Is Dark City Zone still planned?

I read somewhere that the plan was to base it on the abandoned city from the Sonic OVA. Just want to say, I really hope this is still in the plans, because when I saw that movie as a kid, something about that place really resonated with me. It would be awesome to actually be able to visit that area in a game, and the SRB2 team has proven they can design levels that feel like they're in an official Sonic game. (A good one.)


In case the name isn't final, putting the word "relics" (or its singular) somewhere in the name would be a nice touch, as I think that's the word Sonic used in the movie for it.

IIRC Dark City is still part of the development plans, yes.

Yes, like Grand Eggship and Red Volcano act 2.


But I feel like the priority will be for the later.

Yes, Dark City Zone is still planned.

I mean just look at the Wiki https://wiki.srb2.org/wiki/In_development#Single_Player_campaign

Dark City Zone: Dark City Zone is still in the planning stage because the completion of Red Volcano Zone has a higher priority.[2] Brak Eggman was originally intended as the boss to Dark City Zone, but it was moved to Egg Rock Zone in v2.0, originally as a placeholder for the final boss. The missiles shot by Brak Eggman in the v2.0 boss fight were intended to be used as standalone objects in the first two acts of Dark City Zone[3], but since the boss fight has since been revamped, this plan may no longer apply.[1] Currently, Brak Eggman is used as the game's final boss in Black Core Zone Act 3.

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I'm really excited for new zone(s) to be added to srb2, but doesn't this mean some stages won't get their own themed special stage?

Krabs said:

I'm really excited for new zone(s) to be added to srb2, but doesn't this mean some stages won't get their own themed special stage?

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Does it matter? I mean they could be bonus stages without an emerald at the end or something like that.

Icarus said:

Does it matter? I mean they could be bonus stages without an emerald at the end or something like that.

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I'm actually quite a fan of the idea of making the special stages take place in the special dimension they are usually in, and having a special "NiGHTS Mode" version of the campaign as an unlockable. This way all the the main campaign stages still have NiGHTS mode equivalents and they can also work on the strange difficulty curve of the special stages (Or maybe even make them an entirely different gameplay type, since some players have trouble with the NiGHTS gameplay).

time gear said:

I'm actually quite a fan of the idea of making the special stages take place in the special dimension they are usually in, and having a special "NiGHTS Mode" version of the campaign as an unlockable. This way all the the main campaign stages still have NiGHTS mode equivalents and they can also work on the strange difficulty curve of the special stages (Or maybe even make them an entirely different gameplay type, since some players have trouble with the NiGHTS gameplay).

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You're talking about making an extended version of the Nights mode?

Take Alpine Paradise out of the NiGHTS roster and replace them with Dark City and Grand Eggship NiGHTS stages

...or just add them normally into NiGHTS mode whatever

I would have loved for RVZ2 to keep the whole "snowy mountain" theme they wanted super early on, especially if they kept the lava theming on for a nice clash, but I'm still really excited for DCZ and the other levels. I have a feeling DCZ will take place on mostly skyscrapers since it's a late-game level.

Glad to hear it's still planned! Any word on whether it's still planned to be based on the OVA? I seem to remember reading it worded in a way to suggest it might not be anymore.

I'm excited for this level!

I'm hoping the Devs will be subverting expectations implied by the name and make Dark City Zone one of the brighter levels.

SRB2's campaign lacks the signature "neon city at night" stage that were staples of Classic Sonic (ie, Starlight; Casino Night; Carnival Night; Stardust Speedway). And we see the Robotropolis in the OVA is actually very much in that vein (and we see the neon lights create the doctor's silhouette, natch)

On the other hand, if it is actually literally grimdark dark, I think it'd be cool to invoke the idea that's present in the OVA and Archie-verse that "Sonic's World" is a future post-apocalyptic Earth, and these dark cities are remnants of the past (ie, glimpsing familiar structures or the sunken Statue of Liberty in the background).

And either way, I think it'd be awesome if the background skyline included an Egg-shaped skyscraper HQ — my favorite version of that is the "New Megaopolis" city where it turns out the Egg HQ is actually the tip of the iceberg for another Death Egg that's half underground.

Act 1 and 2 you're racing through the Dark City and you see the "Egg Rock" HQ building in the background, then in the Act 3 boss fight, you're in the Egg Rock as it launches off into the stars, revealing itself as the space station.

Moose the Fat Cat said:

I'm excited for this level!

