Highwire4

Sky sure does seem awfully blue for a thunderstorm. Just sayin Looking good so far though.

I would first figure out the game you want to make, from there you can figure out everything else from the game design, to which engine you want to use. I'd make a super simple game right now, don't even worry about making it look pretty, its fine if it's just a bunch of colored squares for your first game, which I would recommend to be a pong or break-out! clone, just to be a nice quick practice for your team and to help your selves learn the engine you're using. When you do feel ready to go into serious development on something, I cannot say it enough; make prototypes and get people to play them. Prototyping is one of the fastest and most effective ways to see if your game is fun. So prototype every aspect, from game design to level design and don't hesitate to throw things out it they don't work, even if it doesn't resemble your original vision and make as many as you need to. As for engines you should use, its ultimately dependent on the game you guys want to make. Unreal 3 (UDK), Unity, and Unreal 4 are some viable options. Personally, if you don't have a programmer yet I would recommend using Unreal 4 since it has a visual language called Blueprint which allows you to code a game with out knowing any code. I'd actually recommend Unreal 4 over other engines in general but which one you chose should be dependent on the game you want to make plus there are an abundance of tutorials on youtube for all of these engines that can solve any problems you may encounter during development, so development should go smoothly no matter what engine you do pick. Manage your team well and make sure you're allocating the right amount of time to each aspect of the game, and make deadlines for yourselves, they do wonders for productivity. Good luck making some rad stuff man.

Oh nice its up for download now? Is it done or is this like and early access/demo kind of thing? Either way I'll do a video on it when I have the time inbetween college finals.

This little experiment is almost coming to a close. This is the only one I have a problem with. Everything else looks fantastic. The problem I have with this is the color of yellow you chose for sky scraper lights. It contrasts massively with the black and makes the background look waaay too busy, and I think it could distract the player or make it difficult for the player to see whats up ahead in time for them to react. Maybe desaturating the yellow a little or adding some variation to the window colors would help? I'm sure this is a work in progress, but this just something I'd suggest you do before releasing it. Anyway, this looks fantastic and I can't wait for it's release. Looks like a lot of fun.

Good to see you're still working on this, I hope this update has as much care and attention to detail as the last installment. Well considering a did a video on it back at SAGE act 1, I think its only fair I do one on this new update. I might have time to record next week, but I'll post it up here once its up.

Well this looks rad as all fuck. How much is it gonna cost to get it?

My bad DW, I'll keep a lid on it in the future. I personally do think there is a bit of a science to it as well as an art as well, but you're right I do need to be more respectful of that with other people. What I have stated above is just what I have personally found through my own research, if you have found things to the contrary please post it up guys.

Ok this is almost COMPLETELY WRONG and makes NO SENSE. AT ALL. The part about keeping players surprised and keeping set peices coming is correct but there are in fact rules to set pieces as they are a key factor in modern sonic level design. To say other wise shows a complete lack of understanding of said level design. Set pieces help divide the level into segments and can help the player in terms of navigation and are a key part in the pacing and intensity of the level. Modern sonic levels are often divided into thirds by a physical gap which is often also a set piece. These thirds are also divided up into 3D and 2D gameplay for each third. Set pieces act as a way to smoothly transition between these two camera angles in a dynamic fashion and create a memorable moment in the level. This makes it much easier for the player to create a mental map of the level if they decide to play it again and due to the rather unique nature of the set piece, divides the level into segments, playing a key role in the overall pacing of the level. A nicely paced level is going to have set pieces strategically placed throughout the level at intervals that its dramatic effect would be most potent. Further more they play into the overall intensity of the level directly, often having just as potent of an effect as gradual changes in elevation over the course of a stage or changes in difficulty. If you want a good build up in tension and intensity all the way up to the end of your level, then have set pieces that get gradually more dramatic as the level goes on. Use this in conjunction with gradually increasing difficulty and a gradual constant increase in elevation, and you're going to have on hell of an intense and foreboding level perfect for a boss fight or critical plot point at the end. You also cannot just place set pieces where ever you want willy nilly. Placing them in an area where the player is focused on precision platforming, dodging and attacking enemies or avoiding obstacles is utterly pointless. The player won't notice them and they won't be able to have as big of an effect as they could. You want the player to notice and take in a set piece, so only place them in areas where the player isn't distracted by anything else. A set piece should demand the full attention of the player which means they should hardly be doing anything at all while in the set piece. The most they should be doing is holding the boost button or holding right in the area right before they get to the set piece, while they are in the set piece, and right after they have left it. There should absolutely be NO OBSTACLES in the set piece otherwise they will redirect the players attention to those obstacles and away from the set piece, or even worse, create a conflict of interest where the player has to focus on the obstacles ahead but is naturally drawn to the dramatic and enticing nature of the set piece and ends up fucking up because they don't know what to focus on. It will confuse them and feel weird. These set pieces should act as a small break for the player and allow them a slight recovery from fatigue and a reward for making it that far through the level. This is very important. Also set pieces have to work together to maximize their effect. You'll want a peak of intensity in your level and you want a set piece that'll make that peak even more dramatic and intense. How can you make that peak even more intense? By having set pieces earlier in the level get progressively more intense and dramatic as the level goes on. One set piece is going to increase the intensity of the level on its own, but that intensity will start to wear down if another set piece or other factor isn't strategically placed soon after. Placing another set piece after that will increase the intensity even more than before and keep it going, but if that first set piece wasn't there, then the second set piece would have about the same impact as the first, thus lowering the overall intensity of the level. Set pieces work together to control the intensity of the level, with out this understanding and proper execution, the set pieces and level as a whole is going to feel less intense and dramatic and may feel a bit odd at times. Set pieces can also be used to lower the intensity of the level to help bring resolution to the level, like a cool down for the player. Cool down set pieces are less spectacular and dramatic than those last experienced and aren't as dynamic in shape. They'll be more horizontal or simple in their composition so they are at the least unique from the rest of the stage visuals but don't upstage the peak set piece of the level. These set pieces are also a bit more drawn out than build up set pieces. Also, the closer together your set pieces, the less intense the level is going to get. This is because the player is doing NOTHING in them except holding a single button and waiting for it to end. Too much of this waiting without challenge and conflict in between will start to bore the player, and you don't want that. Build up set pieces have more dynamic and complex compositions, making the eye travel a little and pull the player in. They should entice the player in and be rather memorable and iconic, make the player say "wow" as they go through it. It should be exciting. Look at Rooftop Run in both Unleashed and Generations to see what I'm talking about. Green Hill Zone in generations is also a good example. In Rooftop Run, everything before the clock tower is building up drama and tension to maximize the effect the clock tower set piece has. The clock tower is LITERALLY the peak of the level both dramatically and physically. If you mapped out an elevation map of that level, you'd get a very gradual increase in elevation before the sudden spike of elevation at the tower, then a sharp plummet before gradually lowering elevation to the end of the level. It is also the single most memorable and iconic set piece of that level and possible of Unleashed as a whole. It wouldn't have as big of an effect as it had with out the other set pieces before it. In GHZ, the set pieces create a very obvious flow and intensity arch. The first real set piece is the giant loop that transitions from 3D to 2D. Then there is the exit from 2D to 3D via jumping through a massive water fall into a tubular cave and out into a vast and open cave. Then the player almost gets eaten by a fucking giant fish from nowhere and gets launched high into the sky barely escaping. This is the peak of the level's intensity. After that the player goes through a rather standard corkscrew, another standard loop, and then flies through the center of another standard loop. This progression of set pieces perfectly demonstrates what I'm talking about and how to intelligently use them. Look at any modern sonic level as well, they all follow these kinds of rules. So yeah, there are in fact rules to this stuff Alex. Do your research.

