SAGE 2022 - Demo Sonic & Blaze SAGE 2022 Edition

• I like the title theme music, very FUNKY. Options menu is also good for accessibility with sound control, greatly appreciated
• The animations are good, I especially like the dynamic camera, like when it zooms in in Lunar Park Acts 2 and 3, this is very playful and adds a lot of soul and personality to the game. A lot of Sonic fangames struggle with the camera but it works a charm in this game.
• Skills section is a really neat addition
• The 3 platform switching/grind rail parts are good at mixing up level design also, like in Lunar Park
• Lunar Park looks absolutely beautiful - Lunar Park 3's theming is brilliant, with the colored lasers just appearing, really like this and it put a big smile on my face - each Zone would be well suited to have a gimmick akin to this. I also love the Dragon Road inspired Sky Eden
• Level design is good (except for the Colors blocky platforming-esque bits - if this games wants to take inspiration from Rush then it's best to ditch those or have them at a minimum like in Rush - which tbh it already is, it's mostly just in Blue Coast)
• Homing attack and boost mechanics work very well, never ran into any glitches
• The visual effects where the boost meter fills up are a really nice touch
• I love the custom sprite for Blaze and the addition of her float skill
• The use of sound effects like the running/stepping and squeaking when coming to a halt SFX really adds to the feel of the game and brings it alive.

• Work on the physics of the game a bit, specifically to make it more Rush-like. For example, the acceleration at the start of walking is a bit too heavy/rigid, this is noticed especially in platforming sections where the character feels quite heavy to move.
• Sonic's air dash also comes to a complete stop after and loses all momentum, which discourages players from using that move since you lose all your speed so I feel this could also be changed
• Controller support could be implemented
• Make the game have it's own distinct visual style, you're already close to it with the Advance/Rush/Unleashed styling (which I love btw). Levels like Lunar Park, Temple Cliff and Sky Eden already achieve this, basically more of this design philosophy

etuevetuevetuev said:

I was really looking forward to trying this game as Blaze is my favorite Sonic character, so the premise of the game is fantastic for me. There aren't many 2D boost fangames, let alone ones with Blaze in them. This game clearly has A LOT of effort put into it, over 5 levels were made for a demo, I had a lot of fun messing around trying to cheat the levels by skipping using boost, but you designed them well so I couldn't lol. Here are some of the things I really liked about the demo:

• I like the title theme music, very FUNKY. Options menu is also good for accessibility with sound control, greatly appreciated
• The animations are good, I especially like the dynamic camera, like when it zooms in in Lunar Park Acts 2 and 3, this is very playful and adds a lot of soul and personality to the game. A lot of Sonic fangames struggle with the camera but it works a charm in this game.
• Skills section is a really neat addition
• The 3 platform switching/grind rail parts are good at mixing up level design also, like in Lunar Park
• Lunar Park looks absolutely beautiful - Lunar Park 3's theming is brilliant, with the colored lasers just appearing, really like this and it put a big smile on my face - each Zone would be well suited to have a gimmick akin to this. I also love the Dragon Road inspired Sky Eden
• Level design is good (except for the Colors blocky platforming-esque bits - if this games wants to take inspiration from Rush then it's best to ditch those or have them at a minimum like in Rush - which tbh it already is, it's mostly just in Blue Coast)
• Homing attack and boost mechanics work very well, never ran into any glitches
• The visual effects where the boost meter fills up are a really nice touch
• I love the custom sprite for Blaze and the addition of her float skill
• The use of sound effects like the running/stepping and squeaking when coming to a halt SFX really adds to the feel of the game and brings it alive.

My suggestions on things I think would make the game even better:

• Work on the physics of the game a bit, specifically to make it more Rush-like. For example, the acceleration at the start of walking is a bit too heavy/rigid, this is noticed especially in platforming sections where the character feels quite heavy to move.
• Sonic's air dash also comes to a complete stop after and loses all momentum, which discourages players from using that move since you lose all your speed so I feel this could also be changed
• Controller support could be implemented
• Make the game have it's own distinct visual style, you're already close to it with the Advance/Rush/Unleashed styling (which I love btw). Levels like Lunar Park, Temple Cliff and Sky Eden already achieve this, basically more of this design philosophy

All in all, I had a lot of fun playing this game and I really hope that you're able to make it into a full fangame. Keep the great work up!

