[Open Assets] SRB2 : Project Junio 2

[MAJPEEHOTDOG]

I believe it should work for either one, I'm pretty sure the original does and mine just has like four lines of code different. Just load it up as another mod (one or the other, personally I'd say mine first then the original if it doesn't work, but you could also just skip to the original as it is way more powerful, if a bit ugly) alongside Project Junio.

Note also that I make no promises, I've beaten that stage like six times and crashed like twice, but I do remember the framerate being super low the times it crashed, and most of those times I beat it were with that script running.
On the bright side for having to replay it again, it's a very cool stage.

I know you didn't make any promises, but that ts did not work. game still crashes mid way through stormy shire> I'll try again on 2.2.15 and then try again again but turning the render distance down from infinity, but at this point I'm just done

 

[Captain France]

I know you didn't make any promises, but that ts did not work. game still crashes mid way through stormy shire> I'll try again on 2.2.15 and then try again again but turning the render distance down from infinity, but at this point I'm just done

Definitely turn the render distance down from infinity.
That's a huge load there.

 

[MAJPEEHOTDOG]

Definitely turn the render distance down from infinity.
That's a huge load there.

K so turning down the render distance worked, but the shit still crashed imma go lower this time and you anti lag seems to help, but the game chugs HAR loading the stage in.

Post automatically merged: Jul 19, 2025

Definitely turn the render distance down from infinity.
That's a huge load

Post automatically merged: Jul 19, 2025

Okay so for anyone still here I think I figured it out. I increased the framerate a bit and the game did so much better. the mod crashes on zone six, Stormyshire, and one of the gimmicks are these giant masses of land that move up and down rapidly. these pisstons dip the framerate and cause serious lag that crashes the game. I'm gonna turn down the render distance some more.

 

[malom]

malom updated SRB2 : Project Junio with a new update entry:

announcement

After thinking about it a bit more, I'm going to restore the emblem progression with some small bonuses in a future update when I find the motivation to work on it again.

Read the rest of this update entry...

Post automatically merged: Jul 19, 2025

K so turning down the render distance worked, but the shit still crashed imma go lower this time and you anti lag seems to help, but the game chugs HAR loading the stage in.

Post automatically merged: Jul 19, 2025

Post automatically merged: Jul 19, 2025

Okay so for anyone still here I think I figured it out. I increased the framerate a bit and the game did so much better. the mod crashes on zone six, Stormyshire, and one of the gimmicks are these giant masses of land that move up and down rapidly. these pisstons dip the framerate and cause serious lag that crashes the game. I'm gonna turn down the render distance some more.

I'm sorry to hear that the level is still unstable.
I will try to fix everything in the next update.

 

[MAJPEEHOTDOG]

malom updated SRB2 : Project Junio with a new update entry:

announcement



Read the rest of this update entry...

Post automatically merged: Jul 19, 2025

I'm sorry to hear that the level is still unstable.
I will try to fix everything in the next update.

thank you...

 

[Captain France]

malom updated SRB2 : Project Junio with a new update entry:

announcement



Read the rest of this update entry...

Post automatically merged: Jul 19, 2025

I'm sorry to hear that the level is still unstable.
I will try to fix everything in the next update.

I'd appreciate it if you took the current SOC_Main.txt, called it "ProjectJunioMPPatch.soc" or "ProjectJunioLinearPatch.soc" or "ProjectJunioLamePatchForWhinyBabys.soc" or something and kept it around, ideally with the field emblems added back in, but really at the end of the day whatever keeps you happy with your project, man. Good to see you taking a shot at making your original emblem progression work better--I will admit that I did enjoy emblem hunting, once I modded in the radar and until I saw just how many I needed. I'm sure you can pull something off that's good for getting first time players to explore and speedrun more without getting too frustrating.

I also took some sorta debugging notes on my most recent couple runthroughs, if you'd like. Mods were used this time but I saw these issues last time I was running through vanilla too, just didn't stop to take screenshots.

First of all, I think these are the pistons Mahpeejhotdogs was referring to that cause serious framerate issues. With either pure vanilla Project Junio or Project Junio + Many Minor Tweaks + Lagkiller, the framerate gets low, with MMT and no Lagkiller it gets unplayable, and a few times it straight up dropped to two for some reason. I should note that while I complain about performance sometimes, I actually have a fairly beefy PC so if I can't maintain a stable 35FPS it's probably a bigger problem for some other people. (I should just play pure vanilla when I get to this level, but I am spoiled for qol features. That said if you don't feel like looking into the conflict, fault for mod conflicts generally lies with the player.) I do hope you can find a way to improve performance and stability at this bit without cutting it, it's a good bit. (Could maybe use a checkpoint though.)

Also here is the spot that crashes sometimes, and the SRB2 Cherry version of the error message. This is the rail going into the spire jumps to the finale. Which come to think of it makes it a real shame to crash here.

Here's a few more of the spots that have weird geometry glitches that appear to be strictly graphical.

And while I get Othius' suggestion about applying "ramp sector" to pretty much the entire mod, and they certainly have a lot more expertise than me, if I understand their explanation it makes the slopes sticky? You may want to take places like this where you're supposed to do slope jumps and untick it for them--Junio slams right into the wall even when I hit jump and he can recover with his rebound dash but probably isn't supposed to, and anyone who CAN'T get that much verticality out of nowhere is kinda screwed unless they stop and figure something else out.

Also seriously this level pack is great, it's been a (robo) blast with every character I've played it with, and with trying to hit the time emblems as Junio (until I get frustrated and quit for a while. Still gets a lot of "one more try" out of me). (I swear I beat the original version as Junio Sonic that's why he doesn't have a save file for the linear edition.) I especially love the vibes of Crimson Shrine, and the heavy use of water and lava running for alternate routes and stuff there and Vulcanic Rave. (Oh right also grinding breaks for Celadon unless you load GSGrindRails before Project Junio, but looking at the files they both say the same version number? If you had an old version number I'd suggest updating it but you don't so I don't know what's up with that or if it's something you should look into.)

 

[Mr Beagle]

And while I get Othius' suggestion about applying "ramp sector" to pretty much the entire mod, and they certainly have a lot more expertise than me, if I understand their explanation it makes the slopes sticky? You may want to take places like this where you're supposed to do slope jumps and untick it for them--Junio slams right into the wall even when I hit jump and he can recover with his rebound dash but probably isn't supposed to, and anyone who CAN'T get that much verticality out of nowhere is kinda screwed unless they stop and figure something else out.

Ramp sector being checked for everything means any portion of the map that involves steps will be affected as well, not just actual slopes. As in Doom, it doubles the maximum height that triggers a step up anywhere and may not be desirable for boxier areas such as most interiors. If Junio happens to have code that checks for this flag, then it is going to impact the way he moves through everything.

I am happy to see the recent updates though, your map concepts are very original and unique and all we want is to see more of it and to make sure that it performs at its best (with new content either coming as additions to this pack or as part of a future pack).

 

[MAJPEEHOTDOG]

I'd appreciate it if you took the current SOC_Main.txt, called it "ProjectJunioMPPatch.soc" or "ProjectJunioLinearPatch.soc" or "ProjectJunioLamePatchForWhinyBabys.soc" or something and kept it around, ideally with the field emblems added back in, but really at the end of the day whatever keeps you happy with your project, man. Good to see you taking a shot at making your original emblem progression work better--I will admit that I did enjoy emblem hunting, once I modded in the radar and until I saw just how many I needed. I'm sure you can pull something off that's good for getting first time players to explore and speedrun more without getting too frustrating.

I also took some sorta debugging notes on my most recent couple runthroughs, if you'd like. Mods were used this time but I saw these issues last time I was running through vanilla too, just didn't stop to take screenshots.

First of all, I think these are the pistons Mahpeejhotdogs was referring to that cause serious framerate issues. With either pure vanilla Project Junio or Project Junio + Many Minor Tweaks + Lagkiller, the framerate gets low, with MMT and no Lagkiller it gets unplayable, and a few times it straight up dropped to two for some reason. I should note that while I complain about performance sometimes, I actually have a fairly beefy PC so if I can't maintain a stable 35FPS it's probably a bigger problem for some other people. (I should just play pure vanilla when I get to this level, but I am spoiled for qol features. That said if you don't feel like looking into the conflict, fault for mod conflicts generally lies with the player.) I do hope you can find a way to improve performance and stability at this bit without cutting it, it's a good bit. (Could maybe use a checkpoint though.)
View attachment 169614

