東方宝演舞 ~ Treasured Dance Performance [ version 1.50 released ]

[Drake]

The first thing is that you should always be using fixed_angle for shots that don't rotate, like circles. This at the very least gets rid of some artifacts.

The explanation I wrote earlier sort of showed that effect but here it is more obviously:



Ultima: try this  (with attached image)

[Sage Ω (Ultima)]

Oh I see now, never actually payed attention to it unless it was the shot type in the picture, the solution was to just create a sprite object on top of the bullet that would be bound to the bullet's truncated positions. Obviously on slow bullets its not the most eye friendly thing to watch. I guess we just have to deal with it for now, mkm is gone and there's no telling when he'll be back. (last time it lasted almost 5 months of no updates and late email responses)

[Drake]

Well he does have a kid now too.

You can fix it without using another object, but either way requires a task in order to attach extra processing per frame, and the addition of a thread for every bullet introduces some significant overhead. You can do it without extra tasks with Render objects (as I showed in that post), but since Shot objects aren't Renders you can't manipulate their drawing location and you're kind of stuck with a crappy not-solution.

[Helepolis]

Mkm has a kid? That explains a lot on my bbs post as well.

---

Bullet sheet here shows the blackened parts I mentioned. Packed bullets (mainly on left) will "bleed" into each other, in particular the stars and amulets. Rice pellets are fine because they have space above.

Also Drake, what you mentioned about fixed_angle = true is applied pretty much to all circular bullets, including the ones that rotate. Though I am not sure if angular_velocity is the same as ObjMove_SetAngle in ph3.

[Sage Ω (Ultima)]

Mkm has a kid? That explains a lot on my bbs post as well.

Yeah he had mentioned it sometime after pre4a's release that he was leaving for awhile due to his newborn child.

Also Drake, what you mentioned about fixed_angle = true is applied pretty much to all circular bullets, including the ones that rotate. Though I am not sure if angular_velocity is the same as ObjMove_SetAngle in ph3.

angular_velocity is the same as ObjRender_SetAngleZ(obj,ObjRender_GetAngleZ(obj)+v);.

[Helepolis]

Sorry for the lack of updates. But I prefer less nonsense announcements and more accurate announcements. I guess a glorious moment to reach this milestone: A 'finished' game, some what. I'll spare you all the nonsense explanation and give a short summary.

Not all assets of the game were able to be finished on time. Because I was racing against a deadline, I had no time to keep fooling around with certain things. From one side, the feedback from the testers were crucial and needed to be processed but on the other hand I also have the replacement of images, like sprites. How awful as it might be, (and I fully blame myself), the game isn't perfect. Yes it is done. Yes it is playable, but some spell cards / noncards feel weird, weak or perhaps not proper balanced. Unforgivable at maximum but doesn't make the game unplayable, perhaps bit annoying. So eventually I had to bite some dust to drop parts of the game like a proper scoring mechanism (unrefined and weak), spell practise (almost done but was buggy / crashing). These issues will be processed and eventually released as an update/patch. Because they are important. I am sorry for failing this part. Truly I am.


Enough /emo crap, tell us some good stuff!
So is the Reitaisai 12 release version a fail? No. Actually I am quite proud of it, hopefully the helpers/testers are too for now, despite I had to hold their critics. Speaking of our helpers/testers. We should name them and thank them. Can I have an applause and most of all my own personal thank you to:

Drake - He has been like my personal teacher and duplicate. Helped me solve some things where I was crashing my head. I know we have the forum for help, but exchanging the code was necessary here and I cannot just toss in my entire project online now can I? :V I am not sure how I can repay Drake back for his efforts and assistance. I need to think about this.

Jaimers - Respected and well known player. He isn't afraid, he isn't tired and helped me improve and understand many things. Having Jaimers as one of the active testers until the end was an honour. Not because he is just a fellow Dutchy you know!!  :V

Erppo - Respected and well known player. Erppo has his unique way of giving feedback and as Jaimers and Erppo both used different player characters, it became even more intersting. Let's just say he has a weak heart towards the Border Team in my game and was quite annoyed when I was not proper fixing their damage rates. I am sorry  :ohdear: though Warugaki at least didn't let you down with his art, right?

