ROM Hack Metroid: Other M Redux (Based on Maxximum Edition)

[ScatlinkSean]

Posting to mention that I have completely revamped all of the .AIX and .SFD files with the newest methods I found for converting both audio and video files for Other M Redux.
I also made use of a special AI vocal separator engine called Demucs to aid with some of the vocal removal for cutscenes and audio tracks specifically, and this did a much better job than I could ever do through Audacity, so I redid the entire AIX and SFD files audio tracks with this AI, and the results are incredible. I no longer have muffled voices or background music being muted or dropped in volume randomly, at worst I get some random hissing sound and that's the worst case scenario. Additionally, all of the SFD files now properly include both their English and Japanese audio tracks.

I have also gone ahead and edited the message_all.dat file, which includes all of the game's subtitles, to address for the new vocal/audio changes, and removed the subtitles that I removed through audio with the use of Notepad++, since opening the message_all.dat file with Notepad++ and saving with it properly keeps the byte structure of the entire file intact, only removing the portions I don't want from the script.

Not only that, but I have also dropped the Dropbox link and fully uploaded the missing files to Archive.org now, so the entirety of the project should now be available there. The only drawback is that I had to include the whole SFD files inside a .zip file, since for some reason Archive.org doesn't allow me to upload them as standalone files, since upon uploading them, Archive.org throws me an upload error saying I should upload them in a video format extension (.mp4, .mpg, etc.). Seems like Archive.org does recognize them as video files, but it still refuses to accept the SFD format, so yeah, blame Archive.org for that. Once CryTools is updated, I might try redoing the SFD files with it, since the very few SFD files I did with it DID get uploaded by themselves without issues in Archive.org

So what now?
Well, I still haven't been able to edit the in-game model to port the cutscene Power Suit model into it (nor have I been able to fix the transparent visor anchorage for the cutscene model), and I still haven't found a way to change the timeframes in which the subtitles for cutscenes dm36to43 and dm52to56 appear, so the subtitles will be out of sync with these two cutscenes, given how I had to recut them to avoid the out-of-character moments for Samus. Outside of those two specific cutscenes, all others have been kept intact in length, so the subtitles should behave normally in all other instances.

Almost at the finish line with the project, just need to properly find out how or who to contact to do the Power Suit model, and the subtitle timeframes, and that should be it for the project!

Hello; just checking in after a good while.
Has the issue of not having the Gravity Suit on within in-game cutscenes fixed?
Also, is there a plan to allow the option of having the original Maxximum Edition music changes intact? Because options are always good to have, and I honestly prefer it.

 

[ShadowOne333]

The option to have the Maximum music changes is already there. One just needs to select it properly when enabling the Riivilution mod.

As for the Gravity suit in certain cutscenes, that's still pending. The recent changes were only done to movie cutscenes, not in-game ones.

 

[Ligeia]

Sounds very interesting ! I've been meaning to replay that game for a while. I think two crucial improvements needs to be added to the game :
- skippable cutscenes
- changed control scheme (to play to game with a controller)

Is there any simple way to patch the game ? I mean, the required setups I'm reading about seem quite convoluted, if there was just a simple patch file to apply to the original iso or something, that would be neat. I'm not very familiar with Wii hacks.

 

[ShadowOne333]

Sounds very interesting ! I've been meaning to replay that game for a while. I think two crucial improvements needs to be added to the game :
- skippable cutscenes
- changed control scheme (to play to game with a controller)

Is there any simple way to patch the game ? I mean, the required setups I'm reading about seem quite convoluted, if there was just a simple patch file to apply to the original iso or something, that would be neat. I'm not very familiar with Wii hacks.

Skippable cutscenes is possible if you already have completed the game once.

I tried implementing this into the patched DOL but the problem is that you automatically unlock the Theater Mode to see all the cutscenes at the same time, and you get the title screen change as well. Having Theater mode from the get go could be a good thing, but the title screen change not so much, so I opted to not include this.

People that want this could probably enable it through cheat code as a Gecko code if desired. I will try posting the code later on.

For control scheme, that's hard to figure out. You still need to go into first person for certain sections, and Redux already allows use of missiles while on 3rd person, that's as far as improvements can go I guess for this game. I have Other M setup on a Steam Deck with quite the good control scheme, where I automatically activate 1st person mode when moving one of the trackpads, and everything else is done through normal controls, but it's hard to say how well would this translate to other controller schemes.

 

[Ligeia]

Skippable cutscenes is possible if you already have completed the game once.

