :D)

@Quietus What do you have in mind?

Quietus

2013-05-21 06:15:16 am

Super Secret Area - Dead Ahead!

I meant recreating the room leading to the X-ray scope, making it much harder to navigate through when you can't see any secret tunnels. That way, getting it would make getting out much easier, and the benefit of having it would be instantly revealed. Either that or moving it to a completely new location, somewhere very hidden away. At least that's how many hacks do it.

Kitsune_Phoenix

2013-05-21 08:02:06 am

Ta'kaya as "Teyla the Demiphoenix"

That sounds cool. But it should be dark in the room, as well. Not too dark, but just enough to make it a living hell to go through in the visible sections (with the occasional spikes and/or Geemer spawnpoint/nest.) When you get the X-Ray scope, there will be a hidden energy tank you can pick up in the room to help you recover lost health from the maze (but not too well hidden, just well enough to demonstrate the IXS Visor's capabilities)

When you get back into the dark Maze room, the IXS Visor will also act as a flashlight for dark areas. After all, the initials IXS stand for "Infrared, X-Ray and Scanner", which mean "Thermal Visor/Nightvision + X-Ray + Scan Visor" (though you can't actually scan things, just reveal hidden stuff)

I think we should also include a few Easter Eggs and references to other games, such as the Map/Recharge/Save Station(s) in the Wrecked Ship malfunctioning slightly. While it/they will still perform it's in-game function correctly, it/they will say things along the lines of "I AM ERROR." And to make it even better, you can use it more than once, though it will just give you a random message hinting that you cannot re-download the map.

That sounds cool. But it should be dark in the room, as well. Not too dark, but just enough to make it a living hell to go through in the visible sections (with the occasional spikes and/or Geemer spawnpoint/nest.) When you get the X-Ray scope, there will be a hidden energy tank you can pick up in the room to help you recover lost health from the maze (but not too well hidden, just well enough to demonstrate the IXS Visor's capabilities)

When you get back into the dark Maze room, the IXS Visor will also act as a flashlight for dark areas. After all, the initials IXS stand for "Infrared, X-Ray and Scanner", which mean "Thermal Visor/Nightvision + X-Ray + Scan Visor" (though you can't actually scan things, just reveal hidden stuff)

I think we should also include a few Easter Eggs and references to other games, such as the Map/Recharge/Save Station(s) in the Wrecked Ship malfunctioning slightly. While it/they will still perform it's in-game function correctly, it/they will say things along the lines of "I AM ERROR." And to make it even better, you can use it more than once, though it will just give you a random message hinting that you cannot re-download the map.

Kitsune_Phoenix

Edit history:

Kitsune_Phoenix: 2013-05-21 05:59:21 pm

2013-05-21 10:29:54 am

Ta'kaya as "Teyla the Demiphoenix"

I did some rough math...

Scientific Process:
The original Super Metroid ran in 256 x 224 resolution. Each tile was 16 x 16 pixels, or 16^2
Multiply 256 x 224, and you get 57,344 total pixels. Divide that by 16^2, and you get...
A maximum of 256 tiles on screen at any given time.

If we bumped up the resolution to 640 x 480, then we'd have 307,200 total pixels on screen. Now even if we were to increase the size of each tile form 16^2 to 24^2...
307,200 / 24^2 = (640 x 480) / 576 = A total of 533.4 tiles onscreen at any given time. Slightly increased graphical detail, but more than twice as much action on screen. And because 640 x 480 is a slightly wider aspect ratio than 256 x 224, we can see even further to the sides.

Now none of this was factoring in the amount of space taken up by the opaque HUD. We need to do something about that HUD, make it slightly less obtrusive...

-----

Tools used to do these calculations:
- Paint[dot]NET (for image testing and aspect ratio scaling, as well as overall goofing-around with images)
- Windows 7 Calculator (Scientific Mode)
- Boredom

TL;DR:
Increase the game's internal resolution to 640 x 480, make the HUD less obtrusive, and increase the resolution of each tile from 16 x 16 to 24 x 24. You will get 320 extra pixels of graphical detail per tile, and you can see a lot more of the in-game action.

[EDIT] Aspect Ratio:
So, the original SM ran in a 4.0:3.5 aspect ratio, but 640 x 480 is a perfect 4:3 ratio. So once again, I can't wait for somebody to do this.

I did some rough math...

