I've got a Cave interview sorted - help!

[spadgy]

So, I'm quite excited to say that I'm interviewing Cave's Yukihiro Masaki (most recently Espagaluda II iPhone producer) for the magazine I write for (Develop - an industry magazine for game developers).

Of course I've got a tonne of questions to ask (and to an extent I have to keep it to talking about new developments, iPhone plans, development methods and such - not the fanboy questions I could easily ask!) but I thought you lot's input would be great.

Last time I interviewed Taito about Space Invaders, a few forum members here were a great help, adding a more broad ranging feel to the angle of the interview.

I promise I'm not just being lazy!

So - hit me with some suggestions for questions.

[monouchi]

Good luck Spadgy, we read Develop at Starbreeze.
And I am really looking forward to a CAVE interview.

[Dragoforce]

I couldn't really formulate the question, but here goes.

Considering that shmups are quite a simplistic genre in terms of gameplay but not in terms of in input (arcade cabs, sticks, tate) Does converting a shmup to iphone take away the "sense of wonder" that many of us associate with the genre? Or is it a way of bringing input and gameplay closer togheter?

[DJ Incompetent]

Ask if they can use @Cave_world_en to report on all Cave releases instead of just western phone releases. If not, can they just make some kind of english feed for all releases in one place in english?

Do they have any plans for Android OS?

[clp]

just ask him " cave y so pedo?"

[captpain]

I couldn't really formulate the question, but here goes.

Considering that shmups are quite a simplistic genre in terms of gameplay but not in terms of in input (arcade cabs, sticks, tate) Does converting a shmup to iphone take away the "sense of wonder" that many of us associate with the genre? Or is it a way of bringing input and gameplay closer togheter?

But shmups are simplistic in terms of input. A joystick and two or three buttons is about as simple as it gets, apart from (of course) pointing with your finger.

[Obiwanshinobi]

Dunno whether it's a fanboy question or not (I'm not much of a cavehead), but I'd like to know if they intend to make "something different" along the lines of Dangun Feveron (less bullets, faster pace, more accessible scoring system), and are there chances we'll hear the commentator from DP and DF again (it was a very unique touch and added a lot of personality). How about commentary mode in a shmup?

[jochen]

Will there be some other download games after guwange for
Xbox 360 ( or other consoles ) ?

Any chances for a Cave-shmup collection ?

[TrevHead (TVR)]

Woot way to go mate thats quite a coup imo, just do us a favour and let us see the interview (if u can get away with it without getting into trouble with ur boss) anyway heres my questions


pester him about what cave plan on doing with europe, are we gonna get the same games the US is getting in the future or is cave gonna wait until a europain publisher steps up to localise the games? (which imo will never happen)

and also what is caves plans for distrubution since microsoft (after actually going out of their way to get shmup devs exclusive to the 360) changed their tune for XBLA and told companies like cave and 5pb who port arcade games for digital distrution that they are no longer wanted on XBLA (why theyve done this really boggles the mind since cave isnt some 2 bit indie developer but the best in the genre. Plus is the reason why cave is making a 360 exclusive because they want to get it on XBLA?

Also out of curiosity was it the pertion of this forums and the french forum that made cave release espG 2 region free?

Also have they looked into releasing their old titles on the pc? pefrably on something like steam?

and above all pester him as tro why theres no pal DS!

[RHE]

The games of CAVE are known for having slowdowns to make it easier to dive through bullet patterns but how does CAVE implents these slowdowns? How are they part of the game code? I'm rather asking for the original pcbs than ports, btw.

[Jockel]

Ask them WHEN THE FUCK THE DFK BL PORT IS COMING!!111111

[kengou]

I'd really like to know if they plan to port games to any other major platforms like the PS3 or PC, which have much fewer region restrictions compared to the 360.

Also would be neat to hear if they are planning any more DS releases similar to Ketsui Death Label in the future.

[Sasupoika]

If we do ask about programmin or design, I would like to hear more about patterns in Mushihimesama Ultra. How they came to be or so on. They once said that designing those patterns almost drove them insane.

Also;
Where did Hibachi originate from?
How do you come up with scoring systems? How do scoring systems evolve during game-development?