I tried implementing this into the patched DOL but the problem is that you automatically unlock the Theater Mode to see all the cutscenes at the same time, and you get the title screen change as well. Having Theater mode from the get go could be a good thing, but the title screen change not so much, so I opted to not include this.

People that want this could probably enable it through cheat code as a Gecko code if desired. I will try posting the code later on.

For control scheme, that's hard to figure out. You still need to go into first person for certain sections, and Redux already allows use of missiles while on 3rd person, that's as far as improvements can go I guess for this game. I have Other M setup on a Steam Deck with quite the good control scheme, where I automatically activate 1st person mode when moving one of the trackpads, and everything else is done through normal controls, but it's hard to say how well would this translate to other controller schemes.

OK I see thanks. Thing is, I played the game on my Wii back in the day, if I were to play it again it would be with a completely different method, so it would obviously lose my previous save. What's wrong with the second title screen btw ? It's been many years since I played the game so I don't remember the issue. Honestly I think being able to skip cutscenes is worth it.

About controls, yeah that's the thing with Wiimote-only games, they're such a hassle to setup on an emulator. I actually tried to start a new Other M playthough a few months ago but got stuck on the tutorial first-person moment, I quit because I didn't want to go through the hassle.

 

[ShadowOne333]

OK I see thanks. Thing is, I played the game on my Wii back in the day, if I were to play it again it would be with a completely different method, so it would obviously lose my previous save. What's wrong with the second title screen btw ? It's been many years since I played the game so I don't remember the issue. Honestly I think being able to skip cutscenes is worth it.

About controls, yeah that's the thing with Wiimote-only games, they're such a hassle to setup on an emulator. I actually tried to start a new Other M playthough a few months ago but got stuck on the tutorial first-person moment, I quit because I didn't want to go through the hassle.

The second title screen has a different audio track altogether compared to the original title screen. And having both Gallery and Theater mode unlocked right at start might be a detriment from completing the game.

The controls are easy enough to setup properly once you know what you're doing. Ive been playing Other M just fine with zero to no issues at all.

 

[Ligeia]

The second title screen has a different audio track altogether compared to the original title screen. And having both Gallery and Theater mode unlocked right at start might be a detriment from completing the game.

The controls are easy enough to setup properly once you know what you're doing. Ive been playing Other M just fine with zero to no issues at all.

Sorry if I'm being a bit insistent, but I think having galleries unlocked right from the start is a very minor inconvenience compared to the hassle of having to go through every cutscene. People would not be forced to watch the galleries, would they ? And most of the hack players would be people who had already played the game anyway.

 

[ShadowOne333]

Sorry if I'm being a bit insistent, but I think having galleries unlocked right from the start is a very minor inconvenience compared to the hassle of having to go through every cutscene. People would not be forced to watch the galleries, would they ? And most of the hack players would be people who had already played the game anyway.

I found the code that enables all that from start:

Hard Mode,Theater Mode,Gallery Mode ON [ZiT]
2ECC2CBB 000000FF
00CC2CBB 00000064
E0000000 80008000
2ECC2CBF 000000FF
00CC2CBF 00000064
E0000000 80008000
2ECC2CC7 000000FF
00CC2CC7 0000007F
E0000000 80008000
Please acquire the backup of the save data beforehand.
Movie Skip : - and B Button

You could run this one on top of Other M Redux and you'll basically have the ability to skip cutscenes by pressing Minus + B.
I am still not sure about including this as default on Redux, as this code basically unlocks everything there is in the game, even for 100% items (Hard mode and Gallery images). I will see about the possibility of adding a second DOL file that has this patched in.

 

[ShadowOne333]

@Ligeia I added a new patch for Other M, and this one should enable Theater mode and Hard mode from the get go, allowing users to skip cutscenes as soon as they start playing.
Additionally, the Gallery is also unlocked, but doesn't have a single unlocked image. This way players are still incentivized to finish and complete 100% of the items in Other M in order to unlock the entirety of the images in the Gallery, as the requirements to unlock the entirety of the images for it are also the same as unlocking Hard Mode and all the videos in Theater mode.

This is the best I could do bring the skip cutscenes option into Redux.

 

[Ligeia]

@Ligeia I added a new patch for Other M, and this one should enable Theater mode and Hard mode from the get go, allowing users to skip cutscenes as soon as they start playing.
Additionally, the Gallery is also unlocked, but doesn't have a single unlocked image. This way players are still incentivized to finish and complete 100% of the items in Other M in order to unlock the entirety of the images in the Gallery, as the requirements to unlock the entirety of the images for it are also the same as unlocking Hard Mode and all the videos in Theater mode.

