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Touhou Community Thread | Highly Responsive to Posts

So I've reinstalled the game, made sure my graphics drivers were up to date, and tried every resolution option in fullscreen and windowed, still crashes. My laptop uses Intel HD 4000 graphics and the error window says something about direct imput and direct 3D, I don't have my system locale set to Japanese so I'm not sure what else it says.
 

shockdude

Member
So I've reinstalled the game, made sure my graphics drivers were up to date, and tried every resolution option in fullscreen and windowed, still crashes. My laptop uses Intel HD 4000 graphics and the error window says something about direct imput and direct 3D, I don't have my system locale set to Japanese so I'm not sure what else it says.
Did you update DirectX?
Does the game directory contain any non-english characters? If so, remove them and try again.
Do other Touhou games work?
I'm really hoping they do a good Pristine Beat ~ Primordial Beat cover
No Pristine Beat unfortunately. But man this album.
Lost Remote
Reverse Ideology
It's so good.
 

shockdude

Member
Tried everything, but still won't work. 7.5 works fine and 6 works windowed, but everything else doesn't for whatever reason. Time to go back to Saidaioujou I guess.
Is this the error message you're getting? Edit: whoops you're not using Japanese locale nvm.
使えるパッドが存在しないようです。残念
DirectInput は正常に初期化されました
Direct3D の初期化に失敗、この軽像度には対応してません
Windows Update has nothing to offer I presume?
Also exactly which games have you tested? Touhou 6 through 9.5 require the DX8 to DX9 converter to run fullscreen, the newer games should all just work.
There's also the quick-and-dirty "solution" of switching Japanese locale, but if that fails then well, at least you have Saidaioujou lol.

Edit: also earlier today I beat PointDevice Normal in 1:36:44 with 303 retries. whoo.
It just occured to me that LoLK's PointDevice mode is technically eligible for a speedrun; the fewer retries the faster the run.
 

microfolk

Member
Ughhh. I'm never gonna get a good Pristine Beat remix/cover

Still gonna check it out later though

I'm really partial to xi-on's arrangement, even though we're no longer talking about metal here.

I don't think I can finish this on normal

The difficulty is all over the place, it might be a slightly harder clear than SA (talking about Normal mode of course, where I think SA is the hardest game in the series) if it's possible to have an easy route to maximize life gain and the proceed to spam bombs like crazy.
Sanae can already break half of the game since you can graze during her bomb... You get three bombs per life, and you need three life pieces for an extend. You can just sit there on top of the first four bosses and bomb, get > 200 graze, finish the chapter netting you a life piece, repeat for other 2 times, get a life, suicide, repeat. It's pretty silly.
 

shockdude

Member
The difficulty is all over the place, it might be a slightly harder clear than SA (talking about Normal mode of course, where I think SA is the hardest game in the series) if it's possible to have an easy route to maximize life gain and the proceed to spam bombs like crazy.
Sanae can already break half of the game since you can graze during her bomb... You get three bombs per life, and you need three life pieces for an extend. You can just sit there on top of the first four bosses and bomb, get > 200 graze, finish the chapter netting you a life piece, repeat for other 2 times, get a life, suicide, repeat. It's pretty silly.
Based on impressions I've read and omake translations. I'm pretty sure ZUN had no idea how to balance this game lol. The omake says the game was heavily inspired by IWBTG, and it also says he doesn't plan to do a PointDevice game in the future because of how hard it was to make. But yeah 1CCing this game is gonna be hilarious.

I heard Sanae has problems with Stage 4? Or can you just bombspam your way through?
 

microfolk

Member
Based on impressions I've read and omake translations. I'm pretty sure ZUN had no idea how to balance this game lol. The omake says the game was heavily inspired by IWBTG, and it also says he doesn't plan to do a PointDevice game in the future because of how hard it was to make. But yeah 1CCing this game is gonna be hilarious.

I heard Sanae has problems with Stage 4? Or can you just bombspam your way through?

I'm just playing on Normal so I can't offer a really useful insight but Sanae seems to have no problem with the 4th stage? I know Jaimers said one of the spellcards is impossible to capture with her so you have to time out it (and it's really easy to do so), but I've also read that it's possible to capture it using her non-focused shot...
Jaimers also stated that the final boss patterns are completely trivialised by Reimu's small hitbox, and this saddens me so much since I thought ZUN would have learned his lesson after Sukuna's bullshit survival spellcard. :\
 

Sölf

Member
I just tried it. I died before I reached the boss in stage 4 on my first 2 tries. Like, what. I thought I wasn't that bad anymore... xD
 

microfolk

Member
I made a couple of runs (Sanae and Reisen) and I think a Normal shitclear should be pretty doable, it's really a matter of hoarding lives in the first stages and using bombs in an intelligent manner, it's far more important being able to hit the bonus for every chapter and thus getting a life fragment than being able to capture the spellcards aha.
 

