Gensokyo: Total War

**pillullis** · May 03, 2009, 08:18 PM

Gensokyo: Total War is based on the successful series of shooters known as "Touhou Project" made by Team Shanghai Alice. This mod explores the world that is used as the setting of the games: Gensokyo.
Gensokyo was originally a desolate, haunted region of Japan ages ago. The youkai (Spirits) that lived there began to terrorize the surrounding lands, and thus powerful, heroic humans were sent to exorcise and exterminate them. The off and on battle between humans and youkai continued on until 1884 A.D., when Gensokyo was sealed off from this increasingly scientific and skeptical world with the creation of the Hakurei Border. There has been little contact between our societies ever since. Today, the only known gateway between Gensokyo and this world is the Hakurei Shrine, which stands in isolation along the border on distant mountains of the far east.
However, times have changed and now several factions have started to gather resources and manpower to conquer this land for themselves.

Factions

Hakurei Shrine

Leader: Reimu Hakurei.
Special Units: Priestesses.
The Hakurei Shrine is one of the few gateways to the human world and used to be one of the most majestic places of all Gensokyo. Now, the Shrine is almost desolated and few people visit it. The duty of the Priestess of the Hakurei Shrine is to protect the human population from the rampaging yokai, but lately the population has turned hostile towards the Shrine itself. It is time for the Hakurei Shrine to conquer Gensokyo!

Scarlet Devil Mansion

Leader: Remilia Scarlet.
Special Units: Battle Maids and Vampires.
Remilia Scarlet is the self-proclaimed descendant of Vlad Tepes Dracula and one of the most dangerous beings in Gensokyo. She once attempted to cover Gensokyo with a thick, red mist but her plan was foiled by the Priestess of the Hakurei Shrine. Now, she has been building a massive army conformed by her endless maids to take over Gensokyo and have revenge over the Priestess who humiliated her years ago.

Hakugyokurou

Leader: Yuyuko Saigyouji.
Special Units: Master Swordmen.
Hakugyokurou is the equivalent of the Netherworld for Gensokyo. Princess Yuyuko is the Ghost Princess of that place and her goal is to obtain enough essence of spring in order to release her trapped soul. If she's successful, then no one in Gensokyo will be able to contain her power. Hakugyokurou boasts an impressive selection of Swordmen who are insanely strong melee fighters.

Yokai of the Boundaries

Leader: Yukari Yakumo.
Special Units: Yokai Warriors.
Located near Hakugyokurou, the Yakumo Household is commanded by the most powerful being in all Gensokyo: Yukari Yakumo. It's rumored that Yukari was one of the responsible for the creation of the Hakurei Border. Her goals at this moment are a mystery, but some believe that if she manages to take control of Gensokyo, she will invade the Human World. The Yokai Warriors are a special trained unit of armed Youkai that are resistant to damage.

Eientei

Leader: Eirin Yagokoro.
Special Units: Gun Rabbits.
Hidden in the Bamboo Forest, lies a Mansion known as Eientei, where the Lunarian Princress Kaguya Houraisan spends her days as an immortal with her trusted protector Eirin Yagokoro. After hearing the rumors of an incoming conflict in Gensokyo, Eirin mustered an army of youkai rabbits in order to conquer Gensokyo in the name of the Moon Princess. Gun Rabbits are the ultimate ranged infantry of Gensokyo with powerful rifles that fire barrages of bullets against the enemies of Eientei.

Human Villages

Leader: Keine Kamishirasawa.
Special Units: Yokai Exterminators.
Keine Kamishirasawa is a half-beast teacher who uses her power to protect the human villagers. With the menace of an incoming conflict in Gensokyo, Keine began to train the humans into Yokai Exterminators in order to protect themselves. The Yokai Exterminators are powerful soldiers with the ability to lay ambushes in every kind of terrain.

Yokai of Gensokyo

Leader: Yuka Kazami.
Special Units: Wild Yokai.
By far the biggest faction of Gensokyo, the Yokai of Gensokyo live for just one purpose: Destroy. Under the leadership of the Yokai of Flowers, Yuka Kazami, the yokai have started to build a massive army to bring chaos and destruction to Gensokyo and with the incoming war, they can seize this chance to easily defeat the factions that lie in their path of conquest. The Wild Yokai are the closest thing to "Berserkers" in Gensokyo, therefore stopping them will be a hard task even for the most experienced warriors.

