We missed an awful lot of homebrew news this past week, what with the E3 Media & Business Summit demanding our complete attention, but we intend to amend all that over the next couple of days. First on our list: The Sonic 3D game project (no relation to the Sega hedgehog).
It's difficult enough for commercial developers to create a decent looking 3D game for the DS, imagine the challenges that come with homemade project! Admitting that he's neither an animator or artist, programmer Ritz used textures and model data from BioWare PC RPG Neverwinter Nights to put together this demo. Despite the distance fog, we're impressed with the smooth animation and the maneuverable camera!
According to Ritz, Sonic's features include skeletal animation, static and dynamic point lights, shadow volumes, skyboxes, picking, gravity, and object and environment collision detection. He also hopes to eventually include an "interactive 3d map builder for easy world creation and object and creature placement." Slick!
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
7-20-2008 @ 6:53PM
Josh said...
Seriously, why would he call it Sonic?
Reply
7-20-2008 @ 10:57PM
Josh said...
Oh yeah, but technically, this is really impressive.
Good job.
And sorry for not commenting on how awesome this is right away.
7-20-2008 @ 7:03PM
LocalToast said...
Wow, I'm actually quite amazed. Even though he didn't make the models or textures, the fact that a homebrew game can use those resources without lagging and still looking good blows me away.
Whatever you're doing with this game, keep it up!
Reply
7-20-2008 @ 7:25PM
Ashley said...
Ha! I laughed when it waved.
Wouldn't it be awesome if they could do this with those ripped Twilight Princess or Wind Waker models?
Reply
7-20-2008 @ 9:59PM
Red said...
This tech demo makes me want to get an R4 or whatever pretty badly. It REALLY makes me want to pick up NWN and start playing it again...too bad my copy's for the PC and I'm now on a Mac. Ah, well.
Reply
7-20-2008 @ 10:05PM
Mr Khan said...
a newer x86 mac?
Virtually the same thing
7-21-2008 @ 1:16AM
Feba said...
Honestly, while the graphics don't look too bad, I have a hard time imagining gameplay being anything except awful. How would you see where you're headed, or what enemies are coming after you? Consider even a close range action game, that would be nearly unplayable.
Reply
7-21-2008 @ 7:56AM
FantomRedux said...
The whole point of it is the fact that it was made by a homebrew developer. Either way, from what Eric said, this seems more like an engine than an actual game.
7-21-2008 @ 10:38PM
Feba said...
A bad game is a bad game, whether it's homebrew or developed by Nintendo.
7-21-2008 @ 6:27AM
Venom said...
I downloaded it to see for myself and, needless to say, I was amazed. Looks great and flows without lagging at all. If this one was completed into a full game, it could really be one of the most awesome homebrew projects ever.
Reply
7-21-2008 @ 7:43AM
elend said...
Looks very nice indeed. The draw distance is bad, though. The DS can do 3D of course, many publishers already showed it. And they are getting better and better at that 3D stuff, as well.
Reply
7-21-2008 @ 8:34AM
Danny F. said...
That is some awesome work done. Hell the engine so far looks waaay better compared to most commercial 3d games out already. Keep up the work!
Reply
7-21-2008 @ 2:39PM
Waefort said...
It's so pretty, that it hurts........ because my computer can only do same graphics with better draw distance and effects.
But man thats so good graphics engine for any action/rpg game that ds homebrew scene could ask. So gonna test the maptools when its done.
7-21-2008 @ 2:42PM
Waefort said...
....why I replied for Danny?... Well who cares it's still beatiful engine..
Reply
7-26-2008 @ 8:35PM
Mike Sylvester said...
With a top-down perspective, the draw distance wouldn't be a problem at all. I could see some great things being done with this engine. Very impressive.
Reply