Botanic Serenity - Documentation
August 2006
By Digiku
I. Contents
1. Foreword
2. Setup
a. System Requirements
b. Extracting BSZ
c. Running BSZ
d. Netgaming With BSZ
3. Playing Information
a. Basic Controls
b. The Object of the Game
c. Emerald Hunting
d. Emblem Collecting
4. Credits
5. Copyright and Terms of Use
a. The Short Version
b. Legal
6. Closing
1. Foreword
Botanic Serenity is a large-scale SRB2 modification (or "mod"), consisting of two levels of playable content. I like to think of it as the greatest accomplishment of my history in SRB2 map-making, and that's what it was intended to be.
Botanic Serenity (or "BSZ" for short) is a NiGHTS experience, meaning that the gameplay is similar to SRB2's Spring Hill Zone, or Sega Saturn's NiGHTS Into Dreams.... You are free to run around in the lush environment, though you can also fly around as Super Sonic, collecting wings and rings, and destroying the Egg Capture. I call BSZ a "mini-mod"; by technicality, it could be considered a complete game. There is one regular level of play, though you can hunt for the seven Chaos Emeralds to unlock new material!
BSZ was started over two years ago since the time of this writing. It was to be, in my vision, the first "fanmade" NiGHTS map, as well as the most beautiful environment seen in SRB2. Back then, the only NiGHTS map found in SRB2 was its unlockable, "Spring Hill Zone". A second NiGHTS map was one thing not uncommonly asked for by the community. While For another point, I like to consider myself the "decoration-freak" in the community, as my levels have always been seen as well-detailed and beautiful. Two years later, my two goals for BSZ seem to have been accomplished, backed mainly by the words of my beta testers.
I encourage you to try Botanic Serenity out, and above all, have fun!
2. Setup
a. System Requirements
BSZ is a very system-intensive level. As it is also a NiGHTS level, do note that the SRB2 Manual states that the system requirements for running a NiGHTS level are roughly double those of normal requirements. I do not guarantee full speed when running BSZ. To accomodate different systems, however, there are three versions of BSZ, with virtually no differences between the three except in terms of graphics.
High-End is the more graphically complicated version of BSZ, sacrificing speed for visuals. This is a good choice if you'd like to admire the sights, as this is what BSZ is intended to look like.
Mid-End is less graphically complicated than High-End. This sacrifices some visuals for speed. This is a good choice if you'd like to play the level at a better speed, while still viewing a pretty environment.
Low-End is the bare-bones version of BSZ, sacrificing the most visuals for the greatest speed. This is a good choice if you'd like to play the level at as close to full speed as possible (even though it's rather ugly!).
The best way to determine which version to play is to try them all out for yourself! For the record, High-End performs ideally well on a 3.0ghz Pentium 4 (or a 2.2ghz Athlon 64) processor with 512mb of RAM.
Do keep in mind that running BSZ in OpenGL mode, depending on your graphics card, may perform better than playing in Software mode.
b. Extracting BSZ
Inside s_botanicserenity.zip, you will see eleven files. These are the files that should be included in the archive (not sorted by any particular order):
s_botanicserenity-highend.wad
s_botanicserenity-midend.wad
s_botanicserenity-lowend.wad
s_botanicserenity-data.dta
s_botanicserenity-data2.dta
s_botanicserenity-data3.dat
s_botanicserenity-highend.bat
s_botanicserenity-highend-opengl.bat
s_botanicserenity-midend.bat
s_botanicserenity-midend-opengl.bat
s_botanicserenity-lowend.bat
s_botanicserenity-lowend-opengl.bat
s_botanicserenity.html
s_botanicserenity-logo.png
Extract all *.wad and *.dta files into the same directory.
NOTE: It is VERY important that you DO NOT delete, move, or rename any of the *.dta or *.dat files. The three *.wad files take data from the *.dta files, requiring the latter to be in the same directory as the former, names intact. Otherwise, BSZ will not run.
c. Running BSZ
The simplest way to run BSZ is by using either s_botanicserenity-highend.bat, s_botanicserenity-midend.bat, or s_botanicserenity-lowend.bat (or any of their OpenGL counterparts, if you wish to play in OpenGL mode). These are batch files used to execute certain commands. Select the one relative to the version you'd like to play (either High-End, Mid-End, or Low-End), and click it. SRB2 will automatically load with the necessary wadfiles added.
Alternatively, you can load the wadfile yourself. Using any method you like (launcher, command line, etc.), load ONLY s_botanicserenity-highend.wad, s_botanicserenity-midend.wad, or s_botanicserenity-lowend.wad into SRB2, depending on if you would like to play either the High-End version, Mid-End version, or the Low-End version of BSZ, respectively. You do not need to load any of the *.dta or *.dat files (unless you're trying to run a netgame with BSZ; see section 2d).
It is not recommended that you load any other wadfiles or mods (for example, Mystic Realm), since the level of modification associated with BSZ is quite high.
Run SRB2 and enjoy!
d. Netgaming With BSZ
First and foremost, it is NOT recommended that you run a netgame with BSZ. Netgaming with BSZ is not supported. Stability is absolutely not guaranteed. "Sigsegv" errors and consistency failures can become very abundant.
However, if you would like to netgame with BSZ, it would help to load the two *.dta files (but not the one *.dat file) in addition to either s_botanicserenity-highend.wad, s_botanicserenity-midend.wad, or s_botanicserenity-lowend.wad into SRB2. Any errors related to the handling of the data files can be resolved by doing this. Despite this, the netgame may still be very unstable.
3. Playing Information
a. Basic Controls
There are two ways you can explore BSZ.
