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Sonic X Shadow Generations thread, movie level out now

Discussion in 'General Sonic Discussion' started by charcoal, Jan 29, 2024.

  1. shilz

    shilz

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    getting my daily allowance of vitamin kk
    ...okay, now I'm confused. I swear previously, the PlayStation version of Sonic X Shadow Generations had the Black and White PS5/PS4 mark, which looks like this on the store page: Untitled856.jpg
    But then I just looked at the page on my PS5, and it only lists PS5, like this: Untitled855 (1).jpg
    But both still say it entitles you to both the digital PS4 and PS5 versions in the descriptions.

    I don't even know who I would confront about this or how since I was hoping to be able to get both versions in one package.
     
  2. Kilo

    Kilo

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    upload_2024-8-23_8-4-35.png
     
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  3. Antheraea

    Antheraea

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    additionally, dying if I recall correctly automatically bumps down the given rank you'd get. but yeah, SA2 and SA2:B are point-based, which become really obvious when getting A ranks in the mech levels because those are all about chaining as many enemies to blow up in a single laser sweep as you can manage. Cosmic Wall is a level basically built for seeing Perfect scores the entire runtime, it's great.
     
  4. MH MD

    MH MD

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    Hmmm, you right, it wasn't like that before, maybe ask Katie about it? cause i know PS support is dogshit for more critical issues, they won't respond for this
     
  5. I’m pretty sure you can die and get an A rank provided you hit the point threshold. I’m not positive as I just hit reset if I die lol
     
  6. HEDGESMFG

    HEDGESMFG

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    The difference is the quality of the presentation has gone up a ton since the 2000s. As much as I love SA2 from a gameplay perspetive, and love the story conceptually, the voice acting was rushed and recorded entirely within 2 days, the voices often break and overlap and were badly mixed, the cutscene animations are janky and awkward, and the visual design is (generally) flatter and less interesting than pretty much anything from the prior 2 years, leaning a bit too much into the realism in all but a few late game stages.

    And I say that as someone who considers it one of the best entries in the franchise still, and considers it a truly solid story despite these issues.

    Simple fact is, 3D Sonic games didn't truly start having proper "modern" production values until somewhere between Unleahsed and Generations, and the counter point to that was that the quality of the stories/writing/lore itself all went downhill.

    So the idea of an SA2 like story with modern AAA presentation is 'very' appealing to a lot of people nowadays, making them more willing to forgive somewhat campy ideas if they are shown in a "rule of cool" way.

    I was at the AX2024 panel for the game. I have never seen this much excitement for the adventure era in one place before. People are willing to forgive weird ideas if they are presented in a compelling way, and if they are balanced out by better, more interesting lore.

    From everything I could see, Sonic Team gets this, and their marketing has nailed every aspect of it so far.
     
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  7. shilz

    shilz

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    getting my daily allowance of vitamin kk
    Man, that feels dirty. That's not really their job. But there's absolutely no line of support for this specific issue/question that I can find, at least on SEGA's end, which I wanna cover before PlayStation since I have a feeling that's where the issue is.

    I noticed a bunch of Superstars' DLC is also like this with one (free) exception being labeled as both. It's so weird and I think it's what caused the Sonic Frontiers Hi Speed Shoes bonus to not work on the PS5 version when I eventually upgraded that.


    Edit: I think one explaination might just be that the PS4 version is unplayable on PS5, like Fortnite or Fall Guys. Which would suck because that's a nice extra save file if you'd want it. I'll double check those other games and see if there's something on their store pages.

    Edit 2: might just be the case. Fortnite has a similar situation to SXSG, but interestingly Fall Guys will let you select PS4 and looks like the Superstars page (except I actually own it so there's the button to select a version)
     
    Last edited: Aug 24, 2024
  8. Iggy for Short

    Iggy for Short

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    I love that All-Stars Racing Transformed continues to have a higher player count, even if it's still just two digits.
     
