wraggster
April 13th, 2020, 21:32
For GC and Wii.
In an alternate timeline…
Metroid Prime 2: Echoes on the Gamecube and in Metroid Prime Trilogy for the Wii was an anomaly to the Metroid series, giving Samus limited shots of her ‘Light’ and ‘Dark’ beam weapons. Since its release in 2004, many Metroid fans have wondered: What would Metroid Prime 2 have been like without beam ammo?
The fan mod Metroid Prime 2: Unlimited Beams Authorized answers just that. Compatible for all GCN regions and for the USA Trilogy, U.B.A. gives Samus her energy back, and removes beam ammo from the game entirely. Players will no longer expect to see beam ammo pickups drop from crates, enemies, or environmental debris. Samus’ HUD graphics in her visor for her beams are gone as well: players will be able to choose using the patcher utility whether to keep or remove her beam ammo bars, which can be used instead to indicate how many beam ammo expansions Samus has picked up on her journey. The number display which acts as the beam ammo counter, however, is removed by default.
“U.B.A.” gives gives a renewed sense of enjoyment to Metroid Prime 2: Echoes. Take in the lush environments of Torvus Bog, and focus on your health - not your ammo - while venturing into the poisonous Dark Aether world, which will continually eat your suit, sapping Samus’ energy. The initial testers for the mod experienced a “relaxed feel and balanced difficulty” to the game.
So what other impacts does Unlimited Beams Authorized have to the game? The creators behind this mod were careful to preserve as much of the original game as possible. You will be relieved to hear that Missiles, Energy, and Powerbombs all drop as normal, and from the correct enemies, as well. Most* of the bosses still drop energy and missiles after you’ve defeated them, while a couple fights may feel even more intense than before.
Will this affect my logbook scans, or my item completion rate if ammo is removed? No, common item pickups aren’t counted as scans for the logbook in Metroid Prime 2, and Beam Ammo Expansions are still collectable pickups, and still count toward 100% item completion.
Save file compatibility will still be the same. You will be able to use your existing Metroid Prime 2: Echoes save file with Unlimited Beams Authorized, and freely switch between the original game and U.B.A. without fear of corrupting or changing anything important in your saves.
In the 1.0 release, no script changes were made. However, a language patch is planned with a future update. It will change some of the in-game text (for example, upon picking up a Beam Ammo Expansion) to talk about the items in the past-tense, for example, as if they were for someone else. The language patch will be completely optional and will be able to be selected using the patcher utility.
Let’s talk about some more changes and features.
U.B.A. features additional alternate playstyles. There are two secret “hardmodes” that can be enabled using the patcher utility. When asked whether to “keep” or “remove” the ammo bars, simply press either the “h” or “s” key to activate them. Pressing “h” activates Hardmode1, while press “s” activates Hardmode2. They both make the game much harder: Since no ammo is dropped from the game, then Samus will have to search elsewhere for her ammo. But Samus will still use her beam ammo… truly a hard mode! Hardmode2 takes this a step further and removes Samus’ beam ammo counter and beam ammo bars, keeping Samus in the dark on how much beam ammo she has left (beam ammo can still be refilled at ammo stations and her gunship.
In multiplayer mode, all players are now given unlimited beam ammo. Simply pickup one of Samus’ beam weapon upgrades and you’re good to go.
The authors of the mod hope you will enjoy Unlimited Beams Authorized, and they hope to see more Metroid Prime mods in the future.
Notes.
While it was mentioned that most bosses will drop energy and missiles afterward, 1.0 users should be warned that Alpha Blogg, Grapple Guardian, Dark Samus 2, and the entire final fight will not drop any items at all. A fix is planned for some of these bosses in a future update.
