The 1.5 Influences

Metroid 1.5 Document said: The Alien inhabitants of the ship are also in a state of suspended animation Click to expand...

Metroid 1.5 Document said: because as the ship travels through the parallel dimension Click to expand...

Metroid 1.5 Document said: Due to being in a parallel dimension, there are areas within the ship where floors may become ceiling due to gravity being reversed, Time may run backwards, (illustrated by creatures and machines moving in reverse, water moving up into a faucet) and other sorts of environmental weirdness, that Click to expand...

Metroid 1.5 Document said: As the ship reaches its target, it will unfold into this dimension Click to expand...

Metroid 1.5 Document said: the robotic and automated entities [...] these will be the primary enemies that Samus must deal with Click to expand...

Metroid 1.5 Document said: Industrial factory section, where all weapons of war are made, lots of conveyor belts and mechanical machinery Click to expand...

Metroid 1.5 Document said: Robot factory section, where Samus would have to sabotage the machinery that is responsible for the creation of all robotic entitles Click to expand...

Metroid 1.5 Document said:

Shock Beast: Click to expand...

Metroid 1.5 Document said: All this can boil down to perhaps having an end boss become an EVIL SAMUS. Much like fighting yourself in the old Sega Genesis Game, Budokan, and of course, Metroid Fusion… Click to expand...

Metroid Prime’s horrifying agenda?

Metroid 1.5 Document said: The Main reason Samus and possibly other Bounty Hunters are being pulled into this ship is to assimilate their best and most deadly abilities into the personality construct of not only the ships AI, but also into the actual Alien Inhabitants in order to further their quest for perfection. As the ship reaches its target, it will unfold into this dimension and begin its attack. This has what the ship and Alien race who created it has have been doing for past thousand or so years, going from planet to planet, assimilating the most violent parts of a culture and asserting it into its own being. Click to expand...

Further unused Dark Samus designs: There were a number of very different portrayals of Dark Samus until the glowing-blue doppelganger was settled on.

Black/Dark Grey Samus

Armoured Samus

Organic Samus

Opening Storyboards

The inaccessible, unscannable Airthorns

"Mechanism: Airthorns. Rogue airborne mechanoids. Targets are small and travel in packs for safety. Avoid contact." "The Luminoth made the Airthorn to patrol local airspace. The small, speedy machines were a boon to the war effort until their programming failed. Now rogue, they serve the Ing as fiercely as they served their creators." Click to expand...

