As nice as that soundtrack might be - it takes, like, a minute to get into any sort of melody. If it's built anything like the official games, the level could be over by then. Also that Palm Paradiso Zone track sounds out of tune and awkward. But maybe that's just me.
I don't particularly care for any of them, but it could also be because I'm burnt out on "Sonic CD inspired" tracks. Seems like that's just an easy way for someone to say "I got a KORG and I'm not afraid to use it!" A lot of the tracks just feel like noise after a bit despite having decent back tracks. It's weird because Lone there has made some really nice sounding stuff without sounding so busy. https://soundcloud.com/nine-zero-music/dark-fortress-zone-from-sonic-megamixsunset-mix Mind you, Woofle is also just fantastic.
I've been keeping track of fangames for 12 or 13 years now, and I can confidently say that nobody has done it perfectly. Or sadly even "mostly-perfectly" - we're talking two or three good tracks tops (although in fairness that's often because the game hasn't been finished... and because brand new soundtracks were unthinkable in the early 2000s). Half of that is because there is no official "style" for a series like Sonic (unlike say, Mario which has retained the same composers for 30 years). They were hindered by Mega Drive hardware and then dicked around on CDs, so there's no precident to what a good "retro" Sonic game should sound like. The other half is just general inexperience, but it feels wrong to criticise to the same extent as sprites and artwork because composers are a rare breed. With music I think I roughly know what I'm talking about, but because I can't make fancy tracks myself I feel unqualifed to complain most of the time. I think the clue is to focus on a catchy melody and then add in the effects afterwards (e.g. early 90s-style Sonic 3-esque samples). But because it's a Sonic game and you want the music to match what's on screen, it needs to be relatively upbeat, and not take forever to get into the main thrust of the tune, and not be flooded with weird ambiance and crap. And it needs to be late-80s/early-90s inspired - as in... a few years before when you'd expect a "Sonic 4" to be released because these things take time to trickle into the mainstream and it's really complicated. Although since you mention it - I do like this take on Launch Base, except for the odd bits that sound like the keyboard fell on the floor. But it's difficult because I still probably prefer the original more?
Her pieces for Hydrocity and Icecap won me over pretty quickly. Launch Base is rough, but I like the nod to Death Egg.
I've been following this game since like... 2007, and barely anything has happened with it. I think it's taken so long to release that I fear by the time it does that my excitement would have diminished. I look forward to it though - it's what I felt Sonic 4 should have been, and probably why I was all the more disappointing when it released, as it played like a dumbed-down rehash of the first two games.
Word has it Nitemare reached out to the composer. If we impressed by the tracks I'd say it's highly likely Nitemare was too. Nitemare if you're reading this I wish you'd post more! Would love to see you in this thread maybe even posting updates? As for Sonic XG I'm more hyped for the game than I ever was for Sonic 4. There's just something about the level art that mimics the Genesis style so successfully the game looks like a true sequel to the Genesis games much like its name. Obviously praise like that needs to be reserved for when we play the final game but everything Nitemare has released thus far looks extremely promising. The game's legacy is legendary and I'm glad the game's finally going to be finished now. Hopefully we'll get some updates on the game soon either on a dedicated external site or here on Retro.
It's currently 50% off for the Steam Summer sale, and the exporters are 33% off. I remember someone saying in this thread that the exporters are really shitty and not worth buying. Would have quoted that post, but I can't find it now. That's the "default" sale price though, it went even lower during a flash sale last year I think. Either way, at the moment, based on what he's already raised vs. the current Steam sale price he has enough for the Developer version of Fusion. If he really wants it, someone should let him know to watch the sales to see if drops even lower for a flash sale. If not, he could pick it up for 50% off during the last day of the sale. I really liked the demo he released many years ago, but donating to his current funding campaign feels like it would be throwing money away at this point. Unlike more popular crowdfunding things, there's no incentive (right?) to doing so and he hasn't released anything aside from that really old demo. Am I wrong on this? I agree that it's wrong of him to ask for money for a Sonic fan game, but right now he doesn't seem to have any other advantage to back him up. I'd like to hear some other opinions on this. I had no problem throwing a donation at Retro when they were down last week, but I justify that because they provide this site in return. With this it kind of seems like "Well, he MIGHT use the money to make games, but we don't know that for sure."
Possible Options theme for the game? https://soundcloud.com/nine-zero-music/sets/sonic-xg-original-soundtrack The guy also joined this forum very recently and is featured on the main Sonic Retro page with another album of his! http://forums.sonicretro.org/index.php?showtopic=34434&st=0
Honestly hoping that all of this music news and momentum is a positive sign that the game is reaching completion. Music is generally sourced and produced late in fangame development correct? The only other thing I have to add is that it would be great if Nitemare could host updates on the game at some kind of new external source. I think we did the right thing regarding our advice on the funding page but it did come at the cost of his dedicated space for game updates. I for one would be super interested to have a place to monitor the game's progress at a new and consistently updated location.
For Worlds Delta: It uses extensions, which aren't ported to the other runtimes (it's not like they can't, developers of extensions just can't be assed to target more than one platform) For older, buggier versions of Worlds that don't use extensions: It'd run like hot garbage. Seriously, I tried. (I have the Android, XNA, Flash, and HTML5 runtimes)
Was wondering about this game recently so looked for news, and found something a little heart breaking. Joe was emailed by a fan asking for news, and responded to him. This comes from a comment on the game's YouTube page: Top comment here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IkF2VDXC9Gs So he'd love to finish it, and has made significant progress, but the game's on hold because of health issues, and may be passed on to someone else. If anyone can find anything newer than this I'd appreciate it. Potentially the best fangame ever produced in my opinion - the demo builds were that good. His GoFundMe page is still active. I think when some money I'm waiting on comes in, I'm definitely going to help him out now. EDIT: Just to be clear, Joe told the guy to share the email and spread the news. Extended version of the email here.
Awesome man. Makes me glad I notified everyone if it led to you helping him. Very kind-hearted of you. Super poor at the moment but his story touched me to such an extent I donated anyway. I attached this warm wishes message from everyone here: If anyone else can help him then please do. I'm going to donate again once more money arrives. Get well soon Joe.
It's a good looking fangame and all but Sonic XG isn't that important when you're having health issues from missing part of a heart and lung! health comes first, anyone who thinks otherwise sorry to say is a twat. I'm dealing with a family crisis atm so zero funds but I'll spread the word around and hopefully drum up interest. maybe a front page article too for Retro?
Is he working on XG alone? If he is, I think it'd help the project a lot to have other people working on the project to help keep the pace going, which would also help take the load off his back.
Holy Christ someone from here (I think?) gave him £50. That's awesome for him! Bet he's elated and it cheered him up. Thank you to whomever it was. Total donations from Sonic Retro stand at £75 if the most recent one was from here. Think it was. Yeah I think everyone agrees with this. His health is far more important than Sonic XG and should take priority. A front page post is an awesome idea.
Taxman's not working on this. He just signalled to us that Nitemare/Joseph Waters, one of the original developers, is continuing to work on Sonic XG. Taxman's been done with fangames for years. He's working on Sonic Mania now and will likely never work on fangames again.
