News/Sega Technical Institute’s Cancelled Segapede: Difference between revisions
No edit summary |
some corrections |
||
| Line 11: | Line 11: | ||
Happy Thanksgiving everyone! <br> | Happy Thanksgiving everyone! <br> | ||
We’re back with another Sega-related goodie for you to enjoy today. Presenting, the original presentation demo pitch ROM for Sega Technical Institute’s (STI) Segapede (also known as Astropede) for the Sega Mega Drive! <br> | We’re back with another Sega-related goodie for you to enjoy today. Presenting, the original presentation demo pitch ROM for Sega Technical Institute’s (STI) Segapede (also known as Astropede later in development) for the Sega Mega Drive! <br> | ||
<center> | <center> | ||
| Line 73: | Line 73: | ||
For Sonic 2, the team comprised roughly an even amount of American and Japanese members working together on the project. The Japanese members of STI were used to high-stress environments that would lead to a crunch period or a time when developers are constantly working around the clock to meet a deadline. Tensions arose especially when communication was made difficult due to the language barrier between both sides of the team, with Mark Cerny being the mediator halfway into development. Cultural differences aside, the team reportedly got along well enough and was able to stay focused to create a finished product just in time for the Christmas season in 1992. <br> | For Sonic 2, the team comprised roughly an even amount of American and Japanese members working together on the project. The Japanese members of STI were used to high-stress environments that would lead to a crunch period or a time when developers are constantly working around the clock to meet a deadline. Tensions arose especially when communication was made difficult due to the language barrier between both sides of the team, with Mark Cerny being the mediator halfway into development. Cultural differences aside, the team reportedly got along well enough and was able to stay focused to create a finished product just in time for the Christmas season in 1992. <br> | ||
Craig Stitt would be responsible for level | Craig Stitt would be responsible for the level art for two zones that made it into the game to a degree. Hirokazu Yasuhara would act as the lead-level designer, while Craig would create the art itself and offer ideas during meetings. Craig was responsible for the art for Oil Ocean zone, and more infamously, the cut Hidden Palace zone. Craig was originally responsible for both the background and foreground tile art for the zone, but the background ended up being redesigned late in development by Yasushi Yamaguchi (“Judy Totoya”). | ||
Hidden Palace zone was one of the first levels implemented into the game, but development on the level halted almost as soon as it was featured in the earliest prototype we have of the game. The level itself was originally intended to be a “secret” level, originally given two acts that were reduced to one, and was meant to be a level where Sonic would gain his Superpowers after obtaining all of the chaos emeralds. According to Yuji Naka, the level was cut primarily due to time constraints, however, the ROM size budget might have also been a contributing factor, as many levels had to be scrapped toward the end of development for this reason. The level would become one of the most infamous scrapped levels in video game history, due to its history of being openly showcased in video game previews during the game’s original development and its resurgence from the well-known Simon Wai prototype of the game. <br> | Hidden Palace zone was one of the first levels implemented into the game, but development on the level halted almost as soon as it was featured in the earliest prototype we have of the game. The level itself was originally intended to be a “secret” level, originally given two acts that were reduced to one, and was meant to be a level where Sonic would gain his Superpowers after obtaining all of the chaos emeralds. According to Yuji Naka, the level was cut primarily due to time constraints, however, the ROM size budget might have also been a contributing factor, as many levels had to be scrapped toward the end of development for this reason. The level would become one of the most infamous scrapped levels in video game history, due to its history of being openly showcased in video game previews during the game’s original development and its resurgence from the well-known Simon Wai prototype of the game. <br> | ||
| Line 111: | Line 111: | ||
</center><br> | </center><br> | ||
On September 21, 1993, Craig Stitt would propose his first project as a game designer to Sega called | On September 21, 1993, Craig Stitt would propose his first project as a game designer to Sega called “Segapede”, which would later be named “Astropede” during development. The original concept of the game was originally tied to the Sonic universe. Zipp (the game’s protagonist), originally one of Dr. Robotnik’s creations, fights to save the life of someone by cleaning up and collecting “Chaos Dust” that had infected a particular evil doctor. The game, in development for the Sega Mega Drive, was meant to have a similar momentum-based gameplay style to Sonic but with segment-like power-ups that would grant Zipp additional power, such as a Turbo Charger, Scorpion Tail, and Pulse Cannon. <br> | ||
