MrLevRocks

After reading your replies, I'd like to give my 2 cents to you: While all of your concerns/ideas/critics are understandable and correct, I think I'd still stick to my theory. The naming of those wasn't, like you said, completely clear and I'd like to clearify this. With "original" creativity I ment ideas, I am proud of. Those sure can be already established or based of other's ideas, but the point is, I tried to come up with something. When I'm in need of an gimmick for a stage then I'll look at stages of similar kind. When I find a gimmick I'd like to use, then I'd take it and make it useable for me. This is what I used to call "unoriginal" creativity and these ideas make me less proud than "original" ones. It sure bends directly with the lending of ideas. Only one thing what I appologize for is the use of the term "plagiarism". Maybe I was to harsh and used a word and/or example that is not fitting. Sure loops have been around for 23 years and haven't changed much, but this is quite how I feel about them. Let's call it "copying" instead. A better example would be the Green Hill Zone Classic from Sonic Generations (3DS). It is the same Zone, with the same layout, the same art and the (mostly) same physics as in Sonic 1. If you count the Spindash then it'll be Sonic Genesis (GBA). That's at least my opinion... Now keep on discussing!

As some of you might have seen on the status updates, I had a small conversation with Sir Spacebar about creativity. I had answered him, that looking at other peoples projects and then working on your project is "not a way to get creative original ideas". He replied that there is no "orignality". I've been thinking about this and have come up with a theory about creativity. Let's take my "original" gimmick ideas and the gimmicks I created for Spykid's level-layouts as examples. My theory divides "originality" and "creativity" into 2 mayor and 2 minor fields. The 2 mayor fiels are the "original" creativity and the "unoriginal" creativity. "Original" creativity is the creativity in which you, as the creator, were free of the ideas of others. I.e. You didn't play any game or watched any media that may have influenced you. The idea created doesn't have to be purely "new". An example of an "original" idea of mine are the drills. While other think those are "already" done, I still came up with them without thinking or seeing other drill-like gimmicks. "Unoriginal" creativity is the creativity in which you, as the creator, can find a source of your Ideas. I.e. You know that your idea IS similar to an idea you've seen before. In an gimmick of mine , that would be the icicles in an ice-themed stage in his fangame. I know I put them there because I've seen the same idea in Sonic Adventure DX, during Sonic's Ice Cap part. The 2 minor fields are more of the "unoriginal" field-part. The first one "plagiarism" is pretty selfexplanatory. These are the "original" gimmicks, that were taken directly from a source without making large changes to them. The most common example would be the looping. Found first in Sonic 1 and then almost everywhere. The other one would be "lifting" ideas from a source. Again, it is selfexplanatory. As an example you can take the "multi-loop" from Sandopolis Zone in S3&K. It is similar to the "original" looping from Sonic 1, but still is different in terms of the amount of "loops maken" in it. Do you agree with my theory? Do you have a different idea of "originality"? Can you find examples which help your or my theory? Start a discussion in the replies!

Here's my entree! Just to keep size of the thread small... Unlike the special stages of ANY other official Sonic game, this one is trying to make sense (in a way). It is similar to Sonic 2's and 3&K's Special stages, but is on a flat road-like area rather than a pipe or a sphere and has an story/level relation stroner thans Sonic 3's "color-coding". The sketch should explain all by itself, but to make things a little more clear, I'll try to explain one special stage by using Sonic 1's stages. If a special stage is triggered between Green Hill and Marble, then the first part will be in a Green Hill-esque enviroment with loops, rivers and hills in the background, green and brown checker floor, and height-change, bridges and tunnels appearing. Enemys and obstacles would include: Motobugs, totems and Buzzer's bullets to avoid, falling of the bridges and so on. The "boss" would throw spiky balls at the player. After that a Outrun/Super Hang-On-esque change of level-art would ocurr. The trird part would now be purple with sometimes grass on the floor, would have lava and ruins in the background. Tunnels would now appear more often and jumps with lava replace the bridges. Now the player would have to avoid catercillers, Buzzer's bullets and the crushers, not to forget fireballs, coming out of the lava. The "boss" would now try to throw fireballs instead of spikeballs at the player. The ring-idea could be scrapped with the only goal of parts 1 and 3 being "Get to the (choppa!!) next part alive to face Robotnik!" and rings getting a similar function to those in the stages. Any questions left? Then PM me and I'll edit this post. tl;dr: My idea is more awesome then yours, explained with an example

Well, didn't know they were THIS widespread, but still, my point was, in the games the drills were never (not in my knowlege) player-controlled, but Computer controlled. The design, though lifted from Sonic games is in use by Felik, not the idea... Also, to everyone: New gimmick will be added soon (as in, around 5 min. from now)!

Here's a Video about a slow hedgehog:

New gimmick added!

I'll try to make a special stage, but being original... that's gonna be hard!

Bumb1: I took the freedom to f... up the mock a little more... Now the layers shoulb be easier to see.

