Temple of the Winds

Temple of the Winds
Release date: Jul 04, 2020	Author: Moehr and Albert V.	Download: Widescreen Patch for BSnes emulator (1528 downloads) Download: Temple of the Winds 3.1 player manual (2478 downloads) Download: Temple of the Winds 3.1 IPS file (4538 downloads) (1642 downloads of previous versions)
Genre: Exploration [?] Game:	Difficulty: Veteran [?]	Average runtime: 1:58 Average collection: 82%
Read Me: [None]	Forum Thread: Temple of the Winds forum thread	Rating:
	Awards: Top Hacks 2020: Most Creative Gameplay

Description

One-region exploration/puzzle hack focusing on using new items to overcome challenges.

Temple of the Winds
a Super Metroid hack by Moehr and Albert V.

This is the first hack of 'A Hunter Born' series

New version 3.0 update:
several quality of life improvements and bug fixes, including two additional save zones, less deadly poison, fixes to the Cyclone Beam and the boost to Thunder's power.

Also there is a widescreen patch for this hack, available below.

It is meant to be used with the attached manual, if you so choose, which has some additional background content.

Manual is recommended due to custom items and some new things old abilities can do now.

Download manual here [or from forum link below]:
https://onedrive.live.com/?authkey=%21AOu%5FfxMxnxYCb%5FQ&cid=8C954C0452A13A54&id=8C954C0452A13A54%213354&parId=8C954C0452A13A54%21805&o=OneUp

Foreseeing a future disaster, the Chozo have sent you to an ancient temple to recover the artifacts there as the next stage of your training.

Special thanks to the following community members:
ASM/Patches: P.JBoy, Smiley, Scyzer, Benox, Amoeba, Testrunner, Dewhi100, JAM
Test Group A: Benox, Aran;Jaeger
Test Group B: Paragon, Dewhi100, Sapphron, Bob4224, Oneof99, Mentlegen
Test Group C: LilWombat, CyriouslyDylan, Obsidian_Vanir

Hack is one region focusing on exploring and use of edited items, completion percent is 100%

Screenshots

Ratings and Reviews

By Sapphron on Jul 04, 2020 (

)

100% in 0:49

Best hack of 2020 (or Vitality, or Y-Faster 2).
Tons of custom ASM and an unforgettable experience overall. Tilesets make the world come alive and the music is legendary.
Play this.

By benox50 on Jul 04, 2020 (

)

68% in 2:44

Handsome piece of art, really unique, immersive and full of surprises. Does some new things never seen before in SM. Thumbs-up to Moehr for trying something really different than what we are used to, pushing the custom far and its all original. And thumbs-up to Albert V. for destroying the limits of the snes visually once again. Its hard and some rooms contain big frustration and not the good kind of difficulty, but its an experience worth discovering!

By Syphon on Jul 04, 2020 (

)

86% in 1:38

An excellent and very immmersive hack with amazing music and visuals.

I'm a big fan of hacks that try new stuff and include custom things. This was a very unique experience.
Also I'm really amazed at the effort that went into the manual. Looks really great.

Fully recommended.

By RT-55J on Jul 05, 2020 (

)

80% in 1:50

Really pretty looking, and some nice custom music. Some standout ASM work as well.

The whirlwinds feel a bit too finicky to navigate and I take some issue with the lack of refills from (most) enemies. The result is that the game always feels like it's providing almost a little too much friction against the player.

Other than those complaints, this is pretty solid all around.

By caauyjdp on Jul 05, 2020 (

)

97% in 3:37

Play this.

By Metaquarius on Jul 05, 2020 (

)

60% in 0:47

This hack is full of unique but also stupid surprises. I have managed to finish it but still confused by it. Some of its mechanics and new item functions aren't very well conveyed, you probably must read the manual for that.
More importantly, there are some annoyances in the level design and in the enemy department. Later in the game, they are literally spawning and re-spawning on your face which gets old very fast. Not to mention invisible enemies... This is where I started to use save states since you can't regain health whenever you want.
Other than that, echoing what others said about graphics. Custom music is not as memorable as Clocktoberfest but still nice and original.

By Digital_Mantra on Jul 06, 2020 (

)

No completion stats.

Temple of the Winds is an ambitious hack, it's unique and it's clear there was love put into it, from the room design, world building lore, and the inclusion of a manual.
The graphics, music and concepts were good, but it was a clustered undertaking weighed down by obfuscating gameplay that demands perusing the included manual.
'What do I do?' and 'What did I do?' were questions repeating in my mind. The challenge was deadly if I ventured out of the intended sequence, and dying and retrying is a motif that demotivates me.
If you're looking for a hack with tonnes of fresh ideas and some genuine 'wow' moments, TotW provides.. unfortunately it's laden cryptic undertones made for an experience that wasn't gamer friendly.

