Sonic Unleashed Generations Mod Project

[goku262002]

So I saw some Retro members complaining that getting S ranks is too hard in this mod, what do you guys think?

[Mysterious X]

It is hard in the real game, I mean Sonic Unleashed, you need to take some shortcuts, get as few impacts as possible, ignore all useless enemies, make chains and all, after all that you barely make it.

I mean... I think it is supposed to be hard. (Maybe not 'too' hard I don't know, haven't tried it myself yet.)

[Nix]

Sonic Unleashed is a tad harder to S-Rank compared to the likes of Sonic Colors and Sonic Generations (even then, Sonic Colors had some more demanding levels), but it was still fairly easy for the most part.

 

However, I think the Unleashed Mod is outright bullshit with handing out S-Ranks.  I can blast through the likes of Windmill Isle, Savannah Citadel, and Rooftop Run whilst taking all the shortcuts that I know of (and trust me, I do know them) and still be so incredibly far off from getting the S-Rank it isn't even funny.

 

I understand the idea that the highest rank should be something you work for, but goddamn.

Edited April 4, 2013 by Nix

[Sean]

I settled for getting all A ranks honestly. Getting S ranks in this mod requires more work than I'm willing to invest in an average game.

 

I really don't like the strict requirements in this mod, but at the end of the day it's no sweat off my back. It's a good challenge for speedrunners I suppose, but I'm not interested at all in that kind of game play style.

[Motobug]

Is it possible to get the 4th red ring in Rooftop Run as Classic Sonic? He doesn't have a wall jump and there's no spring to launch you up. Or is it in a different spot?

[Bort]

the loading screen hangs are based around sound redirecting, as a lot of people i think have mentioned.

 

BUT by dicking around, i figured out that instead of having to download their music file pack that you copy-paste over the music before you wanna play and do the same with the original files afterward to revert it, you can actually BS a sound container and place the individual bits into it, then adjust pointers in the Stage.stg files in the individual stages.

 

take for example SNG08_EUC and it's .csb file, which actually correspond to adabat in unleashed.

 

i copied them somewhere else and renamed them both "RR" and dumped em back in the default Sound folder with the original tracks.  then, in #euc200.ar. i changed the container pointer to "RR", since it's looking for Rooftop_Run_Generic anyway.  saved it all and tried it out.  now that i think about it, i should have named them "adabat" or "sea" or whatever the codename is for that level for the sake of clarity.

 

edit: named them in a standard, like UPJ08_ADB_EUC, being mod, what it is, what it was. zero complications so far with stages at least.

 

normal generations plays its original act 2 theme in rooftop run, and when playing unleashed project, adabat plays its own theme as well, without either conflicting and zero redirection issues.  no hangs and no fuss.  also means nobody really needs to name their mod music files the same thing as official containers, which means you can have all your music in one place without conflicts or hiccups or confusion.

 

actually, i suggest the next release or current release adapting this format, even future mods with soundboard edits.  it'd clear this up form a functional standpoint, even if not everyone would have experienced issues like it in the first place.  i did, and had been using the little song pack download as a fix, but i redid all of the stages in the mod like this. i was really surprised there wasn't some sort of archive error or something.the game likes to just sorta give up when things are wrong in some way. considering how simple this is, i'm gonna assume that i'm not the first person to do this, but i might be one of the few to bring it up as a wholesome alternative.  the only downside really, is that i can't find any trace of what points to the SNG18_PAM, so anybody with experience making the custom PAM streams, hit me up with a pointer or something.

 

edit: since i've never been made a meber at retro, could somebody pass this along to dario or someone as a suggestion for if debugging craps out?  even if only as a consideration?  it'd eliminate the redirect issue by not actually having any sound redirection.  a better way for prepacked audio, i think, outside of the PAM right now.

 

in theory, it should work for pretty much everything, not just renamed things, but things that have been packed custom, although i recommend using the same name entries and info, like when you add custom music into SNG22_ADD, since custom .csb seems annoying without a packer. keeping the cpk/csb matching namewise is also recommended, but i haven't checked if that actually means anything. you can name them whatever, though, just no spaces in the filename.  i named one test "bacon" and another "not_bacon" originally.  i suspect using a legit process and .csb packer could have any mod with a single file containing all the needed music without any need to touch anything, though it bars the freedom offered with the current redirection and does require more packing and more editing initially.  plus, you really do lose some of the simplicity of "download, place in mods, GMI, save & play" by adding another step in there that involves moving things to the Sound folder.

