Alternative Metal Sonic (formerly "Charge Abilities")

[Zarosguth]

EDIT (27th of May, 2022): The direction of this project has shifted quite a bit, check out this post for details!

Charge Abilities is a work-in-progress addon that gives Sonic a couple of new abilities that depend on holding the Spin button in order to charge them up.
The following features have been largely coded already:

For a more in-depth explanation, check the spoiler below!

Spoiler: Ability explanations

Charging

Holding the Spin button while jumping starts the charging process. While charging, let go of Spin or press either the Jump or Custom2 buttons to perform specific moves. While charging, Sonic will slow down and fall slowly, allowing the player the time to decide on their next course of action. If the Spin button is held for too long, the charge will be cancelled and Sonic will fall and be vulnerable.
Sonic has two charge... charges (awkward phrasing, I know) and he can only perform each follow-up move once per jump as well. However, hitting an enemy recovers 1 charge (up to a maximum of 1) and will allow Sonic use of all follow-up moves again.

Charge Thok

Hold Spin while airborne to charge, then release Spin to shoot forward. The thrust factor depends both on Sonic's speed at the moment of starting a charge and on how much charge was built up. When fully charged, the Charge Thok will bounce off walls, similar to Krabs's Rebound Dash ability (though less sophisticated, I'm sure).
A nice bonus the player gets for doing a wall bounce is that it re-enables use of the Charge Thok (it can even wall bounce again at full charge!) though it does not recover a charge if at 0.

Charge Jump

Hold Spin while airborne to charge, then press the Jump button to shoot upwards. There is also a small amount of horizontal thrust going on based on how fast Sonic was going before starting to charge. Note that Sonic is vulnerable on his way up! He will automatically curl up and be able to damage enemies again as soon as he starts falling.

Charge Stomp

Hold Spin while airborne to charge, then press the Custom2 button to shoot diagonally down. The angle depends in part on Sonic's speed prior to charging as well as the amount of charge. If fully charged, Sonic will bounce off the ground. Note that this will not count as landing. Sonic will not recover charges or regain access to follow-up moves he has already used.

Homing Thok

Pressing Jump while jumping (without charging) will perform the Homing Thok. Sonic will retain some forward momentum while doing this. Use the Homing Thok between charge moves and see how long Sonic can go without touching the ground.

Custom HUD element
As you might've noticed, on the left side of the screen a custom HUD element can be found: the charge meter. This acts as both a way to clearly see how much charge has built up, as well as how many charge moves are ready to be used as shown by the two blue indicators (that turn red) at the bottom.

To do list:

• Super form ability changes,
  • Probably also going to remap the transformation button so as to not conflict with charging.
• Balance tweaking,
• Tweaking of visuals,
• Add indicators for which follow-up moves are currently available.

Half-formed ideas (thoughts on / suggestions for these are especially welcome):

• Discount drop dash? Basically, if touching the ground while charging, give forward momentum?
• Something to do with charging a Spindash while grounded. Extra mechanic maybe?
• Make Charge Abilities Sonic a separate character? Currently just overwrites regular old Sonic.
• Something regarding shield abilities. Might remap to a different button? Currently simply disabled.

Thanks for checking out this little work-in-progress project. It is my definitely most ambitious project yet and I am very much still a beginner at this so your time is appreciated!

 

[Shutash]

• Discount drop dash? Basically, if touching the ground while charging, give forward momentum?
• Something to do with charging a Spindash while grounded. Extra mechanic maybe?
• Make Charge Abilities Sonic a separate character? Currently just overwrites regular old Sonic.
• Something regarding shield abilities. Might remap to a different button? Currently simply disabled.

Thanks for checking out this little work-in-progress project. It is my definitely most ambitious project yet and I am very much still a beginner at this so your time is appreciated!

That discount drop dash sounds like it'd be quite cumbersome to do, considering that charging makes you fall slower.

 

[Zarosguth]

That discount drop dash sounds like it'd be quite cumbersome to do, considering that charging makes you fall slower.

That's a fair point. I'll do some more thinking.

In the meantime I've added indicators for the various moves' availabilities as well as a slightly modified animation for Sonic after a successful Homing Thok. I also reduced the intensity of the sparkles that appear at half charge.

Spoiler: example

On top of that, I started work on Super Sonic. Right now Super Sonic gets a 20% boost Charge Jump height, Charge Thok speed, and Charge Stomp speed and ground bounce height as well as being instantly at full charge. Transforming has also been remapped to the Custom2 button so as long as Sonic isn't currently charging.

