Dezaemon 2 questions and answers and hints and tips

[grovsnus]

Yeah, I think we need a thread where interested people can ask all kinds of questions and give hints and tips on various issues about this fantastic "game". Hopefully we the users of Deza2 can all pitch in and answer what questions we can.

I guess I'll start then:

Question:
1.) I'm trying to make a typical shmup snake with a head and a tail. I want to make the tail not take damage from my shots, but I want it to explode when the head is killed. Any tips?

2.) Anyone using the Saturn floppy disk drive? Could you describe how it works, and what I might need to know before buying one?

Hints of some value maybe:
1.) When dealing with fire from common sprites (i.e. not bosses), the bullets always originate from the center of the squares alotted to the sprite in question. So to make a sprite look good firing, its weapon thingy would have to be in the very center of the square (or rectangle, depending on sprite size). For a sprite with a cannon, the muzzle would have to end only a little off center.

2.) You can juxtaposition a sprite onto another sprite, and only the actual sprite will occupy space "above" the other sprite. That means you can make for example a gun emplacement without a barrel, and then paste a separate barrel sprite onto it, making it possible to have a gun emplacement with a barrel that moves independently and/or tracks the player's ship as opposed to having the whole gun emplacement tracking.

3.) SFX does not stand for sound effects.

[jp]

2.) Anyone using the Saturn floppy disk drive? Could you describe how it works, and what I might need to know before buying one?

The Saturn FDD comes with a boot disc and a floppy disk. Basically, you hook it up to the back of the Saturn, and use the FDD disc to access the FDD and transfer files between the console and the FDD. Though Dezaemon 2 can save DIRECTLY to the FDD... whereas most (note: virtually all) other games cannot.

[Zeether]

2.) Anyone using the Saturn floppy disk drive? Could you describe how it works, and what I might need to know before buying one?

The Saturn FDD comes with a boot disc and a floppy disk. Basically, you hook it up to the back of the Saturn, and use the FDD disc to access the FDD and transfer files between the console and the FDD. Though Dezaemon 2 can save DIRECTLY to the FDD... whereas most (note: virtually all) other games cannot.

So that's how you get games off the net created w/Dezaemon 2?

[jp]

2.) Anyone using the Saturn floppy disk drive? Could you describe how it works, and what I might need to know before buying one?

The Saturn FDD comes with a boot disc and a floppy disk. Basically, you hook it up to the back of the Saturn, and use the FDD disc to access the FDD and transfer files between the console and the FDD. Though Dezaemon 2 can save DIRECTLY to the FDD... whereas most (note: virtually all) other games cannot.

So that's how you get games off the net created w/Dezaemon 2?

Indeed.

[grovsnus]

Does no one else on this forum dabble with Deza2 these days? I can't believe it.

Anyway, my current project is a horizontal shmup that I think will be called Plutokrati (eng: Plutocracy). It's about aliens invading Earth, set in the future where cybernetics and genetic engineering is all the rage. The player(s) control the alien craft, fighting off hordes of strange creatures like cows with big guns on them. I'm hoping to unveil it and unleash it upon an unsuspecting crowd this christmas.

Thanks for the info on the FDD. I have set out my hooks and hope to catch one soon.

[jp]

Does no one else on this forum dabble with Deza2 these days? I can't believe it.

Anyway, my current project is a horizontal shmup that I think will be called Plutokrati (eng: Plutocracy). It's about aliens invading Earth, set in the future where cybernetics and genetic engineering is all the rage. The player(s) control the alien craft, fighting off hordes of strange creatures like cows with big guns on them. I'm hoping to unveil it and unleash it upon an unsuspecting crowd this christmas.

Thanks for the info on the FDD. I have set out my hooks and hope to catch one soon.

Definitely let us know when you finish your game, I'll give it a shot! (though I haven't messed with Dezaemon 2 much truth be told).

[grovsnus]

Originally I meant just showing it to local friends, but now I realize the possibilities of cheap and easy file transfer that the FDD brings. So yeah, I could very well send you a disk if I manage to score an FDD.

[PC Engine Fan X!]

For grovsnus,

Have you tried out Athena's Dezaemon Plus+ for the PSX platform? You can save up to one complete shmup creation on a single PSX memory card with full accounterment of BGM tunes for: Title screen, various stages, end-stage boss theme, and even the game over theme as well...

It's recommended that you use an optional PSX mouse controller for better ease and utilization of DP+'s menu interface setup upon booting it up...

Some of the various sample BGM tunes that I've created with the DP+ interface sound light years better than the BGM tunes that are included with the sampler shmup demos (sound like shit)...

A cool full-color booklet that was published for the Japanese market: "Create a shooter in 7 Days: Dezaemon Plus+" gives the user more tips and tricks to create that special DP+ shmup masterpiece. Unfortunately, it's entirely in Japanese though...