Moriya Shrine

Leader: Kanako Yasaka.
Special Units: Kappa Warriors and Tengu Archers.
A relatively young faction in Gensokyo, the Moriya Shrine is commanded by her two Goddesses: Kanako Yasaka and Suwako Moriya. They are a faction that has almost no tolerance for other religions, but they protect and reward those who follow the teachers of the Moriya Shrine. Thanks to their aggressive expansion and rewards of their religion, the Moriya Shrine can recruit the help of two powerful races: The slow, but resistant Kappa and the fast and powerful Tengu.

Palace of the Earth Spirits

Leader: Satori Komeiji.
Special Units: Yatagarasu Warriors.
The Palace of the Earth Spirits houses the mysterious Satori Komeiji who desires to conquer Gensokyo for her own ends. She commands the powerful Yatagarasu (Three-Legged Crow) Warriors who are eager to fight and die for the glory of the Palace of the Earth Spirits. If she conquers Gensokyo, then Satori will make herself the supreme Queen of the Land.

**NLegari** · May 03, 2009, 08:39 PM

What!? Is this some sort of silly joke? Good lord, what "forces" could Reimu ever lead? She does not even have any money! Touhou is not meant to be a total war game.

Wow, I never thought I would have to post that...

**pillullis** · May 04, 2009, 01:11 AM

Originally Posted by NLegari

What!? Is this some sort of silly joke? Good lord, what "forces" could Reimu ever lead? She does not even have any money! Touhou is not meant to be a total war game.

Wow, I never thought I would have to post that...

I'm being totally serious, good sir.
Besides? Who cares if this breaks the already "blurry" canon of the Touhou series?

**BM309K58SMERCH** · February 18, 2012, 06:01 AM

Although this is an old post, I like this idea. My idea is a bit different...All characters have their own unit (needs a lot of time to model each one of them separately), All characters are "invited" (including the PC-98 characters), and the units vary greatly (From Makai demon katana samurai to Lunar Capital Modern Gunners...etc.)

I might try to make this if I can get the time and the skills. I might hopefully start modelling/skinning/sound sampling(wtf)/modding sometime in the summer.
I have no idea how to make one, but I hope to make one in the end! Thank you for inspiring me!

**BM309K58SMERCH** · February 18, 2014, 01:44 PM

It is has been (obviously) two years since I last posted on this thread, and there still isn't a released mod. Well, I am bumping this again to say that there has been some work, I have been spending my last two years learning almost everything about M2TW modding, and I can safely say that the foundations for the mod is in place, awaiting executive action. I fancied using these two years for study and experimentation so that I won't have to start planning from scratch again because of unprecedented and unknown limitations. Now, I believe I can post here detailing my current progress and plans, and effectively use this thread as a temporary thread until I can get some actual work done and make a fresh thread, which I can expect from myself to make soon.

General info:
(Here is the link to pillullis' pictures).
Quite frankly, I cannot type a better explanation of the mod than what pillullis wrote:

Originally Posted by pillullis

Gensokyo: Total War is based on the successful series of shooters known as "Touhou Project" made by Team Shanghai Alice. This mod explores the world that is used as the setting of the games: Gensokyo.

Apparently, a wish for a Touhou Project modification for Total War is a rather popular, so I have decided to answer this wish... Quality is one of my main goals, and I will try my best to achieve it.
As this mod is going to be based on a bullet hell / curtain fire game, it is going to be quite a challenge to make, especially when trying to make the game fun, playable and entertaining for fans of both the Total War series and Touhou Project. Another challenge is the fact that Team Shanghai Alice churns out a new game almost once a year, so there will be a time where limits will be reached and sacrifices will have to be made.
Here is a known video of Touhou gameplay to give an example to those who do not know how the game works.
(For more information, please visit the -unofficial- Touhou Project Wiki, or if you prefer, Wikipedia article).

Game info:
Factions:
To expand on pillullis' list of factions, Gensokyo: Total War is going to have a total of 22 playable factions, each having its own strengths and weaknesses. Names will not be revealed until further notice, but people are more than welcome to guess and speculate.

Units and Characters:
I have already made a list of all the units to appear in-game, and I am quite happy with the variety I managed to come up with. Wondering how the Human Village will fight for themselves, or how the Underworld will mobilize their forces?

Not to disappoint anybody, but there are going to be 104 playable heroes, 104 characters picked out of the ~200 characters of the Touhou universe. This is because of technical limitations that have no work-around. This is still a large amount of generals with basically little-to-no differences in actual stats and capabilities. And do not forget that Touhou games are still being made, so sacrifices may have to taken to accommodate newer qualifiable characters.

