I mean, what's there to callback to with Sonic 4? Its not exactly something that's remembered fondly (and I like episode 2 more than others seem to, for what its worth), so I don't think there's gonna be a whole lot of effort into getting a Sonic 4 level in there.
GHZ act 2 looks great! One nitpick though: the water pools look pretty weird without any of the back wall being visible above the water surface... they look kinda like solid blue walls rather than regular GHZ walls with water in front of them. Raising the height of the back wall (or lowering the water level) a bit would probably help with conveying how things are layered there and emphasize the translucency of the water.
Definitely agree there, I had to spend a couple minutes figuring out what they are supposed to be. With a more subtle water surface and flush wall backing they look more like weird waterfalls. It's clear what it's meant to be after they jump in, but it's still a trick to the eyes. Almost like opaque water.
I also think the water is far too blue. I understand wanting to match the color with the surrounding ocean, but it's unrealistic. Making the color scheme closer to the underwater sections of Angel Island or Launch Base would be better. Right now more akin to Chemical Plant.
Something which has peaked my curiosity since Mania's reveal back in July is the new highest route towards the end of act1 of Green Hill. I think if you go as high as possible it will lead to a second high-up exit where you'll fight the mini-boss and then continue into act 2 from a higher-up starting point (Mirage Saloon act2 has two different starting points - one for Sonic & Tails and the other for Knuckles - so I think it's okay to assume other zones will as well). It's been disappointing that in the many playthroughs we've seen no one has managed to stay on the highest route until the end. Having watched the full act 1 & act 2 continuous playing which Aaron did a commentary on, I now believe my suspicions are correct. Case in point: I took this screenshot from the video at 1:20, Sonic is just about to go down the tube which takes him lower. However, if you have a keen eye you will notice a yellow spring at the very top of the screen (which you can see has blue sky background around it) which heavily implies there is something up there to explore. Now, if you take a look at the video which I have embedded from 1:10. When it gets to 1:18 you'll notice a diagonal placed yellow spring at the (right) top-edge of the loop-de-loop which I believe will propel Sonic, Tails or Knuckles to the spring at 1:20 in my aformetioned screenshot, which will in-turn bounce Sonic higher. As I said, I believe this will lead to a second higher-up exit. [media]https://youtu.be/qI0RbThgfu8?t=70[/media] At the start of Mania's GH act2 once Sonic has bounced up you can backtrack to what was the original starting point of GH act3 from Sonic 1. Perhaps the theorized higher-up exit in act1 will lead to the original act3 starting point? Or maybe there's an even higher starting point for act2? So, what do you guys tthink. Is it a good theory?
White Park or Sylvania Castle would be great stages to remake for Sonic Mania. I would love to hear White Park's music remixed for Mania.
Did anyone get a look at the Studiopolis boss fight? Can't find the source image Destructoid used, but it's out there somewhere. Spoiler Nevermind, TimmiT posted it a few days ago. Still rad looking.
Cross-post from the Project Sonic 2017 thread: Just for the record: the SXSW panel with new 2017 and Mania info will be held at 3pm PT / 6pm ET on Thursday. It will be live streamed on the official Sonic Twitch page. EDIT: Probably should have mentioned the day on which it's held, oops. Added that.
All things considered, the whole concept of Sonic 4 is being called back in Sonic Mania, just done right. Instead of rehashed versions of earlier levels, its the actual levels re-visited (with added differences as well as gimmicks from similar levels). We still have new locale's, just lesser to the old, much like Episode 2. Sonic & Tails with tag-team actions (thanks to the remasters, I know, but still). More exists but I'm much too lazy to write it all up, nor even serious about this to begin with :v: But, on the much more likely note, they could easily try including Death Egg Mark II, as it would technically qualify as both an old AND new zone at the same time, be interesting to see how they'd adapt the level in Mania as well. Sylvania Castle could also easily work as a pick too, as previously stated. EDIT: My body is ready.
I have no complaints with the water. The way it reaches the very top of its enclosure then spills over is consistent with the cascade mechanic portrayed in the background. The color is fine, and matches the background well, basically blending together. For some that may be a problem I guess... To me it looks as though what you observe in the foreground is basically the same formation as what is portrayed in the background.
