Gamecube, how do I love thee? Let me count the ways... :)

[Grall]

GAAAHH!!

I have played this game TOO MUCH, LOL! Yesterday I was up til seven AM. Today, three AM. Gaaahh, me is tired!

I have 51% of all the items, so I still miss loads; super bombs, ice gun booster, plasma gun + booster, grappler, x-ray visor etc.

One thing I can agree on, there SHOULD be more short cuts! Didn't expect the game to be this darn big, though things will get better once I get that darn grappler! That way I can skip past some boring/dangerous sections (particulary in the lava part of the game).

Me is wondering... Is the music in the game spooled off the GOD, or realtime? It's not too complex, it should be realtime:able I think! Maybe it's a silly MP3 or something... A-Ram is plenty big to store such tings in after all. Music really isn't so complex it should be a prerecorded MP3, it can't be very many voices simultaneously, maybe 8 or so I would say! Besides, the game loads stuff all the time off the disc and there is no break in the music, so it would be hard to spool, unless they have a really big buffer or something...

EDIT: Btw, that animation that is shown while riding an elevator, that must be prerendered right?


*G*

 

[CeiserSöze]

Me is wondering... Is the music in the game spooled off the GOD, or realtime? It's not too complex, it should be realtime:able I think! Maybe it's a silly MP3 or something... A-Ram is plenty big to store such tings in after all. Music really isn't so complex it should be a prerecorded MP3, it can't be very many voices simultaneously, maybe 8 or so I would say! Besides, the game loads stuff all the time off the disc and there is no break in the music, so it would be hard to spool, unless they have a really big buffer or something...

Music is done in realtime through MIDI I think. I suppose after having to cope with lack of storage during the N64-days the guys at Nintendo have become quite good at making great music with limited means (the music wasn't composed by someone at Retro. Kenji Yamamoto, who was responsible for Super Metroid's soundtrack too, did take care of that). As you said it's not very complex (technically) but imho most of the tracks are great (I just love the options-menu track and the Tallon Overworld and Magmoor tracks bring back memories)

EDIT: Btw, that animation that is shown while riding an elevator, that must be prerendered right?

Nope, it's realtime. At least that's what I think

 

[London Geezer]

EDIT: Btw, that animation that is shown while riding an elevator, that must be prerendered right?


*G*

i havent seen it, but.... can't u tell the difference between pre-rendered and realtime?? j/k

 

[bystander]

GAAAHH!!

I have played this game TOO MUCH, LOL! Yesterday I was up til seven AM. Today, three AM. Gaaahh, me is tired!

I have 51% of all the items, so I still miss loads; super bombs, ice gun booster, plasma gun + booster, grappler, x-ray visor etc.

You're catching up with me. Have you got the gravity suit yet? I've just got the super bombs, and I can only say the pace is starting to pick up even more. I've nearly died a couple of times now, and I just managed to survive the last mini-boss I faced.

I did find a flaw when facing one of the bosses, where I could stand completely still fire at them and not get attacked at all, very handy when you are low on health.

 

[PC-Engine]

The elevator cutscene is realtime. It just uses lots of motion blur just like the intro cutscene is realtime.

 

[Grall]

PC,

Intro cutscene, you mean that arriving to the frigate, or the virusy-mold-bacteria blob thingy on the title screen?

I think the title screen MUST be a movie though, right?


I'm now pretty darn far into the game and I just died trying to take the artefact from down in the mines, hehe. Guess it wasn't so smart rolling around in all that radioactivity. I thought maybe it was an energy tank that would refill my health. Hehe, it wasn't, lol. Darn, now I gotta replay like a million rooms.

I'm only missing the plasma beam charge-up and two energy tanks from the major items list now, plus a buttload of missile and bomb expansions I guess, plus about half the Chozo artefacts. Those I can always get later though.

Then maybe there are some expansions for the suit not mentioned in the manual, I dunno bout that really. (And no, I don't want any spoilers, hehee!).



*G*

 

[Goldni]

I loved the music from the game so much I made some MP3s from it.

Btw, wait till you get to the second to last boss. Absolutely THE greatest boss in a game ever!

 

[Tagrineth]

I loved the music from the game so much I made some MP3s from it.

Btw, wait till you get to the second to last boss. Absolutely THE greatest boss in a game ever!

You mean second to last as in last one before the endboss or second to last as in first form of the endboss?

