There have been many improvements to the game, including: new special moves for Surge, new translations (9 and counting!), improvements to the physics engine, updates to the SurgeScript API and more! And if you want to create a game, it's a great engine.
Thanks for the feedback. Let's make some things clearer.
First: this is NOT a Sonic rip-off. While it's clear where the inspiration for the Open Surge physics came from, Open Surge includes RPG elements and gameplay twists. It's an original work. Please have that in mind.
Third: we believe that it is possible, indeed, to express yourself to a great degree in low-res. It's a matter of facing it as a style. The reason why we have adopted low-res is in our philosophy. In a nutshell: really wide portability
Fourth: there is ABSOLUTELY NO ripped content in our game. There is nothing to "replace". We're calling artists to make new, original content. In particular: level graphics.
We're not sure if pre-rendered 3d graphics would fit Open Surge or not because we have never experimented with 3d, as we have no knowledge to do that. One thing is sure, though: we're not throwing away our current art assets that we have built with SO MUCH difficulty.
I don't know what else to tell you in order to prove this game has potential. We have demos, we have clear goals, we have documentation, and we didn't start this project yesterday - meaning that you don't have a high risk of us dropping out and throwing your art away. We're not trying to conquer the world, but we are making what we believe is going to be a great FOSS game. I believe the key to recognition is to buy an idea with potential as an early adopter, as you would gain plenty of space to grow with it. It's like joining IBM vs joining a startup: while IBM is well established, you'd hardly be crucial to that company. If recognition is what you're looking for, think about it.
If this was still not enough to at least raise some energy, some curiosity on you... well... I have nothing else to say. Thanks for your time. :)
So, I spent the past year asking myself why is it so damn-hard to get artists working on a FOSS game. We are a serious project, we've got clear goals, we have a playable demo, we have committed people, we have documentation, we're working on this since 2008 and, most importantly, we treat artists as creative beings - not as "art monkeys". So, what the hell are we doing wrong? Are we asking in the wrong places? Or maybe our game just isn't attractive at all? Why not? Is there some blind spot that we don't know of? What is wrong?!
I'm not thrilled about it, but at least I'm relieved.
Where there is a problem, there is also an opportunity. I just couldn't yet figure out how to solve that problem in a way that doesn't involve cash. The only thing we can offer is the possibility of seeing your own creative ideas becoming true in the project, as long as they fit the game and as long as they are doable. That is something a commercial project may not offer.
Your help will be appreciated. All the work on the game is done in an "open" fashion, meaning: user-made content is shared in our community forums. All one needs to do is post the content. A discussion will follow. User-made content is shared here (opens in a new window).
During the past months, our early adoptors have contributed immensely in terms of creating a plot, creating some original musics and sound effects, developing graphics, writing documentation, etc. Our game engine has evolved too (the progress is real, and it's documented on the wiki). However, there's still much to be done, specially in terms of graphics.
We'll release the last version of "Open Sonic" (0.1.4) this Sunday - we need to attract a few more early adoptors. We desperately need more contributors. Our contributors are the ones that will make Open Surge become a reality.
While this thread is great for brainstorming, we must create art in a more organized fashion. In this sense, the project needs someone who can be a Lead Artist. We will decentralize the work as much as possible. More information can be found at:
Currently, no artists are working on the game. Our team is composed of one programmer, one musician and a few translators. We're still looking for artists.
You can change the graphics of the game by modifying the files located at the images/ folder. If you want to change the dimensions and/or the files of the sprites as well, you must update config/sprite.def accordingly (it's a simple text file).
Thanks!
There have been many improvements to the game, including: new special moves for Surge, new translations (9 and counting!), improvements to the physics engine, updates to the SurgeScript API and more! And if you want to create a game, it's a great engine.
Linux users can get it from the Snap Store or from Flathub. Windows users can get it at opensurge2d.org
Thanks for the feedback. Let's make some things clearer.
First: this is NOT a Sonic rip-off. While it's clear where the inspiration for the Open Surge physics came from, Open Surge includes RPG elements and gameplay twists. It's an original work. Please have that in mind.
Second: do you need a grand goal, a bigger picture? Sure! We have that.
Third: we believe that it is possible, indeed, to express yourself to a great degree in low-res. It's a matter of facing it as a style. The reason why we have adopted low-res is in our philosophy. In a nutshell: really wide portability
Fourth: there is ABSOLUTELY NO ripped content in our game. There is nothing to "replace". We're calling artists to make new, original content. In particular: level graphics.
