eXceed Series

[Observer]

I'll get GBC for sure since it's the only one I am unable to get (even though I would prefer owning the original), and while I already have eX2nd and 3rd, I'll most likely get them again just to show support to NYU. It's kind of funny seeing NYU on these boards considering I talked with them on the Steam forums for Gun Bullet Children lol.

You ARE getting the original. GBC is published as a japanese import. It's all in japanese, yup.

0o sweet :] hmm wonder if I should cancel my special request for it then, or if I absolutely want a physical copy of it.

And yeah, totally missed that last bullet on the page "Authentic Japanese import version", to top it off, Genki did tell me on Steam that they were checking to release it as an import due to complications.

I assume the game is long gone out of print, it was an extremely obscure release and the circle in charge of the shooters now is Tennen-Sozai rather than the original by FLAT. I bet there might be some physical copies floating around in Yahoo Auctions and the likes though. Still, at the price being sold on Steam it's a steal, heh.

[FetusZero]

I assume the game is long gone out of print, it was an extremely obscure release and the circle in charge of the shooters now is Tennen-Sozai rather than the original by FLAT. I bet there might be some physical copies floating around in Yahoo Auctions and the likes though. Still, at the price being sold on Steam it's a steal, heh.

Yep, that's why I had to place in a special request, I got into the genre much too late.. sort of. Much too late if we consider imports, I used to only buy whatever was released in North America. And it sure is a steal. $10 for all 3? Count me in with a first day purchase, I even already started spreading the word to my coworkers and friends even though none of them plays shmups.. one day, perhaps they'll give it a try.

[Observer]

I assume the game is long gone out of print, it was an extremely obscure release and the circle in charge of the shooters now is Tennen-Sozai rather than the original by FLAT. I bet there might be some physical copies floating around in Yahoo Auctions and the likes though. Still, at the price being sold on Steam it's a steal, heh.

Yep, that's why I had to place in a special request, I got into the genre much too late.. sort of. Much too late if we consider imports, I used to only buy whatever was released in North America. And it sure is a steal. $10 for all 3? Count me in with a first day purchase, I even already started spreading the word to my coworkers and friends even though none of them plays shmups.. one day, perhaps they'll give it a try.

Oh, man, I was doing the same at my job, trying to convert everyone into shmups. Some were just glued to freaking CoD or Winning Eleven (which is almost a national sport where I live, lol) and it was always hard. I gained some allies thanks to Jamestown and Futari but Futari eventually scared everyone away when they saw the final Stage at max rank...

Yes, I believe the price tag is great. Especially because eXceed 3rd alone has pretty high production values for the usual doujin game. And everyone asking for something like Ikaruga will have their prayers answered with REX. Who knows? Maybe one day we can make Treasure reason and get RSG and Ikaruga on Steam too. The more the merrier, hell yes!

[FetusZero]

The more the merrier, hell yes!

I already started spreading the word on Steam ;p Hopefully we'll get more people interested, thus a better future for shmups on Steam!

[Observer]

The more the merrier, hell yes!

I already started spreading the word on Steam ;p Hopefully we'll get more people interested, thus a better future for shmups on Steam!

heh, thanks!

By the way, I'm assisting nyu Media with this release! Just saying because this kind of stuff always comes off as a nasty surprise.

By the way, to anyone with an Nvidia card having framerate problems:

Go to your card settings (Nvidia Control Panel) and set the quality to "Balanced". That initially did it for me but I went on and decided to check which setting was exactly screwing things up. I think I found it. Go to the advanced settings and check under the Anti-Aliasing settings the "Override any application settings" option. That instantly fixed the problem for me. Doesn't help that my CPU is a very old dual core on its last legs (pre 2007). Could be worth a shot! For some reason this also fixed some messy framerate in a couple of other indie games.

[TrevHead (TVR)]

Switching on / off v sync seemed to fix many of my problems with doujins when I had an nvidia card

[Observer]

We are preparing some nifty stuff for the release. I won't be giving away much more. (Will wait for Genki Patton to come with the full info)

And, yes, Vsync solved a lot of problems I had with a couple of old doujin games myself.

