Sonic Generations

Sonic Generations

Developers
	Sonic Team
Windows	Devil's Details
Publishers
	SEGA
Engines
	Hedgehog Engine
Release dates
Windows	November 3, 2011
Reception
Metacritic	77
IGDB	75
Taxonomy
Monetization	One-time game purchase, DLC
Modes	Singleplayer
Pacing	Real-time
Perspectives	Third-person, Side view
Controls	Direct control
Genres	Platform, Action
Art styles	Cartoon
Themes	Fantasy
Series	Sonic the Hedgehog

Sonic Generations is a singleplayer platform developed by Sonic Team and published by SEGA. The game was intended as a celebration of the 20th anniversary of the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise, with it featuring the play-styles and character designs of two different eras of Sonic ("Classic" and "Modern") and levels spanning the franchise from 1991 to 2010.

The PC version of the game was released on November 3, 2011 on Steam, with Europe and Australia exclusively receiving a physical release. Unlike the console versions, the PC version removes the unlockable (emulated) copy of the original Sonic the Hedgehog (1991).

On September 29, 2016, all Steam users received the Casino Night DLC (an in-game pinball mini-game) for free.; this DLC was initially an exclusive GameStop pre-order bonus for the console versions that was later made available for purchase on Steam.

Sonic Generations features an active modding community; players have produced a variety of mods for the game’s stages, models, visual effects, audio, and animations. One such notable mod is the Unleashed Project, which ports the 9 "daytime" stages from Sonic Unleashed into the game (replacing the vanilla stages).

Various mods that enhance the vanilla game are highly recommended, even for a first playthrough. These mods include HQ pre-rendered cutscenes, increased shadow resolution, and HUD upscales. See Essential Improvements and Modifications sections for more information.

General information

Sonic Retro - A large fan website dedicated to the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise. Various mods for all the games can be found here.

Steam Community Discussions

Availability

Source	DRM	Notes	Keys	OS
Retail		Europe & Oceania only.
Amazon.com
Humble Store
Steam

All versions require Steam DRM.

DLC and expansion packs

Name	Notes
Casino Night Zone	As of 29/09/2016, all PC Players receive this DLC for free, but is still purchasable.

Essential improvements

Skip intro videos

Startup logo removal mod
Download HedgeModManager and extract to the installation folder. Download Startup Logo Removal and extract LogoRemoval folder to <path-to-game>\mods\. Run HedgeModManager. Enable "LogoRemoval" and click "Save and Play".

Improved Renderer

Direct3D 11 (Optimized Renderer)

Download HedgeModManager and extract to the installation folder. Download Direct3D 11 and extract GenerationsD3D11 folder to <path-to-game>\mods\. Run HedgeModManager. Enable "Direct3D 11" and click "Save". Improves framerate and reduces stutter, Stutters in stages like Chemical Plant have been fixed, Heavily reduced RAM usage, Instant ALT+TAB, Adds Borderless and Borderless Fullscreen Display modes. Some mods are incompatible with optimized renderer.

Quickstep sound fix

Fix for Modern Sonic's missing quickstep sound

Download HedgeModManager and extract to the game installation folder. Download this fix and extract the Normal folder to <path-to-game>\mods\. If you plan on using the Unleashed Project mod, copy the Unleashed Project folder as well. Run HedgeModManager. Enable "QuickStepFix" and click "Save". Notes Do not enable the regular Quickstep Fix mod with Unleashed Project and vice-versa. This mod must be placed in higher priority over all other audio mods.

Game data

In-game options menu.

Configuration file(s) location

System	Location
Windows	<path-to-game>\*.cfg
Steam Play (Linux)	<Steam-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/71340/pfx/

Save game data location

System	Location
Windows	<Steam-folder>\userdata\<user-id>\71340\
Steam Play (Linux)	<Steam-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/71340/pfx/

Save game cloud syncing

System	Native	Notes
Steam Cloud		Approx. 100 MB available.

Video

External video settings.

