EDIT (3.11.2009): DS2's release date is set for Mid May 2009.
---------------
EDIT (2.1.2009): Official CAVE AOU 2009 blog is open, with some info on DS2:
http://cave-gameshow.cocolog-nifty.com/aou2009/
--------------
EDIT (1.19.2009): Their next game is Deathsmiles 2:
http://www.cave.co.jp/ir/archives/ir/pdf/2009/ir090119.pdf
Announced on page 22 of that report. Info from http://am-net.jp/.
--------------
To be shown at the AOU show next month, Feb 20-21, 2009. Here's a map of the showroom floor showing the planned location of CAVE's booth:
http://am-net-blog.sakura.ne.jp/sblo_files/am-net/image/aou2009r.jpg
And here's a page confirming CAVE will have a new arcade title on display at the show:
http://www.am-net.jp/show/aou2009.html#list
Sweet, thanks for the heads up!!
Thank you for the 'few week's heads up. That way I won't wear out my F5 key (just yet) :)
Can't wait. Can't wait to play (happens in two years or so when it is affordable :mad: )
Yagawa's rumoured SH-4 based title perhaps :righton:
Quote from: SuperPang on January 06, 2009, 08:03:56 AM
Yagawa's rumoured SH-4 based title perhaps :righton:
with mono sound no doubt :rolleyes:
Ketsui Daifukkatsu? =D
I'm curious to see if this is a new hardware and hope this is not a TaitoType X style.....
Yeah, I wouldn't be surprised if this is Ketsui 2. Yagawa may be gone for good, unfortunately...
Quote from: EOJ on January 06, 2009, 02:23:50 PM
Yeah, I wouldn't be surprised if this is Ketsui 2. Yagawa may be gone for good, unfortunately...
Based on the sales of his last titles?
Yes. And he hasn't released anything in nearly 2 years.
If he's still at CAVE this upcoming game could be his, with Ketsui 2 to arrive later in the year.
Haha, someone should call over there and see if he is even in the company directory ;)
A little off topic sorry but I'm guessing that admission to the AOU Show is as simple as just turning up on the day and buying a ticket on site?
I think one day is for the press, the other day is for the public.
I'm hoping that the 21st is the public day, gonna get to Tokyo just in time for the show :)
Yes, it's the 21st. Hope you get to go and report back to us with all the juicy details. :righton:
Got my fingers crossed for something awesome, but no more Yagawa would make me sad.
I seem to recall at the matsuri before last IKD saying Yagawa was working on something new. I would speculate its been so long either because a) it was canned and he moved on or b) its new hardware.
Could be both. But everyone should realize that new hardware is always a big transition.
Quote from: EOJ on January 06, 2009, 02:23:50 PM
Yagawa may be gone for good, unfortunately yay...
Fixed that for you. :laugh:
See the first post. The game they are showing is Deathsmiles 2. If this is another Hori, I am not going to be too pleased.
I'm hoping for a vertical Deathsmiles.
Wonder if it's on new hardware? Also a bit strange that they're pumping out DS2 right after DS MBL. Isn't it a bit of an overload?
It does seem a bit weird to turn around with DS 2 right now. That game must have done REALLY well
Quote from: EOJ on January 19, 2009, 09:03:48 PM
If this is another Hori, I am not going to be too pleased.
I'm hoping for a vertical Deathsmiles.
Seconded. Majorly...
Jeez...Deathsmiles overload. Original PCB, Black Label, 360 release...sigh.
I dunno, maybe it will get more people in the arcades though. If it were a tate I wouldn't be really upset. Hell I still haven't spent enough time with Daifukkatsu so...
I'm wondering if their new hardware is hi res and since they have already ported DS to the X360 in "hi res", I'm wondering if that wasn't a test project for the real deal in this DS 2 arcade game. If it's another low res hori on SH3 hardware I'll laugh.
Anyone else think Yagawa is gone for good now? :(
Are all Japanese companies' investor relations reports so detailed (or available for free, for that matter)? It seems a lot more open than places here in the states, where that kind of thing is--as far as I know--mostly limited to shareholders.
I'd be interested in another Deathsmiles, but I do agree they're pretty gung-ho about the property right now. I wonder if this is an indicator of a creative slump or something--"Quick, we need something new to cash in on, lets milk more out of Deathsmiles!" None of their other multi-installment properties seemed to have that quick of a follow-up.
Anyone know how they go about deciding the next project there? Is it a collaborative thing, or basically up to the bigwigs to assign?
Ikeda mentioned something about the higher ups asking him to make Daifukkatsu, even though he was happy to end it with Daioujou.
I don't really get the logic of releasing Mega Black Label and then Deathsmiles 2 six months (or whatever) later. Maybe they just wanted to keep the franchise fresh in the arcades until DS 2 hits. Mega Black Label does hint at a sequel when you clear the game, so it was widely known a sequel would appear, I'm just surprised it's coming so soon.
If it's hi res on new hardware, and flashy and pretty with new scoring techniques, it could be quite amazing (even if it's a hori).
EDIT: Actually now that I think of it, this is the same basic pattern that we saw with Ibara. We got Ibara, then in early 2006 there was Ibara Black Label and a few months later came Ibara 2 (Pink Sweets).
I might be the only one here but i'm happy with a DS2.This game is brillant on all point.
QuoteEDIT: Actually now that I think of it, this is the same basic pattern that we saw with Ibara. We got Ibara, then in early 2006 there was Ibara Black Label and a few months later came Ibara 2 (Pink Sweets).
I just hope yagawa is not in charge of a "DS2 PS style",i hate this game :p
Big difference though: There were two teams, alternating releases. We don't have a Yagawa game in the middle. And I believe Inoue was too busy to do any work onthis, right? Hmm... blech.
Well, they always build on sequels, but if Ikeda gets ahold of it, I'm sure it's going to be "a lot to keep up with". I'm sending the ESPGaluda II treatment.
And as EOJ said, Ikeda has stated time and time again he doesn't like making sequels. Shows you how much power he ultimately has (or that he's a sell out...one of the two).
I wonder if Cave really has this stuff figured out. I mean it seems on their 'weaker' releases (not necessarily bad) they really break out the marketing push. With Ibara, they had the figures, art book, comic etc, to maybe compensate for what they saw as a potentially cautiotious title. Same with Death Smiles. Pillowcases, note pads, numerous posters and such. Neither of those games are bad, but where was the insane marketing push for Mushi? Did they know they wouldn't need the extra bells, whistles and schwag to get people on board? I guess MMP kinda blows my idea out of the water (was it a total fail in terms of sales?) but just a thought...
Well Ibara and DS both have one thing in common: a large cast of ladies (or girls) that game nerds can fantasize about. So Cave milks that to the max. The difference between the two games is DS was a huge financial success in the arcades. I wouldn't be surprised if the X360 port sells 25-30k (that Otomedius crap game sold like 28k, basically just because of the ladies in it).
MMP apparently didn't sell too much, but neither did Pink Sweets. MMP is one of the rarer SH3 games these days - you almost never see one for sale used. The old unsold MMP PCBs were converted into Futari BL boards, by the way (my Futari BL is one of these converted MMP boards), which is another factor in its current scarcity.
I actually thought it was the other way around. With Pink Sweets only getting a OST release and no superplay, I thought that may have been the black sheep in recent Cave titles. I really wish that game would've gotten a little more love. Its one of the games I want to like more than I actually did. Here's hoping that DS2 is an upgrade of a sequel! :)
PS definitely IS the black sheep in Cave's catalog. At the recent Cave festival it was the only recent game that wasn't on display, for example, and as you mentioned it's the only recent Cave game not to get a superplay release (though MMP didn't get a proper one either).
The problem with PS is 1)it's ridiculously difficult, 2) you basically have to break the game (max out rank, get infinite lives) if you want to score well, 3) you have to milk everything for about 80minutes (seriously, that's how long a 1 credit clear lasts with full milking), but the milking is basically just ticking away with your shot on midbosses and bosses, and 4)it's buggy and can randomly freeze in the later levels. Hardly a formula that appeals to most shooting fans.
Wasn't there a superplay DVD for MMP with the soundtrack? Or is that what you mean by it not being a "proper" release?
Yes, that's what I mean. The MMP "superplay" is pretty lame - only a 2-ALL, and only with one character. It's also over 100 mil less than the WR. :whyioughtta:
I really hope they keep Yagawa on. There's so much that's good about his games that there has to be something they think they can use him for. Although, if he gets let go, I wonder if we might see him start something new, new company, new titles with another company. Can't imagine him getting out after so many good titles.
Quote from: EOJ on January 19, 2009, 09:03:48 PM
I'm hoping for a vertical Deathsmiles.
Me too.
I love Hori shooters, but for me vert feels more "Cave". :-X
Blurb about DS2 on Cave's AOU2009 page:
http://cave-gameshow.cocolog-nifty.com/aou2009/
They say the graphic designs are once again by Joker Jun, and the music is by Namiki.
It will be PLAYABLE, and they say each stage will be gorgeous.
Since they explicitly say it is a direct continuation from Death Smiles, it looks like this will be another hori. Which I don't mind really - I've
really taken a shine to DSMBL so another game of that quality would be great. No mention of any new hardware (but that's not really something they'd mention).
Keep an eye on that blog, they'll likely pop a pic or two up soon as they've done before with previous games.
I'll be in your hood about that time, so I won't be attending. Not too bothered though. I'm not into the crowds. They're dickheads about filming as well now, which is when I realized they had sold their souls.
Quote from: EOJ on January 20, 2009, 01:51:27 PMThe problem with PS is 1)it's ridiculously difficult, 2) you basically have to break the game (max out rank, get infinite lives) if you want to score well, 3) you have to milk everything for about 80minutes (seriously, that's how long a 1 credit clear lasts with full milking), but the milking is basically just ticking away with your shot on midbosses and bosses, and 4)it's buggy and can randomly freeze in the later levels. Hardly a formula that appeals to most shooting fans.
PS is the one Cave I have never played and you make it sound like it's a really terrible game here :p I hate bugs and milking ^^
Anyway, I really like the idea of a new DeathSmiles though like you I hope it will be "high" res on a new hardware because DeathSmiles looked terrible with so much detail in low res, I think... I hope it will be harder too.
Quote from: PROMETHEUS on February 03, 2009, 08:02:14 PM
Quote from: EOJ on January 20, 2009, 01:51:27 PMThe problem with PS is 1)it's ridiculously difficult, 2) you basically have to break the game (max out rank, get infinite lives) if you want to score well, 3) you have to milk everything for about 80minutes (seriously, that's how long a 1 credit clear lasts with full milking), but the milking is basically just ticking away with your shot on midbosses and bosses, and 4)it's buggy and can randomly freeze in the later levels. Hardly a formula that appeals to most shooting fans.
PS is the one Cave I have never played and you make it sound like it's a really terrible game here :p I hate bugs and milking ^^
I think PS is pretty good actually, it's just very strange and will only really appeal to a small group of people. It requires a lot of time to get to grips with the game, but it was good enough that I put a lot of time into it. If you don't like tons of milking and insane rank that never reduces, then you won't like it. The freezing bug isn't a big deal as it happens rarely and there is a fixed PCB out there you can buy (or upgrade your PCB to) if you want.
Here we go folks.
First information trickling in about the game.
(http://www.cave.co.jp/gameonline/deathsmiles2/images/img1.jpg)
(http://www.cave.co.jp/gameonline/deathsmiles2/images/img2.jpg)
(http://www.cave.co.jp/gameonline/deathsmiles2/images/img3.jpg)
CAVE's AOU blog says that Windia is returning. Looking at that illustration, so is Casper. The setting of the game is apparently Christmas.
(http://cave-gameshow.cocolog-nifty.com/photos/uncategorized/2009/02/05/deth_title.jpg)
Get hype!
Thanks for the info adverse!
Looking at the title screen it's NOT in hires...
rtw
Quote from: rtw on February 06, 2009, 07:04:54 AM
Looking at the title screen it's NOT in hires...
Let's hope they dumb down the details this time then...
I think low res fails with Death Smiles, but also Futari and Muchi Muchi Pork. Futari still manages to look good, but has this slight dirty feel the first time you play it. Death Smiles and Muchi Muchi Pork just look terrible in my opinion. Somehow DDP DFK doesn't seem to suffer from low res much in my eyes.
I'm sure all Caves would look a lot better in higher res though.
Yes, High res is the future (IMO), DS 360 high res looks so very nice! :o
But can Caves newest game-engine take High res?
Oh man, I'm a sucker for Christmas-themed games, as well as games with wintry/snowy levels.
So far it's looking like this is low res, so it's probably on the SH3-b hardware. It's also a hori, judging from the title screen dimensions.
They also say the game will take place one month after DS, in "Christmas Jitterbug Land". New characters will be introduced.
PS-All of CAVE's games look awesome in low res (including MMP, which looks stellar).
Quote from: EOJ on February 06, 2009, 12:53:16 PM
Oh man, I'm a sucker for Christmas-themed games, as well as games with wintry/snowy levels.
Haha, Christmas Nights ftw.
Man, I really like the promo artwork for the game. Looks really nice.
Hopefully this game will give CAVE the arcade boost that it could use, since it will probably be timed somewhat near DS360. They're smart to release a sequel at the same time. Hopefully Ketsui 2 won't be too far behind.
It looks cute, but being the grinch I am, they're going to have to do a REALLY good job for me to not hate it for the Christmas factor.
Of course if the theme is more like Nightmare Before Christmas then maybe it will be pretty awesome.
In the pic posted above they have a blurb on the side that says it's a "Christmas Nightmare" in "Jitterbug Land", so it sounds like it might be similar to what you're hoping for, Gwyrgyn.
Here's an idea: they are releasing a Christmas-themed shooter this late spring/early summer (assuming a May-June release date) because they will release a hi-resified X360 port for Christmas 2009.
DS2 "a la Nightmare Before Christmas" will be awesome.In joker jun i trust.
I assume it is a Sh-3 again.....great!
I don't know too much about resolutions, but a guy on 2Ch posted something interesting here:
http://schiphol.2ch.net/test/read.cgi/gamestg/1232496300/206
He says DS2's vertical resolution is 285, while the limit for 15khz is 262. 31Khz can do 525, but he thinks that would be
too much to use if you're just displaying 285. Can anyone clear this up? Is this the same resolution as other SH3 games?
Another guy says it simply cannot be 15khz because 15khz can't display 285 vertical lines.
I've read the same thing EOJ and I asked to my friend that know a lot about things like this how it's possible :)
If you look at earlier CAVE games they run at: 282x352, Mushi Futari
http://www.cave.co.jp/gameonline/mushihime2/system/mode/imgs/ori_img01_b.jpg
rtw
Ah, so it's just part of the SH3 hardware. Isn't 282x352 a weird resolution? Any idea why they use it?
Maybe if you guys wacth your pcb sistem bios we can know how is the real definition of the past cave games...I think that 282x352 is a weird resolution too. Maybe there's some difference of resolution between hori and vert games? :)
I think all the SH3 games have the same resolution (hori & vert). I've owned them all, and never noticed one to be different from the next in this regard.
That is their standard resolution.... at least that's what I've heard.
I popped into Mak yesterday and over the usual banter asked them if they knew anything. They said no information was given out, but on the business day they usually ask AMI what's the hardware and whatnot.
And you guys that think their games look bad b/c they're low res -- quit smoking crack. They all look excellent... and the hardware is clearly being pushed, so until they're on substantially stronger hardware, we won't see 480p or higher. Cave knows they're not catering to the w00t! h!rez demographic.
I've never thought that Cave's games look bad, I didn't Know that the resolution of muhihimesama or other games is low as 282x352 ;)
(http://home.online.no/~an-tj/rtw/ds2_blue_256.jpg)
DS2 Norwegian edition... :laugh:
rtw
Pretty annoying interview with the main developer of the game up at the AOU blog here:
http://cave-gameshow.cocolog-nifty.com/aou2009/2009/02/ii-7c03.html
The only real info he drops between telling the interview that you'll have to play the game to see what's new is that
1) Elements of the DS1 system are continued in the sequel
2) The game is indeed on new hardware, and this allows it to be a bit different 'CAVE shooting'. No further details.
...
Who is the main developer? Is the same that in the previous one?
Yeah, the main programmer is Takashi Ichimura, just like DS.
Ok, thanks. I see his name in the staff list of lots of cave shooters but i lose his track in Galuda II...
Any work after? (i assume yes) and, is his first work as a main programmer?
Sorry for these crappy questions...
He's been programming CAVE games for awhile, he did Ketsui w/ Ikeda, for example. He's worked w/ Ikeda on every SH3 game not by Yagawa, and DS was his first solo outing. I think he's every bit as good as Ikeda, but he doesn't get as much credit.