I get the feeling there is a general error most devs are carrying through the years, probably a byproduct of some japanese-only tutorial on how to code or something. For example, the exception dev seems to be an expert on Direct3D stuff and his FAQ reflects it: pretty much every problem I had with the game could be solved by patching and checking his FAQ. But no everyone have that kind of knowledge. Siter Skain stuff also used to have troubles when Nvidia implemented new changes with the release of their newer cards after the 8000 series. Still, one of the few circles that would still release you a patch for a game released in 1999. Freaking great.

So, back to eXceed, the music in the 3rd game is pure awesomeness. Period. I know I said it before, just re-stating it.

[FetusZero]

So, back to eXceed, the music in the 3rd game is pure awesomeness. Period. I know I said it before, just re-stating it.

Agreed, although I do prefer the music of 2nd lol. Placing in special orders for both soundtracks was the best idea I've had in OST's last year. Definitely one of the additions among my soundtracks that I enjoyed the most alongside a couple of others.

[Akeru99]

By the way, to anyone with an Nvidia card having framerate problems:

Go to your card settings (Nvidia Control Panel) and set the quality to "Balanced". That initially did it for me but I went on and decided to check which setting was exactly screwing things up. I think I found it. Go to the advanced settings and check under the Anti-Aliasing settings the "Override any application settings" option. That instantly fixed the problem for me. Doesn't help that my CPU is a very old dual core on its last legs (pre 2007). Could be worth a shot! For some reason this also fixed some messy framerate in a couple of other indie games.

Thank you, that fixed eXceed 2nd for me. eXceed 3rd trial still lags though.

So, back to eXceed, the music in the 3rd game is pure awesomeness. Period. I know I said it before, just re-stating it.

Yup, totaly agree with you on that one. Music in eXceed 2nd is also pretty good from what I heard in the trial. Can't say anything about the soundtack of the first game though since I didn't play the demo of it.

[Mischief Maker]

Is there going to be a DRM-free option to buy?

(Yes, I consider steam to be DRM. Particularly intrusive DRM at that.)

[FetusZero]

Is there going to be a DRM-free option to buy?

(Yes, I consider steam to be DRM. Particularly intrusive DRM at that.)

You're not the first one I hear that from, so I'm not surprised.

From the Nyu-Media's page, it seems like the game will be available on Steam, Gametap, Impulse, GamersGate and GameFly/Direct2Drive.

I don't know however if they will require Steam, but I would doubt it. Normally, doujins don't require it, but Genki could answer this one I think, or maybe Observer, or we can wait until it releases and it should say so in the requirements.

[Observer]

If I recall correctly, Steam is the best option here. Ghegs pointed out you can play Satazius without having Steam on once you get the game files. Of course, people will tell you that then you can't track how many hours you played or chat with people via the overlay but I can live without that.

I guess and hope the same is going to be applied to future releases for the sake of simplicity. And I agree it's also going to be a HUGE plus (a very awesome one at that) after the sudden outage (aka: STEAMPOCALYPSE) that occurred on Sunday when their "uninterruptible power supply" got interrupted. The only game I could play out of Steam was Satazius.

Back to eXceed, oh, yes! I remember the original eXceed 2nd had some crazy messages about genocide or something and it was pretty brutal. Same with the original eXceed 3rd, whose scoring system was also different, right? I'll ask about that. Won't deny it could be very interesting to have them too. We would also be getting the full historical cycle of a doujin circle.

[AntiFritz]

Whens the release date for this? Apologies if its already been answered.

[Observer]

Whens the release date for this? Apologies if its already been answered.

It's ok. Technically, it should be during this month. There is no confirmed, exact date at the moment though.

[Observer]

Just a heads up, the release appears to be for Feb. 23th!

[Jeneki]

I assume this will get the normal Steam first week 10-15% discount? (as if it's not a good enough deal already)

[AntiFritz]

Any reason why the stage 2 bosses 3rd attack was renamed from Napalm Death to Napalm Wreath? Pretty sure theirs no band known as the latter.

[GenkiPatton]

I assume this will get the normal Steam first week 10-15% discount? (as if it's not a good enough deal already)

Not that I'm aware of! & yes, it's a great deal, IMO!

[GenkiPatton]

Any reason why the stage 2 bosses 3rd attack was renamed from Napalm Death to Napalm Wreath? Pretty sure theirs no band known as the latter.

Correct, but there is a fairly well-known band that goes by the former...