While this is true in reality, it is really only applicable to bodies of water of certain depths and the angle they are perceived. Even the clearest waters in the world are tinted blue when viewed from the correct angle. Also from a game design stand point, its better to have blue tinted water because its made obvious to the player that they are in water and that it is in fact water.

My feed back is pretty similar to Ricardo's. The level is pretty cool and it really shows how creative you can get with the UDK assets and the level design is nicely varied as well. The only big glaring issue here is how dark it is. In a precision high speed platformer like sonic, its rather annoying not being able to see sonic or the level at almost any time. That being said, I do like how you play with the idea of silhouettes in some areas to create atmosphere like the the beginning of the stage. I think if you're gonna change the lighting to make things more visible (which you should) I think you should leave that automated bit at the beginning the way it is. It really sets up the mood for the rest of the level very nicely and isn't a problem in terms of level design or game play since the player doesn't have to do anything. Nice level though.

If you would like I could look over or advise any designs you guys come up with. I've got a pretty good understanding of sonic level design, and SLA proves that. I'm too swamped to actually design anything for you but I can offer my help in that way. Gimme a ring if you're interested.

Speaking of the sprites I just noticed something you could change. Bingo's shoes are way wider than the rest of his body, which gives the illusion that his hit box is wider than it actually is. I would suggest shortening them a little bit.

Sounds interesting. If I have the time I'll give this a try.

Well I've got some good news. Turns out I did back-up Blackshore, so production on the game is going to continue! Can't tell you how relieving that is. As for Lost Adventure v1.2, I won't be able to be sure until my new laptop comes in next week, but I know for certain that the tutorial level didn't make it. Which is fine, I wanted to redo it anyway. Either way, I've got a past version of Havok Harbor along with all of the source files so thats not totally down either, just set back a little bit. I feel rather lucky considering how disorganized I am with my files, not gonna repeat this mistake though. SO, I'm currently creating a website for my work, an online portfolio/resume if you will, and while it is no where near completion I'd like to hear what you guys think of the layout and web design so far Link: http://kevinaethridge.wix.com/kevine

Welcome to the forums Hitaxas. The hack looks great so far, I wouldn't know if it was a hack if you hadn't told us. FRIENDLY REMINDER TO BACK UP YOUR HARD RIVES My computer died over the weekend and took EVERYTHING with it. I'm still sorting through what data I have and what data I've lost. I've got some basic data of Sonic Lost Adventure backed up but I don't know if it's up to date, meaning the source code for v1.2 could be lost. Blackshore Meltdown is currently unknown but I think it might be lost as well. If that is the case then development on that game is over. This soo sucks. SO AGAIN. REMINDER TO BACK UP YOUR SHIT