Freedom Planet (v. 1.4)

[Strife]

In keeping with the gemstone theme, I've replaced the game's springs with these jump pads. They give off an aura of light when you hit them.

[P3DR0]

Not sure if I like it. I mean, it's kind of ok, but the aura needs some extra work, I guess. I don't particullarly see the problem about using springs since it isn't necessarely a Sonic thing. Altough I find that you could be more creative in that fashion and do perhaps "springs" for each zone. For example the forrest level could have mushrooms that bounces you up or perhaps if you want to get more into it a plant that's full of air, the Dragon Valley which is an ruins type of stage could very well be some sort of hot air gaizer or perhaps some sort of vines that could bounces the character (think on that Kingdom Valley's rope sections,

, at 1:03). I dunno, the crystals just give me the idea that "hey, I know that it looks like Sonic, but it isn't Sonic" instead of "This is a new game that plays like Sonic".

But I guess that's just me beeing nitpicky as always.

[Strife]

I hear ya on that, actually. I'm not sure if I'm happy with them just yet, even though they do make more sense to exist in the game world than metal springs. What I could do, possibly, is go back to using springs but keep the crystalline look, like so:

While I like the idea of texturing springs based on the current stage, I would prefer to give them a consistent look so that inexperienced players can still recognize their function right away.

[P3DR0]

Well I believe that's part of the experience, in my opinion at least. Back in the 90's when I saw something unusual on the scenary I would go there and try to react to it (I was even kind of retarded due my playthroughs of adventure point 'n click games, that I would even try to interact with things that were clearly background). If I got hurt, I'm glad that I'd discovered that so I would not go near that thing anymore. Also if I remember correctly Sonic Advance 2 had some custom springs for different levels and that wasn't really confuse, I mean not after you hit the first spring.

The other thing is that the player should have intelligence to play a game, I mean imagine this scenario, giving the gaizer idea that I gave earlier:

The player (purple thing) can't jump as high to get to the next segment and he probably didn't missed any routes to get to this point so the most intelligent thing to do would be walk to the gaizer (blue thing).

But let's pretend we're dealing only with kids in here, and you'll need to have a way to teach them that this thing won't hurt. If I remember correctly you wanted to make your game in a way that the enemies would also interact with the objects in the scenary, that could be used to teach the player how to interract with stuff like this, for example:

Or maybe putting some leaves going upwards in these gaizers so the player know that they're suposed to lift you up.

But from all of these ideas, I believe that the enemies one are the best, I mean not just it will help you to create the illusion that the ambient arround you is alive but could even help to create some comical value to the game, like imagine the vines idea and the following sequence:

Right before the player can get near the vines, a flying enemy (or don't even need to be an enemy) like some sort of bird, comes flying to sit on the vine, like birds normally do, but the vine is so stretched that only the minor tourch on it would blast the bird upwards with a surprised look.

This would not just help to set the ambience and sell the interaction ideal, but would as well, teach the player that the thing right next to him will blast him upwards allowing him to continue on his quest. I dunno about you but I would shit myself laughing. Just have to make it kinda pop-out more than the rest of the scenary and you're gold.

But whatever the springs does look better than the gems, that's for sure.

[Serephim]

I hear ya on that, actually. I'm not sure if I'm happy with them just yet, even though they do make more sense to exist in the game world than metal springs. What I could do, possibly, is go back to using springs but keep the crystalline look, like so:

[qimg]http://i50.tinypic.com/jt85zl.png[/qimg]

While I like the idea of texturing springs based on the current stage, I would prefer to give them a consistent look so that inexperienced players can still recognize their function right away.

Well this is the thing. You don't have to have the spring be an obvious spring for the player to accept that it's a spring. What i mean is, it's not like they can tell it's a spring before they jump on it and it goes *BOING*, can they?

Right before the player can get near the vines, a flying enemy (or don't even need to be an enemy) like some sort of bird, comes flying to sit on the vine, like birds normally do, but the vine is so stretched that only the minor tourch on it would blast the bird upwards with a surprised look.

This is neat, but it's somewhat unnecessary for a concept so simple, and if abused this is really no different than the screen giving you a random tutorial popup. You're still taking the interaction away from the player and making the whole process automatic.

