Caleb the hedgehog

WARNING: This hack should be played on Gens/GS. I'm not planning on making it run on real hardware.

I am now making a hack for my friend, Caleb. This is my first ROM hack, so do not expect TOO much from this.
V0.1
V0.2
V0.3
-Credits-
Music: LordXernom, Cinossu, Chris (I think), and Crash.
Idea: Caleb
Level design and other stuff: Me.
Special thanks: MarkeyJester (For helping me out. )

Spoiler: (Old) Screenies

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Edit: Added screenshots.
Edit: The "OC Sonic" is simply a joke. Just take it. And this hack is going to have more than shitty palletes. That was a mistake.

 

Erm, screenshots? No one will download your hack if you don't post screenshots.

 

If screenshots was posted I would play. Anyway I am not a staff member but as an advise so should you look up the submission guidelines.

Screenshots were added and I played.
It's bad. But for being your first hack it's decent.
Act 1 of Green Hill Green Zone has loads of what we call dick moves. And it's not that fun to play through. Also you can see pieces of Original Sonic 1 there. Tho I don't mind it that much some are.

The first Special stage is clever but the execution is bad.
First off the crystals are used both right and wrong. Example: The crystals just blocks your path to the emerald which imo is a nono. Also there is slowdown due to how many there are at screen at once. Also the screen is filled with rings. I also got lost outside boundarys.
Lets go positive tho. The special stage is made with the gimmick shown by MarkeyJester. Crystals are being used to hinder from failing by actually being the main blocks. Making them more useful. Tho the execution could have been better.

Anyway there was my stopping point.

 

I'm not impressed - another "Original Character Do Not Steal" type of hack. Awful palettes, especially GHZ, if colors will be softer and green will be mixed with blue or red - it will be a lot better. In other words - you shouldn't relase this hack now, it needs more work. Try again. (It's my opinion so you can disagree with me)

 

Yeah this could definitely use a lot more work. The palettes definitely need work, I don't see any other changes besides palette edits as well. Is this the first hack you've worked on? Also this is more along the lines of a mini-hack that doesn't need it's own topic IMO. Palette hacks are quite outdated now, it's nice to edit palettes but with many great hacking tools and tutorials out there it's best to create a hack with new layouts, and possibly new art work as well as new palettes. Adding new code also can make your hack better. If you're not familiar with 68K asm, MarkeyJester has written a nice introductory guide on how 68k assembly works. http://mrjester.hapisan.com/04_MC68/

 

Thanks for your input! it means a lot to me. I'll keep working on it until it's good. MarkeyJester is also helping me through skype, but i could use the intro guide. (This has level edits.)

 

Use more 'natural' softer colors for your palettes as these are too strong and saturated. It hurts the eyes.

 

All I can say to this is nothing that another person hasn't said. Though, it's a pretty good start for an absolute beginner. You do have a long road to go through, but we can help you out if you show that you're making an effort.

What I can say though, is that, if you are going to make a game based on your original character, avoid at all costs to leave him looking exactly like one of the characters we already know. That shows lack of inspiration and, as a result, the OC creation is pointless and might seem boring to others. Don't consider this as an offense, but more as a constructive criticism.

As for the palettes, consider everything they have said, but also do never, ever leave a zone with a monochromatic look, that is, making everything appear with the same or a similar colour. To appeal the player, you have to vary, try several colour schemes and decide which looks best for you. You can also ask for feedback here in the forums. Do also learn what saturation means in colours, as well as hue shifting and several techniques - that might help you out.

What I noticed is the effort in the level layouts. Sure, they might be unfair at times, but at least you bothered yourself to leave everything well constructed, that is, at least chunks look good together. What I didn't like though, is the vertically inverted spikes floating in the air in Green Hill 1. Do never do that, it makes the level look bad aesthetically!

Another thing I'm wondering is what happened to the title card. In case it's a bug, you should fix it.

If you need anything from me, just ask. I'll be here if you need feedback or if you need me to fix a couple of things here and there.

 

Read the notes...
GGHZ's title card is not a bug, by the way.

 

Oh, sorry, I didn't notice it right from the start. My mistake. Though, if you make a decent OC, it is never a mistake to use one. Just give him a decent identity and that's it. It is not a bad thing to add a fan-character. It is, instead, to just edit Sonic's colours for example and call it a "new character". There's the difference!

 

To be honest, just by looking at the screenshots reminds me of Crazy the Hedgehog.....

 

Also Sonic Green Snake. They both have a Green Sonic.

 

Briefly played GHZ, and will say that the hack is average at best. The palettes definitely need more contrast (you can barely differentiate between the FG & BG chunk layers in Marble Zone due to the similar blue shades used), and the levels are rather vanilla, with few changes to the original levels. I somewhat like the crystal blocks idea in the Special Stage, but the amount of crystals is overkill. Also, putting 2 emeralds in the special stage is not a good idea; the player can collect both with a nicely timed jump, and it will probably break the good ending if the special stage level loader routine loads the next level with a previously obtained emerald.

 

So, i have been trying to make the game more enjoyable for you awesome people. Long behold 0.3!!!

Edit:
Added new palette!
New boss!
Act 3 almost done!
:V
(Thanks Xeal.)

 

The hack is fun to play.It has dick moves.Some levels aren't even done and unbeatable.Please finish it.