Egg in the Sky
Friday, 3rd February 2012, 8:10pm (UTC), 29 Comments
Update: Sky Sanctuary Zone added to the Sonic & Knuckles section
Iconic level Sky Sanctuary Zone now has the full Zone: 0 treatment! It is, of course, the original inspiration for the Sonic Generations level of the same name, and I've added a little bit about that in the Misc Notes section. And yes, before you ask, I will be going back to do the same for Green Hill and Chemical Plant, and I guess, the 3DS version's Casino Night and Mushroom Hill. There's loads of things like that, along with new downloads and of course many little amends suggested from user notes that I will go through after S&K is complete, I promise.

The map was definitely a tough one this time. I normally use tools to extract the layout and object placements to make the job as easy as possible, but as you've probably noticed, this level has some of its pieces constantly moving up and down a little way, and these pieces, for whatever reason, could not be extracted. So I had to do it the old fashioned way and reproduce them myself through lots and lots of screen shots in debug mode. Painstaking, but definitely worth it in the end, as it's a fascinating thing to look at. I'm not sure I was actually aware that, rather than it being really tall, it instead loops back to the bottom, so the highest platforms are below the lowest ones. As I note on the guide though, trying to exploit this by deliberately dropping down at any early point won't work, of course. I wondered if I should signify that on the map too somehow, but as I've never actually had to mark out a death drop in a map before, I was unsure about introducing a new annotation feature so late on in the project. In hindsight, I can think of a couple of other previous levels that could use it actually, so maybe an addition for later.
Comments   29 Comments have been posted.
#1. Comment posted by Ace on Friday, 3rd February 2012, 11:27pm
I was just wondering if it would be alright if I could post links to youtube videos showing various glitches for Sonic games as well as Sonic parodies over in the "Add Links" sections?
#2. Comment posted by LiQuidShade on Saturday, 4th February 2012, 12:16am
Sure, of course, just post them wherever appropriate. Thanks!
#3. Comment posted by MoDaD on Sunday, 5th February 2012, 1:48am
Great work as always. Not sure if you already knew or not, but Sonic the Hedgehog made an appearance in a car insurance commercial in the United States: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RfUsKWyRRm0
#4. Comment posted by Hyper_Sonic on Sunday, 5th February 2012, 10:42am
I have a feeling that Sonic 4 ep 2 is going to take longer to release that expected. Oh, and by the way is sky sanctuary on or over angel island, beacause I saw a map of Angel Island which has sky sanctuary on the map. http://images3.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20081127041052/archiesonic/images/c/cd/Floatingisland.jpg Apparantly Sandopolis Zone occupies 1/4 of "Floating Island"
#5. Comment posted by LiQuidShade on Sunday, 5th February 2012, 3:35pm
@MoDaD I did know that, yes! Pretty cool, though a really really odd combination.

@Hyper_Sonic Yeah, but that's Archie, I think they just interpreted it like anyone can and it's not necessarily official. As far as I'm aware, it's entirely open to debate. In the game, they clearly go upwards to Sky Sanctuary, but presumably Angel Island is still in the sea at that point (as it only rises during Sonic's ending sequence), so where it actually is normally is anyone's guess. It could be made up of pieces of the island that broke off in the collision with the Death Egg, and stayed afloat for some reason, or they could just always be above or around the island anyway. Like the mystery of exactly how or why a modern carnival sprung up on there though, it's one of those things that I doubt will ever be explained in full.
#6. Comment posted by Ace on Thursday, 9th February 2012, 2:30am
Hey LiQuidShade! I have a 3DS with Sonic Generations. Wanna trade codes?
#7. Comment posted by LiQuidShade on Thursday, 9th February 2012, 9:44pm
Sure, but I'll be honest, I rarely play it and I have no idea how to find out what my code is!
#8. Comment posted by Ace on Friday, 10th February 2012, 2:46am
It's really simple, actually. You see, all you have to do is go to the home menu and click on the orange smiley-faced icon at the top. This you to the Friend Listing where you can view your registered friends. This will also be where you'll register the friend codes and where you can view your own code.
#9. Comment posted by LiQuidShade on Friday, 10th February 2012, 8:50pm
Ok, 3995-6591-5476
#10. Comment posted by Ace on Friday, 10th February 2012, 10:05pm
And mine's 3308-4558-5367
#11. Comment posted by Hyper_Sonic on Wednesday, 15th February 2012, 10:34am
10 sonic 4 screenies leaked, (please LQS DO NOT tell me that you are going into lockdown again!).

Oh and the release date also got leaked. P.s The game looks awesome!!! It looks almost as good as classic generations (but not quite as good)
#12. Comment posted by LiQuidShade on Wednesday, 15th February 2012, 7:24pm
I was going to, but now that they've gone and spoiled three out of four of the levels immediately, there probably isn't much point. I'd find out about the last one accidentally somehow anyway, even if I tried my hardest to avoid it. However, I'll still avoid as many more gameplay videos, screenshots and pieces of information as I feel I need to. Seeing the whole thing played out before you play it yourself is utterly pointless in my view. If the May release date is accurate, then it's not too long to wait anyway.