I believe this is the tweet you're referring to? It appears at the top of his feed because it's pinned, but it's actually from when Mania was first announced, last July. https://twitter.com/CFWhitehead/status/756952129063890944 In the video I've linked below, Aaron says "We are targeting a Spring window right now", but that SEGA has a "take the time you need" attitude towards the game's development. Depending on your perspective, this could indicate either that Spring is still likely, or that a delay is planned but can't be officially mentioned yet. It does put a damper on my theory that we're on the cusp of a release date, but we'll see. There's a GHZ 1+2 playthrough that hasn't been posted here yet, in which Aaron takes the route you're talking about. Unfortunately, all that's up there is a 1-up monitor and some rings. [media]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q12IkTTrjfc[/media] From that video (and the others) there are a few more things I find interesting. - There are a couple of issues with the GHZ2 background I haven't seen anyone else mention yet. First, one of the mountains seems mis-aligned. Second, the spray from the waterfalls doesn't move which looks VERY weird when the level's in motion. - The section of the level that was featured as a magazine screenshot back in January is visible in the video above, and the zipline is still going through the terrain. Taxman said back then "hence why the zip line rail was going through the terrain at the time" (#2915) which implied it had already been dealt with. If I'm inferring correctly, I think it's safe to say that this is the same build as the one shown in that magazine, especially since the Act 2 boss is clearly present. - The GHZ two-act demo build uses the exact same level select as the earlier Studiopolis/Mirage Saloon demo. On its own, this wouldn't mean anything, but something I noticed last year was that they clearly weren't allowed to play GHZ from that demo. One of the possible reasons I could think of was that the transition to Act 2 was fully functional, and they weren't willing to show it off yet. This means that the new GHZ footage is potentially from an October build, which would explain a lot of the bugs and visual issues. - This would also explain the absence of the Act 2 music. I have a very hard time believing that they would decide to remove the Act 2 music deliberately for the sake of "spoilers". It seems much more likely to me that they had been sitting on an old build with this content since maybe even October, and someone decided to show it at PAX East. They clearly didn't make a demo build specifically for this reveal, otherwise they would've removed the Act 2 boss like they did with the other acts. tl;dr I think it's LIKELY that this new footage is from January at the latest, and POSSIBLE that it's from the same October build that initially revealed Mirage Saloon. At least, I really hope so, because the number of bugs in this footage is worrying and I might die if this game gets delayed.
I've read this thread up to now, I've now cracked. I'd like to give my opinion here after reading the above. You know what. We're getting a new 2D Sonic game. A proper one. Not Sonic 4, not Sonic 3 Remastered, a new one. That's all I've wanted since 1994, and we're finally getting it. Alongside launches on all major consoles, and on a Nintendo system. My past-self from 1994 would go nuts to see that. Two guys who are working their arses off to make a game we can all enjoy, past and present. To read some of these comments and see 'number of bugs is worrying' annoys the shit out of me. They know what they're doing. So to put my opinion into this thread: I'm really looking forward to this. If it misses Spring, it misses Spring. I'd rather have a complete, fully-featured game, than an unfinished one that reminds me more like a 2D version of Sonic '06. To sit down next to my neice, and show her the ropes into a new 2D Sonic game on my Switch..almost passing the torch. To me that's amazing, and that's what I'm looking forward to with Sonic Mania. Enjoy the rest of this thread of 'worrying' words.
I don't think most of us are worried. I think most of us are doing what Sonic Retro does best. Taking minor things and analyzing the fuck out of them. :v:
Looks like I need to clarify what I said. When I said 'worrying', I meant in terms of the game potentially being delayed. Taxman, Stealth and PWG clearly know exactly what they're doing, and assuming SEGA give them the dev time they need, I am not the least bit concerned about the game's ultimate quality. I hope no-one wants them to prioritise a Spring release over the completion of the game we've always wanted, because this game should stand the test of time like the classics do. BUT we can still hope the game's development is far enough along that it doesn't need to be delayed. Having a finished, polished product sooner is better than later for the impatient among us, which is why I'm hoping my theory about this being footage of October's GHZ2 is correct. I don't think there's anything wrong with that. Edit: I don't know if I should be proud or not that my very first post on Retro managed to piss someone off.
I think this is an older build. They likely don't want to waste their time with making multiple show builds since that'd take time away from actually developing the game. I'm hoping it's an older build anyway, because as mentioned above there are some odd things going on placement wise. Flowers in front of rocks, water tiles cutting flowers in half, tree trunks that aren't connected to anything. Stuff which I'm sure they'll pick up and possibly even have (Taxman said they already dealt with the zip line thing), but still. Given the build they've been showing off is maybe 5 months old at this point, it might not be the worst idea to put a newer build out there for previewing purposes. And darylbaxter, calm down. We're all pretty excited about this game, doesn't mean we can't point out little issues here and there. Besides, they were pretty responsive to the Sonic 1/2/CD bug fix threads. We know they're reading this thread from time to time. And hey us pointing this stuff out saves them QA time :specialed: But even just looking at the graphics in various play throughs you can tell this is an early build. For example, Knuckles' 1 up box uses his Sonic 3 life icon, while Tails' uses a look forward face from Sonic 3. Also when coming out of the TVs in Studiopolis, Knuckles and Tails are Sonic for a bit.
