Looks like a prototype that's later than Simon Wai's, but earlier than the first betas built for QA testing. Very interesting. Possibly we'll get to see what Hidden Palace looked like before being definitively removed.
it's been a long while since I played any sonic 2 beta so i'm not too sure about layout changes, the game seems pretty complete.
Just like CENSOR afterwards, Hidden Palace cannot be loaded from the title screen. Also other things: Level order doesn't load Metropolis 3 after Act 2, but can be accessed on level select. Sky Chase plays Wing Fortress music, does not load the next act at end. Sky Fortress handle bars do not work.
End of stream mentions that tomorrow is another Sonic 2 proto. I wonder if it's the prototype Casino Night, as SuperEgg mentioned to me that was in a magazine, so an earlier build. Or it could be something before or after CENSOR.
Also, a few people have asked how they could donate. Please PM me here or on Discord, or email [email protected] These were pretty expensive so anything helps!
Interesting how the stages that use the 2P Versus versions of various songs in the Wai proto still use them here (OOZ using what became CNZ 2P, etc), despite the entire soundtrack (including final boss, Sky Case zone, Death Egg, the ending sequence, and credits, as well as sound test 10 for instance) are here (from playing through the sound test). Also like how via level select you can still trigger 2P split screen on levels outside of CNZ/EHZ/MCZ - sorta (Metropolis doesn't work, nor does Sky Chase, Sky Fortress or Death Egg and obviously levels with water are no go). Oil Ocean looks just as buggy as IU remember from doing this in the Wai proto. EDIT 1: Mashed A+B+C when entering the special stage … and Sonic stayed a giant ball (despite unmashing A+B+C) that kept jumping as the START banner dropped down/displayed, as the lights to the side of the START banner lit up. Sonic became normal again once the banner disappeared. Weird, eh? Anyone else try this? EDIT 2: Went into Debug Mode to mess around with placing objects… the checkpoint markers you can place are the same as in the Wai prototype, as opposed to the starposts in later builds, and the final game.
Thanks for the stream. Nice to get confirmation that Dust Hill was an early name for Mystic Cave zone. Casino Night's 2p music doesn't fit Oil Ocean at all. Seems like a strange choice, unless Oil Ocean was a very different looking zone in earlier builds. Interesting that Wing Fortress was called "Sky Fortess". Looks like Sonic 4 Ep2 stole the name "Sky Fortress" from Sonic 2 Question: How do you access level select & Debug mode in this version?
Okay, it seems that Hidden Palace's first PLC entry is busted, but the rest are fine, because I found this in VRAM: Art, blocks, and chunk pointers all go to OOZ's block data. So, basically, they only removed the most basic HPZ data, but kept the object art intact. AFAIK, this build still relies on PLCs to load Nemesis compressed level tiles, unlike how the final used the pointer in the level data list to load Kosinski compressed level tiles. That's why it crashes when it tries to load the level, since the tile pointer just goes to OOZ block data. Also HPZ objects are still intact.
(reads thread title while drinking) "oh I wonder what it i--" (SONIC 2 PROTO) (SPRAYS WATER) holy shit!! thank you!
Opened a hex editor, and found that the level select zone/act values are at 0x42F0. Changing 00 00 (zone/act) for GHZ/EHZ 1 to 01 00 yields a level with GHZ/EHZ music, and palette, and what looks like Metropolis Zone tile spam (versus placeholders, or invalid values yielding a collision-free, background-free EHZ where one falls to their death, like in later versions/the final game) EDIT: lol... tried a value of 02 for the zone, and you get a hell of a mess, Metropolis Zone music, and Wood Zone palette like when you try this in later versions, but tiles are a garbled mess, rather than using EHZ tiles proper (but with the WZ palette) - though you can still make out the shape of EHZ trees and the like. OK, so zone hexadecimal values, and where they take you from the level select: 0x00: Emerald/Green Hill Zone 0x01: EHZ palette, EHZ music, Metropolis tiles, no collisions 0x02: Wood Zone palette, Metropolis music, Metropolis tiles, something KIND OF resembling EHZ's layout, but with really messed up collisions. 0x03: EHZ palette, OOZ Final music, Metropolis tiles, really messed up collisions 0x04: Metropolis Zone 0x05: Metropolis Zone Act 3 (?) 0x06: Sky Fortress 0x07: Hill Top Zone 0x08: Hidden Palace Zone 0x09: EHZ palette, Sky Chase Final music, Metropolis tiles, really messed up collisions 0x0A: Oil Ocean Zone 0x0B: Dust Hill Zone 0x0C: Casino Night Zone 0x0D: Chemical Plant Zone 0x0E: Death Egg Zone 0x0F: Neo Green Hill Zone 0x10: Sky Chase Zone 0x40: Special Stage
What I find interesting is that this is still using MCZ 2P's music, and the unused music 10 track is in this build. Also there are no other game modes, so no ending, continue screen, credits, etc.
Pardon my posting again... also something fun: Take a ride in Tails' plane after being shot down in Sky Fortress: You don't die until you jump or move.
