Sonic Ability Design Contest (SADC) Release Thread

[Rumia1]

Hello!

4 weeks ago from the time this post was submitted, the SRB2 Community Discord server was rife with some drama.... no not that one,or the other one.. over the Thok and it's usability for beginners in the game, and whether it was going to be removed or not in later major revisions.

At the time, a lot of people were arguing about it with little regard on how to make it better were it to stay, and no real movement on ideas for what the ability should be replaced with.

Thus I had an idea to hold a contest that ended up running for one month to see if people could come up with some more constructive ways to use their energy, and I think it worked.

I PRESENT TO YOU
The Sonic Ability Design Contest​

As this is a contest, there will be a voting thread held for a much shorter length of time than I had set for the contest itself (which I believe may have been a little generous for what it ended up being). The voting shall be held for a total of... let's say, 5 days.

Here is the results thread!

Details on trophies and the winners can be found there!

-Abilities-​

ClimbThok, by Princess Draykon: This one uses a separate character to work. If you thok into a wall, your horizontal momentum will be converted to vertical momentum and you'll climb it! The closer you are, the more vertical momentum you'll have.

Epic Ability For Sonic, by Cyron: Only the best ability in the game!

Momentum Thok, by Frostiikin: The more you use this ability, the faster you go! If you reach full power, you'll gain afterimages.

ExThok, by JABSphere94: The longer you hold the jump button, the faster the thok will go. You can also thok in the opposite direction of the camera while not using Simple. Badnik/Monitor bouncing will allow you to do a second thok as well.

Comet Dash + Recurl DropDash, by Katmint: A momentum based thok that, when you thok into a wall, you gain a small amount of vertical height. As an added bonus, if you press spin while in your falling frames, you'll charge a dropdash that you can release even in midair! Dropdash sprites are reusable content by DirkTheHusky.

ReboundDash, by Krabs: A momentum based thok that bounces you backwards and upwards depending on how much speed you bounce into a wall with. This can be used up to two times per jump.

Juke Thok, by Wumbo: A thok based entirely on your current speed that gives a slight boost in height when you use it. Sends you in the direction you're pressing, even when you're not using Simple controls!

What The Thok, By Zipper: And here's the thing that started it all.

Supporters / CoAuthors

• Cyron
• DirkTheHusky
• Frostiikin
• JABSphere94
• Katmint
• Krabs
• Princess Draykon
• Wumbo
• Zipper

 

[Zipper]

The thok is no more, we did it Reddit

 

[Zippy_Zolton]

Now we are both OLD and SAD.

 

[Grace]

what the thok is this, thok you

 

[So2ro]

How to solve the thok problem

1.????
2.Profit

 

[Othius]

Sonic Adventure DC

 

[PencilVoid]

The sound I made when I tried out Cyron's ability was a sound humans are not supposed to make.

 

[pastel]

Comet Dash + Recoil DropDash

It's actually *Recurl Drop Dash, not recoil.

Also, for anyone trying these out: please load only one file at a time and restart the game between each test. I can guarantee you there's going to be conflicts if you add them all at once.

 

[Rumia1]

Fixed, thank you for pointing that out.

 

[Frisktaker]

Well, I played them all, and...slightly disappointed. When I saw the name "Sonic Ability Design Contest" I thought it was gonna be completely unique abilities, not versions of the Thok. If I had to pick one, it would be Rebound because at least they changed the character select text, but the poll has questions I just can't answer. Also, Epic Ability and What the Thok...really?
Honestly, I am now cemented in giving the Thok to Metal and giving Sonic Double Jump+Drop Dash or something more than ever.

 

[SpicyHamSamson]

Personally, I think these are all good concepts, but there's one problem that I have:
They're all variations of the thok
Why not have some one try and make a custom ability out of a double jump or something else? Yes, there's a lot you can do with the thok, but it'd be nice to see some abilities that are made from another basic move.
It's not like a move based on a double jump is guaranteed to be awful. In fact, they could likely be very good! Pointy's momentum flip is based on a double jump, and people love that!