We're not sure if pre-rendered 3d graphics would fit Open Surge or not because we have never experimented with 3d, as we have no knowledge to do that. One thing is sure, though: we're not throwing away our current art assets that we have built with SO MUCH difficulty.
I don't know what else to tell you in order to prove this game has potential. We have demos, we have clear goals, we have documentation, and we didn't start this project yesterday - meaning that you don't have a high risk of us dropping out and throwing your art away. We're not trying to conquer the world, but we are making what we believe is going to be a great FOSS game. I believe the key to recognition is to buy an idea with potential as an early adopter, as you would gain plenty of space to grow with it. It's like joining IBM vs joining a startup: while IBM is well established, you'd hardly be crucial to that company. If recognition is what you're looking for, think about it.
If this was still not enough to at least raise some energy, some curiosity on you... well... I have nothing else to say. Thanks for your time. :)
So, I spent the past year asking myself why is it so damn-hard to get artists working on a FOSS game. We are a serious project, we've got clear goals, we have a playable demo, we have committed people, we have documentation, we're working on this since 2008 and, most importantly, we treat artists as creative beings - not as "art monkeys". So, what the hell are we doing wrong? Are we asking in the wrong places? Or maybe our game just isn't attractive at all? Why not? Is there some blind spot that we don't know of? What is wrong?!
Now I figured it out.
http://www.reddit.com/r/Art/comments/g02qy/ask_rart_why_dont_artists_like_foss/
I'm not thrilled about it, but at least I'm relieved.
Where there is a problem, there is also an opportunity. I just couldn't yet figure out how to solve that problem in a way that doesn't involve cash. The only thing we can offer is the possibility of seeing your own creative ideas becoming true in the project, as long as they fit the game and as long as they are doable. That is something a commercial project may not offer.
Hello Tyler,
You've certainly got an interesting portfolio.
Your help will be appreciated. All the work on the game is done in an "open" fashion, meaning: user-made content is shared in our community forums. All one needs to do is post the content. A discussion will follow. User-made content is shared here (opens in a new window).
Regarding character design and scenary, our wiki contains detailed information of what content needs to be created: http://opensnc.sourceforge.net/wiki/index.php/TODO_Hand-Drawings (opens in a new window).
If there's anything else you need to know, please ask.
Thank you.
It's been some time since this thread was dead. Glad someone shows interest. :)
Hello dime,
You're right, using the "Sonic" name is a problem. Luckily, "Open Sonic" is being dropped in favor of Open Surge.
http://opensnc.sf.net/wiki
During the past months, our early adoptors have contributed immensely in terms of creating a plot, creating some original musics and sound effects, developing graphics, writing documentation, etc. Our game engine has evolved too (the progress is real, and it's documented on the wiki). However, there's still much to be done, specially in terms of graphics.
We'll release the last version of "Open Sonic" (0.1.4) this Sunday - we need to attract a few more early adoptors. We desperately need more contributors. Our contributors are the ones that will make Open Surge become a reality.
This project is still in its infancy and it's growing. If any of you people want to help, please follow the link: http://opensnc.sourceforge.net/forum/viewtopic.php?id=531
Thank you very much.
Thank you all for your comments. I really enjoyed the rabbit idea :)
As we had discussed on the IRC, I've written a brief Art Specification Document:
http://opensnc.sourceforge.net/wiki/index.php/Art_Specification_Document
While this thread is great for brainstorming, we must create art in a more organized fashion. In this sense, the project needs someone who can be a Lead Artist. We will decentralize the work as much as possible. More information can be found at:
http://opensnc.sourceforge.net/forum/viewtopic.php?id=196
This is how we're organizing our team: http://opensnc.sourceforge.net/wiki/index.php/Work_Positions
So... Is anyone interested? This is a real project, with real people and real progress.
So... Is anyone interested? This is a real project, with real people and real progress.
Hi Sindwiller,
There's no Eggman on the plot because we want/need to invent new characters. This is being discussed here: http://opengameart.org/forumtopic/hi-great-job
Currently, no artists are working on the game. Our team is composed of one programmer, one musician and a few translators. We're still looking for artists.
You can change the graphics of the game by modifying the files located at the images/ folder. If you want to change the dimensions and/or the files of the sprites as well, you must update config/sprite.def accordingly (it's a simple text file).
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