In the end the physics and gameplay are irrelevant if there is a lack of proper level design and good aesthetics. How many zones in 'rom hacks' can you count that even come close to those of the classic games? By definition they have the perfect engine, yet failing to compete with a 25 year old game... Not to mention the hardware now is many thousands of times faster and better on any metric imaginable than those times, making it easier to develop levels. As for 3D games, the only 3D fan Sonic projects that come close to '06 and Unleashed are... PC ports of said levels.
I'd say it's about as important seeing how the entire point of a remaster is to make the original game look nicer.
This could either go very, very wrong or be totally amazing. Regardless, I see no reason but to support the project and see how it turns out. I do have to agree on the graphics end, but considering he's still at the point of testing damage/engine elements and not the actual game yet, I'm willing to give it a wait and see. At least until we can see footage of an actual Zone.
And the point of this casual dig is? To try and make Fenrir look stupid? Back on topic... It's clearly wip at the moment but if you can eventually get it to this standard (or better) then you have a winner on your hands for sure. From your early progress it looks promising! Just have to point out as well that some of the critique here is a little hash for such an early concept. Don't want to put the guy off after all.
I'll just put in my two cents. Physics look really well done and if they're not "perfect" they're certainly enjoyable looking. Considering you can't do slopes with the standard character pawn, color me very impressed. With the physics. Your "graphical" "fidelity" is very lacking since it's really just generic forest assets, with misplaced materials that don't have Sonic fitting in with the environment. Also it's not "angel island" at all. Lighting information is all over the place and your bloom, as TimmiT (and I believe others) mentioned, is incredibly overbearing. Tone that shit down. Your Blue Sphere map looks a lot like Xak's work from Sonic GDK, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. It does look better visually, since it's got nice solid colors and a subtle fresnel on the spheres. Everything about that? You want THAT for your levels. maybe with a bit more detail on the materials, but that's the visual style you want to go for. This is for a few reasons: It's simpler to work with so you're not assaulted with details you can't focus on. It's easier on the eyes, honestly; in a game like Sonic where you want to focus on what's coming up, that's *essential.* If you're not exactly an artist, you won't have to rely on assets everyone knows won't fit. Consistency is key. It looks professional and isn't distracting. "Real" assets that you didn't make to look like they fit just look like an asset flip. Simple as that. Remember this very important thing: UE4 is a tool. It's a tool with admittedly a specific look to it. The last thing you really want is to make it obvious your game's in UE4. You may think that's a good idea, but believe me. Once the whole "OH COOL SONIC IN UE4" spectale is gone, what you're left with is an inherently ugly looking product that has no artistic direction and becomes an eyesore. It doesn't need to be that. Believe me, photoreal is HARD. Stylized work isn't "easy" per say, but there's more you can get away with since there's less variables. Good luck fam :specialed:
Cool! A 2.5D engine with proper physics could mean a lot of possibilities! I'm not gonna comment on the level assets, which I assume are only placeholders, but I strongly hope that you'll not pursue photorealism for the levels, and will instead stick to the surreal and stylized design of the classic series.
Gameplay looks alright so far. Keep it up, and really give it a good thrashing during testing. Once everything works properly, then go about enlisting some help to bring the stages themselves into the 21st century.
It's the game people have been wanting, Sega needs to just do an entire game which remakes Sonic 1 to 3K in Generations side scrolling and they would see a sudden boost to true fans instead of making Boom for the whiny immature kids who just want a game full of terribly annoying puns which hardly focuses on proper game play.
Properly tweaked, that could probably end up looking glorious. Though really, the original game wasn't "cartoony" to that degree.
For me the toon effect don't mesh well with the background. Sorry, really not trying to sound negative, but yeah if your going to try for a toon shader perhaps try a hand painted look or something for the filler color as another experiment.
Eh, nah I'm not feeling it. Sonic 3 was kinda weird artistically though. It was arguably the most "realistic" looking of the Classic Sonic series yet with the most cartoony sprites. So maybe it does work? Or maybe I'm not feeling the model I'm not sure,
The model looks rather off and I really don't like the shader. I think it was actually better the way it was before.
the outline looks too processed and the colors too muted tk mak3 the shad3r feel like an intentional sprite-esque model / look Borderlandsy at all, at least on purpose. It just comes across as mudding up the colors and honestly, your background is ohotoreal while you have a toon shader on your character. At least with the outlines, that doesnt look like it worke well *at all*
I'd like to see a proper screenshot with fully modelled background and foreground, before playing around with the rendering settings.
