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61
Beef / Re: The direction of TSC
« on: February 23, 2013, 05:50:49 pm »
I'm 100% okay with a requirement to provide proof for records/platinum stats, but there's one concern I do have about making proof required for red stats: Some games (Sonic Adventure 2, as an example) have so many competitors in some of the charts that you could be in 30th place or even 40th and still have a red stat. On top of that there are so many categories in some of the charts you could be looking at having to make dozens or even hundreds of photos/videos if you're someone new to the site who's putting in a lot of stats at once. That could become overwhelming quickly, and not only for the competitor but for whomever at the site has to sort through and review it. I know I would have approached signing up for the site with quite a lot more trepidation even than I already had if I'd had to front proof for every red stat I was starting out with. Again, I'm not against it totally, I just think that the logistical factor could be opening a bit of a Pandora's box.
tl,dr; what Thorn and danieldude said.
But yeah, videos section could use some scrubbing. Totally okay with that.
p.s.: As a compromise, maybe require proof on all red stats for charts with fewer than 10 reds, and then only for top-ten stats on charts with more than 10 reds? Maybe that would be too complex to code, though...
tl,dr; what Thorn and danieldude said.
But yeah, videos section could use some scrubbing. Totally okay with that.
p.s.: As a compromise, maybe require proof on all red stats for charts with fewer than 10 reds, and then only for top-ten stats on charts with more than 10 reds? Maybe that would be too complex to code, though...
62
Board Games / Re: Ask the Next Person a Question
« on: February 20, 2013, 01:47:58 pm »
1968, without question. I don't know how it was for those in other countries, but for America, 1968 was an awful year. Bobby Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr. assassinated. The Tet Offensive. Racial riots in several large cities. The Chicago Democratic Convention riots and police beatings. Nixon getting elected president. It was just an absolute disaster year.
Closest competitor would be 2001, mainly because of September 11.
Have you ever broken a controller?
Closest competitor would be 2001, mainly because of September 11.
Have you ever broken a controller?
63
General Sonic / Re: Sonic Fan Film
« on: January 16, 2013, 11:58:29 pm »
I make it a point not to know anything about these things before I watch them so I can go in with no preconceptions.
Nobody's going to mistake this for high art, that's for sure. The acting was amateurish, the scene choices were questionable (going from normal environments to checkerboard and loop Green Hill, wut), and for a movie allegedly about Sonic, he was absent for far too much of it. I felt for the length that the movie ran, it had too much dead space; either more should have happened in the plot, or the movie should have been shorter. The CGI stood out noticeably with Sonic and the robots frequently not even casting shadows. I don't think it would have killed them to have Robotnik's mustache at least be long enough to stick a little off the sides of his face, either. Jaleel White hasn't voiced Sonic in over a decade, and you can tell. A few parts were well acted, like the banter between him and the female GUN soldier (where he thankfully seems aware of how awkward him hitting on a human female is, which hasn't always been the case), but in the fight scenes his voice seemed really flat and forced. Probably the biggest flaw in the movie is that there's no real climax or resolution, it just sort of stops, and right as things were starting to happen.
That said, I have to keep it in perspective that this movie is being done for fun without any hope of profiting, and without any assistance from Sega. And that, unfortunately, I have seen "professional" movies worse than this one. I might have actually found this enjoyable if it was the first part of a series or an extended teaser rather than being the entire movie itself.
Also Egoraptor voiced the E-100 series, and that'sawesome AWESOME.
Nobody's going to mistake this for high art, that's for sure. The acting was amateurish, the scene choices were questionable (going from normal environments to checkerboard and loop Green Hill, wut), and for a movie allegedly about Sonic, he was absent for far too much of it. I felt for the length that the movie ran, it had too much dead space; either more should have happened in the plot, or the movie should have been shorter. The CGI stood out noticeably with Sonic and the robots frequently not even casting shadows. I don't think it would have killed them to have Robotnik's mustache at least be long enough to stick a little off the sides of his face, either. Jaleel White hasn't voiced Sonic in over a decade, and you can tell. A few parts were well acted, like the banter between him and the female GUN soldier (where he thankfully seems aware of how awkward him hitting on a human female is, which hasn't always been the case), but in the fight scenes his voice seemed really flat and forced. Probably the biggest flaw in the movie is that there's no real climax or resolution, it just sort of stops, and right as things were starting to happen.
