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Dust Hill Zone (fan game)

From Sonic Retro

Revision as of 13:52, 24 January 2009 by MK (talk | contribs) (fixed title)
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Dust Hill Zone
Latest version: Area 51 Demo
Latest release date: 1999
Engine: The Games Factory
Credits: Jan Abaza

Development History

In 1999, Jan Abaza, founder of Area 51, created a fan game based on the infamous Dust Hill Zone mock-up, often thought to be an in-game screenshot at the time. Only a demo version from 1999 is known to exist.

Gameplay

Yes, the rock is part of the alligator sprite. Oh how we've learned!

The game uses a very simple platforming engine. Sonic has rather high acceleration, so he reaches top speed quickly. Upon pressing the Ctrl key, Sonic will jump. If the Ctrl key is held down, Sonic will continue to hop the moment he hits the ground, however he will not remain in his spin attack form the entire time, and will be vulnerable to enemies.

The level itself consists of 2 acts, both of which consists of sand dunes and rock caves, as gathered from that Dust Hill Zone mock-up. The first slope of sand is a conveyor belt, most likely used to provide an explanation as to why Sonic is so out of place in the mock-up. There are several floating platforms in the stage, however Sonic does not move with them, and can only land on them. He must continually jump to be able to utilize them; this appears to be a limitation in the physics engine. Likewise, Sonic is unable to run up curved slopes; he must jump over them.

There is a single form of enemy in the stage, and that is the alligator badnik that appeared in the mock-up. This was long before we had the full alligator badnik sprite ripped from Sonic 2 Beta, and as such, Jan merely copied what was seen in the mock-up: an alligator head and tail under a rock. If Sonic collides with this badnik while not spinning, he will lose his rings but not be thrown backwards, and the enemy will be destroyed regardless.

At the end of act 1, and the start of act 2, the background is that of the Hidden Palace Zone mock-up, simulating a deep cave environment.

Download

Download.svg Download Dust Hill Zone
File: dhilldem.zip (1.25 MB) (info)
Current version: only known demo build