SRB: New Horizons

[CyanS]

This is a level pack i have started working on a few weeks ago with FC. Lat' and some other friends . It is already released at srb2SkyBase (http://srb2skybase.org/mb/showthread.php?t=1988) but the director of the project (FC. Lat'/Rainbow"Dashy"Dash) asked me to put it here too. So, here it is. Enjoy and don't forget to leave a lot of feedbacks.

SONIC ROBO BLAST: NEW HORIZONS

This version include:
One three acts level: Floral Cove
New graphics for the huds

Credits:
Rainbow"Dashy"Dash: directory of the project, level designer.
CyanSonic/the cyan: Level designer, beta tester
HAPPYFOX: Level designer, beta tester
Ors: Level designer, beta-tester

MIRROR:
SendSpace: http://www.sendspace.com/file/c7xeyh
MediaFire: http://www.mediafire.com/download/nltrlwmcfutb1t6/scr_SRB-NewHorizons0.1.rar

 

[MellowJacket]

Welcome to releases~

It would make more sense if the project leader posted it here, but it doesn't make any difference as credit is properly given.

Also as I said before with act 1, acts 2 and 3 are decent as introductions to a level pack. Although personally I would raise the difficulty slightly, because even for a first zone there is nothing particularly threatening to the player especially given that the player is likely to have played this after playing vanilla SRB2 at least once.

I'll look forward to seeing what levels the team makes in future though.

 

[Lat']

Thanks for releasing it!
And we will try to do Floral Cove a bit harder. (We are actually looking to completely rebuild the 2nd act)

We also planned some new zone that we can't classify as "Official" such as Industrial Shelter, Heaven Ascend or Icefield Volcano...

 

[Fawfulfan]

All right, I'm gonna come out of my lengthy hiatus from activity in the SRB2 community to talk about this, because it's a lovely, promising start to a level pack that's a little rough around the edges.

First, the good. You do a lot with a little. That's really the hallmark of someone who is on their way to becoming a great level designer...being able to take minimal, muted theming--1.09.4 visuals, as it were--and building a great experience through the actual setup of the level. The levels are not gimmicky but they're solid, like Mystic Realm. And they still manage to be pretty too.

Now, let's discuss where the levels need improvement. To begin with, they're just a tad cramped. Not significantly so, but they are still built for hopping more than for speed. Also, the path layout can be quite confusing at times, especially at the end of Act 2...I went around in circles for a minute before I realized the exit was tucked off to the side. And as a minor cosmetic complaint, near the beginning of Act 2, the thok barrier visually cuts off a large swathe of the level with a wall of sky. That's a common thing--some of the official SRB2 levels do that--but I personally hate the way that looks and try to avoid in whenever I can in my own levels.

Lastly, this is solely my opinion, but I've never thought there's a need for graphics display changes in SRB2. The vanilla style is delightful and recalls the original Sonic games; these alterations bring it more in line with the less enjoyable modern Sonic franchise. The best level packs out there don't try to step away from the style of SRB2...they embrace it and use it for something novel. Again, just my opinion though.

Keep at it, I want to see more.

 

[Lat']

All right, I'm gonna come out of my lengthy hiatus from activity in the SRB2 community to talk about this, because it's a lovely, promising start to a level pack that's a little rough around the edges.

First, the good. You do a lot with a little. That's really the hallmark of someone who is on their way to becoming a great level designer...being able to take minimal, muted theming--1.09.4 visuals, as it were--and building a great experience through the actual setup of the level. The levels are not gimmicky but they're solid, like Mystic Realm. And they still manage to be pretty too.

Now, let's discuss where the levels need improvement. To begin with, they're just a tad cramped. Not significantly so, but they are still built for hopping more than for speed. Also, the path layout can be quite confusing at times, especially at the end of Act 2...I went around in circles for a minute before I realized the exit was tucked off to the side. And as a minor cosmetic complaint, near the beginning of Act 2, the thok barrier visually cuts off a large swathe of the level with a wall of sky. That's a common thing--some of the official SRB2 levels do that--but I personally hate the way that looks and try to avoid in whenever I can in my own levels.

