Highwire4

Thanks Serephim I went ahead and did some brain storming and came up with some new stuff: New gimmick ideas These won't replace the one's I've already come up with, just add onto them. These better? I've also updated the first post with quite a lot of information.

Oh wow, this looks like a fun little platformer. I'll have to let's play it and link you to the results.

Thanks Chronic! Guess I'll have come up with new ones then, which is fine, thanks for the criticism.

lol thanks Overbound. No worries, those'll get drawn up in due time. Though we won't see any ruins till I start working on Act 2's tile set, which is basically the same as Act 1's but with ruins thrown in and a few minor tweaks to complete the atmosphere in the level. Speaking of tilesets, I've been a little reluctant to start sketching the graphics for the level gimmicks. I'm not to sure about them, what do you guys think? Do I have enough? Are they too generic?

Any art in the previous builds was purely temporary, put there so I could get a rough feel for how to implement things. The tile sets I've sketched up for the current build are as smooth and flowing as a rollercoaster and won't be implemented until each sprite is finished. Thanks for all the input guys, really appreciate it

Alright I managed to find the time to do some recording, as a result, here is the first full act of the first level. I suppose a better way to explain this stuff would be that in the previous builds, I was mostly just trying to figure out what I was doing or how to do things. Basic experimentation while gaining experience through trial and error. Feed back on this wasn't the best. The game played too slowly and it felt cluttered. I didn't have a unique tile set for the level either, I just used what Sonic Worlds already gave to me and slapped on some graphics over the base collision sprites which looking back on it now, isn't the best way to pull off the desired effect. I did try to incorporate as many paths and intersections as I could, but I scrunched everything together which made it kinda slow. The goal at the time when I was designing this was to have multiple paths and make sure that 'pressing right to win' wasn't a common theme. I forgot about the speed and flow elements though, which ultimately killed the overall level design. Is this more substantial for you guys? Granted it's pretty basic and not all that good, but its a full level.

@Serephim: I see what you're saying now. When I get more time I'll edit the first post with much more information. I suppose the previous builds were just me really trying to nail down proper sonic level design. I still haven't quite nailed it yet but I've learned quite a lot from my past attempts. As for the whole super-custom-special-awesome game engine, thats not really what I meant. I realize now that the first post is rather lacking in clear information since I was rushing but what I meant was; I'm using the Sonic Worlds engine, but I'm not too savy when it comes to programming, so creating my own power ups, game mechanics, or level gimmicks is just out of my reach at the moment and as a result, the engine is not ready. Sorry about this massive communication error on my part @_@ @Hez: I'm well aware of this, concepts are just words with no backing behind them and as a result are nothing to really talk about. In hindsight I should have waited till I had a complete tile set to work with and at least a test level to go with it before I announced it here. When I get the time, I'll have to record a video of the last build which had a complete level along with beta graphics if its actual levels that you guys need to see. It's just going to be out dated is all. I'm at the stage in development though when I'm turning concept into an actual game. I thought that one screen shot would have expressed that. lol whoops. So I guess I'm sort of in an odd spot at the moment...lordy this is a little embarrassing. Well one thing at a time. The highest priority is to get at least act 1's tile set finished. Then I can start constructing an actual level to show off. Once thats finished I gotta figure out how the hell to program gimmicks and stuff...weee

I completely agree with what the both of you have said in regards to this, but I really don't get a lot of free time to work on this. I guess it would have been wiser to get the engine ready first before I start doing visuals but I have little experience coding in MMF2 and I'm sick of the project going no where so I thought it'd be fine if I just worked on what I know best first to get it out of the way. But you guys know more about this whole process than I do so.. Is my concept really that vague? I'd love to elaborate on it if it's really needed.