Spoiler: Super Sonic

 

[Zarosguth]

An update? An update.

Nothing I can particularly show off with a gif or an image sadly, but I changed the input for the Charge Stomp to be releasing Spin, while the Charge Thok is now input by releasing Spin while holding forward, eliminating Custom buttons in the base moveset.

On top of that I've done a bunch of balance tweaking of the numbers but I am not quite satisfied. I'm planning to completely redo how the math works.

Overall, bit of a small update but between work and a second project I've started, I just haven't been able to spend a huge amount of time on it.

 

[RubyRed]

This looks very interesting

 

[Zarosguth]

I've done a bit of work on this project over the weekend so here's an update.

I've reworked a bunch of the coding and replaced a bunch of assets.

A quick list of changes:

• The circle effects from charging and performing charge follow-up moves now has actual sprite animation rather than just being a single sprite that gets adjusted in size,
• The circle effect from follow-ups is now bigger when more charge is built up,
• I figured out how to use animated states so those are being used now for some things,
• Also figured out how to use sprites patched into skins, so using those as well because I have no reason not to,
• I've taken the Smooth Trail script by ffoxD and modified it for my own purposes,
• Sparkles now increase in intensity when charge is max,
• Sparkles also have some horizontal momentum now,
• Follow-ups are no longer limited to once per jump (charge jump excepted),
  • For this reason, move availability indicators have been removed form the HUD
• Fully charged Charge Thok can now break walls,
• Charges aren't lost when Super, Charge Jump is still limited to once per jump.

And that's all the changes I think. If I've forgotten anything... oh well, whatever.

Here's a few gifs as well, showing off some of the new visual effects and stuff:

Spoiler: Example gifs

 

[SRBluke122]

Just seeing this makes me wish this would be Sonic’s official moveset.

 

[Kai Taki Aosh]

Yo i can't wait keep up the good dude

 

[Zarosguth]

Just seeing this makes me wish this would be Sonic’s official moveset.

I appreciate the sentiment, even if I do not agree. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy testing and playing with this moveset and I'm pretty proud of what I've made so far, but I think it is best relegated to being an addon.

Anyway, update time!

First things first I swapped the Jump and Spin buttons and rewrote the character select text as seen here:

A consequence of swapping the buttons is that now shield abilities are back on the table. The Homing Thok takes priority but if there is no valid homing target then pressing Spin while jumping will use the ability of whatever shield sonic has instead.
Another consequence is that the super transformation is back on the Spin button as well, taking priority over the Homing Thok. This means absolutely no custom buttons are used in this addon anymore.

I have also made a small animation change to the Charge Thok as demonstrated in this gif:

Spoiler: Charge Thok animation change

Before you worry, Sonic is in an attacking state during all of this.

Finally, I have put a time limit of sorts on the wall bounce. If you do not hit a wall within 3/4ths of a second with a fully charged Thok, you will not bounce. To help indicate this, the trail effect on a fully charged Thok lasts until you no longer get the wall bounce. I'm still working on the exact timing for this, so that (like everything in this addon to be fair) is subject to change.

Otherwise I've mainly been fixing various bugs and optimizing the code as much as I'm able.

 

[VanillaSRB2]

I love this, judging from the gifs on the first post it has flow, and it's impressive how you put this on 3 buttons. I do wish it would have more flow? Like less charging? Although that would be maybe too op, and maybe you were just playing slow on those gifs? Great concept regardless, I do hope you don't use one button too much, or else you'll end up like Re:Overdrive. Goodluck developing this mod!

Post automatically merged: May 15, 2022

Oh yeah a suggestion would be to have a way to swap custom buttons, like instead of using custom 2 you'll have a menu to switch it to custom 3 or tossflag

 

[Zarosguth]

I love this, judging from the gifs on the first post it has flow, and it's impressive how you put this on 3 buttons. I do wish it would have more flow? Like less charging? Although that would be maybe too op, and maybe you were just playing slow on those gifs? Great concept regardless, I do hope you don't use one button too much, or else you'll end up like Re:Overdrive. Goodluck developing this mod!

Post automatically merged: May 15, 2022

Oh yeah a suggestion would be to have a way to swap custom buttons, like instead of using custom 2 you'll have a menu to switch it to custom 3 or tossflag

If you read my update posts in this thread (in particular, the most recent) you'll see that I actually reduced the button count down to two, using only Jump and Spin for everything.

