Jump to content
Awoo.

SAGE 2014: ACT 1


DocAzure

Recommended Posts

SageLogo1.png

 

It's that time of the year again! Time the Sonic Amateur Games Expo, or SAGE for short. This year's event is unique in that it's being separated into two different 'acts', this first one currently ongoing here!

 

Now, as already posted by Symbotic in the TSS News section (http://www.sonicstadium.org/2014/02/sage2014/), it's running from today, the 23rd of February, till the 1st of March, and has a lovely bunch of titles present, all of which I'd recommend you pop on and check out, such as Sonic Time Twisted, Project Eclipse, and Sonic Game Land, to name but a few (Also non-Sonic titles!). These events always bring a smile to my face, and make me happy that we have such talented programmers and game designers in our midst. 

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=tVzyVkAf_A8

 

Be sure to check out the site, play some of the games, and give feedback to the developers that have worked so hard to produce something playable in time for SAGE!

 

NOT A PHYSICAL EXPO IN A CONVENTION CENTER. In case you were wondering...

  • Thumbs Up 7
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I tried Sonic Time Twisted and Edge of darkness, character movement and gravity seem decent enough, but running the games really slows down my computer, the window is really small and not adjustable. The fangames' creators don't always use brighter, more simplistic colours to help with the low resolution either.

 

The Sonic 1 GG/MS remake is pretty sweet, and doesn't bother my computer at all, though the game it'sself is distractingly slow if I run other programs alongside it. The window is well...accurate to the Gamegear, but the graphics are very well-coloured and clear, I will be coming back to this one a few times. Gets a thumbs up from me.

 

 

I wonder if Sonic XG will appear at SAGE this year, anyone here heard about that?

 

I actually think this has the same engine as the other fangames I mentioned. It has the same badnik explosions and I remember the last demo had a really small window as well, don't know If I'm missing something with the window sizes here?

  • Thumbs Up 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I wonder if Sonic XG will appear at SAGE this year, anyone here heard about that?

 

I severely doubt it. Sonic XG went on to merge with two other fan games, Sonic Nexus and Retro Sonic. The project has been on hold indefinitely since 2011 as Taxman started work with SEGA on the Sonic CD re-release. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I severely doubt it. Sonic XG went on to merge with two other fan games, Sonic Nexus and Retro Sonic. The project has been on hold indefinitely since 2011 as Taxman started work with SEGA on the Sonic CD re-release. 

 

But that preview video is from last year, the project was being continued by Joseph Waters, one of the original developers. But... after the 3rd sneak peek we haven't gotten any news, somebody should try to contact that guy.

 

This SAGE is kinda lame, maybe I have just tried too many fangames over the years. Chrono Adventure is the best, but I had already finished it in December, so for this event I'd say the best is Lost Adventure; Sonic World was also good but the camera gave me headache, though it's cool to play as all those characters, and the level design is okay.

Can't wait to play Super Sonic Knockout later this year on SAGE Act 2.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Time Twisted looks awesome... *goes to download*

 

And the Havok Harbour tech demo looks amazing. It sort of reminds me of the secret level in SA2.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think it's worth it for Lost Adventure alone, although Time Twisted is looking mighty fine. I enjoy seeing the amount of 3d fangames, 10 years ago I'd never dream of it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Might as well mention that my game, Digimon: Heroic Battle Spirit, is also here at SAGE. Because that's pretty much a thing, really. Just saying.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

So before I post my thoughts on some of the entrants I can run on my laptop, here's a gameplay video of Sonic World. This stage does not come with the engine by the way and if you know blitzsonic you'll know how to get the stages.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hey guys, we're looking for some fan impressions of the games from the SAGE line up this year to feature over on TSS. If you're willing to get involved, we're looking for about a paragraph or so. Just pick some favourites from the line up and tell us what you think. But try to range it guys and gals - we don't just want Sonic Time Twisted impressions only. Try out one or two new ones! Supporting fangame developers is never really a bad thing.

 

Feel free to post them here, or PM them to me.  Deadline will be 5th March, go go go!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Lots of great entries this year, I never realized how much I loved SAGE until it was gone.

