Sonic Chaos Quest v2.0 + Sonic Chaos Quest Ultimate

Discussion in 'Showroom' started by Narcologer, Nov 9, 2016.

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  1. Narcologer

    Narcologer Hell angel Member

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    So, I am releasing the new and well-improved version of my hack after 1 year of hard work.
    This hack has next features:
    - 4 playable characters with unique moves:
    Sonic (Spin Dash, Super Peel Out)
    Mighty (Double Jump)
    Metal Sonic (Spin Dash, doesn't drown underwater)
    Tikal (Spin- and Peel Boost)
    - 6 overhauled zones, with emphasis on custom chunks and art editing
    - Some new bosses
    - A lot of new badniks
    - And much more.
    Screenshots::
    shc2016_19_3.png A kUUL GhZ BoZZ.png shc2016_19_2.png shc2016_19_4.png
    More information and download link could be found at its SHC entry page: http://shc.sonicresearch.org/sonic/entry/19
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Nov 9, 2016
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  2. TheBlurCafe

    TheBlurCafe Welcome to TheBlurCafe! Member

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    So... I have played through this and I've gotta say, I can see that a lot of work was put into this but there are some flaws:
    -Mod.Gen spri-nah just kidding, I'm not a fan of them but they're not a problem, the real problem is Metal Sonic's sprites, they look like they've been cut off, like the walking sprites and the standing sprite,there are no angular full speed sprites, also, is he too OP? I mean, he literally took off all the challenge from Chaos Shrine, since he can't drown.
    -Music is ok, though Necropolis act 1 and Hydro Station act 3 sound meh.
    -The "o"s are slightly misplaced.
    -The orbinauts and caterkillers are used with two different designs, what's the point?
    And then, one of your biggest, not worst, but certainly gameplay changing flaws...
    LEVEL DESIGN.
    -The level design REALLY needs some work, let's start with the basic thing, Sonic is about platforming, right, but what happened to the speed? There's no speed in this hack because you get blocked every 5 seconds by a wall or a badnik, for example, in Robotropolis act 1, you start all fast all speed, with Batman music in the background, all hyped up and ready for some Star Light like spe-you get blocked by a wall.
    A very important thing are also slopes, where are they? There may be loops, but slopes are important in a Sonic game, the level design is the reason I couldn't get to the bosses, because it was boring and bland...
    -And now, for the other category of things I don't like-
    Now, look closely at the screenshots:
    [​IMG]
    I'll go in order:
    Screenshot 1-This section is repeated a lot of times in Chaos Shrine.

    Screenshot 2-You can't see it because I just destroyed it, but in Necropolis and Green Trees (I'd suggest to pick a better name :\ ) there's a Whisp badnik flying towards you at a very fast speed, which is nearly unavoidable unless you're spinning.

    Screenshot 3-That...thing...It looks out of place (most of Sonic badniks are themed with the stage), it looks weird (don't even get me started on the palette) and its shots are too fast, same for the Whips who shoot, the shot should "stop" like the Buzz Bombers's

    Screenshot 4-Is that a scrotum cannon? AVGN jokes aside, those things shoot as fast as the Whips, but are easier to avoid IF you see them, I'd suggest to give them a different palette, unless they're actually drawn within the wall and the shots appear out of nowhere.

    Screenshot 5-In Green Trees, sometimes you can jump from under the platform to end on its top, however, not all the platforms are like that (also, the level design is particularly bad in this zone, because it's simply too claustrophobic). Simply put, sometimes you can pass from underneath them, sometimes you don't

    Screenshot 6-Is that really necessary?

    Overall, this isn't a bad hack by any means, but it needs a lot of work, especially in the level design part, but hey! I think this hack has potential, so there's still room to improve!
     
    Last edited: Nov 9, 2016
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  3. AbyssalLeopard

    AbyssalLeopard Well-Known Member Member

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    No offense, but Necropolis looks like Creepy Crypt from Mobius Evolution... Is it a sort of coincidence or something?
     
  4. TheBlurCafe

    TheBlurCafe Welcome to TheBlurCafe! Member

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    I'm pretty sure it's just a coincidence.
     
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  5. Techokami

    Techokami For use only on NTSC Genesis Systems. Member

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    I'm sure it was the ModGen Project that made those Sonic sprites, not tSR...
    As for the hack itself, it's pretty decent so far. Custom badniks and level assets make things a nice breath of fresh air. And I really liked the boss for the first zone! But, why do bosses require so many hits? They wear out their welcome too quickly for my tastes. Also, how do you get to the Special Stages? Or were they just removed because you didn't want them/haven't implemented a replacement yet?
    Also going to echo what GF ThePlayer said about level design. Things like jump-through platforms aren't entirely clear, since they look the same as their solid counterparts. And it's not that fun to be blindsided by a fast-moving badnik that comes in the opposite direction that you are moving in; you have barely any time to react and instead just get hit. Repetitive level design is something I can kind of understand, since Sonic 1 uses larger-sized chunks with less variety than the chunk format in Sonic 2/3K... if you're having trouble revising level layouts to feel better because of these limits, maybe look into implementing the changes from Project Sonic 1: Two Eight?
     
  6. Narcologer

    Narcologer Hell angel Member

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    I have too much experimenting with the simple structure of the chunks, and completely forgot about slopes. But i thought that loops will hide this flaw.
    Ok, I found the idea of using this ''sniper'' type badniks rather cool because dodging their shots can be real challenge. Looks like I went too far with the complexity of hack again, neh? What about the art, I had the idea to add Eggrobo, but then decided to do something original.
    These cannons are really the part of chunks and they are looking so weird because I added them in the last moment. Running on high speed when you encounter them is the best way to avoid them.
    It's just a coincidence, because I could not find a better option than the gloomy crypt near to the silhouette of the forest at night.
    Thanks for the advice, seems I should do this in future.
     
