Death Smiles: Countdown to North America Invasion

8 1/2 · Post by **8 1/2** » Thu Apr 30, 2009 11:02 pm

antron wrote:
8 1/2 wrote:Did anyone else install it to the HDD? I swear the disc drive is still spinning up when it does its initial load, even when I select "play from hard drive" on the 360 main menu.
known bug.

Good to hear. I was worried my precious J-360 was getting a mind of its own.

professor ganson · Post by **professor ganson** » Thu Apr 30, 2009 11:20 pm

Still waiting on my copy from P-A. Still annoyed that I didn't pre-order the LE when I had a chance. And still unwilling to blow $350+ on that sweet hori stick.

E. Randy Dupre · Post by **E. Randy Dupre** » Thu Apr 30, 2009 11:42 pm

The online score tables are seperated into EX: On and EX: Off.

Probably a silly question, but what's EX?

EOJ · Post by **EOJ** » Thu Apr 30, 2009 11:44 pm

EX means you completed the EX stage, which is the optional Canyon stage before the final castle.

E. Randy Dupre · Post by **E. Randy Dupre** » Fri May 01, 2009 12:40 am

Ah, cheers. Got myself all confused thinking it was some kind of control option, couldn't figure out how that was possible when the options are mostly locked in Score Attack.

Cthulhu · Post by **Cthulhu** » Fri May 01, 2009 1:29 am

Yaaay, my copy finally came in the mail. NCS came through for me in a big way and actually was able to fill my LE preorder. I just paid $60 or so for a music cd, but I refuse to let such matters bother me.

So as far as the game goes, I'm really enjoying it. I <3 horis, and this is definitely right up my alley. The difficulty levels seem a little... off? I was expecting something like Mushi where the middle level felt very Cave-ish but wasn't undoable. In this Lv 2 seems a little tame. No matter. Lv 3 is where it's at, even though I don't think I have any chance of 1CCing it on Lv 3 ...

So far Casper is my girl of choice, her attack style simply works better for me. Loving the levels and the bosses, great stuff. Great port too, the updated graphics for the 360 version are top-notch.

Nice job Cave. I'll keep buying your stuff.

kemical · Post by **kemical** » Fri May 01, 2009 3:28 am

still waiting, shipped the 22nd as well.. I always forget that it takes longer from PA using the standard mail method.. I'm thinking tomorrows the day.

PsikyoPshumpPshooterP · Fri May 01, 2009 4:06 am

now that my jap 360 is getting fixed, my anticipitation of DS is slightly lowered

SFKhoa · Post by **SFKhoa** » Fri May 01, 2009 6:11 am

PsikyoPshumpPshooterP wrote:now that my jap 360 is getting fixed, my anticipitation of DS is slightly lowered

Wtf happened to it?

Elixir wrote:Khoa tried it with a friend in Canada and it's reportedly unplayable.

It's playable if you can pretend that your whole character is the hitbox. Even with low ping (w/ someone local), it's pretty bad because you'll notice yourself getting hit even though you're nowhere near a bullet.

Elixir · Post by **Elixir** » Fri May 01, 2009 8:29 am

Apparently they're going to fix the online netcode, but MBL is delayed. Maybe they will copy Otomedius' netcode, which would be for the better.

Looking forward to it.

Rebel Ninja · Post by **Rebel Ninja** » Fri May 01, 2009 12:34 pm

Just wondering can 1CC achievements for each character only be done with default settings on xbox 360 mode? Also how do you absorb/cancel bullets?

cyprien · Post by **cyprien** » Fri May 01, 2009 12:55 pm

Do the amount of enemies change between the different ranks or is it just the amount of firepower they have?

emphatic · Post by **emphatic** » Fri May 01, 2009 1:38 pm

Rebel Ninja wrote:Just wondering can 1CC achievements for each character only be done with default settings on xbox 360 mode? Also how do you absord/cancel bullets?

Your options can cancel out the suicide bullets (x-shaped) only. They won't appear unless you play on level 3 and complete four stages (if I remember correctly, I'm a level 1 guy).