Shimatora - We brain stormed a good hour for scoring / mechanics and other things. Sadly, due to RL stuff, Shima-chan had to drop from the further testing. But that doesn't mean her feedback went in vain, it is still present and I am sure she will continue the discussion when things better. Hang in there Shima-chan!  :]

ExPorygon - He has actually been one of the most key persons in my life for this game. Since I couldn't receive permission for Lemuria for the Flying Drunkard, I had to find either another song or cover it. But there was simply no time! And then came ExPorygon. With high fever he covered and composed the track. And I can tell you this: I - was - f**** happy and full of joy. Almost cried manly tears. Cheers ExPorygon! I hope I can also receive your permission to use it for my online release? 

Masuo-san - He isn't on MotK nor known among us. He is actually a good friend of N-Forza who out of said 'Sure' when I asked him to help me with the translations. I showed him a few Warugaki artwork and he was immediately in love. Masuo-san is responsible for the immense Japanese dialogues for this game. He translated them all with supreme quality. Warugaki even personally noted how well it was all written. So this game is enjoyable in two languages!

N-Forza - He helped me getting in touch with Masuo-san and also yesterday helped me with the CD artwork upload + placement of order. We're probably burning about 200 copies of Touhou Hou Enbu for Reitaisai. It isn't much but the impact on my wallet is quite huge. As said: I don't expect anything in return, because this is all solo funded.

Warugaki-san - Of course I shouldn't forget my good friend and supporter Warugaki. He drew the art, the portraits, the sprites for the bosses. Extreme high quality and that with immense speed. I keep being fascinated when he draws on Skype while discussing our sketches. It is just godlike.

koutaq-san - He gave me personal permission to utilize a few songs from one of his albums. But the permission only goes for the Retiasai physical release. I am not sure if he will allow me to do an online version, this will be discussed post-Reitaisai. Thank you koutaq-san for this honour and your album is supreme. I would definitely recommend people to buy it. It is called Sensitive Heart 月射録 ～ The Moon-shooter and is based on Imperishable Night.

Infinity - He helped me translate important e-mails to few Japanese persons regarding permission for material usage and also replies from locations. Infinity also helped me fully translated an informative document which will be added to the CD. Thank you Tanaka!

Monhan - Helped me translate important tweets from also few Japanese persons regarding permissions. One of them was a member of the Drinking Party who made Uwabami Breakers. It seems we got their attention for this game too. I hope we won't let them down!
 
They couldn't help out due to busy RL but I think I should name these people too: Emuser, Naut, Sapz. I still thank you for listening to my offer. Please look forward to the Online release.

And last but not least, I need to thank our forum community. You're all awesome. The scripters, the players, the casual roamers, the elitists. Thank you for your interest and support so far.


So, what is next?
REITAISAI DA ZE. In 12 days I will be flying to Japan. First I will be fooling around but on 8th of May, another epic meeting shall take place with Warugaki and Vegas-san too! Yea, that is right. The party is hot. And slowly, as each day passes I am getting more and more excited. Tomorrow I will be presenting the game to Warugaki himself fully. So yea, things are getting quite fever-matic.

My ultimate goal for this Reitaisai mission: Hand over ZUN a copy of my game together with Warugaki and hopefully get a photo of us three. My dream is then complete.

Enjoy the three updated screenshots on the first page!

--Helepolis

[Moogs Parfait]

Congratulations on your release!  Releasing is always painful, but we cannot let perfect be the enemy of good.  I hope your dreams bear fruit this Reitaisai.

[Spotty Len]

Congratulations. Finishing a project before a deadline is no easy task, so as long as you know what is right and wrong with your game, I would say you're in pretty good shape. Though you are probably already aware of that.

Good luck for the Reitaisai.

[Sparen]

Congratulations, Helepolis!

You've been working on this project longer than I have been studying Computer Science and scripting Danmakufu, and I can understand part of the struggle it took to complete your game. You have done a fabulous job, and I say that not just because of respect but because I have seen the work and effort you have put into this project, as well as how well made it is.

I look forward to the release!

[aUsernameIsFineToo]

Just dropping in here to say a big CONGRATULATIONS FOR YOU CONTRIBUTION! It's people like you and their work that keep the doujin community alive and thriving, and I hope you sell all those copies!

[Uruwi]

Congratulations! If you really didn't have time, then I'd advise you to include a sincere apology with a link to where the upcoming patch will be. Anyway, have fun at Reitaisai!

