Nemox

I've never been a fan of comics in general. They tend to feel the need to up-the-ante just to keep readers hooked on the really really short stories, and that's when the time-travel and alternate universes and junk start coming into play. It's convoluted by design. Really gets down to the bare basics of storytelling. Y'know what, maybe I should prove my own point and write a fanfic and see whether it turns out as crappy as all the others out there. Never been interested in doing so before, but at least it'll help me know whether my points make any sense at all. Coffee? Yes please.

Although none of my previous projects were particularly worthy of seeing the light of day on their own, it has been rather stupid of me to not have backed up all my experimental scripts for Unity, and of course, I got the type of hard drive failure that absolutely bricks it. So I'm starting to rebuild them from scratch now, with backups planned. Unfortunately I've also lost the animations I've done, and I'm having technical issues galore. Blender's Collada import scripts won't import all the bones and vertex groups, Autodesk's website doesn't acknowledge that I've entered my information as a student, and the trial version of 3DS Max refuses to even run. (And this isn't even half the technical issues I'm having outside of game development, and not even on my own computer... At this rate I'd almost be willing to believe in curses.) So to at least get things to the point where I can actually do some scripting and test what I've made, I'd like to find a charitable soul whose computer isn't crap, and can run 3DS Max and Sonic Generations. Just looking for help getting a single model with animations. (Unleashed or Colours wouldn't be bad either.) If you don't know how to do it, I can provide some resources. All I need is someone with the physical ability to run programs. Good news, everyone! The website finally stopped glitching out and let me finish registering for a student license. This also allowed me to download an older version which also has a 32-bit option. The 64-bit option came up with the same error despite the fact that my computer is 64-bit, but 32-bit is working fine. And wouldn't you know it, all the other technical issues I've been having outside of this have finally been resolved as well! What a morning. Well, I don't want to waste a perfectly good thread. Anyone know where I could find some resources on Unleashed hacking?

I love the complex plots the earlier 3D games had, but they do feel rather tired and forced. I think a lot of this gets into showing the story rather than telling. Cutscenes are all about telling, but story can be conveyed in more ways than just that. Consider CD with its time-traveling element. In the past, nature is harmonious. In the present nature is being threatened by technological threats that weren't dealt with while they still could be. And in the future, technology has run so rampant, even Eggman's machines are in decay and disrepair; a very grim scene. But if you change things while they can still be changed, nature and technology can exist in harmony with each other in a Good Future. This is a beautiful story that even has a message for us in the real world, and it required no cutscenes. I think this side of storytelling was well-used in SA2, if perhaps for different purposes. Shadow's electronic (Trance? EDM? I'm bad with these...) music really expressed the discord in his mind. The beat is "lifeless" and perpetual, though the life is still behind it in the vocals, whispering a humanity still deep inside. This fits Shadow's character so well, as he trudges on in the face of all the pain of losing everything he loved. Heh... even that "I'm the coolest," line showed that he still had some personality behind all the angst.

What appeals to me first and foremost in a game is the basic controls, and this is what I love in Lost World. It's essentially the exact thing I've been developing myself, just more refined. But you're right; despite the wonderful controls, they were poorly utilized. I think this definitely gets into what ChaosLord was saying about experiences. A lot of us long for a very different paradigm.

I'd bet that if instead of a Werehog, they made it Knuckles and sped up the pace a little bit, it would have been a big hit. In retrospect I now agree regarding Colours and Generations. Colours had even less exploration, and Generations' controls were much too stiff. I do like the freedom and pacing in Generations' levels though. If by Mario you're referring to Lost World, I would say I quite enjoy its gameplay a lot more than recent games, even if the levels aren't quite to my taste.

Hey Sonic United, I was recently informed of the merger with SFGHQ, so I thought I'd open up with a little intro and a topic regarding a recent purchase. I'm an indie game dev in training and planning to get a project underway once I get a couple artists to work with me. I've been experimenting and such with game development via Sonic fangame testing, but unfortunately I've lost all my work. I'll be starting from scratch soon, and everything I'm using in one of my games will be usable in my fangames as well. So here's to fresh beginnings! In the vain of new experiences, I recently bought Sonic Unleasehd as a learning experience to see how not to make a game. I remembered that the uber-mach-speed-on-rails gameplay was not to my liking, nor the slow pace of the nighttime stages. But after playing it again, I've fallen in love with it. I don't know why I disliked it so much before. Probably because I had the Wii version before, and I'm playing the 360 version now. I love adventure and roaming free. That's why my favourite Sonic game of all time is Adventure 1. So much more open space to roam than other games. Actually, I found this aspect to be a really redeeming factor about Sonic Osix. It may have been terrible, but it had freedom. Unleashed isn't quite as expansive in this regard as I'd like, but it's enough. I particularly like the low-speed controls a lot more than Generations. Generations felt like controlling a bike or something at low speeds, while Unleashed feels much tighter. So Sonic United, what Sonic experiences have made you change your opinions? What's your ideal experience?

