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31
News and Updates / Sonic 2 HD tech demo released
« on: September 15, 2008, 11:44:44 pm »
If you haven't heard of it, there's been a 'Sonic 2 HD' team at Retro working for awhile to draw up new art and enginery, and they've made their first public release. Here's the forum topic (where you can download it) and a showoff image. Pretty interesting stuff.
32
News and Updates / Poll: The Rankings And You!
« on: September 15, 2008, 08:59:35 pm »
Wide-ranging actions are under consideration! Entire cities will fall into ruin in the ensuing chaos as the fabric of human societies tear apart at the seams! Inquire within.
33
News and Updates / CONFIRMED: Sonic Unleashed a return to form
« on: August 22, 2008, 01:27:14 pm »
There's a new Unleashed preview up on IGN (bear with me), and it's not pretty. They have no issue with the level design or the 2D/3D schizophrenia, but the game failed in the one most cripplingly objective measurement of suck: the frame rate. According to them, the 360 version strives for 30fps in the day levels but more normally ends up batting 15-20, while the night levels struggle to score double digits. If these issues end up making their way to the final product, and I don't see much reason to believe that they won't, then SEGA is delivering us a busted game, I won't be buying it and neither should you.
edit: SJ said it mockingly, but it's worth pointing out that the Wii/PS2 build is completely separate from the 360/PS3 build on display here, so it may or may not be affected by the same problems. (edit: but I'm not holding my breath)
edit: SJ said it mockingly, but it's worth pointing out that the Wii/PS2 build is completely separate from the 360/PS3 build on display here, so it may or may not be affected by the same problems. (edit: but I'm not holding my breath)
34
News and Updates / Sonic 1 Megamix finalized
« on: August 13, 2008, 09:58:28 am »
Check it out check it out check it out.
You'll notice the first couple levels have mostly minor changes, but play through them and some significant improvements start cropping up. Development ended under a cloud of smoke, so it's not quite as polished as a true final release, but it's still worth your time.
You'll notice the first couple levels have mostly minor changes, but play through them and some significant improvements start cropping up. Development ended under a cloud of smoke, so it's not quite as polished as a true final release, but it's still worth your time.
35
News and Updates / CONFIRMED: Slasher Sonic is return to his roots
« on: July 21, 2008, 09:05:37 pm »
The Nintendo Power article on Sonic and the Search for SEGA's Sanity is in the wild, and we can confirm that:
"Each stage has multiple branching paths and searching for townsfolk and treasure chests provides an element of exploration that recalls Sonic’s early Genesis days."
Which means that...
Jul 19 18:56:48 <Rolken> also how many hours to the first "returning to his roots" pr quote!?!
Jul 19 18:57:10 <mike89> returning to his roots? with a sword? I don't think even sega PR could spin that far
Jul 19 18:57:12 <Stefan> 48
...
Jul 21 19:53:38 <Doduo> ”Each stage has multiple branching paths and searching for townsfolk and treasure chests provides an element of exploration that recalls Sonic’s early Genesis days.”
With the final answer clocking in at 48 hours and 56 minutes, Stefan is the winner of the latest TSC contest to determine how much SEGA fails! His prize is a bump in TSC fame and social status and an insertion into SkyL's next fanfic. Give him a round of applause!
edit: Also, to clear up some misunderstanding... we're scheduled to get three primary Sonic games in the next year.
Fall 08 - PS3/360 - Sonic Unleashed on the "Hedgehog Engine"; all the screenshots and videos so far are this version
Fall 08 - PS2/Wii - Unleashed lite, with the same motifs but different level design by Dimps and worse graphics
Spring 09 - Wii - Sonic and the Black Knight, the sequel to Secret Rings with waggle swordplay
"Each stage has multiple branching paths and searching for townsfolk and treasure chests provides an element of exploration that recalls Sonic’s early Genesis days."
Which means that...
Jul 19 18:56:48 <Rolken> also how many hours to the first "returning to his roots" pr quote!?!
Jul 19 18:57:10 <mike89> returning to his roots? with a sword? I don't think even sega PR could spin that far
Jul 19 18:57:12 <Stefan> 48
...
Jul 21 19:53:38 <Doduo> ”Each stage has multiple branching paths and searching for townsfolk and treasure chests provides an element of exploration that recalls Sonic’s early Genesis days.”
With the final answer clocking in at 48 hours and 56 minutes, Stefan is the winner of the latest TSC contest to determine how much SEGA fails! His prize is a bump in TSC fame and social status and an insertion into SkyL's next fanfic. Give him a round of applause!
edit: Also, to clear up some misunderstanding... we're scheduled to get three primary Sonic games in the next year.
Fall 08 - PS3/360 - Sonic Unleashed on the "Hedgehog Engine"; all the screenshots and videos so far are this version
Fall 08 - PS2/Wii - Unleashed lite, with the same motifs but different level design by Dimps and worse graphics
Spring 09 - Wii - Sonic and the Black Knight, the sequel to Secret Rings with waggle swordplay
36
News and Updates / SEGA Strikes Back
« on: July 19, 2008, 06:19:32 pm »
Just when it almost looked like Sonic might be tiptoeing towards a sane direction for a change, SEGA executives noticed his insubordination and enacted their swift retribution. Restrain your emotions, oh downtrodden Sonic fans, as the scourging of our icon is made manifest!
There are no words. I've probably said that before about previous Sonic games, but this time there's even less wordage than there was then. This topic is locked as a memorial to Sonic's dignity; the funeral procession starts here.
UPDATE: My earlier pronouncement of lack of words has been nullified, for words have been found!
