Sonic XA Begins

• Add Player drop dash
• Add title screen
• Change level select music
• Rework R2 into Green Hill Zone
• Improvements on level select

Note

This is the first build with the name SONIC XA, giving the game an actual face and some personality. "XA" comes from the .XA audio format, which is exclusive to the PlayStation.

From now on, builds are also more spaced in time.

MDEC and FMV Playback

• Separate logic for each screen on their own library
• Add MDEC/FMV playback!
• Add Sonic CD intro FMV example
• Add Sonic Team logo FMV example
• Add control flow for screens and for predefining FMVs
• Skip level select and start at R0Z1

Note

This build is preceeded by two others:

• 28/08/2024 (which had seven reviews)
• 29/08/2024 (which had three reviews)

These builds had many attempts (six reviews, over 15 burned discs) until it worked on an actual SCPH-5501. Most problems arised from the way the hardware expects variables for FMV playback, and from lack of care when controlling CD speed and .STR streaming.

(Rev 01) Spindash and More Slopes

• Add Spindash and Rolling
• Fix extended camera
• Add Player control lock
• Adjust Player slope physics for slippery slopes
• Changes to R1Z1, R1Z2

Slopes and Rolling

• Add first version of disclaimer screen
• Fix Player feeling heavy/sluggish when accelerating
• Fix Player air drag
• Improve Player sensors logic
• Tweak Player collisions for accurateness
• Changes to R1 collisions
• Changes to R1Z2
• Add Player actions management
• Add Player slope physics
• Add Rolling and Dashing animations

(Rev 01) More Physics and Camera

• Add automated level cooking process
• Changes to R0Z1, R0Z2
• First experiments with level R2
• Make ground angle affect Player jump
• Add Player air acceleration
• Add Player air drag
• Add camera extension when running
• Add camera extension when looking up or down

Player Physics

• Add new level: R1Z2
• Changes to R1Z1, R0Z2
• Add terrain angles to level data
• Add Player landing speed calculation
• Add arena allocator for scratchpad
• Add a new, more robust collision detection algorithm
• Add Player braking (with sound effect)
• Add Player variable animation speed
• Fix Player idle animation
• Fix sprite rendering when camera is away from Player
• Change disc structure

Level Select

• Added level select
• Old level considered R0Z1
• Add new levels: R0Z2, R1Z1
• Improve level structure on disc
• Add different music for old and new levels

Level Maps

• Tooling for creating and cooking levels
• First version of level tile and chunk mappings (.LVL, .MP16, .MAP128, .COL)
• First working version of level renderer and camera
• First working version of collision detection
• Separate player logic into its own library
• Addition of arena allocators (beginning with level data)

(Rev 01) Movement and Audio

• Audio looping
• Basic animations and character movement
• Some sound effects

First Build

• First build working on the PlayStation
• Nothing playable, just a sprite rendering test
• Initial tile-based character rendering (.CHARA files)
• Alternate music by switching channels on the fly

Note

This is the first girst build of the actual engine codebase, and also the first one working on an SCPH-5501.