Th07/omake (trial).txt

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Touhou Youyoumu (Eastern Ghostly Dream)　Perfect Cherry Blossom

Afterword    Shanghai Alice Correspondence vol. 2.1

　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　             Team Shanghai Alice Leader ZUN
　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　               2003/01/26
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*This afterword is an updated revision of the one bundled in the Winter Comiket version.
 Please note that certain things may be out of date.


　　　　　　　　　Anyhow, danmaku is quite an unorthodox method.

　　Nice to meet you, I am ZUN. This time we released a Trial Verson Plus.
　I had actually intended to complete it. But due to certain reasons, the
　previous work had to be a consignment sale, so all the procedures and such
　took a lot of time and I had no free time left. (Honestly, I am not sure
　if I'd be able to even without all of that (^^;)

　　That aside, danmaku is unorthodox.

　　It's evident if you look at the origin of STGs. Enemy bullets are meant
　to kill enemies, not to be dodged. That's why dodging bullets is one of the
　cooler parts of STGs, and playing STGs (or making them) to dodge the bullets
　is kinda like putting the cart before the horse.

　　It's one of the most common traps that creators fall into: "means become
　the end." They must be careful to not fall into it.

　　Somehow, danmaku became unorthodox.

　　So, what about the game?
　All bullets in the game exist to be avoided. In fact, the very
　existence of game is dominated by danmaku barrage. If enemy
　bullets are hard to see, the contrast of the background is lowered,
　even at the cost of the game's look, if the hitbox is unclear, it is
　displayed during the game or enemy coordinates are displayed, so that
　all your attention is diverted on dodging bullets... it's simply
　sacrificing other forms of enjoyment for enjoyment of bullet dodging.
　Perfect example of means becoming the end.

　　In any case, bullet hell STGs are unorthodox STGs.

　　There are likely those players who don't think so. But I want you to understand,
　that this is unorthodox.
　　I didn't want to make such games, I just fell into the trap.
　　I can think of only one way to get out of the spiral "dodging bullets is fun->
　increase amount of bullets -> change system to make it easier -> increase bullet
　density -> ..."
　　"Understand, that you're making an unorthodox game, and accept it." That is,
　become aware of your heresy. If you don't understand the game is unorthodox, you
　will end up half-baking the strong points of orthodox methods anyway, which will
　just make it unorthodox. The same will happen if you don't accept it. Since I
　went orthodox anyway, I want to go this path all the way.
　　I firmly believe this "deliberate unorthodox path" will become "orthodox path of
　a new genre."



　　That aside, this time the keyword is spring (春).
　That's because the initial plan was for trial version to be released for winter Comiket
　and full release for summer, with spring being the midpoint.
　It does indeed look like we will make it in time for spring.
　　Those with keen eyes will likely notice that the game's title (妖々夢) is based on
　a certain excerpt from The Pillow Book.
"In spring it is the dawn that is most beautiful. As the light creeps over the hills, their outlines 
are dyed a faint red and wisps of purplish cloud trail over them."
　It doesn't feel like spring at all, though, but that's because of the story (^^;

　　Anyway, this time the goal was to make first stage a world of silver
　and snow, but the biggest problem was "if the background is too bright,
　won't bullets be hard to see?" So in scenes with a lot of bullets,
　the snow brightness was lowered, among other things. From my play testing
　experience it seemed fine, but how about you?
　Well, in this game, the Spell Cards change background, so it shouldn't
　be too bad (^^;

　　Well, the new playable character is a maid. As such, the shrine
　maiden factor is now even lower (at 33% now). However, this time I
　tried to make the atmosphere more Oriental than in previous game.
　So it kinda cancels out (not).
　　Only the maid looks cold. Well, actually, everyone looks cold.
　Shrine maidens are something you still can confirm on your own, just
　go visit a shrine. But maids are a whole different world. They're
　kinda like a mythical unicorn, or the butler Yamaoka.

　　And now, music. I want to make a more unique world with
　this music. This time, I am trying to make the music more Eastern,
　since it is Touhou after all. (lol)
　　But I don't want to make it too traditionally Japanese, more like
　nostalgic enough, that it feels Oriental.
　　I believe that while I have a solid concept for a game, with music
　and the graphics it's kinda less solid (^^; Well, in my case, the
　music comes with the game. Composing for game, so all ideas follow
　the game, to make dodging bullets more enjoyable (great idea, right).
　　Well, we shouldn't focus on the music quality itself too much ^((;
　One of the sad things about game music is that if it doesn't do
　anything for the game, it's useless; no matter how good it might be.
　　On the other hand, if it does match the atmosphere, then it doesn't
　matter if it's programmable sound generator or BEEP. Putting into the
　game music that's unrelated to it feels counter productive. As such,
　game music isn't "pure" music. Due to this, many professional composers
　do not like game music. I however think that when game music does
　correctly play out its background role, it not only makes the game
　more fun, but also brings out the best in the music.

　　Well, I am planning to do the first shrine visit of the New Year,
　as per tradition. Last time I was so busy, I didn't have time for it.
　My home town is a winter tourist spot, so usually I am the only one
　who doesn't have to work during New Year holidays. I am happy to be
　able to say goodbye to computer and Internet at home. It's nice
　to be able to read mystery novels and drink coffee for New Year.
　I'd like to go skiing once in a while, but during New Year it's
　usually so crowded.

　　By the way, I feel like lately I have been experiencing many
　paranormal phenomena. It seems like that people tied to
　game making often experience unusual mental state and that's why
　there are so many stories like this. Youkai that cause these
　strange things have to be close to us. Be careful and don't
　get caught in their powers.
　　(Is it too late? No way.)


　　Btw (wait, does this mean anything anymore?), this afterword kinda
　ended up themeless. This time, tools and libraries were almost done,
　so I had way less of programming. That's a bit sad though. You could say
　that typing enemy scripts is programming, right? (lol)
　　Games are often played on CPU with high performance compared to rendering, so
　even if the entire code is script, it's OK. Actually, if everything is processed
　in one place, there are advantages - there's less bugs and they are easier to find.


　　I think I should end it for today.
　The game's not even finished yet.