Sölf

Member
Yeah, I am one of those "I don't need a bomb for thi- I am dead" players. xD
So, yeah. But even the first 2 stages are harder than stage 3 in most other games. So much shit so early on, like what.
 

Adaren

Member
On a related note, Twillight Frontier is releasing the OST to ULiL.

2900023100238_0_l.jpg


Sumireko looks hella stylish.

Where is her waist...
 

shockdude

Member
oh wow practice mode lets you use continues now.
oh wow i used 4 continues in stage 5 practice, which is like 15+ lives.

Marisa is no good in this game. LoLK is probably the only game in the series where killing bosses quickly is actually detrimental to your progress.
On second thought Marisa isn't bad; it's just that Sanae's bomb is too good.
 

ibyea

Banned
I beat normal pointdevice. My poor poor fingers. Ouuuch. So latter 3 or so attacks of boss 5 are actually pretty easy to figure out due to the static patterns (I still died a lot to them though). Last boss was horrible, it's all micrododging. All her attacks except one don't even have the decency of being pretty or even that fun to dodge. Bunch of circles of doom. It's like all of ZUN's creative juice was spent on boss 5. And I went through it trying to save my last two bombs for her last attack so I had to capture all but the last one. I really liked the music though. I think my favorite so far is the stage 6 theme and the last boss theme is very epic.
 

Sölf

Member
Played on Pointdevice and somehow (with probably 50-100 deaths) reached stage 5 so far. Stage 5 is just a total shithole, srsly, wtf ZUN? Currently on the second spellcard on Boss 5.
Why is it a fucking survival spell that is SO FREAKING FAST?!
 

ibyea

Banned
Sölf;175618572 said:
Played on Pointdevice and somehow (with probably 50-100 deaths) reached stage 5 so far. Stage 5 is just a total shithole, srsly, wtf ZUN? Currently on the second spellcard on Boss 5.
Why is it a fucking survival spell that is SO FREAKING FAST?!

Yeah that one is insane.

Sölf;175625241 said:
Awesome. I gave up on her third spellcard btw. My hand hurt and no idea how to get past these stupid rings. D:

Stay on the lower part of the screen. As the ring approaches you go slightly downwards to stop the bullets in front of you from advancing. Then quickly move between the gaps, either left or right, and stay in that direction in the lower part of the screen. Stop the next advancing bullets by going diagonally to the direction the bullet approaches since you are either on the left or right side of the ring. Then quickly exit the gap towards the other side of the screen and do the same thing. Then move to the middle, repeat.
 

ibyea

Banned
Oh god there is no pointdevice for extra stage, and there is no spell card practice. AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH
 

shockdude

Member
Sanae is so good, wow. Used her for the first time today, didn't realize just how much she trivializes several parts of the game.
Makes me want to see a Lunatic 1CC using someone other than Sanae.
 

Articalys

Member
Something kind of neat I found; this animator group has been working for over half a year on a live-action x animation short music video with Remi and Sakuya. They posted a preview version a while back (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CakwZbx1hwI) of all the live action footage plus the preliminary staging for the Touhou characters, but over the last few weeks they started posting work in progress clips of the final product, and it looks really cool. Can't wait for the whole thing.
 

Evilisk

Member
Guess I was wrong. Looks like Clownpiece is hella popular

itbegins.gif

Something kind of neat I found; this animator group has been working for over half a year on a live-action x animation short music video with Remi and Sakuya. They posted a preview version a while back (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CakwZbx1hwI) of all the live action footage plus the preliminary staging for the Touhou characters, but over the last few weeks they started posting work in progress clips of the final product, and it looks really cool. Can't wait for the whole thing.

Huh, was surprised to see the live action bits weren't in Japan

I remember seeing something similar but with Sanae, I wonder if it's the same group
 

upandaway

Member
That "everywhere we look" video looks neat judging from the tweets, it should be good. Surprisingly well made.

@ Clownpiece yeah I've been some fanart of her on twitter. Only saw one making the USA connection surprisingly, I figured it'd be a theme
 

demidar

Member
My sleep-addled mind was somehow convinced that the text was referencing the lyrics of the old English Sailor Moon OP.

¯\_(ツ)_/¯
 

Narroo

Member
Dear god; I miscounted and thought Clownpiece was the final boss! The first three extra bosses, Flandre, Ran, and Immortal Boot Chick are easier than this woman!

