[Dark Sonic]

I'd love if hacking could go and replace allll the models in SADX. Not just the main cast (although them too, I say upgrade them to the Modern models), but also Robotnik, NPCs, Eggmobile, what have you. Also it'd be nice if when you start in a new section, you actually start on the ground and not just... drop from the sky for some reason.

[E-122-Psi]

Sparks, on 06 December 2014 - 09:30 PM, said:

I will say that Sonic Adventure 2 does feel like it improved on Adventure 1s problems a lot. There were still camera issues here and there, and sometimes I'd find Sonic going in weird directions (the half pipe in Green Forest (or White Jungle?) comes to mind). When my friend and I are playing vs. mode, there's rarely any gameplay related issues, so I think that says something about how well its aged. It's by no means a perfect platformer, and definitely one that requires some patience, but I can at least say anytime my friend wants to play some Adventure 2 Battle, I'm completely up for it. Shoot, I would love for a multiplayer Sonic game where you did nothing but race friends, Sonic Adventure 2 Battle was great for that. Referring to the Sonic/Shadow levels, of course. We pretty much ignore the shooting, emerald hunting and kart modes.

One of the key glitches that let down SA2 was the 'sticky jumps' however, going into double jump mode when you didn't want to and dashing at an inopportune time. How many times did homing attack activate when you didn't want it to?

I agree on the multiplayer however, that was a tight extra. I always loved the VS race mode in the Sonic games. I kinda wish they'd added something similar in SA1 (I can't help but feel something cool could have been made out of the Adventure hubs too, imagine a shooting battle tracking and roaming around in them).

This post has been edited by E-122-Psi: 06 December 2014 - 09:40 PM

[Dude]

Strife, on 06 December 2014 - 06:19 PM, said:

It'd be pretty cool if SADX modding got to the point where the game could get just a bit more polish - say, fixing all of the oddities caused by the porting job so it feels like it has the same refinement as the original Dreamcast version but with the updated models and framerate.

You're more likely to see this with an engine remake than with the original engine. Working with existing x86 code as opposed to original source is already a headache, without even accounting for the headaches of using such an old engine. The hardest part of a proper remake would be getting the physics/character behavior to match, but once you did that it would be way, way better than working with the original engine

[Irixion]

Dude, on 06 December 2014 - 09:42 PM, said:

Strife, on 06 December 2014 - 06:19 PM, said:

It'd be pretty cool if SADX modding got to the point where the game could get just a bit more polish - say, fixing all of the oddities caused by the porting job so it feels like it has the same refinement as the original Dreamcast version but with the updated models and framerate.

You're more likely to see this with an engine remake than with the original engine. Working with existing x86 code as opposed to original source is already a headache, without even accounting for the headaches of using such an old engine. The hardest part of a proper remake would be getting the physics/character behavior to match, but once you did that it would be way, way better than working with the original engine

You could do what Halo Master Chief Collection does...just run another graphics and sound engine on top of what you already have... I mean 343 did it fairly quickly, so how hard can it be?

[Dude]

343 had access to the original source code. Of course it would be easy for them.

[Yeow]

Not too long ago I played SA1 on the PSN, and while it's aged as gracefully as overheated milk in a handful of areas (graphics/cutscenes/writing in particular) I think in terms of level design and game structure alone it largely beats SA2 (which I played first via the Battle GC port). It just seems like Sonic Team USA decided to make the game more tedious to play instead of genuinely improving SA1's faults. Sonic's SA1 stages were less restricted in playspace (and the Homing Attack from what I remember wasn't utilized to be mandatory in the level design-compared to SA2's Homing Attack chains that occasionally appeared in the game), Knuckles's SA1 treasure hunting levels are largely more accessible, and Gamma's mobility and controls were less clunky then SA2's mech shooting stages. And you could actually play as Tails. And you didn't have to play each character's levels in a set order.

I think the only thing SA2 did better in terms of game design was scrapping Big and Amy's genre roulette stages and fixing the camera, and maybe scrapping the hub worlds as well.

This post has been edited by Yeow: 07 December 2014 - 05:03 AM

[DigitalDuck]

I can endure Sonic, Tails, and Amy's gameplay. I can't endure Knuckles, Gamma, or Big's gameplay.

This makes it better than SA2, where I can endure Sonic and Shadow's gameplay, and I can't endure TAils, Knuckles, Eggman, or Rouge's gameplay.

But I don't really care about all of that because the Chao Garden is where it's at. Best part of the game.

[Dark Sonic]

Question, has anyone created a mod in a similar fashion to the SA2 one where you can pick a level and play as whatever character you want, or would that be too difficult for this game due to the fact they have the same levels but with different layouts (for example, would it be possible to play as knuckles in sonic's speed highway with the Sonic's starting locations and layouts intact)

I feel like such a mod would be more practical in this game since the characters are far more suited in an all around fashion than in SA2, where characters outside their gameplay styles often cannot get past certain obstacles.

