Game Development:Sonic Adventure

From Sonic Retro

Saturn Development

According to a Retro Gamer Magazine Article Sonic World, an extra on Sonic Jam, was a prototype version of Sonic Adventure. This was also revealed in the trivia section of the Sonic Advance 2 strategy guide.

Spielwarenmesse Nürnberges Concept Art

At the 1999 Spielwarenmesse Nürnberges, also known as the Nürnberg International Toy Fair, Sega provided a Dreamcast digital press kit for attendees. The kit included concept models, character sketches and concept art for Sonic Adventure, which was set to release in the West later that year. Included below are the images provided on the disc for the game. To view any of the images at full size, simply click on the image.

Character Concept Models

The following are early models for various characters in Sonic Adventure. Many of the joints in each model are improperly connected, and as such, can be seen plainly.

Model	Description
	Sonic model sheet
	Tails model sheet. The stiffness of the tails seems to indicate this was an early test model.
	Knuckles model sheet
	Amy model sheet
	E-102 model sheet. Note that some of the poses are missing Gamma's aimer, which covers his eye when about to shoot.
	Big model sheet
	Echidna Tribe models

Character Sketches

Sonic sketch showing the Sonic Adventure style. The notes on the picture detail how the torso works.	A basic "how-to" sketch showing the construction of Sonic's head.	Sketch highlighting various changes made to Knuckles and Amy in their new Sonic Adventure designs.	Drawing showing the height differences between the main four characters.
Concept art for Big. Looking at this, it looks like they originally were trying to make him look like the cat-like figure seen in Miyazaki's Japanese animated features.	Some concept artwork of E-102 Gamma, showing that at one point he had a very different look to him. Here he looks much more like the Eggrobo, and some other images show that he once had a lump on the back of his head, and his arms were attached to the black part of his body.	Early concept sketch of Eggman. This seems to be something of a transitional period for the character, as his face and body structure is reminiscent of the final Sonic Adventure design, though he is wearing the classic outfit seen in pre-1998 artwork. He is also missing his goggles, aside from one head sketch on the right.

Mystic Ruins Sketches

Mystic Ruins at night--Sonic seems to be holding a torch. NiGHTS can be seen in the moon.

Egg Carrier Sketches

Here's a quick original sketch of the Egg Carrier done on some graph paper.	Some more, cleaner sketches of the final Egg Carrier design.	It looks like the Egg Carrier had a very different design at one point, almost looking like the Submarine from Disney's 'Atlantis'. There's another sketch to look like an EggTrain as well.	Some closer to final sketches with some colour. This also shows off the second mode as a sketch.
This is a painting of the cockpit of Eggman's Egg Carrier. It's very similar to the final design except for the dimples in the glass, which you can't see in the game.	Here are the walls inside the Egg Carrier. The painting makes it look more darker and mysterious, and seems to be much larger than the final, like a huge corridor rather than a main room.	Here's an image of the monorail surrounding the Egg Carrier. The Eggman face in the very back looks like it has a Viking hat on, and is coloured very differently.	Here is a sketchy painting of the Egg Carrier in it's first form. It uses a lot more yellows than the final, making it look more sinister.

Miscellaneous Concept Models

The Tornado

The Tornado II, plane mode

The Tornado II, second mode

Egg Carrier

Promotional Screenshots

These screenshots taken of the game before its release were given to the media to use for promotional purposes. Some of these images are notable for their lack of a HUD. The following are images with notable findings.

High-resolution shot taken from the opening cutscene	Hidden HUD	Hidden HUD	Hidden HUD
Hidden HUD	Hidden HUD	Hidden HUD	Hidden HUD
Hidden HUD		Hidden HUD	High-resolution shot
		Hidden HUD	Hidden HUD
In the final game, Tails is restricted from this area of the Egg Carrier