 

but, that also means that for people, like me, who don't always enjoy the boost effect murdering our music, we might be able  compile a copy of the SNG22_ADD and name it UNBOOST, filled with only the normal music in the 48k slots with the proper pointers (which would suck, given the length of the titles in there, but whatever).  pretty sure that would work, and i'll give it a go later.  you could likely have the unused tracks have a ssecond or two of silence as .aax as dummy files to fill out the rest for the sake of space.  great for stages, though.

 

just keep backups until you've figured it out or can say it's fine

 

the only thing i have had a hiccup with is the PAM, so if someone knows where i can set the container, lemme know, even if it's a normal gens file i'll need to add to the mod to enable the new pointers, even if if i have to redo all of the individual parts.  it's annoying me to hell and back, so it'd be great... unless the game searches all the cpks for the specific parts that just happen to be in that cpk, in which case i'd have to rename aaaaall of them and then change aaaall the smaller streams' names, in which case, hellz to the no, sir.

 

too bad we can't have GMI append filenames.  by having the original SNG18_PAM have even a ~ in the name, it would likely go to any other file named SNG18_PAM, and we could simply have it switch which name is applied to whichever isn't in use, or perhapes with a "_disabled".  this is just a special case though, and only for PAM stuff, though.  also a pain in the butt, i'd bet.  or even a simple "this file is actually SNG18_PAM", no matter what it's called, that can be toggled or pointed at will. still, that'd be about on the level of cpkredir, which is sorta the issue here at the moment, and would likely not be worth the hassle to mess with the code.

 

speaking of which, i totally forgot that the tutorial level used one of the extra songs still.  i was startled to hear eggmanland music when i popped in a fresh file, due to me overwriting the unlockable WI music.  changed it to the WI act 2 music though, so no biggie.

 

ALSO

 

is it possible to place an invisible platform object inside the pillars in RR and have an invisible egg fighter (no shadow or anything) just sort of in there so that when the fliers hit it, they explode as intended?  i figure that'd be a decent workaround, but they'd need to be 'drawn' before the fighters reach them anyway.  it's be something to try if it hasn't already.

 

AND where exactly are the flags for the rails/rail speeders at the end of adabat so i can turn their shadows off?  kinda distracting on the waterfalls.  it's bad enough sonic casts a shadow a mile away, but it would be something a little more accurate, i guess. EDIT: nevermind, they're like that in the DLC.

 

and how do i remove the more festive elements of RR?  i feel it kinda steals some of the thunder from the gens version, and makes me not ever actually feel like playing the gens version again.

 

I settled for getting all A ranks honestly. Getting S ranks in this mod requires more work than I'm willing to invest in an average game.

 

I really don't like the strict requirements in this mod, but at the end of the day it's no sweat off my back. It's a good challenge for speedrunners I suppose, but I'm not interested at all in that kind of game play style.

 

it's fun, but a tad too strict, although some are a pain without real dedication. cool edge and savannah citadel are a breeze though.  edit: and i just S'd rooftop run while super sick, so there's that, and i even made major mistakes like getting hit.  AND THEN i did jungle joyride (3:54, woo, but i still couldn't get off that damn large rail before the end - did in a later run, though). it's starting to feel more like it's training you to be a pro sonic player.  seriously, i discovered a lot of stuff doing these so far.

 

 

sorry for another wall of text, geez.  also, i'm probably an idiot and this is obvious stuff.

Edited January 15, 2014 by darkmelee

[nemox92]

Hi people I'm new to all the modding on sonic generations, I've played the unleashed mod which is amazing, I wanted to get into doing mods for this game, but I don't know where to start, I wanted to import levels from sonic adventure 2 but reading a guide on sonic retro I just ended up confused and the 2 YouTube videos weren't helpful, is there someone here who can help me, also speaking of the unleashed project what's your favourite level from it? Mines empire city

[t0ms0nic]

While I don't have any personal experience with it (nor have any knowledge or the programs to do them with), the guide on Retro seems pretty straight forward on everything you need to do and has worked for people that have imported the likes of

and

from SA2. What parts of it are confusing you in particular? Is it in regards to which programs you need to use or their settings? You'll probably have more luck asking in Retro's Generations hacking topic, but maybe some of us can help you out here.

