Metroid: Other M Redux
(Based on Other M - Maxximum Edition hack)
(Based on Other M - Maxximum Edition hack)
Lately, I've been delving into some of the improvement hacks for the Metroid series over the years, and while I have already played and downloaded a few of them, there's one in particular that caught my interest.
- "Other M Redux" finished project files for testing:
Link at Archive.org: archive.org/details/metroid-other-m-redux
- Metroid Other M Maxximum Edition: Reddit Release Link
- Full playthrough playlist on YouTube: Metroid Other M: Maxximum Edition Full Playthrough Playlist
- Maxximum Edition Mirror at Archive.org: https://archive.org/details/metroid-other-m-maxximum-edition
- Dreamcast Movie Creator installation tutorial on Reddit
However, there are still some changes that I find odd or somewhat badly implemented, which I'd like to touch upon:
- The cutscenes have been heavily reworked to deal with some of the idiotic story points that are deeply hated from this game. Still though, some of the cutscene editing is either decent, or bad at times (with all due respect to the original devs), with some really choppy cutoffs and some of the new voice overs just sound somewhat cringy. While I don't think most of Samus' inner monologues are bad per-se, as some do add to the story, complete removal of most of them feels a little excessive.
- There's also the OST being completely changed to more familiar tunes from the Metroid franchise (mainly seems to be Prime and Fusion tracks more than others). While this might be welcomed by some, I feel like just shoehorning tracks from other games into Other M takes away from the experience, at least to me.
I'd like to further rework the audio and videos of this hack, to make it a more polished product and a much better version of Other M for Metroid fans to enjoy.
Here's my notes on the changes and what I have so far:
VideosAudioTextModelsCheat code
COMPLETED!
The full playlist of the final edited videos can be seen on my YouTube channel:
Metroid: Other M Redux - Edited Videos Playlist
Rework the cutscenes to a more "presentable" state. Some of the trimming and audio removal/insertion feels tacky, specifically the first cutscenes up to the first briefing with Adam. Here's a list of the cutscenes from Maxximum Edition I think could need some rework:
- Starting cutscenes need heavy re-editing work up to the first briefing with Adam, the one after the training simulation is a clear example.
- dm01to02 (COMPLETED):
Intro cutscene with the Super Metroid ending and up to the start of the training sequence. All inner dialogues will be removed, but the rest will be kept intact. Possibly adding a video/image sequence here in the flashback of Samus after returning to Zebes that shows the "Hyper Beam damaged the suit, autorepair mode enabled". No voice-over will be used.
- dm03to04 (COMPLETED):
Cutscene after finishing training, with the scientist talking to Samus and directing her to the meeting room. Most of the redundant baby talk is cut, the only monologue that was kept for this project is the Prologue monologue when Samus is on her ship and receives the distress signal, to resemble the opening lines Samus gives in other games (Fusion, Zero Mission, etc.). The cringe closing line "Baby's cry... It was as though it was crying specifically for me..." was cut as well.
- dm06_01 (ORIGINAL):
Will be kept as the original, exact same movie except with lower quality (Adam encounter and Power Suit cutscene). - dm08_01 (COMPLETED):
Encounter with the first boss. This one might need just the removal of Samus' monologue, while still keeping her words aimed to Adam, everything else can stay as in the original. Also, edit the researcher's corpse in this scene to have red/blood stains instead of green (to match the modified model). Keeping track of the corpse with a good video editor and changing the hue of the stains is good enough for our purposes.
- dm09_02 (COMPLETED):
After first boss fight. Adam and Samus relationship explained through Samus' inner monologue. This one is quite an extensive cutscene, which does shed some light as to how Samus saw Adam and what her past was like in her younger years under the Federation. Given the importance of the scene, and since it doesn't really have cringe-worthy material, it could probably be left as-is with little to no touch ups to Samus' dialogue. Deleting Deleting "...or used kid gloves because I was a woman" and "Confession time" lines is a must though, that crap's cringe af, pretty much that'd be the only change in this cutscene.
- dm33to34 (COMPLETED):
Important story detail about Ivan Malkovich and why Samus left the Galactic Federation. Will be left as the original, simply remove the last 20 seconds of Samus' monologue about the "question", and that should be it for this one.
