Sonic Adventure DX Sins Project - """enhanced port"""

[Polkadi~☆]

We all know SADX is inferior to SA1 in a few ways, but the changes between the Dreamcast version and the Gamecube and PC ports are immense. This website goes through all the graphical and technical details of Sonic Adventure that SADX screwed up beyond relief.

https://dreamcastify.wordpress.com/

I found this website by chance. It's a very interesting read if you're into the small technical aspects about SA1. It also includes ways of modding your PC version of the game to be identical to the Dreamcast version.

Reading through, what do you think?

[NikoS]

This reminds me why i use BetterSADX, anyway, great compilation of the downgrades the DX version brought

[Shaddy Zaphod]

That site has a section about why BetterSADX sucks too, actually.

[Maxtiis]

I came across this nifty blog from a post on the Sonic reddit the other day and after searching through our forum and not finding anything about it, I figured I might as well start this topic so you guys can check it out. Here's the link to it if you're interested: https://dreamcastify.wordpress.com/

The Ultimate Guide to SADX Sins is a blog created by members of the Sonic fanhacking community, whose objective is to highlight just how much of a disservice to the original release of Sonic Adventure the DX port (and the ports of DX, so the ports of a port if you will) truly are. It's been known for years that DX has generally been accepted as being at least questionable among us for some of the changes it brought to the original game, notably the change in lighting throughout all areas of the game, and texture changes in many areas that seemed almost unnecessary.

Personally, that was about as far as I thought the changes extended to aside from the addition of bugs in places there weren't any, alongside a lackluster mission mode, and inclusion of GameGear titles for the Gamecube version, but after sifting through the many pages on this site my perspective on just how far the port affected the game was completely shifted. For instance, I've heard rumors of just how bad the PC version of DX was for years, but I'd only figured that was in regards to stability and that otherwise it was exactly the same as Gamecube. NOPE, it's in fact even worse in just about every way possible.

Just to give a taste of what you'll find on this blog, here's a comparison screenshot of Final Egg on Dreamcast:

Here it is on PC:

This complete graphical downgrade is on the same level of Watchdog's PC port, maybe even worse. Sure the resolution is slightly higher on DX, but that doesn't exactly amount to much when the lighting and texture quality have been completely degraded, compounded by the complete absence of mipmaps and a framerate that can't stay consistent. I don't want to pretend that I'm speaking for other people by saying this, as none of these changes can really account for the game's gameplay (as in Big is still Big no matter what version you play), but after spending years defending Sonic Adventure and constantly being told that I'm sticking up for an awful excuse of a game, I think I can finally see why so many people think the game has always been terrible: it would appear most people that have played SA have been exposed to the worst possible way of playing it. The version most readily available to play is a complete train-wreck.

So in the interest of helping alleviate Sonic Adventure's dodgy reputation, and because I think the author of the site said it was their goal and I wish to respect that, I figure I'll post this here just to get the word out on the extent of how half-assed of a porting job DX was. And just to make it clear: just because I'm saying the Dreamcast version is still the best way to play the game, that doesn't mean I'm saying that suddenly it is now redeemed of all its faults and is now the quintessential 3-D Sonic game that everyone will enjoy. It's still the fundamentally controversial game it has always been, I just hope that it can now be slightly less controversial. Maybe someday we'll see a true conversion of the Dreamcast original to modern systems, until then do yourself a favor, and don't buy Sonic Adventure DX from Steam unless you're willing to mod it. Don't even bother with the version available on PSN and Xbox Live. Seriously SEGA, you could have done much better than this.

Props to quirky-artist-charli over at r/sonicthehedgehog for bringing this to my attention and to PkR for taking the time to write out you and your associate's findings (and for working to make the PC version as close to Dreamcast original as possible).

Edit: I feel I should also mention that according to the miscellaneous section on the blog, DX also messed up the analog control's sensitivity which means that the range between standing still, walking, and running is a bit screwier than it was originally. This isn't something I recall being a major issue, but I felt it was worth mentioning since it means that DX did have a change that affects gameplay instead of it just being graphical. Well, a change to gameplay that doesn't include adding bugs that didn't exist previously. There's even a mod to fix it in the pc version.

I wonder if this has anything to do with Amy feeling so stiff while turning. Probably not.

[Ming Ming Hatsune]

I mean...I only played Sonic Adventure DX (PC & PS3) due to lack of a Dreamcast...

