Doctor Robotnik's Plan B (REV01 UPDATE)

Discussion in 'Showroom Archive' started by Painto, Aug 7, 2016.

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  1. Painto

    Painto Arthurus Paintus Erinaceus Member

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    EDIT 15/08/2016: Updated with REV01 release. Added a screenshots section for people who need it.
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    Hi guys. I wasn't sure if I should post this in its own thread or just in Random/minihacks thread, but after asking my friends, I've got a response that it should be the first option (so blame them, not me if it's in wrong place :V).

    Anyway, I present to you... Doctor Robotnik's Plan B! It's a boss hack I did out of boredom recently (and also when thinking about SSQ boss concepts). It started with a GHZ boss edit, then later more bosses were thrown into the substance giving you this. I really enjoyed making this and I hope you will enjoy playing it as well.

    Features:
    • 7 new boss fights - the zones consist only of these, as nobody feels like playing S1 over again wit just new bosses. The bosses are using (mostly) original zone boss weapon in more or less direct way, except for SBZ, which originally didn't had a boss.
    • Besides from the main point, I added small little features:
      • Normal and Time Attack mode - added these after suggestion from my Team, so the game has a bitmore replay value. In Normal mode you get 5 lives, while in Time Attack you have infinite amount of these. The progress isn't saved so if you get a Game Over, you need to play it again (Normal mode only, as TA doesn't have Game Over's).
      • Best Times menu, where you can check the best times in each boss. Times are saved only when playing on Time Attack mode or from Level Select. After beating the TA mode fully you will also see the Times from current run until you return to Main Menu.
      • I've changed a bit the ending - it's accessible by either beating the game or selectable on the Main Menu (it's selectable after beating the game once).
      • Level select, which allows you to play a selected boss in TA mode. Goes back to SEGA screen after results card (this differs between modes). Like Ending, selectable after beating the game once.
      • Title screen has edited minor elements.
    Video:
    It's here. It may look simplastic but it's only that boss, the others are, at least imo, more complex.

    Screenshots:
    If case if you need screenshots for some reason, here they are:
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    Download:
    The thing you all waited for when visiting this thread: download links.
    REV01 - 15/08/2016
    REV00 - 07/08/2016.

    Future projections:
    Probably none, as it was meant to be a simple boss hack. I probably won't do anything more on it until you'll really want it. Have fun with this thing, I guess. C&C as always welcome, it will helpme also improve my future boss fights and such.
     
    Last edited: Aug 15, 2016
  2. Selbi

    Selbi The Euphonic Mess Member

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    I really enjoyed the Spring Yard Zone boss. Extremely original concept.

    However, I didn't like that the difficulty between the bosses wasn't balanced at all. GHZ was simple enough as a kickoff. But MZ was dead easy if you stand in one corner all the time (I think this is a carbon copy of the Ice Cap 1 boss though), and so was LZ, for the same reason of just being able to stand in one corner all the time, plus the plethora of air bubbles you get for free. SLZ was a cool concept, but the balls were given such a tight angle to hit back on the boss that I had to use save states to save my mind from frustration. SBZ was just hold-right-to-win and jump from time to time (I literally didn't have to push any other than those two buttons, due to the convenient knockback angle making me avoid the spike without problem).

    Finally, FZ was an extremely cool concept and felt like that a lot of effort went into it. It actually took me like two minutes to even figure out how to attack the damn thing. However, once I did, the fight became an endurance test, because it was just a matter of waiting for an opportunity to attack eight times. There was no challenge towards the end, only waiting.

    In any case, it may sound like me bashing on a lot of things, but don't interpret that as me disliking the hack. Not at all! A damn lot of work went into this, and the bosses were still pretty enjoyable, especially SYZ's one. All I would recommend is maybe adjusting individual boss hit counters for each boss, since some take a ridiculous time to beat at no added challenge (namely SLZ and FZ).
     
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  3. Royameadow

    Royameadow Welcome to the modern existence. Member

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    Dare I ask if the way that Labyrinth Zone's boss was handled and set up was influenced by Part 02 of my Sonic the Hedgehog (Sega MS) commentary at the 00:18:15 timestamp, by any chance?
    Somehow, I feel that it was; that is exactly how I thought that the original version of that boss was supposed to function, I never believed that Sonic was supposed to have Unlimited Air in that fight at all, so I am rather happy to know that this attention to detail was taken into account, even if it is a major coincidence, this was rather fun to play in this way and I would say that it is significantly easier than its original counterpart, hands down the superior version in Robotnik's Plan B.