- dm36to43 (COMPLETED):
Ridley cutscenes. These ones need a proper reediting. Shortening or trimming certain section to remove the PTSD crap, but still keeping the girl Samus scene, and then Ridley quickly grabs her could be a possible way to make this scene way better without changing too much of it.
Here's the finished version of this one after reediting (not final but close to it, have yet to upload the final version which has better audio mixing):
- dm46to49 (COMPLETED):
Samus encounter with MB and discovery of the Metroid clones. Still left to be decided what will be changed from this one or not.
- dm52to56 (COMPLETED):
Sector Zero cutscenes. The way Maxximum handled it is quite fine, although it could probably be better to keep the entire starting section as in the original, and then cut-off the part where Samus immaturely starts saying the same thing from the Ivan Malkovich cutscene.
- dm61to63A (COMPLETED):
Samus and true Madeline encounter. Cut out Samus' monologues (About Madeline, about the Baby,and the 3rd/4th/5th/6th monologues only silence her lines), like Maxximum did, while only the rest remains intact. Also, silence Madeline's "You... I mean," and only start at the "we were wrong" part. Also, if possible, change Samus' colors to match the new Gravity Suit by Maxximum's new model (since at this point, Samus has already activated the Gravity feature after Sector Zero's destruction).
- dm63Bto64 (COMPLETED):
Ending cutscene with Madeline, MB and the Galactic Federation. Maxximum did a good job here, although it takes away from Madeline's character to have Samus fire the Ice Beam. The original might be kept, still remains to be confirmed. Also, if possible, change Samus' colors to match the new Gravity Suit by Maxximum's new model.
- dm01to02 (COMPLETED):
- Starting cutscenes need heavy re-editing work up to the first briefing with Adam, the one after the training simulation is a clear example.
Restore the original OST from Other M. I flat out dislike shoving other Metroid games' OST just for nostalgia sake or having some background music, as it takes away from the game's original soundtrack. I'll keep the original music from Other M, even if it's minimal at best.
- All of the "bgm_m..." tracks (battle, jingle, results, silence, navigation room, stages sounds) BGMs will be removed from Maxximum edition and the original's will be used from the original game. None of Maxximum's "bgm_m" files will be used. (Maybe a jingle one might be used, if a better short jingle is made or found).
- The "se_char_adam_voice_ingame" sounds will be Maxximum's, as these are the audio tracks that tell Samus to authorize certain abilities.
- Most of the cutscenes in the game are in-game, while the audio is kept as a separate file. I made a special SoundCloud playlist with all of the edited tracks, you can listen to them here:
I also tracked down the files that have been changed, and these are my notes for all of them:
- se_char_adam_voice_ingame_05 (Maxximum):
"Looks like the normal beam won't have any impact on the enemies around here"
Silence - se_char_adam_voice_ingame_06 (Maxximum):
"Samus, use your Ice Beam"
Silence - se_char_adam_voice_ingame_11(Maxximum):
"The most efficient way through here should be delivering shoulder impacts with your Speed Booster"
Silence - se_char_adam_voice_ingame_12 (Maxximum):
"So I'm authorizing its use"
Silence - se_char_adam_voice_ingame_39 (Maxximum):
"Samus, activate the Varia feature on your suit to protect yourself from heat damage!"
Silence - se_char_adam_voice_ingame_43 (Maxximum):
"Samus! You need a permeating shot effect to get past this! I'm authorizing you to unlock your Wave Beam!"
Silence - se_char_adam_voice_ingame_48 (Maxximum):
"Samus, use of the Grapple Beam is authorized!"
Silence - se_rtm_dm06_se.aix (COMPLETED)
Anthony Higgs and Adam introduction monologues by Samus when first encountering the squad.
