I would love to see White Park in Mania, it was one of the better levels (awesome music too). It would be cool if they did more with the snow mechanic though, because there wasn't a whole lot of that in S4E2.
I like that idea. I'd probably tweak the point scores, perhaps e.g. four areas of 100, 300, 1000, 3000, but it's definitely a way to make it more skill-based as well as limiting it so it doesn't take the focus away from the main game when running for score. Indeed, the 16-bit and 8-bit games did this several times. After Scrap Brain Act 2 (SMD), rather than heading straight to the next act, suddenly there's a cutscene. Sonic 2 took you through a two-act structure through the entire game and then suddenly Metropolis Act 3. Sonic Triple Trouble had Sunset Park Act 3 suddenly and immediately on finishing Act 2, without so much as a score tally to let you take a breather. Sonic 3K had a capsule in Flying Battery Act 1 that turned out to be the miniboss. Even Sonic 4 did this with its bosses - starting out as a clone of an existing boss, and then transforming into something different. In fact, it almost feels like it wouldn't be a classic game without doing this. Then again, given that we're seeing old zones in new ways, and Green Hill is apparently the "tamest" remake, I have no doubt there'll be some subversion involved somewhere along the line. White Park is definitely my favourite from S4, in terms of style. It'd be interesting to see a classic-style remake of it. Also, if Metal Sonic makes an appearance, I really hope he reprises his theme from S4E2. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gOS6-5sV89Y I'd love to hear this in the style of the rest of Mania's music.
Personally, I'd love to see more snow levels in general with Sonic games (not slippery ice levels, either.) Ice Mountain from Advance 1 has always been a favorite of mine.
Oh goody, act transitions! Those were nice in Sonic 3, and if they're being made "more dramatic" in Mania, then that will certainly be interesting. On the subject of Tails and Knuckles getting new abilities, I'd think it certainly is plausible, considering all the gameplay footage we've seen has been purely Sonic-only (and really, considering the Retro Engine already has Tails and Knuckles implemented, keeping them hidden, even for demos, doesn't make sense to me), and we only know that Sonic has the new drop dash. Getting a Sonic 4 level done right is also something I'd be welcoming to. I quite liked White Park, except for that awful underwater bit where you'd get trapped behind ice with no way out but drowning.
It's possible, but I think it's more likely that the sprite artists haven't finished up Tails and Knuckles' sprite sets yet.
I can see the points you are trying to make, but I'd like to offer a counter argument. It is completely possible that the sprites for Tails and Knuckles are just not done yet. Alternatively, they could have only had Sonic in the demo because they wanted to focus on his new move (It was a key point in the announcement trailer). Further, it is possible that they only changed Sonic's moveset to make how he plays unique. Sure he still has the Shield abilities, but take that away (Since you won't always have a shield) and he is just Tails without the ability to fly. The move helps emphasises Sonic's trait of speed and gives him an ability that changes movement possibilities, especially when compared to Tails' flying and Knuckles' Gliding and Climbing.
First off: in this case asking incredibly specific questions is awkward when the one being interviewed obviously isn't allowed to or can't answer them. And being a producer doesn't mean she can answer more specific questions. A producer isn't a developer, and thus likely can't answer questions meant for developers. And even then she is only allowed to tell certain info. The interviewer probably wouldn't have gotten better answers if he had been talking to Taxman. And I'm not sure how her being a producer means she's supposed to be able to handle interviews better than PR. If anything it's the other way around. Who do you think has more experience dealing with press? :v:
I can't see any reason to select a level from Sonic 4. Every one of those levels was already a rehash of another classic zone, and done so badly. Horning a Sonic 4 zone into Mania would rub me as a pathetic attempt to recolour history at best, and at worst an unnecessary do-over. A second attempt is not necessary, I personally did not hate S4ep2, but the game generally left a bad taste in people's mouths. Sonic Mania is the real deal, why should it pay lip service to that failed disingenuous attempt at Classic. Now, before you all grab your pitch forks and dragon-dildos think of it this way, by including a Sonic 4 zone, that means an even better candidate had to get canned. Would I take White Park over Ice Cap?? Hell NO. Would I take it over Scrap Brain? Fuck NO. Over Hydrocity, Quartz Qudrant, Starlight, Lava Reef, etc, etc, etc, NO motherfucking way. Sonic Mania should be about embracing the past and moving forward, not trying to right the wrongs of the past, or pretending a turd is a diamond... Nuff said.
Then why did she bother to take the questions in the first place. And anyway as I pointed earlier she gave non answers which is very typical of someone trying to save face. I'm personally fine if a producer doesn't know all the details, I just rather them give clear information that they can give as there is nothing stopping them from saying no comment, it's an interview not an interrogation. Again same as I said above. Purely for keeping schedules, work being completed on time. That kind of involvement would at least give some insight on specific details wouldn't it?
The interview was awkward, but that was 100% the fault of the interviewer. I like Gamexplain, but you can't argue that that those pointed questions weren't there to bait her into giving out info. That kind of interview is the hallmark of a fan, not a professional. If anything, if that was the best of the questions he had to offer, HE should have declined to interview HER, not the other way around. All that kind of questioning does is put people working on these projects on the defensive and make it more difficult to legitimately learn new things and especially leave a good impression and thus build equity for future interactions. All-in-all, the one thing I took away from the interview was the confirmation of act-to-act transitions which makes me extremely happy.
I hope knuckles gets his digging ability, I've been wanting to see that since sonic colors. As far as Sonic 4 references go I'd rather see an option to select themes for stages like in generations and get some cool remixes of S4 themes.
I really don't see Tails or Knuckles getting any added abilities, The reason the two of them haven't been shown yet is probably due to unfinished sprite sheets or maybe to keep level layouts in the playable demo somewhat restricted to Sonic's reachable areas (T&K make navigating Zones too easy). The drop dash brings Sonic at least closer to the other two ability wise now and adding more to Tails and Knuckles would knock that balance off. Plus leaving both of those characters out just now builds hype, I feel spoiled by what we've been shown already.
Would b cool if Mania included Robotic Resort. Shame the same music can't be used but the level trope is pretty interesting.
On the way to my house, can you pick me up two quesaritos and a crunchwrap supreme? Thanks. Also, haha, this thread.
Didn't see anyone else doing it, and I didn't want to wait for the game to come out, so I did my best to cobble together a choppy, sloppy map of Green Hill Zone Act 1 based on available direct feed gameplay footage. I figured getting a more big picture of the level design in the game might give us a bit more to discuss for the time being, so we're not resorting to baseless speculation and nitpick bottom-of-the-barrel problems. :v: Took me all day. It's off in several places, particularly in spots where two branches of patchwork meet in the middle, but not enough to obscure the paths, I don't think. Got about as much as I could be bothered to get. Did I miss any paths? I can wait for the game to come out to see the map for Studiopolis, fuck patching that together. There seem to be a handful of paths nobody's explored yet. If this is the most tame of the bunch, my hype remains in orbit. The size is fucking incredible. I'm curious about that top right path. Will the background transition as you fall down? Perhaps you can also fight the boss up above ground?
Star Control II was so good, and Star Control 3 was so bad, that Starcon 3 is quite commonly mentioned to as non-canon, purely by sheer will of the fans. I like the idea of forgetting Sonic 4 ever happened. Sure, they could make a Sonic 4 zone in Sonic Mania, but why? It's not like any of them were rollicking gameplay masterpieces since the game's entire moveset/controls/physics were a fustercluck anyway. If they wanted to use a trope from Sonic 4, use the trope, not the zone, and spare us the godawful reminder. Actually this guy said it 100x better than I did.
