IKindaDoEverything
Member
Posting this cuz I need some people to test a stage I'm with a character I'm also making
You can skip everything above the line as it's just general rambling and **backstory**, but if you want Bobby lore, go ahead.
So when I first joined the SRB2 community (around the start of the quarantine), I started messing with mods, and then I started tinkering with some. At the time, I was into Sonic GT, and since I was developing my skills in SRB2 modding, I thought I could make a kinda modpack of my favorite attributes of mods to replicate the game and official cutscenes (like the Junio or Unleashed ones) into one character- "Modded Sonic". Unfortunately, I kinda got a lot of flak for not using Open Assets for my mod (somewhat rightfully so), so I went back to the drawing board and decided to take some of the mods and make my own character, "Forest the Wolf". When I first made him, I mostly did it to make him, just, original. No official Sonic character has been gray or a wolf (to my knowledge at the time; I didn't know the official OC from Forces was a wolf until I already made Forest), so I just went with it. Meanwhile, I was making a stage, made for Forest, that had multiple elements I wanted from a Sonic game:
Combining the ideas of Classic Sonic design philosophy of doing platforming, then speed as a reward- Why not make speedy platforming that rewards players with more speed upon doing well? It would be momentum based gameplay that can be used to jump over a lot of the terrain, and there would be MANY unique paths that you could jump between, being fluid in whatever you decide; no stopping (UNIQUE paths; no more Sonic Forces with multiple, similar paths). All with memorable moments that tells the story with images, not words.
Fast forward about 4 years later, and I got back into SRB2 modding. OG Forest was pretty buggy and incompatible with some stages, and my knowledge of coding (and SRB2 documentation) has DRASTICALLY improved, so I decided to recreate him from the ground up with more original moves (save for a few small Open Asset mods). I changed his colors, added some spunk to his design, and currently have a story cooking for a campaign. Since I joined the SRB2 community, I have also gotten into the band Zebrahead which has influenced my style of music making (and one of their songs is a placeholder for the stage I got right now until I compose better fitting music).
SO, despite everything, nothing is even CLOSE to being done (except maybe Forest's moveset), thanks to me and my ADHD-filled brain being busy with schoolwork and being distracted with a hundred things, as well as making the level work. The level is large, but has only about 30 seconds of content in a single playthrough (up to the first checkpoint). I didn't know if I should have posted this on the Discord or not, but I'll find out.
There's no tutorial yet, so I suggest you practice the moveset in GFZ1 before tackling Tight Tunnel.
Alright, now it's FINALLY time to talk about the
Controls:
Static Dash- The main air ability, it's a kind of slow, platforming thok that can be used to redirect your momentum. Holding space will make you hover for a maximum time of half a second before it stops.
There's 2 ways to hit enemies with it-
If you use the dash shortly after hitting an enemy, you will dash straight forward, useful for chaining attacks at adjacent enemies quickly. There is a speed cap to this though, so if you really want to go fast, it's best if you avoid this at higher speeds.
You can also use the ability after a spring or falling etc.
The ability also converts vertical momentum into horizontal, so if you find yourself being launched up high, you can static dash to cut it short and go really fast.
Static dashing into multi-hit enemies (not bosses) are pushed, so you can sumo one off a ledge. Strong launches push them further than weak launches.
Sonic Utopia-style Spinning- You now need to hold the spin button to roll. Letting go causes you to uncurl. When you're spinning in a jump, you can also tap then to uncurl. You can also manually curl mid-air if you're not already.
Oh yeah and you can spindash like any vanilla character
Burst mode- I'm calling it "burst mode" because it works (and is coded) differently from boost mode, but you can still call it boost mode. Basically, Forest has momentum abilities, and if he moves fast enough, he lurches forward with a sonic boom into burst mode, signified by afterimages. From there, he can run on water and break spikes, but if you go too slow, he loses burst mode. Unlike normal boost mode however, burst mode cannot be attained by running normally- you have to gain speed through other means, like using Forest's other abilities or rolling down slopes.
Running on water slows you down, and jumping on water even moreso.
Rolling makes you fall through the water.
