Ask A Developer!

[VN Fairy]

When are you guys planning a second demo? Also to Iced Fairy: Did you see my request for cross-advertising links on our pages?

We already have it planned, it's nearing completion.

Iced Edit: To be more clear, it'll probably be in summer, depending on testing times.

[Des]

We already have it planned, it's nearing completion.

Iced Edit: To be more clear, it'll probably be in summer, depending on testing times.

Sweet! Maybe I should start working on our demo. Anyway, keep it up!

[SleepKirby]

4.Will the full version of ESR have a Gallery and Music room?
Yes, we're planning that. Both will probably be put off till the full version though.

8.How did you first find out about Touhou?
I think in 2003 or 2004, I was in a "wow, Ikaruga is cool, I'd like to see more shmups" kind of phase. Somewhere I found the demo of PCB... I'm not quite sure why I only gave it a couple of plays, but I think I was really thrown off by the slow danmaku bullets and thought my computer wasn't running the game properly. Or something. That was my first contact with Touhou, kinda, though I didn't even know it was Touhou or what Touhou was.

Later on Graph (my brother) showed me PatchCon and Scarlet Weather Rhapsody. I'm not sure which one first, but that's when I started to get to know Touhou.

9.How much of Touhou have you played?
EoSD, PCB, and IN: I played these fairly intensively (by my standards), enough to clear on Normal without continues.
Shoot the Bullet: cleared 80-90% of the levels, probably my best Touhou effort so far.
PoFV and MoF: a decent amount, but not enough to 1cc Normal.
Some 6 Kinoko, but not completed; a little bit of SWR, but still extremely novice at it; a few rounds of PatchCon.

[Razwerkz]

First off, before I ask my questions, I must say I did enjoy playing through the 1-A demo, and I eagerly await the next demo release, and much more so the final version. I'm shooting for the Flandre route, and I really wanna see how it'll play out.

Anyway, I'm curious...will any PC-98 girls appear in ESR?

Also, I know it has been asked for once before, but I have stayed in a Flan dialogue for ten minutes once before just to listen to the UN Owen loop. Could you PM me the track?

Thanks in advance, and keep up the good work, devs!

[LTalon]

Well, it's been asked a couple of times, so I'll answer.

Will there be PC-98 characters in ESR?

Well, our policy on characters appearing, and whether we say anything about that is I can neither confirm nor deny the presence of any character in this game. It wouldn't do to spoil the surprise, would it?

Mixtape will have to get you the Flandre track, I cannot.

Lastly, I'm glad you enjoyed the demo, and hope you keep waiting warmly for the next releases. Flandre's route is fun, and I hope y'all have as much fun reading it as we had writing it!

[Razwerkz]

Will there be PC-98 characters in ESR?

Well, our policy on characters appearing, and whether we say anything about that is I can neither confirm nor deny the presence of any character in this game. It wouldn't do to spoil the surprise, would it?

Well, you'd be right there, I suppose. And I do enjoy surprises, so, awesome.~

[Cuddlefish]

I was planning to go for Flan as well. OK, more like even if I started out targeting another character, I wouldn't be able to resist triggering the Flan flags.

So, here's a question:
Which route is your personal favourite?

[IcedFairy]

Heh. I'd say it's a bit early for me to choose. Some routes pick up a lot of steam later then others, so I probably won't know for certain until everythings said and done.

However I am looking forward a lot to some of the things we have planned for Alice path.

[28JFJ]

Hi I have some questions
1.Can I post a vid(s) of the demo(s) on youtube (About 10 mins long)? I want to increase awareness of ESR
2.What did Yuka do during the winter?
3.What is Marisas definition of "Immortal"? I remember Marisa calling Alice an Immortal magician. I thought Alice just had a longer life span (not immortal) or am I just mistaken
4.Why doesnt Marisa just get a Hourai Elixer?
5.Is locked girl the main battle theme?

[LTalon]

1) Go right ahead. It's fine just so long as you don't claim to be affiliated with us, and as long as you credit us.
2) Haha. Well, in answer to that, what's that stinky thing in Lucky Star? Or did you hear the one about the boar in the forest? (It's one of those jokes that's outside the actual story and you don't really hear the beginning of it.)
3) Um...I'll let IcedFairy field that one.
4) Because it would be REALLY REALLY difficult to get ahold of it. Eirin doesn't exactly hand the stuff out. It's illegal on the Moon for a reason.
5) No, Locked Girl is not intended to be the main battle theme. The first demo was missing a lot of features, including a lot of the music that has since been completed.

[IcedFairy]

3 - Immortal in this case means "doesn't die of old age."

Touhou tosses around the term a little loosely admittedly, so it can be hard to get which is which. Youkai are "immortal" in that they live incredibly long and are hard to kill. Magicians are immortal in that they don't die of old age. And Mokou and Kaguya are truly unkillable and unchanging.

But Marisa considers magician immortality to be the most normal of the three.

4 - In addition to being nearly impossible to get (barring eating Kaguya or Mokou's liver) the Hourai elixer is really too extreme for Marisa. Living on after the sun dies seems like a poor long term plan.