Ichimura (http://www.gamengai.com/credits_name.php?id=393&l=e)
And those are just the games I've got listed so far.
Here's the index, btw (http://www.gamengai.com/credits_ix.php?type=etc&l=e).
DS was the first time he was heading a new project. I believe he did a lot of the work in IBL.
And for the record, I think Ikeda gets all his credit for his creative ideas... not necessarily his programming abilities. For all we know, he's not the best programmer in the world. But, he's the mechanics designer for the most part, which is what we all get hard about.
DS2 with a proximity-based scoring mechanic would definately give me a stiffy.
Quote from: GaijinPunch on February 10, 2009, 07:36:29 AM
I believe he did a lot of the work in IBL.
According to the game's credits he didn't do anything in that game - it was programmed by Mamoru Furukawa.
[Obligatory conjecture on console port + sequel causing a price drop for original PCB]
Original DS is holding its price remarkably well in Japanese shops - bare PCBs are 90,000 yen just about everywhere, and Gfront has a brand new kit for 130,000 yen on sale as of yesterday. On YAJ the bare PCB has been for sale for as low as 50,000 yen, which is Galuda 2/Pink Sweets range.
It will be interesting to see what happens after the port is released.
I don't then the price will go down that much then the port will be released (DS). Most arcade games will probably prefer to play DS on a PCB.... and just think about it, in 5 years, what do you think ppl will remember the PCB or the port?
You can't really go by PCB shops. GFRont is mainly aiming for operators that don't have time to bargain hunt. Keep in mind they marked their new ESPGaluda kit(s?) down to 35,000 yen just recently. Mak caters a bit more to people like us, and their prices show it, but even they have had the same kit sitting in the showcase for 88,000 yen for quite some time now. A month at least. Holding it's price? Possibly. Just not in demand, in the least. Seems the only ones to really have a nice demand some time after launch is the Mushihime-sama series.
The big question is how many/how often will new kits pop up on YAJ... I would guess most would rear their ugly heads before the port is launched.
More cosplay for the 2009 AOU:
http://cave-gameshow.cocolog-nifty.com/aou2009/2009/02/post-bd09.html
This time the girl who played Casper in the 2007 AOU will play Windia. There is an interview vid on the bottom with her. The other two ladies on that page are doing cosplay for those touchscreen gambling (or whatever they are) games.
Wow, I didn't expect DS to be down to the 50,000-80,000 range already. Might have to look into snagging one after tax returns come in...
Yeah, it was always fun to visit Akiba and go first to Mak and then G-Front and compare prices. :laugh:
Looks like there's a new character in DS2 called "Soupy" (スーピィ) according to the latest AOU blog entry.
In the latest AOU blog post, some pics of CAVE's new medal game Uha-uha have been posted. Here is one:
(http://cave-gameshow.cocolog-nifty.com/photos/uncategorized/2009/02/16/oooku_3.jpg)
http://cave-gameshow.cocolog-nifty.com/aou2009/2009/02/post-4010.html
Not sure what's going on in that blue dude's groin area... :oogle:
Perhaps they'll put up a pic of DS 2 in a day or two. Uha-uha looks cell-shaded, perhaps DS2 will be as well?
Anyone care to shed some light on the funny video with "talking" Reco figures ???
Looks like CAVE have a video stream on youtube now...
http://www.youtube.com/user/cavecoltd
rtw
Some pics of the CAVE booth at AOU:
http://cave-gameshow.cocolog-nifty.com/aou2009/2009/02/aou2009-786b.html
They are running on Vewlixs? That's a little odd unless the game is on JVS at least.
The Vewlix have fews option that can be use like JVS TO JAMMA and 31K to 15K taito converter.
Can't wait to see DS 2 in motion if you ask me.
Quote from: Gwyrgyn on February 19, 2009, 11:45:39 AM
They are running on Vewlixs? That's a little odd unless the game is on JVS at least.
They've run 15khz games on snazzy new cabs before; it's the whole glitz aspect of the trade show. Gotta have the newest sexist looking hardware on the floor.
Futari Black Label was on a TATE'ed HD LCD at Hey!. Complete with lag making it totally unplayable!
Judging from the POP it looks like the game will have 4 playable characters from the start - Windia, Casper, Follett, and Soupy. Most likely one or two more will be unlockable later, just like DS.
A few comments are trickling in from JP players who have tried the game (the AOU show started 25min ago). These may be BS though,
so take them with a grain of salt:
-The game is in real-time 3D
-No lock-shot with A+B
-No power up mode
-Enemies are in the background and foreground
One guy said it feels a bit like Twinbee.
You can watch a live stream of people at the show playing DS2:
http://cave-gameshow.cocolog-nifty.com/aou2009/2009/02/post-aeec.html
Unfortunately with the angle of the camera you can't see much of anything on the screen. I wish they'd release a frickin' screenshot already!
???
Would be quite new for Cave to change that much for a sequel.Let's see.
Argh,there is a bunch of salary men investing the cabs!
By the way,wtf with the camera angle?What's the point then?
The game keeps freezing in most of the cabs, requiring them to restart it over and over. Not the best start to the show.
They moved the camera a bit and I could finally make out some details:
-The backgrounds are definitely in 3D
-There is no world-map, you just choose a character and start playing
???
Deathsmiles value going up from now! ^-^
More details:
-it's 4:3 aspect ratio
-the new character, Soupy, is 7 years old.
-Only 2 stages are playable
-Characters, backgrounds, enemies - EVERYTHING is in 3D
-When you hold shot, a magic square forms around your option. Any enemies that enter the square get locked-on to.
-When you hold AB, you form a square around your character. Any enemies that enter get locked on to (in the foreground or background), and you shoot them with lasers, just like Soukyuugurentai.
WTF??
You can smell a port for DS2 more than ever now.Doesn't it look like cellshaded from what i could see?I wonder what system runs this,no details yet?Wouldn't be surprised if it's an external one,a la Type-X 2,since Cave hasn't a big history in 3D stuff.And you pointed out that the game was somehow bugging/rebooting,like our beloved PCs running XP,which is TTX2's OS.
They just moved the camera on the live feed - you can actually see the screen now.
It looks pretty wild, with tons of stuff happening on the screen.
Quote from: EOJ on February 19, 2009, 09:55:34 PM
More details:
-the new character, Soupy, is 7 years old.
::facepalm::
Argh...
Ok, well the Space Harrier-esque portions worry me but otherwise I'm curious to see how it goes down. Taito Type X2, the same thing SFIV ran on IIRC. Capcom had a relatively easy time porting that to both 360 and PS3. Given that the game is a hori as well, I think this is a step towards increasing synergy with consoles. Perhaps also the deathknell of the vertical shooter? Or maybe they'll make vert Viewlix at some point.
So apparently the first boss is a giant reindeer. :laugh:
A guy on 2Ch:
"while the game is very pretty, you no longer have skulls bouncing all over the screen, and because of this the game feels unsatisfactory".
http://gigazine.net/index.php?/news/comments/20090220_deathsmiles2/ (http://gigazine.net/index.php?/news/comments/20090220_deathsmiles2/)
Pics and poor video..... :whyioughtta:
I see there is a selectable stage map in those pics.
The graphics look OK. Sorta reminds me of a PS2 or DC 3D game. Some of the enemies (and the boss) look cheesy though.
Overall definitely not as nice looking as Deathsmiles.
Well I definitely won't be buying this arcade game, but an X360 port is pretty much definite, so it will be nice to own this for $70 around Christmas time. :righton:
Quote from: EOJThe graphics look OK. Sorta reminds me of a PS2 or DC 3D game. Some of the enemies (and the boss) look cheesy though.
Overall definitely not as nice looking as Deathsmiles.
So this is a hi-res game ?
rtw
I'd think so, since it's all polygonal. I don't know why they'd make a realtime 3D game in 240p.
Quote from: KOMA on February 20, 2009, 02:09:06 AM
http://gigazine.net/index.php?/news/comments/20090220_deathsmiles2/ (http://gigazine.net/index.php?/news/comments/20090220_deathsmiles2/)
Pics and poor video..... :whyioughtta:
For the love of God, ZOOM IN!
I expected something like Blaz Blue, but finally it's 3d, better wait to play it before giving an opinion about.
Argh! This means that Cave finally leaves the sprites? :-[
Anyway, 3D fact apart, the game looks great.
I need to find a picture of a grave stone. Cave has official sold out. There's going to have to be some rockin' gameplay in this... and then it will be their one and only signature.
3D never even crossed my mind. I hope to hell this is an xmas release because if thats nearly finished it looks nothing like a Cave shooter and you're right, its a management forced sellout.
The feeling i have with DS2 it is the same when SNK has made Metal Slug in 3D,what's the f**
The only thing that really looks bad from what I can even make out is that there's just nothing going on on the screen. That could be a symptom of just being a beta or set at a really low difficulty, but either way the game looks really boring by comparison right now.
I've read that the new hardware powered by Cave is an WXp based with a ASUS M3 mother board :)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8XzApy01byU&fmt=35
Quote from: GaijinPunch on February 20, 2009, 07:30:22 AM
I need to find a picture of a grave stone. Cave has official sold out. There's going to have to be some rockin' gameplay in this... and then it will be their one and only signature.
(http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/ff1/drboom/graveStone.jpg)
Go nuts.
I'm reserving judgement until I see some more footage. I'll be hella depressed if Ketsui 2 comes out in 3D, tho.
Quote from: Midnight Milkshake on February 20, 2009, 11:53:59 AM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8XzApy01byU&fmt=35
Hey that looks pretty darn good. Needs Level999 desperately though.
Still waiting for better screens or videos to judge it, but don't like what I'm seeing.
I think the backgrounds and enemies look great. There is a severe lack of bullets on the screen for a cave game, but that will probably be fixed. I am looking forward to the game. :righton:
Quote from: zlk on February 20, 2009, 12:24:05 PM
I think the backgrounds and enemies look great. There is a severe lack of bullets on the screen for a cave game, but that will probably be fixed. I am looking forward to the game. :righton:
Funny,on my own i find backgrounds and any character quite bland.Explosion and shot light effects look nice.Menu/inbetween stages presentation remains typical Cave polish.
Not too excited,but looking forward for Matsuri's special 3D posters! >:D
I thought the backgrounds looked pretty good. There is a lot of depth and detail going on, especially in the daytime stage.
Doesn't even look like there's a scoring system going on yet though so there will probably be a lot of gameplay changes before the game releases. It doesn't really look very fun or interesting yet as a result.
I started to think "okay, it's not terrible" until I saw that castle boss. Blech. Could turn out decent (looks better than their 3D competitors, that's true) but losing sprites is definitely now a lost Cave signature.
Maybe I'm the only guy according to the new direction choosen by Cave but the game is only at 10% completed and I think that Cave get the rigth direction for a new era of shmups!!
I stand by my original comments on the graphics, though one thing I didn't mention was the explosions, which look like ass. The graphics and the gameplay will have to be improved quite a lot before I take the game seriously. The bullet patterns are a joke so far (though interesting that there is still a lot of slowdown - must be programmed in). Hopefully CAVE is just showing this early, and will actually spend time on it and not release it until December instead of a release a few months from now.
I think it's sad that CAVE has abandoned 2D sprites, it's what set their games apart from the rest these days. I'm still holding out hope that DS2 is a one-off, and they will perhaps do Ketsui 2 on the SH3, but that seems rather improbable at this point. :(
Quote from: Ast-Kot on February 20, 2009, 03:52:46 PM
Maybe I'm the only guy according to the new direction choosen by Cave but the game is only at 10% completed and I think that Cave get the rigth direction for a new era of shmups!!
A game is not playable at 10%. This is 50% or more. Traditionally Cave have only shown games at a near-complete level, and nothing has gone more than a few months after it's been shown.
Is it only me or does this game resemble Trouble Witches ? With the entire magic circle and suchlikes...
rtw
It's hard to see the cave 2d spirit away.It looks like Trouble Witches and a bit Otomedius wich is not a compliment....
This thing just gets worse every time I watch it. That reindeer... what the fuck?
I think that brown bear thing in the middle of the snowy night stage beats the reindeer in overall crappiness. It's so bad it's almost embarassing to watch.
It really comes off as a doujin game, just by the look but I must admit...it looks damn fun to play!
Quote from: hermosaguy on February 20, 2009, 11:08:50 PM
it looks damn fun to play!
Really? There are close to no bullets, boring, unimaginative enemy patterns, some lock-shot mechanic like a dumbed down Soukyuugurentai...
I don't get it.
Quote from: EOJ on February 20, 2009, 11:04:13 PM
I think that brown bear thing in the middle of the snowy night stage beats the reindeer in overall crappiness. It's so bad it's almost embarassing to watch.
I totally agree with that.The force of the first DS (at least for me) when i watched the first video was the animation of the game,like the forest boss,the cyclops(all of them),kentauros,the dogs.Here we're just in a bad dream.
Ok, so this game is a big WTF.
Anyway, they said something about a live March 20th, but I didn't catch the rest. Anyone know? Pretty sure it's not Cave-related, but I wouldn't mind more lolis :righton:
Quote from: EOJ on February 20, 2009, 04:14:37 PMthough interesting that there is still a lot of slowdown - must be programmed in
I always thought it was obviously programmed in, in all their games or almost. I mean, why would God mode slowdown so much more than Ultra then ? (in futari) only because there is more gold around ? It doesn't feel that way to me.
Quote from: GaijinPunch on February 20, 2009, 04:43:20 PM
A game is not playable at 10%. This is 50% or more. Traditionally Cave have only shown games at a near-complete level, and nothing has gone more than a few months after it's been shown.
It seems as if you are correct. Ikeda was at the show, and someone asked him if this was going to be a fall or winter release. He laughed and replied "well we haven't decided [on the release date] yet, but it's not going to be released that far down the road". So most people on 2Ch are now assuming a late spring or early summer release.
A tad new info in the new Arcadia:
Apparently Soupy uses Tyronnosaur as her familiar.
It seems that the image at the end of Deathsmiles MBL is a picture of the game's boss, an evil Santa Claus. : l
Well I went to the show and played DS2, and what a disappointment it was. The game was displayed on Vewlix's but it was noticable that it isn't full HD, probably best to compare how Tatsunoko vs Capcom looks on a Vewlix. The game did crash alot while I was waiting in the queue. I saw the boot up sequence and it did boot up in Windows.
By now everyone will have seen the two levels on display, the Christmas town and the Romanesque level. Both levels looked hideous and were a massive comedown from the first game. In fact the water effects in the second level wouldn't have pushed early Dreamcast 3D graphics, appalling. The main characters looked decent actually but the enemies were uninspiring and bland. In fact there are some zombies on the first level that look downright PS1 era graphics. The bullet patterns were bland, the explosions were bland, the smart bomb was bland, etc. Pretty much everything that made the first game so vibrant has been seemingly lost. And the less said about the reindeer boss the better (though the Shadow of the Colossus inspired second boss was pretty cool)
The game had no scoring system to speak of at all, simply shoot and collect point orbs. Very basic. It's true that you can shoot enemies in the background ala Layer Section but it doesn't add that much depth. Now all this hate does sound like I hated the game but it did play quite pleasantly albeit....empty. It's just that I know Cave can do much better (Daifukkatsu is probably the nicest sprite based game I've ever seen) Unless Cave pull something miraculous out of the bag then I think Cave's glory days of shooters might be over.
Most depressing post ever. ^
Heh I guess it did come over as pretty negative. I'm really used to their stellar output though and this attempt at 3D seems really halfhearted, almost as if they couldn't be bothered. Playing DS1 afterwards seemed like a breath of fresh air and much more vibrant. Still I did manage to get one of those light tunnel doobrie wotsits and that was worth queuing up in itself, it's awesome.
I'm still hoping that deep down this is their idea of a very early April Fool's joke. The sad thing is, they aren't just going to try a "1 off" on new hardware. I'm sure they've put a lot of time into developing reusable libraries, which aren't going to be easy to walk away from. The best outcome is some high res 2D, but I have a better chance of banging my wife in the ass than that happening.
It will feel weird to not care at all about their latest game. Oh, well. My queue is full anyway.
As shitty as this seems, I can understand (though not like) what Cave is up to. They have such an established fan base that they figure they can take a risk with this and if it fails...they can go back to what they know. I can't say I'm excited for the way this looks, but we'll see how the finished product turns out.
Quote from: GaijinPunch on March 02, 2009, 12:00:48 AM
The best outcome is some high res 2D, but I have a better chance of banging my wife in the ass than that happening.
