Sonic Mania Simon Thomley (Stealth) Stream Info Dump

[Zippo]

I can't believe this went under so many people's radars. Stealth did a 7 hour Sonic Mania stream and dishes out a ton of info on the game. Still watching as we speak. Note, the footage and commentary are a dsynched by a couple of minutes. 

Will continue to update with whatever new info I find.

-The stage transitions were conceptualized by Hunter Bridges, and were done by Tom Fry.

-Explaining the second scene: The Heavies refuse to listen to Eggman's orders of killing Sonic and Tails, and decide to play with the ruby instead, Eggman gets frustrated with them, takes the ruby and they run off.

-The Heavies go rogue the moment they are transformed by the Phantom Ruby.

-Press Garden act 1's boss name is "Shiversaw".

-Taxman assisted with Freedom Planet's development for about a month.

-Mania is running on a much different version of the Retro engine. CD ran on Ver. 3. 1&2 ran on Ver. 4. Mania is running on Ver. 5. Everything little thing from the sprites and backgrounds was redone from scratch.

-The alphabetical blocks in Press Garden have an interesting origin. All of the letters you see were considered the most common letters used back in the olden days in newspapers. The idea was brought forth by Brad Flick.

-Press Garden was born with the question: "What if Wood Zone met a Sawmill?"

-Stealth says some of the changes to the older zones is natural while some of the other changes are due to the phantom ruby.

-Tom and Taxman conceptualized most of the new levels. Tom did mock ups of them based off of the ideas they had.

-He gives names for the new badniks at 1:13:00.

-The in-game HBH sprites were all made by Tom.

-Stealth's favorite music track is the metal sonic battle.

-The medallions you get in Blue Sphere is actually the coin attendees got in their prize bags at the 25th anniversary party. On one of the sides it even says Sonic "25th".

-Stealth's favorite original track was Mirage Saloon Act 1 as Knuckles.

-Studiopolis Act 2 was the very first stage created for the game.

-Flying Battery Act 1 boss was Taxman's idea. 

-Stealth designed some of the badniks, including the "Shutterbug" from Studiopolis.

-The MBM boss was Taxman's idea.

-The music in Blue Spheres is time based.
It's always sped up at a fixed interval.

-Development for Mania lasted "offically" a year.

-The first blue sphere stage was ported over from the Sonic 3 Remastered demo they were asked to make.

-Flying Battery was the 3rd level conceptualized. All of their level designers had a hand in its design.

-He's going back to working on his game engine following development ending, unless Sega greenlights another game.

[molul]

4 minutes ago, Zippo said:

He's going back to working on his game engine following development ending, unless Sega greenlights another game.

Sonic 3 remastered before it's too late, Sega!

[CleverSonicUsername]

Mic Drop, huh? I kept assuming the mic enemies to be called Shock Jocks, but Mic Drop is real good.

That bit that the heavies go rogue immediately is interesting to me, because Titanic Monarch seems like it was constructed by Robotnik yet honors the Heavies, unless the Heavies constructed it and Robotnik is trying to take it back or something. Maybe he specifies, I don't quite have 7 hours to watch the whole thing right now and it'll be some time before I do. Would love to know if he specifies which levels are changed by the ruby specifically, and also why the King wants the Master Emerald.

In general though, I think the uncertainty in the story is because it wasn't conveyed very well. The plot sounds a lot more intricate than Sonic 3's, and even though it has high quality animation with which to tell it, a lot doesn't come across clearly. Large gaps in the story of course don't help. Definitely hope this is something they improve upon if they make a follow up.

[TheOcelot]

45 minutes ago, molul said:

Sonic 3 remastered before it's too late, Sega!

Much as I love Sonic 3 I'd rather SEGA greenlight Sonic Mania 2.

20 minutes ago, CleverSonicUsername said:

In general though, I think the uncertainty in the story is because it wasn't conveyed very well. The plot sounds a lot more intricate than Sonic 3's, and even though it has high quality animation with which to tell it, a lot doesn't come across clearly. Large gaps in the story of course don't help. Definitely hope this is something they improve upon if they make a follow up.

It's a 2d pixel game with a story told in a very simple format so there will always be bits of the story (like with Sonic 2, CD & Sonic 3) which are open to interpretation.

What frustrates me is that the cutscenes we have for Mania are good but half the story is missing which is such a shame. I don't think Taxman has confirmed whether the missing transitions will be added or not. I wish he would.

