FX-Unit Yuki: The Henshin Engine for TurboGrafx-16/PC Engine

OldRover · 10/01/2016, 10:34 AM

And now Mike, aka Professor, has decided to go on the same smear campaign against me as he always has. What the fuck.

DildoKKKobold · 10/01/2016, 12:09 PM

Quote from: The Old Rover on 10/01/2016, 10:34 AMAnd now Mike, aka Professor, has decided to go on the same smear campaign against me as he always has. What the fuck.

Just ignore him, he's a pitiful loser. PCEFX has been worlds better since he left. No one should care what he thinks, ever.

Henshin is great, and everything else is just bitter jealousy.

NightWolve · 10/01/2016, 12:35 PM

Addressing critic(s) of the DC port, they're bothered by inflated Likes on Sarumaru's Facebook store/presence for one. Saru had a store/brand that sells shirts, pins, posters, artwork, etc. BEFORE this videogame project and you have to advertise to get noticed, which is being unfairly maligned here! I got a reasonable explanation on the regional ad system of Facebook, a balance between budget and exposure, so I'm satisfied on that.

It's no secret this is a small team, but of passionate fans that got off the ground pretty quickly, that many of us have an unfavorable past we'd prefer to move on from, etc. so I can understand some concerns... Just tread carefully not to let these issues escalate any further (take it from me, I didn't have the wisdom in times' past when I was in similar situations *cough* XSEED *cough*!)...

As for the comic being simple, as mentioned, it's playing off Johnny Turbo nostalgia which was just as simple, silly, "lamey," but holds a certain type of charm, and that's what Saru is trying to capture. No new episodes are, I dunno, maybe due to the grand idea of a videogame taking higher priority naturally ?? Heaven forbid something more ambitious and far more useful to fans such as a game take higher priority... Not that hard to find reasonable explanations if you care to look!

Anyway, I hope this doesn't dispirit anybody on the team... :/ Oddly enough, I wondered and questioned how Dreamcast even got on your radar given that we're all PCE guys here, but I'm not privy to whatever the team was that sensed worthwhile demand from Sega fans, etc.

OldRover · 10/01/2016, 02:25 PM

The reason the DC got on the radar is because Saru was listing off possible port ideas and the DC was in that list.... people saw it and said "yeah, DC port!" and here we are.

In any event, I can only tolerate so much bullshit before it gets to me, and this went way beyond my threshold, so I'm taking some time away from this. Saru did nothing wrong and we more than adequately proved it. It didn't actually get nasty until Mike showed up, and now shit's gotten out of control. As of right now, I don't even care what happens. We all need a break from this anyway, as Saru has been working so hard on this that he's lost both online and IRL friends over it. That's not how shit is supposed to work.

NightWolve · 10/01/2016, 03:18 PM

Sorry man, I feel ya... :/

P. S.

Very competent defense/replies at that site, John/Nulltard!! Good looking out, I am impressed!

jtucci31 · 10/01/2016, 07:58 PM

Wait where was the smearing? And where was Nulltard's response to this? I can't believe he'd shit all over something like this. You just can't please that guy

technozombie · 10/01/2016, 07:59 PM

The best way to deal with detractors is keep quiet and make a badass game. The last Kickstarter update email showing the new background looks awesome, and the music is perfect. This game is shaping up quite well and if this level of quality is maintained it will get noticed. Keep up the good work.

NightWolve · 10/01/2016, 08:10 PM

Alright guys, I had an idea, and talked it over with Aaron since I gained admin rights and can help out a little more than just being a bystander. One last helpful marketing push is now being executed!

This forum has a newsletter feature, and I've used it before for my own SMF Forum install which afforded me some experience with it. I asked Aaron if I could send out an email blast about this Kickstarter project, at first he declined, because he said the last time he used it the PCEFX server crapped out on him... I remembered years ago having this problem, and explained that he must not have activated the email queue and configured it to email 10 accounts/per minute, to slow the process, and give the server breathing room while it serves pages as it normally does.

In short, I convinced him to let me activate the email queue, configure it 6 emails/per minute, and let it ride with this basic write-up:

Subject: pcengine-fx.com: Henshin Engine PCE Homebrew Kickstarter - 4 days left to back!