I'm hoping the Devs will be subverting expectations implied by the name and make Dark City Zone one of the brighter levels.

SRB2's campaign lacks the signature "neon city at night" stage that were staples of Classic Sonic (ie, Starlight; Casino Night; Carnival Night; Stardust Speedway). And we see the Robotropolis in the OVA is actually very much in that vein (and we see the neon lights create the doctor's silhouette, natch)

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I'd really like this, yea. I love city and casino stages in Sonic games, so I'm hoping this is reminiscent of those with some OVA flair in it.

Frostav said:

I would have loved for RVZ2 to keep the whole "snowy mountain" theme they wanted super early on, especially if they kept the lava theming on for a nice clash.

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While I do agree that SRB2 lacks of a snow-themed level in the main campaign I think Red Volcano needs two full levels + a boss that goes with the lava theme.

Moose the Fat Cat said:

I'm excited for this level!

I'm hoping the Devs will be subverting expectations implied by the name and make Dark City Zone one of the brighter levels.

SRB2's campaign lacks the signature "neon city at night" stage that were staples of Classic Sonic (ie, Starlight; Casino Night; Carnival Night; Stardust Speedway). And we see the Robotropolis in the OVA is actually very much in that vein (and we see the neon lights create the doctor's silhouette, natch)

On the other hand, if it is actually literally grimdark dark, I think it'd be cool to invoke the idea that's present in the OVA and Archie-verse that "Sonic's World" is a future post-apocalyptic Earth, and these dark cities are remnants of the past (ie, glimpsing familiar structures or the sunken Statue of Liberty in the background).

And either way, I think it'd be awesome if the background skyline included an Egg-shaped skyscraper HQ — my favorite version of that is the "New Megaopolis" city where it turns out the Egg HQ is actually the tip of the iceberg for another Death Egg that's half underground.

Act 1 and 2 you're racing through the Dark City and you see the "Egg Rock" HQ building in the background, then in the Act 3 boss fight, you're in the Egg Rock as it launches off into the stars, revealing itself as the space station.

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I agree a lot, if Dark City was "too dark" it would lose the feel and spirit of the Classic serie (because Modern Sonic games tend to try too much to be realistic with dim colours).


I really hope DCZ will be a neon-night level like Stardust Speedway

Dark City Is Planned

Maybe Act 1 will be the dark, abandoned part of the city, and Act 2 will be the "Robotropolis" part with the neon lights and everything. (Didn't read that anywhere; I just mean it's an idea that occurred to me.)

Dark City is such a tantalizing idea, too, because part of what makes the Sonic series special is the way the lore/story is told in the background details.

Usually it's in the form of ancient ruins.

And the cities in Classic Sonic are usually more like industrial factory outposts with absurd pollution (Scrap Brain, Oil Ocean, Metropolis) than they are journeys through city streets / rooftops. (Obviously, Modern Sonic has spent a lot of levels in city streets / rooftops.)

So the idea of doing a Ruined City is a lot of fun, and surprisingly unprecedented for Sonic in the games (not counting Crisis City which is less like running through a city anyway and more like hopping through a wacky fire tornado).

So Dark City as a "City Ruins" stage is cool because, despite being shown in OVA and Archie and other stories, it's never exactly been playable!

It's another element that can make SRB2 feel very "right" in the way that Castle Eggman does... it's both unique because it's not really been done in the games, and also familiar in that Sonic and Eggman have both had multiple castle settings in other stories

Lol, so basically I'm picturing Sonic running through, like, the worst route through Detroit at night toward downtown... just a post-industrialist wasteland of countless abandoned rusty robots, policed by more expensive and violent EggSWATs, and it turns out all of the lights are coming from the Egg-shaped dome stadium in the heart of downtown, where the EggRobo Super Bowl is going down, although it's actually a space station and it's set to launch right... now.

Moose the Fat Cat said:

Dark City is such a tantalizing idea, too, because part of what makes the Sonic series special is the way the lore/story is told in the background details.

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Yeah, one great thing about the Classic serie was the whole show don't tell way of narration (something that has been lost once Modern came in).


Crisis city is a bad example of a city-themed level while Scrap Brain was perfect

Moose the Fat Cat said:

So the idea of doing a Ruined City is a lot of fun, and surprisingly unprecedented for Sonic in the games (not counting Crisis City which is less like running through a city anyway and more like hopping through a wacky fire tornado).

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All's well that ends well, right?