 

Empire City's also my favourite level from here, as well. Considering I only ever had the PS2 and Wii versions of Unleashed (I can hear you guys snickering), this level and it's music really take me by surprise as I never got a chance to experience them in Unleashed for myself. It's also an absolute blast to speedrun!

Edited April 25, 2013 by t0ms0nic

[nemox92]

While I don't have any personal experience with it (nor have any knowledge or the programs to do them with), the guide on Retro seems pretty straight forward on everything you need to do and has worked for people that have imported the likes of

and

from SA2. What parts of it are confusing you in particular? Is it in regards to which programs you need to use or their settings? You'll probably have more luck asking in Retro's Generations hacking topic, but maybe some of us can help you out here.

 

Empire City's also my favourite level from here, as well. Considering I only ever had the PS2 and Wii versions of Unleashed (I can hear you guys snickering), this level and it's music really take me by surprise as I never got a chance to experience them in Unleashed for myself. It's also an absolute blast to speedrun!

well i ripped the green forest level from sonic adventure 2 on dreamcast, i have gone through the scaling and exporting it to a .scene file, but when i load a level up in sonicglvl it loads green hill zone ok apart from it looks like the mapp is flooded with water i dont know if thats how its ment to look, i have imported the .scene file like the guide says, it loads green forest next to the map from green hill zone im not sure weather it is ment to be where the green hill zone starts? but when it says put a sonic spawn where i want him to start i do that but it either loads green hill zone with nothing but the path, grass and water or it crashes my pc, im also not 100% sure on the files im ment to edit and do you put the files from after its repacked them, i cant think of where the files are when repacked atm. its just a so confusing, but im really intrested in learning how to do this.

 

and tbh i think the unleashed project of empire city is better then the unleashed game pure to the fact of the cars on the highway

[t0ms0nic]

As I said, I have no actual experience with this or know how any of this work, but I'm going to take a stab in the dark.

 

With the Sonic Spawn, are you making sure that there still isn't one in the Green Hill terrain (no idea if you can place more than one), if you've still kept Green Hill's original terrain and collision, and that there's one actually on top of Green Forest's terrain and collision? It doesn't sound like you've removed everything from Green Hill, as at the very least the grass and the water is still there, which is described in the guide for the grass at the least;
 

The final step is here: importing the collision into Sonic Generations. If you're replacing it over Green Hill Zone Act 2, you need to open Generations Archive Editor and open #ghz200.ar.00 and replace ghz200_col.phy.hkx with the newly generated one.

 

The rest, I'm really not sure about and struggling to understand from just the guide without any of the tools. Sorry about that!

[nemox92]

As I said, I have no actual experience with this or know how any of this work, but I'm going to take a stab in the dark.

 

With the Sonic Spawn, are you making sure that there still isn't one in the Green Hill terrain (no idea if you can place more than one), if you've still kept Green Hill's original terrain and collision, and that there's one actually on top of Green Forest's terrain and collision? It doesn't sound like you've removed everything from Green Hill, as at the very least the grass and the water is still there, which is described in the guide for the grass at the least;

 

 

The rest, I'm really not sure about and struggling to understand from just the guide without any of the tools. Sorry about that!

i dont where the spawn is on the green hill zone, well i couldnt find one, ill make a video of what i do then maybe people can tell me where ive gone wrong, i know the guide says to delete the geometry and ive done that but there is still the white lines so im not sure if that could be a problem, i have no idea how to use most of the tools only basic probley,

[SenEDDtor Missile]

I have returned! (Which may disappoint some of you. :3)

I'll give my own 2 cents on the Unleashed project, it's pretty good (Original opinion is original.)

My only major complaints are with the controls of the Cool Edge "bobsled", but I know exactly why that was done,

so I won't complain too much.  And about the ranking, it really isn't that bad, considering the fact that it's based off 

Chimera, Miles and Dario's times, without skills and considering the fact they aren't speedrunners, I think the rankings are pretty fair.

And now, just because I can, here's my obligatory Unleashed Project video:

 

Silver's a midget

[Bort]

favorite stage?  honestly, i think jungle joyride, although arid sands was my favorite before that.  they were the first stages i got really into and wanted to try and learn.  rooftop run is a fun runaround level, though, and was the most fun to speedrun after JJ and AS.  maybe i just like the more demanding stages overall.

 

i kinda got sentimental about the sexy FOV being absent (it is there, though overridden by the cams; you can restore it briefly by dying in certain areas or bashing the boost button til it locks), but then i wondered whether i'd be as able to do what i can do now with them being as they were in unleashed, and i can't really say for sure, since i honestly never played unleashed itself all that much.  i've tried to, several times, but never stuck with it all the way to the end. EDIT: just started a new game, and i'm having zero issues with anything, really.  nice to know that even the werehog isn't difficult to control or anything like i remember, i must have seriously sucked before. really dig the FOV effects.

 

EDIT: played unleashed, beat it.  i didn't even need to grind medals, and only died 6 times at eggmanland (yay), and it really wasn't that hard, save for the QTEs, of course, because i suck at those at select moments.  all of my deaths were me trying to get collectibles or testing the best way to land a jump.  final boss segments were pretty BS though, the whole setup, more or less.

 

the blaze mod is the best character mod, hands-down.  i'd quote your text, but i forgot to quote initially, so i can't but yea, it's pretty great, i must say!

 

also, @0:40, i bet there was some swear words.

 

the "bobsleigh" in cool edge could theoretically be tweaked, but involves a lot of messing with rotation/force, and such, but you'd be hard-pressed to get it perfect.  i think it's alright enough, built more on twitch reflexes.  and yea, the S ranks requirements aren't near as dire or strict in the long run as people think, or even what i thought initially, when you're actually trying for legitimately (relatively) clean runs. i hope they don't change them anytime soon. ALTHOUGH windmill isle is probably the toughest of them all (or maybe arid sands if you're not someone like me) without skills.

 

they're actually a touch lax and give you breathing room both above the time/ring scores, and give you more incentive to push even harder.  i didn't even start to realize just how much i could do better until i thought about how to get around time-consuming bits or cutting out homing attacks and just comboing (RR clocktower enemies, which i rarely see other players do).  even the most minor oversights and tricks (drifting on water, drifting into a QS mode flag, drifting in a dash sequence... drifting has a lot of oversights) cut your time pretty drastically at times, and still aren't required (likely pushing you even further under what's expected). really, in the end, even a paultry amount of rings can sometimes award an S rank so long as you're trying, even if your speed isn't quite there, yet.  you'll be fighting rather hard to shave time off past that, however, should you go for your absolute peak performance. i've still never gone completely flawlessly at my own routes.

Edited February 8, 2014 by Bort

[S Chrono]

Dario, if you are here, please help a Sonic fan out. I'm having trouble trying to get the No-HUD mod set up before I go try the Unleashed Project mod out. I've been sending you a message on YouTube a few days ago, and waiting for your response. I still want to know how you did that on some of the levels you showcased.

Edited April 28, 2013 by S Chrono

[goku262002]

Dario, if you are here, please help a Sonic fan out. I'm having trouble trying to get the No-HUD mod set up before I go try the Unleashed Project mod out. I've been sending you a message on YouTube a few days ago, and waiting for your response. I still want to know how you did that on some of the levels you showcased.

I'm on it, sending your message to him now.

It would help to know what your exact problem is.

Edited April 28, 2013 by goku262002

[S Chrono]

I'm on it, sending your message to him now.

 

It would help to know what your exact problem is.

Thank you very much. That No-HUD mod Dario used in his trailers really meant a lot to me on making future intros/montage videos.

 

I tried using the other No-HUD mod made by someone else from Sonic Retro, and it only works in certain level hubs, except Green Hill Zone which made the game crash after all that crazy unpacking and repacking CPK files, replacing some of the original files inside them with the empty files that affect the HUD.

Edited April 28, 2013 by S Chrono

[S Chrono]

Any reply from Dario yet, Goku?

[goku262002]

Any reply from Dario yet, Goku?

No, but unless its urgent hes not a kind of guy to get to things right away. I'm sure he will respond in this week or so. Patience is a virtue.

[Faseeh]

Um, S Chrono, I can solve your problem for you, just send me a message on here.

 

Yeah, Dario's quite busy ya know.

[S Chrono]

Um, S Chrono, I can solve your problem for you, just send me a message on here.

 

Yeah, Dario's quite busy ya know.

