~Hakurei Shrine~ > Rika and Nitori's Garage Experiments
Experienced danmakufu scripters, how do you come up with your patterns?
R. P. Genocraft:
Incidentally, the most recent SCoOW had an Interview where ZUN talks about various things involving how he makes spell cards, it's a good read for danmakufu scripters.
tl;dr most of the time he comes up with the name first, then thinks about how to represent that in danmaku.
--- Quote from: Vinnyeon on April 04, 2019, 11:35:39 AM ---I have started practicing with limiting myself to the style of a single character, but i've never looked further into them like you're suggesting. I can definitely see how their ability can be used, especially when the ability in question is obvious, like with Sakuya's time stop. But how would i go about this with less obvious abilities? Let's take Yuyuko, whose ability is to manipulate death. Other than potentially ressurecting herself like in touhou 7, i don't exactly see how to work around these kinds of abilities. The only thing they got going for them would be the specific danmaku and patterns they use. These two factors alone haven't however been enough to spark enough inspiration in me to come up with more than one or two spells for these characters (taking in mind that these were the only two factors i looked into for them. Looking into their personallity and tactics should help.)
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For that, research concepts related to the character in question, not only their ability, but also things like their species or origin, for example how Miko's spells reference her real-life counterpart Prince Shoutoku, or how Kanako's last spell in MoF is shaped after the Crest of the Suwa Shrine.
Badz:
Thinking of a character's abilities and how they can be applied to danmaku is particularly useful when coming up with an entirely new style for an OC; you probably won't be doing that for a while still, but keep it in mind if you wander into that territory.
Anyway, I often come up with patterns by figuring out some basic aspect I want to work with (be it a theme or a simple gameplay element) and thinking of it in terms of gameplay: what am I making the player do with this? It could be streaming through some other pattern, following some lanes formed by the attack, focusing on shooting down a familiar or enemy, etc. *
You can't know how well the idea actually works until it exists in playable form, though, and it's perfectly normal for things not to work out the way you expected them to.
Also, danmaku gets easier with practice. The more of it you make, the simpler it'll be both to materialize ideas and come up with new ones. Don't be afraid to try making any random experimental concepts you come up with; you never know when the experience or pattern could be useful later.
*Some examples: Saga's Revengeance Contract represents an equal exchange between the player and boss, which then acts as a quirky streaming pattern; GML's enemy formation 7 takes the common Len'en stage design element of Playstation shapes and makes them into macrododging where you have to avoid getting pushed down
Helepolis:
To answer Vinnyeon's question, playing the original games is a good start to get a grasp of how ZUN at least approaches if you wish to stay close to Touhou. Otherwise any shmup with patterns will do.
Personally I elicited all my inspiration from the original series. I sometimes bluntly duplicated or remade patterns because I personally found them great and fitting. A brief summary how I brainstormed my patterns for Treasured Dance Performance.
- Verify and confirm theme of the stage and boss
- Verify and confirm history and style of the boss (appearance and such)
- Brainstorm typical spell cards
- Brainstorm non spell card
For me it is a "feeling". I keep playing, looking until I think it is right. Looking is activating god mode and then just watching the entire sequence you programmed.