The Anthony monologue will be removed, the only monologue that will be kept is that of Adam and Samus' background with him. The other monologues from this audio will be removed. - se_rtm_dm07_se.aix (COMPLETED)
"Adam hadn't authorized it, but I decided to remain on site for the sake of the others" and the end of the audio
Keep this change, simply make it better quality. - se_rtm_dm10_se.aix (COMPLETED)
Adam's briefing audio. This is one of the audios that clash with Prime's narrative about Samus working with the Galactic Federation before, that bit will be removed entirely to keep consistency with the Prime games. - se_rtm_dm11_01_se.aix (COMPLETED)
Samus' monologue when encountering the researcher's corpse. This monologue could possibly be removed altogether, we can keep the one from Maxximum for this one as it doesn't add to the story, simply redone from scratch for better quality. - se_rtm_dm13_se.aix (COMPLETED)
Samus' monologue when seeing Lil' Birdie (Ridley's infant stage) eating the remains of the boss she just defeated. The monologue doesn't add anything, we can remove the monologue without issues. However, the audio from Maxximum has a bug with this audio, so it should be made from scratch. - se_rtm_dm16_se.aix (COMPLETED)
Briefing when recovering the data from the building before Ridley's teenage fight.
Samus' monologue about the use of bioweapons for military use. This adds nothing, will be removed. We can use Maxximum's audio for this one. - se_rtm_dm21_se.aix (ORIGINAL)
After the teenage Ridley fight, talk with Anthony and finding the carcass of the infant Ridley.
Don't know why this was an additional audio for Maxximum's, is the exact same in both versions, this one will be kept as-is from the original game. - se_rtm_dm23_se.aix (COMPLETED)
After the teenage Ridley fight, talk with Anthony and finding the carcass of the infant Ridley.
Samus' continued monologue about the bioweapons thoughts, and having to find Madeline. Can be removed as it adds nothing to the story, will use Maxximum's editing but made from scratch. - se_rtm_dm24_01_se.aix (COMPLETED)
Gigafraug's carcass/husk encounter, and Samus' inner monologue about Metroids being the cause.
Most of the monologue will be reworked to remove the start of the monologue, and the rest will be her words about it being Metroid Predation, asking herself if they're the Metroids are there, and that they cannot withstand cold temperatures. - se_rtm_dm29_se.aix (COMPLETED)
Samus' monologue after fighting the traitor in the Bulldozer. The monologue will be removed, with Samus only words being her realizing there's a traitor among them. - se_rtm_dm30_se.aix (ORIGINAL)
Elevator monologue about Bottle Ship becoming a replica of Zebes. This one is important, the original will be kept. Besides, without the audio, the scene just feels... Dull. It also fits with other entries giving Samus' inner monologues during Elevators, like Fusion does (which actually makes the connection rather well if taken this into consideration). - se_rtm_dm34_se.aix (COMPLETED)
Samus & Anthony talk about what happened during the Ian Malkovich event. Important, will be kept.
However, the monologue after second 45 will be removed, as it isn't important and just feels odd. - se_rtm_dm44_se.aix (COMPLETED)
Samus' monologue after defeating Ridley, and thinking about Anthony's "death". The monologue doesn't add anything important, the one from Maxximum's will be used here remade from scratch for better quality. - se_rtm_dm45_se.aix (COMPLETED)
Samus' thoughts about Adam knowing about the Deleter during another elevator scene. As with the previous Elevator scene, this one will be kept, for added story plots and connection with Fusion's monologues on Elevators as well. However, the "Something was gnawing at me", "If that was the case then... Why couldn't I reach him?" and "My racing thoughts started to frustrate me" will be removed from this track. - se_rtm_dm51_se.aix (COMPLETED)
Samus' encounter with the Baby Metroid at the entrance of Sector Zero.
Use Maxximum's for this one, just because it removes the overused "A baby..." word. - se_rtm_dm65_01_se.aix (ORIGINAL)
Samus' monologue about returning to the Bottle Ship after the end of the game. Maxximum's just has silence here... Why? The original will be kept.
- se_char_adam_voice_ingame_05 (Maxximum):
All of the movie subtitles seem to be inside the message/message_all.dat file. This file might need to be edited to fit the audio changes in some of the cutscenes, so they don't show up on scene. This could probably be easily achieved by simply replacing the text with spaces in the file.
Although, it remains to be seen if the subtitles/text can be implemented at specific frames of a cutscene for those that are heavily re-edited.
The Maxximum team did an awesome job with all of the model work for sure.
The only thing that might need to be added is a proper Power Suit model for Samus, so when she activates the Varia suit, you can visually notice the change in her shoulder pads. Outside of that, I don't see much reason to modify any of the models from Maxximum's.