The first way is by moving around the way you usually do in a normal game of SRB2. This is how you start out in the level. You can run through as Sonic, Tails, or Knuckles, freely exploring the sights.
The second, and the main, way is by flying as Super Sonic. To start flying, jump up to the Ideya Palace that's in front of you when you start, and touch Super Sonic. You transform into Super Sonic, and will be able to fly for a limited time.
Super Sonic flies along a path in a 2D fashion.
The Up, Down, Left, and Right arrow keys will direct Super Sonic to those respective directions.
The "Jump" key is his spin, which will cause him to spin like a drill, destroying enemies.
The "Rotate Camera L" and "Rotate Camera R" keys simultaneously will halt Super Sonic to a complete stop.
As for flying, you should notice a star trail behind Super Sonic. Encase items, such as wings and rings, within the trail (such as by circling around) to "paraloop", or grab in, those items encased in the star trail.
Depending on where you paraloop, you may find hidden powerups! Use them to your advantage!
b. The Object of the Game
Your goal in BSZ is to destroy the Egg Capture that you will encounter halfway through the level. You do this by collecting 80 rings (in the regular level, at least), and then touching the Egg Capture. You may do this either with your regular player, or with Super Sonic. Once it has been destroyed, the "Bonus Time" period starts, when you may rack up hordes of points! After destroying the Egg Capture, you can fly back to the Ideya Palace, where the level is then completed.
c. Emerald Hunting
As well as flying to collect things and running to see the sights, you can also go for a little emerald hunting! There are seven Chaos Emeralds hidden throughout the level. Spot an emerald and grab it!
There are several gargoyles placed within close proximity of each emerald. You can use the gargoyles as hints to find the emeralds!
What happens when you destroy the Egg Capture with all seven Chaos Emeralds...?
NOTE: Remember that you can use save games when hunting for the emeralds! Also, SRB2's save games are not specific to the wadfile they are saved on, so you can use your save games between different versions!
d. Emblem Collecting
Once you unlock the secret of the Chaos Emeralds, you will then be able to collect emblems! Within the secret, there are fifteen emblems to collect - five for each of the three characters. There are no gargoyles to help you this time. You must approach the emblems closely in order to see and collect them.
There are seventeen emblems total. As for the additional two emblems, you get one emblem for completing the regular level, and another emblem for accessing the secret. Do note that the latter emblem is not one of the fifteen that are to be searched for.
What happens when you collect all seventeen emblems...?
NOTE: The game lists there being eighteen emblems, yet you cannot obtain the eighteenth emblem by normal means. Please ignore this.
4. Credits
PRODUCTION:
Digiku
BETA TESTING:
Spazzo
Shuffle
Omega the Hedgehog
FuriousFox
Ritz
FoxBlitzz
SRB2-Playah
Ree-c
RoboAshura
Prime 2.0
IDEAS:
Spazzo
Shuffle
Prime 2.0
Various Others
RESOURCES:
Prime 2.0
SRB2-Playah
SSNTails
Sonic Team
All SRB2 Graphics Artists
SUPPORT:
Spazzo
FireLaserbeam
Omega the Hedgehog
RoboAshura
akirahedgehog
Various Others
SPECIAL THANKS:
SSNTails
Sonikku
Mystic
Sonic Team Junior
The SRB2 Message Board
#srb2fun
Sonic Team
Sega
5. Copyright and Terms of Use
a. The Short Version
Botanic Serenity is Copyright © 2006 Marco Zafra. Non-original content is copyright their respective owners. I do not intend copyright infringement.
Botanic Serenity may be played at your leisure and redistributed for free so long as I am credited for my work. Use of any resources found in Botanic Serenity for your own projects requires my permission. However, you may modify Botanic Serenity itself and distribute the product with your changes so long as you denote that you made such changes and that I am credited for the original work. Although prior knowledge is appreciated, I do not require permission for this.
b. Legal
All unique content found in Botanic Serenity, or in other words resources created solely by me (such as but not limited to the map geometry and any graphics made from scratch), is Copyright © 2006 Marco Zafra.
Non-original content is copyright their respective owners. I do not intend copyright infringement.
You may play Botanic Serenity in any manner. You may redestribute Botanic Serenity, for free, with proper credit given to me. You may not sell Botanic Serenity for any monetary gain.
You may not steal* any entire part of any wadfile of Botanic Serenity in any manner. Parts of any wadfile in Botanic Serenity may be used as reference, but may not be outright used in a wadfile without permission. To use Botanic Serenity, intact, or any parts (or "resources") of it created solely by me**, in a wadfile or "level pack" requires my permission, proper credit given to me, and finally any other terms I may specify.
You may make changes to Botanic Serenity of a humanly perceivable degree and release the modified product under your own accord as long as you explicitly state that you made any sort of changes, and I am credited for the original work.
* in this statement, to "steal" is to claim all credit for another's work, not giving the original author any credit
** note that this does not include any resources edited from those of Sonic Team Jr. Also note that stealing these resources is still not allowed.
6. Closing
Being my self-proclaimed greatest creation, Botanic Serenity is also my last major release in SRB2. Across one year of working time and another year of it being in existence, I can say that I put my all into this one. I dearly hope that Botanic Serenity will provide an overall fun experience. There's more to it than that, however.
I wanted to stun the community by making something as unforeseen as a fanmade NiGHTS map, as well as an environment that was detailed and beautiful to the fullest extent that I could - moreso than any of my other works. Ultimately, I wanted to make a mark on the community. Here's hoping that Botanic Serenity does just that.
-Digiku
E-Mail: mzafra_AT_optonline-DOT-net
AIM: D1giku
Botanic Serenity is Copyright © 2006 Marco Zafra. Non-original content is copyright their respective owners. I do not intend copyright infringement.