Classic.I had a japanese girlfriend,i can comment on your despair. ^-^
So Cave is going 3D...bad idea...I remember when SNK went 3D with their Samurai Shodown..what a let down. :(
HD 2D sprites would be so awesome...
could someone transalte what Mihara said in his blog about DS2?I see Taito Type X2....
http://mihara.sub.jp/top/blog/sb203/log/eid623.html (http://mihara.sub.jp/top/blog/sb203/log/eid623.html)
Sounds like he somehow knows it's not Type X2 at the moment.
A closer look. - Thanks the one who upload this.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ma-sHlrPOlM
Thank you Geeb,i had the feeling it was the opposite....
Quote from: eckart on March 06, 2009, 03:33:40 PM
A closer look. - Thanks the one who upload this.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ma-sHlrPOlM
Wow.... :laugh:
:( :( :(
Quote from: KOMA on March 07, 2009, 05:52:14 AM
Thank you Geeb,i had the feeling it was the opposite....
In regards to this game, just think of anything you would want, and then realize it's likely the complete opposite.
I can't wait to see what the developers say come release. Of course, if all the horny fanboys buy it, there will be no turning back.
I can't imagine anyone who played one of the other Cave shooters to death play this one to death.
Quote from: GaijinPunch on March 07, 2009, 09:58:55 AM
Quote from: KOMA on March 07, 2009, 05:52:14 AM
Thank you Geeb,i had the feeling it was the opposite....
In regards to this game, just think of anything you would want, and then realize it's likely the complete opposite.
I can't wait to see what the developers say come release. Of course, if all the horny fanboys buy it, there will be no turning back.
Damn true :/
Quote from: eckart on March 06, 2009, 03:33:40 PM
A closer look. - Thanks the one who upload this.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ma-sHlrPOlM
The boss is really ugly, but I like the backgrounds.
I still think that looks funny but the simple truth is that not (good enough to) seems a Cave game. Anyway I will keep the faith until Cave show the next vertical shmup.
Quote from: retre on March 08, 2009, 04:20:10 AMAnyway I will keep the faith until Cave show the next vertical shmup.
Oh ye I want Mushihimesama San Nin !!~!
I still have hope for the verts, simply because that POS is slowing down with about half a dozen bullets. With the hundreds of bullets, gems/chips and score calculations going on in a danmaku they might have to drop the polygons. I hope.
Realy didn`t know the staff behind cave. What they want, what not and plan in the future.
I mean money making or making nice shmups. Guess it is both, but with DS2 it is realy hard to tell...
Ok, at least DS2 could be a test run with -40% of enemys and bullets because of the new hardware.
Only to be propper for the audience.:)
Ok folks.According to Fujita new pcb list,DS2 will be release at middle May.
Let`s pray to the cavegod that the new hardware will be small and cheap. :'(
It's windows-xp based, so expect a big hulking box with a loud fan and lots of crashes.
I doubt many private collectors will buy this hardware. I know I won't. These games should all get quickie X360 or PC ports anyway.
Small? Probably
Cheap? Doubtful
Quote from: EOJ on March 11, 2009, 05:01:52 PM
It's windows-xp based, so expect a big hulking box with a loud fan and lots of crashes.
I don't see why it would crash more than the other Caves and even less why it would have a loud fan. Do you mean because they will need a more powerful CPU but will put a shitty fan on it to make the hardware as cheap to produce as possible ?
Probably will be an hdd with the game and usb memory with the encode key. Like Taito type X games.
Official site has been updated with a character section, story section, and a movie:
http://www.cave.co.jp/gameonline/deathsmiles2/
To get everyone in the Xmas mood...
Click Me (http://santasm.net/)
Not sure which one looks more appealing to me at this point.
Quote from: EOJ on March 21, 2009, 04:23:39 PM
Official site has been updated with a character section, story section, and a movie:
http://www.cave.co.jp/gameonline/deathsmiles2/
So, the character with the green hair, not yet named is a guy who dresses like a maid.
Catering to all demographics it seems...
This is going to be the worst fucking game ever.
Quote from: EOJ on March 23, 2009, 01:59:57 AM
This is going to be the worst fucking game ever.
You just can't sum it up any better than that.
lol at the hate. The Admin of Cave STG forum & the man in Japan with all the cave clears under his belt :)
When will developers learn? Raizing's last game went 1.5d & looked like ass. Will DS2 be the demise of Cave?
Quote from: markedkiller78 on March 23, 2009, 09:35:40 AM
Will DS2 be the demise of Cave?
Unfortunately it might be their new beginning.
Quote from: GaijinPunch on March 23, 2009, 10:21:52 AM
Quote from: markedkiller78 on March 23, 2009, 09:35:40 AM
Will DS2 be the demise of Cave?
Unfortunately it might be their new beginning.
in the same way that 8ing now do crap console fighters :(
Tatsunoko VS Capcom is pretty good :righton:
Quote from: SuperPang on March 24, 2009, 08:18:29 AM
Tatsunoko VS Capcom is pretty good :righton:
Debateable :) It's good "fun" as a pure fighter though it's a little shallow.
To give them their dues it's better than anything I could have imagined coming out on the wii, but they could still make the odd arcade shmup >:D
Quote from: adverse on March 23, 2009, 01:57:32 AMSo, the character with the green hair, not yet named is a guy who dresses like a maid.
Pics please :laugh:
Quote from: SuperPang on March 24, 2009, 08:18:29 AM
Tatsunoko VS Capcom is pretty good :righton:
Looked like shit to me. Of course, they were playing it on an HD cab, and it's apparently not capable of HD display.l
Nope, 480i only as far as I know. TvC is really, really broken and not worth playing much at all. 8ing also developed Castlevania Judgement which was really horrible. They also developed Fate Unlimited Codes which was actually pretty fun, but the combos get really stupid at high level play.
I got the impression TVC wasn't the most balanced game ever but I found it pretty fun from a casual fighter players POV. Its 480p and looks alright for Wii hardware, moreso on a VGA monitor but I'm not surprised ops use their shiny new Vewlix's. Its no SFIV though, I'll give you that.
AM-net is reporting that DS2 will be out in May.
http://am-net.xtr.jp/game/profile.cgi?_v=1233574557
Quote from: adverse on April 04, 2009, 10:13:43 AM
AM-net is reporting that DS2 will be out in May.
http://am-net.xtr.jp/game/profile.cgi?_v=1233574557
This was already reported here weeks ago by Koma:
http://www.cave-stg.com/forum/index.php?topic=472.msg8787#msg8787
Quote from: EOJ on April 04, 2009, 03:18:42 PM
Quote from: adverse on April 04, 2009, 10:13:43 AM
AM-net is reporting that DS2 will be out in May.
http://am-net.xtr.jp/game/profile.cgi?_v=1233574557
This was already reported here weeks ago by Koma:
http://www.cave-stg.com/forum/index.php?topic=472.msg8787#msg8787
Ack, sorry. Next time will check first.
I need to keep the first post updated with stuff like this, as important info can quickly get buried in large threads like this. So, I've added the release date to the first post.
Let me throw this nugget out there. The release date is a month-ish away... and yet, the retailers have gotten no price data nor any information on what fucking hardware this sure to be turd is on. It's pure speculation and rumor (and that was emphasized), but I heard the word "rental only". Thoughts.
Rental only? What does that mean in regard to an arcade game?
Fujita is selling them, at least.
I'm curious to see just how terrible this game is going to be.
Quote from: EOJ on April 12, 2009, 02:27:37 PM
Fujita is selling them, at least.
Do they have any details (specifically price)? Like I said, speculation. But... we're kind of getting down to the wire.
Good question. I haven't asked, due to a complete lack of interest in the game.
According to the interview in the latest Famitsu 360, it's not coming out until October. Misprint?
Quote from: GaijinPunch on April 16, 2009, 05:39:32 PM
According to the interview in the latest Famitsu 360, it's not coming out until October. Misprint?
Maybe that's when the X360 port is coming out, but definitely not the arcade version. The official DSII website says the arcade version is "coming out in Mid May":
http://www.cave.co.jp/gameonline/deathsmiles2/index.html
Loke test is from today (April 16) until April 22nd at Taito Station, Shinjuku. Anyone going to check it out?
They're definitely referring to the arcade version. Says "Arcade", and they say 稼働予定 which is not related to consumer games at all. Interesting slip if it is. Wonder where they got it from.
I'm up in Tokyo for the day. Will drop by.
The rental thing is for real:
http://www.rs2006.co.jp/j/death_s/index.html
You will be able to rent it, or buy it outright for 248,000 yen. If you rent it you pay zero down, but have to give 40% of your monthly profits to CAVE. Sort of an interesting idea really, and a potential way for CAVE to get more money out of their arcade games. Not sure how many ops will be interested in this, though.
What type of setup would you have to have to play this? I'm guessing an Egret 2 wouldn't work. What about an Egret 3 or would you need something like a Viewfix? Would arcade operators have to make a bigger investment just to have this playable?
They say this game supports (or runs on?) "JVS". Its dimensions are 400mm x 160mm x 275mm. It's 8kg. Pretty big and heavy, so my theory of a big dumb XP PC in a box seems like it wasn't too far off. It also uses a USB dongle like Type-X.
JVS? Is that a specific cab? Thanks for the info! I'm curious how likely operators would be to do the rental of it if they don't have the hardware.
8Gk!!au revoir importing those shitty hardware.
JVS system is based on control by using USB and picture by using VGA port.Tu run a JVS game on a jamma cab you need a SEGA I/O convert or Capcom I/O convert.And of course a Tri sync monitor if the hardware is 31K only.
With all that has to be put into this new type of hardware, it doesn't look like they would abandon it if DS2 doesn't do well. Hopefully this whole cheap 3d look won't last and they go back to putting some love back into the visuals.
Its a PC, expect it to look like Type X. This is worrying as it sounds like its been a big investment for Cave and if unsure ops go for rental and it doesn't earn, they're gonna see a big drop in revenue. And going by the footage I'm not confident, not because its ugly (the Japanese aren't as fickle as us) but because its probably not a draw for scorers, their main fanbase. I really hope it is delayed and the finished version has a lot more going on.
Hardware wise you'll be able to play it on a Supergun with a simple SEGA I/O board if you have an amp, Capcom if you don't. Power shouldn't be an issue as it'll probably have its own PSU.
No issues here. I don't foresee this ever coming into my house in PCB form.
And yeah, weird that the rental thing is true... guess some rumors turn out to be truth. I guess they're confident nobody can hack the settings.
Ok, made it out to Taito station yesterday but am only now getting to an internet terminal.
First, the game was running on an Egret 3 cabinet. Hardware wise I tried to peek into the cab while the attendants were adjusting the game (it seemed to have reset a few times, AOU style >_<) but couldn't really see much.
Game-wise, I saw three levels, one is the first level you start out in that ends with the Reindeer boss. Next is a 'City' and 'Ruins'. 'Ruins' is a vertically scrolling level similar to the canyon. Everybody playing couldn't make it past these three levels, but maybe with some practice we could. The Ruins level features these big snakes that come in from the side which take a lot of shots to kill. I dunno, maybe there's a trick to it.
You collect rings as you kill enemies, and foreground enemies seemed to give blue rings while background enemies seemed to give red. Not sure what the difference is if any. The rings do not bounce. When you active at 1000 on your item counter, you get more rings from enemies and bosses will give a steady stream of rings. Rings add onto your plus counter I believe MBL style, so the counter probably gets pretty high.
Graphic-wise it's not the hottest game, but it's also way better than for instance Mamoru-kun which had bad graphics but a decent enough game system for people to give it a chance. I think it's playable and will give it a try when it comes out.
At the same arcade, there were tons of CAVE boards, KOFXII, Senko no Ronde 2 and SFIV so I soon became quite distracted... :cool: :cool:
Thanks for the impressions! The scoring system is sounding much better than before. Let's hope that the game is fun, even if it doesn't look too hot.
No problem.
I went back again today.
First off, the counter maxes at 10,000. From here, you enter fever mode and against big enemies (?) there is some strange effect where you start streaming platinum rings from them. One guy (who was also awesome at MFBL Maniac) had a stream of these going against the second boss in power up mode and when his item counter reached zero, it was suddenly back up to 1000. So maybe there are tricks to constantly refill the item counter in this way.
I have yet to see anyone make it through the Ruins level, I believe this is because they've intentionally weakened the shot for the location test version. Enemies take a lot of fire to kill. Very much hope this is not the final version.
Top score of the day when I left at lunch today was 5 million. Basically people making it through the first two levels, getting 1000 on the first level, filling up on the boss, then getting to fever by the end of the second level, dying on the third.
Quote from: adverse on April 18, 2009, 12:35:53 AM
I have yet to see anyone make it through the Ruins level, I believe this is because they've intentionally weakened the shot for the location test version. Enemies take a lot of fire to kill. Very much hope this is not the final version.
Sounds like Yagawa style rank, as in Pink Sweets. I doubt this will be in the final version though. Loke test versions are always harder than the final release.
Here's a writeup from a Japanese dude, for those who can read Japanese:
http://runark2.blog69.fc2.com/blog-entry-1023.html
Summary: it's a lot harder than the AOU show version and the scoring system is not nearly as exciting or as inviting as the first game. So the guy isn't really impressed with it. He said he cleared the three stages in double play mode (apparently there was no one around so he just kept playing himself), but couldn't clear it in single play mode.
Sounds better than it did though!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ajss4NFXG_E&fmt=35 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ajss4NFXG_E&fmt=35)
Location Test.
That vid was interesting. The guy cleared it too! The last stage had the best bullet patterns. The snakes didn't seem to be a problem, rather the slowly falling pillars: didn't seem like you could destroy them. The boss was a piece of cake with a single bomb.
The scoring system looks very similar to the first game, but without the bouncing skulls. The whole lock-shot mechanic from the AOU version seems to have been completely scrapped.
Interesting vid - thanks.
I'm still not too impressed with this, yet; the more I see, the more it looks like Cave are using this as a tech demo for their 3D engine - it looks rushed (it'd be nice to hear the audio - all I can hear is someone playing DeathSmiles nearby :P). The graphics look ok (I'm a sucker for 3D background movements in a 2D shooter), but seem to lack any of the graphical "pizazz" that the original had.
I'm also a bit saddened that they've ignored a bunch of gameplay elements from DSMBL, and more or less reverted to vanilla DS in terms of scoring (unless there's something I've missed!).
You still carry over your + counter in this like in MBL, it just caps at 10k instead of 100k. Which is a good thing.
It doesn't look that bad anyway, but still too sparse. Just looks like a watered down version of the original with a shittier theme and mediocre 3D.
Edit: Oh your + counter drops to 0 in this when you get hit oh boy what fun, as least your counter seems to jack up like crazy on the bosses. But it's kind of a moot point to worry about since stuff like that is what's most likely to get adjusted between tests and the final.
Ugh, I didn't notice the counter dropping to 0 if you get hit. Lame and unneeded. This board needs a thumbs down smiley. : /
They'll probably change that in the final version. For example, MMP loke test version had medals resetting to 100 if you missed one after you maxed them out at 10,000, while the final game had the medals dropping down to 1000 instead.
Bullets look more promising, 3D still looks awful, especially the third stage. Why on earth couldn't Cave have just sacrificed a bit of profit and got in bed with Taito. :rolleyes: Capcom did it FFS.
Got an offer for Deathsmiles 2 :D
ORIGINAL, JVS SPEC. (31KHZ)
So it's VGA and JVS i.e. NAOMI power connections & USB based I/O board.
More (unfavorable) impressions:
http://shmups.system11.org/viewtopic.php?t=24222&start=214
I played this in Akihabara yesterday. It's fascinatingly ugly but still not Triangle Service-ugly. Still, it is pretty fun so it's not a complete loss. Just let the 3D end here, Cave, and let's forget this ever happened.
This goes on sale tomorrow! Anyone taking the plunge?
You'd have to be pretty crazy to buy this game for $2000+ (or even 1/10th of that). A reasonable person would wait for the sure-to-be-perfect X360 port which (already announced) will likely come our way within a year for $65.
Haha, you know there are people out there that would fork over that kind of cash for it! :lol: I'm kind of screwed right now, since my Japanese 360 is broke and need to get a new one. Hopefully I can get up and running before DS2 is released!
I will pick up the pcb once it drops below $1k.
Will go check it out today in the arcade if it's out.
I would like to see some pictures of the of the new hardware ...
Confirmed that the game should be out today. Will try to drop by a Shinjuku arcade. Maybe Hey too if I have time.
Well, went and checked it out.
(http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2124/3531103076_8c014e934e.jpg)
Sorry for the shitty cellphone shots.
