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Sonic 3: D.A. Garden Edition

Discussion in 'Engineering & Reverse Engineering' started by D.A. Garden, Oct 19, 2015.

  1. D.A. Garden

    D.A. Garden

    Sonic CD's Sound Test Member
    UPDATE

    Version 1.02 is now available here: http://mrjester.hapisan.com/07_DAGarden/S3DAGE_102.bin
    You can see the change log here: http://forums.sonicretro.org/index.php?showtopic=34864&view=findpost&p=842106&#entry842106

    History

    Sonic 3: D.A. Garden Edition is a project that has been in development since July 2009.
    My initial idea was to create a ROM hack of Sonic 3 & Knuckles that would provide the player with brand new level layouts from start to finish. In total, 13 Zones of new layouts providing 23 unique acts of game play for 3 characters, and 14 new special stages for you to conquer.

    The project has finally reached a point where I feel an initial release can happen, so here we are. I hope you all enjoy it; it has been one hell of an experience but I feel that it was worth it.

    Screenshots

    [​IMG][​IMG][​IMG][​IMG][​IMG]

    Release Video

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZGHrOrZYsrk

    Download

    http://mrjester.hapisan.com/07_DAGarden/S3DAGE_102.bin

    Sonic Hacking Contest 2015 Entry

    http://shc.sonicresearch.org/sonic/entry/1

    Credits

    Jayextee - See below
    MarkeyJester - S3K Layout Padder, SSRG Splash Screen, Invincibility Music Port and Bug Fixes
    UtopiaUK - Testing and Bug Fixes
    MainMemory - Testing and Bug Fixes
    djohe - Testing and Bug Fixes
    Flamewing - Bug Fixes
    Varion Icaria - Bug Fixes

    My apologies if I have not credited you, and you have contributed in some way to the initial release of ‘Sonic 3: D.A. Garden Edition'. It is difficult to keep track of this stuff, but please do note that your contribution to the project is gratefully received.

    Jayextee

    I know you are not around the scene as much as you used to be, but I have kept my promise to you, and completed the first, full hack of Sonic 3 and Knuckles. I know it is not much, but thank you for providing me with both purpose and the motivation to continue with this endeavour. There have been countless times during development where I have felt the need to end the project prematurely and just leave, but I stuck with it until the end. For this reason, you have my sincerest gratitude.

    Notes

    I have tested my hack on both the Kega Fusion and Regen emulators and can confirm it works on these correctly. I cannot guarantee it will work correctly on other emulators, or on real hardware.
    If you find any bugs or issues, please let me know and I will do my best to fix them. However, I will not take requests of any kind for additional features and/or content.
     
  2. Jayextee

    Jayextee

    Unpopular Opinions™ Member
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    Atro City
    I DONE MAKED GAMES.
    I'm gonna cry and it's your fault. I didn't expect this, I saw this on the forum index (lurking as usual, although I've posted more than once in the past 7 days so HOLY FUCK WHAT) and I'm all "COCK-SCULPTING SHITBALLS, THIS HACK IS DONE!". I've been wanting it forever because you're amazing at layouts. I'm going to play the tits off this, so it is you who has my gratitude. <3
     
  3. Dark Sonic

    Dark Sonic

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    A complete Sonic 3 hack? Sign me up. I'll be testing this out on real hardware when I'm done with work tomorrow.
     
  4. MarkeyJester

    MarkeyJester

    Original, No substitute Resident Jester
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    When I get a headset, this will be the one hack that I'll stream from beginning to end with live commentary. I think I know you quite well DAGarden, at least enough to know that this is gonna be one hell of a hack to play, your expertise in laying out, and object placement, well, I wouldn't be surprised if this hack would get first place (and this is without having played it yet, yes, that's how good I think you are...).
     
  5. PKstarship

    PKstarship

    Super-Sonic Racer
    I am very interested in playing this. I don't usually see very many S3&K hacks, so this will be fun. Sadly, I won't have enough time to do three playthroughs in a row like I do with normal S3&K, but I'll try to finish with Sonic and hopefully Knuckles :)

    I need to charge my tablet tonight, I've got a looooong week of Sonic hacks ahead of me (I play all my emulated games on a tablet).
     
