FoF: The Science of Sonic
(Tristan Note: This Fans on Friday article was moved to run today, Saturday, due to our coverage relating to the death of Michael Jackson and its community impact.)
This tip was sent in by TSSZ regular Sonikku Master. He thought that fans would enjoy reading this and I have to say I agree.
Sonic Jam is a fan built wiki site with a bit of a twist. It is split into three sections and each section provides a source of information that no fansite I have found to date provides (correct me please! lol):
- South Island Stories – An archive of all Sonic story lines.
- Angel Island Interviews – An archive of text based interviews with Sonic Team members.
- Sonic Science – A deconstruction of gameplay mechanics used in the Sonic series.
I suggest that when you have a chance that you check out each section individually. However, for now let’s concentrate on ‘Sonic Science’.
Sonic Science in three sub-sections (Intro, Key Ingredients in Sonic Games, 9 Ways to Improve the Series). Each section (or page) having lots of little extra bits to read along the way.
What is really cool about the Sonic Jam sites is that they can be read in two ways. The first way is as your everyday website. The second, and my personal favourite, is as a book! Using the ‘next page’ navigation at the bottom of each page the authors help guide you to the next logical section from what you have just read. When looking through the content this way it really helps the information flow better.
Obviously Sonic Science this not a definitive write up of the official science behind a Sonic game and I am sure a lot of people will question some of the content. However, I think the guys from Sonic Jam have put together some very good points, that have then been put down on ‘paper’ in a very nice manner.
All in all Sonic Science, from the Sonic Jam guys, is a very in-depth and well thought out look at the mechanics of the Sonic series. An enjoyable read for any level of Sonic fan.
Thanks again to Sonikku Master for the tip. If any of you have anything that you would like featured on next weeks ‘Fans on Friday’ then please send it in to us. The best way to do this would be to send it in via the News Tips section of the site.
Sonic Jam Homepage > http://sonicjam.wikidot.com/start
Science of Sonic First Page > http://sonicjam.wikidot.com/nssnsi:index
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Wow, that actually sounds like it’s pretty interesting. lol I’ll be checking it out now.
I just read the suggestions for the games, SEGA should really look into this if they want Sonic to rise from the ashes!!!
They wrote everything I’ve always wanted to say. Thank god, spam the Sonic Science crap to SEGA’s mail please. Hell, I’ll do it.
i haven`t checked yet but i suppose by these comments this will help Sonic! TELL SEGA!!!! 😛
@serpix: I JUST READ EM!!! PLZ E-MAIL EM!!! 😀
I wonder if SEGA will actually read them and use those awsome ideas! 😀
.Speed use platforming styles like on Sonic 3!
.More action!
etc… lol ^_^
Everyone needs to do it — otherwise it won’t seem like much of a big deal. I e-mailed Sonic Team. Doubt they’ll see it, but it’s the thought that counts.
Just so you know, when a company is asked to do something, they tend to do the exact opposite. They’re not supossed to take suggestions, incase of some sort of legal issues.
@SLJOAAATR: I hear that all the time, and that sounds entirely rubbish to me. Exactly what isn’t legal about taking a suggestion for your own property? It’s their IP, they can do almost whatever they want with it.
I own a video game, someone suggested that I add a rabbit … okay, I like the idea, I add the rabbit. What, I’m getting sued now? Oh, bugger.
If you made it official, yes, they could sue. Unless you have writen (In person, not typed over the internet.) permission, the person you suggested it could sue, if they can prove that they gave the idea. That’s why most companies either don’t take suggestions, or just completely do the opposite. Ian Flynn (Archie Sonic writer.) as explained this on his forum a couple of times.
So, in order for SEGA to stop reading my mind and do such things as making Sonic and Knuckles closer, make Vector and Espio closer and make Bowser go for vector more than Eggman, I’d need to tell them to do exactly that?
“Go SEGA. Don’t make Bowser and Eggman team up in a classic fashion.”
Like that?
>>They’re not supossed to take suggestions, incase of some sort of legal issues.
But Sonic Science isn’t suggesting any ideas – it’s just de-constructing Sega’s existing work. It would only be a legal problem if the site mapped out level layouts or designed specific obstacles etc.
Sega’s also used ideas that have (coincidentally) earlier appeared in fan work, and there has never been a problem.
By the way, Bungie/Microsoft takes in ideas all the time. Hundreds of people have thought up of a video game revolving around Reach, and ODSTs, and here we are.
Asking for what you want is different than a pitch, you have to remember that.
For instance, if I were to write in and say “Hey, could you guys use Shadow more?”…I’m a fan, I’m asking them to follow a suggestion. Nothing odd here, they could listen or they might not.
What they WON’T do is listen to a pitch…like when you come up with a story for a future game, or some plot development in a character…if you get spwcific and write proposals than they could risk copying you if they follow the idea. Asking to use Shadow is different than writing in my suggeston for a game where Shadow is launched into outer space and has to defend earth while slowly losing his powers.
@Crazee: I considered that earlier, and I agree with you. SEGA not taking written-up game documents and the such for legal reasons makes perfect sense. SEGA not taking a simple suggestion? That just sounds a tad off..
@Everyone:
I have a totally non-related question guys. Those of you like me who have Sonic Mega Collection Plus (PS2) and Sonic XBLA games, compare the framerate of Sonic games on the PS2 collection and Sonic games on the Xbox. Is it slower on your PS2? Is it my copy or is it poor emulation in Mega Collection? Thanks in advance.
Never mind… I just found out that some PAL games run slower than NTSC games! (Depending on how they are ported). The frame rate is terrible in the PAL version of Mega Collection!
who ever e-mailed it to sonic team awsome!!! 😛 lets hope they read it… then he shall return better than ever! lol.
@blueblur: E-mail didn’t go through. Their inbox might be full.
A great site. Still not complete though. I’d email it once it was finished. If Sonic Team could read this it could either help them or have the opposite effect. I’m hoping for the first thing. I hope they would at least take a look at it. Positively speaking, it could put Sonic Team (the new one) in a better focus on how to tackle a Sonic games as a whole.