Also here is the spot that crashes sometimes, and the SRB2 Cherry version of the error message. This is the rail going into the spire jumps to the finale. Which come to think of it makes it a real shame to crash here.
View attachment 169615
View attachment 169616
Here's a few more of the spots that have weird geometry glitches that appear to be strictly graphical.
View attachment 169617View attachment 169618

And while I get Othius' suggestion about applying "ramp sector" to pretty much the entire mod, and they certainly have a lot more expertise than me, if I understand their explanation it makes the slopes sticky? You may want to take places like this where you're supposed to do slope jumps and untick it for them--Junio slams right into the wall even when I hit jump and he can recover with his rebound dash but probably isn't supposed to, and anyone who CAN'T get that much verticality out of nowhere is kinda screwed unless they stop and figure something else out.

View attachment 169619

Also seriously this level pack is great, it's been a (robo) blast with every character I've played it with, and with trying to hit the time emblems as Junio (until I get frustrated and quit for a while. Still gets a lot of "one more try" out of me). (I swear I beat the original version as Junio Sonic that's why he doesn't have a save file for the linear edition.) I especially love the vibes of Crimson Shrine, and the heavy use of water and lava running for alternate routes and stuff there and Vulcanic Rave. (Oh right also grinding breaks for Celadon unless you load GSGrindRails before Project Junio, but looking at the files they both say the same version number? If you had an old version number I'd suggest updating it but you don't so I don't know what's up with that or if it's something you should look into.)
View attachment 169620View attachment 169621

Yo how are aw to play as other characters? I've only been able to play as junio sonic by default

 

[Captain France]

Yo how are aw to play as other characters? I've only been able to play as junio sonic by default

On the current version, mod characters work right out of the gate, you'll want some kind of running on water mod though. Vanilla characters require opening up SOC_Main and deleting the bit that makes them technically unlockable with like 9999 emblems or something. (I assume it's okay to say this, they're locked because someone said Knuckles and Tails are overpowered for multiplayer.) Note that there are some pits you can't get out of without increased verticality of some sort and Metal Sonic needs to get clever in a few spots, but needing to get clever in a few spots is part of the fun of using the wrong character.

Also obviously I'd suggest playing as Junio Sonic first, the stages were designed with him in mind and they mesh really well.

 

[MAJPEEHOTDOG]

Hey just a quick question can I get the music of this game?

 

[SnocSock the Hedg]

Hey just a quick question can I get the music of this game?

You can open the mod in SLADE (a free-to-download DOOM editor) and export the music from there.
Or maybe you'll get an answer, I dunno. Wanted to try and help.

 

[RetroRampage37]

Couldn't help but notice that with the emblem progression off, it doesn't bring you through all stages now. But I will say, the majority of the stages I got to play through are great, but I do have some notes.

There are some issues with level flow and conveyance. I recall many times where the stage's natural path brings you back through an area that you've already been to, and with the stages being so busy and giant, it becomes hard to figure out where you're supposed to go. Especially when going as fast as intended.

The gameplay flow is incredible, some of the most fun I've played in SRB2. Junio sonic with this drop dash feels great. This drop dash may be my favorite iteration OF it. That being said, there's tons of elemental shields in these stages, and they rip the drop dash away from you, which sucks. Especially since the drop dash can be used to get to the ground faster and I tend to rely on it a lot to keep myself from hitting ceilings or to get back down to the ground for a quick jump. Not sure what can be done to alleviate this but shield abilities feel awful with this character and in these stages.

These are the most expansive, fast paced stages I've played in SRB2 and the majority of them impressed me a lot. These feel like boost stages with actual platforming. So much space to run around, it's great. It's genuinely exhilarating running through these.

The hub world, when it was still in the mod, was genuinely great and fun to explore, but you could do with making some of the stages a BIT easier to find? Or maybe having a teleporter pad that can bring you to stages you've already explored? It is a giant map, some fast travel and better conveyance could go a long way.

Also, wow, this mod is PRETTY. Absolutely stellar work with the textures, skyboxes, and layout.

I see that you said you're bringing back emblem progression with the stages, and while this is your mod and you can do what you want, I would personally suggest against it.