  6. Covarr

    Covarr

    Sentient Cash Register Member
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    Trapped in my own thoughts.
    Two stageplays, a screenplay, and an album
    Your enemy placement in Hydrocity is sadistic and I will not be finishing this game. Impressive work, but this hack has tested me and found my patience for cheap enemy placement lacking.
     
  7. D.A. Garden

    D.A. Garden

    Sonic CD's Sound Test Member
    Covarr, I am sorry to hear this. The hack has gone through some extensive testing to ensure this sort of thing wasn't an issue and didn't happen. I would like to ask, though, what sort of 'sadistic enemy placement' are we talking about here? I mean, I always ensure that badniks aren't in a place that could be seen as unfair in any way, so I am a little puzzled by your message.
     
  8. Covarr

    Covarr

    Sentient Cash Register Member
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    Trapped in my own thoughts.
    Two stageplays, a screenplay, and an album
    Mostly I'm referring to those Mega Choppers being repeatedly placed in areas where the player is likely to be in midair or otherwise not have control. If you are already low on rings, those extra few seconds before you can shake 'em off makes a huge difference. All the other stuff I slammed into at high speed was 100% my own fault for not paying attention, but these buggers are tough as nails to dodge, and putting 'em pretty much anywhere but flat ground can turn them from a nuisance to a death sentence.

    edit: I know I came across as a bit salty, and I wanna apologize for this. Let me be clear: I am genuinely impressed by this hack, and I did love every second of Angel Island Zone. I'd assume a more skilled/patient player than myself wouldn't have as much frustration here as I did, but I do nonetheless think HCZ (especially act 1) is significantly more difficult than the original.
     
  9. steveswede

    steveswede

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    Fighting against the Unitary State of Europe
    Can you upload a video without commentary as well, I usually find commentary in playthroughs unnecessary unless the commentator does it like you're being taken on a tour. Actually with the commentary it would be great having two of you on the same video, Markey playing for the experience while D.A. talks about the design choices he made.
     
  10. Sparks

    Sparks

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    Sondro Gomez / Kyle & Lucy
    So I gave this a playthrough, and it was very enjoyable. While it's pretty vanilla, the layouts are well designed, and it wasn't often that I felt there was bullshit moments. My biggest struggle was in a looping maze in Marble Garden, and the only way out was via a sign pointing the player to jump off the loop pillar a certain direction. Overall, I'd say the levels feel like "Act 3" and "Act 4"s of their respective stages. While you won't find new bosses, new art, or palettes, everything else is well designed and definitely worth a play through.
     
  11. Yash

    Yash

    CHOCOLATE! Member
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    Just played a bit of Angel Island - really digging it so far. It's awesome playing new levels in this game after dozens and dozens of Sonic 1/2 hacks.

    Couple general notes I have (and these aren't necessarily criticisms) is the level design almost feels a bit more Mario-ish, or Sonic CD than what I'd think of from Sonic 3. I think where 3 really departs from other games in the series is that the levels are huge, but designed with a strong sense of momentum. Even when there were secrets, it was usually incorporated into that flow (or the reward was much bigger, like finding a special stage ring). Here it felt like there were a number of areas that were set up explicitly to take the player off the path for a moment, pick up a shield or something as a reward for exploring, but then you'd have to double back to the main path which breaks the Sonic 3 flow, if that's what you're going for.

    The special stages - I've played three so far. I want to say they seem more linear than I remember the S3 ones being, but I also remember there being plenty of those where there was a specific path laid out so I guess there's not much different here. They do feel smaller, for sure. My game also locked up in the third one, but I don't know if that was just a me issue or something with the game itself. It's getting late so I just stopped playing after that.

    Anyway, this is great and I can't wait to get more into it.
     
  12. Felik

    Felik

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    S3K is my all time favorite game so I just have to check this hack out.
    But didn't you also make some palette edits for it? I swear I saw Flying Battery, Marble Garden and Carnival Night with altered palettes.
     
  13. D.A. Garden

    D.A. Garden

    Sonic CD's Sound Test Member
    Now I can see where you're coming from. Mega Choppers actually can't drain your rings for quite a while after they latch on to you, so pressing left/right alternately will drop them off with no issues, even if you appear to have no control of Sonic. It's not as clear as in the original, which may be partly my fault (I also know where to expect them, so this is also a problem).