  7. TheBlurCafe

    TheBlurCafe Welcome to TheBlurCafe! Member

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    Yeah, I was sarcastic about the Mod.Gen sprites, lol.
     
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  8. Narcologer

    Narcologer Hell angel Member

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    Sonic sprites were made by Mod Gen team, Mighty sprites were made by me (Mighty Mod Gen sheet was made after the release of Chaos Quest vanilla version), Metal Sonic sheet was made by LoneDevil, Tikal shett was made by SkyLights. A lot of sprite sheets used in hack I found on tSR, so I decided to combine all credits to its authors in ''The spriters resource'' in hack's credits. I am sorry, if there is something wrong here.
     
  9. AbyssalLeopard

    AbyssalLeopard Well-Known Member Member

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    So I had a full go at this and I gotta say, very nice stuff. Save the forest level that felt a bit linear, but in general you did a much better job than in the previous versions. One thing I would like to see though, is new bosses for the rest of the levels - Tropicana's boss was amazing, by the way. I appreciated the custom behaviour in badniks as well! Level art looks alright, but lots of zones look like Sonic 2 zones. Like, Tropicana looks like Emerald Hill (with a smaller grass), there's Chemical Plant and Wood Zone as well in the mix, but I do love that Labyrinth Zone edit you pulled there for example. Star Light Zone's edit doesn't look bad, I actually like the zone concept as well.

    Not bad at all, hope we get to see more from you!

    EDIT: Tikal's skidding sprites need to be fixed. Tikal has got tiles from Sonic there.
     
  10. Narcologer

    Narcologer Hell angel Member

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    In forest zone, there are separate tracks with secrets that could be accesed by every character and you can oftten move from one track to other between them, so I can't understand why do you think it is linear.
     
    Last edited: Nov 11, 2016
  11. AbyssalLeopard

    AbyssalLeopard Well-Known Member Member

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    Don't get me wrong man, it's not the lack of multiple paths, but the lack of gimmicks and slopes... Well, it's not linear exactly, I expressed myself wrong, but it feels slightly bland. This about the slopes, as said by other people, is something that happens in a lot of your levels. Your object placement is decent and fair, but you need to add slopes in Sonic and make people feel speed, which is characteristic in a Sonic game. Again, it's a subjective opinion and it doesn't mean that your levels are low quality. We just point out flaws (and are dickish at times) constructively to help you get better and better results.
     
  12. SaunicBoom

    SaunicBoom Well-Known Member Member

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    To add to AbyssalLeopard's point, the level layout feels very "boxy", for lack of a better term. This creates a constant "stop-and-go, stop-and-go" kind of gameplay, which is really jarring. Imagine how uncomfortable a car ride on a busy freeway when you're moving a bit only to be stopped every few seconds; that's what playing in these levels can feel like. Another problem with the level layout is that a lot of it looks the same and appears to repeat throughout, leaving no memorable landmarks to give it uniqueness. Adding slopes would give the game a better sense of moving forward, but with the levels laid out as box-like as it is now just isn't very fun to run through.
     
  13. Narcologer

    Narcologer Hell angel Member

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    This constant you brought could be avoided if you press jump button when you see a wall.This method works perfectly in Tropicana zone for example. But I'll always remember this lesson about level layouts. They'll look much better in future.
     
  14. Narcologer

    Narcologer Hell angel Member

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    So, after 1 year of yet more hard work new version of hack called "Sonic Chaos Quest Ultimate" came out.
    Changelog from 2.0 version:

    - Lots of new bosses (GHZ3 and SLZ3 bosses by TheBlad768,, others are our cooperative work)
    - 2 new characters: Espio and Shadow. Shadow can do spin dash and jump dash, Espio can do double jump (Sonia-styled) and spin dash. (Me)
    - Some new badniks (Me)
    - Diary-styled text screens appearing between levels and describing whats going on here (I am the author, vladikcomper is corrector of first 3 screens)
    - A lot of fixes in art and level design (Me)
    - New music by A-S-H, Ivan YO, EgorTF and TheBlad768
    - And lots more.

    Screenshots:
    161_2017_10_18_04_07_29.png 162_2017_10_18_04_07_40.png 164_2017_10_18_04_30_25.png
    http://sonichacking.org/entry/12

    I'm waiting for your feedback!
     
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  15. Angel X

    Angel X Well-Known Member Member

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    Pros:-great variety of characters;
    -betterment of level design;
    -the new bosses.
    Cons:-the music of some acts;
    -the art of some zone.
    At the end of the count I enjoyed playing this hack (especially fighting new bosses)!
     
  16. Devon

    Devon Down you're going... down you're going... Member

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    I think it would be helpful to the creator if you went in depth with your points. What did you like about the bosses and level design? Any criticism for them? What didn't you like about the music and art? Anything you liked about those at all?

    Just saying you liked this or hated this isn't that helpful. I think the creator should know the specifics so that they know exactly what to improve and how and what they should keep doing.
     
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  17. Angel X

    Angel X Well-Known Member Member

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    Regarding the level design I think it has become less linear compared to the previous version and regarding the boss I like their attacks and the fact that I can hit when I want in some of them (I do not like to wait so long before attacking a enemy).
    For the art in the necropolis zone, the background could be a bit detailed and in robotropolis I thought it would be better to vary with colors.
    Attention: I do not think the art of all zone is bad, for example, I liked the art of the first zone.
    You are right,the next time I have to comment I will be more precise!
     
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