Deathsmiles coming in spring.. (iPhone)

[TastySoil]

Don't know if anyone posted this yet....
https://twitter.com/cave_world_en/statu ... 2258263040#

[Weak Boson]

Are these iPhone games actually comparable to the arcade/360 versions? I'll probably never play any of them but I heard someone say words to the effect of "I'm not bothered about Deathsmiles on the 360 because I will be able to play the iPhone version" and I want to know if my exasperation is justified.

[Frederik]

Are these iPhone games actually comparable to the arcade/360 versions? I'll probably never play any of them but I heard someone say words to the effect of "I'm not bothered about Deathsmiles on the 360 because I will be able to play the iPhone version" and I want to know if my exasperation is justified.

Well, I´m certainly the biggest iOS-port fanboy around here and even I have to say that the iOS ports are definitely not a replacement for the big console/PCB titles. Especially with the wildly different controls - I really enjoy the weightless swipe controls, but the virtual buttons really limit what you can do. For instance, I never really bothered with the arcade mode in Espgaluda II since it requires a series of very precisely timed button inputs that is just borderline impossible to reliably use on these onscreen "buttons".

On the other hand, the iPhone mode in EspII turned it into a completely different game, one that works with only one virtual button and by touching the actual bullets, turning them into gems and then, when the screen is completely filled up and the multiplier hit 500, turns them into a shitload of gold ingots. The arcade mode is fun if you play it purely for survival without ever using the Kakusei mode - or I sometimes just play it on normal difficulty and stay in the red mode.

Comparing them directly simply isn´t fair. I love my USB Saturn controller for my MAME setup, but I also really love the iOS ports,
and they are definitely bullet hell on the go done right. I bought my iPod Touch 4th gen (the cheaper 8gb model) for these games, but not without knowing that there is a ton of other stuff I could do with this device.

A lot of people already own an iPhone (or iPod - I read somewhere that the ratio between iPhones to iPod Touches is about 1:1) and the ports are really worth their money, and it´s still stunning how well the new devices handle such a huge amount of bullets (though the graphics in Real Racing 2 impressed me even more).

This being said, I´m pumped as hell for Deathsmiles on the toilet

EDIT: Technically they seem to be almost identical. I´m not sure about stuff like slowdown or whatever and I noticed that the laser sound in DDPDFK is missing, but other than that they are very similar. It´s funny that not only do all the graphics fit on the last-gen iPhone screen, but that you actually have to zoom in to make them touch the edges. I tend to forget how los res CAVEs arcade games really are. People also asked for retina-display hi res graphics, but I would think that this would be way to heavy even for this device.

Oh, and I have to add that I think it was a very sensible move to not try to solve the buttonless problem by adding one of these terrible virtual d-pads. These seem to be really hit-and-miss - for instance, the left-and-right buttons on League Of Evil, They Need To Be Fed or Hook Champ work perfectly, while titles like Pacman CE or Geometry Wars are almost unplayable (at least for me). I enjoy the swipe controls as a completely different approach that works surprisingly well - definitely prefer these over the DS or PSPs horrible pads or even playing on an analog joystick.

[Rebel Ninja]

Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WKjHi9bYMuE

[Skykid]

Yawn.

Where's Akai Katana?

[Frederik]

Man, I still love that music.

Also, this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6C1GClDpOEU#t=0m15s

[StarCreator]

An English trailer was just posted.

[Frederik]

Official site on Cave World:
http://www.cave-world.com/en/games/deathsmiles.html

Will run on 3GS and up. Not surprising since the other two games ran on the same original hardware.
I wonder if they will include Mega Black Label in any form - either directly or as an in-app purchase.
Most likely not, but it would be cool.

Looking forward to new MasaKING instruction videos

[originalz]

I played this at Cavefest and found it really, really hard to control. The main problem with a hori like this is that you constantly have to be aware of the entire screen since enemies and bullets come from all directions, but my hand kept covering parts of the screen up. I also had to keep switching hands whenever I moved to the other side of the screen or else they'd cramp up.

[brentsg]

I think if there's one Cave game that won't work well on iOS this is it.

[Danza]

We'll have to wait and see. I'm keen to give it a go, however the other hori-shmups I've played on iOS devices suffer from fingers getting in the way (R Type is a good example of this). It should sell well and it'll be interesting to see how it plays, as well as the Arrange mode.

[spadgy]

This will take some clever GUI design to make work...

[Treasurance]

are the controls worse than in Bug Panic

[fullduplexnurse]

The controls in Bug Panic are unique and excellent. It's my favorite iPhone game by a long way. I am a bit more concerned about how Deathsmiles will work, but I will be trying it out.

[subcons]

iPhone mode is what makes this a success or not. I think they kind of missed the mark with DFK. Galuda II is still the best. Curious to see what they come up with for this.

[Frederik]

I played this at Cavefest and found it really, really hard to control. The main problem with a hori like this is that you constantly have to be aware of the entire screen since enemies and bullets come from all directions, but my hand kept covering parts of the screen up. I also had to keep switching hands whenever I moved to the other side of the screen or else they'd cramp up.

This is the main reason why I was really convinced they´d port Futari. Just for testing purposes I played DDP:R sideways, and yeah, the covering-up part isn´t really ideal. Especially considering DS really isn´t just a straight hori, but scrolling in all directions and with enemies and bullets attacking from all angles.

I also got Flying Hamster on iOS and it has the same problems (well, aside from the fact that under the awesome art style and music lies a pretty generic euroshmup).

Despite all that I´m still looking forward to it, mostly because I´m starting to get really into Progear again and starting to have a soft spot for hori bullet hell, and DS looks like the CAVE plus Castlevania mashed together And maybe this finally convince me to save for a 360 and get Deathsmiles for that (well, this, Akai Katana and Muchi Pork!)

iPhone mode is what makes this a success or not. I think they kind of missed the mark with DFK. Galuda II is still the best. Curious to see what they come up with for this.

