To those who have it, how is Mysterious Song?

PikachuWarrior · 09/04/2012, 05:48 PM

Gameplay/Sound/Music/Controls, that sort of thing. I ordered a copy a few months ago but it is at my parents' house.

To purchase: http://frozenutopia.com/

Bernie · 09/04/2012, 06:07 PM

Its awesome!! Playing it now. "Have you seen my pussy?"

Flare65 · 09/04/2012, 06:44 PM

Are there any videos of the gameplay out there?

djolof · 09/04/2012, 07:14 PM

So far so good. Just got mine this afternoon! I can't believe I am holding a Turbo game that came out in 2012!

NecroPhile · 09/05/2012, 09:45 AM

Gameplay - it's traditional RPG fare (expect grinding) with some silly humor mixed in; the only bad thing is that the main game is a bit on the short side (as was the original), but fortunately the EX game, optional dungeons, and unlockable goodies give it plenty of replay value.
Sound - the sound effects are okay and what one usually finds in such games (it's not a shewty, so don't expect lots of grand explosions and blazing lazers)
Music - the music is pretty damn good - maybe not as good as the stuff in Ys, but what is?
Controls - ..... it's an RPG. Ya tell Spear to go left, he goes left.

Quote from: Flare65 on 09/04/2012, 06:44 PMAre there any videos of the gameplay out there?

Yes and yes.

Arkhan Asylum · 09/05/2012, 10:45 AM

https://youtu.be/oBJ9N8rq9ds

there is some of me playing it at the start.

I die.

roflmao · 09/05/2012, 08:57 PM

I've wanted to record some gameplay because I'm really enjoying it, but I don't want to give anything away.

ParanoiaDragon · 09/05/2012, 10:44 PM

Quote from: guest on 09/05/2012, 09:45 AMGameplay - it's traditional RPG fare (expect grinding) with some silly humor mixed in; the only bad thing is that the main game is a bit on the short side (as was the original), but fortunately the EX game, optional dungeons, and unlockable goodies give it plenty of replay value.
Sound - the sound effects are okay and what one usually finds in such games (it's not a shewty, so don't expect lots of grand explosions and blazing lazers)
Music - the music is pretty damn good - maybe not as good as the stuff in Ys, but what is?
Controls - ..... it's an RPG. Ya tell Spear to go left, he goes left.

Quote from: Flare65 on 09/04/2012, 06:44 PMAre there any videos of the gameplay out there?
Yes and yes.

Ah, good, I'm glad you like the music! Sometimes I wish I had gone in & completely recomposed everything from scratch, instead of remxing it/mashing it up. Though, that probably means I would have had alot less done on Jungle Bros., Valkyrie Midnight, etc. If people like the music, then I've accomplished my mission(well, me & Odonadon who thankfully was able to fill in & make a nice new title screen theme!).

Bloody Wolf · 09/06/2012, 01:13 AM

I need to get a CD system........uuggghhhhh!!!

NecroPhile · 09/06/2012, 10:28 AM

Quote from: ParanoiaDragon on 09/05/2012, 10:44 PMIf people like the music, then I've accomplished my mission.

Mission Accomplished! The only thing that I don't like is the switching between tracks for battles, but that's a pretty minor quibble shared with plenty of commercial titles and has nothing to do with the quality of the tunes themselves anyway.

CrackTiger · 09/06/2012, 12:26 PM

I was very impressed by the music, the first time I got to play Mysterious Song. There are many memorable tracks and some effective ambient stuff, but what really made the game for me is the killer battle and boss music. Most RPGs just have satisfactory battle bgms. But great and ill-suited battle bgms turn RPGs into either fun or annoying games. It is hard for me to play Lufia or Dragon Slayer II PCE because of the goofy/annoying battle bgms. But Benkei Gaiden and Dragon Slayer I PCE are very addictive, thanks to the perfectly suited catchy battle bgms. Mysterious Song isn't in the satisfactory group, it is more fun to play its battles (75+% of an RPG's gametime) than the average professionally developed RPG.

GohanX · 09/06/2012, 01:34 PM

Quote from: guest on 09/05/2012, 09:45 AMthe only bad thing is that the main game is a bit on the short side (as was the original),

This is actually a positive to me. I love RPGs, but don't have time to play them. I love 15 hourish RPGs.