My computer died this week and I lost everything ;_____;

Good news everyone! My project is finally getting somewhere for once, and I still haven't lost my steam yet. The running physics are pretty much exactly how I want them, and all that's left for the bare basics is air and water physics, a little animation work, and some tweaks to the camera system, and I've got a demo. Also trying to figure out precisely how to apply Sonic Generations shading in Unity. Shaders aren't my specialty, but I've recently overcome a huge roadblock in that regard.

Heh, here I am again this year wishing I could get myself to finish something for once. Actually recently learned that I've got ADD (because I've got Tourette's, and 90% of people with it have attention issues), and it's probably the reason I abandon project after project. But I've been learning techniques for staying on task and junk. Maybe next year... Hell, that's demotivational. I SHALL GET TO WORK NAO!

The point is that it's not a matter of what the show is about. Sonic X was about fast animals as well, and most people here dislike it. Rather, it's a matter of whether the show is smart and understands its audience. MLP:FiM is an example of a show that respects the intelligence of those viewing it much more than most other kids' shows these days. Quite unlike, say... . The real pain begins around 1:28 by the way.Consider Sonic X the 3.5 of the cartoons. (Honestly I thought Sonic X is more equivalent to a 1.0. Generation 1 MLP actually wasn't too bad to watch. Was kind of an old-school fantasy sort of thing, just with ponies instead of peasants or whatever. Had some entertaining bits, even if most of it was silly.)

Powerpuff Girls was a success because it relied on the irony of some of the strongest, most impressive superheroes in the world being little girls in kindergarten. And what gave the show real viewing value was that each character had a distinct and likeable personality to explore in various episodes. The irony with MLP, on the other hand, is that it doesn't need irony to be an enjoyable show. It's got great writing and characters with distinct and believable personalities. To assume that it's a dumb show because it's about magical ponies marketed towards little girls is to make the same mistake that many other childrens' shows make, which the creators of MLP intentionally steered away from; severely underestimating the depth the target audience can handle. Hell, my sister is only 8 years old, and already a deeper thinker than most adults I know. To say MLP is about magical ponies is to say that Powerpuff Girls is a show about little girls in kindergarten, or that Sonic is about fast rodents.

Sonic 06's was practically a redeeming quality.

Not all MMOs are themepark MMORPGs. Warframe is a lobby-based shoot'em-up, and Kart Rider is a lobby-based racer, for example. The reason MMOs exist is for the social aspect. Doing video game things you love to do with friends! Like playing as Tails! This is a pretty cool thing, eh? There can also be a form of progression like any other game has; Sonic Generation has those upgrades at the Chao shop, SA1&2 have Chao Gardens, Shadow has various weapons, and many games have an unlockable super form. An MMO with custom player characters also allows a unique form of progression as well; character aesthetics. Grinding rings is something that could be done, and it would facilitate deeper exploration of the world. It could also give players new reasons to platform their way to places they'd never reached before. Just takes some out-of-the-box thinking. Given, perhaps an MMO -maaay- not be the optimal way to go, but I could definitely see it being a large online multiplayer game. Something like you'd see Minecraft or FPS players play.

I've been thinking about this subject alongside my learning of game development, and I think it could be a cool idea if done properly. I think on a different sort of paradigm regarding this, but I hope to provide something interesting at least. As a reviewer I sometimes watch has approximately said, Sonic is about momentum, platforming, and exploration. First two first; momentum-based platforming. Sonic, at its core, is character-physics-based sandbox gameplay, in a way. The game is all about making simply controlling the character and using momentum engaging, and levels are a way to focus the player's engagement by providing a goal. I think this ties in well with exploration. The extrinsic goal is to save the world and such; to engage with this unique world and characters in different ways. To experience different sides of things. A deeper world to experience. The world itself is alien and yet familiar, incorporating abstract and artistic renditions of things we understand from our world. The characters lend themselves to a great deal of exploration as well, with as many options as there are species, colours, fashions, or personalities as there are in the world. The Sonic world provides many outlets for players to express their creativity if they so choose, like with my original character Blonic. People don't tend to play games for points these days. Competitive players may do speed runs and such, but ultimately there has to be some sort of higher goal in mind to keep things interesting. I believe that allowing a great degree of freedom, allowing for this creativity in both player characters as other MMOs have, and especially allowing for creativity in gameplay, will create a game that lasts longer than the first few runs of each stage. Chao Gardens are testament to this. They offer self-expression, a deepening of the world, and an extrinsic goal to enjoy the intrinsically-fun gameplay even more. Pair this with a robust character creation system, relatively large worlds to explore (with hub worlds that are actually interesting to play around in), and of course all within an amazingly fun gameplay base, and you've got a formula for a potentially fun game. (Rewrote this a few times, trying to keep my mind focused. Hope that wasn't too abstract.)