First off, shot is more powerful than the loc test version and there are more rings and bullets in general. Item counter activation is still at 1000. There is a new stage called Ruins. After that...the game ends! Yes, only four levels, wow! Talking to other people there it seemed obvious that more levels would be unlocked by something since there is a whole other part of the geography you can't go to yet. There is also the shemale character and Casper that are not yet usable. Not sure how the new stuff will be unlocked.
The new stage is a haunted mansion which has zombies, banshees, library cases and giant hands attacking you. The giant hands give big rings if you're powered up. So do the rocks in the upward scrolling level. I wanted to test out if locking onto the rocks would give you a recharge since it drops your item counter really fast and you get a ton of big rings from the rocks. But a lot of people showed up after my turn was up.
Oh and incidentally, the second time I played this happened:
(http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3386/3531101498_5b3aa31847.jpg)
(http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2206/3531101520_8f0a619112.jpg)
All I did was power up on the second boss during his second pattern and after I beat his first form, he got locked into position and stopped taking damage. He eventually scrolled off the screen to the left and the game was just stuck in a bossless boss battle. Attendant had to reset the game and everything. :laugh:
Pretty sure that guarantees a board update.
Quoteshemale
Fuck this game.
..so people at cave really think this game is an upgrade from the first DS. ???
All four stages!
Is it just me, or do Casper and Windia actually look younger?
Also, Cave updated the main page (http://www.cave.co.jp/gameonline/deathsmiles2/index.html) if you wanna get a closer look at the shemale. ;)
Wow...little exploits and bugs are one thing but flat out crashing? Not good at all. I wonder what the QC is like over there at Cave.
Btw extends were at 20 mil, and the guy who beat the game got like 45 mil IIRC.
Played this yesterday. I was surprised at its difficulty and liked that the rank levels were gone, but its kind of hard to ignore its fugliness.
Top score last night at HEY was 140m with Windia.
Quote from: Kaneda on May 15, 2009, 11:59:11 PM
Played this yesterday. I was surprised at its difficulty and liked that the rank levels were gone, but its kind of hard to ignore its fugliness.
Top score last night at HEY was 140m with Windia.
Although there aren't rank levels, most of the game's difficulty at least so far comes from the bosses, who have some tough patterns. But a newbie could just power up on or before the boss in order to get rid of them more quickly, which is probably good for the game since it will give noobs an easier way to advance. Just like MBL, bosses will restore your item counter if you get close to them, but you have to get really close. Like for the raindeer, it's just under its snout. This might be milkable? Like power-up, hit all of the reindeer's snowballs, then get under his snout to get back up to 1000 etc.
System info is up:
http://www.cave.co.jp/gameonline/deathsmiles2/sys.html
I think it's retarded to take out ranks, STGs need difficulty levels to be interesting to everyone.
It's still not even remotely close to being Cave's hardest and noob's can get through it easily enough by ignoring the lock shot which causes these sperm to chase after you (like Shikigami no Shiro when the timer runs out). That's what I did and got the sterling 1CC (or Stage 4 Clear as the game calls it). Granted, there are certainly more stages but the game still gives you a game clear bonus for remaining lives and such after you beat just the 4 stages.
I saw guys ripping the game up today and still nothing past stage 4. If it really is some code-required thing or amount of time played to unlock the rest of the game I will be miffed. The top players today seemed kind of bored, already finding ways to milk the first few stages for all they're worth and ready to move on.
I noticed that the top score of the day got reset at some point so I take it that the machine froze and needed a reboot or it's another bug.
Sigh.
Cave is the new Sega: release half of a game... pretend that you're doing everyone a favor by unlocking shit.
I think limiting the stages to 4 was a particularly bad choice.
Unlocking characters and extra (harder) stages probably gave the original DS a bit of traction in the arcades, but if the initial game barely has enough space to experiment in, people are going to get bored fast.
4 stages. No rank. Trannys. These aren't bugs, they are features!
It won't be long:
http://www.digitalcute.com/contents/content/view/123/135/
A game with a boss called "Bigote" shouldn't be bad, but I think that Deathsmiles 2 will be the exception.
Stage 1 vid with Soupy:
http://www.nicovideo.jp/watch/sm7070835
Quote from: EOJ on May 19, 2009, 01:21:15 PM
Stage 1 vid with Soupy:
http://www.nicovideo.jp/watch/sm7070835
I still see a lot of potential with the game. But in its current state, not enough to warrant a purchase or even considering one. Here is hoping they get their shit together for the 1.5 or BL version.
New boss video here:
http://www.h7.dion.ne.jp/~koena-oi/
Christ in fuck.
There is no more painful way to download a file than through filebank.
aaand the result is just the new boss for the haunted house level which I've already seen.
::goes to sleep::
QuoteThere is no more painful way to download a file than through filebank.
From my extensive experience, Japan is the only place that forces their bullshit method of "painful is better" into just about everything -- including file downloading. Limiting people to Windows is just flat out retarded.... I don't care how good your toilet makes my ass feel.
So... the lockshot draws in those 'sperm' looking bullets and then cancels them into rings? Can't figure out exactly what triggers the sperm bullets to appear other than maybe shooting stuff down with the lockshot.
How are you guys gonna feel with a screen full of sperm bullets and you controlling a she-male is what we need to be thinking about.
Shibuya Kaikan got this in. Took them a few days. I thought they were doing a protest. Bummer. Put a credit in. Didn't really finish. The Fantasy Zone cab across the room was calling my name.
I was killing time in Shibuya yesterday so I decided to drop by Kaikan to give it a run in the hopes that either something was unlocked or it was 50 yen and got neither. What I did get was a retarded guy with gross sores all over his hands grabbing at my stick during my run. Kind of sums up the Deathsmiles 2 experience.
I also went to HEY this weekend and it's still just 4 stages and a lot of empty stools.
QuoteWhat I did get was a retarded guy with gross sores all over his hands grabbing at my stick during my run
Huh? Wha? Huh?
Did I miss something?
You should've gone to Game Legend yesterday -- you probably would've enjoyed it.
Yea a retarded dude with lesions on his hands was trying to grab the arcade stick while I was still playing. I don't want to bag on him since he was obviously suffering from some serious disorder(s) but it was still pretty fuckin weird.
Where's Game Legend? I'm not familiar with too many Shibuya arcades outside of Kaikan, Club Sega and that other flashy one across from Mandarake.
160mil Soupy Doujin DVD:
http://page2.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/b98326348
According to the official Cave blog, Casper will be unlocked as a playable character on June 3rd:
(http://cave-game.cocolog-nifty.com/photos/uncategorized/2009/05/29/c.jpg)
From what I have seen in videos, the boss milking in this game is "esprade-like." It takes forever. If there are more stages to the game, the superplay videos are going to be very long.
Quote from: zlk on May 29, 2009, 03:28:24 PM
the superplay videos are going to be very long.
That would require people to play it, so no worries there.
Yeah, I just watched a Bigote milking vid from Tsumanne. He milks the boss for ELEVEN MINUTES and almost 200mil points. Doesn't seem like the bosses time out, so maybe they made this a boss milking game on purpose? Even Pink Sweets' bosses time out well before 11 minutes.
First update seems to be realesed soon to improving and balancing the score system...this update cause a reset of the game's scoreboard
http://www.cave.co.jp/gameonline/deathsmiles2/updata01.html
Looks like they didn't intend all that boss milking! :laugh: Just another ver 1.5 really.
"Ver 1.0" (as they're calling it now), City stage:
http://www.nicovideo.jp/watch/sm7194973
Pretty wild scoring going on there.
Dumbest looking boss ever?
http://www.nicovideo.jp/watch/sm7136723
The score doesn't look that bad but it looks kind of like most of the dynamics with shot/laser/lock is replaced with just lock-shot. That's just at first glance from what they are doing though.
But oh man, that boss. Oh man. MMMMEEEeEEEEEEHHHHhh.
Is that the last boss? I thought some more stages were going to be unlocked.
Call me conspiritorial, but I am thinking Cave is trying to make money by 1st releasing a buggy version of the game, then releasing a 1.5 version. They are either charging money for the upgrades or profiting on some people buying both versions of the PCBs. They have done this with Futari, DFK, and now DS2.
Here's the 11 min boss milking vid, for those who haven't seen it:
http://www.nicovideo.jp/watch/sm7194762
Re: conspiracy theories:
Cave clearly doesn't intend to release messed up "ver 1.0"s, but it's been happening more and more these days. I think they (like many companies these days) just try to make scheduled release dates and push out products that haven't been thoroughly tested, crossing their fingers that everything will be alright. Now that they know the public will accept a "ver 1.5" if they mess up the first version in some way, they probably don't worry too much about getting the first released version perfect. They give free upgrades to any arcade (or private individual) that bought the messed up version, so they clearly aren't making money off this stuff.
Black Labels are separate releases, and aren't intended to replace the original versions.
Quote from: Megalixir on May 31, 2009, 11:12:19 PM
Quote from: zlk on May 31, 2009, 09:45:56 PM
Is that the last boss? I thought some more stages were going to be unlocked.
Call me conspiritorial, but I am thinking Cave is trying to make money by 1st releasing a buggy version of the game, then releasing a 1.5 version. They are either charging money for the upgrades or profiting on some people buying both versions of the PCBs. They have done this with Futari, DFK, and now DS2.
I've been saying this for awhile now. These half assed releases just tell me that they're intentionally wanting to release a 1.5 and BL in the future.
It's weird that you keep saying that since I debunked this myth on SRK awhile back. It's just like EOJ says, they send out free upgrades. This is no cash cow. It's the opposite.
Is there any info how these updates work? Aren't the PCBs/PCs connected to the Internet? So they could do automatic online updates? But I don't know if they are versed enough in Internet technology to archive something like that. Looking how the Japanese seem to live in a Internet we know from the mid nineties...I probably doubt it.
Quote from: zlk on May 31, 2009, 09:45:56 PM
Is that the last boss?
No it's just the boss of stage D. He can be the second or third boss as well if that's the route you choose.
Quote from: THE on June 01, 2009, 03:03:57 AM
Is there any info how these updates work? Aren't the PCBs/PCs connected to the Internet? So they could do automatic online updates? But I don't know if they are versed enough in Internet technology to archive something like that. Looking how the Japanese seem to live in a Internet we know from the mid nineties...I probably doubt it.
I haven't seen the DS2 hadware but I'm guessing it runs off a disk of some sorts.
The SH3 is easily updateable via JTAG. So in places where there are a lot of games I would
guess a representative from CAVE/AMI comes along and updates them on site. For the other
more remote locations CAVE probably sends out fixed PCB's and expects the old version to be
returned to them.
For the ver 1.5 releases of SH3 games, CAVE only did swaps - you sent in your old ver 1.0 PCB, they sent you a brand new one with the updated version. They didn't update any PCBs (on site, or sent in to them).
For bugfixes (the roms with extra periods in the MASTER VER string), they do update your PCB as rtw described. Never "on site" though, and always with a hefty fee of 22,000 yen.
Quote from: EOJ on May 31, 2009, 08:41:18 PM
Dumbest looking boss ever?
http://www.nicovideo.jp/watch/sm7136723
Oh my god this is terrible... really terrible...
Quote from: THE on June 01, 2009, 03:03:57 AM
Is there any info how these updates work?
Up until now - you send your 1.0 PCB to them, they send a 1.5 one back (at their expense).
I should've taken a picture today at Shibuya Kaikan. Ketsui, DFK, and Futari Original all bieng played -- DSII empty.
Yea I was at Kaikan on Saturday and it was the same. HEY as well, and they have two DSII cabs. I hope Cave is taking notes.
Ministry of Silly Walks: The Shmup
The command to unlock Casper as a playable character has been released:
http://www.cave.co.jp/gameonline/deathsmiles2/command.html
You need to insert a credit, and while holding the C button on the 1P side enter the following (also on the 1P side):
A,A, Down, Down, Right, B, Left, B, Up, Up, A, B, B, A
It looks like Cave has tweaked the gameplay a bit: now there's return/suicide bullets when you get the counter over 1000. I'm not sure if this update means they changed the boss milking or not but everyone I saw playing it this weekend was killing the bosses as fast as possible.
New "City" stage vid from Tsumanne, done on the new version of the game:
http://www.h7.dion.ne.jp/~koena-oi/index.htm
Password is "Casper". Filebank bullshit again, so you can only use IE.
BTW the new version of DS2 is called ver 2.0, not ver 1.5. Looks like Cave is trying to mix things up a bit.
So you think with the new ver 2.0 the freezes and other bugs have been fixed? Wrong:
http://www.nicovideo.jp/watch/sm7416955
That shows the freeze along with the bootup screen after the freeze, with an "Asus Motherboard" screen blinking a few times.
Cave has a scoring competition going on for participating arcades in a weak attempt to get someone to play this thing. Doesn't seem to be working...as the weeks go by, I see fewer and fewer people playing this. Not sure what the prize is, but I would be happy with just an apology.
Info on the scoring competition:
http://cave-arcadegame.cocolog-nifty.com/blog/2009/06/ii-7c04.html
That is horrible! I'm sure they are taking notes though...they took a risk and look where it got them. Time for them to go back to what they know.
Well, we know the specs now:
Motherboard: ASUS M3A78-EM Socket AM2+/AM2, Micro ATX format
CPU: AMD Athlon 64 X2 5050e Brisbane 2.60GHz, 1024KB L2 Cache (2 x 512kb per core)
RAM: 2048MB (2GB) 800MHz DDR
(http://tomcom.ca/catalog/images/MB-AS-M3A78EM.jpg)
Quote from: robivy64 on June 25, 2009, 02:29:04 PM
Well, we know the specs now:
Motherboard: ASUS M3A78-EM Socket AM2+/AM2, Micro ATX format
CPU: AMD Athlon 64 X2 5050e Brisbane 2.60GHz, 1024KB L2 Cache (2 x 512kb per core)
RAM: 2048MB (2GB) 800MHz DDR
(http://tomcom.ca/catalog/images/MB-AS-M3A78EM.jpg)
Nice, I have to buy DS2 new and see if i can run MAME on it ... >:D
Funny thing is, it appears to be running a completely stock BIOS. I would have expected Cave to at least write their own BIOS (or contract Phoenix or AM to create one).
Quote from: robivy64 on June 25, 2009, 09:57:46 PM
Funny thing is, it appears to be running a completely stock BIOS. I would have expected Cave to at least write their own BIOS (or contract Phoenix or AM to create one).
Any dongle protection indicating that this will be a future system ? What's the OS (Embedded/Stock XP) ?
Well, i'm only going by what I see in that error screen. It appears to be a full version of XP, since it is actually loading the operating system with the Cave logo replacing the Windows XP logo. It is probably locked down with group policies and would unlikely be accessible.
You can still see the original Windows XP loading animation under the Cave logo.
Disappointing indeed.
I never expected to see any of these screens associated with Cave games.
(http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d40/robivy64/caveerror.png)
(http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d40/robivy64/caveerror2.png)
Quote from: robivy64 on June 26, 2009, 08:36:44 AM
Well, i'm only going by what I see in that error screen. It appears to be a full version of XP, since it is actually loading the operating system with the Cave logo replacing the Windows XP logo. It is probably locked down with group policies and would unlikely be accessible.
You can still see the original Windows XP loading animation under the Cave logo.
Disappointing indeed.
I never expected to see any of these screens associated with Cave games.
p://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d40/robivy64/caveerror2.png[/img]
I share the disappointment :(
There must be some kind of protection somewhere though. Looks like it boots from a hard disk ?
Why on earth did they roll their own instead of just using a TypeX ?
edit... found the nico video with the screens :D
How does the spec compare to TX1 and Naomi?
Type X has Celeron 2.5Ghz 256Mo ram, Type X2 has P4 3ghz 512mo ram, i think that system could be quite more powerfull depending on the graphic card used, or do they use the video chipset of the motherboard?
The Naomi is far behind the Type X and Cave PC. The Naomi does not use x86 compatible hardware, instead, it uses a Hitachi SuperH 4 @ 200 MHz.
The Cave PC is also more powerful than the TypeX and X2. As for video hardware, it is unclear as to what is being used.
Looking at the POST, there is a USB device that is initialized at bootup; a Jetflash Transcend S-series (security) flash drive.
Also, the game appears to be stored on a compact flash card via the IDE bus. It appears to be a Transcend 4 or 8 GB 133x card. The model number of the device is difficult to make out, but it looks like 20090321, which would confirm that it is indeed a compact flash card.
This would be an improvement on the Type X hardware as the Type X uses traditional magnetic hard drives which are more likely to fail over the Cave PC's solid state storage media.
The specs are actually pretty nice. Too bad the game itself does not appear to live up to them. I'm still laughing at that stupid boss vid.
