Sonic 3D Blast MD, 2017 and beyond!

Is there enough VRAM space left to implement floor textures? I know Diamond Dust has distinguishable frozen floors, so I wonder if the lack of textures is just because of lack of space or if there's another reason. This is the one thing I really miss in the Genesis version, the flat tiles look kinda out of place with the nice pre-rendered graphics around them. I guess that slopes would consume a lot of VRAM space if they were textured.

 

The fact that he's doing this is amazing. The fact he's a developer of the original game and is probably the most knowledgeable person when it comes to the code is even more amazing.

We gotta get him with the hacking contest. Or with Taxman and Stealth to make a remastered version. Or an account on this forum just to talk and take suggestions. Or anything. Bleh, I'm so excited for this!

 

For what it's worth he did ask the SHC Twitter account about the hack expo deadline yesterday.

Whether or not he submits to the contest's unjudged hack expo will be up to him, so don't be disappointed if it doesn't show up. I'm going to try and see if he could make an appearance during the Contest Week as well as I know many people have questions to ask about his programming and more, but again I can't guarantee anything, I can only ask.

 

Would he have an unfair advantage though? I mean he made the game and has the source code, anything he does is far beyond what most could do with S3D.

But seriously if he can add debug mode I'd be so happy. I'm really looking forward to this. Shame it's not the Saturn version though.

 

Incorrect. The Saturn version runs at 60FPS at all times - save the Special Stages, which are at 30.

 

As the hack expo is not judged it wouldn't be a serious issue. Consider this a once in a lifetime thing to happen, I doubt we'll see something like this happen ever again.

 

Huh. Maybe sprites, etc. had been rendered at 30? Is that what I'm thinking of? I'm actually asking.
I remember being surprised that it wasn't silky-smooth live like the Genesis version. Watching a 30fps-capped YouTube video versus playing (or watching) the actual game at 60fps, I couldn't see the difference, whereas I can with the Genesis games. Odd.

 

My only experience of a non-Genesis Sonic 3D has been via the PC release and via Saturn Emulation (god bless mednafen). Both cases I seemed to be getting 60fps out of Sonic 3D. I do wonder if legit Saturn Hardware would give different results though.

 

I've always wondered this, and it probably won't be a bad idea to ask him, which version does he consider to be the "true" version? Is it the Genesis version, being made first and with the game originally programmed for the system, or is it the Saturn version, with the expanded color palette and CD music?

And what is the "true" title, 3D Blast or Flickies Island? And why are there different titles anyway?

 

I'm fairly sure it runs at the same speed as the Mega Drive version... which for the most part means 60FPS.

But you have to remember that the Saturn has VDP1 and VDP2 doing different things and refreshing at different rates, so you might have some of the special effects operating at different speeds. And a lot of the background animation updates at a slower rate too.


YouTube videos seem to suggest the special stages actually run at both 30 and 60FPS. Because the background, presumably controlled by VDP2, is operating at twice the speed as the 3D visuals. This is the case in things like Daytona USA too - a single number can be misleading for the Saturn (and the 32X).

 

I want to believe that Flickies' Island is the intentional name of the game as picked by Traveller's Tales and Sega of Japan (since that's it's EU and JP title). However Sega of America clearly wanted something with impact, and went with "3D Blast". After all, it's not the first time they've used Blast to market a Genesis product.
(Only speculation, mind, but I'm sticking with it!)

I guess Jon Burton's lived in the US for so long now that he's used to calling it a 'Genesis' and '3D Blast' now, but I'm still going with my theory that Flickies' Island is the true name!

 

It's so they can do this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a_H3sacVdyY

i.e., tag Sonic Blast for the Game Gear along for the ride.



They weren't very good at marketing things in 1996. Flickies' Island is the more "pure" name, but it's frought with issues - go count how many cases of "Flicky's Island", "Flickies Island" and "Flickie's Island" there are.

 

I kind of hope he's able to implement these ideas into the Saturn version as well sometime since that's the version I grew up with.

 

Wow, haha that's actually shocking and basically tricking people into buying a completely unrelated Game Gear title! That definitely makes sense though, I never thought too much about that connection before, daymn.

Now I'm hoping the Director's Cut patch gives the option to keep the 'Flickies Island' name even when running in 60hz (i recall the name changes internally depending on the region of console rather than it being a seperate ROM)

 

Oh, I think I actually have that ad recorded on a tape I have somewhere. I'll have to see if I can get a better digital recording of it and upload it.

But anyway, yeah I have to agree 3D Blast is just a better name. I don't think the average person would know what a "flicky" is anyway, and it doesn't sound nearly as exciting as "blast". After all, the game is a blast in 3D.

 

I have a general question about ROMs since the Director's Cut is being released:

Of course we all know that SEGA is well aware and pretty much okay with ROMs and hacks of games they made or games developed for their platforms. But what would be the legal justification of companies like Nintendo trying to remove ROMs off sites even though most of the ROMs are games they didn't develop? Is it because they are games that were developed with their hardware in mind or have distributed ROMs in the past (ex: Virtual Console, 3DS E-Shop, NES/SNES Classic)?

 

That's just Nintendo being Nintendo.