Yuzo Koshiro is making new MD shmup.

[Steven]

Is that close enough to 3000 for me to say I was basically right? Not that it really matters, but...

[Sumez]

This is a Mega Drive game, so normally there's no way it would support 90FPS, but if Bitwave is indeed doing the emulation or whatever, they made the Toaplan games' emulator somehow support infinite refresh rates, so theoretically it could be done here too. We'll find out in six days, of course. Hopefully they didn't wreck the audio on this and then never fully fix it like they did for the Toaplan games.

??

What do you want +60 FPS for? Do you want to run the game at 150% speed?

[Steven]

Lower input lag and better compatibility with monitors that have refresh rates that are not even multiples of 60. The Bitwave Toaplan games don't run faster at 90FPS than they do at 60.

[Sumez]

They can do input handling at 500hz if they want to and have the CPU power to do so. It doesn't need to follow the actual display frame rate, so it has nothing to do with input lag.

[PC Engine Fan X!]

The Steam port of Earthion will be available at 7:00am PST to purchase today, 7-31-2025 -- get ready for it.

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

[Faith]

The Steam port of Earthion will be available at 7:00am PST to purchase today, 7-31-2025 -- get ready for it.

Ready for new contribution to Dick Stock thread :p

Will be very disappointed if not >.<!~

Trailer says "strap in" :p

[SuperDeadite]

Gonna hold out for the MD version myself.

[Steven]

let's delete this post, actually

[FunktionJCB]

The game is out on Steam:

https://store.steampowered.com/app/3597580/Earthion/

And the soundtrack is out on bandcamp:

https://bravewave.bandcamp.com/album/ea ... soundtrack

[Steven]

Okay, I give up with the MD Mini controller. M30 2.4g for real MD/Genesis is what I am using now. The control mapping within the emulator doesn't save, so I can't actually use the controls that I want. God damn you Bitwave.

Well, enough of this frustration. I decided that talking about the ROM is probably not a good idea since this is a new game and all of that, but all that matters is that it doesn't work on a real MD. Since this doesn't work on a real MD and I can't use any of my MD controllers, I'm out until Bitwave fixes controller mapping in the emulator. The ROM itself displays Xbox controller buttons in its configuration menu, which is weird. Maybe I'll try a PS5 controller to see if that changes it, but I seriously doubt it would.

You know what? Fuck it. Refunded. Someone please let me know when they fix this or the Japanese MD cartridge is available to buy, as the Japanese MD cartridge is the only version that I actually care about.

[Skykid]

Okay, I give up with the MD Mini controller. M30 2.4g for real MD/Genesis is what I am using now. The control mapping within the emulator doesn't save, so I can't actually use the controls that I want. God damn you Bitwave.

Well, enough of this frustration. I decided that talking about the ROM is probably not a good idea since this is a new game and all of that, but all that matters is that it doesn't work on a real MD. Since this doesn't work on a real MD and I can't use any of my MD controllers, I'm out until Bitwave fixes controller mapping in the emulator. The ROM itself displays Xbox controller buttons in its configuration menu, which is weird. Maybe I'll try a PS5 controller to see if that changes it, but I seriously doubt it would.

You know what? Fuck it. Refunded. Someone please let me know when they fix this or the Japanese MD cartridge is available to buy, as the Japanese MD cartridge is the only version that I actually care about.

Wait. How can you have a ROM of this already? The MD version isn't out until next year. Or can it be extracted from the Steam DL?

The Steam version is fine except for a few startup issues they should have ironed out. The default screen filter is ridiculous for first timers think it's meant to be that way, you can't see shit. It also seemingly defaulted to hard within the option screen without me realising, and choosing normal when you actually start the game seems to have no effect. The controls were also drifting all over the place with a bluetooth controller, and I had to switch from steam input to raw input to stop it, and then in raw input the bluetooth controller kept disconnecting and stopping the game. Currently I'm on screen filter pixel, controller raw input (using select button menu), difficulty: normal (from within options screen) and using wired USB and all seems ok!

Nice game so far!

[xEbb1993x]

I'll just wait until the game hits consoles in September. And I'll download it on Christmas.

[Firehawke]

There's almost certainly a ROM inside of the Steam packaging, but it's definitely going to be in a compressed and/or encrypted form along with other UI/emulator data-- you can't just grab the .bin file and feed it to an emulator any more than you can feed the encrypted ZIP that Mega Man Legacy Collection uses to store content. I'm pretty sure tools will be available for yanking the ROM data out of the package within a month, though.

