[test-object]

It's too bad, then, that Sonic Xtreme didn't actually end up looking that good in the end. A lot of what is in these data files shows a very ugly, easily dated, blocky game. The art direction is kind of haphazard and all over the place. There are color palettes used in some of these levels that are outright ugly. Videos show controls and physics and animation that just look plain sloppy.

I wouldn't buy this game for its graphical pallet. Considering Sonic Xtreme was early development and looks about the same, I'm safe to say it would've been a great game for 1997.

[Phos]

Ofer went through a lot with Sonic Xtreme. He put hard work into something only to have it canned by SEGA. Kind of like losing an old friend

It's too bad, then, that Sonic Xtreme didn't actually end up looking that good in the end. A lot of what is in these data files shows a very ugly, easily dated, blocky game. The art direction is kind of haphazard and all over the place. There are color palettes used in some of these levels that are outright ugly. Videos show controls and physics and animation that just look plain sloppy.

It was shitcanned very early in development. Something isn't the finished product until it's a finished product.

Like I said before, if it ran on the Bug! Engine, it would have played well. (Can someone confirm this?)

I don't know about X-treme, but I played Bug!, and it was a pretty bad game IMO.

[Master Emerald]

Thats because the original is running off the real game engine and the other is a viewer made by Sanik, you are comparing apples to bananas im afraid. Also, im sure the act 1 / jade objects are there as placeholders, but it's still interesting.

Err. I know that is a viewer but a new one could be made later to mimick the original game =P.

[GeneHF]

I'm no programmer, but I don't think it'd be much harder to exaggerate the fisheye effect, since it's pretty much just widening depth of field more and more.

[Skeledroid]

So, let's get a team together and repair this.

[Mad Echidna]

Also worth noting: Chris' release of the Jade Gully textures have a similar modification date. I'm positive that either Chris himself or someone he trusted leaked this.

[BlazeHedgehog]

It's too bad, then, that Sonic Xtreme didn't actually end up looking that good in the end. A lot of what is in these data files shows a very ugly, easily dated, blocky game. The art direction is kind of haphazard and all over the place. There are color palettes used in some of these levels that are outright ugly. Videos show controls and physics and animation that just look plain sloppy.

I wouldn't buy this game for its graphical pallet. Considering Sonic Xtreme was early development and looks about the same, I'm safe to say it would've been a great game for 1997.

You misunderstand me, I think. Yes, Mario 64 also looks dated today, but keep in mind that Sonic Xtreme would have come out after Mario 64. Even at the time, it was going to look dated. You look at Mario 64 and Crash Bandicoot and then look at what Sonic Xtreme was going to be.



And that's if it would have made it out in 1997. Assuming Chris and Ofer had kept going with the PC version... that's 1998, the same year the Dreamcast hit Japan. Sonic Adventure, man. And you had these two guys building a Sonic game out of cubes and a weird camera filter.

And then there's simply the fact that the art direction for the game is all over the place. There's very much a "throw stuff at a wall and see what sticks" vibe to the levels. As ugly as Mario 64 is today, at least it still has cohesive art direction. I don't get that feeling from Xtreme at all.

It was shitcanned very early in development. Something isn't the finished product until it's a finished product.

Like I said before, if it ran on the Bug! Engine, it would have played well. (Can someone confirm this?)

This is definitely something I said multiple times in my post - that yes, I get that this was an unfinished game. But just because the train isn't at the destination doesn't mean you can't feel it going off the tracks.

[Skeledroid]

It's too bad, then, that Sonic Xtreme didn't actually end up looking that good in the end. A lot of what is in these data files shows a very ugly, easily dated, blocky game. The art direction is kind of haphazard and all over the place. There are color palettes used in some of these levels that are outright ugly. Videos show controls and physics and animation that just look plain sloppy.

I wouldn't buy this game for its graphical pallet. Considering Sonic Xtreme was early development and looks about the same, I'm safe to say it would've been a great game for 1997.

You misunderstand me, I think. Yes, Mario 64 also looks dated today, but keep in mind that Sonic Xtreme would have come out after Mario 64. Even at the time, it was going to look dated. You look at Mario 64 and Crash Bandicoot and then look at what Sonic Xtreme was going to be.



And that's if it would have made it out in 1997. Assuming Chris and Ofer had kept going with the PC version... that's 1998, the same year the Dreamcast hit Japan. Sonic Adventure, man. And you had these two guys building a Sonic game out of cubes and a weird camera filter.

And then there's simply the fact that the art direction for the game is all over the place. There's very much a "throw stuff at a wall and see what sticks" vibe to the levels. As ugly as Mario 64 is today, at least it still has cohesive art direction. I don't get that feeling from Xtreme at all.

It was shitcanned very early in development. Something isn't the finished product until it's a finished product.

Like I said before, if it ran on the Bug! Engine, it would have played well. (Can someone confirm this?)

This is definitely something I said multiple times in my post - that yes, I get that this was an unfinished game. But just because the train isn't at the destination doesn't mean you can't feel it going off the tracks.

Everything you've said so far is definitely agreeable, but I love the uniqueness of it all. I think that would've sold to most Sonic fans, and all the screen shots and stuff as a kid sold me. If someone could make these crap levels (completely untouched) playable, I'd play the shit out of them.

[hxc]

To clarify a number of things.

The textures modified later I can't really explain, but it's possible they were recreated from screenshots in order to make certain levels look better in screenshots.
This is not a hoax, it's been in some people's hands for a number of years, but with trust that it was not released due to Chris's/Ofer's wishes. It seems someone has not complied with these. I do not know who that was.
Ofer did not, Granville, plan to release his engine, he planned to allow discussion, there was zero implied release ever, he was far to worried about copyright messups for that to ever happen, as that is his primary reason not allowing release. He would release everything if he got an official confirm from sega that he could, me and senn had this conversation.

Xtreme did not run on the bug engine.

Please don't say things if you don't know what you are talking about!

This post has been edited by hxc: 08 December 2009 - 12:58 PM

[Trunks]

This looks so damn familiar. Like the section in Sonic Adventure in the temple when the water raises based on hitting switches.

[Syniphas]

I just noticed something on Chris's site: this was taken with sanik's 3.1 viewer!

It seems pretty clear Chris had this same package we do when he made these images

It wasn't.



Sanik's viewer has a bigger FOV and a smaller viewing area, not to mention a smaller resolution.
Senn probably has the same level data, just wrote up a viewer of his own. Which would also explain why he doesn't release fish-eyed versions of those images...

[hxc]

It's the same viewer used, this is why it was coded. There is one more version of the viewer that is not in that package; the original Sanik one without a limited FoV; it lags a little.

This post has been edited by hxc: 08 December 2009 - 02:08 PM

[Trunks]

I've started compiling some animated gifs from the frames included in the leak.



Bee Bot






Feep!


New Character: Gabby


New Character: Chaz








Please feel free to spread these around, just don't hotlink them.

[Trunks]

Just so people don't quote the whole thing, here's a doublepost.

[Mr. Pictures]

This stuff is all very interesting, and I'm glad someone finally got to sharing it. Unfortunately, I don't think I'd ever be able to play a final release, for fear of a seizure.

Edit: Do you think the new characters, Chaz and Gabby were meant to replace Sonic and Tiaria if Sega lost interest in the game? I'm guessing this was the case, considering the game was in development for so long. Perhaps Sega had lost their patience?

This post has been edited by Mr. Pictures: 08 December 2009 - 03:43 PM