[KaiserKnuckle]

Aaah, I'm glad this is on it's way to a release! I wish you and Warugaki the best of luck at Reitaisai, Helepolis! i may also ask forza to get me a copy when he starts doing reitaisai stuff for the kourindou thread

Makes me wonder if old things may have another shot at coming to true fruition... I am not talking about any games in particular, Ijiyatsu, but still...

[Helepolis]

Cheers all. I just indeed realised that I have been working on this game since 2009. Bloody hell

Congratulations! If you really didn't have time, then I'd advise you to include a sincere apology with a link to where the upcoming patch will be. Anyway, have fun at Reitaisai!

Aye, that is covered/handled in the JP/EN documentation on the physical CD. I hope the owners will understand.

Ijiyatsu :V ** calls Drake **

[Sage Ω (Ultima)]

Oh man, that's a long time. I bet this is a huge weight off your shoulders now that its complete. Anyway, congrats on finishing, hope you make decent sales at Reitaisai.

[Drake]

"sales"

[Helepolis]

Small updates regarding the game:

Received 3 e-mails from the CD printing shop. Asked Forza to check the content and they are confirming all data is complete and CD printing will most likely take place this week. I might get my hands on a physical copy next week when I am in Japan, probably not any sooner than 8th of May.

Further I will probably take a look at the Spell Practise mode upcoming days whether I can get that working.

And as last, I dispatched e-mails/pms to material owners to ask for permission so I can work towards an online release.

[Sparen]

Further I will probably take a look at the Spell Practise mode upcoming days whether I can get that working.

For Digital Earth: Conquest, Spell practice was one of the hardest things to get working if you want replays to support it. I don't know how far you are, but I'd say that implementing all of the base functionality (I have abandoned certain functionalities entirely) took a few days to start and another 5 or so hours to get spell history working.

[Uruwi]

For Digital Earth: Conquest, Spell practice was one of the hardest things to get working if you want replays to support it. I don't know how far you are, but I'd say that implementing all of the base functionality (I have abandoned certain functionalities entirely) took a few days to start and another 5 or so hours to get spell history working.

Actually, I planned ahead so I probably had much less trouble getting Spell Practice to work. I just needed to add in the boss healthbar and name, which are ordinarily handled by a plural script.

[Helepolis]

It is working in the sense of the spell card is being launched / loaded, but I was running into Array out of bound errors due to probably my own mistake. I haven't taken a look at all at the replay functionality.

What I did for myself was array up all spellcards using 2D array for difficulty. So example: 

Code: [Select]

cardnorm = [
[spell1, spell2], // stg1 spells
[spell1, spell2, spell3], // stg2 spells
[etc......]
];
Then using area common data to set correct values during spell select, Stage / Card / Difficulty. The spell card is loaded by a dummy plural which simply checks these values and adds the correct card 1x to the boss scene. A dummy stage is launched which also checks these values to set the correct BG / music. Rest is all handled by my system file (healthbars, name, spellcard name etc).

Regarding spell history, Drake had helped me with that. We decided to give all spell cards an EV_USER + GetOwnID which answers back their spellID name as a string. That string is then inserted into a GetAreaCommonData which is the spell history. You need logically pre-made AreaCommonData per spellcard. I have for example: SetAreaCommonData("game","boss1stg1norm",[0,0,0]);   The array stands for [ status, N captures, N seen ].

Inside the system file with the event BOSS_START_SPELL (forgot exact spelling) an event trigger is send to that specific script. Then in my history handling in system file:   
let result = getresult(ry....)
SetAreaCommonData("game",result ,[0,0,0]);

Noticed how I set a variable for it now, because the spell card will tell us what/who he is. If you want to separate spellhistory like in IN for stage / practise you can extend the array with 1-2 more indexes.

SetAreaCommonData("game","boss1stg1norm",[0,0,0,0]);  <<  status / N captures in stg / N captures in prac / N history

[Helepolis]

Small updates, because I haven't left the country yet :V

Warugaki-san has received info about shipping, so he will be receiving the physical CDs hopefully Tuesday. Further more I printed a mini poster to put at our space. Hotel and everything has been set so we're pretty much ready for Reitaisai.

About the game: Spell Practise Mode is also coming along quite nice. I've dispatched it to few testers whether they can check for stability and performance. And if anything else is broken. I'm still waiting for permission from koutaq-san for the online release. So that will simply require patience. I'll logically immediately inform this thread if that magical permission lands.