  9. Kilo

    Kilo

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  10. netscapenow

    netscapenow

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    I just hope Gens is properly optimized for 60FPS this time round. Chemical Plant forcing itself to like, 20 for a few seconds at a time during certain parts in the PC version really takes me out of it whenever I'm playing.
     
  11. Kilo

    Kilo

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    Well if I recall the wall sliding bug did stem from the original PC port being 60 FPS but not optimized for it properly. So I'd imagine Chemical Plant and other FPS related bugs are fixed, and the only ones to be fixed. Or so I hope.
     
  12. Grimchief

    Grimchief

    Ten-Time TFGO (Lite) Champion Member
    On Xbox, with FPS Boost on, there's a bug that makes the final swinging pulley shortcut completely unusable; it'll send you flying backwards to your death every time. So hopefully you're correct that all the FPS related bugs are fixed.
     
  13. Vertette

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    I've never figured out if this is a 60FPS bug or not, but to me the lightspeed dash never seem to work quite right in 3D. It's very inconsistent like in the CPZ act 2 shortcut. Anyone else have this problem?
     
  14. Spamitex

    Spamitex

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    SPAMITE'S SONIC + SHADOW GENERATIONS SPECULATION STUFF - 2 (RAIL CANYON)

    (Editing Images in, in real time, just testing)

    It's been awhile since the first one, with that came two trailers. So might as well go through the "SONIC X SHADOW GENERATIONS - Generations of Stages" and "SONIC X SHADOW GENERATIONS - Doom Powers Trailer" and see whatever I might be able to pry from that. Speculation or otherwise...

    ...

    "SONIC X SHADOW GENERATIONS - Generations of Stages"

    RAIL CANYON:

    [​IMG]

    Rail Canyon was the second revealed Zone of the Shadow Generations campaign.

    We might actually have a teaser or otherwise a closer look at one of the areas near the opening of the level.

    This section of Rail Canyon was showcased during SEGA's Gamescon 2024 Teaser, in which Shadow is showcased using well - the rails.

    By all accounts this a very tame opening, but what fasinates me is the Hint Ring. I'm curious what exactly it'll entail?

    Rails are already featured in Space Colony ARK, so having a Hint Ring for them seems odd at this point in the game. Leading me to suspect that the Hint Ring will actually detail the Zone's Mechanic - Rail Boosters.

    The Rail Boosters are a pre-existing mechanic in Heroes' renditon of the Zone, to which as expected, give you a boost of speed while on Rails.

    Given that the Rails in the distance take a grandiose upward incline, I suspect that this section of the level will be used to showcase the Rail Boosters giving Shadow enough speed to burst across an uphill battle.

    [​IMG]

    Further on, now using gameplay shown in "SONIC X SHADOW GENERATIONS - Generations of Stages", we have this section of Rail Canyon, in which Shadow is shown standing across a turn-area.

    This is important for two reasons

    First, it demonstrates that Shadow Generations won't just focus on steep turns or blocky areas, as shown in Space Colony Ark. Implying that curved turn design hasn't been outright ditched

    This is important for point two, in past Boost games such as Unleashed and Generations, it would be obvious that this section would be invoked to use Drifting. Given it was the best way to turn.

    However aside from one-side mission in Frontiers, Drifting has been replaced with either automated turning (Forces) or in Shadow Gens' case...Chaos Spears (Input-Wise)

    This means that Shadow's turning has been improved to the point where this feature isn't needed or may imply at least.

    What we do know is that there's an alternative path or otherwise form of shortcut where Shadow can jump onto a railway held up by a platform and boost his way into a Dash Ring. Alternatively, taking the lower route seems to be an option as well.

    As to where either leads, that we don't know yet.

    Lastly, I suspect that the barrels near the sharpest point are interactable. Perhaps acting as a hazard that would slow you down if hit, or perhaps contains Rings or otherwise means to engage in Chaos Control EXP

    [​IMG]

    Past the inner-tunnel area, we progress further to see this portion here. It doesn't seem like much at first, but the end area in the top right is curious to me.

