Ask A Developer!

[IcedFairy]

Something I just wondered, would you be changing ESR in any way to fit Symposium of Post-Mysticism, since ESR is being somewhat close to Canon?

Nothing currently written will change significantly. Playing catchup with ZUN canon would be a great way to never get anywhere fast. We might do some tweaks here and there, but we always knew we were going to be non canonical simply because Marisa hadn't gotten a girlfriend by 10D.

Fortunately the biggest conflict we have so far is Yamame, so I'm generally not too worried. Besides, Zun contradicts himself enough that a few (more) errors on our part should be passable.

[28JFJ]

Ah ok, the biggest conflict I thought of was with Koishi, although if she was changed to fit SoPM then it would cause problems e.g her Chireiden scenes

[IcedFairy]

Ah ok, the biggest conflict I thought of was with Koishi, although if she was changed to fit SoPM then it would cause problems e.g her Chireiden scenes

Koishi's a rather fuzzy point in that her interactions with the main characters (Reimu and Marisa) are different from everyone else in Gensoukyo. We're working off her SA profile, where her heart is starting to reopen, so this is just another alternate universe thing, same as Marisa getting a girlfriend.

[Wriggle]

Are you guys still alive?

[SleepKirby]

Yeah. Most of us have just been all over the place lately (school, work, other projects, etc.), so we're not exactly making blazing progress, but we're still doing on and off work on Eastern Starlight Romance and Touhou Mecha.

Thanks for the continuing interest.

[opa]

Second verse, same as the verse, since it can't hurt. You guys still around?

[Graph]

I'll confirm that I've found the time to work on Touhou Mecha again lately. Revisions to Chapter 1, as well as the new Chapter 2, are in the planning stages. I'll make an official announcement when I've got some polished art to show.

As for ESR, the writers are still about and making a slow and steady advance.

[28JFJ]

Been wondering, how do you make the music? Like the program (I guess) used and whatnot?

[Mixtape]

Been wondering, how do you make the music? Like the program (I guess) used and whatnot?

http://dsd.faceroll.net/?cat=11

There you can see two general posts about making music for visual novels. As for what software I use, it's Fruity Loops for the arrangement, and mostly Native Instruments products for the samples/synths. Sometimes other stuff gets mixed in as well (shoutout to Kong Audio for having cool, different samples)

If you want to get into composing/arranging, start out with just making covers repeatedly until you feel confident in doing that. I didn't write any (serious) pieces until after maybe 2-3 years, but it's very individual. I recommend listening to a song over and over before arranging it, so you're familiar with every nook and cranny, that way you can get some ideas where you could take it.

Most of all, get used to completing songs, don't stop half-way through. It feels pretty good to have something finished that you can listen to and/or show off.

[OverCoat]

Been wondering, how do you make the music? Like the program (I guess) used and whatnot?

If you're wondering about Touhou Mecha, then sure I'll tell you! I used orchestral and world instrument sample libraries [Quantum Leap Symphonic Orchestra Silver and Quantum Leap RA] as well as various other virtual synthesizers for the sounds, and then I sequenced it all together in a program called Renoise.

[jroc92]

Been playing ESR and just enjoyed everything about it up until its abrupt ending, thats the nature of a demo I guess ;__;

Status update on the dame so far? I know its only been 2 months since you've given news on it but clarification on whats been going down as of recently would be wonderful haha

[IcedFairy]

Been playing ESR and just enjoyed everything about it up until its abrupt ending, thats the nature of a demo I guess ;__;

Status update on the dame so far? I know its only been 2 months since you've given news on it but clarification on whats been going down as of recently would be wonderful haha

We've started work on the Alice pathlocked area and are trying to move along as fast as we can. Unfortunately real life takes its toll so we're probably going to be slowed for a while. Hopefully things will turn around in the near future so we can get in more hours and start really finishing up.

[Amilka]

Could you please write what original music did you use for soundtrack? I love it, but sometimes I couldn't understand whose theme is it(like The Drizzling Rain).

[OrangeOfPurple]

May I ask for a progress update on ESR? It's been a while since the second demo and I recently rediscovered in it my layers of folders and played it through again, and now I can't stop desperately checking daily (and sometimes multiple times in a day) for an update.

Really appreciate the work you're doing on this.

[IcedFairy]

May I ask for a progress update on ESR? It's been a while since the second demo and I recently rediscovered in it my layers of folders and played it through again, and now I can't stop desperately checking daily (and sometimes multiple times in a day) for an update.

Really appreciate the work you're doing on this.

We've gotten a good amount of editing done on early stuff, and are moving along with the endings. I expect there to be a fair amount of spit and polish required after that, but it's still moving.