I am unfamiliar with Re:Overdrive, so I can't say much as to any similarities between that and what I'm making here.

I already reduced the amount of charging since the first post, though I am open to reducing it further. I'll mess around with the numbers a bit more. Balancing and gameplay feel is my main focus for the addon right now, so I appreciate any ideas, thoughts and feedback on that.

Thank you.

 

[SRBluke122]

If you read my update posts in this thread (in particular, the most recent) you'll see that I actually reduced the button count down to two, using only Jump and Spin for everything.

I am unfamiliar with Re:Overdrive, so I can't say much as to any similarities between that and what I'm making here.

I already reduced the amount of charging since the first post, though I am open to reducing it further. I'll mess around with the numbers a bit more. Balancing and gameplay feel is my main focus for the addon right now, so I appreciate any ideas, thoughts and feedback on that.

Thank you.

[Open Assets] - Re:Overdrive - One Last Sinister SOC

Re:Overdrive - One Last Sinister SOC Gosh where do I even begin with this project? I would've been about 15 when I made the first Sonic Overdrive- a bizzare SMS copycat with a twist. The original wasn't an original character, but just the vanilla SSNTails Sonic sprites, with as many cool SOC...

mb.srb2.org

That’s Re:Overdrive.

 

[Zarosguth]

Does anybody here like dash mode? Personally, I like dash mode a lot.

Of course, just giving Sonic the SF_DASHMODE flag is far from interesting, so I custom-made my own version of Dash Mode in lua to add to this addon. It behaves somewhat differently to make it synergize with Charge Abilities.
The specifics of how I've made it work are as follows:

• Sonic will build towards Dash Mode if moving at least at runspeed, and will start building it faster once he reaches near-normalspeed,
  • Unlike vanilla Dash Mode, it is not built when charging a Spindash
• Dash Mode activation is indicated by after-images and a wooshing sound effect,
• While in Dash Mode, Sonic's normalspeed will gradually increase up to a cap,
  • Currently the cap is set to 2 times normalspeed, this is very much subject to change (suggestions are welcome),
  • If not moving fast enough in Dash Mode, normalspeed will gradually decrease again,
  • If Dash Mode is lost, normalspeed is instantly returned to default,
• Sonic does not lose Dash Mode while airborne,
  • This includes any partially built Dash Mode before activation,
  • He will also build Dash Mode while airborne if moving fast enough,
• Standard water running, wall busting, badnik busting and spike breaking will apply,
• Uses SuperPhanto's Super Peelout animation (CD version),
  • After images also apply to the Peelout sprites,
• Custom visual effects.

I will still spruce the effects up a bit, but here is a quick gif of what it looks like and how it behaves currently:

Spoiler: WIP Custom Dash Mode

Other things I've done since the last update include further optimizations of the code and fixing more bugs, as well as a slight reduction in charge time to reach max charge. It now takes just a tiny bit over a second to reach full charge. I don't think I'll go lower than this until after release of this addon, should people in general think charging still takes too long.

That is all, I hope I did not forget anything but if I did, I'll just blame the fact that I should really be going to bed.

 

[SRBluke122]

Looks pretty promising!

 

[Zarosguth]

I've been doing a lot of work on this over the past week, and as a result the overall outlook of this project has shifted quite a bit. In a way, this post can be seen as the new introduction to this project which is why I'll put a link to this message in the original post.

First and foremost, rather than being an ability set for Sonic, Charge Abilities is now an ability set for Metal Sonic. I also decided to make it a separate character from regular Metal Sonic.

(The name is a place-holder for now. If anyone has a cool idea for a name I'd be glad to hear it.)

So, outside of changing the character this addon is for, what else is new? Well...

The Charge Abilities themselves are largely the same, just some minor changes in visual and audio effects so that it all better fits Metal Sonic.
Check out some gifs of that here:

Spoiler: Metal Sonic Charge Abilities

Charging:

Charge Jump:

Charge Thok:

Charge Stomp:

It can also be seen that the Charge Meter has been changed a bit; instead of the indicator lights, there is now a number at the bottom of the meter to show how many charges are left. A second meter can also be seen, which I will touch on in the next section of this post.

The customised Dash Mode has been edited quite heavily. The edits have been greatly inspired by the RushChars addon, specifically by Blaze's Boost ability. Of course RushChars is not reusable, so I did my best to re-create it on my own.
To this end ffoxD's reusable Boost addon has been a huge help. I've edited a number of things to make it all function the way I want it to and I hope people will like the results.

