If you’ve been looking up what the hell is up with Sonic Megamix, you might have noticed that there’s a leaked “5.0” build out there. Because of it getting more popular, Stealth and the team have decided to just put it out there themselves. They don’t recommend anyone to actually play it though, because this build is unfinished, buggy and very outdated. You can find Stealth’s complete post about this after the jump along with a download link to build “5.0a”. Just be sure to read his post before you consider downloading it.
If you want a glimpse of the current build, Stealth also released a new video of it which can be seen above.
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Community, Fan Works, Hacking, Podcasts, Site News
UPDATED: SEGA Channel Retro Presents Sonic Hacking Contest Special at 6PM Central
SEGA Channel Retro is reporting live from the Sonic Hacking Contest starting at 6PM Central. For our stream we’ll be checking out mods for Sonic Generations and Sonic Adventure DX in a three hour special.
Now available on YouTube you can check out each mod that was made for Sonic Generations and Sonic Adventure DX in a convenient playlist.
- Uncut [Twitch – Part 1, Part 2]
- Unleashed Project DLC Demo (Sonic Generations) [YouTube] [Download Mod]
- Mystic Cave Zone (Sonic Generations) [YouTube] [Download Mod]
- Sonic Adventure Generations (Sonic Generations) [YouTube] [Download Mod]
- Sonic World Adventure Packs (Spagonia) (Sonic Generations) [YouTube] [Download Mod]
- Sonic World Adventure Packs (Chun-Nan) (Sonic Generations) [YouTube] [Download Mod]
- Mushroom Zone (Sonic Adventure DX) [YouTube] [Download Mod]
- Ghost Mod (Sonic Adventure DX) [YouTube] [Download Mod]
- AutoDemo Levels (Sonic Adventure DX) [YouTube] [Download Mod]
- Graphics Overhaul Mod (Sonic Generations) [YouTube] [Download Mod]
- STH2006 Mod (Sonic Generations) [YouTube] [Download Mod]
Has it already been a year? We and SSRG are teaming up once again for the annual Sonic Hacking Contest, where talented fans work on creating their own game hacks. Now, this may make some people think that it will be nothing but the usual MegaDrive game hacks, but the contest also features Sonic Generations and Sonic Adventure DX edits among others.
New to this round is the introduction of Team entrants, which allows multiple users to be credited together for a work instead of last year’s single representative. Teams can consist of Retro members, SSRG members, or a mix of both.
As always, you’ll need a Sonic Retro or SSRG account to log in and actually vote for which title you feel best deserves an award from many categories. Downloading, however, is free to the public. Who knows, maybe these works can inspire some of you to take a stab at it next year, especially with the many tools Generations hacking has.
You’re still reading this? Get over to the site already!
Community, Fan Works, Hacking, Podcasts, Site News
SEGA Channel Retro: Windy Valley Mod for SADX, Featuring CorvidDude
The live show is already over, but you can check out the archived stream above as well as more content below!
This week’s live show on SEGA Channel Retro is a tour through the Windy Valley Beta Mod that was released recently for Sonic Adventure DX. We’ll also have CorvidDude, the author of the mod bringing his insight on restoring the level from the AutoDemo.
If you want to check out the mod for yourself, you can hop over to CorvidDude’s YouTube channel and check the links in the description of this video.
I’m joined by Overlord, GeneHF and OverlyEquippedin our little venture as we also check out the latest Sonic title, Sonic Jump Fever as well as catch up with Sonic Dash with Andronic. Also say hello to me as I try to roll eggs with Billy Hatcher in SEGA Superstars. Finally I take a blind look at Atlus and ACE Team’s latest offering, Abyss Odyssey.
Sonic Adventure DX: Windy Valley Restoration Mod with CorvidDude [Twitch] [YouTube]
Sonic Jump Fever, Sonic Dash, SEGA Superstars [Twitch]
Abyss Odyssey [Twitch] [YouTube]
Community, Fan Works, Game News, Game Secrets, Hacking, Site News
Windy Valley Beta Restoration Released for Sonic Adventure DX PC (2004)
Back in 1998, our first glimpse of Sonic Adventure showed what would be the first true 3D experience with Sonic and friends. After the game’s release, the level we were told was Windy Valley was nowhere to be found in the final game, instead having been completely reworked before hitting store shelves. Even though shots of the original design were used to advertise the GameCube rerelease Sonic Adventure DX, the original look and feel of Windy Valley became one of the holy grails for Sonic enthusiasts interested in the development process.
