We don't really know how long Project 2017's been in full development for, really; maybe the CG trailer was all they have that was presentable at the time. It was basically the same exact kind of trailer we got with the announcement of Sonic Generations; a teaser with no actual gameplay. Hell, I could say it's a 50+ hour epic Sonic the Hedgehog RPG that has Ray the Flying Squirrel as the main villain and I wouldn't be incorrect at this point. :p All we know is that A) it involves both Modern and Classic Sonic in some manner, B) There are giant robots in it and C) There's a new character that will be introduced in this game. That's pretty middling to base conclusions on, I'd say; though I'm hopeful it'll at least divert another free-fall into mediocrity.
I just hope we'll hear more about this game to tide us over until Mania releases, what which Taxman being rightfully coy about the details.
I can't see them revealing anything else about Project 2017 until after Mania has been released, assuming it does around April/May next year. Probably better to keep all the attention focused on Mania and then move on to P17.
Good point. Better to keep focus on one thing than to divide it, and summer sounds like a good time to refocus on the big Sonic Team game. Speaking of stuff happening in spring 2017, it'd be pretty rad to be able to play Mania on the Switch, but also those enhanced ports of Sonic 1/2 + - and 3 and Knuckles .
Yeah, I expect Mania's going to be the main focus for a little bit, especially since the 2017 project will need a decent amount of development time to get into a state where it'll be at least presentable. Assuming they're going to try and put more budget into 2017 then they did for Lost World, Generations or Colors, I'm thinking a cycle similar to Sonic Unleashed may be in store...but who knows with Sega? If they mention Big's Big Fishing Adventure 3 in 2017, I can die a happy man :p
I really liked Unleashed, warts and all. If they do something like that for Sonic '17, where Werehog Sonic is replaced by Classic Sonic and it's still a 3D game for his portions, I think I'd be happy with it. It's another chance to have fun with C.Sonic in a fish-out-of-water situation where everyone talks but him.
I just hope the game doesn't have a 2D hub world. I honestly can't think of an implementation of one that I've enjoyed. I'm willing to bet that the 'new character' either isn't actually new at all, or it's just the Monster of the Week, that Sonic and Sonic and Robotnik Eggman & Knuckles will have to team up to take down at the end.
I liked Generations 2D hub as it was pretty straight forward and quick to the point. Like "oh here's a level just go." Simple. But I liked Unleashed's hubs too, but mostly the action stage selection parts. The talk to people parts I can do without. And at least the monster of the week turned out to be Robotnik and Eggman. So it's kinda like they were the final boss.
I really loved Unleashed's hubs. The NPC's really made the world feel charming and alive, unlike the following games in which there may as well not be any other living souls off-camera. I wish more of the NPC's had offered challenge stages for more incentive to speak with them, but even so the flavor text was always enjoyable as well. I would love to see them return. I found the Super Mario World knock-off maps in Colors and kinda in Lost World felt cheap and unappealing.
I actually hope there's no level hub. Adventure 2's biggest plus over the first for me was the complete removal of them. I know Adventure didn't do them particularly well, but I'd much rather just have stage after stage. Or do it how Colours did it. Though if you asked me what I wanted most, it would be just stage-to-stage, no map, no hub.
Unless they make the world and/or characters interesting like in Unleashed, yeah I'd rather not have a hub either.
I like a good hub world. Unfortunately, the Sonic series has never gotten them quite right. Going from hub to level to hub to level ad infinitum is an a serious flow breaker, accounting for some of the problems that Unleashed and SA1 had. '06 partially rectified the issue by transitioning straight to the next level/boss on occasion, but still forced you traverse multiple hub worlds and partake in silly side-missions to move forwards when you did have to visit them. Unleashed was particularly daft for the way that it had 2 hubs for every level (double it again if you want to count the fact that it was necessary to visit them in both daytime and nighttime). Hub worlds need to be kept to a minimum, they shouldn't deviate from the regular gameplay besides being an open space and they should easy to navigate. The White World was more of a chore than it was any fun - 2D hubs simply don't work. And World Maps/menus should only show up during free play ala SA2, not between every level in a cheap Mario knock-off style, ala Colours, S4 and Lost World. The best thing about a hub is that they give the player freedom to get to slow down and to get to know the world a little bit. Adventure did it well. How do you get to Emerald Coast? You go to the beach. And how do you get to Twinkle Park? Obviously by going to the theme park. It used a small handful of hubs to incorporate a number of locations that always made sense. It's a really nice bit of context. '06 however totally dropped the ball on this one by instead sending you into randomly placed teleporters. Unleashed was again too much, making you search for level entrances in the middle of several different nowheres. I think I'm edging towards hoping that this game doesn't have a hub world. If they do include one though, I'd absolutely love it to be a little world that I can immerse myself in, and it needs to be in 3D even for Classic Sonic. They should include NPCs and shops, and a menu option for picking your stages without the superfluous town areas. One or two hub worlds with optional missions, and the ability to hop from level to level without returning to the hub would be ideal for me. Either get the hub world right or don't bother at all though. ... This is really hardly related to Project 2017. It's just a general opinion on hubs in the series :P
I like a hub world for the sheer fact of what we can do with it with modding. but a stage to stage option should be good too, much like how Sonic 4 did it.
I don't mind the city Unleashed hubs but the pre level hubs from Unleashed can go do one. If they were to do hubs, Unleashed size with some Sonic characters visiting. Maybe have Big appear in all of them sleeping and Sonic wonders how he got there before him. Stuff like that.
Yeah, subtle discoverable humor like that would be fun, and one of the perks of having a hub world to explore.
In my opinion, a hub world should be designed like a real level, with platforming sections and enemies and all that. In theory, it could be a somewhat open sandbox-esque area, but with the level design angling the player in a certain direction-where the boss act is. Portals to stages could be found on alternate paths slightly away from the central part of the hub; and while they can be easily spotted from anywhere, they would require a short platforming session to get to. If you were to die in a level, you -ideally- wouldn't get kicked out back to the center of the hub, meaning these sections wouldn't waste too much time. Running from one end to the other would take about thirty seconds; doing all the platforming sessions to reach all the portals would take a couple minutes total. Throw in some unlockable upgrades, areas to hone your skills with those upgrades, and the occasional item shop or Chao Garden portal, and you'd be all set.
Speaking of portals, Sonic hub areas or the levels themselves would be waaaaay more fun if they were well hidden and led to Special Stages.
I really like this idea. Similarly to how the castle in Mario 64 was basically a level itself where the player could practice playing as Mario, a Sonic hub world should be similar to a level in the game where you could practice playing as Sonic. So far, Sonic Adventure had the only real hub worlds, and while they did have some hidden things in them, they were mostly bland. To be honest, if Soleanna city was the only hub in 06, and you put all the gates there, removed all the stupid NPC quests, that might not have been half bad. That being said, if Sonic 17 ends up being a boost-style game again, I don't see this happening. At best any hub world would become more or less what we had in Unleashed again. The Colors map was... okay. It wasn't anything to write home about, but it got the job done. The Lost World map was complete trash though.
The Colors map reflected on a missed opportunity though. It showed branching paths but there weren't any levels with multiple exits (well, there were, but they were literally along the lines of one goal is higher in the other).