As you might know, I have had a fangame idea like many others (link). While making this game I've came up with a lot of gimmicks I thought were good but way to hard to script for me. I'd like to share them with you, maybe someone wants to pick one of these up and use them. 1) Level-changing-button This is a gimmick made for cyberspace levels as it works best there. Spoilerd for size reasons Remember the "Monkey-robot-destruction-button" from Sonic Adventure (DX)? This one works in a similar fashion. The player carries a button with him that, if pressed, changes the level after displaying a moment of fullscreen static. It doesn't just change the layout of particiular stage but also the background and and tile art. It can be time based or limited in use, but I didn't put any thoughts into that. 2) Drill realated gimmicks These gimmicks ar already in use by Felik, aks him before you ask me about use. Spoilerd for size reasons These are drills and elevators able to drill through soild rocks. Elevators are activated by stepping into them, drills are activated by spin-juming onto them. They destroy every breakable block, wall, badnick and lava in their way. 3) Pseudo-3D-Mode This is the crown jewel of my gimmicks and the one I put most of the effort into. Spoilerd for size reasons As you can see in the sketch this gimmicks includes a pseudo-3D level using mulitple layers of 2D levels. Changing layers should be possible using a quickstep-like technique. Layers are indicated by color. The further to the front the layer is, the brighter it is. To bring that into perspctive, take a look at a mock-up created by me using Sonic3&K sprites (ripped by Matrixx) and tiles made by me. As you can see Sonic and all the sprites too change brightness to indicate in which layer they are. 4) Multi-layers I has always bugged me that in the background of Mysic Cave Zone there is a rail which is unaccessable. You know the drill... This gimmick uses (as viewable) the background as an alternate playfield. Changing layers can be different. E.g. A "3D" road or pathway "into" the screen or a spring similar to the layer change in modern Sonics Generations (3DS) levels. THis gimmick reminds me of the playstyle of Tiara from the scrapped Sonic X-Treme... 5) Gravity changes A gimmick made for artificial areas, mostly space stations of any kind... Everybod who has played Sonic &Knuckles knows about the f-uped gravitiy in the Death Egg, every player of Sonic Adventure 2 (and Shadow the Hedgehog) knows the ARK has more than "up" and "down" when it comes to gravity, but I've never seen this in a 2D Sonic-(fan)game. Here it is! Sketch is pretty self-explanatory enough. Has anybody EVER any questions? I'll add more and more over time...

I'm Lev and I'm awesome, nobody tells me otherwise! So, MrLevRocks was born!

I strangely don't have any musical likes at all, the only thing is that I NEVER listen to "real" music, only to game music. But within thees limits I listlen to EVERYTHING including: - R'N'B (Streets of Rage) - Techno (Streets of Rage 3) - Rock (TMNT:Hyperstone Heist) - Metal (Contra:Hard Corps) - Pop (Michael Jackson's Moonwalker) - Sonic & Megaman music of any kind... But none "real" music, the newest album I've ever bought was the Thriller album from Michael Jackson, on a LP... damn I'm old!

I wanna warn ya, if you take to many opinions and Mix em together, then the game will lose it's "you-ness". It won't be your game but more of a mixed game of everything. That too ruined Sonic 4, the Mix of too many ideas and opinions.

From this list, it seems like no. I can't remember anything from the 8-Bit/Handheld games from the top of my head either. That doen't mean it isn't possible because I, in my early state fangame, have called Zones "Bright Night" and (to an extend) "Egg Inc." (which should be read as "Egg Incorporated", but Egg and Inc. kinda rymes...). Other things I used in my names, which I didn't see before, are (bad) jokes. "Roblimbnik", for example, is the name of Robotnik's blimb. Strange that Sonic Team didn't come up with this earlier...

1. I'd be for original 4:3 resolution with widescreen as an option. (I don't want me CRT to get messed up) 2. I too think it was a coincidence... Keep it at 10 or so. 3. Keep the classic trio, coming up with new charakters is hard nowadays... Maybe add old ones like classic Amy or Fang/Nack? 4. Honestly I'd be for Sonic1/CD ones, but I think keeping them at Sonic 3K ones are fine too 5. Mix'em! 6. Sonic 3 transitions, maybe even 2 minute between zone cutscenes? 7. No,No,NO! The 1.5 player-mode from Sonic 2 and 3K was fine, splitscreen like in Sonic 2 was great too, but no (real) multiplayer in the story-mode 8. Keep it like Sonic 3 9. Better not... 10. Not always but sometimes (like Marble Garden) I'd be fine with it. 11. They're not boring, nor bland. Take Emerald Hill (S2), Leaf Forest (SAdv2) or Turquoise Hill (SChaos) as an example. They are both great, new and still partially GHZ... Edit1: Like already said, the Advance Series is the closest to Sonic 4 that we got and instead of a new game I'd like to have/get "ports" of the Advance Series or the Sonic 4 Episodes on a real Sega Genesis from Sega. That would be awesome...