Graphics feature	State	WSGF	Notes
Widescreen resolution			See the WSGF entry for aspect ratios besides 16:9.
Multi-monitor			See the WSGF entry.
Ultra-widescreen			See the WSGF entry.
4K Ultra HD
Field of view (FOV)		See Field of view (FOV).
Windowed		See Windowed.
Borderless fullscreen windowed		See Windowed.
Anisotropic filtering (AF)		See the glossary page for potential workarounds.
Anti-aliasing (AA)		FXAA only.
Vertical sync (Vsync)
60 FPS		Capped at 60 FPS, with cutscenes being capped at 30 FPS. See Frame rate (FPS).
120+ FPS		See Frame rate (FPS).
High dynamic range display (HDR)		Check Direct3D 11 for Auto-HDR. See Improved Renderer.
Ray tracing (RT)

Windowed

Force windowed through DxWnd[citation needed]

Download and run DxWnd. (v2.04.62 is confirmed to work.) Click on Edit, then Add. Set the Path to <path-to-game>\SonicGenerations.exe. Set the window position and size. Set Desktop for borderless fullscreen windowed. Click on Input tab, set Cursor visibility to Hide. Click OK, then File and Save. Notes Newer versions of DxWnd (tested with v2.05.14) do not work. The game refuses to start, saying the hardware doesn't match the configuration.

Force windowed through Direct3D 11 (Optimized Renderer) mod
Download HedgeModManager and extract to the installation folder. Download Direct3D 11 and extract GenerationsD3D11 folder to <path-to-game>\mods\. Run HedgeModManager. Enable "Direct3D 11" Go to Configure Mod Set "Display mode" to either "Windowed" or "Borderless Fullscreen" Click OK, then "Save and Play" Notes Some mods are incompatible with optimized renderer.

Field of view (FOV)

Change FOV with Flawless Widescreen[citation needed]
Install Flawless Widescreen. Run it and install the Sonic Generations plugin. Go to the Flawless Widescreen installation folder. Go into the \PluginCache\FWS_Plugins\Modules\SonicGenerations\Dependencies\Scripts\ folder. Download the modified FWS Script Mod from WSGF. Replace the original SonicGenerations.lua with the modified one. Restart Flawless Widescreen and adjust the FOV as needed.

Hex edit .exe files[citation needed]
Download the fixed .exe from the WSGF attachment Install a hex editor such as HxD. Go to offset 0xFC10B5. Change 00 00 80 3F to some other value like 00 00 40 3F. Notes Some values will break the display and will render the game unplayable.

Frame rate (FPS)

Remove 60 FPS cap on Gameplay[citation needed]

Step 1 - Change Hex Values Download the fixed .exe from the WSGF attachment Install a hex editor such as HxD. Change both instances of 89 88 88 3C to either, 2F 8E E3 3B for 144 FPS. 3F 0B 36 3B for 360 FPS. Step 2 - Change Binary Values This step must be performed each time the game is launched to take effect. Download and run Cheat Engine Search for the value 0.01666666666 as a float in rounded (extreme) mode, while Executable, Writable and CopyOnWrite is set to Don't Care. Right click the first value that appears (eg. 0019FD34) and select Find out what writes to this value to open the debugger. Continue running the game for a few seconds, selecting the code presented and clicking Disassembler. Click on the Opcode and replace it with nop, then click yes on the following warning screen when presented. Go back to the searched value (0019FD34) and replace with either, 0.00694444 for 144 FPS. 0.00277777 for 360 FPS. Notes This may make some stages more difficult to complete or unplayable, due to reducing Sonic's jump height. Using a physics mod may fix the issue. Included as a toggleable code in HedgeModManager.

Remove 30 FPS cap on Cutscenes[citation needed]

Step 1 - Change Hex Values Download the fixed .exe from the WSGF attachment Install a hex editor such as HxD. Change both instances of 89 88 88 3C to either, 2F 8E E3 3B for 144 FPS. 3F 0B 36 3B for 360 FPS. Step 2 - Change Binary Values This step must be performed each time the game is launched to take effect. Download and run Cheat Engine Search for the value 0.033333333333 as a float in rounded (extreme) mode, while Executable, Writable and CopyOnWrite is set to Don't Care. Select all values that appear and replace with either 0.00694444 for 144 FPS. 0.00277777 for 360 FPS. Notes This may cause some mouth animations to be out of sync. Included as a toggleable code in HedgeModManager.

