[Compatible] Blossom Valley [scr_blossomvalley(encore)_v2.1.wad]

[Evertone]

The lush landscape of the Blossom Valley Zone awaits! Experience a relaxed first level with a lot of sights to behold and secrets hidden all around you.

This Mania-styled remake of Greenflower Zone combines both acts of the classic into an updated edition, and even adds a second completely original act! Updated visuals and routes alike await.

This mod also has an Encore Mode variant for a harder experience including different power-ups, a changed layout, a new gameplay style, and some more Badniks for you to bash!

If attempting to use the Encore Mode version of this mod, read the compatibility guide.

Developer comments:

Spoiler

...finally. After nearly one year.

Started this project last October, been developing it off-and-on since then. The result is this tiny collection of two acts. Was it worth it?

I'll let you decide that.

This mod actually went mostly really smoothly. The one thing that didn't make it in was a beach view at the end of Act 2 due to skybox rendering, liquid rendering, and slopes.

With all that said, enjoy the mod :)

Compatibility guide:

Spoiler

A few things to get out of the way first:

• This mod is compatible with the base game, Techno Cavern, and Encore Mode.
• If loading these two mods in the incorrect order, some maps may not load correctly.
• If loading Techno Cavern Encore or Blossom Valley Encore without loading Encore Mode, the Encore Versions of the map will not function properly.
• The base Blossom Valley/Techno Cavern mods and the three Encore mods do not interact with each other and can be safely simultaneously loaded.
• Missing the latest version of these mods? Get them here!
  • Blossom Valley: You are here.
  • Encore: https://mb.srb2.org/showthread.php?t=43652
  • Techno Cavern: https://mb.srb2.org/showthread.php?t=44897

With that out of the way, there are specific loading orders for different compatibility types. Only follow one guide depending on which mods you want to combine. Here are the correct loading orders for these mods:

If simply using this with the base game:
This mod will save to a different save file than the base game. The level order of Blossom Valley to Egg Rock will still be correct with Blossom Valley placed correctly at the start of the game, and all unlockables functional, but be aware that your unlockables will not transfer between the base game save file and the Blossom Valley save file.

If using Techno Cavern but not Encore:
Blossom Valley and Techno Cavern use two different save files. They can be loaded in whatever order you wish, but be aware that whichever one you load last will be the one which has its save file used.

If Blossom Valley is loaded after Techno Cavern, any emblems obtained in Techno Cavern will be saved and will be already obtained in Techno Hill if Blossom Valley is later loaded without Techno Cavern, and vice versa.

I am currently testing to see if there is a way to make them both save to the same file, but until then, keep this in mind.

If using Encore but not Techno Cavern:

Load Encore Mode first, then Blossom Valley Encore.

If Encore is not loaded first, some object types will be invalid and the Encore play method will not work correctly, which will cause errors. Loading Encore after loading Blossom Valley Encore will override the maps you have loaded before which completely negates the point of Blossom Valley Encore.

If using Encore and Techno Cavern Encore:
Load Encore Mode first, then Techno Cavern Encore, then Blossom Valley Encore.

If Encore is not loaded first, some object types will be invalid and the Encore play method will not work correctly, which will cause errors. Loading Encore after loading either Blossom Valley Encore or Techno Cavern Encore will override the maps you have loaded before which completely negates the point of adding Blossom Valley/Techno Cavern Encore.

Techno Cavern Encore loads more maps, so it must be loaded after Encore to override some maps loaded by Encore, then Blossom Valley Encore must be loaded last to override some maps loaded by Techno Cavern (some aren't needed when used with Blossom Valley).

Do report any bugs or texture/decoration inconsistencies you find, there's probably going to be a few.

I recommend going through with all three characters and exploring what's off the beaten path, there's plenty of things hidden there. With all this said, enjoy the mod! Credits found below.

Credits:

• White and the 22textures contributors for the 2.2 textures used in this mod.
• Prisima and .Jazz. for Act 1's skybox and some textures.
• Dogjedi, Monster Iestyn, Lat', Sphere, and toaster (that's a lot) for Lua help.
  see guys i can code
• DirkTheHusky for the Encore Mode mod.
• You reading this for (hopefully) downloading and playing the mod!

UPDATES:

• v2.1:
  • Added Techno Cavern compatibility and some compatibility for a few more future projects!
  • On-download file type is now .zip.

• v2.0:
  • Added Encore Mode compatibility!
  • Small changes to finish off those unnatural areas completely.
  • Texture error fixes.
  • Shortened the obnoxious file name.

• v1.3:
  • Widened some of the remaining unnatural areas.
  • Made some areas less awkward.
  • Small changes to the first large cave and first token of Act 1.