    As for the rest, it is a lovely challenge, I truly do enjoy what I am viewing here, this is actually right up there with SonicMT's unique boss fights, in terms of quality and strategy; Marble and Final Zone had me stuck for a little bit, I cannot lie about that.
    Either way, this was totally worth the play, I hope that we will probably see these boss fights again in Future~Time, it is just what I needed to get through this afternoon and I do believe that the Replayability Factor is rather moderate to high, it is well worth the time spent and the Normal (or Arcade, as I feel it is) Mode is definitely very worthwhile of a challenge for those that want a harder way to play beyond Time Attack Mode, this ROM hack is the pure definition of a ROM hack that uses existing concepts as the primary basis for it, a Robotnik's Revenge Trophy worthy title indeed!
     
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  4. Painto

    Painto Arthurus Paintus Erinaceus Member

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    Okay, I'll try to remake some of them so they aren't either so straightforward or too hard.

    Thanks. I will try to reduce the length somehow, probably less hits or faster oportunity to attack.

    No, you don't sound any like that imo. I'm very glad you liked it. I also enjoyed my SYZ boss. I will take the advice into consideration and I'll see what I can do.
    Um, no. Never watched that actually. I just wanted to keep it close to normal Sonic things, these include air bubbles.

    Thanks for feedback.
     
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  5. FireRat

    FireRat Do Not Interact With This User, Anywhere!!! Exiled

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    The ending still misses the plane from the storyboards!! ... nah. Eggman's movements get buggy if you follow him slowly.
    But I like it how is it edited taking the 8-bit version into consideration.

    As for the bosses, they are amazing!, my only major nitpick is LZ's boss. The bottom hole is too big, and puts it too hard (compared to what follows).
     
    Last edited: Aug 8, 2016
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  6. Painto

    Painto Arthurus Paintus Erinaceus Member

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    Thanks for feedback. I tried to make the arena to look as close to the 8-bit version as possible, but okay, I'll make the hole have the same size and holes in the ceiling. I'm also working now on new MZ and SBZ patterns (and fixing the existing) so there should be an update soon.
    Actually Eggman is the one who follows the player :V
     
  7. NiphFM

    NiphFM Host of the Mega Drive Music Contest Member

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    I'd suggest adding pinch modes, or different phases to your bosses. I've found that most, if not all of your bosses get very repetitive after about a minute of combat. I can see the amount of effort gone into it, but I found it hard to enjoy with a lot of your bosses.
     
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  8. Painto

    Painto Arthurus Paintus Erinaceus Member

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    Okay, I'll see what I can do. Thanks for suggestion.
     
  9. ArcaniaCQ

    ArcaniaCQ Well-Known Member Member

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    I do like this hack. Tho I have some difficulty getting past SBZ and SYZ. What I could suggest is to make the SBZ boss more like the CD boss Counter part. (Instead of inpact on the ground for explosion why not have it randomly pick a time to explode) For SYZ I would personally keep as is with maybe taking away a spikeball and adding 1 more bumper due to it being more easy as it feels way to hard.
     
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  10. Painto

    Painto Arthurus Paintus Erinaceus Member

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    SYZ boss shield will be a bit redone (more hits = more spikeballs). SBZ boss is going probably to be redone. Thanks for feedback.
     
  11. TheFieldWarrior

    TheFieldWarrior Warrior of the Fields Member

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    Okay, I just finished playing this boss hack, so I will go through each boss and write down my opinions on them:

    Green Hill Boss-Nothing too special, there are plenty of GHZ boss recreations where the ball swings back and forth, the fact that he was closer to the floor made it easier, not to say I didn't take any hits but still an easy boss overall so onto the next one.

    Marble Boss-This reminds me of the Ice Cap mini boss except with fire, I even used my old tactic of taking a hit and then proceeded to wail on Eggman, I guess that's what the shield is there for, another easy boss. Next.

    Spring Yard Boss-In my opinion the hardest boss in the game but also really great in concept, I like the clever use of the bumper to bounce up and hit Eggman and I even like the fact that when you hit him the spike balls and bumper turn into rings, I appreciate the fact that the blocks need more than one spike to be destroyed. What hurts this boss a little are two things, firstly when Eggman shoots his spike down, it's kind of hard to tell when he's going to shoot the spike down and by the time you see it you'll take a hit, the other thing that hurts this boss is the do or die mentality of this boss, if you screw up your strategy of luring Eggman to certain blocks then you are most likely going to die by falling into the pit either from bouncing off of Eggman or getting hit. That's not to say I didn't enjoy the boss, while I did get a bit annoyed I still liked the boss for it's concept, I just wish it wasn't on those darn SYZ blocks.

