Dodonpachi Saidaioujou exA Label [exA-Arcadia, developed by Team EXA-AM2, 2020]

[EOJ]

Announced:

https://exa.ac/en/?v=0f177369a3b7

[EOJ]

Press release:

https://exa.ac/en/2020/03/19/dodonpachisdoj-exalabel/?v=0f177369a3b7

They mention "new game modes", but no specifics yet. Release is Summer 2020. It is licensed by exA, so it seems CAVE are not the ones doing the porting/arranging.

[EOJ]

Press release from CAVE about it (in Japanese):

https://www.cave.co.jp/jp/6920/

Nothing new in this compared to the English press release.

[EOJ]

To commemorate this announcement CAVE are selling a pdf version of the SDOJ book included in the X360 LE release for 1800 yen:

https://caveonlineshop.booth.pm/items/1912212

I have the large hardcover version of this book included in the "Super Limited Edition", and it is a beautiful volume, complete with lots of artwork and in-depth interviews with the people who made the game.

[SuperPang]

It's hard to speculate who is left making arcade games at Cave so I guess it makes sense for the Exa team to step in with a lot of the technical aspects and those now deleted "leaks" suggest they're putting the effort in. I'm sure it'll be IKD by design.

To commemorate this announcement CAVE are selling a pdf version of the SDOJ book included in the X360 LE release for 1800 yen:

Hard times! I hope arcades bounce back from COVID and this does well for them.

[EOJ]

I doubt IKD is involved in the design or programming, I think if he were exA would make a big deal out of that in their marketing. This sounds like a Dodonpachi II licensing deal. Both Ikeda and Yagawa still work at CAVE, btw, though I don't know if any of the other programmers are still there (I doubt it).

[EOJ]

Good news, this port will have just 2 frames of input lag (same as the original CAVE PCB), compared to the 4-5 frames on the X360 port:

https://shmups.system11.org/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=61966&start=483

[slateman]

To commemorate this announcement CAVE are selling a pdf version of the SDOJ book included in the X360 LE release for 1800 yen

I had seen this and DFK had PDFs on sale.  ¥‎1,800 isn't too bad, but ¥‎3,500 for DFK seems *awfully* pricey for a download. 

[SWZ]

Interested to see what this ends up being.

[EOJ]

Lots of new info, including screenshots! Game development is by Team EXA-AM2 (CAVE are not involved).

https://www.gamer.ne.jp/news/202009100042/
https://twitter.com/cavegames/status/1303952510713909248

Location test at Hey from Sept 16 - 22. English name is "Dodonpachi True Death EXA Label".

Includes EXA Label and Original modes, as well as two more modes not yet revealed. It has screen gadgets like the M2 ports (these are in ALL modes). High res graphic assets from the X360 port (in ALL modes).

EXA label has the following gameplay changes:

-Difficulty select was removed, instead the game difficulty goes up/down dependent on how you play (=rank, I'd guess).
-The hyper gauge refill was changed to increase when you graze bullets (similar to Ibara Kuro).
-Scoring was changed overall.
-When you die you get an extra bomb and hyper.
-Rank now goes to 100 (in the original, it maxed at 50).
-Other smaller changes and tweaks.

In the picture below it looks like hyper shots might cancel bullets, like in Daifukkatsu?

[SuperPang]

This is shaping up to be pretty exciting. FOUR modes?
2 frames of lag on the hardware side of things according to Shou.

[RandomRetro]

Not sure how most exa's are setup, but interesting to see the layout in tate model having widgets top/bottom. I know some people don't like tate model with Vewlix etc as they feel the screen is blocked by the control panel.

https://twitter.com/exaarcadia/status/1303946566185623552?s=20

[SuperPang]

That'll be fine. Can anyone really focus on that stuff during gameplay anyway? Shikhondo will be interesting though as the gameplay area is right down there.

[RandomRetro]

Focus on the widgets... I for sure can't. I think it is more a question of if people like using/having the full screen as a play field. For me personally, being so close to the screen on a cab like a Vewlix, I can't really scan fast enough to benefit from the 32" so tend to prefer the screen setup horizontally.

[EOJ]

The most exciting thing for me is that it is confirmed CAVE are actually helping develop it. I think that guarantees it will be at least "very good". The game system in EXA Label mode seems to be heavily rank-based, so maybe Yagawa had a hand in it.

Any guesses on the other two modes yet to be revealed? I think one will be some sort of score attack mode (boss rush, etc?). Maybe like DOJ "Death label". And for the other I'll guess a slightly tweaked port of Ver 1.5. Maybe they'll call it "Ver 1.51" or something.

