[DimensionWarped]

See, I'd rather they just fixed that by doing the Wii version as a boxed release.

Here's another thing though... since presumably the art is compressed, couldn't they just use a compression algorithm based around the old skool concept of making everything out of 16x16 chunks and then unpack them at runtime? That would solve that problem without making them have to retool their art pipeline.

Of course, there is the other thing to consider. Maybe if they were using the old style of keeping collision and subtiles on a small scale, perhaps they would be designing something more akin to old style levels.

[Spanner]

Hey guys, how about some yellow springs? Haven't seen them around in a Dimps production for a while.

[Blue Blood]

Hey guys, how about some yellow springs? Haven't seen them around in a Dimps production for a while.

Because they've decided to use Adventure style springs. You can just run straight on to them, and each spring has an individual strength.

EDIT: Typo

This post has been edited by Blue Blood: 09 December 2010 - 01:42 PM

[MegaDash]

I'm interested in the technical discussion about memory and techniques to save up on it. Don't understand half of it, but anything for the subsequent episodes to look better and have more "play" for all that $15 you're paying for each. Seriously, $10 would be far more reasonable.

Also, yeah. I'd also like too see old-style springs again. Jump on them, yellow or red, and you bounce a given height or trampoline subsequently to higher heights. Not a huge deal, but anything to add some more variety to the tired old automation of DIMPs' style. How about new kinds of springs that only appear in certain stages? Or cleverly designed facsimiles of bouncing or acceleration mechanisms, like so many unique mechanisms you'd see in each zone of the original games.

God damn, I feel like playing them again. I think I'll just go through a gauntlet of Sonic 1 through 3 & Knuckles, CD, and maybe even Knuckles Chaotix before leading up to Sonic 4. Just for the hell of it. Now that I've finished two out of three finals, I feel like my vacation has begun already. Woo hooooo!

[SomeSortOfRobot]

I kinda wish they would consider having unlockables for having downloaded the Genesis Sonic games.

Dunno what though.... coughclassicsoniccough

[MegaDash]

Optional downloadable goodies that reach out more to the retro-est of the retro crowd would also kick some ass. Definitely.

[DimensionWarped]

It's also stupid, because then you are locking out your customers for not 'owning' something they probably already bought dozens of times.

As for the spring thing, we live in an interesting era with comparably high capabilities to fuck around with graphics in real-time. How about, instead of simply having springs that are red and yellow, we set red to the key at some strength value, have it go more towards yellow as the strength of the spring approaches the lowness of yellow, and have it go towards blue as it gets even more intense? No need these days to really constrain yourself with that sort of thing.

Not that you couldn't do all of that with pallet tricks before, but it might not make as much sense on account of the pallets being shared with lots of stuff.

[Lizam]

After playing Donkey Kong Country Returns, my one wish for Episode 2 would be hand the development to Retro Studios.
I believe they could solve most, if not all, issues that were in Episode 1 and would do better in providing a Sonic 4 that is faithful to it's prequels and replicates their feel.

[Solid SOAP]

If Retro Studios was given the rights to Sonic, they'd make a game better than the classics. DKCR is magnificent, one of the best 2D platformers I've ever had the pleasure of playing.

[MegaDash]

Frankly, that doesn't sound like a bad idea. Aside from the Advance games (eh), Rush games (meh until Colors showed up), and Street Fighter IV, I really don't see them as a very good company. At the same time, the last thing I want SEGA to do is overload Sonic Team with a million Sonic games again. They still are, I suppose, but I wouldn't like to encourage it.

Whatever, that's just idle talk. It's probably safe to assume that SEGA is not going to shift development of Sonic 4 away from DIMPs to either Sonic Team or another division, especially since Sonic 4 got such great reviews and perhaps even made a pretty penny. It just doesn't seem at all likely, but I still find Sonic 4 lacking as a game. It was okay and fun for the first playthrough, but now it just feels rather eh. DIMPs will have to do for now.

I think I've already said plenty about what I want to see from Sonic 4 Episode 2. What comes to mind right away is that cutscene right before hitting EGG Station Zone, that was pretty awesome even if only for the music. Other than that, it really didn't feel that much like a Sonic game, what with the flow being staggered and broken up into selectable tabs from regions on a world map and the acts not bearing much gameplay similarities within their given zones. Maybe it's just the overall diminishing returns and disappointment talking, but I really think Episode 2 should spend more time and effort reminding us of how the older games looked, felt, and played and why a lot of people liked it that way, instead of trying to bring us into the not-glorious present of underwhelming momentum-less—I'm sorry, "different" physics, and homing-attack Bubbles chains and a ridiculously yawn-inducing amount of speed pads juxtaposed with Adventure-style springs. Making a game like Sonic 3 or Sonic 2 doesn't have to be an exercise in the impossible.

EDIT: Oh, and to go along with the whole physics stuff and how Sonic handles and everything, see Sonic Xero or Sonic Megamix and make the homing attack like that. Smooth, instant, faster, and maintaining forward momentum. That would be so sweet.

This post has been edited by MegaDash: 10 December 2010 - 02:08 AM

[Volpino]

It's also stupid, because then you are locking out your customers for not 'owning' something they probably already bought dozens of times.

And again I bring up that PS3 owners would be shafted because they don't sell the original games on our console.

I would totally advocate adding some kind of bonus for owning the older games if they sold them on all three consoles.

This post has been edited by Volpino: 12 December 2010 - 11:10 AM

[Blue Blood]

It's also stupid, because then you are locking out your customers for not 'owning' something they probably already bought dozens of times.

I would totally advocate adding some kind of bonus for owning the older games if they sold them on all three consoles.

But why? I don't want to buy any of the Megadrive games again.

[DimensionWarped]

Yeah, that. I have bought the originals enough times. It is bullshit to expect me to buy them again just so I can have a complete game when I buy a new game. The only thing that is going to do is breed resentment. If they are going to sell download content, then they should fucking sell download content. That's already a big enough source of annoyance without them having to go all secret squirrel about it.