Since I'm a newbie to this forum, I could have written this one in an incorrect section. Please excuse me. I'm getting started with a 16-bit platform videogame for the Sega Genesis, named Sonic Crackers. Just like the Sonic After the Sequel fangame or Sonic 4: Cybernethic Outbreak romhack, tt's meant to be a (yet another) direct sequel to "Sonic 3 & Knuckles", but at the same time it attempts to do better than what Sonic 4 did years ago (what a bad game, man!). I have worked on the Sega Genesis for a couple of years, writing PoC ROMs and helping friends, but I'm still pretty much a newbie within overall videogame creation and directing. I want to do it well. So far I'm in the process of preparing the game's engine (just getting started, it's gonna take me much more time), at the same time I'm trying to write the game plans and the concepts for some of my sequences in papers and files, of which I got around a 60% done. However, I have noticed that many professional videogames suffer from a problem: they don't listen to their public, public has big expectatives with the final product, and in the end the result is pure embarrassment. I don't want to do the same. I want to make a good and enjoyable game. I'm open to any ideas or suggestions possible. So, I'm asking, what would you actually want to see in such a videogame? Don't worry about giving me "complicated" ideas, it's always possible to find one way or another to execute anything (but complicated 3D) on a Sega Genesis... Do note though, there are concepts that may result incredibly hard and may take a lot of time to be done; the idea is not to waste -too much- time, so consider that it would be hurtful to end up on removing something that doesn't execute too well in-game after a lot of effort in trying to do it. What I'm saying is, that I need to be fully secure of what to do. If any concept demands a lot of hard work, the concept HAS to be "incredibly good" to be done. That said, if any may help with artwork, sounds, music, testing, or if you feel you can contribute in any other way to this project, it will be greatly appreciated =) == Progress I don't have too much to show... There's just a lot of internal changes within the engine I don't think it's worth mentioning, right now I'm porting a lot of individual sprites and spritesheets from Sonic 3/&K, and I have almost completed a score table like this... > VIDEO REMOVED BECAUSE YT ACCOUNT HAS BEEN CANCELLED BY STAFF < (Please excuse me for the glitch next to the "I", I'll eventually fix it) And finally, this is a rough summary of my current planification. More like mental notes though, but I suposse it's not hard to understand: Spoiler == SONIC CRACKERS == Nobody reads the manuals! The game should explain the story and any necessary details within the gameplay. Arcade style; with a persistant PRESS START BUTTON message between all screen until game starts; until start there's no sound either -> Upon game start and the player choses his character, game plays a little demo with some instruction texts (just like SegaSonic) Entry menu: - GAME START (Passes to Save Select) - TIME ATTACK - TRAINING - OPTIONS Time Attack: - Finish the level on a short time limit - Monitors with clocks give more time - Character selection's design should be same as Chaotix betas Options: - CONTROL CONFIGURATION (Same as Chaotix) - SOUND TEST - VIDEO TEST - EXIT Game Pause: -> Game status -> Help (then goes to a menu) -> Exit game Characters: - Sonic - Tails - Knuckles Help: -> It lists the abilities for each character Abilities: Sonic: Wall-jump, Homing attack, Peel-Out Tails: Fly (controlled with D-Pad, just like in Chaotix betas) -> Anything else just like in Chaotix Sound Test: Same as Chaotix (or at least just like in betas) Video Test: Just like SNES TEST PROGRAM's "Character Test" Save Select: -> Mosaic moving background -> Vertical style, with horizontal slots -> Graphically should look like a mix between S3 and Chaotix' save selects, showing miniatures -> After beating the game, the slot should give an "Attraction select" option Level: -> Title card has to have a S3-like style (to make act-transitions visually possible) -> HUD should use the Crackers' charset -> No life counter -> "Got Through" sequence just like S3/S1. NO PERFECT BONUS. -> 2 acts, with at least one special cutscene each and a miniboss, either at the act's end or in between the zone (or extra). -> Last two levels consists on two zones, 1 act each -> We'll call them Stages and not Acts Stages: -> Tropical Coast -> The boss consists on eggman as seen in a S1's storyboard -> Techno Tower -> Only 1 act long -> Intermediate style between half-paradise and mechanic engines -> Resort Hotel -> Non-pastel-looking version of Techno Tower from Chaotix (duh) -> Amusement Park -> Using an expanded tileset from Crackers but frontal perspective -> Amazing Zone (based on Chaotix' Amazing Arena, just that it starts all colorful but in the end it suddently turns obscure and worrying) -> Secret Bunker -> Fight against Metal Sonic in a very secret laboratory -> After beating him, something explodes and the player has to escape really fast -> After such a giant explosion, Eggman does a last effort, takes all power from the "master ring" (as seen in Chaotix), and fusionates the power with the broken Metal Sonic -> The pieces transform into a giant machine, where Eggman gets into, in a cutscene similar a la Iron Man or Power Rangers (Very Sci-Fi). Bonus Stage: -> Simulating 3D with a raster effect based in HBlank, run through a field with obstacles Special Stage: -> ???? EDIT: Formatting
i dontt think im gona read all dat XD. but from an overview it sounds like a good idea. if you want sprite help im allways here to help
Is this going to be anything like the Sonic Crackers prototype that's out there? Or is it just using the same name?
