Fan Works, Interview

Retro Spotlight – Sonic Studio


Level creators are nothing new to video games at large, but throughout the long history of the series, Sonic the Hedgehog has only had one level editor officially released. While long since gone, as PlaySEGA itself has been shut down for several years now, those who played it will likely recall a less than stellar recreation of the original Sonic the Hedgehog with some new sprites thrown in for a fairly limited experience. Enter Lapper, a Sonic Retro user who has been working diligently since 2010 to create a more thorough and consistent level creator based on previous Sonic titles on the Genesis dubbed Sonic Studio (formerly known as Sonic Maker.) We took some time to grill Lapper about his project and what we can expect in the future.


Q: There’s a lot of Sonic fan game engines out there, but never something that’s quite as easy to use as Sonic Studio? What was the driving for or inspiration behind it’s inception?

Lapper: I’ve been making level editors ever since I started making anything. Officially, I was originally inspired by the PlaySega Level Creator from back in 2010 where you would place large pre-made tiles down in a grid. I started building editors which followed the tile method. In the end, it wasn’t too special. For a dedicated editor with Sonic to be truly worth while, slopes had to be the core of the creativity. I always knew a method for allowing people to create their own slopes was a … slippery slope. It’s not easy to regulate what someone makes when you aren’t bound to tiles. But for a style of a game such as 2D Sonic, I believe this is a fitting risk. I see this project as a challenge of sorts!
Q: Obviously creating levels is a big part of Sonic Studio, but what other features can you tell us about the game?
Lapper: You can choose characters, zones, decorate, and customise. Everything is pre-made in a sense, but have various attributes you can edit at will. Tilt a bridge, remove that grass, rotate a spring, lengthen that palm tree. It’s not hard to create something unique from what’s provided. Aside from editing, there will be a sharing aspect. I can’t go into specifics in that regard yet as it’s all in progress.

Q: Sonic is notorious for having a difficult to replicate engine, namely in terms of physics. Was it a challenge to nail them down and do they cause any issues when designing levels?
Lapper: That’s a great question because again it all comes down to slopes. The Sonic engine is as accurate as is sensible. It should feel very familiar. This is nice but also gives me a challenge. Users can make whatever level shapes they can think of, and as I’m sure you can imagine the original Sonic engine would easily break if you could throw any shape or corner or tight gap Sonic’s way. While I’ve created an engine that is I’d say 90%+ accurate movement-wise, it does mean that users can indeed make something that will break said engine. There aren’t many ways to prevent it either – perhaps there can be a use to it, who knows! Normal use should be fine however and the engine can handle high speeds very well in general.
Q: The sprite work in this game is absolutely phenomenal! Is there a particular style you’re going after and is this all being done by yourself or do you have others assisting with the art as well?
Lapper: So far it’s just me drawing it all! The style is originally based on Mania, the character shading methods certainly are. As for all such as backgrounds and tiles, I decided I’d ignore the constraints that the original games and some of the redone levels in Mania adhere to, and (for example) have distant mountains faded, overlap parallax, add designs never seen before into level tiles. I have fun with it, really. Tiles have to be altered slightly and added to in order to make them interesting in a flat user-created polygon, so that’s another factor!

Q: Studio’s big claim to fame obviously is being an easy to use level creator, but can we look forward to creating bosses at all? Or will there be some preset options to choose one of Eggman’s many contraptions from the past?
Lapper: Bosses are for sure a thing! Boss or Endpost, you can finish your level in style. The best way to picture it is to imagine an arena at the end of the stage where certain elements can be added or combined. I wonder what that Eggmobile would also be useful for…
Q: Speaking of bosses, what can we expect for enemies? And like we talked about with Sonic’s movement, have the enemies presented any challenges with getting them to respect how platforms are placed and making sure they move properly?
Lapper: Enemies simply spawn around where they are placed, and you can designate a home size for them to patrol (if they move like that). If the enemy falls and de-spawns it can spawn back, if you destroy it then it’s not so lucky and you free the animal. You can also combine elements like enemies and certain other hazards in interesting ways. These are the kinds of things that are currently being worked on.

Q: Sounds like there’s going to be a lot of ways for players to make their own levels unique! Will we expect any way to put in custom music or sprites or are those engine specific?
Lapper: I’ve had this question by many, it’s best I make it clear! Custom assets aren’t something that would be a part of SS. The aim of SS is to be simple. Here are your playthings, use them! The end user would get SS expecting at least the level of style shown so far, imagine they then open a level and are greeted to “Dinosaur the Hedgehog” in MSPaint world. Can sound fun at first glance, however, some upheld consistency in art and music will be appreciated long term. Adding assets would bring SS from a neatly packaged game to a new version of Game Maker for Sonic games… and that’s not the goal at all, those sorts of things already exist in some ways anyway. Particularly with the sharing aspect it’s best to have some level of predictability with what to expect in level content, mixed with general simplicity of such a feature. Custom assets would get very confusing very quickly, both locally and not. Finally, the fun ways you can customise and combine objects wouldn’t be possible if there was a feature to ‘program’ your own. The fun comes from the ease of use with so many options, not ambiguous and extremely complex (but limitless) ones. That’s what Game Maker is for. This wouldn’t be expected anywhere else but with Sonic’s massive fangame+modding community I can see why it is.

