SSRG Talk at Retro World Expo Aug 28, 2022
16Title: Early Days of Sonic ROM Hacking with SSRG Co-founder and Creator Andrew Wolan
Description: The Sonic Stuff Research Group (SSRG) is known for launching the modern day Sonic ROM hacking community, which popularized and made accessible ROM hacking to the general public. It was also the starting point for various game developers, including those that worked on "Sonic Mania". SSRG co-founder Andrew Wolan will take a look back to see what motivated and inspired him to create the site, and it's lasting influence on the community.
(2022 version of original talk from 2021, which has corrections and additional content based on feedback)
NOTE: by request, auto-generated Closed Captioning text have being proof-read for correctness and set with proper timing. Work is now 100% complete! (June 13, 2023)
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Timeline:
0:00 - "Welcome to RWX 2022" Montage
Part 0: Introduction
1:45 - Start of Panel / Crowd Interactions
Part 1: "SSRG Who?" Introduction to major panel topics
3:42 - (Intro) Who is Andrew Wolan?
5:17 - (Intro) What is SSRG?
6:21 - (Intro) What is the Sonic ROM Hacking (Modding) Community
Part 2: Why I created SSRG
8:10 - (Part 2) The 90's
9:24 - (Part 2) Misconceptions
11:39 - (Part 2) BBSes
13:18 - (Part 2) Web of opportunity
14:37 - (Part 2) Motivation in the form of "The Bet"
Part 3: Birth and Rise of SSRG
16:05: (Part 3) Birth of "Sonic Stuff",
21:25 - (Part 3) Why the name "Sonic Stuff"?
23:41 - (Part 3) Group Standards
27:19 - (Part 3) SFGHQ
28:27 - (Part 3) Explosion in popularity
Part 4: My departure
28:58 - (Part 4) My Departure - Why I left
29:40 - (Part 4) Why I left for good?
31:26 - (Part 4) Why would anyone tolerate bad behavior?
32:30 - (Part 4) Dark Side of the Sonic Community
Part 5: Epilog (Legacy, Retrospective Observations, & That Bet)
33:06 - (Part 5) SSRG's Legacy
35:18 - (Part 5) Retrospective Observations
37:49 - (Part 5) ... And what about that bet?
Part 6: Q&A
40:31 - (Q&A) Community & Post-college career advice
42:20 - (Q&A) Do you miss the Sonic Modding Scene?
45:31- (Q&A) Favorite 2D and 3D Sonic game
46:10 - (Q&A) Sonic 1 prototype
48:30 - (Q&A) Tokyo Toy Show demo
51:43 - (Q&A) Sonic Xtreme
53:21 - (Q&A) Time to play modern Sonic games?
54:06 - (Wrap-Up) Coming Attractions & Space Banana
55:35 - (BONUS SEGMENT) Mysterious Lost Song
59:38 - Credits
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Content Corrections:
At 33:52 - Sonic Hacking Competition (SHC) was incorrectly stated as being run by Sonic Retro. It is run independently of Sonic Retro, though it receives promotional support from the folks at Sonic Retro and the current SSRG. (Hence my confusion.) The SHC was first held back in 2002, and was created by Nayr T'nargh, a SSRG staff member. (Whether or not the event was hosted on SSRG or elsewhere is unclear.) As of 2010, the competition is managed by Spanner while the SHC website (https://shc.zone/) is run by Cinossu.
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Video Fixes from last time:
Per request, I made sure the audio quality was better this time around compared to the video for the 2021 talk. Most significant complaint was there was too much "echo". Turned out my Sony handicam video camera, which has great audio pick-up for when someone in the audience is talking, was also the source of the excess echo. That audio channel was only used when necessary.
Also, my main camera went haywire once again. Though the zoom was set correctly, it went out of focus after about 15 minutes as the projected image was being adjusted. (The image also came-out darker than I wanted because the bright screen confused the auto contrast mechanism in the camera.) Thankfully, I had a second camera focused on me for the entire talk. However, its footage was recorded video at a lower 720p30 resolution and had to be cropped, which lead to blocky video. Not wanting a repeat of the "blocky" main camera angle footage like last time, I painstakingly enhanced the video clips from that camera angle with Topaz Video Enhancer AI, leading to a picture quality that I am happy with.
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Bonus Content:
Don't Touch My Car (demo) - Damian Grove
https://soundcloud.app.goo.gl/JwGZc
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#retroworldexpo #retroworldexpo2022 #sonic #sonicthehedgehog #SSRG #hacking #modding #romhacking #gaming #history #90s #1990s #wolan #andywolan