Anti-aliasing (AA)

Force SGSSAA (Nvidia only)

Download and run Nvidia Profile Inspector. Select the Sonic Generations profile. Change Antialiasing compatibility value to 0x084010C5. Change Antialiasing - Behavior Flags to None. Change Antialiasing - Mode to Override any application setting. Change Antialiasing - Setting to 4x [4x Multisampling]. Change Antialiasing - Transparency Supersampling to 4x Sparse Grid Supersampling. Press "Apply Changes" in the top-right corner. Notes Does not work with the FX Pipeline mod.

Ambient occlusion

Force HBAO+ (Nvidia only)

Download and run Nvidia Profile Inspector. Select the Sonic Generations profile. Change Ambient Occlusion compatibility value to 0x00000026. Change Ambient Occlusion setting to High Quality. Change Ambient Occlusion usage to Enabled. Press "Apply Changes" in the top-right corner. Notes The effect lacks total stability on some types of grass, though that is only seen in specific levels, such as Green Hill Zone.

Input

External control settings.

Keyboard and mouse	State	Notes
Remapping		Keys must be bound to a virtual Xbox 360 Controller. The game will display the matching gamepad buttons instead of keyboard keys in the tooltips. Certain keys, such as ⇧ Shift, Ctrl, and Alt cannot be bound.
Mouse acceleration
Mouse sensitivity
Mouse input in menus		Only for external configuration tool.
Mouse Y-axis inversion
Controller
Controller support		XInput controllers only.
Full controller support
Controller remapping		See the glossary page for potential workarounds.
Controller sensitivity
Controller Y-axis inversion

Controller types

XInput-compatible controllers
Xbox button prompts
Impulse Trigger vibration

DualShock 4 controllers		Use DS4Windows.
DualShock button prompts		Download HedgeModManager and use this mod.
Light bar support
Connection modes	unknown

Generic/other controllers		Enable the other controller support options in Steam's controller controller settings.
Button prompts

Additional information
Controller hotplugging		Download HedgeModManager and enable the "Controller Hotplugging Support" code.
Haptic feedback		On by default, download HedgeModManager and enable the "Disable Controller Rumble" code to turn vibration off.
Simultaneous controller+KB/M

Audio

External audio settings.

Audio feature	State	Notes
Separate volume controls
Surround sound		Auto configures up to 5.1 output.
Subtitles
Closed captions
Mute on focus lost
Royalty free audio

Localizations

Language	UI	Audio	Sub	Notes
English
French
German
Italian				Configuration tool is poorly translated.
Japanese
Brazilian Portuguese				Fan translation, available here.
Russian				Fan translation, available here.
Spanish				Castilian.
Latin American Spanish				Fan translation, available here.

VR support

3D modes	Native	GG3D	Notes
Native 3D			Side-by-side
Nvidia 3D Vision			See Helix Mod: Sonic Generations for improved support.
TriDef 3D
iZ3D
vorpX		G3D User created game profile, see vorpx forum profile introduction.

Issues fixed

Issues with Nvidia Optimus laptops

Method 1: "Extend Desktop" Fix

Open Nvidia Control Panel. Click on "Manage 3D Settings" in the left side of the panel, and click "add". Select <path-to-game>\SonicGenerations.exe. Select the option to force it to use Nvidia Graphics Card. Now, go to the desktop. Right click on it, and select "Screen Resolution". Press Detect in this new Window (if you can see two displays that are grayed out and named after your video cards, you're probably good to go). Choose your Nvidia card and select "Attempt to connect anyway on [VGA/HDMI]". When you found it, click apply. Choose extended desktop and apply again. This will force-activate your discrete GPU. Open the Sonic Config tool and see if your Nvidia card is present (it really should be), and of course, choose it. Now start Sonic, and it will probably work. If not, try running the Sonic Config again and this time deliberately select the non-Nvidia card. Try starting Sonic again. Some people have said that the now-force-activated Nvidia card took control anyway at this point, solving the problem.

