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

[ScatlinkSean]

Problem with that is that all the other cutscenes which do use barrier's texture would use gravity's now.
I need to find precisely where the game determines what model to load for each cutscene, so I can make the proper change. Making a texture change would break other cutscenes. I'm not sure precisely what cutscene the barrier model starts being used, but I think it's after event dm24 that the Varia Suit is activated.
I tried looking around in the files for any kind of calls for cutscenes but didn't have any luck so far.

About your second suggestion, I did attempt doing that at one point. Isn't the scene with the Baby Metroid in sepia tone though?
As for the Mother Brain one, I did try, but damn the lighting and everything else in the scene makes it obnoxiously hard to work with for masking with video editors.
If someone has a way to change Samus' Varia Suit colours in that one to be Gravity Suit, that'd be amazing, I just couldn't do it with Cyberlink's Color Director, maybe there's a better (and free) tool to make it, but I didn't find one.

Surely the texture/model swap can be on a "per cutscene" basis. Like; when the cutscene is triggered the textures swap, then swap back after the cutscene finishes.
Or perhaps make the texture/model change for cutscenes after the Gravity Suit is activated. Since the model swaps when the Varia Suit is enabled, surely that can be done.

I'm no good with coding, but if it's already there for when you go from Power to Varia, you should be able to change it when you go from Varia to Gravity.

 

[ShadowOne333]

Surely the texture/model swap can be on a "per cutscene" basis. Like; when the cutscene is triggered the textures swap, then swap back after the cutscene finishes.
Or perhaps make the texture/model change for cutscenes after the Gravity Suit is activated. Since the model swaps when the Varia Suit is enabled, surely that can be done.

I'm no good with coding, but if it's already there for when you go from Power to Varia, you should be able to change it when you go from Varia to Gravity.

Yep that's precisely what I meant
There should be a way to easily tell the game to load X instead of Y, but the problem is I don't even know where to look to attempt this.
It should be a matter of finding what file handles that coding for some specific cutscenes and modify which one it loads for Samus.

One way to easily test this is to swap files 253 and 254, then play the cutscenes, it should properly show the gravity suit one, but it would apply to all in-game cutscenes

 

[ScatlinkSean]

Yep that's precisely what I meant
There should be a way to easily tell the game to load X instead of Y, but the problem is I don't even know where to look to attempt this.
It should be a matter of finding what file handles that coding for some specific cutscenes and modify which one it loads for Samus.

One way to easily test this is to swap files 253 and 254, then play the cutscenes, it should properly show the gravity suit one, but it would apply to all in-game cutscenes

If that's all that needs doing; then all that would be left to do is tell the game to do that when you obtain the Gravity Suit.
Because you cannot view previous cutscenes within that save file, that doesn't matter.

 

[ShadowOne333]

If that's all that needs doing; then all that would be left to do is tell the game to do that when you obtain the Gravity Suit.
Because you cannot view previous cutscenes within that save file, that doesn't matter.

You can watch some of those cutscenes in the Theater mode. For example, the one before encountering the Real Madeline has several which load up the Barrier model. Most of those other in-game cutscenes are also in Theater, so using it might be a good way for testing out if Barrier/Gravity are being loaded properly.

 

[ScatlinkSean]

You can watch some of those cutscenes in the Theater mode. For example, the one before encountering the Real Madeline has several which load up the Barrier model. Most of those other in-game cutscenes are also in Theater, so using it might be a good way for testing out if Barrier/Gravity are being loaded properly.

I meant in the file you obtain the Gravity Suit. Because you can obtain Varia then exit to Theater and watch early cutscenes and it'd still be in the Power Suit.

However; I think I'll push to finish the game in this playtest to make sure everything else is fine, then shelve my Let's Play project on this until this Cutscene suit model/texture swap is sorted. We all like consistency! Thanks again, and maybe I've helped with feedback?

 

[ShadowOne333]

I meant in the file you obtain the Gravity Suit. Because you can obtain Varia then exit to Theater and watch early cutscenes and it'd still be in the Power Suit.