This is the best I could do bring the skip cutscenes option into Redux.

Sounds neat ! Thanks a lot for taking the time and effort to do this.

 

[ShadowOne333]

I continued doing some more editings on my side. Here's the progress so far.

• The main DOL has been patched to have both Hard Mode and Theater Mode unlocked right as you boot up the game. This means a few things:
  1. The game no longer forces you directly into the first cinematic to begin a new game, instead it takes you to the title screen as if you already had a saved game, so that players can select whichever file they want and start a new game without being forced like that into the game on first boot.
  2. Hard Mode is unlocked right from the start, so players can jump into Hard Mode without having to finish the game first, so now selecting between Normal and Hard is available from the first boot. In the vanilla game, Hard Mode was unlocked when completing the game with 100% of the items, but this requirement will still be focused for the Gallery (read below).
  3. Theater Mode is also unlocked from the start, with all the cinematics unlocked. The reasoning for doing this is so that players can skip the cutscenes on their first playthrough, so this QoL change alone makes that worth it.
  4. Gallery Mode is also unlocked from the start, but it doesn't have any image unlocked. Instead, since the requirements for unlocked Hard Mode and some gallery images are the same in the vanilla game (finishing the game and also 100% item completion), players will be forced to complete the game with 100% items in order to unlock the entirety of the images in the gallery. This way there is still an incentive for those that want to go for 100%.

Hopefully these changes sit well with most players, as I found the compromise of Theater Mode unlocked to be almost meaningless, as it can easily be avoided to not be spoiled/
I have also redone more cutscenes yet again, as I found out some were missing their Japanese tracks and some others had missing lines and/or lines I didn't want still in, so those have properly audio edited, and converted with sfdmux, and now they all should work just fine in-game.

• Additionally, the message_all.dat file now has been properly updated and edited (using Notepad++) to match the new cutscenes and dialogue changes.
  For the Sector Zero cutscene, I managed to find a way to move around the subtitles in a way that more or less fits with the timings, but for the Ridley one I couldn't make the timings work, though they do for some part. Until a method to modify the subtitles properly is found, this will remain as it is in the message file. Also I found some references to what could be subtitle data in the main.dol, around offset 0x211E00 with a lot of hex data that seems to follow a pattern of sorts, but nothing is certain as of yet.
  
  
• I have delved a little bit into the model editing for Model 255 (the Power Suit unused model for cutscenes).
  One interesting thing I found out...
  All of the rtm_samus_XXX models don't have any arm cannon objects in them, and it seems that in this particular case, the transparent visor that's out of place with the unused Power Suit model seems to be found elsewhere, in another 3D model, as I have deleted the ENTIRETY of the polygons in that model, and both the arm cannon and the buggy transparent visor STILL appear, so I have to look elsewhere for that pesky visor. EDIT: Found them both. The Arm cannon is listed as "samus_rifle", model 673, and the Visor model used for cutscenes is listed as "rtm_visor_samus", model 682, now I just need to properly fix the positioning of the Visor to match the Power Suit one.
  
  
• While going through the model files, I found that some files seem to have cutscene data in them, particularly those aroudn models 380 (405 I believe it to be dm57, right after the Sector Zero cutscene). Possibly here lies the key to update which model in particular gets loaded for certain cutscenes, so that I can remove one of the TODOs for the project. I still haven't verified if that is the case tho, but it's a good start.

 

[ShadowOne333]

I have some fantastic news for the project.
I've been silent over this because I didn't know if it would go through or not, but I can now happily say that the previously unused cutscene-only Power Suit model has now been properly ported over to both the in-game and cutscene models for Samus!
(I could only get closeups of the in-game model when saving the game in a Navigation Booth, so I only have 2 pics in-game and the rest are all from the first cutscenes of the game)

Spoiler

All of this was done thanks to the amazing work by Windhunter from the KC:MM Discord server, who took upon the commission I set months ago to work on porting the unused 255 model assets for the legs, chest piece and shoulder pads into both model 0 (Power/Normal suit in-game model) and model 252 (Power/Normal suit cutscene model).
You can visit Windhunter's website here:
https://dragongames7.wixsite.com/mainpage

His work on this matter was nothing short of spectacular, top-notch and of very good quality, as the in-game pictures can abide by. I'm really happy with how it turned out, and I'm more than glad to share the commission Windhunter made for this instance as free and public for everyone to enjoy!

