Emerald Ties Revival (last update 03/04 p. 2)

[Gamerdude]

I'll start out with the bad news. No, we haven't been working on Emerald Ties (ET) since 2008 secretly. The good news is that over the past month or so, the team has reconvened. For those who remember the game used to be called "Emerald Ties: Crossing Fates". We decided to shorten it to just "Emerald Ties". The original concept was there would be multiple installments, however as I'm sure many of you know, making games is no small task. The rest of the game itself remains very similar in concept. It still has the same story, more or less, as well as the free play and pseudo-competitive time attack modes. For those who have never played the old demo, the time attack mode allows for you to submit your times online to a leader board of sorts. We've been hard at work polishing up what we had back in 2008, which for those of you who remember was a decently polished demo that still needed some work. Outside of polishing the engine, physics, and graphics we've started work on more content. We've begun production of a new level as well as a revamp of the first level. We're working on some more things as well, but I'll save those details for later when we have more to show . For now, here's a little taste of what we have in the works right now (all subject to change/improvement, of course!).

Title

Menu

Sparkling Seaside Zone

Polar Peak Zone

We will do our best to update this thread as we get more developed, so stay tuned!

[Rael0505]

NOW IN WIDESCREEN!!1:aparty:

It feels good to be back.

[VirtAnderson]

Those Sonic sprites could really use some work.

[Gamerdude]

Those Sonic sprites could really use some work.

I have to say, that has to be the least helpful comment I've ever received. Care to elaborate? I'm especially curious because I really like the sprite and I feel like it was really well done. We obviously aren't closed off to constructive criticism, but that was anything but constructive. If you don't like the style that's one thing, but specifically what is wrong with it?

[SonicFan2010]

It's great to see this return.

[Violet CLM]

Polar Peak Zone

[qimg]http://etcf.thisisourcorner.net/images/screens/ppz_1.png[/qimg]

That loop on the left could use some retouching with the bottom-right-most block, the one that's cut off diagonally. The ice blocks in most of the tileset have a lot of depth, but the diagonal edge there is way too small and makes it look like nothing more than a victim of the eraser tool.

[Gamerdude]

That loop on the left could use some retouching with the bottom-right-most block, the one that's cut off diagonally. The ice blocks in most of the tileset have a lot of depth, but the diagonal edge there is way too small and makes it look like nothing more than a victim of the eraser tool.

Thanks for the input . We will definitely revisit that loop.

[Sparks]

This day has gone from good to great! I've always been a fan of the project, and it's good to see the ice zone finally coming to life.

As for the Sonic sprites, I always liked ETs set. I think the only thing that looks odd is the Super Sonic artworks proportions, but since this project only recently got brought back, I'll assume it's going to be touched up too (personally I'm not going to bitch about every little pixel right now since stuff like that only hinders progress). :V

[Delta Hedgehog]

The graphics look nice, plus I like how Sparkling Seaside doesn't look like Seaside Hill anymore.

BTW, is Relic Retreat still alive?

[Naoshi]

The graphics look nice, plus I like how Sparkling Seaside doesn't look like Seaside Hill anymore.

BTW, is Relic Retreat still alive?

Thanks, I'm currently doing the original artwork for Sparkling Seaside. (Rael did the Paralax background and Blyde did the trees)

And yes, Relic Retreat is still alive. It has gotten SOME modifications but so far it's not really much different, so it isn't worth showing off unless you guys want to see what it'd look like in the new widescreen resolution.

Long time, no see SFGHQ!

@Sparks: On the subject of Super Sonic's artwork: Sure, go ahead. We'd like to hear feedback.

[VirtAnderson]

Especially in this shot, Sonic's face seems incredibly wide. Try and make it thinner, per se. Also, the colors seem off. Try and make Sonic's skin a little... less orange.

[Sparks]

Well my main critique is the general curves on him could be smoother, mainly on the muzzle. I suggest using anti-aliasing on the whole thing. The whole chest area also seems deformed and off model, like it's just an upside down tear drop shape. Sonics right elbow also seems to be oddly placed. On the right quill going behind the ear, it doesn't join up properly once it returns from going behind the ear. The hand also looks odd, and un-Sonic like in proportion, which are usually puffed out a bit and cartoony (don't go Heroes/Riders level though, blegh).

The main issue I have though is the pose in general just seems soul-less. Super Sonic doesn't exactly need to have a serious angst look on his face, since he's -still- Sonic (see: Sonic Unleashed intro). It's a title screen; it should pump up the player to be like "Awww yeah!" But this has some proportion issues that would probably keep a player from thinking that.

Yeah maybe not the best example but I couldn't find any poses that were similar to the one you have up there.

Hope I worded this in a way that makes sense!

[Naoshi]

The image in your post doesn't work :<

Thanks for the feedback anyways! We're glad to hear them.

[Blyde]

Thank you guys for the feedback! I've made note of everyone's suggestions and will definitely work on the points you've mentioned.

Couple of things:

- I've been so used to looking at that running frame that I never really noticed the wide face. I will fix that - there's still improvements to be made on the sheet as a whole! As for the skin, no one has ever noted a problem with it, but I may desaturate it anyway.

