[Dario FF]

Dragon Road Demo
(Entry for the Sonic Hacking Contest 2012)

Before going any further, please notice we're in ModDB now with our own page! So you can follow us there as well for any updates(some exclusive content too!).

Half an year has passed since the research started, from absolutely NOTHING other than some basic uncompressers. Today, it's time to let you play the fruits of our labour and hard work, and there's plenty more to come in the future! For now, enjoy it...



Download
UPDATE: If you've downloaded the mod before, you can download these files and replace on the relevant folders you copied the files to. Otherwise, just get the full pack.

Patch: Download the latest Patched Files

Full(updated): Download from our ModDB Page.
Full(not updated yet) mirror: Google Drive Mirror(Way faster)

The application was unable to start correctly (0xc000142)
This is caused because your version of the game isn't updated. Common problem with people who haven't booted it in Steam, or pirate copies.
Update: Or you can update CPKREDIR v0.4.1 on your Sonic Generations folder.

This mod uses SonicGMI. This pack already has the program included. If you follow the simple instructions inside, you should be able to play with no problems at all in less than a minute.

You can buy Sonic Generations right now for $17.99 USD on Steam! (Daily deal is over, last chance to get the game cheap)



Installing:

• Install either SonicGMI or CPKREDIR with the instructions included. (Simply copy the included EXE and DLL to your Sonic Generations folder).
  
  
• If you never used Mods, remember to enable mod redirection using SonicGMI's "Install/Uninstall" button. All this does is replace the string "imagehlp.dll" to "cpkredir.dll" in the exe, and it's easy to restore. Steam won't give you any trouble for this simple patch, nor will you get a ban or anything like that.
  
  
• Drop the "UnleashedDR" folder into a mods folder(like the one you just copied to the regular Sonic Generations folder) of your own so SonicGMI detects it. If you're using CPKREDIR alone, you'll have to add the entry to your INI.
  
  
• Now just boot up SonicGMI, make sure the checkbox on the Dragon Road demo is enabled, then Save & Play!
  
  
• If you don't see the custom HUB when entering in-game, then you just did something wrong. Try again or ask here, with accurate descriptions of what you did.

Please notice this mod uses its own custom save file, so none of your progress will get overwritten or reset. DO NOT START A NEW GAME(you can restore the original save file with SonicGMI). If you want to force this off, simply toggle it in SonicGMI.



Features

• Sonic Unleashed level from the Xbox 360 version, playable for the first time(for the public) on a PC.
  
• Framerate Cap increased to 60 FPS
  
• Unlimited resolutions, whatever your PC can render.
  
• Global Illumination from the Sonic Unleashed DLC, improving the lighting quality by a great margin
  
• Fully reworked layout. Stuff that couldn't be ported in got replaced, anything annoying or bad is improved, and some other additions of our own!
  
• Custom mini-HUB, and some great new HUB tunes thanks to Falk.
  
• Lots and lots of glitches fixed, and more shall be fixed as they're discovered if needed.

Video:

Full playthrough of the level(spoilers obviously)



Screenshots:



Click the spoiler for more shots.

Spoiler

FAQ:

• Q: The application was unable to start correctly (0xc000142)
  A: This is caused because your version of the game isn't updated. Common problem with people who haven't booted it in Steam, or pirate copies.
  Update: Or you can update CPKREDIR v0.4.1 on your Sonic Generations folder.
  
  
• Q: Release Date for full mod?
  A: Nope. We haven't even started polishing the rest of the levels, it's really time consuming to even polish ONE like this, given how much stuff needs to be recreated. Unless you want Sonic '06 quality, don't ask. When it's done, it's done.
  
  
• Q: Can you port levels from <anything that isn't Sonic Unleashed>...
  A: Nope. Not because I can't, but because I likely find it a waste of time, and you should probably do it yourself.
  
  
• Q: Can you port bosses/cutscenes/story?
  A: No, and even if I could, there's not much point to it since this mod tries to act as if it were DLC. Given the internal workings of the game we can't really ADD more levels, just replace for now. With SonicGMI, switching shouldn't be an issue though.
  
  
• Q: Will you keep releasing individual levels like this?
  A: While it's a neat idea, doing these kind of Mini-demos is really time consuming. I'll likely use the same approach to polishing the stages though. The ideas are still up in the air, but for now, working on the rest of the Day Levels and releasing them as the full pack is the plan.
  
  
• Q: Will this tamper with my Time/Score/Red Rings?
  A: SonicGMI comes with save redirection by default, and this mod comes with a save that lets you play right away on Dragon Road. The rest of the levels are disabled, to encourage the user to learn how to use the Mod Loader to switch from the regular game, to the Unleashed Project.
  
