Sonic GDK: Calypso Coast

So, in May this year, I started working on something other than Sonic Incursion. I wanted to experiment with getting Emerald Hunting into Sonic GDK, and I succeeded. I then started making an example / showcase level out of it.

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

We all know that Sonic GDK is littered with levels which are just landscapes, wide open areas, with a supposed "exploration focus". Here, there is a reason to explore. Each Emerald colour has 20 potential spawn positions, and 3 Emeralds are spawned on launch, making no playthrough the same. There are also Badniks, gimmicks, hidden stuff, caves, and time trials with rewards to find on the island. I usually detest "exploration" levels, unless there are things to find and see. There is a lot of stuff missing in the video.

While the level is considered complete (honest, it's done) I can't distribute it. Due to the size (and the somewhat innefficient way I've made the level), the level only works on a 64 bit system. The UDK editor has a 64 bit executable which allows me to edit and play, but there is no way to create a 64 bit installer, just 32 bit. It will crash to desktop if you try this. So, if any of you good folks know of an Unreal Frontend 64 bit profile, I can easily release it for others to play. That's the main reason for this topic existing.

What do you think?

 

Had to put some references / names in for landmarks, so I used some who helped / supported Sonic Incursion. I'm not submitting anything for SAGE this year, Incursion hasn't had enough work done to it to warrant it.

Thanks. I didn't really base the level design on anything in particular, it's all made in free form. I started at the spawn point, and worked outwards, keeping paths open and a general idea in my head of what came next. It fell together really quickly, all things considered. All I knew was that it was Emerald hunting, with Sonic, in SGDK, on an island...I think it's worked out ok.

 

There are four time trials on the island (you can see another starting point of another towards the end) each with different end points. Getting to the end as quick as possible nets 100 rings and a random shield, lower times gets lower amount of rings.

 

I have been given a couple of suggestions which I will experiment with over the weekend, but in more detail, this is the problem.

The UDK editor comes with a 64-bit executable for both the game and the editor. However, the tool used to package the game (Unreal Frontend) only has profiles to distribute the game in 32-bit. Trying to play Calypso Coast on a 32-bit executable causes it to crash on the first frame. I have tried using the tool Large Address Aware as a quick workaround but this doesn't work. One suggestion has been to package the game using some other form of installer, but I'm not too well versed on that.

I've been aware of UDK Ultimate for some time but never looked at it until recently. That claims to have greater distribution abilities, so I'll download that and see. If it does, the level can be released.