I can write up a fan impression for you, I had initially meant to do this for Project AXSX but it never showed :(.

rHsG6kX.png

Sonic the Hedgehog 3D

This game is being developed by ZykovEddy with some help from his friends, you can find the game here, and it's one of the more unique entries to SAGEexpo '14. I was very impressed with this game, and the direction it's taken, because it's not something we really get to see a whole lot of. I've only just gotten past the second act of the first stage, but I wanted to take a break to express my admiration for this game and what it's trying to do. The game is a fine mix between the old Genesis and Adventure games and radiates a very classic feel. It's story mostly borrows plot points from older games, and rehashes existing level tropes. However, it brings to the table a new engine, some unique puzzle elements, and a couple other surprises. Something old, something borrowed, something new, and something blue. Wanna hear a joke about cheese my writing? NEVER MIND IT'S TOO CHEESY. But seriously, this is my favorite game at this year's SAGE.

Story

The story is simple enough, it's a neat adventure shared between the cast of Sonic, Tails, Mighty, and Knuckles. It sports a light-weight story that gives you the impression of an actual Sonic game more so than some outlandish fanfiction. Though this comes at the price of seeming like more of the same, rehashing tried and true plot points from other games ("SONIC U TUCH MY EMRULD?!" - Knuckles), and being an overall predictable plot. Most of the cutscenes are in-game and short, save for the beginning one, and that's pretty nice. All in all the story gave me serious Sonic:BTS/Sonic:ATS vibes, using what the Sonic canon (Ha.) already had to offer and mixing it into a new, yet familiar experience.

Levels

The levels are sadly pretty uninspired, but they have some pretty cool layouts that really work with the engine. The levels are very open similar to the likes of the Adventure games, or Sonic Robo Blast 2, and have a decent length. Though this isn't exactly a good thing, as some of the later stages don't have enough things to fill these sprawling levels, but I should hope as new versions roll out this changes. Many level tropes from the Genesis/Adventure games return, but with the occasional spin on things to shake stuff up. I enjoy these levels, even though they could be more original.

Engine

The engine is very light-weight which means even my shit computer can run it, so really this is my first experience with 3D Sonic fan-games outside of Sonic Robo Blast 2. The engine is weird, but pretty stable. As I understand it the engine is based off a Duke Nukem game, and movement feels awkward to say the least. It gets the job done though, everything works, and while it's no GDK when it comes to looks, it's cartoon-y style works with the retro graphics.

Control

Sonic is a tricky bastard to program for, what with all his "momentum based platforming" and "blast processing", and in short Sonic doesn't really feel like Sonic in this game. His homing attack requires really precise aim, he stops on a dime, and he feels sorta clunky all in all. I hope Sonic's movement gets improved upon with the upcoming updates, because right now the only thing holding this game back for me is Sonic.

Conclusion

The game isn't perfect, but it's a light-weight fun adventure for Sonic and co. and if you like Sonic fan-games you owe it to yourself to check this one out.

  • Thumbs Up 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Geez, my game was mostly ignored this year. Good grief.

 

 

Well, I guess I could do a quick write-up... Let's see what we've got... There's Time Twisted, your bog-standard Worlds games, a few Dash-engine games that run poorly, some poorly-made non-Sonic physics games (for God's sake, this isn't 1998), Sonic 3D has already been covered, Sonic Mars looks terrible, Da Rock isn't remotely funny, Sonic 1 Sigma is an incredibly lazy hack, and the rest are Unleashed-inspired (Haha, fuck that shit). And the Jazz Jackrabbit hack and JAM doesn't really look interesting.

 

Eh, I guess I'll just do Chrono Adventure.

 

 

 

Sonic Chrono Adventure

Developed by LakeFepard of BTS and ATS fame, Chrono Adventure is not exactly your standard Worlds title. In Lake's words, it's more of a 'Metronic', or, in other worse, basically sorta a Metroidvania, with special abilities which can be upgraded with optional EXP spheres that are hidden throughout the game. It's been out for a while, but Lake updated it to 1.1, which does improve one of the power-ups quite a bit, but otherwise doesn't do much. The game is more inspired by Chrono Trigger than Sonic CD, but it does share some of CD's issues, which I'll elaborate on.

 

Basically, the game takes place in an area formerly occupied by the 'Sky Empire', which existed roughly a century ago. Sonic, while running about, is sent back in time by the final boss of After The Sequel, and after meeting a talking bug named Rodolia the Bug, who hangs on Sonic's forehead for the majority of the game, they head out to figure out what the hell's going on. She barely does much to help out, though, only speaking for Sonic's sake and directing on where to head next. Yeah, speaking of which, Sonic is basically mute in this game, hence why Rodolia exists. It's an incredibly strange design decision, I know Sonic never really spoke in the classics, but when there's actual dialogue and we know he has a personality, making him a mute protagonist is, well just bizarre. Aside from those two and Eggman, there's Gerem, the resistance leader who is basically a green Sonic with a sword (who is briefly playable) the princess of the Sky Kingdom, who pretty much exists only for a couple of scenes before disappearing from the plot, and Dr. Ucano. The narrative is neat, though it gets kinda freaky near the end.