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Clemesonic13 said:

How do you choose Blaze?

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• Early levels (Blue Coast, Temple Cliffs) have good enemy placement. There were multiple instances where I’d encounter an enemy in either of those levels and it almost always felt like they were supposed to be there. This might seem like a weird thing to praise but it’s important when it comes to level design and I think you nailed it here
• Boosting feels good! Especially with all the visual effects that add to the sense of “speed” it gives you (i.e. speed lines surrounding the screen, particle effects on Sonic/Blaze, etc.)
• The backgrounds look really really good. Idk how you nailed that parallax effect on the water in Blue Coast but I’m honestly really impressed how “3D” it looks, good job!
• The dynamic camera is soooooo sick! Every time it zoomed in on the player I would get really hyped
• I absolutely love that music gets muffled when you’re underwater
• You have a very strong understanding of setpieces, which are a really important aspect of making Sonic levels memorable. The giant chopper chase at the end of Blue Coast as well as the ball chase at the end of Temple Cliffs were both really cool!
• The level themes were creative and I like that you combined both visual assets from old games and music to try and make them unique!
• This is small, but I love the detail that Blaze’s boost orbs are purple instead of blue

• Sometimes when jumping into an act ring from the hub world, upon finishing/quitting an act, Sonic will respawn at the EXACT position he was at before entering the level. If that position happens to be a location where he is touching the act ring, he will immediately reload into the level. I got stuck in a loop of entering a level, trying to quit it, being brought back to the hub, and then sent immediately back into the level. I had to stomp and repeatedly quit the level until enough frames had passed that Sonic broke free. It might be a better idea to save Sonic’s last known position in the hub while GROUNDED and then set him to that position when loading back into the hub so this doesn’t keep happening.
• Certain objects in the game, such as rings and elemental shields, aren’t animated. I'm certain you are already aware of this though.
• The acceleration when not boosting is too slow in my opinion. It takes really long for Sonic/Blaze to speed up and it makes them feel a bit sluggish, ESPECIALLY in slow paced platforming sections. I died really often in Lunar Park because I had trouble building enough speed to make jumps during that level's more intricate platforming segments.
• In one level Blaze had a double jump and then in the next she suddenly didn’t? I think I may have picked up an electric shield (which possibly gave her access to the double jump) but I died with the shield equipped and could still double jump after respawning. Because of that I thought the double jump was part of her base moveset but when I loaded into the next level I realized I couldn’t do it anymore.
• There’s a bug where if you perform a homing attack on an object that’s out of reach, you’ll get stuck homing forever until you knock yourself out of it by stomping or taking damage. I ran into this twice but it's a super minor issue.
• When using the autospring you don't really have any aerial mobility after hitting them. I you’re bouncing off the leftmost or rightmost side of the spring, you kind of get "stuck" there until the section is over. It’s VERY difficult to avoid obstacles when you’re stuck like this, especially because the spring continues moving and leaves you behind, and I had a lot of unfair deaths because of it. I also think it might be a good idea to lock the camera during these sections so it tracks the center of the screen instead of Sonic/Blaze. That way, the player is able to see more and has an easier time avoiding hazards. I know camera programming can be tough though.

• I think it’d be nice if the stage music pauses when the player pauses the game and restarts after the player dies. It’s a small change, but to me it’d make things feel more polished
• Having fade transitions between rooms would also make the game feel a little more polished. A simple fade in/fade out goes a long way!
• This may have been a “user error” thing, but I couldn’t figure out how to equip the skills in the skill menu. I tried pressing all the buttons but nothing seemed to work. Do you have to unlock them first?

RandomocityGaming said:

As someone who's also making a fangame with Rush style gameplay (and has been keeping up with your game's development on discord), I was excited to finally see the demo come out! Blaze is also my favorite Sonic character so it's really cool seeing a fangame where she's playable!