QuoteGreetings fellow PCE brethren, if you're unaware, there's a Kickstarter project running for a new PC Engine/TG-16 homebrew CD game called Henshin Engine! We'd love to have your support/backing for it, the link is below, so check it out!

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/sarumaru/henshin-engine-the-game-pc-engine-tg-16-pc-steam

Regards,
The pcengine-fx.com Team.

Now, I asked Sarumaru if he wanted to write something up better, but he was fine with this (AKA "NightWolve-style"), and so that's what we went live with. ;)

So yeah, the server is now busy running its email queue, everyone in this thread will/should eventually notice an email from pcengine-fx.com.

At 6 emails/per minute, that's 6*60 = 360 emails per hour, and there are 5,486 PCEFX members, so it'll take 15 hours for everyone to get this email...

That's slow, but it calmed Aaron's fears of causing any server overload trouble. Anyway, hopefully this informs some of our PCE brethren that don't stop by as often and helps counteract any negative press, etc.

My thought process was, it's a feature that's here, might as well use it for the registered PCEFX membership for something that doesn't happen as often as this!

Anyway, I think that about covers it, lemme know if you get the email, just to confirm the email queue is doing its thing proper.

esteban · 10/01/2016, 09:33 PM

NightWolve, it was a good idea to utilize the pcefx info... there are *certainly* a bunch of folks who would be interested in this, but who no longer (or rarely) check the forum.

Even if only a small percentage actually consider pledging, your effort was well worth it because pcefx mailing list = core audience!

NightWolve · 10/01/2016, 09:52 PM

Yep, got confirm on that, Aaron just told me somebody replied back to one of these newsletter emails and pledged $140!!!

Unfortunately, while we have 350 backers now (we have the most that there ever was!), the pledged amount is less than yesterday's... If you look at sirhcmans' last update versus now:

Then: 344 backers at $24,853
Now: 350 backers at $24,211

We gained more backers, but some existing ones lowered their amounts, and/or left and were replaced by backers with lower amounts, etc...

I dunno that we'll see the 2nd stretch goal achieved, but yeah, whatever helps! We don't know how many of the 5,486 PCEngineFX member accounts have valid emails versus spam or expired ones, though. So, it's not a guaranteed ~5K email marketing list, but it IS something if at least half are valid and win-win for whatever support that can be found!

sirhcman · 10/01/2016, 09:53 PM

The $1100 pledge backed out and so did at least 2 others today.

OldRover · 10/02/2016, 12:37 AM

Despite that, we are now at $24,607. It appears that the smear campaign may have actually worked in our favor... funny how that works sometimes.

o.pwuaioc · 10/02/2016, 01:10 AM

Quote from: The Old Rover on 10/02/2016, 12:37 AMDespite that, we are now at $24,607. It appears that the smear campaign may have actually worked in our favor... funny how that works sometimes.

And rising — so screw the haters! DC or not, I'm excited for this!

OldMan · 10/02/2016, 01:24 AM

NightWolve

QuoteAlright guys, I had an idea, and talked it over with Aaron since I gained admin rights and can help out a little more than just being a bystander. One last helpful marketing push is now being executed!

Did you also change the text on the main screen?
(It used to advertise cases.)
If so, you might want to fix it....

Krimstah · 10/02/2016, 01:30 AM

I know my little PVM doesn't do it justice but absolutely loving the game.

tinypic.com/wuihdh.jpg

esteban · 10/02/2016, 04:36 AM

Krimstah: mini-PVM = intimacy—we get nose oil on the screen. It's all good.

jtucci31 · 10/02/2016, 12:37 PM

I like the banner on the home page

blueraven · 10/02/2016, 12:53 PM

Quote from: NightWolve on 10/01/2016, 08:10 PMAlright guys, I had an idea,

Great idea, Nightwolve. This will really help the team make their goal, and also put it on blast to every member here. You couldn't pay for this kind of advertising anywhere; especially considering that it is the EXACT target audience they are looking for.

Well done!