Also, an astute twitter observer has noticed they changed Maria's headband in Shot style to a plain headband, instead of the "Maid headband" in the original:

https://twitter.com/asamosan/status/1304173105229692929

[EOJ]

Hmm, Shou says the development was in-house at Team AM-EXA2. He does not mention CAVE as being part of the development, so we cannot consider this to be a "CAVE" game. I still hope it will be good, though!

https://twitter.com/exaarcadiaceo/status/1303991464985112576

4K support and 2 frame input lag (which we already knew) are confirmed in this tweet.

[TimingTripod40]

From what I heard trap say on Mark's discord, development is almost entirely being handled by trap and Cave's involvement is limited to just signing off on what can/can't be done. An example of their involvement is the "Exa Label" name, which Cave insisted on, despite trap not being a fan of "-Label" type names.

[EOJ]

Some reports from Japanese players from the location test today at Hey in Akihabara are starting to appear. PEK states he feels more input lag playing this in the Viewlix cab compared to the PCB, but suspects (or hopes) it is due to the monitor:

https://twitter.com/peketti/status/1306054094943956992

Also confirmed the overflow defaults to off in Original Ver, but apparently you can turn it on if you like? He seems to think you can turn it on by holding the bomb button when selecting the game mode.

https://twitter.com/peketti/status/1306056100240699392

I hope they put in different high score boards for overflow on/off.

[EOJ]

More info from PEK, this time about the gameplay differences in EXA label mode:

-Chains are harder to keep going, more easily cut off.
-Bees and bomb items cancel bullets on the screen (like DFK BL), and the number of enemies that cancel bullets when you destroy them have increased.
-You can cancel bullets with your hyper shot (again, like DFK), but the number of bullets has increased to compensate for this.
-Stars that are produced from cancelling bullets with your hyper shot do not add to your hyper gauge when you collect them (you need to graze bullets for that).
-Small stars from zako enemies no longer appear.

https://twitter.com/peketti/status/1306074276664016896

[EOJ]

More info on EXA label, from a different twitter user:

-Medium-sized enemies and parts of bosses now have visible HP gauges.
-There are different bullet patterns in the boss fights, particularly in the final phases.
-Star collection still increases the hyper gauge (except those from bullets cancelled by hypers), but grazing bullets increases it faster.
-If you hyper when dodging (in a precarious spot) the rank increases significantly faster (??)
-Each bomb reduces the rank by 5 levels.
-You are given many more bombs than in the original game.
-By hypering in tough spots and using the shot to cancel bullets, then bombing often to reduce rank, the game is a lot easier than the Original game.

https://twitter.com/Satohk1/status/1306090698421145600

Sounds a lot like Dodonpachi Ibara Kuro Daifukkatsu Saidaioujou to me.

[EOJ]

Two very important changes in EXA Label I didn't mention before:

-It is now a 4 button game: B button releases a bomb if no hyper is charged, otherwise it releases a hyper (just like in the original game). The D button releases a bomb whenever you want, regardless of hyper level.
-Dress system does nothing more than change the appearance of the characters in the select screen (and ending, presumably), so it is basically worthless in this mode.

This info is on the location test A4 marquee:

https://twitter.com/Taito_Hey/status/1306072398899232769/photo/3

[SuperPang]

Thanks for that EOJ.

[SuperPang]

PEK states he feels more input lag playing this in the Viewlix cab compared to the PCB, but suspects (or hopes) it is due to the monitor

Trap/Shou would be pretty insistent that it is down to to the monitor/IO. They reckon they've got the hardware down to 2 frames. Hey are running it on a Vewlix C which is one of the better options. An LCD cab is never going to match a JAMMA cab for lag sadly.

[buffi]

Yup. According to trap, it is 2 frames on exa + 1 from the cab its running on.

[SuperPang]

By the way, if anyone is thinking of picking this up and you fancy A&B as well, for some strange reason Tanoshimasu has asked that it be discontinued after the current run so grab it while you can.

[EOJ]

It seems there is background rank that increases past the max RANK 100:

https://twitter.com/peketti/status/1307701780416000003

He says if you stay alive and keep hypering, the patterns get harder even though it says the same "RANK 100" on the top. Probably similar to DFK BL in that there are two layers of rank, with one that increases the longer you stay alive.

[EOJ]

Inbachi has been cleared in EXA Label by RMY:



Must be a lot easier than the PCB version.

[zak]

Really looking forward to this one!

[EOJ]

KVClab have started preorders, they state release is expected for November. 220,000 yen for the software, 440,000 yen for the motherboard + software set.

Software:
http://kvclab.com/shopdetail/000000000802/

Motherboard + software:
http://kvclab.com/shopdetail/000000000803

A special A1 poster is included if you preorder.

[EOJ]

Judging from the below pic, the Type D ship is in at least one of the modes: