Xeno Fighters R (2019 GM Studio Port)

[NARFNra]

Hmm, interesting game! Chance of Linux version = 0% am I right?

[BPzeBanshee]

You could theoretically run this game in Linux if you can get WINE to work (and therefore, Windows applications). Im not experienced in this area of emulation though.
And if you've been reading much of this thread at all, you'd know that "Flying Pancake" isnt an option, and Alluro most likely wont be including much more ships until he completes all the levels.

As for this joystick program, Alluro, Im finding worse problems with it (probably because its too difficult for me to set up) but Im seeing the same thing with the Judge Spear when holding the trigger and moving the ship around, giving it a weird type of autofire. Some more pictures I took (within split seconds of eachother, no img tags so not as to seem like Im spamming pointless pictures):
http://img193.imageshack.us/img193/8282 ... ot100m.png
http://img529.imageshack.us/img529/6454 ... ot101e.png
http://img193.imageshack.us/img193/2261 ... 102iih.png
http://img17.imageshack.us/img17/735/screenshot103y.png
On top of this, it only seems to support a few buttons being pressed at once (ie, I can move and fire but not bomb unless I stop moving). I think I'll just stick with Joy2key and a rigged-to-own Judge Spear.

[EddyMRA]

BPZeBanshee:

What joystick or gamepad are you using? If it has a sort of autofire, don't use it. Your screenshots are strange, as if you're quickly jerking your ship left and right. There's nothing I can do about this, since this seems like an isolated incident.

[BPzeBanshee]

Im using a Logitech Attack 3 Joystick. Dunno how old it is (it claims to support Win98 and didnt have a CD with it so I guess its pretty old) but I still find it strange that this one part of the Judge Spear works in this way when it has 1 L upgrade and then upgrading after that it shoots just like it does with the keyboard.
Maybe instead of erratic pictures I should upload a video instead and if it pans out right you'll see exactly what I mean when I say it fires strangely compared to using the keyboard. I'll put in in this post when I get around to it. :S

[Twiddle]

the shot "salvo" doesn't end like it normally would (there's actually a tiny delay between shot salvos for the Judge Spear when autofire is used), thus when using 30hz the shot patterns fire over each other.

i'd suggest doing the shot patterning like you're doing miyamoto's -- a "wave" of shots at a set fire rate, but allowing continuous fire so the shot pattern isn't uneven (while you still have no autofire function). judge spear fires at different rates at different power levels, though.

[EddyMRA]

I can't believe I did not bother to get the Judge Spear vulcan shot to behave faithfully to Raiden Fighters. I will need to fix it up for the next beta.

Thanks to some suggestions given to me, the game now has a proper name:

Xeno Fighters EX-R

The 'R' stands for "remake".

[BPzeBanshee]

I like the name! Now I have a name to use next time I decide to compile a "Xeno Fighters EX-R Custom Music Mod".

I can't believe I did not bother to get the Judge Spear vulcan shot to behave faithfully to Raiden Fighters. I will need to fix it up for the next beta.

Dont feel bad, us geeks only found the problem after rigorously testing this game - the casual player would have never noticed anything besides the Judge Spear being really good at point-blank shooting, if that.

[Skyknight]

...Music Mod? Just a playlist, or...?

[null1024]

Hmm, interesting game! Chance of Linux version = 0% am I right?

It *will* work in WINE [it is a GM game, they're rather well supported], but probably w/o music.

[BPzeBanshee]

...Music Mod? Just a playlist, or...?

Specifically, I intend on (when I get around to it, Im busy with a different project unrelated to this site) uploading an optional "music pack" as a ZIP file containing Battle Garegga OGG tracks for all of the current stages (minus Gemini Canyon, see below) and a replacement config file to use. Simply place the OGGs in the music folder, rename the config to xfex_config and place in the main folder.
It uses the existing "Stab and Stomp!" for the Level 1 boss, along with the Boss - Land track for the Jade Hydra and the Sega Saturn remix of "Stab and Stomp!" for the Black Heart.
I also intend on getting hold of the original Gemini Wing themes for the Gemini Canyon level and implementing those in the pack but so far I've had no luck finding the tracks online. Google was not my friend that day. >_>
So far it works nicely, so I can confirm OGGs are supported in Xeno Fighters EX-R, and this custom "pack" will have its download link posted in this thread at a later time (unless Alluro wants it somewhere else, of course).

It *will* work in WINE [it is a GM game, they're rather well supported], but probably w/o music.

Oh, that's interesting. Thanks for the info, the only real area of research Ive done with Linux is on the Nintendo Wii homebrew ports. When that area develops enough to support WINE, I'll be sure to post here in regards to how Xeno Fighters EX-R works on the Wii.

[emphatic]

I also intend on getting hold of the original Gemini Wing themes for the Gemini Canyon level and implementing those in the pack but so far I've had no luck finding the tracks online. Google was not my friend that day. >_>

Have you tried exporting the tracks using the M1 emulator?