Chi_Ryu · Post by **Chi_Ryu** » Fri May 01, 2009 2:12 pm

cyprien wrote:Do the amount of enemies change between the different ranks or is it just the amount of firepower they have?

Just the firepower, and bosses have an extra phase on level 3 (plus you get extra lives/bombs on your second and third x-2 stage unless you play on level 1).

emphatic wrote:Your options can cancel out the suicide bullets (x-shaped) only. They won't appear unless you play on level 3 and complete four stages (if I remember correctly, I'm a level 1 guy).

On your *5th* level 3 stage selected (and/or if you select the canyon extra stage), suicide bullets are enabled for the rest of the game - i.e. you can choose 4 stages at level 3 without this happening.

cyprien · Post by **cyprien** » Fri May 01, 2009 2:13 pm

Chi_Ryu wrote:
cyprien wrote:Do the amount of enemies change between the different ranks or is it just the amount of firepower they have?

Just the firepower, and bosses have an extra phase on level 3 (plus you get extra lives/bombs on your second and third x-2 stage unless you play on level 1).

Cool, thanks!

Battlesmurf · Post by **Battlesmurf** » Fri May 01, 2009 5:33 pm

http://kotaku.com/5235339/the-biggest-s ... eration-is

Zero Gunner · Post by **Zero Gunner** » Fri May 01, 2009 7:42 pm

Battlesmurf wrote:http://kotaku.com/5235339/the-biggest-s ... eration-is

"The Biggest Shmup Debut Of This Generation Is...
DEATHSMILES! The game sold 20,000 copies in Japan during its first week on sale. This is the first traditional shooter to break the Japanese top ten this generation."

So I guess all the "It should be on system X, Y, Z! How dare a japanese dev support MS!" talk has been illustrated to be the fallacy that it is. So I guess we can expect the rumors of ESPGaluda 2 and DDP DFK to bear to fruition...now how about that Cave Collection?

professor ganson · Post by **professor ganson** » Fri May 01, 2009 8:11 pm

20,000 copies sounds modest, but strong for the Jap market in April?

PsikyoPshumpPshooterP · Fri May 01, 2009 8:20 pm

SFKhoa wrote:
PsikyoPshumpPshooterP wrote:now that my jap 360 is getting fixed, my anticipitation of DS is slightly lowered
Wtf happened to it?

Elixir wrote:Khoa tried it with a friend in Canada and it's reportedly unplayable.
It's playable if you can pretend that your whole character is the hitbox. Even with low ping (w/ someone local), it's pretty bad because you'll notice yourself getting hit even though you're nowhere near a bullet.

rrod

ZyN · Post by **ZyN** » Fri May 01, 2009 8:36 pm

Someone know where to get one of thoose faceplates from Deathsmiles ?

msm · Post by **msm** » Fri May 01, 2009 9:15 pm

i'm sure someone mentioned this before but i can't find it...through VGA, the display is all messed up on my monitor, the background image is to the left, and the play area is central but seems horizontally squashed

so i just plugged it into a tv via rbg and it's fine, shame VGA doesn't work too well though - anyone else seen that problem?

loving the game, it's great fun

need to figgure out the order for the stages so i can get the health items, and try and get the scoring so i can at least get the extends.

Battlesmurf · Post by **Battlesmurf** » Fri May 01, 2009 10:34 pm

msm wrote:i'm sure someone mentioned this before but i can't find it...through VGA, the display is all messed up on my monitor, the background image is to the left, and the play area is central but seems horizontally squashed so i just plugged it into a tv via rbg and it's fine, shame VGA doesn't work too well though - anyone else seen that problem?

loving the game, it's great fun need to figgure out the order for the stages so i can get the health items, and try and get the scoring so i can at least get the extends.

