First Post edited to contain details of the now-serious project.
NAME: Touhou "_______"; Luminous Wings of Cold Steel
STORY: One morning in Gensokyo, everyone wakes up to find that a massive rip has appeared in the sky, where the stars always shine bright in the black of night, contrasting painfully with the peaceful blue atmosphere with fluffy white clouds that float by unaffected. Patchouli, along with Rinnosuke, and Sakuya (with Remilia's permission, of course.) leave to create LAOS, also known as the Local Area Observatory Station, in the sky near the Anomaly that appeared overnight. Using LAOS, the three study the Anomaly, and are astounded to discover that it is artificially createde and sustained, meaning that it was put there on purpose! Unfortunately, at this point, A Huge Battleship (lol.) rumbles into Gensokyo's atmosphere through the anomaly with an unfathomable amount of smaller ships! With Patchouli, innosuke, and Sakuya all trapped inside, the battleship makes off with LAOS back into the Anomaly, but not before causing mass destruction upon the lands. The armada of ships that came with the battleship continue to raze Gensokyo to ash and rubble.
Nitori, Gensokyo's engineer kappa, decides this would pe a good time to reveal the secret project that she had been working on deep inside of Youkai Mountain. She had been designing a vehicle to take Gensokyo's residents to space, along with an automatic assembly line to mass-produce them, and a carrier to deliver them safely where needed. The ASANO series (Aero-Space Amphibious Navigation Object) has a very strange ability, in which the ship, when first used, changes it's shape to reflect the heart and soul of it's first user. Nitori hadn't quite fixed this like she wanted, where this shape shift could be done more than once, but at this point in time, once was enough. This meant that the first user of every ASANO was it's permanent owner, and the ASANO would eternally hold the shape of it's first user's soul.
Reimu, Marisa, Alice, Youmu, Cirno, Remilia, and Yukari are the first nes to contact Nitori about piloting an ASANO, each have their own reasons for fighting, but they all share a common goal: to save Gensokyo from total annhialation.
Reimu's Prelude: Hakurei Shrine is one of the first places to be destroyed, which is reason enough for the Hakurei miko to seek retribution, preferably in the form of a donation large enough to rebuild the shrine and it's grounds, three times over.
Marisa and Alice's Prelude: Both Maisa and Alice happened to be shopping in Eientei for materials and consumables at the time. On their way home, they were stopped in their tracks by the sight of the moon-sized ship ominously gliding into existance through the Anomaly. Lasers caressing the countryside in explosive force, all they could do was watch in horror as their forest and home was lit completely ablaze by a single laser's sweep. As soon as they heard of Nitori's ASANO project, they set out with vengeful hearts.
Youmu's Prelude: Youmu, though Hakugyokurou was not directly affected by the Anomal and Assault, was sent to Nitori by Yuyuko because the netherworld was becoming burdened by too many ghosts entering at once with the battleship's attack on Gensokyo.
Cirno's Prelude: Cirno became involved when the battleship lasered her lake and boiled it away like the lake never existed there in the first place. Luckily, Cirno happened to be out with Rumia at the time, but that didn't mean that Cirno wasn't frightened and infuriated all at the same time. Frightened by the raw power used to vaporize her entire lake in seconds, nd infuriated that these aliens think they can just fly in through a hole in the sky and turn her lake into a cloud of hot steam on the wind and get away with it.
Remilia's Prelude: Remilia, concerned for the safety of Patchouli and Sakuya, immediately sets out to rescue them. Oddly, Scarlet Devil Mansion was left untouched by the initial Assault, but as soon as she sets out to request an ASANO from Nitori, the mansion was reduced to rubble in an earthshaking explosion.
Yukari's Prelude: Of course, with Yukari being notorious for her border manipulation mischief, she was the first one blamed for the gap-like Anomaly in the sky that brought destruction to Gensokyo. Not a soul believes that she was innocent in the matter, so she winds up having to gap-steal an ASANO, and chase after the abducted LAOS in an attempt to redeem her name and prove she had no part in the Anomaly. She hopes that by rescuing LAOS, her innocence will be proven.
Alrisandre's Prelude: To be added.
ASANO models:
Reimu: "Yin & Yang" - CONCEPTUALIZED
Marisa: "Five Point Power"
Alice: "Puppetmaster"
Youmu: "Yojimbo"
Cirno: "Ice-9"
Remilia: "NightWings" - CONCEPTUALIZED
Yukari: "Border Patrol" - CONCEPTUALIZED
Unlockable: (In no particular order)
Patchouli: "Ampersand" - CONFIGURED
Flandre: "NightLights" - CONCEPTUALIZED
Minoriko: "Bountiful Harvest"
Sanae: "Category Seven"
Aya: "Nevermore"
Hourai: "Marionette Lancer"
Suika:
Rumia:
Daiyousei:
Chen:
Ran:
Satori:
Tenchi:
Suwako:
Kanako:
Keine:
Mokou:
Letty:
Momizi:
Nitori:
Hina:
Yuyuko:
Mystia:
Wriggle:
Tewi: "Corpore Sano"
Reisen: "Anima Sano"
Eirin:
Utsuho:
Orin:
Yuugi: "Another Round"
Parsee:
Sakuya: "Lunar Dial"
Kisame:
Elly:
Yumeko:
Nazrin: "Magnetic Chrysanthemum"
Sariel:
Mima:
Yuka: "Lady Midori"
Kikuri:
Konngara:
Genji:
Rika:
Meira:
Kotohime:
Kana:
Rikako:
Chiyuri:
Yumemi:
Rukoto:
Kurumi:
Sara:
Luize:
Yuki:
Mai:
Shinki:
China:
Koakuma:
Lyrica:
Merlin:
Lunasa:
Shikieiki: "Apollo" (Subject to change)
(At this point, know that I'm missing a bunch. Please post those that I'm missing!)
