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{{Fangame
 
{{Fangame
| screen=Nexustitle.PNG|The Sonic Nexus Title Graphic
+
| screen=NexusTitle.png|The Sonic Nexus Title Graphic
| screenwidth=321px
+
| screenwidth=320px
| version=SAGE 2007 Demo
+
| version=Summer 2008 Demo
 
| date=8/7/07
 
| date=8/7/07
| engine=[[Sonic Worlds]], C++ engine to be revealed at SAGE 2008
+
| engine=[[Retro Sonic]]
| credits=[[Slingerland]], [[Damizean]], [[DimensionWarped]]
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| credits=[[Slingerland]], [[The Taxman]], [[Hunter Bridges]]
 
}}
 
}}
  
'''''Sonic Nexus''''' is a game being created by Nexus Team, headed by [[Slingerland]] of [[SFGHQ]]. At SAGE 2006, he acquired two more team members in [[Damizean]] and [[DimensionWarped]], also of [[SFGHQ]]. The game currently uses [[Multimedia Fusion]] for its engine, dubbed [[Sonic Worlds]], but will be switching to C++ in the future. The game began development in the summer of 2006 and has had two demo releases, both at the [[Sonic Amateur Gaming Expo]]. It is a critically acclaimed fangame, garnering comments such as, "absolute perfection of the classic Sonic style" from SAGE visitors.  The character lineup will consist of Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles.
+
'''''Sonic Nexus''''' was a game being created by Nexus Team, headed by [[Slingerland]]. At SAGE 2006, he acquired two more team members in [[Damizean]] and [[DimensionWarped]], also of [[SFGHQ]]. The game currently uses the [[Retro Sonic]] engine by [[The Taxman]]. The game began development in the summer of 2006 and had three demo releases, two at the [[Sonic Amateur Games Expo]] and one during the summer of 2008. It is a critically acclaimed fangame, garnering comments such as, "absolute perfection of the classic Sonic style" from SAGE visitors and various tech blogs.  The character lineup consisted  of Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles.
  
Nexus was originally created from Damizean's "360 Engine v2.0" created in Multimedia Fusion 1.5 by [[Slingerland]], with assistance by [[Damizean]] to point him in the right direction.  The first demo was created in the 3 days prior to the 2006 [[Sonic Amateur Gaming Expo]]. After the successful, inital showing at SAGE 2006, DimensionWarped and Damizean became full time members and the project took on a much larger scope.
+
In 2011, [[The Taxman]] announced that in early 2010 the merged game ''Retro Sonic XG'' merged with ''[[Sonic Nexus]],'' forming the newly merged title ''[[Retro Sonic Nexus]]''. Most of the levels from Nexus were added to the game with the XG style. Some levels unfortunately didn't make the cut to be in the merged game due to similar levels being in each game.
  
Damizean and DimensionWarped are currently the lead programmers and Slingerland is the project's director, concept artist, background artist and level designer.  The three all contribute to the game's background art.  The music is provided by Hunter Bridges, known as Sage/hRook on [[SFGHQ]]. Ryan Cordel, a spriter, joined Nexus Team in 2007 and he began revamping finished graphics and creating new backgrounds and badniks.  TRD of [[SFGHQ]] also worked on badniks in 2007, but has since left the team.  In late 2007, [http://rgxsupersonic.deviantart.com/ RgxSuperSonic] was recruited to do the intro and outro cutscenes in flash.
+
==Nexus Team==
 +
Core Members
 +
* [[Slingerland]]: Director, Producer, Level Designer, Level Graphics, Concept Artist
 +
* [[The Taxman]]: Developer of the [[Retro Sonic]] Engine, Lead Programmer, Level and Character Graphics
 +
* [[Hunter Bridges]]: Composer, Lead Programmer, Webmaster
 +
* [[RGXSuperSonic]]: Flash Animator, Artist
 +
Contributing Members
 +
* [[Damizean]]: Level and Character Graphics, 2007 Demo Lead Programmer
 +
* Patrick Long ("Boz"): Concept Artist
 +
* [[Tweaker]]: Genesis Music Mixer
 +
* The ParadoXx: Level Graphics
  
==2008 Development Updates==
+
Former Members
*'''January 1st:''' Progress on the C++ engine continues into the new year.
+
* [[DimensionWarped]]: Lead Programmer, 2007 Demo
*'''February 15th:''' Nexus is put on hold until the end of the U.S. college school year.  The team member's schedules are too busy to be working on the project at this time.
 
