Blue Heaven v0.7.2

The Blue Heaven level pack for SRB2 was designed by Tets, known in real life as Bill Reed from 2003 to 2007 for SRB2 v1.09.4. Tets has since left the SRB2 community as recently as 2016; although the level pack had future plans, none ever fully materialized and the pack remained stuck in the past for quite a long time. While I reached out to Tets in late 2021 for permission to officially port the pack, I received no response (his account has been dormant since 2016, anyways). In the interest of porting a historical level pack that isn't just Mystic Realm again (and because of the MB rules about porting legacy content), I've taken on the task of porting this level pack from a long forgotten era myself. While the level pack might seem quite primitive nowadays, it's quite impressive for its time in terms of its size and level design.



This level pack contains 5 zones, each with 3 acts each as in vanilla. In a fashion similar to Mystic Realm, a single Special Stage token is hidden in each second act - because of the stage count, collecting the 5th emerald will also net you the 6th and 7th. To go with each zone, there are 3 hidden emblems in the stage and a time emblem only obtainable through Record Attack. Clearing the game, clearing the game with all emeralds, and clearing the game in Ultimate Mode each will net you a bonus emblem!



Most of the original content is intact from v1.09.4, with minor enhancements. In a similar vein to SRB2: The Past, I've ported all legacy textures and enemies from the time (with the exception of common objects such as flowers, springs, and monitors) to maintain historic authenticity. In terms of enhancements, all boss arenas were moved into Act 3 to maintain consistency with how vanilla and most other level packs do it. Thanks to the work of community member Lliteqiel in 2019, the previously used Sonic: Emerald Quest midis have been remastered in high quality. Also thanks to him, new tracks from Emerald Quest are used over stages where vanilla SRB2 music was used before, meaning this level pack has a fully remastered soundtrack!



I hope you enjoy this project as much as I did porting it. If any bugs are found or if you have any general suggestions, please make an issue or merge request over on the Blue Heaven GitLab. This will make sure I notice it and evaluate it for a future patch.


Obligatory: I am doing this without explicit permission from the original author, Tets. If he comes back and wants this port taken down for whatever reason, I will comply.

Credits:

• Tets (original level design and SOC, 2003-2007)
• Radicalicious (porting levels from v1.09.4, general maintenance, 2021-present)
• Lliteqiel (Emerald Quest soundtrack remasters, 2019)
• glaber (Lua and SOC for ported badniks taken from the reusable Badnik Pack DX asset, 2020-2022)