Embracer buys Tatsujin aka Torplan back catalog

[Manualmartin]

BTW Martin, PLEASE tell/convince/brainwash Yuge-san to make some Toaplan goods or something if you can. I recently met Uemura-san and asked him if they have any goods or whatever so I can have an excuse to stop by Tatsujin's office and give them my money since I live like 20 minutes away, but he was like "lol nope... we had some t-shirts, but those are all gone and we don't have anything...". Model Toaplan ships or t-shirts or posters or anything is fine... but model ships would be really awesome and everyone needs a model of the Slap Fight ship... and the Fire Shark, and the Flying Shark, and the Super Fighter, and the Hyper Fighter, and all of the rest. I don't know if there's demand for something like that, and there probably isn't, so it probably isn't financially viable, but you know.

I hope we can find some good licensing partner who are willing to do some official merchandise. But decision and approval is always with Tatsujin, I can only give them advise.

There are some model planes. RC Berg done one with Tiger Heli.
http://www.rc-berg.co.jp/products/galle ... tiger.html

Not sure it was RC Berg, but been one with the ship from Truxton 2. From the Tatsujin office:

[Sima Tuna]

Tiger Heli Little Heli plush, dude. You have no bombs and one little heli.

[Steven]

BTW Martin, PLEASE tell/convince/brainwash Yuge-san to make some Toaplan goods or something if you can. I recently met Uemura-san and asked him if they have any goods or whatever so I can have an excuse to stop by Tatsujin's office and give them my money since I live like 20 minutes away, but he was like "lol nope... we had some t-shirts, but those are all gone and we don't have anything...". Model Toaplan ships or t-shirts or posters or anything is fine... but model ships would be really awesome and everyone needs a model of the Slap Fight ship... and the Fire Shark, and the Flying Shark, and the Super Fighter, and the Hyper Fighter, and all of the rest. I don't know if there's demand for something like that, and there probably isn't, so it probably isn't financially viable, but you know.

I hope we can find some good licensing partner who are willing to do some official merchandise. But decision and approval is always with Tatsujin, I can only give them advise.

There are some model planes. RC Berg done one with Tiger Heli.
http://www.rc-berg.co.jp/products/galle ... tiger.html

Not sure it was RC Berg, but been one with the ship from Truxton 2. From the Tatsujin office:

Alright, thanks. I missed the Kyuukyoku Tiger helicopter, unfortunately, and now it's only available from scalpers. I've also seen the Tatsujin Ou ship somewhere, but I forget where. I almost want to say that that one was made in the 90s... I don't remember, though.

[Carl-Henrik]

kinda curious how the controls on out zone are going to work. are they gonna provide rapid fire options? are you gonna be able to customize controls so you can keep rapid fire on a separate button from the normal shot? or are they gonna fix the flamethrower incompatibility with rapid fire enabled? I'm sure it will be fine however they go about it.

I'm going to track which weapon you're holding and disable auto fire (I also need to disable auto fire when entering hiscore names!)

But what I'm not sure about is what I will do about counting bullets for the flamethrower!

[bcass]

The main thing I think I'd want from these developments would be an all-new Toaplan STG with all the original staff involved. The thing is, sometimes you have to be careful what you wish for. It's a bit like when your favourite musician, band or film director releases a new album / film years after their success period. It usually doesn't turn out very well. Sometimes such things taint the artists legacy. Most creatives have a time-frame in which they hit their peak, and once that time-frame is over, it's over. Hard to accept, but that's just the way things are.

[Steven]

Tatsujin kind of announced that they are working on something new a few days ago when they announced the acquisition on their website. Yuge-san has apparently been thinking about making a new game for some time, so it's possible that it will happen.

I've recently learned what Uemura-san and Yuge-san's last game was, and it was published in a doujin magazine several years ago. I think it's probably safe to say it, so I will; the last game that they programmed that I am aware of was actually 1944 The Loop Master. I don't think a lot of people know this, but it's true. Ever wonder why it resembles Hishouzame in more than a few ways in regards to enemy patterns and placement and stuff? Well, now you know why. It's been a while since then, so I'm curious to see what they'd do.

[BIL]

^^^ Interesting... I wonder if their presence affected the game's aesthetic at all, too. Far grittier, ground-level and Toaplanesque than any preceding 194X title. Explains why I always thought of its look as "Ghost Pilots done right," GP being one of the weaker notable Toaplan epigones.

That savage, soulfully-stringed intro gives me a goddamn boner, god damn (｀w´メ)

"CON-TAAACT! Oh wait, it's one of ours. WAIT NO AIEEE"

Spoiler

1944: THE LOOP MASTER (the Zero be stolen yo, that's my headcanon )

[rtw]

I am enjoying this thread quite a bit. Would it be possible to fix the typo in the thread name ?

