[VX] Touhou: Death Cheaters

Can you cheat death again? ...and again?

Hello, hello! This here is my first game on VX. I started RPG Maker on January of 2012, and actual development started around 2 months ago. I'm still learning things like variables and mapping, meaning plenty of things to change/fix/remove...

~

So, this is a fangame about Touhou. Heard of it? Yes? No? It's okay, you do not need to know anything about Touhou to play this game. It starts in a period where most characters don't know each other yet, and when they first appear they'll have their titles in their names (such as Shrine Maiden, or Magician) and will introduce themselves to the protagonists. Hopefully this, and slowly discovering the world you are in will ease newcomers into this game without any Touhou knowledge.

Though I would like to stress, that despite being a game that is friendly to the non-Touhou fan, it is not 100% canon. It has original plot mixed with the Touhou canon. Please keep that in mind~

Let us begin...

Story

Spoiler for:

Long ago...

It is said that once in every person's lifetime, a day of inevitable death would befall them. To escape this fate, people would discover a paraalel world to ours called Gensokyo. There, the concept of dying is diffrent, and the unavoidable death that awaited them in the human world would not chase them there.

But Gensokyo - a land that vaguely resembled feudel Japan - also had it's own dangers. Terrified of dying in this strange new world, the people who came here created the Death Card. An unholy power that violently rips the soul from the body, and grants it's user inifnite power to destroy whatever threatened them before returning to their bodies again. This angered the Hakurei - the clan that secures Gensokyo - as those people would exist in both the realm of the living and the dead, whilist wreaking havoc to defend themselves. The Hakurei would later call them "Death Cheaters".

~

After prolonged conflicts, the Hakurei chased them into hiding, and wiping out anyone remaining. The death cheaters were declared to be no more, and those who managed to survive blended in with the many different societies of the land and even managed to find love.

Today

Years later, a mysterious entity by the name of Matilda appeared in Gensokyo. Her messengers were sent throughout the land asking it's residents to pledge their loyalty to their new "empress" (a title which has never existed before), and to put an end to the Hakurei's Spell Card system, a law that allowed anyone to duel without dying through the use of non-fatal magic. Matilda promises absolute peace between humans and demons, even if it means destroying the elite members of the Hakurei Clan.

Reimu Hakurei, one of the prominent shrine maidens, has declared Matilda as an abomination and must be exterminated. The Hakurei now must seek out this unknown enemy, and hope that they will not require the gathering of allies...

Meanwhile...

Those who wield the Death Card were horrified to learn of a rumor that with the appearance of Matilda, death from the human world swept into Gensokyo, eagerly searching for all those who escaped it's grasp. Because it cannot interfere with the concept of death in this world by killing directly, it shape-shifts into tricks and false pleasures to make the death cheaters literally kill themselves by their own hand by falling into it's fatal traps.

~

Alice, a curious magician, believes in these terrible rumors as well. After finding a Death Card for herself, she has become obsessed with learning more about this dark power and is convinced that it can do more than laugh in the face of death. But if all those who have used it are taken from the human world's death, then her quest for this forbidden knowledge will be destroyed forever. She must find them before they are either tricked into dying or worse... exterminated by the Hakurei!

Can Reimu and her clan secure Gensokyo from this unknown threat?
And will Alice finally discover the true power of the death cheaters, whilst risking her own life from the Hakurei?

Let us pray they never cross paths!

Characters

Spoiler for:

Main

Spoiler for:

Reimu

A shrine maiden who resolves incidents and manages the Hakurei Border. Reimu is intuitive, optimistic, fairly straightforward towards people, and can be rather curious. Highly devoted to her duties, she secures the land with her clan whenever threat arrises.

Reimu was born in a time where the name "death cheater" was long forgotten. Hence, she was never told about the Death Card, nor about those who used it against her clan. Kids who visit the shrine sometimes tell her stories about "People who laugh at death with immortality", but Reimu simply brushes it off and tells them not to believe such nonsense.

With the appearance of Matilda, this could be the Hakurei's greatest incident yet. For Reimu, it could lead to a past where she never knew existed...

