Sonic Nexus [BETA DEMO]

[Slingerland]

OK, guys. Nexus is back for SAGE 2007 after carrying the show in 2006. This thread serves as the official breaking news/update source on the project as I will be updating the site throughout the week. Why did I do that you ask? To torture you. No, not really. I decided to do updates over the week to encourage returning to not only the Nexus booth, but SAGE in general.

Here's what I'll be updating over the week:

• Screenshots of each zone
• SAGE 2007 DEMO on THURSDAY, August 8th @ 8 PM EST

The music is all already there for your listening pleasure. Props to Sage for the tracks.

Well, I'll be seeing you next update then! Peace.

~Slingerland

[djtjj2]

The scrambeled egg URL is wrong, someone wrote MP3 insted of midi, it 404's you... Found the real one if anyone needs it...
http://www.soundmage.com/bluelazor/S...mbledEgg.mi d
(It's a downloadable part of the Sonic nexus soundtrack)

[Darkwing Duck]

EDIT: Scratch that. No idea what that midi is about.

[Slingerland]

August 6th Booth Update:

Sunset Shore screenshot.

[TRD]

Love it.

[Spike]

God, that's one sexy stage.

[Midiman]

Spoiler:

show spoiler

Gee I wonder where that hud came from

I freaking LOVE that stage ok <3

[Slingerland]

Today's booth update is the long-awaited demo.

It'll be released during the SAGE Report tonight, so don't expect it to be released right at 8:00:00 PM EST. We are currently having parallax difficulties.

Yes, I know. Shit always goes wrong at the worst time.

[Huepow00]

Originally Posted by Slingerland

Today's booth update is the long-awaited demo.

It'll be released during the SAGE Report tonight, so don't expect it to be released right at 8:00:00 PM EST. We are currently having parallax difficulties.

Yes, I know. Shit always goes wrong at the worst time.

For the love of god, please tell me someone's gonna record this stuff So we can listen later if we miss it?

I get offa work at 5 and im going to go see the Bourne Ultimatum...

[Darkwing Duck]

Record?

No no, we are releasing a demo. I've kinda screwed things up a little with parallax and now we are running a tad behind schedule. We'll release soon though.

[Huepow00]

Originally Posted by DimensionWarped

Record?

Ahhhh I ment the SAGE REPORT...

I dont wanna miss that just cause this whole SAGE event is based on EST...

[Spike]

Originally Posted by Slingerland

Shit always goes wrong at the worst time.

Yeah, you could say I have experienced that this SAGE.

[Slingerland]

Yeah, this sucks. Bear with me here.

Nexus Demo: Tomorrow @ 8 PM EST

My apologies for having you wait another day. I promise you that it will be worth it. If it's not, sue me.

[Slingerland]

End of act 3.

This will be epic I promise.

[HeroSublime]

I know what you mean Slinger, I've been having troubles of my own. I'll be sure to check out Nexus though.

[Mark the Echidna]

Originally Posted by Slingerland

http://www.sonicfangameshq.com/forum...8&d=1186627874

Like Sky Chase, but going left. Freaking EPIC.

Just kidding. I loved the "SONIC HAS PASSED" Screen.

[Darkwing Duck]

Actually its nothing like Sky Chase. You'll see when you play.

Oh, and let me update that screen real quick...

[Spike]

Okay, I have to ask this. Why does the game's icon say "SE"? Shouldn't it say "SN" or am I missing something here?

Oh, and I'm betting that in this act passed screen, you have been rescued by tails after beating the boss.

[Kain]

You would actually selfishly drown out attention to Ian Flynn's always-amazing chat session just for your petty little demo? For shame.

Seriously, though, I can't wait.

[Darkwing Duck]

Close Spike. Close.

[Slingerland]

The SAGE 2007 beta demo has been released. Download it in the "Demo" section. A few notes about the demo:

* Act 1 is complete
* Act 2 is a "work in progress." The layout is complete, but it's a 4 minute level and that is HUGE (causes lag on crap computers) and lacking working checkpoints.
* Due to Act 2's size and lack of checkpoints, you can press "F6" to skip the level.
* Due to stupidity, we have no object management system, so lower end systems are pretty screwed when they try to play the demo.

---RECOMMENDED SYSTEM SPECS FOR THIS NON-OPTIMIZED DEMO: 2.8ghz P4 or better with around 1 GB of ram---

We are going to release a complete demo in the near future, maybe before SAGE ends, that is more complete than the one that is up for download now.

WE JUST DIDN'T WANT TO KEEP YOU WAITING! ENJOY!

[Sir Euan]

So how long before you asked was my font in the game? ;D

[Slingerland]

Dami told me not to use it like...an hour ago. He GAVE it to me two weeks ago with no warning whatsoever.

This whole day sucks ass. I'll take it out later.
---------------
EDIT:

LET ME REITERATE THIS POINT:

Due to stupidity, we have no object management system, so lower end systems are pretty screwed when they try to play the demo.

---RECOMMENDED SYSTEM SPECS FOR THIS NON-OPTIMIZED DEMO: 2.8ghz P4 or better with around 1 GB of ram---

If you come and tell me that it's slow...GET OVER IT, because we are WORKING ON IT. F(&AUIPEBGAHIL:BFALFASK:G FsDG

[HeroSublime]

The level design is gorgeous and everything was cool until I got stuck in the bubble riding part... I'll play some more later and get back to you on that. But it appears that there's no way to get out of that area.

[Sir Euan]

No I said you can use the font, but i only just found outs =P it for the level end cards cos I love you.

;D nice demo btw, the main thing that irked me was how simple the second part of the boss was compared to the first.

[Darkwing Duck]

Originally Posted by HeroSublime

The level design is gorgeous and everything was cool until I got stuck in the bubble riding part... I'll play some more later and get back to you on that. But it appears that there's no way to get out of that area.

Um... up?

[Spike]

I really don't know how to say this, and I really don't mean to offend, but I'm dissapointed. Maybe it was all of the hype, I don't know. But here we go with the review.

+ Gorgeous sprites and backgrounds
+ Cool music
+ I like how the teleporters changed the look of the level
+ Bubble gimmick gave me Triple Trouble nostalgia
+ Kickass title card
+ Two part boss. Awesome.

But...

- There were too many enemies, and they were all annoying as hell, especially the practically looping laser sound of the dashing fish.
- Sonic feels slow and tough to control. I feel like the poor guy has boulders tied to his feet.
- Level design is very... Blocky. Lack of slopes or slanted ground (There were a few instances, but not enough to be Sonic-ish) left me bored. It was also very frustrating, and the screwy depths of the tiles made it feel like Sonic 2 beta. For example, I would take a spring upward and half of the tiles would be in front of Sonic, half behind. It just looked terrible.
- Feels buggy and too fangamey. The casino level from last year felt like Sonic, so I'm not saying you got it all wrong.
- The first boss part. It was clearly edited from Marble Palace Zone, it stayed offscreen half of the time (Due to high speed and very free movement), and the clouds followed you exactly and stuck to your position.
- I quit because I kept getting killed by the second part of the boss when I clearly jumped on the top of it's head. Buggy.
- Lack of explanation for the crank and teleporters. It took me forever to figure to push up on the crank (Sonic should probably move his arms while turning the crank, too. Not just magically stare and turn it), and took me even longer to figure out what the hell the teleporter even was.

[Darkwing Duck]

Never had that problem with the second part of the boss fight. Maybe you are experiencing strange behavior of some sort. Works fine on the two computers I've tested it on anyway.

And I'm also not particularly familiar with Marble Palace zone.

As for the blocky level design, all I have to say to that is "no shit sherlock, its a water level." Aside from Hydrocity zone, thats what you get with water levels.

[Spike]

It happened to me twice, first made me lose my rings and the second killed me.

[Slingerland]

It was clearly edited from Marble Palace Zone

Is that a complaint?

Do you expect us to use COMPLETELY original everything?

Also, I'm not finding these alleged "bugs."

Feels buggy and too fangamey. The casino level from last year felt like Sonic, so I'm not saying you got it all wrong.

Too fangamey? Wtf are you talking about?

[SkyLights]

The awesome:
-The Hydrocity water effect is pretty awesome. Well done. Better than mine :P
-The Badniks are well programmed. (Except for that starfish one. That thing -pisses me off. >:O)
-The boss(es) were pretty intuitive and original. Nice job on them.
-The gimmicks in general were plenty and solidly made. It wasn't quite clear how to turn the water wheel, but I figured it out.
-The portal to another place that popped up a few times was a very interesting touch. Is that supposed to be like traveling through time?
-Also, congratulations on not putting rings every five pixels and making the player work for them.
-No slowdown at all for me. Nice job.

The criticisms. Don't read this if you're angsty.
-The beginning of Act 1 is too simple. Maybe it's just cause I took the bottom route.
-Like I said above, that starfish enemy pisses me off >:O
-What's with all of the checkpoints all over the place that don't do anything?
-Speaking of checkpoints, mind making it so that it keeps track of time?
-Are you supposed to go through the ceiling tiles if you're floating in the bubble?
-In Act 2, the part with the five or six rotating platforms is very unforgiving when it comes to that timer. :[ I drowned just as soon as I reached the solid ground next to the air bubble vent.
-Will Act 3 have some extra length to it eventually, or will it just be the boss?

[tentril]

Awesome demo. I agree with Spike about the Crank and Teleporters. They were kind of confusing, but i figured them out fine. I'm just wondering where it is that the teleporters take you.

[Darkwing Duck]

What we did was we took a risk. I said to Slingerland at the time that people would have complaints if it was a water level in the style of SCD/S1 because these levels are traditionally slower and more difficult and all around less liked than land levels. Personally, I like the level very much and find it to fit the style of Tidal Tempest... which was the target by the way... very well.

Now, if what you want is ground levels, cool, we have that too. Its just not what we've been working on lately.

And the broken checkpoints are my fault because I didn't want to miss the 8:00PM deadline and just finished the checkpoint system.

Also yeah, the starfish... I don't want people killing my precious robots too easily. Any self respecting mad scientist would feel the same way.

[Spike]

Look, I didn't mean to offend. You don't have to get so bent out of shape about it.

No, I don't "expect you to use COMPLETELY original everything", I'm just saying that it's so un-edited that I recognized it right away. As for being too fangamey, I'm not sure how to explain it. It just feels flimsy and unfinished. (I'm not taking act 2 into consideration)

EDIT: Seeing your new post, I see that it is unfinished. That settles that.

[Slingerland]

EDIT: Seeing your new post, I see that it is unfinished. That settles that.

I love it when people decide to read. <3

I'm under a tremendous amount of stress right now. I haven't slept in a week. Brush the anger I'm dealing out off.

[SkyLights]

Originally Posted by DimensionWarped

Also yeah, the starfish... I don't want people killing my precious robots too easily. Any self respecting mad scientist would feel the same way.

Haha, okay. :P I suppose it wouldn't be as fun if it were too easy.

[Darkwing Duck]

Oh, by the way, yeah, Act 3 is supposed to be more than just a boss area. Like most things, its unfinished.

[Darkwing Duck]

Originally Posted by Spike

Look, I didn't mean to offend. You don't have to get so bent out of shape about it.

No, I don't "expect you to use COMPLETELY original everything", I'm just saying that it's so un-edited that I recognized it right away. As for being too fangamey, I'm not sure how to explain it. It just feels flimsy and unfinished. (I'm not taking act 2 into consideration).

I'll be sure to put spinning rims and extra body kits on it just for you... you know, seeing as the complete change of weapons and throwing on a filling water tank wasn't quite enough to tickle your fancy.

I mean, who gives a damn about the fact that Sonic games recycled their own sprites for about 80% of the bosses in all 4 Genesis Sonic games...

[GothicMetalXVI]

Well I myself will give this demo a 4 out of 5, its pretty solid and I do like difficulty. And this being an incomplete demo I'm sure I would have given it a 5 out of 5 had it been completed to its fullest, but still, very nice compared to a few others I've gotten my hands on.

Feel happy the demo is just fine!

[Spike]

Originally Posted by DimensionWarped

I'll be sure to put spinning rims and extra body kits on it just for you... you know, seeing as the complete change of weapons and throwing on a filling water tank wasn't quite enough to tickle your fancy.

I mean, who gives a damn about the fact that Sonic games recycled their own sprites for about 80% of the bosses in all 4 Genesis Sonic games...

Learn to take criticism. That's all I am going to say further.