NES Metroid HD Pack

[Sephirous]

I like the new Samus, She looks more like she's running rather than skipping.

Looks more like the Super Metroid Samus and that is always good. 

[Aclectico]

I've had a few requests for screenshot comparisons. Below is a compilation of different versions of the starting area in Brinstar. The Metroid: HD screenshot is from a development version that is not quite ready for public release.

[Sephirous]

I have an idea/request.

Speaking of the Opening Scene in Super Metroid.
How about the idea of using the Mother Brain from the cut scene for the Mother Brain Battle? 

[Aclectico]

Initially, that was the original plan. In general, I prefer Super graphics vs. Zero graphics because the former tends to be a little less cartoony.

In most cases, this was fine because the SNES has a slightly higher resolution than the GBA anyway (256x224 vs. 240x160 for these games). As a result, remastering the higher resolution graphics would lead to less distortion. But, the final boss was a special case because it takes up a lot more space on the GBA screen than on the SNES. Without scaling anything, placing the two versions of the boss side by side will show that the SNES version is roughly half the size of the GBA version. So, this was a rare case where the GBA version won out.

I agree with you though. I do like the SNES version better. But, the stars didn't quite align for that variant.

[Aclectico]

Version 1.1 of this hack is now available. It is called Metroid: HD Custom Edition V 1.1. There are a lot more resources that are now available for users to customize the mod. Keep in mind that the latest version did modify the .ips file. As a result, older Mesen save states will not carry over from the last pack version (but game saves should carry over). An overview video is available here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JSrMIrbi4B4.

#New for Version 1.1#
-Adjusted run animation and character sprites for both the armored suit and "Zero Suit."
-Modified art for some environment tiles.
-Various bug fixes.
-New character templates are available in the alternate graphics folder.
-Rebalanced sound.
-Modified sound effects for runnning and jumping.
-New sound effect for lava damage.
-New music is available in the alternate music folder.
   *Note: Different music has been implemented for the areas indicated below. If you prefer variants from the prior revision of this pack, they are still be available in the alternate music folder.
      -Norfair
      -Evacuate Theme
      -Credits

[lexluthermiester]

Having a problem with this patch. Using the right ROM, but Mesen keeps saying that it's not the correct ROM. Are we sure the patch works right?

[Aclectico]

Is the error unique to this version? In other words, did an older version work but this one does not? If so, try navigating to file, then open the game directly (rather than through the center save state box).

The most common cause I've heard of for this error in general is when a ROM is used that does not have a SHA-1 checksum of ecf39ec5a33e6a6f832f03e8ffc61c5d53f4f90b (the pack is a bit picky due to the sound hacks in the .ips file). Another common cause is trying to install the "UnZipMeFirstMetroidHD_V1_1.zip" file rather than the "MetroidHD.zip" file.

There is a setup video at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iMBNTRN_IyQ&t=340s. I am hoping this may assist in identifying where your issue may be. Let me know if that helps.

Also, keep in mind Mesen save states from the older pack will not transfer over to the newer pack (which is why the center box I mentioned at the start of this post may be the cause). To adjust the lava and jumping sounds, the .ips file in the pack needed to be changed. One unfortunate side effect of this is that it made save states nontransferable between versions. With that said, your normal game saves should still work fine.

[lexluthermiester]

Is the error unique to this version? In other words, did an older version work but this one does not? If so, try navigating to file, then open the game directly (rather than through the center save state box).

The most common cause I've heard of for this error in general is when a ROM is used that does not have a SHA-1 checksum of ecf39ec5a33e6a6f832f03e8ffc61c5d53f4f90b (the pack is a bit picky due to the sound hacks in the .ips file). Another common cause is trying to install the "UnZipMeFirstMetroidHD_V1_1.zip" file rather than the "MetroidHD.zip" file.

There is a setup video at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iMBNTRN_IyQ&t=340s. I am hoping this may assist in identifying where your issue may be. Let me know if that helps.

Also, keep in mind Mesen save states from the older pack will not transfer over to the newer pack (which is why the center box I mentioned at the start of this post may be the cause). To adjust the lava and jumping sounds, the .ips file in the pack needed to be changed. One unfortunate side effect of this is that it made save states nontransferable between versions. With that said, your normal game saves should still work fine.

SHA-1 matches and the correct zip was used. I don't have the older version. Got a link?

[Aclectico]

That's really odd. This is the first I have heard of someone having an issue by following the exact process of the "how to" video and also having a checksum that is good. Do you have the latest version of Mesen?

There are a couple of other things you can try out. First, you could attempt manual installation. To do this, follow the process below (it's a little more complicated):

-Create a folder called "HdPacks" in the same location as the Mesen.exe file.
-Inside that folder, create another folder with a name that is identical to your ROM.
-Download the HD pack and unzip it somewhere.
-If you browse inside what you just unzipped, you will find another zip file (a zip within a zip).
-Unzip that second zip somewhere and move all of the contents to that folder you created that matches the name of your ROM.
-When finished, you should have a folder inside your HdPacks folder that has a name identical to your ROM. Inside that should be many .ogg files and .png files.
-Try starting the game and see if it works.