NightWolve · 10/02/2016, 01:00 PM

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/sarumaru/henshin-engine-the-game-pc-engine-tg-16-pc-steam

370 backers
$25,655 pledged
4 days to go

That's better!! So after I finished my movie last night around midnight, I did one last check on the server before going to bed, saw that it finished its email blast, backers were at 350, BUT when I checked this morning around at ~8am, I saw it was up 368, now 370, so +20 people (as of this post)!!!

SMF's email queue configuration is quirky though... I started the email blast at ~7pm, and it finished at ~midnight, so that was only 5 hours, not 15! Looks like it ran at a rate of 18 emails/per minute, so ~1080 emails/per hour went out!

I actually had an email listserver project for a freelance IT consultant job eons ago for my former CTO when he went independent. He had a client at like the 40th floor of the Sears Tower, so I got to do a little work there for a day, though while I had the gig, I mostly worked from home. About 7 weeks into it though, my father died, and we decided to honor his wishes to bury him in his home village in Greece. I had to be quickly replaced for the month that I'd be gone, so I lost further work with 'em... :/

But I remember from that work, you'd be surprised the money involved in listserver projects for companies, the pricey software packages, nickel'n'diming based on amount of email addresses, like if you have 10,000, 20,000 ... or 60,000 emails, there's a different rate for each case. Other companies just outsource the whole issue i.e. let their customer emails be handled that way! The project was mainly in good hands though, a former coworker/friend we called/nicknamed "Hitech" (rewrite of his real name Hitesh) because he was so good at just getting projects done without much fuss! He's the guy companies pay $120/hr for IT consultant work, doesn't bullshit around, gets the job done! I was just the extra, cheaper pair of hands... ;)

Another tangent note given my understanding, I suspect we lost some PCEFX emails to SPAM folders... Aaron's admin email address is: aaron.nanto {at} outlook.com - that's a slight problem because our email blast was executed from a server behind the "pcengine-fx.com" domain... What you write in the "From:" header when constructing an email to send should have an address that matches the server's domain name, like "aaron.nanto@pcengine-fx.com" preferably. If not, email clients may feel you're falsifying credentials, and that's part of basic SPAM detection... In other words, if the server sending the email is behind yahoo.com, but I put a gmail.com in the "From:" header, email clients receiving such an email will find that suspicious...

I forgot about this issue, though, as I would've temporarily changed Aaron's admin email address, but oh well. Obviously a good % of emails went through and it seems to work for me with my yahoo.com address regardless!

Quote from: TheOldMan on 10/02/2016, 01:24 AMNightWolve ... Did you also change the text on the main screen? (It used to advertise cases.) If so, you might want to fix it....

Was already ahead of ya, that was the easiest thing to do. Did you not check it before posting ?

The ~5K member email list was far more valuable of course. If the average visits here are 12 to 30 people a day or whatever, and 4 days left, it's unlikely that it would've made any dent in getting this project noticed and the effort translating to pledges, etc. But if it maybe at least gets one or two pledges, why not!

Anyway, this was my additional donation to the project. The rest is up to anyone else for these final days! If somebody is friends with those Youtube channel folks, that's where the real marketing value is, I'd pull some strings there! One last promotional video, that sort of thing. They're fans, they're not "objective" journalists or whatever, it's not unethical to ask for marketing help, etc.

Even the shitty videogame journalism industry is just fanboys/girls being mouthpieces for the shit that they like, by and large... And companies buy favoritism with goodies or "honor" credits all the same, e.g. good ole XSEED Games credited a reviewer in the Special Thanks section, Michael Cunningham, just for letting them borrow the SegaCD copy of "Lunar: Silver Star Story." While he avoided reviewing XSEED's Lunar localization upon release for this very reason, you think they didn't "buy" him (curry favor) for future positive reviews, as he's done for other games of theirs in the past ??

Be shameless, who cares...

LostFlunky · 10/02/2016, 01:14 PM

FYI - I didn't get an email... mine is a gmail account.. not in spam folder either.

EDIT: I got your test email... just now...

NightWolve · 10/02/2016, 01:32 PM

Thanks for reporting that. I just sent you a test email right now.