That said, I have to keep it in perspective that this movie is being done for fun without any hope of profiting, and without any assistance from Sega. And that, unfortunately, I have seen "professional" movies worse than this one. I might have actually found this enjoyable if it was the first part of a series or an extended teaser rather than being the entire movie itself.
Also Egoraptor voiced the E-100 series, and that's
64
Board Games / Re: Ask the Next Person a Question
« on: January 06, 2013, 01:15:29 pm »
That Squaresoft cut the budget and rushed it to completion so the entire second disc consists of almost nothing but cutscenes.
What is your earliest memory?
What is your earliest memory?
65
General Sonic / Re: Favorite Sonic Level / Zone
« on: January 03, 2013, 10:17:41 pm »
Oh god don't make me choose. It's easy enough to pick a favorite from each game, but from the whole series...
I'll say Meteor Herd from SA2. I actually play that level when I want to relax, if you can believe it. I love how the vertical scale of the stage is so massive, yet you don't get hurt from falling and there's no bottomless pits unless you get OOB. I love the music too. If someone made a mod where you had to collect every single possible piece location in the level, even without hint monitors, I'd play it. Repeatedly. My # of times played count was so skewed towards it for the longest time.
If it was my favorite level to speedrun I would have said Final Chase.
I'll say Meteor Herd from SA2. I actually play that level when I want to relax, if you can believe it. I love how the vertical scale of the stage is so massive, yet you don't get hurt from falling and there's no bottomless pits unless you get OOB. I love the music too. If someone made a mod where you had to collect every single possible piece location in the level, even without hint monitors, I'd play it. Repeatedly. My # of times played count was so skewed towards it for the longest time.
If it was my favorite level to speedrun I would have said Final Chase.
66
General Sonic / Re: Steam SEGA Mega Sale
« on: December 25, 2012, 03:51:10 pm »
Do the games run by themselves, or do you have to run them through Steam? I don't have Steam myself, so...
Anyway, the only one of those I don't already have that I want is Generations, and my computer is probably too old to run it. What would be the system requirements for it?
Anyway, the only one of those I don't already have that I want is Generations, and my computer is probably too old to run it. What would be the system requirements for it?
67
TSC Race Night / Re: SA2 race
« on: November 19, 2012, 11:41:40 pm »Good luck to all participants, and uh... let's see, a random tip... remember to hold A or B (instead of mashing) when you home into Finalhazard.
My god. Now I won't have a blue time any more. How in the world did I never learn this? I wondered why 75% of the time I would just bounce off of the sores without dealing damage...
I'm curious, do you have to be able to stream to participate in these? It's a moot point for me as I'll not be getting home from work until around 7 ET anyway, but I'd like to know for the future.
68
Wikkity! / Re: Predictions for 2013!!!
« on: November 19, 2012, 07:42:14 pm »
>I finally put together a complete submission of Sonic Heroes stats (assuming I can get some that aren't embarrassingly bad)
>I finally subject myself to trying to do the backtrack necessary to tie the Final Chase M5 ring record (and I have to light dash the hidden ring twice in the process)
>I get a sub-2:40 Final Chase M3 (this should have happened already but I've been slacking and doing other stuff)
>I at least get my Cosmic Wall M1 time under 3:50
>I get a *checkless* Final Chase M1 under 2:19
>A Final Rush M1 frame war breaks out sometime around May or June, most likely involving chainchumper and/or son1cgu1tar but probably instigated by someone new to the scene or a new trick/glitch found by a TAS
>Someone (but it won't be me) manages a non-TAS Final Chase M1 under 2:07
>DsS does that Team Rose single segment run he's been talking about on Youtube
>gamepro011 sets record times for all Sonic Heroes normal levels if he hasn't already
>I finally subject myself to trying to do the backtrack necessary to tie the Final Chase M5 ring record (and I have to light dash the hidden ring twice in the process)
>I get a sub-2:40 Final Chase M3 (this should have happened already but I've been slacking and doing other stuff)
>I at least get my Cosmic Wall M1 time under 3:50
>I get a *checkless* Final Chase M1 under 2:19
>A Final Rush M1 frame war breaks out sometime around May or June, most likely involving chainchumper and/or son1cgu1tar but probably instigated by someone new to the scene or a new trick/glitch found by a TAS
>Someone (but it won't be me) manages a non-TAS Final Chase M1 under 2:07
>DsS does that Team Rose single segment run he's been talking about on Youtube
>gamepro011 sets record times for all Sonic Heroes normal levels if he hasn't already
69
General Sonic / Re: Help on a miniscule trick on SA2:B
« on: November 11, 2012, 07:03:21 pm »
All you have to do is press B right after you do the homing attack. It cancels the homing attack and gives you an extra burst of forward momentum (I think it might reset your vertical velocity too). You've probably heard of the B+A trick with Sonic; think of this as B+A in reverse as you're just hitting B right after A. (Although the timing is much more forgiving with this one.)
70
Rules Revisions / Re: Cannon's Core 3/5 FS?
« on: November 11, 2012, 04:02:26 am »
Er, I should clarify what I meant. I meant put m3/5 freestyle alongside the m1/2 ones that are currently there, as opposed to creating a whole new HD chart.
71
Rules Revisions / Re: Cannon's Core 3/5 FS?
« on: November 11, 2012, 12:25:32 am »
If it gets more people to play the game and compete, I'm all for it, even though I don't have access to the HD version myself. As far as a separate chart, I'd say just integrate it into the existing one. If one wanted to be proactive about future discoveries of HD-only tricks that could impact non-freestyle charts, maybe one could just add a restriction in the rules so that HD-only tricks are only allowed in the freestyle charts, since iirc those don't have any competition weight anyway?
72
General Sonic / Re: Dissecting Sonic
« on: November 07, 2012, 02:13:33 am »
I recognize this guy, he's the Dutch guy who's done "In X Minutes" Flash parodies of Adventure 2, Riders, Rivals, Battle, Riders Zero Gravity, both Olympics, Secret Rings, Unleashed, Generations, Colors and Free Riders, as well as more extended parodies of Shadow and Chronicles.
73
Wikkity! / Re: The Video Game Series With The Best Music?
« on: October 21, 2012, 12:03:58 am »
Castlevania, Jet Set Radio, Sonic, Megaman, Zelda, Guilty Gear, Final Fantasy (although I feel like its glory days are long past, the older games' soundtracks are just that good)
74
News and Updates / Re: Sonic Adventure 2: Race Night
« on: October 06, 2012, 01:16:37 am »
I wish I had a way to stream :(
75
News and Updates / Re: Where We Go From Here
« on: September 08, 2012, 01:26:47 pm »
Quickly:
1) Congratulations to Thorn and Paraxade on their promotions. They both seem to care deeply about the site and where it's headed.
2) I agree with pretty much everything Paraxade said about the rules, and I'm not saying that to suck up. Version-separate charts especially is a great idea... I'm certainly competing in a game that has more than its share of missing/extra rings and inconsistently applied non-solid walls and floors ¬_¬
3) I'm always for legitimate proof of stats, but requiring video I think maybe is just a little too onerous and restrictive, especially to those without the financial means to record. It seems like from what I've observed the admins are pretty good at calling out people with suspicious stats already.
1) Congratulations to Thorn and Paraxade on their promotions. They both seem to care deeply about the site and where it's headed.
2) I agree with pretty much everything Paraxade said about the rules, and I'm not saying that to suck up. Version-separate charts especially is a great idea... I'm certainly competing in a game that has more than its share of missing/extra rings and inconsistently applied non-solid walls and floors ¬_¬
3) I'm always for legitimate proof of stats, but requiring video I think maybe is just a little too onerous and restrictive, especially to those without the financial means to record. It seems like from what I've observed the admins are pretty good at calling out people with suspicious stats already.
