Quinneapolis
[noisz] A tutorial and also talking about how this game uses danmaku very differently from a full danmaku game
Quinneapolis
[NOISZ STARLIVHT] LIVHT MY WAY bởi Camellia feat. ST...
here's a video of a person doing a song
Quinneapolis
doing... okay
Quinneapolis
but Normal difficulty is a good example
Quinneapolis
I'm gonna go through every part of this that is not just a lovelive beatmap
Quinneapolis
around 20 seconds in, we get the first! some of these things you have to move through in the direction of the arrow on the beat
around 20 seconds in, we get the first! some of these things you have to move through in the direction of the arrow on the beat
Quinneapolis
seven in a row, one every two beats
Quinneapolis
and I can tell by looking that the player is making a mistake here that renders this much harder than it has to be
Quinneapolis
they are actually picking up the character and manually sliding her through each one in turn
Quinneapolis
you do not have to do this!
Quinneapolis
that dot in the lower center is the Dock, where the character goes when you aren't holding a finger on the danmaku zone
Quinneapolis
if you touch anywhere within it, the character will instantly jump tto where you touched
Quinneapolis
so if any of these purple things have an arrow facing directly away from the dock, all you have to do is just
Quinneapolis
tap on them once
Quinneapolis
and the character will zip to the spot, hit the note, then zip back to the dock
Quinneapolis
at 30 seconds, we get this! slightly harder!
at 30 seconds, we get this! slightly harder!
Quinneapolis
the first purple note is pointing away from the dock so you could get it with just a tap
Quinneapolis
but the second one is not so
Quinneapolis
also there's a bullet in the way, so fi you just tapped it you'd hit the big red bullet in the middle
Quinneapolis
you're invincible when returning TO the dock but not when leaving it
Quinneapolis
so all you have to do for each of these pairs is one movement
Quinneapolis
Quinneapolis
When you tap at the start of the arrow, that'll pass through the first purple note, then you slide manually through the second
Quinneapolis
then let go and you warp back to the dock
Quinneapolis
note, very little actual Bullet so far
Quinneapolis
there's just been one big bullet loitering in the middle
Quinneapolis
40 seconds! this one is interesting
40 seconds! this one is interesting
Quinneapolis
here we have a bunch of lasers preparing to fire, and a purple note right in the middle
Quinneapolis
so by zipping to the purple note, you place yourself exactly in the safe spot in the middle of the laser fan
Quinneapolis
so for each one, you tap the purple note, then slowly move back as the lasers pivot
Quinneapolis
trusting the beatmap is important
Quinneapolis
if hitting a purple note will put you somewhere, the game will reward you for being there
Quinneapolis
often at the same time as a purple note, some very fast attack will target the dock
Quinneapolis
so as long as you hit the purple note you'll dodge it automatically
Quinneapolis
similarly whenever the streams of blue notes come in you know it's safe to focus on those and let the character return to the dock
Quinneapolis
53 seconds! our first actual danmaku attack!
53 seconds! our first actual danmaku attack!
Quinneapolis
the player here just uses a burst but this is actually quite a simple pattern
Quinneapolis
very slow-moving
Quinneapolis
hit blue notes until they run out then you just need to Walk Not Run through the fairly large gaps
Quinneapolis
right afterwards, we get this! a single huge bullet aimed at the dock, so if you don't move you'll get hit
right afterwards, we get this! a single huge bullet aimed at the dock, so if you don't move you'll get hit
Quinneapolis
but also, those two purple notes mean you don't need to worry
Quinneapolis
generally speaking if you hit all purple notes in the indicated order and timing, you will dodge all danmaku
Quinneapolis
so you can ignore bullets while there are purple notes
Quinneapolis
so, here's the move
so, here's the move
Quinneapolis
zip to the first one, then slide to the second
Quinneapolis
and as you do, THIS forms around you
and as you do, THIS forms around you
Quinneapolis
I'd call this the first actual challenging danmaku of the song
Quinneapolis
because the bullets are coming from below
Quinneapolis
but if you can handle the stress of the unorthodox attack you just have to go like
Quinneapolis
a little left, then a little right
Quinneapolis
to dodge the bullets going right down the middle
Quinneapolis
so let's take a tangent here to talk about touhou
Quinneapolis
one of the touhou print works, the Grimoire of Marisa, is Marisa talking about different kinds of danmaku from different characters
Quinneapolis
she introduces a number of types of danmaku with different design conceits
Quinneapolis
one of them is called Stress Danmaku
Quinneapolis
Koishi Komeiji - Symbol "Danmaku Paranoia"
this spell card is my favorite example
Quinneapolis
the cloud of purple bullets around you is very loud and dense and chaotic
Quinneapolis
and it causes a lot of stress
Quinneapolis
but if you calm down and watch what's happening
Quinneapolis
NONE of them are aimed at the player
Quinneapolis
so if you just stand still, or move slowly, they won't do shit
Quinneapolis
then you can focus on the blue bullets, which are very simple and even
Quinneapolis
almost all danmaku in noisz is stress danmaku.
