posted March 15, 2006 07:12 PM              

It would be interesting though if we could do this, but then we would be risking thousands of dollars on something he might not even release (think about it, if it was easy to piss him off by removing a watermark, then what if something else were to happen during the time period?). So in the end, he could be stealing all our money, but that would be half good half bad if we could do this.

But then again, for a small tech demo? I can probably imagine the price range of about $5-$15.

posted March 15, 2006 07:15 PM            

I'm working on some cool stuff to share with you guys... so you decide what I spend my time doing... hunting through the forums looking for bickering and disrespect? ...or finishing fun stuff to share...

More disrespect in this thread gets it locked.

(thanks to those who have tried to keep their cool, stay light-hearted and humorous)

posted March 15, 2006 09:02 PM              

Growing up, "Sonic" became a near obsession for me... I don't know what it was, but I absolutely loved the games. I got my Genesis late (christmas 94), but had friends with one from the beginning. I quickly snapped up the available Sonic games at the time, and kept my eyes peeled for future games to come. A friend of mine got the Playstation when it came out, and we played it here and there; but when I started seeing things for Saturn, I would have killed to get one. (in the meantime, I scored a 32x for Knuckles' Chaotix and Sega CD for Sonic CD).
When X-Treme was first announced, it was almost literally my life... I jumped from one magazine to the next at the news-stands, drooling over screenshots. I followed the progress, and the setbacks; hearing that it had been delayed a bit for a later release and such... The prospect of the game fueled my desire to get a Saturn, it perpetuated my rampant fanboyism of everything Sonic, it consumed me. When it was finally canned, I was devastated... whether you can believe it or not, it's true. Sonic 3D Blast was released in it's place, and I picked up the Genesis version on launch-day. I enjoy the game, it's another favorite, but it's no exception for Xtreme.

After having drooled over Xtreme for so long, and being exposed to other Saturn titles, I still managed to get one for christmas in 97... it was on clearance and on its way out.... I have a rather large library of very unique and wonderful games, but they're all things I've had to enjoy on my own due to acquiring them after the machine's death, in a society that could never appreciate it. In the past 5 years, each Saturn game I've gotten has been a silent little victory as I acuire one more tiny piece of something I associate to my childhood. All the furor over the Saturn and the games for it I've played have since made it my favorite platform.

The only, ONLY, video game dream I've ever had in my life was one about Sonic Xtreme... I had found it in a store in a mall, it was finished, it was complete. I got home to play it, I opened it up, I fired up my saturn and there it was. In my dream, Sonic started on a beach; the camera was far from the coast and zoomed in gradually as he ran up the sand and toward the trees, it came through the top leaves and then the gameplay just started from there. That's a very vague recollection of it, but it was so real... the excitement, the anticipation... I actualy woke up and thought I had it for a second.

The BS that has happened over Xtreme was also a lot of politics, and I think it was the first of many signs toward Sega's downfall. Especially the arrogance of the Japanese parent branch... hating Sega of America, despising the work that STI did on "Sonic"... .. that's all a rant for someplace else.

...and t his was even a rather long post (suppose it would have been better suited for the introduction forum).

posted March 15, 2006 10:20 PM            

Thank you, AG Wolf... that was quite an introduction and an interesting story. In all honesty, maybe we could incorporate your dream into Project S... (sounds cool)

On behalf of everyone who worked their butts off to try and bring Sonic Xtreme to fruition, I thank you. I also want to thank everyone else who has expressed their appreciation for what I'm trying to do. If I was in contact with more original members, I'd encourage them to share, too. Perhaps that will happen in the future... because you can be sure that although I have shared a lot, and there is still a lot more to come - these are mostly materials I created... so imagine the work of 6 or so people... and 1-3 year's worth each!!!

For some what I'm doing might seem like "work" - rummaging through boxes looking for documents, post-its... napkins... searching for shreds of ideas scribbled on them... in the margins... dusting off VHS videotapes on their last leg of life... old amiga files some of which I've been able to recover... then taking all that and trying to organize materials that span year's worth of development... and looking at it for the first time in a decade. I can assure you that it's all worth the effort, though, and having someone like you extend appreciation makes it all the more worth it. I'm sharing this stuff for you and the rest of the community... it's fun for me for nostalgic purposes, and definitely rekindles my imagination about things "Sonic Xtreme"... but it's more fun to see it rewarding people who want to experience it - to learn, to take part and to pay some hommage to what they consider "buried treasure."

posted March 16, 2006 10:04 AM              

Glad to hear that the "engine test" wasn't really anything to soil one's pants about, saves a lot of pining, doesn't it. =P

Now... it's time to discuss some of the finer things in life. Things everyone can enjoy, no one will disagree with, and pertain to the topic at hand.