DP+ booklet trivia: On the front cover of this peculiar DP+ creation booklet, there's a kick-ass picture of a Thunderforce inspired player's spacecraft taken from Thunderforce V shmup title using DP+'s built-in painting/drawing program...pretty intriguing, hmmm? However, one could build such a Thunderforce V inspired shmup by using DP+'s shooter creation engine and it would play in "yoko" format indeed -- it would be something different for a change of pace but amateur-ish at best..... ^_~

A few of Dezaemon Plus+ user created shmups have been uploaded to the net -- they're out there alrighty..... ^_~

There is also the PSX import title of Dezaemon Kids as well to check out.

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

[grovsnus]

I haven't tried Deza plus, but from what I understand Deza 2 is a bit more advanced.

On the memory pack for the saturn I think at least two complete games can be saved, but when it comes to showing your work to people around the world, a memory card is kind of impractical. I'd much rather send a floppy disk to someone. Also, I would feel safer and more motivated knowing that my creations were backed up on different media.

Yeah, amateurish is the key word for describing my work at the moment. I have produced quite a few cool-looking and decently animated sprites, but the whole level design thing is hard to get right. Maybe it would feel easier if I hadn't played all those top-notch commercial shmups before.

I would like to see "Super Deza 3 turbo" on a current gen system. I would totally buy that.

[sven666]

would it be possible to transfer a deza 2 gamefile to a computer and then burn it to a CDrom?

i would like to get into something like this but yeah.. the langauge barrier and the lack of distribution for the finished media has always put me of.
otherwise it is a perfect tool for an amateur like me i think

ed: in that french shmup documentary the show a deza2 created game called "day of the riots", mecha based shmup that looks awesome, is there any way to get hold of it?

[grovsnus]

It is indeed a perfect tool for amateurs. You can do pretty much anything you can think of, and a lot of things that don't seem possible at first can be done with a little creative use of the engine.

I was afraid I wouldn't be able to navigate through the game when I ordered it, but it turned out to be almost exclusively icon-driven with very little text. And when I don't understand the icons I just change them and test it out to see what it did. It's really easy to get into.

And hey, I created this thread with this stuff in mind. I figured every deza user knows something that some other deza users don't, so we can help eachother out.

I have read that the disks are formatted in a non PC standard way, but I have also heard that transfering the files to a PC is possible. I don't really know, but I will try it out when I get an FDD.

[Shatterhand]

There isn't any Dezaemon for PCs? it would be the perfect tool for amateurs shmups-developers as you could easily distribute them.

And I am not talking about the impossible-to-use-try-to-program-a-script-language-in-japanese Shooter Maker 95. It seems Dezaemon is a lot easier to use...

[jp]

Originally I meant just showing it to local friends, but now I realize the possibilities of cheap and easy file transfer that the FDD brings. So yeah, I could very well send you a disk if I manage to score an FDD.

You wouldn't even have to send me a disk. Just upload the file, I could download it to a disk, and bam! I can play it. This is how a lot of 2D shooters made on that game are spread about.

[JJG]

I just bought a mint complete copy for $23 shipped, not sure what it's worth but the price seemed right. So I'll be testing this out in the next week, should be interesting.

[J-Manic]

I've tried a few times to create a shmup with my Dezaemon 2 (Saturn). It's pretty difficult if you don't know any Japanese.

I hear Dezaemon Kids for the PS1 is a lot easier to mess with. I'd like to grab a copy of that.

[PC Engine Fan X!]

I've tried a few times to create a shmup with my Dezaemon 2 (Saturn). It's pretty difficult if you don't know any Japanese.

I hear Dezaemon Kids for the PS1 is a lot easier to mess with. I'd like to grab a copy of that.

Plus the fact that Dezaemon Kids is a 2-disc set and on the 2nd disc, are 100 different user created shmup games (made with the Dezaemon Plus creation engine, of course) to try out... ^_~

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

[J-Manic]

Really?! That's pretty awesome! Dezaemon Kids is now at the top of my "Games 2 Get" list.

[Dylan1CC]

I got a sealed copy from Wolfgames about 5 years ago, toyed with the menus a bit, and sadly haven't tried it since. I've been meaning to delve into it deeper for a long time. It'd be great if a Japanese/English speaking fan started a tutorial thread or site for the game's ins and outs. Is the FDD the only option for saving your games or can you also use a Saturn ram cart? btw grovsnus, you should post some pics Plutokrati of when it's done. Shmups haven't had decent cow/dairy blasting action since Air Zonk's moo-moo power up.

[grovsnus]

In Deza2, about the only japanese text is the explanatory text in the bottom left corner that pops up when you move your cursor over a button or icon. But it says things like "rotation" on the buttons, or they have nice icons on them, so I find them very often self-explanatory.

A big green button with japanese text on it is very important though. From the wrenching screens, it takes you to where you set all the parameters and options for your sprites and stuff. Once you've seen it, you recognise it.

When I started using Deza2, I just pressed everything to see where it took me and/or what it did. I would recommend doing that with a demo game loaded, to see where things are placed and so forth. That would also let you see what happens when you alter a certain parameter or option.

Dylan1CC: Yes, you can save games on ramcarts. I think at least two complete games will fit on a single cart. It depends on how much stuff you cram into the games. And yeah, I'll try and post pics of Plutokrati.

