Difference between revisions of "Sonic X-treme (Project Condor)"

Latest revision as of 18:11, 9 February 2024

Sonic X-treme

System(s): Sega Saturn
Publisher: Sega
Developer: Sega Technical Institute
Genre: Action
Status of prototype(s): Early prototype dumped

Project Condor is an iteration of Sonic X-treme, which came into being after a presentation of the game displeased Sega president Shoichiro Irimajiri. It is a substantial re-write of the game, with lead programmer Ofer Alon being dropped in favour of Christina Coffin, and director Chris Senn also being moved from the project.

A 1996-07-18 prototype is the only known surviving build of this iteration of the game.

Gameplay

"Jade Gully" as it appears in the dumped prototype of Project Condor.

This iteration of the game stems from Christina Coffin's "boss engine", which gave Sonic full 3D movement around a small arena. This engine had been shown in a very early state at E3 1996 and was relatively well received, and while further development added actual bosses, it was not designed for full 3D platforming, as Project Condor would seemingly demand.

Other than a few screenshots, little is known how far this iteration of the game progressed before being cancelled, although the 2D sprites of Sonic were replaced with 3D models, and the scenery became more colourful. It is assumed that some ideas from the original Sonic X-treme carried forward, though as so little of it was set in stone, it is hard to know for sure.

History

Main article: Sonic X-treme/Development#Project Condor

Following Shoichiro Irimajiri's March 1996 tour of Sega of America, in which he expressed his displeasure over the state of the game, all development was moved to Christina Coffin's boss engine, now known as Project Condor. The team was soon streamlined into a core group and began working notably long hours in order to make the game's Christmas 1996 deadline. This would result in the game's lead developers becoming severely ill from overwork, ultimately forcing the game's cancellation around that August.

Screenshots

A shot of Project Condor in action sometime after the 718 build.
Another shot of the Green Hill-esque level, most likely Jade Gully.
The only known screenshot of the Sonic Saturn bonus round Sonic Pool running in X-treme.
An early splash screen created by Ross Harris, confirmed to have not been a working title for the game.^[1]

Production credits

Source: Sonic Xtreme Compendium

References

↑ https://forums.sonicretro.org/index.php?threads%2Fpresenting.7325%2Fpage-4#post-128889 (Wayback Machine: 2023-09-27 00:46)

Sonic X-treme

Main page (Point of View|Project Condor|SonicPC)

Magazine articles

Development
Hidden content

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Levels
Enemies
Prereleases

[https:.2F.2Fweb.archive.org.2Fweb.2F20230927004630.2Fhttps:.2F.2Fforums.sonicretro.org.2Findex.php.3Fthreads.252Fpresenting.7325.252Fpage-4.23post-128889-1] ttps://forums.sonicretro.org/index.php?threads%2Fpresenting.7325%2Fpage-4#post-128889 (Wayback Machine: 2023-09-27 00:46)

