The Sonic the Hedgehog 4 Megathread

virtual d-pads on the ipad actually suck because it has this huge bezel around the screen. I know you said oversized hands, but even the biggest hands have their thumbs jutting out in awkward angles on the ipad.

 

Sorry, that's what I meant.

 

I know some people are saying "they can't have 2 episodes that play differently!", but I don't see why not. The episodes don't seem to be linking up or anything. But to be fair, I honestly don't expect the physics changes for even episode 2. They probably have the level designs laid out for it already. It will probably be episode 3 or 4 once we get a change.

Considering the supposed reason they don't want to change physics for episode 1 is because they don't have enough time to change the level design and test everything in the game again, hopefully they'll take our criticism and change things for future episodes. Which is why it's awesome that this is an episode project. People here may hate the first one, but this game, unlike other sonic games, actually has another chance to fix those issues after it comes out.

 

This seems pretty similar to my position. Though part of me is also considering waiting until Knuckles shows up in a future episode before I buy anything, since that's one of the things I wanted from Sonic 4 in the first place.

 

Episodic gaming seems to be following the episodic nature of old dos games (I.e. your jazz jackrabbit referrence). So... it's the same game and at the same time it's not, if that makes sense.

I'd prefer they followed the Sonic & Knuckles expansion model, though. That game's engine WAS different from Sonic 3's.

 

Yeah. Telltale's episodic Sam & Max series started out with a simple point-and-click travel interface where Sam would casually walk to wherever you click. Later they hurried his ass up and got him running with a double-click or something. Then the whole thing changed with double-click-and-drag OR used the WASD keys to move around in 3rd person. Also the graphical detail and animation got better with each season. Big improvements? Yup. And the games were still hilarious and fun to play. Hell, I think it's safe to say that the first Sam & Max episode costs more than Sonic 4 Episode 1, and being in full 3D, is a little harder to program. Anybody who wants to research the accurate figures on that, be my guest.

Point being: Part of the point of having an episodic game is so improvements will naturally be made on successive installments. So even if we accept that they won't change the physics significantly in Episode 2, it's at least safe to assert two things: 1) They can, and 2) they'll likely change some things if not all. So, given that they are in fact listening to us, our criticisms and requests will probably be surprisingly effective. No reason to stop if it's what you want.

I'm hoping they'll just tighten up the physics, add some more organic life and detail to the surroundings (as opposed to shiny still-rendered plastic layers), perhaps animate Sonic with a little more 16-bit charm, and all the while give us great incrementally challenging zones to run, jump, fall, roll, and bounce through without the incessant pandering to the booster-pads-and-homing-attack-chains paradigm of Sonic level design.

 

I don't know If anyone has seen this yet but...



It still looks pretty damn cool, even more bigger.

 

Yeah I've played Sonic 2 XL on my phone with tilt, it's pretty fun[ny]

 

that's the box art for the XBLA release.

Actually, I'm pretty sure it's only the center of the box art. It's supposed to be surrounded by Sonic 2 style black-on-grey checkerboarding.

 

Looks mildly clunky, but not impossible to control. In fact, I think the homing attack looks more fun to use on the iPhone in conjunction with tilt. Looks way more engaging. That's just me, though, I've never played a game on an iPhone. Underlines how much fun Sonic 4 in general will be to play, physics and other mechanical problems or no.

Also, yeah, there's something about that face I don't find inviting. It's not horrible, but weird and slightly off-putting. Is it the piercing green eyes, or the placement of the eyes? Maybe it's the giant head or the giant spikes, I dunno.

 

That 'boxart' picture looks better than the actual game. Because of all the layers the BG isn't so empty. In the actual game it's just a few oddly placed square hills. Plus there's a lot of detail lost when things are squashed down. It would look so nice if the game was more like that.

 

having played several tilt-based platformers on the iphone, I can say I'm not a fan. It's just a very clunky method to control such a game.

If it's someone else's cup of tea, more the power to them, but there is no way I'll use the tilt.

But I'm fine with virtual d-pads. They're not nearly as annoying once you get used to them. A trick I use is that I put thin strips of tape over the screen in the shape of the d-pad and it really improves playability.

 

heh, you don't really need to when you're dealing with sticky d-pads, which are pretty much the norm now. Sticky d-pads follow your thumb if you slip off, so that you don't suddenly stop running because your finger has meandered. Most games, like I said, have this now.

But a lot of homebrew or emulators and stuff don't, and for those, a bit of tape does wonders.

EDIT: Also, luckily, I have never had to experience the pain of playing a fighting game on the 360. The PS3 is my fighting game machine, thanks to my amazing Sega Saturn USB controller.

I love that thing so much.

 

Say what? It should be the same engine because both are really the same game. What differences may I ask exist?

 

In case this has not been posted, TouchArcade has a new preview for it for the Iphone. They really seem to like it. http://toucharcade.com/2010/09/10/hands-on...en-waiting-for/

 

Funny story: Over the years, various members of the band Rockapella have left, and been replaced. Now, none of the founding members are still part of the band. Still, ask any fan, it's pretty much the same band. They still sing the same songs (and new ones) at their concerts. They still have the same, distinct style.

In other words, everybody at Dimps passing away won't make a lick of difference unless they all do it at the same time.

One thing about Sonic 3 & Knuckles that hasn't really been talked about is that not only were the physics slightly different from Sonic 3, but even some level design aspects were changed. It was pretty much just object placement (and LBZ's bosses), but still, it's quite possible for the episodes to lock on, as well as incorporate the physics changes everybody's wanted and the level design changes needed for that to work. Hell, without the kind of time constraint that episode 1 is currently working under, it'd be downright feasible, provided they plan right from the start to do so.

Not to say they will, but I wouldn't be at all surprised if most of the issues are fixed with episode 2's release.