By Boomerang on Aug 10, 2020 (

)

91% in 2:47

To mirror what others have said, Temple of the Winds is an incredibly ambitious hack that pulls out all the stops to craft a very unique and stylish experience, pushing Super Metroid to its limits. It's an audiovisual treat from beginning to end, with Albert V. and Moehr's lush tilework and the completely new custom music bringing the world to life. A lot of love clearly went into giving this hack its own setting and lore that borrows almost nothing from the series' mythology. Much was also done to give the powerups their own identity - most SM hacks don't deviate all that much aside from the vanilla upgrades and one or two new upgrades - with an almost wholly unique arsenal for Samus to play with.

That all being said, it's unfortunate that the hack has quite a few shortcomings.

As I had feared from the outset, the gorgeous environments are nice to look at, but a bit finicky to navigate. There were frequent instances in which I bonked against some level geometry that wasn't entirely clear whether I could pass through or not, particularly in the ruins below the starting area. There were pillars that were dimly lit and made me think they were part of the background, only to find out it was a wall. Painstaking effort was made to make the environments look as natural as possible, at the cost of creating awkward little tunnels or crevices that didn't gel well with the relatively unchanged movement mechanics. It made traveling through the world more of a pain as the game went on, and deterred me from really scouring the hack to get that nice 100% collection rate. There's a fine line artists working with SNES graphics have to tread: visually striking imagery like the ones found in this hack obfuscate the level geometry and tends to leave players confused as to how they can actually navigate it. There's a sort of immediate, recognizable "readability" that's sacrificed if you go too far in the "artistic" direction. On the other hand, make things too rudimentary to serve the gameplay and you have a bland world to explore. Temple of the Winds certainly skews far into the "artistic" direction, and for the most part it works, but there are some areas that could use some work as far as playability goes.

On a similar note, I appreciate the genuine effort that went into putting actual puzzles into the level design. Unfortunately, Super Metroid is so painfully limited in this regard that pretty much every attempt to innovate in this area ends with what also happens in this romhack: things just feel random and arbitrary, and I stumbled on the solution without even realizing there was a puzzle in the first place. Errant pots that can be broken to reveal Thunder upgrades that don't look visually any different from another pot you can't interact with; random switches that break otherwise non-interactive blocks a few screens away; weird roomstate changes that require you to exit and re-enter a room to acquire the item within; and other examples fall into this category. That isn't to say there aren't good puzzles in Temple of the Winds, because there are.

Lastly, the new mechanics, while fresh and innovative, are also unpolished and are more frustrating than what was probably intended. The nature of the whirlwinds made me second-guess myself multiple times, as even after collecting the intended upgrade necessary to bypass them, there was still enough resistance in bypassing those obstacles that made me feel as though I had missed an upgrade, only to later realize that the finicky, weird thing I was trying to do before was the intended solution. When creating obstacles like these in a game, there has to be a clear indication that you're doing the right thing - Super Metroid does this by having audiovisual language that doesn't leave much room for misinterpretation or second-guesses. There's no misinterpreting the function and correct execution of the grapple beam, or the bombs, or the speed booster. But the Cloud Boots still make the whirlwinds offer a hefty amount of resistance to your jumps and, along with the sometimes finicky level geometry, might leave you getting sent right back to your ship. This situation is emblematic of a couple of situations in the game and could be solved by making this a bit more clear for the player, such as making different graphics for different kinds of cyclones (since they don't all work the same way) and having the Cloud Boots completely nullify the effects of just one type of whirlwind. Just spitballing ideas here - I don't know how feasible that would be.

If I appear critical, it's because I see great potential here. As mentioned before - this hack is a stunning piece of work that should be experienced at least once. There's a lot to love here - it's just buried under a bit of rough edges. I look forward to Albert V.'s and Moehr's contributions in the future!

By MetroidMst on Sep 29, 2020 (

)

94% in 2:05

This is a very interesting hack that tones the Moehr confusion down slightly. The hack looks quite nice, and has a few new bosses thrown in. The simplest of which is one of the best things I have come across.

This is worth a play, though do keep in mind it is a hack that can give you some trouble seeing what is foreground and what is background.

By ocesse on Sep 29, 2020 (

)

78% in 2:20

Temple of the Winds v2.1 is a game that has amazing graphics, custom enemies, a lot of gfx additions and an awesome Mode 7 background that serves as an introduction to the last part of the game, in addition to an excellent soundtrack. Play this game, but please read the manual first so that you understand your mission better.

By Kremit44 on Oct 16, 2020 (

)

No completion stats.