So the way Rush Mode (the only appropriate name for this form of Dash Mode, sorry it's not very original) functions is as follows: while running, Metal Sonic will build up Rush Mode, and once it fills up enough he will gain a pulsating effect.

If the Spin button is pressed while grounded and pulsating, Metal Sonic will start boosting, becoming capable of running on water, as well as breaking walls, spikes and badniks. The boost starts off somewhat slow but will increase in speed as you go along up to a cap. The increased cap is maintained even if Metal stops boosting and is only reset if Rush Mode is lost entirely.

Spoiler: Rush Mode example

Like regular Dash Mode, Rush Mode also builds up by charging a Spindash. If Rush Mode is obtained while charging a Spindash, Metal Sonic will go into a special pose and start pulsating. At this point if the Spin button is let go, Metal will stay in place regardless, pressing the Spin button again at this point initiates the boost. Pressing Jump instead will cancel Rush Mode and return Metal to his default state.

Spoiler: Rush Mode Spindash example

As can be seen in the images, Rush Mode has its own HUD element, modelled after the Boost Meter from Sonic Rush.

Finally, the final addition I made just today is that I added a settings menu and I/O support thanks to Felix44's Simple Custom Menu addon.
There are three settings to be adjusted:

• The level of detail of the Charge Ability trails,
• Enabling/disabling the Charge Meter HUD element,
• Enabling/disabling the Rush Meter HUD element.

Spoiler: Settings menu example

 

[RedLilyQueen]

This is looking great! The visuals rock, I'm really looking forward to trying this out when it releases. (Between you and me, as a Metal Sonic liker, I'm very happy you swapped this onto him- feels a lot more fitting for him than it did on Sonic.)
As far as a naming scheme goes, you could keep it simple with something like "Charge Metal Sonic", But considering you've already got the Alt. Metal name, might I suggest something in the vein of Crystal Sonic, Rose Gold Amy, and Jelly Tails? Giving Metal a fully unique visual identity, and a name to match. Maybe something like Copper, or Gold? Since they're used to conduct electricity, and the character's moveset revolves around charges, like, charging a battery... oh, Battery Metal Sonic could work, too. Things to consider!

 

[Shutash]

y'know, i'd argue that there should be an option to change the charge color without changing the skincolor but i digress

 

[Zarosguth]

This is looking great! The visuals rock, I'm really looking forward to trying this out when it releases. (Between you and me, as a Metal Sonic liker, I'm very happy you swapped this onto him- feels a lot more fitting for him than it did on Sonic.)
As far as a naming scheme goes, you could keep it simple with something like "Charge Metal Sonic", But considering you've already got the Alt. Metal name, might I suggest something in the vein of Crystal Sonic, Rose Gold Amy, and Jelly Tails? Giving Metal a fully unique visual identity, and a name to match. Maybe something like Copper, or Gold? Since they're used to conduct electricity, and the character's moveset revolves around charges, like, charging a battery... oh, Battery Metal Sonic could work, too. Things to consider!

Thanks for the ideas, I'll take them under consideration!

y'know, i'd argue that there should be an option to change the charge color without changing the skincolor but i digress

I find your argument very convincing.

Spoiler

Default copies whatever the player's current colour value is while the other available colours are blue, orange, red, pink and purple.
I'll probably add more colours (yellow and green spring to mind as important basic choices) and re-arrange the menu as well.

In fact, while writing this I placed the colour setting between the two meter toggles and set the colour setting to be disabled if the Charge Meter itself is disabled. I also added yellow and green as options. I am simply too lazy to update the gif to reflect that. Just know that things are as described.

Also, a few things I forgot to mention in the update post:

• AltMetal can uncurl while rolling on the ground,
• He can also curl up after hitting a spring (as long as he's still on his way up),
• While boosting, jump height is increased by 10%,
• I also threw in TehRealSalt's Jump Leniency script (affecting only AltMetal) because I am of the mind that that addon's features should be a part of the vanilla game.

 

[ΩSmashCrafterΩ]

This character looks really fun and well made. They look like they have a good sense of flow to them.

As for a unique name other Than "Alt Metal Sonic", I really can't think of any of the bat, but I have a slight idea / suggestion.

Perhaps rather than just naming him something else, he could also be sprited differently. Whether its slightly different poses from his vanilla counterpart, or a full on different character entirely. There are TONS of different Sonic series robot designs through out the franchises history.

 

[Xenon The Hedgehog]

Cool mod