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New Sonic 2 development lore drop - Genocide/Cyber City palette and art!

Discussion in 'General Sonic Discussion' started by The Joebro64, Mar 19, 2023.

  1. Shoemanbundy

    Shoemanbundy

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    FYI, that artwork comes from the October 1992 issue of Beep! Megadrive, so it's not official concept art for an alt. cover or anything.

    [​IMG]
     
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  2. dsmania

    dsmania

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    OK... This is strange. I was watching a video today that mentions some adventure gamebooks, two of which ("Metal City Mayhem" and "Zone Rangers") feature covers attributed to Duncan Gutteridge (Oil Ocean and Jungle), but actually Gamebooks.org page of said books states that those illustrations are by Chris Russel and Arkadia. Dug a bit more, found a PDF and a video, and the books have the same information.
    upload_2024-7-8_0-53-55.png upload_2024-7-8_0-56-5.png

    I've seen some pictures of Duncan Gutteridge posing with the illustrations, the 1993 calendar does state at the bottom his name, and maybe these copyright notices refer to some kind of agency, but I find very strange not mentioning his authorship in the books, which are officially licensed books by Penguin.
    upload_2024-7-8_1-4-29.png upload_2024-7-8_1-5-15.jpeg upload_2024-7-8_1-20-7.jpeg

    And, while not related to Sonic 2, just add that thanks to these books I was finally able to identify the source of the Bollycao stickers: they come from the agency Selecciones Ilustradas, although no idea about their specific author(s).
    upload_2024-7-8_0-41-0.jpeg
     
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  3. Londinium

    Londinium

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    Sonic looks very adorable in those stickers LOL, just look at K and Z!
     
  4. Jaxer

    Jaxer

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    Here's something funny I found out about while doing research for a Wiki page. In Sonic Quest: The Death Egg Saga #1, which features the Death Egg's first appearance within the Archie comics, a body of water has been sealed over with a metallic dome.

    16.jpg

    It's obviously a complete coincidence, but quite an amusing one at that.

    And in case anyone asks, the dome's purpose in the story is to "protect" the grotto's Power Rings from potential "thieves", as Robotnik is planning on using them to fuel the Death Egg.
     
  5. Hez

    Hez

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    Necro(ish) bumb, but if anyone was curious what the layouts looked like with the SW beta metropolis tiles in place here are the maps.

    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]

    I may try replacing some of the obvious blocks that were meant for swapping and see what happens.
     
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  6. Chimes

    Chimes

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    That's almost coherent. Almost!
    It's prime time my development lore thread got unlocked... It's been long enough!
     
  7. Jaxer

    Jaxer

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    I've been thinking about this quote from Yamaguchi regarding Metropolis for a while now. What did he mean by "stage sketch" and "image board"?

    I'm assuming that "stage sketch" refers to environmental concept art like this
    TomPaynePapers_8.5x11_Miscellaneous_Loose_Pages_(No_Order)_image1514 (1) (1).jpg

    but "image board" mystifies me. Does it refer to these pieces of concept art?
    Metropolis_concept_webp.jpg

    Because if it does, then it'd be an explicit confirmation that Yamaguchi was the one who drew them. That not only suggests that he might still have more somewhere (although I consider this unlikely), but also could help explain some of the discrepancies between them and the island maps, which were created by Yasuhara.
     
  8. HEDGESMFG

    HEDGESMFG

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    Forgot to mention that Sonic Delta 40mb incorporated a pretty decent version of Hez's GCZ/CCZ recreation into the genesis engine (Go 9:30 or so to see it). This video shows the version from 2 months back, but it's been a bit further updated in the latest SHC2024 build too.

    Nice to see a playable version of the stage with the official layout and original physics. Still needs a bit more refinement and a boss concept to get it fully functional, but we're a lot closer now.

    I'm also starting to agree with those whom theorized that Act 2-3 really were one large map. They seem to transition into each other too directly, and I'm guessing the area at the start of "Act 3" may have still been underwater, with the fans at the end of act 2 being a "fan system" that blows you through the area upwards, like Labyrinth Zone and other parts of the stage.
     
    Last edited: Oct 2, 2024
  9. E-122-Psi

    E-122-Psi

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    That's pretty damn good really, helped by having a lot more level gimmicks present than an average 'beta recreation' fan level. All it needs is some unique badniks and it will feel like a complete level.