BigusSchmuck · 09/08/2012, 09:48 PM

Its not a bad game at all, quite enjoyable and great tunes. My only complaint are the loading times between going into battle and finishing the fight. Now to see a arcade card enhanced version, that would be pretty cool.

Joe Redifer · 09/08/2012, 11:59 PM

It's pretty good, though very standard fare. But that's OK as I like that. I'd rather have a good game without gimmicks than something that tries something new and fails. The prices in the shops seem pretty high, though. Also I can only play for about 20 minutes at a time as this game is EXTREMELY stressful on the CD-ROM mechanics. Everything loads. It's like a CD System 2.0 game with only 64k of memory, very similar to Cosmic Fantasy 2 in the amount of loads. It needs to load every battle, every town, everything. And it does this A LOT. I am actually surprised that Super CD is required. But as a result my CD drive will eventually "forget" to load until I nudge it. After a few times of that, I just turn it off. After it has cooled down it is fine again. This happens occasionally on other games, too. Always has since day one. But Mysterious Song really brings this issue out like no other game.

EDIT: I think incorporating PSG music would have been much less stressful on the system.

8bitForLife · 09/09/2012, 07:35 AM

where could i purchase or get this game been wondering since i saw the raffle sorry if its a dumb question.

OldRover · 09/09/2012, 10:18 AM

Quote from: Joe Redifer on 09/08/2012, 11:59 PMI can only play for about 20 minutes at a time as this game is EXTREMELY stressful on the CD-ROM mechanics. Everything loads. It's like a CD System 2.0 game with only 64k of memory, very similar to Cosmic Fantasy 2 in the amount of loads. It needs to load every battle, every town, everything. And it does this A LOT. I am actually surprised that Super CD is required.

System 3.0 is required because this was done in HuC, first of all, and second of all, there's way more going on behind the scenes than CF2. CF2 lacks battle backgrounds, for starters... it also exploits the hell out of ADPCM RAM, which Mysterious Song only does for cutscenes since ADPCM samples are used for battle sound effects. And actually, the released version of Mysterious Song does WAY less loading than the initial prototypes, which spent a good 15 seconds loading data for battles when the program was self-contained. Splitting the program into map and battle systems reduced load time by over 90%. Load time was always an issue, and the way it works in the released version is the quickest way it could be done.

Quote from: Joe Redifer on 09/08/2012, 11:59 PMBut as a result my CD drive will eventually "forget" to load until I nudge it. After a few times of that, I just turn it off. After it has cooled down it is fine again. This happens occasionally on other games, too. Always has since day one. But Mysterious Song really brings this issue out like no other game.

Your machine has a weak drive motor and overheats. The first Duo that BlueBMW sent me had the same problem; the second one does not. Seems to be a problem with Duo units especially. On the first Duo, it would work fine for about a half an hour and then start having reseek issues... after about 45 minutes, it was having reseek issues almost every time, and I had to let the thing cool down for awhile before playing again. On the second machine, I can play the game from beginning to end, using a CDR, with almost no reseeks.

Quote from: Joe Redifer on 09/08/2012, 11:59 PMEDIT: I think incorporating PSG music would have been much less stressful on the system.

Wouldn't have changed anything there, and would have been harder to pull off anyway. Squirrel wasn't up to par at the time, and memory was already tight so there was no way. Also, the original music is in module format, and would have lost a lot of quality converting it to PSG.

BigusSchmuck · 09/09/2012, 11:52 AM

Well I'm glad I'm not the only one who has loading time issues. Its not that big of a deal, just seems to do it randomly at least on my U.S Duo...

roflmao · 09/09/2012, 01:20 PM

I run into that way more on my Duo than I do on my TG-16w/CD. It almost never happens on the original setup, but it's more than 50% of the time I go into (or come out of) a battle on the Duo. I find that games in general load easier on the original setup. I'll be getting a CD drive for the briefcase unit shortly so it'll be interesting to see how that works.

Senshi · 09/09/2012, 01:57 PM

Quote from: Bloody Wolf on 09/06/2012, 01:13 AMI need to get a CD system........uuggghhhhh!!!

Yes...yes you do

Joe Redifer · 09/09/2012, 02:33 PM

I have an original Turbo CD. Like I said it's always done this since 1991. Every once in a blue moon when I nudge it it'll try to spin the disc at 9,000,000 RPM. At this point I quickly turn it off.

