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Sonic 8bit Engine: Sonic Generations the Lost Era

Discussion in 'Fangaming Discussion' started by Justin Cole, Feb 17, 2016.

  1. Justin Cole

    Justin Cole

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    Sonic Generations: The Lost Zones
    Hello there! I am kind of new to Sonic Retro and I come here often for hacks and other information on the blue blur. As you all know, Sonic's 25th anniversary is coming up really fast and my tribute to the series is an 8bit recreational engine. It is based on the main 8bit Sonic titles as well as Tails' games. So far, screenshots, videos and beta demos have been released. The game itself is built so that you can edit both music and sound effects. Currently, I have 8 zones in the game. Those are Green Hill, Green Hills, Aqua Planet, Gigapolis, Sleeping Egg, Sky Base, Robotnik Winter, and Sky High. I will be releasing another demo soon along with some other material. Stay tuned!!

    Here is the link to the old 2015 demo:
    Sonic 2D Recreation Project
     
  2. Overlord

    Overlord

    Now playable in Smash Bros Ultimate Moderator
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    I've removed your font tag. Don't do that, we don't approve of people using custom fonts/colours for no reason.
     
  3. Ravenfreak

    Ravenfreak

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    If you go by Azul Cole on Facebook, I've been very impressed with your fangame since you've been posting videos and screenshots in various Sonic groups. (I'm sort of a fan of the 8-bit titles in case you didn't know. :P) You should definitely share some videos and screenshots here, for those who haven't seen any of your work. ;)
     
  4. Justin Cole

    Justin Cole

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    Sonic Generations: The Lost Zones
    Haha! yep, thats me. I'm glad to hear that you're a fan of the 8bit titles as well. I will without a doubt share all of the content here as well. I need better video software. I use "Debut Video Capture". Is there any better software that doesn't affect the framerate? I figured I had to spread the word in more ways than one. I look forward to whats ahead of us. I pray he 25th anniversary games will be awesome!!
     
  5. Care to share some of those screenshots and videos here? I'm curious to give this a try and I know others will too, but people typically don't like going in blind.
     
  6. Techokami

    Techokami

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    Played the one stage demo, here's my thoughts:
    • Nasty image filter and forced fullscreen. You really should fix both of those.
    • The image filter also highlights points where tiles aren't correctly aligned. You should enable grid alignment, and stick to a 8x8 pixel grid, if you're looking to make things like the olden games!
    • Gameplay view is too large for the sprite size. That'll work with Genesis-styled sprites, but with Master System/Game Gear stuff, the sprites are too small and it makes the screen too busy.
    • Invincibility lasts too long! It should be about 18 seconds, not until the song ends.
    • You're using some of my old, crappy sprite rips. Please don't. Get over here and update to my non-shit work!
    • Tails' title cards are a blinding white color.
    • THE PHYSICS. They feel extremely off, in comparison to the Master System/Game Gear titles. Stuff like bouncing off badniks, deceleration on hills, momentum, etc etc etc. I'll leave the majority of this to people who are more in the know to explain things in finer detail. Generally I don't gripe about inaccurate physics in fangames, but if it's so egregiously bad like this, I will say something.
    You have a loooot of work ahead of ya!
     
  7. Atendega

    Atendega

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    Having played the demo, I think there are only two big issues (There are also many smaller ones, but c'est la vie).

    1. The weird tiling issues.
    2. The physics, which are mostly fine except for the air acceleration. You shouldn't accelerate that quickly, there should be more air drag, and you shouldn't be able to reach top speed in the air from a standstill jump.
    Mostly though, this is pretty sweet.
     
  8. Justin Cole

    Justin Cole

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    Sonic Generations: The Lost Zones
    Wow! Thank you both for the awesome feedback! I've attempted many Sonic games so far, but this is the best I've done yet. I mostly agree about a lot of the things you two mentioned. Originally, I wanted to make a Sonic game using an existing engine, but I wanted to figure out how they work by myself. I can only go so far without help. A lot of the things mentioned by you two have already been in consideration. The Invincibility lasts 40 seconds in here due to testing reasons. Originally, it was 15 seconds. I have also been working on the handling of enemy destruction. As for the physics, they are the main thing I'm concerned about. I've been tweaking them left and right, but haven't been able to come to a proper solution. If anyone knows someone who could walk me through rotating characters through loops and stuff, I would greatly appreciate it!

    By all means, critique away! I want to make this the best I possibly can. Thanks for being exact and precise! I'll be posting more soon. I look forward to seeing how much the project grows from here on out.
     
  9. ashthedragon

    ashthedragon

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    I haven't tried the demo yet due to not having enought free time, but kudos to you for paying attention to the 8 bit games! they deserve much more recognition by the fanbase as they are awesome games!
     
  10. Justin Cole

    Justin Cole

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    Sonic Generations: The Lost Zones
    I agree. The Genesis games are awesome and we all know that. However, there are very little fan games that deal with the 8-bit entries. Most 2D fan games are genesis or Advance styled. The only 8bit Sonic fan game I've seen would be Sonic Origins 2. I'll do my best to make this game as good as it can be, but don't expect anything perfect. Along with the finished product, I'll be releasing the other 2 sonic games I attempted years ago. They are terrible XD.
     
  11. Techokami

    Techokami

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    Here's a physics tweak suggestion: when you bounce off a badnik, only change the vertical speed! I keep getting knocked backwards when hitting enemies.
     
  12. Justin Cole

    Justin Cole

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    Sonic Generations: The Lost Zones
    I just fixed that today XD. Now there are 3 enemy types. I changed all normal badniks into the 3rd bounce type(which emulates Sonic Generation's fixed vertical speed gain). In the Genesis games, your bounce depended on how much force you had going downward, I may try to do that instead. There are so many possibilities. Keep the feedback coming!! I'm going to need every last bit of it.

    Just so you know, the loops serve their purpose for the moment, but it you mess around with them, you can bounce off of them. These loops serve as place holders until I find out how to make real loops. The ones here work nicely, but I want a full loop engine like the genesis games.