76
Rules Revisions / Re: Unbanning Team Blast Glitch
« on: August 05, 2012, 01:41:08 am »
I vote remove it as well.
Alternative: If people think it makes team Dark and Rose levels too broken, maybe just unban it for Sonic and Chaotix since it's not nearly as abuse-able for them? If memory serves me it's already allowed for Chaotix ring stats.
Alternative: If people think it makes team Dark and Rose levels too broken, maybe just unban it for Sonic and Chaotix since it's not nearly as abuse-able for them? If memory serves me it's already allowed for Chaotix ring stats.
77
General Sonic / Re: Your best speedrun!
« on: July 30, 2012, 07:25:02 pm »
I'm very proud of my 2:19.62 Final Chase M1, but I did it back before I started recording. (I do have a picture of the stage completion tally that I snapped after finishing it, though... two pictures, in fact.) My 41.97 Sky Rail was a nice run too. Of the stuff I've got on video, I'm proud of my Cosmic Wall M5 world record (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G4sYWVRskNs), because it's my first world record, but it's not a very fun or impressive watch if you already know about the route--more than half of it is just flying in a straight line.
I'm also proud of my SA2 Dark Side SS run(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-77dBewKGVs)--I started from literally nothing, having made the decision to do the run right after playing the game for the first time and working up to it for almost two years--although I never got the chance to see if it would make it on SDA.
That reminds me, I need to get back to SA2 for a while and do something about my Final Chase M2 and 5 times. They're total crap. I should work on Cosmic Wall again too.
I'm also proud of my SA2 Dark Side SS run(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-77dBewKGVs)--I started from literally nothing, having made the decision to do the run right after playing the game for the first time and working up to it for almost two years--although I never got the chance to see if it would make it on SDA.
That reminds me, I need to get back to SA2 for a while and do something about my Final Chase M2 and 5 times. They're total crap. I should work on Cosmic Wall again too.
78
Competition Central / Re: YouTube accounts.
« on: June 26, 2012, 10:19:19 pm »
I haven't really done anything with the channel, but here's my account...
http://www.youtube.com/user/SqwareEcks/
I'm a feedback whore. Don't hesitate to comment.
http://www.youtube.com/user/SqwareEcks/
I'm a feedback whore. Don't hesitate to comment.
79
Chaos Emeralds / Re: Red Chaos Emerald Challenge
« on: June 12, 2012, 02:34:30 am »
...in before deadline?
This was the first time I've ever recorded a .giz, and I wound up re-doing it because I had a weird desync... it didn't change the outcome of the fight or even result in me getting hit, but it changed my hits from a 3-5 two cycle to a 4-4, and Knuckles didn't end up on top of the capsule after it was over. I think it happened because I absentmindedly saved the state after I'd started recording. I went back to that state and waited until after loading it to start recording (and got a 4-4 on purpose), and the second try seems to play accurately.
Couple things I've noticed:
1. I remember this fight being slow and tedious for anyone but Sonic due to the lack of Insta-Shield. Of course, back in the day I didn't know as much about hitboxes as I know now.
2. This is the first (and second) time I've beaten this boss as non-super Knuckles without getting hit.
3. I got a two cycle on my first try without watching anyone's videos. If you had bet me $20 before this I would have done it, you would have my $20.
4. I never noticed you can't climb the left side of the elevator pipe, only the right, until this playthrough.
SQX
This was the first time I've ever recorded a .giz, and I wound up re-doing it because I had a weird desync... it didn't change the outcome of the fight or even result in me getting hit, but it changed my hits from a 3-5 two cycle to a 4-4, and Knuckles didn't end up on top of the capsule after it was over. I think it happened because I absentmindedly saved the state after I'd started recording. I went back to that state and waited until after loading it to start recording (and got a 4-4 on purpose), and the second try seems to play accurately.