Q: And coming to music, we haven’t heard a ton quite yet from Studio. Should folks looking forward to the game expect remixes from the original games or something new? And like the art, is that also something you’re tackling personally or are you getting some help?
Lapper: Music is still being decided. I’m not musically talented so I should sure hope I’m not trying my hand at it! There will be others helping with both the sharing aspect and music.

Q: As odd of a question as this might be, what control options should those interested look forward to? Using a mouse for level editing is a given, but can we expect X-input or any kind of joystick support?
Lapper: There is joypad support for the gameplay, I feel it is necessary! The editor and menus are navigated with mouse clicks and keyboard combos, however.
Q: We’ve seen Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles all as playable characters. Is there any chance of others being added, say post release or are we sticking mainly with the original trio?
Lapper: For now, it’s the main trio and they are the focus – but I cannot speak for the future! I’d love to see more characters added with careful consideration.
Q: And we just have to ask… anything new to show us?
Lapper: I have some exclusive screen-shots! A work in progress title screen and level menu.


Q: Anything else you’d like to let the fine folks reading know? Perhaps where to find you or keep tabs on Sonic Studio?
Lapper: For sure! Frequent updates go up on @SonicStudioProj on Twitter, and more behind the scenes on @LapperDev (Shameless plug: I’m a freelance game artist, shoot a Message my way). All the major updates will be on YouTube first! Finally, nothing shown is final or even exhaustive. There is much more to see – and much more to yet be added!
Hey! If you or someone you know has a project that you’d like to see feature on the Retro Spotlight, hit us up on Twitter or Facebook, or drop us a line on the forums!

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51 Comments

  • Reply

    It has slopes. This is already better than Mario Maker.

    • Reply

      What’s a good Sonic game without slopes?

    • Reply

      Super Mario Maker 2!!!!! has slopes.SEGA.

    • Reply

      mario maker 2 has slopes.

    • Reply

      It’s Sonic. It was already better than Mario Maker to begin with.

  • Reply

    I’m absolutely loving the project so far! Also nice to see some new confirmed stages! Hyped for Mushroom Hill Zone! I Must… Have It… Now!

  • Reply

    What about the sprites for sonic and the others

    • Reply

      Guess I have Sonic for LEGO Dimensions along the way.

  • Reply

    WOW! An actual Sonic Maker? I never heard of this! Thats really interesting tho. I wish the Sonic editors we have these days were as intuitive and fun as this looks.

  • Reply

    Impressive… but can you import enemies and graphics? I would like to remake some of the 8-bit Sonic games, since they don’t get as much love as the Genesis masterpieces.

    • Reply

      That’s touched upon on the article, it will not support imported art or music.

      • Reply

        Is there a download link? It looks pretty cool!

      • Reply

        How do I download this? There’s no link

      • Reply

        Its not ended, its in construction sadly 🙁

  • Reply

    does it has any releases?

  • Reply

    I like it. This should be a great fan game.

  • Reply

    Exciting

  • Reply

    I’m a bit let down that I can’t do my own graphics or music.
    I did not realize at first that this was basically Mario Maker with Sonic..
    I was hoping it was more like RPG Maker in which I could easily make my own game..
    Not a big fan of the Super Mario Maker approach a lot of people keep taking.
    Thankfully there is something coming out folks might not know about and is touting the ability to make sonic like games called Pixel Game Maker MV.
    It’s got a page up on steam already if anyone is curious.

  • Reply

    good game

  • Reply

    cross-platform? or only runs inside MS-windows?

  • Reply

    I like its idea! It looks like it can be finished when music and sound comes!

  • Reply

    I like it! looks like it will be done when it has sound!

  • Reply

    I don’t know why I said it twice.

  • Reply

    lIKE e

  • Reply

    Nice

  • Reply

    were is the download i would dowload it if i can

  • Reply

    i Really need this, I Cannot Stop Thinking When I Will Be Able To Play!

  • Reply

    Hey SEGA! This isn’t fair that we did not get Sonic Maker… Hire @LapperDev!

  • Reply

    I am so exited that i am exiting myself to death i need to wait til it comes out! Keep up the good work
    LapperDev!

  • Reply

    Can you make rising water and lava?

  • Reply

    Is there a way to download now?

  • Reply

    Is there a way to download now? I want to have it…

  • Reply

    How do I download THIS?

    • Reply

      I don’t know

  • Reply

    I want to download it how do you?

    • Reply

      Eu posso criar fan games?

    • Reply

      It’s not finished yet. There is no download yet for that reason.

  • Reply

    Hey, where can I download it?

  • Reply

    Hey, will I be able to export level layouts? I’m making a fangame and don’t want to have to make them pixel by pixel.

  • Reply

    please please please give us download lonk

  • Reply

    Saga Make a Sonic Maker.

  • Reply

    this game is a masterpiece

  • Reply

    how do you downlod this ???

  • Reply

    GIVE SONIC STUDIO

  • Reply

    games start
    mania
    games
    plus

  • Reply

    eu acho que não tem download

  • Reply

    new

  • Reply

    Its Been 6 years… PLEASE LET US HAVE A EARLY RELEASE!!!

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