Dwapook Posted June 9, 2012 Report Share Posted June 9, 2012 I'm nearing the point where I'll be building levels for my fangame.. I'm planning on having Sonic and Sally playable, and leaning towards being able to switch between the two in a Sonic Heroes kind of way.. Sally is slower moving and shoots projectiles, and has to hit enemies more times than Sonic to destroy them.. I'm also considering making Tails playable and adding him to the mix.. While replacing his spin attack ability with a melee attack but keeping his flight.. I've been thinking of ways to make these three gameplay styles work alongside each other.. It complicates things and I'm not really set on doing it this way yet.. I'm curious to hear other people's opinions on this? Does it sound like something that could be fun? Am I just overcomplicating things and giving myself extra work for a system that will just end up breaking itself? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LarkSS Posted June 16, 2012 Report Share Posted June 16, 2012 You could always try the Fur Fighters' route of multiple characters in a level, aka specific objects that force you to be a certain character, but only if you decide to use it. (try youtubing it if you don't know what I'm talking about) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Serephim Posted June 17, 2012 Report Share Posted June 17, 2012 Just take their staple abilities and design the stage paths around exploting them. If the only difference between sonic and sally is the method of destroying enemies then this really doesn't require much. But you can take S3&K as a good study for it anyway. Tails and Sonic are nearly identical except for Tails' ability to reach very high vertical heights and sonic's situational shield abilities. On the other hand, Knuckles is able to climb walls, yet ironically remains vertically challenged. His vertical prowess is situational, and entirely dependent on the terrain. Sonic's limitations are situational based on shield placement and a bit of player skill (not getting hit/losing shield.) Tails' limitations are situational, based on the distance of his destination. Sonic and Tails share almost identical level design. The difference lies in obstacle management. Sonic's shields allow him to ignore environmental hazards (through offensive play), while Tails strengths allow him to avoid them. However, they do not differ very heavily from eachother because Sonic and Tails are allowed to share the same playspace with one another. But when removed they are still whole enough to be fine on their own. Knuckles' limitations are situational based on the terrain of the stage (angled walls and obsticles will halt his wall-climbing ability). MOST of Knuckles' stage variations are deliberate and can't really be avoided. His wall climbing is hindered by anything placed above him on the wall. So most of his design (in sonic 3 anyway) pretty much consisted of sticking him in a separate level entirely. I can give advice on this because im working on a separate game that functions similar to how your fangame is working. The most integral part of doing this is being aware of every skill, strength and weakness your playable characters will have. You also need to have the set rules in mind for ENEMY characters as well. How high can Sonic reach with a lightning shield? What's the absolute height Tails can reach when attempting to fly off any platform? If Sally takes multiple hits to destroy an enemy, what properties of her attacks are incentive for using them over a spindash? Why does sonic deal more damage? Likewise, why would anyone pick Tails outside of flying if he can't spin attack? Does jumping on an enemy with sonic make him bounce? You want to make sure you know these things, so you can design the stages so that the player will automatically know these things. Having 3 characters on the stage doesn't need to be made to feel like a game of Rock-Paper-Scissors. This way, you can design the game so that the player decides what teammates to use and when. Not just the level and ONLY the level. Anyway I think the pinnacle of separate character design in Sonic games was, hands down, Amy Rose in Sonic Advance 1. It was like playing an entirely different game, even though she had no paths of her own. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dwapook Posted June 18, 2012 Author Report Share Posted June 18, 2012 LarkSS - Interesting.. I hadn't thought about doing it that way.. Serephim - Thanks.. Your post helps put things into focus.. Now I'll try eliminating too much "rock/paper/scissors" forcefulness if I go this route.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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