Obsolete Scan Entries

Alpha Sandworm Alpha Splinter Amorbis Amorbis 1 Amorbis 2 Aquatic Atomic Baby Blogg Baby Metroid Bacteria Swarm Beta Atomic Blogg Bomb Guardian Boost Guardian Brizgee Chykka Chykka 1 Chykka 2 Chykka 3 Chykka 4 Commando Pirate Contraption Creatures Crystallite Dark Alpha Splinter Dark Aquatic Dark Beta Atomic Dark Blogg Dark Commando Dark Flyer Dark Flyers Dark Flying Pirate Dark Grenchler Dark Ingsmasher Dark Mechanoids Dark Metaree Dark Metroid Dark Missile Trooper Dark Predators Dark Preed Dark Puddlespore Dark Samus Dark Samus 1 Dark Samus 2 Dark Samus 3 Dark Samus 4 Dark Sentients Dark Shredder Dark Space Pirate Dark Splinter Dark Splinter Dark Splitter Dark Splitter Head Dark Sporb Dark Triclops Dark Trooper Dark War Wasp Dark World Darklings Death Eyes Digital Flyer Swarm Digital Guardian Digital Guardian 1 Digital Guardian 2 Digital Guardian 3 Digital Guardian 4 Digital Guardian 5 Digital Scrubber Digital WallWalker Elite Pirate Emperor Ing Emperor Ing 1 Emperor Ing 1A Emperor Ing 2 Emperor Ing 3 Emperor Ing 4 Flying Flying Pirate GF Turret Glowbug Grapple Guardian Green Kralee Grenadier Pirate Grenchler Ground Guardians Heavy Pirate Turret Ing Ing Swarm Jump Guardian Kenobite Kralee Krocuss Large Aquatic Large Flyers Large Mech Large Sub Light World Lumite Manned Turret Mechanoids Mechlops Medium Ing Mega Blogg Metaree Metaree Swarm Metroid Metroids Minirees Minor Ing Octopede Offworld Pillbug Pirate Turret Pirates Plant Swarm Power Bomb Guardian Predators Puddlespore Puffer Rezbit Sandbats Sandworm Sentient Shredder Shrieker Small Aquatic Small Flyers Small Mech Small Sub Space Pirate Spider Guardian Splinter Splitter Body Splitter Head Sporb Stationary Mech Stone Toad SubGuardians Surface Swimmer Swarm Triangle Swarm Triclops Tunnellers Tunnels War Wasp Warrior Ing Wisp Tentacle Worker Splinter Zoomer Aether Aether Studies Annhilator Beam Annhilator Bomb Armor Beacon Crystals Beam Combo Beam Expansion Beam Weapons Biology Bladepods Bloatsac Blue Eyes Blueroot Bomb Systems Bombslot Boost Ball Charge Beam Charge Combos Cliff Key 1 Cliff Key 2 Cliff Key 3 Cliff Keys Cocoons Combat Visor Crystals Dark Aether Dark Beam Dark Bomb Dark Lift Crystal Dark Portal Dark Suit Dark Temple Key Dark Visor Dark Webbing Dark World Darkburst ETM Echo Visor Energized Beacon Energized Crystal Energy Tank Engineering GF Bridge GF Gate 6 GF Gate 7 GF Lock GF Shield GF Ship Generator Grapple Beam Grapple Point Gravity Boost Imploder Inactive Beacon Ing Ball Ing Breather Ing Breather Ambient Lift Crystals Light Beacon Light Beam Light Bomb Light Crystal Light Crystals Light Lift Crystal Light Portal Light Suit Light World Lightblast MB Cannon Metroid Hive Miscellaneous Missile Expansion Missile Launcher Missile Systems Morph Ball Morph Ball Bomb Morph Ball Systems Morph Balls Movement Systems Nullified Beacon Nullified Crystal Phazon Piggy Plant Pirate Skiff Plant Lift Crystal Plantforms Power Beam Power Bomb Power Bomb Expansion Red Eyes Research Samus Ship Sand Crate Sand Grass Sand Key 1 Sand Key 2 Sand Key 3 Sand Keys Scan Visor Screw Attack Security Seeker Missile Launcher Shatterglobe Space Jump Boots Spider Ball Spiderball Track Spinner Splinter Cocoon Storage Plants Suit Expansions Super Missile Supercharged Beacon Supercharged Crystal Swamp Crate Swamp Key 1 Swamp Key 2 Swamp Key 3 Swamp Keys Systems Technology Temple Key 1 Temple Key 2 Temple Key 3 Temple Key 4 Temple Key 5 Temple Key 6 Temple Key 7 Temple Key 8 Temple Key 9 Temple Keys Temple Keys Agon Temple Keys Fortress Temple Keys Temple Temple Keys Torvus Umos Utility Crystals Varia Suit Vehicles Visors Wall Jump Surface War Chest War Wasp Cocoon Weapon Systems Webbing Xenobiology Click to expand...

Removed bomb weapons

Removed optional weapons

Metroid Hive

Multiple Viruses

RezbitSuitSoftwareVirus

RezbitWeaponVirus Click to expand...

More Grandiose Emperor Ing Battle





Further exposure to Phazon has mutated the Emperor Ing. It is now capable of shielding its vulnerable areas with energy barriers. Beams of opposite polarity can damage these barriers, however. Heavy damage to these barriers will cause them to drop, exposing the creatures weak spots. Target the weak spots to immobilize and damage the enemy.



