How are you implementing the actual swapping? Is it going to be like the original where you disappear, load animation, reappear? One thing that I remember from CD's development stories was Ohshima's desire for it to be almost instantaneous and the world would morph around the player and his belief that Naka would have been able to figure it out. Being able to swap at a press of a button, without killing the gameplay flow could lead to some cool routing opportunities.
If they go the instantaneous route, that would be great opportunity to add some fancy screen deformation effects, like how Chaotix went crazy with at points. Or even something more elaborate like this: (8:05)
Thinking more of it, you have a unique opportunity to make "Sonic CD for people who hate Sonic CD" like me. It's honestly astonishing to me how many people put it on a pedestal as the best Sonic game ever made. So you'd get extra points if you make them realize that their favorite game is bad and they should feel bad.
That's nothing, there are some out there that pedestalize wank like Adventure 2 as the best Sonic game ever made. Whatever you think of the gameplay, at the very least CD makes a strong case for being the best looking and sounding game of them all.
Yah, I guess should say that I was mostly joking. I completely agree that visually and musically CD is top tier. That's partially why I want to just play it in a single timezone because the game itself never lets me to really appreciate it's beautiful art and music. It's just the gameplay is so clumsy, I can't enjoy it nearly on the same level as Sonic 2,3K or Mania. Same with Chaotix
it's second only to 3 & K in my book. But, that wasn't always my opinion. When it came out in 1993, I was a bit disappointed in it. I also was unaware at the time there was a completely different (better) soundtrack outside of the U.S. Years later, playing through the Japanese version via an emulator (and while high) really changed my perspective of it. It was a great experience.
Combine Sonic 3k level design, the level transitions and epic storytelling with Sonic CD visuals and music, and you'll pretty much get the perfect Sonic game!
Here is a screenshot of Tidal Tempest Zone Act 1, as designed by myself, Cyber1204, and Beta Nexus! (Click to enlarge)
Fantastic project! I'm in love with the spritework. Personally, I have no qualms with the time travel mechanic whatsoever and see no point in the additional button. After all, the main complaint is that it's frustrating to lose the ability completely if you stop, and sometimes the game fucks you over. The additional button not only does not solve that, but also makes it a tiny little bit clumsier to work with, ever so slightly increasing the chance that someone might not press it in time after the conditions are met. If anything, the reduced time and speed requirements should work fine. Seamless transitions would be nice too, but I think it's an afterthought.
I honestly don't see the point in changing the time travel mechanism? Yes, the original mechanism was kinda frustrating and made you lose the time travel power if you bumped into something or couldn't maintain your speed. It was also deliberately designed like that. Time traveling wasn't exactly supposed to be convenient. You were supposed to work a bit for it, by analyzing the terrain, finding a good spot, and maintaining your speed long enough.
to my knowledge this game doesn't purport sonic cd's level design, rather it aims for something closer to the other genesis sonic games, so the time travel mechanic would be lost there
Yes, the idea of a flexible time travel code being built into a new engine/framework will allow for the kinds of good and bad future, and past versions, of any other zones that can be loaded into it too!! It would take a long time to make the art for each one, just like it takes a long time to create like an amphitheater!! But once each one was complete those time periods of the zone would be as real as any other, just like making the music is a way that they already exist too!! Also any sort of parallel universe versions of Little Planet that would have different environments, will allow CDX to keep existing for potentially decades of creative expansion that there would be new worlds sometimes arriving every few years or thereabouts!! Multiple time periods of Future and Past would be possible over the many dozens of eventual years too!! sort of like Chrono Trigger and also i think what was implied to be the original idea for Sonic 2 !!
To belatedly celebrate CD's 30th anniversary, here are some more images of Quartz Quadrant Good Future, Palmtree Panic Present, and Tidal Tempest Present! Designed by myself, Cyber1204, ChillWay, and Kanimy Additional support by Troopsushi, Beta Nexus, Louplayer, and Joshyflip (Click to enlarge each)
Game looks great. Love your Sonic sprite Really hope you guys will include an option to play the whole game in one time zone. I understand it's antithetical to the game's core idea, but honestly I've never cared much for it and I feel like it wasn't executed very well. I just want to play the whole game in the past
I'd be down for such a thing as a 'New Game +' feature that the player could unlock after beating the game once (regardless of ending). I think locking it behind an ending requirement would excuse the antithetical nature of it a bit since the player interacted with the game the 'intended way' once, and it'd increase the replay value of the game by doing a gimmick run where you only interact with one time period. I'd also like it since I think it's easier to appreciate an entire level's design choices in a certain time period by playing the level from the start, but such a thing is really hard in Sonic CD without utilizing the level select cheat. I know CD 2011 introduced the ability to reset a level to experience it from the start without resorting to such a cheat, but it still costs the player a life and they have to intentionally get to the time period they want first. Everything here looks really good though! A successor/remake to CD is no small feat given the amount of work that goes into designing multiple versions of the same level, but what I'm seeing is doing the core concept of the game some great justice. I'm kinda excited to see what twists and turns your team ends up adding to the original experience.
