SDM2: There may or may not be touhou involved

[Fireyblaze]

That boss should have had spinjumping disabled.

[megamario]

It's weird but I think if this was any other hack (like ASMT, SMWCP, uh MGU, TSRP, whatever) I would probably be rabble rabble over the lack of visual/musical quality but I have been perfectly okay with it in this game.

No idea why, though

[anomaly]

Or maybe he just didn't care much for the music, opting to focus on other things.

Not caring about the quality of your Touhou ports in a hack that is supposed to represent Touhou is sort of .. questionable. It shouldn't just be a case of "hey, if I just dump some low quality Touhou ports in here, people will like it". It may not be a big deal to some, but the way I see it, it really kills the vibe the hack is trying to give off.

Eh.

SDM doesn't actually represent Touhou though. It's the main gimmick but not the majority. The hack has many other things too.

Maybe one day someone really -will- make an ideal hack.

Honestly I doubt it because SMW itself isn't ideal. An idea game should not be based on Lunar Magic.

[InsaneIntentions1]

Adding that sun was just cruel

[limepie20]

I thought adding the sun was great because it made the boss a lot less boring. The first three hits are still really boring though.

[MarthX]

It's what I refer to 'the smwcentral' problem - peeps there just put too much enphasis on presentation I feel, when a game can be SUPER fun while still being janky like hell.

I dunno. I genuinely love bad movies too, on an unironic level, so what do I know.

I've thought that for a while.

SMWC cares more about how pretty a hack looks than how fun it is to play. Japanese hacks seem to care little about presentation and are all about creativity and enjoyment.

[Rameau's Nephew]

So, you'd say the later levels of Hyper V put a premium on enjoyment, would you?

[McGack]

Someone was complaining about the chipmonking? ... this is why i don't post on your videos anymore
who was this mysterious friend at the beginning of the video?

[sasukebowser]

the slowdown was intentional, obv

or something

[S.N.N.]

SMWC cares more about how pretty a hack looks than how fun it is to play.

MGU/TSRPR/others sure did, didn't they? Games from both SMWC/Japan break their "tradition", so stereotyping isn't exactly a good thing to do here.

Today's level: again with those stupid SMB1 graphics. The time gimmick was actually rather neat though compared to some previous gimmicks in this game.

[kilon]

Someone was complaining about the chipmonking? ... this is why i don't post on your videos anymore
who was this mysterious friend at the beginning of the video?

Meh, I don't like the chipmunking either. To me it's pretty pointless. But I also know the reasons for it, so I'm not complaining.

[Argumentable]

I just dislike seeing the same stuff over and over again, chipmunking kind of takes the sting off, but for the most part I'm watching for the games (unusual, I know) so I prefer to see what's next.

[Paragraph]

SMWC cares more about how pretty a hack looks than how fun it is to play.

MGU/TSRPR/others sure did, didn't they? Games from both SMWC/Japan break their "tradition", so stereotyping isn't exactly a good thing to do here.

Today's level: again with those stupid SMB1 graphics. The time gimmick was actually rather neat though compared to some previous gimmicks in this game.

Have to agree. On the gimmick in particular: Could have used a bit less stopping time, one second instead of...two or three, other than that is was implemented in a way that seemed not really annoying, which is the best kind of gimmick. Compared to WIND or reversing your controls all three seconds or stuff like that, it was very clear what was going to happen when, and except for the platform passing through Mario, there was never a situation where it wasn't completely raocow's fault when he died to stoppage.

Simon

[Punisher]

the slowdown was intentional, obv

or something

If it was intentional, it'd be a Youmu stage, but that's another Touhou game entirely.

I just love how he decided not to chipmunk that run to get GVirusG riled up. I know why he does chipmunk runs instead of jump cutting, so he can show the whole winning run. So when I see jump cuts, I expect him to die within three seconds.

[MrDeePay]

SMWC cares more about how pretty a hack looks than how fun it is to play. Japanese hacks seem to care little about presentation and are all about creativity and enjoyment.

Where the hell did you get that info from?

[Caracc]

Maybe one day someone really -will- make an ideal hack.

Challenge accepted.

@TheTopicofMusic: Technically you can always do better musically, but as long as it isn't 6 distortion guitars and an orchestra hit, it's hard for me to complain.

@TheLevelDesign: It's a tough call, the gimmicks can make a level, but a great level doesn't need a gimmick. I guess he could do better, but i'm not playing the hack, so I guess my complaints/comments aren't too relevant. That part in the castle with about 15 chains hanging at the same height though is inexcusable laziness though.

Still though, in my honest opinion, this hack is still way too texty.

[Ranylyn]

SMWC cares more about how pretty a hack looks than how fun it is to play. Japanese hacks seem to care little about presentation and are all about creativity and enjoyment.

Where the hell did you get that info from?

Well to be totally fair, I read the rejected hacks log for the sake of seeing what NOT to do if I want my own hack to be accepted, and plenty of hacks that the mods found really fun were rejected because of some minor cutoff. Don't get me wrong, I think cutoff looks atrocious, but I'd rather see cutoff than some of the hacks that DID get accepted.

I'm not agreeing with the opening statement, I'm just defending how some may have come to that point.

[MarthX]

SMWC cares more about how pretty a hack looks than how fun it is to play.

MGU/TSRPR/others sure did, didn't they? Games from both SMWC/Japan break their "tradition", so stereotyping isn't exactly a good thing to do here.

Today's level: again with those stupid SMB1 graphics. The time gimmick was actually rather neat though compared to some previous gimmicks in this game.

Obviously there are exceptions. It's not some ironclad rule.

[Rameau's Nephew]

But honestly, it seems strange to me to say that a lot of these Japanese hacks' main concern is enjoyment. While many of them are fun to watch, of the Japanese hacks raocow has played, とってもYEAHHHH!! is about the only one I can seriously imagine playing through myself. I think a more accurate distinction would be to say that while SMWC hacks certainly put a higher emphasis on æsthetics (and also things like plot) than Japanese hacks, on occasion to the detriment of gameplay, the primary emphasis in Japanese hacks seems to be above all on technical innovation (crazy ASM gimmicks, creative modification of existing custom sprites)--with the downside that they too occasionally become too concerned about showcasing their own creativity to the point of neglecting to consider if the level, though certainly possessing a certain wow-factor, is necessarily fun to play. In fact, I'd go so far as to say that getting caught up on one particular aspect to the point of neglecting enjoyability is pretty common in ROM hacking in general, and indeed professional video game design as well.

[Test Pilot Monkey]

That slowdown was weird. The second part had pretty much the same stuff as the first part, so I've no idea why it would have happened.

[Ometeotl]

SMWC cares more about how pretty a hack looks than how fun it is to play. Japanese hacks seem to care little about presentation and are all about creativity and enjoyment.

So is this like, a Taiwanese hack or something, because it has neither so far.

[The Doctor]

Well, I'm pretty far ahead of raocow right now and I'm loving the game. It seems to improve a bit each world and I especially love

Hard mode. Lunatic mode should be fun :).

[sasukebowser]

I really liked today's level! The dagger thing was pretty neat.

Weird how it sort of breaks without the P-switch at the end though.

[jeremy]

Who want's to bet how long it takes until raocow gives up on getting all the dragon coins?

[went]

How to get raocow to 100% all your levels: put a Dragon Coin-o-meter. Even if it serves no real purpose.