[PROJECT] Sonic Adventure 3

edited in Projects
First let's get the formalities out the way. My handle is Sonic2k.. has been for the last 14 years. There used to be a sagamedev forum many aeons ago.. this I understand is a continuation of that.

Let's give a bit of background info...
SEGA released two critically acclaimed games in 1999 and 2001. Sonic Adventure, and Sonic Adventure 2. Within weeks of releasing the latter game, Sega entered a restructure to avoid going bust, and in the process things changed. They got out of the hardware business and this led to the current road they are on, they bring out increasingly rubbish Sonic The Hedgehog titles. The latest one is so bad I refuse to play it...

Generally, everyone the world over expected a third installment of the two games. There is evidence that the third game was being worked on... this was abruptly rolled into Sonic Heroes, the graphics are pretty much the same, it is quite apparent that was intended for the Sega Dreamcast.

To be very honest, every single game since then, has not even come close to being any good as those two groundbreaking games. The worst of the lot is Sonic Unleashed and Sonic Lost World... I have played the former to 13% and I could not be bothered, its boring, its... how shall I put it.. a game not even worthy of the name. All you ever do is kill creatures, if I wanted that I'd go and find a game like that for my phone. Sonic Lost World, a Wii U exclusive, is full of bugs, and designed for crappy hardware (the Wii U is basically the same as a Wii just has HDMI and can apparently do 1920 x 1080, apparently same CPU, but upgraded graphics).

It is 2014, and any Google search will reveal that people are still on about the game that never was to be... 13 years later! That's quite significant.

What is also significant was the departure of a very key member of staff from SEGA, that for me remains a signal that the company has lost the plot totally. If the current crop of games are anything to go by, that is certainly very close to the truth. I am not alone in how I feel.

So instead of wasting my life on surfing the internet, I started working on the game. I really don't care that I might pick up problems later with SEGA, that is a worry for another day. It's a game for me, I am doing this for me. The Americans are very big mouth about this, but in reality they are too lazy to even attempt this, what they do though, is spread disinformation, troll on forums, insult people who are actually trying to do this, and make pseudo game covers of this game's title.

This is what I have done:
- I have learnt how to use Blender, and I have some characters, and a pretty good idea where I want to go with this. Coding is no problem for me, I code from 9-5 every weekday, brings home the bacon. I had to learn 3D modelling but the worst of the learning curve is behind me.
- The characters I have created I did by hacking Sonic Generations and then using the 3D models there, as a reference to create ones in Blender. When next work becomes less demanding I plan to sit down for some hours and do proper textures for them.
- I designed proper rings for this game, they do not use textures at all, instead I used materials. This means they reflect the objects around them. I have put them next to a character and the result is astounding.
- When the game works to a point, I want to then take a few months and build a console for it, to see if it can be done. NVIDIA is becoming very attractive in that they are really becoming a very friendly company, they do some awesome single chip systems with an ARM Cortex CPU and an awesome NVIDIA GFX core all in a single package.

So for now I call my project Sonic Adventure 3, probably will raise objections but I really don't care.

A lot of people despise Blender, unfortunately for me it makes sense to my brain (probably because its laid out like the development tools I use at work). Blender also works, and it works pretty darn well.

People will ask... why only now?
I only recently reached the required level of proficiency in programming, both in C and C++ and C#. I got onto the boat with these languages late, due to the fact that I am an engineer and it was never required of me to write decent code, always "just get it working barely, we'll fix it later"

And this is why I posted here tonight..
I recognize my limitations, if I want to get this baby out by the 25th Anniversary of Sonic The Hedgehog, I cannot even dream of doing it on my own.


