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[Grimlock]

After two and a half years of development we are proud to bring you the most comprehensive full scale team effort hack of the original Metroid! 



Rogue Dawn is an unofficial prequel to the original Metroid game released in 1986.  30 years later we bring you the events that unfolded before Samus’s famous “Zero” mission on planet Zebes.  The original Metroid manual tells us about a deep-space research spaceship that was attacked.  Pirates seized a capsule said to contain a newly discovered life form in a state of suspended animation.  Rogue Dawn surrounds these events that led up to the theft of the capsule which ultimately placed the Metroid’s under the control of Ridley and the Mother Brain.  The mission to acquire the capsule is placed in the hands of one of Ridley’s best kept secrets.  A rogue human agent trained and manipulated by Ridley from a young age.  Taken as a child from a Federation colony obliterated by Ridley’s faction she was initially just another test subject slated to undergo horrific experiments.  Ridley decided to instead manipulate and mold her into a weapon, his first human servant and dark agent.  Primed yet untested she is sent out on her “zero” mission to retrieve a newly discovered biological specimen in the possession of a Federation research crew orbiting planet SR388 and prove her worth.  Her name is Dawn Aran!

Updated to Version 1.21  Download link located at the bottom of this post.


Hack development team:

Graphics & Level design:
Grimlock

Programming:
Snarfblam

Music:
Optomon



Screenshots:

(click to show/hide)

Optomon's Rogue Dawn Original Soundtrack:

As of version 1.20 this is also included in the downloaded ZIP file.

Download Link:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/qh444arlyx2pwpo/Rogue_Dawn_OST.zip?dl=0


Registered's Printable Map

- Link Removed -

2 new maps have been produced and are located in the ZIP file.


Editroid Corner Map

This is a graphical representation of the level design, it's not highly detailed but it's interesting.  Some of the colors will differ from the in game colors due to palette swaps not represented in the preview window. 

NOTE:   All Easter eggs have been removed but the off map screens are revealed.

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V1.00 Downloads: 921
V1.10 Downloads: 10,230
V1.20 Downloads: 97

Version 1.20 and 1.21 - Change Log: (Contains spoilers for first time players)

(click to show/hide)

Version 1.21 - Change Log:

Corrected a bug that caused the morph ball to cause damage to all enemies on screen.
Modified projectile graphics.
Alternate patches added to the download (No corner map and Zero suit only patches)


Version 1.20 - Change Log:

Level Design/Graphics:

Modified bug hive puzzle to reduce/eliminate confusion (players were attempting to enter back in through the exit)
Modified Final area to eliminate drop shafts.
Eliminated several one way passageways
Eliminated several "perma-stuck" locations
Added back door route to all bosses (for speed runners)
Expanded pause and corner map to properly cover science ship
Added additional path to science ship boss (no warping required)
Modified secret area to allow "easy exit" and "hard exit"
Modified several jumping obstacles to allow greater maneuverability
Modified several tight areas to allow greater maneuverability
Added one unique purpose to all secret "Metroid art" rooms (each room now has an additional secret use worked into their design)
Added three new Easter egg rooms
Added secret "cheater" routes that require the use of game exploits (should be considered cheating but I accommodated them because it's an alternate approach to playing, adds replay value)
Added multiple shortcuts / alternate paths to all areas (By "multiple" I mean a lot)
Added the ability to sequence break the item acquisition
Reviewed and adjusted some enemy placements (Removed "cheap shots" where identified)
General cosmetic adjustments throughout areas
Modified game ending shuttle flame graphic
Added new "reverse Justin Bailey" Dawn pirate power suit sprite for 2nd play through
Added new enemy sprites by RealRed for second play through
Corrected 2 text grammatical errors
Eliminated "lava scroll" puzzle in bone yard area
Modified ending escape path, cleaned up walkways and slowed down Metroids
Corrected water area pause map
Added wall jump item marker to map
Modified boss rooms to extend walkable platform
Corrected one E-Tank placement that wasn't being tracked (you lost it after saving)
Redesigned some of the platforms on the planet surface
Added environmental suit sprite in multiple areas
Removed block in water area that was required to be shot to proceed (confused some since they didn't have bombs)
Removed slopes in a few locations where they interfered with jumping
Removed a looping section of the secret area (added a degree of frustration)
Changed 10 missile hit doors to 5 missile hit doors throughout game

