Sonic Hacking Contest 2018

Fred · Nov 10, 2018

Clownacy said:

Geez, calm down. I made my own Drop Dash for my Sonic 2 port in half an hour. Porting it myself would take way, way longer. So yes, in my opinion it's the easy option.
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Oh, I'm perfectly calm. Believe me, I have learned to step out of internet arguments when I can't be rational about them.

Clownacy said:

The Drop Dash I made was not as accurate as possible. Upon looking at MainMemory's notes, I realised just how off the mark I was. I made it in a short time, and without trying very hard. I didn't attempt a port because I can't think of a way to do a port in just as little time, with as little work.

On the other hand, a hacker could spend tons of time comparing footage and testing behaviour, to get it as accurate as possible. I didn't, and I imagine a number of people who've recreated the Drop Dash before didn't either. Remember that fad, when Mania was just announced, where everyone and their grandma would try to shove the Drop Dash in their hack? Heck, even way after it was announced, we still had stuff like Sonic Double Dash from last year's contest.

So there's an easy way and a hard way to do a recreation. But the way I see it, there's only a hard way to actually port it from scratch.
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But you don't know how much effort the author put into the recreation. When I made my own implementation of the drop dash, Mania wasn't out yet. I had to frame-advance through 60fps YouTube footage to determine stuff like the release speed and camera delay, and even added details like having the dust track the height of any moving platform you land on so the sprites stay lined up properly. It was not a half-hour job and you can't pretend to know how much work went into it from simply playing the final product.

A better metric which was brought up earlier, is the the number of practical changes made to the base game. By that measure, if the submitted entry is just Sonic 1/2/3 with the drop dash, but with otherwise the same levels, the same graphics, the same music, the same gameplay, then it should not be accepted into the contest regardless by which means it was accomplished. The average playtester isn't going to know or care either way.

Spanner · Nov 10, 2018

Okay, just letting everyone know that we are at the 24 hours to go period before the Expo deadline stage. No more submissions at all will be taken after this deadline at 12am GMT / 7pm EST has expired. Furthermore, there is no update period for Expo entries, so what you submit is what will be made public. The list will be up once the deadline has expired, and the trailer should be up in the next few days. Can I also remind people if they have not yet submitted trailer clips to do so as well, any clips submitted after the deadline are not guaranteed to make the trailer.

Just about two weeks to go until the Contest Week, where everything will be available to download. Some entries may be shown off by the submitter before then as there's nothing stopping anyone from releasing before the Contest Week but for everything else, you'll need to wait until Monday 26th November for the big release.

Clownacy · Nov 11, 2018

Neo said:

But you don't know how much effort the author put into the recreation. When I made my own implementation of the drop dash, Mania wasn't out yet. I had to frame-advance through 60fps YouTube footage to determine stuff like the release speed and camera delay, and even added details like having the dust track the height of any moving platform you land on so the sprites stay lined up properly. It was not a half-hour job and you can't pretend to know how much work went into it from simply playing the final product.
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...Isn't that what I already said? 'Depending how accurate you want to be, you can spend way more or way less time working on a recreation.'

A better metric which was brought up earlier, is the the number of practical changes made to the base game. By that measure, if the submitted entry is just Sonic 1/2/3 with the drop dash, but with otherwise the same levels, the same graphics, the same music, the same gameplay, then it should not be accepted into the contest regardless by which means it was accomplished. The average playtester isn't going to know or care either way.
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By that metric, a port would be the most pointless project ever, since the goal of an accurate port is to have as little difference to the original as possible. That didn't stop my port from winning the community technical trophy, so I don't think such a metric aligns with the contest's audience.

Spanner · Nov 11, 2018

We're at the three hours to go mark now. Submissions to the Expo will close at 12am GMT / 7pm EST.

Spanner · Nov 17, 2018

Sorry for the delay with the Expo list coming out, usually we have things posted a day or two after a deadline but Cinossu has been really busy with work to the point where it has been impossible to sit down and make a few adjustments himself as the site admin before the list can come out, otherwise there could be entries listed that have been marked for deletion by the submitter and that's the last thing we want to do. Only he knows what ones are in and are not, obviously that will get adjusted for next year. Working for money is far more important than a contest for free, so it's something we just have to accept. As I now have the finalised list, I can now post it. Very sorry for the delay caused, this was not what I wanted to happen and I can only apologise for how long it's taken to get this list of entries that won't be judged posted. We will be making sure that next year things do not become this seriously delayed, as it drags down quite a lot of things. Anyone who has followed the contest for years knows that occasionally there are some website related hiccups, so hopefully you can understand the delay.