And finally the website for this game has been updated, which was actually my own personal website. But now it actually has a purpose instead of rotting away with useless information. http://touhou.taihou.nl/index.html

That is it for now I guess.

[Helepolis]

Faster than I expected, both ExPorygon & koutaq have approved the usage of the song files as long as the game is for free. As said, they are proper credited in the ending credits + documentation on the physical CD. The same documentation will be also released with the online version. This means I can work towards an online version as well. And it can perhaps come out even faster than I had originally planned.

Please look forward to it!

[Sparen]

Excellent news! I look forward to the official release!

Btw, how's the FPS on the game? I understand that there are many meshes and 3D backgrounds, and I am wondering how the effect settings work.

[Helepolis]

Excellent news! I look forward to the official release!

Btw, how's the FPS on the game? I understand that there are many meshes and 3D backgrounds, and I am wondering how the effect settings work.

I actually ditched a few complex meshes out of my game because I didn't had time to implement FX settings (they are in there, but disabled / not used). So currently it runs at full FX. The meshes I use are generally square or simple shapes (example: the table/chair you've seen before). So far no FPS issues reported by the testers nor my older Laptop. Also, all my stages are actually made using mostly 3D sprites, so I guess I'm going easy on the engine which benefits the FPS stability.

[Sparen]

I actually ditched a few complex meshes out of my game because I didn't had time to implement FX settings (they are in there, but disabled / not used). So currently it runs at full FX. The meshes I use are generally square or simple shapes (example: the table/chair you've seen before). So far no FPS issues reported by the testers nor my older Laptop. Also, all my stages are actually made using mostly 3D sprites, so I guess I'm going easy on the engine which benefits the FPS stability.

Fabulous! If you do decide to implement effect settings, you may run into issues with replays recorded on different effect settings - Just letting you know in advance.

But yeah, really looking forward to this!

[Helepolis]

Fabulous! If you do decide to implement effect settings, you may run into issues with replays recorded on different effect settings - Just letting you know in advance.

But yeah, really looking forward to this!

Oh, good to remember. Replay playback is already giving me a big adventure. And I take your info as a warning and probably shouldn't even attempt to implement FX settings. Well, I guess it depends on.

But yea, first things first is solving a few critical issues I discovered for the Reitaisai release (yes unfortunate) and the Spell Practise mode.

Cheers, and thanks for the support.

[Helepolis]

Time to do this I guess. Here goes nothing!

Edit: Added BulletForge link and added direct Mega links based from website.

Circle: ドリル乳繰り presents:

東方宝演舞 ~ Treasured Dance Performance

[Sparen]

OK. I've played a little bit of the game, and I now have some feedback.

Firstly, this game is amazing in terms of music and graphics. Effects are wonderful, everything is beautiful, and it looks both professional and fantastic.

However, user experience and gameplay are compromised slightly.

First and foremost, the menu select, and the menus in general. Everything looks sharp and polished, but there is no indication of how many menu options there are or how to navigate. You don't know to do left/right or up/down, etc. I love what you did in terns of fonts, and your replay select menu is amazing, but navigating was a painful experience.

Secondly, the default sound volume for SFX is 100%, which really hurt my ears. I suggest lowering the default to around the 80-95 range.

And now, the gameplay itself.

I never actually got anywhere in the game, mind you. The stages are long and the danmaku tends to be... uninteresting, as far as stages go. But my biggest issue was the players themselves. It seems that you either have no power (Reimu/Yukari) or no spread (Marisa/Alice). I can't really say much about later stages, but the fact that Marisa and Alice are completely unable to hit enemies (especially the Stage 1 mid boss) is a big issue. It's better to have a large spread with weaker power than to have no spread and high power, especially since both options for the player had no spread. In Imperishable Night, Marisa had spread and Alice was focused, and most player shots need to have one of each or a twist that makes the game bearable.

Overall, I was completely surprised that Stage 1 ran at 60 FPS on my computer when my own games don't run that well, so I highly applaud your system and effects, which are both beautiful and efficient. The moving camera (with player movement) was slightly unexpected, but overall, you did an excellent job.

I have much to learn from you in regards to effects.

--Sparen of Iria

[Helepolis]

No worries, feedback is welcome at any time.

There is still the Last Word and Sanpo mode to be added but that will be slowly over time.

I am also happy to teach effects or my approach towards them, but I am sure you're capable of eliciting it from my code yourself :V otherwise let me know.