Alice

A magician with the gift of making and manipulating dolls. A secretive and confident person, who is mostly indifferent to the people she meets. Alice is greatly attached to magic, and often embarks on journeys that take her deep into the mystical areas in Gensokyo.

In one of her travels, she stumbled upon a Death Card in one of Gensokyo's many forests, presumably drove it's previous owner ironically to suicide. Terror and excitement filled her heart, as she could not believe that in her hands was a power that once could have destroyed half of Gensokyo. Infinitely fascinated by this dark power, she now spends her time researching anonymous information about the death cheaters in the Forest of Magic. She authored a manual called "How to Become a Card Wielding Death Cheater", despite knowing that may never find an audience.

Alice has committed to finding someone, anyone, who holds another one of these forbidden powers, risking the dreaded thought of being exposed to the Hakurei while at it.

Marisa

An ordinary human who learned the power of using magic. Her self-indulgance and disagreeable nature would take her to places where most people would not dare step foot in, leading her to many conflicts and treasures in Gensokyo's more obscure regions.

She frequently visits the shrine to see what the Hakurei are doing, and "accompanies" Reimu in solving incidents (not necessarily by permission). She is also neighbors with Alice, and is the only one aware of Alice's recent discovery. Marisa constantly tells her to get rid of the Death Card before something terrible happens, despite her own curiosity for this dark power.

Minister Wayzer

Long seen as a laughable, but still somewhat dangerous nuisance to the Hakurei, Wayzer collaborates with unknown organizations and cults to practice dangerous magic. Though it is unclear what exactly his goals are, and why he is always trying to threaten the Hakurei. His plots are usually foiled by Marisa as they both end up going to Gensokyo's more obscure regions by chance.

A true coward when it comes to fleeing for himself, yet is a master of persuasion when it comes to making deals with strange and shady creatures. He is trying to revive some kind of ancient demon, but is ambushed by the Hakurei and Marisa yet again.

Matilda

An entity who believes is destined to become Gensokyo's symbolic ruler of peace, and convinced the only way to do so is to destroy the Spell Card system along with the Hakurei who refuse to pledge loyalty. Not much is known about her, where she comes from, or what she looks like. Perhaps she is preparing a grand entrance while she sends her loyalists to speak on her behalf...

Kids

Spoiler for:

Marisa Jr.

Calls herself 'Maristar' to fairies, a carefree and energetic child that finds absolute joy in magic. She lives in the Human Village and is always seeking adventure. She loves playing with the nearby fairies and usually drags along her friend Lezard Jr. to help "resolve incidents", which means stealing spell cards from the very same fairies she plays with, just to show off to her friends her brand new spell cards she just "happened to have found" (and getting them both in trouble from the adults).

Junior often visits the shrine to play with Reimu, much to the shrine maiden's protests of being "busy sweeping nothing". She idolizes Marisa, and tries to follow her when they're at the shrine to the Forest of Magic, but simply ends up being escorted back to her parents.

Although it doesn't always happen, Marisa Jr. sometimes has vivid nightmares about places and people she had never seen before. This issue has deeply concerned her parents, and are actively seeking treatment for her troubled sleep.

Lezard Jr.

A child prodigy who practices simple magic without the aid of Spell Cards. Timid, yet, challenges his own shyness to become bold and ambitious like his father, but still finds it hard to adapt to his simple-minded peers. He is friends with Marisa Jr., and unfortunately ends up being her sidekick in their shenanigans. His wish is to make origami come to life, and build a living origami forest for Marisa Jr. that resembles a miniature Forest of Magic.

Nina

Self-proclaimed leader of the kids, Nina is responsible for gathering the kids for meetings to discuss issues and rumors that "adults simply cannot understand", such as someone's parent could be vampire, or the shrine maiden Reimu is really just a lazy drunkard. Her popularity has boosted her ego, therefore she can be arrogant and always thinks about putting her self-importance ahead of everyone's problems. Nina is constantly irritated by Marisa Jr.'s presence, as she has recently become more popular because of her stories about dueling with the nearby fairies, not to mention Marisa Jr. has a more energetic and fun personality.

