Suggestions

If an object that makes sounds is near a skybox object, make the sound play for any players using that skybox. I'd love to add an ambient sound Thing with gravity and a rising/falling floor so I could make wind that varies in volume and can be heard throughout the map.

I think this is a cool idea.

@Romio what he means is that the sounds from the object only play for those who see the sky that that skybox holds the sound object in, so let's say there is a map with two sky boxes in two different parts of the map, and let's say for this example the level is...idk, a factory forest level. While in the factory you could hear the ambient of a factory because you have the factory skybox, then you progress through the level and you advance go the forest part and the skybox changes, then the sound within the forest skybox would affect the player, playing forest ambient sounds for this example.
 
Hello. I'm maybe too late, but I just came here to say that I really, really don't like the new special stages in last version of SRB2. For me, not only it's frustrating, but also very boring (never been a huge fan of Nights, but at least it had better controls and level design than this). Old special stages had simple controls and a sense of exploration, why change that? Nights special stage was perfect as bonus content, nothing more than a little novelty. Why make it a part of the main campaign? And why when I play as Tails or Knuckles, I turn into Sonic on new special stages? It just doesn't make any sense. Bring old stages back.
 
Maybe we should include the 2.0 and below ones as novelty? lol

But in reality, the old ones were placeholders for the current special stages. You'd be better off making a WAD pack yourself than trying to find one.
 
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Hello. I'm maybe too late, but I just came here to say that I really, really don't like the new special stages in last version of SRB2. For me, not only it's frustrating, but also very boring (never been a huge fan of Nights, but at least it had better controls and level design than this). Old special stages had simple controls and a sense of exploration, why change that? Nights special stage was perfect as bonus content, nothing more than a little novelty. Why make it a part of the main campaign? And why when I play as Tails or Knuckles, I turn into Sonic on new special stages? It just doesn't make any sense. Bring old stages back.

I mostly (read:entirely) agree with you about the new special stages, but the decision has clearly already been made and apparently met with general consensus so I don't think there's much point in complaining now.

If you're interested, not long ago I'd created a file called 2.0ss.wad that pretty much does what you want, and can easily be found by just searching for it, since I'm not sure if I could post a link to it here; of course it is a modification, so it will not allow you to collect the emeralds in a legitimate way, but I'm guessing you could simply download a savefile with the emeralds already collected if you really do not wish to get them through the vanilla game, ever.

EDIT: Or, you could also check out Lat''s SRB2DVD pack for an even different type of special stages, CD-inspired. ;)
 
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I mostly (read:entirely) agree with you about the new special stages, but the decision has clearly already been made and apparently met with general consensus so I don't think there's much point in complaining now.

Yeah, I know, Sonic Team Junior probably wanted to show off their impressive coding skills (Nights stage is one of the most impressive things I've seen done in Doom engine, ever). Still, in my opinion, it just doesn't belong in a sonic game. What if the player doesn't know how to play Nights? I guess this part is explained in the manual, but when a fan of sonic plays a sonic game, he already knows how basic sonic gameplay works and can skip the manual (especially when new sonic games have in-game tutorials anyway). I've never read a SRB2 manual in my life and had no problems with the game, until now. Maybe a short in-game tutorial would be nice. A one-two screens explaining the basics of Nights gameplay, why not?

Also, for some reason I keep getting stuck on special stages and bouncing off the walls, which screws up the controls. A more clear level design and a few helpful arrows would be nice. Currently, Nights special stages are a mess and basically unplayable the first time you get to them. Also, Tails and Knuckles need their own sprites for special stages. The way characters turn into Sonic isn't working in context of this game.

A bad game design decision is still a bad decision, no matter how many years ago it's been made and no matter what focus groups say. I don't necessary say that including Night special stage was a bad decision, but for me, it spoiled the game forever. Makes me wonder, why couldn't they release it as spin-off project... That would appeal to a lot of Nights fans out there and everyone would be happy.

If you're interested, not long ago I'd created a file called 2.0ss.wad that pretty much does what you want, and can easily be found by just searching for it, since I'm not sure if I could post a link to it here; of course it is a modification, so it will not allow you to collect the emeralds in a legitimate way, but I'm guessing you could simply download a savefile with the emeralds already collected if you really do not wish to get them through the vanilla game, ever.

This is a great news, thanks!
 
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Okay, dude - you CAN like what you want and play what you want in your own copy of the game - but special stages in all of the Sonic games they've existed in (even the ones made after S3nK, one habit from the classics which HASN'T been hideously disrespected!) have NEVER been a base regurgitation of the normal gameplay of the game you're in, except now you have to grab rings. They've always been a new type of gameplay which shares nothing with the regular campaign.

NiGHTS was chosen because plenty of us think it's a lot of fun, but it's true that it's not easy on your first rodeo. We should do a better job of surfacing the "how to play" information in this context, like a flashing "Press F1 for help!" message the first time you play through the first special stage... but I doubt we'll make it any easier or put in ARROWS, yikes. It's currently almost obstacleless and has long trails of rings which should serve as a guide.

Also, we hear you on the character specific sprites. It wasn't possible in the 2.1 custom character spriteset system, but it is for 2.2 and we will be taking advantage of that.
 
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I genuinely didn't know the NiGHTS stages were controversial. I love them; I'm almost having trouble wrapping my brain around how someone could prefer the old "run around in a big empty square and collect rings" special stages.

