Sonic Soft

          Shoutout Box

Man, this site feels like it's dead and practically is. Why? I could work the excuse that I'm mighty busy ( in which much of the time I am ) but I think the real reason is the new site idea. A downloadable exe? WTF was I thinking. Seeing how I'm getting interesting in learning a bit of HTML and I know how to design a website in Word, I'm going to recreate Sonic Soft as a simple website. I'll put up my games, give information on other people's games that may or may not be related to me in anyway, my music will still be available for download along with my game tutorials. And that'll be it. I'll still have affiliates so those of you still waiting, don't worry. I just think making the site smaller and simpler will make me update it more. I mean I almost updated more than once a day before, but that was when I had barely any sections to care for.

Well I'm not going to make a date on when the website will be finished, but I know I'll try my best to get it done before Summer is over here. ( In a month )

So what have I been doing this whole time? Working on stuff of course. The minigame will sadly not be done for Summer of Sonic, but like I promised, one day I'll make it and release it for Sonic Soft. I do have a pretty neat Sonic Engine for GM5 that's fully commented so you can learn exactly how to do it. GM6 users can try it too if they change the sprite events. Anyway, here's the link to the thread I made about it. ( Since I'm too lazy right now to put it here )

http://sfghqmb.com/showthread.php?t=574

Sorry guys for those who look forward to me updating the site now and then and have been let down. There are times I felt like discontinueing the site, but I'm not the kind of guy that would do that. I'll try and get the site alive again. =)

This is it, all further updates until the site is redone will go in this paragraph, so check it often until then. ( New updates are located at the BOTTOM of the paragraph )

I'm starting to run into problems with redoing the site. If I can't get past them, it doesn't mean it won't happen, it'll just mean you'll have to download the tiny site file onto your harddrive. ( Wow, the first downloadable site =) ) It'll be tiny since all pics and such will be seperate and are downloaded when you run it. Once it's downloaded, it won't download it again unless you delete the temperary location of the files.

In other news, I have no new songs. =( I haven't really had time for them as I was doing other things. I do have a sprite sheet however. The original was made by Master Kirby, but I recolored Tails' pallette so it would be RPG Maker 2003 friendly. You can use it as long as you give credit to LarkSS and Master Kirby.

Well that's it for now. I told you I've been busy, but I hope to get more out to you when I change servers. Some other news is my affiliate Sonic Source is having a Summer of Sonic celebration at their site.

LarkSS Edit ( June 12 2006 3:23 PM )

It's official. Just like I said in the shoutout box, I'm going to make it so you'll download an .exe so you can view my site. I'll make it an installer instead of in a zip since I know some of you don't have a zip extractor. It'll also self update so you don't have to keep redownloading it.

New sprite sheets! =)

I making these for an RPG game someone's making and decided to release them on my site. Just give credit to LarkSS and Sonic Team if you use them. They don't have walking animations for some animations since I'm waiting for someone else to do them. I'll repost them when they're complete.

In other news, I'm going to have another affiliate! I won't post it until the site is redone and hosted on the new server.

LarkSS Edit ( June 14 2006 4:44 PM )

Even more spritesheets!!! Will they keep coming? Yes! I'm still doing things for the RPG game ( Which will be kept a secret until they release a demo ) and I haven't finished spriting yet.

 ( Walking Knuckles Sprite Sheet aided by Sonic-Blitz, made by LarkSS and Sonic Team )

 ( Walking Sonic Sprite Sheet by Sonic-Blitz and Sonic Team )

If you use any, give credit to LarkSS and Sonic Team. ( Except for the Walking Sonic Sprite Sheet and Walking Knuckles Sprite Sheet ) I relize some of them aren't complete. Either Sonic-Blitz or myself will finish them sometime in the future.

LarkSS Edit ( June 22 2006 7:58 PM Eastern Time )

I know, I haven't updated in awhile, but I'm still working on the site and I've been quite busy. It's going to have tons of options that'll make it compatible with the fastest and slowest connections.

Got a Sonic the Movie Knuckles Advanced Style RPG Walking Sprite Sheet! ( Wow, long name =P )

It's to be used in that RPG Sonic game I mentioned before. The demo's still not out yet so I won't reveal it. And no, I don't have a jumping set yet.

LarkSS Edit ( June 23 2006 1:56 PM Eastern Time )

Do you know what day it is? Sonic's 15th Aniversary that's what! Sonic Stadium has opened a special page called The Summer of Sonic. It'll have all kinds of good stuff for you to enjoy. I'm thinking of possibly making a little Sonic fangame for you to play. Of course, it'll have internet scores so you can see who's best. Sorry, but there won't be any online multiplayer. I'm still learning how to do it and I don't want to release something with bugs in it. For those of you interested, here's the link:

( Just click the pic of course =P ) If you want to make a quick fangame for Summer of Sonic using a Clickteam program and you need help with something, just ask me. I'd be glad to help you out. =)

LarkSS Edit ( June 26 2006 6:31 PM Eastern Time )

Okay, I got quite a bit for you guys today. First though, there are some things I'd like to mention.

Remember that if you want to use a sprite sheet, pic, music, or whatever is on my site on yours, ASK FIRST!!! It won't kill you and you'll put yourself out of trouble. I'm getting tired of seeing sites using other peoples content without permission or even mentioning them and even worse DIRECTLY LINKING TO THEM! That's taking THEIR bandwith. In case you don't know, that's ILLEGAL! So please, just don't do it. Everything on my site is used with permission excluding the soundpacks which were uploaded on my server to use MY bandwith and were credited.