And the worst part is: I finally finished Classic mode with Eirin and the (bad) ending is still entirely untranslated! Reliant Patcher really needs to have a status page for their translations.

My god, I'm going to have to play this on easy mode, aren't I? Does Extra mode even unlock on Easy? It usually doesn't.
 

Narroo

Member
Screw clownpiece and screw Mc Donalds!

Really, for the 1st 3 or so stages this was shaping up to be the best Touhou in recent history. Then stage 4 is questionable....then Clownpiece ruins everything. She has "Impossible Spell Card" style patterns in a relatively normal shump. That's not cool.
 
2 weeks late, but I finally fixed up my computer enough that it could run stuff again, including LoLK. I'd avoided all spoilers for it so I was seeing everything for the first time. Thoughts after doing normal and lunatic Pointdevice clears.

- I've said it before, but Pointdevice is glorious. Loved being able to play through lunatic without having to worry about silly little things such as, y'know, learning the game properly. I don't see myself spending much time with lunatic Legacy mode, partially because the RMG (Random Movement Generator) on bosses keeps driving me nuts.

- Doremy is batshit for a stage 3 boss. I'm doubtlessly doing some of her attacks wrong, but she gave me far more grief than Sagume and Clownpiece. Possibly more than Junko as well, though by the time I reached the endgame I'd minmaxed to the point where I could bombspam her like a pro.

- Didn't care much for the demo characters, but the new ones have collectively made a REALLY strong first impression on me. Possibly more so than any other faction from the games. As always, I'm looking forward to seeing the fanwork for them. #teamhecatia

- Need more time to form decent impressions on the music, but Clownpiece's theme and the stage 6 theme are the ones I'm finding myself listening to most so far.

- I'm conflicted on whether striped stockings or starry stockings are superior.
 

upandaway

Member
I've given it more serious attempts and I honestly don't think I can finish it on normal. It's ridiculously hard

I haven't tried abusing the Sanae bomb stuff though...
 

ibyea

Banned
2 weeks late, but I finally fixed up my computer enough that it could run stuff again, including LoLK. I'd avoided all spoilers for it so I was seeing everything for the first time. Thoughts after doing normal and lunatic Pointdevice clears.

- I've said it before, but Pointdevice is glorious. Loved being able to play through lunatic without having to worry about silly little things such as, y'know, learning the game properly. I don't see myself spending much time with lunatic Legacy mode, partially because the RMG (Random Movement Generator) on bosses keeps driving me nuts.

- Doremy is batshit for a stage 3 boss. I'm doubtlessly doing some of her attacks wrong, but she gave me far more grief than Sagume and Clownpiece. Possibly more than Junko as well, though by the time I reached the endgame I'd minmaxed to the point where I could bombspam her like a pro.

- Didn't care much for the demo characters, but the new ones have collectively made a REALLY strong first impression on me. Possibly more so than any other faction from the games. As always, I'm looking forward to seeing the fanwork for them. #teamhecatia

- Need more time to form decent impressions on the music, but Clownpiece's theme and the stage 6 theme are the ones I'm finding myself listening to most so far.

- I'm conflicted on whether striped stockings or starry stockings are superior.

-The worst part about the random movement generator is that some attacks, like Clownpiece's non spells, become way worse if they go lower on the screen.

-I didn't play lunatic so I don't know about there, but in normal Doremy, while difficult, is very doable, around stage 4 difficulty in the usual Touhou games. Junko though, pure bull crap. Without the bomb spamming, most of the dodging with her involves pixel perfect dodging.

-I liked the demo character designs personally, but yeah the character designs from the second half are great. Although I ambivalent about Hecatia. There are elements I like and dislike.

-Stage 6 theme is definitely my favorite piece of music for this game.
 

ibyea

Banned
I've given it more serious attempts and I honestly don't think I can finish it on normal. It's ridiculously hard

I haven't tried abusing the Sanae bomb stuff though...

Keep trying! If I can do it, you can because I am not an expert in this game at all!
 

upandaway

Member
I haven't even heard the stage 6 theme yet!