However; I think I'll push to finish the game in this playtest to make sure everything else is fine, then shelve my Let's Play project on this until this Cutscene suit model/texture swap is sorted. We all like consistency! Thanks again, and maybe I've helped with feedback?

Oh for sure, you did help to narrow down exactly what needs to be done for this project to be finished.
I also added a TODO segment in the OP to clarify what remains to be done until full completion.

I'm also debating whether or not the Theater/Hard mode should still be locked behind completing the game once, or if I should patch-in the Gecko code that unlocks both from the start or not. Mostly because unlocking Theater lets you skip cutscenes if wanted, just for that. Though having Hard mode from start is a nice bonus.

I'll see what I can do on my side for both the Subtitle frame timing and the Cutscenes Suit loading, I also had some enlightenment during the weekend and will attempt some theories I have about new methods for the SFD files creation, but the one thing I might not be able to do is the custom Power Suit in-game 3D model based on the unused one. For that one I'd for sure need help to get it done, since 3D modelling is something I have never touched in my life.

 

[ShadowOne333]

I had a bit of an enlightenment this weekend, and thought of yet another thing that could be attempted in order to finally fix the SFD plaguing the conversions.
Since sfdmux still has issues with the playback screwing with the other cutscenes, and Dreamcast Movie Creator only allows for one audio track to go alongside the SFD, there's only one other thing to try out...

Attempt to find the proper tools used for Other M from the Wii SDK.
Now, I don't know exactly what version of the SDK it would be, or if Team NInja even used the official SDK tools or not when making Other M, but this seems like the only viable solution to attempt to fix this one and for all.

I think the SDK for the SFD stuff is called "Cri SDK". Or Criware SDK I think.
I got a hold of one, which includes folders named "adx_tools" and "sofdec_tools", which are the ones that are required to get pretty much all the conversions going on.
For those interested, the one I got is called "crisdk_wii_100_j_up1" (I can't link to it directly, but you might find it in the Archive site).
Converted some WAVs to AIX/SFA with the adx_tools executables, then took some of my M1V videos and converted them to SFV, did a quick conversion of dm08_01 to SFD, and while it loads up properly and the subsequent cutscene loads, one cutscene right afterwards seems a bit sped up.

Not sure why yet, but at least seems to be like I'm going in the right direction.
I'll try to track down Criware SDKs from around the time Other M released (2010) to see if I can find the exact version or tools that the developers used to make the video files.

I have to fix those fucking SFDs once and for all lol

 

[ScaryHobbit]

I think for that one I followed the 2nd method listed in the OP, by using sfdmux.
The problem with sfdmux is that it does't play nice with cutscenes that have directly another cutscene following them.
All the SFDs without japanese tracks (dm08_01, dm43to46, dm63Bto65) had to be done with Dreamcast Film Creator due to that.
For some reason, having SFDs made with sfdmux makes the subsequent SFD that plays bork in some way, but for dm01to02 it should be fine to use sfdmux.

I really should try out Dreamcast Film Creator sometime soon.
(Sorry I haven't checked in lately - I've been taking a break. Playing Xenoblade.)

When I try the your recommended links for Dreamcast Film Creator, my anti-virus spazzes out due to the Russian-based url, etc.
You haven't had any security issues with the links in that method, have you? That's my one main concern that's keeping me from trying it.

 

[ShadowOne333]

I really should try out Dreamcast Film Creator sometime soon.
(Sorry I haven't checked in lately - I've been taking a break. Playing Xenoblade.)

When I try the your recommended links for Dreamcast Film Creator, my anti-virus spazzes out due to the Russian-based url, etc.
You haven't had any security issues with the links in that method, have you? That's my one main concern that's keeping me from trying it.

TBH I'm not sure.
I installed it and run it on Linux, and if you have doubts, you can always run it on a VirtualMachine and export the generated SFD files out of it.

 

[novortices]

Quick question:
I'm trying to test out the hack using Riivolution on Dolphin, but nothing changes ingame when I apply the xml. What folder structure do my Riivolution files need to be in for this to work?