 

[CaptainHowdy]

The Omega Pirate? he was a badass..

 

[Grall]

Some spoilers in this post. Beware!


I died once kicking the Omega's butt, lucky me there's a save point just before you reach him. My health was pretty poor (about 55% with all energy tanks but two installed) when I got to that one due to not having the sense to avoid grabbing that missile upgrade hidden down under the giant shroom.

I then backtracked ALL THE WAY THROUGH THE MINES when I could have continued one room ahead instead and skipped half of that chore! Darn it, those fission metroids sure are pesky...

Love that flamer though, LOL! It's so funny, that arm gun really IS a giant dildo, when you activate the plasma beam it extends, and it grows even more when you charge it up... Tag, what's your take on this?

Now I wonder where the last two energy tanks are hidden (plus a whole bunch of missile and bomb upgrades I suppose).

Slap on Retro's fingers for not making the grappler show in the elevator animation. Other than that... Not much to complain about. A little annoying that enemies re-appear again and AGAIN if you move more than one room away. Classic "feature" perhaps, but still annoying.


*G*

 

[Tagrineth]

Some spoilers in this post. Beware!
I died once kicking the Omega's butt, lucky me there's a save point just before you reach him. My health was pretty poor (about 55% with all energy tanks but two installed) when I got to that one due to not having the sense to avoid grabbing that missile upgrade hidden down under the giant shroom.

Er... if you had 55% health, does that mean you didn't save?

I then backtracked ALL THE WAY THROUGH THE MINES when I could have continued one room ahead instead and skipped half of that chore! Darn it, those fission metroids sure are pesky...

There are fission metroids in the mines before you get to the Impace Crater?

Oh well, look at the upside, you probably got that artefact on the way out right? (I actually had the foresight to go back for it immediately after beating Omega!)

Love that flamer though, LOL! It's so funny, that arm gun really IS a giant dildo, when you activate the plasma beam it extends, and it grows even more when you charge it up... Tag, what's your take on this?

I'll say two things. One, it'd be awkward as hell to use it, especially while it's still on your arm. And two, if it discharged while... *ahem*.... I won't continue that thought.

Aside: I wonder if anyone else noticed... turn on the X-Ray visor and look at her gun. It's her hand! And if you change guns... pay attention to the weapon's icon and her fingers

Now I wonder where the last two energy tanks are hidden (plus a whole bunch of missile and bomb upgrades I suppose).

All over the place, hun. The tanks are really easy to find though...

Slap on Retro's fingers for not making the grappler show in the elevator animation. Other than that... Not much to complain about. A little annoying that enemies re-appear again and AGAIN if you move more than one room away. Classic "feature" perhaps, but still annoying.


*G*

Grapple beam is really retarded. If you play through the intro again, look at Samus's left hand during EVERY CINEMATIC. I think they may originally have planned not to include it or something...

 

[CeiserSöze]

I then backtracked ALL THE WAY THROUGH THE MINES when I could have continued one room ahead instead and skipped half of that chore! Darn it, those fission metroids sure are pesky...

There are fission metroids in the mines before you get to the Impace Crater?

There are definitely no fission metroids in the Phazon Mines. At least in the US version. Maybe that's one of the things that was changed in the PAL version...

 

[Grall]

Tag:

Oh I sure saved as soon as I reached that save point! I ran and jumped right into it, in case the floor would collapse under me or something!

And yes, there's a whole bunch of fission troids in the mines once you wax Omega's big ugly butt. They are...PESKY. They don't do much damage though, fortunately. Maybe the troids in the crater are worse, I dunno yet because I haven't found all the artefacts yet.

Nature's elusive despite me running through Magmoor THRICE now trying to find it (aargh), Spirit and Elder still awaits to be found, I'm moving on to those for now. And yes, I was smart enough to pick up the mines relic while I was passing through, so yay me, kind of.

I THINK that nature is in the Monitor Station, but I can't hear it humming and I don't know how to crack that big crystal thing either. None of my weapons scratch it.

Though, going by the description in my log it should be in Lava Lake, but there is no central tower there to crack, it's two rather small chambers each with a stone pillar in the middle... And none of those are crackable either! *GRRR*


Metroid Prime IS a good game to exercise my new surround sound system hehe. True, I've had it for a while (since mid-february to be exact) but I haven't really had a game that stretches it as of yet. None of my PS2 games support surround sound, so all I've used it for really is DVD movies. True, all my other GC games supports DPL2 also, but I've not really been able to hear or feel it. Metroid Prime's different though, I actually CAN locate sounds in 3D space (*cough* more like 2D really but you KNOW what I mean, lol!).