Eh, every opinion exists, I guess.
 
The main things I don't like about the NiGHTS special stages;

1.) They don't have a sonic-y / don't fit with the srb2 feel. these nights stages feel too different for me and really disconnects me (not literally) from the actual game.
2.) While I love nights, it makes no sense for it to be a Sonic special stage just because "it's fun". Heck, let's make it a megaman level, megaman is fun. No but really, I'd prefer something more original and more sonic-based.
3.) As toaster pointed out, 2.2 might solve the problem of being just super sonic, but for me even the idea of your character flying around collecting the spheres to break the capsule then return for the emerald is just odd (even though lost world did a similar concept but in 3d and no capsule or return).

I'd prefer something more like the sonic 2 / sonic 3d blast / sonic 3 special stages. I'm not saying those stages exactly, but more along that style.

Again, I love nights stages, but to make them special stages just is not a good idea imo.
 
I'm just gonna step in and say I like the NiGHTS special stages in Sonic Robo Blast 2, and for me, they fit in the game pretty well.

Agreed. Plus its a fan game not a direct rip of a sonic game, IN 3D. You can have some aspects that aren't exactly 'Sonic-y'
 
Last I knew, The NiGHTS style special stages were always meant to be SRB2's main special stages ever since the mode fist appeared in, I think it was the SRB2 Tounrament edition (Match mode only demo.)
 
Also, for some reason I keep getting stuck on special stages and bouncing off the walls, which screws up the controls. A more clear level design and a few helpful arrows would be nice. Currently, Nights special stages are a mess and basically unplayable the first time you get to them.
We did a lot of blind focus testing and found that most players caught on pretty fast to what they were supposed to do. You'll notice the first couple stages are super easy for exactly this reason. With a little bit of practice you'll get the hang of it, just like how Sonic 2 and 3K's special stages don't come easy at the start.

They don't have a sonic-y / don't fit with the srb2 feel. these nights stages feel too different for me and really disconnects me (not literally) from the actual game.
I'd like to remind you that the classic Sonic games had special stages that were incredibly different from the main game's gameplay. The only one that was even close was Sonic 1, and I'd argue that's because they hadn't gotten the idea down yet. They are very much "special", playing nothing like the rest of the game. Hell, there are many people who hate the special stages in one or more of the classics for that exact reason.

I'd prefer something more original and more sonic-based
What? This is a straight contradiction here. Something more like traditional Sonic gameplay would be LESS original in the context of a Sonic game.

I genuinely didn't know the NiGHTS stages were controversial. I love them; I'm almost having trouble wrapping my brain around how someone could prefer the old "run around in a big empty square and collect rings" special stages.
There's always someone who hates absolutely every change, no matter how much of an improvement it may be. The vast majority of the feedback we've received shows that you are not alone in loving them. There is absolutely no danger in us removing them because of a few people not liking them.

I also still really love how SRB2 has 2D special stage gameplay in our 3D game where the classics had 3D special stages and 2D normal gameplay. It's a cute reversal and provides some nice gameplay variety to boot.
 
I feel like the NiGHTS special stages really do fit, especially compared to S3K. Collect blue spheres, rings are bonuses. S3K's special stages even had that paraloop-esque mechanic before NiGHTS even did it.

If anything, I'd like to see these special stages expanded with more NiGHTS-exclusive objects to interact with, like the link orbs or enemies that properly move along the track. Maybe make links more challenging and rewarding to maintain, too.
 
the new special stages are a lot more sonicky, but the thing i don't like about them is that they play exactly the same for each character. the old ones were at least somewhat affected by each character's special ability, which made platforming harder or easier.

this is kind of a problem for addons too, because if an addon has a super form and you want to get it the "legit" way, you have to play through the same special stages you've memorized for years. Playing through the old special stages with addon characters would be at least somewhat interesting in comparison

though you could just load up an "old special stage" wad to remedy that, so i guess it's kind of a moot point either way
 
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I'm not sure using addons as a criticism for special stages is entirely fair. I mean, it's not like you can't replace the special stages with a different add on if you wanted to go that route.

Having said that, I'm not sure having the special stages play differently per character would be a benefit. There's already a fairly large learning curve between them and the normal stages, adding that dynamic to them would only make that learning curve weirder for what would amount to very little gain overall. I am very content with the stage setups as they are now (Minus ACZS and its issues on the difficulty curve). There is room for stage design improvement (and as a side note, that is being done), but the overall feedback we have gotten on the stages has been overwhelmingly positive. I really don't think there is anything about the underlying fundamentals that needs to be addressed at this point. Everything else they really need is just minor improvements and a new coat of polish.
 
Playing through the old special stages with addon characters would be at least somewhat interesting in comparison

I do agree that differing abilities for NiGHTS gameplay would be a cool thing, but I don't feel like it belongs in the main game. Addon characters could easily change up gameplay through Lua scripts, but scripts that affect NiGHTS are incredibly rare.
 
To be honest, the only thing I would look forward to seeing changed in NIGHTS is "Super Sonic's color" For the sake of customization. It's a very small nitpick, but considering the existence of the NIGHTS Special Stages to be "dreams" why would every character in existence want to dream of being a golden Super Sonic?
 
Just a small suggestion.

You know how you will get small splashes on water and sfx to go with it. How about a sfx when running on land?

For example, your running on grass and you get a grassy sfx per step

I'm just curious if it can be put into the next branch or be possible?
 

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