(Barely worth making a thread but I thought I'd give a shout out - Mods feel free to move/delete as necessary :v:/>/> ) So, this Saturday is the UK event 'Weston Super Sonic'. Like SoS it's a ticket-only, Kickstarter funded event. I managed to nab a ticket and I thought I'd give a shoutout in case anyone from Retro was attending, although the lack of anyone posting about it probably speaks for itself.. Previous WSS events have given announcements from companies like First 4 Figures, and this year Mania's own artists Tom Fry and Kieran Gates are turning up so that's actually something. If there's anything you guys can think of that I can ask them or say, let me know! whether I get the chance to is a whole different challenge no doubt...
I know it sound incredibly useless, but if you ever get the chance to ask them why'd they chose the sonic 1 sprites over 3 (or 2)...
What? Mania's character sprites are essentially new. Way more frames of animation as well as brand-new animations on top of that (with Knuckles pretty much being overhauled completely). Even the sprites that (purposefully) look similar to the those in the old games have been totally touched up. I'm also pretty confused as to why you singled out Sonic 1 when Mania's sprites do incorporate elements from 2 and CD. The people responsible definitely chose the Sonic 1/2/CD look for Sonic in particular, and that was probably because it's iconic and tried-and-true (I like the general 3&K style, but it's a divisive one-off).
Actually, can you ask them what's some of the input Sonic Team had on the promo/game art for Mania. As in, they did give tips or downright asked to change stuff etc etc.
I like the sound of this one. (I'm also trying to figure out who between Tom and Kieran was actually responsible for drawing/creating the artwork itself... they both seem quite involved in the art process and my crap googling and twitter stalking isn't giving me any more clues about specifics.)
True, that's something that will be nice to confirm who did what. From what I remember at the top of my head is: Cover art, Hard Boiled Heavies and Eggman art: Tom SXSW/E3 posters and inside illustration for vinyl: Kieran Sonic Mania shirt with the classic style art: Someone at Sonic Team Sketchhog and "Mega Drive" artwork: Tyson
Yeah, I know about that, and I definitely like the new sprites (in fact, I fucking adore them), but I'm just wondering why did they choose the "classic" sonic design over the 3&K one. I always kinda assumed it was because it was more iconic, just like you said, but I'll love to hear it from the artists themselves. Yeah, they did use CD's spring animation, but all the other ones, like skidding, or balancing on a ledge (even the victory animation) are based out of Sonic 1 I think. Did Mania's sprites used anything from Sonic 2 ?
I have an admittedly nerdy question for Tom and/or Kieran. In Sonic Mania's files the rat animal friend is named Micky - did Sonic Team provide this name, or did the Mania team come up with it?
Wow. I didn't know this and now I'm itching to know myself! It'll be great for the Rat to finally have a confirmed name. I'll do my best to get anything resembling an answer.
Alright, quick Bump with some Mania info as well as a general rundown of the day. Yeah, it was pretty much Summer of Sonic Lite. Surprisingly, a lot of the same faces were there doing the same stuff. Sonic Show, etc. Not much to say really, if you've been to SoS you know what to expect - minus Iizuka and Senoue. (Negatives mostly came from the British Seaside weather destroying anyone who ventured outside the venue for fresh-air with wind and rain.) Tom Fry and Kieran Gates were great to talk to. Very chill guys who enjoyed talking about Sonic stuff as much as the fans did. I was able to get my Mega Drive cart (the repro one that comes with the Mania collectors' ed) signed which was great. Anyway. Info: Regarding the Rat Animal Friend: Both Tom and Kieran were unaware the Rat had even been given a name, so that was a surprise for all of us! Tom reckons Stealth would be the man to ask about that one. Regarding who did what: Tom Fry mainly focused on all the design and assets of the brand new stages in Mania. A small bit of trivia he told me was that he really liked the Juggling Crab Buzzsaw enemies in press Garden, and got some feedback from Kazuyuki Hoshino when designing them. This got brought up because I said that was one of my favourite enemy sprite animations in the game. Kieran's main focus was on all the 3D Assets in the game (3D Eggman in Stardust Speedway, Special Stages, etc), as well as the design and assets in the returning zones. Tom Fry drew the main cover art for Mania. Kieran Gates drew some of the other artwork, such as the Green Hill piece used in the Vinyl album, so there's no definitive one Mania artist in that sense, which lines up with what Casshern said. The Sonic Show will hopefully upload the Q&A talk on Youtube at some point which goes into some nice detail. Also both of them say 'Hyrdo City' as two words so there's some more ammunition if anyone needs it. Also my crap drawing of Sanic got an honourable mention in the fanart competition so I'm taking that as a success.