    The layout is more difficult, but only if you take the loweest and medium paths. The highest path is still relatively easy as it's difficult to get to. Trying to keep the original sense of rewarding the player for not falling down. At least the layout isn't borderline Kaizo, though, which almost every S3K hack appears to be.

    My level layout techniques aren't the same as S3K, I'd like to make that clear first and foremost. I guess you could call it a mixture of Sonic CD and Sonic 3, where secrets usually are tucked away and you have to look for them. Momentum may be taken from the player, briefly, but due to the spindash being at your disposal, this isn't for too long. As a side note, I only made levels for (mostly) Sonic 1 hacks before delving straight into this, so maybe that's also a little apparent.

    Also, there shouldn't be any issues with the Special Stages, and have tested Stage 3 again, to be sure, but it seems fine on my end. I will keep an eye out for it, though, as it might be my fault.

    I did originally have some palette edits for some of the stages, yes. But, after quite a lot of response that prefered the original palettes, I decided to keep them as-is (Apart from IceCap Zone Act 2, and Sandopolis Zone Act 1 respectively). I apologise if you liked them before, but some of the other stages' palettes were difficult to edit, as well, and I thought it best to leave them as they originally were to make things easier for myself.
     
  14. Felik

    Felik

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    Well I really liked FBZ palette and thought that CNZ palette was interesting. I wasn't a fan of MGZ palette though.
     
  15. Jayextee

    Jayextee

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    I DONE MAKED GAMES.
    Just over halfway through with Sonic alone, no emeralds run (I'll be replaying though). Yes. I like this. It's a remixed-and-more-challenging hack that doesn't take it to stupid levels demanding prior knowledge of enemy placements and such for the most part. Last layout I played, Flying Battery 2, well I like what you did there.

    I thought I got stuck at one point, though:
    ...in Launch Base 1, there's a section that demands a leap through a wall to break a switch and grant further access. First time I was down there, I thought there was an oversight on your part and stood on the spikes until I died; vowing to avoid the section next time, which I couldn't do. I did eventually jump through the wall to the right for the switch in a small niche with spikes on the floor. Wasn't super-clear, but it was late and I was tired so I don't know if this is my bad or not.
     
  16. D.A. Garden

    D.A. Garden

    Sonic CD's Sound Test Member
    Jayextee:
    Launch Base Zone Act 1's section that you mentioned was supposed to be somewhat obvious, as the door ahead is locked and if you check everything in the area you are in, you should find the switch in that wall area to the right. Again, this may just be me expecting people to have knowledge of S3K like I do. Sorry about that.

    EDIT: I don't know how to use spoiler tags.
     
  17. Jayextee

    Jayextee

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    I DONE MAKED GAMES.
    Yeah, problem there was all mine. That I immediately thought "did he forget this bit?" instead of looking for the answer just tells on how many unfinished games I play, indie gamedev scene and all that. I should've had more confidence in you and your abilities. ;)
     
  18. Jeffery Mewtamer

    Jeffery Mewtamer

    Blind Bookworm Member
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    Really wish I could play this hack. Definitely sounds like one of the most interesting of the hacks being released for the contest.
     
  19. Dark Sonic

    Dark Sonic

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    Working on my art!
    So, two things I've noticed so far.

    1. Carnival Night's transition is a little strange. Since you fight against what is normally Knuckles' boss as Sonic, shouldn't you run into Carnival Night Act 1 rather than have Tails fly you in?

    2. This may have been a hardware related glitch. In Marble Garden Act 2, I was running through the earthquake part as Super Sonic, and suddenly the screen went black and the Special Stage tally came up with all the chaos emeralds on it. Once the tally completed, I was brought back to the last check point I touched. Not game breaking thankfully, but certainly weird.
     
  20. D.A. Garden

    D.A. Garden

    Sonic CD's Sound Test Member
    Dark Sonic:

    Issue 1 - I've already stated this before (not in this thread, though) but I'm not too worried about the transitions making little sense. It's an aesthetical issue that doesn't affect gameplay, so I don't think I'll be changing it. Well, not unless I learn how the entire scripted scene works for both the end of MGZ2 and the start of CNZ1. Which I doubt I will.

    Issue 2 - That issue is actually in the original S3K, albeit quite rare. Not too sure what causes it, either. Nothing I can do about that, sorry.