Update: 6 Years

Hello everyone!

So today marks the 6th year since the last actual update I've posted.
As some of you may know I'm considering reviving this project. In order to show that, I decided to give you all a bit of a heads-up and an idea for what's planned for the project. I'd also like to give you all a little bit of backstory of the origins of this project, and some changes I'd like to make to the common game formula we see today.

History of Sonic MMO
-- The Sonic Arena 2 Era --

Sonic MMO rose out of the interest and popularity of another old Sonic MMORPG, "Sonic Arena 2". I was fascinated by Sonic Arena 2, and loved the game. However if I recall, the lack of updates and quickly fading community ended up resorting to me wanting to make my own version of it. I quickly set out, knowing and understanding the game engine better than most. Sonic Arena 2 was actually made with a variant of a game engine I had been very familiar with for a long time: Eclipse.

People were awe-struck at the amazing world of Sonic Arena 2. The simple but appealing aesthetics, the classes/races you could be, the legendary Chaos Emeralds which were rumored to be in existence. I even remember one of the funniest exploits of selling potions for more money than you could buy them for. The game had a lush and wonderful appeal to it. One adventure in my time playing Sonic Arena 2 led to me getting sent to the "Tails Doll Room", a room where there were nothing but extremely powerful "Tails Dolls" and a very haunting and void environment. Sonic Arena 2 was a great experience I will never regret. But the awe didn't strike me the same way it struck others. I actually understood and had worked with the engine it ran on (or a form of it at least), and aimed to eventually make my own project: Sonic MMO.

-- Diving Into Production --

Sonic MMO began as a shameless rip of Sonic Arena 2. The sprites you even see in the banner at the top are ripped (something I will definitely replace with my own work given this project takes off). It was easier to take and use their base of sprites than to work on my own (an act I don't condone, and in fact one that I regret). I set off by downloading a variant of Eclipse Evolution 2.7 and began work on Sonic MMO. Production was going well, and after awhile I had a small project in the works!


(Images are from development stages)

A small gathering of people accumulated: some people from a familiar forum, Sonic Zone. This was my team. Most of them are still seen as staff on the site, however as of today the majority of us have fallen out of contact.

The development stages of Sonic MMO were interesting. Borrowing much from Sonic Arena 2, the classes, races, and sprites, I was hoping to achieve a new popular project. Something that would "wow" people like Sonic Arena 2 did, but unlike Sonic Arena 2 I wanted to do this with consistent updates and an active community. Where Sonic Arena 2 had failed, I hoped to succeed.

Off to a good start, I even conquered my then-hardest roadblock: Port Forwarding (the process of making your game accessible to others over a network given an already-made server). Port forwarding was a struggle I had been facing since my earliest days with the Eclipse Engine. Alternatives to port forwarding were available, but they required extra downloads and necessary things that it would have spoiled the gameplay experience. Eventually I was able to conquer the port forwarding struggle, and my team of developers and mods were able to access the game.

-- The Fall --
Very little happened since. I don't really know where things went wrong, but at some point things fell apart. No one had the drive or interest in the project, and it simply was not worth continuing.

Murmurs rose of a 2D Sonic MMORPG coming out over on Sonic Zone, and that for me was the nail in the coffin. It attracted everyone's attention. People flocked to it and, unless my mind has become spiteful and biased over the years, I believe it almost received site-wide recognition and support. Sonic Zone was the hub for almost all Sonic fans at the time; popularity there meant everything.

The fact that Sonic MMO was brushed under the rug, and this new MMORPG was being developed and nearly sponsored, production officially slowed down to a halt and was nearly forgotten for 6 years.

-- The Hope --
However, despite a lack of updates the site continued to gain members as time passed. Whether stragglers who were late to the party from Sonic Zone, or those who were mesmerized by the banner and the title "Sonic MMO". I'll never know for sure, but there is one thing I do know: The small bump in community has made me reconsider this project. If there's enough demand for it, I'll definitely see to it that this project continues.

The only thing that determines that, is you.

Development Plans Onward
If given the opportunity and interest to continue, some things will be changed from the original Sonic MMO formula to now.

Classes
Sonic MMO's class system was tied in to the race system -- borrowed from Sonic Arena 2. Sonic MMO was to feature 4 classes: Hedgehog, Echidna, Fox, and I'm not sure what the last class was called, but it was basically Shadow. Each class featured different attributes: Hedgehogs were fast, Echidnas were strong, Foxes used magic (almost exclusively), and Shadow's class was a hybrid of speed and magic (if I recall).

Plans for a 2015 Sonic MMO would separate the classes from the races, allowing you to play as your favorite race without being forced to play a specific style.
A hedgehog could focus on damage and strength over speed, a fox could be quick and agile. Any combination you'd like to play of class to race.

World
The Sonic MMO world has always had the goal of achieving capturing the feel of a Sonic world, while allowing the player to live out the adventures of their fan-made characters. The world of Sonic MMO is to feature an over-arching storyline that will not interfere with the player, but instead incorporate the player into it. You and your friends would be the heroes, or maybe even the villains!

Gameplay
In order to spice up the traditional Eclipse battle formula I'd like to incorporate a few key elements, namely dungeons that requires teams to complete, and a unique twist to the battle system. Something to give the players a unique experience.

Chaos emeralds would also be incorporated in some way, granting you spectacular powers.

Most of this cannot be definitely promised, but what can be promised is continued production given your support! You decide whether or not this project lives, or dies!

Thank you!