Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (16-bit)/Development/Metropolis Zone

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Thanks to Zone artist Tom Payne, almost the entire history of Sonic the Hedgehog 2's Metropolis Zone's development has been documented. The Zone was originally inspired on the steam-powered factories of the industrial revolution (or "Steam Age Sonic" as one piece of concept art puts it), with steam powered contraptions, furnaces and copper pipes carrying water, though much of the original vision was paired back due to technical and time restraints. It was seen as a "lighter" version of the original game's Scrap Brain Zone, but "darker" than Green Hill Zone.

Metropolis is the only Zone in the game to feature three Acts, the third Act's original map reportedly being recycled from (the later scrapped) Genocide City Zone. This decision was likely made before any art was produced, although Act 3 was seemingly always set to have unique objects not seen in the first two Acts.

Concept art

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  An early piece of concept art for Metropolis Zone.

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  Later revision of the previous concept art.

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  Early concept art. Windows can be seen.

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  Early concept art.

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  Early concept art. Text humorously refer to the level as "Sonic sweat shop."

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  A list of obstacles slated for use.

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  Early concept art of the background. Furnaces can be seen.

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Chunks

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Maps

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  Act 1. Has diagonally slanted rotating steel drums. Only two things seem very similar to final; the general positioning of the starting area, and the short downward ramp leading to a flat area with the end sign.

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  Act 1

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  Act 1, revised, with chunk IDs

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  Act 2. Has giant crusher. Aside from the immediate starting area and an area with a half-loop leading to a ramp in the top-left, almost nothing recognizable remains.

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  Act 2

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  Act 2, revised, with chunk IDs

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  Act 3. Features a horizontal spike obstacle, similar to the ones removed from Marble Zone of the first game.

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  Act 3, with annotations

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  Half of Act 3, with iterative changes

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  Act 3, revised

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  Act 3, revised, with chunk IDs

Digitiser art

These are arranged roughly in the order of Tom Payne's listMedia:TomPaynePapers 8.5x11 Miscellaneous Loose Pages (No Order) image1474.jpg.

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  GRTEETH (gear teeth)

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  PILEDRVR (pile driver)

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  PILEDRVR (pile driver)

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  STMTRAP (steam trap), early version

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  STMTRAP (steam trap), early version

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  STMTRAP (steam trap), early version

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  CRANK (crank), early version, separated

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  CRANK (crank), early version, combined

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  CRANK (crank), revised, separated

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  CRANK (crank), revised, combined

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  SCRWPLAT (screw platform)

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  SCRWPLAT (screw platform)

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  SCRWPLAT (screw platform)

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  SCRWPLAT (screw platform), bad print

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  VSCREW (vertical screw)

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  VSCRDOOR (vertical screw door)

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  VSCRDOOR (vertical screw door)

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  VSCRDOOR (vertical screw door)

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  PLATFORM (platform)

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  VDOOR (vertical door)

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  VDOOR (vertical door)

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  VDOOR (vertical door)

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  VDOOR (vertical door)

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  STEAM (steam)

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  STEAM (steam), revised

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  SPIKEBLK (spike block)

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  SPIKEBLK (block)

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  NUT (nut)

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  ELDOOR (elevator door)

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  ELDOOR (elevator door), revised

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  ELDOOR (elevator door), revised

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  HSPIKE (horizontal spike)

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  VSPIKE (vertical spike)

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  PULLCAR (pull car)

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  PULLCAR (pull car)

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  BUTTON (button), replaced with "standard" Yamaguchi version

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  PISTON (piston), early version, separated

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  PISTON (piston), early version, combined

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  PISTON (piston), revised version, combined

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  LAVABUB (lava bubble)

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  RHOMBUS (rhombus), early version, separated

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  RHOMBUS (rhombus), early version, combined

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  RHOMBUS (rhombus), revised version, separated

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  COLOR2 (palette)

Miscellaneous documents

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Blocks

Work in progress blocks obtained from one of Tom Payne's floppy disks:

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Palettes