  
• Spoiler

  
  Q: Dumbass, it's Skyscraper Scamper, not Empire City.
  A: Skyscraper Scamper is a stupid name, nobody relates to it, and everyone just calls it Empire City. It's pretty much begging for the rename. And it doesn't actually fit in a regular title card, but that's TOTALLY NOT THE MAIN REASON.
  

Credits:
Dario ff, Chimera, TwilightZoney - Mod Development
Additional help from Falk(HUB World Tunes), JoeTE(Music Replacement), Lobotomy(HD Retexturing), Korama(CPKREDIR), MainMemory(Generations Archive Editor), and to everyone who keeps using SonicGLvl(efficiently)! It's really good motivation to keep working and improving on it, and it makes developing this mod so much easier.

Lots of thanks to Sega for making Sonic Generations and releasing it on PC! We care about your games here, so when are we getting a patch or two?

And that's all I've got to say. Download it, enjoy it, do anything you want with it. I don't require you this time to post videos or anything, but it's all cool and really appreciated! (Particularly some of those high-res shots from you PC Gaming Battlestations)

Feel free to post any feedback and questions you got.

This post has been edited by Dario FF: 18 July 2012 - 10:07 AM

[Azu]

I totally sucked at this level, buy I enjoyed it a lot! Can't wait for more. However, I have a quick question. Where are the gates and names stored in the hub world? The models I mean.

[DustArma]

Google Drive for whoever doesn't want to use Gamefront.

This post has been edited by DustArma: 12 July 2012 - 10:38 PM

[Dario FF]

Azu, on 12 July 2012 - 10:36 PM, said:

Where are the gates and names stored in the hub world? The models I mean.

pam000.ar.00 on bb2.cpk

And Google Drive mirror goes into the first post. That thing is WAY faster.

[Azu]

Awesome. Seriously, this is awesome level, although I never played it on Unleashed. :V I cannot wait for Eggmanland

[iGamr]

I'd like to start off by saying awesome work... and I'd like to continue by giving a bug report.

• For some reason (probably a collision bug), doing homing-attacks on the sword-wielding Egg Pawns BEFORE they attack causes Sonic to get hurt.
  
• There's a rather noticeable camera bug in the water section; at the last two sets of dash panels (which send Sonic in a 90 degree turn to the right, towards the ramp), the second set shoots Sonic to the side but the camera stays facing the same direction before abruptly turning to face the correct direction.

[Azu]

Yea, I ran into the same camera issue except I got shot pass the checkpoint and fell in the water.

[Dario FF]

The delay is actually applied by the dash pad, it's a weird issue that I'm not sure how to fix. If you reach the dash pad without boosting it doesn't happen. Sometimes boosting just seems to override whatever cameras are active, like offset them by a certain distance or apply delays.

This post has been edited by Dario FF: 12 July 2012 - 11:08 PM

[JaxTH]

So I'm wondering...Sice you placed Aerochasers in Dragon Road would it be possible to put the G.U.N. truck in Empire City?

[Donnyku]

Pretty good, again with the camera issue like everyone else. my only complaint is boosting just seems too fast, and that water part... taht part always gave me issues, it's too easy to tap one of the boats and be killed. I forget how it was in the original though

[TheUltimaXtreme]

Alright, I must say, this is amazing. You've managed to bring in almost complete perfection of a Sonic stage over two engines.

Alright, onto bugs and issues

There's an area in the death clouds near the first spinners that doesn't seem to be modeled correctly.
On some occasions, the ramp transitioning the water bit to the next quickstep (or grind if you get to the roof) had improper collisions, thus, sending me to a watery death.
Finally, in my vain attempts to go and beat Dario's speedrun time, upon one restart, my boost sent me into a wall, which I seemed to grind on. I've been trying to recreate it, but nothing so far...

Otherwise, excellent!

[Falk]

I got the bgm to break what is this I want my money back

[jackelbeaver]

Oh wow this is really awesome. Curious how you'll handle Eggmanland, being able to play a proper version of that level would be amazing. (I imagine springs and things to bypass werehog bits?)

[Azu]

jackelbeaver, on 13 July 2012 - 02:12 AM, said:

Oh wow this is really awesome. Curious how you'll handle Eggmanland, being able to play a proper version of that level would be amazing. (I imagine springs and things to bypass werehog bits?)

Far as I know, they're not doing the day stages.

[TheUltimaXtreme]

Azu, on 13 July 2012 - 02:39 AM, said:

jackelbeaver, on 13 July 2012 - 02:12 AM, said:

Oh wow this is really awesome. Curious how you'll handle Eggmanland, being able to play a proper version of that level would be amazing. (I imagine springs and things to bypass werehog bits?)

Far as I know, they're not doing the day stages.

... Night stages, you mean.