For documentation purposes, here are the model files for Samus:
- 0 - samus_normal (Power Suit Samus In-game?, not 100% sure)
- 252 - rtm_samus_normal (Power Suit, Possibly cutscenes model?)
- 253 - rtm_samus_barrier (Varia suit, Possibly cutscenes model?)
- 254 - rtm_samus_gravity (Gravity suit, Possibly cutscenes model?)
- 255 - rtm_samus_old (Old Power Suit? Possibly cutscenes model?)
- 335 - samus_barrier (Varia Suit Samus In-game)
- 336 - samus_gravity (Gravity Suit Samus In-game)
- 337 - rtm_samus_normal (Power Suit, where is this model used in-game? Cutscenes maybe?)
The following cheat code is required so the game can effectively use Missiles while in 3rd Person, otherwise, said feature won't work.
This cheat code needs to be converted to proper PPC assembly code and injected into the game (probably inside the boot.dol of Other M), so we can have the 3rd Person Missile feature inside the ISO as well.
For the standalone Gecko code in text format, you can get it here:
Code:282DBEC2 00008100 00CA4F45 00000001 E0000000 80008000 0454E368 38000001 0454D9F4 3B600001 0454D9CC 3B600001 0454D9AC 3B600002 0454D998 3B600003 4E000010 00000000 C2699544 00000003 80630004 48000009 DDDDDDDD 7D8802A6 906C0000 DEADFACE 32000000 00000000 20C78980 00000000 282DBEC2 FBFF0400 0454D9F4 3B600004 0454D9CC 3B600004 0454D9AC 3B600005 0454D998 3B600006 E0000000 80008000 045713D0 60000000 06AFC9F4 00000008 43B40000 42F00000
Or if you want the Gecko code in a GCT-ready format, as well as a Riivolution patch for easy loading in a real Wii/Dolphin, you can try the Riivolution+Gecko.zip pack which includes both the GCT and the Riivolution XML file.
NOTE: In order to load Maxximum/Redux Edition properly, you need both the Riivolution file AND the Gecko GCT code running! As the Riivolution file doesn't include the Gecko code by default.
While the models are something I don't intend on touching, most of them are just numbered files with no extension in the ISO, but they are apparently BRES files, as one can notice by opening one of them in a Hex editor and seeing the string "bres" in the header of the file.
Lastly, there are 4 specific files that modify UI stuff, mainly the title screen:
They're (extensionless) files 3170, 3293, 3294 and 3295. I know that file 3293 is the one that loads the "Maxximum Edition" subtitle in the title screen, 3294 is the one for the Japanese language, and 3295 seems to be for the title screen glows and other stuff, but aside from that, I don't know how to see it or change it, same for the other 3 files. They seem to hold brlan and brlyt files inside, but without a way to open them, I don't know how to extract them.
If anyone is willing to help out with this project, any kind of help will be greatly appreciated!
More so the cutscenes, I feel like those are the most annoying and the ones that could really benefit the most from a proper re-edit.
For those interested in contributing to this project, please leave a comment with any kind of suggestion or resource!
Converting videos to SFD:
Method #1 (Recommended): FFMPEG and sfdmuxMethod #2 (Suggested by re4HD dev, Albert)Method #3 - Dreamcast Movie Creator for one audio track SFDs
First, we need to get ffmpeg, be it for Windows or Linux, depending on where you're working.
The EXE files required to convert and create SFD files can be run on Linux through Wine, even ffmpeg.
ffmpeg link: https://ffmpeg.org/download.html
For Linux users, you can download and install ffmpeg directly through Terminal, but first update your system's repository:
Code:sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade sudo apt install ffmpegCode:sudo emerge --sync sudo emerge ffmpeg
Next, extract the data from your Other M ISO, and then grab the SFD you want to modify.
We need to check exactly what are the specific information of each of the SFD's tracks, which should be two audio and one for video.
