Progress Report: Second Ruins

Progress has been slow but steady these days.
I decided to redo the second ruins from scratch, since they were too close to the original map. I also planned some cool puzzles and scripted events to add some variety.

First, I´ll list some ideas I have about the design of the chozo ruins in the game.
All the ruins have these in common:

• There´s what it appears to be a Metroid breeding enviroment in every ruin, most of them under the main building.
• The ruins are inside a hughe cave, and you can explore the outside part of the building.
• There´s one beam upgrade and at least 1 item to find in these areas (the third ruins actually has 2 beam upgrades, but I´ll exchange it for another item).
• Only one ruin has a boss battle, the second one (Arachnus)

The first ruins.
They are almost at the same level of the planet surface, so I made it look like a temple. It has the golden tiles of MZM, and some statues on the roof. Outside, at the upper side of the cave, you can see some of the sky of SR388 (the ruins appear to be inside a mountain).

The second ruins.
In the original map there are some pipes connecting different parts of the building. There´s also water pools in some rooms, and an underground lake. You even fight a Metroid underwater! (water has no effect on Samus on the GB version).
So, I made this place look like a water treatment plant. Many pipes, and some water-involving puzzles will be between Samus and the items.

The third ruins.
I have no idea what this area could be. I still haven´t decided.

• In these ruins you get Spazer Beam and Space Jump.
• There are some areas with a lot of sand.
• The Metroid breeding area is under the building, and is made with plant tiles.

If you have any idea of what this place could have been when the Chozo were still on SR388, let me know.

The fourth ruins.
In this place you get all the beam upgrades. This tower like building could then be an armory or a weapons research facility. The corridors are heavily guarded by strong robot enemies.

The hive.
This is the final area, with all the Omega Metroids and the Queen.
I´m still planning what tiles will be used here.

This will give you an idea of how different the areas will be. Unlike the original, you´ll be able to tell in which area of the game you are by just looking at a single game screen.
Right now I´m making some new puzzle elements to make some of the second ruins areas more varied, without breaking the pace.

I won´t be posting screenshots this time, since I´m also updating the tilesets color palettes. The original MZM tiles are too bright, since they were designed for a small LCD screen. Playing the game on a PC monitor lets you play with contrast and dark rooms, without losing sight of the main character. The game is now aiming to a more atmospheric visual style.

Hyrule_SwordsMan is drawing awesome enemies. I´m coding the AI as they come out of the oven. Almost all the enemies of the first area are done.

Anyway, if you have any suggestions about the Chozo ruins, let me know.

Introducing the official spriter

First of all, thanks to all the people who sent their work.
The criteria I used to choose among all the very talented people is how good they captured the style, and made sprites that would fit perfectly into the game.

So, the official spriter of the AM2R project is: Hyrule_SwordsMan
You´ll find some of his previous work in his Blog

Here are some new versions of enemies you´ve already seen:

The new yumbo

The first Tsumuris you find

Moheeks in the first tunnel

Gunzoo in a test room

HSM is now focusing on the enemy sprites, while I code the AI. I also took some time to balance out the stacked beam system, it was too overpowered.
After all the enemies are done, the Metroids come next... and that´s where the fun begins.

Project Resumes... and GFX stuff

Well, I managed to reassemble a simplified recording studio. I won´t be able to do multitrack projects for a while, but at least I´m still working.

So, I´m starting to put some time on the project again.
Now, if you are skilled with graphics and spriting, I might be needing your help. Here are the enemy sprites I drew:

Feel free to criticize my drawing style. Anyway, if you want to be the project´s official spriter, just pick any of these enemies, shade or redraw it to fit the zero mission / super metroid style. There´s no color limitations, but it should look like 16 bit age enemies.
You can contact me via mail or MSN messenger at this address: doctorm64@live.com.
So, sharpen your photoshop pencils and good luck!

Latest dev shot:

The entrance to the second ruins (that will be a bridge someday)

Setback

Progress is going to be momentarily paused.
Last night I had my first experience at live sound operation and recording. It went pretty well, until my portable rack got stolen. I had most of my recording stuff in there, along with most of my microphones and the audio interface.
So, right now I can no longer work.
It's gonna take a while to replace most of my equipment, since all the studio gear is imported (there's no national audio industry here).

Anyway, I don't like bothering other people with my personal issues, but one of many things I'll have to sell is my home PC, my main development machine. I'll migrate the project to my studio workstation, and resume work when this setback is taken care of.

In the meantime, here is the Metroid Map example I promised. If you are into GM programming, and need a simple and effective map, you might find it useful.

FAQs

The project is becoming popular, I´m still shocked when people I know here in Buenos Aires ask me if I´m remaking Metroid 2. Here, GameBoys were rare back in the 90´s, but there´s people who know about the game and ask me about it. It might be beacuse I have an uncommon name. Who knows.

