Sonic Gamma

[RedEchidna]

Simple game titles FTW

Anyways, Sonic Gamma is a new fangame currently in the early programming/design stages. My intention is to make a classic styled Sonic game, but with a few additions of my own. One thing I want to do is emphasize speed, but without making the game dull. Current progress is one level of Mt. Emerald, and a 90% completed engine. Expect a demo at SAGE 2008.

(Hey, if I can get 1/2-1/3 of a level done in less than a week, I can certainly get the remaining 1/2-2/3 done in a couple of months.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Uko46Pit3g

Super-low quality video of Mt. Emerald

http://redechidna.110mb.com/Games/SonicGamma/sonicgamma_demo1.zip

Early demo to tide you over till SAGE

And for the intrested, technical information:

Program: MFX 1.06 32-bit

Engine: Edited version of Damizean's 360 engine TGF port

Started: 06/01/2008

Graphical style: Sonic 2/3/CD with a few custom sprites

UPDATE

Welp, I've been brainstorming some special stage ideas while working on the game. I present three concepts of mine:

Ye Olde Half-pipe Special Stage

Description: Basically like the Sonic 2 special stages. However, you can move forward and backward along the pipe to speed things up a little. Basically, you have to collect a number of randomly-generating rings within a time limit while avoiding the fireballs, which take away 5 rings.

How to get: Collect 50 rings and finish the stage

Dodging stuff

Description: http://i104.photobucket.com/albums/m196/RedEchidna/SSMockup1.jpg

There's a quick mock-up of the special stage drawn real quick in MS Paint. Basically, you avoid stuff (could be cars, or something else) to hold on to your rings. Occasionally, an extra ring will pop up, but getting hit by whatever causes you to lose 10 rings. If you have enough rings when time is up, you will get the Chaos Emerald.

How to get: Clear stage within X minutes (Adjustable by level)

Missions

Description: Meh, basically, find someone, they give you a mission, you do it, revisit them, and they give you a Chaos Emerald.

How to get: Find someone in the stage. The special stage takes place during the level.

...So which one would you guys like to see in this game?

[Khorney]

i like the speedometer, its a nice touch i haven't seen before.

otherwise...it lacks polish, it looks like a series of loosely connected floating platforms, you need to make it more solid. look at the original levels to see what i mean. and having sonic invincible isn't such a good idea, but now i'm just being anal =P

keep at it, but still needs work. you've clearly put some effort into this though, rather than the tired 360 engine with default tiles rehashes i've seen at least 100 times (looking at you SCD...)

[Kain]

Looks pretty interesting. For the most part, pretty good construction. Looking forward to the demo.

One thing that bothers me (and this is a pet peeve of mine) is that I think the resolution might be a tad high. You don't have to stick with the tiny (for today's resolutions) 320x224 resolution that the graphics were intended to be used with, but I wouldn't go much higher than 400x300 if you want to traditional sidescroller effect. Otherwise it becomes very either very sparse or very noisy and the physics feel rather strange.

[Khorney]

and if your reducing the resolution ,you're going to need to scale down the HUD elements too so they don't take up half the screen

[RedEchidna]

i like the speedometer, its a nice touch i haven't seen before.

Remember that old Sonic Speed game from whenever? I believe it had a speedometer, and was actually where the idea came from.

otherwise...it lacks polish, it looks like a series of loosely connected floating platforms, you need to make it more solid. look at the original levels to see what i mean. and having sonic invincible isn't such a good idea, but now i'm just being anal =P

I would assume by solid, you mean better tiling, making the platforms look like ground instead of floating platforms, etc? Or something about the actual level design's bothering you?

As for Sonic being invincible, that only happens when you get up to a speed that cannot be attained by normal running. But if you don't like the idea, I can scrap it, or make it harder to use.

keep at it, but still needs work. you've clearly put some effort into this though, rather than the tired 360 engine with default tiles rehashes i've seen at least 100 times (looking at you SCD...)