Stomping- Press custom1 mid-air to stomp. Upon landing, you will nullify any boost you might have gotten from a ramp without the stomp (though this effect isn't that noticeable unless you stomp on half pipes or large ramps).
You can cancel out of a stomp with a static dash, but you can't cancel a dash with a stomp. You can, however, stomp at any time mid-air, and static dashing does not prevent you from stomping afterward.
Stomping onto water in burst mode causes you to ignore water running and fall straight into the water.
You can stomp onto springs to bounce higher, like using Amy's hammer on one. Same goes for Amy and Fang's bustable FOFs- Forest can bust them using a stomp.
On its own, the ability is used for platforming and maintaining speed, but holding different buttons upon landing can do different things:
Holding custom1 will cause you to bounce, similar to the adventure games. However, unlike the adventure games, the faster you hit the ground, the higher you bounce. You lose a bit of speed upon bouncing, so don't overuse it in burst mode.
Bouncing underwater is a bit glitchy and I haven't been able to figure out what's wrong with it yet. Send help aa
You can also bounce on enemies. Like static dashing, holding custom1 (strong bouncing) or not (weak bouncing) affects how high you bounce. Strong bouncing keeps your vertical momentum and adds a little extra while weak bouncing bounces you up at a fixed, small, velocity.
Note that strong bouncing tends to be a little glitchy, as stomping right above an enemy and then strong bouncing launches you further than if you stomped higher up in the jump. If anyone can help me debug that, I'd appreciate it.
Holding spin upon hitting the ground after a stomp will cause you to stomp dash. It's similar to the drop dash in a way. The higher the speed which you hit the ground at, the faster you dash. It's also affected by slopes, so use this when landing onto one.
The dash only speeds you up at a maximum of 20*FRACUNIT/sec so you have to use it multiple times to reach the speed cap (120*FRACUNIT/sec), so at lower speeds, stomp dashing from a high height can feel a bit weird and underwhelming. I'll have to figure out a way to fix that.
For landing, stomp dashing overrides bouncing when both custom1 and spin are held at the same time.
Shield abilities- When gaining a shield, the static dash is changed when used while holding spin. I'll let you experiment with that though, since the dash is changed to how you'd expect it to be (except for when it's not, but I'll fix that wayy before the final release).
Special notes- Forest drowns quickly and gasps for air when he reaches the surface. So whenever you pass by an air bubble, USE IT.
Also Forest's jump is a little shorter than your average character, so use the bounce to compensate.
Super form- In super, you static dash is buffed so much that you can fly. You hover for longer, gain better air control than on land, and during the dash, you can hold spin to fly up and custom1 to fly down. Flying up shortens the amount of time you can fly for though, so do it sparingly. You can also homing attack enemies as if you have an attraction shield on (starting a static dash while holding spin). Holding forward while static dashing also automatically puts you into burst mode, and not will have the strength of a normal static dash for instances where caution is key. You still can only static dash once mid-air before having to recharge by hitting the floor or an enemy.
The other moves are buffed for super too, but that's boring to describe.
It all sounds complicated, but when you get the hang of it, you can do a LOT with the moveset.
Though, I mainly made this post in WIP showcase for the stage, Tight Tunnel Zone, the first stage in a campaign for Forest (apart from the tutorial). I'm having a lot of trouble filling out the last few water sections before the checkpoints ("labelled" by differently colored and textured water). I kinda wanna add an auto water section, but in this context, I think it is lazy, is a shallow application, and goes against my entire design philosophy.
If you're gonna test the level, please do it with Forest, and learn the basics of his moves first. The level was made with him specifically in mind and I'd have to change a lot of the level to work for other momentum or speed characters.
Both rendering engines have visual artifacts in the stage, but I suggest you use OpenGL, since the artifacts are less intrusive and the lighting, coloring, and ambience are more like what I was going for.
Up to the first checkpoints (there are two first checkpoints), the level is mostly done. Everything after that is basically an empty room.
Anyway, please let me know what I can do in those spots, let me know what I can do to make the stage better, and if anyone wants to help to make the stage while keeping Forest's style of gameplay, I'd appreciate it.
Thanks for reading this!
You can skip everything above the line as it's just general rambling and **backstory**, but if you want Bobby lore, go ahead.