Nina believes she and Lezard are destined to be together forever, and to her it seems that Marisa Jr. could be standing in the way.

On The Road

Spoiler for:

Lokkai

The only demon that was allowed to serve the Hakurei. A hulking figure with one eye who does not speak any human language, but has the simple of job of patroling the paths that lead up to the shrine. He was instructed by a demon translator to not look for 'intruders', or 'suspicious people', but instead for 'unnatural auras'. The shrine maiden Reimu does not see what use Lokkai is to the shrine, yet her subordinates insist he has been keeping invisible nuisances away that could have otherwise been quite troublesome.

Yanu

A wandering samurai who lost his master to an unknown enemy. Yanu believes his master was killed by a warrior "from beyond the borders of life", and has been searching for the truth ever since. Often he visits the Human Village (a small town for mere humans near the Hakurei Shrine) and trains the local children in simple swordsmanship, a way for him to ease his mind. Yanu occasionally visits the shrine to assist the Hakurei in exterminating local demons, or simply to meditate.

Although the Hakurei are always welcoming visitors, they seem a little irritated that Yanu has never donated a single yen to the shrine, despite him carrying a fat wallet. Perhaps they couldn't bring themselves to ask him about donations because of his late master. At least for now that is...

Sojjo Seller of Candy

A strange man who travels the lands of Gensokyo in a tengu mask and sells sake-filled candies to adults. He is seen hopping on one leg as he approaches people on the road, then offers them a riddle with the promise of a delicious sweet. But that usually ends in customers running for their lives before he even introduces himself.
He is in search for "The Ultimate Customer", one who will become his frequent buyer and purchase his more expensive stock, until Sojjo eventually completely runs out of candy to sell.

His father's ghost now haunts the house they used to live in, protecting the last unspoiled candy left. Sojjo believes that finding The Ultimate Customer will somehow free his father's spirit.

Features

Spoiler for:

- Engage the enemy with different strategies!

• Melee
• Danmaku
• Spell Card/Skill Card
• Familiar
• SHIELD
• ? ? ?

[Spoiler explains the commands and the Barrier Rule]

Spoiler for:

Melee: attack with equipped weapon.

Danmaku: Fire magical bullets that consume little SP (MP). Can be weaker or stronger than melee depending on the character.

Spell Card (magic): Devastating attacks that consume little to many SP. Spell Cards can also heal, buff and debuff enemies and characters.

Skill Cards: Melee charging attacks that consume LIFE. They are varied and their main use is to destroy barriers.

Familiar: Summons helpers that are either offensive, defensive, or passive. They take a long time to summon, but can turn the tide on difficult fights or waves of enemies. If they are destroyed during battle, you must perform a ritual in any nearby shrine to bring them back. Familiars can be yin yang orbs, spheres, bats, crows, and even dolls. (more on familiars on a later update)

SHIELD: You may never even think of using this command, but most often than not it will save you from One Hit Kills. The Shield cuts all damage by half, and is the only way to restore little SP manually without items. Once your SP is depleted, select the Shield command every turn to further fill up lost SP. During this, you can either use what little SP you have to heal or buff while attacking, or keep refilling your SP to use a powerful Spell Card attack. All this while the enemy slowly finishes you off with glee.

? ? ?: Mom... I'm really really scared... but I have to... I have to... to live...


Mashing melee repeatedly will not even get you past the first battle in the game. As well overusing powerful Spell Cards will drop your SP dangerously low that you will be unable to heal yourself, and not every character will be able to use items. To know what commands to use, you need to know the Barrier Rule!

The Barrier Rule

Spoiler for:

Enemies will come with either a barrier, or no barrier at all. Barriers act as defenses against physical, and magical attacks. You can see what barrier they have next to their names. They are...

M-Barrier: Strong against melee. Counter with danmaku.
D-Barrier: Strong against danmaku. Use melee for this.
S-Barrier: Cuts Spell Card damage half. Some enemies may absorb the damage.