[b]Scientific Process:[/b]
The original [i]Super Metroid[/i] ran in 256 x 224 resolution. Each tile was 16 x 16 pixels, or 16^2
Multiply 256 x 224, and you get 57,344 total pixels. Divide that by 16^2, and you get...
A maximum of 256 tiles on screen at any given time.

If we bumped up the resolution to 640 x 480, then we'd have 307,200 total pixels on screen. Now even if we were to increase the size of each tile form 16^2 to 24^2...
307,200 / 24^2 = (640 x 480) / 576 = A total of [i]533.4[/i] tiles onscreen at any given time. Slightly increased graphical detail, but more than twice as much action on screen. And because 640 x 480 is a slightly wider aspect ratio than 256 x 224, we can see even further to the sides.

Now none of this was factoring in the amount of space taken up by the opaque HUD. We need to do something about that HUD, make it slightly less obtrusive...

-----

[b]Tools used to do these calculations:[/b]
- Paint[dot]NET (for image testing and aspect ratio scaling, as well as overall goofing-around with images)
- Windows 7 Calculator (Scientific Mode)
- Boredom

[b]TL;DR:[/b]
Increase the game's internal resolution to 640 x 480, make the HUD less obtrusive, and increase the resolution of each tile from 16 x 16 to 24 x 24. You will get 320 extra pixels of graphical detail per tile, and you can see a lot more of the in-game action.

[b][EDIT] Aspect Ratio:[/b]
So, the original SM ran in a 4.0:3.5 aspect ratio, but 640 x 480 is a perfect 4:3 ratio. So once again, I can't wait for somebody to do this.

BioSpark

2013-05-22 12:02:19 am

so is this your thesis?

Kitsune_Phoenix

2013-05-22 01:22:16 am

Ta'kaya as "Teyla the Demiphoenix"

Thesis? No, just a result of my boredom.

Tahngarthor

2013-05-23 01:50:53 am

Bangaa Bishop

Some of those really stupid I'm stuck posts... they might know how to get past if they just read the damn instruction manual on the HOME menu...

Kitsune_Phoenix

2013-05-23 05:27:42 am

Ta'kaya as "Teyla the Demiphoenix"

I know, right?

Kitsune_Phoenix

Edit history:

Kitsune_Phoenix: 2013-05-24 07:57:26 am

Kitsune_Phoenix: 2013-05-23 06:14:42 am

2013-05-23 06:14:17 am

Ta'kaya as "Teyla the Demiphoenix"

I made a mock-up screenshot of what the game might look like at 640 x 480 (I found the original screenshot somewhere on these forums, and if I recall correctly it was from Mocking Bird Station, but it has been sitting on my computer for a while) if each tile was upscaled to 32^2 instead of 16^2 (original) (or 24^2 (planned))... but we're not going to do that because it is ugly-looking to upscale an entire tileset (well, except for 24^2) in that manner, plus we want the player to be able to see more and not less. I attached the screenshot to this post, but I am not sure how to embed it.

Edit: Hey, it embedded itself. That's convenient.

attachment:

sm_mockingbird_640x480_mockup_w_scanlines.png

Quietus

2013-05-23 06:44:20 am

Super Secret Area - Dead Ahead!

It is Mockingbird Station. From what I recall, people were struggling to get on that ledge, and didn't know about crouch-jumping and ledge grabbing.

Kitsune_Phoenix

2013-05-23 06:51:35 am

Ta'kaya as "Teyla the Demiphoenix"

You can grab ledges in Mockingbird Station?

Quietus

2013-05-23 07:27:33 am

Super Secret Area - Dead Ahead!

Um, sort of. You may be thinking of an actual ledge grab power-up like Zero Mission, but in Super Metroid it's just a trick to manipulate Samus's hitbox, to land on ledges quicker.

P.JMan

2013-05-23 11:18:16 am

I like Big Butts and I can not lie

http://www.metroid2002.com/3/techniques_crouch_jumping.php

Kitsune_Phoenix

Edit history:

Kitsune_Phoenix: 2013-05-24 08:08:19 am

Kitsune_Phoenix: 2013-05-24 08:07:33 am

2013-05-24 07:58:52 am

Ta'kaya as "Teyla the Demiphoenix"

I have a question relating to scanlines: If you had a fast enough LED display (all LEDs, not an LCD with an LED backlight), could you emulate the functionality of a CRT? As in generating stuff such as Scanlines and/or "frame flashing"? Or hell, perhaps even trying to draw a Vector-based image?