One thing that bothers me (and this is a pet peeve of mine) is that I think the resolution might be a tad high.

I dunno about that. I feel the slightly higher resolution helps you to know what's coming. But I may consider trimming the resolution a little bit.

[USC]

Well, perhaps you could have Sonic slow down a bit every time he hits a robot in "invincible mode", until he falls below that certain speed. That way you can't just hold right and get through most of the level easily.

Other than that, not much to say yet.

[RedEchidna]

Okey doke. Thank you for your advice.

[Rael0505]

I strongly support the resolution change. 320x240 is essential if you're working with these graphics. You'll not only need to reposition the HUD, but you'll probably have to redesign the levels too. Right now you designed these levels assuming the player can see a much greater distance around him, and if you keep the level but change the resolution it will make the player feel blind in the level. It is necessary though, it will help in making the gameplay appear more "solid." It's better to change it sooner or later to prevent more work.

It kind of reminds me of Sonic Chaos Revolution. Great game. I look forward to seeing how this progresses.

[RedEchidna]

Welp, if everyone wants me to change it, I can alter the resolution.

But I actually prefer my current level designs. Maybe if the camera scrolls ahead to show where you're going to be?

On a related note, what exactly about the graphics "requires" the resolution change?

[USC]

Well, it's because of how big the graphics are in relation to the screen size.

For instance, Gameboy graphics are a lot smaller than Super Nintendo ones. If you took GB-sized sprites and filled up the same area as what a Super Nintendo covers, it just wouldn't look right.

[RedEchidna]

Feh, SAGE is a while away, and I've already finished the first level, so...

Click me plz!

Comes with a few notes, since I didn't have a full Readme ready yet.

[Blue Frenzy]

A newbie game not being bashed

Continue on. Keep in mind what people said about resolution and level design.

Also, don't let the player to move before title card fades out. It looks weird. And, another recomendation. In order to don't make the game look repetitive, even if you don't have spriting skills, try changing at least the colours of the backgrounds. I am sure people is tired of watchin' emerald hill tiles.

[Blyde]

I wonder what Poulto's up to these days.

Interesting start here; what other people said about resolution and level design stands true. Another thing I noticed is that Sonic sort of floats sometimes, mostly when rolled up, but also when he's standing near a loop. Yeah. Keep going though, it's nice to see =D

[Sockman]

The engine itself is fairly solid considering that you're using TGF1.

Although I'd encourage you to make improvements on presentation and level design.

Great work.

[RedEchidna]

I'm actually using MFX 1.06, but feh.

Thanks for the comments, everyone.

A newbie game not being bashed

Lol ya.

[Kain]

You have the right idea with the branching paths, sometimes splitting off from obvious choices, other times branching off from failure or success of platforming, but as it is your level is mostly just full of loops, boosts, and springs which all point you in the correct direction. Plus it's a little condensed for my tastes, but that may just be the resolution talking. I would suggest implementing a nice spike gimmick and maybe a moving platform gimmick (and maybe a nice jump-through platform mechanism). Then you could space things out with a few more difficult platforming jumps and obstacles leading to a longer, more hazzard-ridden lower path if you fall.

But it's really quite a nice start and I'd understand if you'd rather get something complete in than tear down the level design and start over a dozen times.

[Power Hedgehog]

The engine is pretty smooth. And the presentation is good too. I agree with Kain about the level design, but other than that, keep up the good work!

[RedEchidna]

You have the right idea with the branching paths, sometimes splitting off from obvious choices, other times branching off from failure or success of platforming, but as it is your level is mostly just full of loops, boosts, and springs which all point you in the correct direction. Plus it's a little condensed for my tastes, but that may just be the resolution talking. I would suggest implementing a nice spike gimmick and maybe a moving platform gimmick (and maybe a nice jump-through platform mechanism). Then you could space things out with a few more difficult platforming jumps and obstacles leading to a longer, more hazzard-ridden lower path if you fall.