(these three barriers can be mixed. Such as DS-Barrier, or MD-Barrier)

X-Barrier: Immune to most Spell Cards, and your attacks are significantly weak. Perform a Barrier Crush to start dishing out damage before the enemy repairs it again. This is only used by more stronger enemies.

[spoiler explains the Barrier Crush]

Spoiler for:

An enemy has 1200 LIFE. Once you drop it to 900~980 (the X-Barrier has high defense, so your typical attack of 100+ will be no greater than 20 or so), the barrier will crack, and the enemy's ATB speed will decrease. This leaves them open for a Barrier Crush using a Skill Card you own. Afterwards you can attack without worrying about the enemy's defense. Some enemies will charge a spell to repair their barrier, and usually accompanied with a mandatory devastating attack. You can risk trying to slow the enemy down, or start healing/buffing your characters instead.

Only Skill Cards can do a Barrier Crush. continuing to use any other command will not destroy the X-Barrier.

Death Barrier: A barrier used only by death cheaters. Pray you never encounter one of them...

~

Enemies can switch barriers instantly, and some will counter if you actually hit them with the correct attack.

There may be more barriers out there. Discover them yourself!

- Donate to small shrines in your travels to receive blessings; such as run faster, instantly increase your LIFE/SP, and increase the effectiveness of SP restoration with Shield. But be careful about donating to cursed shrines...

- Unique weapons for each character with preloaded Spell Cards and attributes, giving you more strategy by switching weapons in mid battle (penalty for switching weapons is yet to be decided).

- Level up your danmaku and spell cards.

- Capture enemy spell cards by following optional conditions in battle. You cannot use them as they have become your trophies, but collecting many of them may give you a great benefit...

- Eye candy - 10 frames per battler, and dozens of animations for spells reflecting the Touhou games.

- Enemies that give clues about what attacks they will use from their animations.

- Hand-drawn portraits and cutscenes.

- Level Cap per chapter, to save you the worry of grinding too much. Maximizing the level for one character earns you more gold in battle.

- Duel Battle - sudden, tense one on one battles that happen unexpectedly right after major events, where the save point was almost in your reach. Defeat will not get you a game over, but you will lose the rewards you could have won (you can still have a rematch, but it will also happen suddenly).

- Fight against powerful Chapter Finale Bosses that span multiple battles, mimicking the Spell Card attacks from Touhou.
[spoiler tells us moore]

Spoiler for:

The first battle would be a normal battle like any other. After shortly downing the boss, you will enter the next battle with a giant "FIRST SPELL CARD: *ridiculous name*" on the screen. The boss will attack using a linear or non-linear pattern that you need to figure out to go to the next battle which will flash with "SECOND SPELL CARD: *another ridiculous name*" and so on. Bosses may have 3, 5 or even 7 spell cards. Despite being multiple battles, they're not terribly long.  Reaching the majority of those Spell Cards will get you a checkpoint (you will continue here if you die) and an "INTERMISSION". You can go to your Menu and optimize your party for the rest of the remaining Spell Cards.

You can see an early version of this in the video below.

- Take a break from your journey and enter Wonderland; a fantastic theme park filled with unsupervised rides, dangerous drunkards, and broken arcade machines gathered from the human world! As well as participate in Wonderland's true attraction: The Super Mash Breakers WORLD, a coliseum of intense battles and grand prizes from warriors across the borders of the universe!

- Transcend your soul to the spirit world to cheat death.
[alpha video for this in the future]

Video

Since this is quite an early project, I don't have very much to share in terms of villages, forests, mountains, or dungeons. This video that will show you the intro, which I have to admit didn't turn out exactly as I wanted.

Please tell me what you think.

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zku32F_lw8k" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zku32F_lw8k</a>

The intro's to do list:

- Rewrite the dialogue
- Explain visually how the shrine maiden easily went past the two samurai and caught up with the minister
- Animate the enemy fairy, Fa
- Make the tutorial text pop out more
- Add more moving things in the map
- Add 'low HP' animation for enemies (they vanish when almost killed... not supposed to happen)
- Add the missing sky background in the first pre-battle
- Fix sound delay for Orbs of Light
- ......