<CherryMay> a picture says a thousand words
<CherryMay> and all of them are 'fail' :(
UPDATE2: If there remained any doubt, a SEGA site admin has kindly removed it.
"I can confirm the game is indeed real, however you won't get any info on it from me, you'll have to wait until we post the product page tomorrow [Monday] on SEGA.com and read the Nintendo Power article."
UPDATE3: SEGA.com page and Europe press release: it's a Secret Rings sequel, or as they're apparently now calling it, the "Storybook Series", due out in spring. The game consists of running + swordplay in King Arthur.
There are no words. I've probably said that before about previous Sonic games, but this time there's even less wordage than there was then. This topic is locked as a memorial to Sonic's dignity; the funeral procession starts here.
UPDATE: My earlier pronouncement of lack of words has been nullified, for words have been found!
<CherryMay> a picture says a thousand words
<CherryMay> and all of them are 'fail' :(
UPDATE2: If there remained any doubt, a SEGA site admin has kindly removed it.
"I can confirm the game is indeed real, however you won't get any info on it from me, you'll have to wait until we post the product page tomorrow [Monday] on SEGA.com and read the Nintendo Power article."
UPDATE3: SEGA.com page and Europe press release: it's a Secret Rings sequel, or as they're apparently now calling it, the "Storybook Series", due out in spring. The game consists of running + swordplay in King Arthur.
37
News and Updates / Sonic Unleashed at E3
« on: July 16, 2008, 04:15:23 pm »
Gamespot has a 25 minute video of discussion with a SEGA representative and copious amounts of gameplay demonstration. You can skip the first two minutes if you just want to see the game.
I haven't watched it with sound on, and it's difficult to pass judgment on controls and such with a veteran SEGA rep playing, but the game actually appears to resemble fun. There's plenty of good platforming, Sonic's movement is very clearly not on rails, and unlike previous 3D sonic, all the gameplay is actually under player control. Check it out.
The controls as diagrammed in the video-
A:Jump B:Crouch X:Homing/Boost Bumper:Quickstep
Weresonic has a Vitality bar instead of a ring counter, so rings are treated like health points a-la SA2 mechs. The gameplay looks more like Dynasty Warriors than anything, with Sonic doing lots of weird stretchy arm attacks. The Weresonic stuff starts at 10 minutes in.
I haven't watched it with sound on, and it's difficult to pass judgment on controls and such with a veteran SEGA rep playing, but the game actually appears to resemble fun. There's plenty of good platforming, Sonic's movement is very clearly not on rails, and unlike previous 3D sonic, all the gameplay is actually under player control. Check it out.
The controls as diagrammed in the video-
A:Jump B:Crouch X:Homing/Boost Bumper:Quickstep
Weresonic has a Vitality bar instead of a ring counter, so rings are treated like health points a-la SA2 mechs. The gameplay looks more like Dynasty Warriors than anything, with Sonic doing lots of weird stretchy arm attacks. The Weresonic stuff starts at 10 minutes in.
38
News and Updates / Sonic now *officially* UNLEASHED
« on: April 03, 2008, 12:34:20 pm »
In which SEGA bows to reality.
Most of the stuff is already known. It's confirmed for PS2/Wii/PS3/360, and there's "four new modes" they apparently don't want to tell us about yet. Aside from that, there's seven continents (zones) on the shattered world, you collect emeralds, at night you're combatty wolf Sonic, Christmas 08, 3D / 2D, yadda yadda. Notably, they say it's been under development for three years, though that could mean anything from 100 people cranking out material to some guy musing whether Sonic would make a better vampire or zombie.
edit: A new mostly-the-same-but-some-different-parts trailer.
Most of the stuff is already known. It's confirmed for PS2/Wii/PS3/360, and there's "four new modes" they apparently don't want to tell us about yet. Aside from that, there's seven continents (zones) on the shattered world, you collect emeralds, at night you're combatty wolf Sonic, Christmas 08, 3D / 2D, yadda yadda. Notably, they say it's been under development for three years, though that could mean anything from 100 people cranking out material to some guy musing whether Sonic would make a better vampire or zombie.
edit: A new mostly-the-same-but-some-different-parts trailer.
39
News and Updates / TSC's April Fool is...
« on: April 01, 2008, 12:31:55 pm »
PPA
Feel free to make fun of him :(
Feel free to make fun of him :(
40
News and Updates / WORLD UPENDED
« on: March 22, 2008, 05:35:04 pm »
RIOTS IN THE STREETS
BABIES HAVING BABIES
THE NEW SONIC GAME HAS AN ACTUAL CHANCE OF BEING GOOD
* Become Wolf Sonic and fight enemies like never before using rapid combo maneuvers and Ring Energy
* Play as Sonic, Knuckles or Tails through 12 packed stages
* Extensive 2D gameplay brings the old Sonic back home"
That first bullet point? That's the chance of it being a complete abject disaster.
Apparently false :(
Lots of images! A video! Multiplatform!
Rails! 2D! Day and night ...werewolf cycles! A complete and utter lack of BIG THE CAT or SHADOW THE HEDGEHOG ...hopefully!
(Original post follows)
I swear you cannot make this stuff up. More images of "Sonic Unleashed". Personal response in the next post.
BABIES HAVING BABIES
THE NEW SONIC GAME HAS AN ACTUAL CHANCE OF BEING GOOD
* Play as Sonic, Knuckles or Tails through 12 packed stages
* Extensive 2D gameplay brings the old Sonic back home"
That first bullet point? That's the chance of it being a complete abject disaster.
Apparently false :(
Lots of images! A video! Multiplatform!
