How to get to grips with Touhou - general hints, tips and advice!

[Sage Ω (Ultima)]

Anyone got any tips for Mystic Square's extra? I tried it again today and I barely made out of the stage portion and I bombed through Alice's first spell.

Also I noticed that the number pad makes my characters move super slow but this never happened last time I played.

(I made it to her second spell card and I must say that Sanae is a thief just like Byakuren.)

[FamilyTeam]

Since there are some people posting their controller layout here, I'll do the same
X: Shoot
△:  Usually nothing
O: Focus
▢: Bomb
Select: Trance
Pause: Start
Movement: Analog stick
The reasons why I use the controller instead of a keyboard, are because i can't get past stage 1 on easy without a continue using it, (this is NOT an hyperbole, I'm dead serious) my keyborad sucks anyway, and I grew up playing videogames, so I fel right at home using controllers.
Also, unlike some few people users are insinuating here, using a controller isn't bad, because playing with one doesn't make you any more or less skilled than a keyboard user. I mean really, THIS IS A BLOODY TUTORIAL THREAD, don't put your personal bias in here when it comes in how to play the game. I don't have anything against keyboard users, neither should keyboard users have anything against us.
YES, I do realise it was sort of a joke, but a mean intended joke nonetheless

[Zil]

What are you talking about? If you mean the shotgun thing cf said, that wasn't "sort of a joke." It was 100% a joke.

In any case, moving with the analog stick is probably a bad idea, as well as bombing with square and focusing with circle. There are a few games where your bomb is affected by focusing.

[FamilyTeam]

What are you talking about? If you mean the shotgun thing cf said, that wasn't "sort of a joke." It was 100% a joke.

In any case, moving with the analog stick is probably a bad idea, as well as bombing with square and focusing with circle. There are a few games where your bomb is affected by focusing.

Nah, it's a matter of preference. I feel that for Touhou, this is my optimal setup. I like to use the analog stick since I can quickly switch between being highly offensive (LVL1~3) and defensive when I need to do very tiny adjustments on my movement.
And while I'll admit that my button loadout seems iffy, it really only looks like that on paper. When I'm firing and focused, my thumb is already halfway through the buttons, just long enough so I can hit the bomb button if I need it. However, this is a pretty bad setup for Touhou 9 since the way autofire works in that game still, I already 1cc'd Touhou 9 and I HATE that game anyways

(Thanks for telling me your opinion on it in a intelligent way. You guys are not like the Call Of Duty forums where you say "I USE SENSITIVITY 5 : D" And then idiots come and "NO, YOU ******* PIECE OF **** YOU ******** USE 7 BECAUSE 5 IS TOO SLOW FOR THIS AND *arbitrary reason goes here*" I'm really not used to forums where people are POLITE)

[commandercool]

I'm still convinced a perfectly laid out controller is the way to go, but that controller doesn't exist to my knowledge. I vaguely intend to make one at some point, but that's a long-term project that I haven't even come close to starting.

[FamilyTeam]

Well, you could try all sorts of controllers to see if the perfect one already exists for you. PS2 and Xbox controllers aren't the only ones that you can use for PC gaming. You should try Wii Controllers, Wii CLASSIC controllers, Sega Saturn controllers, (I REALLY like those for DoDonpachi) and And Sega Dreamcast controllers (Really good for racing games people with bulky hands)
All of these controlers have pretty different shapes and button layouts, so maybe you can think of one that could suit you without having to build a new one from scratch

[Zil]

I like to use the analog stick since I can quickly switch between being highly offensive (LVL1~3) and defensive when I need to do very tiny adjustments on my movement.

Wait. That's like a sensitivity setting? In COD the sensitivity affects how quickly the crosshairs move. Are you saying you can adjust the character's movement speed?

I'm still convinced a perfectly laid out controller is the way to go, but that controller doesn't exist to my knowledge. I vaguely intend to make one at some point, but that's a long-term project that I haven't even come close to starting.

I'm curious, just what would this ideal layout be like?