Couple things I've noticed:
1. I remember this fight being slow and tedious for anyone but Sonic due to the lack of Insta-Shield. Of course, back in the day I didn't know as much about hitboxes as I know now.
2. This is the first (and second) time I've beaten this boss as non-super Knuckles without getting hit.
3. I got a two cycle on my first try without watching anyone's videos. If you had bet me $20 before this I would have done it, you would have my $20.
4. I never noticed you can't climb the left side of the elevator pipe, only the right, until this playthrough.
SQX
80
Wikkity! / Re: A ghost tried to approach me...
« on: June 10, 2012, 01:10:46 pm »
Larry should have asked him a question, he vanishes in a second when you do that.
81
General Sonic / Re: Rating Sonic Platformer Games
« on: May 29, 2012, 06:06:36 pm »
warning: tl;dr. I tend to do that.
I played the shit out of Sonic 2 back in the day--it came with my Genesis--but now when I reach for a 2D Sonic to play I go for S3&K. When I first played it I thought its levels were way too long, especially Carnival Night 2... but paradoxically, now when I play Sonic 1 or 2 I find their levels too short. S3&K is such a masterpiece of level design (or at least it was until zip glitches broke it beyond repair), doing so much with limited memory and processing power, I think it's the best 2D platformer ever made, rivaled only by Super Mario Bros. 3. I haven't tried to TA it because every time I start to play it I try reasonably hard to go fast for the first few levels, then invariably find myself slowing down to just enjoy playing it. I thought the decision to use new BGM with every single stage was bizarre at first--when I heard the act 2 music in Carnival Night and Ice Cap, for example, I thought my Genesis was malfunctioning and not playing it properly--but now I love it. I would maybe give it a 9.9 and not a 10, though, because as someone who remembers playing it before the Internet, I cannot banish my memories of initial frustration brought about by that barrel. And also the vertical wrap oversight glitch in S3 alone that inevitably kills you in Ice Cap 1 as Tails.
I do love Sonic 2, a lot, but just not quite as much. It's a very solid and balanced game--nothing really jumps out at you, but nothing to bother you either--except Chemical Plant 2. I literally had NIGHTMARES.
The first Sonic game would probably not rate as high for me, because I literally love half of it and hate the other half--I love Green Hill, Spring Yard and Star Light and hate Marble, Labyrinth and Scrap Brain. I understand what they were trying to do--balance speed stages with platforming and puzzles--but to me they get away from what's become known as Sonic-style gameplay too much in them. Labyrinth and Scrap Brain have some horrendously cheap aspects of their level design and Marble is often very slow because of autoscrolling lava blocks and what not. Sonic 2 and 3 balanced this much better. Also the final boss was pretty lame.
As far as 3D Sonics go, I think it goes without saying I love Sonic Adventure 2. The soundtrack is incredible, the multiple missions give it a lot of replay value, and of the 3D games I've played it executes its level design the best. I understand people disliking the hunting stages, and the randomness is undoubtedly frustrating if you're trying to speedrun (ESPECIALLY Security Hall), but for casual play I generally enjoy them as a change of pace... Meteor Herd and Pumpkin Hill are my #2 and 3 most favorite stages in the game, due most likely to becoming intimately familiar with them on my first playthrough (I remember Pumpkin Hill taking over 18 minutes to beat, and Meteor Herd nearly 15 minutes.) Plus, there are some really, really cool and entertaining glitches (see: any of SadisticMystic or son1cgu1tar's videos). The only thing that bothers me is the requirement of raising a Chao to unlock everything; I have never even hatched one and that's why I have no Green Hill stats.
It's hard for me to formulate an opinion on Sonic Adventure because it literally makes me sick--if I play for more than 30 minutes at a time I get motion sickness so bad I've puked from it. Its level design to me is much more ambitious than SA2's--compare the down-the-building run in Speed Highway to City Escape's, it's not even close; or the snowboarding section of Icecap vs. City Escape/Metal Harbor, where it's practically an afterthought--but not executed as well. Casinopolis is flat out boring if played the "proper" way--you practically have to try to fail at the games to get any actual gameplay in the stage--and Lost World can get extremely frustrating, especially the first part with the stone snake in the water. The Adventure Fields were either awesome (see: Egg Carrier) or way too big and sparse (see: Mystic Ruins). I do like that it incorporated a lot of classic elements from the Genesis games like Sky Chase (doing it twice was a bit much, though). And some of the levels like Windy Valley and Red Mountain were very creatively designed.