Rails! 2D! Day and night ...werewolf cycles! A complete and utter lack of BIG THE CAT or SHADOW THE HEDGEHOG ...hopefully!
(Original post follows)
I swear you cannot make this stuff up. More images of "Sonic Unleashed". Personal response in the next post.
41
News and Updates / Should we add Brawl? [UPDATE: no]
« on: March 18, 2008, 08:24:58 pm »
So like, Brawl is a totally pro game. And there is a lack of pro games at TSC lately. And brawl rankings could be awesome. Do we want awesome brawl rankings? Plz answer this poll. LIVES HANG IN THE BALANCE.
42
Leaderboard Disputes / The mode of operations for LD
« on: March 02, 2008, 09:23:15 pm »
This is a place for establishing the validity of records. It is not a place for throwing chairs. The level of discourse should properly be closer to that of a court of law than Jerry Springer.
Specifically, 'big text', all caps, sarcastic and cynical remarks, flaming, and general drama are counterproductive. If there are issues to be addressed, then they will be better addressed through politeness and facts. Even the venerable "I call BS" requires a certain level of tactfulness in its usage.
Specifically, 'big text', all caps, sarcastic and cynical remarks, flaming, and general drama are counterproductive. If there are issues to be addressed, then they will be better addressed through politeness and facts. Even the venerable "I call BS" requires a certain level of tactfulness in its usage.
43
News and Updates / YouTube videos on TSC
« on: March 02, 2008, 08:59:01 pm »
A YouTube embedded video page has been made, every YouTube link that used to exist in the videos section has been converted to use it, every YouTube link in a stat comment has been converted into a video entry (about 200 total), and every future YouTube link in a stat comment is presently automatically converted into a video upon submission.
The mechanism for obsoleting will probably need to be revisited as a consequence - there's currently 9 SADX Casinopolis Sonic videos. And perhaps not all videos ought to be converted. Thoughts on those subjects are welcomed.
The mechanism for obsoleting will probably need to be revisited as a consequence - there's currently 9 SADX Casinopolis Sonic videos. And perhaps not all videos ought to be converted. Thoughts on those subjects are welcomed.
45
News and Updates / Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity
« on: March 01, 2008, 04:16:33 pm »
Competition rankings are up as of a couple of days ago, through the combined efforts of F-Man, mike89 and ks8. If anybody feels like taking a 100% away from bertin and happens to actually own the game, here's your chance :O
46
News and Updates / Slew of Sonic/SEGA protos released
« on: February 23, 2008, 06:27:38 pm »
1024 prototypes from drx. My understanding is that these were internal Sega of America archives for testing purposes prior to release. The Sonic rundown is...
Game Gear:
7 Sonic Blast
21 Sonic Spinball
2 Triple Trouble (both near-final)
Mega Drive:
7 S&K
5 "S2&K" S&K chip
2 combined S3 + S&K
8 Sonic 3D Blast
8 Sonic 2
Saturn:
Sonic 3D Tech Demo
Sonic R
What will come out of this? Your guess is as good as mine, but a lot of these prototypes are within a week or two of final so stuff like the 8 Sonic 2 prototypes are probably mostly redundant. Here's the Sonic Retro prototype forum, but note that the old S2Beta nazi registration rules apply.
edit: Gerbil put them up on HTTP for those who are torrent-averse.
GerbilEdit: Also note that these prototype ROMs are not allowed for competition on TSC. However, minor revisions, such as Sonic 2 rev00 and Sonic 2 rev01, are allowed. (TUSC may add some of the new prototypes later on.)
Game Gear:
7 Sonic Blast
21 Sonic Spinball
2 Triple Trouble (both near-final)
Mega Drive:
7 S&K
5 "S2&K" S&K chip
2 combined S3 + S&K
8 Sonic 3D Blast
8 Sonic 2
Saturn:
Sonic 3D Tech Demo
Sonic R
What will come out of this? Your guess is as good as mine, but a lot of these prototypes are within a week or two of final so stuff like the 8 Sonic 2 prototypes are probably mostly redundant. Here's the Sonic Retro prototype forum, but note that the old S2Beta nazi registration rules apply.
edit: Gerbil put them up on HTTP for those who are torrent-averse.
GerbilEdit: Also note that these prototype ROMs are not allowed for competition on TSC. However, minor revisions, such as Sonic 2 rev00 and Sonic 2 rev01, are allowed. (TUSC may add some of the new prototypes later on.)
47
News and Updates / More Sonic RPG details
« on: February 16, 2008, 04:56:11 am »
A preview of Sonic RPG is up at IGN, with accompanying new screengrabs. It's not looking too shabby, though the interview is slim on details. And I'm not so sure "Blue Ridge Zone" rings a bell.
IGN seems to be having uptime issues, so if you want to see the screenshots here's the NeoGAF topic.
IGN seems to be having uptime issues, so if you want to see the screenshots here's the NeoGAF topic.
48
News and Updates / Because certain people cannot handle themselves
« on: February 11, 2008, 11:32:18 pm »
Any talk of smash bros is banned in #soniccenter. Period. And because I know there will be complaints at great length about it, I will explain the reasoning again for the umpteenth time.
There were a few individuals who were going to avoid chat in order to avoid spoilers. No, I won't say who they were, It really shouldn't matter who they were; making a point of that would result in either people talking about spoilers "when they're not looking" (however you judge that) or badgering them into relenting and getting the policy undone.
Are secrets in a fighting game trivial? Perhaps. I personally don't understand why anyone cares. But the fact remains that there are those who do, and honoring their desires is such an incredibly simple thing to do but obviously fairly important to them that I find it almost morally offensive that people cannot be bothered to do so.
