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Re: Pulsen, A new Stepmania Rip Off Game
(Warning: LONG post incoming.)
So, I started out with Pulsen in the same mindset as most other people here. Looks like a fancy Stepmania with around a million less stepcharts to choose from, an annoying noteskin and it actually costs money. The trailer really doesn't do this game justice at all.
I picked it up mostly out of curiosity after reading this topic and after a few hours of playing, I'm glad I did. This isn't really just another Stepmania or even another DDR game. Sure, at it's core you're just pressing buttons to the rhythm of a song but it feels more fun and casual while still maintaining some challenge. The special effects added to the already high quality stepcharts really just makes it feel more fun. The song that really made me notice just how much potential this game had was Stormy Weather by Sonitus Vir (stepped by Nick Navaroli). Half way through as the notes are constantly switching on you as they go up I wasn't in my normal state of mind while playing a music game. I was smiling, not seriously concentrating on the screen like always. It was just fun. The gimmicks don't get old either. Each song has it's own that seem to perfectly go with the song. Maybe I haven't messed around with SM5 enough to have seen all the attacks and other stuff executed in such a high quality way, but with Pulsen I don't have to look around for that. They did it right.
Now, I'm definitely not saying that the game is without faults. My biggest concern is that the settings for the songs don't EVER get saved. Whether you close the game or just go back to the menu to unlock another song, you're going to have to reset your speed mod, noteskin, etc. I'm especially baffled by this as this was already a feature in SM (which is presumably the engine used to build this game) and yet it's just gone here. There's no profiles either. No way to view your score from the song selection screen. Then again without profiles, I don't see how you'd save this stuff anyway. If there's ANYTHING I wished you'd fix in this game, it's this.
As far as the noteskin... yeah, it was horrible at first but it honestly grows on you as you play. Then again, in the end I could be watching hamburgers scroll up the screen and have no problem after a few songs so maybe that's just me. I'm just glad I found out that Static is the style of notes I want because it's what I'm used to from SM and FFR.
Here's a random suggestion for a future DLC. There's this Brony phenomenon that is growing larger each day with a pretty fanatical fanbase that goes crazy for any My Little Pony things that come out. Indies have gotten several more purchases from bronies just by having a reference or two in their game and having it show up on Equestria Daily. Where I'm going with this is, the community ALSO has very talented artists. There are at least a few thousand original fanmade songs for the series which are great even without being a fan of the show. So, I propose you make a Pony Pack for DLC, throw in a quick trailer like the last one where you just play a song that includes the more fun features on an easy difficulty and the hardest then sumbit it to Equestria Daily. You'll get free publicity (several hundred thousand people visit that site almost religiously, they just celebrated 100,000,000 page views yesterday and there's already another 600,000) and guaranteed purchases. This year would be the best time to realease too. We're getting stronger than ever now. If nothing else, at least have your guys listen to some of the music available and if you don't want to make a whole pack, then just some songs in a future one would work fairly well too.
Here's a list of some quailty artists:
Omnipony
DJ Alex S
WoodenToaster
Wolf of Sadness
RainbowCrash88
d.notive
Eurobest Brony
...and more.
So, as much of a joke as this suggestion seems, I'm sure that there are tons of bronies out there that would love to buy it. I sure would. Hell, I'd buy it for other people too.
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On a final note, I'd like to address a security issue. It seems that all you need is the link (or the .exe) to install new DLC. It's a small file too. It's SO easy to share something like that after just one person buys it. You guys seem to need SOME form of verification. An account or something would be easiest. That way they at least have to verify that their account purchased the DLC. It wouldn't stop the real hackers, of course, but you should at least try to make them work for it. I'd love to completely trust the internet, but you just can't these days.
So, good luck with the project guys. You have my support. I recommend this game to any music game lover or any casual gamer. Keep up the good work.Last edited by Electrokinesis; 01-12-2012, 09:30 AM.Comment
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Re: Pulsen
Hello Electrokinesis! I'm glad you enjoyed Pulsen; it makes me wish we were further along in development so we could release more.
:: OTHER PACKS ::
That Brony pack sounds like a great idea; in fact, I did contact Equestria Daily months ago for some information because we have a few MLP songs planned for a future pack. My original idea was to include them in Pulsen: Ultra II, but I never thought of doing an entire pack of these songs. I think this is a great idea to pursue! I’ve actually started working out the specifics already to see if it’s possible for us.
:: SETTINGS & SCORES ::
I never did go back to finding a solution for saving your last-used settings so thanks for bringing it up. I’ll see if we can’t work something out in a few days. It’ll be in r0004 of Pulsen.
You are correct, scores currently don’t exist, there’s only a hit or miss points system in place. I’ve setup a scoring system in the dev builds of r0004, but we haven’t fully tested it out yet. I’ll see if I can’t finalize it tonight. The big bulk of the code overhaul to add it in was already done months ago so it shouldn’t pose too much of an issue by this point.
Question, are you having issues saving your settings or just modifiers?
:: NOTESKINS ::
I have to be honest when I say the noteskin grew on me too. Sometimes I’ll get complaints about it, but after a few minutes using it, those go away. I’m assuming those comments are because it’s an unfamiliar shape. In other news, we do have a more traditional arrow shape in the works for a future update.
