Crimzon Clover: World Ignition Announced at Stunfest

[Pretas]

With frequent bundles and mega-sales, it's incredibly common these days for Steam/GOG users to end up running wild, filling their libraries with tens or even hundreds of games that they've played for less than an hour, or not at all. I've even been guilty of this with a couple of games recently.

[Squire Grooktook]

For what it's worth, Steam achievements stats say that 8.8% have cleared Novice Original while 0.6% have cleared Arcade Original.

Why are those stats so low?

I've never played Novice Original

Or credit fed Arcade Original, come to think of it.

Same.

With frequent bundles and mega-sales, it's incredibly common these days for Steam/GOG users to end up running wild, filling their libraries with tens or even hundreds of games that they've played for less than an hour, or not at all. I've even been guilty of this with a couple of games recently.

Definitely hope shmup devs take advantage of this.

[Bonus!]

Why are those stats so low?

They don't strike me as awfully low. Deathsmiles on X360 was cleared by about 2 % with Rosa, i.e. comparably simple game, using the strongest character. CC Novice is arguably easier than Deathsmiles, while Arcade Original is more difficult than many other shmups.

[iconoclast]

Deathsmiles on X360 was cleared by about 2 % with Rosa

Where do you see that? The only site I know of that tracks Xbox achievement rarity is trueachievements.com, but that's a service you have to opt in to. The percentages on there are going to be relatively high because casuals aren't looking for those stats. With that being said, if you add every version of Deathsmiles together on TA, around 12.5% of the players have cleared the game with Rosa (9550 players, 759 clears). It's not a great comparison though since DS is much easier to get a shitty 1cc in than CCWI's Original mode.

I'm glad that Steam and the PS4 has this info built in to the system. It'd be better if they showed exactly how many people have earned each achievement, though, since the hard ones are probably always going to show ~0.1% as long as the game has the tiniest bit of mainstream appeal. (I'm sure something like Hard Corps: Uprising has some amusing achievement rarity, for example. Like how only 24% of the people who played the game on PSN Profiles have beaten stage 1. )

[Bonus!]

I may have misremembered the stat, but I looked up the stats for the EU version on True Achievements about two and a half years ago, after clearing the game with Rosa myself. The current stat is 5 %:
http://www.trueachievements.com/Deathsm ... ements.htm

[amdiggywhut]

Any news on when 1.05 is coming out?

[drunkninja24]

Looks like the Superplay/Arranged soundtrack DLC is out today

Got it downloading now

[amdiggywhut]

Oh hell yeah. Edit: I keep modifying this message since I continue answering my own questions. I'm excited and I'll leave it at that.

[Lobinden]

Looks like the Superplay/Arranged soundtrack DLC is out today

Got it downloading now

In my opinion Gryzor87's soundtrack completely blows the original soundtrack out of the water. The original soundtrack was perfectly serviceable, but it didn't really feel as exciting as the action on the screen for the most part. I especially like how in this arranged soundtrack the songs become more intense during midbosses.

[Bananamatic]

soundtrack feels a bit too "western" to me, really doesn't fit the bosses IMO

[Tim James]

I mentioned a few months ago the only run I ever spent time optimizing was Type III Time Attack. Don't ask me why. I'm thrilled to see the replay chosen here is 30 million points over my personal best. The text commentary was really insightful. I'm so stupid I didn't think about the main Type III tradeoff he discussed between speedkilling aerial enemies and making sure not to miss any ground enemies. Not that I did a good job at either!

Thanks for the hard work on this. It's almost a shame it's discounted so heavily for all of us diehards. On the other hand, I've gifted so many copies of this game that I feel justified in paying the sale price.

[plasticxo]

I bought it really cheap because it's on steam. If he were to release a disc version for the 360 or anything else, I'd buy it the hard import price without hesitation.

[emphatic]

I bought it really cheap because it's on steam. If he were to release a disc version for the 360 or anything else, I'd buy it the hard import price without hesitation.

[amdiggywhut]

The new soundtrack is certainly very different. Definitely worth a couple bucks though. The music for the title screen, first level and end credits feels particularly epic...

[Lobinden]

soundtrack feels a bit too "western" to me, really doesn't fit the bosses IMO

Yeah I can see how you could feel that way. Although I still think the AST is better than the original soundtrack, the original soundtrack did suit most of the bosses better than the heavy rock in Gryzor87's arrange.
I think the best solution to this would be to give players the option to "customize" the soundtrack, so that they can set whether each stage/boss will play the original or alternative song for that encounter individually.

[gimebe]

The new soundtrack is amazing. Only downside is that it's a bit harder to hear the sound effects with all the awesomeness going on.

I was a little miffed about buying the game again on Steam just to get online rankings and earlier access to the DLC, but this stuff rocks hard enough to make up for it.

[x91]

soundtrack feels a bit too "western" to me, really doesn't fit the bosses IMO

This.

Went through the AST only to found st2boss track to my liking. The rest of them misses the pace of the game, but the soundtrack is a nice arrange itself.

[Pretas]

If they had to get a Westerner to do the AST, it should have been Virt.