If that fails, you could also try manually patching the ROM you have with the Metroid mOTHER .ips file using Lunar IPS (Metorid mOTHER is available at https://www.romhacking.net/hacks/1988/). Try following the manual install process above with the patched ROM instead. If it boots up, congratulations - you are halfway there. From here, all you need to do is find the hires.txt file inside the HDPack. Use ctrl+find. There should be two areas where a checksum is listed (ecf39ec5a33e6a6f832f03e8ffc61c5d53f4f90b). If you replace that existing value with 607b429388c1652f3194dfe599e6355dd7d59967 the sound should now be working.

Lastly, you could also try Retroarch as well since the newest cores that are available have a version of Mesen compatible with the pack.

Hoping something sticks here. Let me know if any of this works.

[haxSon]

I have both versions within Mesen... When I tried to install the newest pack, Mesen gave me that error... so I renamed the Metroid ROM which is stored in a separate folder than the original, and then I was able to install the new version.

[Sephirous]

I had the same problem at first then found a work around.

Mesen can be picky with it's auto installation.

The fail safe way to install the game is to manually copy the unzipped folder into the HDPacks folder inside the main directory.
Then install the MMM ISP patch into the Rom and all should work perfectly.

Having Mesen automatically install the Packs seems to have bugs in it and I wouldn't trust anything that does the job for me. I'd rather manually install stuff so if it goes wrong I know I am at fault and can troubleshoot the problem versus being in the dark.

Hope this helps. 

[frozenLake]

In regards to having to duplicate the same images multiple times, It is possible to instead edit the hires.txt, to load tiles from named files, in whatever order you want, potentially multiple times.

Also, the fact that the alternate graphics only includes the sprites for changing Samus somewhat saddens me. But I figure that anything else would be coming in future versions, so I'm not too upset.

(Still, I would love to be able to swap out the backgrounds with something less repetitive, like how the GBA metroid games do.)

[Aclectico]

Thanks to everyone for some of the feedback on the installation process. I know the auto install process is relatively new for Mesen, so some of the bugs may be worked out in future releases. For anyone interested, a newer version of Mesen is now available at https://www.mesen.ca/#Downloads (version 0.9.7).

Also, as far as the pack itself goes - I hadn't really considered backgrounds. I may have to give that some thought.

In any case, the possibility of future versions may also depend on a few things. Additional versions with more content may be released in the future. But, if that happened, it would most likely not be for a while.

At this time, I would say that the largest opportunity for improvement that continues to bother me relates to the number of frames used for the running animation. So far, this has been the largest shortcoming of the pack. Currently, three frames are used for running. If this was increased to five, I think it may result in a significant aesthetic improvement. If anyone happens to figure out a way to pull off something like this, feel free to send me a message.

[lexluthermiester]

Tried the manual install and all works well. This should be refereed to as the preferred method of installation as the auto install refuses to work no matter what is done. Thank's for the help and input everyone. Really enjoying this mod!

[azul120]

Nice. I'm impressed you didn't even use a mapper converter.

[Aclectico]

Version 1.2 of this hack is now available. Keep in mind that the latest version did modify the .ips file. As a result, older Mesen save states will not carry over from the last pack version (but game saves should carry over).

Graphics were refined for a large number of environment tiles. One example is shown below.


In addition, the latest version also features new layouts for a few rooms. For the Ridley boss fight, the layout of the Metroid mOTHER hack made the boss fight a little too easy. So, the layout has been changed back to default.

A video showing how to customize level layout yourself is here (the process uses Editroid): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VnEgGEjZdmE

#New for Version 1.2#
   -Altered the structure and appearance of the transition room between "blue" and "gold" Brinstar (inspiration was taken from Retroid by ProjectXVIII).
   -Altered the appearance of the "blue" statue room in Brinstar.
      *Note: If you prefer the old "grey" Brinstar transition room and "blue" Brinstar statue room, they are still available in the "AlternateLevelDesign" folder (look for a file called "mmm.ips").
   -Altered the structure of the Ridley boss fight room.
   -Modified art for armored Samus, some environment elements (various brick tiles), and some enemies (Zebs and Lava-Dragons).
   -Various bug fixes.
   -Made minor modification to lava animation.

[lexluthermiester]

Version 1.2 of this hack is now available. Keep in mind that the latest version did modify the .ips file. As a result, older Mesen save states will not carry over from the last pack version (but game saves should carry over).

Downloaded and trying it out. Will let you know how it goes.

[Aclectico]

Thanks- If anyone happens to notice a regression feel free to let me know and I'd be happy to look into a fix.

[lexluthermiester]

This has been a very fun project. No issues yet, and I've been trying to glitch it up. Very cool!

[Aclectico]

If anyone is interested in contributing (I would be happy to credit), I have a couple of rough drafts of running and jumping graphics that I feel are improvements over the current state. So far, a working implementation method has eluded me.

For running, three frames are used in the current state. If the ROM can be hacked to accommodate the five shown in the prototype, I feel it would result in a significant improvement. For jumping, the game shares part of the run animation in the bottom-front section of Samus. The bottom-rear is unique to jumping. If the game can be adjusted so that the bottom-front can be separated from running, it would allow for much more creative freedom. The current graphics represent substantial effort to conform to this shared graphic limitation. However, I do think jumping still looks a little awkward. I mentioned my desire for improved running in the past. However, I thought it may be helpful to also show a rough draft this time.

Desired Running Animation:


Current Running Animation:


Desired Jumping Graphic:


Current Jumping Graphic: