BenSpinSpace
Member
Hi, I played SRB waaaay back in the day, and observed the beginnings of SRBII (for example, in 2D form). Recently I rediscovered the SRBII project, and I've been playing the game avidly. I have some comments, some of which you may hear or may already be irrelevent, but I feel I should give you a rundown on my entire reaction to the game.
First, the demo is excellent. I'm hoping that there are more levels thrown into the final game... and I was curious, why exactly is the last level (Robotnik Egg Zone or something?) demo-exclusive?
Second, Super Sonic really must be completed to enrich the whole Sonic experience. I have been working for hours and hours to get all the chaos emeralds, and then Sonic transforms into a Superman parody? I'm trusting that this is a demo-only joke, but I would just like to comment on a few good ideas for Super Sonic. First, Sonic should be invincible (duh). Sonic should be able to run faster (duh... I think). But, I would also recommend that Sonic be able to jump higher, and maybe to try to include another trick or two that non-super-Sonic cannot do. Giving Super Sonic a true special ability would really enrich the experience of the game, and also give players a great reason to play the game through as Sonic rather than Tails or Knuckles.
Third, the front-end to the game is great. I downloaded it from the addons page, I think. But, even the frontend doesn't have an option to save your selected options for the next time you start. This means that one must load in every addon level/character every time he or she wants to play them.
Fourth, on the subject of addons, it would be fantastic if a graphical menu could be included for selecting addon maps/characters to play. If not that, it would at least be a big help to have instructions in the manual for how to load the levels. I had no idea how to play addon maps until I just happened to discover that beating the game with addon maps loaded just sent me to the maps, as the next stage, rather than ending my adventure then.
Probably the biggest issue I have with character control would be movement in midair. I have spent most of my time playing as Sonic and Tails, and I must say that Sonic's movement seems very good. Being able to shift in mid-air and then use the "thok" attack is very useful. However, this does not ring true for Tails: normally when I'm in the air as Tails, I want to be able to actually shift the direction I'm going, because I'm flying. I think a lot of the problem has to do with the fact that Tails is given realistic inertia. If I were to solve the problem myself, I'd suggest that as Tails moves to the left or right, it gradually (but quickly) decreases his forward/backward speed of his movement. This way, one can easily move in all four directions while flying as Tails.
The camera is another concern I have. Personally, I think the camera does its job great for the most part. However, it might be a good idea to set spots where the camera automatically adjusts to a specific view. One good example here is in Techno Hill Zone 2. When one tries to enter the secret conveyor-belt space, the camera doesn't adjust to the view of the conveyor-belt. Instead, it gets very confused and the view of the character is obstructed until the camera later resets itself to a view of the character. Maybe, in this case, it would be a good idea to have the camera automatically adjust upon touching down on the conveyor belt.
Some bugs I've noticed that are probably my computers's fault:
Ogg Music seems to have huge synchronization problems on my machine. Is there any specific reason for this? Typically what happens is that the music is at normal speed as long as I am constantly pressing keys on the keyboard. But even if there is action going on onscreen, if I am not pressing lots of keys (for example, if I am simply holding up to run forward) the music still start to skip and bubble. Weird, huh? And my other problem with sound is that, upon discovering my problems with Ogg music, I have been playing using midi. But for some reason, occasionally various instruments in the midi tracks will start to drop out and the songs become convoluted ghosts of what the music should actually sound like. Though this may be my computer's doing, is there any way I may fix it? Maybe there is something in SRBII that could be done to help the problem?
Other than that, I'd have to say that the game is really very good. After reading a bunch of posts on this board, here are a couple more comments:
-I think Tails' speed is exactly what it should be. It's fast but still let's the player have fun. And it also gives the player good reason to play as Sonic, since Sonic is that much faster.
-The secrets are very entertaining. Especially the Nights level. (By the way, the increased jumping power that the characters have on that level is almost exactly what I would recommend should be given to Super Sonic.)
