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Sonic 4: Episode 1 Discussion

Discussion in 'General Sonic Discussion' started by Cinossu, Oct 11, 2010.

  1. TimmiT

    TimmiT

    ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Member
    E3 is in two weeks, so don't get your hopes up.
     
  2. Afti

    Afti

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    Some brief Google-fu says that SonicDL_Hi was the name a trailer was stored under on the FTP. I'd buy that as an early project codename.
     
  3. MegaDash

    MegaDash

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    That still leaves the question of what the project's intent was before it was deemed Sonic 4.
     
  4. Shadow Hog

    Shadow Hog

    "I'm a superdog!" Member
    "Hey, guys, Unleashed was a big success, but now we've got a large portion of our userbase bitching that this whole 'boost button' mechanic completely defiles the core gameplay foundation on which the franchise was based. Maybe they're on to something?"

    "Maybe, but, well, we only really know how to make games like this now."

    "I know, I know, but still. What do you say we give it another shot, see if we can recapture that magic?"

    "I suppose so, but if we're going to do that, we might as well have an alternate mode where you can play as our current Sonic. I mean, we really know what we're doing with that."

    "Sure."

    "I'll admit, though, I still have reservations about this. We should probably test the waters for both of these gameplay types."

    "Sure, but we'll probably want to make these on the cheap; don't want to divert too many resources from this generation-bridging game we've just come up with."

    "I know! Capcom had a lot of success by putting Mega Man 9 on downloadable services. Let's do the same thing! Probably ask Dimps to help us with this, considering they've helped us with every 2D game since Sonic Pocket Adventure, more or less. They know about this "classic" style more than we do, and we can easily do that on the cheap."

    "What about the modern Sonic?"

    "Well, I don't think we can skimp quite as much on that... Just make it a Wii-only game, that way we don't waste a lot of resources on high-definition textures or models or anything. We'll see if it's still popular depending on how the fanbase takes to it."

    "Good idea! And the funds for both of these can fund that first game you mentioned, where we're going to do both of these. Might as well make it in the Hedgehog Engine, we put too much money on it to only use it once."

    "Yes! It's decided, we're doing all three of these."

    And thus Sonic 4, Sonic Colors and Sonic Generations were born.

    + - (This is totally not how it happened)  
     
  5. evilhamwizard

    evilhamwizard

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    Oops I knew I forgot something. I found out about SonicDL by looking at the assets Sega sent to everyone during the course of it's development (I think the fansite kit has the same assets). Everything in 2009 is marked as DL with everything in 2010 marked as Sonic4 or S4EP1. I also got dates from these files as well. I rechecked some of the files and I noticed that their original creation date was earlier than I thought (I think the real last mention of SonicDL was sometime in the middle of July 2009), so my mistake I guess. Internally, the Wii version still uses the code name SonicDL for the some of the music - mainly the ones that are using GM instruments as opposed to the instruments we all know and love. The songs that are using the final instruments are marked S4EP1 internally instead. I believe Jun Senoue mentioned in an interview with Nintendo Power that when he began working on the game it wasn't called Sonic 4 initially.
     
  6. Blue Blood

    Blue Blood

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    Oh! I remember this now. He said he was just told they were making a classic style game.
     
  7. TheBalishChannel

    TheBalishChannel

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    A skull raft, nothing below me but boiling lava.
    Sonic The Hedgehog 1 / CD Sonic sprites & pallete in Sonic The Hedgehog 2, no Tails.
    SEGA should cancel Sonic 4 as a whole. Sonic Generations has pretty much everything we wanted in it. Classic Sonic, good graphics (lighting effects, lots of stuff going on in the background,) good physics, and a good dose of nostalgia. If Sonic 4 is meant to be 3 Episodes (from what I've heard) and it's taking about a year for Episode II to be released, That means if an episode 3 is to be released, the Wii will most likely be dead and SEGA will create an inconsistency between the consoles it is hosted on.
     
  8. LockOnRommy11

    LockOnRommy11

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    I just want Sonic 4 Ep II now. Want the physics mostly fixed, and that's it. That will solve the major problems, and then they can upgrade the level design. I want some more 2D action and I'm pissed off having to play the 2D Sonic games, I've beaten them all over & over.

    I'm not even bothered that it controls like the Adventure games, I just want it. It was decent for the most part, minus those crappy glitchy issues, and the lack of a sound test and carrying-over score. I can also understand the constant use of dash pads, but whatever.
     
  9. Sonic Warrior TJ

    Sonic Warrior TJ

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    I thoroughly enjoyed this short story. Please write a part two about how the Sonic 4 feedback benefited the classic gameplay in Generations (so long uncurling), or how the modern control scheme is pretty much what worked best from Unleashed and Colors combined (I.e: Homing Attack and Air Boost assigned to different buttons, while Quick Step steps back to using the shoulder buttons). Or both.
     
  10. Polygon Jim

    Polygon Jim

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    across town from Hinchy
    All the bitches.

    The song CPK archive is named SONICDL_SNG01.CPK in the PS3 and 360 versions IIRC, and the PS3 version PKG is called NPUB30127_00-SONICDLTRIAL0000.
     
  11. Solaris Paradox

    Solaris Paradox

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    On my butt in front of the computer. Where else?
    I'm working on working up the willpower to work on learning how to make my own Sonic fangames. Not quite there yet.
    ...And this matters why, exactly?
     
