New Demo Released - Metroid Speedrun Marathon
Next Saturday, the awesome people at Speed Demos Archives will be hosting a Metroid Speedrun Marathon. The cool thing about this marathon is that AM2R will be featured, along all the official Metroid games. The event will appear at the frontpage of Twitch.tv, professional speedrunner Dragondarch will be speedrunning the AM2R Demo v1.3.
Here's the schedule, and the Twitch Feed that will be streaming the event.
I'll do my best to attend, so feel free to drop by the stream chat.
So, you don't want to watch the new demo on a stream because of the spoilers?
We can fix that:
New in this version:
- Acess to a new area
- XInput support for XBox 360 controllers (Includding triggers)
- Improved button hints in-game
- Centralized menu control with dedicated buttons
- Redone lighting engine
- Aim Lock
- Analog walking
- Morph Button
- Many engine improvements and optimizations
Here's the schedule, and the Twitch Feed that will be streaming the event.
I'll do my best to attend, so feel free to drop by the stream chat.
So, you don't want to watch the new demo on a stream because of the spoilers?
We can fix that:
New in this version:
- Acess to a new area
- XInput support for XBox 360 controllers (Includding triggers)
- Improved button hints in-game
- Centralized menu control with dedicated buttons
- Redone lighting engine
- Aim Lock
- Analog walking
- Morph Button
- Many engine improvements and optimizations
Comments
Thanks a lot for letting people know about the marathon, and I'm very thankful for you and dragondarch to let your awesome demo be ran at our marathon! I'm very hyped for the demo itself too ^_^
good work doctorm64, i can't wait for play the new demo
will be cool to see this game speed ran too ^^ ....
course not before i play it so i can experience everything for myself the first time :P ....
すごいな
.exe loads up, but i just get a started screen that won't progress.
Running windows 7 64 bit, .net framework 4.5.1
Yo quisiese saber DoctorM64, como me puedo contactar contigo (ademas del blog), para que yo pueda ofrecerte ideas, bugs (encontre 1, pero no lo apunte, "igual se como paso el bug") y felicitarte por este super mega proyectazo!!!!!
Si necesitas comunicarte conmigo algun dia, este es mi correo: luigi_greenfeel@hotmail.com
Espero lo mejor en los proximos juegos y que te contraten en alguna empresa para hacer juegos o remakes de los mismos...
Att: Un fan de metroid, zelda y mario...
The music is absolutely amazing. From the title screen to the background music, it really sucked me in and put a huge smile on my face.
xbox360 controller support works great too.
If I might make a suggestion, would it be possible to add support for alternative filters for full screen? I've found myself really liking 2xSaI filter some emulators use and I think filters like that would look nicer than the standard filter being used.
I love the map, and the destination feature, simply wonderful! Controls felt pretty solid, only had one problem with them. It seemed I was having trouble aiming directly above Samus quickly while crouching. Aside from that one issue, I really, REALLY loved it. The music was amazing, the environments felt unique from one another. It really pulled me in, was sad when the demo ended.
I like the menus. I had fun just looking through them for the first few minutes. The controls are solid; I could get spoiled with the auto morphing/climbing feature; possibly to the point where even Zero Mission would feel outdated!
The first Alpha fight is excellent. Not a lot to it, but considering it's only an Alpha (and the first one, at that), I'd say it was more challenging than I thought it would be (which is a good thing). Can't wait to see how they improve!
And the thing that probably impressed me the most...is the small details that don't even really matter. All of the extra animations going on in the background, the water drops splash when they hit Samus, and Samus' idle animations. Everything is so beautiful and obviously a lot of love has gone into the game. I'd say it's the little things that show just how much has gone into the game.
Keep it up! I absolutely love it so far!
Keep up the phenomenal work.
I greet your talent a second time (I still tried the 1.21 version), there were surprises, an amazing new boss, even better than the 2 first that I enjoyed yet, the atmosphere in the dark was just perfect, and, the gamma metroid are boosted or something ? there are as smart as some speedy alpha ones, that's so pleasing to beat !
Really, thank you for your amazing work !
I have 91% on my normal mode run of the game, my map seems complete, i'm missing the item in the tunnel to area 3 (the spiky morphball tunnel) and the missile in the second area (the one above the tunnel next to where the water filters/turbines were), and possibly something else.
Keep up the great work, I can't wait for the real thing!