Can you check your profile settings to see if you have unchecked receiving notifications/announcements ?

There was a feature to veto people who set their accounts not to receive any email notifications. I don't remember if I checked it again when I got things to work... I had trouble several times with the feature before it finally worked, so I wouldn't be surprised at failed or skipped attempts, etc.

QuoteOverride Notification Settings
Send this to members even if they have chosen not to receive announcements.

That's the feature's text, and that might be a reason you didn't get an email, if not, it's just not that great a system and oh well...

EDIT: Your account has "Allow users to email me" unchecked AKA 'off' AKA 'No!'... Yeah, I forgot to check that box to veto your decision not to allow yourself to be emailed by anyone here...

Most likely, anyway. This might explain why the email blast took 5 hours, and not the 15 hours I predicted. Ah well!

LostFlunky · 10/02/2016, 01:49 PM

Ok - that makes sense - there were probably a lot fewer notices sent out then...

NightWolve · 10/02/2016, 02:03 PM

Maybe on the last day of the Kickstarter, I'll do it once more, make sure that particular box is checked, etc. People who already got an email might be annoyed at a second one, but I figure it's easily forgivable for a good cause as fan homebrew CD productions for a retro system like this don't happen every other day, so... They are registered with PCEngineFX, it's right up their alley in principle.

blueraven · 10/02/2016, 02:35 PM

Quote from: NightWolve on 10/02/2016, 02:03 PMMaybe on the last day of the Kickstarter, I'll do it once more, make sure that particular box is checked, etc. People who already got an email might be annoyed at a second one, but I figure it's easily forgivable for a good cause as fan homebrew CD productions for a retro system like this don't happen every other day, so... They are registered with PCEngineFX, it's right up their alley in principle.

I think that this is one instance where you shouldn't feel bad about spamming people. We've got 3-4 days left!! and like you said its not like this opportunity comes around every day. The team has been working their asses off on this and they deserve as much help as they can get...

And that treasure box!.. TREASUREBATHH!!!!

OldMan · 10/02/2016, 02:39 PM

Quote
QuoteNightWolve ... Did you also change the text on the main screen? (It used to advertise cases.) If so, you might want to fix it....
Was already ahead of ya, that was the easiest thing to do. Did you not check it before posting ?

I saw it. Not what I meant.
I'm gonna go play BonkE now....

o.pwuaioc · 10/02/2016, 03:02 PM

Henshine Engine's the sequel.

NightWolve · 10/02/2016, 03:10 PM

Hm, I don't get it, I cheated and went ahead for another email blast, but...the email queue says there are only 2,473 addresses which contradicts the full 5,488 member count that is shown prior to the final screen... I dunno what the explanation is, that notify-all option was checked for sure, but anyway, I won't be using it again. :/ But Lost Monkey, keep an eye out if it includes you this time.

NightWolve · 10/02/2016, 03:31 PM

Yeah, but I guess it's a bug, the override option for a mod/admin doesn't work (I *tried* to veto ya!)... I double-checked this time, but anyway...

Joe Redifer · 10/02/2016, 04:44 PM

Stop sending out announcements from the forum about this damn game! 3 in the last 24 hours! Enough is enough!

NightWolve · 10/02/2016, 05:15 PM

Quote from: Joe Redifer on 10/02/2016, 04:44 PMStop sending out announcements from the forum about this damn game! 3 in the last 24 hours! Enough is enough!

I responded more over here to his drama queen thread since he's gone off into temper tantrum land...

The admin/mod group, about a handful of us (Necro, me, him/GameSack Joe, Aaron, etc.) will have seen 3 emails, as I tested things after activating the email queue feature for the first time (so only us mods/admins got the first test email)... The real email blast to everyone failed, left out 2,500 emails, so I tried a 2nd time, but it's a bug and I didn't reach the other 2,500 emails that were excluded the first time around. Yeah, ZOMG, let's get REALLY REALLY angry about this and start other threads over it!!

Summary: Regular members got 1-2 emails, the 2nd WITH apology if repeated was trying to reach the excluded half of the member list due to a bug. IF I had a technical means, I would've targeted just the half that was excluded, but it wasn't possible!! A mod/admin (YOU) got an initial test email, so yeah, ZOMG, we mods/admins got 3 EMAILS TOTAL!!! I'M MAD, NOT GONNA TAKE IT ANYMORE!!!