I’m a big fan of bullet points so I figured I’d list my thoughts that way:


THE GOOD:

• Early levels (Blue Coast, Temple Cliffs) have good enemy placement. There were multiple instances where I’d encounter an enemy in either of those levels and it almost always felt like they were supposed to be there. This might seem like a weird thing to praise but it’s important when it comes to level design and I think you nailed it here
• Boosting feels good! Especially with all the visual effects that add to the sense of “speed” it gives you (i.e. speed lines surrounding the screen, particle effects on Sonic/Blaze, etc.)
• The backgrounds look really really good. Idk how you nailed that parallax effect on the water in Blue Coast but I’m honestly really impressed how “3D” it looks, good job!
• The dynamic camera is soooooo sick! Every time it zoomed in on the player I would get really hyped
• I absolutely love that music gets muffled when you’re underwater
• You have a very strong understanding of setpieces, which are a really important aspect of making Sonic levels memorable. The giant chopper chase at the end of Blue Coast as well as the ball chase at the end of Temple Cliffs were both really cool!
• The level themes were creative and I like that you combined both visual assets from old games and music to try and make them unique!
• This is small, but I love the detail that Blaze’s boost orbs are purple instead of blue

THE NOT SO GOOD:

• Sometimes when jumping into an act ring from the hub world, upon finishing/quitting an act, Sonic will respawn at the EXACT position he was at before entering the level. If that position happens to be a location where he is touching the act ring, he will immediately reload into the level. I got stuck in a loop of entering a level, trying to quit it, being brought back to the hub, and then sent immediately back into the level. I had to stomp and repeatedly quit the level until enough frames had passed that Sonic broke free. It might be a better idea to save Sonic’s last known position in the hub while GROUNDED and then set him to that position when loading back into the hub so this doesn’t keep happening.
• Certain objects in the game, such as rings and elemental shields, aren’t animated. I'm certain you are already aware of this though.
• The acceleration when not boosting is too slow in my opinion. It takes really long for Sonic/Blaze to speed up and it makes them feel a bit sluggish, ESPECIALLY in slow paced platforming sections. I died really often in Lunar Park because I had trouble building enough speed to make jumps during that level's more intricate platforming segments.
• In one level Blaze had a double jump and then in the next she suddenly didn’t? I think I may have picked up an electric shield (which possibly gave her access to the double jump) but I died with the shield equipped and could still double jump after respawning. Because of that I thought the double jump was part of her base moveset but when I loaded into the next level I realized I couldn’t do it anymore.
• There’s a bug where if you perform a homing attack on an object that’s out of reach, you’ll get stuck homing forever until you knock yourself out of it by stomping or taking damage. I ran into this twice but it's a super minor issue.
• When using the autospring you don't really have any aerial mobility after hitting them. I you’re bouncing off the leftmost or rightmost side of the spring, you kind of get "stuck" there until the section is over. It’s VERY difficult to avoid obstacles when you’re stuck like this, especially because the spring continues moving and leaves you behind, and I had a lot of unfair deaths because of it. I also think it might be a good idea to lock the camera during these sections so it tracks the center of the screen instead of Sonic/Blaze. That way, the player is able to see more and has an easier time avoiding hazards. I know camera programming can be tough though.

THE “SUBJECTIVE OPINIONS” SECTION:

• I think it’d be nice if the stage music pauses when the player pauses the game and restarts after the player dies. It’s a small change, but to me it’d make things feel more polished
• Having fade transitions between rooms would also make the game feel a little more polished. A simple fade in/fade out goes a long way!
• This may have been a “user error” thing, but I couldn’t figure out how to equip the skills in the skill menu. I tried pressing all the buttons but nothing seemed to work. Do you have to unlock them first?

All in all it’s super obvious a lot of effort went into this demo! I’m honestly surprised how many levels you were able to fit in (there are like 6 or 7 if I’m remembering correctly and they’re all around 4-5 min each on a first playthrough. That’s a lot of content!). I’m sure you’ve got big plans for this game and I can’t wait to see what you do with it next! Keep up the good work!

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arcanalune said:

Thanks so much for the feedback! You brought up a few more bugs that I didn't know about, gonna figure out what's going on with those. Acceleration seems to be a common criticism and I plan on working on that asap. I'll probably end up releasing a small demo in the future just to get opinions on physics and movement adjustments. I'm gonna end up completely redoing how the moving spring works, the way you handled it in your game and using a static camera gives me ideas...

As for the skills, this was a mistake I made with the demo. All the other skills except Endless Boost are currently unavailable, I forgot to remove them from the menu so that's totally on me. If I hadnt been so busy with work this week I'd have hopefully been able to push out another update fixing that...

All that aside, really glad you enjoyed the demo!

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