Good Work. I loved it. Keep up the good work
Pensaba que seguramente no sería nada y le di a ignorar. Seguí avanzando y maté los que me quedaban en esa zona cuando veo que sólo me quedaba uno y ya había visitado todas las habitaciones. Resulta que no me lo ha marcado como muerto y ahora no me vuelve a spawnear el maldito. Reinicié el juego por si acaso y sigue igual, por lo que mi partida ha quedado corrupta.
http://i.snag.gy/LJgSk.jpg
La verdad es que me mata de rabia, porque llevo años esperando poder jugar a este proyecto y estaba esperando al soporte Xinput para poder jugar en condiciones...
El juego, una pasada. Mejora a los anteriores 2D por creatividad y técnicamente, gran mapeado, etc. ¡10/10, mi más sincera enhorabuena! (Ahora me deja muchas más ganas de seguir jugando, cagüen...)
de area 6 7 8 y el otro area 9 10
area 7 y 8 es casi lo mismo que el area 4 y 5 excepto por esa maquina de minar y en el area 4 me asusto un cadaver de uno de los soldados O.o
bueno sigo xd El area 9 es como la jungla del area 3 pero esta vez con Metroids omegas y el area 10 (ya completada) es la guarida de la reina y un super desafio en el area 8 derrotar un metroid alpha y uno omega a la vez en el mismo cuarto Esto se merece Cordita y Puro diamante a este juego Super mega PROYECTAZOOO xd
You're not the only one. The game lags badly for me too, even though 1.2 ran perfectly fine. I guess our computers just suck and the additions in the third demo just pushed them over their limit. :/
Can't really rule it out as an issue in the program unless a lot of people suffer it.
Gracias
(a menos que no sea tan acertada la palabra trabajo)
Bueno, quería decir que acabo de probar el botón Morph, y me ha fascinado *-*
No faltando las ocasiones en la saga Metroid en que hay que hacerse Morphball apenas habiendo saltado, tampoco faltan a quienes les dificulta hacer tal hazaña. Y ahora este botón hace justicia por ellos ;_;
Y ps quería ponerlo en inglés (aunque no sea el mejor), para que más gente se entere y se identifique.
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Morph button is an awesome feature!
In/at this way, people can get over all those frustrating hours of jumping~morphing.
Congratulations.
Also, that space jump boss kicked my ass. I didn't come back till I had super missiles.
The demo looks amazing though, continue your wonderful work!
Actually I believe you can configure it like that. There's a bunch of control options and I seem to recall there being one that made it switchable between default switch mode and button hold.
http://i.imgur.com/x9lcBqZ.png
Do metroids count for completion or just item pickups? I could make a new file and test, I guess. I've been all over looking for that last thing that will give me 100, that's why I'm asking, hahah.
Apparently some people were having trouble with the Torizo, but I had no trouble with him at all. I found him fast, frantic and wonderful to fight. I'm hoping you don't include any items that require absolutely crazy Shinesparks to get though, seeing as I never was good at that... The few Shinespark-necessary items you have so far are at the right level of difficulty. That one Super Missile in the area 3 breeding ground was difficult for me to figure out.
All in all I finished the demo with a time of 1:45 and with 100% items on my first run on normal. It was a blast to play and I honestly can't wait for the next one. You did an amazing job.
Normally done 100%/hard demo 1.21 in less than 0:35(game time). Average result for average metroid player imo... But... With that new area I was feeling completely noob! It kicked my ass! That boss... OMG! It's BRUTAL! But in the same time game is extremely beautiful! All that machinery in the new area.. Interactive environmental things. Every small detail worked so perfectly! Has anyone noticed that when some robot explodes into lil' pieces near the water and when such piece falls into the water, it makes a splash? All animations are extremely physical and realistic while it's still a 2D sidescroller! And those dark areas with fireflies following your charge beam.. Somehow that demo gave me more patience to wait for a final release. Doc (and all am2r team) you're cool! Keep working!
P.S.
If there is analog walking, then is it possible to implement a control option with a separate dash button (like in super metroid)? So those who do not use a stick for walking would have a possibility to comtrol movement more smoothly. Just an option of course...
P.P.S.
SPOILER ALERT
Doc, putting that super missile in the dark area was really nasty XD
Praise aside, would it be possible to move the Super Missiles to something you acquire at the mining station/camp? It just doesn't feel like there's enough time to let the 'danger' of Gamma Metroids sink in before you're able to 2-shot them with super missiles. By getting that ability at the mining station, it would give the area more thematic/storytelling importance and equip players with a powerful new weapon against old threats before being introduced to the new challenge that is Zeta Metroids in the next area.
