My thought about Hidden Palace Zone

This is what I personally think HPZ was meant to be at some point. Get 7 emeralds, and the next star post would send you to Hidden Palace. There you turn Super touching the emerald or some kind of event there and the level ends after reaching the top of the infamous slope, which by the way and IIRC the speed set for super sonic allows him to go through it without problems. That would also explain with you can't go through this slope usually, and why the level didn't have a "normal" end. And it also makes sense considering this is somehow what happens after collecting the 7 emeralds past MHZ in S3&K.

Well, I guess we'll never know; probably nothing of this was ever coded anyway.

 

Depending, if you become friend of a developer with good memory and get him/her drunk, he/she may tell something interesting :P

 

It's real interesting to see a revival of all of these theorys and ideas - I'm glad that with the recent prototype related information that it seems to really be growing back.

The first topic I ever made here was a "Master Emerald in HPZ" theory - I think I said something to the effect of the fact that the graphics around the "large emerald" seemed to be shaped like 6 chaos emeralds and would light up after each collected emerald (assuming that there were only 6 emeralds, like in Sonic 1). Then it would break open and you could enter the tube and VOILA, Super Sonic. Of course, there was no evidence of that and the Craig Stitt interviews said otherwise, showing my falsehood and I hadn't done my research (although I don't know if the interview had been conducted at the time (2003), I may be mixing up my timeline, but the fact that it was a crappy theory still stood).

...that was 5 years ago. I'd still like to believe that something related to the Hidden Palace Zone being a "big secret" was true. It would be neat to see that implemented in a project. I doubt we'll ever truly know for sure, but it's nice to hear people contemplate this sort of thing.

EDIT: I actually found the topic - and I hate to admit it, but it's very embarassing to read this. I was 13 back then, and after a few members put me in my place, I attempted to improve my grammar. Well, at least I don't type like that now, and I'm no longer a huge immature d-bag, but here it is: First Post

 

I was going to bring in the whole, "HPZ's emerald was just a breakable object", but then I had a thought.

Yeah, it was breakable, and it leads to nowhere. Giving the idea of missing cutscenes, could it be possible you break the block, fall inside, and the camera stops following sonic. Then he flies back out of the tube, up the ramp and into DEZ?

Even if it was never meant to be, it sounds cool. Haha.

 

Common sense tells me the big emerald is just a breakable object, the level continued and you had to go through the tube. What about the steep slope? Take a look to where it leads. There's a waterfall and the water leads to both sides. My theory? You didn't access there from the slope but somewhere later, and the slope is a return path. Which would explain why it's so steep, you aren't meant to go upwards, but only downwards.

 

I think that that was just a way to prevent people from going any further at the time, seeing as how incomplete the level was (Afterwards there is nothing really). Also, that steep thing doesn't make sense. If you go too high, then you'll be back in the water. Seems that it was something that was meant to be fixed later.

 

But somehow Sonic must return, due to the supposed location of Hidden Palace in the level select. Think in S3&K. You access the Hidden Palace through the big rings, but at the end you reach it normally. Also, I don't see why the slope is there just to block the access to the rest of the level. I would just let the player reach the end and then leave it as a gap. Seriously, it isn't meant to be the final version, which means it doesn't matter if it looks non-coherent.

 

Don't you think it could be just a random level, like every others? In Sonic 1, there aren't any connections between levels.
And since there are no cut-scenes in Sonic 2, I don't see why Hidden Palace would be more special than the other levels...
As for the big emerald... Every level has some objects that represents the main theme/idea, like the antic column for Aquatic Ruins.

 

Since Wing Fortress there are cutscenes in Sonic 2, and anyways, it doesn't make much sense having Hidden Palace between it and Death Egg. I mean, to reach Wing Fortress you needed the Tornado, and then suddenly you can go from Hidden Palace to the Death Egg as if nothing happened? I don't think so.

 

Someone (I believe it was Craig Stitt [Actually it was Yuji Naka]) mentioned that the idea behind Hidden Palace Zone was something along the lines of "where do the chaos emeralds come from". While the large green emerald may not have been a "master emerald", it was very likely a breakable, large chaos emerald. I'd assume the level would have had several of these, perhaps even with different colors. If this were to be a "Super" level, it's not too far-fetched of an idea that these would be breakable only while Super Sonic, similarly to how you would automatically crush rocks and destructible scenery while Super in Sonic 3 & Knuckles. Or, like stated before by The Tweaker, a cutscene could have had him crush through the emerald, and emerge as Super Sonic.

 

No it wasn't me who said that, I think it was Tweaker. And I don't think you would break the emeralds only if you were Super Sonic because then you would get stuck in that part if you aren't Super. But I don't discard another cutscene, but this time at the end of the level.

Hey, I have the feeling somebody'll finish making a hack out of all this.

 

That was Naka.

 

Hrm. All righty then, I've patched up those mistakes.

But yes, even if this speculation gets nowhere discovery-wise, this stuff is a Rom-Hacking GOLD MINE. I wouldn't mind seeing someone attempt to program some cutscenes into one badass Hidden Palace level.

 

OK, but somebody should make the layout first. And a good layout, you know, having something at the end like the Master Emerald hall in S3&K. Also, should Hidden Palace be just one act? All zones since Sky Chase only have one act, and Hidden Palace would fall here.

 

IF: Sonic became Super Sonic on HPZ
THEN: I would think the steep slope would be a way to show off one of Super Sonic's abilities (the ability to run up very steep slopes?)

Just unfounded speculation really, but it makes sense to me.

 

I insist, you're meant to take the tube which wraps you somewhere later in the level, and the slope is the return path :/