Method 2: "Config File Edit" Fix

Use Method 2 only if Method 1 does not work. This fix is known to work on GeForce GT 555M, GeForce GT 540M, and GeForce GT 525M chipsets. (Revert any changes you made in Method 1, if necessary: alter the Screen Resolution settings to Show Desktop Only on 1, Apply, then pick Remove This Display on the NVIDIA screen, and Apply again). Open the NVIDIA Control Panel, go to "Manage 3D Settings" then "Program Settings". Add the sonicgenerations.exe executable and set the preferred graphics processor to be the NVIDIA one. Open "Control Panel" and look for the "Device Manager". Open it and expand the "Display Adapters" item. Make a note of the exact name given to your NVIDIA adapter (including the use of capitalization). To be sure you have the whole name, open the adapter's properties in the same menu, switch to the Details tab, select "Device Description" from the drop-down, and right-click, copy the displayed information. Use the Sonic Generations configuration tool to configure the game to your liking and save. Go to Sonic Generations installation folder. Edit GraphicsConfig.cfg. The second line will be the name of your Intel adapter. Replace this with the name of your NVIDIA adapter as it appeared in Device Manager. You should see a line that says something like "MONITOR\LGD0292\{4d36e96e-e325-11ce-bfc1-08002be10318}\ 0000" (this will vary depending on your exact setup, just look for line of this format), it should be the second to last line. Delete the contents of this line, so you are now left with a blank line. Save the edited file. Here is a finished configuration file as an example: Do not manually edit this file, use the configuration tool. NVIDIA GeForce GT 555M \\.\DISPLAY1 1600.900.60 1 1 1 1 0 d7b78e66-4256-11cf-fd56-b424b7c2c535 1515474505 Notes It is crucial that when you go to device manager you copy it exactly as it says. The tested GTX 580M was followed by 5 spaces; the tested 540M and 525M by 2. Your own chip's details may vary. If DISPLAY1 does not work, it is recommended to try DISPLAYi, where i is the number of displays you currently have enabled.

Low frame rate

Lag in-game
Turn off in-game Vsync through the config tool. Force it through the graphics driver.

Skipping/major lag

Method 1: Game freezes at random, for a few seconds
Open the Nvidia Control Panel. Go to 3D Settings, Manage 3D settings. Program settings and select "Sonic Generations". Set "Max Frame Rate" to 59. Notes This can be done using HedgeModManager codes, though these might not fix the issue.

Method 2: Game freezes at random, for a few seconds
Turn off in-game Vsync through the config tool. Force it through the graphics driver. Download HedgeModManager and extract to the installation folder. Run HedgeModManager. Go to Codes. Check Disable FPS Limit. Click"Save and Play" Notes Make sure to turn off "Max Frame Rate".

Configuration Tool does not open/crashes

Config tool crashing[citation needed]
Download and install the Microsoft .NET Framework 4. Notes If the above doesn't work run Windows Update and install ALL Updates available.

Crash on startup

Set sound quality to 24 bit, 48000 Hz[citation needed]
See Sound problems (cracking, delays, missing music/effects, etc.)

Other possible solutions[citation needed]
If the sound quality fix doesn't work, try the following: Run Sonic Generations and Steam as administrator. Have Steam verify the integrity of the game cache If you still have a crash after doing the above, update your graphics card drivers, download the newest DirectX and install it, and finally run Windows Update and install all updates available.

Critical Error

Complete error states The detected configuration does not match your current hardware. Please run the configuration tool.

Delete config files and re-run config tool[citation needed]
Delete *.cfg files in <path-to-game>. Re-run config tool and ensure you select resolution and refresh rate that your computer supports.

Crash when trying to play online ranking mode

Instructions[citation needed]
If you have more than 100 friends on Steam, even if you are offline in chat, online mode will cause to crash the game. Remove friends to have 99 or less, and the game won't crash anymore. Loading a level in the singleplayer, exiting it and then starting it in ranked mode may reduce the chances of a crash.

Modern Sonic's Quickstep sound is missing

See "Quickstep sound fix" in Essential Improvements section.

Other information

API

Technical specs	Supported	Notes
Direct3D	9.0c	11 when using Optimized Renderer Mod.
Shader Model support	3

Executable	32-bit	64-bit	Notes
Windows

Middleware

	Middleware	Notes
Physics	Havok
Audio	Criware

Modifications

Various mods provide gameplay and graphical enhancements that are strongly recommended, even for a first play-through.