[FamilyTeam]

Wait. That's like a sensitivity setting? In COD the sensitivity affects how quickly the crosshairs move. Are you saying you can adjust the character's movement speed?

NO, NOT THAT! I'm just saying that it's easier to control your movement  :V The sensitivity thing was just an example on how stupid the COD community is sometimes regarding opinions  :V

[commandercool]

Well, you could try all sorts of controllers to see if the perfect one already exists for you. PS2 and Xbox controllers aren't the only ones that you can use for PC gaming. You should try Wii Controllers, Wii CLASSIC controllers, Sega Saturn controllers, (I REALLY like those for DoDonpachi) and And Sega Dreamcast controllers (Really good for racing games people with bulky hands)
All of these controlers have pretty different shapes and button layouts, so maybe you can think of one that could suit you without having to build a new one from scratch

I have tried all of those (except Dreamcast specifically for bullet hell games, although I don't care for Dreamcast controllers in general). None of them quite work for me. The Wii Classic is probably closest but it's not quite the right shape or size and the build quality is only okay.

I'm curious, just what would this ideal layout be like?

I'd have to experiment, but my best guess for me would be a large controller with a high-quality stick and d-pad close enough together to be able to switch from one to the other with your thumb almost instantly. Sticks and d-pads are useful for different things, and I often find myself wishing I had one when I have the other at a moment's notice. Unfortunately with most controllers that have both only one is really good enough quality to use, and often they're not placed close enough together to be able to swap reliably quickly. Large buttons that are spaced far enough apart so that there's no risk of accidentally hitting two at once are also nice, as well as good shoulder buttons that are comfortable while using either the stick or the d-pad.

What I may ultimately end up doing is trying to set up an arcade stick with a d-pad. The joystick and buttons are just how I want them, and with a tabletop controller you don't have to worry about the body being the right size and shape and there's a lot more room to space out the buttons. I use my current arcade stick for Touhou occasionally and it's absolutely perfect except for micrododging, where there really is too much travel on the stick to be able to make precise movements, so to get things just right it would have to have another method of control for those situations. Putting the d-pad in the right place to be able to reach it in time might be tricky, but at some point I may experiment with it.

[Zil]

In my experience, the keyboard is more reliable than the d-pad for microtapping, especially diagonally (that is, any time you're at the bottom of the screen). Assuming you're manipulating the d-pad with your thumb, anyway. I don't know if it'd be different with a tabletop thing.

[FamilyTeam]

Hello. I just came to give you guys a very generous tip: Don't play Touhou while wearing gloves.
Hear me now, thank me later.

[Karisa]

Wait, why would you try that in the first place?

[FamilyTeam]

Maybe 'cause it's winter around here. Using gloves drastically hinders your reflezes.

[Mordon]

How to deal with the frustration of making a mistake in stage 2 or 3, like dying with bombs, and having to restart? I get really sick of having to do the first stage again and again, it's such a waste of time and it's been pretty much proven that I have no difficulty with it, so why do I have to restart at stage 1 ;_;

I always say to myself, "screw it, try to finish anyway" but that death cannot happen in order for me to 1cc (assuming I will screw up again sooner or later). I even tried playing at least once a day with no retry/ragequit, but I quickly get frustrated and lose interest.

[Space Flower]

How to deal with the frustration of making a mistake in stage 2 or 3, like dying with bombs, and having to restart? I get really sick of having to do the first stage again and again, it's such a waste of time and it's been pretty much proven that I have no difficulty with it, so why do I have to restart at stage 1 ;_;

I always say to myself, "screw it, try to finish anyway" but that death cannot happen in order for me to 1cc (assuming I will screw up again sooner or later). I even tried playing at least once a day with no retry/ragequit, but I quickly get frustrated and lose interest.

Practice mode and replays, yo. Dealing with frustration is impossible, it will only propagate itself because you will swear and cuss at that 'loli cunt' and her 'cumguzzling spellcards' (yes, I shouted that once) and every mistake will make you angrier and more liable to make more mistakes which will continue the spiral. So the trick is to do everything not to get to that breaking point.

