The SRB2 Modding Community is Dead.
- Thread starter MadBox
- Start date
LeoTheHedgehog12
Good boi.
BlueBlurFans
Just A Guy Who Loves Sonic
The only advice I can give is go play other games to the point that they make you forget about srb2 and comeback to this game after more than 5 months or a year and you should be able to play a bunch of "good mods" without you waiting for it to be released,I did that and I got to play x sonic without the need to wait for it to be released
Sketchzelle
Note To Self: Make Levels Detailed
✨ Collaborator ✨
2024 Collaborator
2022 Collaborator
2023 Collaborator
Controversial, but yeah i can definitely agree, i do definitely think there should at least be some kind of Quality Standard again, granted it doesn't need to be the most strict thing, just something to prevent one-day mods
tabu
Member
You should be able to 'like' a mod and the number of likes should be visible in the addons menu. Replacing the star ratings with nothing isn't satisfactory and just makes all mods look the same on first glance.
LeoTheHedgehog12
Good boi.
I think that the bare minimum should be purely unique code. I'm fine with recolors as long as it doesn't become the only thing on here.
LeoTheHedgehog12
Good boi.
GT_Trunks
Hard Rain……..Come Hell and Highwater
you didn’t do anything wrong. Just a opinion some don’t agree with.
Mr Beagle
Member
Mods should at least be expected to be functional without major bugs and without major visual issues everywhere. The issue the staff had with the original quality standards was that it discouraged people from working on mods in the first place.
The standards should be as accessible as possible to those new to the scene, but high enough to ensure that addons do not feel like placeholders for something else in the future. It does not have to have a crazy amount of polish along with squeaky-clean Lua or SOC code, but it should be expected that it has advanced beyond a pre-alpha state.
time gear
Eternity in an hour
Or at least don't put such mods into the "addons and more" section. Denying such mods altogether could be a part of what discourages some from wanting to get into it because part of the appeal is getting to share what they made with others, even if what they made isn't exactly the most shiny, sparkling, polished thing ever. Additionally, beginners need feedback/criticism to improve. Still, having a place for such unpolished mods to get approved into without them getting sorted into the main modding section would make sense. This way, beginners would have a place to share their early, unpolished creations once the team is able to confirm there's no plagiarism or malware or etc. and could interact with the community and receive helpful feedback and criticism and etc.
Meanwhile, the main section people go to look for mods could have a slightly higher bar for entry. Nothing too strict or unreasonable, just mods that are in a bit better shape than those other first/second/etc. time creations made by users just learning the ropes and getting a feel for the process.
Mr Beagle
Member
A section for early alphas for the purpose of focused and detailed critique and guidance would be a possibility, but I do wonder if it cannot be serviced already through the modding help and work in progress sections, even via a subsection?
Grayvy Guy
Well I've gotten e.
I guess I can raise out of slumber to say this:
Whilst I wouldn't call SRB2 modding dead, it's definitely in a lull or recesssion as someone who now only sparsely plays SRB2.
Like, yeah there's neat stuff now and a lot of neat stuff coming. There's still some decent character mods that come out here and then like Pikachu, I guess the StephChar update which... I personally didn't expect despite there being a teaser I thought was for something else. There's occassional updates on existing level packs with some occassions of more levels that have radically altered mechanics like that SA2 Blast mod or whatever the name was. There's SRB2 Infinity which would be cool if I knew people to play with.
I think the big issue is that there is a fair lot down the pipeline... And it just feels like none of that stuff is actually moving down the pipeline at all. Modern Sonic V6 is a sure thing being worked on, but we've no idea how close it is to completion it is and how satisfied the developer wants to be on a completed version. There's like the Ashura based on Sonic Boll that's taking a hot minute of development, Mystic Realm has tons of betas available but it's an anomoly whenever it'll be released and even if there's still consideration for 2.2 design ethos with the change in physics and Sonic ability.
Ahh yeah and also projects seemingly in a forever limbo like Fang and the Mysterious Manor. It's been 3 years since we last got a teaser for it and no news on progress or if the project is cancelled or not.
Granted I feel part of it is due to the fact that a lot of prominent figures in the modding scene for this game are now developers for STJr or Kart Krew as well as community woes that I feel has taken the sails out of most people who enjoy this game or even develop it. Whether or not you think about things in certain ways, the culture of mods has definitely shifted compared from 2.1 and early 2.2.