*'''May 10th:''' Work continues after a 3-month hiatus.  The engine is nearing completion
 
*'''June 22nd:''' Level editor completed, engine very close to being complete as well.  Programming in certain areas, such as level gimmicks, still needs to be ironed out.
 
*'''July 2nd:''' Level editor interface being tweaked for ease of use.  Magma Monoliths re-design in the works - ground tiles completed.
 
*'''July 13th:''' A "note" has been added to the soundtrack section of this page.  The "planned levels" section has been updated and expanded with more information.  Development wise, the layout of Act 1 of the SAGE 2008 demo zone (to be announced) is finished and awaits springs, badniks, gimmicks, etc.  Development on Act 2 has begun, as the grid paper map is being placed piece by piece into the level editor.
 
*'''July 28th:''' Various bits of scenery, like trees, bushes, and flowers have been completed and put in both acts.  Object scripting on act 1 is underway.  Act 2s layout is almost complete and will enter object scripting immediately upon completion.  Everything is still running on schedule with the beta ready for play the week before SAGE (August 13, specifically).  The beta will be given to a select few people to beta test.  These beta test positions have already been filled.
 
  
==Planned Levels==
+
==Development History==
*Sunset Shore
+
Sonic Nexus’ development began in August of 2006 as a one-act demo at the 2006 Sonic Amateur Games Expo. The original demo was created in Multimedia Fusion 1.5 in the 360 v2.0 Sonic engine by Damizean. It featured the second zone of the game, Cosmic Chaos, a casino paradise. Nexus was originally created by one man, [[Slingerland]], someone with aspirations of creating his own game akin to his all-time favorite, Sonic CD. With the help of [[Damizean]], to fully maximize the potential of the engine, Nexus’ 2006 demo was a smashing success and, according to some, it became the face of the Sonic fangaming community.
The obligatory tropical paradise first zone.  This level is planned to have an actual sunset occur during the player's journey.  The level is a rib at Blue Frenzy's long-delayed "Sonic Frenzy Adventure," as it uses a similar zig-zaggy pattern in the foreground. The level features the traditional array of tubes, loops, breakable walls/ground, bridges. However, new gimmicks take center stage in the form of a parachute and a zip-line.
+
 
*Cosmic Chaos
+
Slingerland’s original intention for the 2006 demo was to wrangle a new programmer to help ease the development curve and to incorporate the more complicated concepts. [[DimensionWarped]] joined the team during SAGE 2006 to fulfill this vacancy and they both started working immediately, adding Sunset Shore to the completed Cosmic Chaos. They released a Christmas demo, Sonic NeXmas, to show that progress was still being made. This demo was the first time [[Hunter Bridges]], the game’s composer, worked on the project, creating Christmas remixes of Sonic 2 songs. Work in this engine continued into 2007. However, Damizean was nearing completion of his Multimedia Fusion 2 engine, [[Sonic Worlds]], an engine used by a majority of fangamers today, and change was on the horizon.
A .  This zone was the first level shown to the public at SAGE 2006 and was an instant hit. The zone features flippers, wall running, slots, bumpers, roulette wheels (not in SAGE 06 demo), and high speed sections. The art is a combination of Blue Frenzy's "Neon City" custom background library and the beta version of Casino Night Zone with minor tweaks and neon signs by Slingerland. The level's foreground has undergone a face-lift, rather than using a infinitely repeating amount of orange blocks.  New casino elements arise in Cosmic Chaos now, such as a roulette wheel and a deck of cards that creates new paths.
+
 