    Labyrinth Boss-A recreation of Sonic 1 8-Bit's Labyrinth boss, that's awesome and with the better water physics the boss is so much easier, the only issues I can think of are the hitboxes on Eggman's pellet shots are a lot bigger than the original game which makes trying to jump on him in the middle a pain, also the pit is a lot bigger than the original. Overall a faithful recreation of the 8-bit fight.

    Star Light Boss-A simple but nicely done boss, the notification of needing to bounce the yellow spiked ball back at Eggman was a nice touch, some people might have trouble bouncing the yellow spiked ball back at Eggman which can lead to annoyance but the best way to save yourself frustration is once he stops moving stand underneath his ship and then jump at the right time to bounce the yellow spiked ball at him, it's easy to screw up but it's mainly muscle memory. A cool boss overall.

    Scrap Brain Boss-This reminds me of Quartz Quadrant's boss, it's a neat fight but as long as your timing is good then this boss is a piece of cake. Next.

    Final Boss-I wish there was at least 1 ring since I don't like when bosses don't have any, it feels like a cheap method of adding challenge. Apart from that this boss is also quite fun once you get the hang of it, I felt as though the time window between being able to Eggman and dodging his attacks was a bit too long, also on the first opportunity I got to hit him I didn't realize he was on the other side until I heard the sound effect for his shield, maybe an arrow pointing to where he is would've helped this because at first I thought you had to stand on the empty platform to avoid the rapid electric rods, wait until it was over and then as he would pop out go for the attack. But still this is a really interesting boss that I might find myself replaying.


    Overall this was a decent boss hack, I might replay this from time to time. Also the ending was awesome, combining the S1 8-Bit ending with the S1 16-Bit ending was nice touch. I look forward to seeing future boss fights with similar ideas but improved. Good work Painto as always.
     
  12. Painto

    Painto Arthurus Paintus Erinaceus Member

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    Thanks for such detailed review, it will help me improve the bosses. One question:

    Can I use this for his attack? :p
     
  13. TheFieldWarrior

    TheFieldWarrior Warrior of the Fields Member

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    Sure thing, having him pop out once the electric rods have finished will eliminate the confusion, even more if you add the arrow pointing to where he is
     
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  14. Painto

    Painto Arthurus Paintus Erinaceus Member

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    Thanks. I prefered to ask as nevertheless is your idea and it's always a good think to have permission for things.
     
  15. RainLancelot

    RainLancelot Newcomer Member

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    The bosses were really fun to play through!Maybe there could be other new bosses or some taken from past Sonic games.Could there also be like a boss rush where defeating all bosses in one area seems like a breeze?And could the FZ boss be a tad easier for a easy difficulty or harder in a hard mode?
     
  16. Animemaster

    Animemaster Lets get to work! Member

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    Nice, better than what I can do. I appreciate new bosses.
     
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  17. redhotsonic

    redhotsonic Also known as RHS Member

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    Painto, you asked on my YouTube to hold off playing your hack for the moment as you make more updates. That was my plan anyway. I actually plan to play this on my next live stream (whenever I meet the 1K sub mark). Is that cool with you?

    And no, I haven't played this yet or even looked into it; I don't want to spoil it for myself.
     
  18. Painto

    Painto Arthurus Paintus Erinaceus Member

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    Oh, that's great. I'm going to update it today or tomorrow (I'm doing the last touches). Also congrats on getting close to the 1K sub mark. I'm pretty close to .5K mark on my channel so probably I'll make some sort of special, but that's offtopic and nobody cares. So yeah, sure, that's okay for me.
     
    Last edited: Aug 15, 2016
  19. Painto

    Painto Arthurus Paintus Erinaceus Member

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    Sorry for double post but that's just to let you know - update was released.
    Main changes:
    • numerous issue fixes and design choices changes in all of the fights
    • new SEGA and Title screens
      • this includes my 3rd sucessful SMPS conversion
    • GHZ, MZ, SLZ and SBZ bosses have got pinch modes after getting centain number of hits.
    • Full changelog is included in the .zip file
    OP updated with screenshots of new fights and ofc download link.
     
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  20. redhotsonic

    redhotsonic Also known as RHS Member

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    I haven't made it yet =P But when I do, I will announce another live stream and your hack will be part of it :)
     
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