[Hukos]

winterhell, on 19 April 2013 - 11:49 AM, said:

I've though about this before. In Golden Axe III, the branching changes the length and the difficulty of the game. Sure, it increases the replayability tremendously, not just because it takes more time to see everything in the game but also makes it less repetetive and fresh.

I'm afraid with the modern gamer that would be a waste of development budget and resources. People expect a system when your progress gets saved every now and then, in a manner that you don't have to go back to previous stages ever again if you want to finish the game. Let alone try/discover new routes to new levels.

I'm against the Sonic 3 kind of save system where you go to a level with 1 life, lose it and resume with 3 lives from the same level. There was an F1 game that let you save your game between events, but that worked as a Pause. You had only one shot at the next event. If I'm making a save system for a platformer it'd go in similar fashion.
This being said, Branching allows for the time you spend on one sit to be kept shorter, and if a Sonic game is made with, say, more than 8 zones, then there could be some branching so that the longplay is kept just under 1 hour.

Castlevania Rondo of Blood, a game that is a hell of a lot harder than any Sonic game not named Sonic 2 8 bit, had the Sonic 3 style of saving and nobody really complained about it.

One aspect that could be built upon is the kind of cutscenes that S3&K had. You could see a cutscene happening, like say Robotnik attempting to destroy sections of a level, but there's an alternate path where you could clearly ignore him. Doing so would cause Robotnik to ruin a future level that you could go to. Going after Robotnik would prevent him from doing so.

[The Growler]

So expanding on the idea, perhaps you could have for example:

1) A Classic-style route like we're all used to.
2) An easier route, but a much harder boss battle at the end.
3) A shorter(?) much harder route, but with an easier boss battle to finish with.

And possibly other variations of the 3 as the game progresses onwards.

[TheKazeblade]

The Growler, on 19 April 2013 - 05:22 PM, said:

So expanding on the idea, perhaps you could have for example:

1) A Classic-style route like we're all used to.
2) An easier route, but a much harder boss battle at the end.
3) A shorter(?) much harder route, but with an easier boss battle to finish with.

And possibly other variations of the 3 as the game progresses onwards.

So basically Star Fox 64? I can dig it.

[TheInvisibleSun]

Palas, on 19 April 2013 - 11:28 AM, said:

Or activating different branches according to how long the player takes to finish the level, using when instead of where.

This is interesting; perhaps beating the level in a certain time will allow Sonic to complete the level before a certain event happens. For example, Robotnik is trying to destroy a bridge that would lead to the next level. Get there fast enough, and Sonic will run across the bridge to the next stage before the bridge is destroyed. If you're too slow, then the bridge is already destroyed when Sonic gets there, and he now must find another way to the other side (Perhaps a Tornado or Tails stage). This can be taken even further—if you get to the bridge while it is being destroyed, that would force Sonic to fall down to an area below it (maybe a 'Valley' or 'Underwater ' level).

[Covarr]

TheInvisibleSun, on 22 April 2013 - 11:11 PM, said:

Palas, on 19 April 2013 - 11:28 AM, said:

Or activating different branches according to how long the player takes to finish the level, using when instead of where.

This is interesting; perhaps beating the level in a certain time will allow Sonic to complete the level before a certain event happens. For example, Robotnik is trying to destroy a bridge that would lead to the next level. Get there fast enough, and Sonic will run across the bridge to the next stage before the bridge is destroyed. If you're too slow, then the bridge is already destroyed when Sonic gets there, and he now must find another way to the other side (Perhaps a Tornado or Tails stage). This can be taken even further—if you get to the bridge while it is being destroyed, that would force Sonic to fall down to an area below it (maybe a 'Valley' or 'Underwater ' level).

It seems to me this could work well with something like classic City Escape in Generations; paths chosen by whether or not you beat the truck. The important bit is to have some sort of clear indication of why you were made to go one way instead of the other (City Escape does well with this). Simply attaching it to a timer isn't enough.

[Yeow]

Forgive me for making such a long bump, but I've had this idea for several months now and I've /always/ wanted to see this implemented in a Sonic game (a 2D game at the very least). Initially it was in the vein of having secret exits that unlocked new acts in the main zone a la NSMB -so it doesn't exactly fit this idea- but then I've been thinking of it going the full mile and having secret bosses that took Sonic to a different path and to different zones -which fits this idea like a glove and is similar to the aforementioned Star Fox example.

I even entertained the idea of adapting it to a structure somewhat similar to Sonic Adventure and having each playable character (let's hypothetically say Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles, are playable at the start) and they all start out at different parts of one island. All of the playable characters can easily work their way towards a certain goal (say, Eggman's base located at the center of the island), which can be done in about six "main" zones that the player can take. But the level design / game structure allows for characters to find a secret goal (or secret boss) somewhere in what would be the third (or second) (standard) act of the zone, which takes them to another character's path, and the player can thus continue their playthrough from there (or hop to another path if the player knew where to go, and so on). Then go the extra mile and make use of cast speciation like Palas mentioned, so like Sonic 3 & Knuckles there are areas or paths in the level design that one character can't access, but another character can. (I.e. An act within forest zone that has Sonic as the standard character you play through, but you have an cave covered with felled trees that Knuckles can destroy; or a temple that is separated from the main path by a large body of water that Tails can fly over to). Maybe go another extra mile and have "bonus"/"secret" zones that aren't part of the main campaign for the characters. And if one wanted to, go an even further extra mile and have areas that can only be accessed through use of powerups (I.e. an area in a temple level that has torch holders that open a sealed door-naturally, they would be lit by players who have the Flame Shield).

The replay value would be absolutely insane, to say the least, and all of the above doesn't even cover the idea of alternate/side missions that don't involve the player doing the main objective (some of which were mentioned by Palas -completing a level in a set amount of time- or -as some pointed out- done in Shadow the Hedgehog).

This post has been edited by Yeow: 07 December 2014 - 12:34 PM

[Ashura96]

Don't forget the spinoff games!

Sonic and All Stars Racing Transformed presents: OutRun

[saxman]

I have always thought this would be a great idea in a Sonic game. As a Kid Chameleon fan, I always likes the ability to go on different paths of progression. It adds a lot of replay value to the game if done well.

[Dark Sonic]

I think it would be a great idea, but only if there were multiple starting levels as well, mainly because playing Westopolis in Shadow 10 times is kind of a chore.