• v1.2:
  • Emergency texture fixes.
  • Actually added something to the lower path's stacked FOF area.
  • Moved one of the emblems.
• v1.1:
  • Streamlined or reworked most areas of Act 2.
  • Made how to get through Act 1's upper path more visible.
  • Increased space of nearly every corridor that looked unnatural (tell me if I missed any).
  • Added more decoration to Act 2, both sector- and thing-based.
  • Completely reworked the two entrance rooms to the cave in Act 2, so much that this needed its own point.
  • Texture changes.
  • RIP Techno Hill Act 1's starting door and... um... random platform with two Super Ring Monitors and a Spring Shell near the big slime room.
  • Made the boss less obnoxious.

 

[HellHawkX]

Welcome to releases!

I really like the way you integrated all the GFZ styled maps into a single level, was not expecting to see Jade Valley in there as well though.

The only issue I have is that the map was disorienting at times and I was unsure where to go for a few seconds, but that could have just been me and it wasn't anything major either way.

 

[Goldenhog]

I really do not appreciate how the right path at the start leads into a dead end as Sonic, so you have to backtrack and take the left path. Especially since the ring placement and the orientation of the walls directs the player towards the right.

That's the big problem with these levels I think, they don't really guide the player towards the way forward very well. There were many instances where I had to stop to look around where I was supposed to go, or where I would go to what seemed like where I was supposed to go, but end up in a dead end or circling around to where I already was. I spent a good while in that big lake section near the end of act 2 trying to figure out how the heck I was supposed to leave until I stumbled into a random cave that let me out, but that left me feeling "is this really the exit or am i entering some secret side path?".

A couple other things that bothered me were how the midboss was harder than the boss (this is all in the arena - it's much too busy for the midboss fight so it's easier to mess up and get hit) and the ACZ hanging rope things. What's up with those? They take you at max speed and it's a bit out of place. And they don't move, so they trick you into thinking they're regular, albeit very thin, platforms, and this is a issue because there's at least one section where the long brown unmoving strip is a platform. A crumbling platform, at that.

Despite all that though, I had fun playing these levels. I quite enjoy it when maps do the Sonic 3-style thing were one stage leads seamlessly into the next, including both a midboss and a boss to closer match S3's structure made it even better, and the visuals were very good throughout.

 

[Twins'R'Okay]

After playing through this a few times, I definitely have an opinion on it

This is a pretty great wad, I definitely enjoyed it.

Act 1 especially is phenomenal. It definitely FEELS like a Mania Act 1 in its entirety. It definitely feels like a remastered version of the 2 original acts. The kind of secrets and open exploration this SINGLE ACT has is incredible.

It challenges and rewards your sense of familiarity and exploration of the entire stage. There's so many secrets packed within the level, that even after playing it a few times, I never really felt like I explored all of it.

Green Hill from Mania gave me that same expression and I'm definitely glad you took the time to capture that essence of exploration Mania had.

Now for the opinions you asked for

Act 2s underwater section: I didn't explore long enough for that lol

Bosses: 10 points to the eggman boss that literally careens towards the walls and nothing else.

Act 2: Act 2 is pretty great. I still love the fact that despite the close quarters, It's still has a ton of paths and exploration surrounding it. Not as many as Act 1 but still plentiful with the Jade Valley throwback being a nice touch, IF I didn't get lost in that part. Seriously, there needs to be a bit more direction in the Jade Valley throwback, and on top of that there ARE close quarters and the 2nd Act does not stand out more than the 1st Act, at LEAST do a new skybox or somethin, geez.

Act 1 upper path: The upper path, I find, Is just as phenomenal as the rest of the stage (i especially love how it links RedXVI's house to the upper path of GFZ2 (SO S M O O T H)) EXCEPT the path just stops. It doesn't even lead to anything, it just.... stops at a ring box. AT LEAST add a path that leads to the 2nd checkpointed area (just before the big cave and ramp)!

Object Placement: Nothing to say other than it works for a first level.

Emblems: I MAY go emblem hunting at some point, haven't decided yet (NO EMBLEM AT REDXVI'S HOUSE, 0/10 NEVER SANIC AGAIN)

Knuckles' Act 1: A little spacious, but fits well with the rest of the stage (i also like how it merges with Sonic's cave section a la Mania)

 

[MK.exe]

I agreed mostly on goldenhogs response

I also feel like Some corridors are cramped as well as the Boss arena for act 1. I feel like the amount of deco in water should be reduced since it feels like you are just cluttering the level.

Act 2 was ok but the rope sections that goldenhog stated are too fast. I did tell you to slow them down before!! This was the first time for me to play act 2 in its full state and the jade valley part was a nice touch.