Phew. Now that that's out of the way, I'd like to announce that the site is coming along very nicely. I'll be honest and say many of the features were never tested to see if they were functional. Nicely though, they worked just fine! ( Screenshots coming soon! )

Third, you know those 3 games that are in .7z files? Well not many people know how or can use 7zip to extract them so I reuploaded them in .zip files. Here's the links:

Chao Adventures

Easter Egg Hunt

Sonic Mania

( They're being hosted on my new server if anyone's wondering )

Fourth, since some people were confused by how the new site works ( namely two ), I'm going to go over it in detail. You see, with this new server I got thanks to JJames, I can now put as many things on it as I want without ads. This gives me the freedom to make a very nice webpage. Thing is, I wasn't going to settle with just that. I decided to remake the site COMPLETELY using MMF. Of course, this is what I use to make games and it's not designed for websites. Due to this, it'll be an .exe. All you have to do is download the ( hopefully small ) .exe onto your computer. Then simply run it and it'll download the website. The reason you download the other file first is because every time you run it, it checks for updates for the website and downloads it automatically if there is one. When the website is downloaded and installed, it runs and you can choose your options and settings. After that, you can explore Sonic Soft. Just make sure you're connected to the internet and you're good to go. Ya, I know it's kind of strange, but it'll make my website fully customizable without having to worry about internet things I don't like. I'm sure you guys will enjoy it once you get to see it.

Status of the minigame: Still developing engine. Seems I came across a little problem that someone's helping me with right now. I can't wait to finish this engine, I just know it'll be great.

Well that's all I got to say for now. Check back here often for more updates. Enjoy Sonic Soft!

LarkSS Edit ( June 27 2006 12:40 PM Eastern Time )

I think it's finally time for me to reveal a secret I've been keeping for a long time. Sonic 360 is being completely rebuilt! It will be so much better when it's done and it should hopefully bring back the spark I once had to continue work on it. I'm really excited how the engine is coming out right now. Also, the minigame for Summer of Sonic will infact use Sonic 360's new engine. So by playing that, you're getting a sneak peak on what Sonic 360 will be like.

Even more news is since it's being remade, I'm releasing Sonic 360 Demo 1.7 Beta 2 to the public! If you want to see info about it, see screenies, and even download it, visit this link:

http://sfghqmb.com/showthread.php?t=248

If you have any comments or suggestions on it, leave a message in the shoutout box, use the Contact LarkSS page, email me at wssonic_soft@hotmail.com, IM me via MSN Messenger, become a member of the forum ( if you're not already ) and leave a post or PM me, or even sign the guestbook and leave your message there.

LarkSS Edit ( July 5th 2006 11:02AM Eastern Time )

I expected to do this on July 4th, but didn't get to it. No, I don't have the site and no, I haven't finished the minigame yet. Both are sadly weeks still to go. But, I do have some good news.

Some people liked Tails Battle due to its level creation ability, although some people hate it due to its saving glitch. Guess what? The game is now fixed! I learned something a week back and decided to try to see if it would fix it and it did. Now the Test Level function works perfectly and saving no longer causes errors. Another thing is it now loads quicker, plays faster, and takes up less space! I saw that the coloring was set way too high for that game and I lowered it without reducing the quality. If you want to get it, here's the link.

http://sonicsoft.supersanctuary.com/SonicSoftFiles/TailsBattle.zip

File Size: 1.8 MB

File Type: .zip ( Normal compression method, high compression setting )

BTW, this new version comes with two new midis and 1 new level called Dodge. ( Wasn't in the mood to be creative with a level name ) Remember that you can add your own midis by putting them in the Tails Battle folder and using Music Setup.exe to set it up with Tails Battle.

LarkSS Edit ( July 19th 2006 9:48AM Eastern Time )

Ya, I know I haven't updated in awhile, so I decided to just let you know I'm alive and all. I've been helping out a lot of people lately and that usually doesn't bother me, but it seems I'm doing so much I don't have time for my own things. My workload is starting to clear up and when it does, I should be able to finish my new engine to make the minigame. ( Yes, it's not done yet, sorry ) Sadly though there's a possibility I won't release the minigame to Summer of Sonic since it seems to be getting too late now. Don't worry though, I'll release it here. Anyways, I plan on finishing the new website after I do that and then I'll work on the new Sonic 360 which I FINALLY figured out a name for, but I won't tell you what it is until the demo release simply to protect the name. Hope you guys have a good summer/fall/winter/spring!

I got some stuff for you guys. =)

First, I put up a save/load game tutorial for MMFX and MMF. It can be very helpful for those of you interested in making a game with a level editor or external level packs. You can see it at the Tutorial Section.

Second, you know that Sonic in the splash page pic? I decided to release the Sonic cutout that I made for the pic. I cut it out from a Sonic NextGen pic and it took about an hour or two to get it nice and clean like that.

You can use it as you please, just give credit to LarkSS and Sonic Team.

LarkSS Edit ( June 4 2006 10:34 AM )

I got a new affiliate: The Sonic Source. Give it a look over. =)

I also changed the title pic seeing as the previous one was about a month old. ( I think )

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Any questions, comments, bug reports, game suggestions, etc.? Email me ( LarkSS ) at my email in the Staff Page.