2014 is The Year Of Sonic "& Sports tape" *see post 1*

[Jovahexeon Jax Joranvexeon]

You say that almost as if anyone gave it a free pass back then either, but you're missing the point. Trapping you in a room full of enemies isn't the same as turning the game into full-blown beat-em-up - the goal of a good Sonic game is getting to the level first and foremost, and enemies were at best an obstacle, at worst a stepping stone. At the best of times there was never any need to entertain them with anything more than a hop or a Homing Attack (depending on which game you're playing specifically), and if you did everything right you wouldn't even have to stop for them.

 

 

Going off of the devs' reputations with quick combat, I'm confident they'll handle combat much more better than Sonic Team did.

[JezMM]

Yeeeeeah I see nothing in the screenshots that suggests there are expanses of flat land anymore than Heroes or Unleashed had.

 

The sunflower field area is all but certainly looking like a hub world, and the Knuckles screen of him punching the robot has terrain in the background literally probably about 5-10 seconds of movement away that would require jumping, plus lines of rings above that suggest two other routes dependant on vertical movement.

 

Also the screenshot of them running is not only a hill as seen in the trailer, but blatantly a spectacle section just leading down to a loop that will be traversed in approximately 3 seconds.

 

 

 

I am reeeeeallly not worried about whether we're gonna be getting platforming in this game.

[Jovahexeon Jax Joranvexeon]

 

 

Phew, glad we cleared that up. Guess that means I have no reason to give a shit about it now as opposed to very little.

If you disregarding it will put an end to this pointless conflict 

Heyooooo!

then so be it. Can't say I agree with denouncing a game that we've barely seen still.

[RK64]

....It seems everyone is forgetting who is developing this. The Jak and Daxter and Crash games had very varied designs that had a ton of platforming. Here is some clips to re insure people that the levels wont be super flat from some games these guys worked on.

 

 

 

(Some members from Heavy Iron Studios, who made some of the SpongeBob platformers on the GC/PS2/XB, are at BRB Games)

 

They may be flat sometimes and a bit bland, but they are fill of fun and satisfying platforming. This may not at all be an indication of Sonic Boom's level design, but these show how these developers could make some great levels .

[Jovahexeon Jax Joranvexeon]

Yeeeeeah I see nothing in the screenshots that suggests there are expanses of flat land anymore than Heroes or Unleashed had.

 

The sunflower field area is all but certainly looking like a hub world, and the Knuckles screen of him punching the robot has terrain in the background literally probably about 5-10 seconds of movement away that would require jumping, plus lines of rings above that suggest two other routes dependant on vertical movement.

 

Also the screenshot of them running is not only a hill as seen in the trailer, but blatantly a spectacle section just leading down to a loop that will be traversed in approximately 3 seconds.

 

 

 

I am reeeeeallly not concerned about whether we're gonna be getting platforming in this game.

 

 

Yep, this is where I'm coming from (shame I'm out of likes).

[Remynaka]

 I'm not the biggest fan of any of " Boom " honestly. But the more I look at it from the outside the more I get the feeling the fanbase as a whole is going to scare off the devs. I honestly do hope this does well, why? Because then it'll wake SOJ up and give us a better game overall. Think about it, if SOJ looks and boom is like stealing their moneys, then they would have to go. " Fuck this shit.." And provide that kickass sonic title we ALL want. This is just my hopes.... Well have to see tho. The ONLY look I actually like from boom is Tails. Everyone else needs to go back to the redresser. 

 

I'm also mad it' "boom" to give me combat.... lol. I'm laughing at myself as I see this now. 

[Blacklightning]

Yeeeeeah I see nothing in the screenshots that suggests there are expanses of flat land anymore than Heroes or Unleashed had.

I dunno man, Heroes had a LOT of flat land. What you've basically confirmed to be is that the game will require jumping, something everything with a jump button ever has featured, as opposed to having decent amount of platforming. I mean, I guess I accidentally made an absolutionist statement and I'm sorry about that? But what I'm seeing honestly isn't much.

 

And I'm sorry to sound annoyed all of a sudden, but for god's sake Jovahexeon can you please just make a post in one go as opposed to partially filling one and making a billion edits as you go? It's really hard to keep up and it's literally filled my entire notifications box. =\

[Jovahexeon Jax Joranvexeon]

And I'm sorry to sound annoyed all of a sudden, but for god's sake Jovahexeon can you please just make a post in one go as opposed to partially filling one and making a billion edits as you go? It's really hard to keep up and it's literally filled my entire notifications box. =\

Sorry, I'm a bit of a rookie with the posting system here.  