It's really cool but it's quite short and some odd design decisions hold it back from it's true potential IMO. It's very cool but I found it a little less fun than ideal in some places. Given it's scope a 5 would have been hard for me to give it and then in conjunction with it's design flaws I felt like a 3.5 was the most appropriate score. I rounded up to a 4 since it manages to be so unique. I don't consider this an essential experience but I would call it one of the more interesting ones and I was certainly happy to have played it. Thanks to the creators for the cool hack.

By Paragon on Nov 18, 2020 (

)

99% in 1:09

Very highly exploration-based, extremely beautiful, and the music is wonderful. There are a couple of frustrating parts, but overall, it was a very fun experience and the first hack I've ever completed. I highly recommend this one!

By Munchy on Nov 28, 2020 (

)

63% in 1:16

Really enjoyed this. lots of very interesting ideas and themes.

I liked the limited energy, it made the whole thing feel more tense and like you were always being pushed. I can see some players having issue with that; from my PoV, it reflects the fact that ToW is trying to focus on difference at every turn (mercifully, without drastic changes to Samus' physics).

I don't wanna spoil too much cos there are a lot of excellent things to discover in this hack! Suffice to say I can't say too much without giving spoilers!

my only gripes are small:
- I prefer more spacious playing areas, everything felt very claustrophobic somehow. like every screen had to be full to the brim with things obstructing my path.
- The whirlwind mechanics got a little old after a while

all that said, still 5/5 from me :)

By brized on Jan 29, 2021 (

)

No completion stats.

An ambitious romhack that misses some design fundamentals.

Part of the Metroid formula is Samus getting energy/ammo from enemies.
Taking that out changes the dynamics of the game: Mistakes become much more punishing.

This could work if areas were designed as small, 1-15 minute courses to be completed with limited resources, punctuated with save and refill stations. Instead, the course is the whole map, your only refill station is your ship, and save stations recover you to only half health.
The medicine and thunder pickups don't fill the gap effectively.

The new and modded mechanics aren't clearly communicated within the game. The whirlwinds aren't predictable. I defeated the new boss by just tanking it instead of doing whatever I should have done, which wasn't clear.

To reveal problems like these early in production, iterate more on design through playtesting with fresh players. Observe when they get frustrated or miss key things, and deduce what's causing it. Test new concepts in small chunks before developing bigger chunks.

By Insomnia Speed on Mar 14, 2021 (

)

90% in 2:57

very special hack. A lot of unique designs. But this hack aslo made me so confused. lack of energy and ammo is a torture to me. so much frustration to play this hack.

By VirtueAvatar on Mar 20, 2021 (

)

No completion stats.

Echoing a lot of the positive sentiments here, but make no mistake, this is a technical hack. There are a lot of fidgety jumps that you need to be able to make to progress, even in the very beginning. Just knowing how to wall jump consistently in Super Metroid is not enough.

By therealsusan on May 08, 2021 (

)

78% in 2:21

Probably the prettiest hack out there. Coolest map I've seen to go with it. Only time I've seen mode 7 in a hack. 5/5* in that department.

Gameplay is decent. Confusing at times. Often clunky. Some trolly enemies. 3/5* here.

By Pixel_Tiger on May 24, 2021 (

)

80% in 0:00

Graphics look very good. Interesting item ideas and good room design. Sadly, if you don't know what you're looking for to progress you can get frustrated very quickly (reflecting enemies without certain item....why?) Getting chased around by mighty ghost bird without clues where to go or what to do is also bad. Endboss is a BIG MESS and ruined the end for me as it kept falling back down (could be solved easily with ONE WAY blocks to pass through from only below!)

I'd recommend it but only if you're bored, look for something eye pleasing or aren't easily frustrated!

By LetsPlayNintendoITA on Jun 24, 2021 (

)

100% in 2:13

So. this hack. is one of the most creative I've seen.
Complete overhaul change of SM.
New mechanics. New music. New power ups. All new enemies. New attacks from enemies. All new. New hazards. New movements. You'll see a planet unlike anything you've seen before. Even the map is a riddle. And the surprise on the right side... O boy... that was amazing.
If you're in search of a "short" but interesting hack, complete with a MANUAL including lore and help too. Play this. Very nice. 5/5.
Can't wait for the sequel!

By SpookerK on Nov 25, 2021 (

)

No completion stats.

By KPF on Jan 18, 2022 (

)

45% in 3:15

This is a decent Hack. Very original layout. But I started getting bored with it after a while. Don't get me wrong it's a good hack. Just needs a little polish.

