Disclaimer:
All of this is experimental untested concepts from my brain that I will soon be implementing into my own engine.
Hi, there a long time sonic fan who's about to study game design here!
For a while, I have had a few Ideas for how the games should work in 3D and now I'm going to discuss them with y'all.
First off momentum based physics, sonic can be fast and slow allowing for precise control and ludicrous speed, but that's not all, that alone won't do the trick, so here are the abilities sonic gets all of these have been chosen with control and maintaining/building momentum in mind. (just as a disclaimer this is designed with a controller in mind specifically the XBOX 360, (only one I have to hand))
let's start with the basics
Ball form
not much difference here gains more momentum from slopes but can't introduce it manually e.g. pressing forward. can turn/jump. the main difference is that you hold down the left trigger button to stay in ball form ( this will make more sense later when other mechanics are in mind)
Jump
doesn't automatically go into ball form, a longer hold will result in a higher jump.
Spin dash
the same as normal but you can turn while revving up. stays in ball form for a set time after launching (not yet decided)
Drop dash
Same as in mania
side step
works differently from modern games sonic runs sideways rather than moving a set difference longer you hold it down farther he will go allows the player to avoid obstacles without changing running directions
Action button
Sonic interacts with terrain and objects, activating level gimmicks but doing something else that's important, shifting momentum directions, allowing sonic to grab hold of a ledge and climb up or to start running on a near by wall when he is in the air, these actions will cause him to lose some momentum, but can allow the player to find parts of levels that couldn't be reached by conventional means and maintain momentum when faced with a wall.
camera controls
This is quite possibly the most important part of this control scheme left stick controls the camera. pressing in this stick changes it between two modes
Guide cam mode, this mode works like utopia every move control you make is affected by the position of the camera e.g. jumping while looking down will cause a longer lower jump than when looking up, the direction chosen when sticking to a wall with the action button is chosen by the direction the camera faces.
Free Cam
control is now determined with relevance to the direction sonic is facing, this control is less precise but with quick changes between these modes can allow sonic to move more freely e.g. free cam while running along side a wall so that the camera faces the wall quick switch then jump and then use the action button to run on the wall. this would take skill to pull off introducing a difficulty curve that is rewarding to beat.
Level design.
these ideas are far more simplistic than the control scheme.
two types of levels.
chase levels
(Don't worry these aren't mock speed)
these a clear objective that you need to build momentum to catch up with, levels designed with plenty of chances to gain speed. some harder than other but more rewarding, fairly linear maybe some shortcuts locked behind skill barriers, difficult jumps, wall running etc.
Open levels
very open levels basically a playground to explore with one or more objectives and many ways to complete them.
finally one last point.
sonic should have a health bar, for an unexperienced player sonic is hard to control and always will be, to be enjoying the game needs to be more forgiving, or else why ever experiment with the controls if you might die.
so final note no cheap deaths, no hard to see bottomless pits etc.
I really want to hear opinions on this, I think it could work great what about you?
All of this is experimental untested concepts from my brain that I will soon be implementing into my own engine.
Hi, there a long time sonic fan who's about to study game design here!
For a while, I have had a few Ideas for how the games should work in 3D and now I'm going to discuss them with y'all.
First off momentum based physics, sonic can be fast and slow allowing for precise control and ludicrous speed, but that's not all, that alone won't do the trick, so here are the abilities sonic gets all of these have been chosen with control and maintaining/building momentum in mind. (just as a disclaimer this is designed with a controller in mind specifically the XBOX 360, (only one I have to hand))
let's start with the basics
Ball form
not much difference here gains more momentum from slopes but can't introduce it manually e.g. pressing forward. can turn/jump. the main difference is that you hold down the left trigger button to stay in ball form ( this will make more sense later when other mechanics are in mind)
Jump
doesn't automatically go into ball form, a longer hold will result in a higher jump.
Spin dash
the same as normal but you can turn while revving up. stays in ball form for a set time after launching (not yet decided)
Drop dash
Same as in mania
side step
works differently from modern games sonic runs sideways rather than moving a set difference longer you hold it down farther he will go allows the player to avoid obstacles without changing running directions
Action button
Sonic interacts with terrain and objects, activating level gimmicks but doing something else that's important, shifting momentum directions, allowing sonic to grab hold of a ledge and climb up or to start running on a near by wall when he is in the air, these actions will cause him to lose some momentum, but can allow the player to find parts of levels that couldn't be reached by conventional means and maintain momentum when faced with a wall.
camera controls
This is quite possibly the most important part of this control scheme left stick controls the camera. pressing in this stick changes it between two modes
Guide cam mode, this mode works like utopia every move control you make is affected by the position of the camera e.g. jumping while looking down will cause a longer lower jump than when looking up, the direction chosen when sticking to a wall with the action button is chosen by the direction the camera faces.
Free Cam
control is now determined with relevance to the direction sonic is facing, this control is less precise but with quick changes between these modes can allow sonic to move more freely e.g. free cam while running along side a wall so that the camera faces the wall quick switch then jump and then use the action button to run on the wall. this would take skill to pull off introducing a difficulty curve that is rewarding to beat.
Level design.
these ideas are far more simplistic than the control scheme.
two types of levels.
chase levels
(Don't worry these aren't mock speed)
these a clear objective that you need to build momentum to catch up with, levels designed with plenty of chances to gain speed. some harder than other but more rewarding, fairly linear maybe some shortcuts locked behind skill barriers, difficult jumps, wall running etc.
Open levels
very open levels basically a playground to explore with one or more objectives and many ways to complete them.
finally one last point.
sonic should have a health bar, for an unexperienced player sonic is hard to control and always will be, to be enjoying the game needs to be more forgiving, or else why ever experiment with the controls if you might die.
so final note no cheap deaths, no hard to see bottomless pits etc.
I really want to hear opinions on this, I think it could work great what about you?