How do you figure? Sonica's making this, he's just asking for suggestions. Ultimately, the final word is his and his alone. The clusterfuck that was Project Retro wasn't quite like this.
This post has been edited by AerosolSP: 19 March 2012 - 12:03 PM
Guess I may as well throw my hat in the ring for a "What if" scenario. It's glorified fanfic (and may have little bearing on the actual project), but oh well.
Based on the general timeline of Sega hardware, I'd assume the retro Sonic 4 would be released on the Sega Saturn - after a series of spinoffs Sega pulls out the stops and decides to give the blue hedgehog one last 2D hurrah, keeping him in the public eye well before the hype and launch of the Dreamcast. The Saturn was fairly limited in terms of 3D programming but excelled at 2D, and many games on the system had a combination of sprites, polygons, rotating/scaling and Z-depth effects. All the end-of-zone bosses and some of the subbosses in this hypothetical Sonic 4 are polygonal models.
The intro and title screen for the game would be in 3D. The in-game transitions are kept as is, cutscenes with no dialogue. Japanese voice clips for each character are planned, then tentatively dummied out.
Retro Sonic 4's level design would be roughly the same as &Knuckles, having learned from the generally dismal reaction to Crackers and Chaotix. The number of general objects on screen (foreground, animated background objects) would be greatly increased - indeed there would also be a great number of level-inclusive 'gimmicks' that took advantage of the Saturn hardware. The bonus stages in particular would be the 'missing link' between the Sonic Xtreme fisheye demo and the engine that would be later perfected for NiGHTS Into Dreams - further complimented by the Christmas bonus Sonic Into Dreams.
Retro Sonic 4's artstyle would be somewhat less 'gritty' than the Mega Drive games, with greater inspiration/palette choices taken from Ristar and Chaotix. The music for the game would be produced by Naofumi Hataya and Tomoko Sasaki.
Sonic, Knuckles and Tails are playable characters. Each character keeps their abilities from 3&Knuckles along with new moves. Sonic can now run along ceilings and walls, if he's running beforehand and jumps onto the surface - a good player could wall-climb through a tough alternate path this way rather than fly or climb. He can also do a spindash in mid-air. Knuckles can punch through certain walls and burrow through them (similar to the Drill from Sonic Colors), as well as allow other players to latch onto him while gliding. Tails remains the same, albeit with a longer flying time.
The shields return, with the caveat of the golden Homing Blast shield from Sonic 3D.
The game supports up to 3 players but the system is a mess as the camera focuses on Player 1 with Players 2 and 3 playing catch-up - it's a nice idea in theory, but the 2-player co-op system still works best. There's also a rudimentary race mode that allows the players to race through the full levels of the game. A dummied-out feature would allow for unlockable beta versions of levels from previous games, as well as multiplayer-specific mini levels relying on co-operation to advance.
Robotnik is the main antagonist once again, focused on collecting the Chaos Emeralds with the help of a mysterious new sidekick who resembles an evil mirror version of Sonic. The new character acts as a rival similar to Knuckles, goading Sonic mid-level, in sub-boss fights (either alone or with a machine) and occasionally racing him through levels. The good-ending final zone sees him use the Chaos Emeralds to fight Sonic one-on-one as a precursor to the real final boss.
Robotnik is the main antagonist once again, focused on collecting the Chaos Emeralds with the help of a mysterious new sidekick who resembles an evil mirror version of Sonic. The new character acts as a rival similar to Knuckles, goading Sonic mid-level, in sub-boss fights (either alone or with a machine) and occasionally racing him through levels. The good-ending final zone sees him use the Chaos Emeralds to fight Sonic one-on-one as a precursor to the real final boss.
this is looking pretty cool, I'll keep in mind to keep checking back here for more stuff.
Could I suggest something that bugs me a little bit in fan game engines? regarding when sonic is standing still on a slope (excuse the quick doodle and my awful handwriting)
this is looking pretty cool, I'll keep in mind to keep checking back here for more stuff.
Could I suggest something that bugs me a little bit in fan game engines? regarding when sonic is standing still on a slope (excuse the quick doodle and my awful handwriting)
I was thinking about this just a minute ago, it's very possible!
It would be cool if you were able to somehow emulate the Sonic 1 prototype "gunslinger" sprite for that. It would probably translate well to Sonic trying to keep his balance on a hill
You taking Zone Ideas? Here are a few to consider...
- A Tropical level based on a chain of Islands. Think a river delta, but with Islands. Sonic can traverse the tops of the Islands if he has enough speed, but if he should slow down can also can traverse small cave systems under the Islands by going underwater.
- A mechanical graveyard for Robotnik's machines, where old badniks rise from the graves. Think a combination of a scrapyard and a burial ground.
- A level based in the mountains where Robotnik has polluted the fresh water creating a Sludge River down the mountain.
You taking Zone Ideas? Here are a few to consider...
- A Tropical level based on a chain of Islands. Think a river delta, but with Islands. Sonic can traverse the tops of the Islands if he has enough speed, but if he should slow down can also can traverse small cave systems under the Islands by going underwater.
- A mechanical graveyard for Robotnik's machines, where old badniks rise from the graves. Think a combination of a scrapyard and a burial ground.
- A level based in the mountains where Robotnik has polluted the fresh water creating a Sludge River down the mountain.
This has always been my wacky idea for a first zone. Have Sonic start out in space (to fuck with tradition) escaping from Robotnik's psychedelic botanical moon base, and making his way back down to earth by the end of the zone for the rest of the game.
I has this idea of Sonic's story taking place after Tails/Knuckles. Sonic has been captured and imprisoned on Robotnik's moon base, and Tails/Knuckles have to rescue him. Therefore the moon base would not only be Sonic's first level, but Tails/Knuckles last.
This has always been my wacky idea for a first zone. Have Sonic start out in space (to fuck with tradition) escaping from Robotnik's psychedelic botanical moon base, and making his way back down to earth by the end of the zone for the rest of the game.
I has this idea of Sonic's story taking place after Tails/Knuckles. Sonic has been captured and imprisoned on Robotnik's moon base, and Tails/Knuckles have to rescue him. Therefore the moon base would not only be Sonic's first level, but Tails/Knuckles last.
That does sound pretty clever actually. But that would exclude the idea of Tails and Knuckles being able to tag along with Sonic, maybe being able to switch between them... I dunno, I'm just chucking ideas out like you ;S
Maybe as a compromise of homing attack or not, maybe revive the Gold Shield from Sonic 3d Blast. That way its not required and does not take away insta-shield (my favorite attack in the series), but it does create a useful power-up Sonic earns and allows the player to chose between it and other shields.
So now the engine has slope and rolling physics almost complete as far as flat walking is concerned (thanks to a little help from Mercury). Once I get this done, I can move on to adding wall and ceiling physics finally, once I do that, perhaps I'll make a test release. Who knows?
As much as I love the Sonic CD soundtrack and its style, wouldn't a continuation of the Genesis style be more fitting? Or at least find a common ground.
Also as far as surrealism in environments go, keep it on a leash ok. The environments in Sonic 1 2 3 and CD were all believable and beautiful in a natural way even if otherworldly and the terrain and plants were sometimes made of polygons. Keep to that vein, don't start getting all artsy weird if that's what you were thinking.
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Phoebius, on 19 March 2012 - 11:56 AM, said:
