QUOTE (Scarred Sun @ Apr 7 2010, 12:31 AM)
Joke posts are probably going to backfire on you, so take caution.
AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA... HAHA... ha... ha...
So yeah...
Anyway, my own thoughts on the shortcomings of the game based on what I saw in the leaked footage, I've already posted on the Sega forums, and it was a bit of a mouthful, so I'm just going to copy/paste that here. I hope that practice isn't frowned upon in these forums...
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QUOTE (Solaris Paradox)
I'm aware that this topic might encourage more pointless infighting and all that, so if the mods/admins see fit to do so, I'll have no problem with it being locked. That said, I just wanted to provide my thoughts on the game so far in an organized, constructive, all-in-one-place package, so that it doesn't get lost in the general discombobulation of multiple forums' worth of mixed debate, babble, and spite towards [*insert object of spite here*].
To the members of this forum: I would prefer that we discuss these issues in cool, calm, logical manner, which is to say, if you disagree with someone or wish to state a fault in the game, criticize, don't ostracize. There's no reason we shouldn't be able to discuss the ins and outs of this game, however, keep in mind the nature of a pre-release build, please don't jump to undue conclusions about either the game or other members of the forum (or at least, keep those undue conclusions in other topics), [snippety snip snip]
Now my own thoughts on this game as I perceive it at this point are actually pretty simple. I'm not going to go on a massive rant about the physics, as I have no real reason to assume that they are complete at this point, however for the sake of saying what needs to be said about them, here are my issues with the physics in the pre-release build we've seen:
1 - Sonic has the ability to accelerate on inclines that really should prevent acceleration at his current speed and momentum. This ranges from those "walk on walls" moments (barring the times this occurs with Speed Shoes) to simply being able to maintain acceleration up vertical or uphill inclines for a bit too long before being slowed to a halt.
2 - Those 90-degree "RushVance" slopes (which ironically first appeared in Sonic CD, not Advance or Rush... just sayin') have some issues, and they seem to stem from Sonic simply being able to stand still on inclines that are simply too steep. There's a point where Sonic should start slipping downward regardless of which direction he's facing, but he doesn't in this build.
3 - There's one bit in the Casino Street Zone Act 2 leak where Sonic hits a ceiling-curve in a bad way and actually shoots off along the curve in the wrong direction (I.e. back down the pinball chute), which is an obvious physics glitch.
4 - I've definitely glimsed times where Sonic speeds up upon contact with the ground after coming out of a jump, when he really shouldn't, although I couldn't pinpoint exactly why. Is his downward momentum transferring into his forward momentum in a kind of reverse-ceiling-trick? I can't say, but this undermines the momentum gameplay and I hope it's not present in the final product.
My non-physics-related complaints are as follows:
1 - Sonic not being able to maintain his roll-attack when he shoots off quarter-pipe inclines and the like is an obvious downgrade from the classic gameplay and should be remedied if the designers don't already intend to do so (which I think they very well might).
2 - The use of the Homing Attack on enemies, even to chain across flying enemies to reach alternative routes, isn't something I so much mind (although part of me wishes it were a power-up like the Elemental Shields in that you didn't have it innately and were always at risk of losing it when you did). Using the Homing Attack to navigate actual platforming actions and challenges, such as the breakable rocks, vines, and ziplines in Splash Hill Zone; the cannons in Casino Street Zone; and the springs in pretty much every level is a bit on the "much" side and will probably sap a lot of what challenge this game has to offer right out of its jugular. Sonic isn't supposed to be the paragon of hardcore gaming challenge, but in these cases the game looks like it's playing itself, and that's something I can't really list as a positive.
3 - Some people have mentioned that stages tend to emphasize a particular gimmick, rather than mixing it up within its own set of gimmicks to punctuate level design. After some though, I've decided that this is actually something to consider when designing future stages. I like the idea of act-specific gimmicks, but it occurs to me that some of the stages I saw in the leak center too much on one gimmick, making those specific acts one-trick ponies of a sort. Not "bad," but they could potentially be better.
4 - Casino Street Zone Act 2 is far too small and simple for what it tries to do. Personally I like the idea of a pinball-centric scoring challenge, but the tiny, restrictive arena we saw in the leak pretty much requires the player to do exactly one thing over and over in order to obtain the required 100,000 points in any reasonable amount of time—if the design were that of a multi-tiered pinball stage with multiple ways to amass points, something in the vein of Sonic Spinball level design, then this could be an extremely fun level, especially considering the presence of Leaderboards.
5 - The Air Dash really makes the conveyor belts in Mad Gear Zone too easy to bypass, although as for what could remedy that issue, I'm not exactly sure. Personally I haven't seen any other real issues with the Air Dash, although common opinion seems to be that it shouldn't be spammable to obtain high speed. That being the sentiment, it could be made so that the Dash doesn't add to player momentum after a certain point (I.e. place a cap on where its contribution to speed meets an end), but honestly I didn't see enough places in the levels where this would even be an issue to worry about it.
6 - The bosses in general look a bit too easy, and I think one thing to consider is to make the Homing Attack incapable of hitting Eggman's mechs. They're huge as it is, so the Homing Attack isn't really necessary, and personally I think it looks as if the Splash Hill and Mad Gear bosses might be more interesting without the Homing Attack as an option. Casino Street boss seems like it should be placed a bit higher up so that the player can't simply jump up and hit it. I also think that the "pinch" section of these battles, the "twist" to his attack pattern, might benefit from lasting longer. Perhaps an extension to his health bar in light of these bosses being their own stand-alone Acts...? Lost Labyrinth Zone actually looks fine to me, by the way, as does the final boss. Although on the subject of the final boss, the spiked arm that descends from above, which you are supposed to knock toward Eggman... if you can hit that from the righthand side and still make it fly to the right, that just looks wrong to me. I think it would be better if you actually had to hit it from the left to make it fly to the right, and vice-versa.
7 - Dash pads. I have nothing against dash pads, but the combination of the sheer number of them with the newly-automated nature of springs makes a lot of the speed I'm seeing in the game look too automatic, which undermines the momentum-based nature of the gameplay. If the dash pads were reduced in number and placed more on a basis of "where we can put them to suit the players' needs and to reward them for some kind of skill," I think I'd be satisfied. But a dash pad should not be placed simply for the sake of having one in front of a steep slope—that's my thought on it. If the player finds themselves in a place where they need help getting up a slope, they have the Spin Dash.
8 - On that note, the combination of Springs being automatic with them being Homing Attack targets is bad enough without overusing the spring-to-spring combo aspect, and while it doesn't look like too much of a problem yet, I would advise using this design choice sparingly.
There might be more, but this is all that comes to mind at the moment, so it's probably all I really care about (or maybe just all I could really detect when given footage rather than hands-on playtime).
This post has been edited by Solaris Paradox: 07 April 2010 - 09:53 AM
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