*Magma Monoliths
+
With the first build of Sonic Worlds in their hands, Slingerland, DimensionWarped, and Damizean went to work on the SAGE 2007 demo. Due to the annoyingly large number of projects that show off their “green tropical paradise” zone, Slingerland decided to go an alternate route. This detour involved flexing graphical muscle and complex platforming in Nexus’ water level, Pristine Palisade. Regardless of the general consensus that the “water levels suck,” the team pushed forward. The hang-up this year was that Slingerand was directing SAGE that year, so pulling double duty put even more stress on the team. However, the demo was finally released and was named “Best in Show” (co-winner via tie total score) by a panel of judges at SAGE, while enduring a lot of complaining and comparisons from many players.
The obligatory lava level. The level is currently in a basic state, but currently features pushable blocks floating over lava (a la [[Marble Zone]]). The level was created by [[Rael0505]] of [[SFGHQ]]. The zone has been revamped, with the foreground being completed just recentlyTherefore, the screenshot of the level below is obsolete.
+
 
*Beaming Bridge
+
Pristine Palisade illustrated the shortcomings of Multimedia Fusion 2. Lack of object management, resulting in horrendous lag for low-end computers, was the main factor. Contributing was MMF2s programming, which was not satisfactory, according to the duo of DimensionWarped and Damizean. MMF2s workspace was an issue throughout the second demo’s development. The project was too much for this Clickteam program to handle and it was announced that Nexus would move to a new engine to be written from the ground up. A few months into this new engine’s development, Damizean asked [[The Taxman]], who is responsible for a famous, C based fangame, [[Retro Sonic]], for assistance. Damizean simply wanted to use a build of Retro Sonic (pre-[[Sonic XG]] merger) as a base and point of reference for the foundation of the new engine, but after challenges adapting to this code, Taxman instead offered to further enhance the current XG build of the Retro-Sonic engine for Nexus. The result is Retro-Sonic 2008, a 2D engine now capable of completely custom gamesDuring the development on the new RSDK, [[RGXSuperSonic]] was recruited to make the intro and outro cutscenes for the game.
A Genesis revamping of Bridge Zone, from the Game Gear version of Sonic 1, with many improvementsNo gimmicks or features have been announced at this time.
+
 
*Dusky Deposit
+
After missing SAGE 2008 due to an extensive development time, as the new RSDK had to be re-built from the ground up, the 2008 Nexus demo released on Labor Day (September 2, 2008) to much praise and acclamationThe game has since been featured on many blogs and popular websites, such as [http://www.racketboy.com racketboy].
Formerly known as "Misty Mine," this zone features mine carts, drills, and everything you would expect to be in a mine. The level is being created by SkyLights, a quality spriter featured at The Spriter's Resource.
+
 
*Pristine Palisade
+
Due to professional endeavors by the core members of the team, production was put on hold and the development blog disappeared.  Many wondered what had happened to the project.  After a long hiatus, The Taxman announced in 2011 that the game had been merged with [[Sonic XG]] and [[Retro Sonic]] to form [[Retro Sonic Nexus]].
The obligatory water level.  This zone was on display at SAGE 2007 and helped Nexus garner "Best in Show" honors.  The level is a tribute to Aqua Lake, from the Game Gear version of Sonic 2. The level features swinging platforms, bubble lifts, crank-operated doors, and various aquatic gimmicks. The teleport gimmick is noteworthy, for it transports the player into an Atlantis-like world, leagues under the sea.  The level is blocky and platform-heavy, akin to Labyrinth Zone and Tidal Tempest, and thus, it lacks loops and curves.
+
 
*Angelic Airway
+
==Gameplay==
Formerly known as "Aerial Acreage."  The art has not been revealed for this stage at this point in time, but currently, it is a hybrid of Sky Chase and a traditional Sonic level, in that not only will Sonic be riding on Tails' Tornado plane, but he will be dropped off occasionally to defeat badniks in a city in the sky.
+
Sonic Nexus was classic Sonic in its finest form, an untarnished retro reboot without a homing attack or grind rail to be found. The classic Sonic experience is recaptured through its revolutionary new build of Retro Sonic, created by [[The Taxman]].
*Wicked Works
+
 
The art has not been revealed for this stage at this point in time, but currently, it is Robotnik's base set inside a rustic clock tower. The gimmicks are similar to what you have seen in past factory zones, but a "portal" gimmick sets this zone away from the pack.
+
Rather than simply duplicating the classic formula, Nexus introduces a few tweaks to it. The most notable are the new level-specific gimmicks that make their Sonic debut. While still re-introducing tried and true elements of previous Sonic titles, Sonic will have new gimmicks to interact with.
 +
 