Sonic Heroes could have been awesome if they had just put more effort into making it play properly. The level design was generally solid, music was very good if sometimes repetitive, none of the enemies or bosses were particularly cheap, and the team dynamic was something I'd wanted in the game for a long time--but it is So. Damn. Glitchy. You should not randomly fall through solid floors and die (see: Bullet Station), and when the game tells you to use your Speed character and light dash rings, those rings should get you where you want to go, not leave you completely screwed (see: Power Plant, Dark, end of the stage). The game relies far too much on bottomless pits for difficulty, which becomes a serious problem when combined with its glitchy engine. There are also cheap camera tricks resulting in fake difficulty (the gator chase at the end of Lost Jungle). It's too bad because the game actually feels a lot more like an older Sonic game than either of the Adventure titles did due to the removal of upgrades, random hunting levels (Chaotix levels have consistent locations), chao, etc.--the game design is much more streamlined. Hang Castle, Mystic Mansion and Egg Fleet are my favorite stages.
Like Sonic Adventure, Sonic 3D Blast causes me to get motion sickness. It took me three days to finish the first time despite only dying three times due to constantly having to stop playing and get my stomach settled--a save feature would have been nice to save wear and tear on my Saturn. (I shudder to think what Sonic X-Treme would have done to my poor stomach.) A few stages like Gene Gadget and Volcano Valley are somewhat fun, but the isometric POV can be pretty punishing when you have to make precision movements and jumps to avoid traps--Spring Stadium is a clusterfuck of them. At least there are no bottomless pits or water, and it had a pretty impressive and challenging final boss.
Sonic Spinball is what I would call a rental game--it's fun and novel at first, and has some good music, but the novelty wears off quick because it is WAY too short. If you paid for the game when it came out (or your parents did, as in my case), you (or they) probably felt ripped off.
I have Sonic CD and Shadow, but I haven't played either--CD because I am a coward and afraid of getting bad ends, and therefore intimidated by the time travel mechanics, and Shadow because I am afraid of the inevitable assault on my ears by the horrid 4kids voice actors. As you can imagine I haven't played any of the newer games--I don't own a current generation console and my computer is a five year old laptop. I also haven't really played any handheld Sonics because I'm admittedly prejudiced against small screens--I want to play on a big screen. I guess I don't have any excuse for not playing the Advance games, though, since I do have a Game Boy Player for my Gamecube.
I played the shit out of Sonic 2 back in the day--it came with my Genesis--but now when I reach for a 2D Sonic to play I go for S3&K. When I first played it I thought its levels were way too long, especially Carnival Night 2... but paradoxically, now when I play Sonic 1 or 2 I find their levels too short. S3&K is such a masterpiece of level design (or at least it was until zip glitches broke it beyond repair), doing so much with limited memory and processing power, I think it's the best 2D platformer ever made, rivaled only by Super Mario Bros. 3. I haven't tried to TA it because every time I start to play it I try reasonably hard to go fast for the first few levels, then invariably find myself slowing down to just enjoy playing it. I thought the decision to use new BGM with every single stage was bizarre at first--when I heard the act 2 music in Carnival Night and Ice Cap, for example, I thought my Genesis was malfunctioning and not playing it properly--but now I love it. I would maybe give it a 9.9 and not a 10, though, because as someone who remembers playing it before the Internet, I cannot banish my memories of initial frustration brought about by that barrel. And also the vertical wrap oversight glitch in S3 alone that inevitably kills you in Ice Cap 1 as Tails.
I do love Sonic 2, a lot, but just not quite as much. It's a very solid and balanced game--nothing really jumps out at you, but nothing to bother you either--except Chemical Plant 2. I literally had NIGHTMARES.