Edit: Here's the Gemini Valley as an .OGG file (best quality). I only applied Normalize to it. PM me if you want it as a .WAV instead.
http://rapidshare.com/files/255277245/G ... y.ogg.html

[BPzeBanshee]

Have you tried exporting the tracks using the M1 emulator?

Edit: Here's the Gemini Valley as an .OGG file (best quality). I only applied Normalize to it. PM me if you want it as a .WAV instead.
http://rapidshare.com/files/255277245/G ... y.ogg.html

Woah, never heard of M1 either. Now Im really learning something everyday. Thanks for this, Emp, and for the OGG file.

[emphatic]

Have you tried exporting the tracks using the M1 emulator?

Edit: Here's the Gemini Valley as an .OGG file (best quality). I only applied Normalize to it. PM me if you want it as a .WAV instead.
http://rapidshare.com/files/255277245/G ... y.ogg.html

Woah, never heard of M1 either. Now Im really learning something everyday. Thanks for this, Emp, and for the OGG file.

Looking forward to your complete package later on, man. I'm gonna do something similar myself, but I'm not sure that hardcore shmup fans will enjoy it, as I will use non-game music for mine (hard acid tracks for boss fights and melodic trance for levels).

[BPzeBanshee]

Looking forward to your complete package later on, man. I'm gonna do something similar myself, but I'm not sure that hardcore shmup fans will enjoy it, as I will use non-game music for mine (hard acid tracks for boss fights and melodic trance for levels).

As it happens, I was originally thinking of making my own music via GarageBand, however lately Ive lost my inspiration for making good GarageBand tracks so in the distant future I could make another compilation featuring my existing tracks. They vary in style though.

[null1024]

It *will* work in WINE [it is a GM game, they're rather well supported], but probably w/o music.

Oh, that's interesting. Thanks for the info, the only real area of research Ive done with Linux is on the Nintendo Wii homebrew ports. When that area develops enough to support WINE, I'll be sure to post here in regards to how Xeno Fighters EX-R works on the Wii.

Don't hold your breath for that :p
Almost no one's been working on the emulator part for running WINE on non PCs since Apple stopped using PowerPC chips [which, coincidentally, is what all 3 next gen consoles use now], because the original point of the project was to get WINE up on PPC Macs.

[Skyknight]

I really have to get to work testing out how well my current song schemes fit the available areas...

St. 1: "Space High" (Vimana, st. 1)
Boss 1: "Genrouin" ("Senate") (Storm of Progear, bosses 1-4)
St. 3-B: "Galvanic Gear" (Musha Aleste, st. 2)
Boss 3-B: "Evil Beat" (Elemental Master, earth realm boss)
St. 6-B: "The Ritual" (Blast Wind, st. 3)
Boss 6-B: "Burnt Field" (Strikers 1945 II, bosses 2 and 4)

[EddyMRA]

On the subject of custom soundtracks, I will also make a music pack that uses the music I used in the 2003 original. This includes the 1943 boss theme remix that plays through the boss fight and the slew of other original music used.

[emphatic]

On the subject of custom soundtracks, I will also make a music pack that uses the music I used in the 2003 original. This includes the 1943 boss theme remix that plays through the boss fight and the slew of other original music used.

It would be very helpful if you could post the length of each stage (not including bosses of course) so it's easier to find/edit tracks to fit them. Of course, this is only if you feel it would benefit the game/user mods.

[EddyMRA]

On the subject of custom soundtracks, I will also make a music pack that uses the music I used in the 2003 original. This includes the 1943 boss theme remix that plays through the boss fight and the slew of other original music used.

It would be very helpful if you could post the length of each stage (not including bosses of course) so it's easier to find/edit tracks to fit them. Of course, this is only if you feel it would benefit the game/user mods.

For the finished stages...

Stage lengths (at 60fps):

Stage 1: 1 minute, 45 seconds
Stage 3-B: 4 minutes, 20 seconds

[BPzeBanshee]

I'll implement this file along with a cut version of the original Gemini Valley theme in the Battle Garegga Music Mod in the near future, but for those who want the ORIGINAL Green Walrus theme, I have it here.
Using M1 I found out that the waterfall noise in the original Gemini Wing was actually built into the music file for Green Walrus so I had to record each emulated part, use Noise Removal in Audacity to get rid of the "waterfall" noise, and then compile them both together to get this file. Excellent sound-editing experience for me.

[NARFNra]

And if you've been reading much of this thread at all, you'd know that "Flying Pancake" isnt an option, and Alluro most likely wont be including much more ships until he completes all the levels.

You DO know I mean the plane when I say flying Pancake, right?



SOUND WORKS PERFECTLY IN WINE OMGZZZZ

But I get no graphics at all. Does this game utilize Direct Draw by any chance?

EDIT:
It appears the wine screen is smaller than the game. So resizing it gets it to work. It runs very slowly, however.

[BPzeBanshee]

You DO know I mean the plane when I say flying Pancake, right?

I dont know any such ship, although it has been proved that Im rather ignorant in my knowledge of SHMUPs lately.

It appears the wine screen is smaller than the game. So resizing it gets it to work. It runs very slowly, however.