2nd boss was kinda annoying but it was beatable. Add some rings i the arena so that im not wasitng time chasing dropped rings.

Overall its good and nice to explore

 

[Ice]

Nearly a year to make!! Well it shows, good and bad. And I think anyone who's mapped for a long time can relate.

Firstly, I should say that I'm not against confusing or complicated level design. I think it's actually a good thing when the player has to pause and take a look around to get their bearings. When done right, it make the player feel like they're exploring a real place, at least as "real" as you can achieve in the SRB2 engine. I think this level pulled it off, at least for the most part. Goldenhog said he didn't like how you ended the right path at the start as a dead end for Sonic. I think it's perfectly fine to subvert expectations, especially since 1) this is a remake of a level we've all played a billion times before, and 2) it sets the precedent for the rest of the level. You'll run into a few dead ends while you're exploring, and that's okay.

I really think you nail the explorability in act 1. This is especially since it's a remixed version of GFZ1 and GFZ2. You mixed in familiar with unfamiliar in a way that was really, well, pleasant! I said that to myself more than a couple of times going through act 1, "this is pleasant!" I like turning a corner and expecting a simple hallway, but being greeted with an expanded and newly-decorated area instead, one that might even branch into its own pathway. It gave me faint memories of playing through GFZ1 the first few times as a new player. I didn't know what to expect!

I really love the amount of nooks and crannies there are. I felt like you had a sense of what kinds of places feel fun to explore and to find. I especially like the use of water, how it carves out new little caves and channels to explore. The player ends up winding their through a bunch of areas that had only been solid rock before. I found myself smiling through most of act 1. The new connections and pathways made the experience feel really fresh.

That being said, act 1 is really the stronger of the two. I think this is where the "bad" side of working on this thing for a year comes in. In act 2, I felt like there were a lot of places where you ran out of ideas. These come in the form of bland caves with 1 texture on all the walls, or smallish rooms where the upper path is awkward platforming, and the lower path is... well... nothing tbh. There were a couple of rooms where I had fallen to the lower path and found myself disappointed that the floor was either flat GFZFLOOR, or flat underwater with a bunch of scenery smattered all over the floor. The lower areas of these rooms are pretty bad. The upper path's level geometry projects down to make the walls of the lower path, and this results in a bunch of tight corners and awkward dead ends. I vaguely remember a passage in the Wiki's Level Design 101 article that says that you should make the level appear evenly-decorated. Act 2 doesn't do this. Some areas feel absolutely barren, others feel barren but filled with cluttered scenery items, and some feel just right - a perfect balance between beautiful level geometry and evenly-scattered scenery items.

Additionally, there are some surprisingly amateur-looking hallways sprinkled throughout both acts. What I mean by this is that the hallway is cramped, strangely shaped, and turns at sharp angles that make the camera cry out in agony. This is a strange contrast to the areas where things feel organic, open, and high-quality. What's the reason for these? Did you cram the Zone Builder grid with level geometry too tightly to fit a decently-sized hallway? In any case, these little hallway slices are most unpleasant.

My last gripe with act 2 is that the best areas of the level are the parts that were lifted from Jade Valley. The parts that seem wholly original just don't live up to the parts that are mixed-together. It makes me wonder how a completely original level of yours might look. Can you make something on your own that feels just as good? Probably!
Here's the thing: I feel like you overworked this project a little. By that I mean that maybe you spent a day creating a room that felt ok, but wasn't so great. And instead of removing that area and starting over, you tweaked and twisted it and put in some more flowers. After all, you put all that work into it already, right? By the time you've put in more level geometry, it would be a pain in the ass to rework that room. But you can tell and the player can tell when the room was made out of excitement or frustration. And maybe I'm being sort of loony or pretentious... but I dunno... I feel like a lot of act 2 was made out of frustration!

Negatives aside, I did enjoy the way you chopped up Jade Valley and pieced it back together singleplayer style. I've never seen this done with a multiplayer stage, and it made me happy. It created moments of sudden clarity. Walking through an unfamiliar hall, and bam! There's that area I recognize! These little jolts of recognition are the best part exploration-based levels, and these levels dish them out double-stuffed because of the GFZ parts mixed in. At it's best, this little pack hit all the right buttons for me and even gave me some ideas for my future levels. If this is your first finished set of levels, then you rock. Keep making stuff! Really!

Oh, btw, the second boss was ass and I thanked the Lord when he ran into a wall and stayed there so I could finish him off. He needs to be reworked to be less glitchy and less cheap, or removed. I think bosses are a waste of time unless they're spectacular anyway... but that's just me.