    I noticed a lot of recent projects using Hez's Cyber City assets. Did they make it open source somewhere? (Not that I'm asking out of future interest or anything... :P)
     
  10. Blue Spikeball

    Blue Spikeball

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    The map depicted GCZ as three separate locations on the island.
     
  11. Jaxer

    Jaxer

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    Not only this, but the ending hallway of GCZ2 doesn't even align with the beginning hallway of GCZ3 when you put the two maps right next to one another. If I had to guess, the relation between acts 2 and 3 is probably reminiscent of Scrap Brain 2 and 3, where Act 2 ends with a cutscene that is continued at the beginning of Act 3. Like I've said previously, the Eggman encounter in GCZ2 appears very similar to the one in SBZ2, as both seemingly involve Eggman stepping on a button to send Sonic down a flooded tunnel.

    Also, I've been wondering why nobody has seemingly even considered to interview Mark Cerny over his involvement in Sonic 2. Sure, he might be very busy right now with covering up Sony's embarrassing PR mistakes, but he's the one major American person on the Sonic 2 team whose point of view we haven't fully heard yet. Brenda, Craig and Tom have more or less told us all that they know while Tim Skelly cannot be interviewed anymore for obvious reasons.

    And even if he couldn't tell us anything new about scrapped elements of the game, I'd imagine that he could give us a lot of new details about how the game's development went.
     
  12. HEDGESMFG

    HEDGESMFG

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    Yes, all the assets were shared in a google drive back during the release of the project. The links should still be somewhere in this thread, including .bin files that are compatible with rom data. A few have tried to use them, but I'd say the Delta hack has done the best job so far. I expect more ports will be made over time, and I expect S2 Archives especially will make good use of these when it (hopefully) reaches the end of development.
     
  13. Hez

    Hez

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    https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1rAC0ZkAgkFJZUNcu5EB0jMvZXYo6iwOZ?usp=drive_link

    in case anyone doesn't feel like digging.
     
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  14. Blastfrog

    Blastfrog

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    I just want to take a moment to thank you for all of your hard work on this. It was no small feat, and the attention to detail is superb.

    I am curious about something, however. Do we have any indication on what the actual background was supposed to be like? I have a feeling that even if the Spinball BG tiles were originally created for GCZ, the stage would not have had a BG like that had it made the final cut.
     
  15. Sparks

    Sparks

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    Sondro Gomez / Kyle & Lucy
    I always found 2P Oil Ocean's theme to be one of the weaker compositions in Sonic 2, so it gets a bit grating to hear it in Sonic 2 hacks after awhile. I would love to see (hear?) someone compose something original that feels in-line with Sonic 2s other compositions.

    (I'm having deja-vu...)

    The Delta edition of Cyber City is looking like it has great promise, though; it just needs more polish, the unique gimmicks etc. to make it feel like a true stage.
     
  16. penBorefield

    penBorefield

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    I don't recall Oil Ocean has a 2P version theme. They have like three themes for 2Player Vs. (Emerald Hill, Casino Night, Mystic Cave)
     
  17. Sparks

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    Sondro Gomez / Kyle & Lucy
    I had a brain fart, I meant Casino Night. I was thinking of the Simon Wai proto. :psyduck:
     
  18. synchronizer

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    How about Cyber Track 's music from Sonic Advance 3?
     
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  19. E-122-Psi

    E-122-Psi

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    I think Oil Ocean works surprisingly well for the stage it's chosen since it really adds emphasis on that sun baking down on you.

    As for its use in hacks, I can see why since it's often relegated to Sand Shower, and a hot desert-y level really fits that track. There isn't a whole lot of variants for a good Sand Shower theme either. I suspect Sand Shower would have fit a bouncy western sort of theme similar to Mirage Saloon.

    To do some more Hez shilling I like some of the original tracks Sonic Classic uses for the beta levels (the Wood Zone one is even getting use in other projects like Sonic 2 Archives). Sand Shower's is a neat one. It's admitedly more Arabian desert themed than wild west, though I could see how a few instrument changes here and there could give it more a South of the border feel.



    Thanx for sharing your Cyber City assets by the way, Hez, it's neat to have another beta level to toy around with in some form.
     
    Last edited: Oct 6, 2024
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  20. Crimson Neo

    Crimson Neo

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    Sonic 2 Advance Edit made one of my favorite re-creation / re-imagination / inspiration of Sand Shower:
    [​IMG]