Map and Campaign:
The map is quite the challenge to design. Firstly, there is no official map of Gensokyo, so I had to make up a map using sources from all games and print works. As making the separate realms in Gensokyo as isolated areas (like ETW) is technically impossible, and considering the relatively small area of Gensokyo, adding large and vast areas like Makai, Hell, Hakugyokurou, and Higan is extremely perplexing and frustrating. As a result, Gensokyo looks like Azeroth after the Cataclysm.

Voice:
This part is the most baffling for me. I am completely stumped at the idea of voices. If there should be voices, then the voice actor must be a female and a native speaker of Japanese (sorry, but hearing Touhou in English is not right...unless I can be convinced), and probably the accent will be shared amongst all (most) factions equally. But this leads to a Shogun II-style blandness, and I don't know what to do about this. Perhaps I could leave voices altogether, faithful to the Touhou games? I'd prefer if this subject is better left for the future thread to avoid clutter and bumping this thread, but suggestions are more than welcome.

SFX and Music:
I think that using the Touhou SFX by Team Shanghai Alice and Twilight Frontier is a very optimal option, as it adds the feeling of "Touhou" in a Touhou mod. But if this is not allowed or frowned upon by the community, then I will be more than happy to use different sound effects.
I have thought that the excellent music is one of the main features that make Touhou special. I have already designed as such that each faction has its own musical playlist with a "large" variety of Touhou music. The music is not by doujin bands, but instead directly from the game and music CDs, downloaded through YouTube. Of course, I ALWAYS give full credit even when not needed. I don't think there is anything wrong with this, but if there is, please let me know. I am aware that there are Touhou mods out there that DO USE the original Touhou music, but I am not sure about this myself, and I do not have musical expertise nor the facilities needed to make proper musical arrangements of Touhou music (which is very safe). But if worse comes to worse, and I am prohibited from using Touhou SFX AND Music, then the mod will lose the "Touhou essence", and I may have to resort to classical music. (I personally don't mind seeing the Hakurei Shrine dish out some hard justice with Pictures at an Exhibition playing)

---
Well, I think that just about states everything I have planned for this mod. All I have to do now is to actually start working. I also have to wait for the Touhou 15 announcement which should probably be around the end of this month (like UFO and TD) so that I can add the new info to the plan list. If there is any suggestions or questions regarding this mod, please reply to this thread and/or PM me.

Here are some screenshots of the work I have been doing.
Note that these are all only experimental and the final results will differ from the pictures displayed below.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read:

(End of post, sorry for the long ass essay)

**gordonfree10** · May 21, 2014, 04:50 PM

Great job on developing this mod!

**Firey the Unorthodox** · June 16, 2014, 09:22 AM

Well, if we are allowed to guess, I would say some of the factions are:
Hakurei Shrine
Scarlet Devil Mansion
Cirno's Faction
Makai
Hakugyokurou
Yukari's Faction
Eientei
Human Village
Eiki's Faction
Yuuka's Faction
Youkai Mountain
Moriya Shrine
Celestials
The Oni
Palace of the Earth Spirits
Myouren Temple
Miko's Faction
Shining Needle Castle
Three Fairies of Light
Lunarians

Fighting off a Lunarian invasion would be interesting.

**BM309K58SMERCH** · February 18, 2016, 02:01 PM

Spoiler Alert, click show to read:

EDIT 23/06/2016: Sorry for the drama queen rubbish, I was depressed at the time lol. As mentioned, this mod will not have a new thread of its own until I can finish actual content (60% or more). A new development plan is underway, and a new more organized spreadsheet will be edited into this post at a later date, showing the ongoing progress of the mod. For now, this will be the general roadmap of the mod as soon as said spreadsheet is complete:

Phase 1:
strat map base mapping -> unit base modelling -> model the units -> melee/ranged weapon modelling -> custom animations -> model the playable characters -> model projectiles and danmaku -> projectile scripting and effects

Phase 2:
strat map modelling -> campaign scripting -> general scripting -> settlement/building modelling -> settlement scripting -> everything to do with IWTE -> ensure a correctly functioning campaign -> custom battles modding

Phase 3:
design UI graphics -> add music -> add SFX -> add voices (somehow) -> final testing before release

I hope that I can finish each phase within a year. There are no guarantees, but this is what I think might be best.

**SanMarino** · December 04, 2016, 06:00 PM

Good luck, friend.

**Thatmanoverthere** · January 05, 2017, 10:44 PM

I might not be able to do anything at all, but it would be interesting to know if there was anything that you could need help with, especially since this sounds like it would be lots of fun when done.