Final Demo Zone is a technical experiment built during my time as a SRB2 developer, and turned into a unique playable experience.
Neo Aerial Garden Zone was an attempt to incorporate all three substantial acts of AGZ (plus minor trimmings) into a single stage. It was hailed as a technical accomplishment for the 2.0 era; while it had collision and HOM issues at the time of launch, the map fulfilled its goals admirably, and as its problems are removed (and bees are added) it continues to serve a vital role in base SRB2's unlockable structure as challenging postgame content.
But of course, it's kind of old hat now. It was built in a time where the closest thing it had to competition was Egg Rock 2. It's gotten a new coat of paint to keep up with the ever-increasing standards of the singleplayer campaign, but the technical marvel behind its manifestation is lost when compared to technical juggernaut stages like Castle Eggman 2. And besides - isn't the blockmap limit feeling a little loose lately?
To prove that even the most impossible technical accomplishment becomes mundane - even banal, perhaps - with time and distance, Final Demo Zone is here. As you've probably guessed, this is literally all seven substantial singleplayer campaign acts (Acts 1 and 2 of GFZ, THZ and CEZ, and Act 1 of RVZ, plus a cameo from CEZ3) crammed together in one stage, doing everything in its power to stretch from one end of the blockmap to the other. Tags have been altered to avoid conflicts, object layouts have been tweaked to attempt guidance in the most tortured of these labyrinths, and minor outdated concepts like intangible midtextures have been updated for the changing conventions of the time, but I think you'll agree these are fundamentally recognisable as the original vintage present in the 1.09.x series.
If you're looking for a 100% authentic, all-object-types-SOC'd-in, all-bosses-present recreation, you should probably keep an eye out for SRB2 The Past (which this map uses as a base resource; thanks, glaber!). But if you're looking for a quick robo blast from the past to remind yourself of what things used to be like, with some modern amenities like record attack, an all-characters emblem hunt, and the harshest edges filed off a little bit - I think you'll agree you can't get better than this.
And of course, because some people want a hint to find the Chaos Emeralds...
Supporters/Co-Authors:
Neo Aerial Garden Zone was an attempt to incorporate all three substantial acts of AGZ (plus minor trimmings) into a single stage. It was hailed as a technical accomplishment for the 2.0 era; while it had collision and HOM issues at the time of launch, the map fulfilled its goals admirably, and as its problems are removed (and bees are added) it continues to serve a vital role in base SRB2's unlockable structure as challenging postgame content.
But of course, it's kind of old hat now. It was built in a time where the closest thing it had to competition was Egg Rock 2. It's gotten a new coat of paint to keep up with the ever-increasing standards of the singleplayer campaign, but the technical marvel behind its manifestation is lost when compared to technical juggernaut stages like Castle Eggman 2. And besides - isn't the blockmap limit feeling a little loose lately?
To prove that even the most impossible technical accomplishment becomes mundane - even banal, perhaps - with time and distance, Final Demo Zone is here. As you've probably guessed, this is literally all seven substantial singleplayer campaign acts (Acts 1 and 2 of GFZ, THZ and CEZ, and Act 1 of RVZ, plus a cameo from CEZ3) crammed together in one stage, doing everything in its power to stretch from one end of the blockmap to the other. Tags have been altered to avoid conflicts, object layouts have been tweaked to attempt guidance in the most tortured of these labyrinths, and minor outdated concepts like intangible midtextures have been updated for the changing conventions of the time, but I think you'll agree these are fundamentally recognisable as the original vintage present in the 1.09.x series.
If you're looking for a 100% authentic, all-object-types-SOC'd-in, all-bosses-present recreation, you should probably keep an eye out for SRB2 The Past (which this map uses as a base resource; thanks, glaber!). But if you're looking for a quick robo blast from the past to remind yourself of what things used to be like, with some modern amenities like record attack, an all-characters emblem hunt, and the harshest edges filed off a little bit - I think you'll agree you can't get better than this.
Of course, I didn't just decide to compile this map out of nowhere. Fast completionists, savegame sharers and eagle-eyed checklist snoopers will note Techno Legacy Zone is the 100-emblem unlockable of 2.2, featuring the old layout of THZ2 as it was during 2.1's development before Nev3r's redesign was inserted instead. I took one look at it and decided that it was fundamentally lacking as an unlock, and so got to work.
As I proceeded through my experiments, I developed a thesis for understanding why I didn't like the map so much. It made an unacceptable visual compromise for the sake of consistency (recolouring the pain-slime to green), violating even surface-level authenticity. Techno Hill 2 was a remake that made significant references to its old iteration - if the good parts of the content already existed in the campaign, the only things it'd have to bring to the table were the bad aspects. And there wasn't any significant draw - it was a fairly muted stage with no particular appeal beyond nostalgia, and actively went to great lengths to distance itself from that.
To that end, I constructed a rough prototype of Final Demo Zone. Its draw was twofold - a technical achievement unheard of in the original maps' time, AND a comprehensive, broad sample of content no longer present in SRB2, showcased as a single linear experience instead of an a la carte selection per SRB2 The Past. It didn't include RVZ at this time - partially because 2.1's version was still being used in the internal builds, and partially because there would have been no real reward for completing it unlike here - but it was direct to the point, provided a unique experience, and didn't compromise itself. If you ever question why I've made a particular decision in this map for one reason or another, it's because I was specifically building it as a vanilla unlockable until very recently.
Obviously, as you can tell by now, it wasn't included in the game because their priorities didn't match mine. I don't begrudge them for that, but I've still got this map and don't know what to do with it - so here it is in releases! :P
As I proceeded through my experiments, I developed a thesis for understanding why I didn't like the map so much. It made an unacceptable visual compromise for the sake of consistency (recolouring the pain-slime to green), violating even surface-level authenticity. Techno Hill 2 was a remake that made significant references to its old iteration - if the good parts of the content already existed in the campaign, the only things it'd have to bring to the table were the bad aspects. And there wasn't any significant draw - it was a fairly muted stage with no particular appeal beyond nostalgia, and actively went to great lengths to distance itself from that.
To that end, I constructed a rough prototype of Final Demo Zone. Its draw was twofold - a technical achievement unheard of in the original maps' time, AND a comprehensive, broad sample of content no longer present in SRB2, showcased as a single linear experience instead of an a la carte selection per SRB2 The Past. It didn't include RVZ at this time - partially because 2.1's version was still being used in the internal builds, and partially because there would have been no real reward for completing it unlike here - but it was direct to the point, provided a unique experience, and didn't compromise itself. If you ever question why I've made a particular decision in this map for one reason or another, it's because I was specifically building it as a vanilla unlockable until very recently.
Obviously, as you can tell by now, it wasn't included in the game because their priorities didn't match mine. I don't begrudge them for that, but I've still got this map and don't know what to do with it - so here it is in releases! :P
Broken chasm of the lake
Curse and owner ever red
Defeat the act and wet spring take
Let the blanket rest your head
Curse and owner ever red
Defeat the act and wet spring take
Let the blanket rest your head
Supporters/Co-Authors:
I didn't even expect the old main menu, which is very similar to the real one! The boss with the Knuckle was too easy, I don't know why. 
