So then, we can nail things down like: Jade Gully: Fang the Sniper Crystal Frost: ??? Red Sands: Egg Golem-alike? Metal Blade: Metal Sonic Death Egg: Eggman himself in some contraption Further considering that Senn posted up other zone tropes in music (thought I doubt they ever got any further than trope ideas), it looks like this wasn't going to be a very large game. That's par the course for the Saturn when you look at NiGHTS.
Actually no.. well kind of... there were multiple level configurations for Sonic Xtreme throw-out its mangled history. It seems that this is just one of these configs. I have some concept art that shows something different that was changed later. some levels like Metal blade were even dropped. I'll get back to you in awhile on this as I have some things to tend to with the baby and all. There was another level that was also dropped called Sand Gully, Chris Senn filled me in on this area. its the ones with the tunnel by Fei Cheng and the desert like area and rail road tracks. Welcome to Sonic retro ! Man your like my hero for recording, storing, Re-descovering , capturing than uploading this video ! Kick ass man ! With the cleaner colors we can actually see Metal Sonic charging up to attack with his projectile much more clearly now. Metal even emits some particles as he's charging up for the attack.
@ GeneHF These may be well known already but here's another level config with boss assignments. If memory serves correct this may have been the last config before the game was canned. Spoiler
He is Japanese so its excusable. You should see some of the other Yasuhara concept art... there are some with bosses and how they functioned.
I always thought Xtreme was developed by Americans. That's interesting though you would think he'd just call him Eggman instead if that was the case... I really don't get Xtreme at all, towards its cancellation I doubt any of them did either.
Oh man, that video of the boss fight is sexy. I have a vague memory of seeing the fight on tv before, but I could have sworn it was on a different show. Could be my mind playing tricks on me, especially since I would have no idea what show I thought it might be. X-treme was developed by Americans all the way until the end, when they were scrambling to figure out what the heck they were doing and remembered that Yasuhara, who had directed the previous games in the series, was sitting in the office with them. I do wonder why it took so long for them to ask him for his assistance...did he say early on that he didn't want anything to do with the game, or was his attention elsewhere, perhaps on some game that just never took off, and so by the middle of 1996 his time was freed up that he could actually work on Sonic X-treme? I know there's that quote about his work on the Traveller's Tales games and how he didn't want Sega to just release any old game with Sonic's face on it, that it should live up to some sort of quality standard. Maybe he just glanced over to someone's desk, took a big sigh, and quickly drew up some concepts for the rest of the team that was obviously running around in circles? As for why he didn't call him Eggman...it's probably because everyone else on the team was from the west and it was just easier to write that name. Oh, you mean the concept art that you can see right here on the Retro wiki? *plug plug* Though I don't see any of his art that details how the bosses work, unless I'm glancing over it. I know there are a couple boss concepts on the wiki, but none seem to be directly from Yasuhara. Unless you have something hidden away that's escaped the wiki. Which is entirely possible.
It's all good. I'm just happy to help everyone out. There is kind of no reward for me to back up and upload anything, when no one else will watch it. It's always nice when someone comes asking me for something... and I actually HAVE what they're asking me for. :P I have maybe one or two full episodes of this show recorded (and a handful of misc segments from others)... but it looks like, upon re-converting last night, I actually DO have the full episode for this one. There is a little big more on the N64 front with them showing off Mario 64, but nothing additional on the SEGA front. Also... If anyone REALLY wants it, I can probably upload the original capture I did in 2010 (that's the one actually uploaded to youtube... I misread the time stamp on it. I thought it was from May 2013, but it was actually made in May 2010... I just happened to have it in an unsorted folder on an external hard drive. I must have moved that file from one drive, to another, to another over the last 3.5 years!). The way that EyeTV capture device recorded it on the old TV Tuner, it does have direct video interlacing, and it's a little more grainy, but also a little darker. If anyone thinks it will help, I can upload that version as well... but honestly, I think you've all got the better version now on google docs.
God why haven't I seen half this art before? I should be wiki diving more often. There are a bunch of fantastic ideas in there.