 

On the gameplay side of things, power-ups aside, the gameplay and level design is very classic Sonic. Treat it like an A-to-B sidescroller with inter-connected levels, and you can't really go wrong, though the game, by its nature, limits the number of rings you can carry, since this game isn't linear. The levels are well-designed, the controls are standard Worlds fare, basically what you'd expect from Lake. The visuals are great, and the soundtrack is fantastic, with a mixture of both original and existing tunes, some from other games (including tracks from Chrono Trigger and Metal Gear Rising). As a classic Sonic game, it's pretty great.

 

Unfortunately, the Classic Sonic-focused level design ends up being to the detriment of its other aspect - the exploration element, and quite probably what drags this game down considerably. The map can be confusing at first, but you'll get used to it. But the game suffers from two major problems - firstly, the level design is not designed to accommodate players who has been trained by other Metroidvanias to look in every nook and cranny, nor does it provide any genuine indicator of where to look, either, whether it be a high or low route. And sometimes, the higher routes force you to do some incredibly tedious backtracking just to see whether a certain spot might have an EXP sphere. The game only keeps track of the amount of EXP you've acquired for each powerup, but it doesn't provide any indicator of which areas have already had all their items discovered or not, unlike games that actually do this. Overall, it makes 100% completion incredibly tedious. Thankfully, this game avoids the mistake of putting optional collectibles in areas that you can't go back to, but this is faint praise. As a 'Metronic', this game falls flat on its face. Though this mainly involves optional collectibles, it's such a notable part of the game that this aspect being so poorly designed is inexcusable.

 

tl;dr: If you go into this like you would a regular Sonic game, you'll likely have a lot of fun, though you'll have to deal with the map. As a 'Metroidvania', however, it does a very poor job, and as a fan of such games, this one is extremely disappointing. Sorry Lake, but I gotta be brutally honest with this one.

 

Score: 7/10

 

Edit: Oh, and there's a bug that removes one of the EXP spheres if you sequence-break and get the bumper powerup that's required to retrieve it, early. I think it affects other spheres as well.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

What is your favourite game from SAGE 2014? http://sagexpo.org/games/. Go ahead! Write down your favourite ones this year! I wanna hear all your opinions, don't worry, I don't bite at your opinions, I'm a much nicer person.

 

My favourite fangame this year is Sonic the Hedgehog 3D by ZykovEddy. What do I love about it? hmmm? Well, I love everything about it!

I got all the chaos emeralds, got all emblems, beat the bonus stage, and beat the game more than 10 times.

The game's story is simple and familiar a little. Here is the direct story from ZykovEddy:

 

The story begins with evil Dr. Robotnik and his minion Metal Sonic stealing the Master emerald from Angel Island. Blinded by Metal’s flashbang bomb, Knuckles, the keeper of the Master emerald, confuses Metal Sonic for the real Sonic. “Argh! What… S-Sonic?!” – shouted Knuckles, falling to the ground. Robotnik and Metal escape, and Angel Island, not being powered by the energy of Master emerald anymore, falls down into the ocean. In the distance, near Tail’s workshop, him and Sonic both noticed the island falling. “Something wrong happened to the Master Emerald!” – shouted Sonic. Inside the workshop, Tails used his radar and finds out that the Master emerald has been stolen by Dr. Robotnik for his new evil plan.

“Just as I thought” – said Sonic – “Quickly, let’s find him!”. Tails and Sonic get into the Tornado and fly away, heading to Dr. Robotnik’s base. “What about Knuckles?” – asked Tails. “Don’t worry, that Echidna is a real tough guy. I’m sure we’ll meet him on the way to the base”. While that happens, Knuckles and his sidekick Mighty follow Sonic and Tails on the foots. “Sonic must be working for Robotnik now! That hedgehog isn’t gonna get away with that!” – said Knuckles, noticing the Tornado in the sky. “We’ll get them soon when they will land” – said Mighty.

Half way there, the plane suddenly runs out of fuel and crash-lands on Green Island. “What shall we do now?” – said Tails, looking at the big island. “Find Robotnik’s secret base and spoil his evil plan of course, just like we always do!” – said Sonic confidently. The two friends got out of the plane and began exploring the island.

