Hey P3DRO, we get it. You didn't like S2HD. Unfortunately for you, over seven thousand other people disagreed on the facebook page. We developed our art direction and we stuck to it. I think you can stop whining about it now. You're doing a fantastic job with this Sonica. Keep up the great work. At the end of the day, this is your project above all else. Don't give in to people who would nitpick it when you've got a firm vision for what you're after.
Yeah man at the end of the day, were here to just bounce ideas off. don't let our endless nitpicking be a dent in the project.
It's not whinning, my friend. I'm helping Sonica on the design of his game, since he's way more receptive to feedback. Also, how do you feel about disapointing over seven thousand people? It goes both ways, I supose. The bigger the ego, the harder the fall, buddy. Anyways, since Sonica is going on the same path as you folks did, I'm assisting him to make sure he does not commit the same flaws that you did (and that I observed as an artist, and not as a fan or a hater), because I like this project and care for it, like I did for S2HD long time ago. And since Sonica is receptive to feedback on his art, unlike some artists around I'll be giving ideas and helping in the design in any way possible. :3
I honestly doubt the disappointment of 7,000 fans had any significant relation to the plasticky art direction, but that's about as much as I want to get involved in with this particular shit-flinging resurgence. Personally, I really think that the ring should be a lot more non-uniform than portrayed in the 16-bit games. They're rounded and apparently metallic (from the SFX anyway) which means pretty much the entire environment should be part of the composite reflection, and Sonic landscapes are nothing if not contrasty. This is a really bad example as far as actual shape and actual base color goes, but it gets my point across - it helps define the shape of the object, rather than it being generally center-bright-outline-dark with a bit of additional shading.
Thanks I want to say that, personally, I loved the style you guys used, the only reason things here might include more detail is because that is how I feel the direction of the original games was going. For a remake of Sonic 2, you guys nailed it good and proper. As for the ring, I wasn't deliberately trying to use the 2HD style (which, again, I think is awesome), it actually started completely different, but then I noticed it began to look just like it, and it carried on from there. I'm going to have a redraw of it though, because looking back on it, mine does look kind of rubbish.
I did a variation, also removing the horizon reflection. This one might be too light, but I'll sort it all out.
Looks like cheap plastic. If you can create the same kind of reflective look like the S2HD staff did with the drill bit, it should be the perfect gold ring. EDIT: Just to clarify, the horizon in the middle isn't the problem but how it's spread across the ring. Also while this sounds like I'm trying to push for a ring that looks like the S2HD one, that ring was more stylized with it being a different shade at the bottom half compared to the top which I don't think you should do.
Needs more contrast, then it'll be fine I don't think Sonic rings were ever meant to be super shiny - I imagine they're meant to stand out against backgrounds rather than risk blending in.
Yep that ring looks like cheese. There are hacks that have done this and its really frustrating to look at. Yes, the S2HD ring is a good example. So is the rings used in Sonic 4 ep 1, or at least the original teaser where they replaced the 0s with rings in "2010".
One thing people should be aware of is the fact that the horizon reflection on the S2HD ring stuck to the ring as if it were painted onto the ring as opposed to it being an actual reflection. If you watch the ring spin you'll notice the reflection moves with the ring as if it's painted on, which is annoying. Please avoid that situation if possible :p
Going further, not every level will have a horizon, which is just one of the many reasons to avoid the faux-reflection thing. Of course, this reasoning could be extended to the shine on Sonic himself, but worrying about that would be just as lame as including a painted horizon, right?
The only other option I could think of (which, admittedly, is pretty awesome) would be to have each ring individually rendered in realtime 3D, using the background art as an HDR for awesome reflections. That's...probably beyond the scope of this game though.
Suspension of disbelief. The first thing people process from high-contrasty-metally reflection maps, faux or not, is that the object is shiny, not that it's a composite of the reflected environment. That's why a lot of the time light-from-below shading works, even if the environment in question doesn't actually have light/lighted flooring. Also see: late 90's racing games vehicle reflection maps vs. streetlights (rofl)
I would have gone with something that combined elements from the Sonic 3 and Knuckles special stages, and those of Knuckles Chaotix, with sections in which Sonic runs INSIDE a sphere (instead of on top of them), then moves into tubes with multiple paths.