The first Sonic game would probably not rate as high for me, because I literally love half of it and hate the other half--I love Green Hill, Spring Yard and Star Light and hate Marble, Labyrinth and Scrap Brain. I understand what they were trying to do--balance speed stages with platforming and puzzles--but to me they get away from what's become known as Sonic-style gameplay too much in them. Labyrinth and Scrap Brain have some horrendously cheap aspects of their level design and Marble is often very slow because of autoscrolling lava blocks and what not. Sonic 2 and 3 balanced this much better. Also the final boss was pretty lame.
As far as 3D Sonics go, I think it goes without saying I love Sonic Adventure 2. The soundtrack is incredible, the multiple missions give it a lot of replay value, and of the 3D games I've played it executes its level design the best. I understand people disliking the hunting stages, and the randomness is undoubtedly frustrating if you're trying to speedrun (ESPECIALLY Security Hall), but for casual play I generally enjoy them as a change of pace... Meteor Herd and Pumpkin Hill are my #2 and 3 most favorite stages in the game, due most likely to becoming intimately familiar with them on my first playthrough (I remember Pumpkin Hill taking over 18 minutes to beat, and Meteor Herd nearly 15 minutes.) Plus, there are some really, really cool and entertaining glitches (see: any of SadisticMystic or son1cgu1tar's videos). The only thing that bothers me is the requirement of raising a Chao to unlock everything; I have never even hatched one and that's why I have no Green Hill stats.
It's hard for me to formulate an opinion on Sonic Adventure because it literally makes me sick--if I play for more than 30 minutes at a time I get motion sickness so bad I've puked from it. Its level design to me is much more ambitious than SA2's--compare the down-the-building run in Speed Highway to City Escape's, it's not even close; or the snowboarding section of Icecap vs. City Escape/Metal Harbor, where it's practically an afterthought--but not executed as well. Casinopolis is flat out boring if played the "proper" way--you practically have to try to fail at the games to get any actual gameplay in the stage--and Lost World can get extremely frustrating, especially the first part with the stone snake in the water. The Adventure Fields were either awesome (see: Egg Carrier) or way too big and sparse (see: Mystic Ruins). I do like that it incorporated a lot of classic elements from the Genesis games like Sky Chase (doing it twice was a bit much, though). And some of the levels like Windy Valley and Red Mountain were very creatively designed.
Sonic Heroes could have been awesome if they had just put more effort into making it play properly. The level design was generally solid, music was very good if sometimes repetitive, none of the enemies or bosses were particularly cheap, and the team dynamic was something I'd wanted in the game for a long time--but it is So. Damn. Glitchy. You should not randomly fall through solid floors and die (see: Bullet Station), and when the game tells you to use your Speed character and light dash rings, those rings should get you where you want to go, not leave you completely screwed (see: Power Plant, Dark, end of the stage). The game relies far too much on bottomless pits for difficulty, which becomes a serious problem when combined with its glitchy engine. There are also cheap camera tricks resulting in fake difficulty (the gator chase at the end of Lost Jungle). It's too bad because the game actually feels a lot more like an older Sonic game than either of the Adventure titles did due to the removal of upgrades, random hunting levels (Chaotix levels have consistent locations), chao, etc.--the game design is much more streamlined. Hang Castle, Mystic Mansion and Egg Fleet are my favorite stages.
Like Sonic Adventure, Sonic 3D Blast causes me to get motion sickness. It took me three days to finish the first time despite only dying three times due to constantly having to stop playing and get my stomach settled--a save feature would have been nice to save wear and tear on my Saturn. (I shudder to think what Sonic X-Treme would have done to my poor stomach.) A few stages like Gene Gadget and Volcano Valley are somewhat fun, but the isometric POV can be pretty punishing when you have to make precision movements and jumps to avoid traps--Spring Stadium is a clusterfuck of them. At least there are no bottomless pits or water, and it had a pretty impressive and challenging final boss.
Sonic Spinball is what I would call a rental game--it's fun and novel at first, and has some good music, but the novelty wears off quick because it is WAY too short. If you paid for the game when it came out (or your parents did, as in my case), you (or they) probably felt ripped off.