By Zhs2 on Feb 16, 2022 (

)

83% in 1:16

Wow. That's pretty much the only syllable this hack left me with from beginning to end. There were a couple of questionable design decisions such as basic reflec enemies and use of stupid random conveyor belts but none of these elements were too overbearing or a hindrance to an otherwise amazing hack. The key point of frustration as I understand it is that if you do not tie down exploring all of the item rooms you can find your way to you will have a bad time, and that's the main draw this hack has. If you do, though, you will find enough equipment, ammo, and health to last you through the entire hack without needing to return to the ship as the readme suggests. There were quite a lot of creative minibosses using regular enemies rooms in this, and the only annoying ones were that unkillable flying enemy and Bomb Torizo enemy destroy block abuse, which you will not survive without finding enough power stones. All in all worth a playthrough, but make sure you scour every corner and take the hints seriously. Low % would be a nightmare.

By Zincoshine on Jul 15, 2022 (

)

71% in 1:39

One of the most ambitious and creative hacks ever made. unfortunately, there was no one to put all that creating energy into a cohesive experience as the level design fundamentals were poorly applied to the new mechanics. The list of issues is practically endless but the good news is that I have QA'd this together with Moehr and he might be releasing a new version with some fixes eventually. perhaps then this can get a recommendation.

By RX-78-2 on Feb 20, 2023 (

)

95% in 1:12

amazing hack, I personally like the morph resprite and the guardian wings item along with wind walk (I mean seriously, charging a spark in literally a second is OP).. the hack isn't too hard to complete and it's pretty easy when speedrunning or going for 100% like I did.. I really like the puzzles and challenges in this hack tbh.. I can see why this hack is labeled a "top hack" on this site, it's a real fun and unique hack that I'd definitely recommend to anyone

Finished
Recommend

By FPzero on Feb 13, 2024 (

)

91% in 1:42

There are so many interesting little custom additions here that it's a shame to rate the hack a 3/5 but I just had so many problems with the game's execution that I can't overlook them. First off, no matter what else I say here I need to get out of the way that the game is absolutely beautiful to look at in all areas and most items are really interesting to play with. Certainly an insane amount of work went into the hack's creation and I want to make sure I give credit where it's due in my review. The Mode 7 bit zooming into the final area is super neat to see, using Power Bombs to evaporate water layers was inspired, and being able to do ultra short Speed Boosters was fun when the terrain allowed for it. Applause and congratulations are well-deserved for the hack's creation.

I'll start from the beginning. The whirlwinds are thematic but rather annoying to have to leap through often, leading to awkward platforming right from the word Go. The hack also has a fondness for making unmarked crumble blocks be the triggers for other blocks to break or move, and you'll immediately run into this when you try and get the Cloud Boots, and it will show up again multiple times during the playthrough. Level design is alright but not amazing. Individual rooms tended to be cramped and full of enemies, and without any kind of normal Bomb or X-Ray there's no real good way to search for secrets or check if something needs to be crumbled without standing on random tiles. Grapple use is abundant early on, sometimes over pits that transition you to a previous room, making you go all the way back around to try again. I did feel rather confused navigating the world at times. I don't know why I had so much trouble finding my bearings in such a small hack but I did, over and over. I think part of it was the random times I got warped to places without a firm understanding of why. Like, there's a warp that seems to happen in the right side of the main temple that takes you all the way back to the start by the map station, and then if you speed boost through the bridge in that very same room you end up warping to the side temple where Windwalk is. There were also a few times where room events seemed to trigger, and then somehow untrigger, and sometimes that even meant the addition or removal of water or heatwave from areas.

This is all complicated by the enemies in the hack. I don't know what it was, but I just had so much trouble dealing with them. A lot of them have projectiles, reflectors, or will do their best to slam into you as quickly as possible. Not to mention, you generally have to stop to deal with enemies because they take multiple hits. The reflector enemies were especially slow to deal with because you had to switch to Grapple to defeat the reflector, then back to a weapon to finish them off. My health was constantly taking a beating throughout, and I really didn't appreciate the addition of Poison tanks hurting me even further. Like, why is that a thing at all, especially when they look exactly like the Medicine tanks? Bosses were also not great. The big statue one in the Windwalk temple felt like nothing more than a damage race where you just tank hits as best you can while being conveyed around the arena firing Thunder shots until one of you dies. The Wizard thing was kind of neat but was mostly a gimmick fight once you realized you could destroy the top white orb without damaging yourself. Finally, the Torizo at the end was just a painful slog as you need to escort quest him all over the room to break walls. At first I thought I was totally missing something as he didn't want to break the right wall at the bottom, so I fired everything at him uselessly until he died. It's just not a very fun fight.

Speaking of fun, I just wish I had more of it while playing. The effort is clearly here visually and in new custom aspects, but I feel like the level design fundamentals are lacking throughout. Given that you're constantly interacting with the world, you gotta make sure it feels good to play, move around, and fight foes. Beautification and cool ideas only go so far, and for me, that's why my rating is the way it is.

By H A M on Feb 13, 2024 (

)

No completion stats.

Spoiler: The block reforms in medicine and the block doesn't reform in poison.

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