 +
New shields, including the elemental shields from Sonic the Hedgehog 3, make their appearance as apart of a level-specific shields feature. In a given zone, there are a few different shields, but one will be best suited in a particular zone. These new shields are specially designed to interact with the surrounding environment and help Sonic find all the routes that a zone presents to him.
 +
 
 +
==Story==
 +
Dr. Robotnik is back and this time, he is putting everything on the line! Using the scrap metal left over from his previous, failed attempts to destroy Sonic’s world, Robotnik builds a titanic clock tower in his image. Sonic the Hedgehog springs into action upon gazing at this technological monstrosity. Dr. Robotnik has been developing a paralyzing creation inside that clock tower and he vows to release it once the clock strikes a certain time. Will Robotnik stop Sonic from reaching the Egg Clock or can Sonic stop the ticking terror before the last bell tolls?
  
 
==Screenshot Gallery==
 
==Screenshot Gallery==
 
<gallery>
 
<gallery>
 
Image:SunsetShore.png|Sunset Shore
 
Image:SunsetShore.png|Sunset Shore
Image:cczscreen.png|Cosmic Chaos (OLD 2006 screen)
 
Image:mmzscreen.png|Magma Monoliths
 
Image:bbzscreen.png|Beaming Bridge
 
Image:ddzscreen.png|Dusky Deposit
 
Image:ppzscreen.png|Pristine Palisade
 
Image:Opening_cutscene.JPG|Opening Cutscene
 
 
</gallery>
 
</gallery>
  
==Original Soundtrack==
+
==Christmas Spin-Off==
Nexus' soundtrack is composed by Hunter Bridges (a.k.a. Sage/hRook at [[SFGHQ]]).  Some tracks feature his fellow bandmates from his band, [http://myspace.com/rikerout Riker Out].  The following are 30-second mp3 samples of the completed tracks:
+
Sonic NeXmas is a one-zone mini-game that was released every holiday season by the Nexus team.  On Christmas Day of 2006, the old engine, created in Multimedia Fusion 1.5 by [[Damizean]], played host to a holiday-themed version of Emerald Hill.  The Christmas remixes of the Emerald Hill and Sonic 2 boss music were done by Nexus' composer, Hunter Bridges.  The boss, which was rather rushed, was quickly sprited by Aerosol of [[SFGHQ]] and was programmed by DimensionWarped.
*[http://www.soundmage.com/bluelazor/SonNex.mp3 Main Theme]
 
*[http://www.soundmage.com/bluelazor/PPZ.mp3 Pristine Palisade]
 
*[http://www.soundmage.com/bluelazor/DDZ.mp3 Dusky Deposit]
 
*[http://www.soundmage.com/bluelazor/MMZ.mp3 Magma Monoliths]
 
*[http://www.soundmage.com/bluelazor/NexInvin.mp3 Invincibility]
 
*[http://www.soundmage.com/bluelazor/NexWTF.mp3 Track TBD]
 
 
 
NOTE: Brand new, remastered versions of all the previous songs will be released at SAGE 2008, in addition to new songs.
 
 
 
==Christmas Spin-Off Series==
 
Sonic NeXmas is a one-zone mini-game that is released every holiday season by the Nexus team.  On Christmas Day of 2006, the old engine, created in Multimedia Fusion 1.5 by [[Damizean]], played host to a holiday-themed version of Emerald Hill.  The Christmas remixes of the Emerald Hill and Sonic 2 boss music were done by Nexus' composer, Hunter Bridges.  The boss, which was rather rushed, was quickly sprited by Aerosol of [[SFGHQ]] and was programmed by DimensionWarped.
 
 
 
Sonic NeXmas 2007 was not released due to the creation of the new C++ engine and the fact that Slingerland's computer exploded.  It will probably surface in July as an electronic store-esque "Christmas in July" release.
 
