View CommentsSonic Epoch
Every once in a long while, the Sonic Fan Game Community finds a fan game that unites them all, that they can all support and love, and unify their diverse elements… and makes better people out of everyone it touches… …This isn’t that game. On April 12, 2000, a game was released that would shock some, amaze others and, yet, piss off quite a few and it all began with this update at SFGHQ:
From the last update, i meantined a big program which I got. well, ITS BLOODY FANTASTIC! Its soooo much like a interactive movie! Its called Sonic Epoch (? Never heard that word before)It looks so much like a SatAM Cartoon, having backgrounds and characters from it. It even has a whole lot of Sound bytes! and it’s in DOS for better movement. You’d better download this monster in the demos section. Oh and Jomo, when the next update occurs, Could you upload it to Some webspace instead? (I have some webspace at hypermart.net I could lend for the upload)
And from that update came the Sonic Fan game Formally known as Sonic Epoch. This game has been though so much turmoil, changes and cancellations, but the fact that it was one of the best Sonic fan games, if not THE best, always remained. When the game was canned, I put up a shine to it which many of you saw. Now that the game is alive and kicking once more, it’s back right where it should be; not on SFGHQ, but on FUS.
Downloads
| File | Description |
| epoch.zip | The game in a zip file. |
| The Oldest Epoch | The Oldest version of Epoch, PC Version! |
| The Second Oldest | The Second Oldest Version of Epoch, Once again, PC version |
| Epoch95 | Windows 95 Version of Epoch, PC. |
***Note: This FAQ was written by Rob and not Sonique. It was taken directly from Rob’s SAGE booth with permission.***
Q: Does this game actually run on a REAL GBA?
A: This game has been extensively developed and tested every step of the way to verify that it isn’t just emulation fodder. This game WILL run PERFECTLY on a GBA, save for a little bit of slowdown here or there that may or may not be visible on the emulator. (The latest version of VisualBoy Advance has corrected some of its timing, and is a bit more realistic about expectable GBA performance, but even so, don’t always believe the emulator…) I don’t have a digital camera, so I laid a GBASP on a scanner. Sadly, even its “front-lighting” can’t be picked up by the scanner, but at least it’s a little better than a standard GBA. So I admit some image enhancing was performed on the screenspace, but that’s just brightness/contrast updating:
Q: For the rest of us, what emulator do you recommend?
A: VisualBoy Advance. Any other GBA emulator doesn’t even compare. (Actually, most other emulators I’ve tried won’t even boot my ROMs, or will run them incorrectly. This doesn’t say much for them since it does work on real hardware, as noted above…) I can not verify the performance of any other emulator or a VisualBoy Advance version less than 1.5. If you don’t have VBA or need an update, get it here!
Q: Okay, so you’re off your anti-“SegaSonic” kick; why do the shields still look pathetic instead of using cool Sonic 3 type sprites?
A: VRAM size concerns. I can fit a 4 frame 8×8 shield animation in 128 bytes of VRAM, while a single frame of a full Sonic 3 shield may require a 64×64 sprite which takes an entire 2,048 bytes of VRAM. Nintendo only gives me 32K total sprite VRAM to work with and you’d be surprised how quickly that gets eaten up…
To be continued…. ??