OldRover · 09/09/2012, 05:31 PM

That's... one messed up unit.

Joe Redifer · 09/09/2012, 07:49 PM

Not really. That's the only trouble it's ever given me. Reads CD-Rs like a champ. I'll take the occasional forgetfulness over the issues that I've read a lot of people having with their units. It only speeds up to 9 million RPM after many times forgetting to load in a row (very, very rare). I hope that some day the CD unit can be replaced with some solid-state media. Moving parts = bleh.

Drakon · 09/09/2012, 10:00 PM

Quote from: Bernie on 09/04/2012, 06:07 PMIts awesome!! Playing it now. "Have you seen my pussy?"

No I havn't seen it, and I don't want to.

ParanoiaDragon · 09/10/2012, 01:21 AM

Quote from: Joe Redifer on 09/09/2012, 07:49 PMNot really. That's the only trouble it's ever given me. Reads CD-Rs like a champ. I'll take the occasional forgetfulness over the issues that I've read a lot of people having with their units. It only speeds up to 9 million RPM after many times forgetting to load in a row (very, very rare). I hope that some day the CD unit can be replaced with some solid-state media. Moving parts = bleh.

This sounds like the same problem I had with my unit. Huh huh. No but all seriousness aside. I can remember BITD when my Turbo CD got more use as new games came out, I would have to do the nudge to it once in awhile, & I remember it making some crazy noises occasionally. I never thought about it being sped up like that though. Makes me wonder if I should've given it more breaks. Nowadays, it takes alot of messing around to get it to spin the cd. I thought it was maybe a disconected ribbon or something, since I busted it open to inspect it, & it seemed to work better, but, it still has problems. It would be nice to have some sort of solid state way to replace the CD unit someday.

meka · 09/10/2012, 03:06 AM

I've only had it for a few days but it's really good so far, I compared it to star odyssey which was released by superfighterteam but it shits right over that game.

8bitForLife · 09/10/2012, 07:24 AM

I found out were to get the game myself and I got to say great work rover and when I work myself out of debt ill get your game for my collection =)

Arkhan Asylum · 09/10/2012, 10:13 AM

Quote from: The Old Rover on 09/09/2012, 10:18 AMWouldn't have changed anything there, and would have been harder to pull off anyway. Squirrel wasn't up to par at the time, and memory was already tight so there was no way. Also, the original music is in module format, and would have lost a lot of quality converting it to PSG.

Squirrel was up to par for CD use back when I demoed the game at CCAG 2 years ago, dude.

Hell, it's always been up to par for CD use. If you didn't want PSG sfx, that is.

Though, I doubt swapping out the music tracks would have done dick. you'd have had to load data either way. Seeking to a music track is the least of your worries.

Personally, I would have done the dual PSG/CD route, because I like that option, lol.

OldRover · 09/10/2012, 06:00 PM

Actually, I should have said "Squirrel wasn't even around then", as it wasn't around when MSR was started. I wanted to do PSG effects from the start but didn't really know how to pull it off back then... wasn't until we started doing Valkyrie Midnight and I discovered snd.c (again, before Squirrel existed) that I even delved into PSG sound, together with the SoundGen ROM. I had later written my own music player code, loosely based on snd.c's stuff, for the Bubble Bobble project, but it was primitive and not worth using in the end. By the time Squirrel was able to do PSG sound effects, we were "one step away" from finishing MSR and it was too late to make any major changes.

Joe Redifer · 09/10/2012, 07:10 PM

First of all please don't take any of my comments as disdain for the game. I really do like it so far. The only reason I thought about PSG is because how Dragon Slayer on the TG-CD handles it. It seems to put less stress mechanically on the system when constantly battling. But then again, that game doesn't have battle BGs either. Oh well.

BigusSchmuck · 09/10/2012, 07:15 PM

Quote from: Joe Redifer on 09/10/2012, 07:10 PMFirst of all please don't take any of my comments as disdain for the game. I really do like it so far. The only reason I thought about PSG is because how Dragon Slayer on the TG-CD handles it. It seems to put less stress mechanically on the system when constantly battling. But then again, that game doesn't have battle BGs either. Oh well.

That was my line of thinking as well. It seems to do this on my Duo-R as well so it looks like I'm going to have to go the SuperCD/SuperGrafx route one day to get a good operating super cd system.