Electrokinesis, I highly encourage you to try out the other 4 noteskin shapes as well: Blockpad, Blockie, Coin, and Lantern especially with some mods turned on. I’ve even made changes since r0003 so when r0004 comes out, they will have even more customizations.
:: SECURITY & VERIFICATION ::
Pulsen was designed to be DRM-free since it’s going to be pirated regardless of what we do. I’d rather not cause trouble for legitimate owners.
On the other hand, since we’re working on the online play system, a verification system is already in the works. This is why we haven’t released anything in the last few months. It’ll be simple, and you can still play the game offline as you normally would without it.
The important part is that updating the game will be much easier after this system is in place so expect content and features to be more-readily available.
:: STORMY WEATHER ::
I’m really glad you liked Stormy Weather. To give you a little perspective, this song was made back in May 2011 during the first week these new features were implemented. I can honestly say later packs show a lot more of what’s possible. Even Pulsen: Souleye’s got a few tricks up its sleeve.
-- KevinLast edited by Saturn2888; 01-13-2012, 12:46 AM.Comment
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Re: Pulsen, A new Stepmania Rip Off Game
Just the modifiers. Thanks for looking into this. Looking forward to the update.
Thanks for the quick response too. I love seeing developers be so entwined with the community. Plus an even bigger thanks for taking the Brony pack seriously! You guys have my undying support for the game. It has great promise and is already looking great.
To everyone else, seriously guys... try it out. You'll be surprised. Even if you only play it for an hour, you'll have paid less than it costs to go to the movies and you'd be helping out a great group of developers. ;PComment
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Re: Pulsen, A new Stepmania Rip Off Game
I'm not about to go around and read the whole thread, but I'm sure this was pointed out, I'm just reasking if it was asked already.
Why in gods name do you have to pay for this shit? >.< That's .... like ... ridiculous ...Comment
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Re: Pulsen, A new Stepmania Rip Off Game
To gain easy money from those who were dumb enough to buy it in the first place. I personally still see this as another SM5 with a highly customized theme added to it with a few more features on top of that.
@Salespeople/People who support etc: Feel free to bash me about it. I do not really care lmao===============================
The idea that RDCP 3 may come out in the future is a fun thought to have~
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Re: Pulsen, A new Stepmania Rip Off Game
Obviously, people don't understand the purpose of this game. Yeah, it looks like SM5, and yes, you pay for content, which is something that typical SM players aren't used to. However, anyone who is saying it's a "ripoff" off of SM5 obviously isn't aware of the fact that Pulsen is developed by some of the same people who code SM5.
Also, for a person who is interested in a different experience of playing, Pulsen is the way to go too. Previous versions of SM didn't allow for usage of lift steps, in-song attacks (rather than coursing), fake steps (truly fake, without screwing up scoring), a stable unlock system, etc.
It obviously won't cater to anyone who plays really competitive ITG/DDR/PIU/etc., nor will it cater to players on FFR who are capable of playing the highest level files, but it definitely caters to the causal rhythm gamer looking for something new.Comment
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Re: Pulsen, A new Stepmania Rip Off Game
I will be perfectly honest.
If new songs didn't require money to obtain, if the layout and especially noteskin looked a lot better (it's fugly, no offense), and if it had new features that SM5 didn't have related to gameplay itself, maybe I would try it out at least.
In-song attacks, fakes, etc are all in the current build of SM5, heck I'm using some of them for my new pack even (tricky mode though, regular difficulties remain the same for r21/r23/3.9 friendly players)
That's just my two cents, but regardless if it's made by the same people who made SM SSC, it just stands out too much as SSC with a new theme and fugly noteskin (are there other noteskins at least?)Comment
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Re: Pulsen
This screen was one of the last parts of the scoring system I needed to implement. Since it wasn't ever designed for the more-traditional scoring system, I spent all afternoon trying to figure out where I could fit it in and how without having to redesign the whole thing from scratch.
Hopefully you guys'll like what I came up with (see attached).Last edited by Saturn2888; 01-21-2012, 05:07 AM.Comment
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Re: Pulsen
Electrokinesis, did you ever try Holiday Hurricane? If you liked Stormy Weather, Nick N did something really unique in Holiday Hurricane which you'll definitely find surprising.
You said you preferred the Static noteskin. Any preference with the Emphin or Bolden version?
There are 7 of those Pulsen arrows and 4 based on shapes. The Souleye pack--currently unreleased--adds in 8 more. We are planning to have even more by the time it releases.
Noteskins are going to be added in over time; we just don't have them all yet since they take quite a while to make.
We're more than willing to take suggestions though; it's easier to prioritize when we know exactly what people are looking for.Last edited by Saturn2888; 01-13-2012, 12:47 AM.Comment
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Re: Pulsen, A new Stepmania Rip Off Game
You don't describe the purpose, so why point out everyone's pure ignorance?
Also, I'm 99% sure I can mimic most of what Pulsen has to offer with SM5, so I see where everyone is coming from when they complain about paying for something they can obtain for free.Comment
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