I feel like if I go listen to it before hearing it in game I'd have passed the point of no return
 

microfolk

Member
Whomp whomp whomp vgperson released Return of Touhou Mother's translation!
I should really finish the first one, I've played it a fair bit literally one year ago but then I forgot about it. ;_;

I'd also like to jump into the "Junko is a terrible final boss" party, it's not even that she's difficult (and she definitely is, don't get me wrong), but she's just so unfun. I'm also not that fond of Clownpiece but that's more because I hate the star shaped bullets and I hate how in this game ZUN doubled their hitbox. <___< Also it's hilarious how her first and second spellcards are easier to read (I don't know about easier to capture) in Lunatic than in normal.
 

ibyea

Banned
Whomp whomp whomp vgperson released Return of Touhou Mother's translation!
I should really finish the first one, I've played it a fair bit literally one year ago but then I forgot about it. ;_;

I'd also like to jump into the "Junko is a terrible final boss" party, it's not even that she's difficult (and she definitely is, don't get me wrong), but she's just so unfun. I'm also not that fond of Clownpiece but that's more because I hate the star shaped bullets and I hate how in this game ZUN doubled their hitbox. <___< Also it's hilarious how her first and second spellcards are easier to read (I don't know about easier to capture) in Lunatic than in normal.

Not only is Junko unfun, it's plain unfair. If you play as anyone other than Reimu, you might as well give up because their hitboxes are larger and Junko's attacks are mostly pixel perfect left and right.

Also while I haven't played lunatic Clownpiece, I have seen it and her first two spell cards indeed looks easier on lunatic! The first one because the star bullets are arranged in neat circular row instead of the random chaos in normal and so you can memorize a path in lunatic, and the second one because in normal you have to dodge small bullet with tight spacing while in lunatic they are large star bullets with large gaps.
 

microfolk

Member
Not only is Junko unfun, it's plain unfair. If you play as anyone other than Reimu, you might as well give up because their hitboxes are larger and Junko's attacks are mostly pixel perfect left and right.

Also while I haven't played lunatic Clownpiece, I have seen it and her first two spell cards indeed looks easier on lunatic! The first one because the star bullets are arranged in neat circular row instead of the random chaos in normal and so you can memorize a path in lunatic, and the second one because in normal you have to dodge small bullet with tight spacing while in lunatic they are large star bullets with large gaps.

It really does feel like the game was rushed to hell in order to meet the C88 deadline, and it's a real pity because there are so many good things about this game! But then you've got a difficulty curve which is all over the place and a Normal mode which is way too hard and not in a fun way and tons of patterns behaving in weird ways if the boss moves too low on the screen and an overabundance of bright bullets which aren't always visible (like the final spam of the fifth stage or every time there are the bright white lasers on screen... Maybe it's just me but I can't see them!) and then Junko which is really uuuuugh
Her final spellcard is one of the worst in the entire series and I already wasn't a fan of Shinmyoumaru's and Miko's ones but they were like uninteresting while this is... ugly? and ridiculously hard? I don't even want to learn how to manage the last two phases, I know I need two bombs with Sanae and that's it.

I know I'm complaining a lot about this game but on the other hand I'm enjoying it very much, the graze mechanics are incredibly fun, the OST is really good (even though I'm not a fan of the more dancey synths the tunes are strong and I'm madly in love with stage 4 theme) and the stages have tons of inventive sections, ZUN puts a lot more work on them than in the previous games. And there is Reisen!!!
I still don't understand why there is no spell practice when the vast majority of the spellcards are gimmicky ones though.
 

ibyea

Banned
It really does feel like the game was rushed to hell in order to meet the C88 deadline, and it's a real pity because there are so many good things about this game! But then you've got a difficulty curve which is all over the place and a Normal mode which is way too hard and not in a fun way and tons of patterns behaving in weird ways if the boss moves too low on the screen and an overabundance of bright bullets which aren't always visible (like the final spam of the fifth stage or every time there are the bright white lasers on screen... Maybe it's just me but I can't see them!) and then Junko which is really uuuuugh
Her final spellcard is one of the worst in the entire series and I already wasn't a fan of Shinmyoumaru's and Miko's ones but they were like uninteresting while this is... ugly? and ridiculously hard? I don't even want to learn how to manage the last two phases, I know I need two bombs with Sanae and that's it.

I know I'm complaining a lot about this game but on the other hand I'm enjoying it very much, the graze mechanics are incredibly fun, the OST is really good (even though I'm not a fan of the more dancey synths the tunes are strong and I'm madly in love with stage 4 theme) and the stages have tons of inventive sections, ZUN puts a lot more work on them than in the previous games. And there is Reisen!!!
I still don't understand why there is no spell practice when the vast majority of the spellcards are gimmicky ones though.

Yeah certain attacks become ridiculous if they go low on the screen. Junkos final spell card is a nightmare. I am not even going to attempt to capture it (heck, I liked Shinmyomaru and Miko's finals so if I don't like it that is saying something!). Although I haven't experienced the visual difficulty you have.