Sonic HAS always had elements of exploration in its gameplay loop, absolutely, but one piece of the puzzle people are missing when they say that is the ones that do are SLOWER. Sonic Adventure 1 and 2 aren't very fast games. Sonic 1-3 + CD are also only fast games if you're playing perfectly. But, most crucially, they reward exploration with BONUSES. They don't FORCE you to.

The only sonic game to have ever forced you to hunt for side objectives was Sonic Unleashed, and the day/night medals are arguably the worst aspect about the game. Sonic is naturally fast in the day stages, he is NOT built for exploration. People dont' wanna be forced to play the same stages 10 times in a row to discover absolutely everything before they can finally move on. That is not satisfying progression. Aside from the werehog itself, this is the most common criticism about the game.

Like Sonic Unleashed, Project Junio is FAST. I want to be rewarded for using my movement to the best of my abilities and mastering the stage, not forced to stop going fast and comb through every nook and cranny. I dont' want to be spending 20 minutes on a stage that should last 3. (not an exaggeration)

I would personally suggest a compromise, have the normal stages unlock by beating the last one, and have secret stages unlocked by getting emblems (like how the main SRB2 campaign functions). You seem to have your heart set on having exploration be a factor here, but I think tying basic level progression is a mistake.

 

[MAJPEEHOTDOG]

hey, it's the guy whos game keeps crashing at storymshire I managed to beat the game with one crash on a save

 

[Garrean]

I see that you said you're bringing back emblem progression with the stages, and while this is your mod and you can do what you want, I would personally suggest against it.

Sonic HAS always had elements of exploration in its gameplay loop, absolutely, but one piece of the puzzle people are missing when they say that is the ones that do are SLOWER. Sonic Adventure 1 and 2 aren't very fast games. Sonic 1-3 + CD are also only fast games if you're playing perfectly. But, most crucially, they reward exploration with BONUSES. They don't FORCE you to.

The only sonic game to have ever forced you to hunt for side objectives was Sonic Unleashed, and the day/night medals are arguably the worst aspect about the game. Sonic is naturally fast in the day stages, he is NOT built for exploration. People dont' wanna be forced to play the same stages 10 times in a row to discover absolutely everything before they can finally move on. That is not satisfying progression. Aside from the werehog itself, this is the most common criticism about the game.

Like Sonic Unleashed, Project Junio is FAST. I want to be rewarded for using my movement to the best of my abilities and mastering the stage, not forced to stop going fast and comb through every nook and cranny. I dont' want to be spending 20 minutes on a stage that should last 3. (not an exaggeration)

I would personally suggest a compromise, have the normal stages unlock by beating the last one, and have secret stages unlocked by getting emblems (like how the main SRB2 campaign functions). You seem to have your heart set on having exploration be a factor here, but I think tying basic level progression is a mistake.

I get where you're coming from, but I actually don't think this makes any sense. The only way any of this logic holds up is if you assume that the requirements HAVE to be something extremely difficult, but that's not actually true.

Yeah, "people don't wanna be forced to play the same stages 10 times in a row to discover absolutely everything before they can finally move on". Okay, so don't make them play it 10 times in a row? Don't make them have to discover absolutely everything?

There's absolutely a balance here to be found. Emblem hunting doesn't have to be a chore if you don't make it that way. I don't think a progression system adjusted so that an average player has to play a stage one or two, MAYBE three times to keep up with progression is unreasonable, especially considering how beefy these stages are such that repeat playthroughs probably aren't going to feel the same anyways.

 

[crystallinegazer]

This is absolutely amazing, however I feel like there should be a checkpoint in the last stage's space area. Otherwise this is the most fun I've had in a map pack in ages!!!

 

[RetroRampage37]

I get where you're coming from, but I actually don't think this makes any sense. The only way any of this logic holds up is if you assume that the requirements HAVE to be something extremely difficult, but that's not actually true.

Yeah, "people don't wanna be forced to play the same stages 10 times in a row to discover absolutely everything before they can finally move on". Okay, so don't make them play it 10 times in a row? Don't make them have to discover absolutely everything?

There's absolutely a balance here to be found. Emblem hunting doesn't have to be a chore if you don't make it that way. I don't think a progression system adjusted so that an average player has to play a stage one or two, MAYBE three times to keep up with progression is unreasonable, especially considering how beefy these stages are such that repeat playthroughs probably aren't going to feel the same anyways.