Hey all, Thought I'd post the little project I've been working on in my spare time up on here. Its called Sonic DASH but because of how lame of a name that is it's subject to change later on when I care long enough to come up with something new. Now for a bit of history about this project before I link y'all to some stuff. This project has been in my head for around 10 or so years now and has gone through around 3 different game builds. The past few months I've been finalizing the concepts for each level and have recently begun drawing up the graphics for the game. Here's some links to previous builds of the game..rather old, consider these tech demos: First Build: Second Build: Attempt at a 3D build: 3rd Build: Gallery of Concept art: http://sonicbommer.deviantart.com/gallery/38102258 Act 1 Complete level: STORY: ZONES: Forgotten Forest: Jungle/Ruin Theme The Forgotten Forest is a vast mountainous jungle of peaks and deep ravines covered with lush foliage and the occasional giant tree. Its a little bit like Central/South American rain forests. Act 1: Takes place on the forest floor in the purest heart of the jungle. The jungle cliffs rise high above the tree tops, well out of view as they dominate the backdrop along with towering trees. Act 2: Sonic has manuevered his way up the tree line, around midway at this point. He's also uncovered some ancient ruins filled with spike traps and giant cliche boulders. A great lake is visible in the distance along with an ancient bridge that is said to lead to one of the ancient wonders of the lost world. Act 3: Far above the canopy now, Sonic can now see above the cliffs and mountains and see just how truly vast this jungle is. As he gets closer and closer to the center of Eggman's operation, the jungle around him seems bigger than ever before as he ends the level scaling a gigantic tree. Sketched backdrops of each act Grainy Ghetto: Urban/desert theme After Sonic's long fall from Eggman's surprise attack on the temple, he finds himself in an arid city during the annual kite festival. Dash across rooftops and slip down clothes lines as you blast through alley ways and marketplaces as you make your way toward the palace in the center of town. Act 1: On the outskirts of the town, you can see the entire city before you, with the great pyramid palace at it's center. Make your way into the streets but be mindfull of those slippery sand dunes. Act 2: In the heart of the city, the energy of the festivities is undeniable as you race through markets and slide across carpet bridges. Try to stick to the rooftops since you'll get a few short cuts along clothes lines and kites. Act 3: The sun has begun to set on the arid dunes as Sonic has made his way to the palace. Skimming across aquaducts and catching a ride on kites are going to be your best bet to making it to the giant pyramid. Gimmick list Havok Harbor: Shipping Harbor theme Havok Harbor is a vast and bustling shipping harbor. A maze of shipping containers, cranes, warehouses and giant cargo ships make up this zone. One of the more colorful of the zones. Concept Art: http://sonicbommer.deviantart.com/gallery/38102258#/d4slm64 Skyline (or Downtown Dispatch. not sure): Future/Urban/Industrial theme Skyline is a giant city of the future. Sleek skyscrapers reach beyond the clouds and dwarf the rest of the landscape around them. Dodge and surf air-car traffic as you make your way through the vast multi-level mega-city. Light bridges and teleportation circuits aid in traversing this chaotic urban sprawl. Concept Art: http://sonicbommer.deviantart.com/gallery/38102258#/d5d0j35 http://sonicbommer.deviantart.com/gallery/38102258#/d5d0j6r Raw Refinery: Arctic/Industrial/Fire theme Act 1: A desolate and eerie place; Raw Refinery is an oil refinery in an arctic wasteland. The beautiful Aurora in the night sky does little to offset the lonely feeling of this place since you seem to be absolutely and completely alone, yet you feel like someone is watching you.... Run on giant pipe valves like hamster wheels to fill/drain pools of oil to access new areas, but watch out for falling icicles and oil pits! Act 2: Concept Art: http://sonicbommer.deviantart.com/gallery/38102258#/d4nx291 Airship Atrocity (or Atmosphere Armada): Sky/Armada theme After Dr. Eggman's escape from Raw Refinery, he launches his Sky Armada in preparation for the final phase of his plan. Sonic manages to hitch a ride on the last ship as barely escapes whats left of Raw Refinery. It doesn't take Eggman long to figure this out, and in an act of desperation, begins to fire upon his own ships! Ziplines and air-currents will get you from ship to ship, but you can also infiltrate a vessel and sabotage it's reactor to destroy it and blast your self a few ships ahead! Southern Sea: Ancient Ruin/Future/Ocean theme The final zone. Its a race against Eggman himself! Mantle Madness: Final Boss The final fight. The Main Idea What I want to do with this game is do something that I don't see a lot in fan games. I want to use atmosphere and mood and gameplay to give the player a sense of progression. I want to make my colorful zones instill wonder, discovery, panic, loneliness, etc all through the use of visual stimulus and level design. I want to make the player immersed in this colorful world and experience not just a fun experience, but a slight emotional one, an experience that'll stick with the player for a while after they've finished playing it. Progression is a big theme in this game. Every act in each zone is slightly different. Each act brings new graphics and gimmicks to the table while keeping the overall theme consistent. Even the time of day may change in certain acts and cut scenes will bind each level together in a manner similar to how S3&K told it's story. An example of this passage of time and space would be the transition between the 4th zone, Skyline Zone, and the 5th Zone, Raw Refinery. In Skyline Zone's first act, you find your self on the outskirts of a futuristic mega city riding atop the bow of the previous zone's boss, which is now a smoldering heap of metal. As you get closer to the end of the act, the buildings in the background get higher and higher and the environment seems to be getting more chaotic and full of energy till you finish the act and go to the next one, which starts right where you left off, only this time, you're in the downtown part of the city. Now that you're in the heart of the city, your environment feels radically different. You spend a lot of your time racing up and down colossal sky scrapers and surfing atop flying cars as you weave your way through chaotic traffic to the end of the act. The third and final act is much more industrial, with giant factories and power plants now replacing the once towering sky scrapers. The chaotic energy of the city is still very much there, but it has a more imposing feel to it, like as if they aren't welcome in this part of town. If the player were paying attention they'd notice that the sun is now setting across the sky as they make their way to the end of the act which ends where a giant oil pipeline meets a power plant. The Boss battle takes place on this oil pipeline, and as the battle goes on, the environment will begin to change from the bustling city to a frigid blizzard just as the last sliver of the sun disappears behind the horizon. This changes the patterns of the boss and the visible falling of the sun should change the tone of the battle to ease it into the the next zone; Raw Refinery. Raw Refinery begins where the boss left off; on a slippery snow covered pipeline that leads to a vast and desolate oil refinery. Night has fallen upon the land along with a raging blizzard. The odd lack of badnicks along with these other factors is making this act seem rather desolate and isolated. This loneliness and darkness makes the player feel uneasy as the entire level gives off this foreboding and empty aura. Yes all of that is just talk and thoughts right now, but it's what I hope to achieve with this game. Given the current state of development, I don't have much to show for it in it's current build. I am currently working on the first act of the first level to at least get something like a tech demo out that'll show on the basic level what the game will look like.