After the initial proposal in September, the game went into development and a “first playable” version of the game was done. During the development of the first-playable version of the game, the game would drop its connection to the Sonic universe, but the core gameplay would remain the same. The first-playable ROM version of the game was repitched to Sega of America with the revised story on November 22, 1993. This version of the game was warmly received by Sega, and so the project was greenlit for further development. <br> | After the initial proposal in September, the game went into development and a “first playable” version of the game was done. During the development of the first-playable version of the game, the game would drop its connection to the Sonic universe, but the core gameplay would remain the same. The first-playable ROM version of the game was repitched to Sega of America with the revised story on November 22, 1993. This version of the game was warmly received by Sega, and so the project was greenlit for further development. <br> | ||
| Line 123: | Line 123: | ||
</center><br> | </center><br> | ||
And thus everything was a go for | And thus everything was a go for Astropede! <br> | ||
The art team comprised Craig Stitt and Alex Niño, a Filipino comics artist best known for his work with DC and Marvel Comics. Despite not knowing how to use a computer or Digitizer, Alex created many concept drawings for different kinds of enemies that would’ve been featured in the game. Ken Rose, who was behind the first playable version presented to Sega in November, became one of the programmers who worked on | The art team comprised Craig Stitt and Alex Niño, a Filipino comics artist best known for his work with DC and Marvel Comics. Despite not knowing how to use a computer or Digitizer, Alex created many concept drawings for different kinds of enemies that would’ve been featured in the game. Ken Rose, who was behind the first playable version presented to Sega in November, became one of the programmers who worked on Astropede as well. <br> | ||
The music and sound effects in the demo were done by Howard Drossin, known for his work on Sonic Spinball and Die Hard Arcade. It’s not known if Howard was part of the actual sound team that would’ve been responsible for all the sound design in the game, but it’s very likely. <br> | The music and sound effects in the demo were done by Howard Drossin, known for his work on Sonic Spinball and Die Hard Arcade. It’s not known if Howard was part of the actual sound team that would’ve been responsible for all the sound design in the game, but it’s very likely. <br> | ||
| Line 141: | Line 141: | ||
Unfortunately, despite the talent behind the game’s development, the game would become yet another entry in STI’s list of canceled projects. <br> | Unfortunately, despite the talent behind the game’s development, the game would become yet another entry in STI’s list of canceled projects. <br> | ||
In total, the game was in development for roughly 14 months before production on the game halted. The main issue behind the game’s cancellation was the fact that STI was trying to do too many games at once, a fact that did not go unnoticed by Sega of America. At the time of | In total, the game was in development for roughly 14 months before production on the game halted. The main issue behind the game’s cancellation was the fact that STI was trying to do too many games at once, a fact that did not go unnoticed by Sega of America. At the time of Astropede’s cancellation, STI had roughly five different projects going on at the same time. So Astropede, along with a few other titles, were put on indefinite hold while the staff members who were assigned to work on those canceled projects were shuffled into other projects that were either more desirable or were much further along, like The Ooze or Comix Zone. <br> | ||
The indefinite hold on the project and the indecisiveness from Sega of America are what spurred Craig Stitt to contact Mark Cerny, who at the time was now involved with a few studios that would become major players in Sony’s attempts to enter the console gaming market. After getting reacquainted with Mark, Craig would eventually move on to work on developing the Spyro the Dragon projects with Insomniac Games. The rest is history. <br> | The indefinite hold on the project and the indecisiveness from Sega of America are what spurred Craig Stitt to contact Mark Cerny, who at the time was now involved with a few studios that would become major players in Sony’s attempts to enter the console gaming market. After getting reacquainted with Mark, Craig would eventually move on to work on developing the Spyro the Dragon projects with Insomniac Games. The rest is history. <br> | ||
During | During Astropede’s development, there were a few test ROMs that were produced to showcase gameplay mechanics and level design concepts. Craig was kind enough to offer one of the ones he has found recently to the community so that others might be able to enjoy what could have been a game with a lot of potentials. We hope you enjoy it the same way the development team behind the demo had fun making it! <br> | ||
We would like to once again thank Craig Stitt for allowing us to share the original ROM of | We would like to once again thank Craig Stitt for allowing us to share the original ROM of Astropede with the community. We’d like to also thank MasteredRealm for connecting us with Craig. We hope that this is the start for more abandoned STI projects to finally see the light of day. Only time will tell! <br> | ||
Until then, see you next time! Happy Thanksgiving! <br> | Until then, see you next time! Happy Thanksgiving! <br> | ||