Digg it! http://tinyurl.com/3356u4
---
So over at SFGHQ, there've been pictures of a 3D fangame by Mark The Echidna and Damizean making the round. Both are really well-known figures in the Sonic fangaming community, so naturally, heads were turning - including mine (and all I do is lurk there). But of course, it wasn't likely that we'd ever get to play it, no sirree.
Little did I expect that just casually, Damizean'd post the engine test in a chatroom I was in at the time.
This is what 3D Sonic should be playing like, honestly. Entirely momentum-based gameplay, none of this "forced down a linear path, bottomless pits on all sides, speed pads galore" business. Loops are there to prevent you from moving forward if you lack speed, not just eye candy to be pasted every few blocks or so, where the camera pans out to show you being forced around the loop by way of speed pads. Anywhere in the world is yours to get at, provided you have the patience and the right kind of momentum to make it up there. Just like the old Sonic games for the Genesis.
Now, granted, the test level is basically a linear path over a giant bottomless pit. But it's an engine test, not an actual level - it's forgivable. ;P
Download: http://tinyurl.com/2wem94 (now on RapidShare, so I don't have to pay money to keep it up! :D)
Controls:
* W, A, S and D = move (think first-person shooter)
* Mouse / Arrow Keys = move camera
* Left Mouse Button / Spacebar = jump
* Right Mouse Button / X = Hold and press jump to Spin Dash
* Mouse Wheel = Zoom camera in and out
* F1 = respawn (for when you fall into bottomless pits - which WILL happen if you're goofing around)
* F2 = toggle "vomit camera" (camera will align itself with Sonic's angle, meaning it actually follows Sonic around loop-de-loops)
* Left Ctrl = deactivate fancy water (if your FPS is somewhat reminiscent of a decent computer trying to run Crysis at max)
To run the grassy stage, go into the Stages folder, and edit Stages.xml. Change 'stage folder="Stage1"' to 'stage folder="Stage2"' (or vice versa if you're changing it back). Save, and run the program again.
Credits go to Damizean, Dimension Warped, Mark the Echidna, MistaED, Streak Thunderstorm, and The Taxman for creating this.
Music is the Angel Island remix from Super Smash Bros. Brawl. Yes, an MP3 is out for it already - came out on the album True Blue: The Best of Sonic the Hedgehog, which was released in Japan on January 22nd. It's the actual music for the engine test, so.
Video by Shadow Hog; created with a trial version of FRAPS and Windows Movie Maker (because I'm too cheap to use anything better).
