Playtesting and the Camera


As I mentioned many times before, Metroid wasn't a popular franchise here, at least not as popular as Mario or Zelda. Because of that, playtesters with Metroid background are kinda hard to find. Luckily, a couple of months ago, two musicians that happen to be fans of Super Metroid started doing some playtesting for AM2R.

This helped a lot with the Metroid fights. The latest playtest session showed that I overtamed the Alphas (health and ammo drops were too generous), and that Gammas are still cheap as hell. I re-balanced every Metroid up to the 3rd Area, but there's plenty of testing left to do.

Turns out that playtesting is a very time-consuming part of development. Preparing the section of the game, documenting the results, comparing the performance of different testers, all that organization takes quite some work. But the data gathered is invaluable.

One thing that received a nice overhaul these days was the camera system. There were situations in big caves where 2 camera controllers (the objects that limit the scrolling to keep the camera fixed in one axis) overlapped, and caused very jerky camera movements. I had to rewrite some of the code, without breaking the existing system.

So, a new demo is on the way, and now the question is not "When is it released?", but how much more of the game will it include. For feature requests, speculations about the later areas, and general discussion, I invite you to the Forums.

Have a good month!

Comments

Anonymous said…
Creo en Dr.M64 Desarrollador todo poderoso, recreador del Brutal Paws of Fury y de AM2R. Creo en Samus Aran, nuestra señora, que fue criada por obra y gracia de los chozzo; Padecio bajo el poder de Ridley; fue acorralda, temida y respetada; descendió a los confines de nofair; destruyó a motherbrain, y salvó al ultimo metroid de la galaxia...al tercer juego terminó con la amenaza en zebes, entonces se cambió a los graficos en 3D de ahi ustedes han de juszar, pero no era lo mismo. Creo en AM2R, en los colavoradores de los foros, en los posts mensuales, en el esfuerzo de Dr.M64, en la resurrecion de la infancia y los 16 bits. Amén.
Daniel Quan said…
Gracias por mantenernos informados Doc, estoy feliz de que sigas posteando y con esta noticia de que habrá un nuevo demo... WOW!
Sigue así Doc,espero con ansias el final de tu trabajo y la publicación de la versión final de AM2R!!!
LinkDaBoss said…
*thumbs up* Hurray for progress!
Anonymous said…
Demo 2 should go up to the first Gamma!!! ( or maybe that's too far, but at least a few alphas!!)
Outcast said…
Great to hear from you again Doc! AM2R is sounding to be vastly improved on, which is a good thing; it will really make the game that much better (If that is even possible).

The project is moving along rather nicely, and really, nothing can stop its descent into becoming a reality.

Another demo? That is exactly what we desire: Another take on one of the most ambitious, non-official remakes. And even better, to see what you have been up to for the last few months. In the end, it's going to be novel experience, without a doubt.
GlegooP said…
NICE... VERY NICE KEEP IN THAT WAY!!!

hablo español pero veo que hablas mucho mas el Ingles, esperemos ver la Demo que prometes muy pronto. y quien sabe quizas mas pronto de lo Que se espera la Version Final del Juego..
Segui Asi Doc.. jaja
Zoonyboy said…
Keep up the amazing worm. Can't wait till all your work pays off.
Anonymous said…
1

nice progress, this will be great when it comes out!
Anonymous said…
Awesome! Can't wait!
Mak said…
Pretty cool, doc. Still looking forward to this awesome project
You rock! And let the new demo come haha
Anonymous said…
Woohoo more progress, I'm glad to see the polishing is starting to pay off.
Unknown said…
Dang! I wish I was able to be a play tester! I've been playing Metroid since I was 5 or 6 and have been religiously since then! XD
Rage Inducer said…
It would take quite some time to do, but i'd rather not have any of the final game into the demo, mostly because it would be so frustrating to reach the end of the demo and still want to finish. But then again Doc, this is your work, you have the final word. I just thought you could rig up a stage that included the situations you needed more info on.
Blue Madness said…
Omg, I'm so excited! *-*
Unknown said…
When I read that a new Demo is on the way I have tears in my eye's.
You are great :)
Bruno 1986 Brasil said…
This is great. The soundtrack of the first trailer was just AMAZING, I wonder how brilliant will the other tracks be. But I still insist that there should be cutscenes, they always make games more modern, especially when it comes to 2D platform games. Well, I'm looking forward to play the new demo, I'm sure I'm gonna love the surprises.

Thank you again for doing this project.
Unknown said…
Maybe you should have different sections playable to make sure features are working well. A demo for parts of the game. Anywho, yes play tests are huge. Remember the New Coke incident....
Unknown said…
excited for the new updates! (:

keep at it, Doc!
Anonymous said…
Glad to hear the project is making progress Doc! I can't wait to finally play the game! Do you have an estimate on when the complete package will be finished?
Anonymous said…
yo soy el fanático numero uno de la saga de metroid y estoy siguiendo tu proyecto desde el principio quisas me recuerdes como núcleo, me considero un experto en la saga y en la metroid dos quiero ser de ayuda en esto estoy esperando este juego con desesperación,quiero terminar la metroid dos con 100% y quiero vivir ese momento por favor dime como puedo estar en contacto contigo quiero estar serca recuerda soy el nucleo
Anonymous said…
Dont get it ..you got problems finding a person that is a Metroid fan or you searched for a person that played that Metroid you are planing to remade?
MIGUEL said…
great to hear bout your progress and a new demo on the way (YES) i hope your're impressed with your work cause we are, thanks 4 the news looking forward to the demo..........

thank you for sharing this epic remake with us thanks again.........