Programming:

Starting health set to 99
Corrected several bugs related to the ending sequence
Fixed the incorrectly spawning boss in the bone yard area (spawned in other rooms).
Added missile recharge to all chargers
Modified the drop tables for the final area to allow greater health and missile pick ups
Added 2nd play through sprite cycling
Fixed starting equipment in newgame+ (2nd play)

Music/Sound:

4 consecutive beeps occur after the player reaches low health. They will repeat after about 20-30 seconds-ish
Music transitions added to all exits from the secret area.
Music transitions added for boss shortcuts
Music transition glitch following Forest Area boss defeat changed

[Daltone]

oh lerdy

A+ good work so far! thanks buddy


Edit:
Very cool stuff you have here,

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finished with 2:38 something 68%, super easy to clip into formations/slopes with air tiles inside, lost quite a bit of play time to those, dislike the lost woods areas pretty disorienting to warp around in certain spots. Mario area was neat but really took the vibe away from a otherwise incredible atmosphere. Super cool last area and wicked grafics.
Thanks for all the hard work and optomon is a magnificent composer.

[Lenophis]

In the readme is mention of it only being tested on FCEUX, which means it didn't go up against Nintendulator, Nestopia, or the actual hardware. I have a bad feeling about this.

[Grimlock]

In the readme is mention of it only being tested on FCEUX, which means it didn't go up against Nintendulator, Nestopia, or the actual hardware. I have a bad feeling about this.

Actually it was tested on a wide variety of emulators and physical hardware thanks to our awesome play testers! 

[Lenophis]

Excellent! You had me worried there...

[altoiddealer]

Congrats on the epic release!!!

Looking forward to playing it 

*Edit* Goddamn this is insanely awesome

[Cpt.Glitch]

In the readme is mention of it only being tested on FCEUX, which means it didn't go up against Nintendulator, Nestopia, or the actual hardware. I have a bad feeling about this.

Can confirm, runs fine on NEStopia.

This is looking nice. Only played for a few minutes because it's late, but I'm liking it. Good work.

[Metaquarius]

YES ! 

[PonchGaming]

Just so you guys know, this does work on a NES Classic, so if you happen to have one, put some use in it

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[LinkaMeister]

I can confirm that it works as injected virtual console game on my wii.

[CrAzY]

Congratulations on making it to release! Here we go! 

[Steel Sparkle]

Congrats! im definitly gonna play this! Amazing job Grim

[begrimed]

Amazing hack so far. I didn't know the NES could look so damn good.

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I noticed enemies keep dropping missiles even though my ammo is full (I only have 5 missiles right now). Energy continues dropping after my energy is full as well.

Crawling enemies appear to be getting stuck in blue 'water' after they crawl down into it, and their sprite spins in an infinite loop. Doesn't seem to happen in rooms with actual water in it.

Sometimes crawling enemies would get stuck spinning in the air next to their platforms, I think because of the camera shifting up or down, and usually when I'd first enter that 'room'

Directional input (at least as morph ball) seems to 'lock' after collecting an item. e.g., I'm rolling left when I collect a missile; during the item fanfare, I switch to holding right, but after the fanfare ends, I continue rolling left until I let go.

Couldn't figure out where to go in the underwater caves after a couple hours of exploring them, so I stopped playing there.

[Digital_Mantra]

(click to show/hide)

That was the best M1 hack I've ever played.

Didn't think I'd finish it tonight but I couldn't put it down. Each areas aesthetics were amazingly detailed and the layout was fun to traverse,
the music was fantastic and the easter eggs were interesting to find and look at. Congratulations on the release, and thanks for such a great game!