Lastly, this is solely my opinion, but I've never thought there's a need for graphics display changes in SRB2. The vanilla style is delightful and recalls the original Sonic games; these alterations bring it more in line with the less enjoyable modern Sonic franchise. The best level packs out there don't try to step away from the style of SRB2...they embrace it and use it for something novel. Again, just my opinion though.

Keep at it, I want to see more.

Thanks for critizizes!
Well, I know that my levels are a more based on speed than exploration.
We are also looking to completely rebuild the act 2, because it is a bit hard to find the exit if you choosen the "tunnel" path at the intersection, near the begining of the level. And for the graphics, the original FCZ1 had vanilla SRB2 graphics, but Happy Fox, or Cyan Sonic (don't remember which one) did an update with the textures and, of course, I liked them. I think SRB2 just needs a new texture style... And also, about my level design experience, Cyan Sonic and HAPPYFOX did the most parts of the 2 acts, I designed the begining of act 1 and 2 and decorate the level when it is done.

 

[Lat']

Well, since this initial release, I made a new enemy!
The Crawla Turret, Also know as AMT Crawla (Anoying Moving Turret)
Of course, this isn't the kind of enemy that works as good as an official SRB2 ennemy.

 

[Lat']

Sorry for double post, but...
I have did another ennemy that will come with the next version of the level pack!
The FireTurret. This is a pop-up turret that acts like THZ2 turret, but firing fire. Of course, the lenght of the fire is dramatically changed, because the fire is auto-programmed to dispear after a little time.
The two new enemies will come in the zone that will be in the level pack, Icefield Volcano Zone!
This isn't even the second zone, but it is a zone that will be in the final pack.

 

[Mystic]

The level design here is pretty decent, and Fawful went through most of the things that need work, but I think it's really important to emphasize the HUD changes really look ugly.

I'd also like to note that you should be careful where you use what textures. Especially in the case of the cracked wall texture, you use it in a bunch of places, some of which you can spindash and most where you can't. If you want to have breakable walls it's a good idea to have some texture consistency so the player can reliably know what effect their actions will have. This is true for just about any texture that has an effect, like non-climbable walls, icy floors, you name it. Consistent use of textures is really important.

 

[Lat']

The level design here is pretty decent, and Fawful went through most of the things that need work, but I think it's really important to emphasize the HUD changes really look ugly.

I'd also like to note that you should be careful where you use what textures. Especially in the case of the cracked wall texture, you use it in a bunch of places, some of which you can spindash and most where you can't. If you want to have breakable walls it's a good idea to have some texture consistency so the player can reliably know what effect their actions will have. This is true for just about any texture that has an effect, like non-climbable walls, icy floors, you name it. Consistent use of textures is really important.

Thanks for critizes!
I will remove these huds and modify a bit SRB2's normals ones, and about the textures, I myself planned to remove the cracked textures for the next version before.

I have another important thing to tell, Floral Cove Zone now has its own custom boss!! I'll don't tell you what this boss is, it's a mystery...

 

[CyanS]

Version 1.0 in development

The next version will be 1.0 and will be released when we will have two new zone completely ready.

As you can see in FC.Lat's latest posts he made two new enemies:
The Elite Crawla and the Fire Turret

These two will probably be in the next version.

We have also started several maps for the future versions (all of them are still in beta stage): Inverted Forest, Flooded Facility, Icefield Volcano and Heaven Acsend. The first two to be fully completed will be in version 1.0 and the others will be in the next version.

Floral Cove is now named Floral Road, the second and third acts have been remade from scratch. The boss is actually Devil Super Sonic (a custom boss made by FC Lat') here is a video showing the boss: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sY59Xrq03Bg&feature=youtu.be. The second act's new version is currently made by me (the cyan)

A forum for the level pack is also online, thank to Ors: http://newhorizons.freeforums.net/
More information such as images and videos will be posted there and maybe sometimes beta of levels.

All suggestions and criticisms are welcome.

 

[Larz T]

What I would do for the fire turret is make it look different from a regular turret so the player won't get confused on which turret is which instead of the red line.

 

[Lat']

These ennemies are still in beta stage but I didn't have planned any changes for these enemies.

 

[CyanS]

What I would do for the fire turret is make it look different from a regular turret so the player won't get confused on which turret is which instead of the red line.

Ok i will try to modify the sprites a bit.

Here is a video showing the new boss of Floral Road: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sY59Xrq03Bg&feature=youtu.be