I tried to PM you a message, but you set an option on not to receive messages. Can you change up your settings so that I can send you my issue?

Edited May 1, 2013 by S Chrono

[Bort]

found a really bizarre quirk in dragon road.  apparently, by ducking, you can slide the shadow of the flags waving, or perhaps it's something a bit more odd, like it makes the next-to-bottom-part transparent.
 

EDIT: it was a bug in gens that is now fixed after editing the hex for the high res shadows.

 

dragon road in general has a few wierd (more just mildly unpredictable) moments, mostly having to do with only boost being locked out after the first dragon sometimes (but not all times, though when it is, you can bounce on the spring for hours hitting X and nothing will happen until you land, pic below), as if you'd boosted in the air already, but it doesn't always reset.  a similar thing happens from the pulley in arid sands after the first big loop with the three dash rings you can leap into, locking pretty much any input except for an air dash at the last second (pic below) until you touch ground.  you CAN do it, but only sometimes, and the window is absurdly small. i know pulleys draw you more straight up instead of up-and-over like in unleashed, but i doubt that has much of anything to do with this. i'm also aware that locking is a common part of the game design and is normally not a big deal (and allows for cool tactics to avoid said locking), and i'm just pointing out what i think might be minor oversights or unreliable elements or carryovers between objects. speaking of locking, maybe adding a visible dash panel, even if it doesn't speed you up, to visualize the moment sonic can no longer jump off the prior ramp would be nice.

 

also, they're not game-breakers by any means, just sudden "OH GREAT SO MUCH FOR THAT .60 OF A SECOND I HAD GOING THERE, BETTER RESTART".

 

also, that alternate rocket shortcut i mentioned in dragon road has had me fall through the water at least 17 times no matter when i boost or if i just run, or any other sort of precaution.  i either make it okay, or i die too quickly (sometimes before the camera shift is complete) to do anything about it. either the depth is too shallow, or i have the worst of luck.

 

and i'd really like to restore foot slope collison/height into the stages.  how do i do that, exactly?  i swear i'd done it before  a long time ago, but i don't have any of those files/edits anymore, and i remember seeing a pic on retro that showed it happen in dragion road. i think it's a bummer that it happens in the PAM for at least his feet/ankles.  sometimes, it looks like his feet are trying to line up, but they're meeting too much resistance or something, like how his legs stay rigid as well on uneven ground.  just seems like one of many very small, but fantastic details that are no longer present/prominent in gens.  and before someone wants to retort, yes, it is in fact in gens, but for some reason only objects and generated platforms. i only truly noticed that from my Barrel Adventures™ in windmill isle.

 

EDIT: floors were unique in unleashed and given special properties not in gens, hence why he balances on objects in this game, but not all terrain, like the original game. he actually adjusts his balance in the beginning of green hill and some roofs in rooftop run, fully functioning, so whatever properties it has could possibly be applied elsewhere with work.

 

EDIT: also discovered you can walljump off of enemies if you do it right, which is hard.  wtf.

 

apparently jumping before the gate crash in rooftop run breaks logic for a second, with one side losing it's textures until you land, went ahead and capped it too, the last pic in the lineup.

Edited January 18, 2014 by darkmelee

[Faseeh]

I tried to PM you a message, but you set an option on not to receive messages. Can you change up your settings so that I can send you my issue?

 

Go ahead now.

[S Chrono]

Anyone else know how to disable the HUD using SonicGMI?

Edited May 2, 2013 by S Chrono

[Bort]

Anyone else know how to disable the HUD using SonicGMI?

 

i simply used dario's unfinished mod from

 

http://filebeam.com/27a74baef307aabd9a4a663988ad489b

 

placed it in the mods folder, and i check it (and save)  when i want it.  it's the only one i know of that doesn't involve serious editing to get working, but it doesn't work in the PAM beyond button prompts (which i consider fine enough, since i change music a lot since i made a bunch of custom aax's).  stages are perfect, though, so long as english language is selected, and button hints are turned off.  heavier editing can remove everything else, but nobody's released one like that, let alone one that isn't completely universal, invis'ing everything at once.

 

that's all i can really say about it.

Edited May 3, 2013 by darkmelee

[S Chrono]

Tried that already, Darkmelee. It disables the effect of Sonic's Boost, and the HUD is still shown.

Edited May 4, 2013 by S Chrono