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Your favorite fan-made projects?
Sometimes enough is enough and fans just pick themselves up and say "Fine, I'll do it myself".
Ever since the early days of computing, enthusiasts have taken it upon themselves to realise their dream projects and have created some truly amazing as well as equally insane homemade projects. Some can be the result of a single person while others can be the products of entire teams working together.
Whether the idea is to resurrect a long-forgotten franchise, or to build upon and approve an existing product; or whether the ambition stems from a long seated desire for improvements that just never come to pass - the results of these projects can often outclass the original and even lead to the developers getting recognised and even hired by the IP owners. A recent example is the 2011 port of Sonic CD - a project that started out as a fan made proof of concept on YouTube only to later be greenlit and picked up by SEGA.
More often than not, fan made projects tread a very thin line when it comes to legality. See this interesting piece on Gamesutra that takes a deep look into the legality of such projects.
Historically, Nintendo are known for their aggressive stance toward fan made projects and regularly issue and demand takedowns whereas SEGA on the other hand are much more lenient and have outright publicly stated that they are OK with fan made projects as long as they don't seek to profit from them.
Some notable fan made projects:
Built for Windows and ported to Linux, Android and even the Vita, AM2R is a ground-up remake of Metroid II: Return of Samus released for Game Boy in 1991 and features graphics and design similar to that of Super Metroid for the SNES. A DMCA takedown was issued by Nintendo who later went on to release an official remake of Metroid 2, but the author continued work on the project in secret.
AM2R
Over a decade in the making, Black Mesa is a remake of the original Half Life within the Source engine. It even caught the eye of Valve who not only let the project continue but after its completion last year, even allowed it to be sold through Steam.
Black Mesa on Steam
Mother 4 (now renamed Oddity) is a brand new official indie game that takes a lot of inspiration from its precursor, from the look of the text boxes, to the character designs, and especially the battle system. While the game is still in development, a trailer was released back in January of 2020.
Oddity on Twitter
Sonic Utopia is a single level proof-of-concept built to demonstrate how classic Sonic could play and control within a 3D environment. Using the full momentum based physics of the original games, Utopia provides an open sandbox style world to explore and test out Sonic's capabilities.
Sonic Utopia on Archive.org
Ever since the early days of computing, enthusiasts have taken it upon themselves to realise their dream projects and have created some truly amazing as well as equally insane homemade projects. Some can be the result of a single person while others can be the products of entire teams working together.
Whether the idea is to resurrect a long-forgotten franchise, or to build upon and approve an existing product; or whether the ambition stems from a long seated desire for improvements that just never come to pass - the results of these projects can often outclass the original and even lead to the developers getting recognised and even hired by the IP owners. A recent example is the 2011 port of Sonic CD - a project that started out as a fan made proof of concept on YouTube only to later be greenlit and picked up by SEGA.
More often than not, fan made projects tread a very thin line when it comes to legality. See this interesting piece on Gamesutra that takes a deep look into the legality of such projects.
Historically, Nintendo are known for their aggressive stance toward fan made projects and regularly issue and demand takedowns whereas SEGA on the other hand are much more lenient and have outright publicly stated that they are OK with fan made projects as long as they don't seek to profit from them.
Some notable fan made projects:
AM2R - Another Metroid 2 Remake
Built for Windows and ported to Linux, Android and even the Vita, AM2R is a ground-up remake of Metroid II: Return of Samus released for Game Boy in 1991 and features graphics and design similar to that of Super Metroid for the SNES. A DMCA takedown was issued by Nintendo who later went on to release an official remake of Metroid 2, but the author continued work on the project in secret.
AM2RBlack Mesa
Over a decade in the making, Black Mesa is a remake of the original Half Life within the Source engine. It even caught the eye of Valve who not only let the project continue but after its completion last year, even allowed it to be sold through Steam.
Black Mesa on SteamMother 4 / Oddity
Mother 4 (now renamed Oddity) is a brand new official indie game that takes a lot of inspiration from its precursor, from the look of the text boxes, to the character designs, and especially the battle system. While the game is still in development, a trailer was released back in January of 2020.
Oddity on TwitterSonic Utopia
Sonic Utopia is a single level proof-of-concept built to demonstrate how classic Sonic could play and control within a 3D environment. Using the full momentum based physics of the original games, Utopia provides an open sandbox style world to explore and test out Sonic's capabilities.
Sonic Utopia on Archive.orgWhat are some of your favourite fan-made projects?
Let us know below!
Let us know below!
Last edited by shaunj66,