[Dylan1CC]

^^^^

Thanks for the info.

[grovsnus]

My work with Plutokrati is steadily progressing, albeit slowly. It really does take a lot of planning and work to produce something even moderately cool. Lately I have been focusing on discovering not so obvious tricks to aid my designing.

This one is about bosses, or any large enemy really:

For the biggest enemies you create, there are only one or two frames of animation available. It seemed to me that this fact would make for static, uninteresting bosses. But I found out that you can take tiles out of the bosses, make them into separate small enemies, and animate them like hell. This also lets you create bosses with hitareas, since you can set the bullets to go through the boss' main body and do damage only to the smaller enemy/-ies within. It also lets you create that cool effect of glowing wreckage left after you blow off a cannon or whatever. Just have the enemy turn into another enemy upon death and animate that enemy to portray the glowing charred remains of the first enemy.

Also, I am working on that snake thing, and I think I'm onto something, but I'm not ready to share this info yet. I don't even know if anyone is reading this.

[Rozyrg]

Sorry to bump an ancient thread... I'm just hungry for any tips on making enemies in Deza2.

I got the game the other week and even building stuff you'd think would be simple (i.e. the classic two-section tank) leaves me scratching my head.

So much of the stuff in the default games I have no idea how to even start on, either (such as the snakes), so if anyone else has experience building such things with the game, I'm eager to listen.

[PC Engine Fan X!]

Sorry to bump an ancient thread... I'm just hungry for any tips on making enemies in Deza2.

I got the game the other week and even building stuff you'd think would be simple (i.e. the classic two-section tank) leaves me scratching my head.

So much of the stuff in the default games I have no idea how to even start on, either (such as the snakes), so if anyone else has experience building such things with the game, I'm eager to listen.

For Rozyrg,

You just need to experiment with the various tools in Editor mode and learn by trial and error what certain functions do what. ^_~

There is a Dezaemon 2 book that shows you how to make your own shmup but the "catch" is that it's in Japanese. There is a book called "How To Make a Shooter in 7 Days" for the PSX version of Dezaemon Plus which is an interesting read...it too is presented entirely in Japanese as well. ^_~

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

[Rozyrg]

Hmmm... I can't read japanese; but thanks for the tip. I'll look around for some extra info on that.

The FAQ I have has gotten me through most of the basic stuff (how to make simple things, what each button does, etc.) and I can get around ok now (minus the BG editor...yikes ) ; but I guess I just want to know more.

For instance, the OP mentions using multiple smaller enemies to make larger ones more visually interesting (I've heard this elsewhere, too); but is there an actual way to link them/ make one part be destroyed with another? Also, how do those enemies in BioMetal spawn 4 powerups at once? So many questions...

(Goes back to tinkering with the game...)

[Rozyrg]

Ok, I just figured out what the cracked egg icon does, that solves a lot of the mystery. (So much for already knowing the basics... DOH!)

So, for my little tank to work, it would be something like..

shoot base> base dies, destroys turret >> turret dies, generates damaged base
shoot damaged base> damaged base dies, generates ground debris

Cool. That definitely opens up a lot of interesting possibilities. Crazy explosions, crashing planes, all that fun stuff.

[J-Manic]

Man, I really need to start messing with my Deza2. It's just sitting on the shelf.

[Rozyrg]

It's pretty intimidating at first; but once you get past the language/confusion barrier, it's extraordinarily addicting. I spent one night just adding little effects and tweaks to one of the default games.

The music editor still baffles me, though. Not enough that it deters my ambition to make a bootleg version of Twin Cobra's 'Tsugaru' for my first level.

[J-Manic]

I hear ya, Rozyrg. I just have to find the time to sit down and fool around with it. I think I'll enjoy the music part the most since I've been making music for a while now.

[Rozyrg]

Nice! I'm definitely more of an art guy, just utterly lost when it comes to music.

Well, I think I figured out the snake thing. I had some ideas how, tried it out on Blast Works just for kicks and... it worked. (I actually didn't think snakes were possible in that game.) It should work in Deza as well.

Basically, you just give all the separate segments the same motion and line them up about like you'd expect. Since the enemies have to be scrolled into to start moving, each segment starts the motion just after the one before it, creating a nice tail effect. The spacing depends on both how fast the scrolling and the enemy movement is set to.

As for making the head destroy to whole snake -
You have to make each segment a separate enemy and set them to destroy the section after them when they die. If the order's right, it should start a nice little chain reaction.

Ex: Head dies, kills segment 1> segment 1 dies, kills segment 2> segment 2 dies, kills segment 3> segment 3 dies, kills tail.

As long as the head is the only vulnerable part, this should work. If you want all parts to be able to be damaged individually; but still all able to be killed by taking out the head, that's SLIGHTLY more complicated. My poor, sleep-deprived brain is not prepared to tackle that problem atm.

[Rozyrg]

Footage of my first (and so far crappy) Deza2 level: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yklWSm_E_d8