The general friendliness of the community has taken a huge dive over the past few years, to the point where I can't go into a "hiya folks" topic anymore without seeing people sniping at each other over the most stupid irrelevant stuff. Here I am drawing the line.
For those who aren't swayed by appeals to their human decency, if you insist upon talking about SSBB secrets and can't muster the effort to respect the wishes of your compatriots to the extent of typing /join #smashspoilers, then you will be banned until further notice. Even if you think you're cleverly "avoiding" spoiling the game, because you are not clever and you are not avoiding spoiling.
Any further complaints, comments, etc should be directed to this topic, as I have discussed this far too many times in chat and will not do so again.
There were a few individuals who were going to avoid chat in order to avoid spoilers. No, I won't say who they were, It really shouldn't matter who they were; making a point of that would result in either people talking about spoilers "when they're not looking" (however you judge that) or badgering them into relenting and getting the policy undone.
Are secrets in a fighting game trivial? Perhaps. I personally don't understand why anyone cares. But the fact remains that there are those who do, and honoring their desires is such an incredibly simple thing to do but obviously fairly important to them that I find it almost morally offensive that people cannot be bothered to do so.
The general friendliness of the community has taken a huge dive over the past few years, to the point where I can't go into a "hiya folks" topic anymore without seeing people sniping at each other over the most stupid irrelevant stuff. Here I am drawing the line.
For those who aren't swayed by appeals to their human decency, if you insist upon talking about SSBB secrets and can't muster the effort to respect the wishes of your compatriots to the extent of typing /join #smashspoilers, then you will be banned until further notice. Even if you think you're cleverly "avoiding" spoiling the game, because you are not clever and you are not avoiding spoiling.
Any further complaints, comments, etc should be directed to this topic, as I have discussed this far too many times in chat and will not do so again.
50
News and Updates / You heard it here first
« on: October 10, 2007, 02:13:02 am »
According to IGN's translation of a Japanese game magazine's blog report of the Nintendo fall press conference, Sonic's in Smash and can transform into super form. And also it's delayed to January, at least in Japan. Assuming something wasn't lost in translation along the way, anyway, but it seems reasonable enough.
edit: As noted by PPA, the official site now has confirmation and a video of Sonic pwning.
edit: As noted by PPA, the official site now has confirmation and a video of Sonic pwning.
51
News and Updates / Some things are fixed, some things are broken
« on: September 27, 2007, 06:57:24 pm »
The proper TSC backup is up and submissions are open and all such related things.
On the flipside, the official SEGA SRA rankings are now rendered useless, with an inauspicious 0:00:01 record on the first level (which eventually will show up here; it updates daily). Thanks to Action Replay and our less-than-scrupulous friends on the internet for ruining everyone's fun and aborting TSC's ascendance to mastery of the charts.
edit: A clarification. The 0:00:01s on the SRA rankings are not in themselves a cause for concern, as they're obviously false. Why they matter is as a proof of concept that the AR is an unmitigated force in the rankings, and with it come much more insidious effects - there's codes for "moon jumping" and infinite tension meter, which are much more damaging as it's basically impossible to tell apart a time using those codes and a time by the likes of SkyLights.
sbwsneakyedit: 0:00:01's have been removed effective 10/1 (to my knowledge). They did something right for once???
On the flipside, the official SEGA SRA rankings are now rendered useless, with an inauspicious 0:00:01 record on the first level (which eventually will show up here; it updates daily). Thanks to Action Replay and our less-than-scrupulous friends on the internet for ruining everyone's fun and aborting TSC's ascendance to mastery of the charts.
edit: A clarification. The 0:00:01s on the SRA rankings are not in themselves a cause for concern, as they're obviously false. Why they matter is as a proof of concept that the AR is an unmitigated force in the rankings, and with it come much more insidious effects - there's codes for "moon jumping" and infinite tension meter, which are much more damaging as it's basically impossible to tell apart a time using those codes and a time by the likes of SkyLights.
sbwsneakyedit: 0:00:01's have been removed effective 10/1 (to my knowledge). They did something right for once???
52
News and Updates / New Sonic game stuff
« on: August 22, 2007, 03:55:54 pm »
Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity announced for Wii/PS2 in February. Here's some shots.
The Sonic Rush Adventure site is open, with some music and random other stuff, including confirmation of online rankings.
The Sonic Rush Adventure site is open, with some music and random other stuff, including confirmation of online rankings.
53
News and Updates / Sonic 1 Megamix Public Release
« on: June 30, 2007, 05:45:44 pm »
Version 3.0 of Sonic 1 Megamix has been made public. For those not In the Know, Megamix is basically the best Sonic hack ever made; better than most official releases. Seriously. Tweaker's comments from the Megamix topic follow:
Some highlights from version 3.0:
- All level layouts edited (some complete; others pending)
- Each character now has a unique set of moves (though Sonic and Shadow share homing attack)
- Most levels (not all) have a small intro, ala S3K, where they perform some sort of action when starting the level. i.e, running in from the left.
- Shitload of music edits
- There is now a "preferences" screen, where you can customize certain aspects of the game (suggestions are welcome)
- Cheat codes have been changed - figuring them out will grant you access to a new, special level select (which is a bit buggy - just don't hit left/right on zone selections =P)
- "Original Mode" allows you to play the original levels from Sonic the Hedgehog, using all of the additions from Sonic Megamix (such as bugfixes, moves, preferences, etc). There is also a seperate save slot for a character's original mode.
- Title screen demos have been edited. Credits demos have not.
- Super forms have been added.
- Elemental shields, ala S3K, have been added.
- Credits have been edited; each character has a unique end pose on the ending sequence.
