AldenT

That does make a lot of sense. I'm not really gunning for a position at Sega, more like I'm aiming at a project right here. But I see what you mean, I know I tried to make a game once. Part of the reason I failed was because I didn't really have a fandom or audience to shoot for, and though I do have ideas and skills (if you need proof, I uploaded some here: http://macroller.deviantart.com/gallery/?catpath=scraps ), my main problem is motivation. Yeah, I agree that Sega's team is spot on, so I set my sights on a fan project, even if it's one that might not need me. I'd definitely like to stand out from the crowd, but going all the way on my own isn't a very good option for me. I'm much more comfortable supporting stuff that's already gotten underway and just needs a touch or two to be better. Of course, I don't want to forget that the developers of fan games are people too. I guess in this sense, I'm not just looking to admire a project, but to belong somewhere. It's not just design and production, it's friendship too. I'm thinking too much about being something I don't have what it takes for, but then those developers are the ones who would make the call, not me.

Never. I took hits, yeah, but they never bruised me that badly.

I know I once said that I would support just about anything, and I've found a few other projects to look into. I also know that most people are happy with just fan art as support. But is there a point when that doesn't cut it? What do you do then? Do you simply know your place and let it sink in, or do you try to join the experience? I've seen a few examples, like how big companies hire fans as part of their staff, while others simply take their ideas into mind and leave it at that. The former seems like a dream come true, but what's the catch? Would it be considered favoritism? What about the reactions of other people to the decision of picking up some fan off the streets? Sorry if all these questions seem kinda out of place here. I guess I'm just confused about when a fan stops being just a supporter and wants to be more to stand out from the cheering crowds. I know I wouldn't want to be just another head in the bunch. Is there anything wrong about feeling this way?

I'm glad to have gotten such a nice welcome to the forums, but something that stood out was a mention of some past works of mine. Someone was curious enough to ask and fortunately, I had some files on hand. I uploaded them to my DeviantArt gallery tonight, if anybody else was curious. http://macroller.deviantart.com/gallery/?catpath=scraps I don't remember exactly when I came up with this material, let alone all the details, but I think I can answer some questions. It's pretty amateur stuff anyway, some old shame in a way. At least, it's something to look back on.

Exactly, it's not like school is for everyone but they like to pretend it is. Education is a must, true, but the way the system is laid out at the moment, it's not the best for people that wish to stand out. In my experience, the majority of students are there because their parents said so. They mostly just pass the day by talking to each other, which in turn makes a ruckus and disrupts the whole class - including those that actually take school seriously. You could say it's holding everyone back, by spreading themselves out too thin they aren't leaving enough for anyone in particular. Sure, they can't fix every problem (most people forget that the real education starts at home) but in general, they need to give the choices out sooner. Careers for those who want to advance, options for those that don't. There's that whole thing about a legal age and how jobs are discouraged until then, but a lot of people would be happier earning something more useful with their time.

I have to agree on that one. Most of math really is useless for general stuff, and will only really help you on very specific cases where, frankly, you're better off doing something else. Unless you're really into that sort of thing, and I know I stopped taking math seriously after trigonometry. Still, it's true that some people need these classes after all, and they're valuable to them. The system's gotta reach out to everyone, and it's just a real shame that a lot of students go through classes that are useless in their own lives. Love it or hate it, pretty much.

Well, I'm mostly looking for examples of voice acting I can follow. I just happened to run into something about Ace Attorney that had some awesome acting. Of course, being from StrawberryCreme's crew, I would expect no less. :3 To be honest, I was motivated by this material from Freedom Planet. This is the only project I've run into that featured voice acting so far, and though it's obviously crazy to expect me to be part of it, I've still imagined the sort of talent it would take to belong in something like that.There's this too. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5jn03qp-_fA It's not a project, but rather an idea: posting a reel and seeing who gets interested. I learned from this that it's not just voice that matters. Range and emotions, too. And I know for a fact that I have trouble expressing anger, one of the most common emotions in fiction. They say it's also important to know who to voice for. As in, what sort of character and which setting. Even the second reel creates smaller situations to get into character and, well, I'm a bit stuck in that situation.

Oh, man, I remember those classes too. They started off pretty well and were helpful for learning it all (I actually needed it, since spanish is my native language), but I honestly got more mileage out of Saturday morning cartoons and general reading. Around middle school I was already blasting through these classes, and only remember my high school language classes because our teachers were quirky. The actual learning? Not so much... Personally, I think it's important to deliver the lessons in earlier levels, while turning later levels into applied language instead. Maybe blending it in with some other boring classes, see if that makes them decent. After all, knowledge that isn't applied is pretty useless, and with high school failing on that end, most people aren't ready for college. Forcing people to go there anyway is just a giant waste for everyone involved. Maybe I'm just expressing some bitterness at being stuck in college due to several boring classes that I know I won't be using in life, yet I must slog through because the system says so. It's as pointless as it sounds, and you'd think they would have refined this by now. Until they do, the upper classes will have few students and even less professionals.

I was looking into some pointers for voice acting and ran into this. Would this be worth following as an example? I'm more curious than eager to practice at the moment, but it may be good to consider.

So that was it, huh? Personally, I get quite a bit of flack for treating people like, well, people. But I'm expected to "know my place", "not speak out of line", that sort of thing. I never saw much of a point to dancing around issues, why not just face them head on? Turns out rules exist for a reason, and though some people may not follow them, the rest do. Respecting them is a way to show respect to those people. And, as part of a community, it was the least I could do. Give and take, as they say. I wouldn't want to get banned before my time.