And I still think Adventure 1 is the best 3D Sonic game I've played to date...mainly because of the gameplay...

It was a nice read though. I never knew DX made the original way worse, despite some graphical upgrades.

[Maxtiis]

1 hour ago, Ming Ming Hatsune said:

I mean...I only played Sonic Adventure DX (PC & PS3) due to lack of a Dreamcast...

And I still think Adventure 1 is the best 3D Sonic game I've played to date...mainly because of the gameplay...

It was a nice read though. I never knew DX made the original way worse, despite some graphical upgrades.

Well at least that shows you're way more tolerant than I am for being able to enjoy it enough to consider it the best, even with its problems. I probably sound way more adamant about not buying the most available version than I should, but that's only because I'd rather not support SEGA for putting so little effort into porting one of the most significant entries in their flagship franchise. Despite what feelings people may have towards SA1, it at least deserves better than it has received, y'know?

[Roger_van_der_weide]

That was an interesting looksie. I knew about some changes but didn't realize it was this bad even tough I have all 3 versions. Wow.
 

[Sega of Japan]

Both adventure games have aged horribly. 

I played Adventure 1 recently and the amount of times I fell off the map due to a bug was insane

[MetalSkulkBane]

First of all, I'm humbled by how much time people spend on this. I hope it was fun or will be useful in CV or something because it's too much work to go to waste.

With that said I'm still dubious fixing graphics can affect people opinion that much. Maybe by +0.5/10

[Ming Ming Hatsune]

3 hours ago, Maxtiis said:

Well at least that shows you're way more tolerant than I am for being able to enjoy it enough to consider it the best, even with its problems. I probably sound way more adamant about not buying the most available version than I should, but that's only because I'd rather not support SEGA for putting so little effort into porting one of the most significant entries in their flagship franchise. Despite what feelings people may have towards SA1, it at least deserves better than it has received, y'know?

Ah yah, of course it deserved better. I don't think I've ever liked Adventure DX because of the graphics. Gameplay > Graphics.

Because I never compared the Dreamcast version nor played it, I thought DX was decent. Reading that website tells me otherwise.

This is why I think Adventure 1 must have some kind of remake or something. Like the Crash N.Sane. That's what the game deserves, to wash away the bad things DX has done to Adventure 1.

[JezMM]

Tbh I don't feel the differences between DX and the original are substantial enough to massively affect people's opinion of the game.  I feel like it'd be an incredibly tiny portion of people who find Adventure unenjoyable who would have the original bump their opinion up to "enjoyable".

For me I'm in the same place as Ming Ming Hatsune, I played DX first and enjoyed it perfectly well.  Years and years later, I finally bought a Dreamcast and tried the original and it didn't really substantially improve my opinion of the game.  I'm always cool with playing the DX version out of convenience.

My opinion of the original visuals is that I can totally understand how they're the more popular of the two - they're a lot more interesting to look at, though I do feel they get a little noisy/non-sensical at times.  Textures can sometimes be overly colourful and occasionally jarring in contrast to one another.  On the flipside, DX definitely sometimes tries to go a little overboard in toning down that noise to a more "realistic" level, which I think is what they were going for with their changes in DX.  I do feel the ideal SA is somewhere between the two rather than one or the other.

 

 

All this aside, the blog is a thoroughly impressive effort to talk about all the subtle differences beyond obvious stuff like textures and models, a bunch of stuff I never noticed before, so kudos to the effort on that for those involved.

[Penny]

After playing the Dreamcast conversion mod last week, it definitely makes the game look far better, and as a result, it improved my opinion on it drastically (well, it wasn't just the improved looks that did that, but whatever). I definitely like the Dreamcast models a lot more and I think they fit a lot better in Adventure's world than DX's do... except Knuckles though; his Dreamcast model is ugly as fuck. The improved lighting of the Dreamcast adds a layer of atmosphere that isn't present in the DX version, while the improved textures and colors are a lot nicer to look at and are a far better fit for a Sonic game. In comparison, the DX version lacks the charm and atmosphere of the Dreamcast version, and while it has technically better models, they don't fit as well (or look as nice) as the DC models do-- again, except for Knuckles. I mean, the DX version is fine enough if you have no other way to play it, but the Dreamcast version is far and away the best version.

[Maxtiis]

Oh there was already a topic for it? I must need my eyes checked.