-Regular stepping sound plays when walking in water.
-Patterns is misspelled as patters in the Research Team log
-I also had one instance in the lower portion of the 3rd area where a Gamma cornered me and repeatedly spammed its "electrohug" attack on me. I almost didn't get out of it, and yes, when I did, it had tried that attack again.
Which brings me to my own minor nitpick:
-I think there should be a small period of invulnerability after getting hit on Easy and Normal difficulty.
Otherwise great, and on my second play through I largely bypassed those issues simply by knowing what to do. The flying Torizo was a nice touch!
There is just one little thing O would have different. In the original game, for me one of the biggest oh crap moments was when you see a alpha metroid become an gamma. If you could include that instead of all the gammas being gammas when you find them then this demo would be damn near perfect.
Area 3 was just amazing. From the Torizo fight to the amazing Metroid nest, it makes the previous areas seem dull by comparison!
And then there were the upgraded Gamma fights. LOVED the new attack where they could grab you. I think that variety could stand to have more health, though. Two super missiles just doesn't make the intense fight long enough, if you ask me.
Overall, I'm VERY pleased with it. I would like to make a few suggestions. Very, VERY minor things, though.
First, I dunno if this was on purpose or not, but in Super Metroid, Fusion, and Zero Mission, if you use a morph ball bomb while in a 1-space tall passage, and get hit by it, it wouldn't have any effect. Whereas in AM2R, it would still make you bounce slightly. I dunno how hard this would be to implement, though, but don't bother if it would take any effort at all, since it doesn't really matter in the slightest.
Speaking of not mattering at all, another small detail in 2D Metroid games. When you fall a certain distance while morphed, you would bounce slightly. I may have just missed it, but I didn't see this in AM2R. Again, if it's gonna be too much work, don't bother. Working on the meat of the game should come first, in my opinion. ;)
Also, the Spider Ball works a LOT better than in the previous demos. For some strange reason, there was still one part that I got stuck on; the right-most wall in the main, outside area of area 2, near the ground. I tried it a few times afterwards, and I was able to climb up the wall just fine, so I dunno what the problem was the first time. Still might be worth checking out, though.
LOVE the amount of work you put into this , doc! I'm sure I speak for everyone when I say that you're doing an AMAZING job!
I loved the experience I had with this demo. It really surprised me how many cool bosses and areas have been added to the game. The Chozo Statue boss caught me off guard and it was very challenging. And all the amazing puzzles that have been added into the game, utilizing the environment in a way never done before in a Metroid game. It was almost like playing a 2D Prime game. Being a Metroid fan since about 2001, and also being a huge fan of Metroid 2, this demo really blew me away.
The only thing bothering me is how often are these demos going to be released? Are you going to keep just updating the demos until you are at a final version, kinda like releasing the game in episodes? Or are you going to stop doing demos at some point before the release of the Final version?
I've played your last demo, anv I've written an analysis of its I would like to share with you: http://ekladata.com/dr-fluke-hawkins.eklablog.fr/perso/AM2R-demo-v1.3-analysis.html (safe link).
One problem I ran into is that I get a "No sound device detected" error. I do get music, but sound effects are not playing at all. The sound device I'm talking about is the Asus Xonar Essence STX audio card.
As someone who has tried a similar project (a failed Kirby's Dream Land 2 remake, due to my engine being a mess), all I can say is that what you've done is nothing short of incredible. Fantastic job.
The second Metroid Gamma in the dark plants area (narrow horizontal room with a bomb passage below), once it explodes may throw up an error.
The first time I was able to simply ignore it and move on with no further problems, but in Hard Mode it gave me the following in an endless loop:
http://pastebin.com/UtejR8t2
This only happenned to me on that particular Metroid.
I can't figure out what might have triggered it, since on my Normal mode run it didn't happen at all.
For those who writes that 2 super missiles killing gamma is too easy.. Just play on hard mode, where every SM tank gives you only 1(one!) extra SM, and where metroids do not leave any refills after explosion. Also those luminescent plants leave nothing after you shoot them. And most time fighting gammas you have only 2 SMs. And you always have a chance to miss, so "two SMs -> gamma dead" will fail. Also after first gamma in metroid lair you have 0 SMs and either have to go find some flying creatures for refills (which takes time, and also they may drop energy or missiles or just nothing instead os SMs) or continue with missiles. IMO everything is OK like it is now.