Quote from: robivy64 on June 26, 2009, 10:21:42 AM
The Cave PC is also more powerful than the TypeX and X2.
Oh dear :laugh:
I guess 2 GB of memory being more than 512 MB is funny.
I also suppose that the Athlon X2 5050e being faster than a Pentium 4 or Celeron is funny. Whatever tickles your fancy!
<--AMD FANBOY???
Hard to dispute facts bro, Cave or not.
I think the specs are all the same if DS2 is what they're capable of doing on the hardware. :whyioughtta:
That being said, I still want to play it. For real.
Quote from: robivy64 on June 27, 2009, 10:19:28 AM
I guess 2 GB of memory being more than 512 MB is funny.
It is when they knock up a PSX game. I'm laughing at DS2, bro.
Am I the only one wondering if this could run on a "normal" (i.e. non-arcade) PC if one either had the USB dongle or some means of cracking/emulating it?
More than likely, the hardware isn't anything special, but the libraries, API's that the game executable runs off.
I bet they didn't even protect it a great deal.
Does anyone feel Cave is making a huge mistake by waiting so long to open the final stages of the game? As it stands now the game has four stages and is over fairly quickly.
Quote from: zlk on July 16, 2009, 12:35:06 AM
Does anyone feel Cave is making a huge mistake by waiting so long to open the final stages of the game? As it stands now the game has four stages and is over fairly quickly.
I think this is a big reason this game is suffering in arcades (besides the graphical issues). It has a passable scoring system, but the original DS had 6 levels with quite varied environments, in addition to the Canyon and the Castle. Plus the Ice Palace eventually. Then we're thrown into a game that has 4 stages period...it's just boring. I have a feeling we'll see the new stages soon tho.
Do we know if this is networked yet? Was it released unfinished?
New stage(s?), new system aspects unlocked
http://www.cave.co.jp/gameonline/deathsmiles2/system_up.html
Gonna give this a try this weekend.
"2ND UPDATE MASTER VER 3.00"
LOL
Another rehaul of the scoring system. Let's hope they got it right this time.
Third time's the charm? :laugh:
Quote from: adverse on July 16, 2009, 09:36:39 PM
New stage(s?), new system aspects unlocked
http://www.cave.co.jp/gameonline/deathsmiles2/system_up.html
Gonna give this a try this weekend.
Those stills look pretty promising at least.
Scored 145 mil and nearly 1CC'ed it. Got to the last phase on the boss (Santa Claus) of the new castle. Dear god, the 3D models on the chess pieces, and then the evil babies that attack you later...just bad. Straight up. The level looks nice when you're in power-up mode and it's covered in white rings...but then again every level does. I think the new system is pretty fun, basically if you kill enemies with shot you get red rings (no 360) which build up your item counter, and if you kill them with laser you get blue rings which fill up your plus value. There is also bonus rings for proximity to enemies.
I continued after Santa Claus, and you get a credit roll. Basically the typical CAVE crew is credited, with Inoue as director... :/
Well, I'm sure there is more to be unlocked in this game. We still have the Tranny surprise, and other sections of the map which definitely look like levels to be unlocked.
Quote from: adverse on July 17, 2009, 10:28:53 AMInoue as director... :/
Wasn't he listed as the director on DS1 also?
edit: maybe I'm misreading the :/ face...
Anyway unlocking things as they go is just silly. It's a shooting game not an MMORPG, damn.
Quote from: adverse on July 17, 2009, 10:28:53 AM
Inoue as director... :/
Well he makes the face because Inoue can do better, a lot better...this game is a total waste of his skills. Not to say it's a total waste of everything.
(http://i25.tinypic.com/2eqasme.jpg)
Did this last night at my local arcade, first credit. Game needs more stages to even approach the difficulty of the original DS' iterations. Hmm, maybe I'll make a score thread if I have time.
Here's videos of the end game:
http://www.nicovideo.jp/watch/sm7698052 (http://www.nicovideo.jp/watch/sm7698052)
I like the music and cutscene art at least, not that that's worth all that much.
565m run with Casper: http://www.nicovideo.jp/watch/sm7712237 (http://www.nicovideo.jp/watch/sm7712237)
I noticed the rings are pretty odd in this version, as is explained on the new system page:
Tiny Silver Rings- Dropped when you use your option to block yellow/green bullets. Increases your +Counter but decreases your Item Counter.
Tiny Red Rings - Dropped as chip damage from bosses and maybe enemies too? Increase Item Counter only.
Blue Rings - Dropped from killing some enemies and from negating yellow/purple sperm bullets in normal mode. Raises your +Counter only.
Platinum Rings - The big ones you see a lot of, they show up for a lot of reasons. Canceling bullets when entering Power Up mode, Chip Damage from options in Power Up (that aren't bosses?), killing stuff in Power-Up with Lock-Shot (tons for this), releasing Lock-Shot to negate the sperm bullets (yellow/purple ones), probably even more stuff. They refill your Item Counter only.
This is the first version to look like it has an actual legit scoring system although it's definitely still largely composed of Power Up > Lock Shot > Refill > Power Up. Bombing on bosses seems real useful since your +Counter drops like a rock on them.
Quote from: adverse on July 17, 2009, 10:28:53 AMBasically the typical CAVE crew is credited, with Inoue as director... :/
Inoue really sold out on this one. :-[ Should have gone straight to console.
Quote from: Inoue(http://img216.imageshack.us/img216/7774/picture1uwf.png)
Quote from: Gwyrgyn on July 22, 2009, 12:47:08 PM
565m run with Casper: http://www.nicovideo.jp/watch/sm7712237 (http://www.nicovideo.jp/watch/sm7712237)
The best ending. Ever.
Quote from: adverse on July 17, 2009, 10:28:53 AM
Got to the last phase on the boss (Santa Claus) of the new castle. Dear god, the 3D models on the chess pieces, and then the evil babies that attack you later...just bad. Straight up.
You mean Satan Claws, right? :laugh:
Call me crazy but I find this game fun, if short and not challenging enough.
Commenters at Mihara's blog lately have been having an about-face on it too after the 3.00 upgrade.
They finally managed to get enough shit covering the screen to make it a real Cave game.
Quote3.00 upgrade.
That's a lot of upgrades to get an arcade game right. Is there a staff roll yet?
Quote from: adverse on July 17, 2009, 10:28:53 AMI continued after Santa Claus, and you get a credit roll. Basically the typical CAVE crew is credited, with Inoue as director...
So there's finally a final stage, but there's space for an EX stage in the upper left at least, and the other character. 4.00, or will it go higher?
Quote from: GaijinPunch on July 25, 2009, 09:58:41 AM
Quote3.00 upgrade.
That's a lot of upgrades to get an arcade game right. Is there a staff roll yet?
Yup, big ol ending and credit roll. You can see it in one of the vids on nico.
That has gotta suck for the collector trying to get every version of every Cave game. I'm still bitter I don't have Futari 1.0! :laugh:
I'll sell you my FK ;)
Quote from: GaijinPunch on July 25, 2009, 09:58:41 AM
Quote3.00 upgrade.
That's a lot of upgrades to get an arcade game right. Is there a staff roll yet?
The game was right the first time. They just released it in the arcades instead of Comiket.
3.00 is apparently still not quite right, I saw it freeze yesterday. Other than that, I'm seeing a lot more people playing it, myself included. I saw one bitching score at 1,08 billion.
Awesome, somebody finally passed a billion. :righton: Was that at HEY? Did you see it go down? That haunted library level is a goldmine.
It was at HEY but unfortunately I didn't see the run.
Finally got to play this yesterday at A-cho in Kyoto. I was impressed - it plays really well and the graphics aren't as fugly as they look in the vids. Overall the game feels very tight and I had fun with it. Really looking forward to the port for this one.
Nice, glad you're digging it. So am I.
Edit: Just saw the other thread.
I've played this about 10 times now, my best score is 273mil w/ Windia, ending at the last boss (just a sliver of life left on him too).
You really have to use the lock-shot nearly all the time in this game, in order to score well. Makes me feel like I'm playing Soukyuugurentai or something.
The more I play this, the more it feels like Galuda 2 to me. You've got your proximity gem effect, your zesshikai type mode when you hold A+B in Power up mode and get suicide bullets that slowly track you, and the quick in/out of power up mode (when you know what you're doing). So I feel it's maybe 30% Deathsmiles, 50% Galuda 2, and 20% Soukyuugurentai. Pretty weird mix. Yagawa should do the arrange mode for the port.
SIN just posted up that he hit almost 1.2 billion. Pretty sick. He must have his routes really figured out at this point.
Have you noticed if there is a way to keep the plus value high? Are good players getting to 10k on the plus value in the first stage? What I tend to do is score a bit on stage 1 and then make sure I have a "hyper" for the boss so that I can kill it quick and keep the plus value from falling too far. But then whenever I start the next level it seems that the plus value has fallen even further. Any idea what determines this?
I've also found two 1up items in the game, one from the big armored ghost in the library level after the chandelier section and another from the second or third brown blob in the upward scrolling level towards the end. In both cases I killed them with the lock-on shot. But sometimes I don't get the item so not quite sure what the conditions are...
I know you have to use the lock shot when in normal mode to get gems - this fills up your multiplier faster than just using the laser. I think it's only really beneficial when you can lock onto a bunch of small enemies who release suicide bullets that you can convert into gems.
All the good players I've seen get the multiplier to 10,000 in stage 1 before they start scoring in Power up mode. But they also end the stage with 70+mil (my best is about 30mil).
You're right about the two 1UPs. You have to be in power up mode and use the lock shot. I'm not sure if there's any other requirement.
Best score I've seen at A-Cho is 970mil. Best run I personally saw there was about 750mil.
I think your multiplier depletes during the boss fight, then gets cut by 1/2 at the start of the subsequent stage, but I'm not sure really. One thing I like about this game is a death only shaves 10% off your mulitplier. I think DSMBL would be way more fun if it was like this (maybe this will be altered in DSMBL 1.1).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SyleYN2zHCs
I like how that dude did nothing but hold laser the whole time and still managed to rack up 760m points easily with Lei.
Quote from: Gwyrgyn on September 17, 2009, 01:23:32 PM
I like how that dude did nothing but hold laser the whole time and still managed to rack up 760m points easily with Lei.
Yeah, playing the castle with her seems very exciting. </sarcasm>
Him. :laugh:
I'm looking forward to the new super-powered character. Looks like fun.
I wish they would port this soon, but I have a feeling we'll have to wait about a year. It's the only game I play when I go to the arcades now. It's really very fun.
I wonder if there are any new maps to be unlocked. I am also surprised that the price of this game has not dropped at all.
There are some areas on the map that look like they should be other stages. They will probably unlock them in a few months once they finishing making the stage(s) (surely they haven't completed them yet), after this final character is unlocked. Basically, Cave released a 50% finished game last May, and they have been slowly bringing it up to 100% complete. They probably get more money from these long, dragged out location tests (which is what they amount to), but it's annoying for the people who actually play the games.
I wouldn't buy the PCB until the final version is released, with all characters, stages, etc available. I'd bet you have to download (or install from USB) the new stuff they add, and it isn't in the versions that are out right now.
I got fucked off enough at other companies releasing half-finished games and updating them as they go. I thought this was limited to online RPGs (Phantasy Star Universe sucked massive shit when it came out. I heard it got better, but fuck if I stuck around). Unforgiveable for a shooting game, IMHO. So, not playing it. The handful of times I make it to the arcades I've been playing VF5.
Ah, you've gone back to VF. Didn't you spend like 1,000,000yen on VFIV?
Quote from: EOJ on October 05, 2009, 11:01:16 PM
I wish they would port this soon, but I have a feeling we'll have to wait about a year. It's the only game I play when I go to the arcades now. It's really very fun.
Want to open a score thread? Or should I? Still have to do the DFK one too.
I've been toying with DS2 as well after seeing a really sick player at Alpha Channel.
Also, I doubt that Rei is going to be as overpowered as he was at the AM show. Ultimately they have to keep some sort of character balance.
I'm not going to bother with a high score thread. I don't bring a camera to the arcades, and I can never remember my full score. It's always 300mil something.
I don't see the problem with a super-powered character, or why they would weaken him before release. The hi scores are tracked separately for each character. Cave has done this in the past. Look at DFK's Strong Style, or even Rosa from DS.
Quote from: GaijinPunch on October 07, 2009, 12:24:12 AM
releasing half-finished games and updating them as they go. . . I've been playing VF5.
Oh, the cognitive dissonance
/jealousy over lack of VF5R
Quote from: EOJ on October 07, 2009, 12:26:36 AM
Ah, you've gone back to VF. Didn't you spend like 1,000,000yen on VFIV?
2 maybe. :) I played VERY casually right now. I make it to the arcades for
about 2 hours a week tops. Life isn't slowing down at all.
A gamengai user actually has a VF4FT setup in his house I'm going to play tonight.
Quote/jealousy over lack of VF5R
Well, it ain't that great. But I'm slowly finding out that shooting games really
do take a lot of committment like RPGs... just in a different way... neither of which
I can really do right now.
Quote from: EOJ on October 07, 2009, 12:55:24 AM
I'm not going to bother with a high score thread. I don't bring a camera to the arcades, and I can never remember my full score. It's always 300mil something.
I don't see the problem with a super-powered character, or why they would weaken him before release. The hi scores are tracked separately for each character. Cave has done this in the past. Look at DFK's Strong Style, or even Rosa from DS.
Strong style has the excuse of being a totally different mode. Ultimately, no matter how poorly received DS2 is, I can't remember a CAVE game that featured one character with significantly higher scores than the other (although if you have an example I'd be interested), and I can't imagine Ikeda and co. wanting lop-sided scores that basically invalidate the rest of the game's characters. Especially from the POV of Deathsmiles which has a pretty big focus on character appeal compared to other CAVE games.
Anyways we'll see in a few weeks.
BTW, all you need to take a picture at an arcade is a cellphone with camera. That's how I always take my janky score pics. But I'm pretty sure you and I are the only people interested in this game so if you don't want to do a score thread there's pretty much no point. :laugh:
Quote from: zlk on October 06, 2009, 07:38:38 AM
I am also surprised that the price of this game has not dropped at all.
The operators do not buy the boards, they just pay a certain percentage to CAVE.
Quote from: rtw on October 09, 2009, 03:40:41 PM
Quote from: zlk on October 06, 2009, 07:38:38 AM
I am also surprised that the price of this game has not dropped at all.
The operators do not buy the boards, they just pay a certain percentage to CAVE.
Is this a new business model for DS2 or was this true of the SH3 and other previous boards too?
Quote from: adverse on October 09, 2009, 12:45:43 PM
Strong style has the excuse of being a totally different mode.
No, it's not a different mode. Different modes have differences in bullet patterns, boss patterns, etc. It's just a different shot type.
Quote
Ultimately, no matter how poorly received DS2 is, I can't remember a CAVE game that featured one character with significantly higher scores than the other (although if you have an example I'd be interested),
Many Cave games have a character (or two) that can score significantly higher than the others. Look at Deathsmiles! Follett can score almost 100mil more than Windia without the Canyon. That's pretty significant. Same thing with Galuda 2 - Ageha can score about 100 mil more than Asagi. In DDPDFK 1.5 C-Power can score way more than any other ship. In Pink Sweets, Lace can score way more than any other character.
But we still don't know if this new DS2 character can score MORE than the others yet. We just know it looks like it can score easier than the others.
Quote
and I can't imagine Ikeda and co. wanting lop-sided scores that basically invalidate the rest of the game's characters.
Did the lopsided scores in Deathsmiles ruin that game or "invalidate" the low scoring characters? Of course not, because as I stated earlier, each character's scores are tracked separately by Arcadia, so they are not comparable.
Quote from: rtw on October 09, 2009, 03:40:41 PM
Quote from: zlk on October 06, 2009, 07:38:38 AM
I am also surprised that the price of this game has not dropped at all.
The operators do not buy the boards, they just pay a certain percentage to CAVE.
They have the option to not buy the board and pay the percentage to Cave.
I'm still curious as to how the updates work.
Checked out the Cowboy site (i.e. Plasmo's WR thread (http://cowboy.ikaruga.co.uk/bbs/viewtopic.php?t=147&start=0)) today, and saw the new DSII WR is:
SND-ARN-F.O - Windia - 1.903.111.199
1.9 billion? Really? Second place is Casper with 1.3bil. I can't fathom how this guy is getting such a high score, it's
like double the score of the best players I've seen here.
I was under the impression that the system update would go into effect this weekend? Guess not.
Maybe this week.