Mutated Emperor Ing's scan data refers to it putting up barriers around its weak points- of which there were multiple. You would have needed to switch beams to match the barrier color at the moment, and destroy the barrier before letting loose on that weak spot; presumably, after a point either the barrier would be restored or the weak spot destroyed, in either case forcing you to return to the prior state of pulling down the barriers. It's mentioned that these weak spots would be used to hinder and immobilize the Emperor Ing; this is in keeping with their known location, since they're actually still partially present!







The weak spots are five in total, one located behind each foot; they're invisible, non-solid, and vulnerable only to the Screw Attack in the final game. The Emperor Ing's script no longer has any reaction to being hit in them; it just continues moving. No barriers are put up, either. They're just there- bits of invisible collision that can be used to do severe damage to the Emperor Ing. However, quite a bit remains which suggests how the fight would have worked.







There are empty Ing "eye" sockets at the joint of each leg. A piece of concept art in the Image Gallery reveals that these were intended to have fleshy orbs matching the color of the core in them- the barriers, presumably. It can be assumed you'd have targeted and destroyed these (thus breaking their barriers, and leaving the empty sockets on the model) before attacking the weak point they protected. An unfinished, untextured model is present in metroid2.pak, with the Emperor Ing's used geometry. It's a small, irregular lump, similar in shape to the Inglet's eye but substantially larger, perfectly sized to fit into the sockets present on the legs. It's probable that this was the model used for the "eyes" there.







It should be noted that the game handles damage to these weak points and damage to the core differently; if the Emperor Ing is damaged using one of the weak points on his legs while the core is any color but red, and beam damage is dealt to the core after this but before it changes color, all of the damage dealt through the old weak points will be completely recovered. This means that the game keeps track of the damage dealt to these weak points separately, which suggests they were to be destructible. The code allowing the Emperor Ing to heal in this situation probably has something to do with the barrier color switching. The penultimate boss of the game, the Emperor Ing, has a few discrepancies in its final phase which suggest the fight was to be a much more complex, strategic affair than it wound up as.Mutated Emperor Ing's scan data refers to it putting up barriers around its weak points- of which there were multiple. You would have needed to switch beams to match the barrier color at the moment, and destroy the barrier before letting loose on that weak spot; presumably, after a point either the barrier would be restored or the weak spot destroyed, in either case forcing you to return to the prior state of pulling down the barriers. It's mentioned that these weak spots would be used to hinder and immobilize the Emperor Ing; this is in keeping with their known location, since they're actually still partially present!The weak spots are five in total, one located behind each foot; they're invisible, non-solid, and vulnerable only to the Screw Attack in the final game. The Emperor Ing's script no longer has any reaction to being hit in them; it just continues moving. No barriers are put up, either. They're just there- bits of invisible collision that can be used to do severe damage to the Emperor Ing. However, quite a bit remains which suggests how the fight would have worked.There are empty Ing "eye" sockets at the joint of each leg. A piece of concept art in the Image Gallery reveals that these were intended to have fleshy orbs matching the color of the core in them- the barriers, presumably. It can be assumed you'd have targeted and destroyed these (thus breaking their barriers, and leaving the empty sockets on the model) before attacking the weak point they protected. An unfinished, untextured model is present in metroid2.pak, with the Emperor Ing's used geometry. It's a small, irregular lump, similar in shape to the Inglet's eye but substantially larger, perfectly sized to fit into the sockets present on the legs. It's probable that this was the model used for the "eyes" there.It should be noted that the game handles damage to these weak points and damage to the core differently; if the Emperor Ing is damaged using one of the weak points on his legs while the core is any color but red, and beam damage is dealt to the core after this but before it changes color, all of the damage dealt through the old weak points will be completely recovered. This means that the game keeps track of the damage dealt to these weak points separately, which suggests they were to be destructible. The code allowing the Emperor Ing to heal in this situation probably has something to do with the barrier color switching. Click to expand...

Icemite

Unknown Creatures

”Celestial” Light Suit

Planned Final Boss

Alternate Bad Ending?

That’s everything

Following the success of the above two threads, this third submission will cover the changes in development, possible excised content and miscellaneous discoveries concerning Metroid Prime 2: Echoes.As with the previous threads, a lot of what you are about to read are my theories and potential conclusions as supported by the presented media.When the Metroid 1.5 Document was first discovered , quite a few Gaffers noticed some conceptual similarities with Metroid Prime 2’s final story. A few samples from the document:This idea of a hostile race in suspended animation was reinterpreted as the benevolent sleeping Luminoth.Rather than the ship travelling through a hyperspace parallel dimension, the coexisting worlds of Light and Dark Aether were introduced.This armada of automata would eventually be introduced as the robotic soldiers within the fallen Sanctuary Fortress.The Shock Beast design would be used as Metroid Prime 2’s incarnation of the Space Pirate troopers:This small consideration for a doppelganger of Samus, would eventually become the main story arc for the entire Metroid Prime trilogy.(Source: First image is part of the Metroid Prime 2: Concept Art released to the public, the second image is from Andrew “Android” Jones portfolio with no explicit description provided).These two concept pieces may be extremely early takes on the character of Dark Samus, and suggest that Retro may have been originally planning a far darker, grotesque direction for the character. This incarnation of Samus is a fleshy, grey, humanoid creature with a visor of glowing red energy. It seems that in first image shown, the Metroid Prime creature recreated itself into a basic bipedal shape that is somewhat featureless but still extremely alien.The second design retains the same grey texture, colouring and visor, but possesses a number of horrifying changes. This Samus has undergone a massive increase in size and musculature. From her previously-featureless body, a hellish organic armour made of flesh absorbed or copied from other creatures has manifested. A face and jaw similar to Ridley’s now protrudes from her shoulder, her right claw seems to have been taken from a Space Pirate appendage, her left knee bears what appears to be a Luminoth face, and her entire left arm has become a fearsome organic lance.Consider the ending of the first game: the Metroid Prime entity absorbed the armour (and residual DNA) from Samus, creating itself a new humanoid physical form. Perhaps Retro Studios at one point intended for Dark Samus to manifest this absorption ability throughout the trilogy, starting life as a featureless humanoid clone and eventually absorbing the corpses of her varied victims to become a horrific abomination of nature.This theory ties in with another (presumed abandoned) detail from the Metroid 1.5 Design Document.When Metroid Prime was defeated, it regenerated itself into a human shape. The original genetically programmed role of all Metroid creatures (to absorb X-Parasites) could have been distorted, causing the creature to desire the absorption of all flesh.If this theory holds any merit, then perhaps Retro originally intended Phazon to be entirely incidental to Dark Samus’ motives.(Source: Alejandro Roura, website now defunct)This incarnation of Dark Samus has an unreal quality to it, with the artwork showing her to be made up of "bubbles" of matter. The animation shows her sneaking around, an action that the highly volatile Dark Samus never performs during the final release. Could these designs have represented an early, weak and unstable incarnation of the creature, that must stealthily find Phazon to maintain a corporeal form and increase its power?This incarnation of Dark Samus is a grey, heavily armoured juggernaut. It seems to have a shape somewhat reminiscent of some of the Space Pirates (particularly in the upper torso). Possibly the intention with this design was not to make it too apparent who or what the creature was. Perhaps with each subsequent encounter, Samus would destroy more and more of the organic armour, revealing the transformed remnant of Metroid Prime beneath?This incarnation seems far more organic than the other designs, with stretched flesh clearly visible. The shoulders actually appear to have a Metroid-style membrane, and the design is similar in shape (though much darker) to the abandoned Humetroid design from Metroid 1.5:The organic qualities of this design seem to influence Dark Samus’ final form in the game’s final release.These are not excised content, but nonetheless provide a fascinating look at Retro Studios development of the opening story sequences of Metroid Prime 2. These appear to be the internal Retro Studios storyboards for the opening of the game, and I was surprised to discover them released for public consumptionThere is a particular creature on Dark Aether called an “Airthorn”. This creature is unique in that it only appears in a single