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Sonic X-treme

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Title Screen

Sonic X-treme

Developers: Sega Technical Institute, Point of View
Platforms: Sega Saturn, Windows


GraphicsIcon.png This game has unused graphics.
ModelsIcon.png This game has unused models.
Carts.png This game has revisional differences.


DevelopmentIcon.png This game has a development article
PrereleaseIcon.png This game has a prerelease article

This game was stuffed away in a cardboard box and found 30 years later in a garage
This game was never completed and/or given a public release.
As a result of this, keep in mind that the developers might have used or deleted some of the content featured here, had the game actually been released.
This game was stuffed away in a cardboard box and found 30 years later in a garage
This game was never completed and/or given a public release.
As a result of this, keep in mind that the developers might have used or deleted some of the content featured here, had the game actually been released.

Sonic X-treme was intended to be the first 3D Sonic game (it would've preceded Sonic Adventure by two years), developed from concepts stretching back to the Genesis era, but ran into a myriad of development problems that culminated in its cancellation in August 1996; the Saturn port of Sonic 3D Blast was released in its place. The cancellation of X-treme is widely considered a large reason for the Saturn's commercial failure outside Japan (Sonic wasn't as popular in his home country at the time, so the lack of a 3D Sonic game wasn't a big concern there). Notably, some of Sonic's X-treme sprites were repurposed for Sonic's Schoolhouse.

A disc containing an early Saturn tech demo was discovered in 2005 and released to the public on July 17, 2007. In 2014, ASSEMblergames user Jollyroger found a set of data discs that belonged to the Point of View studio, which included early PC builds of Sonic X-treme, level editors, and an unseen prototype made by Point of View dated July 14, 1996. The PC builds only supported Windows 95 and the Nvidia NV1 video card, so Jollyroger modified the builds to render in OpenGL for better compatibility.

Hmmm...
To do:
Everything.
  • Document the game's development, including Sonic-16 (Genesis) and Sonic Mars (32X). There's some really cool E3 footage.
  • Document the other leaked builds: POV 714 on Saturn and the v37 level editor.
  • Document all these sprites and some other miscellaneous things on this website concerning X-treme.

Sub-Pages

Read about development information and materials for this game.
Development Info
Read about prerelease information and/or media for this game.
Prerelease Info

v001 Build

Download.png Download Sonic X-treme v001 Build
File: SONCBOOM_v001.zip (2.3 MB) (info)

The earliest build of Ofer Alon's Sonic X-treme engine on PC, executable dated November 28, 1995. It was found as a binary in the POV archive (no source code was found). It does not use an NV1, but rather renders using software, so this build will run on any PC running Windows 95 to Windows 10 with no modifications at all. While there is not much to see in this build, being a very early technical demo, it marks the beginning of a crucial point of Sonic X-treme's development.

  • You must put the SONCBOOM folder in the root of your C drive in order for the executable to run.
  • There is no controllable Sonic in this build.
  • You can use the mouse to move the camera around and explore the level. To stop the camera from moving, you must move your cursor to the center of the window.
  • You can reset the level by pressing any key. This moves the camera back to the starting point.
  • The level contains some animated graphics, including bouncing balls and pixelated Sonic sprites (which may originate from earlier development on the 32X).
  • The engine's code is very basic at this point and thus is extremely light on system resources. On a modern PC, it runs exceedingly fast, and the slightest mouse movement can move the camera far from the actual level.

v37 Build

Download.png Download Sonic X-treme v37 Build
File: SonicXtreme_v37.zip (1.78 MB) (info)

This build is reminiscent of the E3 1996 trailer, bar the fisheye effect. It is a PC version-only build. The initial release of this build by Jollyroger featured only one level, the E3 Jade Gully level. Subsequent releases added scrolling background support to the OpenGL backend, gamepad support, music support, and included all the levels from the source archive. The build was recompiled by Jollyroger for modern machines and converted to render its graphics using OpenGL instead of an NV1, but the original NV1 build was also released.

A semi-functional Modern Windows/OpenGL port of the level editor was also released.

  • The demo starts with a jungle level (often referred to as an early iteration of Jade Gully), which was promoted at E3. In a later release, a dialog box appears allowing you to select a DEF (level definitions file) to load.
  • This demo lacks the "Fisheye Lens" feature found in later PC builds.
  • Music and sound effects are absent in this build.
  • Sonic can jump by pressing X and has an infinite jump, and can enter into "Ball Mode" by pressing Z (and can be exited the same way).
  • This demo has the "World Rotation" feature: when Sonic enters into Ball Mode and touches a wall or a slope, the direction of gravity and the rotation of the level itself will change.
  • There are rings scattered around the level, but they aren't collectible and were changed from blocks to actors by Jollyroger, which is why they don't have any collision (which was their behavior in the real Windows 95 version).
  • There are some enemies in the level that cannot hurt Sonic and cannot be defeated by him; instead, they act just like blocks. In a later release, Jollyroger changed the enemies to actors, removing their collision.
  • The executable's called "SoncBoom.exe", for whatever reason.

v37 Level Editor

Acactussayswhat?
Please elaborate.
Having more detail is always a good thing.

