as much as i wanted to hold out on talking about my fangame until when i get farther along with it... i made that agreement with myself because i don't trust myself to keep on things after i talk about them.
but... the passion i have for making this game has stayed strong for a full year, so here goes! (this may also serve as a masterpost later...)
Sonic and the Lotus Mirror is a Sonic fangame i'm developing solo and plan to only have assistance with voice acting and perhaps music.
models, animations, code, 2d graphics, most sfx, the music, writing, general design, everything is my work from my own hands. the only exceptions are when i need to get some libre assets for textures or sounds, as well as notable things like the ring sounds and compositions like level complete music.
the premise of the story: Sonic wakes up after interacting with a strange mirror to find himself trapped in an alternate dimension, dark and quiet. he meets a creature named Polaris, spirit of the North Star, who tells him that he's stuck there indefinitely... though it isn't for the worst, since strange Eggman-like things have been happening recently... including Sage's presence in this strange world.
he finds he can switch places with Shadow, so they can reunite the shattered pieces of the Chaos Emeralds, and this makes up the primary gimmick and loop of the game.
gameplay is split between the "physical world" and Lotus, realm of magic and the unseen. in the physical world (referred to internally as Lumen), gameplay is like a typical Adventure-style Sonic game, except with the peel out in place of the spin dash. in Lotus, Sonic and Shadow have slower movement, but gain new powers that allow them to find secret, faster paths.
there are certain points where the player can switch, and this will make up some puzzles in the game. getting S ranks will depend on knowing where and when to switch out, as an S rank is dependent not just on score, but also on collecting all five shards in one run.
the story unfolds as the two hedgehogs encounter their (and each other's) "Mirrors" in Lotus, which are the manifestations of the things they hide from the world. these Mirrors confront their real selves, seeking to be integrated... but do Sonic and Shadow want to face what they thought they'd tucked away? does anyone?
in the end, Sonic and Shadow have to find a way to stop Sage's plans, and find a way to bring Sonic home in one piece, too.
there's no projected release window at all. i want to have a playable beta ready next year, though. the engine is in alpha, i've been hard at work on assets, and the writing is mostly locked in. mostly it just depends on how quickly i can design levels! that's the hard part.
if you're interested, feel free to follow! i'll be talking about it a lot more as i keep at it.