GAME: Another Sonic Fan Game

[Diogenes]

Hey, all.

This topic may be somewhat premature, as I don't have all that much to show...but I figure I have a better chance of sticking with this if I show it off to people and thus feel obligated to finish it (and if I haven't updated in a while, feel free to bug me; I'm probably just being lazy).

So first up: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GbUq4XvLE0o.

Yes, it's ugly* and buggy**, but it's a start. It's being made in Construct, a free game making program that's technically still a work in progress but is still quite good and surprisingly easy to use. I've also got to thank the guy(s?) behind the Sonic Physics Guide over at Sonic Retro, as pretty much everything I know about programming a Sonic game I've taken from that.

At the moment I have running, jumping, and the spindash programmed in properly (the actual rolling isn't quite finished, as part of it was conflicting with some other code), and Sonic can run a full 360 degree loop, though some things need to be worked on for it to work properly. I've got it programmed to calculate the angle of the floor as he goes over it (the genesis games just check a variable in whatever he's standing on, I think) which lets him run over almost any terrain properly and move at smoother angles. I'm not sure if I'll keep the latter or find a way to restrict it to what the Genesis games did, tho'.

As for less tangible stuff, the basic story hook is either going to be Sonic and Tails go on vacation and run into Eggman causing trouble, or Sonic and Tails learn of Eggman causing trouble at a popular vacation spot and go after him. Eventually they'll find out why Eggman's interested in this area (it's not a giant monster) and stop him. The first level will be something like Emerald Coast in reverse; start off on the untouched natural beach and head in to the resort town. I'm also thinking about a haunted forest and maybe a sewer level.

That's about all I have to show so far, so I'll finish with a little heads up; music is about the one thing I have absolutely no knowledge of or talent for, so if (and this is a pretty big if) I actually manage to keep this together and make something worth putting my name on, I'll probably come begging ask around for other people's work. That's a long way off, though, even in the best case.

*Graphics are all temporary and the only screen recorder I have is a crappy free one that I barely know how to use.

**Sonic keeps going halfway into the floor because I haven't actually programmed in proper "don't go into the floor" stuff yet; what I was using was spazzing out when I tried to transfer from the floor to walls, so I turned it off when I was programming that stuff, and forgot to turn in back on for the vid.

[Diogenes]

Progress means http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6PIvEYUZ1A4.

I've got rolling worked out, as well as the "don't sink into the floor" bit (he's in the floor specifically because I'm setting him lower than he should be, due to problems with him "detaching" from slopes if I don't; I'll probably have to mess with/rewrite parts of this later anyway, so I'm not worrying about that now). I've also got loops working with proper layer switching (or something that works just as well), a rough homing attack, springs, enemies (or at least targets that die when you hit them), a conveyor belt, and a moving platform. Most of the stuff isn't "fully" functional yet, but enough to do its basic job...

I also replaced most of the animations with my own spritework, though I've made some small tweaks since then (current sheet being here, if you want a closer look). The spindash is still the one from Sonic 2, tho'.

Also I'm wondering, would it be worth it for me to upload an .exe of the game when I make some decent progress? It's way too early at this point to even call it an alpha, but it'd give you guys a better look at what I've got so far, and it wouldn't be any trouble on my end.

[Guest Miles Per Hour]

Sonic's sprites in my opinion are not bad. I think it's great to see more people making their own engine, nice work so far.

[Phos]

You've got a funny thing going on with your sprites. I don't know if it's a problem, per say, but Sonic's standing poses open to the view point, but his running poses are from profile.

As for your engine, it's kind of early to comment on, though I will mention that the lack of a screeching animation makes him look pretty funny.

[Diogenes]

Still not dead yet.

You've got a funny thing going on with your sprites. I don't know if it's a problem, per say, but Sonic's standing poses open to the view point, but his running poses are from profile.

I figured he'd be more relaxed while standing still and more focused while running at full speed. If I follow the original sprites, he turns his head side to side a bit as he walks, which'll cover up the change.

So I finally got around to rewriting most of it, after poking around the work of someone else trying to make a Sonic engine in Construct, and it's working much better now. Not perfect, tho'; falling onto a quarterpipe doesn't seem to redirect your speed properly (though running down the wall into one works fine), and there's still some issues with collision detection and the like. Plus I haven't added back in some of the gimmicks I had earlier (though that's mostly just copy-paste stuff, so).

Edit: Oh, and my avatar is what I've got planned for the signposts; flatscreen TVs that go staticy as they spin and switch to your character's face. I figured it made more sense for Eggman to stick a bunch of TVs broadcasting his face wherever he went, rather than a bunch of signposts being scattered around.

Edited August 11, 2010 by Diogenes

[ProfessorZolo]

It appears that accelleration is a little slow and movement at low speed is kind of slippy, but other than that, it's shaping up well.

[LoseR]

It's pretty nice for an early build, and I'm sure you're aware of a majority of the things that I think are off, but one thing I have to say, I don't know if this is just because it's early, but DO NOT use alternate sprite style for characters. The Sonic 1 and costume sprites shouldn't both be used...

Also, what happened to this? You haven't updated in quite some time...