- Various other changes. See the Wiki page for more info.
This is, pending future changes, considered a "complete" release. Future changes are planned, but not assured. More information can be found on the Manual/Wiki page, located here: http://info.sonicretro.org/Sonic_1_Megamix
Comments and suggestions are entirely welcome. Bugfix releases are entirely possible, so if you find what could be considered a vital "bug" (and not, say, an error from using debug mode), it may be fixed in a future bugfix release (though personally I'd like to avoid making too many of these).
So, without further delay, the download link: http://www.fileden.com/files/15774/Sonic%201%20Megamix%20v3.0.zip
Enjoy!
Some highlights from version 3.0:
- All level layouts edited (some complete; others pending)
- Each character now has a unique set of moves (though Sonic and Shadow share homing attack)
- Most levels (not all) have a small intro, ala S3K, where they perform some sort of action when starting the level. i.e, running in from the left.
- Shitload of music edits
- There is now a "preferences" screen, where you can customize certain aspects of the game (suggestions are welcome)
- Cheat codes have been changed - figuring them out will grant you access to a new, special level select (which is a bit buggy - just don't hit left/right on zone selections =P)
- "Original Mode" allows you to play the original levels from Sonic the Hedgehog, using all of the additions from Sonic Megamix (such as bugfixes, moves, preferences, etc). There is also a seperate save slot for a character's original mode.
- Title screen demos have been edited. Credits demos have not.
- Super forms have been added.
- Elemental shields, ala S3K, have been added.
- Credits have been edited; each character has a unique end pose on the ending sequence.
- Various other changes. See the Wiki page for more info.
This is, pending future changes, considered a "complete" release. Future changes are planned, but not assured. More information can be found on the Manual/Wiki page, located here: http://info.sonicretro.org/Sonic_1_Megamix
Comments and suggestions are entirely welcome. Bugfix releases are entirely possible, so if you find what could be considered a vital "bug" (and not, say, an error from using debug mode), it may be fixed in a future bugfix release (though personally I'd like to avoid making too many of these).
So, without further delay, the download link: http://www.fileden.com/files/15774/Sonic%201%20Megamix%20v3.0.zip
Enjoy!
54
General Sonic / MOVED: Sonic RPG On Its Way To DS!!
« on: June 21, 2007, 05:36:50 pm »
This topic has been moved to News and Updates.
http://www.soniccenter.org/forum/index.php?topic=2472.0
http://www.soniccenter.org/forum/index.php?topic=2472.0
55
News and Updates / Sonic Rivals 2 announced
« on: June 21, 2007, 11:35:07 am »
Ladies and gentlemen, start your apathy, cause Sega's revving up for another race on the PSP. All seven of you who bothered with the first one will be excited to experience the fastest Sonic game yet, with more characters, more modes, more cards, and best of all an ALL-NEW STORYLINE! Starting this fall, the fun cannot be halted!
Here's Sega's press release. They link to their press site for pix, but as far as I can tell they haven't bothered to actually put anything up. Oh snap!
Jeux France has some images up. Four shots from two zones; one is quite clearly the landscape imagery from Water Palace in Sonic Rush laid over 3D polygons, and the other is the usual chequered hill setting.
Here's Sega's press release. They link to their press site for pix, but as far as I can tell they haven't bothered to actually put anything up. Oh snap!
Jeux France has some images up. Four shots from two zones; one is quite clearly the landscape imagery from Water Palace in Sonic Rush laid over 3D polygons, and the other is the usual chequered hill setting.
56
Gaming and Grazing / Toulouse (Carcassonne) Tournament
« on: June 16, 2007, 06:21:25 pm »
Time for FUN and GAMES! Toulouse is a game of tile laying, in which you take turns drawing tiles with different combinations of cities, roads and pastures on the sides and play them in the field to get points and WIN. The game's over when all the tiles are laid.
~Base Info~
The Game (registration required, it only wants a user/pass)
The Rules
Expansion Rules
Expansion 2 Rules
Base Tile Distribution
Expansion Tile Distribution
Expansion 2 Tile Distribution
~Tourney Structure~
We're doing round robin: everybody plays each other according to the matchup list, and is ranked first by wins, then second places, and finally top score in a tourney game. The championship match will be a 3 person match among the leaders in which the victor must win twice.
~Matches~
Finished:
Unfinished:
Or grouped by competitor:
~Particulars~
Scheduling matches is up to you. There's no particular match order, so play with whoever you can find. Once we get down to the last few unplayed matches, I'll set a date to finish the rest (probably a week in the future). and then the championship will be arranged. Ties will be scored appropriately as either 1-1-3 or 1-2-2. We're playing with all expansions on, unless everyone in a match can agree on playing with less.
If two competitors are having trouble getting in touch with the third, contact me and he'll probably get third by default. If you schedule a specific time and somebody fails to show up without notice, just play without him after a reasonable amount of leeway time (at least 10-15 minutes) if you don't feel gracious enough to reschedule. If TWO people fail to show up, then they can do a match for second place at some later time.
If somebody's having connection issues, do not play tiles and force a bot to take his turns until he's had a reasonable length of time to try to get his issues worked out. If he continues to have severe problems, it's at your discretion as to whether to allow him the option of a rematch or just let the bot's playing stand (and if he thinks he's got the game in the bag even as a bot, he can opt not to take a rematch).
I think we're all sensible enough folks so hopefully most of this won't be an issue, but it's best to not permit drama the option of arising. Let me know if you think of something I haven't and happy toulousing!
edit: matchup post folded in.