[BareKnuckleRoo]

Nate123 can do this by editing the first post in this topic to change the title, FYI. Or a mod can do it.

Model Toaplan ships or t-shirts or posters or anything is fine...

I would absolutely murder for one of those Get-Star posters.

[Rastan78]

I've recently learned what Uemura-san and Yuge-san's last game was, and it was published in a doujin magazine several years ago. I think it's probably safe to say it, so I will; the last game that they programmed that I am aware of was actually 1944 The Loop Master. I don't think a lot of people know this, but it's true. Ever wonder why it resembles Hishouzame in more than a few ways in regards to enemy patterns and placement and stuff? Well, now you know why. It's been a while since then, so I'm curious to see what they'd do.

Wow that is an epic discovery. I'd always wondered about this since the game had no credits. Weird for the time right? Also Raizing was known to develop it, but it doesn't seem like it's done in the style of Yagawa or Toyama's games at all. Criminally underrated game that gets no love for some reason. I always got the feeling of tiny dioramas or toy soldiers playing out the battles in 1944, and I get that same feeling from Toaplan's military shooters. Also isn't Uemura credited with sound programming for Bakraid around the same time 1944 was done? So he had an association with Raizing at the time for sure.

Not that I really doubt the validity of this, but it would be cool to get 100% confirmation of that in an interview or something. And even cooler to hear a bit more about the mysterious development of 1944.

[Rastan78]

Nate123 can do this by editing the first post in this topic to change the title, FYI. Or a mod can do it.

I'm a fan of typos in topic headers. It made me a little sad when "Gearshiters" got corrected.

[Steven]

I would absolutely murder for one of those Get-Star posters.

Shit, I want the whole set...

I've recently learned what Uemura-san and Yuge-san's last game was, and it was published in a doujin magazine several years ago. I think it's probably safe to say it, so I will; the last game that they programmed that I am aware of was actually 1944 The Loop Master. I don't think a lot of people know this, but it's true. Ever wonder why it resembles Hishouzame in more than a few ways in regards to enemy patterns and placement and stuff? Well, now you know why. It's been a while since then, so I'm curious to see what they'd do.

Wow that is an epic discovery. I'd always wondered about this since the game had no credits. Weird for the time right? Also Raizing was known to develop it, but it doesn't seem like it's done in the style of Yagawa or Toyama's games at all. Criminally underrated game that gets no love for some reason. I always got the feeling of tiny dioramas or toy soldiers playing out the battles in 1944, and I get that same feeling from Toaplan's military shooters. Also isn't Uemura credited with sound programming for Bakraid around the same time 1944 was done? So he had an association with Raizing at the time for sure.

Not that I really doubt the validity of this, but it would be cool to get 100% confirmation of that in an interview or something. And even cooler to hear a bit more about the mysterious development of 1944.

I've actually known about this for about a month, but I wasn't sure if it was supposed to be a secret or not, so I never mentioned it. A few days ago I found this information online when I was looking at a random Japanese game music wiki, which mentioned the doujin magazine: https://w.atwiki.jp/gamemusicbest100/pages/2859.html

In turn, this leads to the magazine itself, which is sold out: https://booth.pm/ja/items/1637983

Don't worry, after doing some confirmation, I'm not going to get in trouble or anything for mentioning it here; the information's already out there, but only in Japanese until today as far as I know, so at this point it's not a secret to the Japanese part of the internet and hasn't been for several years, so letting everyone here know doesn't really change anything anyway other than everyone who doesn't know Japanese finally finding out why 1944 The Loop Master plays like Hishouzame.

You are correct in thinking that Uemura-san worked on Bakraid; he made the sound driver.

Oh shit, I just found a copy of this magazine in an online store. 2200 yen, so I might as well buy it at this point and see what it says: https://www.beep-shop.com/ec/products/detail/1743

[BareKnuckleRoo]

I'm a fan of typos in topic headers. It made me a little sad when "Gearshiters" got corrected.

Alas poor Gearshiters thread. But it is important to have the name spelled correctly so you can find it searching by name for the topic title, no matter how hilarious the typo.

[Sumez]

As someone who considers some LRG releases but is almost always put off by the high shipping and taxes costs, I hope Embracer looks into coming up with some kind of solution for this for EU customers.

Wow, I hadn't considered this. I feel like it could be the one positive outcome from this whole mega-corporation invasion.
I'm of course glad that there are cool people involved in this stuff too (namely the Toaplan thing) who genuinely care about shooters and understand what types of games they are - that part is reassuring, so absolutely nothing personal against either of you. But generally when there's that much money involved, such positive intentions can easily get buried the moment a chance to increase profits by 0.5% has been identified.

[Creamy Goodness]

As someone who considers some LRG releases but is almost always put off by the high shipping and taxes costs, I hope Embracer looks into coming up with some kind of solution for this for EU customers.

