Why don't you guys do what Sonic the Hedgehog (8-Bit) does and have a map of the display, showing an actual connection between levels. Just throwing an idea out. Oh, and about the beach thing, you could end it on the beach, and have a shoort cutscene of Sonic jumping/Tails flying/Knuckles climbing up a cliff and into the next level.
Zone 1: Beach->Forest->Jungle->Waterfall->Mountain Path Zone 2: High Mountain->Cave->Volcano->Exit into Desert Zone 3: Desert->City->Factory->Tower->Sky etc etc etc This is just a hypothetical scenario based on about 30 seconds of actual though, but that kind of level progression would be pretty sweet.
It's stupid Chimpo? Why exactly? If anything it makes the most sense for an island level, unless this isn't supposed to be an island and I missed something while I skimmed through the topic. On the same note, ending on a fishing village would be a better idea anyway. I just don't want the level progression to go too far, because the change in scenery needs art too, and we don't have that many resources. So something like Adabat is pretty much out of the question.
<!--quoteo(post=281356:date=Feb 20 2009, 01:07 AM:name=AerosolSP)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (AerosolSP @ Feb 20 2009, 01:07 AM) Act 2 - Que epic waterfall summit boss followed by jumping onto an armada of floating war blimps. Different to FBZ because they're smaller and you move from one to another till you reach the front, that and I imagine them flying fairly close to the ground so we see scenery flashing past in the background/foreground.
<!--quoteo(post=281356:date=Feb 20 2009, 01:07 AM:name=AerosolSP)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (AerosolSP @ Feb 20 2009, 01:07 AM) Act 2 - [/quote] And this
<!--quoteo(post=281364:date=Feb 20 2009, 01:42 AM:name=Matwek)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Matwek @ Feb 20 2009, 01:42 AM) Act 2 - Que epic waterfall summit boss followed by jumping onto an armada of floating war blimps. Different to FBZ because they're smaller and you move from one to another till you reach the front, that and I imagine them flying fairly close to the ground so we see scenery flashing past in the background/foreground.[/quote] I like.
I still don't see how it's stupid, to be honest. Furthermore, your idea is a pretty big change in scenery, leaving little room to reuse components from the first act in the second. But whatever, apparently I don't know what I'm talking about.
Its all about changing the levels layout as opposed to the actual scenery. Act 1 - Basicly just a switch from sand to rock, an increase in the amount of plants and trees then changing from an EHZ style flat planed level to a more disjointed AIZ style that involves a tad more jumping. Act 2 - Same dense veg cover except this time the level progresses more verticaly which then switches back to the flat EHZ style at the top, except this time at a much higer altitude. Although extra art will have to be added to polish up the changes from one theme to another but its more to do with changing how the player tackles the level. I mean you must admit EHZ and HTZ play differently and the majority of the stuff there is recycled art just with a recolour. Edit: Im not going out of my way to put down your ideas im just pointing out that reusing art doesn't mean things have to stay the same, they can be used again in any number of different ways.
Ah. Now I understand your viewpoint Matwek. I'm just looking to minimize unnecessary, extra work. The way Chimpo suggested it, I figured he meant only a change in scenery, like Unleashed (which he referenced to). Different areas in Unleashed didn't play differently at all, so I figured that's what you were referring to. In short, I agree with you.
<!--quoteo(post=281015:date=Feb 19 2009, 09:40 AM:name=muteKi)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (muteKi @ Feb 19 2009, 09:40 AM) Start far away the main island, you see it approaching during the Zone (the Zone appear just like Green Hill: green speedway which appear suspended over the sea), then the main island approach and you go to a beach area (think the start of Angel Island, just slighty longer), and in the end you enter the forest near the just after the beach area (background changes, but the core of the Zone not. This can be achieved by using platforms with similar patterns and/or colors as the foreground in every area)
So does anyone have ideas for potential gimmicks or level design set pieces for this zone? Or at least a recap of ideas that might've been expressed earlier in the thread? After all, it's one thing to consider the theme of the level and another to work on the details.
Well-hidden switches that dam waterfalls in order to allow the player to access important secret passages?
Burrowbot badniks hidden in the sand perhaps? Or vine traps that pull you up instead of down like in Mushroom Hill? Even going as far as to have something like a termite badnik drop tree limbs in your path, so you either take damage or have to speed into the passageway the tree would block.
I had a sketch for a bot that burrow's in the original first stage thread, so we can use that when it comes time to work on the badniks.
Depends, do you go from beach to the interior or beach to the exterior? Interior, easy enough, Sonic can enter a cave and drops into it, ala the Lava Reef and Sandopolis Pyramid. Exterior, Tropical Island, Sonic climbs up a cliff-face and ends up running up a volcano (erupting if neccisary) On-topic; I believe I said it somewhere on this before, Quicksand that either sucks you onto another path or into a bottomless pit, marked by being darker than the sand around it and/or moving in a downward motion.
THat's a lot of sand gimmicks for something that is presumably only a small portion of the level. Although I wouldn't know exactly what Chimpo and company have in mind for that.
