News March 2004

Sonic X-treme version 10 will be released soon.

The highly anticipated final version of sonicX-treme is almost here. It features a much smoother collision detection system, especially on loop the loops. It can also run campaigns. Campaigns are sets of levels run together, with explanatory text displayed between each level. This makes sonicx much more like a real game that has a point. Invidual levels can still be played on their own though. Oh, yeah, there is one other thing. This release allows you to select between sonic or tails. I'll put it up in the next month or so.

News 2003

Sonic X-treme version 9 beta release

SonicX v9 is here, albeit in a beta form. Most of the improvements are finished, and the game now boasts Windows XP support. But the XP version, while much faster than the last release is slightly slower then the non xp version. Anyway, SonicX v9 is an incredible release. The game can now use imported 256 colour bitmap graphics, so it has never been easier to design levels. To import a bitmap, press shift and "I" together and the bitmap loader will pop up. You select the *.bmp file in the current directory and then use the left mouse button to draw a rectangle around the section of the graphics file that you wish to import. The bitmap section selected is then converted into .tex format and added to the tex file that was being edited at the time you ran the bitmap loader. It may sound complex, but is very easy to carry out.

I have included 2 new level files in the beta, and I shall be posting more on the sonicx levels page soon. Download SonicXv9 and design some levels now. Those that send in their levels will have them uploaded on the levels page.

News August 2002

Sonic X-treme version 9 nears release

SonicX v9 is near(about a couple of months, or maybe 8). This new version features a graphics editor that allows you to import bitmaps into a level. And it uses a custom made "tex" file convertor to compress bitmaps by a factor of 1 to 8. The converter analyses a selected bitmap for lines and rectangles (drawing primitives), which are native to the "tex" format, and creates a new picture within the tex file that replicates exactly the bitmap file. This basically means that you don't have to draw stuff in the graphics editor to make a good level. You can now just rip emulator pictures, or photos, if you want to. So, you can expect to see some fantastic looking levels, including a pixel perfect icecap zone...

Site news

I have just completed some tinkering of the website. The Reviews section now plays home to reviews of Sonic X, and more will be on the way as I discover them. The news archive, which can be accessed by following the links at the bottom of each news page, now stretches all the way back to 1998, when the site started. So for those of you interested in the progress of SonicX, it's an interesting read.

News November 2001

Sonic X - Version 8

After a year in the making, Sonic X-treme has at last been updated. And this is no small update, its actually quite substantial. Every single bloody picture in SonicXv8 is treated as though its an animation. Many animations only have one frame, but they are still animations none the less, and if you want to, you can add extra frames to them anytime that suits you. If you want to make a mini cartoon, you can do that too, all you have to do is run the graphics.exe program contained within the sonicXv8 zip file. The game has been streamlined internally, gutted if you will, in order to speed it up, especially on complex levels. I feel that this release is around 200% faster for some levels then previous versions. If you want to compare, try running the green hill level with the previous release, and then run it with version 8. The difference is remarkable. I could describe the new release from now until all eternity, but the truth is that all you need to see are a couple of pictures. This release seriously rocks. Anyway, If you make some levels for SonicX, Send em to prodigy22k@yahoo.com.au so that other people can play them. As I have said before, every level sent in will make it onto the sonicX level page.

You can download sonicx here

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