Quote from: EOJChecked out the Cowboy site (i.e. Plasmo's WR thread) today, and saw the new DSII WR is:
SND-ARN-F.O - Windia - 1.903.111.199
My fault, it's a typo and actually should be 1,093,111,199. Sorry... :-\
The same player got 1,2bill during Cave's second Score Trial for Deathsmiles II.
Ver 4.0 is out where SIN lives apparently and he has a write-up on it.
http://sinmoon.blog.shinobi.jp/Entry/167/
I'll summarize it on my lunch break if EOJ isn't interested.
It's called '3rd UPDATE MASTER VER 4.00'. :rolleyes: I can't believe they did another revision of the game system. I thought they were just going to add the dude and that would be it.
Changes from ver 3.00 (translated from SIN's list) that we know so far:
-Blue rings during a boss fight are now worth +6 instead of +2
-Slowdown has been adjusted in many places
-some sort of seal was added to the suicide bullets
-Color was altered on Lily's 'breath' attack (she's the reindeer boss)
-Various changes in the graphics (smoothed textures, etc) in the title screen, game over screen, etc
-A new 'haze' effect was added when you absorb rings
-Windia is stronger than before
-Scores appear to be higher - SIN got 1.39bil after a few tries, which is better than his top Ver 3.00 score.
It should be at A-Cho by the weekend, so I'll head down there and check it out on saturday or sunday.
If no new stage unlocks I'm not even going to bother.
I'll still bother. :) I'm always up for trying out new revisions.
Is there a list anywhere with a breakdown on versions/features etc? I'd be curious to see he progression to its current state. Hopefully it has a big drop sometime in price as well.
I still don't know why anyone would want to buy the arcade version. You're going to get a perfect Xbox 360 version next year that will most likely have every revision on it for you to choose from, plus extra shit. All for $65.
I'm hoping for it to drop to the abysmal 1kish range...I know it won't be for a while but I'm keeping my hopes up!
Sazanami.net recently posted the following, which will be helpful for anyone out there that actually bought the PCB:
-You have to enter a code in ver 3.00 to unlock the male character. The code is ↑ABB↓→A left left A↓BA while holding the C button on P1.
-Once you do this, you not only unlock the character, but the game is also updated to ver 4.00.
Surely you have to download something to be able to enter the code, I can't see how they'd have had ver 4.00 in there all along if it updates the game system.
Maybe a dumb question, but are you expected to keep this board's NIC plugged in all the time, so it can grab updates?
Maybe you enter the code and that's a trigger to auto-update to the latest rev.
I was going to put this in the video link thread, but it's pretty special so I'll post it here:
SIN has uploaded his ver 3.00 WR 1.3+bil ALL with Casper! You can download it via the link below (first link on the page, right-click>save as). 388MB.
http://sinmoon.sakuraweb.com/movie.html
:righton:
Top man. Managed to grab this at work before heading off tonight, as I knew my internet at home would crap out before it'd finish.
From what I've skimmed through it's an awesome video. It's the first non-cam video I've seen of DS2 also, so it's nice to really see the game properly.
Thanks for the video link. This is the first proper look I've had at the game, and while I can't speak to the gameplay I am really underwhelmed by the look.
Things just seem like they are made out of few polygons and with very basic textures and colors. SH3 games are just so wonderfully detailed that this is kind of shocking. Is this just due to the video compression or is it really like that?
Yeah, people (myself included) complained about the 'look' earlier in this thread. But nearly all of the complainers have never actually played the game.
It looks pretty nice in person, and it's a ton of fun to play. Typical Cave fun.
Quote from: EOJ on November 08, 2009, 08:31:59 PM
I was going to put this in the video link thread, but it's pretty special so I'll post it here:
SIN has uploaded his ver 3.00 WR 1.3+bil ALL with Casper! You can download it via the link below (first link on the page, right-click>save as). 388MB.
http://sinmoon.sakuraweb.com/movie.html
:righton:
Thank you, I'll check it out later tonight.
That video has changed my mind, Death Smiles II looks way better than the first one imo. I really like the style of the last stage. Fighting chess figures is just too awesome! =D
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:whyioughtta:
Quote from: HVL on November 10, 2009, 08:42:06 AM
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:whyioughtta:
I'm currently uploading to MUL, I'll post the links here when I'm done.
Unofficial mirror of the DS 2 Superplay :D
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=JT6KE50L
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=G2J0FD4P
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=WPQSIFX2
Thanks RTW!!! :righton:
The slowdown looks pretty bad in stages 4-5. It's jerky as hell. :oogle:
I really don't want to sound blasphemously but whenever I see DSII gameplay this game comes to my mind:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a4kSkSzwCeA
;)
I don't see the similarity
maybe it's because the themes could not possibly be more different
Quote from: Plasmo on November 10, 2009, 04:34:26 AM
That video has changed my mind, Death Smiles II looks way better than the first one imo. I really like the style of the last stage. Fighting chess figures is just too awesome! =D
While great, I personally find the first one to be better. You need to play that already, Plasmo.
I do think DSII is better than DSMBL, though. So for me, DS>DSII>DSMBL.
Scoring in DSII is somewhat like Espgaluda II, as you can likely tell from the video. So if you like EII scoring you'll like DII scoring, I'd think.
And in regard to the slowdown, it's smooth throughout the game. So maybe the jerkiness you see is a result of the video encoding?
The only Cave arcade game I've played with really jerky slowdown is Futari BL God mode.
Quote from: cstarflare on November 10, 2009, 06:32:49 PM
I don't see the similarity
maybe it's because the themes could not possibly be more different
Yeah, the themes are completely different of course. But both games look very dilettantish from a technical view and both seem to be self-parody.
Maybe DSII is just Cave's version of Parodius ;)
Of course I have only seen videos and maybe it's just like EOJ said and I would change my mind if I actually played the game.
Quote from: EOJWhile great, I personally find the first one to be better. You need to play that already, Plasmo.
I do think DSII is better than DSMBL, though. So for me, DS>DSII>DSMBL.
I've played the first one and MBL a couple of times already. It's diffcult to like a game which doesn't appeal to you at all, so, as expected, I didn't find both games too interesting.
Death Smiles II on the other hand has definitely caught my interest now and I'd actually buy a port if there ever is one. First I have to buy an XBOX360, of course. Still waiting for that Pink Sweets or Muchi Muchi Pork port announcement, which would make it a no-brainer for me. ;)
Yagawa ESPII mode isn't a no-brainer?
Haven't read too much about it yet, probably because there's not much information out anyway. I wasn't impressed with the original ESPII, Yagawa has to fix a lot to give it the Raizing feel. ^-^
http://www.cave-stg.com/forum/index.php?topic=631.msg12021#msg12021
Cheggit
Any pic or vid of 4.00? (I've been searching but find nothing)
I'm curious to see how the graphics looks like. Think they are the weak point of DSII because the game is quite fun!!
Check the video link thread. I posted some links the other day. The graphics look the same really. I don't notice any real difference.
Quote
Death Smiles II on the other hand has definitely caught my interest now and I'd actually buy a port if there ever is one. First I have to buy an XBOX360, of course. Still waiting for that Pink Sweets or Muchi Muchi Pork port announcement, which would make it a no-brainer for me. ;)
Futari 1.5 Ultra & God modes aren't reason enough to buy an Xbox 360? Come on now, don't be silly.
I can't comment on the play, although from the vid it looks like a lot of fun even if there's not much actual 'shooting' involved at all. I can see the zesshikai reference in there too - lotsa lovely points.
But play aside, Cave must have hired two down and out 3D coders off of the street for this. I know they're not the richest of companies, but it looks like a fucking Net Yaroze game half the time. Only the 3rd stage (in Sin's run) has any kind of character. I'm not going to turn down any Cave game based on graphics, but I can't believe I'm going to be playing something that looks so out of date on my 360 next year. At least all the sparkly points will detract from the averageness of the models.
And what's with that crummy last stage - I was expecting a winter wonderland castle or something. The whole Christmas theme just went right out the window somewhere along the way.
Respect for the Ave Maria remix track though, that was awesome.
Quote from: skykid on November 11, 2009, 08:52:43 PM
But play aside, Cave must have hired two down and out 3D coders off of the street for this. I know they're not the richest of companies, but it looks like a fucking Net Yaroze game half the time. Only the 3rd stage (in Sin's run) has any kind of character. I'm not going to turn down any Cave game based on graphics, but I can't believe I'm going to be playing something that looks so out of date on my 360 next year.
It looks better than any other 3D shmup released on the Xbox 360 so far (Otomedius, Raiden IV, Shiki 3, Triggerheart, Mamoru-kun, etc) except Ikaruga.
Raiden IV looks better IMO. Better effects and more intricate bosses.
Quote from: rtw on November 10, 2009, 11:27:46 AM
Unofficial mirror of the DS 2 Superplay :D
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=JT6KE50L
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=G2J0FD4P
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=WPQSIFX2
I like how they named the third boss after Mihara.
Can someone explain how tracing bullets dissolve in this game? Is it the same recharging thing that the original had?
You have to let off of the lock-shot, then quickly reapply it right as the counter is counting down to zero (I do it when it's around 50). Reabsorb the crowns and continue in fever mode.
(if you were referring to how to use the tracing bullets to recharge your counter)
The official site was updated with info on Lei:
http://www.cave.co.jp/gameonline/deathsmiles2/index.html#
Looking at the stage map here:
http://www.cave.co.jp/gameonline/deathsmiles2/field.html
There is a big spot in the bottom right and upper left. Both are likely new stages to be revealed.
Quote from: Plasmo on November 11, 2009, 06:14:33 AM
...I wasn't impressed with the original ESPII...
??? I will can say play EspGaluda II is my shmups dream. I played even any rounds in fist version early this year only for prepare myself.
I would love know why you hate this serie.
Cool!
I'm not particularly hating either one of the series, they just never clicked with me. Espgaluda is ok, but it really is too easy, you have a 1cc with 40mill+ in no time and to get really high scores it's all about milking and doing weird stuff.
Espgaluda 2 is imo worse than it's prequel. The bosses look boring and all very similiar, the bullet patterns don't seem original at all and the scoring system is overly complex (not really an argument here) with 2 kinds of Kakusei modes. I don't like to focus on two different counters. On top of that, you have to deal with suicide bullets that have a VERY strange behaviour and build up very messy patterns which I strongly dislike.
But hey, this is already the second post in this topic, in which I write about my opinion of other Cave games. ;) Off-Topic galore!
It's all about taste anyway.
Quote from: Plasmo on November 12, 2009, 03:06:43 PM
it's all about milking and doing weird stuff.
Isn't that what Battle Garegga is all about? ;)
Quote from: EOJ on November 11, 2009, 08:56:03 PM
Quote from: skykid on November 11, 2009, 08:52:43 PM
But play aside, Cave must have hired two down and out 3D coders off of the street for this. I know they're not the richest of companies, but it looks like a fucking Net Yaroze game half the time. Only the 3rd stage (in Sin's run) has any kind of character. I'm not going to turn down any Cave game based on graphics, but I can't believe I'm going to be playing something that looks so out of date on my 360 next year.
It looks better than any other 3D shmup released on the Xbox 360 so far (Otomedius, Raiden IV, Shiki 3, Triggerheart, Mamoru-kun, etc) except Ikaruga.
Don't think I agree with that, I even think Otomedius, with it's bland and fairly sparse graphics, at least has a design solidity that DS2 lacks. DS2 looks really cobbled together - the only thing distracting are the points bonuses, which look very nice.
Well, you haven't seen DS2 running on an HD display, in person. It makes a big difference. I've seen Otomedius on such a display too, and it's nowhere near as nice.
I played ver 4.00 today for a bit, and I tried out the new character Lei. Wow, does he suck. I hate the way he controls, it's all loosey-goosey, and too fast. He plays similar to Sakura in DSMBL, but his dual options are about 10x harder to position because they jerk around too fast. He's also not that strong, and you can't just go in power up mode and blast things away to score like in the AOU show version. You have to use the lock shot and what not, just like the other characters. All in all a big letdown for me. I played as him twice then went back to Windia and Casper.
The game feels basically the same, but harder. Maybe it's just my imagination, but some bullet patterns in the stages are a bit denser. The section where there's the bookshelves, if you go into power up there, I could swear there were a ton of more bullets than in ver 3.00. I couldn't reach the last boss in the 5 credits I played, whereas in 3.00 I made it there basically every time. Maybe I'm just rusty, but it felt harder.
Graphics, etc are the same basically. I couldn't notice any differences.
I was the only one at A-cho arcade playing this game while I was there. On a busy saturday night. Keep in mind they have two DSII machines sitting next to each other (I played on both, just to spice things up), and the nearby Futari 1.5, DDPDFK 1.5, and EspGII machines were constantly being played. There was a really good Futari Maniac/Ultra mode player, who was fun to watch. He had earplugs and a briefcase.
Quote from: EOJ on November 13, 2009, 06:51:45 PM
Well, you haven't seen DS2 running on an HD display, in person. It makes a big difference. I've seen Otomedius on such a display too, and it's nowhere near as nice.
I did see it at the AOU 2009 in person. I thought it looked really lacklustre then, but it may have improved since?
Yeah, from what I've seen so far I'm definitely not a fan of the visuals. With that said though, I'm not overly taken with 3d graphics in shooters, period, so I may be a tad biased!
I gave Lei another go, and figured out how to use him. Actually, he's pretty fun. So I take back what I wrote earlier. Got a 485mil clear on my second credit.
Basically, you can get a good score just by tapping shot on large enemies (just tap once) - it creates a three-part dagger that lingers on the object, and continually sprays back crowns for you to absorb. No other character can do this, so playing with Lei really feels different.
SIN's been playing with Lei recently. Current best (and likely current WR):
(http://file.sinmoon.blog.shinobi.jp/09_11_23_1.jpg)
from: http://sinmoon.blog.shinobi.jp/Date/20091123/1/
SIN is apparently messing around with adding text overlays in his vids, for a more superplay feel. For example:
(http://file.sinmoon.blog.shinobi.jp/Img/1261166874/)
He uploaded a test version (DSII ver 4.00, 290mil Ruins stage w/ Lei) in this latest blog post:
http://sinmoon.blog.shinobi.jp/Date/20091221/1/
Awesome replay, but I can't get the Japanese text to display properly. Maybe someone else can figure it out.
Well he's got a questionairre asking you if the text displayed properly which tells you there might be some cockery going on.
Quote from: EOJ on December 20, 2009, 10:40:29 PM
SIN is apparently messing around with adding text overlays in his vids, for a more superplay feel. For example:
He uploaded a test version (DSII ver 4.00, 290mil Ruins stage w/ Lei) in this latest blog post:
Awesome replay, but I can't get the Japanese text to display properly. Maybe someone else can figure it out.
Dumb question, but how do these guys create their replays? Do they have PCBs at home, or do Japanese arcades facilitate the uber players in some way?
Most of them just record at arcades. Many of them have video/DVD recording setups you can pay to use.
Quote from: EOJ on December 24, 2009, 01:43:28 AM
Most of them just record at arcades. Many of them have video/DVD recording setups you can pay to use.
Getting OT a bit, but for a newish game like DS2, or some other Cave release.. does a typical arcade have like 1 cab running the game or multiple? Is this some type of system that taps into multiple machines?
Thanks for the info, at this point in Western life any type of discussion regarding Japanese arcades seems amazing.
Depends on the arcade and the game. A-cho in Kyoto had 2 Deathsmiles II cabs running until recently, but now they're down to one. None of the other shooters there are in more than one cab.
Only place I've seen w/ multiple cabs is Hey! and very occasionally Mikado for brand new releases (and that only lasts a couple of months).
Tsumanne has put up his new WR run for download:
http://www.cave-stg.com/forum/index.php?topic=194.msg13956#msg13956
1.79bil ALL with Lei. It's amazing to say the least.
This game has been out for quite some time. It appears there are areas for 2 more stages, but will Cave ever unlock them? Do they even exist?
Quote from: zlk on January 15, 2010, 12:11:22 AM
This game has been out for quite some time. It appears there are areas for 2 more stages, but will Cave ever unlock them? Do they even exist?
My guess is they've waited this long, they're waiting for something big. Hopefully the 2d version.
Is there any chance in hell cave would re make a game in 2D?
I really wish they would as I love Deathsmiles and find the 3D shooters look rather amateur by comparison.
Form what I have seen it looks like a fun game to play but there is something missing without the pre rendered sprites.
What about the 360 port, any news on that?
If there was any news, it would be posted. No need to ask. Just wait like a crouching Guile.
Isnt Cave going to annouce their next port at the end of this month?
Unless they through us a major curveball, it's gotta be either deathsmiles 2 or DFK, right?