This editor was programmed by Ofer Alon to assist designers in creating levels for his engine. However, according to Chris Senn, the editor was quite difficult to learn how to use, hindering the team's progress while the release deadline approached.

  • The editor has two modes: "Edit Mode" allows you to edit the level, while "Run Mode" allows you to playtest the level. This allowed designers to test changes on the fly, and quickly go back to editing.

v40 Build

This build has both a PC and a Saturn version. At this point in development, the code was in the middle of a huge rewrite, so many features are broken. The code wouldn't even run properly the way Jollyroger originally found it, so it had to be partially rewritten.

  • Only one level was found that works with this build without any modification (FRESH.DEF). The level is tiny, and only has one texture: a blue/purple checkerboard.
  • There are rings and enemies scattered throughout the level, but they act as blocks. Unlike v37, Jollyroger did not convert them to actors.
  • The fisheye lens featured in Chris Senn's "New Worlds" videos and at E3 is present in this build, and even works in the Saturn version!
  • The World Rotation feature that was in v37 is broken in this build. Entering Ball Mode does nothing.
  • The PC version has full animation frames for Sonic, rings, and enemies. The Saturn version only has two frames for each in order to increase performance.

714 Build (POV Saturn Demo)

Acactussayswhat?
Please elaborate.
Having more detail is always a good thing.

Dated July 14, 1996, this build is running on a completely different engine coded by Point of View for the Saturn. While there is no fisheye lens effect, it is more polished and functional than any the PC or Saturn engine builds.

  • The text Sonic Extreme is at the top of the screen.
  • The demo starts with a grass level (that looks like an early iteration of Jade Gully).
  • There are 2 Badniks you can interact with at the start (like destroying and getting hit by them).
  • You have a ring count at the bottom right corner of the screen with only one by default.
  • The rings you lose can also still be collected and make the small counter at the bottom right corner of the screen go up.
  • The level isn't much bigger than the one seen in the v40 build and you can get stuck in many places.
  • There's no death plane when you fall off the map and a blue/purple checkerboard pattern floor from the v40 build does appear instead.
  • It is possible to go into debug mode by pressing Start + B and freely move around and see your coordinates, when moving you can do Start + B again to place down a ring at the last position Sonic was at, however the ring will end up moving alongside your cursor and it's not possible to get out of debug mode unless you restart the level by pressing Start.
  • The camera can be tilted slowly to the left using the L button.
  • Pressing the Start button during gameplay will just restart the level.
  • 714 uses an unedited version of Sonic's sprites which was changed later for 718. It is very noticeable in the eyes shadings.

718 Demo

Dated July 18, 1996. This was the first demo of Sonic X-treme to be found. It is from the "Project Condor" stage of development, and uses Chris Coffin's boss engine.

  • The demo starts with the Sonic X-treme logo.
  • A preliminary title card appears with the level name "Jade Gully".
  • The music that plays in this demo is Quartz Quadrant Good Future from the non-US versions of Sonic CD.
  • There are 50 rings in the level.
  • There are floating diamond-shaped objects scattered around the level, but only the first one shoots Sonic up into the sky.
  • The score counter keeps going up by itself for some reason.
  • When the time runs out, it loops back to 5 minutes.
  • An early Game Over screen can be triggered by pausing and pressing C. The music that plays here is also from the non-US versions of Sonic CD.

Unused Models

  • Fang the Sniper

Fang the Sniper resides as an uncompressed SGL model in the game's files starting at address 656484.

The model is made up of 397 polygons, 550 vertices, and 915 edges.

Skeletal rigging is intact for each segment of the model, though there is no animation data.

Vertex colors are intact for most of the head and body, but is otherwise broken and useless.

(Bonus: Restored using a screenshot for reference)

  • Metal Blade

Metal Sonic's boss arena can be found starting at address 553916

The model is made up of 82 polygons, 328 vertices, and 328 edges.

There is no color data, and the textures are not in ROM.

SonicX-treme-Metalbladegreen.png

Unused Graphics

Sonicxtremebossfloor.png

These textures can be seen below the playfield and were used in the Metal Sonic boss arena as the floor.

SonicX-treme-Flower.png

A small, yellow flower. Screenshots show these on the outskirts of Fang's boss arena.

SonicX-treme-Rock.png

A Rocky looking texture. Purpose unknown, although it matches the texture used for the edges of the water.

v53 Level Editor

Jollyroger does not have the source code to this build of the editor; only binaries were found. Thus there is, unfortunately, no way to port it to modern systems. He released one screenshot of the v53 editor running on Windows in 2014, but two screenshots were previously found in the "PackageX" level archive that leaked in 2009. For many years, these two screenshots were the only glimpse the public had of Sonic X-treme's editor in action. Although since there was no recording of the editor in action, it is too soon to assume what is new and featured in the editor, such as the interesting "paths" feature that had Sonic running along scripted pathways in the levels as it has been confirmed the editor does not have paths.