Sonic: TFH June Media Recap (Plus new demo info!) news

I was going to wait and post this on the 27th, marking one month since Sonic: The Fated Hour arrived on Moddb, but then I realized: Hey! It's June 23rd! Today is about as close as you can get to Sonic the Hedgehog having a "birthday"; 17 years ago, the original Sonic the Hedgehog game released on the Sega Genesis. What better day to post an update on what seems to be the only 2D Sonic game on Moddb?

It's been a productive month for me. I've been slowly ticking off items on TFH's "to do" list, unfortunately, however, every time I finish something it seems I add three more things to do! For almost the entire month of June it seems that the "to do" list has been in a constant state of half-completed. What was one month ago a list with 32 items on it with half of them finished has grown in to a list of 73 items, with, again, a little over half of them finished. Whew! In all, I've uploaded three new video files, all from the test level, demonstrating technology, including the Mission System, Sonic's Status Menu, and finally, the most recent video detailing various tweaks and polishing I've been doing. The biggest hurdle for me right now is Sonic's status menu; writing menu code is about the most mind-numbing thing you could do, so I've been stalling on that one. I also uploaded images of character artwork I've drawn that I intended to use in Sonic's status menu but quickly realized it would be covered up by text, so I don't really know where it should go. I'll figure it out. And just now, I'm proud to premier a video introducing everybody's favorite Dragon Ball Z parody, Super Sonic!

Being unable to play as Super Sonic (outside of a single boss encounter at the end of the game) is something that's always aggravated me in recent Sonic games, so with The Fated Hour, I am aiming to rectify that. Expect the usual invincibility and ultra-fast movement speed, but Super Sonic will also feature something brand new to Sonic gameplay, assuming I can find a way to correctly implement it. But I'll be keeping that a secret, for now.

Should I get all the underlying code finally in place sometime in the next decade, I'll be able to move on to the next phase of development - the demo/beta test. This is where you come in! You see, TFH employs lots of totally crazy ideas regarding gameplay - things that haven't really been done in 2D Sonic games before, and, well, I want to know if it all meshes together. Rather than put the game out and have it flop because I misjudged on something, I will be constructing three or so beta-exclusive levels to demonstrate what gameplay in TFH will be like. The beta test will be conducted to determine if I should go forward with my implementation of a Sonic-styled Metroidvania adventure game or if I should pull back and re-think things a bit. Now, you'll notice I've been calling this a beta and not a demo - that's because it will not be public. You will be able to sign up for the beta (please do not send submissions yet, they will be disregarded) and a number of people will be chosen at random to participate. These people will get to view all of Sonic's equips, items, plus the game's bonus features, and will provide feedback to me based on their likes and dislikes concerning gameplay mechanics.

Also on the table is an alternate option for getting in to the beta: Simply put, my PC hardware has been on the fritz as of late. I'm pretty sure it traces back to my video card (GeForce 5200 FX, plugs in to a standard PCI slot), but I've been getting all manner of freezing and bluescreens and it's been steadily increasing as of late. As such, when the beta registration opens, I will also be accepting donations in order to help me buy some better stuff (seeing as I can't even afford a cheap replacement right now, a situation that will probably continue for quite some time) with the idea that everybody who donates will be guaranteed a spot in the beta. I'm just hoping my PC holds together long enough so that I can make it that far - it's to the point where if I don't get new hardware soon, Sonic: TFH probably won't ever get finished. Or at least for a very, very, very long time. Here's hoping enough people care about it that much! If there's enough interest, I might open registration early on the grounds of getting donations before my PC explodes (consider it a form of motivation to work on the game more and harder).

So yeah! That's the June media recap for Sonic: The Fated Hour. Expect more solid details on the beta and what it entails in the coming months, barring my PC bursting in to flames. Thanks for reading!