(Just noticed this today...)
Personally, I don't think a team approach would work for this...
I very much admire the way FPI does most of the work himself on his hacks. Since he probably has a pretty clear idea of how he would prefer to remake the hack, I believe that anyone else directly contributing would likely cause style clashing overall (something that is mostly avoided in his current hacks, due to the ASM and soundtracks being fairly consistent).
That's not to say people shouldn't give FPI feedback and suggestions, of course.
(Just a random note to people: TSRP2 is my favorite hack, and one I've played and analyzed a lot... In fact, I'm pretty sure I was one of those people FPI mentioned who tried to make an unofficial TSRP2R on my own. If I hadn't discovered FPI was making a TSRP2R, I might have eventually actually finished the TSRP2-with-TSRPR-music project...)
Anyway, here are some random thoughts of mine (quite a lot of random thoughts, actually)...
- A custom soundtrack and correcting the spelling/grammar mistakes are obvious. I doubt anyone needs to ask FPI to do that.
- About using a mixture of ports and new compositions, that makes sense (considering TSRPR's Sonic levels). Though maybe a few tracks could be reused (or remixed) from TSRPR as well? (I'm thinking of the Orbital Station track in particular, considering that TSRP2's Starlight Road contains the same location...)
- I personally dislike the palette in that Goomba Garden screenshot, as well as the graphical change of the ground. They feel too much like TSRPR's early worlds. Since TSRP2 is set in the Second Reality, it makes sense to me for it to have a somewhat different graphical/palette style, as opposed changing it to be entirely consistent with TSRPR. (And TSRPR's Sonic world and World 8 have a different graphical style, after all.)
- I certainly understand using the redrawn graphic style for consistency, of course.
- About palettes, some of the original palettes (especially the one in Kamek's Magic Castle) made it difficult to see things.
- I would not approve of reducing the difficulty, whether early-game or overall. TSRP2's difficulty is much more balanced than TSRPR's. (TSRPR starts off fairly easy, but increases very steeply overall, and ends even harder than TSRP2's final/secret levels. TSRP2 starts out much more difficult. In my opinion, difficult hacks should start out fairly difficult already and increase gradually-- TSRPR's is deceiving.)
- However, some levels need to be more fair... (Behind the Castle, Tricky Temple's first room, GoldenYoshi's Palace, Rice Beach secret exit (possibly), Mysterious Pyramid, Mario Castle secret exit, Rhino-Oil secret exit, Balloon Cave #2 especially... I might add more levels to this list here if I think of them.)
- Difficulty adjustments overall (like in TSRPR) would be good, though. (I think Behind the Castle is much too difficult for a level accessible in World 1, even for an optional level.)
- Also, I found the secret exit of Kamek's Magic Castle to be incredibly tedious. (If it's still to be the same length, at least make it start right near the midpoint.)
- Reduce the length of the Whispy Woods "battle", and make it less unfair. Or better yet, make it an entirely custom boss where you throw items at it to hurt it.
- About custom bosses, don't. Not for the end-of-world Zycloboo battles at least-- they're one of the most defining characteristics of the hack. (Note: When I say custom bosses, I don't consider modified forms of the disassembled Big Boo boss to be entirely custom bosses. Zycloboo contact damage would be an interesting touch...)
- I think World 7 should have an actual boss battle as well, either in Death Trap Zone or guarding the switch.
- More midpoints? I'm not sure about that for most (note I said most, not all) of the levels up to world 7 (though Death Trap Zone deserves a normal midpoint, and the midpoint in the second half of Double Trouble should probably be usable)... I think most of the secret world levels need another midpoint or two, though, and probably all 3 world 8 levels (except the final battle).
- It might be nice to put midpoints before each boss though (especially if Zycloboo has contact damage)... but it's up to you, anyway. (As someone who plays a lot of Yoshi's Island, I like to do that myself.)
- Speaking of the secret world, it felt pretty anticlimactic to me, and was probably my least favorite part of the hack. It deserves more storyline (like in TSRPR), and a boss at the end. And I think Zycloboo should somehow be involved as well... since every world ends with an edited Big Boo battle, the secret world doesn't feel right without somehow incorporating Zycloboo. (Cursed Fountain would even be the perfect place for one. Though a Zycloboo battle wouldn't exactly fit with the existing storyline...)
- Also, Goomba's Cave #1/#2 were too easy and short.
- Also, about the final battle, maybe it could take place in an actual level? (Or alternately, find a way to add another midpoint and the final battle after the Yoshi wings portion of the Zycloboo level?) Making the final battle its own level (when the other bosses aren't) is an unusual concept, though, so it might be better as is. (Anyway, if it's still a SMW Big Boo boss, maybe use a higher amount of HP (with more blocks as well of course) instead of requiring so much precision to not lose any of your 3 blocks? Perfect block usage is a little unfair, especially with bullet generators.)
- There are actually a few overworld levels remaining (I believe all 4 portals can be modified to use the same level number).
- Also, there are still plenty of sublevels remaining, if needed for cutscenes or new levels or something. (I prefer the TSRPR Map16-based style to the cutscene tools, though I expect TSRPR-style would be used anyway for consistency.)
- I suggest not reusing the same sublevels in multiple overworld levels though... Apparently, it's possible to travel between the bonus rooms using tool-assistance, leading to activating the yellow switch early (among other things).
- I think all of the Top Secret Areas should add to your exit count. (It should be possible for entering the pipe at the end to manually set an otherwise unused exit flag, right?)
- I suggest replacing the filler Extra levels with either entirely new levels or power-up areas.
- Maybe allow replaying the switch palaces (you can always Start-Select to exit them when you're done)... in a hack this long, it can be annoying to be unable to replay 4 specific levels.
- Maybe also make the red switch have a bit more purpose (place it in world 6 instead, maybe)? The yellow and blue switches have a somewhat significant effect on the rest of the game, but the red one seems pointless for anything other than two Top Secret Areas and the secret world...
- Maybe also add some exits leading to shortcut paths on the overworld? (Connect world 3 and 5 or 2 and 3/4, maybe?) It can be pretty boring to backtrack along those long, linear overworld paths... Also, using path exit tiles (world 6 entrance at least, maybe elsewhere) instead of only pipes would be nice (I believe there's a patch to force the overworld to reload on path exit tiles).
- And maybe make it more clear where world 7 is in comparison to the other worlds? It connects to worlds 1 and 6, in no clear manner...
- For that matter, I have no idea where world 1 is supposed to be, either.
- Add more reusable save points. Definitely. And maybe make at least one of them a level with an early secret exit, for ease of use. (By the way, why doesn't Darkness give you a save prompt after replaying it?)
Finally, to anyone who's debating whether FPI should work on TSRP2R or TSRP3 first: I personally believe that if he works on whichever one he happens to feel like working on at a given time, they'll both be done faster overall.
(Oh, and I approve of calling it v2.0... though as I'm working on a Kamek's Revenge 2.0, you could probably guess that anyway, right?)
-Zeldara109
(By the way, that Zycloboo avatar is a screenshot from TSRP3, isn't it? It looks like Zycloboo is giving a speech or something... (Also, it seems we think similarly for Halloween name changes...))
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Advynia: a Yoshi's Island editor - Alyssa's Unlikely Trap demo 3