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-'''"Project Condor"''' is an iteration of ''[[Sonic X-treme]]'', which came into being after a presentation of the game displeased Sega president [[Hayao Nakayama]]. Project Condor was a substantial re-write of the game, with lead programmer [[Ofer Alon]] being dropped in favour of [[Christina Coffin]], and director [[Chris Senn]] also being moved from the project.
+'''''Project Condor''''' is an iteration of ''[[Sonic X-treme]]'', which came into being after a presentation of the game displeased Sega president [[Shoichiro Irimajiri]]. It is a substantial re-write of the game, with lead programmer [[Ofer Alon]] being dropped in favour of [[Christina Coffin]], and director [[Chris Senn]] also being moved from the project.
-A [[Sonic X-treme (718 prototype)|1997-07-18 prototype]] is the only known surviving build of this iteration of the game.
+A [[Sonic X-treme (718 prototype)|1996-07-18 prototype]] is the only known surviving build of this iteration of the game.
 ==Gameplay==
-[[File:SonicX-tremeJadeGullyEngineTest.png|thumb|"Jade Gully" as it appears in the dumped prototype of Project Condor.]]
+[[File:SonicX-tremeJadeGullyEngineTest.png|thumb|"Jade Gully" as it appears in the dumped prototype of ''Project Condor''.]]
-This iteration of the game stems from Christina Coffin's "boss engine", which gave Sonic full 3D movement around a small arena. This engine had been shown in a very early state at [[sega:E3 1996|E3 1996]] and was relatively well received, and while further development added actual bosses, it was not designed for full 3D platforming, as Project Condor would seemingly demand.
+This iteration of the game stems from Christina Coffin's "boss engine", which gave Sonic full 3D movement around a small arena. This engine had been shown in a very early state at [[sega:E3 1996|E3 1996]] and was relatively well received, and while further development added actual bosses, it was not designed for full 3D platforming, as ''Project Condor'' would seemingly demand.
 Other than a few screenshots, little is known how far this iteration of the game progressed before being cancelled, although the 2D sprites of Sonic were replaced with 3D models, and the scenery became more colourful. It is assumed that some ideas from the original ''Sonic X-treme'' carried forward, though as so little of it was set in stone, it is hard to know for sure.
 ==History==
-In March 1996, a group of representatives from [[sega:Sega of Japan|Sega of Japan]] (including then-president [[Hayao Nakayama]]) visited the [[Sega of America]] branch, expecting to see a presentation of the work done so far to ''Sonic X-treme''. However, confusion (not least because neither Ofer Alon nor Chris Senn were even in the building at the time) led to two presentations, one of a very early build of Ofer's engine on PC, and another of the [[Sonic X-treme (Point Of View)|Point Of View iteration]], itself also early.
+{{MainArticle|Sonic X-treme/Development#Project Condor}}
-While Senn did eventually arrive and try to clear things up, Nakayama was furious, and demanded that game be built on the work provided by Christina Coffin and her boss engine{{intref|Sonic Xtreme FAQ by Chris Senn (2008-12-23)}}{{intref|Mike Wallis interview by PACHUKA}}. With little choice but to follow Nakayama's demands, [[Mike Wallis]] gathered his team and sequestered them away from the politics at the STI headquarters, so they could focus on the project in the hopes of having it done by Christmas.
+Following [[Shoichiro Irimajiri]]'s March 1996 tour of [[Sega of America]], in which he expressed his displeasure over the state of the game, all development was moved to [[Christina Coffin]]'s boss engine, now known as ''Project Condor''. The team was soon streamlined into a core group and began working notably long hours in order to make the game's Christmas 1996 deadline. This would result in the game's lead developers becoming severely ill from overwork, ultimately forcing the game's cancellation around that August.
-Knowing time was not on their side, Wallis turned to then-new CEO of Sega of America [[sega:Bernie Stolar|Bernie Stolar]], asking him for the engine being used for ''[[NiGHTS into Dreams]]'', the ''Sonic X-Treme'' team in desperate need of the development tools within. In a few days, the engine arrived, and for the next two weeks the team became familiar with the engine, thankful they wouldn't have to spend precious time programing elements that were already fully working within ''NiGHTS''. However, development using the engine was forced to cease, Yuji Naka having learned that his work had been taken without his consent. Threatening to quit, Sega bent to Naka's wishes, and the ''X-Treme'' team was forced to start back at square one{{intref|Mike Wallis interview by PACHUKA}}.
-Desperate to make the deadline, programmer Christina Coffin moved into the development headquarters, working almost non-stop, the few hours of sleep being had in a cot within the office. The strain of the project became simply too much, Christina being overtaken with pneumonia in August of 1996. With doctors saying she only had months to live if she kept this up, Coffin was forced to bow out of the development cycle. With its lead programmer out of commission, Mike Wallis was forced to tell management that the game would not be completed in time for Christmas.
-Though the official word was the project had been postponed, those involved knew the game had finally been canceled after years of production. To fill its place, a hastily-done port of ''[[Sonic 3D: Flickies' Island]]'' with enhanced graphics, a new special stage, and redone music was released on the Saturn that year. The advertisement money that was intended for ''X-Treme'' was devoted to Sonic Team's ''NiGHTS into Dreams'', which became the Sega Saturn's top seller that Christmas, the port of ''Flickies' Island'' being second.
 ==Screenshots==
 <gallery>
-SonicXTreme-JadeGully.png|A shot of "Project Condor" in action sometime after the 712 build.
+SonicXTreme-JadeGully.png|A shot of ''Project Condor'' in action sometime after the 718 build.
 SonicXTreme-JadeGully2.png|Another shot of the Green Hill-esque level, most likely Jade Gully.
-SonicXTreme-RedSands.png|An unknown level (possibly [[Red Sands]]) showing off the 3D model of Sonic used at this stage of development.
+SonicXTreme-RedSands.png|The only known screenshot of the ''[[Sonic Saturn]]'' bonus round ''[[Sonic Pool]]'' running in ''X-treme''.
-SonicXTreme-LoadingScreen.png|A loading screen from this build, playing off the idea that this is Sonic's first Saturn outing.
+SonicXTreme-LoadingScreen.png|An early splash screen created by [[Ross Harris]], confirmed to have not been a working title for the game.{{ref|1=https://web.archive.org/web/20230927004630/https://forums.sonicretro.org/index.php?threads%2Fpresenting.7325%2Fpage-4#post-128889}}
 </gallery>