I agree. I liked the idea of the DFK mode (charging up the multiplier by scraping, then cashing it in), but it felt clumsy and the hyper cannon idea was just utterly stupid and cramp-inducing. (The iPhone mode OST was also absolute trash.) I wish they had milked the bullet cancelling idea for that mode in some way while ditching the chaining somehow

Galuda II is really fun indeed, I love how you can pretty much keep the gem-ingot cycle going for an entire stage if you get the timing right. It´s an entirely different game than arcade mode, but simple enough to not cause problems with any excessive onscreen buttons.

The controls in Bug Panic are unique and excellent. It's my favorite iPhone game by a long way. I am a bit more concerned about how Deathsmiles will work, but I will be trying it out.

I love the game, but oh, how I wish they would have made it a d-pad instead of a joystick. Way too often I misjudge the input and end up walking at a slightly different angle or not fast enough... But I hate virtual joysticks in general, especially compared to how well tap-input works on games like, say, Monster Dash, Super Quick Hook or League Of Evil.

[roker]

The controls in Bug Panic are unique and excellent.

if by unique and excellent you really mean shitty and unintuitive, then I agree wholeheartedly

[TonK]

iPhone mode is what makes this a success or not. I think they kind of missed the mark with DFK. Galuda II is still the best. Curious to see what they come up with for this.

Yeah, iPhone mode on DFK was a waste.

Was really hoping for some silly high scoring tactics.

[fullduplexnurse]

The controls in Bug Panic are unique and excellent.

if by unique and excellent you really mean shitty and unintuitive, then I agree wholeheartedly

I'm guessing you suck at it badly.

[exquisite_torture]

Nothing shitty about the controls at all. It's a great little game.

[Treasurance]

so what's exactly wrong with that DFK iPhone mode? Scoring too lenient?

Also what control setting are you guys using in Bug Panic? I find the game somewhat playable only with Auto-correct

EDIT: tbh the thing that keeps me from playing it is the lack of OpenFeint

[Frederik]

so what's exactly wrong with that DFK iPhone mode? Scoring too lenient?

I can only speak for myself, but I find the Menace-Slaughter cycle a bit unrewarding in practice. I like the general idea of it, especially since it ditches the chaining completely and adds this back and forth rhythm to it, but I find myself dying way too often because I´m concentrating too much on bullet scraping, being stuck with the powered-down laser and trying not to accidentially kill too many enemies, causing the bar to go way from full menace.

That, and the hyper cannon charging. Spin spin spin spin spin spin spin

I think I would like it a lot more if the cycles went quicker, like in Progear, where you´re switching between two modes very quickly. I think the iPhone mode scoring just doesn´t fit very well with DFK, since things tend to get very cramped later on, making concentrated bullet scraping with low attack power very risky, especially in the higher difficulty settings.

And speaking more generally, I noticed that I don´t really like DFK in either modes all that much. The most fun I had with this game was by playing on Hard, using Power style type A, turning on auto-hyper - which pretty much means constant hypering - and just cancel bullets and drive the hyper rank up like a madman until the "DANGER" lasers pop up all over the place, with suicide bullets everywhere and just trying to survive for as long as possible, which usually isn´t very long. It´s dumb but kinda exhilarating

[StarCreator]

EDIT: tbh the thing that keeps me from playing it is the lack of OpenFeint

I thought Game Center rendered OpenFeint obsolete.

It's fairly clear CAVE intends to support Game Center exclusively, as Game Center support has been patched into their older releases too.

[Treasurance]

EDIT: tbh the thing that keeps me from playing it is the lack of OpenFeint

I thought Game Center rendered OpenFeint obsolete.

It's fairly clear CAVE intends to support Game Center exclusively, as Game Center support has been patched into their older releases too.

I like OpenFeint's interface much better...also some of the achievements in Infinity Gene aren't unlocking in GC (whilst they do in OF)

plus it's not by Apple

[StarCreator]

I like OpenFeint's interface much better...also some of the achievements in Infinity Gene aren't unlocking in GC (whilst they do in OF)

plus it's not by Apple

So your complaints consist of:

A) Something that isn't working in ANOTHER game, by a different company
B) Software running exclusively on an Apple product uses an Apple service

I'm not seeing the logic.

[Treasurance]

Do you need logic to complain?

[EU03]

Yeah, iPhone mode on DFK was a waste.

Was really hoping for some silly high scoring tactics.

I thought that the point of scoring was to use the hyper while in S with a high multiplier, which cancels bullets for large stars.
Except, I can't figure out why/how to get the hyper meter to charge while using hyper in M to transition into using a second hyper in S. I watched the stage 3 boss milking with it and I still don't know the strategy behind it.

[Frederik]

I watched the stage 3 boss milking with it

Where? Do you have a link?

I guess the main problem I have with that mode is that I have no idea how to score properly. Maybe it´s more interesting than I thought.

[fullduplexnurse]

so what's exactly wrong with that DFK iPhone mode? Scoring too lenient?

Also what control setting are you guys using in Bug Panic? I find the game somewhat playable only with Auto-correct

EDIT: tbh the thing that keeps me from playing it is the lack of OpenFeint

I play the fixed joystick exclusively with much success.

[Frederik]

I just watched the trailer again and noticed that the hitbox heart is much larger than in the original game, which is a good thing considering the small screen. Its details like these that shows how much MasaKING and his team cares about making it a sensible port that plays well on such a different platform. (I still hope its optional since I really like the cute girl sprites!)

I also hope the iPhone mode will have a really simple system im regards to onscreen buttons.