I have Sonic CD and Shadow, but I haven't played either--CD because I am a coward and afraid of getting bad ends, and therefore intimidated by the time travel mechanics, and Shadow because I am afraid of the inevitable assault on my ears by the horrid 4kids voice actors. As you can imagine I haven't played any of the newer games--I don't own a current generation console and my computer is a five year old laptop. I also haven't really played any handheld Sonics because I'm admittedly prejudiced against small screens--I want to play on a big screen. I guess I don't have any excuse for not playing the Advance games, though, since I do have a Game Boy Player for my Gamecube.
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News and Updates / Re: TSC Marathoning Shenanigans - Early Planning Stages
« on: January 14, 2012, 01:04:25 pm »Can some people tell me their opinion on my low upgrades run idea for SA2B? I think it would be interesting to see, but I want some other opinions. :P
I think it would be very entertaining to watch because of the tricks and alternate routes that have to be utilized. I'm definitely interested in seeing it.
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Hiya Folks / Re: New year, it's time.
« on: January 05, 2012, 02:47:07 am »
Thanks for the warm welcome, guys. Yoshifan, I'm very much looking forwards to watching you and Psyknux racing SA2 at the SDA marathon (hopefully my work schedule will let me watch it live, but if not I'll be looking for the recording whenever it's up).
I've actually never used IRC before, but I think I'm going to look at getting a client. I'm also planning on signing up at Youtube in the near future.
I've actually never used IRC before, but I think I'm going to look at getting a client. I'm also planning on signing up at Youtube in the near future.
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Hiya Folks / New year, it's time.
« on: January 01, 2012, 07:53:44 pm »
Hello. I've been visiting this site almost every day for a bit over two years to watch videos and read guides, but only now did I work up the nerve to sign up for it. I've been playing Sonic games ever since the first one way back in 1991 as a kid, but it was strictly for fun; only in the last year or two did I start to put in the effort to do it competitively. I originally came over here via being linked from Speed Demos Archive.
The only game I consider myself any good at running at the moment is Sonic Adventure 2; I originally got into speedrunning it with the intention of challenging Petrie911's single-segment Dark side speedrun. In early July I recorded a 29:33 single segment run with no deaths; it was submitted to SDA but I had to withdraw it a few days after submitting due to it being obsoleted by Son1cGu1tar's run. I don't hold much of an illusion about ever holding any records for a game so intensely competed and optimized, but my goal now is just to keep my head down, learn as much as I can and see what the best I can achieve is. I've idolized the players here for a few years, and I find it awesome that this place is so serious about competition, but it also intimidates the hell out of me, which I why I was scared to join until now. But hey, I had to make some new year's resolution, so I resolved to stop being a chicken and sign up.
Uhhh... other stuff about myself: I play guitar and bass (I own 9 guitars, 1 bass and two uncompleted guitar projects), I'm a certified ProTools operator, and my favorite game of all time is Xenogears. I also play Touhou, but I really suck at it.
The only game I consider myself any good at running at the moment is Sonic Adventure 2; I originally got into speedrunning it with the intention of challenging Petrie911's single-segment Dark side speedrun. In early July I recorded a 29:33 single segment run with no deaths; it was submitted to SDA but I had to withdraw it a few days after submitting due to it being obsoleted by Son1cGu1tar's run. I don't hold much of an illusion about ever holding any records for a game so intensely competed and optimized, but my goal now is just to keep my head down, learn as much as I can and see what the best I can achieve is. I've idolized the players here for a few years, and I find it awesome that this place is so serious about competition, but it also intimidates the hell out of me, which I why I was scared to join until now. But hey, I had to make some new year's resolution, so I resolved to stop being a chicken and sign up.
Uhhh... other stuff about myself: I play guitar and bass (I own 9 guitars, 1 bass and two uncompleted guitar projects), I'm a certified ProTools operator, and my favorite game of all time is Xenogears. I also play Touhou, but I really suck at it.
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