Boom Interview with Stephen Frost

[Rey Skywalker-Ren]

I don't agree with Sonikku, but I think it's unfair to say her opinion is unwarranted. She says she doesn't want to play as other characters, which we know you do in this, so that being a complaint for the game a perfectly valid complaint.

 

However, Sonikku, I don't think Sonic will be underrepresented.  I'm sure all of the characters will have the same basic abilities, but with each having their own special abilities. From what we've seen Knuckles can climb (And dig, I think?), Tails can fly, Amy has more acrobatic skills and Sonic some Spindash panels, can run over water and has some Homing Attack like move. Knuckles  be able to destroy things the others can't, but that's just a guess on my part.

 

So while you'll have to use the other characters, I'm sure Sonic will able to shine, even if it's not as much as usual. The theme of teamwork seems to be important to the developers. Whether you are OK with that or not is up to you. Either way is fine.

I understand. For me if it were like Sonic Advance 3 where its optinal to use the other character or like Sonic 4 then I would welcome it. I like optinal. I want to chose a character and play as him or her to the end. Here your force to play with different characters and different styles. Its like Sonic 06 you are force to do different things at randome times and I dont want that.

 

I dont hate Sonics friends being playable. I want them to be optinal and not force down my face. It makes me hate playing as them.

[Jovahexeon Jax Joranvexeon]

So you're not even going to give the other playable characters, Sonic Boom style, a try or in-depth look before writing them off as a "detriment" that the game "forces"?

 

*Sigh*

 

It not like you won't even have the ability to replay the levels with different characters after first completing it from what's been reported. Geez.

[Shaddy Zaphod]

What kind of game doesn't allow you to replay fucking levels? This isn't 1992.

[Rey Skywalker-Ren]

So you're not even going to give the other playable characters, Sonic Boom style, a try or in-depth look before writing them off as a "detriment" that the game "forces"?

 

*Sigh*

 

It not like you won't even have the ability to replay the levels with different characters after first completing it from what's been reported. Geez.

dude, Im going to give it a chanse. Fuck Im not close mind. :-/

 

Its fine that you dont like my conserns and you think they are stupid but I am going to try the damn game. I could be wrong and if I am I will apologise.

[Jovahexeon Jax Joranvexeon]

Will you kindly cease the spontaneous swearing for the sake of swearing and false accusations please?

Never have I called you close-minded or stupid, and I don't take kindly to being lied at and about.

And it certainly didn't sound like you were going to give it a chance with that tirade on giving up hope for the game.

[Rey Skywalker-Ren]

Will you kindly cease the spontaneous swearing for the sake of swearing and false accusations please?

Never have I called you close-minded or stupid, and I don't take kindly to being lied at and about.

And it certainly didn't sound like you were going to give it a chance with that tirade on giving up hope for the game.

I wasnt saying you were doing that. I was just telling you that i wasnt. its different. I apologise if I come that way but I wasnt trying to attack you.

 

and i dont have any idea what the first sentense mean sense Im not very good at english

[JezMM]

This is one I don't really agree with.

 

• We needed the bandanna and the sports tape. Otherwise people wouldn't know it was Boom Sonic. 

Really don't agree with that, give us some credit we're a lot smarter than that, heck kids have been doing it for 20+ years now.

 

 

Eh not really, we STILL have fans (and non-fans who grew out of the series and still think it's set on Mobius especially) who complain that Eggman isn't evil "like he used to be" when what they mean is they grew up with SatAM and projected that personality onto the completely different looking game sprites of Eggman.

 

(Granted, we're not dealing with tiny sprites on a blurry tube TV screen, but still, kids are very accepting of inconsistency).

[Jovahexeon Jax Joranvexeon]

I wasnt saying you were doing that. I was just telling you that i wasnt. its different. I apologise if I come that way but I wasnt trying to attack you.

 

and i dont have any idea what the first sentense mean sense Im not very good at english

Look, you said I thought your concerns were stupid and you implied that I view you as close-minded. Both of which were untrue.

Not cool.

[Rey Skywalker-Ren]

Look, you said I thought your concerns were stupid and you implied that I view you as close-minded. Both of which were untrue.

Not cool.

Im sorry. I wasnt trying to attack you. Others have say its "unwarrented" and doesnt hold anything but I didnt mean to say *you* said it. So Im sorry.

