It was not until I went for platinum on Unleashed that I truly appeciated the brilliant design of the daytime stages. It's just incredibly fast and so satisfying when you speedrun them properly.
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Project Sonic 2017 now called Sonic Forces [Update: First Gameplay Footage]
- Thread starter LordKano
- Start date
BlazeHedgehog
Member
It's also worth mentioning that if you think Sonic Forces or Sonic Unleashed looks "too fast" you can actually, like... slow down a little. This is a video I made a few years ago showing a slower playthrough of Sonic Unleashed's "Arid Sands" versus something closer to the way it's meant to be played.
The ultra-speed never-stop-boosting videos are after dozens, even hundreds of hours of practice, but there's another side to that world. It looks a lot less impressive, but that's why going fast looks so cool
It's also worth mentioning that if you think Sonic Forces or Sonic Unleashed looks "too fast" you can actually, like... slow down a little. This is a video I made a few years ago showing a slower playthrough of Sonic Unleashed's "Arid Sands" versus something closer to the way it's meant to be played.
The ultra-speed never-stop-boosting videos are after dozens, even hundreds of hours of practice, but there's another side to that world. It looks a lot less impressive, but that's why going fast looks so cool
I wish more people would understand this and not be all HURR DURR BOOST TO WIN BOOST TO WIN RACER
At the first mention of these type of games.
The Cool One
Member
So that third Character for Heroes. I think it's a cat
Sorry for bumping this thread, but it seems that there is no time shenanigans in Forces. Looks like Classic Sonic comes from another dimension.
Pint sized Sonic from another Dimension
Pint sized Sonic from another Dimension
Paul_Str337
Member
Ugh, on the bus home so can't watch the video. It's odd that this just appears out of nowhere though. SEGA have some time pencilled in on the E3 YouTube channel tonight at 22:00 (UK Time) for Forces and Mania. I wonder if we'll be getting a trailer soon too?
Oh goody, characters that don't shut up mid stage, the more I see about Forces the less interested I get about it.
So the stages are divided into Sonic, Classic, and Avatar. So Classic isn't even Sonic anymore Sega
This is just past the furthest we've previously seen of this level.
Also Sonic's friends talk constantly. They keep talking about all of those eggman's robots.
So looks like no Classic Robotnik. Eggman attacks you in the ball and chain boss but uses a saw instead of a ball. Also, having the boss name and health meter obscure that much of the screen is good design!
After you hit him enough he switches over to the Egg Dragoon from Sonic Unleashed. He mentions that Classic Sonic is from another dimension. If the new story is that rather than Classic Sonic mutating into Modern Sonic Classic and Modern are just alternate dimension versions of each other I'm fine with that. Glad to see Classic spared that fate
Hi, super generic animal NPC.
The Avatar version of GHZ is full of industrial factory sections that should have also been in the Classic version of the stage.
For people upset at the inclusion of Green Hill Zone once again, Silver mentions Chemical Plant.
Oh shit, I can't believe they're bringing back the Green Hill boss! This is the first time it's come back, right?
But how else are you supposed to tell what a homing shot looks like?
But how else are you supposed to tell what a homing shot looks like?
The way the game is being shown needs to be done better, as Forces does look fun.
Pretty sure Sega will put in an option to mute characters - they full well know their reception all too well 😉
Doubt I'll enjoy it as much as how Mania is shaping up to be, but will enjoy it to a similar level as Generations I imagine.
Pretty sure Sega will put in an option to mute characters - they full well know their reception all too well 😉
Doubt I'll enjoy it as much as how Mania is shaping up to be, but will enjoy it to a similar level as Generations I imagine.
IronicSonic
Member
I want a full Modern Sonic gameplay, Sega please
This.
Fuck a mediocre Classic Sonic.
Fuck memefest Buddy.
There is no reason with the way this game has shaped up thematically why Modern Sonic and his present-day friends shouldn't be the ones at the helm of this goddamn thing.
Fucking Mania is doing the very thing I've been asking for almost a decade from the 3D games- simple, straightforward scenarios that presume a single dimension and conflict that Sonic and co. fight together, with one gameplay style.
Why Sega saw fit to recycle Generations- a game which already carved up the time Modern Sonic had by default- with an extra gameplay mode and accompanying gimmick that absolutely no one asked for, while throwing the rest of the cast with far more interesting gameplay and character abilities to the sidelines again- is beyond me.
I think there's a pretty straightforward explanation. Generations was popular and critically acclaimed, while Lost World wasn't. And the accompanying gimmicks are to pad out the game length because of how fast and expensive modern Sonic levels must be. Sega are playing it safe with Forces.
aygomyownroad
Member
That direct footage was awful.
Sonic is all about speed. No its not. It's about exploration and having multiple paths to finish the level. Yeah the first few levels in any game he goes fast but after that it's just fairly slow.
I hope there is more to this. But it seems like it is very on rails.
Sonic is all about speed. No its not. It's about exploration and having multiple paths to finish the level. Yeah the first few levels in any game he goes fast but after that it's just fairly slow.
I hope there is more to this. But it seems like it is very on rails.