[*](Real) 3D Infinite Boss #2 by Infinite_Force
[*]Amy Adventure 2 by MainMemory
[*]Classic Sonic Improvement Mod - Generations Edition by Showin
[*]Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine - New Dialog by RadioShadow
[*]Dreamcast Characters Pack (SADX) by ItsEasyActually
[*]Drop Dash in Sonic 2 by MainMemory (moved to Expo on request)
[*]Drop Dash in Sonic 3 & Knuckles by MainMemory (moved to Expo on request)
[*]Everyone in Rouge's Outfit by MainMemory
[*]Hedgehogs of Time (H.o.T) by PotterAndMatrixFan
[*]SA2 Dreamcast Characters by EndUser
[*]SA2 Omaochao Edition by MainMemory
[*]Sonic 1 CDDA by Novedicus
[*]Sonic 1 Remade by Lord_Xbox
[*]Sonic 1: Contemporary by Roxurface
[*]Sonic 2 Good Edition by Novedicus
[*]Sonic 3 & Knuckles: Epilogue by TheBlad768
[*]Sonic 3 - Angel Island Revisited by Eukaryot
[*]Sonic 3 & Knuckles Tag Team by Jdpense
[*]Sonic Forces: Emerald Coast Port (Demo #1) by s-daneeh
[*]Sonic Generations Mod Classified Greenhill Act 2 by DCoolSpeed75
[*]Sonic Generations with Recreated Sonic Unleashed Lighting by DCoolSpeed75
[*]Sonic Kyukyoku by Iso_Kilo
[*]SONIC THE HEDGEHOG - Legacy of Solaris by HyperPolygon64
[*]Sonic the Hedgehog Bania: Gold! Edition ~ Digitized Graphics Promotional by Royameadow
[*]Sonic Unleashed Camera & Physics Recreation SG Mod by DCoolSpeed75
[*]Sonic.EXE Mania Abyss Edition BETA by haloarbiter117
[*]Unfinished Example Game by Unlimited Trees

Everything will be good to go on the 26th, and I have been told that the trailer is nearly done so we'll have that posted soon too. We also have a Mini Contest planned that will be posted when it is time to begin. Please wait and we will get there eventually!

Clownacy · Nov 18, 2018

The post above has been edited with the Expo list.

[*](Real) 3D Infinite Boss #2 by Infinite_Force
[*]Amy Adventure 2 by MainMemory
[*]Classic Sonic Improvement Mod - Generations Edition by Showin
[*]Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine - New Dialog by RadioShadow
[*]Dreamcast Characters Pack (SADX) by ItsEasyActually
[*]Drop Dash in Sonic 2 by MainMemory (moved to Expo on request)
[*]Drop Dash in Sonic 3 & Knuckles by MainMemory (moved to Expo on request)
[*]Everyone in Rouge's Outfit by MainMemory
[*]Hedgehogs of Time (H.o.T) by PotterAndMatrixFan
[*]SA2 Dreamcast Characters by EndUser
[*]SA2 Omaochao Edition by MainMemory
[*]Sonic 1 CDDA by Novedicus
[*]Sonic 1 Remade by Lord_Xbox
[*]Sonic 1: Contemporary by Roxurface
[*]Sonic 2 Good Edition by Novedicus
[*]Sonic 3 & Knuckles: Epilogue by TheBlad768
[*]Sonic 3 - Angel Island Revisited by Eukaryot
[*]Sonic 3 & Knuckles Tag Team by Jdpense
[*]Sonic Forces: Emerald Coast Port (Demo #1) by s-daneeh
[*]Sonic Generations Mod Classified Greenhill Act 2 by DCoolSpeed75
[*]Sonic Generations with Recreated Sonic Unleashed Lighting by DCoolSpeed75
[*]Sonic Kyukyoku by Iso_Kilo
[*]SONIC THE HEDGEHOG - Legacy of Solaris by HyperPolygon64
[*]Sonic the Hedgehog Bania: Gold! Edition ~ Digitized Graphics Promotional by Royameadow
[*]Sonic Unleashed Camera & Physics Recreation SG Mod by DCoolSpeed75
[*]Sonic.EXE Mania Abyss Edition BETA by haloarbiter117
[*]Unfinished Example Game by Unlimited Trees

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Devon · Nov 19, 2018

Sonic 2 Good Edition best hack in the expo

Spanner · Nov 21, 2018

Here is our Contest Week Stream Schedule for this year. All Streams will be accessible through http://sonichacking.org

Streaming this year are AntDude, Donnie (SSF1991), Garrulous64, MegaGWolf, Neo Hazard, redhotsonic, SomecallmeJohnny, Stealth, StudioColors, Tails' Channel and VladislavSavvateev.

Official SHC Videos will also be produced by AGM (AquelGamerMexicano), Knuckles Channel 3 & Knuckles, premydaremy and SonicYoda of SEGADriven.com. TSSZ News will have reviews too.

We have lined up an all-star list for the Contest Week, full of your favourite regulars from previous years as well as some newcomers who we've been wanting to have for quite a while too. We only just finalised the list today!

We've tried our best to include as many as possible & if you see someone not on the list, don't be disappointed. Some people this year couldn't make it but will always be welcome back again. Plus others will no doubt showcase the SHC and may find themselves in the list next year?

Jason · Nov 21, 2018

RHS is streaming with Jackbox Games? The Party Pack people? How? Why?

Stealth streaming Megamix is a cool thing. I wonder if he ever plans to put out the Sega CD-focused engine he talked about a few years ago.