Really? Great to know, I'd hate to get kicked out for something dumb. It's not like I'm trying to hurt anybody here anyway. Wow, you were right. It didn't take me long to find... and it works as well as ever. That was easier than I thought. . _ . Oh, yes, I draw. Not much of an artist, but I'll check it out. It'd be a good place to start.

http://macroller.deviantart.com/ There's my gallery. I'm a bit rusty, but I hope nobody minds. Major Birdo fan, by the way.

So there WAS a Metroidvania-style Sonic game! I never tried the Game Gear, didn't even see the thing myself. But having played through most of the Metroid and Castlevania games, I can agree that Super Metroid nailed the formula just right. The 2 games before it were just getting used to the format, and Fusion railroaded players instead. I also started the Castlevania series with Simon's Quest and, though I only pulled through it by remembering info from guides I read years ago, I can definitely agree that it set some bases it didn't quite know how to use, like those RPG elements and the grinding. I've played the DS games and I can say that at this point, the grinding works best as a progressive goal rather than an intended one like in Simon's Quest. More than that, the grinding really only becomes frustrating when you're fetching specific abilities from enemies, something that got worse as they went along. The only exception I saw was Harmony of Dissonance, since the main weapons (whip tips and spell books) are found in the castle, while the enemies just give you armor pieces and consumables. Great to have, but not a real must due to the shops they have there. Order of Ecclesia had a great idea in its self-contained areas and I was hoping to see more of that. But that game also botched the weapon system (the glyphs are okay to use, it's finding them that's annoying) and it also complicated the stats, something that really shouldn't need to factor into the experience. I agree that the genre could do with less RPG stuff. For examples of that, I recommend the Shaman King: Master of Spirits games for GameBoy Advance. They do away with the grinding entirely and compact the inventory a lot. Granted, its spirit system is kinda primitive, but it gets the job done and the sequel tweaks a lot of stuff. They also tried something different with the map (connected dots, each road is a OoE-style self-connected area), but it may be hit and miss. I can also recommend Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions for DS. It's a very short game but it still manages to hide tons of secrets, including new attacks and abilities. It beats pretty much all Metroidvania games in terms of combat too, since there are lots of options and Spider-Man flows very well from one action to the next. For that matter, web-slinging and crawling make tight areas very easy to explore. As for how to apply all this to Sonic, well, the Advance games expanded on the Genesis games's habit of hiding special rings and other items in its stages, so there's a start. It would have to be a VERY open world with a ton of roads, though... backtracking isn't what the series is known for.

Thanks for all the welcomes! Sorry about the thread name, I wasn't sure of how to make that impression, if it's too much trouble like that then I just could make other topics. Still, it's good to know people noticed. ; Oh, it's a very old thing I was working on, definitely dated concepts, but it'd be a start. Also, yeah, I tried that remake for a bit. I didn't get it again before it was taken down, but what I saw was amazing. One of the most flexible games if I ever saw one. That's too right, I've been to a few other places and didn't like the tight rules. I even got in trouble with a mod or two over silly things, it just gave me a bad impression of forums in general. I hope that doesn't happen here.

No problem! If I find something weird in the demo, I'll let you know. Well, it's a bit of an awkward cost at first, but it's great that Lilac's energy gauge has a more dynamic use now, choosing between the Boost or Dragon Cyclone. I'm guessing the latter is only usable at full energy to make it easier for the player to tell when it's ready, or to prevent overuse (I can easily see the speed power-up letting her triple jump and more). It's also brilliant that they're activated with different buttons, that should go a long way to prevent those accidents. Besides, the Dragon Cyclone would definitely be used as a double jump by most players, especially since the Boost can't be aimed straight up. Either way, it's a great choice to have.

That may depend on how fast the chip damage is compared to the charge time. It'll render the normal attacks moot if either is too fast, as it will make players hang back and charge for cyclones all day. At close range, a barrage of normal attacks should deal more damage, while charging may be the better idea when dealing with crowds or waiting out boss invincibility. That's how it works in Mega Man, at least. Then again, Lilac's current attack speed is a bit slow, isn't it? The crouch kick is pretty quick, but she's no Carol and making Lilac's attacks stronger or faster might hurt Carol's main advantage over her. If I had to guess, maybe the cyclone could be another aerial attack. Lilac wouldn't need it at ground level when she can already roll, right? But personally, I do think a charge attack would be great to have in the game. Amazing work, by the way. I completed the demo, it definitely has me hooked. Looking forward to more of this game!

I got most of my experience from fighting games (especially Street Fighter 4 and Smash Bros Brawl, though I also have experience with MUGEN) and beat-em-ups (mainly Streets of Rage and Sengoku Basara, but I've also tried Devil May Cry), but like I was saying in my opening post, I'm not much of a coder. Maybe neither of those things sound like Sonic games but I've been studying fighting game concepts for years. Also, I'm pretty sure I once tried my own project that had a blend of combat and speed. I may dig it up once I can remember where it went. Point is, I can adapt to quite a few things and I'm sure that a Sonic-style game is no exception. I missed out on Sonic The Fighters, but I've tried Sonic Battle, if that is anything more relevant.

Really? Thanks for the nice welcome! Yeah, you're right. I got my eye on a project or two but I'm open to a lot more. My experience is mainly devoted to system mechanics and character design, especially geared around combat. I know Sonic fangames usually focus on speed but I hope I get lucky with something more flexible, like an adventure. Beta testing would be a great way to start, I'm not too bad with criticism and I'm personally looking forward to learning about stage design, scripting, even something like voice acting would help to expand my options. I'm okay with helping out where I can.

Hey, everyone. It's nice to join the forum, though I'm not much of a coder yet. I'm more of a designer, looking for a chance to support other projects. Name's Alden, by the way. I might not post too often just yet, so I'll try to make each one count (and not in a "wall of text" way, if I can avoid it). Here's hoping I can stand out someday.