Play the next evolution of “BlitzSonic”
Creating a 3D fangame is not an easy task, especially a Sonic fangame. If making a game in 2D proves to be difficult, those issues are only compounded by the nature of 3D, the end result being that the only 3D Sonic fangame to ever actually come close to being finished has been Sonic Robo-Blast 2, and that has spent 11+ years in development. Over the weekend, Sonic Freerunner saw a Pre-Alpha release, joining the ranks of promising 3D fangames like SonicGDK/Ashura: Dark Reign.
Built on top of Mark the Echidna and Damizean’s BlitzSonic codebase, the Sonic Freerunner Pre-Alpha comes packaged with two test levels (large and small variations on Green Hill Zone) and a fully animated Sonic character model, based on Sonic Colors. Freerunner also boasts improved controls and physics, with proper gamepad support, appropriate changes to Sonic’s weight and speed when he’s underwater, and more. With a little elbow grease, other levels created for BlitzSonic can be loaded in Freerunner, allowing the community of BlitzSonic fans to try out their creations in the improved version of the engine.
As is always the case with releases like these, Azukara is seeking all the feedback he can get regarding the feel of the game at this early stage, so make sure you drop by the Sonic Retro forum thread, or failing that, dropping him a PM on something like Youtube is probably also acceptable. It’s also worth mentioning that they are looking for programmers and modelers – so if you’re familiar with Blitz3D, do not hesitate to drop them a line.
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I bet there’s going to be a bunch of people/sonic fans saying that fans can make a better 3D Sonic game, this effect happens all the time.
@RaggtimeSonic
Yeah, they will say that.
Because it’s kinda true.
I just got done playing this and it is hands down the closest to how 3D Sonic should play. Big wide open spaces to roam around in, being able to stop when you want to, always being in control of Sonic….camera that works with you and not against you, being able to play on the level geometry with physics that actually behave like they should to a degree…
I could go on, but download and try this game for yourself. While not perfect by any means, I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised. Because all in all, it feels more like a Sonic game than recent Sonic games. If that makes sense.
Oh, and use a gamepad, it plays like a dream with my MadCatz controller.
Just played a little of it now, it’s pretty awesome for an alpha.
But I have noticed that every 3D Sonic fangame has never actually pinned down how Sonic goes through the shuttle loop. The camera usually has a hard time, but I’m sure it’ll be fixed with time.
@Nomad
I think you make a good point, I’d love to play a Sonic game where I can go wherever I want without it feeling like I’m on rails. I don’t own a gamepad of any kind, I’ll just have to settle with my keyboard if I can actually play with it.
This was okayish
@Everybody loving gamepads: stop abusing me the keyboard fan, OK? You may not like keyboards, but I LOVE them, especially ones having no “too many keys” problem – then I find them better than pads in 95% of cases.
A lot of people will say that “oh fans can make better sonic games then sega”
Just take a quick second to think about this. SEGA is an international corporation that publishes hundreds of games a year. That good fangame mentioned in the article took, what, 11+ years? and thats entire focus on one game, SEGA has to focus on multiple ones and sometimes multiple at the same time, especially with shit like Yakuza and the PlatinumGames games. Even if fans manage to make something better than a SEGA published game, there’s no way that they could keep some kind of timed release. Sorry guys, but after 11 years, the waiting gets boring.
Fan protects have small teams and zero budget and no money to motivate them that’s why these projects take so long to develop.
Does anyone know any decent Blitz levels that aren’t a bunch of loops and islands hovering over a gigantic bottomless pit?
@stan423321
A giant open world physics driven Sonic would play excellent with a mouse and keyboard simply because the mouse makes fast camera movement a non-issue.
lol. I went inside the folders and changed the bitemap files to make a volcano level (2nd level) which I put astroid coaster music in and made my own game title with endless possibilities for the main menu song and the very first level I changed into a mountain level with rocks and stuff and gave it music from explorers of sky and I even changed the level clear theme. I’m gonna get the engine and try to make something like this.
The physics aren’t too bad, the levels are terrible though. Impressive nonetheless.
Physics not bad, but I’d suggest using a invisible cube on the bridges instead of those annoying tubes. (Also, they are not texturized).
Changing directions with Sonic at last is corrected.
Homming attack should at least let you go a bit further, it decreases its speed too fast.
Levels are getting testes I suppose.
When you reach the goal ring, you can perfectly fall into the void.
All the rest is OK I guess.
Ohey, just noticed I was on TSSZ News :v
Note to all who think this is to make a better game than Sega: no, this isn’t the case. This is to make a classic Sonic game in 3D unlike any of Sega’s attempts. Sega can make a way better game than us. That is definite. However we plan on recreating the timeless gameplay from the original titles in a way Sega has never done before. Not saying they attempted and failed, or that they couldn’t do it, but that we’re hitting the mark unlike any previous attempts.
As for the stages, yes, they are bad. But that is only truly because we are using Blitzsonic test stages and not our own. We would have our own stages, but we don’t have enough level layout designers or 3D modelers, so that’s where we are stuck in a rut. I emphasize what Ryan said, where if you have any skills then please do not delay to call me up.
@Cody: Yes, yes. We would love additional layout designers to work with, granted they are familiar with the strong points of the Genesis titles’ level layouts by Yasuhara and have an understanding of open level design. Taking some notes from Jak and Daxter is an additional plus to anyone reading seeing as that was another game Yasuhara lent his talent to.