Wow, I hadn't considered this. I feel like it could be the one positive outcome from this whole mega-corporation invasion.
I'm of course glad that there are cool people involved in this stuff too (namely the Toaplan thing) who genuinely care about shooters and understand what types of games they are - that part is reassuring, so absolutely nothing personal against either of you. But generally when there's that much money involved, such positive intentions can easily get buried the moment a chance to increase profits by 0.5% has been identified.

I can't help but feel things will get worse. I wouldn't be surprised if they start targeting smaller companies somehow. The conspiracy theorist in me thinks their first target would be the import scene. Basically bye bye to English in retail versions of imports they plan to put out.

[Carl-Henrik]

As someone who considers some LRG releases but is almost always put off by the high shipping and taxes costs, I hope Embracer looks into coming up with some kind of solution for this for EU customers.

Wow, I hadn't considered this. I feel like it could be the one positive outcome from this whole mega-corporation invasion.
I'm of course glad that there are cool people involved in this stuff too (namely the Toaplan thing) who genuinely care about shooters and understand what types of games they are - that part is reassuring, so absolutely nothing personal against either of you. But generally when there's that much money involved, such positive intentions can easily get buried the moment a chance to increase profits by 0.5% has been identified.

I can't help but feel things will get worse. I wouldn't be surprised if they start targeting smaller companies somehow. The conspiracy theorist in me thinks their first target would be the import scene. Basically bye bye to English in retail versions of imports they plan to put out.

I don't know what is going to happen, but without this happening I wouldn't have had the chance to come back to emulating the Toaplan games.

[Sumez]

I'm happy for you at least, Carl-Henrik! It does seem like an amazing opportunity to stumble upon.

[Bassa-Bassa]

I don't know what is going to happen, but without this happening I wouldn't have had the chance to come back to emulating the Toaplan games.

What's the problem with Mame's current emulation of Toaplan games?

[Sengoku Strider]

I don't know what is going to happen, but without this happening I wouldn't have had the chance to come back to emulating the Toaplan games.

What's the problem with Mame's current emulation of Toaplan games?

It's unlicensed? This is kind of an impolite ask.

[Bassa-Bassa]

Yeah, likely not too well phrased. I mean if he found something not correct with Mame's emulation to make the task of coding a new emulator worth it. If Capcom could use Mame for their recent releases with just a thank you message (and others without even that), I don't think "licensing" it is so much of an issue.

[Sumez]

Making an emulator isn't just a means to an end. If you're interested in the hardware and mechanics behinds the games, it's not like you'll sit down and just say "well, Mame already did it". No matter how well Mame has done it, that doesn't really do anything for you as a developer with an interest in achieving the same thing.

I can't speak for Carl-Henrik, but judging on what is already out there, it seems he's also interested in optimizing in ways mame by definition never will, with features that are centered more around the playability of the games (for example, reducing potential input lag) than simply a simulated recreation of the hardware.
I'm not too familiar with the inner workings of the games, but it seems to me that Toaplan games are generally good candidates for optimization via high level emulation, due to how little most of them rely on timed raster effects, etc.

If Capcom could use Mame for their recent releases with just a thank you message (and others without even that), I don't think "licensing" it is so much of an issue.

It's really not that simple: https://www.mamedev.org/legal.html

[Carl-Henrik]

Making an emulator isn't just a means to an end. If you're interested in the hardware and mechanics behinds the games, it's not like you'll sit down and just say "well, Mame already did it". No matter how well Mame has done it, that doesn't really do anything for you as a developer with an interest in achieving the same thing.

I can't speak for Carl-Henrik, but judging on what is already out there, it seems he's also interested in optimizing in ways mame by definition never will, with features that are centered more around the playability of the games (for example, reducing potential input lag) than simply a simulated recreation of the hardware.
I'm not too familiar with the inner workings of the games, but it seems to me that Toaplan games are generally good candidates for optimization via high level emulation, due to how little most of them rely on timed raster effects, etc.

If Capcom could use Mame for their recent releases with just a thank you message (and others without even that), I don't think "licensing" it is so much of an issue.

It's really not that simple: https://www.mamedev.org/legal.html

MAME is a thing and because of that I need to deliver a little extra without changing the games for a commercial PC version. Back when we started the Shark emulator we used to work together with MAME here and there, my initials are still in the OPL2 interface file header (note: my implementation was not sounding very good, but it worked for people who didn't have a SoundBlaster(tm) card) and we shared our work with the MAME team before ending updates on Shark. But their goal is accuracy and documentation which differs from what we're aiming for which is performance and easy to use. It is convenient that I have the Shark emulator code to rely on where we already had some of these improvements implemented!

[Bassa-Bassa]

But their goal is accuracy and documentation which differs from what we're aiming for which is performance and easy to use. It is convenient that I have the Shark emulator code to rely on where we already had some of these improvements implemented!