After the retrieval of the AutoDemo, work has been performed by several people including many dedicated members of the Retro community, who have pooled their efforts to get these stages back up and running. Finally, after fifteen years we can witness this one of a kind experience with a mod for the 2004 PC edition of Sonic Adventure DX, with a fully playable beta version of Windy Valley. With recreated graphics and fully functioning camera angles, CorvidDude wants you to jump over to his YouTube video for more information as well as instructions on how to download and install the mod. Special thanks go to CorvidDude, MainMemory, ItsEasyActually, Catley, Melpontro, and many more who were involved with this project.
[Source: YouTube]
Sonic Retro and Sonic Stuff Research Group team up once again to bring you the Sonic Hacking Contest 2014. The competition for all ROM hacks, mods and more based on our favorite blue blur. Entries are now being accepted on the website and can be accessed by logging in with either a Retro or SSRG forum account. Our resident Cinossu breaks it down on our forums with whats new for this year.
“Like last year, everything is handled on-site and you can log in with your Sonic Retro forum account to get started. More information is on the site itself, including instructions on what to do, how to do it, etc.
The biggest addition this year is Teams, which can be set up from the new “Teams” section. They can be a mix of both Retro and SSRG members, and allow credit to be on all members of the team as well as allow any member to modify and set up entries for the whole team.
As always, enjoy. If any issues, bugs, etc. are found, just let us know either in here, the SSRG thread equivalent, or in the comments of the news post on the site itself.”
The deadline for entries is on July 31st, 2014. If you’re not interested in participating, you will eventually get to see the entries that are made publicly available, or look at entries from years prior. Head on over to the website itself for more information!
Ready, Set, Procrastinate!
[Source: Sonic Hacking Contest 2014 – Sonic Retro Forums]
Almost a year ago to the day, Sonic Retro forum member Orengefox shared with the world the discovery of two prototypes for Sonic Adventure and its sequel. While to the untrained eye the Sonic Adventure AutoDemo might not have seemed all that special, we here at Retro know better, our elite crack team of technologically-inclined persons more than excited to tear apart reams of code to find the secret caramel-filled goodness hiding underneath.
Indeed, it wasn’t long before all sorts of secrets were uncovered, including earlier versions of Ice Cap and Speed Highway’s “At Dawn” segment. But the deepest, most enticing artifact uncovered was the level architecture from a far earlier version of Windy Valley. Unlike the previously mentioned levels, the prototype Valley couldn’t easily be turned on, what was there full of pointers directed towards a build much earlier than what the AutoDemo used. While other people would get frustrated and walk away, I already stated above how excitable our crack team can get. It was only a matter of time before someone figured out the next step, with Retro Researcher evilhamwizard putting the pieces together, importing the third segment of Windy Valley into the PC version of Sonic Adventure DX:
More after the jump.
SEGA Channel Retro presents a showcase of fan-driven projects regarding classic SEGA favorites as well as a vintage PC shooter making it’s debut on the SEGA Genesis. Today Bartman3010 checks out Ecco the Dolphin PC retooled for modern platforms by a key member from Caverns of Hope, GASEGA68K’s port of Wolfenstein 3D to the Mega Drive as well as finishing up our sporadic playthrough of Sonic the Hedgehog 3 with Sonic 3 Complete made by members of Sonic Retro. If you are reading this, the feed should be live very shortly.
You can check out the archived stream in it’s entirety on Twitch here as well as view the videos on YouTube if you prefer. If you want to play any of these for yourself, the links will be listed below.
Uncut Stream [Twitch]
Ecco the Dolphin: Fixed and Enhanced Edition [YouTube] [Twitch] [Download Game]
Wolfenstein 3D on Mega Drive/Genesis [YouTube] [Twitch] [Download Game]
Sonic 3 Complete [YouTube] [Twitch] [Download Game]
Sonic 1 OmoChao Edition [YouTube] [Twitch] [Download Game]
Community, Fan Works, Game News, Hacking, Humor, Music, Podcasts, Sega Retro, Site News
Monday Links: Bartman’s Phantasy Star Online 1 Check-In Edition
Oh dear, I got stuck with the Monday Links this week. You know that new Sonic game that everyone is talking about? Yes. No? Well, theres still not much to talk about, or Sonic Boom, or much of anything Sonic lately, and you probably don’t want to talk about sports either. In fact I’ve been busy messing around Phantasy Star Online despite being over 14 years too late, and I haven’t moved on to Phantasy Star Online 2. Why? It was something I had missed out on when it came out for the Drreamcast and Gamecube. Since I had broadband adapters for each, and my curiosity in private servers piqued, I wanted to take a look to see what I had missed.