Emblem hunting isn't a chore in base SRB2 because it's completely optional and is only tied to bonuses.

In a game where I'm going as fast as I am in project junio, "exploring" these stages to look for emblems is inherently antithetical to what makes the gameplay fun. It's asking me to hold myself back and slow down rather than play how the stage naturally flows. That's fine for completion sake, emblems are there for the super player who WANTS to get everything.

Emblem hunting's "difficulty" is subjective. None of them really require any real skill, but they do force you to play in a way you are not going to normally, at least in junio's current form. I can say that when I was playing when emblem progression was enabled, I felt lost and just wanted to move onto the next stage but I had to aimlessly enter random stages and hope i find more so I could play more. It made me quit the game half-way through.

Project Junio does not play or flow like a collectathon platformer, and forcing it to be is just creating unneccesary friction.

 

[Garrean]

Emblem hunting isn't a chore in base SRB2 because it's completely optional and is only tied to bonuses.

In a game where I'm going as fast as I am in project junio, "exploring" these stages to look for emblems is inherently antithetical to what makes the gameplay fun. It's asking me to hold myself back and slow down rather than play how the stage naturally flows. That's fine for completion sake, emblems are there for the super player who WANTS to get everything.

Emblem hunting's "difficulty" is subjective. None of them really require any real skill, but they do force you to play in a way you are not going to normally, at least in junio's current form. I can say that when I was playing when emblem progression was enabled, I felt lost and just wanted to move onto the next stage but I had to aimlessly enter random stages and hope i find more so I could play more. It made me quit the game half-way through.

Project Junio does not play or flow like a collectathon platformer, and forcing it to be is just creating unneccesary friction.

Emblem hunting isn't a chore in base SRB2 because there's emblem hints and emblem radar. It makes it so you don't have to wander around aimlessly hoping you'll stumble upon the emblem you're looking for.

Having this enabled in Project Junio, I never felt emblem hunting was "interrupting my flow" any more than any typical platforming segment does in any of these levels. I zoom through the level, hear a ping, platform a bit to reach where the emblem is, then continue zooming. It felt very natural and I miss that part of the gameplay loop.

Repeat runthroughs were fun too because it actively encouraged me to take a different path than I had the first time, which I think is a mechanic that works perfectly in tandem with the way the game is already designed.

Again, I think you're focusing on the extreme of how intrusive emblems can be, without being open to compromises as to how that intrusiveness can be alleviated.

 

[Captain France]

Emblem hunting isn't a chore in base SRB2 because it's completely optional and is only tied to bonuses.

In a game where I'm going as fast as I am in project junio, "exploring" these stages to look for emblems is inherently antithetical to what makes the gameplay fun. It's asking me to hold myself back and slow down rather than play how the stage naturally flows. That's fine for completion sake, emblems are there for the super player who WANTS to get everything.

Emblem hunting's "difficulty" is subjective. None of them really require any real skill, but they do force you to play in a way you are not going to normally, at least in junio's current form. I can say that when I was playing when emblem progression was enabled, I felt lost and just wanted to move onto the next stage but I had to aimlessly enter random stages and hope i find more so I could play more. It made me quit the game half-way through.

Project Junio does not play or flow like a collectathon platformer, and forcing it to be is just creating unneccesary friction.

Honestly, a LOT of Project Junio's emblems are just out in the open on alternate routes, some of which are also good for speedrunning. While I personally prefer just playing through the stages in a row, then playing through them again later on my own time, maybe even doing some emblem hunting if I feel like it, it really is more of a "no emblem radar and requiring too many of the emblems" problem beyond just my personal preference for stuff like replays. (Also an extra reason it's fine to have way more emblems than required! Some of them ARE pretty hidden, and the current speedrun times are really tight, and allowing a new player to focus on whichever of the two they want to to still unlock stuff would be good!)

And then on top of that you do need to consider that it's Malom's mod and if Malon wants their mod to have a strong emblem hunting component, they should do that so they still feel like making it. I'd appreciate continuing to have the current linear format as an optional patch, but making concessions for other people who don't like a major part of their concept is just a nice above and beyond thing to do (that I really would really appreciate.)