Like monkeys. *lol*

posted March 16, 2006 03:27 PM            

Hehe, well I'm going to try to stay on topic instead of talking about monkeys, but I hope that I don't offend anyone by saying all this. I just think everyone deserves an explanation for my actions.

A few months ago, I was like you going, "Omfg X-treme beta!!!" Then I realized, what if the Sonic X-treme beta were to be released? Well... the sad conclusion I came to was that the essence of Sonic X-treme would become dead.

Ever wanted something so bad, but then you finally got it, and it just didn't feel the same any more? At first you were joyous and glad, but as time passed, the thing you yearned for became a thing collecting dust.
I for one don't want X-treme to turn out like this.

Just look at how many people were drooling at the Chris Coffin beta and screaming, "Give me! Give me!" They don't realize though that if they got it, what would actually happen is that they would play the level, move around a little, and say, "Sooo that's it?"
After that, there wouldn't be a reason to care about Sonic X-treme. The game and the people connected to it would become has-beens. Sonic X-treme would just be another copied cd in the collection, and I just can't allow that.

Everytime a supposed beta release is announced, I get a gut wrenching feeling.
Many point out the Sonic 2 Beta and how long it survived, but Chris has confirmed that all beta CDs had nothing more than one test level. So people are majorily going to judge X-treme by that, totally incomplete work, and nothing more.

So whenever someone says, "Wouldn't be fun if the Sonic X-treme beta were to be released?"
I say, "Isn't it pretty to think so?"

Just like Jay Gatsby in the book Great Gatsby, many people have formed this perfect version of X-treme in their minds, but I just worry what will happen if the actual beta is released, and it doesn't match that dream like version of Sonic X-treme that many people have in their minds. Won't dreams be shattered?

posted March 16, 2006 03:42 PM            

SANiK, I feel ya mang... but a few thoughts of my own: If Sonic Xtreme and the interest in it can be so easily killed, it seems hardly worth all this interest... doesn't it?

Take Indiana Jones, for example... he finds the golden idol... but to do it, he braves spears and stones and all sorts of deadly things just to get to the idol... and once he finally makes it, he gets the object of his desire.

If he didn't have to go through all that work to get it, and he could pick it up in a local supermarket, would it be as special? It's hard to say - maybe he really really loves gold and a hunk of gold that big will be exciting no matter how hard or easy it is to acquire.

With Sonic Xtreme, there is so much material and much of it is open-ended in the sense that to actually complete the game, so many more decisions would need to be made in order to tie everything together and make it work - that any beta version(s) played couldn't possibly kill the interest in seeing or playing the game... no one thing shared is going to say "SONIC XTREME"... some things, of course, can say it louder than others (I have my own opinions of what it should have been and find it easy to point out what would have worked together for the final product - especially considering I have a decade of time to mull over it all!)... but a single beta of shallow gameplay would never represent Sonic Xtreme to me. But then, I can't speak for you, now can I?

EDIT: SANiK - I'm sure some dreams would be shattered, but then in every earthquake some windows will break...

cheese007 - There were definitely tests and levels with gameplay you can clearly see... and keep your shoes on, because you'll see them sooner than you think!

posted March 16, 2006 03:57 PM            

cheese007 - Also, where did Assembler refer to a PC beta?

kurisu - How many people were there that had the PC beta? That's what I'm worried about being released

As for documents on X-treme, that too can dry up like a well, unless you keep on with the level designs =O

posted March 16, 2006 04:39 PM            

Also, how many corrupt amiga disks/misc disks do you have?
Time took its toll, but I'm thinking that it can still be fixed

posted March 16, 2006 07:53 PM              

quote:

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Originally posted by Matrix802:
Hold on a sec... if this was a Sega Saturn demo, why was it burned onto a Mega CD CD-R? I don't understand...

And also if this was a Saturn demo wouldn't that mean we'd need a Saturn emulator for those who never owned one?

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posted March 19, 2006 01:01 PM              

quote:

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Originally posted by cheese007:
the pc beta as in the last xtreme auction on ASSEMBler (auction 2).

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posted March 31, 2006 06:55 PM              

quote:

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Originally posted by SANiK:
Assembler's "new" beta was a bluff, completely fake. He did it just to get attention.

But the beta up for download, is totally different

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