Steve “SOL” Lycett who happens to be producer over at Sumo Digital posted the following message on the SEGA America forums.
…as I figured I’d have some interested parties All being well we’ll be able to push the PS3 and 360 updates live on Monday. I’m waiting for confirmation on Wii U but that also shouldn’t be too far behind. I know it’s a been a wait, but hopefully it’ll be worth it! The updates feature lots of tucks and tweaks, should address many of the issues you’ve reported to us and also pull in improvements we’ve been doing on PC. Don’t expect any extra tracks or characters though, just before you ask…!
So there you have it, expect an update for Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing Transformed on Monday if you are playing it on Playstation 3 and Xbox 360. If you are on Wii U, you might have to wait a bit longer.
Relax, I know that Sumo Digital isn’t owned by SEGA and that this technically isn’t SEGA news, but I decided to share it since we like Sumo Digital. The rumor is that Sumo Digital, the developers of SEGA All-Stars games, are working on LittleBigPlanet 3.
The rumor states that Sony approached the developer well over a year ago to work on the upcoming title. I guess the original developer, Media Molecule is too busy doing a new franchise that they will be outsourcing LittleBigPlanet 3 to Sumo. How does this make me feel? Happy! I’m glad good people are getting big projects. I just hope that there isn’t a buy out. I know that the guys at Sumo Digital like being independent and I would love them to stay that way. Why? So they can make some more great SEGA games.
In late November, Sumo Digital Executive Producer Steve Lycett made SEGA fans an offer they couldn’t refuse. If the fans could pull together and organize a legitimate character poll, complete with accurate tracking and strong numbers, Steve would present the data to SEGA in hopes of character DLC for Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed. Steve stressed that this was not a promise that there would be DLC, however a recent update from Steve on the SEGA forums (going by his handle “S0L”) implies that things are moving forward on DLC and a character has been chosen by SEGA. In Steve’s words:
Actually… We got approval for a specific character this morning. But that’s all I can say right now…
If you have been paying attention to All-Stars Racing Transformed interviews from Sumo digital you would know that they talk a lot about how advanced and complex the physics are but never go into detail. So I asked S0L and got a good answer…
It all runs under full physics, whether car, boat or plane. We wanted to do this so the behaviour was more predictable, since last time we cheated and faked a lot of it. It adds a whole heap of depth of control as a side effect, plus it means you’ll got consistent vehicle behaviour.
The water also is a dynamic surface, so waves affect the boats, splashes and explosions too. Between the physics there and the rendering (making water look like water means a lot of effects!) this is why we opted for a capped framerate of 30. In order to get to 60, we’d have to pull back on the graphical look of the game a lot, and when we’re doing a whole new engine to make it look as good as it does, you have to make this compromise.
No-one complained about the framerate at Play Expo at any rate
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S0L
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So yeah, sounds really good! This physics will make the game feel more like a racing game, rather than a small kart game, which is something else that Sumo Digital also likes to brag about.
I sit down with Joe Neate, Producer for Sonic & All Stars Racing Transformed, to have a talk with him about the game. Will All Stars be usable online? Will there be more online modes? Will there be a larger number of franchises represented? Find that out and more in the video interview above.
This isn’t the entire story, though. For a more Sonic centric interview, check out Nuckles87’s interview over at Sonic Stadium!
We love our Sumo Digital, they really try to listen to fan feedback as much as possible. They have recently teased that they are working on a big game for a hardware publisher, doesn’t mean they have forgotten about SEGA.
“I would say if you’ve been a Sumo fan, if you like the products that we do, then you’re not going to be disappointed in the future …So we’re working on some stuff that’s a way out. But we continue to work very closely with SEGA and we hope to have some more products coming out with SEGA. We’ve got some stuff due out in 2011 and some in 2012. One hopes people will recognise them as very SEGA and Sumo-type products.” James North-Hearn CEO of Sumo Digital
Before you get all excited and start screaming about a new Outrun game, Sumo Digital has already confirmed they are not working on a new Outrun game. They did confirm they are working on a new racing game though…
Steve Lycett, producer at Sumo Digital has confirmed he is not dead, neither am I, we have something in common! He has also confirmed he does not own a PS3. The more we know about Steve the more we feel like we can hang out with him in real life and watch Friends re-runs.
“I’m not dead, honest
I’d have a job playing the PS3 version, I don’t own a PS3! So sadly I’ll have to decline this for the moment. I’m also mad busy getting new stuff off the ground here at Sumo, nothing we can talk about just yet, just free time’s not been something I’ve had in abundance these last few weeks…”
Well of course, this post is not about if Steve owns a PS3 or not (or if he is dead), its about what Sumo is working on with SEGA. So the following quote please!
I’m not working on the Dr. Who game, I’m actually pretty jealous of the guys who are! I can’t go into any details sadly on the new stuff, right now we’ve got a few ideas brewing SEGA wise though
SEGA ideas, huh? Well, I will give you guys a free idea right now. Fuku-San’s Piggy Bank Break Out. A Fuku-San theme game show? You’re welcomed.
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All being well we’ll be able to push the PS3 and 360 updates live on Monday. I’m waiting for confirmation on Wii U but that also shouldn’t be too far behind. I know it’s a been a wait, but hopefully it’ll be worth it! The updates feature lots of tucks and tweaks, should address many of the issues you’ve reported to us and also pull in improvements we’ve been doing on PC. Don’t expect any extra tracks or characters though, just before you ask…!