I must say it looks awesome, and the two new stages are more original than I was expecting. The Christmas/carnival level (Christmas Carnival Zone perhaps?) is almost exactly the same basic idea as one of the original fan game levels I was hoping to get round to making at some point in the distant future.
#13. Comment posted by Hyper_Sonic on Friday, 17th February 2012, 10:03am
Did you see the special stage... epic.
#14. Comment posted by Hyper_Sonic on Saturday, 25th February 2012, 3:18am
Gameplay Trailer!!!
#15. Comment posted by Anonymous on Sunday, 26th February 2012, 12:19pm
Would it be ok to a link to this site in a trueachievment guide for help with saviour of the planet achievment in sonic CD. Thanx
#16. Comment posted by LiQuidShade on Sunday, 26th February 2012, 7:13pm
Sure, go ahead :)
#17. Comment posted by Anonymous on Sunday, 26th February 2012, 8:45pm
Thanx the maps are very useful and is alot easier and useful for others to refernece than writing a guide.
#18. Comment posted by Hyper_Sonic on Monday, 27th February 2012, 10:33am
Anyone notice the Generations 3DS style level design (boo) and death drop signs in the sonic 4 ep 2 trailer? Brace yourself for bad level design, and four zones. But at least the graphics and music (?) are good.
#19. Comment posted by LiQuidShade on Monday, 27th February 2012, 12:33pm
Still too early to say I think really. Episode 1 had pretty good level design I think. Could have done with a few more interesting multiple routes in places but on the whole it wasn't cheap, like Generations 3DS was. I approve of the new trend of death drop signs - psychologically it feels much better to know if there's danger below you or not, so whether or not there's an abundance of them, at least they're still going to give us warning about them. I'm more concerned that the physics might not have changed as much as people hope. For me, all they have to do is fix the momentum-stopping issues and I'll be happy enough.

Also, FYI, I know the achievements have been posted, revealing some or all of the level names as well as other details I'm sure, but I don't wish to see them yet - especially if they hint at what type of level the one remaining mystery zone might be. I'm sure I'll accidentally stumble upon it between now and release anyway, but if we could avoid spoiling anything beyond what's in that trailer for the moment, I'd appreciate it. Sorry :)
#20. Comment posted by Hyper_Sonic on Tuesday, 28th February 2012, 11:24am
I just saw 6 minutes of gameplay. The level design is A BIT(and I stress 'bit') better than gens 3ds :( Sorry to dissapoint, oh and homing attack chains are back. P.s How far away is DEZ guide. Well, maybe that was just act 1? The underwater content looks pretty good though.
#21. Comment posted by LiQuidShade on Tuesday, 28th February 2012, 3:54pm
Haven't even started Death Egg yet. Other Modes and Miscellaneous pages will come first, but I haven't even started those either. Whoops.
#22. Comment posted by Hyper_Sonic on Tuesday, 28th February 2012, 9:21pm
That's ok :)
#23. Comment posted by Hyper_Sonic on Thursday, 1st March 2012, 9:05pm
The prlude to episode 2:

"The fierce battle from Episode I was only an overture…
What was Dr. Eggman searching for in the Lost Labyrinth?
What was Mad Gear built for?
They were all a mere puzzle piece of a grandiose project schemed by Dr. Eggman.
As Little Planet, where “Sonic CD” took place, approaches Sonic’s world once again, Dr. Eggman’s whole scheme will be revealed!"

Also the sonic 4 website has been updated check it out! Don't worry, there's no gameplay on it. (although like 5 gameplay vids of the demo have been released showcasing the first act of two zones.)

www.sonicthehedgehog4.com/
#24. Comment posted by Hyper_Sonic on Sunday, 11th March 2012, 4:35am
It's official, Sonic 4 ep II will have cheap level design, just like gens 3DS

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AwRztOQ_d_s&feature=youtube
#25. Comment posted by Hyper_Sonic on Monday, 19th March 2012, 8:36am
Hey LQS - Check your Z: 0 e-mail.
#26. Comment posted by Anonymous on Monday, 26th March 2012, 3:56pm
Hey guys I know this is off topic but I found this

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DtVnSVr_2cA&feature=related

It's an old version of the original genesis sonic
on the marble zone
#27. Comment posted by Hyper_Sonic on Wednesday, 28th March 2012, 5:11am
Sonic 2 HD RELEASED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (I hope this doesn't count as spam!)
#28. Comment posted by Kiwi on Thursday, 29th March 2012, 1:43am
Sky Sanctuary was always one of my favorite levels - what a soundtrack and with rich visuals
I wanted to tell you I had found this site today, and read through your synopsizes. You seem like someone who really genuinely enjoyed the series and had a lot to say about it, I liked hearing it and will continue reading. I was going to send this in person but sadly no contact button on this site! Much appreciation,
Kiwi
#29. Comment posted by Hyper_Sonic on Friday, 8th May 2015, 11:06am
Wow... looking back on all these comments I feel like an idiot ;)
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