TSS_Ty

Nice to see this got funded so quickly Will you be doing a Linux version? @AldenT: I think you can vote if someone gifts you something.

What sort of features would people want for a revamp? The majority of action these days seems to either be in the "post your screenshots" thread or the Art Forum.

It's like restaurant food. Presentation is a big part, but not essential. You can eat a tasty meal even if it's just heaped on the plate. But if the food tastes bad, it doesn't matter how good it looks, it will still be terrible.

Using Etsy is probably cheating, but these earrings are too cool: Sonic Chao earrings. The Tails Chao ones are pretty nifty too.

I think there's an extension for MMF call MooSock that lets you make HTTP requests. Most of the work would be done on the server, looking something like this: Game sends co-ordinate/map data - I would probably include version information too, so you can compare different maps to see if your tweaks have helped. Script on the server updates text file/database with co-ordinates A separate script on the server uses this data to generate a heatmap or whatever

It looks neat, but it gave me a headache. I'll have to play it drunk to see what happens. I'm not sure the concept is entirely useless, but it might be better for a bonus stage rather than a full game. More than a few minutes of this would have me worshipping at the porcelain altar in no time.

You are older than you were before. Congratulations.

It all depends on the zone you're designing. The first zone is usually quite small, and things get more complicated as you progress. You want to ease the player into the game mechanics before adding more advanced level elements. A good idea is to look at previous level maps, and draw the path through the level as a straight line with branches. This should give you a good idea about how complicated to make things The later Genesis levels were much bigger than the early Sonic games, but they were also detailed. It's tempting to create a massive level and then try to fill it with stuff. Don't. Instead, start with a small area and expand from there. Stick to a theme (such as trees or caves or whatever) and use that to build your ideas and your level. Oh, and don't put in too many death pits. Those things suck. The quick version: Look at how levels in other Sonic games branch out Sketch your level out on paper using a similar branching Make a big list of ideas for your zone. Gimmicks, objects (trees, bushes etc), badniks and so on. Work these ideas into your zone. Don't try and cram everything in. If it isn't fun, scrap it. Unfortunately a lot of game development involves throwing out stuff that doesn't work. Get people to play it to get honest feedback. Then improve. Ok, that was far too long, but I hope it gave you some help.

First mockup looks lovely, but as everyone else has said, don't put too much effort into mockups. Get something playable working first, then make it look pretty. Good luck.

I'd definitely be interested in seeing the survey results, especially considering the people filling it in are not limited to die-hard Sonic fans.

I'm using Win7 on my primary machine, and so far I'm pretty pleased with it. Seems fast, stable and pleasant to use. Definitely more responsive than XP on this machine. The new taskbar is a little weird at first, but now I'm used to it I quite like it.

Oh dear.

Getting my Dreamcast for Christmas. I found out where my parents had hidden it, so I played it as soon as they went to work that day. I'll never forget that first time on Sonic Adventure, battling Chaos and speeding through Emerald Coast. I was sad when they got wise to my schemes, but instead of ruining the excitement it just made me more eager to play it. As sad as it sounds, I'd watch the Dreamcast promo video for the few seconds of Sonic Adventure it contained. I don't think I've been as excited about any other games since. Bonus memory: Being friends with the only guy at school who had Sonic 3 (it was imported). We'd go around after School to try and beat the Marble Garden boss which he couldn't do. Good times indeed.

I thought the whole point of Open Source is you can't steal it, because you're giving it away. Anyway. I'd open source more stuff, but my old code is so bad it hurts. there's two problems with open source. The first is that people don't want to release code that isn't "perfect" (such as me). The second is people releasing a small shitty project and wanting other people to finish it off. I like open source, but projects need to be a certain size before they benefit from it.

26 It won't be long before I'm shouting at kids to get off my lawn.

Welcome back! I definitely remember the name, even if I was still in lurk mode back then. '98 though? I need to stop getting older...

This is one of the best demo's I've played for a long time. Normally when I finish playing one, it's "oh, that was cool", but I was genuinely disappointed when this demo ended. There were some really nice touches, the Tails cut-scene was nicely done, and was a nice layer of polish. The level design is good, although there were a few areas where I thought the enemy placement was a little annoying (mostly the flying bug appearing when you go up a ramp). Other than that, it's a solid Sonic experience. I like it!

Looks very interesting. Invite requested.

Happy birthday. Welcome to the wrinkles club.

The latest demo is much, much better than previous ones. The addition of impact graphics makes a big difference, although I think there should be more explosions. Every game needs explosions.

WordPress every time.

That's a (very) quick example of what people are talking about. The tree on the right looks like it's just been pasted onto the landscape, whereas the other one blends a little better. A bit of grass around the bottom or plants might also help to break up the image, if used sparingly (i.e. not on every tree).

So is anyone here a bad enough dude to take on the complete game challenge? I'm tempted, and it might give me the motivation to start working on that project again. Having said that, it's been over six years since I started it so I'm not sure I could do the whole lot in four months.

There is no emoticon for what I am feeling. Oh wait, there is. o.o

Azu gets my vote.