With this, I think work on Redux is more or less finished!
I don't think I might come back to work on the game until:

1. CryTools gets updated (so I can reduce the size of the SFD files)
2. A way to properly modify the subtitle timings for the cutscenes is found
3. A way to modify which models load for certain in-game cutscenes (for all cutscenes past dm52 / Sector Zero) is found

Aside from that, everything I wanted to do for Other M Redux has been covered, so as soon as the new models are uploaded into the Archive.org post, you can all enjoy the new models in-game!

Enjoy!

 

[Sowden]

This is fantastic, thanks for your hard work. Would you ever consider adding support for USB GC controller for us Wii U users?

 

[ShadowOne333]

This is fantastic, thanks for your hard work. Would you ever consider adding support for USB GC controller for us Wii U users?

That's something that would require a lot of assembly hacking to get working. Even the original Maximum Devs considered it, but sided it for the same reason.

Hopefully one day with someone who knows their Wii hacking.

 

[Sowden]

Yeah, I know that adding Wii U GC support for Wii games only works on a game hack by hack, one after another basis. I just thought that since you already had the code open But yeah, it is a lot. If someone steps up, you've got to give them your code to make the ultimate experience

 

[ScaryHobbit]

Oh I see! They had an unused Power Suit more in line with the original games instead of the design with the thicker neon stripes in the final game.
Seems a bit strange why they decided to change it. Maybe to make Samus easier to see with the darker environments and the Wii's 480p resolution?

 

[ShadowOne333]

Oh I see! They had an unused Power Suit more in line with the original games instead of the design with the thicker neon stripes in the final game.
Seems a bit strange why they decided to change it. Maybe to make Samus easier to see with the darker environments and the Wii's 480p resolution?

Possibly due to continuity reasons.
Samus doesn't really lose her abilities in this game, she only has them turned off, so having the Varia suit design on at all times kinda makes sense.

However, I think having the Varia feature off should have the Power Suit design by default, as Prime 1 did. Zero Mission sort of has this too, but it locks the Varia shoulders to until you get the fully powered suit after the Space Pirates ship post-game content.

But, since they decided to omit the Prime games, the might have gone this route due to it. Having the Power Suit available would help to bring it more in like with the Prime saga, as well as with the line and cutscene changes I did, since with my changes they no longer throw Prime off-canon in Other M Redux

 

[ScaryHobbit]

But, since they decided to omit the Prime games, the might have gone this route due to it. Having the Power Suit available would help to bring it more in like with the Prime saga, as well as with the line and cutscene changes I did, since with my changes they no longer throw Prime off-canon in Other M Redux

Tbf, that was more Sakamoto's own headcanon, and his quote was taken out of context on top of that. (Tho maybe a bit of jealousy did sneak into MOM since he has Samus claiming she never carried out a mission under military command, contradicting the most recent game on the exact same system lol.)
Nintendo Corporate I believe still considered Prime canon, albeit a spinoff saga within the grander timeline.

Though I think they might have just stopped caring about the in-universe specifics of the Power Suit, and only really reference it now when they want to show off "The NES Metriod Suit." Even Super Metroid - where the Varia Suit still has to be obtained - forgot about it and stuck with the iconic shoulder balls.

 

[ShadowOne333]

Tbf, that was more Sakamoto's own headcanon, and his quote was taken out of context on top of that. (Tho maybe a bit of jealousy did sneak into MOM since he has Samus claiming she never carried out a mission under military command, contradicting the most recent game on the exact same system lol.)
Nintendo Corporate I believe still considered Prime canon, albeit a spinoff saga within the grander timeline.

Though I think they might have just stopped caring about the in-universe specifics of the Power Suit, and only really reference it now when they want to show off "The NES Metriod Suit." Even Super Metroid - where the Varia Suit still has to be obtained - forgot about it and stuck with the iconic shoulder balls.

Super Metroid does have the Power Suit, but the issue is that you can only see it when Samus is seen upfront (when you load a save for example). Whenever you're in gameplay seeing Samus from the sides, it's always the suit with the shoulder pads visible (Varia), this mostly due to all the suits sharing the same graphics/spritesheet.

This was something I corrected for Super Metroid Redux btw, so Samus has a unique spritesheet for her Power Suit form.

 

[novortices]

Great work on the updated Power Suit model! Just one quick question, would it be feasible to port Redux to the Japanese version, so the Japanese voice track can be included? With the other project going on, this may be unnecessary, but I think it would be cool.