I tried out the demo at SAGE and it wasn't half bad. I thought you might find it helpful to see some one else playing it though, so here's a link to my play through of it: Hope you find this helpful. Some issues I found with the game was that the camera needs a lot of work and that the level could use some work aesthetically, I never really felt like I was going any where since everything looked the same. The level design also needs some work since a lot of the platforming in the game is purely optional, I can just run past it with no repercussions, it felt really weird and odd. Like the platforming sections weren't even necessary. Another thing you could improve is your hit boxes on some of the platforms. I ended up slipping off of the edge of a lot of platforms because of the odd slope on the edges. Sonic having a shadow would be nice too since sometimes I found it hard to tell where I was since I had no shadow to reference sonic's position to. Other than that the controls were great, and I like how the enemies stop when you got hit so you wouldn't be swarmed and get bull shit deaths. I see a lot of potential with this game, keep at it.

I'm having trouble comming up with level gimmics for a stage. Its a very vertical stage set in a futuristic like city. You spend a lot of time on sky scrapers and highways. All I've got is hover car surfing and teleporting circuit doohickies.

A bit of a graphics test with my current project.

Dang son. Your music is pretty damn sexy. I'm most likely going to ask you to compose some things for my project once I have more visual material for it made. C:

oh my god. It worked. Thanks dude

I downloaded the newest version, but apparantly, I lack a few files for the .mfa file to work. parser.mfx and txtblt.mfx if these could be sent to me some how, I would be forever greatful