The game’s aesthetics and gameplay structure were the main reason for me wanting to look back at this outdated RPG, because it used a theme thoat most RPGs have not tried to work with, and most would follow the large, open world that World of Warcraft popularized. In fact several of them had an identity crisis to the point that you’d think the developers just wanted to get away with making World of Warcraft. But not Phantasy Star Online, a game that took Sega’s established RPG series and not only gave it a multiplayer component but emphasized real-time action where you are actively engaged in battle, and avoiding damage and looking for enemy weakpoints requires creative strategy. This is probably the best non-Sonic game from Sonic Team, at least in my eyes. You’re still not going to be won over by the story, and it is absolutely difficult for newcomers to find others to play with online, but it certainly reached a technical marvel and helped kickstart a genre to what was popularized by its successors. Theres also fun to be had by playing the game Single Player, but the social element definitely makes up half the game through social interaction, item trading, and planning with your teammates on what to do.
My only handicap that I am personally following is to play this game as blind as possible. I’m not going to bother with item duping, I know Force classes are utterly broken, and I don’t want to consult a wiki to generate the best possible outcome for my character(s). I want to try to match my experience with the game similar to how others played the game back when it came out. Its incredible how the evolution of game design and social interaction has changed the way we play the game, and for a game like Phantasy Star Online, the experience does not match with a modern massive multiplayer environment. But to get the most out of the game, its best to look at why the game had it’s strengths in the first place. Its not entirely possible, and I do want to try and avoid the technical hurdles the game has, because there’s nothing quite like it out there. I want to see about doing an annual check in with the game as well as have more video podcasts with people who played the game before sharing their experiences. Because honestly? I truly regret letting it pass by me, even with the paid subscription fees involved.
Now, lets take a look at the headlines for Monday.
Retro/Bits News
- Barry the Nomad and Shigs talk with GameSpot Editor Peter Brown reminiscing on all things SEGA. [Swingin’ Report Show #54]
- Ben wrote an editorial on how Sonic should remain true to himself while branching out. [Sonic Lost Identity?]
- You can check out the PSO Adventures on our YouTube Playlist and on Twitch [Tales from Ragol]
- I was also part of another stream with three other people and we defeated Dark Falz [Jay’s Gaming and RetroGaming Stream]
- Wait. What happened to Vidya Retro? In a joint effort with SEGAbits, we renamed it to SEGA Channel Retro. [That Logo is Pretty Nice, Barry]
Sonic/SEGA Stuff
- On 2/2/2014 was the 20th anniversary of Sonic the Hedgehog 3. [You’re Old]
- Retro user MarkyJester releases another Sonic 1 ROM hack titled Ring Ride 3. [Fill Sonic with Lead]
- Jazz Jackrabbit 1 mod Sonic With a Gun by VioletCLM releases on Feburary 23rd [I Miss the Jazz Days]
- Relic Entertainment and Creative Assembly Fight to the Death in Counter Strike [Relic’s Victory is Similar to the Super Bowl]
- Akira Yuki was officially revealed as the next statuette in the SEGA All-Stars line [First 4 Figures]
The other site staff wanted me to put this video in this week’s Monday Links. Considering the content of the video, I’d like to apologize on everyone’s behalf for putting it here. I’m sorry. I’m so, so very sorry.
Retro/Bits News
- Guess Who reviewed the 3DS version of Sonic Lost World and greatly regrets doing so [Review]
- Missed some of our Vidya Retro streams? Catch up on some [Highlights]
- A new version of Sonic Worlds Delta has been released for MMF2/Fusion 2.5 [The Barrel Update]
- The fifth release of Sonic ERaZor is here [Yup, that still exists]
- My Life with SEGA has released a sequel to The Next Level [No Limits]
- The winner of the SEGAbits Summer of Art/Season of Colors contest has been revealed [Ryo Hazuki would want it]
Sonic/SEGA News
- SEGA announced a new Alien game, this one being a survival horror title called Alien: Isolation [Spooky scary]
- Rhythm Thief, a 3DS game barely anyone knew about, is now available on iOS. [MICROTRANSACTIONS YAY]