Yes and no. As "Sonic Crackers", of course has to share artworks and concepts from the early ROM... Just that they are going to be approached in different ways. The gameplay for example, instead of being around the combi-ring feature like in Knuckles' Chaotix, it tries to be an overall overhaul to Sonic 3's, just like how much of an overhaul Sonic 3 was against Sonic 2. But, since the combi-ring is pretty much mandatory, I'll try to keep it for an optional game mode instead, like a 2p Vs, Time Attack (using the same HUD as the early ROM, by the way), or anything similar. For now, I can say that the gameplay is thought for one character at time. Not even Co-op. As for the original tilesets, I could either work with a straight port from them or change, remove and add some blocks, and use it for either bonus stages or normal levels... but I give you my word, it's going to be present. =)
Cool concept, I always wanted Sonic Crackers to get more attention from the sonic romhacking community. Since the crackers rom only has two or so levels worth of bg/level graphics, you will need to do something to come up with additional graphics in a similar aesthetic style. You could do original sprites, but obviously that takes a lot of time and is very labor intensive. Instead of copying tilesets from Sonic 1, 2, 3 or Knuckles, maybe it would be more appropriate and interesting to mine what Knuckles Chaotix has to offer, and modify those sprites. I don't think the Chaotix tiles have been used to death in sonic romhacks as much as the Sonic 1, 2, 3/Knuckles level graphics, and it could be appropriate to use them as a base to modify them into something else, since Knuckles evolved from the Crackers concept anyway. Also, imo, the Chaotix levels were more maze like and vertical with an enclosed feeling than more typical sonic levels - using these tiles for a more typical horizontal sonic level layout could be refreshing and still feel unique compared to the actual Chaotix levels that use these graphics. Additionally, I understand that the bg graphics for Chaotix were primarily rendered by the Genesis hardware rather than the 32X hardware, so its not like the Chaotix level graphics are somehow higher res or something that a stock Genesis couldn't do.
One thing though, Crackers along with all other Sega Genesis Sonic games follow the same art style, but Chaotix changes all the art scheme to a more pastel-like. Mixing art styles inside a single game would look strange. What I can do, however, is perhaps redraw stuff in the classic style, inspired on Chaotix' content.. Knuckles Chaotix uses the Genesis' video chip (VDP) for displaying the level map, the background and the rings, while the 32x's framebuffer (which is basically a 320x224 bitmap being redrawn every frame) draws all the objects, and just because it's a fixed bitmap that is so easy to write, that's why it can show effects with the freedom it does. For all the rest it does an average to bad technical work with the video, with broken screen transitions and broken sequences and settings (the final boss is a good example). Sonic 3/&K does it just right, it shows a lot of effects using only the VDP... if Chaotix didn't change too much, and took WELL approach of both the VDP and 32x Framebuffer, it would have been THE technical masterpiece... Ah, not sure if you meant this or not, but I don't lose anything by mentioning, that this is not a romhack taking Sonic Crackers as a base, neither Sonic 3/&K. The base here is Sonic 1, the code has much less exceptions, and overall both the original code and the GitHub's disassembly are very clear. On the other hand, Sonic Crackers' disassembly needs a ton more of documentation, and the code itself follows a very different "mentality" in comparison to the other games, and in the end I lose extra time just by trying to analyze important parts of original code. Not that the base means too much though, to me the only what matters the most is the final result, so...
