Touhou Puppet Play ~ The Mansion of Mystery

[DerxwnaKapsyla]

 

Quote

When you put new things into people’s hands, they’ll find ways to utilize it to do things they never could before. The Puppet Era of Gensokyo brought about radical changes to how its inhabitants handle all sorts of things, from their daily lives to conflict, from the Human Village, to the peaks of Youkai Mountain and the depths of the Underground. Puppets rocked the realm into a new age, a fascinating age where even more possibilities could exist.

This story is about four teenagers from the Human Village, who have decided that they want to sneak out of the village one night. Why? Rumor has it that there is an abandoned mansion, hidden away in the forests. If one listens hard enough, then they can hear what sounds like music coming from it. “But if it’s abandoned, then how can it be playing music?” This is what our protagonists hope to find out, as they discover the truth behind The Mansion of Mystery.

 

**********

--Okay now I KNOW what you're thinking. You're probably thinking "Derx, this isn't Faith & Prayer Version! What're you doing!". Well, i'm beyond burned out on Faith & Prayer Version - I've gotten done so little work on it in the past year, and my external biting the dust crippled my motivation and I still haven't fully recovered honestly. I've rebuilt all the old content I lost and added new content, but progress is extremely slow there. But this thread isn't to talk about Faith & Prayer! No, we're talking about a small project I made (and finished! Wowie!) back during October called Touhou Puppet Play ~ The Mansion of Mystery.

 

The game was built for the Pokecommunity Game Jam, "Blinded By The Fight" back in October, where you had to follow a specific theme to enter - the theme being utilizing the Dewford Gym darkness circle mechanic. When I saw the theme, I knew instantly what I should make (Though I spent a few days during early development cementing ideas). As such, the game is extremely short - roughly 2 to 4 hours, maybe longer depending on factors.

 

 

It revolves around a group of four from the human village and their expedition to uncover the truth behind “the mysterious mansion that has music coming from it”. The writing of the game is about as close to your average Touhou plot as I could get, and the way the game is handled is also similar: Six core stages, one Extra stage that gets accessible only if you can Perfect Run (1cc/no blacking out) the entire game. The difficulty is a bit rough, especially if you’re unfamiliar with the 1.8 Type Chart, but it is beatable without grinding, and in one shot. The game also has a slightly modified EXP system, where you get x1.25% exp (5/4ths) for beating a Puppet, just to make up for how short the game is, and how quickly the levels ramp up as a whole. It's balanced around battling every trainer, so take that into consideration!

 

 

Honestly, making this game was extremely fun! The deadline let me keep myself in check, and I needed fresh blood to work on to try and get me back in the swing of development. I’m glad I made it and took part in the game jam! So far I’ve heard good feedback about it (even one of the judges said it was a close race for first between mine and first place!), and I know I put in a lot of effort to make the game as good as I possibly could! It is my hope that you all who download and play it can enjoy it just as much, if not more, as I enjoyed making it!

 

Granted I took second out of three, but it was an extremely close second according to the judge.

 

A link to the game can be found here: Touhou Puppet Play ~ The Mansion of Mystery (ver. 1.2)

 

And in case those pictures didn't do anything to help, have a few videos as well:

Spoiler

 

 

[Ice Cream Sand Witch]

Not sure if it's intentional, but interacting with the fountain in the Misty Lake makes you turn invisible. 

[DerxwnaKapsyla]

... Not intentional. I had that there so I could get a screenshot of the title screen, and I guess I never deleted it...

WHOOPS!

if you upload your save i can fix it for you

[Ice Cream Sand Witch]

Oh, I didn't save after doing it, just in case there was no way to become visible again.

[DerxwnaKapsyla]

Hopefully you didn't lose too much as a result, but hey if you got it back to normal that's good and it means less work for me.

[Ice Cream Sand Witch]

Oh, I save after every battle, so I only lost a few seconds.

[DerxwnaKapsyla]

Folks! It has been far too long since I have been around, and since the bowels of depression have ensnared me within its vicious cycle of self depreciation! While I have not fully escaped its grasp yet, I have managed to create a tunnel that will go upward once more hopefully, and put me back where I desire- making games that make me satisfied. To start with, I have finished up Version 1.1 of Touhou Puppet Play ~ The Mansion of Mystery! It's taken me several months to finish what should have taken me a few weeks, but- it's finished and that's what counts!
 
So what exactly was included or changed in 1.1? Overall, not a whole lot! There were a few things I wanted to fix up from 1.0 that I wasn't satisfied with, add an extra layer of polish, that sort of stuff. However, there was one thing I wanted to include that I didn't get a chance to: the bonus boss.