In any case, great work, and I hope I will get a response to my comments. This game is fantastic and honestly I find it a lot more fun than anything Sonic-related that Sega has put out recently.
First, the demo is excellent. I'm hoping that there are more levels thrown into the final game... and I was curious, why exactly is the last level (Robotnik Egg Zone or something?) demo-exclusive?
Second, Super Sonic really must be completed to enrich the whole Sonic experience. I have been working for hours and hours to get all the chaos emeralds, and then Sonic transforms into a Superman parody? I'm trusting that this is a demo-only joke, but I would just like to comment on a few good ideas for Super Sonic. First, Sonic should be invincible (duh). Sonic should be able to run faster (duh... I think). But, I would also recommend that Sonic be able to jump higher, and maybe to try to include another trick or two that non-super-Sonic cannot do. Giving Super Sonic a true special ability would really enrich the experience of the game, and also give players a great reason to play the game through as Sonic rather than Tails or Knuckles.
Third, the front-end to the game is great. I downloaded it from the addons page, I think. But, even the frontend doesn't have an option to save your selected options for the next time you start. This means that one must load in every addon level/character every time he or she wants to play them.
Fourth, on the subject of addons, it would be fantastic if a graphical menu could be included for selecting addon maps/characters to play. If not that, it would at least be a big help to have instructions in the manual for how to load the levels. I had no idea how to play addon maps until I just happened to discover that beating the game with addon maps loaded just sent me to the maps, as the next stage, rather than ending my adventure then.
Probably the biggest issue I have with character control would be movement in midair. I have spent most of my time playing as Sonic and Tails, and I must say that Sonic's movement seems very good. Being able to shift in mid-air and then use the "thok" attack is very useful. However, this does not ring true for Tails: normally when I'm in the air as Tails, I want to be able to actually shift the direction I'm going, because I'm flying. I think a lot of the problem has to do with the fact that Tails is given realistic inertia. If I were to solve the problem myself, I'd suggest that as Tails moves to the left or right, it gradually (but quickly) decreases his forward/backward speed of his movement. This way, one can easily move in all four directions while flying as Tails.
The camera is another concern I have. Personally, I think the camera does its job great for the most part. However, it might be a good idea to set spots where the camera automatically adjusts to a specific view. One good example here is in Techno Hill Zone 2. When one tries to enter the secret conveyor-belt space, the camera doesn't adjust to the view of the conveyor-belt. Instead, it gets very confused and the view of the character is obstructed until the camera later resets itself to a view of the character. Maybe, in this case, it would be a good idea to have the camera automatically adjust upon touching down on the conveyor belt.
Some bugs I've noticed that are probably my computers's fault:
Ogg Music seems to have huge synchronization problems on my machine. Is there any specific reason for this? Typically what happens is that the music is at normal speed as long as I am constantly pressing keys on the keyboard. But even if there is action going on onscreen, if I am not pressing lots of keys (for example, if I am simply holding up to run forward) the music still start to skip and bubble. Weird, huh? And my other problem with sound is that, upon discovering my problems with Ogg music, I have been playing using midi. But for some reason, occasionally various instruments in the midi tracks will start to drop out and the songs become convoluted ghosts of what the music should actually sound like. Though this may be my computer's doing, is there any way I may fix it? Maybe there is something in SRBII that could be done to help the problem?
Other than that, I'd have to say that the game is really very good. After reading a bunch of posts on this board, here are a couple more comments:
-I think Tails' speed is exactly what it should be. It's fast but still let's the player have fun. And it also gives the player good reason to play as Sonic, since Sonic is that much faster.
-The secrets are very entertaining. Especially the Nights level. (By the way, the increased jumping power that the characters have on that level is almost exactly what I would recommend should be given to Super Sonic.)
In any case, great work, and I hope I will get a response to my comments. This game is fantastic and honestly I find it a lot more fun than anything Sonic-related that Sega has put out recently.
Maybe Tails' acceleration can be increased a little bit to just make everyone happy (although it already is the highest)?
