Difference between revisions of "Sonic Stuff Research Group"

Revision as of 21:57, 17 May 2008

Template:Infobox Website The Sonic Stuff Research Group (aka SSRG) has long been considered the birthplace of the Sonic hacking scene. For a short while, its name was changed to the Sonic Game Modification Community (aka SGMC), but this has since been reverted to the original name.

History

Beginnings

The site was initially called Sonic Stuff, or Andy's Hacking Station. Formed in the fall of 1996, this site was actually a subsection of Emulation Zone. Over time, it grew in content and contained a modest collection of Sonic the Hedgehog oddities collected by Andy Wolan and Stealth. The most famous were hidden names found in the title screen of Sonic the Hedgehog and the "Lock-On Technology Guide", the scene's first hacking guide.

As the site grew, so did its popularity. In the fall of 1998, Stealth directed Andy to an interesting site maintained by Andre Dirk with screen shots of a beta version of Sonic 2. After some discussion, Andre agreed to join Sonic Stuff. With the increase in personnel, Andy decided to change the site's name to Sonic Stuff Research Group.

Over time, the site was expanded and was joined by many rising stars in the Sonic community, including Jan Abaza, Saxman, Simon Wai, and numerous others. The site also won numerous awards, including TSSZ's "Best Sonic Site" Emmy for 1999, 2000 and 2001.

A New Maintainer

Andy needed a helping hand with maintaining SSRG. After several candidates tried for it, Saxman was ultimately voted to be the maintainer in September of 1999. Andy and Saxman formed a close alliance and made strives to make SSRG one of the most popular sites in the Sonic community. Indeed, SSRG was a dominant player in community research and ROM hacking.

An Uphill Struggle

In 2001, things started to take a turn. After running Emulation Zone for 5 years, Andy felt it was time tor step aside and move on. Initially, Andy wanted to pass control to Saxman that summer, but for some reason, Saxman was unreachable. Instead, Stealth was named the new successor around September. This decision was questioned by some of the other staffers, who left as a result. In addition, Stealth was involved in numerous arguments on the forums. In 2002, Andy took back control in an attempt to restore order. His intention was to later find a new successor who would not create any new conflicts within the community.

Nevertheless Saxman and Stealth, already having had a sketchy working relationship in the past, grew ever more aggressive toward each other. Saxman wanted to have his Sonic 2 Hacking Guide and Sonic 3K Hacking Guide both taken off of SSRG so they could be exclusives to his Sonic Hacking Community website. Andy and Stealth both ignored the request, with Stealth claiming they were SSRG's property and refused to take them off. Saxman by force using his unrestricted access to the SSRG website took them down himself. Eventually, Andy took down the main page to the Sonic Hacking Community site in retalliation to what Andy felt was an abuse of power. This was ultimately the beginning of the end of SSRG.

The feud went public between Saxman and Andy. This hurt Andy's public image and gave way to an unlikely partnership between Saxman and PACHUKA, whom had defended his one-time foe. The argument shifted from Saxman and Andy, to PACHUKA and Andy. Using slick public appeal to woo people to his side, PACHUKA brought a lot of people against Andy.

The Final Straw

In late 2002 after attempting to get SSRG back on track, Andy decided to give the SSRG to Chaos. Chaos got along much better with PACHUKA than Andy had, and the two were able to form a peace agreement. When Andy heard of this, he came back onto the scene, regained control of the SSRG once more, and banned PACHUKA. However the seemingly endless feud took it's toll on Andy, and on January 23, 2003, Andy shut down the SSRG.

Revival

In April 2003, the SSRG was revived by JohnnyUK and Ultima on the Shadowsoft Games server. They claimed legitimacy as administrators by virtue of appointment by Chaos. During this time, it hosted a variety of ROM mods, utilities and guides, as well as the current incarnations of Secrets of Sonic the Hedgehog and the Sonic Official Art Archive. Aside from use of the name, content from the original SSRG was used only with permission of the original authors. Andy argued that he reserved all rights to do whatever he wished with the site, even after he had turned over control to Chaos. Eventually, Andy later did transfer official ownership of SSRG, but to former SSRG staffer Striker. In November 2005 the Shadowsoft members of the administrative team relinquished control of the site, in order to concentrate on original gaming projects. Control of the site was passed to OrdosAlpha (the current owner), Striker and StephenUK on its own server.

A New Identity

At a certain point in late 2006, StephenUK and OrdosAlpha decided it was time to give the site a new identity. Many names were proposed, including "Sonic Mod Scene" (which was the name for the website for a small period of time), but the decision was ultimately made to change the name to the Sonic Game Modification Community, or SGMC. This new name branded the site and forums for quite a few months. While many protested this change, it seemed to be for the better, as many people who had avoided the site due to its shaky history had now decided to start frequenting the site, embracing its "new start."

In July 2007, the SGMC went down due to hosting issues, and to make things worse, OrdosAlpha's hard drive, which had the only SGMC backup on it (due to his CD burner not working), died. A fresh message board opened on the 10th of August.

Rebranding: "The Good Ol' Days"

On February 28th, 2008, Qjimbo announced himself as the new website maintainer, showing that the site had been rebranded with the SSRG name, and sporting a new website redesign. This was met with mixed views, and particular resistance from Tweaker, who believed this new move was too ambitious and ruining the "calm" feel that the website had.

The website's goal is now stated to try and recreate the "Golden Days" of the SSRG as best as possible, sporting websites such as Sonic Basement, Tom's Hacking Station, and hosting ROM hacking projects such as Sonic: Project Chaos, Sonic - The Lost Land, and Sonic 2 Recreation.

Staff

Current Staff

The current staff team for SSRG consists of:

Former Staff

This short section needs expansion. You can help Sonic Retro by adding to it.

Former staff members of the SSRG, in all incarnations:

Emulation Zone Incarnation

Shadowsoft Incarnation

External Links

@@ Line 33: / Line 33: @@
 ===Revival===
-The SSRG was revived by [[JohnnyUK]] and [[Ultima]] on the [[Shadowsoft Games]] server. They claimed legitimacy as administrators by virtue of appointment by Chaos. Andy argued that he reserved all rights to do whatever he wished with the site, even after he had turned over control to Chaos. Eventually, Andy later did transfer official ownership of SSRG, but to former [[SSRG]] staffer [[Striker]]. As of November 2005 the site is now maintained by [[OrdosAlpha]] (the current owner), [[Striker]] and [[StephenUK]] on its own server. Currently, it hosts a variety of ROM mods, utilities and guides, as well as the current incarnation of [[Secrets of Sonic the Hedgehog]] and the [[Sonic Official Art Archive]].
+In April 2003, the SSRG was revived by [[JohnnyUK]] and [[Ultima]] on the [[Shadowsoft Games]] server. They claimed legitimacy as administrators by virtue of appointment by Chaos. During this time, it hosted a variety of ROM mods, utilities and guides, as well as the current incarnations of [[Secrets of Sonic the Hedgehog]] and the [[Sonic Official Art Archive]]. Aside from use of the name, content from the original SSRG was used only with permission of the original authors. Andy argued that he reserved all rights to do whatever he wished with the site, even after he had turned over control to Chaos. Eventually, Andy later did transfer official ownership of SSRG, but to former [[SSRG]] staffer [[Striker]]. In November 2005 the Shadowsoft members of the administrative team relinquished control of the site, in order to concentrate on original gaming projects. Control of the site was passed to [[OrdosAlpha]] (the current owner), [[Striker]] and [[StephenUK]] on its own server.
 ===A New Identity===