The first time I ever downloaded and watched replays was for PCB Extra. I couldn't get to Ran with lives left, let alone get past her first spellcard. After watching two replays a few times each, I played the part up to Chen a few times to get the POCing down perfectly, and on my first try on Chen I beat her with one bomb and no deaths. I captured Ran's first two spellcards and ended up getting to Princess Tenko -Illusion with no lives left and capturing it before dying to Unilateral Contact. So basically, because of replays I got through over half of Ran on my first try.

My playing was literally better after watching the replays. My angular movement has never been so precise and fluid. I really see what this topic means when it tells you to use them.

[argentum-zeena]

Practice mode and replays, yo. Dealing with frustration is impossible, it will only propagate itself because you will swear and cuss at that 'loli cunt' and her 'cumguzzling spellcards' (yes, I shouted that once) and every mistake will make you angrier and more liable to make more mistakes which will continue the spiral. So the trick is to do everything not to get to that breaking point.

The first time I ever downloaded and watched replays was for PCB Extra. I couldn't get to Ran with lives left, let alone get past her first spellcard. After watching two replays a few times each, I played the part up to Chen a few times to get the POCing down perfectly, and on my first try on Chen I beat her with one bomb and no deaths. I captured Ran's first two spellcards and ended up getting to Princess Tenko -Illusion with no lives left and capturing it before dying to Unilateral Contact. So basically, because of replays I got through over half of Ran on my first try.

My playing was literally better after watching the replays. My angular movement has never been so precise and fluid. I really see what this topic means when it tells you to use them.

I agree with this 100%. While I'm still pretty bad at 10D Extra, watching replays has helped me get by some parts I had trouble with.

And even if you're pretty good at a stage, it never hurts to watch replays. Often, I'll watch a replay and learn strategies and techniques that are less risky than my own, saving me from getting into situations that allow for dumb mistakes.

[Zengeku]

because you will swear and cuss at that 'loli cunt' and her 'cumguzzling spellcards' (yes, I shouted that once)

You have potential, please keep this up.

[Szayelaporro Granz]

I need some help here. I have a difficulty at dodging unfocused for scoring purpose and other things (eg. time points in IN, cherry points in PCB, etc), does anyone have advice to improve this? Thank you beforehand.

[LepLep]

I guess all I can say is work on micro-tapping and moving in all 8 directions fluidly, so get them fingers (or thumb  :3) nimble to press and release your keys quickly. 
I suggest no-focus runs, silly 90fps runs, or just straight onto PCB/IN scoring to work on your unfocused movement.

[Szayelaporro Granz]

I guess all I can say is work on micro-tapping and moving in all 8 directions fluidly, so get them fingers (or thumb  :3) nimble to press and release your keys quickly. 
I suggest no-focus runs, silly 90fps runs, or just straight onto PCB/IN scoring to work on your unfocused movement.

Does such practice work on every mode? I think I'm going for no-focus runs in PCB at practice mode. Though I don't dare to do such practice for stage 5-6. I don't have 90 fps patch yet and I have no plan on downloading it atm since the internet in Indonesia sucks so badly.

My unfocused stage 3 run. What do you think? That was pretty nerve-breaking at some parts ._. I did surprisingly good at Foggy London Dolls, although I didn't capture it (who can?).

[CyberAngel]

Does such practice work on every mode? I think I'm going for no-focus runs in PCB at practice mode. Though I don't dare to do such practice for stage 5-6. I don't have 90 fps patch yet and I have no plan on downloading it atm since the internet in Indonesia sucks so badly.

My unfocused stage 3 run. What do you think? That was pretty nerve-breaking at some parts ._. I did surprisingly good at Foggy London Dolls, although I didn't capture it (who can?).

Not too bad, actually. You can become better, whether you realize it or not.