a friend a fan of a classic game being made better..........
Anonymous said…
Glad to see that the game is still up and running. Blog felt a bit dead.
Si queres un tester, buscame, soy de Moron. Ehhmmm...respondo al nombre de Federico Checozzi.
Jugue al Metroid 2 en emulador.
En todo caso, bien hecho Milton, n_n
SamusRisng said…
News of a new demo...on my birthday even (September 2nd) Amazing! And glad you got some playtesters Doc! That's great news as well, playtesting is a very important aspect of development, can't wait for the finished product, keep up the good work!
Rage_Inducer said…
I don't really know if you've already answered this question before on previous posts but: When you finish the game, will you make a countdown for it like the guys at BlackMesaSource.com or, will you just post the links?
Anonymous said…
I'm looking forward to this. I DEMAND YOU to do a HUGE post when you finish this, describing all your experiences with this project since the start, it will be a nice read! Heck! You had thousands of people following you ALL these years. Sometimes I felt more worried with your life actually rather than the project, like, when all those HDs failed, and when your daughter was born! I guess I could say I'm a fan of yours, pal. Keep up the good job there - At this point, you're already a hero of the internet!
Anonymous said…
nice to see your getting some good help.
playtesting is a big part of making a game too. lots of variables and opinions to work with to keep things balanced.
Unknown said…
That's unfair... Metroid deserves much more praise! It's so unique, so cool! Keep the good work Doctor!
iamli3 said…
whatever you do to make the metriods harder is ok with me , i still think the alpha metroids in the previous demo were a bit to easy.....
Talyn said…
Been playing metroid ever since Nintendo. Only bought a Gamecube for Prime. It's my one of my favorite franchises, and I've always been a child of Nintendo. Keep up the good work. Wouldn't mind poking at it for playtesting myself. Being a perfectionist has its advantages. :P

Good luck on your project. Hope to see the culmination of your work very soon.
acurrier said…
Just a suggestion: the alpha metroid you encounter at the very beginning is a real b**ch. Do you think you could tone down the difficulty for the very first (mini?) boss you encounter?
Jer said…
I don't really mind when a new demo that you and your team have created comes out since I'm not really the type that would constantly poke you to release one, but I am very eager to see how the progress turns out when ready to be shown! It kinda makes me wonder if I could be able to put some form of creative input that might help out in some areas in the game, like non-metroid boss battle concepts since I am a fan of the series and an imaginative artist. Thus I believe you have all the support and cast to help create a dream into a reality.

Here's to hope that dream becomes a fantastic one, Jer.
Tails Doll said…
Im making a game myself. But im not using gamemaker. im using scratch. I know how hard it is. i havnt spent a year but scripting is kicking by but. take the time that you need.
Yonathan said…
Por fiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiin Doc lo haz vuelto a hacer no puedo esperar nojodas!!! XDDDDD vamos doc vamos doc!!! seguire esperando mas buenas noticias!!!
Steve said…
Forget the demos... let's see the whole game!

If skipping demos would get the game out faster, I vote for that. Getting cut off from playing before you're done (demos) sucks.
Anonymous said…
If Nintendo ever hires you after seeing this, if they ask you to work on metroid games, keep it badass like this and not other M diareah


and Kraid was suppose to be in Metroid Prime would have been awesome seeing a 3d fight with him
Anonymous said…
Could You Possibly Please try to make a sound for low health like the other Metroid Games. Please?
Game-Master said…
I have completed and own every single Metroid game ever made by nintendo. (excluding metroid pinball). I'd love to playtest it for you! You may remember me but we briefly met in the chatroom for Metroid Headquarter's 100-Hour Metroid Marathon. Anyhow, if you feel like giving me a copy of the game to playtest, contact me at ilagunas98@gmail.com
Anonymous said…
I think Maybe you could make the wall jump be an item, so that at the beggining you cannot wall jump over the ruins. You could call it wall jump boots, and say it has small stick pads on it so you jump off the wall. or something like that.
Anonymous said…
Doc I am really happy with the progress all that I ask is with the release make sure that you keep the difficulty level for every player in mind. I personally like really challenging games and I wont a mode that's very hard and unforgiving so please add a very difficult mode to the game were the simplest mistakes can cause your death.
Unknown said…
approxamentally one post a month? I can deal with that, if you are giving us information. Would love to see a

Progress report at the end of these. Sometimes, I know things get in the way, and it is hard to get any progress. and the screw attack blocks to the left of our landing site? are those going to change to Metroid Blocks? as the baby Metroid what allows you past it. Otherwise, a person might be able to go back and just screw attack them... not that he will get far to begin with.

Anyways. glad to see what we have. Just played though the original one. and since we only have overworld, and level 1 so far. if we get to lvl3 which there are 10 of them it wouldn't be that revealing. Anyways. here's hoping to a good update.
MechaRidley said…
In response to the anonomas who said other m sucked. IT SO DOES NOT!!!!!!!!!! I have played Every Single Metroid Game and I would compliment every single one of them. They are all so great and even the fan-made ones are "Kick###" like you say. So I am tired of all the trolls talking bad about other m. appreciate things for what they are, dont just look at something and point out the few flaws.
Unknown said…
doc dejanos descargar el progreso porfas suvelo en mediafire me muero por jugarlo soy super fan tullo
Unknown said…
thank you very much for this wonderful game Doctor just want to know why I watch videos where a lot more history and even has space jump samus plasma beam and more powers can not download this vercion also this is not complete but it took so much time agradeseria please leave us waiting this metroid download is incomplete but I would die if you do not play in the preview looks fantastic upload it to mediafire seriously I'd appreciate

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