He already did DFK BL Arrange's soundtrack for CAVE.

[Skykid]

He already did DFK BL Arrange's soundtrack for CAVE.

That's a choice bit of info Pretas. I don't think many people were aware.

Incidentally is the CC AST actually done by a western composer, or does it just sound western?

[GSK]

He already did DFK BL Arrange's soundtrack for CAVE.

That's a choice bit of info Pretas. I don't think many people were aware.

Incidentally is the CC AST actually done by a western composer, or does it just sound western?

The AST is by Gryzor87, a Spanish guy who does the music for Locomalito's games--Hydorah, Maldita Castilla and so on. I believe Yotsubane suggested him when the offer of an AST was made, but don't quote me on that.

Ryu Umemoto was a huge fan of virt's music; they were mutual friends of Hally, who was coordinating some of the AST releases, so that's how virt got involved with the Ketsui AST and eventually Ketsupachi.

I haven't played Bullet Soul, but I remember virt saying the "reference material" they sent him for the AST was just a zipped folder full of Dragonforce mp3s.

[Skykid]

He already did DFK BL Arrange's soundtrack for CAVE.

That's a choice bit of info Pretas. I don't think many people were aware.

Incidentally is the CC AST actually done by a western composer, or does it just sound western?

The AST is by Gryzor87, a Spanish guy who does the music for Locomalito's games--Hydorah, Maldita Castilla and so on. I believe Yotsubane suggested him when the offer of an AST was made, but don't quote me on that.

Ryu Umemoto was a huge fan of virt's music; they were mutual friends of Hally, who was coordinating some of the AST releases, so that's how virt got involved with the Ketsui AST and eventually Ketsupachi.

I haven't played Bullet Soul, but I remember virt saying the "reference material" they sent him for the AST was just a zipped folder full of Dragonforce mp3s.

Thanks for the info on the CC AST, very interesting!

That thing about the Virt info was sarcasm though: everyone knows he did the DFKBL arrange.

[Blackbird]

The AST is by Gryzor87, a Spanish guy who does the music for Locomalito's games--Hydorah, Maldita Castilla and so on. I believe Yotsubane suggested him when the offer of an AST was made, but don't quote me on that.

That's pretty much how it went - we asked Yotsubane who he would want to compose the soundtrack if he could pick any composer, and Gryzor was one of the two composers recommended (the other being Manabu Namiki, haha).

[Feedbacker]

Wow, I would have loved an arranged soundtrack by Manabu Namiki so much. Do you know if he's already busy with some other project?

[BixHD]

Hi, I recently picked up Crimzon Clover due to the Midweek Madness sale and I have a few questions.

1. Should I just play on novice (in original mode) while I get a feel for the game? AFAIK, the enemies spawn in the same place they do in the arcade difficulty, all I would have to do is adjust to the bullet patterns.

2. Is it worth it to buy the superplay DLC?

3. I like the Type II ship the most, but how do you control the smaller ships around it?

[Mimeslayer]

My opinions are almost certainly going to be blasted by the greater community here, but I still want to say something.

1) It really depends. Personally I have no issue on playing Novice as long as you acknowledge that it really won't make you much better if at all. I mean yes the enemy spawns are likely the same, but the lack of bullets makes a huge difference as far as routing goes. If you're just playing for fun or are good and going for a high score, then go ahead. If you have plans on taking your experience into Arcade though, I'd honestly suggest at the least unlocking Type Z and just going straight to Arcade instead.

Keep in mind I have barely touched the game due to wanting to beat other, easier games first, but that's how I plan on approaching it.


2) Again, it really depends. I personally bought the replays and don't regret them. There's 1 replay for every ship on every arcade mode (16 total) and for me they are a real treat to watch. However I always enjoyed watching replays even if I wasn't using them to help my play and just wanted entertainment. If you don't like watching replays for the sake of watching them, then I'd pass.


3) I'm not 100% sure, so I'll leave that for someone else.

[Shepardus]

3. I like the Type II ship the most, but how do you control the smaller ships around it?

They trail behind your movement, Gradius-style. When using the lock-on (holding X) they fix in their current positions relative to you.

[Tim James]

1. Should I just play on novice (in original mode) while I get a feel for the game?

Absolutely. It's fun and easy. If you're good at shmups you will beat it in 1-3 tries. If you're new, it's a nice way to learn how to complete a shoot 'em up without continuing.

Arcade mode is a massive leap in difficulty, which happens to be one of the criticisms of the game. Worry about that when you get there. Don't forget to check out time attack and boost as well.

[x91]

That's pretty much how it went - we asked Yotsubane who he would want to compose the soundtrack if he could pick any composer, and Gryzor was one of the two composers recommended (the other being Manabu Namiki, haha).

Oh noes, oh... If Manabu Namiki takes this project, it would definitely recall more CAVE memories... DAT GODLIKE EVAC Industry of Ketsui

[BPzeBanshee]

Any recorded samples of what the AST sounds like for those on the fence about buying it?

[Mischief Maker]

So how many years are the GOG customers going to have to wait for this DLC?