[NES] Metroid 1 hack - "Metroid - Silhouette" - Early Design Phase

[Grimlock]

Metroid Silhouette






Project Team:

Graphics & Level Design:   Grimlock
ASM Programing:   Makes use of existing Rogue Dawn ASM - Credit to Snarfblam
Music:   None


Description:

A new Metroid hack project that is currently in the early design phase.
I wanted to go ahead and start this thread to start sharing content and get some ideas and feedback from you all.
This project uses the Metroid Rogue Dawn hack as a foundation (ASM modifications only).  No music, level design, or story line elements will be used from that project.

There is currently no back story for this hack; none is planned at this time.

(This post will be updated from time to time to reflect any progress)


Area Themes Being Considered:  (Contributions accepted and appreciated)

Industrial Area/city
Alien Forest - Dark
Alien Forest - Fog
Inside living organism/cave like
Lava cave/cliffs
Starry night rocky plains
Evil - Haunted like area
Military base
Space port/landing area


Test Screens and Concept Art:

[Googie]

I'm lovin' the vibe I'm getting looking at those screenshots, can't wait to see more down the road, man.   

[CM30]

Looks neat! Reminds me a lot of Limbo, or those silhouette levels in the Donkey Kong Country series.

The fact it uses Rogue Dawn's ASM is good too. Always hated how many people code all this cool stuff... then never use it again after that. If you've got a bunch of cool features implemented into a game and you decide to make a new ROM hack, you may as well put those resources to use.

Either way, I wish you the best of luck with the project, and will be interested in seeing where this goes from here.

P.S. (though don't forget that interview you agreed to a few months back)

[Morinis]

Nice 


I always thought about doing a Metroid hack but waiting for things to improve for the editor so background graphics can be a thing since I've seen stuff can be placed on the front only right now (saw this from helping MindFlower with his Samus and other enemy sprites for his Space Complex hack )

[DavidtheIdeaMan]

Wooo,another awesome hack is in the works,other than Space Complex but still I wish you & your team best of luck on the project Grimlock.

[sics]

 It's just beautiful, I love what you can see, I can not wait to know what such a great idea can bring

[Sephirous]

I'll give my idea for a backstory. I would still like to see a game made based on the events of Rodney Aran. The stuff that took place before Samus was born etc. The silhouette concept gives a feeling of being trapped under a wet blanket under the covers at night in bed. Very closed off, claustrophobic. Pretty cool though and different. 

When I saws this new post and then saw Grimlock as the creator, Automatically I have no doubt this is going to be a cool game no matter how it comes out.

[DavidtheIdeaMan]

Geez,all of these awesome romhacks has me pumped up! XD

[ZeeratheZesty]

Wow, these mockups really look nice so far! I feel like going with the silhouette art style was a wise choice, since it should allow you to get a lot more out of the NES's limited color palette. These mockups, particularly the first one in your post and the forest look like something that would be in an indie game, and they do stand out in a bold way, so I'm interested to see where this project ends up going. Since it somehow wasn't mentioned in the list despite, as far as I'm aware, being a Metroid staple, perhaps an underwater area would be nice to see? I'm particularly curious how that might look in this silohuette artstyle, and perhaps it could be merged with one of the other theme ideas you have, like the military base or the organism?

[FCandChill]

If you need help with music ... I can lend a hand. I created a utility that translates Famitracker files to the Ninja Gaiden format for the Deadpool hack. Additionally I created sound effects and two songs so far. My favorite music genre is ambience. Here's a track from the Deadpool hack I made... http://www.bwass.org/bucket/expl v6.nsf

[torridgristle]

Regarding themes:

A crystalline area seems like it'd work well with the style. Lots of straight lines with crystal shapes. Might be a way to fake a light being reflected on or refracted inside a crystal with parallax scrolling masked to the larger crystals.

A boneyard showing off the remains of Metroid's various creatures all giant and platformed could also work well with silhouettes alone, plus you can show some remains stretching off into the distance with the palette choice's distance fog effect where close is black, medium distance is saturated, far is pale.

A Chozo city for extra Metroid vibes.

[GTM604]

Stunning cant wait

[Googie]

I showed my friends on Facebook this thread, and they wanted me to tell you good luck on your project. They also said the screens are impressive. 

[ultimaweapon]

Impressive indeed. I'm interested to see how this turns out.

[altoiddealer]

I look forward to enjoying this hack! 

[Googie]

Just wondering how this project is going...