~Base Info~
The Game (registration required, it only wants a user/pass)
The Rules
Expansion Rules
Expansion 2 Rules
Base Tile Distribution
Expansion Tile Distribution
Expansion 2 Tile Distribution
~Tourney Structure~
We're doing round robin: everybody plays each other according to the matchup list, and is ranked first by wins, then second places, and finally top score in a tourney game. The championship match will be a 3 person match among the leaders in which the victor must win twice.
~Matches~
Finished:
Code: [Select]
flyby  CF    mike89
Unfinished:
Code: [Select]
Rolken RPGÂ Â Â flyby
mike89 Waxwings PPA
CF   Upthorn Sondow
Rolken mike89Â Â Upthorn
RPGÂ Â Waxwings CF
flyby PPA   Sondow
Rolken Waxwings Sondow
RPGÂ Â PPAÂ Â Â Upthorn
Rolken PPAÂ Â Â CF
RPGÂ Â mike89Â Â Sondow
flyby Waxwings UpthornOr grouped by competitor:
Code: [Select]
Rolken:  RPG/flyby    mike89/Upthorn  waxwings/Sondow PPA/CF
RPG:    Rolken/flyby   Waxwings/CF   PPA/Upthorn   mike89/Sondow
flyby:   Rolken/RPG    PPA/Sondow    mike89/CF    Waxwings/Upthorn
mike89:  Waxwings/PPA   Rolken/Upthorn  flyby/CF     RPG/Sondow
Waxwings: mike89/PPA    RPG/CF      Rolken/Sondow  flyby/Upthorn
PPA:    mike89/Waxwings flyby/Sondow   RPG/Upthorn   Rolken/CF
CF:    Upthorn/Sondow  RPG/Waxwings   flyby/mike89   Rolken/PPA
Upthorn:  CF/Sondow    Rolken/mike89  RPG/PPA     flyby/Waxwings
Sondow:  CF/Upthorn    flyby/PPA    Rolken/Waxwings RPG/mike89~Particulars~
Scheduling matches is up to you. There's no particular match order, so play with whoever you can find. Once we get down to the last few unplayed matches, I'll set a date to finish the rest (probably a week in the future). and then the championship will be arranged. Ties will be scored appropriately as either 1-1-3 or 1-2-2. We're playing with all expansions on, unless everyone in a match can agree on playing with less.
If two competitors are having trouble getting in touch with the third, contact me and he'll probably get third by default. If you schedule a specific time and somebody fails to show up without notice, just play without him after a reasonable amount of leeway time (at least 10-15 minutes) if you don't feel gracious enough to reschedule. If TWO people fail to show up, then they can do a match for second place at some later time.
If somebody's having connection issues, do not play tiles and force a bot to take his turns until he's had a reasonable length of time to try to get his issues worked out. If he continues to have severe problems, it's at your discretion as to whether to allow him the option of a rematch or just let the bot's playing stand (and if he thinks he's got the game in the bag even as a bot, he can opt not to take a rematch).
I think we're all sensible enough folks so hopefully most of this won't be an issue, but it's best to not permit drama the option of arising. Let me know if you think of something I haven't and happy toulousing!
edit: matchup post folded in.
57
News and Updates / Really this newspost is just an excuse to use that anigif
« on: April 18, 2007, 10:59:40 pm »
Site undergoing surgery; beware of falling beams.
Stardust is being converted to F-Man's CSS doohickie; additionally, Chaos Angel is up, though probably not quite in its final form. Complaints, observations or stuff I've overlooked (particularly in the Stardust styles conversions) will be entertained.
If you haven't seen it or don't visit the forums (shame on you), mike89 and RPG are running their biennial Top Ten, with this iteration's theme ranking the Titanic Tussles of TSC.
Update: So TSC went down for about an hour again, for (I think) the third time in the past couple weeks. Why? Because people program stupid bots that ignore robots.txt and hit the site as much as they can fit through their pipes, TSC has tens of thousands of generated pages, and Gerbil's server quite reasonably isn't beefy enough to handle all that load at once. We've been blacklisting badly behaved bots as they appear, but it seems that there's just too much crappy software out there, so I've put on a user agent whitelist until we can get a more permanent solution.
More different update: I've been notified that the registration button hasn't been working. This has been rectified.
Stardust is being converted to F-Man's CSS doohickie; additionally, Chaos Angel is up, though probably not quite in its final form. Complaints, observations or stuff I've overlooked (particularly in the Stardust styles conversions) will be entertained.
If you haven't seen it or don't visit the forums (shame on you), mike89 and RPG are running their biennial Top Ten, with this iteration's theme ranking the Titanic Tussles of TSC.
Update: So TSC went down for about an hour again, for (I think) the third time in the past couple weeks. Why? Because people program stupid bots that ignore robots.txt and hit the site as much as they can fit through their pipes, TSC has tens of thousands of generated pages, and Gerbil's server quite reasonably isn't beefy enough to handle all that load at once. We've been blacklisting badly behaved bots as they appear, but it seems that there's just too much crappy software out there, so I've put on a user agent whitelist until we can get a more permanent solution.
More different update: I've been notified that the registration button hasn't been working. This has been rectified.
58
News and Updates / Sonic Wind Waker err Rush Adventure is real; screens
« on: April 16, 2007, 12:21:45 pm »
Here's some screenshots. Info in English when I can find it.
Update: SEGA's made a press release, and there're numerous transcriptions of it. It looks to be a takeoff of SSR in aesthetic in the same way Rush was a takeoff of Heroes, with dinosaurs, pirates, skeleton warriors and watercraft making an appearance. It also has online racing and missions through NWFC.