As well, most swarm enemies in the game will not drop either energy or missiles, either. This includes Hydlings, Dark Chykka’s chyklings, and Ing Larva Swarms, to name a few. It is best if these swarm enemies are seen as destructible hazards, instead.
https://www.romhacking.net/hacks/5057/
In an alternate timeline…
Metroid Prime 2: Echoes on the Gamecube and in Metroid Prime Trilogy for the Wii was an anomaly to the Metroid series, giving Samus limited shots of her ‘Light’ and ‘Dark’ beam weapons. Since its release in 2004, many Metroid fans have wondered: What would Metroid Prime 2 have been like without beam ammo?
The fan mod Metroid Prime 2: Unlimited Beams Authorized answers just that. Compatible for all GCN regions and for the USA Trilogy, U.B.A. gives Samus her energy back, and removes beam ammo from the game entirely. Players will no longer expect to see beam ammo pickups drop from crates, enemies, or environmental debris. Samus’ HUD graphics in her visor for her beams are gone as well: players will be able to choose using the patcher utility whether to keep or remove her beam ammo bars, which can be used instead to indicate how many beam ammo expansions Samus has picked up on her journey. The number display which acts as the beam ammo counter, however, is removed by default.
“U.B.A.” gives gives a renewed sense of enjoyment to Metroid Prime 2: Echoes. Take in the lush environments of Torvus Bog, and focus on your health - not your ammo - while venturing into the poisonous Dark Aether world, which will continually eat your suit, sapping Samus’ energy. The initial testers for the mod experienced a “relaxed feel and balanced difficulty” to the game.
So what other impacts does Unlimited Beams Authorized have to the game? The creators behind this mod were careful to preserve as much of the original game as possible. You will be relieved to hear that Missiles, Energy, and Powerbombs all drop as normal, and from the correct enemies, as well. Most* of the bosses still drop energy and missiles after you’ve defeated them, while a couple fights may feel even more intense than before.
Will this affect my logbook scans, or my item completion rate if ammo is removed? No, common item pickups aren’t counted as scans for the logbook in Metroid Prime 2, and Beam Ammo Expansions are still collectable pickups, and still count toward 100% item completion.
Save file compatibility will still be the same. You will be able to use your existing Metroid Prime 2: Echoes save file with Unlimited Beams Authorized, and freely switch between the original game and U.B.A. without fear of corrupting or changing anything important in your saves.
In the 1.0 release, no script changes were made. However, a language patch is planned with a future update. It will change some of the in-game text (for example, upon picking up a Beam Ammo Expansion) to talk about the items in the past-tense, for example, as if they were for someone else. The language patch will be completely optional and will be able to be selected using the patcher utility.
Let’s talk about some more changes and features.
U.B.A. features additional alternate playstyles. There are two secret “hardmodes” that can be enabled using the patcher utility. When asked whether to “keep” or “remove” the ammo bars, simply press either the “h” or “s” key to activate them. Pressing “h” activates Hardmode1, while press “s” activates Hardmode2. They both make the game much harder: Since no ammo is dropped from the game, then Samus will have to search elsewhere for her ammo. But Samus will still use her beam ammo… truly a hard mode! Hardmode2 takes this a step further and removes Samus’ beam ammo counter and beam ammo bars, keeping Samus in the dark on how much beam ammo she has left (beam ammo can still be refilled at ammo stations and her gunship.
In multiplayer mode, all players are now given unlimited beam ammo. Simply pickup one of Samus’ beam weapon upgrades and you’re good to go.
The authors of the mod hope you will enjoy Unlimited Beams Authorized, and they hope to see more Metroid Prime mods in the future.
Notes.
While it was mentioned that most bosses will drop energy and missiles afterward, 1.0 users should be warned that Alpha Blogg, Grapple Guardian, Dark Samus 2, and the entire final fight will not drop any items at all. A fix is planned for some of these bosses in a future update.
As well, most swarm enemies in the game will not drop either energy or missiles, either. This includes Hydlings, Dark Chykka’s chyklings, and Ing Larva Swarms, to name a few. It is best if these swarm enemies are seen as destructible hazards, instead.
https://www.romhacking.net/hacks/5057/