Sorry to bandwagon too, but the third one IS the best one. The first and the second don't say much to me, and the fourth one is too blue.
I absolutely love how the grays in the first one blend together, but gray isn't really that fitting for the aura... since the third is the closest blue equivalent to that shading, I'll go with that.
Maybe, for when he leaps from wall to wall you could use the frames here where Sonic comes off the surfboard. Just a thought.
I would say the fourth one... I'm not too sure why everyone likes the third one. To me, the gray and blue just don't mix well.
Yeah, I know, but bear into mind that when it's seen on a TV, where blurring happens, it looks much better. That said, I'd prefer something that is smoother than in those sprites :P
I think the third one would be the best because it flows in a way that doesn't mix with sonics pallet to much like the fourth one is tending to do, and also the streaks are more smooth looking with the blue blending nicely together with the white. I would also have to agree with Cinossu. I play roms on my computer screen just because it gives off more clarity compared to a TV and also that its a given that you'd be using a computer monitor because most people play emulators on a computer anyway.
It's contest time again, so feel free to dick around in what we've finished so far. You can't actually play it on HackTube at the moment due to the new emulator not supporting SRAM, but the download link should work all the same. (EDIT: Hack moved to Wiki.) The video walkthrough mentioned when the hack starts is in the process of being built here. New controls ("new" as in "not in Sonic 2"): Jump dash -- B/C while in a ball in midair Midair roll -- A in midair while not in a ball Midair trick actions -- After being catapulted upwards by an object (spring, seesaw, etc.), press A plus any direction (not pressing a direction results in a midair roll) Wallkick -- In midair, push in the direction of the wall while holding A, then press B or C to kick off Exit level -- Pause and press A in a level to return to the last hub/overworld you visited. Level progress is saved when doing this, so you don't have to play a level all the way through if you find what you want. Ayla says that's she's accepting updates for Hacking Contest ROMs until all of the grading is done, so please comment on bugs or anything that seems off so that I may fix them and re-release (if your comment is "I don't like the concept" or "I can't win by holding right", please bugger off). I spent about three hours last night replaying everything and checking that each and every value that needs to get saved into and called from SRAM reaches its target, and I still missed a few bugs (as evidenced by the first build I sent Ayla crashing after the title screen :P). If everybody runs into the same error, I'll break down what values go where in SRAM so that the more tech-savvy forum-goers can correct it without having to redo anything in-game. A word of advice before you start: if you can't figure something out, move on to something else. You only need about 70% of everything before the final area to reach it, so you've got some slack, and you'll eventually be able to cheat and watch the video walkthrough anyway. Thanks to Cinossu for teaching me how to implement SRAM. Everybody who made material for the hack should be mentioned in the credits -- if you're not, speak up. (EDIT: Oops, forgot to mention Blast Processing and BlackHole for their collab wallkick sprite; sorry, guys! You're both added now, and might be in a public release if I end up making a low-difficulty release.)
Looking forward to this! Everything I saw in the last video was gold, so I can't possibly be disappointed!
This is obscenely good. I'm embarrassed to be competing in the same hacking contest! Art, music, abilities, layouts: all perfect. The mission system really takes this hack to a whole new level as well. There's only one thing that stops me giving it 100% of my affection, though, and that's the difficulty. I played it for about an hour and a half and only managed to get two emeralds, one of which was just for completing the second act. The other one was "the cave under the falls", and I felt like an absolute hero for finding it (that section is really well done, by the way). Looking back at your video for the first time just before posting this, it looks to me that I'd need to have a pretty much perfect knowledge of the level to complete some of these missions, particularly the time attacks and seven emerald boxes ones. Perhaps that was your intention. Or maybe I'm just retarded. Did anyone else struggle with this? Anyway, that's my constructive criticism. I'll finish on a positive: best Sonic hack ever made.
Echoing what ColinC10 has said, this just exudes class... but the entry requirements to even see the second zone are way too high; personally I'd lower it from 5 to 3 emeralds -- this way, there's at least some impetus to explore the levels. Maybe 70% total requirement is a little harsh. Mario 64 did this with the stars, but required 70/120 to complete properly (yeah yeah, exploits aside) which is a bit lower. There was something of a neat curve as well; in the early stages of the game, new levels were opened up effortlessly, acting more like a carrot-on-a-stick. As it is, no matter how well-done this hack is (and believe me when I say it is), only the most dedicated will see any of it. Which would be a shame, since you've obviously worked very hard on this.
The first level is aided by arrow signs pointing to different objectives, but after that you're on your own. Score attacking is much simpler than you'd think: if you travel almost every route at a decent pace for the points, you'll reach the target in the early levels and come close in the later levels -- what makes or breaks the later levels is the bonus 2500 you get for clearing it without taking damage. Scoring is Sonic Adventure 2 style... in-level points are much more important than end bonus points. If you've gone every route for a score attack, you've probably stumbled upon a few emeralds and monitors, and you should know which routes have no obstacles for easy time attacking. I'll admit it's hard to find things on a five-word description, but then again, titles like "Blast Away the Wall" and "Mysterious Mountainside" weren't the best descriptors, either, and they're famous. :P (inb4 "that's not the same concept at all") tl;dr Score Attack first, and you'll learn the rest by accident. If it gets WAY too tough, I'll start adding more and more arrow signs until people just have to learn that the pointy end of the arrow is the one you follow to win. :P That 70% figure is for the very last level. For the second zone, you need a measly 5 of 15 from the first zone, two of which are handed to you when you finish a certain two of the three acts, and one of which is sitting in the hub and takes zero effort to get. You only need to earn two.~ Relatedly, have you looked for emeralds outside of the Acts? The hubs are small, so I'm sure you can find goodies there without hassle.