Since SEGA had a falling out with Dimps a year or two ago, this is the first Nintendo portable Sonic game to not be developed by them but rather SEGA Studios, crafter of such fine wares as Sonic06.
edit: not SEGA Studios USA sry
Update: SEGA's made a press release, and there're numerous transcriptions of it. It looks to be a takeoff of SSR in aesthetic in the same way Rush was a takeoff of Heroes, with dinosaurs, pirates, skeleton warriors and watercraft making an appearance. It also has online racing and missions through NWFC.
Since SEGA had a falling out with Dimps a year or two ago, this is the first Nintendo portable Sonic game to not be developed by them but rather SEGA Studios, crafter of such fine wares as Sonic06.
edit: not SEGA Studios USA sry
59
News and Updates / The stuffins are a stuffin
« on: April 14, 2007, 11:18:49 pm »
Subsites are operational. Check out the subsite discussion forum to see what's up, or try TUSC or TMMC directly (the latter isn't yet finished). I think both would appreciate help with skins if anybody has CSS/HTML/graphics knowledge.
Also if you haven't seen it and are interested, take a look at the TSC Convention topic. It may or may not be happening this summer; first we need people to attend and/or a place to stay, probably in the central-eastern US.
Update: TUSC is fit for service.
Also if you haven't seen it and are interested, take a look at the TSC Convention topic. It may or may not be happening this summer; first we need people to attend and/or a place to stay, probably in the central-eastern US.
Update: TUSC is fit for service.
60
Non-Sonic Site Discussion / Site Management Guide
« on: April 13, 2007, 10:10:24 pm »
So subsites have reached a baseline of functionality. RPG, Thorn and MK have adminship of The Unofficial Sonic Center, and Shadow Jacky, sonicam and magnum12 of The MegaMan Center. Any other sites will be created when they work out a plan of attack, and in particular, ks8 needs to pick one of his plethora to start with.
Here I'll explain how the subsite administration tools work. There's several things that you'll have to go through me or maybe SM for at the moment, in particular working out forums, creating skins, writing content pages and altering the menu and directory structure; most of these will eventually be directly alterable.
If you have adminship, you'll see an extra set of links below Site Info.
Ranking creation tools-
Rank Items - Create the various structure of the game (games, categories, levels, divisions)
Rank Charts - Identify which combinations of G/C/L/D are actual ranking charts and how they work
Rank Links - Create connections between charts to generate automatic totals and points
General management-
Rules - Record the competition rules
Updates - Create 'Site Updates' that appear on the front page and under Recent Updates
Dirgen - Refresh the site directory structure after creating/renaming stuff
Source haxing tools (you probably won't need these)-
Function - Run an arbitrary function
Source Check - Determine which files have been edited since the last time you checked
So if you want to rank a game with a TSC-style setup, work as follows.
Go to Rank Items.
- Create the game, eg. "Sonic 1" / "S1" / after "None"
- Create the general categories necessary if they don't exist, ie. "Time" / "Times", and always an "Overall" / "Overall". General categories are site-wide.
- Select your game, and create the game categories; game categories are indications of how a sitewide category applies in one game. Weight is how much each rank counts towards points totals, and absent is how much is piled on for missing stats (or 0 for no total), eg. "Times" / "1.0" / "60000"
- Create each level, ordering them appropriately. Levels are game-wide. You'll also want a "Total" level at the beginning (order after "None") and an "Overall" level at the end. There'll be multiple level processing soon, but for now you have to do them one-by-one :(
- Select each category, and create the respective divisions, which are per game category. For Times, we might have "Sonic" and "Tails", again with "Total" always at the beginning.
- For the special case of "Overall", create the one division of "Overall".
Done with Rank Items, so on to Rank Charts. This is where charts are processed in bulk. Pick a game/category, then specify the chart properties and checkbox every division/level combination that applies. What they do is as follows-
Format: how the stat is displayed.
- Score: straight number
- Second Time: xx:xx
- Centisecond Time: xx:xx:xx
- Millisecond Time: xx:xx:xxx
- Rings: oxxx
- Overall Points: special leadership/championship category
Creation: how the stat is obtained.
- User Submission: The majority of stats; plug it in thru submissions.
- Direct Submission: Stats that are trucked in directly from the game. Nothing uses this yet.
- Automatic Total: self-explanatory
- Automatic Overall: leadership/championships
Now, you'll want to run through the matrix of checkboxes a few times for every combination of various stats. If we were doing SADX times, you'd do stuff like so:
- "Centisecond Time"/"User Submission"/"Asc" and check all the submitted times but Gamma and submit
- "Centisecond Time"/"User Submission"/"Desc" and check Gamma's and submit
- "Centisecond Time"/"Automatic Totals"/"Asc" and check the Total level under Total and every character but Gamma and submit
- "Centisecond Time"/"Automatic Totals"/"Desc" and check Gamma's total only and submit
- "Overall Points"/"Automatic Overall"/"Asc" and check Overall level / Total division only for the leadership
- Repeat similarly for the other categories
- For the Overall category, hit "Overall Points"/"Automatic Overall"/"Asc" check Overall/Overall and submit.
Now that that's done, time for Rank Links to tie together the totals/overalls. Pick a game and a category, and an array of buttons will appear. What those buttons do is as follows-
- Link Level Total: Connect all of a level's charts with the level's total. Only ever used on SSR thus far, and won't work without selecting a level.
- Link Division Total: Connect a division's chart with the division total. Almost always used; you need to pick a division.
- Link Category Total: Connect the level or division totals into the category-wide total. Run after first connecting the divisions, and you don't need this if there's only one division in the category.
- Link Category Points: Connect everything in the selected division into the category leadership.
- Link Game Points: Connect everything in the selected division into the gamewide championship.