Yeah it seems Retro's wiki has the concept art I was referring to afterall: A rough outline of a possible encounter between Sonic and Mecha Sonic. (you can also see part of the word Sand Gully to the left (it seems the Mecha Mite was going to be the Sand Gully Zone boss) Edit: also notice the name Metal Blade at the top left for the Mecha Sonic Boss concept portion of the page. http://info.sonicretro.org/File:MechaMite_MechaSonicGamepla.jpg A rough outline of the Flame Falcon boss fight. http://info.sonicretro.org/File:FlameFalcon1.jpg A continuation of the Flame Falcon boss fight. http://info.sonicretro.org/File:FlameFalcon2.jpg A rough outline of the boss encounter with Mecha Mite. http://info.sonicretro.org/File:MechaMite_SandGully.jpg There is also this info on the wiki: Spoiler Mecha Mite BossDeep within the abandoned oil mines rests the Wind Element Keeper. Hibernating just below the oil lake, the Mecha Mite Boss is rudely awakened by our trespassing hedgehog and begins to lift itself from the black muck. This huge creature upsets the balance of rock and oil pockets and starts a chain reaction- As shards of sharp clay and rock fall into the shaking lake below. Oil oozes steadily out of reopened wounds in the cavern's walls. The whole earth shakes as Sonic's new challenge becomes apparent. Sonic is protected (for the moment) within a 6-tiered, cylindrical glass tower. On each floor, facing either North, South, East or West is a metal pipe that Sonic must spindash into to reach the floor above. Time is limited as the oil steadily rises on the outside and within this structure. An enemy or two will harass Sonic before the entrance to each pipe. Meanwhile, shaking and clawing its way to the top of the tower is the Mecha Mite, dripping with oil. Once Sonic reaches the top, the pipe he used crashes down into the now-paused muck. The Mecha Mite Boss attacks first by rising up and opening its immense three jaws to blow "oil wads" at Sonic. The Boss can also suck in huge pockets of air- Sonic must stand behind something or be pulled into the nasty, teeth-ridden jaws of Mecha Mite. Occasionally (and constantly before its death) the Boss spits out an appropriate enemy to attack Sonic. The final stage for this Boss is when it rises above the tower and holds onto the top with its claw appendages. Sonic must destroy these to send the Boss falling to its death. Darkpool Gorilla BossEventually, Sonic will make his way to the Boss zone - A huge cavern a thousand feet below ground. The walls of this huge spherical domain have been carved out by years of underground streams trickling slowly down its sides settling in a dark pool at the bottom. Several paths lead towards the center, where a tall, rocky pedestal juts up from the murky base. Atop this rests a huge hydraulic platform upon which a dark hunched figure stands dormant. Once Sonic reaches the overhanging straight pathway to the center platform, still leaving about 30-40 yards between, several things happen. First, a mechanical humming and drumming fills the thick, musty air. It is like some machine waking up after thousands of years of hibernation. A few indicator lights below the platform flash and come to life. The dark figure's eyes light up red and it suddenly stands erect. Stones and clumps of dirt crack and slide off of this Boss's massive cast-iron body. Twisting his upper torso from left to right a few times (as if waking up and stretching), the Darkpool Gorilla Boss sees Sonic and does a double take. Slamming the surface of the platform sends a quake right through the rickety bridge Sonic is standing on. Immediately, it starts to give way behind Sonic and the only way is to run forward to the frenzied Boss or fall to death. The hydraulic platform tilts according to weight change and Sonic's first test is to try and defeat the Rock Elemental's Boss suit On this teetering square. After defeating him, the platform sinks down on its piston base and activates two exit balls for Sonic to choose between. It seems like these were designed before Yasuhara joined the team.. That would be great ! Its fun to go back in time and watch some of these old shows from my childhood. So that other video version you have, would you be able to post a screenshot ? Also I believe that there was some kind of special 1 episode electronics show that may have been on MTV in the 90s, I cant remember clearly. but I feel that they may have showed a few Sonic X-treme clips there. its all a blur now. lol
The Nights looking build with green hills seems to have some texture data that some guys over on my forums found but they could not re-build correctly because something key is missing. Also another friend of mine says that when the hill build was released, some data was removed to make the release smaller. If that's true than I bet that a lot of discoveries may be buried for quite a while. Does anyone here know anything about this? Seeing the Metal Sonic video inspired me to dig up the Metal sonic build Me and Xeniczone did in January 2010 (it was Made in game maker with Ult 3d plugin). Couldn't find the latest build with Metal Sonic's AI sadly. This build was for tweaking the realtime lighting effects for Metal Sonic. Would be kick ass if we could gain access to the rest of the assets needed to complete the project.
Dang. It's a shame the Boss Engine didn't go on to be used as the main game format. It totally trashes that Isometric thing that was used everywhere else. Feels sort of sad to see this. If they'd made the entire game this smooth and built stages for Sonic to run through, maybe we would still have SEGA as a hardware manufacturer.
Do put up the N64 stuff as well, especially if by some chance it has new prototype Mario 64 or Zelda 64 footage.
I'm sure the various Nintendo research sites out there would greatly appreciate seeing this material too.
Not to rain on your parade, but they were too little, too late. The Sega Saturn was where the battle was lost. Without any real competition in that era, Sonic lost its momentum and never recovered.
Man, that level layout system looked like it would've made the whole game a maze. No wonder it was the last one.
I wonder when they filmed that episode, could it have been at the Sega Gamer's day event ? Seems Mr bones was named in the article which corresponds with what's shown in the video. I Bet the full magazine has the other games shown as well. Anyways Sega Gamers day could be a new lead for new footage yet again. Wonder if anyone working at Sega made some vids to take home lol