I'm not super sore about it as since that time I have put more investment into other games compared to SRB2 but it does make me lament how this use to be a game I talked to high regards about with mods in mind and now I practically only come back whenever I feel like I want to run through with a vanilla character, typically either Sonic or Metal Sonic depending on my mood.
I feel a lot of these frustrations also just stem from Kart and Ring Racers to an extent taking more attention compared to the base game, which I have a lot of pet peeves with just that notion seperate from the games themselves (though Kart and Ring Racers not my cup of tea doesn't help the frustration).
Also I'm forever gonna be salty that we're not gonna see an update to Team Kinetic anytime soon. Robuster was taken from us way too young.
Whilst I wouldn't call SRB2 modding dead, it's definitely in a lull or recesssion as someone who now only sparsely plays SRB2.
Like, yeah there's neat stuff now and a lot of neat stuff coming. There's still some decent character mods that come out here and then like Pikachu, I guess the StephChar update which... I personally didn't expect despite there being a teaser I thought was for something else. There's occassional updates on existing level packs with some occassions of more levels that have radically altered mechanics like that SA2 Blast mod or whatever the name was. There's SRB2 Infinity which would be cool if I knew people to play with.
I think the big issue is that there is a fair lot down the pipeline... And it just feels like none of that stuff is actually moving down the pipeline at all. Modern Sonic V6 is a sure thing being worked on, but we've no idea how close it is to completion it is and how satisfied the developer wants to be on a completed version. There's like the Ashura based on Sonic Boll that's taking a hot minute of development, Mystic Realm has tons of betas available but it's an anomoly whenever it'll be released and even if there's still consideration for 2.2 design ethos with the change in physics and Sonic ability.
Ahh yeah and also projects seemingly in a forever limbo like Fang and the Mysterious Manor. It's been 3 years since we last got a teaser for it and no news on progress or if the project is cancelled or not.
Granted I feel part of it is due to the fact that a lot of prominent figures in the modding scene for this game are now developers for STJr or Kart Krew as well as community woes that I feel has taken the sails out of most people who enjoy this game or even develop it. Whether or not you think about things in certain ways, the culture of mods has definitely shifted compared from 2.1 and early 2.2.
I'm not super sore about it as since that time I have put more investment into other games compared to SRB2 but it does make me lament how this use to be a game I talked to high regards about with mods in mind and now I practically only come back whenever I feel like I want to run through with a vanilla character, typically either Sonic or Metal Sonic depending on my mood.
I feel a lot of these frustrations also just stem from Kart and Ring Racers to an extent taking more attention compared to the base game, which I have a lot of pet peeves with just that notion seperate from the games themselves (though Kart and Ring Racers not my cup of tea doesn't help the frustration).
Also I'm forever gonna be salty that we're not gonna see an update to Team Kinetic anytime soon. Robuster was taken from us way too young.
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Mr Beagle
Member
To note, there are up to several maps and packs that are currently in a holding pattern because they are making use of the Modern Sonic rails that are being worked on (which the mappers cannot release until the assets themselves are officially released).
The Discord will give you more coverage on what is being worked on, 2025 is looking to become the year of Modern Sonic addons.
The Discord will give you more coverage on what is being worked on, 2025 is looking to become the year of Modern Sonic addons.
PencilVoid
Circuit Enthusiast
There are probably dozens of factors that could be contributing to the SRB2 modding community apparently losing steam. Quite a few prominent modders got absorbed into STJr which limits their ability to work on mods. Some people also just move on from the game for one reason or another, which they can't really be faulted for. I would also say that the percieved standards for mods have risen considerably; even though submission rules don't require decent quality anymore, large scale mods with maximised production value tend to get a lot of attention and focus which could intimidate newer modders.
I feel that 2.1 and early 2.2 were much more experimental phases for SRB2 modding; there was a lot more diversity in the ideas mods presented. This is entirely just a theory, but I feel that now there is a lot of stratification in mods and it's really obvious what types of mods get the most attention, so people try to replicate those ideas instead of bringing new and original ideas to the table.
time gear
Eternity in an hour
I'd speculate that the reason for this is because of the perceived rise in quality of the base vanilla campaign. Back in the final demo days for instance, the character sprites were much more simplistic and even stage textures were similarly simple and basic. It didn't look bad, but low effort mods fit in a lot better than they do today in which the game is beautiful to look at.
A lot of people are likely looking for mods that exist as extensions of the vanilla experience, and so because the vanilla experience has come so far so too has a lot of people's personal standards for what counts as a worthy extension of that experience.
