Sonic Neo Harmony version 0.52.1 announcement

Hi!  I'm here to present the first part of 0.52 today! (I could easily call this 0.52 and the next update 0.53 but I don't want to so hush)  With this update, I've about finished copying all the mechanics that were present in the engine from 0.5!  I've also started to implement some new mechanics as well as improving the ones from the original engine!  The first thing you will notice is the giant world!  I've decided to draw inspiration from the newly released Sonic Frontiers and make the whole world an island!  Or... rather... an archipelago. I've also added my own custom skybox but that's not important.  I've replaced the placeholder capsule thing with an actual Sonic model!  Hooray!  And it changes based on the day and night cycle!  Double hooray!  There are no animations present at the moment--I think I want to model my own assets rather than use ones I downloaded off of the Models Resource.  That way I can make Sonic fit the overall aesthetic I'm going for rather than the other way around.  Triple hooray!  Speaking of modeling assets, I've upgraded the stage gate pedestal thingies.  Now they have an actual dedicated structure instead of being this weird random block in the terrain.  I've also added in the visual assets for rings!  Hooray!  They do nothing but spin and glow right now though, I'm afraid.  At least they're pretty to look at!  I've also added in the framework for Sonic's speed mechanic!  Which is... more than I did for the old engine...  Right now, it only works by switching to "running" mode and holding the dash button.  Sad.  I've also upgraded the mini game totem thingies.  Now, there are two present on the overworld!  The second one has three "different" games to play before unlocking its bonus stage.  Speaking of stages, I've implemented ramp assets!  It looks simple, but it's pretty important.  See, each block of the stage is made up of a 100x100px Sprite.  I wanted to conduct an experiment where I made a 200x200px asset, positioned its "origin" somewhere off to the side, and then paint it into the stage file like it's a normal block.  Thankfully, it works!  This will allow me to add even more complex stage elements into the game, but more on that later!  I've upgraded the save system!  I made it so that it saves the progress on each mini game totem!  Not only that, but upon leaving the world for the main menu or to a stage, it will save the player position and rotation!  It's very rudimentary but it will do for now.  Finally, I changed the camera script so that it will face the player's direction and be position directly behind Sonic, rather than starting in the default top down setting.  In the coming updates, I want to properly implement Sonic's speed!  On "running" mode, I want Sonic to be able to slow;y gain speed just by moving forward more by running downhill.  You know, like a Sonic game!  And of course, I want to work on the Werehog!  Right now, there is no distinction between the Werehog and the Hedgehog in terms of movement.  I hope to rectify that soon.   I also want to work on optimizing the game.  Right now, it runs a bit too slow than I would like it to.  I'm thinking I could add LOD groups to each chunk of the terrain.  I also want to see if I can make the archipelago even bigger.  Because why not?  This will also give Sonic more room to run around and me more place to world build!  I hope to add more ruined architecture to the world!  I'd like to start working on more complex stage elements like loop de loops.  I also want to experiment with red Star rings.  Wish me luck!  I want to work on an in game manual.  This will require me to implement a "permanent collectible", as in once the player collects this specific item, it disappears from the game forever.  Also, I'll need a gallery to view acquired entries.  These should be displayed in the order I intend, regardless of how they're picked up.  Knocking these two features out will allow me to add in things like a cutscene gallery and even a music player!  I want to implement a more sophisticated (animated) cutscene system than what I had in the previous engine.  This also goes for the stage end screen.  I want to work on the menus in the game.  I'd like to optimize the ui and make it more... Rather, I'd like to make it less cluttered.  I also want to implement the music room again!  For that, though, I'll need to actually make some music.  Speaking of music, I want to start on the music system I never got around to implementing in the previous engine.      I don't know when the next update will be.  Now that I've released this update, I'd like to fall back a bit and work on some of my other projects.  At least one other project should get an update before I drop 0.52.2!  This way, I get to give my other projects some attention while also giving myself ample time to work on the next update of this project.  Keep in mind that not everything mentioned above will appear by 0.52.3.  I think most of those features will appear in 0.53!    Anyways, it's getting late and it's about time I go to sleep.  I'll dream of fluffy Werehogs and fluffy Jackals.  Moonlight is shining--please sleep soundly.