All-new 2D Sonic rolling out in 2010

[DemoWeasel]

Hilario.

[j-man]

New screens.

[Dr. BUGMAN]

"Copy, paste, copy, paste, copy, paste..."

[James McGeachie]

Dimps must seriously not give a shit about visual quality at this point as long as it checks the boxes Sega wants.

Sonic Rush Adventure also had lazy as hell level visual design. I guess it's understandable the staff must be sick fed up of creating new level assets by now.

Or maybe all the talented staff left a long time ago? I have no idea.

[Malchik]

BUT DESIGN DOESN"T EFFECT GAME PLAY!

[Opa-Opa]

"Copy, paste, copy, paste, copy, paste..."

Now you're just being picky. That's how you do it. If you're thinking they'll create seven different palmtrees for every screen you are out of your mind.

I am really enjoying these screens. Maybe the game won't look that bad in motion.



THIS should've been the first screen released. Look how awesome that spin attack looks. So much better than anything we had lately.

[Dr. BUGMAN]

Now you're just being picky. That's how you do it. If you're thinking they'll create seven different palmtrees for every screen you are out of your mind.

Really? Would it take that much effort to horizontally flip the image, set it lower behind the ground to create varying heights or space them differently?

[Neo]

Now you're just being picky. That's how you do it. If you're thinking they'll create seven different palmtrees for every screen you are out of your mind.

It's also tile-based, it's also the same palmtree over and over, but somehow it doesn't look nearly as repetitive! What the fuck?

I wish I knew what wizardly they used to pull that one off.

[Esrever]

It's because the new tree is so much more detailed. It becomes less iconic and more specific... instead of seeing a bunch of trees, you see a bunch of the exact same tree. This is something that I think they are really struggling with as they try and create an HD Sonic.


I mean, look how repetitive the bushes and pillars are in the background here. Much more so than the bushes in Spash Hill! Or those mountains! You can see each one about three times in that screenshot alone. But this repetition is much less noticible, because the elements are simpler... more iconic. Your brain has to fill in the details, and it adds the variation that isn't actually there.

I think this is the reason that Sonic 4 almost always looks better when you are looking at shrunk screenshots or magazine scans than when you are looking at the full-blown HD shots.

I think that's also why they added the constantly-changing-shadow-direction to the checkerboard tiles. It adds a subtle visual variation/imperfection to the repeated pattern, which i think helps counter that unnatural look that many of the other repeating elements have.

[G.Silver]

I have a feeling this particular screen would look better in motion, like it's the end of a stage or a short stretch where you'll be speeding unobstructed. Having all the palms the same height resembles a racetrack (think of the endless parade of identical trees, signs, and cliffs in games like Outrun). If you were going very quickly, the repetitive background will probably be easier to look at than one that is varying up and down rapidly.

[Crowbar]

Identical things are more likely to strobe in that sort of situation. You make a valid point, though.

[Malchik]

The identical objects don't really bother me. My major gripe is none of the graphics feel like they blend in to each other. We have really cartoony objects like the log bridge, the speed boosters, the characters, then they true to make realistic detailed objects like the checker board rock, the bushes, trees, clouds... What I'm trying to saw there is no consistency. The world looks like they drew and cut stuff out of a catalogue. And not the Yoshi Story king of way

[Esrever]

I still like the foreground graphics. I know some of you guys really hate the plastic grass, but I dunno... I don't think the geometric grass and realistic plants are any more mismatched than the Green Hill zone's realistic grass and geometric plants.

The bushes in the background still look off to me, though. Especially the closest layer of bushes. Whenever I see them I find myself thinking of Donkey Kong Country.

[Malchik]

Does anyone else see the line right under the bridge. They were too lazy to attempted at making the textures seamlessly repeat.

[Crazy Penguin]

Pocky's looking good. The return of the original animal friends is a big deal for me, they bring a lot of character back to the series. You're not just defeating a a bad guy, you're also freeing a little dude! It's a cute incentive despite not directly affecting gameplay mechanics.

[Segaholic2]

I like to imagine that Sonic frees those animals so I can cook and eat them. Because that jives better with my anti-hippie lifestyle.

They taste delicious, by the way.

[cjmcray]

"Copy, paste, copy, paste, copy, paste..."

That could be right before a boss. I remember the Genesis games featured paths devoid of enemies/pits/spikes when you came close to the Eggman boss.

huge-ass picture

THIS should've been the first screen released. Look how awesome that spin attack looks. So much better than anything we had lately.

And this is where I fall into the Sonic Cycle..

[Zeta]

I'm getting Kingdom of the Crystal Skull vibe here - the end result will be perfectly OK to good product that will end up being criticized for not living up the high standards the fans have set during a hiatus instead of any technical or real failing on the part of the product.

[Kogen]

And this is where I fall into the Sonic Cycle..

No, you do not get it. Those are not Sonic's friends. Sonic is going to eat them.

Also I really hate that hud.

[Segaholic2]

I don't think Kingdom of the Crystal Skull would have stood well on its own merits. The Indiana Jones brand was the only thing it had going for it and it failed at that too.

[Ngangbius]

Seeing the thread is a clusterfuck, I just want to know is there anyone here honestly still excited for this game? I mean I just want those people to give me a logical and convincing argument on why they have faith in this game when it is being directed by the same person who gave us Sonic Heroes, Shadow the Hedgehog, and Sonic Rivals to name a few stinkers in a post old-school-Sonic Team company.

I just want to know what's wrong with going on in their mind.

[G.Silver]

I am excited. You never know what you might see at a trainwreck.

[j-man]

I'm pretty excited, sure. It's Sonic and it's in 2D. I mean, that's all I'm really asking for.

[P.P.A.]

Seeing the thread is a clusterfuck, I just want to know is there anyone here honestly still excited for this game? I mean I just want those people to give me a logical and convincing argument on why they have faith in this game when it is being directed by the same person who gave us Sonic Heroes, Shadow the Hedgehog, and Sonic Rivals to name a few stinkers in a post old-school-Sonic Team company.

I just want to know what's wrong with going on in their mind.

Sonic Rivals was actually pretty decent. It would have been better without the racing element though, which is what the developers originally intended. Guess who came in and demanded such a thing to become the game's main focus!

[Neo]

?