[28JFJ]

So immortal magician dont die of old age. Does that mean they still age physically or do they stay at the same form after immortality is reached?
Also are magicians somewat more resistant to other causes of death for example heart failure?
And another thing how does Alice know about Byakuren if she appeared in Th12 and she was still sealed in the previous games.

Oh and is there going to be something like a NG+ with carried over stats or more/unlocked options (if there will be any)

[IcedFairy]

So immortal magician dont die of old age. Does that mean they still age physically or do they stay at the same form after immortality is reached?
Also are magicians somewat more resistant to other causes of death for example heart failure?

We're using the information given in PMiSS, so the first spell makes a human into a youkai magician who doesn't die of old age. There's a second spell that stops physical aging that youkai magicians have to learn.

The first spell removes the need to eat or drink, and makes things like heart failure and many poisons not an issue.

And another thing how does Alice know about Byakuren if she appeared in Th12 and she was still sealed in the previous games.

Think about where Byakuren is sealed. And where Alice comes from.

There's of course more to it then that, but that part's a secret.

Oh and is there going to be something like a NG+ with carried over stats or more/unlocked options (if there will be any)

We're planning on having a CG Viewer, as it standard. We probably won't do a NG+, though we might change our minds.

[28JFJ]

Hi I have a few more questions
1.Are the character personalities more like the way they are described in Perfect Memento or are they slightly altered?
2.What kind of immortality is Marisa after? (or is she unsure and as the story goes on the type she wants changes)
3.What is the "Hot Springs Incident" is it the death of Mr Kirisame or is it somthing completely else?

[IcedFairy]

Hi I have a few more questions
1.Are the character personalities more like the way they are described in Perfect Memento or are they slightly altered?
2.What kind of immortality is Marisa after? (or is she unsure and as the story goes on the type she wants changes)
3.What is the "Hot Springs Incident" is it the death of Mr Kirisame or is it somthing completely else?

1 - Hm... We usually aimed for something closer to the games/BAiJR, but PMiSS is usually in that ballpark. Still Touhou characters are fuzzy in general.
2 - She wants to not die of old age. She's fuzzy on other details.
3 - The Hot Springs Incident, is Subterranean Animism. The game is set in the spring after that winter.

[28JFJ]

Is there any particular reason why Marisa is scared of death, I mean death in Gensokyo doesnt mean much, you either get reincarnated or move onto yuyukos realm

Also was Marisa always this deep thinking and somewat moody?(well the way I see her from ESR), I see her as one of the cheerful characters in Gensokyo, or have I been looking at way too many fan works?

EDIT:Oh yeah and at each bad end will there be something like a "Teach me Ciel-sensei" (Tsukihime) or "Tiger-dojo" (F/SN)

[Cuddlefish]

Also was Marisa always this deep thinking and somewat moody?(well the way I see her from ESR), I see her as one of the cheerful characters in Gensokyo, or have I been looking at way too many fan works?

She is kind of bereaved at the moment, isn't she?
Also, it seems like her behaviour is generally cheerful and relaxed. It's just that the narration is slightly heavier.
Behind the take-it-easy appearance of Gensokyo is quite a bit of serious business, after all.

Unrelated: ...I kind of want a Nitori route.
Well, OK, it wouldn't be much of a route given how Nitori is stalking Marisa and trying to impress her all the time already.
In fact, I suspect that if Marisa fails to get together with anyone else, she'll end up with Miss Kappappa.

[IcedFairy]

We're considering a "Teach me Keine-sensei," for all the endings but it's still up in the air.

Her search for immortality has been hinted at in the games (her immortality potion is actually pulled straight from the EoSD and PCB Marisa write-ups) but it's never really been a focus. And as Cuddlefish pointed out family issues have brought this to the fore.

As for Marisa's mental state... that one's more complicated.

Marisa's always been a character that I imagined had a lot more going on behind her smiles. Because despite her cheery attitude, she ran away from home before puberty, became a student of black magic under the training of a ghost who hated most humans, and she still lives in the middle of a deadly forest away from most humans. And that's what we're trying to convey in her thoughts. We don't think she's secretly emo, but she's not all just smiles and power of love either.

[28JFJ]

@Cuddlefish there is always a possibility for a Nitori with the mystery romance.....well the chances of Nitori are about 1/9

@IcedFairy If you are considering doing a "Teach me Keine-sensei" do you have any idea who is going to be the "Neco-Arc" of ESR? I am kinda hoping that it will be Cirno or maybe a Neco-Mokou or maybe a Yukkuri

[Cuddlefish]

Huh, I always figured the mystery romance would be Koishi.

The list:
Sanae
Nitori
Koakuma
Youmu
Mystia
Sakuya
Rinnosuke
Koishi
Suika

Well, if you look at it a certain way, any of the characters could be, although Koishi seems more likely.

Anyway, back to the topic. How long is the end product expected to be? (Time taken to complete one path to a non-bad-end.)