location, while Samus is in Morph Ball mode. Consequently it can never be scanned in normal play.Through glitching, or examining the data on the game disc, the following Logbook Entry can be gathered:The retail Metroid Prime 2 disc has many old scan entries buried in its code. Some of these refer to excised items, enemies and environments:A few of the more interesting entries are highlighted. Many of these creatures are complete unknowns.From the above, we can speculate that the following may have been excised:It seems that light/dark attuned variations of the Power Bombs were intended. These appear to have been excised early in development.A possible application for the “Light Bomb” could be the creation of light fields in on Dark Aether, as a slowly-shrinking area in which Samus can regain health and be protected from the corrosive environment. Such a bomb would have been more-than-useful in the infamous Boost Ball Guardian battle.Theories would be welcomed on what the Annihilator Bomb and Dark Bomb could have done.Three of the above excised data entries may also refer to excised optional weapons:These may indicate that further Charge Combos were intended for inclusion, alongside the Darkbust, Sunburst and Sonic Boom that made it into the final game.The obsolete scan data refers to a “Metroid Hive”, of which no such place exists in the final game. It is worth noting that the only place in the entire franchise to be referred to by this name is the final location of Metroid 2: Return of Samus, the very heart of the Metroid Queen’s lair. Could there have been an early plan to include a Metroid Queen somewhere on Aether?Buried in the obsolete menu code, reference has been discovered to two different types of suit viruses In the final release of Metroid Prime 2, the “Suit Software Virus” is used by the Rezbit creatures to plague Samus on her journey, but no “Weapon Virus” exists. Over at The Cutting Room Floor , an observant investigator has discovered some unused collision detection data that still exists in the final battle with the ultimate Ing. The information is supported by contrasting the ingame model with a piece of concept art, that shows a glowing energy radiating from these areas of unused collision information:This theory seems rational and evidenced, and suggests that the final battle with the Ing Emperor was originally to have been a more challenging ordeal. Samus would have been required to quickly swap light and dark beams in order to hit certain specific glowing vulnerable points in his dark fleshy body. Whether this was an excised portion of the final fight, or an alternate take on a stage of the existing final battle, is uncertain.At some point in development, the game would have included a creature known as “Icemite”. Given how Metroid Prime 2 avoids the lava/ice themes explored by its predecessor, it is uncertain where the creature would have fitted in.These unrecognised creatures are part of the game’s concept art, but there purpose is a mystery.At some point in development, a very different looking Light Suit was planned. The concept notes refer to the design as “organic”, possibly indicating that the armour was grown, is alive, or was taken from a living being. This could hint at an unexplored plot direction. The notes also call the armour “celestial”, could it have been an upgrade to the existing Light Suit?These pieces of art suggest that at some point in development, Metroid Prime 2’s final boss was intended to be a far more monstrous encounter.Dark Samus appears to have broken the surface of the planet, and is absorbing material to create herself a colossal battle armour. The cracks in the surface of the world would suggest that Samus must leap between the platforms floating on molten rock (perhaps with the Screw Attack?) to somehow defeat her enemy.If this sequence was to take place after Samus had defeated the Emperor Ing and retrieved the last of Aether’s energy, then perhaps Dark Samus is somehow channelling and absorbing the energies of the collapsing planet into herself, in a violent and destructive attempt to destroy her twin.This concept piece could suggest that at some point in development, Retro were going to show us the consequences of our Game Over. Dark Samus, wielding the Light Suit and apparently entirely stabilised, has absorbed enough Phazon from Aether to allow her to fly through space. As she departs, the planet violently explodes behind her, condemning the Luminoth and Ing to complete extinction.That Dark Samus is wearing the Light Suit could suggest that she has been able to consume the energies of Aether, dooming both Light and Dark worlds.(Acknowledgements: The Cutting Room Floor Metroid Database and the various Retro Studios current/former artists named in the thread have been invaluable.)I hope some of you enjoyed this. The final thread will be up at some point, with a look at the development of Metroid Prime 3: Corruption. See you there.