 

[mistybumblebee]

Well, I played them all, and...slightly disappointed. When I saw the name "Sonic Ability Design Contest" I thought it was gonna be completely unique abilities, not versions of the Thok. If I had to pick one, it would be Rebound because at least they changed the character select text, but the poll has questions I just can't answer. Also, Epic Ability and What the Thok...really?
Honestly, I am now cemented in giving the Thok to Metal and giving Sonic Double Jump+Drop Dash or something more than ever.

I agree. Rebound dash is the best one out of all of these, but I feel CobaltBW's Double Jump + Drop Dash is the most ideal ability for Sonic. It's simple, beginner friendly, and both good for platforming and speedrunning. It also has the skillfulness of thok as well when landing and building up speed from drop dash chains.

 

[pastel]

A few tips for advanced maneuvers using my ability:

Unlike the thok, the Comet Dash cancels all of your downwards momentum and resists gravity for the duration of the dash. This its primary benefit for platforming aside from the wall climb.

A grounded drop dash is much faster than releasing the drop dash in midair. However, releasing in midair is typically more useful for platforming. Don't forget you can also use it off springs.

Only the spindash and drop dash allow Sonic to exceed his normal run speed. Use the comet dash's capability of landing into a spin along with its momentum redirection and the drop dash to maintain your speed as long as possible.

Some extra notes:
-Wall climb strength is based on your existing momentum. This may be scaling up a bit too much at high speeds so I'd appreciate feedback.

-Super Sonic is supported. The drop dash in particular will become much faster.

-By default, the ability comes with increased air and spin control and a buffed spindash charge speed. These can be disabled with "revi off" in the console, but it's recommended to play with them on if only for the sake of the drop dash.

 

[Jexus]

man this is pretty cool, all these variations make my brain spin with excitment, i had to make a chart with even more categories then the poll has to keep my thoughts organized (honestly i really want to tell all my thoughts but then this would be a 100 page epic). i loove this stuff.
although cyron's epic ability just closes my game and i unfortunaly really dont know if thats the point, if it is then its the best one of course 10/10

oh and shouldn't climbthoks description say that the direction of the thok is based on the key your pressing? i feel like that important enough, especially since jukethok as it, sorry if im being needlessly complicated

 

[Charonik08]

Wow! Can’t wait to try them out for myself. Ever since people uploaded their suggestions on the original thread, I’ve been so impatient to finally try them out. Besides that, good luck to everyone involved in the contest!

 

[VGBoy]

Out of all of the abilities shown, I'm partial towards the Comet Dash, because it scales climbing height based on horizontal speed, so beginners can still get some encouraging use out of it as a safety net for platforming, and experienced players can use some advanced speedrun/exploration tech with building speed.

On an unrelated note, found a bug with Draykon's Climb Thok where the climb still has Sonic going towards the ceiling in flipped gravity.

 

[Boost]

So, it began
Well then, I played around with all of them a bit...
ClimbThok, by Princess Draykon - Its main problem is that it doesn't offer anything once you actually climb the wall. So either you steer Sonic to land on whatever high ground you were climbing or you don't get enough height and fall. The second outcome is more likely to happen since you have to hug the wall to get the maximum height.

Epic Ability For Sonic, by Cyron - ...
Welp, that'll surely tell beginners not to play as Sonic...

Momentum Thok, by Frostiikin - Quite interesting, although I think it would work better if it sent Sonic in the direction he is looking rather than where the camera is looking.

ExThok, by JABSphere94 - It's pretty much the same old thok that's just a tiny bit more difficult to spam.

Comet Dash + Recurl DropDash, by Katmint - I'll just say that you might as well move dropdash to the jump button, seeing how these abilities work in different conditions (spin jump <=> spring jump/fall). Unless you made it that way specifically for compatibility with Whirlwind shield.

ReboundDash, by Krabs - This one is my favourite of the bunch. Bouncing from enemies and monitors made it even better.

