Sonic 3C(ustomizable)

Not to mention that AIZ, HCZ, CNZ, ICZ, and LBZ all contain water, which is a big problem when it comes to split-screen.

 

Didn't Azure Lake have water?

 

That works like the oil in Oil Ocean Zone.

 

Yes, Azure Lake Zone did infact have water, but not the kind you're thinking of, it's more of a design of water (In the BG) rather than an actual water palette line swap.

 

The palette changes twice (I think it's designed with LBZ in mind, where you can actually see the water line from above and below). Now, changing twice is not a problem. For two players, you're going to have to change the palette FIVE times.

I mean, I'd certainly like to see someone do it, but it's certainly not going to be easy.

 

Using Sonic 3's system would mean you'd have to make a copy of the art at half the size manually. Just scaling it down automatically will probably look horrible, and you have objects to consider as well. Furthermore, level events would have to be reprogrammed to wait for the second player to catch up where the camera locks or something like that. IMO it would be too much work.

 

While the act switch mid-level in AIZ and ICZ would be difficult to do, I see no reason why bosses couldn't just be replaced with a signpost in two-player, and nearly all cutscenes are completely unneeded so could be completely removed. The only cutscenes that are necessary/need to be changed:

- Knuckles cutscene in HCZ2. Simply remove the bridge, and force all players to the bottom path.
- Collapsing level in MGZ2. Since it's near the end of the level anyway, you could probably just move the end signpost to where Robotnik normally pops up for the final time before the boss.
- Eggmobile cutscene in LBZ2. The signpost would be placed at the first boss location, so this can also easily be avoided.
- Knuckles cutscene in MHZ2. Simply remove the wall, and force all players to the bottom path.
- Collapsing level in FBZ2. The signpost would be placed at the Barrier Robotnik location, so this can also easily be avoided.
- Rising sand in SZ2. I have no fucking idea how you'd get around that one.
- Drillbot cutscenes in LRZ1. Just remove the Drillbot and the ground it digs into.
- HPZ isn't really a level.
- Rehash bosses in SSZ. Just make sure the teleporters are already there.
- Knuckles can easily complete DEZ minus the miniboss, so the only problem is the gravity shifting; I think it'd be better if they only affected the character that pressed it, although that would seem weird.

Obviously, these changes would only be made in two-player mode. It looks like it only requires a few bytes per point to implement (a check plus a removal), but the question is whether the two-player mode itself can be implemented easily.

 

Done, plus some new dash sprites:



I toned down the shine slightly where I thought it was overdone. Hope you don't mind.

 

Looks great.

 

Looks good, but her dress lacks the third shade on the walking animations.

 

My list had nothing to do with palettes. If (for example) you have player 1, as Sonic, arrive at the HCZ2 scene with Knuckles, the Knuckles cutscene starts. If player 2, as Knuckles, then arrives, you not only have the bizarreness of having two Knuckles, but Knuckles can also smash through the wall, allowing Sonic to then walk past both Knuckles and Knuckles, before Sonic's screen lock stops Sonic, but not Knuckles.

Take another example. The collapsing ground in MGZ2. The first player arrives, and either has to wait for the second player before s/he can continue, or goes ahead, and the ground collapses before player 2 even gets there, meaning player 2 cannot finish.

My list of things to change were to do with things that cannot possibly work with two players simultaneously. Fixing palettes will do fuck all about these things.

 

It's something worth thinking about, though. I mean, you could always release a separate hack featuring two-player only...

 

It's the start location for Sandopolis Zone Act 2. I dunno why it would be referenced separately but it seems safe to replace it with NewStartLocationsArray+$44.