Spanner · Nov 21, 2018

Jason said:

RHS is streaming with Jackbox Games? The Party Pack people? How? Why?
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RHS plays Jackbox with a bunch of people usually every week, only this time he will be streaming it, and we may have other streamers get involved too. A good time should be had by all, especially with the responses that some people come out with.

Also it's worth noting that there is currently a Steam sale on for most Sonic games. If you would like to play some of the mods on offer this year but don't have the needed games, now is your perfect chance to do something about that.

Jason · Nov 21, 2018

OK, the wording was confusing. I thought that meant the Jackbox Games dev team would be joining him for this, not also playing Jackbox Party Pack games on stream.

$10 for Forces is kind of tempting. It's what I bought Lost World for, but I also got every Sonic game I didn't already have on Steam as well.

Spanner · Nov 24, 2018

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nn9gMCZQbV4[/youtube]

IT'S FINALLY HERE! Thanks to Ryan from Tails Channel for doing this, sorry it's taken a while longer but some things had to get added later on to make sure we could show off as many entries as possible (sorry if yours weren't in, we tried our best to show what we could). We'll probably do something so next year you put a particular video on the contest site specially for the trailer so we can get it done quicker. Anyway, enjoy!

Thanks to everyone who submitted clips to Ryan, redhotsonic before the change of trailer maker (computer troubles made the switch to Ryan happen this year) and on the SHC website if we had to get something from there.

The wait is nearly over...it all starts this Monday 26th November, but remember that we'll have two pre-show streams on Sunday 25th with Donnie doing a Pre-Show at 5pm GMT / 12pm EST / 9am PST and Stealth will play Sonic Megamix 4.0 and more after Donnie's stream from 11pm GMT / 6pm EST / 3pm PST. Click on the Streams tab to access them.

Also, there WILL be a Mini Contest this year so check out this thread on Monday for what we're doing and how to take part. Oh and look at our Twitter today and tomorrow to see a preview of all the entries on show this year.

Donnie Paradox · Nov 25, 2018

I'm live now with the Sonic Hacking Contest 2018 Pre-Show! Come join me and the contest team as we play some entries from previous years and test things for the coming week's streams. The link to the stream is in the tweet I provided.

JaxTH · Nov 26, 2018

This happens to me only on the mobile website, but I can't scroll down the drop-down menus.

So while I can currently see that there are two livestreams at the moment from the top of the site I can't scroll down to click on them from the drop down.

EDIT: Picture included:

Spanner · Nov 26, 2018

Here are the streams taking place on Monday:

The Contest Week will start in a few hours time, so please be patient, you'll be able to download the entries very shortly.

Spanner · Nov 26, 2018

The site has gone live now, so go and play the entries!

Don't forget you can sign up for an account and vote for the Community Trophies - you do not need to be verified with Sonic Retro or SSRG in order to do that.

The Mini Contest will be posted later today, still got some site work left to do for that.

We have also added the following trophies due to demand and the fact that we are going to need them now:

Angel Island Trophy
Best Mega Drive / Genesis Sonic hack submitted overall.

Mirage Saloon Trophy
Best Sonic Mania modification submitted overall.

Studiopolis Trophy
Best art in a Sonic Mania modification submitted.

Press Garden Trophy
Best level layout in a Sonic Mania modification submitted.

Angel Island Community Trophy
Best Mega Drive / Genesis Sonic hack submitted overall.

Mirage Saloon Community Trophy
Best Sonic Mania modification submitted overall.

Please note if anyone has downloaded Tropical Resort ReBoosted and have had issues getting it to run, download it again as the hardware issue has been fixed.

Emerald Coast in SA2 has also been updated to fix a crash in the level which people were experiencing, this issue had already been fixed weeks ago but it was not on the site yet.

Team Dark - SA2 Edition requires the Reloaded File Director (Legacy) enabled in the Mods tab of the Mod Loader in order to work.

STH2006 Project Demo 4???????: The link for the 06 Model has now been fixed. Remember to put it on higher priority for it to work.

Donnie Paradox · Nov 26, 2018

Day 1 is here, so time for me to stream. Check it out here!

Spanner · Nov 27, 2018

Things have been going well so far, not had any problems with the website from what I'm aware too.

Also, when voting for Community Trophies, please read the trophy description carefully. If a trophy specifically mentions 8-bit then do not vote a 16-bit entry for it, you're just wasting your time. It's certainly something that needs to be looked at for a future site update because this keeps on having to be mentioned every single year because some people don't get it.

Donnie Paradox · Nov 27, 2018

My Contest Week Day 2 stream is going live! Please join me as we play some more of the Contest and Expo entries!

Spanner · Nov 28, 2018

Hopefully everyone is enjoying the Contest Week so far. If an entry doesn't have a thread on here, please use this thread to talk about it instead.

There's still plenty of time to vote for the Community Trophies. It should be interesting as to what wins a trophy this year, especially as the ongoing Community Trophy votes are being hidden until the results are announced.

Sonic Hacking Contest 2018

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