Nexus Website Updates; Still no Demo
Tristan Oliver, Founder | September 1, 2008
“Labor Day Demo” Promised Soon
On this Labor Day, at least one Sonic fan game development team is expected to be working overtime.
The team behind Sonic Nexus, a new demo of which was first promised for SAGE 2008 and then promised to be released last week, has to be in overdrive right now to please an eager fanbase. But for right now, the fruits of their labor have only produced a new blog entry on the Nexus blog, explaining the mechanics of badnik Bumblecopter.
Said programmer Jonathan Rose on the enemy:
In terms of aesthetics, Tax really helped us to go all out with this one. The movement feels like a helicopter, and it appears to be more organic than almost any other robot I’ve ever seen in a Sonic game. The animations are smooth and very multi-purpose owing to it’s nature as a hovering machine. This is just one example of how we intend to create a level of presentation superior to not only most content out of amateur gaming communities, but even a large number of professional projects.
Presently the team has the build dubbed the “2008 Labor Day Demo,” which could mean a release any minute now. Built to run on both Windows and Mac, if it happens today, we will let you know.
Filed Under Sonic Fan Flash, Sonic Scene
“has to be in overdrive right now to please an eager fanbase.”
Actually, we’ve been pretty chill, so your claims of “frenzy” the last two times have been incorrect. Nobody’s been crazy at all, because now that SAGE is over, we could take our time.
…And that, knowing you’ve now missed two self-imposed “deadlines,” isn’t a big problem for you?
-T
“…And that, knowing you’ve now missed two self-imposed “deadlines,” isn’t a big problem for you?”
Nope, because we’re going to have a quality product regardless of when it comes out. I just like to set potential benchmarks for us to work towards.
Oh, and in fangaming/hacking, deadlines are meant to be broken and they don’t really do anything for anybody when they are. Everybody is well aware that this happens on a regular basis.
But there’s a clear difference with this title, however, in that it was meant to be one of the premier SAGE debuts…well publicized, with a lot of eyeballs waiting in anticipation.
You wouldn’t think that is, at the very least, a big letdown for that potential audience?
-T
You have to remember, that this is technically not even my game. Considering how much I’ve contributed to this demo along side developing a new and improved engine AND RSDK toolkit, I shouldn’t be forced to stretch to people’s deadline demands. Other things in my life have to take priority. If people want to whine about it, it’s not going to bother me at all. You’ll play it soon enough.
“But there’s a clear difference with this title, however, in that it was meant to be one of the premier SAGE debuts…well publicized, with a lot of eyeballs waiting in anticipation.
You wouldn’t think that is, at the very least, a big letdown for that potential audience?”
History lesson: Last year, Sonic XG was a marquee title at SAGE ‘07 and completely missed the show. However, it surfaced some time later and ended up being more popular to people than anything the show had to offer.
Flash forward to 2008…mega-hyped up ProSonic releases on its intended date to almost unanimous disappointment. You yourself reported on that situation.
I’d rather have people complain about pushing it back constantly, rather than releasing a half-baked product, then having them whine about THAT, and tarnishing the standard of quality this project has consistently offered. Besides, people understand anyway.
Were the site around for SAGE 2007 I would have held XG just as accountable.
I’m all for taking your time, but if there were internal concerns beforehand that Nexus wasn’t going to make SAGE, the title should never have been promoted as a marquee. That’s an issue between developer and promoter–we just report the news >_<
-T
Old News is Old
By the way, they released the Nexus 2008 demo today (Tuesday), as shown on sonicstadium.org.
[...] ongoing debate regarding the desire of the Nexus team to take its time on an update to the game we brought you yesterday–primarily between myself and game director Slingerland–you’ll find nowhere from [...]
The article covers all the bases, but I think it assumes much of the drama surrounding it. “…Has to be in overdrive right now to please an eager fanbase” is just conjecture from the author that doesn’t really have factual grounding, other than the argument/assumption that a no-show breeds disappointment.
Usually deadlines, as Slingerland has said, don’t account for much in the fan gaming world, mostly because everyone understands that they’re simply side projects made by regular guys whenever they get a spare second. The way the article was written provides a very sombre tone for even a preparation of a demo, and it’s a tone I don’t think is necessary given the environment of the fan gaming community.