To verify the data, we need to check it with ffmpeg:
This should give you some dummy flags from ffmpeg, and at the end an output similar to this:Code:ffmpeg.exe -i your.sfd
Code:Input #0, mpeg, from 'your.sfd': Duration: 00:02:16.47, start: 0.000000, bitrate: 8505 kb/s Stream #0:0[0x1c0]: Audio: adpcm_adx, 32000 Hz, stereo, s16p, 288 kb/s Stream #0:1[0x1c1]: Audio: adpcm_adx, 32000 Hz, stereo, s16p, 288 kb/s Stream #0:2[0x1e0]: Video: mpeg1video, yuv420p(tv), 640x480 [SAR 1:1 DAR 4:3], 7822 kb/s, 29.97 fps, 29.97 tbr, 90k tbn, 29.97 tbc
Once you obtain the information regarding your specific SFD, we need to focus on these things specifically:
- The Stream number for each specific track (two for audio tracks and one for video). In this example, my English track is Stream 0:0, while the Japanese one is Stream 0:1, the video one is Stream 0:2. This is important so we know exactly which track we are dumping (when we get to it).
- The audio track's frequency in Hertz (Hz). In this example, both audio tracks' frequencies are 32000 Hz, or 32kHz. This is important, if you use a different frequency, the SFD will show up as sped up when played in-game.
- Both the audio and video tracks bitrates (kb/s). In this example, the audio tracks bitrates are 288 kb/s, while the video bitrate is 7822 kb/s. This is really important! Screwing the bitrates up will cause a lot of issues if your game has other cutscenes before or after the SFD you're modifying.
- While this one might not be important, we do have to take into consideration the resolution size for the video track. In this example, ffmpeg tells us this is a 640x480 video.
For Other M specifically, we can dump the files directly by using these commands:
Code:ffmpeg -i your.sfd -vcodec mpeg1video -b:v 7822k -maxrate 7822k -minrate 7822k -bufsize 7822k -s 640x480 -an video.m1v ffmpeg -i your.sfd -map 0:0 audio-english.wav ffmpeg -i your.sfd -map 0:1 audio-japanese.wav
Note that for the video track we input specifically the bitrate and resolution into ffmpeg's arguments.
For the audio tracks, we don't need to specify the bitrate nor frequency in ffmpeg, but do take note of them, since we'll use them when we convert the WAV files back into SFA.
Now that you have your raw M1V and WAV files, you can start making your changes at will. Use whichever video and audio editor you wish to change them, simply make sure to edit your video and export it in 640x480 so you don't have any weird stretching or narrow images.
Once you finish editing both your audio and/or video, you're ready for muxing the files back into an SFD file.
For this, we'll need two tools: Sega's Dreamcast Movie Creator for changing the WAV files into SFAs for muxing, and SFDMUX for creating the SFD file from the M1V and SFA files. First, let's get to the SFA Files:
- Get Dreamcast Movie Creator from the Archive.org link and open it. In case you get an error with the message "This codec is not properly installed", download the "mcsetup.exe" file instead from the very same link and folder, and install Dreamcast Movie Creator with that setup file instead.
- Go to "Audio" inside the "Material Files" section and browse for your modified WAV file by clickin on "Select". Doing this should grey-out all the options for video and only leave you with the Audio options.
- Inside the "Output File" section, change the output file type to "Sofdec audio (.sfa)"
- Inside the "Output File" section, go to "Audio" and change its frequency from whichever it has to 32000 Hz. Verify that the kbits/sec are changed to 288 automatically when you make that change too, if not, change it manually.
- Click on "Start Encoding".
- Wait for your file to be converted, and repeat the process of the Japanese WAV if you want it. You'll need both English and Japanese SFA files for the final SFD.
Now that you have your M1V and both SFA files ready, we will start muxing the files into an SFD:
- Download and open "sfdmuxg.exe" from the Archive.org link
- Inside the "Input files" section, you have the "Video" tab, click on the folder icon and select your M1V file. If you can't see it, change the default format in the "Filesof Type" option to "MPEG-1 Video Files (*.m1v)" so the file manager can see the video file. Your video should appear on your list as Channel (Ch) 00, first on the list.
- Switch over to the "Audio" tab, click on the folder icon and select your SFA files. Be careful, as you need to select the one for the English track first, and then the Japanese track second, otherwise you'll end with Japanese as the default audio track. Once done, both files should appear on the list.
- Go to the "Output file (sfd)" section, and then click on its folder icon, type the name you want to give to the new SFD and save it. The file's output path should appear after the selection.
