SRB2 Hub (1.3)

[Gaga Hax]

This modification is not spoiler-free!
And it will ruin your experience, if you haven't beaten the game yet!


Greetings everyone!

I'm very happy to announce the release of SRB2 Hub!
(Formerly known as SRB2 Rock)
The project has been restarted from scratch to make sure nobody's rights are violated by any sort of stolen content.

First of all I would like to apologize to anyone whose work has been, let's face it, stolen by me. And while I'm not trying to deny my fault in this, I'd like to mention that the original SRB2 Rock was never meant to be released, at least not in it's current form. It was something for me to try out my skills on which is the reason why there are so many seemingly useless things in there as well as tons of bugs and other unpleasantries. The wad, in fact, was leaked by a person who for their own safety shall remain nameless. Regardless, I do feel sorry for my actions.

Now then, it is time to explain what SRB2 Hub is exactly.
Well, it just what the title implies, it's a hub which contains a shortcut to most stages in SRB2.
The main idea was to allow easy access to any map with all Chaos Emeralds in netgames.


There are two main areas:

Gameplay Area.
It contains:
1. Level Select
This room holds teleporters to the map of every zone in the main SRB2 campaign which, in turn, contain a shortcut to every stage.
2. Bonus Level Select.
Contains a shortcut to four hidden stages.
3. Master Emerald Altar.
Just like in SRB2 Rock, it contains the 7 Chaos Emeralds for easy collecting as well as the Master Emerald which can transform Sonic into Super Sonic.

Hangout Area.
It contains:
1. Living Quarters:
An area much like the one that has the zone teleporters in it, but it holds six rooms and a shower instead. Every room (including) the shower can be closed and opened manually from the inside.
2. Cafeteria:
Just what it sounds like, it's a cafeteria. You can choose on of four treats and deliver it to your table of choice via little teleporters. Unlike the rest of the hub, it has different music playing in the background. (5 imaginary cookies to the first one who can guess where the track comes from)
3. Cinema:
Once again it's just what it sounds like, A cinema that plays movies. Three of them actually. They are just looped animations, but I still consider it a nice touch.
Note: it may or may not crash if you switch the movies around too much, so be careful. If it's too unstable, I'll replace it with something else.
Have fun!


Latest Update:

Version 1.3
Notes: This wad still needs some fixes. Thanks to everyone pointing stuff out.

Changelog:
-Bugfixes


Older Updates:

Spoiler

Version 1.2
Notes: Another update because I had time and inspiration to do some stuff.

Changelog:

Spoiler

-Made many improvements to ERZ hub
-Replaced and alligned some textures everywhere on the map
-More minor tweaks and edits

Version 1.16
Notes: Yet another tiny update.

Changelog:

Spoiler

-Renamed Theatre to Cinema
-More OpenGl fixes
-More minor tweaks and edits

Version 1.15
Notes: Another minor update. This will probably be the last for now. Unless more bugs are made known to me.

Changelog:

Spoiler

- Fixed a few issues present when running this thing in OpenGL
- Tweaks to CEZ hub.

Version 1.1
Notes: I lied! Here's another update!

Changelog:

Spoiler

- Revamped GFZ Hub. Now with more texture allignment and less sneaky stage entrances!
- Fixed some minor issues.

Version 1.0!
(1.01 Quick Fix, Sorry)

Spoiler

Major Update!
Firstly, I split SRB2 Hub in three maps:
An entrance, the old 'gameplay area' and the new 'hangout area'.

Entrance:
Basicly, it's a technical map with nothing much in it but the exits to the other ones. It's only purpose is consistency, which I'm obsessed with. Don't pay much mind to it. You don't come back to it, once you leave it.

Gameplay Area:
This is what SRB2 Hub was up until this version. There are some changes here.
- Added SRB1 Remake Level Select to the Bonus Level Select.
- Added Special Stage pictures/titles to make selecting them more visual.
- Fixed and tweaked some minor stuff in the zone hubs.
- More Legacy (with benefits).