Quinneapolis
what you have to do to avoid it is very simple most of the time
Quinneapolis
its actual threat level is caused by the fact that it makes there be a lot more stuff on the screen
Quinneapolis
moving around and being scary
Quinneapolis
some songs will have danmaku blasting around the screen in the middle of a stream of blue notes and it's very scary until you realize that none of it is aimed at the dock
Quinneapolis
so you can just completely ignore it
Quinneapolis
now back to the song
Quinneapolis
difficulty is ramping up!
difficulty is ramping up!
Quinneapolis
1:05 or so
Quinneapolis
there's a pretty consistent visual indicator in this game
Quinneapolis
where you see two red lines converging to line up with each other
Quinneapolis
when they line up, or shortly afterwards, it'll fire a laser
Quinneapolis
here we have three of those in a row, aimed directly at the player
Quinneapolis
but they stop tracking as soon as the lines meet
Quinneapolis
so while dodging the otherwise simple danmaku that's just radiating out from the center
Quinneapolis
you have to bait each laser
Quinneapolis
which just means, once the lines meet, move left or right
Quinneapolis
and now we have more big stationary bullets
and now we have more big stationary bullets
Quinneapolis
and one of my points in general is like
Quinneapolis
danmaku is not used to force you to navigate a wall of death
Quinneapolis
it is used to zone you
Quinneapolis
to force you to move
Quinneapolis
and since the movement is usually in time with the music
Quinneapolis
you aren't doing danmaku, really, most of the time
Quinneapolis
you're dancing
Quinneapolis
I probably don't need to explain how to handle this one - tap to zip through the first, then slide through the second. trust the beatmap, ignore the bullets, hit the purple notes on time
Quinneapolis
the difficulty here is that you're alternating beatmap and danmaku inputs rapidly
Quinneapolis
like to be clear this is a pretty hard song - it's a 7, which is close to the peak of Normal
Quinneapolis
And this is another tricky part! And again, it's not really danmaku!
And this is another tricky part! And again, it's not really danmaku!
Quinneapolis
The same kind of aimed tracking lasers - once the lines meet, they stop tracking
Quinneapolis
but the tricky part is that when they fire, you're busy hitting blue notes
Quinneapolis
so what you need to do is to bait them to aim away from the dock
Quinneapolis
then when they lock on, you go hit the blue notes and snap back to the dock, which you have made them not aim at
Quinneapolis
big laser wheel! no danmaku dodging, just move in a big circle around the screen
big laser wheel! no danmaku dodging, just move in a big circle around the screen
Quinneapolis
then the other way
Quinneapolis
Aim lasers away from the dock, part 2
Aim lasers away from the dock, part 2
Quinneapolis
Looks scary but each kind of bullet starts accelerating one at a time so you only need to dodge one at a time
Looks scary but each kind of bullet starts accelerating one at a time so you only need to dodge one at a time
Quinneapolis
from here it basically repeats patterns but harder
Quinneapolis
this is Go Around In Circles but with bulletst coming out of the center - this is where I died on my first attempt of this song
this is Go Around In Circles but with bulletst coming out of the center - this is where I died on my first attempt of this song
Quinneapolis
because the problem becomes that your finger is in the way of the bullets
Quinneapolis
so I actually handle this part differently
Quinneapolis
- go a bit to the right
Quinneapolis
- wait for a laser to pass over the dock
Quinneapolis
- warp back to dock
Quinneapolis
- repeat
Quinneapolis
so instead of circling the center around the screen I just jump over each laser and stay at the bottom
Quinneapolis
we're continuing to escalate old ideas - here you have some very sparse and slow-moving bullets plus periodic aimed lasers you need to bait
we're continuing to escalate old ideas - here you have some very sparse and slow-moving bullets plus periodic aimed lasers you need to bait
Quinneapolis
but while doing that with one hand, you have to be holding thte green note with the other hand
Quinneapolis
it's honestly quite hard
Quinneapolis
and this is, I think, the hardest segment of the song
and this is, I think, the hardest segment of the song
Quinneapolis
you finally have something I'd call a serious danmaku challenge
Quinneapolis
bullets moving in multiple directions, plus aimed lasers
Quinneapolis
and then the rest is just repeating old attacks
Quinneapolis
so like. I don't know what my thesis statement is, it isn't that the game is easy
Quinneapolis
but the game is challenging in ways where the biggest challenge is not execution, it's knowing what to do
Quinneapolis
each individual mechanic is not that hard, it's the game's expectation that you do them in rapid succession
Quinneapolis
and when bullets are happening, it's usually just "go to this indicated place" or "dodge a little to the left or right"
Quinneapolis
the most common kind of bullets are bullets that fire from the center of the boss in a straight line
Quinneapolis
and for those, you have the centter line
Quinneapolis
if the bullet is not on the center line, and it's not curving, then it won't hit the dock
Quinneapolis
so you can ignore it
Quinneapolis
most of the time when a song seems impossible it's not because it's just too dense/hard, it's because you haven't figured out the solution to simplify a pattern in your mind
Quinneapolis
anyway if that sounds too hard then just turn on angel mode, nobody's watching
Quinneapolis
the game is a rhythm game first and a bullet hell second
Quinneapolis
and the bullets are used to make you do things to the music