[A super No.1 washedupgamer]

1 hour ago, Zippo said:

Explaining the second scene: The Heavies refuse to listen to Eggman's orders of killing Sonic and Tails, and decide to play with the ruby instead, Eggman gets frustrated with them, takes the ruby and they run off.

All The heavies wanted to do was play.  I had a feeling that that cutscene was playing out like that.

 

1 hour ago, Zippo said:

Taxman assisted with Freedom Planet's development for about a month

That's pretty cool. I just finished freedom planet last week.

 

1 hour ago, Zippo said:

Stealth says some of the changes to the older zones is natural while some of the other changes are due to the phantom ruby.

If I had to guess, I'd say stages like oil ocean, green hill and hydrocity zone was natural while chemical plant, flying battery (purple storm clouds) and lava reef was transformed by the ruby.

1 hour ago, Zippo said:

He's going back to working on his game engine following development ending, unless Sega greenlights another

Is this that 3d engine he was talking about a while back?

[CleverSonicUsername]

20 minutes ago, TheOcelot said:

Much as I love Sonic 3 I'd rather SEGA greenlight Sonic Mania 2.

It's a 2d pixel game with a story told in a very simple format so there will always be bits of the story (like with Sonic 2, CD & Sonic 3) which are open to interpretation.

What frustrates me is that the cutscenes we have for Mania are good but half the story is missing which is such a shame. I don't think Taxman has confirmed whether the missing transitions will be added or not. I wish he would.

True, there's elements in those games that are unclear due to limitations in the story telling too, but in particular with the Heavies, that turn happens so early and it's kind of fuzzy just what's going on. It can be just as easily interpreted that they're working with Robotnik until the King goes rogue in the true ending.

But for sure the bigger issues is the larger gaps in story created by missing transitions. I think the Mania team is talented enough and has the tools available to tell a clear and cohesive story in the style of Sonic 3, it really does seem to me like other constraints impacted the narrative in a few ways.

[Zippo]

Kieran made all of the 3D models for the game.

The Jellyfish enemy's name is "Jellyknight".

The waterline in Hydrocity is an animated tileset.

Hydrocity Act 2 boss is called the Laundry Mobile.

Gave names for the 4 Mirage Saloon Act 1 enemies: Armadiloid, Boltron, Cactewa and Bumpilo.

Potentially major one: Story wise, Sonic, Tails and Knuckles are traveling together the entire time throughout the game. He confirmed this during the beginning of Mirage Saloon Act 1.

Mirage Saloon is Stealth's favorite new zone.

Mirage Saloon Act 1's boss is "Uber Caterkiller."

Mirage Saloon Act 2 enemies: Roller Mark 2 and Rattlecurler.

All it took to get Team Hooligan in the game was a simple request to Sega.

[Mark1]

I really want to see more elaboration on the story and it's missing transitions. As there is a decent one here made confusing later on in the adventure.

[CleverSonicUsername]

34 minutes ago, Zippo said:

Roller Mark 2

He'll always be High Roller to me. The old west vibe also makes me think of gambling for whatever reason I guess. Also my name for the Caterkiller enemy in act 2 was Cactuskiller in my head.

[Polkadi~☆]

1 hour ago, Zippo said:

All it took to get Team Hooligan in the game was a simple request to Sega.

Sheesh, that's all it took?

There's no excuse now, Sonic Team.

[Blue Wisp]

lmao so Eggman did end up getting betrayed after all. 

The more things change the more they stay the same.

Love me some Hard-Boiled Heavies though, I hope they're not a one-and-done kind of deal. 

[speedfreak]

Betrayed is okay since he wasn't upstaged or outclassed.

[Maxtiis]

6 hours ago, Zippo said:

The first blue sphere stage was ported over from the Sonic 3 Remastered demo they were asked to make.

Wait he and Taxman were asked to make that demo? I thought they only did it because they wanted to. Then that begs the question of if Sega is still interested in potentially remastering Sonic 3.

5 hours ago, CleverSonicUsername said:

Mic Drop, huh? I kept assuming the mic enemies to be called Shock Jocks, but Mic Drop is real good.

At least they weren't called Jock Shocker. The last thing Sonic would need is a jock shocking (internet high five to anyone who gets the reference).

[Sonictrainer]

4 hours ago, Zippo said:

Gave names for the 4 Mirage Saloon Act 1 enemies: Armadiloid, Boltron, Cactewa and Bumpilo.

Mirage Saloon Act 2 enemies: Roller Mark 2 and Rattlecurler.

You sure it wasn't Vultron (the vulture badniks), Cactula (the cactus Nebulas), and Rattlekiller (the snake Catakillers)?