Yes and commentary mode in shmup would be nice.

[SuperPang]

I know you probably should be talking about Caves worldwide console and mobile plans, but if you could get him talking about the new arcade hardware that would be good!

[emphatic]

Fellow shmup aficionado Spadgy should ask them if they're done with 2D games now and if they feel confident that their 3D games will be "good enough". After all, whatever praise DS2 has gotten hasn't been about eye candy at all but more based on the gameplay and scoring mechanisms.

Another question to a high ranking CAVE officer could be if they plan to stop releasing DLC extras for their future releases, seeing as the great ESPGALUDA II had so much content in the form of elaborate extra game modes from the get go along with the unlockable inclusion of the sweet Omake! mode. I'm positive these are questions many CAVE fans would like to hear from the "horse's mouth". ^_~

[MX7]

Ask them WHEN THE FUCK THE DFK BL PORT IS COMING!!111111

This. I don't think you'll get an answer though

[Herr Schatten]

Ask about THE PORK EVER!

[antares]

Fellow shmup aficionado Spadgy should ask them if they're done with 2D games now and if they feel confident that their 3D games will be "good enough". After all, whatever praise DS2 has gotten hasn't been about eye candy at all but more based on the gameplay and scoring mechanisms.

Yes, it would be nice to know if they are going the 3D way now or if DSII was only a sidestep?

[Observer]

Also joining the PC releases request (of older titles or more recent ones like Ibara or Mushi). I would take officially released versions on Steam or whatever over Mame any day.

Oh, and Death Smiles II appears to be based on PC hardware right? Maybe they could consider this after milking the 360 release.

...

Or make a "Death Smiles Pack" for 9k+ yen (the price of those eroges and expensive VNs you see around) including both games, all the 18+ content they cut from the originals and other non-sancto stuff. Instant success.

[bcass]

spadgy - for the love of God, please ask him to get them to patch all their 360 games with scanlines options (minus Futari, obviously) and ask them to kindly put the option in all future releases!

[MX7]

Ask about THE PORK EVER!

I actually had a dream that Muchi-Muchi Pork was announced for X360 the other night, and woke up all disappointed. It's probably the most pathetic thing to ever happen to me.

[monouchi]

Fellow shmup aficionado Spadgy should ask them if they're done with 2D games now and if they feel confident that their 3D games will be "good enough".

This.

[brentsg]

Clearly they did a bang-up job on EspGaluda II for iPhone.

Ask them how they determined that they would push for such a close arcade port on that platform, vs. doing a stripped down fan-service game that most of us expected. I'm curious how they even determined it was a feasible exercise.

[Van_Artic]

Also joining the PC releases request (of older titles or more recent ones like Ibara or Mushi). I would take officially released versions on Steam or whatever over Mame any day.

this. Steam is a great platform to buy games, today almost all PC gamers aknowledged Steam existence, it would be nice to see a Cave shmup on PC, after all those indie releases it would be nice to see some Cave action on it

[clp]

Also joining the PC releases request (of older titles or more recent ones like Ibara or Mushi). I would take officially released versions on Steam or whatever over Mame any day.

this. Steam is a great platform to buy games, today almost all PC gamers aknowledged Steam existence, it would be nice to see a Cave shmup on PC, after all those indie releases it would be nice to see some Cave action on it

+1

[StarCreator]

Do they have any plans for Android OS?

That's pretty much the only question I'd ask as well. Android versions of the ports would be killer and address a huge void currently in the platform's app base.

[Skykid]

You lucky bastard.

[Rupert H]

Son of a...

Are they doing the press circuit or is this a special Develop-only hook-up?

[Exarion]

http://twitter.com/cave_world_en
no android development, sorry. Anyway, ask them about Futari for iPhone.

[MathU]

I'd like to know if they think their monopolistic company (intentional or not, they're the biggest fanboy magnet in the industry by far now) is stifling creativity in the industry, and how they view their rivals in general.

Maybe not worded like that though.
"CAVE now owns so-and-so percent of the market share for shoot 'em ups. Do you feel..." Or something like that.