[OSM]

I think what Tweaker was trying to put across was that anything could have lessened the appeal in fan games in general. It all comes down to one's own personal tastes and what exactly turned them off about it. I think it was just getting bored of the entire ordeal and the fact SEGA hasn't made a really inspiring Sonic title in a long time.

Would you want to be doing something related to something else you know that hasn't gone anywhere for the last couple of years? I wouldn't.

This post has been edited by OSM: 23 February 2009 - 11:02 AM

[Sik]

I repeat: what happens is that back in its day there were little fangames, so almost everything would become known easily. Now there are hundreds (if not thousands) of fangames, and hence no fangames become known easily, but just "another one in the bunch". The fact that there are less well-known fangames makes it look that there are less fangames in general.

Get my point?

[Wetflame]

But there ARE less fangames. There are less actually being released, only a small handful a year and they're at the same standard as those being released around 2001, but with a lot less personality.

BlazeHedgehog, on Feb 23 2009, 11:51 AM, said:

Tweaker, on Feb 23 2009, 11:42 AM, said:

BlazeHedgehog, on Feb 23 2009, 10:35 AM, said:

...Why would, of all things, a sprite kill things? That doesn't even make any sense.

I think it does, to a large degree. A lot of fangames opt to use the newer Sonic Advance-style sprites and mesh them with all kinds of environments, ranging from poorly-drawn MSPAINT level art to rips of old Genesis levels. The art styles clash together pretty strongly, and the intended player size from the Genesis sprites aren't carried over either.

Personally, I just don't like the art style of the Advance sprites anywhere near as much as I liked the Genesis ones. They're fluid, certainly, but they're not a very fitting style for Sonic to use in a game. Even Sonic Adventure—the game that pioneered that art style—did not depict Sonic with those whacked-out looking proportions. It's just... weird.

That said, the whole issue is a matter of opinion, and you should take it as such. If a sprite style ruined the appeal of fan games for one person, then they're totally entitled to that. It only doesn't "make sense" because you don't share that viewpoint, I think.

No, because it still doesn't make any sense. Meshing graphics does not kill fangaming. If anything, having more graphics to choose from only helps things, and only the people who take their time to make quality games only care about clashing art styles.

Using graphics from other games in different art styles has been happening in SFGs long before Sonic Advance came out. There's been a long history of fangames borrowing artwork from Megaman games, for example.

Having more graphics options does not kill or help kill anything. The only thing that happened to fangames is the amount of time and work you had to invest to make anything halfway decent spiked so dramatically that most people get a couple levels done and then give up.

So, no. It doesn't make sense.

If you're from the Oscar Wilde school of thought it makes sense. The general poor look of fangames, despite the fact that they should technically have come a long way, is demotivating. Being part of something that can't create something "Beautiful" and being exposed to so much monotony is what drives people away.

Overuse of the Advance sprite turned me off downloading some fangames.

[Krigo]

I agree with what Wetflame said, the Advance sprites are being overused in most fangames, and a lot of the time they are used with other sprites that are completely different in style and scale. I preferred the S3K sprites, but they're not really used much any more.

[saxman]

I also liked Sonic PC -- very nifty, could have become something more nifty.

[Sik]

I just remembered another fangame: Sonic Jr. Yes, as it sounds =P But it isn't as crappy as you may think, I mean, it isn't a love fanfic, just "Sonic's son has to go to fight Robotnik" =P As usual, it has the "getting stuck in the ceiling" bug, though in a somewhat stable way, to the point that the author decided to make it a feature rather than a bug (if you play the tutorial you'll understand what I mean =P).

[DimensionWarped]

As much as I just plain dislike the Advance sprites, I've seen a couple who make them work. Graphically that is. I'm still on the fence about whether a normal Sonic game could ever really be made with them.