Look, if you look at this from a completely ignorant player's perspective, its really quite simple. This "spring" is just an object on the screen. It's not in the foreground and it doesn't look like it's going to pose a threat. If the player is faced with an wall too high to clear on their own, their natural instinct will be to run around and interact with stuff. It could be a floating platform, a teleporter, a rock or even the entrance to the mouth of a volcano. If there is no previous indication (like an enemy or a tutorial flat-out TELLING you what it is), then they will have to interact with it to find out. And once they do, it's then learned that that odd blue looking object is some....contraption that makes you jump high.

This is the beauty of it -- When you start from this perspective, it does not have to be a spring at all. It can emit a pillar of light, a loaded spring, or even a giant finger, but whatever it is, it causes your character to launch into the air. Obects of this type and placement will now be conditioned in the head of the player to do this function.

Best part being you no longer have to justify it. Just make sure there is a clear distinction if the object looks similar but does something else instead.

A perfect example of this? Since we're talking Sonic right now, do you remember the Bouncy Spring enemies from Marble Garden Zone? At first glance they look like really asshole-ish placed spikes. Think to yourself -- Unless you landed on one by accident (which probably was intended) what on earth possessed you to experiment and find out the spike portion of that enemy didn't pose a threat? And how were you magically able to tell which ones were fake and which ones were real without the badnick popping out the ground?

It's all about conditioning and placement. The player didn't need an enemy, a popup, or a study in game design to tell them that the Spike was very oddly placed in relation to the rest of the game thus far. In fact, the ONLY reason you would have landed on one anyway is because 1) they were badly placed, and 2)you jump on badnicks to kill them (see how that works?) And you don't need some blatantly obvious gimmick to show that the object isn't lethal to the player. Just like humans can identify and interact with dangerous objects in real life, you can do it the same way in a videogame.

[Strife]

P3DR0 - I already do have geysers in Dragon Valley, but I see what you mean. Thanks!

Seraph - Yeah, that makes sense. ^^ I'm aware of how players can be conditioned into the gameplay mechanics, and I actually put that theory to practice with the falling log gimmick in DV.

Another attempt at an alternate head style for Lilac. I tried to make it look more like hair while still keeping the same "flow".

[Serephim]

Well that was more for Pedro than for you i guess, since it was really in response to his idea. But it was fun typing it.

[Cleberson]

P3DR0 - I already do have geysers in Dragon Valley, but I see what you mean. Thanks!

Seraph - Yeah, that makes sense. ^^ I'm aware of how players can be conditioned into the gameplay mechanics, and I actually put that theory to practice with the falling log gimmick in DV.

[qimg]http://i48.tinypic.com/2w49zjl.png[/qimg]

Another attempt at an alternate head style for Lilac. I tried to make it look more like hair while still keeping the same "flow".

Like Sonic style: YOUR HAVE AWESOME SPIKES!. Yes. little spiked girl xD

[Strife]

Uhh... What? xD I don't understand.

[Cleberson]

Uhh... What? xD I don't understand.

I like the new hair style from this girl ^^'

[Serephim]

Im guessing the one on the left is the remake? If so I likey.

[Strife]

The one on the left is actually the original. xD; Here's a silhouette comparison between the old one, the new one, and Sonic:

Now that I've looked at this, the new edit actually makes her resemble Sonic even more due to the presence of 3 vertical spikes.

[Serephim]

Well she really doesn't resemble sonic at all. IMO the only reason anyone would make the connection is because the game uses a physics engine that could only really be inspired by Sonic.

That said, i do like the one on the far left more.

[Eminence]

Well she really doesn't resemble sonic at all. IMO the only reason anyone would make the connection is because the game uses a physics engine that could only really be inspired by Sonic.

That said, i do like the one on the far left more.

Seconded.

[Strife]

Yeah, me too.

A few graphical touchups here. I added a solid black border around the HUD numbers to make them easier to read, but I don't know if it clashes with the art style too much. If it works well enough, though, then I could probably do the same to the other HUD elements.

[sonicyoda]

Round the symbol on the top left of the hud you have a drop shadow effect which I think would work better and look less jarring against your art.

[Strife]

Yeah, we'll have to see. ^^ I think I found a style of shading that I'm satisfied with.