But it's really quite a nice start and I'd understand if you'd rather get something complete in than tear down the level design and start over a dozen times.

I would like to not tear out my current level. However, I will think about that for the second act. Glad you like it.

Thanks for your critisism, everybody. It really helps me improve the game.

And on a side note, since no one decided on one of my special stage ideas, I'm just going to go with the S2ish special stage. I've already got it (mostly) programmed anyways.

[RaneNytku]

Okay, I liked the Special Stages from S2.

Anyway, nice game. I like it when Sonic goes to Peelout sprites when the Speed Meter reaches maximum, but you could make him a little faster, and make him jump a little higher. =]

[Serephim]

Personally i think the coolest thing about this game is how Fangameish it feels without sucking.

Its like Rlan-SFGHQ all over again except with a 360 engine and no wall sticking.

Not that its a bad thing though. I want you to finish the game.

[DimensionWarped]

I'll second that. It definitely resembles an old fangame. Both in the good and the bad aspects. Keep it up. At this point I'd just like to see someone finish anything.

[Rael0505]

Just tried it out. Are you using Clwe's engine as a base? I recognize the little dash pad. Speaking of it, you should probably swap that sprite with something that fits a little better, it just doesn't match with the rest of the sprites in the game. But moving on...

I made a short list of minor complaints and suggestions:

• Spindash. In the classic games, if you rev up a spindash once and release, you would shoot off quickly. And if you rev up several times, you would shoot off more quickly. In your engine, if you rev up once and release, you move maybe 5 pixels before stopping. This needs to be fixed. It's a pain to have to slam on spacebar 20 times to cross a short distance.
  
• Jumping. I feel that the jumping physics are a little bit unrealistic and uncomfortable. Sonic rises slowly like he's underwater and drops abruptly as soon as he reaches the apex. Maybe if you made it smoother by tweaking values it would play a little better.
  
• The window's resolution is still too large. You need to use the genesis resolution - 320 x 240. Playing levels will be awkward otherwise because the player will be able to see farther ahead than he should. Gameplay is a little bit awkward as is for that reason.
  
• In future levels, you should add unique gimmicks (think swinging vines in angel island, fire shooting objects on walls in lava reef, etc). It'll really make the gameplay more interesting. You can get away with not having many in the first level because the typical green levels are intended to be simple, but it's necessary for anything after this. It's what made the classics so great, after all.
  

Good job overall, I see a lot of potential. Hope my advice proves helpful, I look forward to more updates. If you need a beta tester or someone to talk to for suggestions, you can contact me however you like.

[Serephim]

looking at his game Rael, i think its a bit too early to ask him to start adding gimmicks.

[RedEchidna]

Personally i think the coolest thing about this game is how Fangameish it feels without sucking.

Its like Rlan-SFGHQ all over again except with a 360 engine and no wall sticking.

Wut? I don't get it. What exactly do you mean by "fangameish"?

Just tried it out. Are you using Clwe's engine as a base? I recognize the little dash pad.

Damizean's 360 engine, TGF port.

Speaking of it, you should probably swap that sprite with something that fits a little better, it just doesn't match with the rest of the sprites in the game.

I am actually going to replace that when I find a good sprite.

You need to use the genesis resolution - 320 x 240.

I see no reason to change the resolution. Why exactly should I?

Good job overall, I see a lot of potential. Hope my advice proves helpful, I look forward to more updates. If you need a beta tester or someone to talk to for suggestions, you can contact me however you like.

I have actually been looking for one of those.

[greenhog]

Also, don't let the player to move before title card fades out. It looks weird. And, another recomendation. In order to don't make the game look repetitive, even if you don't have spriting skills, try changing at least the colours of the backgrounds. I am sure people is tired of watchin' emerald hill tiles.

i've seen games that let you move before the titlecard fades out before. and i'm his bro. so i know he made them himself(I look over his shoulder when i've got nothing else to do)

Bonus in post: smiley mania!!!!!!