Sonic Nebulous 2 v4.0(Download)

[Ironrind]

Sonic Nebulous 2 v4.0 is ready to go, although there is still quite a ways to go from here. Nebulous is an open ended platformer taking place within a recreation of the different Sonic Universes. The characters are similar, but with exaggerated personality types and back stories. Just a few:

Sonic, the reckless hero.

Sally, the eager revolutionary.

Antoine, the gentlemen and royal guard.(Still in progress)

Bunnie, the gun slinging southern bell.

Tails, the techy wiz kid.

You'll begin with these 5 standard characters. The entire team can be seen below:

I've been trying to put together a system that allows the player to explore the world of Mobius as a network of interlocked stages. There are higher paths, middle paths and lower paths in which access may be limited to certain characters or key items collected along the way such as color coded keycards.

There is a save feature to be used as there are no lives. Once your entire team has died, a previous save spot is reloaded.

(Sketch of world map)

This world is hostile one in which the players move from hostile and safe points where players can take refuge as they continue to make they're way to Robotropolis. Along the way, other players will be discovered to open new paths, missions and gameplay styles.

Youtube Sonic Nebulous 2 v4.0:

http://youtu.be/29ecF3ehb-8

Youtube Dragon's Nest Stage:

http://youtu.be/tq5ZKPFHO9c

Sonic Nebulous 2 v4.0 Download(Great Forest and Dark Swamp):

http://www.mediafire.com/download/0wl85v46rrcv84w/Sonic_Nebulous_2_v4.0.rar

Sonic Nebulous 2 v3.5 Download(Dragons Nest Stage):

http://www.mediafire.com/download/biacgt8rgtakgt0/Sonic_Nebulous_2_v3_5.zip

[GSF]

Hey, it's Ironrind! Been a while since I see you around.

Your interlocked layer based level structure sounds somewhat like Muramasa's. Is that what you're looking for? Levels are entirely 2D, but even doors and halls work with it. Color coded keycards would work like the roads with seals requiring a Demon Blade to cut them.

If you haven't tried it, check out a gameplay video. But you should try it out anyway, it's delicious Vanillaware art after all

[Ironrind]

Yeah, man^^ I've been off in the lab for a bit..haha Good to see you gsoft!

I'm browsing through Muramasa videos on youtube. What I'm going for seems very similar, but I wasn't yet able to find anything showing how those doors and seals work that you mention. I'll keep searching up Muramasa, but that beautifully animated landscape looks pretty insane^^

The world map sketch roughly shows how there are ground level stages, subterranean stages and skyline stages. The interlocking paths cross in ways that climbing/flying characters are beneficial for finding 'shortcuts', items and goodies. The ground level is faster paced for the standard runner characters and the lower path is typically riddled with enemies. It is very exploratory based.

[GSF]

Seals are literally a bunch of colored walls that you can't pass through. So just stick a huge door and it'd be the same.

From what I can see in your checkerboard map, it's a "flat" structure, right? Try applying the layers as in Pure Chaotix, and you'll basically have Muramasa. Connect the layers through holes in specific areas, and that should do it.

The trick in Muramasa is that a middlepoint exit doesn't necessarily take you to another area's middlepoint exit. You could appear from the left of the new area. This is why the Muramasa map is a bunch of squares connected with lines instead of a board. It looks a bit confusing, but works well, actually.

[Ironrind]

Yes, the world is mostly flat across the z plane. There are only two occurrences where the player hops into the background to cross behind the stage on a background path. This time around, I decided to leave the camera at the same depth so the player goes further back and then returns once he gets to the end of the background path. It can probably by used more often if more techniques are used to get the player across. The only techniques that I could think of are to bounce him over with a spring or to use a platform that moves on the z axis. The spring seems a little cheap, I think. It worked a little better in Pure chaotix and CB since the game pace was much faster. The z platform gets a little tricky due to the chance of the player falling off into the abyss below the two layers. Having a single life save system makes that lethal gap seem pretty harsh. Unless the player was locked into position.

[Serephim]

Nasty as a one-eyed snake, sugar

I giggled like a fangirl