So nobody dis that 88MHz Micronix DSP, coz it WORKS okay? I hate negative people, GC does surround sound just fine thank you verymuch.

Oh, for those geeky enough to wanna know what hardware I got, it's the Sony HT-BE1, which is actually pretty darn nice if I may say so. The sub rumbles well, it's got optical spdif in (used for PS2), coax spdif in (will be used for Audigy2 soundcard) and stereo analog in (used for the GC). Oh, and USB audio too, though I don't use that. It's fully featured as far as surround sound formats are concerned; DD, DTS, DPL and DPL2, and even allows for compensation for speaker distance to the listener for optimum surround effect. The remote is actually compatible with the PS2 DVD remote too, which is kinda cool.


*G*

 

[Goldni]

I mean 2nd to last sboss of the game. Not the last end game boss but the one before that.

 

[PC-Engine]

PC,

Intro cutscene, you mean that arriving to the frigate, or the virusy-mold-bacteria blob thingy on the title screen?

I think the title screen MUST be a movie though, right?

Yes the space scene not the title screen.

 

[Tagrineth]

And yes, there's a whole bunch of fission troids in the mines once you wax Omega's big ugly butt. They are...PESKY. They don't do much damage though, fortunately. Maybe the troids in the crater are worse, I dunno yet because I haven't found all the artefacts yet.

Yep, that sure would be a "nice" way to increase the game's difficulty.

The fission metroids in the second to last room before the end boss are ANNOYING. Until you figure out one of the patterns for reliably cruising through the room (Big help: If you use a power bomb, the Fission Metroid will *not* split, it will just die), you will fall. A lot. And I really do mean... a LOT.

Nature's elusive despite me running through Magmoor THRICE now trying to find it (aargh), Spirit and Elder still awaits to be found, I'm moving on to those for now. And yes, I was smart enough to pick up the mines relic while I was passing through, so yay me, kind of.

I THINK that nature is in the Monitor Station, but I can't hear it humming and I don't know how to crack that big crystal thing either. None of my weapons scratch it.

Though, going by the description in my log it should be in Lava Lake, but there is no central tower there to crack, it's two rather small chambers each with a stone pillar in the middle... And none of those are crackable either! *GRRR*

*Super* missile. It's in the large pillar in the larger chamber of the Lake.

 

[CaptainHowdy]

use your Xray visor a lot, that helps you find all the goodies.

 

[Grall]

Yeah, I found it...WITHOUT your help! Seems I must have scanned the same pillar twice or something, very annoying hehe. Got all the artefacts now!

How many energy tanks and bomb/missile upgrades are to be found down in the impact crater?

Damn Meta Ridley though, he kicks my butt every time I go up against him! He is TOUGH! I get him down to 10% or so and then I am almost dead...

Well, it's only happened twice actually. I think I will try to save the statues on one side of the level for later in the fight. Those 100point health boosts sure could come in handy...


*G*

 

[Tagrineth]

Yeah, I found it...WITHOUT your help! Seems I must have scanned the same pillar twice or something, very annoying hehe. Got all the artefacts now!

Good! ^_^

How many energy tanks and bomb/missile upgrades are to be found down in the impact crater?

None. Just a save point and a missile refill... 6 rooms total, unless you count the rooms you go through while fighting the first part of the boss.

Damn Meta Ridley though, he kicks my butt every time I go up against him! He is TOUGH! I get him down to 10% or so and then I am almost dead...

Hahaha... the music rules though, doesn't it?

Tips... ALWAYS be locked on. When he rears back to lunge, his trajectory is already set - so hold to one side and double-tap B to get the heck out of the way. Once he's at less than ~3% his defense will go UP, he'll be stunned for much less time (barely long enough for a charged shot to the chest), and his lunges will be much quicker; at that point it's best to ball up and boost around like mad.

And of course... try to use Super Missiles whenever possible.

Well, it's only happened twice actually. I think I will try to save the statues on one side of the level for later in the fight. Those 100point health boosts sure could come in handy...

Sorry, hun, not possible... Ridley ends up destroying all of them no matter what you do, far too quickly...