>ビームアイス said...
>The first time I was able to simply ignore it and move on with no further problems, but in Hard Mode it gave me the following in an endless loop...
Had something similar when tried to open a map somewhere near described place. Map could not render and gave me that message continously. Worked around by pressing "Ignore" button and closing map at the same time. Then had to go to save point and restart the game 'cause every time I've opened the map, this error appeared. After restarting all went normal.
As for any advice to give, I'd recommend watching speed runs to see how people exploit enemy behavior and terrain and make adjustments accordingly (assuming you're not already doing that).
I love the electro-shock grab the Gammas do.
I knew this was going to be worth the wait. This demo proves it again!
That was AMAZING!!! I'm so fucking pumped for the full release!! Doc, you are a GENIUS!
Other Than That great work!
In 'The Chozo', inhabitated should be spelled inhabited.
In 'Hydro Station', there is an unnecessary 'the' added in the last sentence. My own grammar is not all that great, so I can not say for sure though.
Also, it would be nice if Samus could jump out of spider ball with the toggle mode turned on for it. Having to switch spider ball off first throws off the flow of the game for me in many situations.
Beyond all that the game has been a great pleasure to go through on all the difficulty levels. Thank you very much for using your time to make such an amazing game.
Doc, you did a true masterpiece , even when one knows the world you've created or the metroid II, there are still such surprises !
During the area 2 battle i suddenly was invicible after dying three times or so. Bug or feature?
Also I think the Area 3 Torizo is too hard. Can't beat it :(
The Speed Booster. Ah, how I've missed you. Played the demo early this morning. Good times.
Also on the list of "WTF?!" moments:
1. OK, that Chorizo boss is speeding up a bit too much. Gotta stay calm and blast it.
Easy, easy, THERE! You're DEA....WTF?! WINGS?
2. Sure is dark in here.
Ow, damned spiked plants. WTF?! A Gamma Metroid?
DIEDIEDIEDIE....crud, out of missiles. Exit stage right, posthaste!
Well, at least I can stock up on firepower a little bit. What's on the next screen, I wonder?
WTF?! ANOTHER GAMMA?!
DIEDIEDIEDIE! AND...DEAD!
Oh, and getting electro-hugged by the Gamma Metroids was amusing, the first time I experienced it. Not so fun was falling to the ground from the shock, AND immediately taking contact damage when the Gamma followed through.
Still a fun demo, but plase, I mean, PLEASE fix the loading message. ^_^;
Saviour-V grins, and teleports out...
Espero sigan en progreso :) y felicidades por lo que se ha logrado hasta ahora.
There are some issues, in my opinion. Most of the music doesn't seem to fit in with the atmosphere of the game / scenario, namely the metroid battle themes and first section theme. I do think the breeding grounds and hydro station music was done very well, though.
Additionally, every minute or so I get a 4-5 second long, intense lag spike. I have a good computer, so I'm not sure what's up with this.
Anyways, keep up the good work.
Sigamos así bro que ya falta poco!!, grandes saludos!!
Even if the slow down time did help me with the mid-boss of area 3 it does take away the actual gameplay experience, plus with the audio cutting out with "krzzt" from the frame rate drop made me cringed.
I'm not really sure what the issue happen to be caused from.. but the graphic processor I use is a "AMD Turion(tm) X2 Dual-Core Mobile RM-72" with a 64-bit Operating System on my Laptop. I do hope the frame rate issue would be resolved later down the road for anyone who also came across it.
So far your guys' project is looking very interesting and great, looking forward to seeing more progress from it!
P.S. The puzzle before obtaining the Super Missile was vastly entertaining! Also curious if there would be more to explore/discover within the Mining Facility~
¡Sigue así!
Saludos
Great work, Doc! You are a god among men. Can't wait for the final release!
Had a blast with the demo, otherwise.(´･ω ･` )
Only problem I have is an error message that pops up when I close the program during deinitialization. It doesn't seem to cause any problems though.
The third area, after the industrial factory where you find some more metroids just before the end of the demo, doesn't seem to be complex enough as its easy to navigate, find and defeat the metroids in that area even with 67% items collected.
Still can't wait for another demo and to explore the next area of the game. Keep up the great work. You should really work for Nintendo