[Cyberblade]

This level is based off of an idea I actually had a few years ago when I was intent on working on a Sonic 2 hack (That never really got off the ground)



This is all I've got left from that project, and even its incomplete. The 'tetris' pieces as they are, were never really intended to appear as 'tetris' pieces, in fact I'd never even seen the comparison until a friend pointed it out. They were actually meant to be little pieces borrowed from Emerald Hill's tile set, and done in a way to continue the classic games very geometric design aesthetic.

As for grass over the loops, some do have some plants on them, but that loop is one of the few bare ones. As a gulch its meant to be a very dry feeling level, but not quite a desert level either. I probably do need to get some more plants in place, but I'm not quite sure how I want to do that yet.

[Andrew75]

Looken good man!

[gunswordfist]

Funny, I just got done looking at a Megaman 2.5 video.

Anyway, maybe you could add a "plane jump" button (think LittleBigPlanet or Guardian Heroes) so the player can have some control over that which could lead to some really clever level design.

[Cyberblade]

Sorry its been rather quiet, between work/school/life I've not gotten too much done. GGZ Act1 layout was finished, but enemy/ring/item placement has yet to begin, and theres still a lot of modeling and artwork that needs to be done. I have gotten several big changes done to the engine however and I figured I'd go about updating on that.

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Added:

Underwater physics
Speedshoes
Shields
Invincibility
Ring HUD

Modified/Fixed:

Rolling bug that Namo mentioned has been eliminated
Getting caught on the floor falling at an angle: fixed
Jumping has been recoded
Less Abuseable
Less Floaty
More Controllable height
Speedcap changes in midair, making falling more realistic (previously had issues with it hitting its speedcap while falling making falls floaty)
Rings bounce slightly more realistically (Still passes through walls...but the physics guide says they only pay attention to horizontal surfaces in the classics, so I'm not too worried at the moment unless it becomes really problematic)
Springs provide more reliable action
Sonic sticks to the floor less, still some Sonic 4 wall sticking that needs to be fixed.

Todo:

Drowning
Invincibility stars
Monitors
Goal Post
Badniks
Enemy/Ring/Item placement GGZ
Level Title Cards

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I'm really hoping to have a proper demo ready before Christmas, but I wouldn't hold my breath.

[Forsaken Moon]

Looking good man!

[Cyberblade]

As I said, I wouldn't hold my breath for a Chrimbo demo. School completely took over shortly after my previous post, and then after school I spent Christmas with my GF in England, so Shift sort of took a back seat to everything. However I don't think it will be too long before I have a proper demo ready now, as you can see I did manage to get several more things done before school took over my life.

Previous Todo:

Drowning
Invincibility stars
Monitors
Goal Post
Badniks
Enemy/Ring/Item placement GGZ
Level Title Cards

I also made a huge framerate improvement in the game shortly after my last post as I tweaked a number of graphics settings on Sonic's rendering so the game runs much smoother now.

I'm currently working now on Crabmeat's code, and have two other badniks to create for the demo level. Buzzer will not be making an appearance, I've created a new Bee badnik concept for the game, but I'm a big fan of Crabmeat so I just really had to create him for the game. He's not perfect, and I know that teeechnically his walking animation wouldn't actually work, but it looks good for what it is and every other animation I tried to make for it failed miserably.





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Also, I'm looking for a musically inclined hand with Shift. I can draw, I can model, animate, program, design levels, and give Crabmeat googly eyes, but I can't create music to save my life. Now I'm not begging for free music or anything like that, I can pay a little (but I'm a poor college student, don't expect a new car outta me. XD) If you want to work for free be my guest, but I'm not begging you to. You will be given credit and access to content before I post it here to help compose the tracks. I want someone capable of doing original work, but willing to do some remix-ing too, and able to pull off a Sonicy style. If you think you're qualified hit me up with a PM with some examples of your work and an idea of what sort of payment you'd want in exchange.

This offer here is on top of an extensive search I've been doing since my original artist choice unfortunately disappeared from the internet. I'll update this topic/post when I find someone for the position and follow up on Crabmeat and the other badniks.

This post has been edited by Cyberblade: 22 January 2012 - 10:57 PM

[snow toilet]

Reminds me of the good old days where the curves are real flat and jagged instead of smooth and rounded.
If this is the style of the 3D models in this game then that's excellent.
It's not very often you see a game with polygonal like graphics anymore at least that I know of.

[Some Dude's Hand]

I love the direction of Crabmeat, and I think the project is going very well. Good use of rectangles in Golden Gulch Zone. As for this Bee badnik, did you get the inspiration from this scrapped badnik?

