I'll stick with Genocide City. It was the last name the level was given before it was axed so it seems reasonable. Besides, I kinda like the name.
It's awesome to see what that finally looks like... but what made them change it from Cyber (which seems fit) to Genocide (which is not evident in the picture)?
Maybe it was, as with The Machine, a place where Eggman turned the animals in to bots, and it was, like, animal genocide?
Also, remember that this is only one picture, and since this level made it as far as to be displayed in the level select of a beta game build, there were probably several other ideas either thought of or drawn.
The words "Cyber" and "City" both begin with the letter C, which means it follows the Sonic CD zone-naming system. It also looks a lot like Metallic Madness from Sonic CD.
Sonic 2 CD, anyone? Something tells me the two dev teams were more closely related than we once thought... Even more to support my claim.
I was reading this thread, I was just inspired to post this; A lot of people are saying that Cyber City (Genocide City, whatever's your poison) is a lot like scrap brain. I decided to take the concept drawing and color it in with Scrap Brain zone's "pallet". The results are, well, pretty close actualy. I'm starting to see very strong similarities to Scrap Brain, such as the outsides of the platforms with the rivets in them. Hold it up to a screenshot of Scrap Brain and it's pretty close to say the least. What it says to me, is that it was scrapped for being too "Scrap Brain-esque" and because Sonic 2 already had Metropolis and Chemical Plant. Or (more unlikely) it's a Sonic 1 concept out of time. I think the former makes sence.
I can definitely see your point, DBTC, but I suppose it might look like Metropolis with Metropolis' pallette.
That's true, but Metropolis does not share quite as many features as Scrap Brain appears too. That said, it looking a lot like Metropolis would be plenty reason to scrap it also anyway. :/
Excellent stuff ICEKnight, as always. A lot of stuff in this picture looks scarily similar to Scrap Brain zone when compared to a screenshot. Tiles, BG...maybe that's why it was scrapped. Time contraints combined with the fact that it was too similar to metropolis and Scrap Brain. Another thing to note is that the laser beam looks almost _exaclty_ like the shrinking beams in Metallic Madness from SCD, and the fact that the zone shares Sonic CD's "two letter name" rule (Paltree Panic, Collsion Chaos, Cyber City). Perhpas a zone that was planned for the alleged Sonic 2 for Sega CD? Or perhpas it was to be what is now known as the "R2 level" in SCD. Although that area looked a bit more ruin-ish in the ending, you can clearly see traces of some type of machinery with a somewhat fitting color scheme. Well, those are my ideas/theories. Either way, this answers many questions, raises many more, and is some truly exciting material. The Sonic research scene certaintly has come a long way in these past six years, and I'm glad I was there to witness it. Here's hoping I become a full-fledged member so I can continue to be a bigger part of it and show you guys my completed hack one of these days. At any rate, great stuff ICEKnight. Genocide City Zone has always been one of the most intriguiong aspects of the prototype, and now we finally have some solid artwork to go off. You can bet I'm going to click on your site's adds like nothing else.
I think it was a mix of both Scrap Brain and The Machine. After all, Tom designed Machine in Spinball. Maybe it was his way to get back at Sega and show his final concept of the Zone they scrapped on him, As well as Craig's Hpz partly in Lava Powerhouse AND Toxic Caves. I've based my Cyber City off the Machine.
Perhaps they sent some of their concepts to the Sonic CD team after scrapping them or something... But anyway, I think the same-first-letters thing might be just a coincidence, seeing how they changed the name to Genocide City and all. Thanks a lot for your collaboration (to you and all those who have clicked on the ads).
Just a quick note: The sort of upper semi-circle in the Cyber City image reminds me of The Machines little sections where you get caught inside by a laser for a few seconds.
OK did I NOT already mention all this on page 2 WITH PIC'S? So it's in colour now, we can all see SCRAP BRAIN....RIGHT!!! The artwork looks very much the same as that found in the Jap Manual of SONIC 1 (and I'm willing to upload scans for thoses that do not know what I'm chattin' about!)