EDIT: Almost forgot the picture. I decided to do another attempt at a mockup screenshot, this time showing off a shrunken HUD in relation to the rest of the image. Obviously, the HUD wouldn't be shrunken in the "actual game" and instead be built from scratch, but still...

RE-EDIT: Since I can't upload a picture in edits, I'm gonna have to make a double-post. I apologize in advance for this.

Kitsune_Phoenix

Edit history:

Kitsune_Phoenix: 2013-05-24 08:16:42 am

Kitsune_Phoenix: 2013-05-24 08:15:17 am

Kitsune_Phoenix: 2013-05-24 08:10:06 am

2013-05-24 08:09:29 am

Ta'kaya as "Teyla the Demiphoenix"

Okay, here's the pic. Sorry for being unable to put it in the last post.
EDIT: Damn it, I had to remove the damn thing because it was the wrong image. Give me a second and I'll host it externally via link.
RE-EDIT (I promise not to double-post anymore)
Original Image (sourced via wikipedia)
640 x 480 mockup
1280 x 960 mockup

Quietus

2013-05-24 04:57:21 pm

Super Secret Area - Dead Ahead!

There's no double posting rule here.

The pic looks OK, but if you were going to have more screen space available, I'd much rather things were kept to a closer scale, and more area was visible on-screen.

Kitsune_Phoenix

Edit history:

Kitsune_Phoenix: 2013-05-24 05:59:22 pm

2013-05-24 05:47:45 pm

Ta'kaya as "Teyla the Demiphoenix"

I know, but these are mock-ups of what the HUD could look like. I don't have any way of "rendering" how the actual environment would work (let's face it, my laptop is shit)
Now it would be awesome if someone could provide me with a few image of Super Metroid's engine modified to use 24² px tiles, preferably imgaes of the same room (with a background that has parallax disabled for consistency reasons) and has Samus (and the HUD) missing from the image (though a Samus sprite would still be allowed /somewhere/ in the image) Then, I could actually compose a proper mock-up image.

Tyjet66

Edit history:

Tyjet66: 2013-05-24 06:53:49 pm

2013-05-24 06:53:03 pm

What'd you say?

You can easily remove Samus and the background in SNES9x, not sure how you'd do the 24² px tiles though.

As for the images, I do not like the 1280x960 one, the HUD is WAY too small in my opinion. The 640x480 one seems to be a good compromise though. I like how everything is more close-up.

Kitsune_Phoenix

Edit history:

Kitsune_Phoenix: 2013-05-24 07:22:10 pm

Kitsune_Phoenix: 2013-05-24 07:13:05 pm

2013-05-24 07:02:35 pm

Ta'kaya as "Teyla the Demiphoenix"

Yeah, but the problem is... we want the player to be able to see more. We don't want every tile to be an ugly, half-assed 32² upscaling of a 16² tile. Not only would 24^2 let you see more, but it is a good compromise and you could easily redraw the tiles to take advantage of the extra detail the slightly larger size provides. In the case of 32^2, it is a little harder and takes up more video memory (and of course takes up more room on the screen that you could use to see what was around you)

Quick question: do you think it would be possible to replace the bitmaps with PNGs and APNGs with some slight modifications to the code?
Memory conservation and preservation of quality are both equally important.

---

Okay, literally nowhere I looked could I find a YouTube video of somebody else trying to port an SNES game to the N64 unofficially.

Tyjet66

2013-05-24 07:33:54 pm

What'd you say?

Now you're getting to the point where this would be better asked over at MetConst.

Kitsune_Phoenix

2013-05-24 07:43:49 pm

Ta'kaya as "Teyla the Demiphoenix"

It is functionally impossible for me to navigate that site :(

Tyjet66

2013-05-24 07:56:30 pm

What'd you say?

1. http://metroidconstruction.com/
2. Click "Forum" at the bottom.
3. Click "Register" at the top to make an account.
4. Scroll down and click the "Super Metroid" sub-forum.
5. Click "New topic" at the top right of the sub-forum.
6. Type up your thread and post it.

That's as clear as I can ever possibly get. Unless you literally mean it's "functionally" impossible, as in your laptop literally cannot do this. In that case, sorry, I can't help.

Kitsune_Phoenix

2013-05-24 10:49:21 pm

Ta'kaya as "Teyla the Demiphoenix"

*facepalm and ear twitch*