[OrangeOfPurple]

That's great! I honestly can't wait for the release.

Can I ask which order you did the pathlocked areas in?

Also, how would you rate the Touhou games in difficulty? Particularly, where would you say Extra fits in and what order would you rank the games in difficulty (seperate by mode if you must/are willing, since StB and DS don't have multiple modes).

Also, favourite doujin game?

Lastly (and this one is mostly for Graph, I admit) have you played Gensou Shoujo Taisen Kou or You/Fantasy Maiden Wars Scarlet or Mystic?

Sorry for being a bother, heh.

[Graph]

Out of the official games I've only really played SA and Scarlet Weather Rhapsody, so skipping ahead to doujin:

Also, favourite doujin game?

Might be Sengoku Gensoukyo. (I've seen it translated as Civil Wars - Fantasy Village on an online doujin store) It's probably the closest thing to a traditional VN that's been translated to English, with how the story is handled. It's got a pretty neat story considering, and the wargame bit wasn't too bad either until the final boss. (I did beat it eventually, but still kind of absurd)

Honorable mentions to Touhou Battle Gaiden (Tetris spinoff) and... I was going to say Patchcon since it feels so much like a fangame. Tasofro can be pretty quirky!

It's been a long time since I've played a Touhou fangame though, and there's still a lot I haven't tried yet. I've been looking for a good RPG, though since I've played a lot of commercial RPGs my standards are probably kind of high on that front. (e.g. Labyrinth of Touhou ended up being too grindy, Touhou Pocket Wars had... nice art and not much else)

Lastly (and this one is mostly for Graph, I admit) have you played Gensou Shoujo Taisen Kou or You/Fantasy Maiden Wars Scarlet or Mystic?

I've played Kou. I appreciated the little touches they put in the battle animations, and the spellcard system really helped to set the game apart from the SRT games it's based off of. I wish the animations loaded faster though! Makes it a bit tiring to play with them on.

Normal mode actually ranks as one of the toughest, if not THE toughest Super Robot Taisen games I've played! Though I'm conflicted on how hard these kinds of games _should_ be, since it becomes a kind of RNG crapshoot after crossing some line... which is why I haven't tried Lunatic.

I'm curious about the changes they've made to the upgrade system in You, though I'm waiting until a translation patch comes out before trying that one.

[AlgaeNymph]

Thanks for getting me into the forums, Graph. Now for my questions.

In Eastern Starlight Romance, Alice talks about a book that Byakuren wrote. What was the title again?

Speaking of arcana, do you think you can include a list of all the titles and thaumababble in the game once the full version is out?

[IcedFairy]

Thanks for getting me into the forums, Graph. Now for my questions.

In Eastern Starlight Romance, Alice talks about a book that Byakuren wrote. What was the title again?

I'd have to actually look at the script to find out. I tend to toss a lot of stuff up on the fly. When we get super specific assume we aren't talking canon.

Let's see....

Ah. Three books. "The Scroll of Myouren, Roaming Monk of the White Lotus, Seven Charms of Makai"

Speaking of arcana, do you think you can include a list of all the titles and thaumababble in the game once the full version is out?

Oh man, that'd be so hard. >.< Maybe if Kirby has free time, but honestly I figure we're gonna be way more foces on trying to get the game out just by itself then details like that. Sorry. Still it's good to know they're interesting bits of magibabble.

[OrangeOfPurple]

I was waiting to see if I'd get other responses, but oh well.

Graph, are you still going to wait on an English patch for GSTY despite the fact that the one running for over a year has made basically no progress? I've even gotten around to streaming the game for a guy myself. (By the way, Stage 1 on Hard Mode in Kou was too much for me.) You is actually quite an improvement as you get to control a diverse range of characters, and I found that enjoyable. I'd really like to actually be able to understand dialogue in the games, but as I understand it, the translation patch requires someone to crack the GSTY files. I think if someone can handle the technical parts, the actual translators (or translator) can actually get something done. What about the release of Ei?

Did you manage to pick up Yukari and Suika in Sengoku Gensokyo? (Or for that matter, get the bonus story with Alice/Marisa/Patchouli?)

Have you played Genius of Sappheiros then? (I found Touhou Labyrinth not really all that grindy outside of Youmu, Yukari, Rinnosuke and the postgame. Gave up on postgame.) What point in Laby became too grindy?

What did you guys think of HM and DDC, anyway?

I'm not sure if it's been asked if you have favourite Touhous? If yes, then say so and I'll reread the thread again. I suspect it has been.

Still really pumped for ESR's release. Also apparently pumped for pelting you with questions.