Joe Redifer · 10/02/2016, 05:50 PM

Yes how dare I speak up about lots of spam going out. Silly me. Start your circle jerk now, everyone.

NightWolve · 10/02/2016, 06:13 PM

Quote from: Joe Redifer on 10/02/2016, 05:50 PMYes how dare I speak up about lots of spam going out. Silly me. Start your circle jerk now, everyone.

It was already explained to you that *only* 2 emails went out to our members, the 2nd attempt was to overcome a bug/issue that excluded half/2,500 email addresses the first time around! You got a first test email being part of the mod/admin groups when I was learning the system, so stop characterizing this as "lots of spam" as if I emailed you 1000 times... I'm very sorry it was 3 for just you, me, NecroPhile, etc. but you can be very sure I'll avoid touching your account again... I hope you didn't break a nail in the laborious process of having to delete 3 emails... ONCE AGAIN, VERY SORRY!

LostFlunky · 10/02/2016, 07:22 PM

Oh shit - I just got my first email about Henshin Engine...

Everyone just calm down, we can get through this as a community!

BigusSchmuck · 10/02/2016, 07:59 PM

Christ enough with the e-mails.

Joking, pledged $46. Hope that helps.

NightWolve · 10/02/2016, 08:03 PM

Just got emailed/spammed by Kickstarter about your pledge since I followed ya! Thanks, brutha!!

We're up to 381 at present.

I did break a nail today having to delete 5 other spam emails, but such is life... Nobody knows my pain... :/

MNKyDeth · 10/02/2016, 10:04 PM

edited

I am a douche and a cumbag, sorry fr donations and uprating vids. I am on both of your guys sides..........

BigusSchmuck · 10/02/2016, 10:24 PM

So I see that this game will be featured at PRGE this year. Do you guys know where you will be having your booth?

NightWolve · 10/02/2016, 10:33 PM

Moving on from the latest distraction... Downward trend averted, upward and onward since!

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/sarumaru/henshin-engine-the-game-pc-engine-tg-16-pc-steam

383 backers
$26,089 pledged
3 days to go

Any bets on if the $28k stretch goal can be reached ? I'm not confident in taking such a bet either way, but this is a very respectable outcome so far however it finishes off!

I really hope the music composer can bring more top notch tracks like his first one, I really enjoyed listening to it. Big reason I backed the project.

MNKyDeth · 10/02/2016, 10:35 PM

If we hit the next goal before the limit is up. I will donate a PCE Duo in a raffle.

esteban · 10/02/2016, 11:40 PM

I might raise my pledge to next level...

hoobs88 · 10/02/2016, 11:50 PM

Never noticed this thread before... but I got 2 emails earlier today and just pledged.

Dr.Wily · 10/03/2016, 04:39 AM

Why this game does not use chip music instead redbook audio ?

esteban · 10/03/2016, 09:22 AM

Quote from: Dr.Wily on 10/03/2016, 04:39 AMWhy this game does not use chip music instead redbook audio ?

Because Henshin Engine is awesome.

The only time I was OK with an *exclusively* chip (PSG) soundtrack on a CD-ROM was when (1) all the data was used for Red Book audio accompanying cinemas and/or (2) all the data was used for compressed video...

Otherwise, I was always disappointed when a developer didn't take advantage of the opportunity for Red Book soundtrack.

Now, many games used a variety of methods to overcome data constraints...mixing some PSG tunes (for towns, menus) and saving Red Book for "more important" stages...Ys Book I & II immediately comes to mind—an excellent blending of chiptunes (towns, passwords) and Red Book (for bumping death action). Sadly, some ADPCM voice samples in Ys I & II are much lower quality than Red Book audio accompanying the cinemas...a testament to how much data is squeezed on to the disc. But would I sacrifice any of the Red Book songs from Ys I & II?

HELL NO.

In short, the Henshin Engine soundtrack blends the best of both worlds—PSG "inspired" songs that have the chiptune aesthetic at their core, but with composer free to be more creative than a purely PSG soundtrack.

