Noserus' Original Custom Stages - Sky Sanctuary 3.0 Released, now with ACTUAL LIGHTING!

[Noserus]

I'm getting into making custom stages as a hobby, for now it's only the one stage but I hope to expand the stage list as time passes. None of these stages will be simply custom textured, I want to stress that now since this is to get better at making models and custom lighting.

Blastzone size has been changed to bring in the width, which was very close to Dreamland 64's. Shadows have now been inserted in so it's integral to get Version 3.0 of Sky Sanctuary Zone.

Stages

Sky Sanctuary Zone Version 3.0

Spoiler: Last Updated 09/16

Based on the Sonic Generations version of Sky Sanctuary Zone and Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed. The stage has a unique layout and blast zones to cover an area other legal stages don't. There is a special little surprise that may make you chuckle if you find it too. Now visually redesigned in various areas to improve on the great amounts of feedback I received.

Stage Module Information:

The stage uses Skyworld as it's module but I have converted Skyworld's module for Frigate Orpheon in the provided files. If you want to use this stage over any stage that is NOT Frigate Orpheon, make sure you convert Skyworld's module.

Known Bugs:

• Can sporadically die between blast zones on Stamina.

Spoiler: V1 to V3.0 Changelist

• Various texture changes, platforms changed to be thicker and are now dark blue.
• Main stage overhauled completely.
• Background now darker rather than brighter alongside other lighting changes.
• Angel Island Removed
• Other minor texture and lighting edits between V2 and V2.0.1.
• Various important numerical fixes for blastzone boundaries and item locations.
• Proper lighting finally added in.

Spoiler: Preview image taken from dolphin, note: appearance may differ on CRT.

Spoiler: Download

Full Download

Green Hill Zone at Sunset

Spoiler: Last Updated 08/20

Alternatively named Sunset Hill, but not visually coherent with the Sonic Advance 3 Zone. No custom textures or models in this file, just custom lighting used to give Green Hill a slightly different ambiance. Download link includes the original Project M Green Hill as the alternate stage.

Spoiler: Preview image taken from dolphin, note: appearance may differ on CRT

Spoiler: Download

Dropbox Download

 

[Mewphelis]

Dang! This looks amazing! Great job man!

 

[Xermo]

That looks fantastic

 

[jackal27]

Hey, great work! This looks awesome!

I'm having a bit of trouble distinguishing from the foreground and background, but it probably looks fine in play.

 

[Noserus]

Hey, great work! This looks awesome!

I'm having a bit of trouble distinguishing from the foreground and background, but it probably looks fine in play.

A few people on the Project M subreddit mentioned some issues with visibility as well which I'm going to look into fixing up.

 

[Niko Mar]

Very nice stage; it'd surely work well for tournaments and competitive play in general.

I've been playing on it a bit and don't really have issues with visibility. Although, it'd probably be nice to tweak some of the textures (like on the rails of the stairs) to add definition/contrast and further separate it from the main stage. You may also want to add a little something to the platforms, whether it be some plant life or not, to help it stand out more from the background elements.

Overall though, it's definitely growing on me. I'd like to see you try your hand at a "fun" version of the stage. It would test your skills in a different way, by challenging you to invent intriguing components and discovering great ways to implement them. You'd also get the full ASL (Alternate Stage Loader) experience by having a competitive and "for fun" variant you may switch between.

Spoiler

Btw, these are the tracks I've been using on the stage. I put it over Orpheon as the file suggested, so I had access to six music slots:
[From Sonic Generations and Knuckles Chaotix soundtrack]
- Flying Battery Zone Act 1
- Big Arms (Sonic 3)
- Sky Sanctuary (Modern/Classic [depends on personal preference])
- Mushroom Hill Zone Act 1
- Door into Summer
- Evening Star

 

[PseudoTypical]

Awesome work, man. Aside from the depth perception issue, the only thing I would change is the way that Angel Island is all bit-like. If you could replace it with something 3D, even if it's sorta primitive, it would look tons better IMO. The art styles kinda clash at the moment.

 

[flintconfirmed]

Just finally tracked your stage down again. I was wondering if you had dimmed the background or anything yet? It worked absolutely magnificent for PMDT's Delfino.

So many people love your stage.

 

[Noserus]

Just finally tracked your stage down again. I was wondering if you had dimmed the background or anything yet? It worked absolutely magnificent for PMDT's Delfino.