So to fully connect everything, you'll want to select each division and hit DivTotal, CatPoints and Game Points, and then CatTotal once for the whole category. You don't have to do anything with the Total divisions, and bear in mind that occasionally you won't want to link up everything, eg. Gamma in SADX.
If you get backtalk trying to link stuff up, that's a sign that you missed something while making rank charts, so go back and make sure all the appropriate totals and overalls actually exist. Once it's linked, write up whatever rules apply and hit dirgen and the game should be ready for business. Submissions require no intervention except to kick out shady users, which CodeGirl handles in IRC for now.
This is all revision 1 stuff, so not all the corners are fully rounded yet. In particular, you'll run into trouble if you go about doubleclicking buttons and not filling in datafields properly or mistakenly adding stuff willynilly. This'll be remedied in the near future, but for now head to chat for help.
Here I'll explain how the subsite administration tools work. There's several things that you'll have to go through me or maybe SM for at the moment, in particular working out forums, creating skins, writing content pages and altering the menu and directory structure; most of these will eventually be directly alterable.
If you have adminship, you'll see an extra set of links below Site Info.
Ranking creation tools-
Rank Items - Create the various structure of the game (games, categories, levels, divisions)
Rank Charts - Identify which combinations of G/C/L/D are actual ranking charts and how they work
Rank Links - Create connections between charts to generate automatic totals and points
General management-
Rules - Record the competition rules
Updates - Create 'Site Updates' that appear on the front page and under Recent Updates
Dirgen - Refresh the site directory structure after creating/renaming stuff
Source haxing tools (you probably won't need these)-
Function - Run an arbitrary function
Source Check - Determine which files have been edited since the last time you checked
So if you want to rank a game with a TSC-style setup, work as follows.
Go to Rank Items.
- Create the game, eg. "Sonic 1" / "S1" / after "None"
- Create the general categories necessary if they don't exist, ie. "Time" / "Times", and always an "Overall" / "Overall". General categories are site-wide.
- Select your game, and create the game categories; game categories are indications of how a sitewide category applies in one game. Weight is how much each rank counts towards points totals, and absent is how much is piled on for missing stats (or 0 for no total), eg. "Times" / "1.0" / "60000"
- Create each level, ordering them appropriately. Levels are game-wide. You'll also want a "Total" level at the beginning (order after "None") and an "Overall" level at the end. There'll be multiple level processing soon, but for now you have to do them one-by-one :(
- Select each category, and create the respective divisions, which are per game category. For Times, we might have "Sonic" and "Tails", again with "Total" always at the beginning.
- For the special case of "Overall", create the one division of "Overall".
Done with Rank Items, so on to Rank Charts. This is where charts are processed in bulk. Pick a game/category, then specify the chart properties and checkbox every division/level combination that applies. What they do is as follows-
Format: how the stat is displayed.
- Score: straight number
- Second Time: xx:xx
- Centisecond Time: xx:xx:xx
- Millisecond Time: xx:xx:xxx
- Rings: oxxx
- Overall Points: special leadership/championship category
Creation: how the stat is obtained.
- User Submission: The majority of stats; plug it in thru submissions.
- Direct Submission: Stats that are trucked in directly from the game. Nothing uses this yet.
- Automatic Total: self-explanatory
- Automatic Overall: leadership/championships
Now, you'll want to run through the matrix of checkboxes a few times for every combination of various stats. If we were doing SADX times, you'd do stuff like so:
- "Centisecond Time"/"User Submission"/"Asc" and check all the submitted times but Gamma and submit
- "Centisecond Time"/"User Submission"/"Desc" and check Gamma's and submit
- "Centisecond Time"/"Automatic Totals"/"Asc" and check the Total level under Total and every character but Gamma and submit
- "Centisecond Time"/"Automatic Totals"/"Desc" and check Gamma's total only and submit
- "Overall Points"/"Automatic Overall"/"Asc" and check Overall level / Total division only for the leadership
- Repeat similarly for the other categories
- For the Overall category, hit "Overall Points"/"Automatic Overall"/"Asc" check Overall/Overall and submit.
Now that that's done, time for Rank Links to tie together the totals/overalls. Pick a game and a category, and an array of buttons will appear. What those buttons do is as follows-
- Link Level Total: Connect all of a level's charts with the level's total. Only ever used on SSR thus far, and won't work without selecting a level.
- Link Division Total: Connect a division's chart with the division total. Almost always used; you need to pick a division.
- Link Category Total: Connect the level or division totals into the category-wide total. Run after first connecting the divisions, and you don't need this if there's only one division in the category.
- Link Category Points: Connect everything in the selected division into the category leadership.
- Link Game Points: Connect everything in the selected division into the gamewide championship.
So to fully connect everything, you'll want to select each division and hit DivTotal, CatPoints and Game Points, and then CatTotal once for the whole category. You don't have to do anything with the Total divisions, and bear in mind that occasionally you won't want to link up everything, eg. Gamma in SADX.
If you get backtalk trying to link stuff up, that's a sign that you missed something while making rank charts, so go back and make sure all the appropriate totals and overalls actually exist. Once it's linked, write up whatever rules apply and hit dirgen and the game should be ready for business. Submissions require no intervention except to kick out shady users, which CodeGirl handles in IRC for now.
This is all revision 1 stuff, so not all the corners are fully rounded yet. In particular, you'll run into trouble if you go about doubleclicking buttons and not filling in datafields properly or mistakenly adding stuff willynilly. This'll be remedied in the near future, but for now head to chat for help.
The Sonic Center v3.9
Copyright 2003-2011 by The Sonic Center Team.