Posted by Epicenter on Monday, May 6, 2008
Just a small update today-- I added the Vocal version of St. Gabriel's Mask to the Sega CD/Mega CD Music section. I also made some changes to the sidebar arrangement. See below for yesterday's (bigger) update.


Posted by Epicenter on Sunday, May 5, 2008
The Discussion Board and Live Chat are now online! You can access either using the links on the navigation bar (to the left) or use those links. Feel free to leave comments as usual, but for discussions, use either the BBS or Chat. The IRC channel is generously provided by Arkonviox, and we're sharing it and the BBS with Ultimate Arkonviox.com as a cooperative effort to help unite the Ecco community.

After a long hiatus the Ecco Comics are now online again! You can download them all at once or view them in your browser here.

I've also added a much-improved version of Illusen's "Undertow" remix to the Arrangements and Remixes section, as well as the full version of SGX's trance remix of "St. Gabriel's Mask". Many thanks to SGX for this great remix!

Another update is coming this week, stay tuned!


Posted by Epicenter on Tuesday, April 23, 2008
More news! And lots more goodies for you all this week.

First off, the Genesis/MegaDrive Music Section is updated with all the Ecco Jr. music, courtesy of Moduvator, recorded from real MegaDrive hardware, and noise filtered to sound absolutely amazing. The last few missing tracks have also been added, completing this section with every last 16-bit Ecco tune!

Next up-- the Sonar Maps section has been updated with all new high-quality PNG maps by Arkonviox and Tails151. Ecco I is now mostly mapped, and Ecco II is 100% mapped!

Say hello to a new section very long in coming! It's the In-Game Graphics and Sprites Gallery! Grab sprite sheets, stage backgrounds and even some animated GIFs here. Thanks to Trilobite and Mecheon of the forum for contributing them!

I'm proud to say I haven't missed a weekly update in a while-- I think this is a positive sign. With the new design, over 30 prototype versions of Ecco II and Ecco Jr. to document, and the contributions of a whole new influx of Ecco fans, as well as the cooperation and contributions of former-rivals in the community Arkonviox and Moduvator, I can say with certainty we have entered a new golden age for Ecco. And not a bit too soon, coming up on the series' 16th anniversary. I can assure you there will be no shortage of Ecco news to come, so keep checking back! :)


Posted by Epicenter on Monday, April 14, 2008
The Game Music section has been revamped! The missing songs have been added to the Ecco I/II Genesis/MegaDrive and Game Gear sections. Big thanks to Moduvator and Arkonviox for their contributions! I've also added a lossless FLAC version, and a high-bitrate MP3 version of Spencer Nilsen's Ecco OST CD, "Songs of Time". Until now this soundtrack has only been available online at 128 KBps. :) Check it out here! The Ecco Jr. soundtrack will be up shortly.

In other news we'll soon be releasing another Ecco II prototype in cooperation with Hidden Palace-- this one dated just over 2 weeks after "X11", with more never-before-seen stages and other extremely interesting content. Keep checking back to DARK SEA for all your Ecco news!


Posted by Epicenter on Monday, April 7, 2008
Thanks to Tails151, BlueGlass and Jes we now have all-new high quality PNG sonar maps for every stage in Ecco II for Genesis/MegaDrive. Coming soon, we'll be doing the same to replace the old maps from Ecco I and Ecco I CD with new-and-improved ones. Check out the sonar maps here, and also note some revisions have been made to the Ecco II Game Gear Prototype Comparison article. A full review/analysis of Ecco II GG is forthcoming, along with some Ecco II GG prototype versions that will shine some light on just what went wrong in E2GG's development once and for all.

In other news we'll soon be releasing another Ecco II prototype in cooperation with Hidden Palace-- this one dated just over 2 weeks after "X11", with more never-before-seen stages and other extremely interesting content. Keep checking back to DARK SEA for all your Ecco news!


Posted by Epicenter on Monday, March 31, 2008
NEW ECCO II PROTOTYPE NOW AVAILABLE!!

DARK SEA, in partnership with Drx of Hidden Palace, is proud to present the first new Ecco II prototype! This unfinished version of Ecco II: The Tides of Time has the designation "X11" and was built April 13, 1994. It has many dramatic differences from the final version of the game, and never-before-seen stages, music, enemies and more. We've prepared thorough documentation of this build, and a downloadable ROM binary of X11 is available for you to download and play! This is just the first of many Ecco prototypes coming in the near future, so keep checking back to DARK SEA and Hidden Palace for more prototype news!
Special thanks to Tails151 and Moduvator for all their help in documenting this milestone in Ecco history.

Enter the Ecco II X11 Prototype Area


Posted by Epicenter on Thursday, March 26, 2008
This is your captain speaking... expect some turbulance as I convert the remaining sections of the site to their new format. Drx of Hidden Palace has been so kind as to locate a new Ecco II prototype version, and with the help of Tails151 and Moduvator we're moving full speed ahead to document and release it. Expect full documentation and a downloadable ROM this weekend!

Some notes on the new site design. Every section now has a comments field at the bottom. You can leave any questions, comments, remarks etc. Click any section on the left to visit it, but note that sections marked (WIP) are in transition and may not work fully (or just send you back here.) Give them a little time but let me know if something NOT marked (WIP) is busted.

Other features on the way are lossless music from every Ecco game, including Ecco Jr. and the CD soundtracks, new sonar maps, and much much more. So keep checking back to DARK SEA, the Ultimate Ecco Resource.