Hangout Area:
A completely new area that I've been working on for some time now. Honestly I'm not as happy with it, as with the main area, but I still think it's worth putting here, just to see if you people like it. =)

This thing contains three rooms:
- Living Quarters:
An area much like the one that has the zone teleporters in it, but it holds six rooms and a shower instead. Every room (including) the shower can be closed and opened manually from the inside.
- Cafeteria:
Just what it sounds like, it's a cafeteria. You can choose on of four treats and deliver it to your table of choice via little teleporters. Unlike the rest of the hub, it has different music playing in the background. (5 imaginary cookies to the first one who can guess where the track comes from)
- Theatre:
Once again it's just what it sounds like, A theatre that plays movies. Three of them actually. They are just looped animations, but I still consider it a nice touch.
Note: it may or may not crash if you switch the movies around too much, so be careful. If it's too unstable, I'll replace it with something else.

Also this version has a noticeably bigger file size, so that's something to be aware of.

Well, that's about it, let me know what you think of this. Thanks.

EDIT: Totally forgot to mention that this map now screws with your 'playersforexit' to cover up some of the issues that I just couldn't fix.
Namely, it sets it to 'one', when entering the gameplay area and to 'all' when entering the hangout area.

Version 0.65 (Version 0.66 Quick Fix)

Notes: It's a small update, but there's something much bigger coming.

Changelog:

Spoiler

- Remodeled the Special Stage Warp room to be a lot more compact
- Fixed Special Stages not loading in Coop.
(They still repeat infinitely, because I don't know how to fix that yet.)
- You now go back to the Hub upon finishing PTZ, SHZ, AGZ or ATZ.

Version 0.6:

Notes:
Finally able to do stuff again thanks to LoganA. Here's the update that was supposed to be released 6 hours after the initial release.

Changelog:

Spoiler

- Added beautiful 3D signposts unique to each level in place of yellow floor marks.
- Added a semi-hidden Special Stage Warp room to the Bonus Level Select
(Note: enetering a special stage through here makes you replay it over and over)
- Various tweaks to THZ and ERZ hubs, as well as AGZ and ATZ rooms.

Version Archive: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/msu1zxai4hrouy4

 

[Prime 2.0]

This is not so much a level as it is a pretty utility featuring a map, so I'm putting it here.

If you guys think that's too confusing and/or stupid though, I'll move it back to levels.

 

[Dimpsuu]

Ah I remember SRB2 Rock, it was a pretty neat Hangout level. I didn't know for a fact that it was known for having a bunch of stolen content into one thing. But all I remember was that it was definitely a server favorite. And that's saying something, seeing as how usually only mods released on the Message Board get any sort of popularity if at all. And to my knowledge, SRB2 Rock was not on the Message Board, especially with the knowing that it uses content that was used without permission.
Personally, I wouldn't mind a Hangout section, it'd finally help RPers to stop using Match stages as their RP maps and actually use something more proper. That is until House gets a real 2.1 port.

As for this being on the Misc. section, I dunno...
It's kinda confusing as to where it should be, but I think it belongs more in the map section seeing as how the creator is planning on adding more than just the ability to go to these levels at free will.

 

[Jellybones]

This does everything right that a hub should do, unlike most other attempts I've seen.

First off the aesthetics are great. The doors opening and the light shutting on is a nice touch, and the emerald shrine looks good. It's short and to the point meaning that I find it really easy to navigate. I like the teleports and how they're decorated after their respective stage. Also, Phantasy Star music!

Great job. IMO though, it's hard to tell where this goes regarding Releases category. It's not exactly unfitting in Misc or anything though.

EDIT: I guess the other obvious thing to say is that it lets those of us without all those emblems play things like Spring Hill, so I actually see this being very useful- especially now that it allows people to play things like Aerial Garden, Azure Temple, and Pipe Towers Zone in co-op. I won't be surprised if this is a popular thing on the MS for a while.

 

[Eblo]

For such a gamebreaker, this is a pretty useful utility. It's easy to navigate, and the visuals are rock solid. If I could make a suggestion, there should be a way to access Black Hole (and any of the special stages, since taking X emeralds and going to the x+1th special stage through a normal level is a tad inconvenient).

On another note, the GFZ section looks really familiar. Has it been used before?

 

[Pogofenn]

On another note, the GFZ section looks really familiar. Has it been used before?

Yes, it has been used in an old version of Sf94 server. I think.

 

[Virt]

No SRB1 remake?

 

[CyanS]

This is pretty well done and very fun to use. The only things I would suggest you is to use different musics in the hubs, like tunes 6 for GFZ's hub, tunes 9 for DSZ and maybe tunes 27 for ERZ. Anyway, good job, you did an awesome work this time.