[jd213]

Okay, I give up with the MD Mini controller. M30 2.4g for real MD/Genesis is what I am using now. The control mapping within the emulator doesn't save, so I can't actually use the controls that I want. God damn you Bitwave.

Yeah, I dunno why but the MD Mini controller just doesn't work with some PC games, including some fan games.

[FunktionJCB]

I'm having a lot of fun with it.

Also, in case anyone missed it, if you press the menu button on the controller it takes you to various settings, which also has an extras section, where the leaderboards are, plus a playable early prototype of the game, and three 2024 demos (I assume for various events/conventions).

[Steven]

Okay, I give up with the MD Mini controller. M30 2.4g for real MD/Genesis is what I am using now. The control mapping within the emulator doesn't save, so I can't actually use the controls that I want. God damn you Bitwave.

Well, enough of this frustration. I decided that talking about the ROM is probably not a good idea since this is a new game and all of that, but all that matters is that it doesn't work on a real MD. Since this doesn't work on a real MD and I can't use any of my MD controllers, I'm out until Bitwave fixes controller mapping in the emulator. The ROM itself displays Xbox controller buttons in its configuration menu, which is weird. Maybe I'll try a PS5 controller to see if that changes it, but I seriously doubt it would.

You know what? Fuck it. Refunded. Someone please let me know when they fix this or the Japanese MD cartridge is available to buy, as the Japanese MD cartridge is the only version that I actually care about.

Wait. How can you have a ROM of this already? The MD version isn't out until next year. Or can it be extracted from the Steam DL?

The Steam version is fine except for a few startup issues they should have ironed out. The default screen filter is ridiculous for first timers think it's meant to be that way, you can't see shit. It also seemingly defaulted to hard within the option screen without me realising, and choosing normal when you actually start the game seems to have no effect. The controls were also drifting all over the place with a bluetooth controller, and I had to switch from steam input to raw input to stop it, and then in raw input the bluetooth controller kept disconnecting and stopping the game. Currently I'm on screen filter pixel, controller raw input (using select button menu), difficulty: normal (from within options screen) and using wired USB and all seems ok!

Nice game so far!

Not sure if the mods will like us talking about this (mods please let me know and I'll absolutely stop/delete/never mention again if you think that's best), but there's a .bin file in the directory that I am assuming is the ROM. I guess there is a possibility that it isn't the ROM, especially because it's absolutely massive, but it doesn't work on anything but Bitwave's emulator.

Okay, I give up with the MD Mini controller. M30 2.4g for real MD/Genesis is what I am using now. The control mapping within the emulator doesn't save, so I can't actually use the controls that I want. God damn you Bitwave.

Yeah, I dunno why but the MD Mini controller just doesn't work with some PC games, including some fan games.

95% sure it uses D-input instead of X-input, which is why.

[Wooph]

I've completed a first run of the game with the help of the password system that allows you to carry over upgrades to the next playthrough. The game's design seems pretty solid, but it has serious visibility problems due to the very detailed backgrounds. They could probably tone down the contrast of background elements to separate them more cleanly from the action.

[BEAMLORD]

Visibility is certainly a bit of a problem. I've been playing on normal, and the screen is busy as hell.

Also, I feel kind of unsure of how to play it, or of how the devs intended it to be played. Are you meant to just tank hits? You can extend your shield bar 5 or 6 times, and it auto re-fills very quickly on taking hits. Your shot powers down when taking hits too, but can very quickly be built back up as there are often a ton of green power-up gems floating on screen at any given time. Enemies and bullets fill the screen and come at you fast, laser-type shots particularly fly at you at lightspeed. Cannon/turret type hazards often have no wind-up, and go off in your face. Can't help but think you are just supposed to tank the hits and manage your shield.

Early days, though, and still having fun. Soundtrack is, of course, superb. The kind of ST most modern STGs aim for but can only dream of replicating.

[PC Engine Fan X!]

The day that the MD/Genesis boxed set of Earthion is released, it'll be well worth the wait for it -- showcasing what the aging MD/Genesis hardware can do nowadays in the hands of a talented and capable game developer team. Suppose if Earthion was released during the waning years of the MD's lifespan, it certainly would've sold like hotcakes indeed.

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~