- I cranked out the Super Sonic title image far too quickly; I wanted to see how it'd look. I'm glad you brought that up because a fresh perspective is invaluable. While I intend to keep it a little closer to the originals (that is, no antialiasing), I'm also going to up the color count a little to smoothen out the whole thing in general.

I am, unfortunately, really busy nowadays, but I will finally not be as busy after this week. Sounds like the same excuse I've been telling the other guys for the last couple of weeks, but the end of this week will be a much-needed breather for me. And then it'll be an intense burst of ET work.

I should also update our banner sigs. Eventually.

[GSF]

The Super Sonic title looks pretty good, but due to the way he shows his hand, I'm seeing a "Traffic Control Sonic" - it doesn't really seem like he's "hovering" the emeralds over his hand.

If the hand was with the palm facing upwards (to the emeralds) with the fingers curled a bit (kinda making a "bowl" shape), I think it'd look way better.

And just an extra detail, but I can't help but read the title as "Emerald+IES". The T stands out in comparison to the stylized other characters - raising the horizontal bar height would probably improve it.

[Techokami]

It's great to see the new progress on the game, guys.

[Sparks]

The Super Sonic title looks pretty good, but due to the way he shows his hand, I'm seeing a "Traffic Control Sonic" - it doesn't really seem like he's "hovering" the emeralds over his hand.

If the hand was with the palm facing upwards (to the emeralds) with the fingers curled a bit (kinda making a "bowl" shape), I think it'd look way better.

And just an extra detail, but I can't help but read the title as "Emerald+IES". The T stands out in comparison to the stylized other characters - raising the horizontal bar height would probably improve it.

It's clearly Emerald + Internet Explorer 5.

[Gamerdude]

It's clearly Emerald + Internet Explorer 5.

Clearly .

I'm glad to see that some people remember the game, even after it's long hiatus. Once Blyde is a little less busy (soon, as he said ), we'll get some more work done on sprites. I'm looking forward to the hell that is MMF2's sprite importing :3 (j/k <3 u Blyde, update as much as you want).

[Aaron C-T]

Awesome to see this kicking, guys.

[Rael0505]

That loop on the left could use some retouching with the bottom-right-most block, the one that's cut off diagonally. The ice blocks in most of the tileset have a lot of depth, but the diagonal edge there is way too small and makes it look like nothing more than a victim of the eraser tool.

Thanks a lot for the tip! You're right, I did get lazy there. It wasn't the victim of the eraser tool exactly, I did color the edge myself. I had just spent so many hours on it that I didn't care that the border was so much thinner than the others.

I'm going to continue touching up graphics as well as replacing some of the more obviously borrowed material with original content. For example, I'm going to sprite my own waterfall instead of keeping the Angel Island one for the ice zone, and I'm definitely replacing the clouds in Sparkling Seaside. It's not that hard to sprite these things, so I don't plan on cutting corners instead of creating something original.

For the sake of my sanity though, I'm gonna make these changes to the graphics slowly over time rather than all at once. I realize my dissatisfaction with all of my background sets has been holding me back from designing levels, and it feels good to finally be creating something with my art.

Also, I'm surprised no one has complained about the Sparkling Seaside screenshot yet. The foreground is much too vibrant for the background, they don't quite fit. Blyde (or I if he'd rather) will eventually tone it down and make the palettes match better.

The reason it's so bright is because it once did match the background:

The decision to replace the ocean background with the one I had previously made was done kind of spontaneously, so it's not necessarily final. It could always be used elsewhere. But I could see Blyde's tiles going well with it too.

Thanks for the feedback, guys.

[Sparks]

I say modify the new background to where it's more of an "Act 2" background, and leave the one right up there for Act 1 or something.

[Daniel]

I've actually wondered what happened to this project for the longest time. It's great to see this project finally back together. I've thought it was one of the more sexier Sonic fangames. :3

[Violet CLM]

Also, I'm surprised no one has complained about the Sparkling Seaside screenshot yet. The foreground is much too vibrant for the background, they don't quite fit. Blyde (or I if he'd rather) will eventually tone it down and make the palettes match better.

My concern with the Sparkling Seaside shot is not the palette, but rather that it looks zoomed out when compared to Polar Peak. In PP, the walls have depth, the floor (that is to say, the snow) is large, and Sonic actually ends up looking kind of small. In SS, Sonic looks closer to a natural size, but the walls and floor look pretty flat in comparison. Making the grass thicker and the edge pillars wider (and perhaps even shading the parts of the wall texture immediately adjacent to those edge pillars) would go a long way to making the two tilesets look like they're from the same game.

(It also has issues with repetition; the trees in the background tile pretty obviously, and there aren't any decorations in the wall texture at all, but the flatness is more glaring.)

[ila]

Ahh, such memories here. Glad to see everything is back. Also don't mind any sprite criticisms, the Sonic sprite was perfect and still is.

[Delta Hedgehog]

I agree with Violent CLM. Maybe if the foreground had some indents in it or something, it would pop out more. Plus Sparkling Seaside could use more backdrops like bushes or flowers, rather than a single palmtree.