So many people love your stage.

I'm currently working out a few things to improve the stage visually, especially making the platforms easier to see. I'm redesigning the platform behind the main stage as it's a little lacking right now, I really want to bump up the quality there. The two platforms are going to be a shade of dark blue in the next version, it'll definitely be much easier to see!

Also the other day I made custom lighting ect in Green Hill, giving it a sunset appearance which I'll probably upload in the next day or so. Green Hill is my favourite stage to visually redesign and I'm keen to work on a stage based on Greenflower Zone from Sonic Robo Blast 2 in the future.

 

[Noserus]

Green Hill Zone at Sunset has now been put up on the list of stages. Oops, looks like not all the stages are "original custom stages". With any luck Sky Sanctuary Zone will be ready by the end of the month with a few improvements.

Spoiler: Edit: Here's my quickly drawn concept art I'm going by

 

[PsychoGhost]

Green Hill Zone at Sunset has now been put up on the list of stages.

Looks awesome!

 

[Noserus]

Hey guys, Sky Sanctuary Version 2 has now been released in the first post. There have been various visual improvements so I absolutely recommend getting the newer version. As always, feedback is welcome as I plan to make any adjustments necessary to better it.

 

[jackal27]

Hey guys, Sky Sanctuary Version 2 has now been released in the first post. There have been various visual improvements so I absolutely recommend getting the newer version. As always, feedback is welcome as I plan to make any adjustments necessary to better it.

 

[jackal27]

This DOES go over Orpheon right? I'm having some trouble getting it work right. Could be user error though. I'll update as I test things out.

EDIT: Nvm, got it worked out. For anyone looking to maybe put this as an alt to Green Hill Zone or anything else, the base .rel needs to be set to Skyworld.

Glad to have it working! It's a beautiful stage!

 

[Noserus]

This DOES go over Orpheon right? I'm having some trouble getting it work right. Could be user error though. I'll update as I test things out.

EDIT: Nvm, got it worked out. For anyone looking to maybe put this as an alt to Green Hill Zone or anything else, the base .rel needs to be set to Skyworld.

Glad to have it working! It's a beautiful stage!

Crap, I'll update the information related to the stage, I forgot to put down that very important piece of information.

 

[Star ☆]

This guy is a genius!

 

[Rage83]

Crap, I'll update the information related to the stage, I forgot to put down that very important piece of information.

Do you happen to have a version of Sky Sanctuary with Angel Island still present?

 

[Noserus]

Do you happen to have a version of Sky Sanctuary with Angel Island still present?

Your wish has been granted. The other file resources are not included, use the full V2/V2.0.1 resources if you wish to replace the SSS images.

Edit: An update has been provided for v2.5 in the original post.

 

[Rage83]

Your wish has been granted. The other file resources are not included, use the full V2/V2.0.1 resources if you wish to replace the SSS images.

As a test, I replaced a few of the 2d background objects(Knuckles, Angel Island, and the Goalpost.). Knuckles needs to be posed to lie down, though.

 

[jackal27]

Your wish has been granted. The other file resources are not included, use the full V2/V2.0.1 resources if you wish to replace the SSS images.

Ooooooo I like! I can't get enough of this stage.

 

[Noserus]

As a test, I replaced a few of the 2d background objects(Knuckles, Angel Island, and the Goalpost.). Knuckles needs to be posed to lie down, though.

Sorry but what does this mean?

 

[Rage83]

Sorry but what does this mean?

Have to reimport the 3d Knuckles, though.

 

[Lex__]

Been using sky sanctuary as legal in our region people like it!

 

[jackal27]

Been using sky sanctuary as legal in our region people like it!

Same! It really is a great stage. I can't figure out what I love about it so much, but I think it just comes down to the fact that craftsmanship pays off.

 

[Noserus]

Been using sky sanctuary as legal in our region people like it!

This stage will slowly conquer the world! Mwahahahahaha!

On another note I've finally got back round to working on the next stage. I had to take a break for a while due to a complicated matter that certainly wasn't MGSV... I swear! Hey the stage is looking great! I can't imagine anything would go wrong when I import this, with so much experience in Brawl Box I'm sure I've got the hang of it... oh. That's why I didn't make much progress...

Expect an update when I eventually figure out just what's causing this stage to drown in darkness.

 

[PseudoTypical]

Rage83 That is the only thing that kept the stage from being perfect before IMO. Can you share that once you're done?

 

[Star ☆]

Rage83 That is the only thing that kept the stage from being perfect before IMO. Can you share that once you're done?

Those objects are rendered as 2D because when viewed from the front they appear 3D. There is no reason to make them 3D other than to make them look nicer when in the pause menu. The less polygons the better; you may have noticed the PMDT took out a lot of sides from objects for this kind of optimisation as it's pivotal to be as minimalistic as possible lest the game lags when there is too many articles on the screen. Angel Island was also taken out for similar reasons and looked out of place.

Whilst I can appreciate the work being put into making it 3D, it is unnecessary and doesn't make the stage anymore "perfect", especially for a competitive environment. It also wasn't exactly proper for Rage to take someone else's work and edit it, displaying it on SmashBoards without permission from the original creator.

 

[PseudoTypical]

Those objects are rendered as 2D because when viewed from the front they appear 3D. There is no reason to make them 3D other than to make them look nicer when in the pause menu. The less polygons the better; you may have noticed the PMDT took out a lot of sides from objects for this kind of optimisation as it's pivotal to be as minimalistic as possible lest the game lags when there is too many articles on the screen. Angel Island was also taken out for similar reasons and looked out of place.

Whilst I can appreciate the work being put into making it 3D, it is unnecessary and doesn't make the stage anymore "perfect", especially for a competitive environment. It also wasn't exactly proper for Rage to take someone else's work and edit it, displaying it on SmashBoards without permission from the original creator.

I agree that Rage probably should have asked first, but the 3D aspect is a bit more subjective, don't you think? Obviously a 2D object is less heavy on processing, but that doesn't change people's aesthetic preferences.

 

[Star ☆]

I agree that Rage probably should have asked first, but the 3D aspect is a bit more subjective, don't you think? Obviously a 2D object is less heavy on processing, but that doesn't change people's aesthetic preferences.

You do have a point but in this stage, and many other stages in Brawl, the 2D objects are placed in such a way that when viewed whilst playing the game it appears 3D. I feel that with proper optimisation in that aspect you can achieve results that can please people that prefer either aesthetic styles.

 

[PseudoTypical]

You do have a point but in this stage, and many other stages in Brawl, the 2D objects are placed in such a way that when viewed whilst playing the game it appears 3D. I feel that with proper optimisation in that aspect you can achieve results that can please people that prefer either aesthetic styles.

I can't quite say you're wrong, since I don't know for sure, but I doubt that I'd find it completely satisfying even if the 2D objects were doctored a little bit. It may just be a thing you find to make no difference, but other people do.

 

[Star ☆]

I can't quite say you're wrong, since I don't know for sure, but I doubt that I'd find it completely satisfying even if the 2D objects were doctored a little bit. It may just be a thing you find to make no difference, but other people do.

Fair enough. As long as it looks nice in the end and the game runs perfectly then I'm happy with anything

 

[Rage83]

Fair enough. As long as it looks nice in the end and the game runs perfectly then I'm happy with anything

I did the 3D replacements because the ripped sprites from S3&K looked out of place, and it actually was easier to do than posing the models, taking a screenshot, and correcting the image(The models already existed, I just grabbed then from other Brawl resources(Smash Skiff, an edit for Sonic's victory screen) positioned them, and scaled the island.

 

[Avro-Arrow]

Star ☆ showed me this stage awhile back and I really love it! I think I'll be downloading it sometime next week. I think it's super cool; nice layout and uniqueness. However, I do think that the palette is a little bland (white + olive green), although I'm not sure what you could really do with that to make it pop more (or if it really needs a colour change at all). Just my two cents. I really love what you've done!!! :D

 

[TSW]

Hey the stage is looking great!

I've been meaning to ask, but I keep forgetting. I'm not very Sonic savvy, so what is this stage based on? It looks fantastic!

 

[Star ☆]

I've been meaning to ask, but I keep forgetting. I'm not very Sonic savvy, so what is this stage based on? It looks fantastic!

Egg Rock Zone from Sonic Robo Blast 2.

 

[Lex__]

Thought I would mention that this stage is literally the best, we use it instead of yoshis island brawl, because of its blastzones and it not being janky compared to YI:B, has only been positive feedback.

 

[Deleted member]

Think it's insane that Australia uses this stage even now.