Exterior Docking Hangar

The is a room on the Frigate Orpheon. It appears in Metroid Prime. It is the first room explored in the game, the first in the Metroid Prime series, and the first Metroid room in 3-D.
==Description==
The hangar is an open walkway exposed to the vacuum of space, although with gravity technology and Force Fields in place to prevent anyone from drifting or falling overboard. Meteor fragments float overhead, and can be shot to break them up. The walkway is blocked by two large Force Fields, which can be disabled by shooting four targets around them. The game provides a tutorial for targeting and shooting to remove these obstacles. Past the second Force Field is a raised step, which triggers another tutorial for jumping. There is nothing else after this aside from the exit.
==Role==
The Exterior Docking Hangar is where Samus Aran lands her Gunship. To proceed into the frigate, Samus must deactivate the Force Fields by shooting their switches. The second set must first be activated by scanning an Interface Module attached to a central pillar. The hall that the door leads to is considered part of the hangar in the game's map, but the scan of its door names it as a separate room.
At the end of the escape sequence caused by the destruction of the Parasite Queen, Meta Ridley is seen at the hangar. Samus attempts to follow him in her Gunship, but loses track of him and lands on the nearby planet, Tallon IV.
The room is not encountered while exploring the Orpheon wreckage after it crashed into the Tallon Overworld. It is possible that the hangar was destroyed in the crash.
==Connecting rooms==
*Main Docking Bay (via Blue Door)
==Official data==
===Tutorials===
"Press and hold / to lock onto targets."
"The next set of Force Field controls are offline.Scan the central pillar to activate them.Press to switch to the Scan Visor./Move cursor into the top zone and release to enter Scan Visor."
"Scannable objects appear as orange targets .Press and hold / to scan a target."
"Press / or / to return to the Combat Visor."
"Tap / to jump."
"Use the Beam / to open doors.Once shot, doors will open when you approach them."
===Scans===
====Unused====
Unused scans in the Exterior Docking Hangar have been discovered through datamining of Metroid Prime Remastered. They read as follows:
==Development notes==
Clark Wen recalled Shigeru Miyamoto playing a demo of Prime during development, and enjoying the ambience in the Exterior Docking Hangar. His feedback gave Wen the confidence that his approach to the sound design of Prime was the right one.Kiwi Talkz. "#112 - Clark Wen Interview (Metroid Prime, Sound Design, Kenji Yamamoto, Mixing, SFX, Game Audio )". YouTube. October 23, 2021. Retrieved April 25, 2022. (starts at 29:14)
According to Jack Mathews, the tutorial in this room was important for new players since "there weren't that many twinstick games back in this day". The tutorial was created by Zoid Kirsch and Mark Pacini.Kiwi Talkz. "#121 - Zoid Interview (Metroid Prime, Cameras, Scripting, Sequence Breaking , Programming etc.)" YouTube. January 22, 2022. Retrieved July 25, 2022. (starts at 23:50)
The Exterior Docking Hangar along with the Main Docking Bay are known as 01_intro_hanger internally.
==Trivia==
*The Exterior Docking Hangar is similar to the Hangar Bay in that they both have connecting hallways from the Landing Site that are considered part of the bay in the Map. Both have force fields blocking access to these hallways, and have "hangar" in their names.
*Rocks and debris that fly over the Hangar can be shot and destroyed, with a loud crumbling sound resulting. They also appear to have a small heat signature as seen with the Thermal Visor (via hacking). They were unable to be targeted to read their scan until Metroid Prime Remastered.
*Samus's Gunship moves forward very slowly in this room. If one lets the game idle over a day or two, it will have entered the area where Samus walks around. However, it does not have any form of collision detection and is simply the model. GameXplain. "Metroid Prime Drift?! Wild New Gunship Glitch Discovered Nearly TWENTY YEARS Later". YouTube. November 23, 2019. Retrieved April 25, 2022.
*In the original GameCube version, the first Blue Door in this room can actually be opened with a Missile. This is also the case in Reactor Core Entrance.
*The hallway holographic deck status displays indicate that the Orpheon has twelve decks in total. Only three - Alpha, Beta and Gamma - are referenced in scans.
*In the Soundtrack Gallery of Metroid Prime Remastered, an image of this room is used to represent the medley Samus Arrives.
==Gallery==
Exterior Docking Hangar map.png|The Exterior Docking Hangar on the map.
Exterior Docking Hangar map Remastered.png|Remastered
Samus's Gunship MP1 HD.png|Samus arrives
Samus's Gunship MP1R.png.png|Samus arrives in the remaster
Prime_Trilogy_Promotional_Varia_Suit_Prime_Frigate_Orpheon_Exterior_Docking_Hangar.jpg|Samus first sets foot on the Orpheon.
Remastered Varia Suit Prime Frigate Orpheon Exterior Docking Hangar.png|Samus first sets foot on the Orpheon in the remaster.
Orpheon.png|View of the Orpheon.
Orpheon Remastered.png|View of the Orpheon in Metroid Prime Remastered.
Orpheon exterior docking hangar dolphin HD force field offline.jpg|Force Field
Orpheon exterior docking hangar force field offline Remastered.png
Scan terminal varia suit samus orpheon exterior docking hangar dolphin HD.jpg|Interface Module
Scan terminal varia suit samus orpheon exterior docking hangar Remastered.png.png
Exterior Docking Hangar Meteors Thermal Visor.png|The Meteors (and the Frigate) seen through the Thermal Visor (via hacking). 
Exterior Docking Hangar X-Ray.png|The Exterior Docking Hangar seen through the X-Ray Visor (via hacking).
Scan_visor_scanning_orpheon_sight_window_exterior_docking_hangar_dolphin_HD.jpg|Samus scans the locked Force Field.
Scan visor scanning orpheon sight window exterior docking hangar Remastered.png.png|Samus scans the locked Force Field in the remaster.
Orpheon_screenshot_18.png|Samus turns to see the Frigate exploding behind her.
Exterior_Docking_Hangar_Orpheon_escape_Dolphin_HD.jpg|The hangar during the frigate's destruction.
Exterior_Docking_Hangar_escape_Meta_Ridley_Dolphin_HD.jpg|Meta Ridley escapes
Exterior_Docking_Hangar_escape_Samus_Power_Suit_Dolphin_HD.jpg|Samus runs back to her ship.
Orpheon_screenshot_19.png
164page3-4.jpg|Metroid Prime comic
Jason Alexander playing Metroid Prime.jpg|Press photo of Jason Alexander playing Prime, with the Exterior Docking Hangar visible onscreen.
NSO MPR icon backgrounds.jpg|Icon based on this room, available through Nintendo Switch Online from March 2-9, 2023.
==References==
es:Hangar de Atraque Exterior
ru:Внешний посадочный ангар
Category:Rooms
Category:Frigate Orpheon
Category:Landing Sites
Category:Unreturnable Areas