So when I first joined the SRB2 community (around the start of the quarantine), I started messing with mods, and then I started tinkering with some. At the time, I was into Sonic GT, and since I was developing my skills in SRB2 modding, I thought I could make a kinda modpack of my favorite attributes of mods to replicate the game and official cutscenes (like the Junio or Unleashed ones) into one character- "Modded Sonic". Unfortunately, I kinda got a lot of flak for not using Open Assets for my mod (somewhat rightfully so), so I went back to the drawing board and decided to take some of the mods and make my own character, "Forest the Wolf". When I first made him, I mostly did it to make him, just, original. No official Sonic character has been gray or a wolf (to my knowledge at the time; I didn't know the official OC from Forces was a wolf until I already made Forest), so I just went with it. Meanwhile, I was making a stage, made for Forest, that had multiple elements I wanted from a Sonic game:
Combining the ideas of Classic Sonic design philosophy of doing platforming, then speed as a reward- Why not make speedy platforming that rewards players with more speed upon doing well? It would be momentum based gameplay that can be used to jump over a lot of the terrain, and there would be MANY unique paths that you could jump between, being fluid in whatever you decide; no stopping (UNIQUE paths; no more Sonic Forces with multiple, similar paths). All with memorable moments that tells the story with images, not words.
Fast forward about 4 years later, and I got back into SRB2 modding. OG Forest was pretty buggy and incompatible with some stages, and my knowledge of coding (and SRB2 documentation) has DRASTICALLY improved, so I decided to recreate him from the ground up with more original moves (save for a few small Open Asset mods). I changed his colors, added some spunk to his design, and currently have a story cooking for a campaign. Since I joined the SRB2 community, I have also gotten into the band Zebrahead which has influenced my style of music making (and one of their songs is a placeholder for the stage I got right now until I compose better fitting music).
SO, despite everything, nothing is even CLOSE to being done (except maybe Forest's moveset), thanks to me and my ADHD-filled brain being busy with schoolwork and being distracted with a hundred things, as well as making the level work. The level is large, but has only about 30 seconds of content in a single playthrough (up to the first checkpoint). I didn't know if I should have posted this on the Discord or not, but I'll find out.
There's no tutorial yet, so I suggest you practice the moveset in GFZ1 before tackling Tight Tunnel.
Alright, now it's FINALLY time to talk about the
Controls:
Static Dash- The main air ability, it's a kind of slow, platforming thok that can be used to redirect your momentum. Holding space will make you hover for a maximum time of half a second before it stops.
There's 2 ways to hit enemies with it-
- Hitting an enemy shortly after letting go of space will make you launch a small distance up (calling weak launch for the sake of quicker explanations), kind of like a homing attack. This can be used for platforming.
- Hitting an enemy mid-dash or while pressing space after one will launch you higher and make you gain some speed (strong launch), useful for momentum building and reaching areas. It also works like a jump, so holding space will make you launch higher.
If you use the dash shortly after hitting an enemy, you will dash straight forward, useful for chaining attacks at adjacent enemies quickly. There is a speed cap to this though, so if you really want to go fast, it's best if you avoid this at higher speeds.
You can also use the ability after a spring or falling etc.
The ability also converts vertical momentum into horizontal, so if you find yourself being launched up high, you can static dash to cut it short and go really fast.
Static dashing into multi-hit enemies (not bosses) are pushed, so you can sumo one off a ledge. Strong launches push them further than weak launches.
Sonic Utopia-style Spinning- You now need to hold the spin button to roll. Letting go causes you to uncurl. When you're spinning in a jump, you can also tap then to uncurl. You can also manually curl mid-air if you're not already.
Oh yeah and you can spindash like any vanilla character
Burst mode- I'm calling it "burst mode" because it works (and is coded) differently from boost mode, but you can still call it boost mode. Basically, Forest has momentum abilities, and if he moves fast enough, he lurches forward with a sonic boom into burst mode, signified by afterimages. From there, he can run on water and break spikes, but if you go too slow, he loses burst mode. Unlike normal boost mode however, burst mode cannot be attained by running normally- you have to gain speed through other means, like using Forest's other abilities or rolling down slopes.
Running on water slows you down, and jumping on water even moreso.