  
 
==Accolades==
 
==Accolades==
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==Downloads==
 
==Downloads==
{{download|version=SAGE 2007 Demo|file=SonicNexus07.rar|filesize=4.96MB}}
+
{{download|version=Summer 2008 Demo for PC|file=Nexus2008PC.zip|filesize=8.21MB}}
 
===Prior Versions===
 
===Prior Versions===
* [[Media:SonicNexus06.rar|SAGE 2006 Demo]] (6.82MB, released 8/21/06)
+
* {{file|SonicNexus07.rar|SAGE 2007 Demo}} (4.96 MB, released 8/10/07)
* [[Media:SonicNeXmas.rar|Christmas 2006 Demo]] (6.21MB, released 12/25/06)
+
* {{file|SonicNexus06.rar|SAGE 2006 Demo}} (6.82MB, released 8/21/06)
 
+
* {{file|SonicNeXmas.rar|Christmas 2006 Demo}} (6.21MB, released 12/25/06)
  
 
==External links==
 
==External links==
*[http://www.soundmage.com/bluelazor/sonicnexus.html Sonic Nexus Homepage]
+
*[http://nexus.hrook.net Sonic Nexus Homepage]
*[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a02ZZLQr8mM Sonic Nexus on YouTube]
 
  
[[Category: Fan Games]]
+
[[Category:Fan games]]

Revision as of 15:58, 23 January 2012

NexusTitle.png
Sonic Nexus
Latest version: Summer 2008 Demo
Latest release date: 8/7/07
Engine: Retro Sonic
Credits: Slingerland, The Taxman, Hunter Bridges

Sonic Nexus was a game being created by Nexus Team, headed by Slingerland. At SAGE 2006, he acquired two more team members in Damizean and DimensionWarped, also of SFGHQ. The game currently uses the Retro Sonic engine by The Taxman. The game began development in the summer of 2006 and had three demo releases, two at the Sonic Amateur Games Expo and one during the summer of 2008. It is a critically acclaimed fangame, garnering comments such as, "absolute perfection of the classic Sonic style" from SAGE visitors and various tech blogs. The character lineup consisted of Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles.

In 2011, The Taxman announced that in early 2010 the merged game Retro Sonic XG merged with Sonic Nexus, forming the newly merged title Retro Sonic Nexus. Most of the levels from Nexus were added to the game with the XG style. Some levels unfortunately didn't make the cut to be in the merged game due to similar levels being in each game.

Nexus Team

Core Members

Contributing Members

  • Damizean: Level and Character Graphics, 2007 Demo Lead Programmer
  • Patrick Long ("Boz"): Concept Artist
  • Tweaker: Genesis Music Mixer
  • The ParadoXx: Level Graphics

Former Members

Development History

Sonic Nexus’ development began in August of 2006 as a one-act demo at the 2006 Sonic Amateur Games Expo. The original demo was created in Multimedia Fusion 1.5 in the 360 v2.0 Sonic engine by Damizean. It featured the second zone of the game, Cosmic Chaos, a casino paradise. Nexus was originally created by one man, Slingerland, someone with aspirations of creating his own game akin to his all-time favorite, Sonic CD. With the help of Damizean, to fully maximize the potential of the engine, Nexus’ 2006 demo was a smashing success and, according to some, it became the face of the Sonic fangaming community.

Slingerland’s original intention for the 2006 demo was to wrangle a new programmer to help ease the development curve and to incorporate the more complicated concepts. DimensionWarped joined the team during SAGE 2006 to fulfill this vacancy and they both started working immediately, adding Sunset Shore to the completed Cosmic Chaos. They released a Christmas demo, Sonic NeXmas, to show that progress was still being made. This demo was the first time Hunter Bridges, the game’s composer, worked on the project, creating Christmas remixes of Sonic 2 songs. Work in this engine continued into 2007. However, Damizean was nearing completion of his Multimedia Fusion 2 engine, Sonic Worlds, an engine used by a majority of fangamers today, and change was on the horizon.

With the first build of Sonic Worlds in their hands, Slingerland, DimensionWarped, and Damizean went to work on the SAGE 2007 demo. Due to the annoyingly large number of projects that show off their “green tropical paradise” zone, Slingerland decided to go an alternate route. This detour involved flexing graphical muscle and complex platforming in Nexus’ water level, Pristine Palisade. Regardless of the general consensus that the “water levels suck,” the team pushed forward. The hang-up this year was that Slingerand was directing SAGE that year, so pulling double duty put even more stress on the team. However, the demo was finally released and was named “Best in Show” (co-winner via tie total score) by a panel of judges at SAGE, while enduring a lot of complaining and comparisons from many players.

