Possibly new Flying Battery art?

So Metropolis is one great big giant colossal fuck-off blimp?

No, I didn't think so.

 

Hmm, this is drawn in similar style to the other one but it definitely has a Mushroom Hill vibe to it.

 

Well, here's something interesting. Anyone have a higher-quality copy of MTV's Sonic & Knuckles "Rock the Rock" special?



This is taken from somewhere around 5 minutes in - you can find a copy of the special on YouTube if you want to see it for yourself in context.

At the top of the second row from the left, the first piece of concept art that's clearly on-screen seems to be none other than the newly-discovered alternative colouring of the Metropolis art we've all been discussing in this topic. Taken circa 1994, during development on Sonic X-treme, it appears in a wall full of what seem to be S3&K concepts at Sega Technical Institute - on the top of the right row, you can see what appears to be the Mushroom Hill (Valley?) concept that's just been posted - better quality video would be needed to be sure, but the arrangement of the trees seems to match it exactly. Also of note; in the middle of the row second from the right appears to be a Hydrocity concept, with Sonic busting through a wall on a wave of water like early in Act 1.

Most interestingly, in the middle of it all there's a concept I can only describe as Aquatic Ruin. Is it possible that Sega were, in some instances, using old level concept linework to produce colour tests for new, similarly-themed zones? If this were the case, then the re-use of the Metropolis art could have been used for a legitamate colour test for Flying Battery after all. Food for thought, perhaps? = )

 

Over five years and only now you notice? This just made my day XD

 

That Mushroom Forest picture is a new one on me! It's also in the Rock the Rock picture, in the upper right.

It'd be so awesome if we finally got to see all those concepts in hi-res!

 

This totally explains the similarities between Metropolis and Flying Battery, and also makes you wonder if Mushroom Hill and Wood Zone also evolved from that other pic.


EDIT: Is that the highest resolution we have on that video? It would be interesting to take a closer look at the rest of the pics in the background.

 

Here are some more screens...

 

And there's the christmas trees that Brenda Ross mentioned as being considered for Sonic 2's winter level, later modified into Hill Top's trees.

Probably.

 

Check out Sky Sanctuary in the bottom left. With a TREE. SUCK ON THAT, GENERATIONS SKY SANCTUARY HATERSSSSS

 

It's been speculated that those concept drawings were later used for Ice Mountain and Angel Island in Advance 1. The similarities are there, anyhow.

 

Fuck fuck fuck. I cannot believe what I am seeing. We're on our way to getting some of that concept art in those 'Rock The Rock' screens. Ths is majorly exciting stuff for me, and this is why I joined Retro. Recently this stuff has been lacking.

I thoroughly agree that this concept art was also a test for some things in Flying Battery. As someone said earlier, it makes sense that they used a basic concept and tried variations of it to get an idea of the style of the level. They obviously kept some blue stuff from the colour test by the time Flying Battery came along in Sonic and Knuckles.

Some of you are saying that it can't be because the colours are different. Well, Sonic 3 was meant to have Flying Battery in originally, and I have this to say;

That's the same colour as this;


That must mean that it's at least an early re-used concept, because hasn't a Flying Battery save screen been found in Sonic 3 hidden away, which has the final colour scheme?

 

The original text was taped over on this as well. Yeah, I'm banking on Wood Zone...



Btw, I always wondered why the Flying Battery "Blimp" from Angel Island was different from the one introduced in Mushroom Hill. Weird design change for something that was supposed to be consistent within one game!

 

A simple recolour is all that is needed on the navy blue sections to get this;


Similar, eh?

 

I think it might have to do with it almost looking like Metropolis acts 4 and 5...

 

I think you're right. The evidence is present. The fact that the blimp in Sonic 3 is that concept art colour, and that the final actual zone is different really is down to development of the concept. I think that they wanted to go for something different. Metropolis Zone and Metallic Madness already had a similar look, and Sonic was always about variation. They probably didn't change the Angel Island blimp because it was a quick appearance which was already well implemented and detailed, and would mess with the levels palette.

The Sonic & Knuckles apperance of The Flying Battery still has the golden finishing around the sides, but the colour is now a navy blue, and a military pattern has been applied, so the feel of the level is still similar.

 

This makes me wonder, are the palettes of Angel Island's and Mushroom Hill's actually compatible with the actual level? Or between both cutcenes?

 

Instead of paying then, we are paying now with Acts 4,5, anad 6. -_-


But that's an interesting question. I tried doing a quick search to compare the Angel Island blimp vs. the Mushroom Hill Blimp. I'm surprised the pictures aren't a part of Flying Battery page here at Retro.

 

This is all starting to fit into place now...



Ever since I was a kid I knew that looked a tad funny to be a plane. I just chocked it up to being a game and that was the design. But look at that now. The front is curved up funny, it's extremely long, and it has no wings. And now we get this evidence that Flying Battery may have very well been a blimp. Couple that with the evidence that Flying Battery was originally placed within Sonic 3's storyline... I think that's some pretty compelling evidence Flying Battery was, at one point, Bad Egg Blimp Zone...

 

Yellow and blue make green, Red and blue make a purple, both colors are apparent on the blimp. ( well kind of purple Grey is apparent anyways)
could it just be that they wanted to have the fires light the blimp to make a new color?
to me that blimps design kinda looks out of place as it was used in sonic 3. it looks more like the blimp should be a background piece more than something flying overhead of sonic dropping bombs,
You can also kinda make out a platform on there where sonic would be able to run on.( although scaled down)

Perhaps Flying battery zone had been a background prop which was supposed to fire shells from the background rather than overhead dropping.
( sonic team may have been rushed and didn't finish what they set out to do with the prop.