I think that moving unfocused freely is one of those things you start doing when you become better overall. And to become better, you just need to step out of your usual range. Try higher difficulties. Go no-bombs on easier ones. And just get bolder. This is just a game, dying isn't a big deal. Also, there's a good saying among pilots. "Good judgement comes from experience. Experience comes from bad judgement." Don't be afraid of mistakes. Everyone makes them. Just enjoy the games in ways you can.

Another general advice from personal experience is to circulate games. Can't get farther in one game? Switch to another one. Odds are, when you're back to the first one, you'll discover you're noticably better than you were before.

[SesMoge]

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[Szayelaporro Granz]

Hello again, everyone. I tried the same practice again (see my previous post), tried to use Sakuya A instead, but apparently she doesn't fit for scoring at all since her unfocused shot barely do anything to bosses so I need to switch to focused shot almost every time. But I seem to survive more with Sakuya A although Reimu A has smaller hitbox. Is there any tips to score a bit with Sakuya A?

[Kaze_Senshi]

Hello again, everyone. I tried the same practice again (see my previous post), tried to use Sakuya A instead, but apparently she doesn't fit for scoring at all since her unfocused shot barely do anything to bosses so I need to switch to focused shot almost every time. But I seem to survive more with Sakuya A although Reimu A has smaller hitbox. Is there any tips to score a bit with Sakuya A?

I don't think that "shoot power" is important on PCB scoring, as far as I saw in some replays they are used to use supergrazing and beat spellcards at their last seconds to get more graze bonus or bullet clear bonus.

[Sakurei]

I don't think that "shoot power" is important on PCB scoring, as far as I saw in some replays they are used to use supergrazing and beat spellcards at their last seconds to get more graze bonus or bullet clear bonus.

a lot of spellcards in PCB are being grazed to raise the spellbonus value. this is why you sometimes have a bonus of 10m, and on yuyuko over 60m on easy even.

[FamilyTeam]

Okay, I'm done, I'm asking for help.
Can anyone show me a good run of PCB's Stage 5 on normal with Marisa? I tried to get some replays on Replays-Gensokyo, but really, in most of them, the guy doesn't fare much better than I do, and in some of them, I actually play better than the guy on the replay. He just loses all his lives on Stage 5, and then lucky dodges his way through Stage 6 and gets the 1cc.
Please, somedy help me on this.

Also, it took me 20 minutes to write this message thanks to my shitty keyboard.

[Zil]

http://www.shrinemaiden.org/forum/index.php/topic,156.0.html
http://replays.gensokyou.org/index.php?u=&g=7&p=&t=0&d=2&c=1&ch=40&order=score&sort=DESC

Don't just grab random replays. You can search for things specifically with the "no death" and "no bomb" tags.

By the way, the other thread is probably a more appropriate place to ask things like this. This thread is just kinda... whatever it is.

[FamilyTeam]

http://www.shrinemaiden.org/forum/index.php/topic,156.0.html
http://replays.gensokyou.org/index.php?u=&g=7&p=&t=0&d=2&c=1&ch=40&order=score&sort=DESC

Don't just grab random replays. You can search for things specifically with the "no death" and "no bomb" tags.

By the way, the other thread is probably a more appropriate place to ask things like this. This thread is just kinda... whatever it is.

I looked at that thread, and I tough it was just help with SPELL CARDS, and I have problems with the entire level.
But I'll watch them and see what kind of intel I can get from this.

[Zil]

Yeah, the name could afford to be different, but that's basically just a general help thread. You can ask anything there, unless it's like something that should go in tech support instead.

(Also, for pure survival purposes, any non-homing shot should more or less be able to do that stage the same way. You could limit the search to Marisa runs but you'll just get less results.)

[Mordon]

Replays of someone the same or worse than you are good too, because that's how you'll probably do in game, so you don't get your hopes too high. If you watch only no death and no bombs replays you'll think you can do the same and end up dying in unexpected ways. I recommend watching some of each, replays from good players to see how to do some parts properly, and "first time" clears to see more or less how much you can fail or not.