Yes, big announcements will be at the MS shooting Fest on 2/27. I expect Cave to at least announce their new original Xbox 360 game, and probably their next port too. 5pb will also likely announce their next STG port there.
just watch, I bet 5bp is gonna handle the Ibara, Ibara BL, Pink Sweets compilation you fantasized about awhile back, EOJ :laugh:
You know I wouldn't be surprised if they ported Ibara BL (with the original Ibara included) as one package, and Pink Sweets as a separate package.
Quote from: EOJ on February 19, 2010, 04:14:54 PM
5pb will also likely announce their next STG port there.
Oh god, what? I sure hope that's a joke. :oogle:
No joke, and it's good news! They've learned from their mistakes (thanks to help from Mihara and Cave), and Ketsui is going to be rad.
People like to rip 5pb, but let's not forget, without them we'd likely never see a port of DDPDOJBL or Ketsui. And if they port Ibara BL or PS, those are two other games that would have likely never been ported either.
Quote from: EOJ on February 19, 2010, 04:17:59 PM
You know I wouldn't be surprised if they ported Ibara BL (with the original Ibara included) as one package, and Pink Sweets as a separate package.
I agree, I mean Cave is certainly ok w/ releasing some of their older properties as we've seen w/ DOJ Blex and Ketsui.
Why shouldn't Ibara get the same treatment?
Also noteworthy, I believe Deathsmiles has probably been the most "successful" port...
part of the reason for this is because it's a hori, and part of the reason is the cute girls.
Maybe the Ibara girls could potentially help boost sales of that game as well...
True, 5pb has given us alot and prolly learnt alot from Miharas help.
But will 5pbs next port be in HD?
I just hope that when DFK is ported it gets HD and disc. :-*
Sorry for the bump.
But I found on this blog interesting pics from the DS II Computer:
http://star.ap.teacup.com/applet/kibanist/archive (http://star.ap.teacup.com/applet/kibanist/archive)
http://star.ap.teacup.com/applet/kibanist/731_1/image
http://star.ap.teacup.com/applet/kibanist/731_2/image
http://star.ap.teacup.com/applet/kibanist/731_3/image
(http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh126/SuperPangster/P1010499.jpg) :whyioughtta:
Disappointed? Also, you forgot to watermark the picture. :facepalm:
The plan is to leave it until Christmas day. Unfortunately there is no parents wardrobe enforcing this rule so I may give in to temptation. It's v4.0 so it should be relatively bug free. :righton: The :whyioughtta: was simply because i'm slightly embarrassed. I really didn't think I'd buy this hunk of Windows.
Awesome pick up. The arcade game is so very nice.
But wow, that windows PCB box thing is huge. :o
SP, let us know of the HDMI port is active. It would be cool if that could be used with an HDTV.. would make for a simple supergun setup.
That's definitely huge though.
Aren't these being "blown out"
SP, does that downscale to 24k or 15k?
I'd be interested in picking one up. But last time I went looking for one, everyone told me to stay away.
Let me know if it's worth it to a Deathsmiles fan.
I'm
Not
Getting
The
Port.
Quote
Let me know if it's worth it to a Deathsmiles fan.
I've been talking about how awesome this game is for over a year. Plenty of people around here have recently seen the light and they too now know what I've been talking about.
The port is great to have too for the awesome 16:9 IIX mode, which you can't play anywhere else.
Why no ports out of curiosity?
Quote from: Strider77 on December 13, 2010, 07:26:57 PM
Why no ports out of curiosity?
I heard the port is terrible.
Plus, it's exciting to acquire new hardware in this hobby.
I knew what I was getting into when I bought my first PCB...
Quote from: TonK on December 13, 2010, 08:28:05 PM
I heard the port is terrible.
Not terrible, but not great. Without the patch, the slowdown is really accurate.
If you have an extra $1000+ laying around and are a fan of Deathsmiles, buy the PCB. If not, the port will do just fine, and the IIX mode is superb and looks far better than the PCB.
Quote
Plus, it's exciting to acquire new hardware in this hobby.
Absolutely. :righton:
Quote from: EOJ on December 13, 2010, 09:45:47 PM
Quote from: TonK on December 13, 2010, 08:28:05 PM
I heard the port is terrible.
Not terrible, but not great. Without the patch, the slowdown is really accurate.
If you have an extra $1000+ laying around and are a fan of Deathsmiles, buy the PCB. If not, the port will do just fine, and the IIX mode is superb and looks far better than the PCB.
Quote
Plus, it's exciting to acquire new hardware in this hobby.
Absolutely. :righton:
Will DS 2 downscale to a MS9?
I'm very interested in picking one up.
Where can I obtain a kit or PCB?
I would give it a good look over before you buy. I loved the 1st one but hate the second, I confess for shallow reasons. I hate the sub-par 3D. I'm not anti 3D either when it looks like RSG, Ikaruga, Gradius 5 or even Border Down.
The 360 mode helps with the visuals but.... you'll find out I guess either way. Different strokes for different folks but I thought the visuals were a major step backwards for cave.
I'm curious what your impressions will be of it once you snag it. I love pretty much all their games in some way.... This one, I own because... I guess because it got a port @ 70.00 bucks and I was curious.
I'm glad they tossed that hardware aside and went back to the SH3 hardware.... for now anyways. I'd like to see a successor to the SH3 that's not just a weak PC in a box.
Quote from: Strider77 on December 14, 2010, 01:06:00 AM
I would give it a good look over before you buy. I loved the 1st one but hate the second, I confess for shallow reasons. I hate the sub-par 3D. I'm not anti 3D either when it looks like RSG, Ikaruga, Gradius 5 or even Border Down.
The 360 mode helps with the visuals but.... you'll find out I guess either way. Different strokes for different folks but I thought the visuals were a major step backwards for cave.
I'm curious what your impressions will be of it once you snag it. I love pretty much all their games in some way.... This one, I own because... I guess because it got a port @ 70.00 bucks and I was curious.
I'm glad they tossed that hardware aside and went back to the SH3 hardware.... for now anyways. I'd like to see a successor to the SH3 that's not just a weak PC in a box.
I know they can use a SH-4 based board... Pretty similar to the hardware used in the Dreamcast.
I'm with you, I'm not a fan of 3D - but I really love the way the first Deathsmiles plays, so I'm willing to give DS2 a chance if it's cheap ($1000) enough.
It's time for me to pick up a new game.
I doubt I'm gonna find a reasonably priced Akai Katana at the moment, but I'm sure boards will pop up as people tire of the game.
Just not a price I'm willing to pay right now.
I'm thinking about some other games, but nothing solid yet.
DS2 seems like a good fit.
I think it is 31KHz only. I see no dip switches or any mention of 15KHz in the instructions (a fold out leaflet), not that I read Japanese. Don't recall anyone seeing it in low res anywhere.
I'd like to confirm whether HDMI works but I'm a bit reluctant to plug it in my plasma to find out. Paranoid? Probably. I would imagine it's an inactive port on the off the shelf video hardware, Cave have no reason to include it. Don't all HDTVs have a VGA port anyway? Same difference.
Quote from: SuperPang on December 14, 2010, 08:05:00 AM
I think it is 31KHz only. I see no dip switches or any mention of 15KHz in the instructions (a fold out leaflet), not that I read Japanese. Don't recall anyone seeing it in low res anywhere.
Time to invest in an Ultracade Universal Video Converter? =D It can convert even to 15/24kHz without lag or breaking anything.
Looks like I'm out of the running on a DS2...
Quote from: TonK on December 14, 2010, 09:23:35 AM
Looks like I'm out of the running on a DS2...
Go ahead and grab one man. If it turns out that you can't use it with your cabs, it looks like it would make a nice collectible coffee table.
Quote from: brentsg on December 14, 2010, 01:37:34 PM
Go ahead and grab one man. If it turns out that you can't use it with your cabs, it looks like it would make a nice collectible coffee table.
*lol* :D
Quote from: brentsg on December 14, 2010, 01:37:34 PM
Quote from: TonK on December 14, 2010, 09:23:35 AM
Looks like I'm out of the running on a DS2...
Go ahead and grab one man. If it turns out that you can't use it with your cabs, it looks like it would make a nice collectible coffee table.
Or I can use it to backup my iPad.
Quote from: EOJNot terrible, but not great. Without the patch, the slowdown is really accurate.
Is it worth it to delete the patch? How much did it change things?
I still vastly prefer the patched version to the non-pached version. If you only want to play with Lei in Arcade mode, you don't care that it only saves your most recent score, you don't mind the various annoying bugs and inaccuracies (wire frame boxes around your character, snake enemies that are too small, color/brightness problems through some inputs (such as HDMI), OSD disappearing in some hectic areas of stages, etc), and you don't plan on playing any other mode (DSIIX mode is worthless without the patch due to a glaring end bonus glitch) then delete the patch.
I've been fixing some of these for a couple of friends.
Should have a list of suitable replacement boards in a few weeks.
Bear in mind that there were 2 motherboards which CAVE used:
GA-MA78GPM-UD2H
and
ASUS M3A78-EM
It doesn't look like the operating systems are interchangeable.
CPU is often a 2.6ghz Athlon, but I've seen a couple of 2.7ghz in some (there does not appear to be a difference in speed/gameplay)
Also, the ribbon cable coming off the custom JVS I/O to the motherboard power headers is wired differently on each motherboard. the JST connector needs to be modified/replaced if you're swapping the entire motherboard.
Interesting. I didn't know about the Asus motherboard. I wonder if they were more reliable.
The obsolete motherboard and the custom I/O (which seems pretty solid) are the key components here. Everything else can be fixed. A friend of mine kindly repaired and pimped mine using an SSD, better PSU and a couple of fans on the case (mad that it didn't have an exhaust fan on the case as these overheat badly).
If the game is faulty because of bad CF (and many are), they're fixable.
Quote from: SuperPang on June 03, 2020, 10:29:21 AM
A friend of mine kindly repaired and pimped mine
That's me J.Y! :lol: (my usual username wasn't available)
The Asus runs a bit cooler, but so does the other Gigabyte motherboard I've been testing.
Yours should already be running cooler though ;)
If you use the OS from a Gigabyte board on the Asus board, then the USB drivers don't load - so the USB check screen loops/loads indefinitely.
I haven't been able to successfully dump the Asus Windows XP image. I might buy an old XP system with a card reader so that both partitions are visible.
You can still buy brand new ASUS M3A78-EM motherboards, but a bit useless until this OS gets dumped.
Quote from: fuzzbuddy on June 03, 2020, 11:01:49 AM
That's me J.Y! :lol: (my usual username wasn't available)
Ohhhhh.
Nice work mystery man.
Quote from: fuzzbuddy on June 03, 2020, 11:01:49 AM
That's me J.Y! :lol: (my usual username wasn't available)
'zak' is available. I can change it for you if you'd like!
Thanks a lot for the info about the two different motherboards for DS2.
I believe the Asus board was only used on early revisions of the game (with a different CPU as well), and the only evidence I've seen is from very old forum posts showing a bootscreen (unfortunately it doesn't show which BIOS version). Anyway, all the hardware listings I've seen online are for this version with the Asus motherboard, which is much different from all of the ones I've observed. Has anyone actually opened up a DSII PC and seen that motherboard inside?
I own 2 separate machines and have pictures of about a dozen others, and the only motherboard I have ever seen used is the Gigabyte one. Anyway, for anyone who is interested, these are the EXACT parts that were used in the final released version of the Deathsmiles II PC. I personally own 2 of these and they both had the exact same hardware (some of it needed to be replaced on one of them, like the motherboard).
Anyway, here are the specs:
Software Version: MASTER VER 4.00 (Final)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-MA78GPM-UD2H, Bios version: F2 (ma78gu2h.f2)
CPU: AMD Athlon X2 7750 Black Edition 2.7GHz (AD775ZWCJ2BGH)
Memory: Transcend 2GB DDR2 800 DIMM
Power Supply: HuntKey Evergreen EG-400PG
IDE to CF converter: MTG-4617
CompactFlash card: Transcend CompactFlash UDMA 300x 2GB
USB Flash drive: Transcend JetFlash T3 2GB
JVS Interface Card: CV2000XP Rev. 2.0 (Proprietary)
Nice work :)
The inability to dump the CF card is a bit of a mystery. We know that the CF card has to support fixed mode if not Windows will not boot.
https://kb.sandisk.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/51/~/enabling-fixed-disk-mode-on-sandisk-compactflash-cards
But it should still be readable. The original dump contained in MAME contains the Windows partition as well as the game partition.
This adapter might work better if the standard CF adapter is not exposing all partitions.
(https://i.imgur.com/QxCLXN8.jpg)
Quote from: peg on June 03, 2020, 10:25:16 PM
I believe the Asus board was only used on early revisions of the game (with a different CPU as well), and the only evidence I've seen is from very old forum posts showing a bootscreen (unfortunately it doesn't show which BIOS version).
It shipped with BIOS 1302:
Version 1302 2009/01/12746.22 KBytes
M3A78-EM BIOS 1302
1.Improve the memory performance when use certain CPU.
2.Fix the problem that the memory can not work on ECC mode when resume from S3
3.Update LAN option rom.
4.Set the RTC time to 24-hour system.
Quote from: peg on June 03, 2020, 10:25:16 PM
Anyway, all the hardware listings I've seen online are for this version with the Asus motherboard, which is much different from all of the ones I've observed. Has anyone actually opened up a DSII PC and seen that motherboard inside?
Yes, I have. The motherboard is also listed in the manual/dip sheet. It clearly shows 2 different motherboards with connection instructions, which indicates that they made them at the same time. They probably ran out of 1 motherboard type during production, so they used both.
Here is an Asus motherboard:
https://page.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/v720053803
Quote from: peg on June 03, 2020, 10:25:16 PM
(with a different CPU as well)
I've opened 5 of these now. The CPU is a bit random. Both the Asus and Gigabyte had either a 7750 or a 5050e.
Hope this helps.
Quote from: EOJ on June 03, 2020, 06:01:47 PM
'zak' is available. I can change it for you if you'd like!
Thanks a lot for the info about the two different motherboards for DS2.
Yes, please! :-*
:righton:
Quote from: rtw on June 04, 2020, 02:50:00 AM
Nice work :)
This adapter might work better if the standard CF adapter is not exposing all partitions.
(https://i.imgur.com/QxCLXN8.jpg)
Thanks T ;) I think I already tried a similar adapter. It's likely the Windows 7/10 OS has trouble reading these correctly.
I'll look into setting up an XP system in the future. Priority is to save the Asus OS off the CF card - which will give everyone more motherboard replacement options.
Wonder if Linux would be able to do this easier ?
Quote from: rtw on June 04, 2020, 04:57:25 AM
Wonder if Linux would be able to do this easier ?
Probably. Might just mail the CF card to you :bigsmile:
Have you ever seen one of the Asus motherboards running with version 4.00 of the software? Or are they just used for older versions?
Quote from: peg on June 04, 2020, 01:28:34 PM
Have you ever seen one of the Asus motherboards running with version 4.00 of the software? Or are they just used for older versions?
The one I am working on now is using an Asus motherboard with version 4.00 Software. I checked the cvgame.exe
The oldest I have seen was a Gigabyte motherboard running 2.00 - unfortunately the CF card was buggered (still have the 2.00 dongle though).
I don't think there was an older/newer motherboard. Both the Asus and the Gigabyte are pictured in the kit manual.
You are right, the manual shows 2 different versions, calling them A & B.
The A version is the one using the Asus motherboard, and the B version is the Gigabyte. Both of mine are the B version. It also looks like there are 2 different power supplies as well because the plug orientation is different in the 2 pictures.
I can't believe I never noticed the difference. Anyway, I'm going to take a look at my pictures and see what is there.
Do Vers A and B correlate with DS2s that were sold and those that were rented? Remember, CAVE had two options for this hardware: up-front sale, and rent/profit share:
http://cave-stg.com/forum/index.php?topic=472.msg9555#msg9555
I don't know, but the ones with the Asus motherboard appear to be much rarer. Of all the pics I have, only 1 of them has the Asus board (same one linked in the recent yahoo auction.
If you look at the serial numbers on them, they all end with a letter. I have seen A,B,C letters at the end of the serial number. My theory is that this letter corresponds to the type of motherboard that was used.
A = Asus motherboard,
B,C = Gigabyte motherboard
The majority of the ones I have pictures for have a C at the end of the serial, and they all use the gigabyte board. I only have 1 pic with a B serial and it also uses the gigabyte board (at least I think it does, the I/O ports on the back look the same as the ones with a C.
Do you have pics of any of the ones you've opened or know the serials?