    The Team Dark Rail Canyon doesn't lead into this area, so we can't use that as a basis. However, earlier in that version an area like this would lead into a station. We haven't seen the Stations yet in Act 1, so perhaps that's where this leads?

    It seems important, given that there's some form of docking-bay around there.

    [​IMG]

    One of the bigger speculations I've felt comes through the Canyon-Turn area of the Act. Where Shadow rail grinds around a pillar.

    During the end of the turn, Shadow will be brought into an area where's he's far and high above the lower yet standard path. Filled with rails and rings, not to mention Rail Boosters as well.

    You don't outright just fall downward, you're going to be flung in mid-air by those upward rails and then launched downward.

    However given the trails of Rings that lead downward, I have a working theory for this area.

    [​IMG]

    I believe that after being launched into mid-air, Shadow will experience a Skydiving Section. Where a hint of automation will transition into such section.

    Afterward, Shadow would be put into freefall where he'd be able to direct himself downward through a trail of rings, onto a Rail Booster, and back into the main action.

    Either way, Shadow will most likely be falling down there. It's only a matter of where.

    [​IMG]

    Later on across Rail Canyon, Shadow will come across what I'll be dubbing, "Roundabout Rails", which refer to sections where Shadow is put into a repeating rail-circle until certain actions are done.

    This Roundabout Rail area exists in the original Rail Canyon, what doesn't exist in the SXSG Version is the Poles. Poles were a mechanic introduced in Sonic Heroes, utilized by Speed Type characters. When using a Pole, the Speed Type character will grab onto the Pole and start swinging around it while the user's teammates hang onto the user's feet. They will then spin around the Pole until they reach its head, upon where the user will release their grip, causing the entire team to be flung to another location. It doesn't seem to have been brought back for SXSG, with an Egg Pawn replacing it.

    However, given that an Egg Pawn being behind those bars is curious. My presumption is that this section will force Shadow to handle a Mini-Challenge which will unlock the cell, allowing Shadow to destroy the Egg Pawn, and unlock a pathway further into the level.

    [​IMG]

    This chase-sequence between Shadow and the Bullet Train to me, symbolizes the introduction of the Bullet Trains as a hazard, allowing new players to realize what they're getting into.

    So long as you're boosting, it seems it won't damage you. But given that Boost Meter is harder to come by (Boost is now only bestowed through collecting Rings, Badniks only give you Chaos EXP), running out at a bad time might actually be possible.

    Either way, it makes me appreciate the limited Boost - in comparison to Generations - where collecting Rings is a must, and destroying Badniks now has a different yet defined purpose.

    [​IMG]

    Rhinoliners make their first in-game apperance since...Rail Canyon

    This area isn't actually too important, but what's curious is that in the Metadata, this level is called "Rail Canyon Act 2"

    [​IMG]

    What makes that fascinating is that Act 2 was presumed to be fully 2.5D Level Design. Which seems very likely, but otherwise...is it possible?

    Perhaps it's a typo, but it made me curious. I don't deny there will be 2.5D, I'm just curious if it isn't black and white as I presumed?

    [​IMG]

    This Egg Pawn Hallway here leads into a Railway with a wide-checkpont. It isn't exactly much, but it shows that Badniks can be used to lock parts of levels until they're destroyed.

    Which given Kingdom Valley is a zone in this game, might be used far more than expected.

    [​IMG]

    This area here showcases Shadow using Flappers to lead himself to a higher-area, with a bottomless pit beneath them. Showcasing that at the least - there's something worth being active to avoid.

    What's interesting is that the Flappers seemed to have been "Stunned" by Shadow before he approached them, could this have something to do with one of the Doom Powers or perhaps something else?

    Either way, we see that destroying all the Flappers either lead to, or coincidentally unlocked the door. Leading to this...

    [​IMG]

    We can't see much of this area, but it seems to lead into a steel-gated fence. Will that unlock as well, or do we need to go through or below it? Stomping downward perhaps?

    [​IMG]

    In the earlier Summer Games Expo trailer, we saw this vast Rail Canyon area through the lens of Chaos Control. It appears to be a multi-railed area where Shadow must dodge upcoming or incoming Bullet Trains.

    Thankfully, the "SONIC X SHADOW GENERATIONS - Generations of Stages" allows us to see further into this area...

    [​IMG]
    As I had said earlier, it appears to be a multi-railed area where Shadow can or rather - must use the various rails to dodge the incoming Bullet Trains. What I'm curious about is the use of Rail Boosters on the tracks with the Bullet Trains

    Here's the thing, why put them there? If Shadow isn't goin gto logically use them, why put them there? For the Bullet Trains, unless they gain a boost from them as well, it doesn't do much. If anything it just clutters up the rails.

    My working theory is that you'll be able to reach the higher / side rails using a prior form of pathway split in the level.

    As to how you'd be able to survive with incoming Bullet Trains? Well Chaos Control outright prevents the trains from boosting ahead, so perhaps using Chaos Control you'll be able to pass through safely?

    Either way, it certainly is something I want to find out when the game releases...

    [​IMG]

    Something I've yet to see brought up is the strange glowing orb above this construction of Rail Canyon, my working theory is that if this isn't one of the collectibles...it might be a Chaos Control Pathway.

    Allowing you to use Chaos Control to access elsewhere in the level, which I find could be very promising.

    Otherwise, I'm just curious as to how you'd get up there.

    ...

    The last major part to showcase around here would be this end-section of the enviornment...

    [​IMG]

    Seems like you'll have to make a choice to either go left or right, with either option leading to different outcomes. The left-path seems to go directly down-town, while the right seems to send you higher up. As to how that'll end up, we'll find out sooner or later.

    ...

    Lastly would be this area shown here...

    [​IMG]

    My working theory is that you'd use rails to launch yourself down into the Roundabout Rails below, which would lead into an event that would trigger Shadow to be launched into mid-air, directly towards the higher-path Railway, which progresses the level.

    But what exactly are the floating rails (pink area) for? Is that another way into the Roundabout Rails, or perhaps more? Just how do you get there?

    My working theory on that is that by taking a different path, you'd end up on those rails before merging back.

    ...

    [​IMG]

    All in all, I can say that I'm truly looking forward to getting to see this for myself.

    My biggest question is if Act 2 might take place in the Underground area of the zone, or perhaps might even be focused on Bullet Station.

    ...

    To conclude all of this, I'd like to have a chance to call something that I noticed, which I'm saying now rather than later in the vent it's based on someting...aloof.

    This is something I had noticed during the opening of the Doom Powers trailer:

    [​IMG]

    The Doom Power Pillars seem to use a veiny / line aesthetic, which is something I recalled being very similar to "Black Comet"

    It could all just be a matter of coincidental line structure. But I've been hoping for this to be the final zone for ages.
     
    Last edited: Aug 25, 2024
  15. Chimpo

    Chimpo

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    They haven't figured out how to make a solid character controller in like 20 years. I have my doubts. I suspect it's more like how they handled it in other games where they would silently maneuver for you. Think that one highway in Metropolitan Highway as Sonic. They just hold your hand after the booster section so you don't fall off during all the curves and the tight turn at the end of it.

    sonic-forces_20171111214219.jpg
     
  16. Gestalt

    Gestalt

    Sphinx in Chains Member
    Why bring up Forces when Frontiers is a thing:
     
  17. Chimpo

    Chimpo

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    I got 200+ hours on Forces between PC, Xbox and Switch. I remember Forces more.
    Don't ask me why I have 200+ hours on Forces, and why I have it on PC, Xbox and Switch.
     
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  18. Gestalt

    Gestalt

    Sphinx in Chains Member
    And? Can you take the hand-holding curve without running into the wall or falling off the road? Because I, despite having spent my own fair share of time with the game, can't!
     
  19. Chimpo

    Chimpo

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    What do you mean And? I just remember Forces over Frontiers.
     
  20. Gestalt

    Gestalt

    Sphinx in Chains Member
    Did you like the hand-holding feature?