Two important notes Ive learned about Xeno Fighters EX-R and emulation: the game needs a decent PC with a decent graphics card (not a Geforce 5500 in other words), and the requirements would probably increase with an emulator like WINE, so unless you have a really top-of-the-range powerhouse PC running Linux with WINE, you wont have it at full-speed.

[NARFNra]

Quoted from the wikipedia article:

The Vought XF5U "Flying Flapjack" was an experimental U.S. Navy fighter aircraft designed by Charles H. Zimmerman during World War II. This unorthodox design consisted of a flat, somewhat disk-shaped body (hence its name) serving as the lifting surface.[1] Two piston engines buried in the body drove propellers located on the leading edge at the wingtips.

It was in one of the Strikers 1945 games, specifically Strikers 1945 II.

[null1024]

And if you've been reading much of this thread at all, you'd know that "Flying Pancake" isnt an option, and Alluro most likely wont be including much more ships until he completes all the levels.

You DO know I mean the plane when I say flying Pancake, right?



SOUND WORKS PERFECTLY IN WINE OMGZZZZ

But I get no graphics at all. Does this game utilize Direct Draw by any chance?

EDIT:
It appears the wine screen is smaller than the game. So resizing it gets it to work. It runs very slowly, however.

Do you have hardware 3d in WINE? Using Mesa3D will give you a pathetic [6-7fps on slow boxes, 10-15 on decent boxes, either way, less than 60] experience.

Also, wow. Sound never worked in my games.

[NARFNra]

To get sound to work in Wine, I had to change the audio driver to ALSA, so make sure yours is set properly.

[BPzeBanshee]

The Vought XF5U "Flying Flapjack" was an experimental U.S. Navy fighter aircraft designed by Charles H. Zimmerman during World War II. This unorthodox design consisted of a flat, somewhat disk-shaped body (hence its name) serving as the lifting surface.[1] Two piston engines buried in the body drove propellers located on the leading edge at the wingtips.

It was in one of the Strikers 1945 games, specifically Strikers 1945 II.

So, "Flying Flapjack" then. Interesting piece of history, there.
EDIT:
I've done it! Its here! Get your Battle Garegga / Gemini Wing Music Mod here!
http://www.hotlinkfiles.com/files/26762 ... sicMod.zip
Let me know if I missed something in the config file.

[emphatic]

Here's my music mod for this wonderful game:
http://rapidshare.com/files/258457796/E ... d.zip.html

It has techno/breakbeat/trance/house tracks that I though fit the stage settings. This pack does NOT contain full length tracks, just edited tracks for the game. It's in nice quality .ogg files, so it's almost 100 mb in size though.

[worstplayer]

Here's my music mod for this wonderful game:
http://rapidshare.com/files/258457796/E ... d.zip.html

It has techno/breakbeat/trance/house tracks that I though fit the stage settings. This pack does NOT contain full length tracks, just edited tracks for the game. It's in nice quality .ogg files, so it's almost 100 mb in size though.

OMFG MWNN
My favorite music mod so far.

[emphatic]

Here's my music mod for this wonderful game:
http://rapidshare.com/files/258457796/E ... d.zip.html

It has techno/breakbeat/trance/house tracks that I though fit the stage settings. This pack does NOT contain full length tracks, just edited tracks for the game. It's in nice quality .ogg files, so it's almost 100 mb in size though.

OMFG MWNN
My favorite music mod so far.

Thanks. I think I'll do at least one more musical mod. But not until the next beta/RC release. I really enjoy playing this btw.

On another note, I've also created an Autohotkey script that let's you play the game using your gamepad/joystick. I can compile it into an .exe if anyone wants to use this. If someone else has a working autofire script for this game (Autohotkey) I would like to incorporate that into my Gamepad-script.

[BPzeBanshee]

On another note, I've also created an Autohotkey script that let's you play the game using your gamepad/joystick. I can compile it into an .exe if anyone wants to use this. If someone else has a working autofire script for this game (Autohotkey) I would like to incorporate that into my Gamepad-script.

Speaking of joystick + autofire, I did a little more experimenting and found that the weird issue I spotted earlier lied purely within the rate of autofire, and not the joysticks. I bought a Xbox 360 Controller for Windows and used that with the same effect at the firing rate I had it on, then I used Xpadder 5.3 and played with the settings with the right trigger and found that setting your autofire to 6 taps a second (15hz in Joy2key) will work nicely. I also tried Joystick 2 Mouse 3 and had problems setting up the controller so the best program to use (in my opinion) is Xpadder. Its easier to set up than the others and has more functionality.

In the meantime, I'm looking for some good faithful remixes of songs from the Thunder Force series to make a Thunder Force pack, so far I have two remixes of Metal Squad (Thunder Force IV) and the Vasteel/Rynex Boss Theme from TF V. Funnily enough I also found 3d-render-to-2d-sprites of Rynex in a horizontal view, and they're not too bad. Anyone interested should be able to find it easily themselves by searching "Rynex" on Google, which *really is* your friend.