Anyway, there are comments everywhere. Half of them about cease & desist letters, the other half with questions or suggestions about the project. It would be tiresome to sign up on every forum and news site, so I bring you... AM2R FAQs: The questions that are made everywhere, answered here.

- When will the game be finished?
I don´t know. I hope to have some free time these months, it might be possible to finish it this year.

- I don´t like the AM2R name, will it change?
Yes, but the name is yet to be decided. Suggestions are welcome.

- Did you do ALL the programming by yourself?
No, I started with Martin Piecyk´s platform engine, and customized it to add all the Metroid abilities.

- Will you port the game to DS/PSP/Mac?
As long as Game Maker games can´t be compiled on other platforms than PC, no.

- Why don´t you code in C#? It´s better/more flexible/portable.
I´m not a programmer. I learned Game Maker the hard way: making unfinished games and looking at tutorials and examples. My code isn´t optimal, but I manage to get things done.

- Aren´t you the same DoctorM that remade Brutal Paws of Fury on MUGEN?
Yes. That was a long time ago, it was my first completed game. Too bad the MUGEN engine died before a Windows version became available. You can find the game here.

- I don´t like the keyboard layout of the tech demo
There will be customizable controls and joypad support in the final game.

- Did you make the tech demo music?
No. I got the main song from modarchive.com, the Ridley fight song is from an old Amiga Musicdisk, I can´t remember which one.

- I saw the YouTube trailer, where did you get that song?
http://www.metroidmetal.com/

- Do you really think Prince of Persia sucks?
No, It´s one of my favourite game sagas. That text was a placeholder, since I couldn´t remember the real powergrip description. I wrote that more in a "Take that, Prince of Persia!" way, believe me, it makes sense in spanish. Anyway, I thought I edited that part out, and it was already on YouTube when I realized the text was there.

- Is there going to be new bosses? space pirates? easter eggs?
There might be one or two bosses guarding the chozo ruins sections, I still have to decide it.

- Why did you make the game public so early? You´re gonna get a C&D from Nintendo!!!
I created this blog to share my design notes with other game designers, I didnt´t think the project would become so popular.

- Can I help?
I´ll be revising the enemy sprites soon, I´m gonna need help of good graphic artists.
My sprite sheets will be posted soon. Music will begin production once I have most of the game mapped. I´m waiting to actually play the sections that each song will represent to get the actual "feel" of the place. I´ll let you know whenever I need help.

- Are you gonna release the source code?
No.

- Where´s the Donate button?
I have absolutely no idea how to make one.

Feel free to post any other questions.
On the next post, I´ll show you how to make a Metroid Style map system.

The progress so far

This is a rough estimate of how advanced the project is:

• Physics, states, behaviours - 95%


• Abilities - 95%


• Powerup System - 90%


• Weapons - 98%


• Enemies - 15%


• Map System - 99%


• HUD - 100%


• Level Design - 15%


• Sound FX - 5%


• Music - 0%
  

This little map shows a draft of the entire game, along with the already completed areas (the ones colored red are mapped and tiled).

Right now I´m mapping all the rooms of the game with black squares for tiles. This will give me an idea of how dynamic travelling between zones is, if a tunnel is too cluttered, etc. before spending too much time with tiles. I´m also trying to figure out how I´m going to implement the vertical pipes of the second ruins.

I noticed these days that the project is somehow extremely popular now. The rumor spread around many gamer sites with a lot of possitive comments, and advise about the "cease and desist" letter that many think is imminent. I learned about other great projects that got shut down for legal reasons, that made me feel a little more paranoid than before. I put a lot of effort and time into this little project, and I´d like to finish it at least.

I want to thank all the people that showed their support and constructive criticism.

For all the people that couldn´t find all the items on the demo, here´s a 100% run:

A year building

2007
So there I was, beginning 2007 without my studio, without work.
Me and my girlfriend couldn´t afford vacations this year, so we focused on finding a new place for my studio. By the end of february we found an old house near a train station, it was practically destroyed, but I could see more than ruins there.

I rented the place, and started rebuilding my recording studio. I´m definetly not a handyman, I had to learn how to do practically everything, since construction is very expensive here. About 9 months of continuous work later, I reopened my recording studio, along with 3 rehersal studios. You can take a look here if you want.
I finished 2007 with new hopes, and more importantly, more energy to put into the project.

2008
I moved the project to Game Maker 7, this boosted the overall engine speed a bit. I also decided to make public my game. So, here we are.
By the end of January I started working on a tech demo, so the people would be able to experience the engine while they wait for the finished game. I spent a whole month putting together a bunch of rooms with some of the most important powerups and even a boss battle.
Right before I released the demo, I made a trailer video. It received very good comments so far:


A few days later, about a week ago, I released the Tech Demo.
So, here it is, enjoy it!

Project AM2R Tech Demo (YoYoGames)
Project AM2R Tech Demo (64Digits)

Some screenshots of the demo:






I hope you enjoy ther demo, please leave comments with your impressions and suggestions.