[Dasfonia]

Congrats on the release! 

[squishy_ichigo]

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Walljump breaks your maze puzzle thing in the yellow rocky area below the jungle place. I guess no one in testing thought to walljump for that? Or is this a limitation you were unable to get around and couldn't fix?

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Ok, I'm lost. I have hijump, bombs, varia, walljump. I explored a great deal of the underground ship? where the GF guys are at, but kept running into blue doors I couldn't open, which I imagine is ice beam or wave blocked. I explored a great deal in that area, grabbing an assortment of missile tanks, and getting near what I assume is the boss. I did notice a place where I could shot the ceiling, and then there was a path to what I assume is wave beam, but I can't bomb jump up to the path, the floor breaks beneath me. I also tried exploring the jungle area, and kept getting lost in the maze. I can't think of anywhere else I could be going besides those two areas, so I am apparently missing something. I almost feel like I'm missing spiderball or something, lol.
Figured out what to do, of course those yellow doors were missile doors! I sure am silly to think that they might be another beam door!

Fun hack so far, besides some bad enemy placements that hit you if you enter the room and don't have time to get out of the way, and it just being a bit too maze-y sometimes.

[Grimlock]

Amazing hack so far. I didn't know the NES could look so damn good.

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I noticed enemies keep dropping missiles even though my ammo is full (I only have 5 missiles right now). Energy continues dropping after my energy is full as well.

Crawling enemies appear to be getting stuck in blue 'water' after they crawl down into it, and their sprite spins in an infinite loop. Doesn't seem to happen in rooms with actual water in it.

Sometimes crawling enemies would get stuck spinning in the air next to their platforms, I think because of the camera shifting up or down, and usually when I'd first enter that 'room'

Directional input (at least as morph ball) seems to 'lock' after collecting an item. e.g., I'm rolling left when I collect a missile; during the item fanfare, I switch to holding right, but after the fanfare ends, I continue rolling left until I let go.

Couldn't figure out where to go in the underwater caves after a couple hours of exploring them, so I stopped playing there.

Thanks for the report, those are all known issues that we had to kind of accept as limitations we were going to have to live with.  Regarding getting lost (for squishy too), the pause map has additional markers for items and boss locations.  There wasn't enough unique tiles available in the sprite data to include them in the corner map.

Squishy, can you give some more detail on what was broken in that bug hive?  Did you get permastuck? 

[squishy_ichigo]

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Video of a few different teleporting things, the end has a permastuck.

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/9331202/rouge%20dusk.webm

while making this video, something messed up in the emulator, and I had to reset, and lost a BUNCH of progress. :S

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It's not so much getting lost, so much as it didn't click for me that the 'not red doors' where missile doors, so I was running around trying to figure out what to do when all I needed to do was open a few dumb doors that were yellow and blue with missiles. I understand this to all but certainly be a palette limitation, but it really threw me off, I was anticipating beam locked doors, since the doors were blue when I got to the 'ship' and weren't opening, so I thought 'oh, I probably need ice beam or something.' Once I realized my mistake, the rest fell easily into place, and I was able to make quick progress knowing where all I needed to go.

Getting around really isn't that difficult, if you have a halfway decent sense of direction. The map helps a lot.

[dewhi100]

Missile doors share the same palette as Samus. Once you figure that out, you learn to press select at suspiciously-colored doors. But it did cause me some backtracking due to thinking  doors were locked. Once Samus' default palette changes, it's a little more obvious. Limitation, or oversight?

I also noticed the map inconsistently reporting my location in a few places. Not sure whether that's intentional or not. The most confounding one so far happens in the GF ship when moving through the unmapped hallway that begins four screens below the elevator. Samus' X and Y position on the map change. Can I trust the map? I'm inclined not to.

That being said, this hack is incredible. The planning and attention to detail really shows. Great job!