Juke Thok, by Wumbo - Maybe it's just me, but I don't see the charm in this ability. "Slight height boost" is barely noticable and only helps with resetting vertical momentum. The ability itself can only redirect Sonic's current horizontal momentum.

Sends you in the direction you're pressing

Unless you spindash-jump. Then it sends you in the direction of spindash.

What The Thok, By Zipper - ...
Well, it certainly does help you with platforming... Especially with infinite uses per jump...

Spoiler

I sincerely hope you don't think I'm taking certain two abilities seriously

 

[Jonster]

Thok The Thokhog

 

[BomberBlur07]

People not liking the abilities because they are derivatives of the thok? What world do we live in?

Anyway, most of the abilities are great, my favourite has to be the Momentum Thok by Frostiikin. The superior ability will always be the thok, but it's nice to see some variety.

Honestly, I am now cemented in giving the Thok to Metal and giving Sonic Double Jump+Drop Dash or something more than ever.

If you do, I know what I am going to do... points at P_SKIN

 

[Charonik08]

Alright! After testing them all out, I’ll give my opinions on each and every one.

ClimbThok: This one I had trouble figuring out when I first used it, and that’s saying a lot especially sense I picked up the Thok just fine, but this one gave me so much trouble. Once I found the purpose, it was still hard to find the utilities in this one. Platforming wise, the climb might be helpful, but like mentioned above, there’s no guarantee hugging the wall offers the ability climb it. (Unless I was doing something wrong?) and plus beginners will have trouble figuring out this one if I couldn’t even use it properly.

Momentum Thok: Besides the first impressions of being absolutely busted, I found that it has its uses if used correctly with the environment. Beginners may be turned away from using Sonic due to how fast you can go, maybe lowering the momentum gain for the ability as it makes it hard to control Sonic. Of course, for more advanced folk, this ability has potential to make record time in some levels if practiced well enough. Good ability!

ExThok: Everything that has been said before about this one stands for me as well. It’s just a Thok but it’s harder to spam. Beginner friendly and pretty balanced. Other than that, that’s a decent ability!

Comet Dash + Recurl DropDash: This one is probably the most advanced one out of all. The Comet Dash on its own is a really fun ability and personally my favorite sonic ability. The three dashes it offers although not as fast, really balanced and can help save bad jumps. The wall jump idea is also pretty good for not only platforming, but for better routing when speedrunning stages. Now, the Comet Dash in this... is decent? The one Dash mid-air is fine, and still helpful in the ways that the Thok is, but the wall jump is significantly worse, there’s zero control mid-air and (although this is how it works) also in spring state. Yes you can go into a Drop Dash afterwards, but feels clunky without the movement mid-air in that wall jump. Now the Drop Dash itself is perfectly fine as is. Don’t know if it should be possible to initiate it whenever (I.G when just jumping and pressing spin) but otherwise it’s fine.

Rebound Dash: This one I had a lot of fun with. It has a lot of uses and practicality along with it. It’s beginner friendly, works well to help beginners play the game, is useful for speedrunning and works well for more advanced players. The only thing is that I wish this would give out a bit more height in general, as it can feel a bit un-satisfying after hitting a wall and receiving a low jump without the correct angle. This will be my vote as it absolutely fits the criteria for a new official ability.

Juke Thok: This one kinda confused me? I can see how it’s helpful in terms of platforming, but it’s main purpose is minimal and not really useful half of the time. I wish I could give constructive criticism for this one, but I really don’t find any uses for this (and I’m really sorry if I come out as harsh in general >~<). And also this ability doesn’t work with Legacy.

Epic Ability for Sonic: Right, well this one is decent! Maybe as good as the original Thok, but feels lackluster compared to the viability of the Thok. Definitely not as beginner friendly and not really... responsive.

What the Thok: Thok the What¿

And that’s it! Hopefully I helped in some way, and everyone generally did a good job. Stay Safe people!