Cool, sounds good to me. Thanks for clarifying some details. Doesn't matter that the base is Sonic 1 if you're still going to be influenced by the Crackers content. I'm intrigued to see what comes of this project.
Any recent developments for the project? Maybe you could use some of the material from Sonic 3's 2 player zones such as chrome gadget - it always seemed a shame that there were some extensive cool bg graphics in these zones that weren't used in more full fledged 1 player levels.
Hmmm... so far, there's not much that has been done. Just a lot of reorganization within the engine, speed and RAM optimizations, effects and transitions, and the like. Still plays like a broken S1 ROM, maybe comparable enough to an even earlier version that Sonic 2 Nick Arcade, if you ask me I have absolutely no problem with the program at all, but mostly with the artwork and custom music. I am not too good with pixel art beyond the tilesets, and I am 80% uncapable of creating some kinds of sprites; all I am good with is 3D modeling and pencil drawing. It's like a vicious circle; I imagine a lot of ideas on my brain, most of them may actually work well in-game, but I get stuck trying to picture them on my editors and I lose the enthusiasm with much ease, until I get inspired again, just to get stuck again, and so on. But I promise, as long as the art is done within the specific hardware/software conditions (maximum size and/or pre-defined palettes and never using beyond 15 or 16 colors, for example), I am totally willing to add it to the game no matter how much programming effort or time required, but ALWAYS being very careful at the fluency, taking PROPER care of the frame timing and layer/sprite movements, just like any cartoon would do. Since its beginning, I proposed myself to make Sonic Crackers a technical achievement on the Sega Genesis/VDP, and I am still up to this goal. I spent a lot of years practicing many tricks and VDP compositing, and I want to apply it all for something good. And lately I have been looking for some help with this issue. Or, at least... is there some good pixel art tutorial I could learn with out there? Same goes for the music. I am accepting any help as long as is done within the specific software conditions; if you'd like, I can give the instructions of what can or can't be done and how, with your favourite editor (such as fl studio, etc). Within the current ROM, so far, all I have are music ports from other games. And I'm going to keep doing so as a "Plan B" if necessary, because I'm just totally dumb to compose anything... And finally... I have more content in papers and drafts than in ROM. Of which are around 30% of all the game plan. Mostly sequence "storyboards", explaining my new monitors and its icons with its effects, a few gimmicks and enemies, and some early thoughts on how could the bonus stages (not "special" ) be. Once I finish with the storyboard for the 6-seconds intro sequence, I am going to draw the animation in papers, scan them all, paint and play it in game, no matter how much time it takes me to do @dark: I'm really unsure of bringing those zones into normal gameplay; their concept are very rough and simple, mostly ripoffs from other levels already done. Chrome Gadget however, seem to be the most "fresh" and outstanding from the rest, so I may think twice about this one. =)
Good luck, seems like you have your work cut out for you to realize your goals. I don't really have anything to contribute, but, as a tip for getting started or inspired for creating sprites, I recommend starting out modifying existing sprites rather than creating things entirely from scratch. Sega and other companies did this all the time, take for example, Mighty the Armadillo in Chaotix is clearly a sprite edit of sonic. I remember seeing one sonic hack that included Nacks the Weasel, which had been edited from Bubsy!
Oh cool, I like your idea better than how it was executed in the original rom. Also, I really hope a pixel artist out there could help you with this, it sounds like you have some really cool plans, would love to see what you could do with the Genesis hardware, and what better game to do it with.
In the meanwhile, I have been doing well with a "trick"... have you played Sonic Before the Sequel, or Metal Sonic Hyperdrive? Those mix tilesets and sprites from many games in such a way that it looks fresh, with ocassional custom art here and there although doesn't always look exactly good... Still seem "enough" for the critical acclaim those projects got, so I guess I can try my best with the same method, at least temporarily until either I improve or I get somebody to help =). Tileset mixing doesn't seem to be cheating at all like I thought at first. For this reason, my last "big" spoiler will only be the tileset I'm trying to do for the first level, also because I need to know what people thinks it looks like, analyze reactions, and work accordingly.
1/4 of a tileset, plus a placeholder background by SkyLights (but I'm going to draw a new as soon as I finish the foreground)