- Click on the "Multiplex" button at the bottom, and wait for your file to be muxed. Remember which path you set the SFD to be saved to.
There's also the open source "CryTools", which right now is being developed to add support for more Criware games, but I have yet to test the new version as it's pending a new commit for SFD muxing.
A conversion method suggested by the re4HD developer, Albert Marin.
Albert suggests using ffmpeg with bitrates as high as possible, but this was done for better quality for his HD project.
For Other M specifically, we can dump the files directly by using these commands:
Code:ffmpeg -i your.sfd -vcodec mpeg1video -b:v 7822k -maxrate 7822k -minrate 7822k -bufsize 7822k -s 640x480 -an video.m1v ffmpeg -i your.sfd -map 0:0 english.wav ffmpeg -i your.sfd -map 0:1 japanese.wav
The suggested conversion by Albert Marin is as follows:
Albert Marin said:
Link to Reddit thread for the conversion (click on the spoiler tag to open it in-post):
Direct Reddit Thread Link
First, you need to install Wine (tested on 6.0 stable). On Fedora (33) you can use this command:
Code:sudo dnf install wine
Next, download Dreamcast Movie Creator (part of the Sega Dreamcast SDK):
http://www.dc-swat.ru/download/pc/SFD_Tool_Pack_v1.0_by_SWAT.exe
and SFD Player:
http://www.dc-swat.ru/download/dc/SFD_Player.7z .
Next set up a custom wine prefix so you can make it a win32 win95 prefix capable of running Dreamcast Media Creator using this command:
Code:env WINEARCH=win32 WINEPREFIX=~/.wine-dmc winetricks win95
Now we need to run the previously downloaded file 'SFD_Tool_Pack_v1.0_by_SWAT.exe' with wine. This file is actually a self extracting 7zip archive. It will by default extract to wherever 'SFD_Tool_Pack_v1.0_by_SWAT.exe' is. Extract the files, and close the self extracting 7zip archive window. In your Terminal cd into the directory you just extracted (named 'SFD Tool Pack v1.0 by SWAT' and located wherever 'SFD_Tool_Pack_v1.0_by_SWAT.exe' is) and execute this command:
Code:env WINEARCH=win32 WINEPREFIX=~/.wine-dmc wine 'Movie Creator/Standalone/mcsetup.exe'
This is the Dreamcast Movie Creator Installer. Click 'Next' at the 'Welcome' and 'Software License Agreement' screens. At the 'User Information' screen you are required to type in a 'Name' and 'Company' to click 'Next'. Anything 1 character or longer in the 'Name' and 'Company' text fields is valid. Click 'Next', and at the 'Choose Destination Location' and 'Select Program Folder' screens leave it at the defaults and click 'Next' once again. After clicking 'Next' at the 'Select Program Folder' screen a dialog box will appear titled 'Install DirectShow 6.0 now.', the default is 'Yes'. Click 'Yes' and then 'Finish'.
Now that Dreamcast Movie Creator is installed, we can run it within the custom wine prefix created earlier with this command:
Code:env WINEARCH=win32 WINEPREFIX=~/.wine-dmc wine ~/.wine-dmc/drive_c/Program\ Files/Dreamcast\ SDK/DCMovieCreator/dcmvcre.exe
Now you need to convert a media file to prepare it for use in Dreamcast, so minimize the Dreamcast Movie Creator window opened by the above command for now.
I use ffmpeg to convert media files. You can start out with any video file type ffmpeg converts, and what you want to do is convert that video file to an specified MPEG-1 video. The defaults are 3600 kbits/sec video and 396 kbits/sec audio for a total bitrate of 3996 kbits/sec. Use these commands, change 'yourfile.mp4' with whatever you want, somefile.mkv, afile.avi, whatever:
Code:ffmpeg -i somefile.mp4 -vcodec mpeg1video -b:v 3600k -maxrate 3600k -minrate 3600k -bufsize 3600k -s 352x240 -an video.m1v ffmpeg -i somefile.mp4 audio.wav
For Other M specifically, we can dump the files directly by using these commands:
Code:ffmpeg -i your.sfd -vcodec mpeg1video -b:v 7822k -maxrate 7822k -minrate 7822k -bufsize 7822k -s 640x480 -an video.m1v ffmpeg -i your.sfd -map 0:0 english.wav ffmpeg -i your.sfd -map 0:1 japanese.wav
Note, for longer video you may want to lower the bitrate to fit more on the disc. I don't really recommend going any lower then 900k though...