 

[ShadowOne333]

Quick question:
I'm trying to test out the hack using Riivolution on Dolphin, but nothing changes ingame when I apply the xml. What folder structure do my Riivolution files need to be in for this to work?

Are you on Windows?
Windows creates a Dolphin directory inside Documents iirc.
From there, open the Documents\Dolphin Emulator\Load
I think you can follow this guide for the setup for Riivolution:
https://gamebanana.com/tuts/14789

Simply make sure to use a folder named "Metroid Other M - Maxximum Edition" inside that same Load folder and then drop all the files there, it should be like:

• Documents\Dolphin Emulator\Load\Riivolution
• Documents\Dolphin Emulator\Load\Metroid Other M - Maxximum Edition\(all the files without extension here)
• Documents\Dolphin Emulator\Load\Metroid Other M - Maxximum Edition\movie
• Documents\Dolphin Emulator\Load\Metroid Other M - Maxximum Edition\sound

 

[novortices]

Alright, I followed those directions, but it seems nothing's working.
The game still looks like vanilla Other M

Like the "Gravity Suit" is still using the Varia Suit colors. The cheat for third-person missiles still works though.

 

[ShadowOne333]

Alright, I followed those directions, but it seems nothing's working.
The game still looks like vanilla Other MView attachment 332790
Like the "Gravity Suit" is still using the Varia Suit colors. The cheat for third-person missiles still works though.

Can you show me what you have inside the "Documents/Dolphin Emulator/Load" folder?
And also be sure to right click on the game's title before opening it and select "Start with Riivolution" or the new files won't load.

 

[novortices]

Can you show me what you have inside the "Documents/Dolphin Emulator/Load" folder?
And also be sure to right click on the game's title before opening it and select "Start with Riivolution" or the new files won't load.

Here's my Load folder. What should I set the sd card root as in Dolphin?

I am also using the Riivolution menu for booting the game, like you said.

 

[ShadowOne333]

View attachment 332791
Here's my Load folder. What should I set the sd card root as in Dolphin?
View attachment 332792
I am also using the Riivolution menu for booting the game, like you said.

Seems more or less correct.
Open the "Other M Redux.xml" and check that it does have the proper path name of "Metroid Other M - Maxximum Edition" for each section.
Otherwise, try with the Riivolution XML from the OP of this thread.

 

[novortices]

Seems more or less correct.
Open the "Other M Redux.xml" and check that it does have the proper path name of "Metroid Other M - Maxximum Edition" for each section.
Otherwise, try with the Riivolution XML from the OP of this thread.

The xml is fine, but it still does not work. I got the files for Redux from the torrent if that makes any difference. Is there a preferred way to get the redux files?

 

[ShadowOne333]

The xml is fine, but it still does not work. I got the files for Redux from the torrent if that makes any difference. Is there a preferred way to get the redux files?

The torrent doesn't work yet, I forgot to mention that.
Try the Dropbox link, that one has the full files.

 

[novortices]

The torrent doesn't work yet, I forgot to mention that.
Try the Dropbox link, that one has the full files.

Thank you, I will try that. I also tried another Riivolution mod for another game to ensure that Riivolution is working in Dolphin, and it works.

 

[ShadowOne333]

Thank you, I will try that. I also tried another Riivolution mod for another game to ensure that Riivolution is working in Dolphin, and it works.

Yeah the torrent is missing some files still, like all the SFDs because Archive.org refuses to upload those as mere files and instead tries to force them to be MPEGs for some reason. I'll see how I can upload those later on, but meanwhile try with the Dropbox link, let me know if that one works properly.

 

[novortices]

Yeah the torrent is missing some files still, like all the SFDs because Archive.org refuses to upload those as mere files and instead tries to force them to be MPEGs for some reason. I'll see how I can upload those later on, but meanwhile try with the Dropbox link, let me know if that one works properly.

Unfortunately, it still does not work. Do you think maybe the uploaded files are wrong?
I just replaced the files directly using Wii Backup Fusion, and while things like the FMVs work, the Gravity Suit's model is not changed outside of FMVs and the "Maxximum Edition" banner is not on the title screen.