Quote from: EOJ on June 04, 2020, 08:05:04 PM
Do Vers A and B correlate with DS2s that were sold and those that were rented? Remember, CAVE had two options for this hardware: up-front sale, and rent/profit share:
http://cave-stg.com/forum/index.php?topic=472.msg9555#msg9555
You would see this on the rented system ;)
(https://i.imgur.com/04rHmuZ.jpg)
Quote from: peg on June 05, 2020, 01:28:15 AM
Do you have pics of any of the ones you've opened or know the serials?
Hey D, I'll look into this for you.
Quote from: peg on June 05, 2020, 01:28:15 AM
If you look at the serial numbers on them, they all end with a letter. I have seen A,B,C letters at the end of the serial number. My theory is that this letter corresponds to the type of motherboard that was used.
A = Asus motherboard,
B,C = Gigabyte motherboard
So far this is correct. The Asus ones do have "A" on the serial! All the Gigabyte boards have had "C" on the serial.
The I/O board can be used on both motherboards without a problem (I've tested this).
However, the USB drivers on the Asus and Gigabyte boards are
different.
If you load the Gigabyte OS image on a Asus system (for example), Windows XP is loaded and the game looks for the USB dongle, but it does not recognise it.
You will need the Asus XP OS image for it to load. I know I'm repeating myself, just want to make this super clear for the next poor git who goes through hours/days of frustration.
Side note, in case anyone is interested. The case serial always matches the I/O serial ;)
Thanks.
Can you confim that the usb dongle is tied to the I/O board? I know that my USB dongle only works with one of my boards, and it appears to be tied to the I/O board/serial number (as I swapped them over to the other Cave PC and then it started working). I eventually just hacked the ROM to bypass the dongle check on the other one so I didn't need to bother with it anymore (very simple to do actually, only need to change a few bytes in the OS image).
Quote from: peg on June 06, 2020, 01:59:52 PM
Thanks.
Can you confim that the usb dongle is tied to the I/O board? I know that my USB dongle only works with one of my boards, and it appears to be tied to the I/O board/serial number (as I swapped them over to the other Cave PC and then it started working).
Sure, but this may take some time. I don't have 2 original dongles at the moment.
Quote from: peg on June 06, 2020, 01:59:52 PM
I eventually just hacked the ROM to bypass the dongle check on the other one so I didn't need to bother with it anymore (very simple to do actually, only need to change a few bytes in the OS image).
Do you mind sharing this information, please? It would be very useful. I have the version 2.00 dongle, perhaps we can hack it to play this version?
The hack I'm referring to removes the need to even use the dongle, so you'd have to have a working CF card with OS image still. I'm also not sure if the hack would work for earlier versions than 4.00.
Anyway, I found the info somewhere online, let me see if I can track it down again.
Edit:
Here is the modification, there are actually 2 of them, you can do.
This mod/hack removes the need for the USB dongle (this is the mod I did for one of my Cave PCs). You will need a hex editor to do it (I use HxD), then you open and modify cvgame.exe (which is on the CF card). I made a backup of everything before doing any of this.
Anyway, The first column is the address to modify, the second is the current value at that address, and the 3rd is the value to change it to source (https://www.neofighters.info/forum/showthread.php?14783-Deathsmiles-2-Arcade-PC&highlight=deathsmiles)
53A20: 74 EB
5C74B: 72 EB
BC3D0: 0F E9
BC3D1: 84 CF
BC3D2: CE 00
BC3D5: 00 90
BC6C4: 74 EB
This is another mod you can do (https://www.neofighters.info/forum/showthread.php?14871-A-more-perfect-loader-for-Deathsmiles-II/page2), I believe this removes the needs for the I/O security board entirely, although I'm not sure how you get the controls to work without the I/O board. I have not tried this one, but found it online.
53A20: 74 EB
5C38A: 0F 90
5C38B: 85 90
5C38C: 80 90
5C38D: 01 90
5C38E: 00 90
5C38F: 00 90
5C425: 75 EB
5C47C: 75 90
5C47D: 74 90
5C483: 75 90
5C484: 6D 90
5C504: 75 EB
5C74B: 72 EB
AA236: 0F E9
AA237: 84 89
AA238: 88 00
AA23B: 00 90
BC2E7: 0F E9
BC2E8: 84 98
BC2E9: 97 00
BC2EC: 00 90
BC3D0: 0F E9
BC3D1: 84 CF
BC3D2: CE 00
BC3D5: 00 90
BC6C4: 74 EB
Thanks mate.
Did you notice that the DATA partition on the OS/CF card uses the same data as the USB dongle?
This is why I think we can copy the 2.00 data from the dongle to the OS DATA partition.
If anyone wants to try hacking the 2.00 cvgame.exe, please let me know. Not having much joy with HEX editors - I think the values might be different to the 4.00 version.
I would like to get the dongle 2.00 data if possible. Do you have a .img file for it? I believe the entire size should be 2gb.
I got version 2.00 working now, thanks to Zak for posting the data!
(https://i.imgur.com/YiaBhOF.jpg)
Just played through it and...it just ends after level 4? Is there some sort of criteria you need to satisfy to get to the final stage? I was credit feeding so maybe that's it although I credit fed all the way through all 5 levels in version 4.00 earlier.
Also, this version only has 2 playable characters instead of 4. There's probably other differences but I'm no expert at the game so I can't say what.
I needed to hack the .exe to get it to work, and it turns out the offsets are different from version 4.00. I was able to find the correct values to alter based on searching through the binary and matching the hex strings with those of version 4.00, although it was non-trivial to find them.
Anyway, here are the addresses to alter in version 2.00 to skip the key check:
40630: 74 EB
48B47: 72 EB
A43AD: 0F E9
A43AE: 84 CF
A43AF: CE 00
A43B2: 00 90
A46A4: 74 EB
Note: you still need the dongle attached for it to run, it just doesn't matter if the key on it matches your i/o board or not.
There are only 4 stages in Ver 2.00. And only 2 characters.
Lol, so they released an unfinished game I guess? Was this ever suppose to be released to the public?
It was playable in the arcades. They released a new Ver every month or so. Vers 1.00 - 3.00 are basically location test-type versions (CAVE have said they released an unfinished game and tried to finish it ASAP but it took them four versions to do that). I arrived in Japan in early August 2009 and Ver 4.00 had just been released so I didn't get a chance to play the earlier versions (which began in May 2009).
I'm kind of surprised this still even exists given the short amout of time it was out. I guess version 1.00 and 3.00 are lost to time.
Zak is a hero for finding this.
I know Japanese collectors who have all four versions. ;) Ver 3.00 is apparently favored by some.
They won't release them? I never understood that, especially since it's not like some rare/expensive pcb and you are risking damaging it like with SDOJ or the rare CV1000 games. It's literally just a usb stick.
I don't know. Maybe if someone asked them? It's not exactly a popular game, but Japanese aren't known for putting ROMs up for download.
Nice work peg! :)
Quote from: peg on June 11, 2020, 12:01:20 AM
I got version 2.00 working now, thanks to Zak for posting the data!
(https://i.imgur.com/YiaBhOF.jpg)
Just played through it and...it just ends after level 4? Is there some sort of criteria you need to satisfy to get to the final stage? I was credit feeding so maybe that's it although I credit fed all the way through all 5 levels in version 4.00 earlier.
Also, this version only has 2 playable characters instead of 4. There's probably other differences but I'm no expert at the game so I can't say what.
I needed to hack the .exe to get it to work, and it turns out the offsets are different from version 4.00. I was able to find the correct values to alter based on searching through the binary and matching the hex strings with those of version 4.00, although it was non-trivial to find them.
Anyway, here are the addresses to alter in version 2.00 to skip the key check:
40630: 74 EB
48B47: 72 EB
A43AD: 0F E9
A43AE: 84 CF
A43AF: CE 00
A43B2: 00 90
A46A4: 74 EB
Note: you still need the dongle attached for it to run, it just doesn't matter if the key on it matches your i/o board or not.
(https://media.tenor.com/images/e1b49696c54116e13cc43ff3f3bc5d57/tenor.gif)
Nice work man! :righton:
Did you have to copy the cracked 2.00 dongle data to the OS DATA partition, or is it USB plug and play even on a version 4.00 OS DATA partition?
Quote from: EOJ on June 11, 2020, 12:21:32 AM
I don't know. Maybe if someone asked them? It's not exactly a popular game, but Japanese aren't known for putting ROMs up for download.
Can you ask them for us, please? Would be amazing to get version 1.00 and 3.00 preserved and playable :)
They just need to copy/paste the contents of the USB stick (they don't even need to create an image).
Well, I should have said "I know OF Japanese collectors". I don't know them personally. I can poke around a bit and probably find one of them, but as soon as I say I want to make the ROM data available to others I'll probably get the silent treatment. :(
Quote from: EOJ on June 11, 2020, 06:25:46 AM
Well, I should have said "I know OF Japanese collectors". I don't know them personally. I can poke around a bit and probably find one of them, but as soon as I say I want to make the ROM data available to others I'll probably get the silent treatment. :(
Thanks dude :) maybe we should hide that part.
I get a feeling we might have to buy every future DS2 on yahoo (working or broken) to get that version 3.00 :p
I don't think we'll ever see version 1.00 unless a Japanese collector gives it to us :(
I wonder if that's why some of those on YAJ have gone for much higher than others? Perhaps bidders are privately asking the sellers what Ver is on their DS2, but the sellers are not providing this info in the listings.
I think Ver 3.00 should be easier to find than 2.00 because there should be more of them out there. I am quite surprised you found a 2.00!! Here's a video of Ver 1.00:
https://www.nicovideo.jp/watch/sm7136723
According to the below site, Ver 1.00 had only two characters (Windia and Supe), but Vers 2.00 and 3.00 had three characters (Casper was added). In Ver 4.0 they added Lei:
https://wiki.denfaminicogamer.jp/highscore/2009_013_%E3%83%87%E3%82%B9%E3%82%B9%E3%83%9E%E3%82%A4%E3%83%AB%E3%82%BAII_Ver.1.00
So if your version only has two characters, it should be Ver 1.00, unless there is some unlock code for Casper in Ver 2.00 or something (they don't mention that in the webpage above).
Excellent work peg and zak.
How on earth is version 2.0 still around let alone 1.0! Would be interested to try 3.0 some time. I do remember EOJ saying years ago that some players preferred it. I've only really played the game with Lei tbh.
As I've said before, I can't believe this game didn't finish off Cave. We were so lucky to get two more CV1000 releases after this.
Quote from: zak on June 11, 2020, 05:17:12 AM
Quote from: EOJ on June 11, 2020, 12:21:32 AM
I don't know. Maybe if someone asked them? It's not exactly a popular game, but Japanese aren't known for putting ROMs up for download.
Can you ask them for us, please? Would be amazing to get version 1.00 and 3.00 preserved and playable :)
They just need to copy/paste the contents of the USB stick (they don't even need to create an image).
It appears you can have any version of the dongle plugged in. I had a version 4.00 dongle plugged in and to my surprise it still runs 2.00 just fine. Probably because it's bypasing the security check? I'm not sure, but it definitely works without a 2.00 dongle.
Also EOJ, it says Version 2.00 when it starts up, I can get a screen shot of that if you want to see it.
Quote from: EOJ on June 11, 2020, 07:10:12 AM
So if your version only has two characters, it should be Ver 1.00, unless there is some unlock code for Casper in Ver 2.00 or something (they don't mention that in the webpage above).
Casper was unlockable on June 2009 in version 2.00 :)
(https://www.cave.co.jp/gameonline/deathsmiles2/images/caspa.jpg)
You need to insert a credit, and while holding the C button on the 1P side enter the following (also on the 1P side):
A,A, Down, Down, Right, B, Left, B, Up, Up, A, B, B, A
Quote from: zak on June 06, 2020, 05:50:18 AM
Quote from: peg on June 05, 2020, 01:28:15 AM
If you look at the serial numbers on them, they all end with a letter. I have seen A,B,C letters at the end of the serial number. My theory is that this letter corresponds to the type of motherboard that was used.
A = Asus motherboard,
B,C = Gigabyte motherboard
So far this is correct. The Asus ones do have "A" on the serial! All the Gigabyte boards have had "C" on the serial.
The I/O board can be used on both motherboards without a problem (I've tested this).
However, the USB drivers on the Asus and Gigabyte boards are different.
If you load the Gigabyte OS image on a Asus system (for example), Windows XP is loaded and the game looks for the USB dongle, but it does not recognise it.
You will need the Asus XP OS image for it to load. I know I'm repeating myself, just want to make this super clear for the next poor git who goes through hours/days of frustration.
Side note, in case anyone is interested. The case serial always matches the I/O serial ;)
An interesting update on this topic. WSM-MKZ, the WR holder with Casper in Ver 4.00 in the Arcades, posted on Twitter today (https://twitter.com/wsmmkz/status/1473542162600304641) that the purchase-version and rental-version of the game have different slowdown. Specifically, the purchase-version has less slowdown, the rental version has more. He thinks this must be due to different PC parts inside, but is not sure of the details (having never looked inside the cases), only the results on the screen. I only played this at A-cho arcade in 2009, and I am pretty sure they had the rental version (since they only had two cabs there for a brief time), which is why I experienced it with more slowdown. But I guess the X360 port is probably closer to the purchase-version, in slowdown accuracy.
I'm guessing this is a result of some PCBs having the Asus and others the Gigabyte. Anyone test them to see if one has more slowdown than the other? If not, maybe the rental version has something different.
As far as I know both of these setups (ASUS & Gigabyte) use the same CPU: AMD Athlon X2 7750 with the same Integrated ATI Radeon HD3200 graphics.
Looking at the specs of the two motherboards they are exactly the same.
Actually I believe the cpu is slower on the ones with the asus board. Both of the ones I have use the gigabyte board and have the 7750, but online I've seen mention of the asus board using a Brisbane 5050e cpu instead. Don't have a way to verify that though.
I looked through my collection of DSII Ver 4.00 arcade videos and I found two videos that offer a good comparison of the slowdown differences. Both are the Ruins stage with Lei, with a similar scoring pattern. One seems to be the purchase version (it's by SIN, who bought the game), the other is the rental version. The rental version lasts about 20 seconds longer than the purchase version, due to the extra slowdown (specifics are: purchase version from start of stage to start of boss fight is 2:47, rental version is 3:07)!
The purchase version still has about 10-20% more slowdown than the X360 port (depending on the stage), but the rental version is 10-20% more than that. I know at least two of the WRs were done on the rental version (Casper and Lei); WSM-MKZ said he did the Casper WR on the rental version due to all the extra slowdown (though SIN later beat his record by over 50 million on the X360 port, so I guess it doesn't matter much!).
A friend of mine owns the ASUS version and it was delivered with: AMD Athlon X2 7750
Yeah I went back through some of the posts and it looks like the cpu can be either one and is not tied to a specific motherboard. I still wonder if that alone can account for all the slowdown. It's only 100 mhz difference.
This is 100% speculation, but wherent the ds2 hardware pretty poorly cooled.
Could thermal throttling be relevant?
Has anyone here owned the rental version PCB? Knowing CAVE, it's possible they just used cheapo parts for these, considering the PCBs more or less disposable within a year or two, and to maximize profits.
Hi guys! Has the OS image successfully been dumped? If it has been shared could someone please give me a link? Thanks in advance, I'd appreciate it.
The DS2 Image is in MAME
So one of the mame CHD files contains the XPe OS image?
Quote from: calle on August 03, 2022, 06:03:25 AM
So one of the mame CHD files contains the XPe OS image?
ds2_4.0.chd
Can you tell us what your endgoal is here ?
Ok many thanks.
The purpose is to have a backup CF card if mine fails in the future. I guess I need to apply one of the patches since it's protected and needs the shipped USB dongle right?
There is a gotcha here. Which motherboard type does your DS2 use ?
Gigabyte or ASUS ?
If you are unsure open it up, take a picture of the motherboard and post it here.
It's the Asus one - Will this make my plan fail? I had a feeling this metod would be too easy :)
Yes that will make your plan fail.
However fear not, you can backup your own card. I have assembled a package for Windows with the correct tools. All you need to supply is a simple CF reader and a Windows machine. If you're a Linux guy, it's a lot easier!
If you are willing to go this way I will share the tools with you via DM.
Ok so the CF with OS is tied to the motherboard somehow? So only Asus OS can be copied to another Asus motherboard and not Gigabyte and vice versa?
I'd gladly test to backup myself with your tools so please DM me, I'd appreciate it.
I'm on Windows btw, forgot to answer that question.
I have sent you a PM.
You are correct the ASUS dump will not work properly on the Gigabyte motherboard and vice versa.