Rivers and Waterworks, Bridges and Chasms

So I haven't really had a chance to update lately, my home internet is down, and will be until I can get one of the housemates to come and fix the router. In the meantime...

Coming up with a physical geometry and geography is haaaard. Expect to see an approximated area map sometime soon. Also a hierarchy of challenges and puzzles and such.

The Labyrinth is getting huge. So is Green Hill, but not nearly as much.

Green Hill was originally just Green Hill Zone from Sonic the Hedgehog (Gen). Then I added Green Hill Zone from Sonic the Hedgehog (GG), adding the first two acts and combining the third acts of each into one. Then I realized that Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (GG) also had a Green Hills Zone, so I added the first two there and combined the third act into the previous mish-mash. So now Green Hill is 7 areas long, converging on one large boss stage.

The Labyrinth is even worse. Originally it was 3, plus an entrance area. Then I added three from the GG game. Then I found out that the MS version had a different Act 2, so that added one. We're now at 8. Scrap Brain Zone Act 3 connects to the Labyrinth directly anyway, so now that is a part of it, bringing it to 9. It gets even bigger. This is partly the fault of me attempting to include every possible South Island zone (four games). Aqua Planet and Aqua Lake were particularly difficult to place. They got tacked onto the end of the "escape from Scrap Brain zones" (Scrambled Egg Zone, Crystal Egg Zone), and emptied out into Star Light Zone. I realized how awkward a move that is, four zones consecutively, so instead of making Aqua Planet and Aqua Lake their own zones, they will be put together using Labyrinth Zone tiles and such, and between the two "zones" will be one of the Labyrinth Zone acts. When you hit that act, the path through the area has been changed somehow such that instead of following the Labyrinth Zone path, you now follow a different path to the second "new zone". You may also go backwards through the Labyrinth to get back to Jungle Zone. Last but not least, Sky Base crashes into the Labyrinth when it is destroyed, opening up one final area that leads back into the Labyrinth. As an aside, Sky Base 1 appears to be the only act that will entirely disappear once beaten.

This brings the total to 16 Labyrinth areas. Do note that these are by NO means to be done all at once. You go through a few times:

1st time - Labyrinth 1-8 (New Entrance Area, Labyrinth Gen*, Labyrinth GG, Labyrinth 2 MS)
2nd time - Labyrinth 9, 7, 8 (Scrap Brain 3 Gen, Labyrinth 2 MS, Labyrinth 3 Gen*)
3rd time - Labyrinth 10-12, 5, 13-15 (Aqua Planet, Labyrinth 2 GG, Aqua Lake)
4th time - Sky Base, Labyrinth 16, 5 (Sky Base 2, Labyrinth 2 GG)

* The first time through the Labyrinth, when you hit "Act 7" (Gen Act 3), a timed boss battle with Robotnik occurs. When the battle starts, the platform Sonic stands on is propelled upward by a strong jet of water. Robotnik compensates by using his boosters to keep up. Regardless of victory or defeat, when time runs out you and Robotnik both fly out of the top of the Labyrinth near Scrap Brain. Robotnik stays where he is, while Sonic is flung halfway across (and down) Gimmick Mt. to Celeste Highway, which connects Marble Road to Star Light City. (Was thinking about calling it Sparkle Highway and connecting it between Spring Yard and Star Light City for some kind of weird double pun, but I like "Celeste" better.) The second time through the Labyrinth, Sonic climbs up the vertical tunnel and exits near Scrap Brain and re-enters after being thrown down the trap door in the first place. The third time through that path is entirely blocked off. After Sky Base is beaten, this path reopens. Labyrinth 14 exits near Star Light City.

The Labyrinth is also connected to River Gimmick in some way I haven't quite figured out yet. The water flowing through the Labyrinth does in fact feed the river. Odds are the water comes out through the Labyrinth Entrancem, goes down the waterfall in Gimmick Mt. Jungle, then begins flowing toward Bridgeport, past Green Hill, and into the ocean (thinking of going with Compaci Ocean, was the name I've sort of used for it in conceptual phases for a while, dunno).