  12. Hanyou

    Hanyou

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    I suppose I just don't understand why, if Sonic 4 was an effort that was supposed to appeal to fans of classic Sonic games, they didn't make more of an effort in the first place to emulate the controls and overall feel of those games.

    I played Sonic 4. It wasn't bad. But my reaction to it was the same as my reaction to most well-reviewed Sonic games since Sonic Advance 2: tolerable, decent, but not really all that fun. And if the objective was to live up to the classics, it didn't come close.

    If that wasn't the objective (just read that on the last page), then what the fuck was the point of calling it Sonic 4? They might have known the backlash would be pretty severe for failing to deliver the proper experience, especially considering the collective response to Sonic games in the past 10 or so years.

    Interestingly, as a fan of the Donkey Kong Country series, I loved Returns, even though it changed some basic gameplay principles. I wonder why I couldn't have enjoyed Sonic 4 as much.
     
  13. dsrb

    dsrb

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    I suppose that's explicable by the the game being originally conceived not as Sonic the Hedgehog 4 but just as a downloadable cash-cow.

    One with common sense would think thus, but seemingly there's a dearth of that in Sega's vicinity. The expectation must have been that people would take whatever they were given as long as it had the right name. And, I suspect, that was probably the case for that subset of players who fall outside the category of ‘hardcore’ (lol porn) fans and who inattentively played the game on the coat-tails of its suggestive moniker without any reference to such trifling (note: sarcasm) concerns as physics; never mind such thorough playing and interpretation as is found amongst those who frequent communities such as this. For reference, one could compare these mindsets of both producers and consumers to those underpinning the vast quantities of shovelware churned out for the Wii. I wonder how many people were blissfully ignorant of Episode I’s shortcomings?
     
  14. Ch1pper

    Ch1pper

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    Life.
    Shortly after Episode 1 was released, my sister said she watched a preview of it and that it looked fun. I laughed, replying that (essentially) "The less attached you are to a franchise, the more fun you can probably have with it." I mentioned that as someone who still follows the games after all these years, I found it utter crap, but I could see her enjoying it because she hasn't really played much outside of the classics when we were kids. I'm the same way with superhero movies. I don't follow comic books and know only vague plot points, so I don't know what they're specifically adapting/changing, and I'm able to generally enjoy said movies without being bothered by nitpicks - unless the movie is done in a glaringly bad way, ala Spider-Man 3 (too many stories, bad pacing).

    I'm curious to see if anything will change, especially after what Generations has brought to the table. But not much beyond that.
     
  15. MegaDash

    MegaDash

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    It's a totally true paradox, but I don't think it necessarily makes them more right that they find nothing wrong with it. They just have a fresh different perspective, which is fine. Still doesn't really change what we know about it now and what some of us have known since it first leaked: that Sonic 4 was pretty much a modest downloadable cash-in. It's fine if you enjoy it within that context, but for many who simply expected what SEGA was selling—the sequel to Sonic 3 & Knuckles—it didn't live up, and considering their track record for satisfying the fans and/or making great games, that's yet another insult. Not even calling it a prologue makes it seem like anything less, but it's at least the most like-Genesis Sonic game they've released in more than 15 years, so it definitely counted for something.

    In the end, though, all it was was a Sonic Advance/Rush game repainted to look like Sonic 1 and 2 with two pretty directly copy-pasted levels from each. The additional gimmicks like the minecart/torch, the cannons, the cards, and those weird swerving platforms in Mad Gear didn't really change the game or impact the overall experience; they felt more like brief distractions meant to convince you you're not just playing a modified Sonic Rush game that looks like DKC meets Sonic 2. I could stop treating it like it should be Sonic 4 and enjoy it maybe a little more, but once I'm done, I'll just say to myself, "I might as well have just played Sonic 2 or Sonic 3 & Knuckles, or Sonic Rush if I really wanted something different."

    So that's how I balance the value of enjoying a game for what it's worth versus what its sold as and what you'd normally expect it to be. If it doesn't live up to its name, that doesn't mean it's bad, unsuccessful, or unenjoyable, but it's still pretty disingenuous and therefore rather insulting. Not the best $15 I've spent on WiiWare all in all. Might as well have saved some time and disappointment and gotten World of Goo instead. Again, it's not that bad, but it's no Sonic 4. Not by a long shot.

    So I know enough from Episode I to say I don't really want Episode II right now.
     
  16. Ch1pper

    Ch1pper

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    Indeed. Couldn't have said it better myself.

    Except that I get much more of a genuine, care-given S4-like vibe out of the original Sonic Advance. But that's neither here or there. :)
     
  17. Shakidna

    Shakidna

    Rehash Rampage Member
    Has there been any kind of word on how many episodes are planned. The most I have to go on is at 6:10 in this video.
     
  18. Solaris Paradox

    Solaris Paradox

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    On my butt in front of the computer. Where else?
    I'm working on working up the willpower to work on learning how to make my own Sonic fangames. Not quite there yet.
    No, there hasn't been.
     
  19. LockOnRommy11

    LockOnRommy11

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    It's got to be 3+. They've said it will equal Sonic 3 & K in terms of depth and story, and they wouldn't call it 'episodic' if there were only going to be two parts. Who knows? They could do loads more, but based on what I'm hearing, there's definitely three at least.
     
  20. Solaris Paradox

    Solaris Paradox

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    On my butt in front of the computer. Where else?
    I'm working on working up the willpower to work on learning how to make my own Sonic fangames. Not quite there yet.
    Three is what I would assume the minimum to be. How many episodes we get after this will probably depend on how well Episode II makes up for Episode I, though.