Anyone here own Dezaemon 2 for Saturn?

[Chelnov]

If so, is it easy to make games in this despite the language barrier? That is all I want to know.

[Cthulhu]

Yes I have it, in my opinion no it is not easy to use without knowing Japanese. It has been quite a while since I've used/played it, but I seem to remember it being considerably more capable than the first, but consequently more complex.

I highly recommend finding Dezaemon Kids for the PS1, however, as it comes with a disc of a ton of games people made with Dezaemon 1, many of which are quite fun.

[Rozyrg]

With a FAQ handy, it's not too bad. After a few weeks, I got around fine without it; but a few screens (i.e. music editor), I still don't have a clue.

I wouldn't worry about the language barrier as much as whether you have the setup to keep the stuff you build. I found out too late that the trusty US Saturn + Action Replay combo doesn't quite cut it in this case.

(Thank god we finally have working emulation for the SS now.)

[PC Engine Fan X!]

Yes I have it, in my opinion no it is not easy to use without knowing Japanese. It has been quite a while since I've used/played it, but I seem to remember it being considerably more capable than the first, but consequently more complex.

I highly recommend finding Dezaemon Kids for the PS1, however, as it comes with a disc of a ton of games people made with Dezaemon 1, many of which are quite fun.

Actually, that PSX Dezaemon Kids 2-disc compliation set has well over a 100+ user created shmup games using the eariler mentioned PSX released Dezaemon Plus creation engine. There is one user created game that pays tribute to the old Toaplan old-school arcade shmups on the 2nd disc of DK -- lots of cool and lavishly detailed hand-drawn 2-D sprite-based love in it. ^_~

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

[guigui]

With a FAQ handy, it's not too bad. After a few weeks, I got around fine without it; but a few screens (i.e. music editor), I still don't have a clue.

I wouldn't worry about the language barrier as much as whether you have the setup to keep the stuff you build. I found out too late that the trusty US Saturn + Action Replay combo doesn't quite cut it in this case.

(Thank god we finally have working emulation for the SS now.)

Just ordered that Dezaemon 2 also. Which FAQ are you talking about ? I am looking for one...

[Rozyrg]

http://www.gamefaqs.com/console/saturn/ ... 0940/30095

Like I said, it's missing a few things, though. Still, a few of us are fairly knowledgeable about the game, so if you need any pointers...

[guigui]

Yay, thanks a lot. I'll certainly come back here when I need help.

[Jockel]

I'd suggest you download and try it first, before you go ahead an spend your hard earned money on it.
Personally i found it way to confusing.

[guigui]

I'd suggest you download and try it first, before you go ahead an spend your hard earned money on it.
Personally i found it way to confusing.

Nice advice here, but I cant play the downloaded things at the moment (and dont want to), and already ordered it for a fairly low chunk of my hard earned money...

[PC Engine Fan X!]

If you have a modded PSX or a Japanese PSX, then pick up Dezaemon Plus and Dezaemon Kids...great pair of shmup creation programs. I've only done bunch of various BGM tunes in the Music Editor portion...and they are much better than what is offered on the sample Dezaemon Plus shmup demos. I fiddled with it off & on for a period of four years (2000 to 2004). Sounds great with a pair of headphones with heavy bass output. ^_~

Plus there is the cool "How to Create a Shooter in 7 Days" book based on Athena's PSX Dezaemon Plus gaming engine. I bought it off of eBay many moons ago but it's entirely in Japanese though. It has a combination of both "black & white" and color pics to digress over.

It is recommended to use a mouse controller for both Saturn and PSX versions of the Dezaemon games...makes creating a shmup game and/or music a lot easier. ^_~

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

[Rozyrg]

To be honest, I'd have to vouch for the download/emulation route as well. Assuming it's an option, that is.. I know my XP laptop here can't handle SSF very well.

Outside of the potential hurdle of having to have the right system setup just to save your data, you don't have to hunt down another accessory for mouse support (which you need, honestly) and transporting and playing other people's data is much, much easier too.

That said, I like Daioh P! well enough to pop the real thing in my Saturn from time to time.

[PC Engine Fan X!]