Oh yeah despite those complaints I also enjoy the game.

The lack of spell cards practice is plain unfair when there is a ridiculous extra stage.
Freaking Junko is there!
 
I've given it more serious attempts and I honestly don't think I can finish it on normal. It's ridiculously hard

I haven't tried abusing the Sanae bomb stuff though...
Pointdevice or Legacy? Either way, build up lots of resources by grazing through the easier parts of the game and then bombspam the harder parts. Also stop trying to read manga while you're playing.

-The worst part about the random movement generator is that some attacks, like Clownpiece's non spells, become way worse if they go lower on the screen.

-I didn't play lunatic so I don't know about there, but in normal Doremy, while difficult, is very doable, around stage 4 difficulty in the usual Touhou games. Junko though, pure bull crap. Without the bomb spamming, most of the dodging with her involves pixel perfect dodging.

-I liked the demo character designs personally, but yeah the character designs from the second half are great. Although I ambivalent about Hecatia. There are elements I like and dislike.

-Stage 6 theme is definitely my favorite piece of music for this game.
- Yeah, it's the vertical movement that's the real pain rather than the horizontal. Clownpiece's earlier non-spells are a great place for the RMG to screw you over, particularly since she gets so much health during them.

- It's lunatic Doremy I'm really talking about. She had 2 cards that I ended up just bombing after 30+ attempts because I had no idea what I was doing. Also I've only ever faced Junko as Reimu, so I haven't experienced the suffering that the other characters go through against her.

- "You're ambivalent towards greatness." For that reason alone, I'll drop you into hell.

I'd also like to jump into the "Junko is a terrible final boss" party, it's not even that she's difficult (and she definitely is, don't get me wrong), but she's just so unfun.
She has a couple of enjoyable attacks (cards #2/3 mainly), but that aside I don't really have anything positive to say about her fight. Her danmaku generally lacks impact, although I suppose that's in keeping with the whole 'purity' thing she has going on. I need to face her with someone other than Reimu to get the full experience.

Also while I haven't played lunatic Clownpiece, I have seen it and her first two spell cards indeed looks easier on lunatic! The first one because the star bullets are arranged in neat circular row instead of the random chaos in normal and so you can memorize a path in lunatic, and the second one because in normal you have to dodge small bullet with tight spacing while in lunatic they are large star bullets with large gaps.
Her first card has more fire arms (?) on lunatic so it balances out a bit, but yeah. I definitely found the 2nd one harder on lunatic, those large stars are constantly spawning (unlike the smaller ones on normal) and have a frustrating tendency to bunch up on you.
 

upandaway

Member
Pointdevice or Legacy? Either way, build up lots of resources by grazing through the easier parts of the game and then bombspam the harder parts. Also stop trying to read manga while you're playing.
Pointdevice, I run out of bombs is the problem. And honestly I think Pointdevice makes me play a lot worse (but the game is still too hard for legacy) so I'll probably go back to the earlier games to regain my senses or something.

With pointdevice I tend to constantly try out new whims without ever settling into serious mode (and if I do start to get going, the death reset snaps me out of it).
 
Neat art of the newhous. Source also has Junko and much larger originals.

Pointdevice, I run out of bombs is the problem. And honestly I think Pointdevice makes me play a lot worse (but the game is still too hard for legacy) so I'll probably go back to the earlier games to regain my senses or something.

With pointdevice I tend to constantly try out new whims without ever settling into serious mode (and if I do start to get going, the death reset snaps me out of it).
Yeah, I probably play worse / more haphazardly in Pointdevice as well, but then you can afford to. It's fine to try new stuff out, since there's no real penalty for dying. If you quit and then load your game again you'll go back to the power you had when you first reached the last checkpoint (with -0.01 for the retry). And if you fail 50+ times on the same point then you'll stop losing power on retrying, meaning if you load your game you'll have the exact same power from when you first hit the checkpoint. So if you think you can eventually beat a section, just throw yourself at it over and over until you do. Better to save the bombs for the really tough stuff. If it takes a while, you can always take a break and come back to the same run later.
 

microfolk

Member
I can confirm Clownpiece's first two spellcards are far easier on Hard than on Normal. The second one in particular I was able to capture on my second try while I still can't capture it on normal, it's ridiculous. :V
 

ibyea

Banned
I can confirm Clownpiece's first two spellcards are far easier on Hard than on Normal. The second one in particular I was able to capture on my second try while I still can't capture it on normal, it's ridiculous. :V

I captured the second one on normal, but only when I gave up after 30 minutes attempt and tried it the next day and took me like 10 minutes. It's ridiculous.
 
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