[Laura]

Caniad Bach, on 06 December 2014 - 09:55 AM, said:

I actually prefer SA1 to SA2 because I think the first one is far more refined. With all it's rehashed levels, shitty backgrounds and clone characters, Sonic Adventure 2 comes off as being rushed as hell.

Lol, what?

Sonic Adventure 2 doesn't have any rehashed levels. Do you mean levels that are similar to each other, like Radical Highway and Mission Street? That's to give parity to the two campaigns. Sonic Adventure 1 rehashes way more than the sequel with all characters playing the same or cut down levels for Sonic.

Sonic Adventure 1 is also way more rushed than 2: the appalling bugs, weaker animations, poor drawdistance e.t.c.

I think people whack Sonic Adventure 2 way too much.

[Dark Sonic]

Sonic adventure 1's "rehash" as you put it makes sense though. All the characters are on their own adventure, but they visit the same locales since they all take place in the same area and their stories overlap. SA2 though is lazy. It reuses assets to make clone levels. Sure, some of it makes sense since they're in the same area, like prison island, but even then they're similar enough that'd SA1's approach would almost make more sense. Mission street, radical highway, both car levels use the same assets.

[KalHal]

Laura, on 07 December 2014 - 12:14 PM, said:

Caniad Bach, on 06 December 2014 - 09:55 AM, said:

I actually prefer SA1 to SA2 because I think the first one is far more refined. With all it's rehashed levels, shitty backgrounds and clone characters, Sonic Adventure 2 comes off as being rushed as hell.

Lol, what?

Sonic Adventure 2 doesn't have any rehashed levels. Do you mean levels that are similar to each other, like Radical Highway and Mission Street? That's to give parity to the two campaigns. Sonic Adventure 1 rehashes way more than the sequel with all characters playing the same or cut down levels for Sonic.

Sonic Adventure 1 is also way more rushed than 2: the appalling bugs, weaker animations, poor drawdistance e.t.c.

I think people whack Sonic Adventure 2 way too much.

I'm not sure if either of you lot give the amount of time Adventure 1 & 2 were put in. I truly think they were both equally rushed based on both of your factual statements.
But to me, it doesn't make the game any less playable, unless if you count the bugs, which I NEVER in-counter on a regular basis. But, as a whole,

I'd rather have 31 levels with copy-and-pasted ideas for a lot of levels,
Than just 11 to explore with different characters, because at least the C&P levels had new level design to offer. :/

[Dark Sonic]

Maybe part of my dislike of sa2's levels is that they're all so boring. Even sonic and shadow's levels are essentially "run on this path fast, chain enemies, run fast, spring chain, somersault, run fast." There are twists and turns sure but it's basically straight line the game.

[Quarterman]

What bugs me most about the game is that it feels like Sonic is ice skating. I found it really hard to be precise.

Also, fuck gem hunting. I hated those levels with a passion.

[Spehiroth]

I'm surprised NOBODY has mentioned the damned loop in Emerald Coast, right before the whale. It is so easy to fall through that loop that to this very day I still fall through it. I swear, the first time I played SA1 I fell through it and wondered what the hell happened.

Another annoyance was bad camera angles in some stages, such as Amy's Hot Shelter:

I always seemed to fall off that narrow path because the camera zooms out so far. I was only little when I first played SA1, and didn't know how to adjust the camera, so I lost A LOT of lives at this one part.

Some levels were just too easy, like Tails' Windy Valley. You can skip most of the level by flying.

SA2 was a major improvement over SA1. If it weren't for Security Hall and Mad Space, I'd give it a 10/10. Also, the Big the Cat easter egg was hilarious. It was so satisfying seeing that fat purple fuck get run over by the GUN truck in City Escape. I point blank hated his stages in SA1.

Despite it's flaws, Sonic Adventure is still a classic in my opinion.

[crystallize]

It's actually an interesting question. Can a number, or better, an area of reused assets be counted for both games?

Dark Sonic, on 07 December 2014 - 12:50 PM, said:

Sonic adventure 1's "rehash" as you put it makes sense though. All the characters are on their own adventure, but they visit the same locales since they all take place in the same area and their stories overlap. SA2 though is lazy. It reuses assets to make clone levels. Sure, some of it makes sense since they're in the same area, like prison island, but even then they're similar enough that'd SA1's approach would almost make more sense. Mission street, radical highway, both car levels use the same assets.

SA2 writer even noticed in interview, how they had to scrap a couple of cutscenes to release a game in time, which was 3 months after console died. Reusing assets also means less need to reload things from a disk.

This post has been edited by crystallize: 07 December 2014 - 01:55 PM