Rolling makes you fall through the water.
Stomping- Press custom1 mid-air to stomp. Upon landing, you will nullify any boost you might have gotten from a ramp without the stomp (though this effect isn't that noticeable unless you stomp on half pipes or large ramps).
You can cancel out of a stomp with a static dash, but you can't cancel a dash with a stomp. You can, however, stomp at any time mid-air, and static dashing does not prevent you from stomping afterward.
Stomping onto water in burst mode causes you to ignore water running and fall straight into the water.
You can stomp onto springs to bounce higher, like using Amy's hammer on one. Same goes for Amy and Fang's bustable FOFs- Forest can bust them using a stomp.
On its own, the ability is used for platforming and maintaining speed, but holding different buttons upon landing can do different things:
Holding custom1 will cause you to bounce, similar to the adventure games. However, unlike the adventure games, the faster you hit the ground, the higher you bounce. You lose a bit of speed upon bouncing, so don't overuse it in burst mode.
Bouncing underwater is a bit glitchy and I haven't been able to figure out what's wrong with it yet. Send help aa
You can also bounce on enemies. Like static dashing, holding custom1 (strong bouncing) or not (weak bouncing) affects how high you bounce. Strong bouncing keeps your vertical momentum and adds a little extra while weak bouncing bounces you up at a fixed, small, velocity.
Note that strong bouncing tends to be a little glitchy, as stomping right above an enemy and then strong bouncing launches you further than if you stomped higher up in the jump. If anyone can help me debug that, I'd appreciate it.
Holding spin upon hitting the ground after a stomp will cause you to stomp dash. It's similar to the drop dash in a way. The higher the speed which you hit the ground at, the faster you dash. It's also affected by slopes, so use this when landing onto one.
The dash only speeds you up at a maximum of 20*FRACUNIT/sec so you have to use it multiple times to reach the speed cap (120*FRACUNIT/sec), so at lower speeds, stomp dashing from a high height can feel a bit weird and underwhelming. I'll have to figure out a way to fix that.
For landing, stomp dashing overrides bouncing when both custom1 and spin are held at the same time.
Shield abilities- When gaining a shield, the static dash is changed when used while holding spin. I'll let you experiment with that though, since the dash is changed to how you'd expect it to be (except for when it's not, but I'll fix that wayy before the final release).
Special notes- Forest drowns quickly and gasps for air when he reaches the surface. So whenever you pass by an air bubble, USE IT.
Also Forest's jump is a little shorter than your average character, so use the bounce to compensate.
Super form- In super, you static dash is buffed so much that you can fly. You hover for longer, gain better air control than on land, and during the dash, you can hold spin to fly up and custom1 to fly down. Flying up shortens the amount of time you can fly for though, so do it sparingly. You can also homing attack enemies as if you have an attraction shield on (starting a static dash while holding spin). Holding forward while static dashing also automatically puts you into burst mode, and not will have the strength of a normal static dash for instances where caution is key. You still can only static dash once mid-air before having to recharge by hitting the floor or an enemy.
The other moves are buffed for super too, but that's boring to describe.
It all sounds complicated, but when you get the hang of it, you can do a LOT with the moveset.
Though, I mainly made this post in WIP showcase for the stage, Tight Tunnel Zone, the first stage in a campaign for Forest (apart from the tutorial). I'm having a lot of trouble filling out the last few water sections before the checkpoints ("labelled" by differently colored and textured water). I kinda wanna add an auto water section, but in this context, I think it is lazy, is a shallow application, and goes against my entire design philosophy.
If you're gonna test the level, please do it with Forest, and learn the basics of his moves first. The level was made with him specifically in mind and I'd have to change a lot of the level to work for other momentum or speed characters.
Both rendering engines have visual artifacts in the stage, but I suggest you use OpenGL, since the artifacts are less intrusive and the lighting, coloring, and ambience are more like what I was going for.
Up to the first checkpoints (there are two first checkpoints), the level is mostly done. Everything after that is basically an empty room.
Anyway, please let me know what I can do in those spots, let me know what I can do to make the stage better, and if anyone wants to help to make the stage while keeping Forest's style of gameplay, I'd appreciate it.
Thanks for reading this!
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