[JezMM]

To be honest you really REALLY can't get solid platforming across in teaser trailers or single screenshots.  Here's some promotional shots of Mario 3D World; I feel these choices are comparable with the scope of Boom screens we've had so far:

 

 

 

(Compare to Amy fighting robot).

 

 

(Compare to Knuckles punching robot)

 

 

(Compare to trailer screengrab of Knuckles hanging from ceiling)

 

The thing about platformer screenshots is that you have to remember - ESPECIALLY in a speedier platformer like Sonic - the distance it takes to cross what you can see in the screenshot is probably going to be 30 seconds maximum.  Platformer levels are BIG and have a lot more to them than your imagination could possibly allow until you've played it.  And screenshots that show a huge area of level do not necessarily make for good, dramatic promotional screens.

Edited February 9, 2014 by JezMM

[Blacklightning]

That's... actually a pretty good point. Guess this is gonna be another one of those "wait and see" deals.

[Jovahexeon Jax Joranvexeon]

That's... actually a pretty good point. Guess this is gonna be another one of those "wait and see" deals.

Heh, yeah! Remember when we though Mario 3D World was going to be lackluster and outshone by Lost World?

[YeppersPeppers]

You know, I really dig what I'm seeing here, from both the game and the show (especially the show). As an alternate universe living beside the main one, this is something I can get behind.

 

Sonic Team's recent products haven't been doin' it for me, you know? This is exactly the kick I need to reignite my interest in the series.

[JezMM]

Don't get me wrong, I DO still fear that it'll be like a 50/50 split of combat to platforming but I'm... choosing to trust they have common sense and yeah, thinking about how often screenshots don't reveal much in platformers.

 

I mean just go through Sonic Retro Wiki sometime, looking at your favourite zone articles.  The screenshot for each one shows off probably about 5-10 seconds worth of gameplay and/or only 1 or 2 of the many gimmicks that zone is famous for.

[Sami]

While combat is something I've consistently hated in Sonic games, I wouldn't say it's because I'm inherently against the idea of it, but more so because it's been fucking awful every time they try to emphasize it. If the combat feels fluid, intuitive, and fitting of the characters then I'm sure I'll have fun with it. Fluidity is absolutely pivotal though, as movement and flow is what Sonic's all about. Something like the Jak games but a bit more involved would be fine with me. 

[CrownSlayers Shadow]

Okay, now that I'm off work. 

Ok but seriously now, those goggles and headset earcups, there's suspension of disbelief and then there's nonsense, things that have no reason to happen.  Tails is established to have the ability to fly with his tails.  I could bring up how poor the profile of his tails are for generating lift (so bad it would be easier to write it as a drag to lift ratio), but I don't because that's an established break from reality.  They're anthropomorphic because that is a clear break from reality.  What isn't a clear break from reality is Tails hearing through headphone no where near his ears.  This is not a clear break from reality.  If they're not on his ears, do they even need to be on his person?  These are very preventable problems, of course.  They could have gone with triangular ear cups, or just fudged it a bit and had the cups cover his ears anyway.  The clearer problem are his goggles.  They could have easily just drawn larger goggles at the design phase. I say drawn, because no one would ever model little dingleberry quills like that if they were going straight to the mesh.

What's nonsense is you making a mountain out of a molehill over a nitpick. Never mind that the whole definition of a suspension of disbelief is the ability to overlook such nonsensical aspects like this in the first place as far as the overall work is concerned; yeah, we know the headphones aren't on his ears and how they should stick to a person's ears, but them not being on his ears isn't detracting anything beyond the point that he's using them to talk to and listen to Sonic from a distance in the way that you typically use headsets for. That is the break from reality, one that you didn't get even when it was obvious what they were there for.

 

And sure, it's preventable, you could redesign the headphone in order to fit on his head in the ways you suggest. That is perfectly fine. But the whole point in them being on his person in general is to function as a two-way communicator to talk to Sonic on the ground while he's flying in the skies.

 

I'm not a character designer but even with my limited experience these designs are rife with what I can only call mistakes.  For example, someone who I am going to assume has more expertise than I, pointed out that Tails's face is at the same level as Knuckles's crotch.

How is being at the level of his waist a mistake? Granted, I don't like Knuckles' proportions anyway, but I fail to see how the height level is a mistake, particularly when Tails is suppose to be younger than Knuckles.

[SilentDoom]

*Ignore/delete this :V

[Sami]

Some stuff on Jak & Daxter for those who aren't familiar with the game -

 

 

The bits on the animation and art design are especially relevant to Boom, as Bob Rafei used to be the senior art/animation director at Naughty Dog before forming BigRedButton. He has a talking head here as well, and a lot of the art overlayed was drawn by him personally.