Anyway I hope you enjoyed my rambling review. It's entirely too late and I should've gone to bed two hours ago. I look forward to seeing anything else you make in the future!

 

[Evertone]

I've had all the concerns here and thought twice about changing certain areas. Trying to link together some areas didn't work out too well which did lead to these small cluttered hallways. I had no idea on how people would react though so I released it as it is, and now that I've got feedback I'll start updating this level.



A lot of my original ideas did get shot down by how the engine handled things in a way I didn't expect, and by the time Act 1 was finished and I started making Act 2 I realised that all my ideas were already in Act 1's two original paths. Oh no!


A particular part of this level that was a test was the Act 2 boss - FuriousFox had implemented alternate behaviour so I wanted to see how a kind of "puzzle boss" would work using said behaviour - you have to lure him above the lake while you're on top of a platform and then attack him. Or just wait for him to careen into a wall. I'll replace it with the regular boss behaviour.


I had some ideas on what to do with Act 2 before but again, either room or engine limitations deleted the ideas (I tried to avoid unpleasant corridors as much as possible) or they used ziplines and those are a pain to set up (custom rope hangs gave me trouble a lot making this map).


Reworks incoming in the next update which knowing me will take a while to drop...

 

[Evertone]

Updated mod to v1.1.


Reworked the worse parts of Act 2 which didn't have anything special going for them, the Act 2 boss isn't an ass anymore, made Act 1's upper path exit more visible, and added more decoration to Act 2 and a lot more sector-based decoration to Act 2.


Also adds some more goodies for you to find.

 

[Evertone]

Updated mod to v1.2.


Added more goodies and emergency fixed some textures.

 

[Evertone]

Updated mod to v1.3.


Some small quality of life changes that nobody will care about but they're here anyway.

 

[Petit The Hedge]

Misplaced(....?) Texture;

Evertone, your work on these maps is awesome!

However, i got lost sometimes, for example when you fall trough the waterfall in the act 2.

And then, in that same section, i found....this

 

[MellowJacket]

I really quite enjoyed this. I did find the occasional rendering error from a missing texture though.

I had a nice surprise finding the Jade Valley section of Act 2. I got lost quite a bit there and kept getting turned around, but exploring it was fun so I didn't mind, just meant I found more content on my first play-through.

Good stuff! Thanks for making this!

 

[Rumia1]

Oh my goodness, so I feel like that ended up being like 5 minutes of me just saying "OH THAT'S SO COOL!"

Let's see if I can write a better review than that XD

I absolutely love act 1, act 1 feels like such an amazing blend of "this feels familliar" and "this feels like something new!" and makes me want to explore every inch of the level to see what's referencing what. The level of scenery in this map is just astounding and what's more is that I didn't even notice any lag, even with MD2s on! I love that you get to see glimpses of other paths as you travel on whatever path you choose and my mind is always like "Ok, next playthrough I'm gonna find out where the heck that starts from!"
Overall, the first act feels exactly like something we'd see in 2.2 and you've done a great job with it!

Act 2 is also wonderful though I wish there were a little bit of Lua trickery to make those ziplines work like in Mania/Advance. It was absolutely awesome when I came to an area and then realised that it was part of Jade Valley. I do feel like some of the paths could've connected more to the other paths rather than simply stopping in a dead end with a ring box inside, I feel like you did this to keep the player from getting lost but I ended up getting more lost because of it. It breaks the flow a bit when you have to follow one path for a bit and not try other bits. I also found the lack of slopes in this act (mainly at the Jade Valley sections) to be slightly disappointing, but it was fun nonetheless.
The texturework is great at a first glance but after a second playthrough there's one thing I noticed. While the flower textures used do break up the monotonous green really well, they're a little jarring when used so liberally as to be assigned to the entire sector, I didn't notice it as much in act 1 because the places where I saw you use them were generally small bits of the level rather than large sectors like in Act 2. Perhaps creating patches of flowers using sectors would be a good idea here.

Overall, this is a great rendition of GreenFlower Zone and I am really looking forward to any more remixed levels of this sort!


EDIT: I forgot to mention that I also noticed a few texture errors when running around both acts, I hope you can fix them!

 

[Evertone]

Can anyone give a list of all the missing textures found?

 

[Evertone]

Updated mod to v2.0!


Big update because Encore maps now exist! These maps are contained in a separate WAD and need to be loaded in a certain way listed on the main part of the post.


Otherwise there's just been texture fixes and area streamlining here and there.


Enjoy exploring what's old as new.

 

[Evertone]

Updated mod to v2.1!

Mostly a hotfix update, added compatibility with future projects and modified the on-download file type to .zip.

 

[MR L]

Thank you so much for making the format wad so I could actually play this, as for the map it is very, very well polished