MZM Randomizer GBA

MZM Randomizer
General
Author	biospark
Type	Hack Utilities
Version	1.5.0
License	Mixed
Last Updated	2023/08/10
Links
Download
Website

A randomizer for Metroid Zero Mission. Currently randomizes item locations and palettes. It is only compatible with the North American (U) version of the game.

Features

• Randomize item locations.
• Randomize palettes.
• Randomize enemies (somethat limited).

User guide

To start, open an unmodified ROM of Metroid Zero Mission. ROMs that have been previously randomized cannot be used. Once the ROM is open, you can select a variety of randomization settings. All of the settings have tooltips if you hover over them, which explain their functions. You can reuse settings by saving them to a file and loading them later. You can also load settings from a string, which can be found after randomization or in a log file.

You can specify the seed to use for randomization, which must be a number between 0 and 2147483647. If left blank, a random seed will be chosen. Unless you're using the same seed and settings as someone else, there's no reason to provide a seed.

Click on the gear icon to bring up application settings. Here, you can enable some time-saving options, including automatically loading the previous ROM and randomization settings, and always saving a log file and map images.

Items

You can randomize the location of abilities (such as Wave Beam, Hi-Jump, etc.), tanks (Energy, Missile, Super Missile, Power Bomb), or both. You can also remove up to 90 items. Removed items are marked as collected on the minimap.

The Game Completion setting places restrictions on where items are located:

• No logic - No restrictions. However, you will immediately get stuck if Morph Ball is not the first item.
• Beatable - Enough items can be obtained to beat the game.
• 100% - All items can be obtained.

There are two settings that remove item requirements:

• One makes Metroids vulnerable to missiles when not frozen.
• The other makes black space pirates vulnerable to beams other than Plasma. Neither of these items is required elsewhere.

The No PBs before Chozodia setting places restrictions on where Power Bombs are located:

• No Power Bombs can be obtained to enter Chozodia early, forcing you to fight Mother Brain and do the suitless sequence.
• Normally the game will softlock if you obtain Power Bombs before Bombs, but the game has been modified to prevent this.

The Chozo statue hints setting makes Chozo statues show the new location of each item.

• For example, the very first Chozo statue in the game will show where Long Beam is.
• If left unselected, Chozo statues won't show any hints.

If you aren't skilled at bomb jumping or wall jumping, you can leave these options unselected. This will ensure that these tricks are never required to beat the game (if you selected "Beatable") or collect all the items (if you selected "100%").

Locations

You can specify what to do with the item at each location. By default, every item is included in the pool for randomization.

For each location, you can leave it as random, remove the item, or set it to a specific item.

Palettes

You can randomize the colors of tilesets, enemies, Samus, and beams.

This works by changing the hue of each palette (much like rotating a color wheel). You can specify the hue rotation range, between 0-180 degrees.

For each palette, the hue is randomly rotated clockwise or counter-clockwise by a random amount within the range.

Misc

There are a variety of options you can select that affect gameplay, most of which are enhancements.

The Obtain unknown items option is taken into account by the Game Completion setting.

There's also an option to randomize enemies, but it's somewhat limited for now.

Screenshots

Changelog

1.5.0 2023/08/10

• New item placement system with customizable logic by Dragonfangs.
• Added options to disable wall jumping and infinite bomb jumping.
• Fixed "Skip suitless sequence" when "Remove cutscenes" is also enabled.
• Improved palette randomization by using CIELAB color space.
• Fixed bug where user settings from previous version could prevent program from loading.
• Fixed bug where loading a config string wouldn't reset custom item assignments.
• Fixed bug where manually removing items at locations wouldn't update the minimap.
• Simplified program settings.
• Moved config string settings to separate window.
• Added reset button to "Locations" tab.
• Added item numbers to included map images.
• Config strings from previous versions are no longer valid.

1.4.0 2021/07/05

• Added option to randomize abilities and tanks separately.
• Added option to specify number of abilities to remove.
• Added option to randomize Samus palettes.
• Improved performance of Locations tab.
• Under Game Completion, renamed "Unchanged" to "No logic".
• "Remove cutscenes" option removes a couple more cutscenes.
• Doubled map image sizes.
• Floating-eye sensors are now always vulnerable.
• Customized title screen graphics.

1.3.2 2020/12/01

• Config strings from version 1.3.0 and later are now compatible.
• Fixed bug where enemies were always randomized.

1.3.1 2020/11/27

• Fixed bug where selecting "Unchanged" for game completion would crash the program.
• Fixed extra long config strings in the intro text.
• Added warning when trying to overwrite the original ROM file.
• Minor item logic fixes.

1.3.0 2020/11/24

• Added option to remove up to 90 items.
• Added option to provide custom item assignments.
• Added option to randomize enemies.
• Added option to skip door transitions.
• Removed option to remove Varia Suit animation (now it is always removed).
• Removed option to remove Norfair vine (now it is always removed).
• Fixed bug with hue rotation.
• Fixed probability of Space Jump replacing Morph Ball (was too low before).
• Added hash icons to file select screen.
• Title screen demos are now disabled.
• Shooting Ruins Test with a non-pistol beam now hurts Samus.
• Triggering the alarm in Chozodia never changes the music.
• Removed duplicate versions of rooms in Crateria.
• Fixed bug where Varia Suit's item wouldn't spawn after obtaining fully powered suit.
• Fixed music that plays when suitless sequence is skipped.
• Config strings from previous versions are no longer valid.

1.2.1 2018/10/13

• Improvements to item requirement logic.
• Added potential for Space Jump to replace Morph Ball.

1.2.0 2018/10/11

• Power Bombs can be obtained before Bombs without softlocking the game.
• Redefined item requirement logic to account for Power Bomb fix.
• Modified palette randomization to adjust for brightness.
• Randomizer version, seed, and settings are now provided during the intro cutscene.
• "Remove cutscenes" option removes a few more cutscenes.
• Added "Chozo statue hints" option for item randomization.
• Added "Infinite bomb jump" and "Wall jumping" options for item randomization.
• Added application settings with some time-saving options.

1.1.0 2018/01/12

• Fixed Power Bomb placement when "Obtain unknown items" is selected.
• Settings aren't reset after randomizing.
• Added option to skip suitless sequence.
• Fixed requirements for Long Beam's item.
• Added automatic conversion for older settings.

1.0.0 2017/12/21

• Initial release.

External links

• Metroid Construction - http://forum.metroidconstruction.com/index.php/topic,4559.0.html
• Romhacking.net - https://www.romhacking.net/utilities/1371/