[StaticMania]

What kind of game doesn't allow you to replay fucking levels? This isn't 1992.

This has nothing to do with anything.

[Agie]

After a few games of Sonic being the only playable character, I think it's time for other characters to be playable once again. That's just me, though.

[Shaddy Zaphod]

This has nothing to do with anything.

 

It not like you won't even have the ability to replay the levels with different characters after first completing it from what's been reported. Geez.

What

[StaticMania]

Replay the levels with "Other Character" Emphasis on "Other Characters" not replaying levels in general.

[Jolt_TH]

And it certainly didn't sound like you were going to give it a chance with that tirade on giving up hope for the game.

To be far what does it matter if she doesn't like the idea and this didn't want to give it a chance (I know she is going to). We all want different things from this series. If she likes Solo Sonica then why is it wrong for her to not like having multiple characters? Some people didn't buy lost world because it looked too mario or it wasn't boost, some didn't buy unleashed because they preferred the adventure style.

I really don't see your big problem with her not liking it, it's a reasonable point and if she likes playing as sonic only then that's fine.

[CrownSlayers Shadow]

Honestly, if the game does force characters on you to reach certain path, then there is a bit of a point to not liking that. We didn't like it much in SA2, Heroes, Sonic 06, or even in Unleashed where it was two different forms of the same character.

 

Hell, we didn't even like it much in SA1 if we wanted the full story.

 

Now granted, those of us on the other side have long been waiting for the other characters to come back. But if we're forced to play as other characters, instead of being given the choice to do so in using our preferred character to beat the whole game, and reserving the use different characters at our own will to see other places exclusive secrets we can't reach with our preferred character, I can't say that either side is wrong for their feelings.

 

And it works in the other way too - you're both forcing each other on something you don't want, whether it's one side wanting to play as just their favorite character or the other not being given a choice to play as the other characters. Comes off as really grabby.

[Jovahexeon Jax Joranvexeon]

To be far what does it matter if she doesn't like the idea and this didn't want to give it a chance (I know she is going to). We all want different things from this series. If she likes Solo Sonica then why is it wrong for her to not like having multiple characters? Some people didn't buy lost world because it looked too mario or it wasn't boost, some didn't buy unleashed because they preferred the adventure style.

I really don't see your big problem with her not liking it, it's a reasonable point and if she likes playing as sonic only then that's fine.

Let's set this straight friend.

 

I don't have a problem with her preference at the moment.

 

My problem is with how inconsistent her stance comes off as, and how she says one thing than a completely different thing afterward.

 

Not to mention faulty assumptions about members here that have been made, which I do NOT like.

[Jolt_TH]

Let's set this straight friend.

I don't have a problem with her preference at the moment.

My problem is with how inconsistent her stance comes off as, and how she says one thing than a completely different thing afterward.

Not to mention faulty assumptions about members here that have been made, which I do NOT like.

...I'm sorry, what inconsistency?

She says she doesn't like playing as sonics friends, and that has been her stance the entire discussion. Just because she may not like one part of the game doesn't mean anything, she is keeping an open mind and is actually going to buy it and try it (as far as I can see) and she may be pleasantly surprised at the result. That's what I can see she is saying, no inconsistencies here.

As far as the false accusations are concerned, I highly doubt she made them on purpose, she doesn't seem to be from an English speaking country, so she may interpret things you say in a different way than others. Not everything is meant as an attack this is the Internet it's hard to determine tone over text, that was the impression she got from people's posts.

[Nepenthe]

I find the whole "forcing" angle in these discussion really weird, because the language is so unnecessarily negative and off-putting that it makes the discussion of game design frustratingly myopic. Almost everything in any game is "forced" by the fact that designers cannot possibly include every single alternate choice within reason. Design- not just of games, but of art in general- is a process of making concrete decisions that an audience has to live with in order to experience something that's, well, actually finished. We're forced to only experience certain locations in a world at length, or watch our favorite characters die, or rescue people we may or may not care about versus just saving ourselves, etc.. A Sonic game "forcing" characters on you is no worse from a design standpoint than a Sonic game "forcing" you out of the option of using anybody else by way of not including them in a playable form. These things are not "forced" in some awful, oppressive sense of wanting the audience to suffer; they are just plain ol' design decisions, completely neutral in their inherent existence, and thus both are as valid as each other.

 

But more personally, I feel if anything is going to be included in a game at length or be notable, it needs to be forced to some degree. When something becomes necessary to the design of the game to work, it in turn forces the developers to flesh it out more than they otherwise would be obligated to, which tends to trend towards stronger design. I feel more invested in, for example, exploring in a Zelda game- where it's an actual focus of the gameplay- than in a classic Sonic game- when it's a completely optional thing. The very act of exploring in the former is going to yield better rewards and better locations to find than the latter by design. On the other side of the coin, classic Sonic games have more meaningful, rewarding platforming than even newer Zelda games by the sheer fact that one is a platformer and one is not. There is a "forced" focus in the former that led to the games' movement being as good as they still are through a concrete, unchanging decision to make them that way. But that automatic jumping shit in Zelda is mediocre at best and annoying at worst. Everyone has had the game throw them off of something by accident.

 

The same applies to the cast members you use as well. Frankly though, I probably wouldn't be as gung-ho to use others alongside Sonic as I am at this moment if the gameplay hadn't taken a turn for the completely banal in the process. I was perfectly happy romping in Unleashed's world and even Secret Rings regardless of who wasn't there and why they weren't, because everything about each game was enough to make up for the trending away from using other characters like we had done quite often in the past. But fuck me sideways if Colors and Lost World are truly the best we can do with Sonic-only games from now on. I will snatch up Boom in a heartbeat. Even if turns out to be shit, by God at least it will be interesting and creative shit.

[Jolt_TH]

I'd like it if they took advantage of the DLC availability of the Wii U and maybe added extra downloadable characters for a theoretical "free play" mode.

I know I would pay good money to play as blaze (in somehow other than a laggy 5fps gens PC mod)

[Someguy]

Just a quick thought, isn't the reason people hated switching to other characters in Sonic games because they changed the genre entirely? In Adventure, Tails made the game a race, Knuckles a treasure hunt, Amy a much slower run away platformer, Gamma a third person shooter and Big a fishing game, while Adventure 2 had Treasure Hunting and Slow Third Person Shooter.

 

So, in a game where all four characters share compatible gameplay, shouldn't character changes not be nearly as bad if pulled off well? Instead of going from speedy platformer to slow paced mech shooter, you'd go from speedy platformer with homing attacks and spindashes to (possibly slightly slower) speedy platformer with wall climbing/flying/swing bars, right?

[TheLaw34]

Just a quick thought, isn't the reason people hated switching to other characters in Sonic games because they changed the genre entirely? In Adventure, Tails made the game a race, Knuckles a treasure hunt, Amy a much slower run away platformer, Gamma a third person shooter and Big a fishing game, while Adventure 2 had Treasure Hunting and Slow Third Person Shooter.

 

So, in a game where all four characters share compatible gameplay, shouldn't character changes not be nearly as bad if pulled off well? Instead of going from speedy platformer to slow paced mech shooter, you'd go from speedy platformer with homing attacks and spindashes to (possibly slightly slower) speedy platformer with wall climbing/flying/swing bars, right?

That's assuming this game is speedy in the first place.

 

Still I mostly agree but I would still compare with this. In racing games you get a wide selection of cars but the gameplay will remain mostly the same no matter which you pick, however I will admit i hate being forced to choose a car that doesn't fit my taste.

I can understand why one wouldn't want to end up being forced out of a racecar and into a sportscar. I think its fair for anyone to say they don't want even a small change as this. Still assuming this is gonna be like any other generic platformer I personally am more than up for huge diversity even if it means I end up not liking one of the characters

 

Well like I always so only time will tell and god do I wish time would hurry it up.

[Mania Pipe]

Hi everyone! I'm new here! I just recently joined here on the boards so that I could talk about the subjects in these thread, especially the Sonic related ones, and share my opinions on them with the others. I hope I do my best as a member of SSMB and get along with the other members.

On topic, I'm hoping it won't be the case where the game will forcifully switch our characters when we reach a certain section in the stage. So, I'm hoping it will let us switch to that character optionally duirng gameplay.

[Badnik Mechanic]

https://twitter.com/frostman007/status/449267066411810816

 

FIND THIS DINER!

[Jovahexeon Jax Joranvexeon]

With our luck, it'll be a diner located in a virtual reality Casino Park.

[Willsy]

No, it's the Bucket O' Sushi. Now with fish!