Metroid: Father Hunt

[ronny14]

Wow, the only posts I've made here were to submit some Jet Set Radio rips... Of course, I exist on other forums, so I'm not a total moron, just essentially "new" here. Anyways, for a few years now, I've been working on a Metroid fan game. It was originally codenamed "Metroid Comical." I'm pretty sure a few Metroid fans who've been to other boards may remember it. I have recently picked up the project again, and have plans to make it better than before, and actually finish it! This game has 3 basic goals:
-Be unique
-Play how Metroid used to
-Be simple
For obvious reasons, this game is not story heavy. It centers purely around gameplay and design, with a small emphasis on a simple, toon-ish graphics style.
Here's a tech demo that was made for NCFC, if you didn't try it there.
I just noticed that I have yet to say that the game is now under the name "Metroid: Father Hunt." Well, now you know. I will post updates here, and there will be more detailed and content-filled updates in the game's blog. (Click the banner in my signature) Well, that all I have to say. Here's some screenshots of the game thus far:







Thanks!

[Chris2Balls [:B]]

I guess if you're posting here, Metroid Fan Mission must be pretty dead.
I'll probably try this later. Would you mind explaining in a bit more detail what you have in the demo?

[ronny14]

The demo is a really short area, with a few powerups. (2 Energy Tanks, 4 Missile tanks, 1 Beam upgrade, 2 Misc. Upgrades)
It is not part of the final game, it simply showcases the physics.

[ronny14]

Ew, double post. But I have an update!
The first area is in it's final stages of development! I've been polishing certain things and adding new gimmicks and what not. Here's the starting area:


I've also gotten around to revamping the title screen:


For a more detailed update, and other updates to come, check out the blog! (Link in sig)

[Phaze]

I keep telling myself I'm going to try this but I keep putting it off

[ronny14]

Decided to give Finazia a facelift.

I believe the mushrooms fit the games style better, the other ones looked awkward. Added another layer to the background (the vines and bushes)
Geemers have a different palette now.

[ronny14]

Hey guys! I put together a little trailer of the first 5 minutes of the game. Enjoy!
http://youtu.be/R0zz_GJdID8

[Chris2Balls [:B]]

Oh yeah, I played this and it was okay. It didn't really stand out to me in any way.

[ronny14]

Oh yeah, I played this and it was okay. It didn't really stand out to me in any way.

What can I do to improve this? Not much help by saying that...

[ronny14]

I stopped level design to add more bosses. Trying to make the game more exciting. At the moment it looks like those 2 "new" abilities are gonna be it, but I'm cool with that. So far I have missile and bomb guardian, which use or are weak to the power up they guard. Not every powerup gets a boss, but a good amount will. A friend told me after playing what I have done that I should focus on making some more memorable occasions. He said Metroid & Metroid II's lack of unique minbosses and similar looking areas brought them down, despite being good games. He told me a great solution to the problem would be challenging minibosses every once in a while, so that the stretch to each powerup doesn't feel like a "stretch", but a new experience. The criticism was great, and now I'm working towards it. IF you saw the trailer, you'll see the missile guardian, and remember him. I tried to predict what Yakuza was without the X. I also plan to do the same with Serris in Chozo Ruins.


[Bomb Guardian, who is nameless at the moment, is in Anfine, which is noticeably not a aesthetically polished compared to Finazia, where Yakuza is.]

[Previous]

I gave the tech demo from the first post a try. It plays nicely, although I can't really compare it to the official Metroid games as I haven't played them properly. I'm not really good and keep running into every enemy

While I assume that it's been fixed already, when I went back into the room where you get the missiles, the blue orb was back (although empty), which seemed a bit odd.

The graphics look neat, although I'm not a huge fan of some of the colour choices, like samus' yellow and the plant green in that second-to-last screenshot up there, but I guess they fit the somewhat "comic"-like look?
However, I find it really odd that everything has a solid outline, even effects like the the muzzle flash. I think some things like those and some bullets, energy drops etc. should have brighter outlines if any, to make them look more glowy.
The doors appear a bit small. Also, will there be diagonal shooting?

One last thing, samus stops walking after entering another room if zou keep the button pushed down. I think she should keep going without having to release and re/push the move button.

[ronny14]

While I assume that it's been fixed already, when I went back into the room where you get the missiles, the blue orb was back (although empty), which seemed a bit odd.

This happens as the object that spawns the ball doesn't check to see if the items not there. I'll see that it gets fixed.

The graphics look neat, although I'm not a huge fan of some of the colour choices, like samus' yellow and the plant green in that second-to-last screenshot up there, but I guess they fit the somewhat "comic"-like look?
However, I find it really odd that everything has a solid outline, even effects like the the muzzle flash. I think some things like those and some bullets, energy drops etc. should have brighter outlines if any, to make them look more glowy.

I think anyone who has dealt Samus's palette before can agree that it is very hard to get the yellow on the power suit to look right. I'm still figuring it out. It's simply the style, as if everything has been drawn by a comic artist. I've never considered brighter outlines for what glows, though. I've constantly had trouble before making sure everything was the same sprite style. The area and backgrounds are undergoing constant changes, trying to find what looks best.

The doors appear a bit small. Also, will there be diagonal shooting?

The doors match Samus's height. Although this has never really been done in a Metroid game, it has yet to bother me, and nobody has told me it bothers them. And no, there won't be diagonal shooting, but the game is being designed around the 4 directions you can aim.

One last thing, samus stops walking after entering another room if zou keep the button pushed down. I think she should keep going without having to release and re/push the move button.

This has been addressed and fixed already.

[Kriven]

In the demo, I noticed that the game would pause briefly before the music track looped. I don't know if anybody else had this issue, though.

[ronny14]

Game Maker for some reason doesn't like MP3s. I would've integrated a DLL or used some other format but I had 2 days to make that demo.

[ronny14]

Power suit looked boring before, tried to fix it. Thoughts?