To those thinking of making a Mod based off of a Sonic game.

[Chibs]

EDIT: I should add that I have no intent of flaming anybody in the typing of this post.


It's pretty much now a well-known fact round these parts that every time SEGA dishes out a new Sonic game, people (mostly new users, this'll come later) rush out to make a mod based off of said game. A few weeks ago, we saw the attempt at a Sonic Chronicles mod (canceled, thank God) and more recently, two attempts at a Sonic Unleashed mod (one by Sonichu and one by Anthman) have been shut down by Torgo. Also, we've seen the STH360 mod by Hyper Sonildow which, despite the fact the topic is over 100 pages long, is pretty much trash, as was expected. So, this is my message to the community:

To those thinking of making an SRB2 mod based off of a Sonic game, RESTRAIN YOURSELF.

For the sake of the board and this struggling community, if you are considering making a mod based off of a Sonic game, chances are it is going to fail very, very hard. Iif 95% of the users on the board are telling you the mod is crap (hint hint, Sonildow), abandon the mod. Why continue something pretty much everyone hates?


Now, just to lighten up, there is one, and, in my personal opinion, only one way to make a mod/level based off of a Sonic game that will gain more respect and popularity:

Take the theme of the level (i.e. the way it looks, the gimmick of the stage, what it's based around) and make a level that follows your own design. In case you (the users who attempt to make these mods) haven't noticed, the mods/levels that have been original have fared WAAAY better amongst the community than mods based off of Sonic games. For those of you who are intent on making a level based off something from some Sonic game, use the above instructions. Go look for the Hydrocity mod, which is based off a level from Sonic 3 (if I'm not mistaken). The theme of the level comes from the original Hydrocity, yet the original level design and gimmicks gave it a fresh feel.

Overall, it's a much better idea to just make an original level with original themes, original gimmicks and original design. That way, you feel as if you've accomplished a lot more than just re-creating something that someone else made (that something else is usually pretty crappy, too).

Anyway, so I've come to the end of this long post. Any questions?

 

[Fawfulfan]

How the heck is it your business to tell us what to do and not do in regard to mods? Frankly, I think you're wrong, Chisuun. Not only do such Mods in no way violate the SRB2 message board rules, but some of them turn out pretty good. I don't think that those Mods have a higher rate of suckitude than releases as a whole.

Plus, I happen to love Sonildow's mod. It's still in progress, so it needs some kinks ironed out of it, but I like what I've seen so far.

Your advice really squashes creativity. True, some of those mods suck, but some are great. Plus, this is nothing short of backseat moderating. It's not your place to say this stuff.

 

[Chibs]

Frankly, I think you're wrong, Chisuun. Not only do such Mods in no way violate the SRB2 message board rules, but some of them turn out pretty good. I don't think that those Mods have a higher rate of suckitude than releases as a whole.

I have yet to see a mod based off of a Sonic game that doesn't suck.

Plus, I happen to love Sonildow's mod. It's still in progress, so it needs some kinks ironed out of it, but I like what I've seen so far.

Well, you like "Sonildow's mod." I'll hold you to that.

Your advice really squashes creativity. True, some of those mods suck, but some are great.

What creativity?

Plus, this is nothing short of backseat moderating. It's not your place to say this stuff.

I'm gonna avoid backseat moderation here by not posting what I think of this segment.

 

[Torgo]

The staff had some discussion on this on this subject. While its not entirely concluded, we are pretty much going to judge ports the same way we do for every WAD. If its terrible and doesn't show room for improvement, then we will tell them upfront and why it is terrible.

I do think that crazy ports, like sonic unleashed, are going to be almost impossible to do correctly in SRB2's engine and shouldn't even be attempted. Unless you have enough knowledge to account for SRB2's engine (either WAD knowledge or Source code modification knowledge), its going to be really hard to try to figure out how make the mod on your own.