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Designing a Metroid fangame, need ideas.

Started by DaveSW, July 27, 2012, 03:39:14 am

DaveSW

Ok,  I finally decided to start work on my own fangame.  Built from the ground up, and I expect it to take around 10 years to complete.
I love Super Metroid, to me, it is the greatest game ever made.  Problem is, after beating it a few hundred times, it is starting to feel stale.

So, I want to make my Metroid game.  Here are the main points of the design:
1. It will be a reboot.  This way I can make minor changes to the lore, and I don't have to explain why Samus starts with nothing.

2.The emphasis will be on unguided exploration.  This to me is the most important element of Metroid.

3.Progression will be multi-linear instead of having a specific intended sequence of boss fights and powerups.

4. Samus will be alone for the entire duration of the game.  I feel that another important element of Metroid is the sense of isolation it has, and the fear that comes with being completely alone.

Any ideas related to story, new powerups, gameplay mechanics, etc. would be greatly appreciated.
I am awesome.

Durbs

Need a story? I'll PM you some ideas I can throw out if you like. How complex are you looking for it to go?
  • Modding version: PSX

Celdia

Quote from: DaveSW on July 27, 2012, 03:39:14 am
I love Super Metroid, to me, it is the greatest game ever made.  Problem is, after beating it a few hundred times, it is starting to feel stale.

So, I want to make my Metroid game.  Here are the main points of the design:
1. It will be a reboot.  This way I can make minor changes to the lore, and I don't have to explain why Samus starts with nothing.

I'm left wondering if minor changes are going to end up more like "Zebes is a totally different kind of planet but the space pirates are still the main 'evil' to be quashed and Mother Brain is still the big beastly thing to beat" or if it'll be something like "Samus never sets foot in the Space Pirates' headquarters of Zebes but instead ends up battling her way through space stations and starships trying to track down the hazardous 'Metroid' to destroy it." You could go a lot of ways if you're planning to rewrite the canon into something new.

Quote from: DaveSW on July 27, 2012, 03:39:14 am
2.The emphasis will be on unguided exploration.  This to me is the most important element of Metroid.

I would say the most important element of Metroid is the Metroid. Without that, its just a silly name on an unrelated game. Also, in citing Super Metroid as your favorite I would have to say that there is a fair amount of guidance going on in the game, its just very subtle compared to more modern games. The original on the other hand was very unguided.

Quote from: DaveSW on July 27, 2012, 03:39:14 am
3.Progression will be multi-linear instead of having a specific intended sequence of boss fights and powerups.

I can't think of anything to say to this other than 'good luck with that.'

Quote from: DaveSW on July 27, 2012, 03:39:14 am
4. Samus will be alone for the entire duration of the game.  I feel that another important element of Metroid is the sense of isolation it has, and the fear that comes with being completely alone.

So no running into other intelligent, talking characters even as enemies? Or just a no-allies sort of thing? In the later games of the series I thought the scariest things to come up against weren't the big, alien bosses or even the different hazardous environments you'd go through but rather the SA-X and Dark Samus; the two most familiar, intelligent-seeming and human enemies you ever really had to face. Wish I could give some opinion about the other characters in Prime 3 but fuck wagglesticks making action game unplayable.

Also, on SM feeling 'stale'...how many of the different rom hacks have you tried?
  • Modding version: PSX
  • Discord username: Celdia#0

DaveSW

As for story, I'm not sure how much of it I want to change, but I do want it to still be about wiping out Metroids and taking out the space pirates as well as having it all take place on a single planet,.  As for what planet, well I do have several ideas for interesting above ground environments, and Zebes is supposed to just be a wet rock, so either I will be changing the planet, or changing Zebes.

The rest of the plot details are subject to change, but then again, plot takes a back seat to gameplay and atmosphere.

By unguided exploration, I want to actually try to capture the feeling of the original Metroid, yet with a somewhat logical sense of what would a good place to go.  None of the aimless bombing every  floor for hours figuring out where to go next.  I realize this will be very hard to do properly, and will probably need to abandoned in favor of Super's set order with sequence breaks.

I  want Metroids to be a big part of the game, both for plot and as enemies.  I felt like the only game they really got to shine in was Metroid 2.  I remember when I was 7 and how panicked I felt  the first time I saw an Alpha evolve into a Beta.  I want the title creature to instill a proper "Oh crap!" feeling whenever they are encountered, which I don't want to just be in the final ten minutes of the game.

I do want intelligent villains, just not ones that talk.  Anything that can communicate directly has a very humanizing quality to it, and that makes it less scary.  The SA-X and Metroid Prime were very NOT human, resting at the very center of the uncanny valley, which made  them both very unnerving and intimidating.  While I do like that idea, I'm not sure yet how I can put that into the game without it feeling like either the  story is too complex, or just as some lame feature creep.

I have played many of the rom hacks, extensively.  I never  really enjoyed any of them as much I like vanilla Super Metroid.  This project actually started as my attempt at using SMILE to build my own rom hack.  I got a ways into it when I realized that being constrained by what is available in Super Metroid wasn't going to work.  I wanted to make my own game, and here I am.  But yeah, I for the past several months or so, my daily playthroughs of Super Metroid just haven't been doing it for me.

So yeah, any ideas power ups, monsters, plot devices, environments, gameplay elements, etc. would be very welcome. 
I'm willing to change anything and everything, as I don't think that just because I have a good idea, that it can't be topped.
I am awesome.

Havermayer

I say for characters and story, just make something new. There is nothing wrong with a "game inspired by Metroid". You would own full rights to it.

DaveSW

True. I have been considering that as well. 
I am awesome.