Llathala:
Alrisandre: (Yay, self-insert!)
Kamihana: "Lingo"
Patil:
Desiderius:
Sadismial: "Pain"
Achromia: "Colorless Future"
Phoebe: "Lacrima"
Kaeli:
Hazel: "Million Dollar Angel"
Laevateinn: "Ultima"
Enemy ships:
(unlisted)
Stage One concept has been written. Kit: Stage one theme is a vague mix of Einhander's "Streets". Try a fast-paced loop around Youkai Mountain, then up the river and waterfall, and through Moriya Shrine. Stage One boss is "Gomorrah". Stage one midboss is the first appearance of "Cerberus". Stage general enemies consist of "Swarmers", "Screamers", "Jumpers", and "Chasers".
MODES:
Story Mode - The usual single-player story play.
Co-Op Arcade Mode - Two players can play, story becomes ambiguous to all characters. Potential online use here.
Campaign Mode - Unlockable. This is a First or Third Person Simulation-style version, with a new story that takes place after Story Mode. Basic idea is to 'clean up' the remainder of the enemy in Gensokyo in challenging dogfights.
Versus Mode - Unlocked with Campaign Mode. Two or more players face off in a predetermined 'stage' and see who comes out on top. Potential online use here.
Endless Mode - One life. See how long you last in an endless stage.
Survival Mode - Unlocked with first new unlocked character. Basic idea is similar to Endless Mode, except you can only use each character once. When you lose a life, it pauses the action, and brings up an in-game character select screen where you pick your next ship and continue where you left off.
Double Mode - One player conrols two characters simultaneously in Arcade style.
Special Modes - game can be played in special arcade versions like 'Galaga Mode', 'Pong Mode', 'Arkanoid Mode', and more.
Create-a-Character Mode - Create up to five custom characters with five more unockable slots! As you play the game, more pieces and accessories will be unlocked.
Create-a-Ship Mode - Unockable. Create up to five custom ASANO ships with five more unlockable slots! As you play, more pieces, accessories, weapons, and attributes will be unlocked.
Create-an-Option Mode Unlockable. Create up to five custom 'Options' to fight alongside your ASANO ships! As you play, more parts, accessories, and attributes will be unlocked.
Create-a-Stage Mode Unlockable. Create limitless stages and program enemy flightpaths, camera angles, shot patterns and more here! As you encounter various parts, terrains, and objects, they will become unlocked for use here.
Create-an-Enemy Mode - Unlockable. Make your own bad guys here! A total of 25 slots available for villian creation. Parts, attributes, and other thingies will become unlocked as you play.
Create-a-Piece Mode - Unlockable. Want a piece not already in the gallery? Make them! This feature becomes avaliable after all parts and accessories have been unocked. Parts made here can be used in many of the above Creation Modes.
3 Dimensional Models
Camera Paths through stages to pan and rotate around ships and scenery
Predetermined Characterized Ships
ALL Characters exist (Pc-98 through current and fangame characters)
Spellcard Deck Selection with Unlockable Cards
Customizable Weapons Array Unlockable Feature
Special Modes - "Galaga", "Pong", "Arkanoid", etc.
Seven difficulty settings? (Training, Skirmish, Easy, Normal, Hard, Lunatic, Twilight. Difficulty increases onscreen bullet count, speed, pattern intricate-ness, and hitbox size.)
Unlockable Special Ships (Vic Viper, Falchion, Jade Knight, EDF's XA-1, FIRE LEO-03 Styx, Silver Hawk, Endymoin Mk.II, Astraea, Selena, Andromalius, Concert Master, Curtain Call, etc.)
Hangar Mode (Ship Gallery)
More than ten stages.
Extra and Phantasm stages.
Character-Ship effects.
Detailed 3-D Environment Mapping
Story progression in-action (Events and story progression can occur while in the heat of battle, for example: In one scenario, Remilia happens to join up with AI-controlled Meiling in one stage, and they fight alongside one another for part of the stage, then Meiling is incapacitated by a stray bullet and has to be left behind until the stage is completed. Occasionally, other characters will cross your flightpath, or may request assistance [Starfox, anyone?], and even the Player-Character will make comments and things while fighting. Story progresses from in or near Gensokyo, through space, across the moon, and beyond.)
New idea that could present a LOT of difficulty. Probably won't be incorporated into the PC version, but if I try to hit a console system with this: Dual-joystick movement. Left stick would cover the vertical "Up, Down, Left, Right", while the right stick would cover the horizontal "Forward, Reverse, Left, Right". This would allow the ships to be controlled like an etch-a-sketch cursor in a three-dimensional coordinate field. PC version will just simply have to stick with 2d movement and complicated flightpath to camerapath control adjustments for some parts, like in Ether Vapor.
Also, how hard would it be to take two or more existing game engines, and combine the more favored parts into one engine? If that is possible, I would like to take the existing Ether Vapor engine and dissect it somehow.