LightningXCE
Member
Here's what I think happened with that HUD
So it's oddly centered, right? This was being shown off on a PS4 (he said press square).
This is the image blown up to roughly 1080P
Now, we know this was in development for the Switch, which in handheld mode runs at 720p (or early in development the game was running only at 720p)
This is that same screenshot with a border around the screenspace (pixel wise) that a 720p image would be
That looks significantly better. Let's use that positioning and scale that back up to the original image's size.
Bam, So it looks like that UI element was accidentally left at a 720p scale rather than a full-HD one.
So it's oddly centered, right? This was being shown off on a PS4 (he said press square).
This is the image blown up to roughly 1080P
Now, we know this was in development for the Switch, which in handheld mode runs at 720p (or early in development the game was running only at 720p)
This is that same screenshot with a border around the screenspace (pixel wise) that a 720p image would be
That looks significantly better. Let's use that positioning and scale that back up to the original image's size.
Bam, So it looks like that UI element was accidentally left at a 720p scale rather than a full-HD one.
Solid SOAP
Member
This game is making me realize that modern Sonic simply can't comfortably exist in the modern generation. Every $50-60 game that isn't Nintendo is either an open world or have online/multiplayer components to it. Games like Sonic are a hard sell at $60 because they're either padded to hell, or short as hell. Now, I don't mind a short game if the levels are worth replaying, but most people aren't gonna be buying Sonic at $60 if the base game ends within 5 hours.
Mania will be awesome. $20 for classic Sonic levels and some new ones? Beautiful. $60 for a weird sequel to Generations with an OC creator... idk man, hard sell
Mania will be awesome. $20 for classic Sonic levels and some new ones? Beautiful. $60 for a weird sequel to Generations with an OC creator... idk man, hard sell
Second level in Sonic 2 is going fast.
Everything from Mystic Cave to the end I want to go very fast too in that game (because it freaking sucks).
I feel that only in Sonic 3 I actually took my time to explore the levels a bit more.
Modern Sonic is about going fast while looking for the optimal way to traversal the level. There ARE multiple paths, at least in Generations, Unleashed and Colors.
Who here is advocating for Lost World's gameplay to come back?
And hey, if you have a gameplay style that's so fucking difficult to develop a meaningful chunk of content for, maybe you should either make some tools to assist you, think about making a more robust and mechanically interesting gameplay style in the Year of our Lord 2017 when Mario Odyssey is about to drop and blow both Forces and Mania away anyway, or just deal with selling your aesthetically consistent 3 hour games for $30-40 instead.
I Wanna Be The Guy
U-S-A! U-S-A! U-S-A!
Thank. God. For. Mania.
The Xtortionist
Member
Forces started out looking alright (I mean a gameplay sequel to Generations....what could go wrong) but it's been a downward spiral since. At least the OST will prolly deliver.
Certainly not me lmao
Do we really think that Sonic Team's even capable of cracking a new Sonic playstyle that can support an entire game? Maybe they'll have another attempt after this game comes out to its middling reception
I've really enjoyed what I've heard of the female vocal tracks that play in Coldsteel's levels
Triforce141
Member
New footage looks alright
My thoughts exactly, I only learnt people care for the physics in Sonic games when Sonic 4 came out, and I played pretty much all of the 2D games up until that point and enjoyed (most) of them without knowing they're what apparently made Sonic
To this day, I still don't really care for all of the fancy momentum or get enraged if Sonic won't continue to move forward in the air when I let go of the d-pad. It'd be nice to gain speed when curling down a ramp, but if not, then big deal, games like Advance 2 and Unleashed which do their own thing to keep the sense of speed and flow in the franchise are still fun in and of themselves
My thoughts exactly, I only learnt people care for the physics in Sonic games when Sonic 4 came out, and I played pretty much all of the 2D games up until that point and enjoyed (most) of them without knowing they're what apparently made Sonic
To this day, I still don't really care for all of the fancy momentum or get enraged if Sonic won't continue to move forward in the air when I let go of the d-pad. It'd be nice to gain speed when curling down a ramp, but if not, then big deal, games like Advance 2 and Unleashed which do their own thing to keep the sense of speed and flow in the franchise are still fun in and of themselves
I Wanna Be The Guy
U-S-A! U-S-A! U-S-A!
I honestly don't think I've ever been this down on a main series Sonic game pre release before.
The Sum of Zero
Member
Nope. It's been in S&K, Advance, and Sonic 4 Ep. 1 as well.
lol. Which is a shame because Parkour Sonic is a good idea on paper. xP
To be fair, they recovered immediately after 2006 and made Unleashed- they created an entirely new type of platforming gameplay never before seen with an accompanying lighting engine that looked gorgeous at the time in the span of roughly two years. Sonic Forces has had about four years and this is the best they could do? Time to hang it up bruh.
Granted, Unleashed happened seemed during a time when Sega was interested in courting optimistic young development talent, and I also understand Unleashed is the black sheep of the boost games
even though it's a more satisfying experience than the games that came after
I Wanna Be The Guy
U-S-A! U-S-A! U-S-A!
That's the joke.