Bernie · 09/10/2012, 07:16 PM

Quote from: Drakon on 09/09/2012, 10:00 PM
Quote from: Bernie on 09/04/2012, 06:07 PMIts awesome!! Playing it now. "Have you seen my pussy?"
No I havn't seen it, and I don't want to.

Thats actually a quote from one of the characters in the game....

ParanoiaDragon · 09/10/2012, 07:46 PM

Quote from: 8bitForLife on 09/10/2012, 07:24 AMI found out were to get the game myself and I got to say great work rover and when I work myself out of debt ill get your game for my collection =)

You found out where to get it yourself? Hmmm, I guess that means it's hit the torrents or something.

I knew it'd happen eventually, but I hope it doesn't keep people from buying the real thing.

BigusSchmuck · 09/10/2012, 07:53 PM

Quote from: ParanoiaDragon on 09/10/2012, 07:46 PM
Quote from: 8bitForLife on 09/10/2012, 07:24 AMI found out were to get the game myself and I got to say great work rover and when I work myself out of debt ill get your game for my collection =)
You found out where to get it yourself? Hmmm, I guess that means it's hit the torrents or something. I knew it'd happen eventually, but I hope it doesn't keep people from buying the real thing.

People will still buy it. Torrenting definitely hasn't affected the Retro scene at all. If anything, it will get more exposure and people will more than likely buy it.

Bernie · 09/10/2012, 08:03 PM

I gotta be honest here... The game just came out, and people are already ripping it and uploading/downloading it? Thats just plain cheap. Way to support the homebrew scene.

OldRover · 09/10/2012, 08:04 PM

No worries Joe, I was just explaining why the game works like it does.

I wish we could have done it a bit more efficiently, and now I probably would have done a few things differently, but without actually diving into assembly for the whole thing, making it more efficient would be a real challenge.

OldRover · 09/10/2012, 08:05 PM

Quote from: ParanoiaDragon on 09/10/2012, 07:46 PMYou found out where to get it yourself? Hmmm, I guess that means it's hit the torrents or something. I knew it'd happen eventually, but I hope it doesn't keep people from buying the real thing.

No, he means that he found the site.

Bernie · 09/10/2012, 08:40 PM

Oh ok. Glad it hasn't hit the torrents.

Drakon · 09/10/2012, 08:57 PM

Thank goodness that post made me worried.

Quote from: Bernie on 09/10/2012, 07:16 PM
Quote from: Drakon on 09/09/2012, 10:00 PM
Quote from: Bernie on 09/04/2012, 06:07 PMIts awesome!! Playing it now. "Have you seen my pussy?"
No I havn't seen it, and I don't want to.
Thats actually a quote from one of the characters in the game....

CrackTiger · 09/11/2012, 10:18 AM

I think that chip tunes for battles and towns in CD RPGs were used simply to keep the overworld bgm from restarting constantly. That's why games like Ys used chip tunes for towns, even though it doesn't have turn based battles. If anything chip tunes should take up more memory and would add to potential load times. It only takes <1 second to switch a CD track.

After reading various comments about MS load times, I fired up the beta on cdr and on my briefcase setup they are always 4 seconds long. Which is very speedy compared to famous RPGs from 16-bit to this generation, which range from 7 - 20 second load/wait times for battles.

Arkhan Asylum · 09/11/2012, 10:32 AM

Quote from: CrackTiger on 09/11/2012, 10:18 AMI think that chip tunes for battles and towns in CD RPGs were used simply to keep the overworld bgm from restarting constantly. That's why games like Ys used chip tunes for towns, even though it doesn't have turn based battles. If anything chip tunes should take up more memory and would add to potential load times. It only takes <1 second to switch a CD track.

Insanity's entire soundtrack fit into like, one bank of memory. You could probably load the music for MSR into memory and never have to reload it, assuming you do the chiptunes properly (Use repeats/macros to save space).

Chiptunes don't take much space.

You could also probably have swapped Squirrel into the equation near painlessly (aside from making the MML for all the songs, lol). You'd just be swapping the CD play calls with Squirrel ones!

But, it's no biggy, and I am definitely not saying OH THE CD MUSIC IS STUPID WHY'D YOU EVEN DO IT. I just like chiptunes 900000x more than CD music and almost always prefer them. Shadow of the Beast is one of the exceptions.

