Sonic Neo is well known at the Sonic Stadium Message Board, and usually helps out with people’s problems with Fan Games and the like. We have a chat about his latest projects.

TSS: Dread here chatting to Sonic Neo. Neo, thanks for being here today.
SN: Your welcome, glad to be here.

TSS: Now, for those people that do not know about you, what is your role in the Sonic online Community?
SN: Well, In the Sonic Online Community I act as one of the “agony uncles” for the fan game creators, people come to me for help with game creation programs such as Games Factory and Click n Create.

TSS: Cool, so you help people sort out their problems in making Fan Games. How did you learn how to use programs such as TGF and C&C in the first place?
SN: Well I was first introduced into the world of game creation by my good friend Ace Spark. He taught me the basics and from that I expanded on what I knew to make simple games. I also downloaded how-to’s from various sites to help my technique.

TSS: What made you decide that you were mainly going to help people with their problems? Was it the realisation that maybe too many people couldn’t get the hang of the programs?
SN: Yes it was. It is quite a hard program to understand but once you get the hang of it things become easier. EG. on the SSMB Sonic Guy and Beta Sonic were planning to make a fan game. They got people excited but then they realised that they didnt know how to make a fangame, so I decided to stay and help people like them.

TSS: *Sighs* Whadda nice guy. ^_^ Seeings as you are so familiar with Fan Games and creating them, are you making a Fan Game of your own, on the side?
SN: As a matter of fact I am. Its called Sonic Neo : Chaos Island. I made lots of friends at the SSMB and I asked if anyone wanted to be in it and now most of the main chatacters are people from the board. Its going to be an on-the-side thing, I have exams and coursework to work on so it might take a while but I’ll get there.

TSS: See, our Message Board helps everyone =D So, can you exclusively reveal any of the story of the game or what it’s about?
SN: Well basically, you play Sonic to begin with. But as usual Dr Robotnik is up to his old tricks but this time he finally bags the hedgehog. He messes around with his genes and something weird happens, and he goes all weird and everything electrical in the lab goes haywire. Then he escapes after having “Neo” tattoed into his arm by the Doctor. He bursts out of the side of the Flying Egglab and airglides down to Chaos Island where many other of Robotniks experiments have gone to.

TSS: Sounds creepy… how far has Sonic Neo: Chaos Island been in development for?
SN: Its not been going on for long, maybe a month or two.

TSS: Yet we have a movie of the game, and it’s already looking sweet. Amazing. You haven’t just been known for Fan Games though, have you – just recently you’ve been showcasing Sonic Hoaxes of your own…
SN: Yes, when I started out I was a hoaxer, I have around 50-60 archived somewhere …… anyway, after the incident at the board I stopped making them for a while but now I’m back into it. Also, I have been using the Games Factory to make a special project on hoaxes. A slide show if u will, on hoaxes that can be viewed using Vitalize, a program that intergrates with Internet Explorer to make the size of games smaller and easier to load and play.

TSS: As well as helping people with Fan Games, you’ve also been making a lot of Fan Creation things yourself. Do you make any other stuff, like Fan Art, Fan Fics or Comics?
SN: To be honest, I dont actually see the point in fan fics but I do like drawing Sonic, although I’m not that good. I wouldnt like to think I hogged the “fan” genre by doing everything to do with it. I bet I sound really bigheaded.

TSS: No, not at all, no more than me… Back to Sonic Neo: Chaos Island, can players expect anything special from the game? Also, do you have a set date on when the game will be released, despite only being in development for a month or two?
SN: I can’t support a release date although it wont be out for a while yet. Special features? It will be different from the usual old skool style 2D playing. There will be a mix of Side scrolling, puzzle, RPG, shooting and other gaming elements so it will be a game to remember ^_^ The story line will also thicken as the game goes through.

TSS: Are you worried that mixing so many different element genres may ruin the game? This has happened in games like this before, original but ruined by odd gameplay. Do you have a plan to get around this, perhaps testers to play the game?
SN: Yes, I have sent out demos of the different styles to people through instant messenging, for example, UltimateVG. His comments, along with other peoples are whats going to help me improve it.

TSS: What compelled you to start the whole Fan Gaming thing? You told me how you got into it, but what was the most striking thing about the aspect that made you go “Yeah, I wanna do that!”?
SN: Well, Ace Spark sent me a demo of his game “Sonic Legacy” and I was like “WOW HOW DID YOU DO THAT?” cos I’d never seen Sonic in anything else than the Genesis and Game Gear games, it was unreal at the time cos I didnt know how he did it. When I did find out how he did it I just wanted to do it.

TSS: When you do discover your first fan game on the Internet, when you never knew the kind existed, the experience is unbelieveable, I agree. You started making Sonic Fan Stuff because you are a fan of Sonic, have you always been a fan of the blue one, and when was your first experience of the hedgehog?
SN: My first experience? My birthday when I got a Master System … it was great because it was totally new at the time. Then I moved on to the Genesis when the real addiction began ………

TSS: About your hoaxes, where do you get your ideas from? There’s a lot of funny and interesting ones there….
SN: My ideas? I dont exactly know where I get my ideas from, mostly I try to just make them funny, I try to make them go with recent events and films too. Mickey takes also go down well.

TSS: Reminds me of that South Park episode of David Blaine the other night…
SN: Yup, I couldnt stop laughing at that.

TSS: Anyway, on top of the Fan Games and Hoaxes-*twaaaa*, you also make a lot of sprites. Do you make them just for fun, or have they a purpose too?
SN: I make sprites for fun, but sometimes I do them for other peoples sidepics etc. Sometimes I make sprites for my hoaxes eg the Terminator hoax, its good fun too.

TSS: Twaaaa.
SN: Twaaa?

TSS: Super Best Fools – twaaa. Aaaaaanyway, I’m going mad, so next question. What are your ambitions in the Online Sonic Community, that you want to achieve online through what you do?
SN: I want to achieve online supremecy ……… lol, joking. I just want to be remembered, I suppose. I dont want to be forgotten and just know that the games are there because they are there. They were made by Neo.

TSS: Do you have a website where you showcase all of your sprites and hoaxes?
SN: I used too. Geocities found out that I was leeching files and they closed my account ….. bastards. Although most of my hoaxes are being hosted by your [site] anyway… on the Stadium Fan Community.

TSS: Finally, do you have anything planned in the future that a little teasing of the public wouldn’t go amiss?
SN: You know what, I dont! Although you might see might on the designing team of Sonic Adventure 3 or 4 if all goes to plan……..

TSS: The online supremacy is kicking in already, huh? ^_^
SN: LOL, I dont know …… I just have set my sights high.

TSS: Well, we’re getting nowhere fast, so it’s time to bring this interview to a close. Sonic Neo, it was great having a chat with you.
SN: Thanks for having me Dread.