Users of Nvidia GPUs utilizing the Turing architecture will encounter issues with some stage mods.

Mod Managers

HedgeModManager

Mod manager for all Hedgehog Engine titles. Required for all non-exe mods.

Includes more functions than SonicGMI, such as a code loader and the ability to automatically update mods.

Compatible with DLL-based mods, eliminating the need for additional modified game executables.

Some older mods have issues running in HedgeModManager. If this is the case, use SonicGMI instead.

Ensure "Enable save file redirection" is checked in HedgeModManager so that the mod uses its own save file called "cpkredir.sav", instead of "sonic.sav" which is linked to the Steam Cloud. That will avoid save file progress being accidentally overwritten or lost.

Older mods may still be able to run in HedgeModManager by editing the "mod.ini" file inside mod folders. The "IncludeDir0=" code is what causes older mods to not run in HMM. When that code tries to specify a location, for example (IncludeDir0="./mods/Sonic 2006 Voice (Sonic)") it won't run because the location specifications is made to work with SonicGMI and not HMM. Changing it so it only shows (IncludeDir0=".") solves the problem and makes the older mods fully compatible with HedgeModManager.

SonicGMI

Compatible with older mods that have difficulty running in HedgeModManager.

Not compatible with mods that inject custom code into the game.

Quality of Life

HQ Prerendered cutscenes

Replaces the PC version's 480p pre-rendered cutscenes with the PlayStation 3 version's 720p ones.

Requires the "1280x720 Media Player" code to be enabled from HedgeModManager, to avoid black screens or crashes during cutscene playback.

Missing Cutscene for Casino Night DLC

Restores the missing intro cutscene for the Casino Night DLC, which was present in the console versions but absent from the PC version.

Video demo from author available here.

High-Res HUD Mod

Remasters the HUD elements for higher resolutions.

PlayStation Prompts

Replaces the Xbox controller button-prompts with their DualShock equivalents, as well as voice-clips & video files referencing the Xbox buttons.

Utilizes the official icons, voice files and video files ripped from the PlayStation 3 version of the game.

High-Resolution Shadows

A hex modification to the executable which increases the game's shadow resolution.

Only applies to shadows cast by dynamic objects, not those that are baked into the textures themselves.

May impact performance.

Included as a toggleable code in HedgeModManager.

Graphics

Better FxPipeline

Adds multiple new features and fixes to the vanilla Sonic Generations renderer.

Minimal-to-no performance impact.

Features the ability to toggle between the Sonic Unleashed and Sonic Generations shader styles.

Frequently updated (as of 2021).

Soft Shadows

Requires Better FxPipeline.

Features two levels ("Soft" and "Softer").

May heavily impact performance.

Graphics Overhaul

Alternative to "Better FxPipeline". Contains considerably less improvements & features, and is not being worked on anymore.

The game renders generic shadows at 90° angles; this mod enables true directional shadows and light shafts, among additional graphical tweaks.

Minimal-to-no performance impact.

Also includes a version for the "Unleashed Project".

Lighting is inconsistent, with some areas making Sonic appear far too dark (e.g. Chemical Plant: Act 2).

Hub world is given an emanating, bright glow (straying from the original style).

Miscellaneous

Unleashed Project

Ports the 9 "daytime" stages from Sonic Unleashed into the game, replacing the original Generations stages.

Features graphical and gameplay tweaks, as well as a custom hub-world.

Does not work out-of-the-box on NVIDIA Turing GPUs. However a workaround has fixed this.

System requirements

Windows
	Minimum	Recommended
Operating system (OS)	XP, Vista	7
Processor (CPU)	Intel Pentium Dual-Core T4200 2.0 GHz	Intel Core i5 2.66 GHz AMD Phenom II X4 3.0 GHz
System memory (RAM)	2 GB (XP) 3 GB (Vista, 7)	3 GB
Hard disk drive (HDD)	11 GB
Video card (GPU)	Nvidia GeForce 8800 ATI Radeon HD 2900 512 MB of VRAM DirectX 9 compatible	Nvidia GeForce GTX 460 ATI Radeon HD 5850 1 GB of VRAM