[CyclopsCaveman]

Aquatic Ruin Zone?

Edit: My first idea was Aquatic Mine Zone, but I think that Aquatic Ruin was also in another game. But maybe Aquapolis Terror Zone? Or maybe Aqua Metropolis?

This post has been edited by CyclopsCaveman: 15 November 2008 - 11:08 PM

[SoNick]

Guys, you really need to play your Sonic games more before trying to come up with level names. :|
Ocean Palace, Aquatic Ruin, and Aquatic Mine are all names already used in the Sonic games; Sonic Heroes, Sonic 2, and Sonic Adventure 2 respectively.

I do like Resel's idea of using "Labyrinth" somewhere in the name, although I'm not too keen on the "Roman Labyrinth" name.
Perhaps something like "Underground Labyrinth?"

[Resel]

Underground Labyrinth is cool. Definitely.

Though I don't know, I think Roman Labyrinth would work if the level stuck to a Roman vibe, with pillars and stone sculptures of Robotnik dressed up as Caesar. (yeah, you know you want to see that!).

But yeah, I think we totally need to use Labyrinth somewhere in the name.

This post has been edited by Resel: 15 November 2008 - 11:43 PM

[Blue Emerald]

Resel, on Nov 15 2008, 10:42 PM, said:

Underground Labyrinth is cool. Definitely.

Though I don't know, I think Roman Labyrinth would work if the level stuck to a Roman vibe, with pillars and stone sculptures of Robotnik dressed up as Caesar. (yeah, you know you want to see that!).

But yeah, I think we totally need to use Labyrinth somewhere in the name.

How about "Aqueduct Labyrinth Zone," or to avoid overextending the title card, "Aqueduct Maze Zone?"

[muteKi]

Perhaps with a touch of irony I can't help but feel that one of the better names for the level would be Marine Maze as Aquatic, Hydro-, Labyrinth, Marble, and the like are already as tied to the specific identity of other zones as the word Emerald is.

I suppose it's irony as I'm not really into the alliterative zone names as much.

[Tweaker]

As discussed in the other threads, I think we've had enough name discussions at this point. We need to start coming up with level concepts and pixel art—we'll worry about a name later.

[Icewarrior]

So Underground Zone is going to be a water-filled zone...Cool, can't wait to see the result

[CyclopsCaveman]

How about we have some sort of pneumatic tube system akin to CPZ's in certain areas, excpet Sonic jumps into a river of rushing water? Maybe we could have it at the end so Sonic jumps out of the rushing water at the beginning of acts.

The idea is that we could have Sonic walking along a path and when he reaches a dead end he could jump down a hole broken into the ground by wear and tear, or Robotnik or something, and it lead into an aqueduct that has a huge amount of rushing water where you can collect rings and hit badniks while dodging falling rocks and spikes, adding some excitement to the travel around the zone idea. We could have two or three an act, and we could even style an entire boss around it.

[Overlord]

Tweaker, on Nov 16 2008, 10:09 AM, said:

As discussed in the other threads, I think we've had enough name discussions at this point. We need to start coming up with level concepts and pixel art—we'll worry about a name later.

To be honest, this should have been the approach all along - the Dilbert episode with the product naming session immediately springs to mind...

[muteKi]

Overlord, on Nov 16 2008, 04:24 PM, said:

Tweaker, on Nov 16 2008, 10:09 AM, said:

As discussed in the other threads, I think we've had enough name discussions at this point. We need to start coming up with level concepts and pixel art—we'll worry about a name later.

To be honest, this should have been the approach all along - the Dilbert episode with the product naming session immediately springs to mind...

I completely agree. I honestly kept wanting to post pictures or video links from that episode; I found it nearly impossible to resist doing so. In fact, the only thing really keeping me from doing that was that I couldn't decide on what would be the best part of the episode to link to.

But that's why GRUNTMASTER 6000 is right there in my search history.

[Amistat]

A sudden, random idea that has currently possessed my fingers and thus is being expressed; from the concept art this place looks pretty abandoned and secluded. It'd fit quite nicely in a Tomb Raider game even.