By the way, now that the full release is out:

I am happy to explain or elaborate any code or technical mechanics in my game (without spoiling the actual play system of course) if people are wondering how some things work or are put together. I am not a proficient coder but I think the general explanation might help people get on their way.

If you want to rip / use code from my game or adapt it, I honestly  don't mind in general but please highlight me in this thread that you're intending/planning to. You don't need to explicitly credit me in some specific way (I find that all too troublesome and we're all operating under the Doujin mindset (I hope)). Any way, I am sure people know the deal on how to treat other people's effort with respect.

Regarding use of artwork / sprites: They are from various sources including Warugaki and self-made. Highlight me here in this thread as well and we'll see how we can work things out.

--Helepolis

[BlueDigitalDragon]

So I stayed up really late last night to download this once I had seen that it went up. Where do I begin?

The art: AWESOME. 'Nuff said Maidens. (I Laughed so freakin' hard when I saw the first boss X3)
The Music: I got the 2nd Boss's Theme/Arrange stuck in my head, plus 1st Boss Arrange was also DAMN sweet.
System: Very well made! I don't know anything about coding and whatnot, and love the layout. I can see where Sparen said it'd be a bit confusing, but that's honestly fixed with a few button presses ^_^
Shots and Bombs: I find that the best shot is Reimu/Yukari because homing HELPS A LOT, but Marisa/Alice (Forward focus) have the better, more effective bombs. Everything gets rekt by those two!

The Game: Oh my! I liked what I saw, it felt very new, the patterns and use of danmaku in general. First Stage was that classic warm-up and the Boss was pretty good, plus the Last Spell there. (How is the proper way of doing that? Clearing all spells and Non-Spells without Dying? Getting enough of those rainbow token thingys (listed under graze, I can't read Japanese)? I'd like to understand more of how to get that. As I have yet to properly determine it X3

Stage two took a while for me to perfect. Hell even get to the freakin' midboss part. Though countless retries later I did it. (ART = <3) The second phase of the spell caught me of guard a bit and after the midboss I felt it was easier than the beginning of the stage. Stage 2 boss worked perfectly, and on it's third spell, I noticed a safespot in the lower right section of the screen that you can use to micro dodge the danmaku and make easy adjusts for the lasers. It's last spell was pretty damn cool too!

Stage 3...ugh, pretty much a shitstorm for me. Even if I somehow managed to hold onto all bombs and lives up till then, and I only did 4 times, I would still get obliterated. Though stage practice is helping out~ Midboss section was really fun, and glad you made use of those character's specific traits for the spells and nonspells. The boss of that one is pretty damn tough! I have a hard time reacting to some attacks, but it still felt fair. I have yet to get to it's last spell, but second last had me accidentally smack into a Laser cuz I panicked X3

All in all, it's tough, but I really enjoy the challenge and I've pretty much spent all of today trying to 1CC it X3 I'm only on Normal too but have tried Hard and Lunatic and somehow managed to get to stage 3 before getting rekt. I think you guys/gals/people made something great! And am curious what the next updates will bring!

I should mention that I encountered a glitch after beating the midboss or boss of stage 1 where, I thiiink the midboss was half stuck in the top left corner of the screen with an active hitbox. So my Reimu/Yukari team lost it's effectiveness by half since Reimu's amulets would NOT stop homing in on the hitbox. So I pretty much was stuck with just using Yukari. And this lasted up until I lost on Stage 3. I didn't take a screenshot at the time because I had some personal windows open and by then I had died >.<

EDIT: Just thought I'd tag a little extra info onto this now that I and a few friends have played the game. A few were wondering about an easy mode happening? Aaand some also wondered about additional resources. As I've only a very limited amount when I play.

[Lefkada]

I didn't notice that you realse the oneline version of your game :O

I try to play it but... it's me or it's very fucking hard? I try five of sic times ad I can't finish the first stage, even in normal. And I'm not a really bad player .
The first stage is good and well made but very long for a stage 1 I think. But I like it. Thz first boss design is especially excellent. Same for the midboss. Funny character XD
And I don't know if it's normal or not but I can't use any continue. When I have no life left, it game over and I just can giveup and retry, save replay or return to title

Anyway, good job to have made a full game.

edit: OMG I reached the second boss... but I die before the end... How many stage there are? It's a very long boss figh for a second boss. Like a final boss.
Also, I see many Uwabami Breaker inspiration in stages design. I like it.