I play using vga. What kind of display are you running it on? (What's the native resolution- what resolution do you have your Xbox set on?).

msm · Post by **msm** » Fri May 01, 2009 11:09 pm

^ good point about the resolution, i actually don't know what it's set to (although it's probably the 13xx... one) so i'll try changing it, see what happens... it's a benq 24" monitor, 1920x1200, which you can't set the xbox to, it's 16:10 but set to display in the propper aspect ratio so has borders top/bottom, every other game displays fine

Cthulhu · Post by **Cthulhu** » Fri May 01, 2009 11:27 pm

Couple things I've noticed as I play more...

1) The suicide bullets showing up when you play on L3 really sucks, as I've always hated that mechanism. I can kinda understand it for a cheap 2nd loop trick, but inserting it in the game... just feels kind... I dunno, uninspired? Not a dealbreaker, but annoying.

2) Rosa seems to have overtaken Casper on my list simply because of how much damage she does. I think she looks kinda dumb (don't like the way her face is drawn) but I can't argue with how quickly I can kill stuff with her.

Oh, and did anyone notice in the credits who voice acts Jitterbug? It's Inoue Junya himself! Hurrah for employee cameos.

E. Randy Dupre · Post by **E. Randy Dupre** » Sat May 02, 2009 12:10 am

Well, you can avoid suicide bullets by making sure you play one or two of the levels at rank 2, but you're not going to get the same kind of score that you could otherwise. The alternative seems to be learning to quickly position your option/familiar where needed in order to cancel the suicide bullets out.

Easier said than done, obvs. I can't even begin to cope with the Extra stage, so unless I'm feeling reckless they're not going to be an issue for me for quite some time yet.

Chi_Ryu wrote:
cyprien wrote:Do the amount of enemies change between the different ranks or is it just the amount of firepower they have?
Just the firepower, and bosses have an extra phase on level 3 (plus you get extra lives/bombs on your second and third x-2 stage unless you play on level 1).

That's certainly not the case in 360 mode - there *are* different enemies in different positions depending on which rank you're playing at. The cemetery level, for example, has one of those goat-headed pitchfork things ater the first or second tombstone when playing at rank 3, which isn't there at rank 1, and three of the blue hounds immediately after the opening tombstone section, when there's only one at the lower difficulty.

Is the occasional loss of music a known bug? It's dropped out on me a couple of times mid-game now, and the whole thing seems to have trouble when you press the pad's guide button.

Etrian · Post by **Etrian** » Sat May 02, 2009 12:26 am

What comes with MBL? Just a new character and a new stage?

ZyN · Post by **ZyN** » Sat May 02, 2009 12:37 am

Etrian wrote:What comes with MBL? Just a new character and a new stage?

What is MBL ?

And does someone know where to get one of thoose faceplates from Deathsmiles ?

cj iwakura · Post by **cj iwakura** » Sat May 02, 2009 1:10 am

I would buy this to death. That video looks amazing.

Kiken · Post by **Kiken** » Sat May 02, 2009 2:14 am

ZyN wrote:
Etrian wrote:What comes with MBL? Just a new character and a new stage?
What is MBL ?

And does someone know where to get one of thoose faceplates from Deathsmiles ?

MBL=Mega Black Label
Sakura becomes playable and the Crystal Cavern level becomes selectable. Hyper mode can be activated after 500 skulls (instead of 1000 in white label).

The DS 360 faceplates were just mock-ups that the guys at Cave made. They stated there were no plans currently to mass produce them.

msm wrote:i'm sure someone mentioned this before but i can't find it...through VGA, the display is all messed up on my monitor, the background image is to the left, and the play area is central but seems horizontally squashed Confused so i just plugged it into a tv via rbg and it's fine, shame VGA doesn't work too well though - anyone else seen that problem?

That would be me who ran into the background left associating issue when running the game through VGA. Since the playfield is still centered correctly, simply adjust the zoom on the X and Y and then stretch the X until it's at about 120. I'm running my console on my HDTV set at 1360x768.

kk1030 · Post by **kk1030** » Sat May 02, 2009 2:50 am

nm just read the manual, 1.1 is solo only