How about trying to get some sort of sense of fear into the level? What if there was something following you?

At points in the level you hit apparent dead ends, pillars block the way or some such. The place quakes and part of the background falls away allowing the player to get a glimpse of...something...back there. The screen quakes again as it moves away causing whatever is blocking your path to fall away itself so you can continue. There could be hard to reach routes that require very specific moves to get to that skip these mini cut-scenes so that speed runners don't have to waste those valuable seconds too.

It's a bit cheesy, but some sort of mythical creature seems like it'd fit in the setting, hidden away down there (heck Chaos fitted in pretty well). A dragon, hydra, basilisk, something along those lines. At the end it could finally confront Sonic, only to be instantly killed by Robotnik who then fights you in a mechanical version of the beast of his own design (battling Robotnik in a mecha dragon in some ruins could be pretty awesome).

The place could even have a random boss? When the level initially loads the game picks which creature you'll encounter this time, they pursue you and are killed, replaced with Robotnik's version of them at the end.

The idea's a bit out-there, but I thought it could be worth putting forward to get a different kind of view on things.

Alternatively do something cool with light. Depending on which routes through the level you take (I.e. how far underground you travel) the amount of light you have to see with varies. It'd give new uses for certain shields too; the fire and lightning shields could help illuminate the area around them perhaps?

[Matwek]

Amistat, on Nov 17 2008, 02:36 PM, said:

A sudden, random idea that has currently possessed my fingers and thus is being expressed; from the concept art this place looks pretty abandoned and secluded. It'd fit quite nicely in a Tomb Raider game even.

How about trying to get some sort of sense of fear into the level? What if there was something following you?

At points in the level you hit apparent dead ends, pillars block the way or some such. The place quakes and part of the background falls away allowing the player to get a glimpse of...something...back there. The screen quakes again as it moves away causing whatever is blocking your path to fall away itself so you can continue. There could be hard to reach routes that require very specific moves to get to that skip these mini cut-scenes so that speed runners don't have to waste those valuable seconds too.

It's a bit cheesy, but some sort of mythical creature seems like it'd fit in the setting, hidden away down there (heck Chaos fitted in pretty well). A dragon, hydra, basilisk, something along those lines. At the end it could finally confront Sonic, only to be instantly killed by Robotnik who then fights you in a mechanical version of the beast of his own design (battling Robotnik in a mecha dragon in some ruins could be pretty awesome).

The place could even have a random boss? When the level initially loads the game picks which creature you'll encounter this time, they pursue you and are killed, replaced with Robotnik's version of them at the end.

The idea's a bit out-there, but I thought it could be worth putting forward to get a different kind of view on things.

Alternatively do something cool with light. Depending on which routes through the level you take (I.e. how far underground you travel) the amount of light you have to see with varies. It'd give new uses for certain shields too; the fire and lightning shields could help illuminate the area around them perhaps?

Not too keen on the idea of monsters, it seems too much like the later sonic games for my liking with mythical monsters turning on robotnik and trying to destroy the world.

The light idea is a good one though. I was going to suggest it for the jungle level, as I belive it was going to be a wet raining level I thought it might be a good idea to have the water all muddy and murky so you can only see a certain disatnce in front of you and then it gets blury. Obviously these sections would have to be kept to a minimun as its annoying enough being slowed by the water and having to look for air let alone not being able to see as well.

[muteKi]

I really like the idea to be honest, but I think the whole time that it should be a robot that's a recurring obstacle through the stage, much like how the twin drill bot showed up in Marble Garden several times.

[Matwek]

Having a robot octupus/squid thing might be a good idea seen as its a water level. Tenticals could burst through walls and stuff, maybe even have sonic fight two of them at the same time for a sub-boss before comming up against the whole thing for the main level boss

[Overlord]

How about a 2D chase down a section of narrow corridor by some deadly obstacle? I'm thinking a boulder like that Indiana Jones scene, or maybe a version of the Marble Zone lava that actually has some speed to it.