SCREENSHOTS

Spoiler for:

Take flight in areas you cannot traverse on foot. More on this on a later update.




The text under Game over changes depending on where you lost. Here, you died from the beginning!


~

Old Screenshots
These were made around March. A reminder of what the project looked like in it's first stages of development.

Spoiler for:

QUESTIONS!

Spoiler for:

- I am not into this Touhou thing at all, and I don't know much about it. Can I still enjoy this game without a truckload of info dump and feeling alienated?
Yes, definitely.


- How many playable characters, exactly?
Many, but they won't detract you from the more story-focused characters. You also briefly take the role of enemy characters to see things from their perspective.


- Are there rules to use the Death Card?
They are in Alice's practically titled manual: How to Become a Card Wielding Death Cheater. It will be posted here soon... or maybe it will just be in the game.


- Why do you have the option of changing the character names? BLASPHEMY!
You don't need to change them, and you can just pretend the naming thing isn't there.


- Touhou is a hard game. Same goes for it's fanmade games... Will I even finish the prologue?
This game will have that difficult feel, but it won't be brutally hard. At times you will face enemies that make you think you're under-leveled, but the truth is in figuring out how the enemy behaves to achieve victory (not to mention proper use of the Shield command). The intro is pretty easy though.

And of course you'll finish the prologue. *snort*


- From where do I continue if I am wiped out?
If you die from a normal enemy, you will restart from the last room you entered. Any doors you unlocked will stay open, and you can keep your recently opened treasures.
If you die from a boss, you will restart the battle (or from checkpoint if it has multiple battles). Do note that after continuing, any item you used in battle will not be replenished.


- Can I raise that disembodied head called Yukkuri and have it follow me around?
Maybe.


...and can I kill it?
I am sure no one will save you when it comes back for revenge.



- The name "Death Cheaters" sounds silly for a title.
Others seem to agree...

Spoiler for:

- You said you began on 2012, but it says "Death Cheaters (2011)".
Ugh... I'll fix that later.


- Judging from the single artwork, will all your characters be chibi?
Yes. The current artwork for the shrine maiden Reimu is a placeholder, as I am aiming for a cute/serious chibi look... if that makes sense?


- Can I skip the title screen intro?
Of course.


- Any 9 jokes? Did you know Marisa stole the thing? And what about Sakuya's pa- *knifed*
No (>_<)

Credits

Spoiler for:

[I will properly credit as soon as I get back to Windows but from the top of my head:]

ZUN Team Shanghai Alice: Touhou
modern algebra: ATS
Hanzo Kimura: Title Screen
Tankentai: Battle System
KGC: Custom Commands
Activision/Infinity Ward: That one Call of Duty SFX
... : ...

Notes

Spoiler for:

A tiny, tiny, clever commander's note
I will continue this project on Ace. But since I'm already too deep into working on the prologue, it will be the only thing I finish on VX. The rest of the game will continue from Chapter 1 on Ace. Since the prologue will be around 1~2 hours long, and there's no level up or experience to be gained (making the need for a menu unnecessary), I've decided that this is the best solution for this goddamned game.

Last Word
That kanji? Yeah it's probably wrong...

Wow, this looks insanely good for being your first game! I recently started my very own myself (Started using RPG Maker in December 2012). Seems like you are a really fast learner, and Im looking forward to try this out! really Impressed

Thanks Clou-- I mean, Dizturb3d 

It did take me around a year to do anything really, and I thought it might have been a waste. But I am glad you liked it! A demo should be available... sooon.

I really likewant those face graphics... All I have are some blown-up RM2K ones...

Oh... guess I left this game to die young

No seriously, I think I picked the worst time to make this thread... right when I am unable to update it regularly. So instead of a real update (can't say I really have one now), here is a random video that shows a bunch of ideas and some battle animations. Just something to keep this thread from falling into an early limbo.

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w8iwOz9fHns" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w8iwOz9fHns</a>

Stay tuned~