[Cyberblade]

snow toilet, on 23 January 2012 - 05:55 PM, said:

Reminds me of the good old days where the curves are real flat and jagged instead of smooth and rounded.
If this is the style of the 3D models in this game then that's excellent.
It's not very often you see a game with polygonal like graphics anymore at least that I know of.

This is both out of a want for the style of the game to appear very retro, and out of necessity/laziness. I'm just one guy, if I ever hope to complete this project I can't aim for Generations level graphics. I do rather like the retro polygonal feel, so I'm glad It's appreciated.

Some Dude, on 23 January 2012 - 06:32 PM, said:

I love the direction of Crabmeat, and I think the project is going very well. Good use of rectangles in Golden Gulch Zone. As for this Bee badnik, did you get the inspiration from this scrapped badnik?

Nope. ^^ This bee badnik is a very different badnik to that one and is of my own design and inspiration. It's rather different to bee/wasp badniks of other games, so I felt it would make a better more unique badnik then to clone Buzzer/Buzz Bomber for the millionth time. I do like the idea of bridges going up in flames though, so I may consider that for another level later in the game.

[synchronizer]

If you want to make the game look even more retro, replace the eyes with sprites. (That would be a bit too much though.)

[Cyberblade]

Alright, I've found an artist to do the music for Golden Gulch Zone, Andy Tunstall, also known as Ristar on SFGHQ forums. You can check out some of his work here. His work is amazing and really worth checking out and he's agreed to make the song for the first level. I'm not sure what will happen as the game continues as he is quite a busy artist and is looking for more work, but I'd rather not put the weight of an entire project on him, or ask him to do a bunch of work for a project that may not see completion (As most fan games tend not to) So I'll deal with the music on a case by case basis.

Anyways, not to just advertise an awesome musician, I'll also give you a glimpse of some actual in game screenshots of GGZ Act 1. The layout is done, but I'm still working on enemy graphics and code so I've not placed anything but the item boxes in the level. Hoping for the first proper demo in the next couple of months.

This post has been edited by Cyberblade: 26 January 2012 - 01:14 PM

[Namo]

Hm, it looks very... Saturn-y. Tiles could use some more variation, as could the backgrounds, but it looks pretty good so far.

[TheInvisibleSun]

Namo, on 26 January 2012 - 01:17 PM, said:

Hm, it looks very... Saturn-y. Tiles could use some more variation, as could the backgrounds, but it looks pretty good so far.

I like the purposely artificial, Saturn-like look as it conceptually brings more of that fantasy-world feel to the table; it is an environment that I think Sonic fits better in personally. However, I do agree with Namo in that the tiles could use a bit more variation, as they seem very pattern-ish to me. Also, It seems like for some reason, that the 'tetris block like' objects don't visually mesh well with the established environment. Perhaps it's the oddly dark shadows they cast compared to everything else? Also, I feel that the background should be a pinch lighter, so that the contrast between it and the foreground isn't overly stark (as it is daytime). From the screen shots you've shown, I am very impressed so far, and I look forward to seeing the progress of this project.

[Cyberblade]

I am glad to hear that it has a Saturny feel in many ways. As I said about Crabmeat, I don't have the time or capabilities to produce something Generations level, on top of that Blenders game engine wouldn't like that very much. So in response I wanted to give the game very much a look and feel as if Sega had figured out the 2.5d Sonic concept in the 90's and continued the classic style then. Albeit I'm not trying to take a 100% classic Sonic presentation on the game either, but that's the sort of vibe I do want to give off.

I will take a look at breaking up the tiles a bit. The paths are shown entirely by just darker sections of checkerboard, and that is admittedly too little. I should work at a new path texture of some sort, and add some more ledge detail. As for the blocks, I tweaked their shaders a little the other day to make them better shaded, but I might have gone a little overboard, so I'll look back at those again to get them fitting back in again. Been wanting to add some more plants too, but I'm not quite sure what sort of plant to add whether or not some flowers or shrubbery would fit better. Any thoughts?

[TheInvisibleSun]

I suggest more shrubbery and not flowers, due to the nature of the 'Wilderness' Level Trope that it seems to be using. Also, Andy Tunstall's music is looking like quite a nice fit for sonic Shift so far; I really like most of the tracks (I'm listening to it right now, actually)!

EDIT: Some of it is awesomely reminiscent of Saturn/Dreamcast Sega music (somewhat)!

This post has been edited by TheInvisibleSun: 26 January 2012 - 03:08 PM