Go back and open the Dreamcast Movie Creator Window. If you closed the entire program, you can open it at any time using the previously mentioned command:
Code:env WINEARCH=win32 WINEPREFIX=~/.wine-dmc wine ~/.wine-dmc/drive_c/Program\ Files/Dreamcast\ SDK/DCMovieCreator/dcmvcre.exe
Uncheck 'Use Identical Files' in the window, it is enabled by default. After that, click 'Select...' across from 'Video:' and pick your previously made 'video.m1v' file. Then click 'Select...' across from 'Audio:' and pick your previously made 'audio.wav' file. Change any options, if you want, including where you want your output file to be at (keep the .sfd extension!). When your ready click 'Start Encoding...'. Wait for the files to be converted, the quoted time takes a while to be acurate. When you see the 'Encoding Complete' dialog box, click 'OK'.
You will get 2 files in your previously selected output file destination, a .sfd (your video) and a .sfa (your audio). rename the .sfd to 'BUMPER.SFD' and .sfa to 'BUMPER.SFA'.
Now extract the 'SFD_Player.7z' file downloaded earlier. Copy both the 'BUMPER.SFD' and 'BUMPER.SFA' into 'SFD_Player/movie'. Note that this will overwrite an exisiting '/SFD_Player/movie/BUMPER.SFD' file, which is what you want to happen.
After this, you have 2 options. You have all the files you need to burn in the 'SFD_Player' directory. You can either burn the contents of the 'SFD_Player' directory as data to a CD-R using standard software (this however will require you to first burn Utopia Boot Disc, boot it in your Dreamcast, and then swap it with your burned CD-R) or make it a self-boot CD (not yet covered in this tutorial...).
For Windows, is as easy as changing the compatibility mode of the installer to Windows 95, and that makes it install the software properly.
From there, it's a matter of simply using ffmpeg to convert whichever video one has into the proper m1v+wav formats, as described with the commands listed in that Reddit thread.
TODO:
- Implement an in-game Power Suit model based on the unused cutscene model within the game
Modify the "samus_normal" 3D model (model file 0) and also the cutscene model "rtm_samus_normal" (model file 252) so that they both have the shoulder pads and chest plate from the unused Power Suit model found within the game's files (model file 255 ). Basically, port the shoulder pads and chest piece from the "rtm_samus_old" (255) model into both "samus_normal" (0) and "samus_rtm_normal" (252).
- Modify all in-game cutscenes after dm52to56 to use "rtm_samus_gravity" instead of "rtm_samus_barrier"
While the CG cutscenes have been modified to show the Gravity Suit, the in-game cutsenes seem to still use the Barrier/Varia 3D model for them.
A way to modify which model is loaded for those cutscenes is needed in order to properly have the right suit loaded for those cutscenes.
Some files seem to have cutscene data (and movement data) in them, particularly those around model files 380 (405 I believe it to be dm57, right after the Sector Zero cutscene). Possibly here lies the key to modify which model in particular gets loaded for certain cutscenes. I still haven't verified if these files indeed modify the in-game cutscene assets and movements.
- Subtitles dm36to43 (Ridley) and dm52to56 (Sector Zero) appear out of sync
These two cutscenes were re-cut and re-edited to have better and more logical pacing and remove out-of-character moments. However, due to this change, the subtitles are now desynced with the video. The subtitles themselves are inside the "message_all.dat" file, and can be edited through a Hex editor, but I haven't found out yet where the timings for each subtitle frames are located within that file (or if they are in another file altogether). The best I could do was re-order the subtitles to make them appear as close to the audio as possible, but until a method to edit the subtitles frames is found, this will remain like that.
Additional help thread in Romhacking.net:
https://www.romhacking.net/forum/index.php?topic=33713.msg421068#msg421068
Archive with all the Metroid: Other M Gecko Codes:
https://web.archive.org/web/20190930233029/https://geckocodes.org/index.php?c=R3OE01