Pristine Palisade illustrated the shortcomings of Multimedia Fusion 2. Lack of object management, resulting in horrendous lag for low-end computers, was the main factor. Contributing was MMF2s programming, which was not satisfactory, according to the duo of DimensionWarped and Damizean. MMF2s workspace was an issue throughout the second demo’s development. The project was too much for this Clickteam program to handle and it was announced that Nexus would move to a new engine to be written from the ground up. A few months into this new engine’s development, Damizean asked The Taxman, who is responsible for a famous, C based fangame, Retro Sonic, for assistance. Damizean simply wanted to use a build of Retro Sonic (pre-Sonic XG merger) as a base and point of reference for the foundation of the new engine, but after challenges adapting to this code, Taxman instead offered to further enhance the current XG build of the Retro-Sonic engine for Nexus. The result is Retro-Sonic 2008, a 2D engine now capable of completely custom games. During the development on the new RSDK, RGXSuperSonic was recruited to make the intro and outro cutscenes for the game.

After missing SAGE 2008 due to an extensive development time, as the new RSDK had to be re-built from the ground up, the 2008 Nexus demo released on Labor Day (September 2, 2008) to much praise and acclamation. The game has since been featured on many blogs and popular websites, such as racketboy.

Due to professional endeavors by the core members of the team, production was put on hold and the development blog disappeared. Many wondered what had happened to the project. After a long hiatus, The Taxman announced in 2011 that the game had been merged with Sonic XG and Retro Sonic to form Retro Sonic Nexus.

Gameplay

Sonic Nexus was classic Sonic in its finest form, an untarnished retro reboot without a homing attack or grind rail to be found. The classic Sonic experience is recaptured through its revolutionary new build of Retro Sonic, created by The Taxman.

Rather than simply duplicating the classic formula, Nexus introduces a few tweaks to it. The most notable are the new level-specific gimmicks that make their Sonic debut. While still re-introducing tried and true elements of previous Sonic titles, Sonic will have new gimmicks to interact with.

New shields, including the elemental shields from Sonic the Hedgehog 3, make their appearance as apart of a level-specific shields feature. In a given zone, there are a few different shields, but one will be best suited in a particular zone. These new shields are specially designed to interact with the surrounding environment and help Sonic find all the routes that a zone presents to him.

Story

Dr. Robotnik is back and this time, he is putting everything on the line! Using the scrap metal left over from his previous, failed attempts to destroy Sonic’s world, Robotnik builds a titanic clock tower in his image. Sonic the Hedgehog springs into action upon gazing at this technological monstrosity. Dr. Robotnik has been developing a paralyzing creation inside that clock tower and he vows to release it once the clock strikes a certain time. Will Robotnik stop Sonic from reaching the Egg Clock or can Sonic stop the ticking terror before the last bell tolls?

Screenshot Gallery

Christmas Spin-Off

Sonic NeXmas is a one-zone mini-game that was released every holiday season by the Nexus team. On Christmas Day of 2006, the old engine, created in Multimedia Fusion 1.5 by Damizean, played host to a holiday-themed version of Emerald Hill. The Christmas remixes of the Emerald Hill and Sonic 2 boss music were done by Nexus' composer, Hunter Bridges. The boss, which was rather rushed, was quickly sprited by Aerosol of SFGHQ and was programmed by DimensionWarped.

Accolades

  • SAGE 2006: Best in Show runner-up
  • SAGE 2007: Best in Show (tied 1st)
  • Sonic Site Awards 2006: "Fangame of the Year" nomination
  • Sonic Site Awards 2007: "Fangame of the Year" nomination
  • Sonic Site Awards 2007: "Best Music" nomination

Downloads

Download.svg Download Sonic Nexus
File: Nexus2008PC.zip (8.21 MB) (info)
Current version: Summer 2008 Demo for PC

Prior Versions

External links