Comments

  • Welcome to the forums! Can you take a screenshot of the characters and rings to show us?
  • As an avid Sonic fan, I imagine you've already seen the Sonic Retro Physics Guide, but in case you haven't, there it is. Reading through that was really useful for me to understand how the rules that governed Sonic's movement and behaviour worked, and were great as starting values for tweaking physics when I was working on a platformer. I know it's all in 2D, but I imagine Sonic's got certain physics behaviour that make him Sonic regardless of medium.
    Thanked by 2Fengol mattbenic
  • So, while passion and a certain amount of sheer stubbornness are great for helping make a game a reality eventually, I'm a little worried about the actual path to implementation you're talking about here.

    Stuff like starting out with resources that are going to be seen as owned by Sega (you could always make a "spiritual successor" with your own names/resources/setting), building hardware (wat?) and worrying about feedback as perceived negativity (it's not hatred, it's useful) all combine to raise a couple of warning flags for me. That's all.

    A track record of playable stuff and trying different approaches to getting that "sonic feel" would be a great place to start, instead of worrying about what stuff looks like.
  • As mentioned, I care not a jot for Sega. They p---ed me off many years ago. If I want to make a game for me and my son to enjoy then I will do it.
    Sonic is not Sonic if it doesn't look like him. I have a certain level of perfectionism, if I cannot achieve that then its time to quit right away. I do know that I can do it, given time to learn and time to experiment.

    I am doing a lot of mucking around, but you know, I want to push this in the right direction, I want to get to a point where we have one level, it works, things are functional, etc... Then we can take it from there. For now I am enjoying playing with Blender and playing with other stuff I can then use in software.

    In terms of building hardware, there's a reason for that. First of all, if I can do it, why not? Its pretty darn awesome to see if we can get the chip up, and then get it to throw around a couple hundred polygons for the hell of it. One of the things on my to-do list for the last six months has been to play with a mainstream gfx card on a PCIe x16 slot implemented in programmable logic and see what that can do when driven by a non-x86 CPU. The best way to learn how the hardware works is to hack it.

    Second of all, I would like to bring back some widgets that we never saw again, even if I don't do a full blown console, I would love to bring back the Visual Memory Unit the Dreamcast had, that was key to the two games, even though battery life was crap! There is some pretty cool hardware on the market today, and nobody is using it, instead they'll rather go and buy a PS4 or an XBOX. Are these consoles supposedly better? Yes and No. Yes, they have the support, and the buy-in from the studios. No- they are mass produced for the biggest bang for the buck, in sweatshops, and usually, right on the engineering limit. I need not remind you all about the XBOX360 RROD which is actually a flaw caused by lack of engineering skill, from people who shouldn't be doing electronics period!

    Now, to deal with my comment about the feedback... I am not talking about feedback directed at me. I am talking about the general trolling BS I see on forums, and sites owned by American idiots. Back in '01 I played against these very people when Sega used to be a better company and actually had an official magazine. Back then, the American gamers were the same idiots as they are now. You can't even talk about a game, never mind talking about sequels, without being attacked or flamed. It appears even an opinion is taboo in Yank-land. However, what really annoyed me even recently is, you talk about this sequel, even in concept, and put down ideas, you get attacked and told to f-off! Very hostile environment indeed. Up to this point nobody has given me anything but constructive criticism, nor have anyone attempted to put me down about this, like so many people do with other stuff.



  • Wow it's 5 years later, so let's see where we stand today:

    * Proficiency attained in coding games [CHECK].
    * Have used embedded ARM stuff to learn 3DCGI. [CHECK]
    * Also mastered a lot of Blender (and moving on to more professional tools) [CHECK]
    * This industry is cut throat, long hours, and high pressure hence not for me [CHECK]

    But sadly the above rebuttal fron dislekcia still stays with me.

    Instead I chose to become an artist and managed to crack it in the field of comics. Hmm..
    Use 3D (Sonic and the gang's game assets in a 3D modelling program) to pose them and deal with difficult aspects of drawing, and supplying an endless amount of references for any situation. Also helps with determining where light will fall and how to shade accordingly

    And I have permission from SEGA in writing to use Sonic and co, with a clause that changes it to a licensing contract (with fees) should I sell any of my works.
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