 

Entertaining video nonetheless, I just wish we knew exactly who did what and who left for BRB. 

[iDEATH]

If Sonic team are splitting does that mean....they'll be hiring?!!?!!! *prints CV*

[Phos]

Okay, now that I'm off work. 

What's nonsense is you making a mountain out of a molehill over a nitpick. Never mind that the whole definition of a suspension of disbelief is the ability to overlook such nonsensical aspects like this in the first place as far as the overall work is concerned; yeah, we know the headphones aren't on his ears and how they should stick to a person's ears, but them not being on his ears isn't detracting anything beyond the point that he's using them to talk to and listen to Sonic from a distance in the way that you typically use headsets for. That is the break from reality, one that you didn't get even when it was obvious what they were there for.

 

And sure, it's preventable, you could redesign the headphone in order to fit on his head in the ways you suggest. That is perfectly fine. But the whole point in them being on his person in general is to function as a two-way communicator to talk to Sonic on the ground while he's flying in the skies.

 

How is being at the level of his waist a mistake? Granted, I don't like Knuckles' proportions anyway, but I fail to see how the height level is a mistake, particularly when Tails is suppose to be younger than Knuckles.

I'm not going to waste more breath on why it was a bad idea to give a character a headset that doesn't go on his ears.  I have no idea why you see this as somehow OK.  Call it a nitpick if you want, it's ultimately a part of a very amature hour picture.  

 

Why is Tails's height a problem?  Ever seen that glitch to get inside Jabu Jabu as Adult Link?  It makes the cutscene at the end where he's face to face with the zora princess pretty weird.  

[Gabz Girl]

To be honest you really REALLY can't get solid platforming across in teaser trailers or single screenshots.  Here's some promotional shots of Mario 3D World; I feel these choices are comparable with the scope of Boom screens we've had so far:

 

 

 

You make a very good point. Remember when we all thought 3D World was going to be just your average Mario platformer? Holy shit were we blown away by the October gameplay trailer and eventually, when the game came out people who doubted it at first hailed it as the best Mario platformer in YEARS and a big step up from 3D Land (including myself). This is getting a similar reaction, so maybe if we see a longer and more varied gameplay trailer we get a good taste of what to expect. E3 or even a Nintendo Direct will show more eventually.

[Indigo Rush]

I think the reason people are so skeptical about the trailer is because, historically, Sonic game trailers have always been misleading.

 

 

 

 

 

...

 

 

...but remember, this ISN'T a "real" Sonic game!

 

[CrownSlayers Shadow]

I'm not going to waste more breath on why it was a bad idea to give a character a headset that doesn't go on his ears.  I have no idea why you see this as somehow OK.  Call it a nitpick if you want, it's ultimately a part of a very amature hour picture.  

It's OK because it serves its function as a listening device and it's not that big an issue you're making it out to be for it not to be on his ears. Not that hard to comprehend, and It's not like cartoons have never done this before.

 

 

 

Why is Tails's height a problem?  Ever seen that glitch to get inside Jabu Jabu as Adult Link?  It makes the cutscene at the end where he's face to face with the zora princess pretty weird.

No, I haven't. But you realize that Tails is an 8 year old kid and not a grown up like Adult Link, right? Meaning he's going to be shorter than the teenage Knuckles. So using a glitch as example doesn't really compare.

[Tani Coyote]

I think the reason people are so skeptical about the trailer is because, historically, Sonic game trailers have always been misleading.

Indeed.

What does give room for optimism is Sonic Team not having any part of this (well, the hands on development anyway). The reason for skepticism then moves to BRB never having made a game before as their own company, so it leaves room for skepticism... though the individual resumes lends credence to the idea that there's going to be some serious PS2-era nostalgia here.

And if Sonic is better for it, well, it is what it is.

Who knows, even if they don't make use of the Sonic art style perhaps they'll adapt it in future iterations. The gameplay needs to be solid first and foremost. Everything else is secondary.

[Komodin]

Why is Tails's height a problem?  Ever seen that glitch to get inside Jabu Jabu as Adult Link?  It makes the cutscene at the end where he's face to face with the zora princess pretty weird.  

 

Are you really comparing a bug that leads to a scenario that's not supposed to happen like that to begin with to this? Are you really assuming that Tails' height isn't going to be scaled to that of the other characters? Come on, man, this isn't cool...

[Salamander]

...It suddenly strikes me that the delight in Sonic Team outsourcing a game to other developers has a strong parallel in how people used to react to Dimps before their fall from grace.  I particularly recall similar reactions to the news that Dimps was involved with Unleashed.  It's kind of foreboding, actually.