 

The game is 3D, as stated in the title. You get the option to choose to play as Sonic ( W/ Tails following ), Tails ( W/ Sonic following ), Knuckles ( W/ Mighty following ), and last but least Mighty ( W/ Knuckles following ). Each character can use a special ability. Sonic can do the "speed thock", Tails can fly, Knuckles can glide but not climb walls from what I played, and Mighty can do a bounce attack, making a giant ring, which destroys a enemy or damages a boss if it is in the radius. The levels in the current demo are as listed:

Green Island

Ancient Palace

Fuel Station

So, what is your favourite fangame this year?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

*post*

 

I merged your favorite SAGE games topic with the main thread since it doesn't really exclude discussion of your favorite SAGE games. And a note in the future: when making a topic about a work, it's fine to post plot synopsis and things, but if you're going to do this you still need to go into some detail as to why you like it or why it interests you; a sentence saying that you "like everything about it" isn't enough, I'm afraid. xP

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

So, other then the united forum is there 1 spot I can re-download all the projects I didn't get a chance to try?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

So, other then the united forum is there 1 spot I can re-download all the projects I didn't get a chance to try?

That depends, which projects? Almost all of the game maker fan games are on yoyo games, but as for some of the other ones I'm not sure. If you want I suppose I could post any that you missed for download, then take the link down later.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

That depends, which projects? Almost all of the game maker fan games are on yoyo games, but as for some of the other ones I'm not sure. If you want I suppose I could post any that you missed for download, then take the link down later.

All of them because I can't recall which ones I was mainly interested in.

So I'm guessing that SAGE isn't going to provide a way to get all the projects in 1 place like last year?

Damn it I hate hunting them all down in various sources.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

All of them because I can't recall which ones I was mainly interested in.

So I'm guessing that SAGE isn't going to provide a way to get all the projects in 1 place like last year?

Damn it I hate hunting them all down in various sources.

All of them sheesh well.

 

Sonic World: 

(it's blitzsonic, but minus control, it could seriously pass off as a fan game)

 

Sonic Black Ace: http://sandbox.yoyogames.com/games/225824-sonic-black-ace-demo-7

 

Sonic Legends: http://sandbox.yoyogames.com/games/225815-sonic-legends---sage-2014-demo

 

Sonic Game Land: http://sandbox.yoyogames.com/games/200548-sonic-the-hedgehog----game-land (don't let the name full you, the game is very well made)

 

Sonic Xtreme 2d: http://sandbox.yoyogames.com/games/223512-project-vxh-demo-sonic-x-treme-2d-with-a-fisheye-lens (it's an interesting experiment, but OMFG is it hard to play, also there's no goal, it's a tech demo)

 

Sonic the hedgehog 3d: http://www.indiedb.com/games/sonic-the-hedgehog-3d

 

Digimon Heroic Spirit: http://sonicunited.org/forums/index.php?/topic/7113-digimon-heroic-battle-spirit/ The downloads are in the opening post.

 

Sonic Time Twisted: http://timetwisted.sonicstrike.net/sonic-time-twisted-sagexpo-2014--act1.rar This game is soooooo friggin hard.

 

Da Rock: http://sandbox.yoyogames.com/games/225816-da-rock You're a rock...and a flower...it has memes...yeah.

 

Salom Adventure: http://nefault1st.wordpress.com/downloads/

 

Sonic With a gun: http://www.moddb.com/mods/sonic-with-a-gun/downloads/sonic-with-a-gun-full-release

 

Bingo the multavia: http://www.mediafire.com/download/i9d32ryc1grislt/Bingo_The_Multiva_DEMO.zip It's ok, but I just read the creator released a new version today that makes the game less glitchy. 

 

Sonic Lost Adventure: https://mega.co.nz/#F!mJJ21LyZ!sLAJidGuBdB22Lct5i-rjg

This is a link to my folder, so just download from this and you'll be fine. You might remember hearing about this awhile back. 

 

I'm still searching for the rest.

Edit: Actually the rest were crap minus a remake of sonic 1 gg/ms w/loads of customization and of course chrono adventure version 1.1. Sonic Project endless is just running around an empty field with random objects and level design here and there.

 

Here's a list of all the games: http://www.tssznews.com/2014/03/10/tssz-readers-declare-sonic-chrono-adventure-best-of-sage-2014-act-1/

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

You must read and accept our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy to continue using this website. We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.