[GenkiPatton]

Sorry I've been remiss in keeping up with this thread guys, it's been a hectic last week. I'll catch up on a few points that came up:

First off, apologies for the release delay. This is really not something we can control and we can't comment on. Having said that, we expect to be able to make an announcement SOON! Please bear with us!

Secondly, THANKS!!! for all the votes of support and for the guys in the eXceed 2nd VR contest. With the release not so far off at all (touch wood!), it's important that we gain as much momentum as possible up until the day. Each of your guys' support makes a huge difference.

& onto points from the thread:

We won't be releasing the original versions this time around. Individually and in the eXceed Collection are the latest version of each of games.
FYI, the differences between eX2nd Vampire REX & eX3rd Jade Penetration Black Package and their originals are:

Vampire REX added the below new features:
- Difficulty Rank System
- New Score System
- Chaining Bonus
- Point Blank Shot

New features for the Black Package were:
- New character and stages (Remedy)
- Programming revised based on player feedback
- Overall graphics and system screens were improve

Regarding some people experiencing FPS slowdown at certain points in the game, we're rounding off something akin to a technical FAQ based on input from Shmup forum posters and work by AlphaProspector (thanks, guys!!) which should resolve this for most people. I'll post it in this topic later.

Regarding DRM > Just to be clear, there will be NO SecuROM on the Steam release. Other distros are decided on a case-by-case by Capcom, but GamersGate will have SecuROM.
Regarding Steam, we're anticipating the same implementation we had with Satazius. It wouldn't be appropriate for me to go into details on this, but sufficed to say if it is the same then Steam users at least everyone can rest easy on the DRM question.

[AntiFritz]

Any reason why the stage 2 bosses 3rd attack was renamed from Napalm Death to Napalm Wreath? Pretty sure theirs no band known as the latter.

Correct, but there is a fairly well-known band that goes by the former...

Every single one of those bosses attacks are bands, dimmu borgir is arguably more well known then napalm death.

[GenkiPatton]

Every single one of those bosses attacks are bands, dimmu borgir is arguably more well known then napalm death.

You're right about Dimmu Borgir & there are a lot of band names in the boss attacks, but not every one is a band name.

A bit of eXceed localization trivia: there were 4 names that we deemed potentially risky in terms of copyright, so we changed them to be 'similar, but legally distinct' (well, in 3 of the cases. In the 3rd we tried to stay faithful to the sense of the original name.) They were:

NAPALM DEATH -> NAPALM WREATH
DIMMU BORGIR -> DIMMUBORGIR
DEATHRASH BOUND -> DEATH THRASH BOUND
LIVING DEAD DOLL -> UNDEAD MALICE

[AntiFritz]

That makes sense.

[GenkiPatton]

Here is a more detailed list of the differences...

Nice post, thanks!

[GenkiPatton]

Hi guys,

Apologies for the delay. Please find below the latest version of the technical FAQ for the eXceed series, which covers potential language compatibility issues and fixed for cases in which slow downs are experienced.

This is a live document, so please let us know if you have any feedback / suggestions for revisions / etc!

Thanks!

*********************************************************

ExCEED SERIES TECHNICAL FAQ

Q: What are the minimum PC specs for each game?
Q: Japanese characters display as garbage. How can I fix it?
Q: What are the minimum PC specs for each game?
Q: The frame rate slows down at points in the game ? is this intentional?
Q: The frame rate slows down at points during gameplay ? what can I do to prevent this?
Q: How common is frame rate slow down?
Q: My PC specs are much higher than the recommended specs -why does the frame rate slow down?
Q: Where can I find the latest version of this FAQ?

Q: What are the minimum PC specs for each game?
A: The required specs for each of for each game are:

eXceed - Gun Bullet Children
Operating system: Windows VistaR/XP, Windows 7
Processor: Pentium 1.0GHz or better
Memory: 128MB or better
Hard disk space: 172 MB free hard drive space
Video: Intel 915(900) or better
DirectXR: DirecXR8 or later

eXceed 2nd - Vampire REX
Operating system: Windows VistaR/XP, Windows 7
Processor: Pentium 1.0GHz or better
Memory: 128MB or better
Hard disk space: 781 MB free hard drive space
Video: NDIVIA Geforce 5200 or better, AMD(ATI) Radeon 9600 or better, Intel 915(900 series) or better, SiS
DirectXR: DirecXR8 or later

eXceed 3rd - Jade Penetrate Black Package
Operating system: Windows Me/2000/XP/Vista/Windows 7
Processor: Pentium 4 or better
Memory: 512MB or better
Hard disk space: 309 MB free hard drive space
Video: NDIVIA Geforce 5200 or better, AMD(ATI) Radeon 9600 or better, SiS
DirectXR: DirecXR8 or later

