Sonic not being able to simply hold things horizontally has really set back a lot of ideas or designs I could've had: like holding Knuckles while gliding, grabbing poles or crumbling structures against water currents (Hydrocity Zone style ohlookit'srightthere!), or spinning around while floating above fans (like most of the other games do it). The sprites may not limit anything but they can cause big workarounds to certain player interactables, or just make things turn out totally odd looking overall (The only sprite I can think of for when a player uses ANYTHING is that hanging sprite, which has long since been permanently burned into my retinas because of it's overuse).
If anything, I'd at least expect those over the course of 10+ years, hell anyone could just make them if it's an issue of sprite making really. I usually get the response that the current sprites are functional and can be used, but this is one of the things I've just been eager to see for ages that could ALSO be beneficial as more than a visual quirk. It's more than a mere waste-of-space sprite (hi balancing frames which will be finished never).
And the shields are okay really, they look like they'd probably look better in motion. Especially the force shield there.
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In any case, will 2.1 ever get new textures? It doesn't even matter if it's from the Asset Pack or original, but people without spriting knowledge have no means to make levels that look visually distinctive anymore; and IIRC that's quite a huge chunk of this place.
I'd say this in IRC but the lack of adequate moderation in there leads to constant shit-posting, trolling, and complete torture of anyone who has an opposing opinion before they can even get their point across coherently. I bet my post is quickly being linked and mocked right now!