I know the audio is a little off.

[Tracker_TD]

8 minutes ago, Sonictrainer said:

You sure it wasn't Vultron (the vulture badniks), Cactula (the cactus Nebulas), and Rattlekiller (the snake Catakillers)?

I know the audio is a little off.

Yeah, these ones are correct going off the filenames. 

[Forte-Metallix]

That same stream also reveals the names of most of Mania's bosses:

Spoiler

 

-Green Hill Act 1: DD Wrecker

-Chemical Plant Act 1: Amoeba Droid

-Studiopolis Act 2: Weather Globe

-Flying Battery Act 1: Big Squeeze

-Flying Battery Act 2: Spider Mobile

-Stardust Speedway Act 1: Hotaru Hi-Watt

-Hydro City Act 1: Dive Eggman

-Oil Ocean Act 1: Meter Droid

-Oil Ocean Act 2: Mega Octus

-Lava Reef Act 1: Driller Droid

-Metallic Madness Act 2: Gachapandora

-Titanic Monarch Act 1: Crimson Eye

-Titanic Monarch Act 2: Phantom Egg (And all of the HBH's have become the Phantom Heavies because of the Ruby, so they're now called Phantom Gunner, Phantom Rider, etc.)

-Egg Reverie Zone: Phantom King and Klepto Mobile

 

 

[Stasis]

Actually saw this info on Sonic Wiki a few days ago and was wondering where they got the info for the Phantom Heavies, and Kleptomobile. Nice to have it all in one place.

And while I'm thinking about it for those interested; " Kleptomania or klopemania is the inability to refrain from the urge for stealing items and is usually done for reasons other than personal use or financial gain. "

[Sonictrainer]

21 minutes ago, Forte-Metallix said:

That same stream also reveals the names of most of Mania's bosses:

  Hide contents

-Metallic Madness Act 2: Gaspachadora

 

 

Spoiler

What in the world does that mean?

 

[HywelAtTheMoon]

Sounds more like a soup. Egg Gacha would sound more fitting. Love the Amy Doll though! 

[Jango]

Oh boy. Does he ever talk about some zones lacking a transition? Or the Forces' connection?

[Tracker_TD]

43 minutes ago, Sonictrainer said:

 

  Hide contents

What in the world does that mean?

 

According to the filenames, its name is actually

Spoiler

Gachapandora. Makes a bit more sense. 

 

[Forte-Metallix]

1 hour ago, Tracker_TD said:

According to the filenames, its name is actually

  Hide contents

Gachapandora. Makes a bit more sense. 

 

Yeah, that's the boss's actual name. My bad.

I took one glance at the name and misread it, not knowing what a 

Spoiler

gashapon 

is. ^^;

[Zippo]

2 hours ago, Forte-Metallix said:

That same stream also reveals the names of most of Mania's bosses:

  Hide contents

 

-Green Hill Act 1: DD Wrecker

-Chemical Plant Act 1: Amoeba Droid

-Studiopolis Act 2: Weather Globe

-Flying Battery Act 1: Big Squeeze

-Flying Battery Act 2: Spider Mobile

-Stardust Speedway Act 1: Hotaru Hi-Watt

-Hydro City Act 1: Dive Eggman

-Oil Ocean Act 1: Meter Droid

-Oil Ocean Act 2: Mega Octus

-Lava Reef Act 1: Driller Droid

-Metallic Madness Act 2: Gaspachadora

-Titanic Monarch Act 1: Crimson Eye

-Titanic Monarch Act 2: Phantom Egg (And all of the HBH's have become the Phantom Heavies because of the Ruby, so they're now called Phantom Gunner, Phantom Rider, etc.)

-Egg Reverie Zone: Phantom King and Klepto Mobile

 

 

Spoiler

So Egg Reverie is being counted as it's own zone after all. 13 Zones in total. 8 Old. 5 New. Interesting. That makes more sense now.

 

[Forte-Metallix]

21 minutes ago, Zippo said:

  Hide contents

So Egg Reverie is being counted as it's own zone after all. 13 Zones in total. 8 Old. 5 New. Interesting. That makes more sense now.

 

What's especially interesting is that...

Spoiler

Counting each individual Act, Mania is the exact same length as 3&K. (25 Acts each) But it technically has one less Zone, since Hidden Palace and Sky Sanctuary are individual one-Act Zones.

 

[Blue Blood]

Well if you want to be technical...

Hidden Palace and the Stardust Speedway boss fight are both counted as individual acts internally within the game. Mirage Saloon also has three distinct acts and bosses.