I am just thankful the songs for MSR don't have that stupid early 90s Toys R' Us keyboard sound to them. If it sounded like elevator music at a sears, I'd be pretty pissed off.

Anyway, it wouldn't have really changed anything as far as CD access goes. Tons of data is tons of data. Bopping over to the CD track is the least of the worries, I'd bet.

PUSH RUN BUTTON! · 09/11/2012, 03:30 PM

The gameplay videos look awesome and the music sound spectacular. Just ordered it.

SignOfZeta · 09/11/2012, 03:50 PM

One thing I like about the music is that it sounds not just like proper game music but proper TurboDuo 1992 game music. Very nice feel.

I'm not such a huge fan of using CDDA for both battles and maps though. Sure, Cosmic Fantasy always did it this way, but I prefer Tengai Mayou II's way. In TMII I can be done with the fight and back on the map before Cosmic Fantasy has got me to the battle screen.

I'm not complaining though, both ways of doing things are totally legit. I just prefer a mix of PSG and CDDA.

mac · 09/11/2012, 04:33 PM

Just placed the order

. So excited to be buying a new Turbo game in 2012

OldRover · 09/11/2012, 05:26 PM

Paranoia Dragon took special care to ensure that the music was of the highest possible quality... he has equipment I don't have, and way more experience in the field of audio engineering. As such, my direct contributions to the sound are very minimal; I remastered the music for the cutscenes and the alternate ending... that's it. He did all the rest.

If we ever do another RPG (and we have a couple of ideas in mind down the road), then Squirrel will get used in them.

motdelbourt · 09/11/2012, 11:49 PM

The song in the first town is giving me some serious Rolling Stones vibes. Gotta figure out the song I'm thinking of.

OldRover · 09/12/2012, 12:18 PM

Quote from: motdelbourt on 09/11/2012, 11:49 PMThe song in the first town is giving me some serious Rolling Stones vibes. Gotta figure out the song I'm thinking of.

You're thinking of "As Tears Go By". The piece in the game is called "Tears"... coincidence? No way.

Seriously though... it's a reinterpretation of As Tears Go By. I am not sure why DarkDread chose that track... maybe he's a Stones fan, maybe the piece just sounded good, who knows.

motdelbourt · 09/13/2012, 03:19 AM

Nice! I was checking Beggar's Banquet today, and found similar stuff but should have checked earlier. You could just hear that 60s Stones melody anywhere.

Marianne Faithfull's "original" version (as it was given to her first)

rawr

ParanoiaDragon · 09/13/2012, 04:48 AM

Quote from: OldRover on 09/11/2012, 05:26 PMParanoia Dragon took special care to ensure that the music was of the highest possible quality... he has equipment I don't have, and way more experience in the field of audio engineering. As such, my direct contributions to the sound are very minimal; I remastered the music for the cutscenes and the alternate ending... that's it. He did all the rest.

If we ever do another RPG (and we have a couple of ideas in mind down the road), then Squirrel will get used in them.

Awwwww, shucks, twernt nuthin'!

I actually do prefer a mix of PSG & Redbook, atleast when it comes to RPG's. Maybe it's a nolstagic bias?

Obfuscate · 09/13/2012, 10:52 AM

How bad is the grinding? Is it Cosmic Fantasy 2 annoying? Or more like Dragon Slayer? I like turn based stuff but not when there is a battle every 2 steps.

Arkhan Asylum · 09/13/2012, 11:05 AM

Quote from: ParanoiaDragon on 09/13/2012, 04:48 AM
Quote from: The Old Rover on 09/11/2012, 05:26 PMParanoia Dragon took special care to ensure that the music was of the highest possible quality... he has equipment I don't have, and way more experience in the field of audio engineering. As such, my direct contributions to the sound are very minimal; I remastered the music for the cutscenes and the alternate ending... that's it. He did all the rest.

If we ever do another RPG (and we have a couple of ideas in mind down the road), then Squirrel will get used in them.
Awwwww, shucks, twernt nuthin'! I actually do prefer a mix of PSG & Redbook, atleast when it comes to RPG's. Maybe it's a nolstagic bias?

I think it's that sometimes the high quality studio orchestra music doesn't fit the little goofy 16x16 tile artwork and stuff.

It's only sometimes though. Not always.