A screenshot of the scenery (as of Mar 23, 2008) viewed from about 6500 feet above ground in very early development.

What is version 3.x of The Supernatural Olympics like?

• Planet curvature - Planets are essentially giant spheres. On the ground, you don't notice the curvature (unless you take note of the curve on an eclipse of the Moon), but when the heights start measuring several miles, the curvature begins to become much more noticeable. When dozens of miles high, the effect is obvious, even at the lowest resolution (for the narrowest field of view). The 2.4 version didn't have much in the way of this since you couldn't get beyond 8 3/4 miles high. In 3.x, if you can figure out how, it's possible to get 100+ miles high so this special effect can be appreciated more. The free edition does not have this though, but the full edition does.
• Space effect - When you get up very high, even in broad daylight, the sky gets progressively darker as height increases. The space effect is just that. While you won't be able to see the stars until very high up, starting at 50 miles high, provided you can figure out how to get that high. The space effect has two quality settings. Low quality has abrupt changes, but uses two images (one for the initial darkening, another for the stars). High quality uses multiple images, likely 4 or 5, to provide a smooth, more realistic transition. The free edition only uses the first stage of the the space effect for low quality, but the full edition uses everything.
• Cloud fog - When you're in a cloud (hint: fog), things are very foggy and are hard to see. This effect is just that. When you get into either of the cloud layers, the view becomes foggier, limiting visibility to just the foreground pathway and the character. This is a special effect that can only be disabled in exploration mode. The 2.4 version didn't have this as the character didn't go into any clouds. 3.x does because it's entirely possible to get into the clouds. Both editions have this.
• Pathway texture blending - A sudden texture change from grass to rock to snow as one climbs a mountain is not natural. This special effect is the smooth texture blending needed to allow for this more natural look and feel. The lowest quality setting uses just a single texture, useful for cutting back on memory usage. The medium quality setting uses all four textures, but the changes are abrupt. The high quality setting has the blending effect. The free edition uses only the low and medium quality settings. The full edition uses all options.
• Ground texture blending - The same intensity for the ground texture extending all the way back makes little sense. Look at grass from 100 feet away then look at it from 10 miles away. It's easy to see the roughness at 100 feet away, but at 10 miles away, it appears very smooth. This special effect is just that. Although 3D games would have this, 2D games normally don't, directly that is. This game has it done directly. Both editions have this.
• Water splash - Go ahead, throw that rock over the edge and watch what happens when it impacts the water 20 feet below. Then, dive off the cliff yourself, provided it's deep enough. What happens? Splash! This special effect is the splash upon impacting the water. The faster the impact speed, the bigger the splash gets. The 2.4 version didn't have this special effect either for the same reason as the other, it didn't have water. Both editions have this, provided the area of the landscape chosen for the free edition has water.
• Underwater darkening - When you go deep underwater, it's dark and lonely down there. Ever wonder why submersables have to have lights when going more than a few hundred feet underwater? It's dark! This effect is just that - it gets progressively darker as you head deeper underwater, and the murkier the water is, the faster it gets darker with the same amount of depth increase. The 2.4 version didn't have this because it didn't have any water. Both editions have this as well, provided that the landscape area chosen has water.
• Puffs - When slide along the ground, you stir up dust. Puffs are just that, small dust clouds that appear when stopping on the ground. Both editions have these though the full edition, with high enough speeds, has them actually glow due to being so hot.
• Flare effect - This Supernatural Olympics athlete is immune to drag. To allow for this, he absorbs the heat from the friction and forms a barrier to protect him. This isn't perfect and excessive heat causes the flare effect to occur. The faster the speeds are, the more visible the effect becomes, until the speeds get so excessively high that the flare effect gets into the ultraviolet where you no longer can see it. The 2.4 version used a spectrum fade with white between stages and always the same opacity, though expanding with speed. The 3.x version uses the true version of the flare effect, the red to blue color fading based on speed that spreads out as speed increases. Only the full edition has this.
• Supersonic atmospheric distortions - When you go supersonic, you are pushing the air out of its way instead of the air getting out of your way. This is what the supersonic atmospheric distortions effect involves - it's just a faint curve that is only visible when going supersonic. Only the full edition has this.
• Flash attack flash - When using the flash attack, it creates a brief flash half as bright as the Sun. This special effect is this very simple all-white flash that covers the whole screen. Both editions have this.
• Speed blast distortions - The speed blast uses a tremendous amount of energy, so much that it causes small visible distortions. This special effect involves those distortions. Only the full edition has this.
• Shockwaves - When you crash into something or use the pound stomp at ultra high speed, all that kinetic energy is immediately converted into shockwaves that spread out horizontally in all directions. The pound stomp's shockwaves are tightly focused in a donut shape and are more easily seen. Crashing into something has it spread out in all directions and is not noticed until the speeds get much higher. Being called "The Supernatural Olympics", you'd expect some sort of challenges involved. We'll explain this aspect next.
  
  Special abilities < Previous page | Next page > Tournaments and challenges
  
  Learn more about the game with the following links:
  
  9.1.4 The Supernatural Olympics version 3.x - the highly enhanced full remake of my high-speed action game
  9.1.4-1 What is the game? - an introduction to the game and it's features
  9.1.4-2 Feature comparison chart - a quick overview comparing each editions' features
  9.1.4-3 Going 2.5D - the numerous advantages for taking a 2.5D approach instead of 2D only
  9.1.4-4 Scenery features - features related to the game's scenery
  9.1.4-5 Special features - the game's special features
  9.1.4-6 Special abilities - explains the various special abilities
  9.1.4-7 Special effects - explains what the various special effects are
  9.1.4-8 Tournaments and challenges - details about the tournaments, challenges, and ranks
  9.1.4-9 General features - various other features
  9.1.4-10 System requirements - what the minimum and recommended system requirements are
  9.1.4-11 End user license agreement - read this first before using the software or it's components
  9.1.4-12 Ten reasons to upgrade - the top ten reasons to upgrade to the full edition
  9.1.4-13 Buy, download, and install - how to buy the game, download it (including the manual and old versions), and install it
  9.1.4-14 Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) - some common questions that may be asked frequently
  9.1.4-15 Support, bug reports, and updates/upgrades - how to obtain support, file bug reports, and what updates/upgrades are
  9.1.4-16 Development progress checklist - an in-depth checklist for things I need to do before the next release becomes available
  9.1.4-17 Future plans and features - features planned for the future and the game's general future
  
  Footnotes:
  None.