I see, thanks for the sincere answer. I was not expecting in this day an age this approach of not priorizing accuracy against any other aspect, but again, glad I asked and that you openly told us in this forum, thank you!

I can't speak for Carl-Henrik, but judging on what is already out there, it seems he's also interested in optimizing in ways mame by definition never will, with features that are centered more around the playability of the games (for example, reducing potential input lag) than simply a simulated recreation of the hardware.
I'm not too familiar with the inner workings of the games, but it seems to me that Toaplan games are generally good candidates for optimization via high level emulation, due to how little most of them rely on timed raster effects, etc.

No high-level anything this time, it seems, but the latency issue under Mame is as optimized as it could ever get on a PC (or current console, for that matter) thanks to Groovymame. You need in general a not too old PC, thats the only downside.

[Sumez]

No high-level anything this time, it seems

High- or low- level is always relative. All emulation is high-level compared to emulating the hardware on a resistor level Of course I don't know what Carl-Henrik is planning, but when you already know what the games you are emulating are going to do, that really gives you a lot of freedom for optimizations.

but the latency issue under Mame is as optimized as it could ever get on a PC (or current console, for that matter) thanks toGroovymame

I think that's debatable. Groovymame makes some optimizations in terms of rendering, but I'll admit I'm not too familiar with what it does. What Carl-Henrik talks about in the promo video is otpimizing input handling in relation to the timing of frame logic.
Maybe you're correct that it's not really possible to take it any further steps, but I'm not sure it's safe to just assume that.

[Bassa-Bassa]

I think that's debatable. Groovymame makes some optimizations in terms of rendering, but I'll admit I'm not too familiar with what it does. What Carl-Henrik talks about in the promo video is otpimizing input handling in relation to the timing of frame logic.
Maybe you're correct that it's not really possible to take it any further steps, but I'm not sure it's safe to just assume that.

Groovymame's very own frame delay feature is indeed a way of "optimizing input handling in relation to the timing of frame logic" without removing sprite buffers or any other artifice which potentially breaks the emulation (such as runahead) - it just eliminates the lag inherent to frame-based emulators (while tweaking the video driver to get rid of certain limitations which add latency). A further step (they call it "frame slice") is currently under development by Groovy's dev, but seems it can only be implemented in some drivers and, in practice, it wouldn't be different to a high setting of frame delay. It could be what Carl-Henrik is trying, but I'd be surprised if that's the case, to be honest.

[Carl-Henrik]

But their goal is accuracy and documentation which differs from what we're aiming for which is performance and easy to use. It is convenient that I have the Shark emulator code to rely on where we already had some of these improvements implemented!

I see, thanks for the sincere answer. I was not expecting in this day an age this approach of not priorizing accuracy against any other aspect, but again, glad I asked and that you openly told us in this forum, thank you!

Accuracy is overrated. Watching the self test every time you start or switch versions, awkward play flow contained in a modern game wrapper, etc. just gets in the way of actually playing the game.

[Bassa-Bassa]

Well, when we talk about accuracy here we're normally thinking about slowdowns, which is the hardest part to get right and at the same time, crucial for many games in this genre. Input lag, audio latency, graphic glitches and other aspects which affect the way you play are also in mind.

[Steven]

But their goal is accuracy and documentation which differs from what we're aiming for which is performance and easy to use. It is convenient that I have the Shark emulator code to rely on where we already had some of these improvements implemented!

I see, thanks for the sincere answer. I was not expecting in this day an age this approach of not priorizing accuracy against any other aspect, but again, glad I asked and that you openly told us in this forum, thank you!

Accuracy is overrated. Watching the self test every time you start or switch versions, awkward play flow contained in a modern game wrapper, etc. just gets in the way of actually playing the game.

The self test can go to hell. Have you seen how long it takes in Wardner? I use the auto-skip things in the M2 versions when available and I have save states set up to skip them in games that don't have the option.

[Carl-Henrik]

Well, when we talk about accuracy here we're normally thinking about slowdowns, which is the hardest part to get right and at the same time, crucial for many games in this genre. Input lag, audio latency, graphic glitches and other aspects which affect the way you play are also in mind.

In terms of emulation accuracy it generally means every bit of every cycle is identical to the original hardware and software from power-on. Even better if there is electronic level accuracy than simply emulating a cpu.

[Steven]

If you want to look at it that way, the M2 ShotTriggers games aren't accurate anyway, as they have all sorts of things that are different from the arcade releases, like changing bosses to make them time out when they originally didn't and bug fixes and whatever else they have added/changed/improved. Oh yeah, improved... they have lower input lag than the arcade versions, as well, although you can turn that off for whatever reason. Not sure why you'd ever want more input lag, unless you've played a game so many times that you can tell the difference between 2 frames of lag and 3 frames of lag and having 2 frames messes you up or something.