The Sum of Zero
Member
Oh, derp.
PeakPointMatrix
Member
Are these the only stages we're seeing for Forces this E3? Was kind of hoping to see more beyond the destroyed city and sandy Green Hill. Also hoping that your Avatar is able to play in more open 3D stages. For now it just looks like more 2D stuff.
I Wanna Be The Guy
U-S-A! U-S-A! U-S-A!
I would rather see Sonic Team fall on their faces trying than worry so much about failing that they just walk to the finish line.
Pretty much my thoughs... while I like the classic physics, I adapted to the ones in Generations with no problem, and they never felt bad for me. It was just different. They never promised the classic physics to be in the game anyway, just the Classic Sonic. I've got that, enjoyed the level design in most of the levels (multiple interesting paths in all levels).
Generations is my second favorite game on this series. This is looking like more of the same. And considering we're only seeing the first level from all the gameplay styles, I'm not too concerned with level design, the first level is pretty much straightforward in any Sonic game I've played in my life.
The reason I'm not excited about Sonic Mania that much is because it looks about the same I've played so fucking much in my life. I've played Sonic 3 & Knuckles so fucking many times 'till I was 10, because it and Sonic 2/1 were the only games I owned in my infancy.
I don't get the frame of thought that says the physics don't matter that much in a platforming series' whose appeal was defined in part because of its physics systems, especially when you see how much more gatekeeping is done to any mechanical changes to Mario which, well, demands decidedly simpler physics than Sonic does. Seriously, I wish Sonic had half of the protectionism that goes on with Mario from gamers at large, because the rigid gameplay structures he's been befitted with for awhile that people are content to let slide just don't feel that fun to play as they would otherwise if the physics dictating movement were looser and more organic.
Imagine if that happened though. Sonic Team have fallen flat on their faces so many times that their mascot's dignity is kept alive by self-depreciation. To be honest I'm not sure what I want from them. Forces is going to be a dull, safe but ultimately passable experience, and I don't know if they're even capable of making something more. Since 2006, everything they've made has either been boost, 2D, or shit.
They can't keep up this 2D Green Hill bullshit forever though. Forces will be the straw that breaks the camel's back, where reviewers finally criticise this formula. Especially since it will be judged next to Mania (also using reused zones I might add). The game after this will be original and they'll cut out all this 2D wankery.
To be fair, they only fell on their face twice, and then everybody needed something aside from shitty design, corporate mismanagement, and high-profile abandonments to blame so they retroactively decided that all of the 3D games were faceplants and their high critical and sales receptions at the time just never happened. We were always at war and that kinda shit.
I think the biggest flaw is that Modern Sonic gameplay takes a lot of resources to create very little content, because you need miles of level that must look good if you stop to look at it and not feel repetetive as you blast past it. Basically, masses of quantity without letting you skimp on quality. So, to pad the game out longer than, like, an hour, they have to have some sort of filler that can reuse all the assets. This takes the form of werehog in Unleashed, Classic and missions in Generations, and now Classic and avatar in Forces. Even Colours relied on padding, with only 3 fully realised acts per world and then 3 more mission-y ones, plus Colours was mostly in the less resource intensive side scrolling view and was for a non-hd console.
A fully modern sonic game would be great, but it's sadly not feasible.
Forces continous to look a bit mediocre. The modern gameplay looks like it at least controls nicely, but they still haven't shown any levels past the standard boost-to-win spectacle first level. Avatar gameplay just looks a bit dull. Character banter better be disablable after the first run through.
"There's no problem at all anymore. Just stay the course. Games with different gameplay styles stitched together with no aesthetic or narrative cohesion is perfectly fine game design so long as I get to jump around with a blue hedgehog for a few hours and nothing else."
I feel like the last few years and now are making people go
" ... I'm going to have to make my own game that makes me feel like sonic games used to "
I swear to you, sonic is inadvertently going to create a giant boom in athro-characters in good video games going fast , or punching thing fast.
And future tantalizers of art history will ask " where did this breath of new games come from come from " and someone will respond
" constant disappointment and the inability to take responsibility for ones actions "
There's been several points where I've been tempted to start learning programming just to be able to make a fucking vertical slice or pitch of something, because fuck me.
Filling the void, i'm already doing stuff. Sometimes you gotta make what you want, its how we got all these modern not metriod games.
Thank god for guacamelee
Ontopic though the game looks... meh. Not bad, just alright? Maybe it will be better when I play it, not expecting much though.
Maybe i'll be suprised.
Also we are calling the create a guy " Steve the nondescript animal" right? Because I want to
My thoughts exactly. This looks like another dud.
MiguelMexMIstery
Member
So now Egg Dragoon will have been defeated by Beast Sonic, Modern Sonic and Classic Sonic lol
Also, I'm glad Sonic's friends are back (crazy, I know lol). Wii!Colors felt isolated with just Sonic and Tails imo, and this time their comments doesn't seem as annoying as Generations' final boss.
Also, I'm glad Sonic's friends are back (crazy, I know lol). Wii!Colors felt isolated with just Sonic and Tails imo, and this time their comments doesn't seem as annoying as Generations' final boss.