The shield system has been at the back of my mind lately, and I think it needs to change. At the moment, collecting 5 keystones will immediately give you a new shield based on the type of keystone you have the most of - so, for example, if you have 3 Earth keystones and 2 Fire keystones, you'll get an Earth shield. This can cause problems if the player wants to keep the shield they already have, which means they'd have to avoid keystones or else risk changing elements. Not a fun thing to do if you're underwater and you're relying on a water shield to make things easier.

I have a few ideas about how I could tweak this to be more fair:

1. The player needs to press a hotkey in order to summon a shield. If they don't summon a shield and collect another keystone, it'll replace their oldest keystone. I happen to like the simplistic 2-button control scheme, so it seems a bit wasteful to dedicate a third button just for shield summoning.

2. Instead of getting the shield right away, a "balloon" is summoned right beside the player, and they can choose whether or not to break it and get the shield. There would be major issues with this if the player is moving at a high speed, since they'll have to hit the brakes immediately if they want to grab it. And I think it'd be a little annoying if the balloon follows the player around, even if temporarily.

3. Shields are no longer summoned automatically during stages. Instead, there are runestones scattered around each stage, and if the player stands next to them with a full set of keystones, they can summon the shield right then and there. Seems a bit restricting that the player can only do this in specific places, though.

4. Implement shield monitors like in Sonic 3, and give keystones a new purpose. Perhaps they can be "cashed in" at the end of a stage to give the player a new shield at the start of the next stage. Or, I could make them all one color and use them to completely fill the player's energy meter.

I'm thinking #3 would be my best bet. While it's more restrictive, it all really depends on where I place runestones, and how often. It might even give more of a purpose to some of the dead ends in each stage that I've only filled out with spare crystals and such.

[GearTheHedgehog]

pretty damn awesome, but really its not THAT original you have taken a large amount of stuff from the sonic the hedgehog series, you should make it less like sonic. I'm just putting in constructive criticism don't flame me please I'm just saying.its less like sonic and more like something you can call your own although some of the sonic like elements are still there such as springs, sonic noises,spikes(these are a staple for platformers so no biggie) the spin dash/homing attack thing should be something else such as another replacement animation for the spin dash part, the running animation is very sonic like the spin dash roll should be left out, and finally the main character looks a lot like a sonic character herself.

[Strife]

Didn't you post that exact same message on my Youtube page? xD In any case, I haven't ignored you. You'll see in the next gameplay video, if I ever get around to it before SAGE.

[Strife]

8 Bit Horse mentioned the game very briefly on this page:

http://8bithorse.blogspot.com/2010/10/2d-radar.html

Squee! C:

Anyway, I might have solved my shield dilemma. I'm trying out the same kind of system that Super Mario World has with its powerups, where you can keep a single shield in reserve and swap between them at will.

I might eliminate extra lives from the game (i.e. infinite lives) and put the reserve shield icon in place of the lives counter. For now, though, it's right above it.

[Strife]

So, I finally wrapped up the second round of voice acting auditions. I now have a total of 10 unique voice actors, which is more than enough for the Story mode methinks. Some of them may sound a little corny, but so do most of the voices in official Sonic games. xD At least I have a legitimate excuse in that I have no funding.

So, with that out of the way, I have sort through all of the stuff I need to do before SAGE. My current to-do list is as follows:

- Finish Relic Maze Act 2

- Build a website/booth

- Prod my artist into finishing commissions for said website

- Prod my musicians into composing Game Over and 1UP tracks

- Prod my sound designer into helping me replace the Genesis sfx

- Finish the first draft of the script and pass it around for review

I should probably do a Role Call soon for all active members of the team so that I can get them organized and focused. I haven't heard from a lot of people in quite a long while.

[Strife]

Character artwork ahoy! Courtesy of R-No from DeviantART.

Lilac:

Spade:

Dr. Brevon:

[Sparks]

Your thread needs more love. I guess everyones waiting til SAGE!

Love the sketches, are they commissioned?

[Kirs]

Wow, they look really really cool : U

[Strife]

Indeed, they're commisioned. Thanks!

More sketches! I've put them all on the front page for easy reference.

Carol:

Milla:

I'm gonna have her redrawn since she looks too old, but I like how it turned out anyways.

Torque:

Neera: