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View topic - Sonic The Hedgehog SMS Remix (beta version)

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  • Joined: 08 Apr 2021
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Sonic The Hedgehog SMS Remix (beta version)
Post Posted: Mon Nov 29, 2021 12:34 pm
Hello all, I'd like to present a new mini project, Sonic SMS Remix. This is the result of playing around with Maxim's Sonic editor for the last few days or so.

It's the same game you've played a million times before, except every extra life and emerald's position has been changed (with terrain subtly, or unsubtly tweaked to support this)! The idea is to encourage people to explore a bit more rather than just sticking to the route they've memorised since 1991 :-)

The big reason it's a beta release is because there does seem to be an issue with the teleporter in scrap brain 2, it crashes the game when you try to teleport from ballhog area to the big with the door puzzle. So no new placements in this level, but if you cheat your way to scrap brain 3, the rest of the levels have new placements too.

Hope you enjoy it.
SonicRemixBeta.zip (1.38 KB)

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  • Joined: 05 Dec 2019
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  • Location: USA
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Post Posted: Mon Nov 29, 2021 2:29 pm
Is this the first step toward making a "randomizer" scene for 8-bit Sonic games like the Z*lda and M*troid randomizer scenes?

(See also list of game randomizers)
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Post Posted: Mon Nov 29, 2021 2:36 pm
Curiously, that page does list an existing randomizer for S1 SMS, I must give it a go sometime.

This is less random, more an attempt to deliberately shift items to places you wouldn't think to look if you're just running through the level 'normally'.

I really like the 'special bonus' gimmick in the game, particularly the reward for finding all the extra lives (you get a bonus life at the start of the last level + lots of points). Adds a bit more replayability for what is ultimately quite a short game.
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Post Posted: Tue Nov 30, 2021 9:30 am
I also had problems with ballhog area but in newer builds (31+) it was resolved.
What build are you using?

Can you post some screenshots, i wonder what it looks like.
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Post Posted: Tue Nov 30, 2021 10:45 am
Thanks Slogra, sounds like I need to update. I hope the existing work can be salvaged (although this is no masterpiece, it took a few hours to do).

I'll have a think about good screenshots. The problem is that all I've done is hide all the 1-up monitors and emeralds (and modify some terrain to make new hiding places), so too many screenshots and I've just shown everyone where they all are! So I must choose wisely... :-D
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Post Posted: Tue Nov 30, 2021 10:48 am
Yes, you are right, it will spoil the surprise.

I will play it later today.
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Post Posted: Tue Nov 30, 2021 1:22 pm
I had a bit of a play, it is definitely a "hard mode" to find and reach some of these objects and I had to sacrifice a few lives to be able to backtrack to find them. However, yes, it is a nice way to freshen the game.

I think some of the edits are a bit rough due to limitations of the defined blocks, for example there is a need for these in Green Hill 2:



I'll try to figure out the crash problem when I get time, currently the editor is in a bit of a half-broken state so take care...

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Post Posted: Tue Nov 30, 2021 1:39 pm
Thanks for trying it. Agreed, the general theory is that the lives are fairly easy to spot (if you know the levels well and can spot what's changed at least), but the emeralds are cheap/cruel requiring experimentation/deaths to find. But yes, it's a classic case of 'I know the game really well and I'm going to be mean' :-D

I didn't attempt to create new tiles as you noted, bridge emerald in particular is ugly. When the editor is more stable I'll have another go at it.
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  • Joined: 16 Nov 2021
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Post Posted: Fri Dec 03, 2021 6:12 pm
That's what I was looking for. Sonic game with looks and feel of the original one but with modified layout and new emerald positions. Thank you!

For now I played only until the 2nd level. I was learning how to patch the game for the first time. In the 2nd level I had to kill sonic several times until I got to the emerald, because once you miss the entrance, it is not possible to go back. That seem not fair from a players view. Could you modify the level more, to make a "round trip"?
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Post Posted: Sat Dec 04, 2021 4:03 pm
Thanks for trying it. It's true that the emeralds are incredibly cheap. The 1-Up monitors are fairer (at least, I tried to make them fairer). I quite like the idea of all the stages being 'loopable' in a sense, to encourage more exploring. Either a true loop like GHZ2 / labyrinth levels or just being able to backtrack in the long straight levels. I'll keep that in mind for v2. Until then, you're just gonna have to suicide and have another go! :-D
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version 2!
Post Posted: Tue Mar 01, 2022 2:45 pm
Finally got round to trying out Maxim's latest version of this fine editor, so here's version 2.

I've tried to be a little less cheap with some of the new hiding places, but the two main objectives of this are still:
a) give expert players something new to do
b) remind people that a working level editor exists for this game

Also as requested, you can now do a full loop in GHZ2 and LZ2 which may come in handy when extra life hunting.

SBZ2 is now fixed as well so you can actually finish the game.

Same premise as before, each level has been subtly (or not so subtly) tweaked to hide the extra lives and emeralds in new positions. Have fun!
SonicRemixV2.zip (2.78 KB)

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Post Posted: Tue Mar 08, 2022 11:42 am
Thank you for the update!
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Post Posted: Tue Mar 08, 2022 3:22 pm
Hope you have a bit of fun with it, I did mix up the placements again and try to make it a bit fairer.

What I'd really like to do if I ever have enough free time is to do full rearrangements of all the levels, no new gimmicks, just trying to use the existing gimmicks in interesting and unexpected ways. Something like Sonic 3 D.A. Gardens. Some day...
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