Some of the BGM tunes that I created using the Dezaemon Plus music editor, I'd try out various sections and see how they play out. If I could refine them to the point of perfection, then I'd branch out & expand on a piece until it eventually became a complete BGM for a sample shmup stage. After it was all finished, I'd go play a sample stage to check & listen to find out if it matched the gameplay and general overall atmosphere/aestethics. There is one BGM that has a 1970s funky beat to it...developer/publisher Athena Co. Ltd. would be surprised/shocked at listening to some of stuff I created in those four years. Despite the limited range of sample sounds and beats given to the user, it's possible to whip something up worth listening to. Some techno beats were created by trial and error and plently of free time. ^_~

I have all those BGM tunes saved on a pair of PSX memory cards for posterity + saved on a PS2 memory card as a back up (considering the fact that a single Dezaemon Plus user game + music uses up an entire 15 blocks of memory on a 1MB PSX memory card).

It is possible to create a catchy beginning that plays only once and have a cool looping section that plays after that intial opening piece. ^_~

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

[Rozyrg]

Cool...glad to know some good stuff is possible with it. Some of the 'extra' songs in D2 are ok (still not sure how to access them); but the default set.. :/

This thread had me feeling pretty nostalgic, so I decided to make an updated video of my Dezzie 2 game (might as well since I doubt I'll ever finish it.)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HCtldugBRdw

[guigui]

Cool...glad to know some good stuff is possible with it. Some of the 'extra' songs in D2 are ok (still not sure how to access them); but the default set.. :/

This thread had me feeling pretty nostalgic, so I decided to make an updated video of my Dezzie 2 game (might as well since I doubt I'll ever finish it.)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HCtldugBRdw

May it be that you are the actual zycyzyx of youtube that make those so delightfull shooters on Blast Works ? If yes, I'd like to thank you for those

[Specineff]

I have all those BGM tunes saved on a pair of PSX memory cards for posterity + saved on a PS2 memory card as a back up (considering the fact that a single Dezaemon Plus user game + music uses up an entire 15 blocks of memory on a 1MB PSX memory card).

It is possible to create a catchy beginning that plays only once and have a cool looping section that plays after that intial opening piece. ^_~

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

And why haven't you uploaded them to youtube, Oh Master Of All Things PC Engine?

[Rozyrg]

May it be that you are the actual zycyzyx of youtube that make those so delightfull shooters on Blast Works ? If yes, I'd like to thank you for those

Yup...that is indeed me and you are welcome.

I still need to make videos for my last two levels, though. Can't believe I was stupid enough to try making a bullet hell shooter with that game...haha

[guigui]

So I could get that Dezaemon, read the FAQ mentionned here and got time to mess a little with the editor. Kind of fun I must say !

Before I try and dig more out of it, I have a quick question : are the hitboxes of ships/ennemies/bosses editable ? I hope yes, but I cant find any information on this...

[Rozyrg]

I don't think so. The one for your ship is small enough at least; but as far as I know, it will always be at the center of the sprite (the same as the origin point for any weapons it fires), so you just have to design it accordingly.

[guigui]

I don't think so. The one for your ship is small enough at least; but as far as I know, it will always be at the center of the sprite (the same as the origin point for any weapons it fires), so you just have to design it accordingly.

Arf, this is bad. What if I make a huge ship ? Will it have tiny box ? What if I make a sprite that has actually two parts ? Will the ship get two distinct boxes ?

Anyway, I find it strange that you cant edit hitboxes in a shmup editor... Can you in blast works for instance ?

[Rozyrg]

Well, Dezaemon 2 limits you to a certain size grid for your ship (as it does for just about everything...not that this is a bad thing, most at least make sense.) Therefore, you can't really make it too big.

In Blast Works, you can put the box wherever you like; but it's also at a set size (they at least let you see it, though.) Even so, you can get around this with a few tricks. You can scale your ship object to be whatever size you want relative to your hitbox, and then adjust your level's zoom/camera scaling so that it will be in correct proportion with the screen (obviously adjusting any enemies you've made to compensate for this also.)

The only catch to this is that fiddling with the zoom will effect the speed of your ship - since they won't let you change it, it's still going to take into account the change in screen area. More area = more time to travel across etc. IMO zooming in is a must anyways to get any decent sense of speed out of the game. <_<

[guigui]

Hey thanks for the tip Rozyrg,

I'm a bit disappointed you cant edit hitboxes in Deza though. The first thing I think about when creating my shooter is how my ship will look like and it can be destroyed...