Ahem. SONIC RAINBOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM. ... Now that that's out of the way, I'm looking forward to seeing how it turns out. I actually really did like Sonic X because it at least tried to incorporate the games, and tried to tie the games set on "Mobius" and Earth together. It may have had its corny moments, but there were some to love as well.

Can we hope the cat parkour and the three-game partnership with SEGA means there's something a'brewin' that we can to look forward to?

I'm so happy about the new XBox. Finally, I can get back into the Kingdom Hearts series. EDIT: Oh, looks like it's not a Playstation exclusive like 1 & 2... joke doesn't work anymore.

I love Sonic X. It has its issues, and Chris is annoying. But I love how it at least attempted (in the first two seasons) to tie the games together and allow a little room for the Archie stuff to kinda fit in in a way. And a lot of their bits about how it would be for Sonic to show up in the human world were great. I loved that scene with Chris carrying Tails and Amy around on the train like dolls. And Cream and Ella getting to know each other for the first time was adorable. Also loved that bit with Tails and Chris in the store all casual, and everyone's like, "Holy crap, furries!" SatAM was amazing in a lot of ways, but I couldn't get used to Sonic's personality watching it again. Rose-colored goggles are definitely off now. The comics were decent, but suffered from standard comic problems of trying to keep a slowly-made-fast-read book interesting enough to read.

Looks pretty cool, but I got bored of the standard turn-based RPG gameplay long, long ago. xP

I got a Wii-U a few days ago, and it really is a nice console. I'm highly impressed with the graphical power, and the touch screen does add a nice touch. (rimshot) The library is indeed lacking a bit, and as it is now it wouldn't be worth the money. But I'm certain said money would be an investment given the games that are sure to come, especially given the fun that existing games have been.

As with this notion, the video itself seemed like enough of an experience for me to get the idea behind the whole thing, and the game seems inconsequential as a result.

Unity's terrain engine fails at physics. A simple ball will lose speed moving downhill and gain speed moving uphill. And judging by these recent debug line tests, it seems it doesn't even provide proper collision angles. Small slopes seem to return proper collision normals (yet still screw with physics), while high slopes like this have only returned vertical lines. The most dramatic example I've demonstrated is creating a cliff with a mesa on top. Any rigidbody that bumps into the cliff is instantly teleported to the top. This doesn't happen in other engines like UDK. For that matter, Unity's terrain renderer has also been reported by others to be pretty heavy and sluggish. I'd try and make my own if I weren't so busy on physics and gameplay. And by busy, I mean still procrastinating. Well, I have been doing quite a lot lately actually, just hitting an old brick wall or two that keep resurfacing.

Why I'm so frustrated: That debug line? It's the collision normal against terrain.

Is it strange that my mind instantly jumped to Peter Molyneux? Hm, those are interesting ideas, and I particularly like the idea of having lots of small light sources scattered throughout levels. Applying an emissive shader could accomplish methods 2, 3, and 3a without affecting anything around him, and would also be pretty optimized for gaming. That does remind me though, I remember going around in Green Hill zone, I saw many unexpected colors shining on Sonic, such as the orange rocks and green grass. I'm willing to bet there might be different reflection maps applied to Sonic's whole body, and given what I've seen of that Specular texture he's equipped with, that could be why it's not so overbearing. So in essence, it might be a reflection map acting emissively to produce extra light sources on his body, applying them only where the specular map allows, and then only applying as a rim light! I think I'll do another runthrough and see if anything else is affected by the same lighting. If they are, it could very well just be extra light sources emitting from various world objects. EDIT: Yes! I believe this is exactly what's happening! Going through Green Hill again, I noticed that there was always some of this "glow" from certain angles, and it occurred even in shadowy areas. The brightest one was the only one that required a light source. I would see green light shining under Sonic's body throughout the level, even in areas with absolutely nothing green around. However, this changed in a couple of select spots. In that rocky tunnel the glow changes to a fitting orange/brown color, and continues even in shadows. There is a precise spot where the transition happens, and it is pretty instant. In fact, when I stood on the spot and walked around a bit, it appears I tricked the game and maintained the green glow in an area where it was supposed to be orange. I'm confident that it is indeed a reflection map.

The ones posted in that thread are for Max and Maya, while Unity's shaders must be typed out. There have been a few node-based editors made but the ones I've seen are missing some key functions. Would be quite beneficial however to analyze those if I can manage to, and see what a real Fresnel calculation looks like. Shader "grammar" is quite a bit different from regular scripting, but the idea's pretty much the same. You've got some properties about a surface, what happens to the property, and the result. Unity's surface shader system simplifies it a lot so it's essentially a structure of data, perform the surface shader function on it (textures, normal mapping, specular mapping, etc.), then it goes through whatever lighting function you make for it, and out comes the color to go on-screen. Luckily, most of it is copy-paste work. It's the really stylized stuff that takes a little creativity. That picture in that thread has a rim light hilighting all the edges of the ogre, which can be desired in some games. But what I did is take the same kind of rim lighting, but multiply it by the value of regular diffuse light. The result is that it only shows up where light is actually shining from.