I hear you, though... It would be amazing to have a complete Red Book *and* PSG soundtrack that could be switched back and forth "on the fly" (see Vasteel)... But that would be placing a *ridiculous* additional burden on an already-burdened development team.

ALSO: The reason why Vasteel offered two soundtrack options was *fundamentally* PRACTICAL: PSG tunes sped up gameplay (turn-based war simulation), which was a concern. Yes, it also offered some variety (some battles were very long, it's nice to change tunes) and finally, not everyone digs Vasteel's "space jazz" Red Book soundtrack.

I apologize for my brief response.

SUMMARY: Henshin Engine soundtrack is reason *alone* to get this game.

NightWolve · 10/03/2016, 09:53 AM

If you use Redbook, you can record whatever sound you want, you could even make sound like a PSG track if you wanted, inefficient as it is.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/sarumaru/henshin-engine-the-game-pc-engine-tg-16-pc-steam

We're up to 393 today, crossing over 400 backers could happen! Betting on the next stretch goal appears a safer bet now too!

The real bummer is not that poor Joe and me as mods/admins got 3 emails, but that 2500 members (half of 5000) here got 0, they are inaccessible to the newsletter email system for whatever reasons...

Before I was rudely interrupted, I was looking into the problem, and had another idea to export all email addresses and write a custom email script in PHP. SMF doesn't have an export option for that and I don't feel like bothering for workarounds now anyways... So, that's too bad, 2500 people can't be emailed, might've translated to another 20-25 pledges...

DildoKKKobold · 10/03/2016, 10:00 AM

Quote from: NightWolve on 10/03/2016, 09:53 AMWe're up to 393 today, crossing over 400 backers could happen! Betting on the next stretch goal appears a safer bet now too!

We?

NightWolve · 10/03/2016, 10:16 AM

What, I can't be proud of 'em and think of this as a team effort by us PCE fans ?? ;)

As a $65 backer, I'm technically an investor of the project, and will receive an "investor" credit essentially for helping to fund it. I didn't predict I would also help with marketing, I got the idea partly to help counteract the sabotage effort by that DreamCast UK site...

DeshDildo · 10/03/2016, 11:11 AM

I sense balance returning to the force.

NightWolve · 10/03/2016, 01:42 PM

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/sarumaru/henshin-engine-the-game-pc-engine-tg-16-pc-steam

401 backers
$27,206 pledged
71 hours to go (72 = 3 days)

"We" as proud PCE backers are now 401 strong! That better, DarkKo ?? Although, subtract a % off who only care about some DreamCast port.

I'm more willing to take that bet on crossing over the 2nd stretch goal!

esadajr · 10/03/2016, 02:15 PM

Quote from: NightWolve on 10/03/2016, 09:53 AMIf you use Redbook, you can record whatever sound you want, you could even make sound like a PSG track if you wanted, inefficient as it is.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/sarumaru/henshin-engine-the-game-pc-engine-tg-16-pc-steam

We're up to 393 today, crossing over 400 backers could happen! Betting on the next stretch goal appears a safer bet now too!

The real bummer is not that poor Joe and me as mods/admins got 3 emails, but that 2500 members (half of 5000) here got 0, they are inaccessible to the newsletter email system for whatever reasons...

Before I was rudely interrupted, I was looking into the problem, and had another idea to export all email addresses and write a custom email script in PHP. SMF doesn't have an export option for that and I don't feel like bothering for workarounds now anyways... So, that's too bad, 2500 people can't be emailed, might've translated to another 20-25 pledges...

I don't have the option to "allow others to email me" ticked and only got the second email. So your efforts might have worked.

NightWolve · 10/03/2016, 02:20 PM

Yeah, turns out that option wasn't the problem though.

That just protects your email address from other members. My account had the same setting, I had it off too - I did that when guest viewing was enabled here because when you click somebody's profile, the email address is in cleartext on a HTML page, which easily allows your email to be picked up by spambots...

But anyway, the email queue still showed me ~2500 members being processed instead of 5000, so there was still an issue/bug.