 

During the 2016 October Game Jam, I had plans to include one final boss in the game, but there just wasn't enough time to throw it in and make sure it all worked. It was a small regret, but one I let sit there until after the game jam subsided. I told myself I'd eventually add it in; and so, with this update, I finally did. The only way you can unlock this fight is by reaching the Extra Stage Mid-Boss, which of course means making it to that point without having the Bad End unlocked. Oh, right! Speaking of the Bad End and Extra Stage, I have some news regarding that!

 

While the loss restriction is still in place, it has been modified to be much more lenient. In 1.01 it was if you lost even once. In 1.1, it's been bumped up to six losses. I felt that this was necessary, and if I could replicate the Touhou Project's continue system better I probably would have attempted to. Alas, it would have been far too clunky, and ultimately not worth the effort. This should hopefully make it much, much more forgiving and allow players to be able to reach the Extra and Phantasm Bonus Stages.

 
Aside from those two big changes, not a whole lot else was changed! Well, I fixed some eye colors, that's fairly big in my book! Maybe not yours, but shrug!
 
At any rate, you didn't come here to hear me ramble! The download link to Version 1.1 can be found below. If you've been waiting to give it a shot, or if you're just now learning about it, or even if you feel like playing another run- whatever the case may be, go for it! Enjoy!
 
- DerxwnaKapsyla

Touhou Puppet Play ~ The Mansion of Mystery (Ver. 1.1) [200mb, .rar]

[ookamishadows]

I really love this game and I love Touhoumon Faith & Prayer (I hope you will finish it, it is brilliant). I hope you will continue making Touhou and Pokemon games, I really like the energy and flow of your games and thanks to you I found a lot of Touhou games (all Hacks) and now I am a Touhou fan.

 

Keep up the wonderful work you are doing. I just wanted to encourage you. You rock.

[Dragon God Goomy]

Touhou Puppet Play.

Oh boy. This brings back memories.

[DerxwnaKapsyla]

So, it's getting close to the most wonderful time of the year again. No, not Christmas. Halloween! And I've been burdened with unnecessary and distracting thoughts, such as "How can I celebrate the holiday season this year", and what better way to celebrate it than by making yet another patch for The Mansion of Mystery! That's right, there's another patch in-bound, and it's almost done. Just one last thing remains to be done for this patch before I can upload it.

 

As such, you're probably wondering what that image above is, and how it corresponds to The Mansion of Mystery's latest patch? Well, for those of you who haven't been around on any discord server I'm on (or follow any of my social media accounts, which I mean, fair. Social media is exhausting.), then you'll be surprised to know I've upped my ante in regards to the Pre-Battle Vs. Transitions I usually make very roughly, might i add, and threw them into the game! Every single boss will have a unique Vs. Transition in a style similar to some of the modern-era Pokemon Vs. Transitions.

 

However, that isn't everything I've done. While it (and another feature) is the main focus of this patch, I've tweaked a few things here and there that have been bugging me since 1.1, and even 1.0's, releases. You can have a change log of what to expect in the upcoming patch provided in link-format, and a handy-dandy image preview!

Not a whole lot of stuff, and mostly small stuff at that, outside of the Vs. Transition update! I do have one last idea in mind for this project, but it will not be part of this patch. The process of implementing it will be daunting and exhausting and I don't want to hold onto all of these goodies so long that they expire, all in the midst of this most wonderful time of the year. 

 

Currently, I'm working on the last thing listed in the change log; an overhaul of the credits sequence. Since 1.0, I was never satisfied with how bland and generic-looking the credits sequence was. I have nothing to show for it right now as I've just started it, but the ultimate plan is to turn it into a cutscene event while the credits play out alongside it. I've already story-boarded how the cutscene will play out, so I just need to buckle down and get it done. Once that's done, I'll begin the process of uploading and releasing 1.2.

 

As for that mysterious last feature I mentioned for the theoretical final patch? Well...

 

Let's just say that Puppets that can be caught in the late-game might actually have a purpose when my idea is implemented...  And perhaps, don't get too attached to your items while we're at it.

 

I'll catch y'next when the patch is up. See y'all then!

[DerxwnaKapsyla]

Merry Halloween folks! I come bringing a gift! These two droi- I mean, Patch 1.2 for The Mansion of Mystery! Since I've already gone over everything about 1.2 in the post above, we'll just skip the superfluous stuff and post the download link here. Enjoy everyone!

 

The Mansion of Mystery (Ver. 1.2)

[Hellscythe]

My country has blocked mega.nz, so could you provide a mirror download on drive or something?

[DerxwnaKapsyla]

I'll look into it, thanks for pointing that out!

 

Here's a mediafire link. Should work!