[Grimlock]

Missile doors share the same palette as Samus. Once you figure that out, you learn to press select at suspiciously-colored doors. But it did cause me some backtracking due to thinking  doors were locked. Once Samus' default palette changes, it's a little more obvious. Limitation, or oversight?

I also noticed the map inconsistently reporting my location in a few places. Not sure whether that's intentional or not. The most confounding one so far happens in the GF ship when moving through the unmapped hallway that begins four screens below the elevator. Samus' X and Y position on the map change. Can I trust the map? I'm inclined not to.

That being said, this hack is incredible. The planning and attention to detail really shows. Great job!

The door palette is a system limitation, nothing we can do about it.  Regarding the map, it is accurate but as soon as you cross the boundary of two screens it moves your location over to the next tile in the map.  The Science Ship only displays the areas inside the ship corridors, once you enter inside the walls it isn't mapped.  The idea behind that was to add a little challenge since you start with the entire map revealed.  In the other areas only secret rooms are not displayed.

[biospark]

I played for about an hour but could only find missiles. Can someone point me in the right direction?

[Grimlock]

I played for about an hour but could only find missiles. Can someone point me in the right direction?

Have a look at the pause map for main item markers.  If you want some help locating the first item:

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Go to the water area, check the pause map and you'll see the marker.

[Grimlock]

Announcement:  We will be updating to Version 1.10 today in order to correct a last minute HEX edit that placed an extra Missile tank:

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If you know of a location other than RHDN and Metroid Construction where this game is posted for download please let them know an update is going to be released today. 

[LinkaMeister]

So, I just completed the game with an ingame time of 2:54:44 and the credits didn't scroll at all for me, so I couldn't see my item percentage. It was like a slideshow of pictures for me. The rest of the game was working normal. I really enjoyed the hack tho.

[squishy_ichigo]

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So, I didn't finish yet, but I'm practically done at this point, so I think I can give a fair review given what I've seen thus far.  Why didn't I bother finish before writing a review? Well, I'll get to that.

So, the first part of the hack between starting and getting hijump is a bit difficult. Without any etanks, and starting at 30 energy, making the rather long trek to where hijump is at can be quite a chore, especially if like some (not me) you are having trouble navigating through those caverns because of its maze like qualities.

After this point, the hack hits its stride. You start getting Etanks, and a variety of main items, and the hack progresses fairly smoothly. Exploration feels rewarding, and its an enjoyable time. If I hadn't been silly and realized which doors were missile doors I would have made progress faster, so I blame myself slightly for that, and won't take that out on the hack.

However, once you get to the teleporting mazes, the hack starts to get pretty frustrating. It sounds like a neat little concept, but in practice, trying to navigate around when every wrong path teleports you back to beginning is pretty annoying. I was able to skip the first one by walljump midair morphing to grab the nearby etank, and then descending that way down into the chozo ruins area. And after awhile, I was able to figure out that areas teleport maze.

And then we get to the final area. Oh boy. I was really enjoying this hack, besides the teleport mazes, but I was gonna let those slide. But this final area, really ups the difficulty (unnecessarily in my honest opinion). This area wouldn't so bad if there wasn't three vertical rooms that if you fell down you had to restart most of the area. This area wouldn't be so bad if M1 had save points, so you could have checkpoints in the area. This area wouldn't be so bad, if when you ran out of missiles fighting (what I assume is) the final boss, you didn't just lose and have to restart the entire area over again and hope you don't run out of missiles again!

Will I finish this hack? I honestly don't know. I don't like abusing save states, but I feel like I will have to to have any chance of beating the final area. Guess I'm just not good enough. Oh well.

Score: 3/5

Despite how frustrating some of this hack is, it has some neat graphics and pretty good music. The enjoyable parts were very enjoyable, if the parts I disliked were looked into, I could easily see this hack being one of my favorite hacks I've ever played. But as it stands, 3/5 is about as high as I feel comfortable ranking it.