Madotsuki
Member
quasi necro but I think it's a bizarre thing to wonder why a game that's only mildly popular is in a bit of a drought following the fact that it's been a long time since the last major update and probably a good while more.
If you wanna know why ppl make ring racers mods and not SRB2 mods right now, to be brutally honest, it's because for the vast majority of people, it's a more fun and accessible game to mod for. Tracks are much, much easier to make in UDMF form than large, complex 3D Platforming Stages and all you have to do as an artist who likes this game to make ring racers characters is to plug sprites and sound clips into a template and swap around some values in a text file, If you make an SRB2 character, it's gotta be not only drawn good but also designed with a fun unique playstyle and programmed with a decent degree of polish.
I'm not saying no one will ever make SRB2 levels again because SRB2 has been through multiple lulls in interest which often lines up with spikes of interest in the kart side of the community. I genuinely do not understand the motivation behind calling for higher quality standards on the MB as if that would suddenly revitalise the community because I guess it's seen as this vauge kind of Retvrn to Tradition to the old days where the devs would nuke their modding tools to smithereens to spite little timmy who just made DarkLord the Devilhog and felt the need to be really mad about this. If anything this just stops little timmy from becoming Normal-Sized Tim down the line and making some pretty sick mods for his main video game.
I feel the SRB2 community skews a lot younger than I'd have expected what is essentially a hyper evolved Doom TC approaching its 30s so I guess that's why there's a feeling of why is this game quiet right now. I have kinda wondered if a lot of the enduring popularity of SRB2 is that it remains a 3D Sonic game that almost anyone who might not have the latest consoles to play the current sonic games can enjoy and that's also why there's this annoyance over the fact that there's a content drought. Best thing I can say is that there's always good Sonic Fangames cooking these days, insane how the sonic fangames subcommunity kinda evolved from a joke to a semi juggernaut that's often a breeding ground for up and coming indie devs. Mega Man also has a lotta stuff being made that any old computer can play if you like those games too tbh.
As for community negativity. I don't wanna stoke old flames but I'll be mean and say a lot of you guys fell for some very obvious bait and the entire goal of that was to breed hostility and make it worse for everyone in the community to work together out of personal spite and identifying that you were an unwitting accomplice is the first stage to healing what you percieve as a fractured community.
If you wanna know why ppl make ring racers mods and not SRB2 mods right now, to be brutally honest, it's because for the vast majority of people, it's a more fun and accessible game to mod for. Tracks are much, much easier to make in UDMF form than large, complex 3D Platforming Stages and all you have to do as an artist who likes this game to make ring racers characters is to plug sprites and sound clips into a template and swap around some values in a text file, If you make an SRB2 character, it's gotta be not only drawn good but also designed with a fun unique playstyle and programmed with a decent degree of polish.
I'm not saying no one will ever make SRB2 levels again because SRB2 has been through multiple lulls in interest which often lines up with spikes of interest in the kart side of the community. I genuinely do not understand the motivation behind calling for higher quality standards on the MB as if that would suddenly revitalise the community because I guess it's seen as this vauge kind of Retvrn to Tradition to the old days where the devs would nuke their modding tools to smithereens to spite little timmy who just made DarkLord the Devilhog and felt the need to be really mad about this. If anything this just stops little timmy from becoming Normal-Sized Tim down the line and making some pretty sick mods for his main video game.
I feel the SRB2 community skews a lot younger than I'd have expected what is essentially a hyper evolved Doom TC approaching its 30s so I guess that's why there's a feeling of why is this game quiet right now. I have kinda wondered if a lot of the enduring popularity of SRB2 is that it remains a 3D Sonic game that almost anyone who might not have the latest consoles to play the current sonic games can enjoy and that's also why there's this annoyance over the fact that there's a content drought. Best thing I can say is that there's always good Sonic Fangames cooking these days, insane how the sonic fangames subcommunity kinda evolved from a joke to a semi juggernaut that's often a breeding ground for up and coming indie devs. Mega Man also has a lotta stuff being made that any old computer can play if you like those games too tbh.
As for community negativity. I don't wanna stoke old flames but I'll be mean and say a lot of you guys fell for some very obvious bait and the entire goal of that was to breed hostility and make it worse for everyone in the community to work together out of personal spite and identifying that you were an unwitting accomplice is the first stage to healing what you percieve as a fractured community.
KitKatiscool
certified lover boy
congrats bro what a good way to to tell the mod creators "fuck you"
GT_Trunks
Hard Rain……..Come Hell and Highwater
really late to the party bud. no need to say that