 

[Gaga Hax]

Oh my gosh! People, you flatter me, really. Thank you for all the wonderful comments. I very much appreciate your feedback.

If I could make a suggestion, there should be a way to access Black Hole (and any of the special stages, since taking X emeralds and going to the x+1th special stage through a normal level is a tad inconvenient).

I might make something like that in the future, although there are two things I'd like to note. Firstly, I'm not sure where exactly to put it on the map, since I'm very happy with the layout as it is. And secondly, I don't really see a point in it (at least the main seven special stages), since Nights Mode with a global timer tends to be annoying in multiplayer. But I guess if I find a way to implement it, it will be in one of the next updates.

On another note, the GFZ section looks really familiar. Has it been used before?

Yes and no. You see, this very section was created 3 years ago along with the original SRB2 Rock as a way to try out the concept, but was never actually implemented before the file was leaked. It was tweaked a little bit, but other than that, it stayed mostly the same.

No SRB1 remake?

No, sorry. Maybe one day...

The only thing I would suggest you is to use different musics in the hubs, like tunes 6 for GFZ's hub, tunes 9 for DSZ and maybe tunes 27 for ERZ. Anyway, good job, you did an awesome work this time.

I thought of doing that, but it would kinda ruin the overall consistency of content (nothing to do with netcode), since there are no special tracks for some of the zones.

 

[Puppyfaic]

I might make something like that in the future, although there are two things I'd like to note. Firstly, I'm not sure where exactly to put it on the map, since I'm very happy with the layout as it is. And secondly, I don't really see a point in it (at least the main seven special stages), since Nights Mode with a global timer tends to be annoying in multiplayer. But I guess if I find a way to implement it, it will be in one of the next updates.

An easy way to implement it would be to find a place to put an entrance to each Special Stage in its respective mini-hub.
Example: With GFZ's hub, along with Acts 1, 2, and 3, there's be an entrance with an S in front of it that takes you to Floral Field.

 

[Gaga Hax]

An easy way to implement it would be to find a place to put an entrance to each Special Stage in its respective mini-hub.
Example: With GFZ's hub, along with Acts 1, 2, and 3, there's be an entrance with an S in front of it that takes you to Floral Field.

Huh, that's actually a preety good idea! What do I do with Black Hole then though? I suppose it could go to the Bonus Level Select then. Or maybe I should just put all of the Special Stages there?

Nevertheless, thanks for the idea!

 

[Puppyfaic]

Black Hole would just go in Bonus Level Select, yeah.

 

[TehRealSalt]

Speaking of Bonus Level Select, could you make all of the level entrances buttons, like the button to ERCZ and all of the bonus level select entrances? It makes it easier to tell when you're going to reach the level, instead of going in a direction towards a number imprinted on the ground until you teleport to the next level.

Spoiler

Also, why is old THZ2 and ERZ3 in here?

 

[Gaga Hax]

Speaking of Bonus Level Select, could you make all of the level entrances buttons, like the button to ERCZ and all of the bonus level select entrances? It makes it easier to tell when you're going to reach the level, instead of going in a direction towards a number imprinted on the ground until you teleport to the next level.

Spoiler

Also, why is old THZ2 and ERZ3 in here?

I'll think about it, but it would require some remodeling. If there are more people, who feel uncomfortable about this, I'll make sure to take action.

Spoiler

Because those are easter eggs! And because 'why the hell not?' =D

 

[STHE123O]

I loved it! It is really great, I must say I didn´t expected it to be that good.

 

[clairebun]

Pretty neat! Although I have to say, one thing that would look way better than those yellow floor numbers is some sort of actual zone signpost.

 

[TehRealSalt]

I'll think about it, but it would require some remodeling.

Why would it take a lot of remodeling? It's just putting a box with a number on it where the Exit Level sector normally is. It doesn't actually have to do anything more special than that.

 

[Unknownlight]

Spoiler

Also, why is old THZ2 and ERZ3 in here?

Hmm? Where do you find it?

 

[Gaga Hax]

Hmm? Where do you find it?

Spoiler

Well, what fun would it be if I told you that? Although I can confirm that it is accessable through SRB2 Hub itself.

 

[TehRealSalt]

Spoiler

ERZ3 is on MAP28, THZ2 is on MAP29

(I'm spoilering these in case there's actually a way to unlock these without the map command.)

EDIT: Ninja'd