Q: Japanese characters display as garbage. How can I fix it?
A: There are two main ways to enable your computer to view Japanese characters: the first and most preferable is to use the Microsoft application Applocale; the second is to change your regional settings for non-Unicode characters to Japanese.[/b]

1) Using Applocale
AppLocale is preferable to switching Windows regional settings to Japanese as it allows you to run an application with Japanese regional settings without having to reboot and avoids issues such as Windows erroneously displaying other non-English characters as Japanese or certain applications defaulting to Japanese language.
You can download Microsoft AppLocale here: http://www.microsoft.com/download/en/de ... n&id=13209

2) Changing Regional Settings
Go to Control Panel > Clock, Language, and Region > Regional and Language Options.
Then click the Administrative tab > Language for non-Unicode programs (System Locale) > Change system locale, select Japanese and then click OK.
You’ll be prompted to restart your computer.
More detailed instructions can be found here: http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/wind ... tem-locale
Windows Vista/7 users also have the option of installing the language pack and switching regional settings. Windows 7 Ultimate users can switch regions altogether as well.

Q: The frame rate slows down at points in the game ? is this intentional?
A: eXceed 2nd Vampire REX and eXceed 3rd ? Jade Penetrate Black Package are designed to slowdown in certain conditions, such as when a certain amount of bullets are on-screen, as well as during the cut scenes and when bosses are defeated. In eXceed 3rd ? Jade Penetrate Black Package, however, there is no intentional slowdown during regular gameplay.

Q: The frame rate slows down at points during gameplay ? what can I do to prevent this?
A: There are a number of potential causes, including texture filtering issues, graphic card-related issues and threaded optimization issues as well as a number of solutions. Below is a list of the most common fixes to the slowdown issues. We recommend applying or testing all of the changes listed below.

- Update your graphics card drivers to the latest versions. (This really works! Keep a backup of the latest drivers as it is well known successive driver updates can break many games in the process.)
- Disable V-Sync in the game Options menu.
- Disable automatic anti-aliasing (set to “Override any application settings”) and V-Sync settings for your graphics card from the graphics card control panel.
- Force the game to run using an integrated graphics card, rather than a dedicated graphics board.
- Change 3D graphics cards automatic settings from ‘best’ to ‘balanced’ or lower.
- Run the game in Compatibility Mode (Windows Vista/7).
- Force the game to run on a single core.

Q: How common is frame rate slow down?
A: The issue appears to affect a minority of PCs and desktops more so than laptops. It does not make the games unplayable, but generally makes the game run between the usual rate of 60 fps and 30 fps.

Q: My PC specs are much higher than the recommended specs -why does the frame rate slow down?
A: The issues are related to the ways in which the games process graphics or use CPU and can affect even high spec machines. Also, bosses explode with intentional slowdown for dramatic effect (also the case in Ikaruga or CAVE shooters?) Keeping the video card drivers up to date is important as well!

Q: Where can I find the latest version of this FAQ?
A: The latest version of this FAQ can be found on the eXceed forum at the Nyu Media homepage at: http://nyu-media.com/forum/games-group2 ... postid-384

[Chaos Phoenixma]

Can't wait.

Though I'm hoping there's a way you can get us the original Exceed 3rd as well someday since it sounds like it'd be a fun variant of the game too.

Well, it's probably easy to find elsewhere if it's not localized.

[TrevHead (TVR)]

@GenkiPatton

Although I didnt have any problems running the original Ex 2/3 myself, its good that you provided this info for those who might. I look forward to getting back into playing BP for score as I never explored the extra stage

[Danny]

Sooooooo any news on this?

Just wondering because it's been almost three weeks now since the first proposed release date!

[cj iwakura]

There's been some unavoidable delays, but it shouldn't be much longer.


Also, good god almighty is GBC a hardcore game. Can't even clear stage 1.

[GenkiPatton]

CJ Iwakura is right - it shouldn't be much longer! When this happens, it'll probably happen fast...