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Sonic Frontiers Thread - PS4, PS5, Xbox, Switch, PC

Discussion in 'General Sonic Discussion' started by MykonosFan, May 27, 2021.

  1. MH MD

    MH MD

    Long live the King Member
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    Frontiers actually had good examples for how to apply levels like that, the secret underground path in Ares basically function as a liner level, they could also just make levels at the borders of the open zones, it would provide a structure -oh if i want to access a level i should just go to the ends of the map- , obviously make it easier to design a start position for them, maybe just make it a challenge to reach them, you see a faraway island at the beach, you figure how to launch yourself to reach it, it just happens to be contain a "level". things like that
     
  2. Palas

    Palas

    Don't lose your temper so quickly. Member
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    I was never bothered by how racing games like Need for Speed do it. You're running freely, you come across the HUD-marked starting point of a race, you opt in, the environment changes artificially and clearly to become a race track. No diegetic explanation. It isn't organic, but it's seamless where it counts. And if there was ever a game with a story that can account for forced or non-organic gameplay cues, it's Frontiers.
     
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  3. Snub-n0zeMunkey

    Snub-n0zeMunkey

    yo what up Member
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    Frontiers 2 should take place in a city or have an emphasis on city-like environments. That way you can have elements like grind rails, ramps and half-pipes more seamlessly integrated into the world. Just so I can live out my fantasy of running around in a fully realized version of Stardust Speedway.
    [​IMG]
    I hope that there's a major overhaul in terms of visuals, art direction and gameplay. I want them to refine Sonic's movement to the point that going from Frontiers to its sequel feels like going from Adventure 1 to Adventure 2.
     
  4. Crimson Neo

    Crimson Neo

    Loopin' around. Member
    Hope they'll use a mix between Heroes and Unleashed as base for artstyle for the next open-zone game.
     
  5. What about how Utopia integrated Labyrinth Zone? I thought that was pretty cool. As @MH MD said, Frontiers already does this for certain section of the open zones and I thought it was pretty enjoyable. You could just hide entrances behind environmental changes that need to be triggered in the story if you're worried about people accessing them the wrong way.
     
  6. Antheraea

    Antheraea

    Bug Hunter Member
    given that I already broke the game without needing the spindash and it was a blast (the game rightfully does not care how you get to a platform or what angle you hit a collectable from), I really don't see the problem with having a "broken" spindash. SA1's spindash was hilarious and that didn't ruin the game.
     
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  7. The Joebro64

    The Joebro64

    SAY HELLO TO MY CHOCOLATE BLEND Member
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    I think Little Planet as a whole would be a brilliant setting for the next open zone. All of the Sonic CD level tropes would look wonderful in 3D and bringing back the time travel gimmick would be a creative way to get away with asset recycling.
     
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  8. Londinium

    Londinium

    People actually read these? Member
    I love the broken Spindash in Frontiers. Why care about balancing when it's fun?
     
  9. CharlaChale

    CharlaChale

    Little Dolly Member
    I'm split on the matter.
    On one hand, ultimate power sure is fun.
    On the other, I feel like the quality of a game mechanic shouldn't be ranked by how easy it is to avoid level design.
     
  10. jubbalub

    jubbalub

    #1 Sonic Superstars defender Member
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    I think in this case, "balance it" is really just a shorthand for "make it harder to skip the entire level". The spindash in the classics and Adventure games require more input and thought to take advantage of, and don't send you flying nearly as far due to the jumping mechanics. In Frontiers, you just press a button to go flying and enter "flinging mode", essentially. If you were to simply swap the two spindashes, it would never work because they're designed completely differently.

    It all depends on what kind of game you want to make. Do you want the challenge to be learning how to harness this ability, or do you want the ability handed to you and have the challenge be controlling it? Sounds familiar...

    Personally speaking, I love the spindash in Frontiers, but it would be a death sentence for any other Sonic game if they actually wanted to design levels you can't just fly over
     
  11. The Joebro64

    The Joebro64

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    I think the Frontiers spin dash is fine as an unlockable skill you can only obtain after playing through the majority of the game normally, but it's so broken that it's most certainly something that shouldn't be given to the player by default. Either keep it as an unlockable skill or nerf it so it doesn't trivialize 99% of the game.

    As Tupac said, no one man should have all that power.
    [​IMG]
     
  12. Chimpo

    Chimpo

    Virtua Poster Member
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    Banana
    He's a hedgehog. Going fast is his power.
     
  13. synchronizer

    synchronizer

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    The biggest problem is the floating platforms. If they want faster-to-iterate landscapes, they really need some constraint-based procedural generators or something. Like the Rayman Origins engine kind of dynamically painted-in logical terrain/textures and decorative objects based on the landscapes the designers would draw.

    The problem now is that it seems all the scene geometry in Frontiers is done by hand. So of course if they need to change something, they'll use generic platforms. It would take too long to create new world geometry.
     
  14. Laura

    Laura

    Brightened Eyes Member
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    Don't have time to get into it right now, but single player games absolutely do need to be balanced. It's wrong to think only multiplayer games do.
     
  15. Deep Dive Devin

    Deep Dive Devin

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    All games need to be balanced, but I think a lot of people's problems with certain Sonic games (Heroes and Lost World in particular) would disappear if Sonic himself were just a little overpowered.
     
    Last edited: Apr 24, 2024
  16. I think Frontiers should be just more of the same myself just like the last Zelda on the Switch. Keep with a wining formal and don't mess too much with the gameplay or look. Maybe for a Frontiers 3 is when the team should look to make big changes

    I really loved the ICO look to the 1st level in Frontiers and just want more levels looking like that
     
  17. synchronizer

    synchronizer

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    I could see something like Ratchet and Clank: Crack in Time’s city levels with the jetboots segments with all the ramps and rails.
     
  18. The Frontiers sequel is confirmed to be S4E3.
     
  19. qwertysonic

    qwertysonic

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    creating the biggest sonic collection
    To be fair we all thought Sonic Mania 2 was a no-brainer as well.
     
  20. Mookey

    Mookey

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    Not to mention that for the longest while Sonic Team had a habit of shifting gameplay style on every game. To be sticking with what worked for them and building upon it is a novelty.