Alright, I’ve decided to make some changes to how the Touhou Server is going to work. Originally the plan was make things as simple as possible for players, without any downloads. Players would connect to an IP, which was the Game Server. To manage their profile and join rooms, they only needed to open a browser and login. The problem with this is extra latency introduced by a “middle-man.” I haven’t had any problems when I play online with others except for long-distance matches (ex: US to Australia). But apparently, others are:

The more I hear about the stupidities of this netplay (unbalance between host and joiner, 63-or-so fps-netcode, 10ms-frame ratio), the more I want to cry. My delay wasn’t even showing something I could decipher.

~ /jp/ anon

I don’t want to create a laggy server or make the gameplay less enjoyable. That’s not my goal or the purpose of this.

I have decided to trash the middle-man and use casters instead. It’s my fault I didn’t think of using them sooner, I was caught up in the idea of a single server. Duh, use a caster. If you’re reading this, you probably know what I’m talking about. For those of you who don’t, don’t worry about it – it’s just a program you download.

Players will now need to download the caster, which will take care of everything. It will connect directly to your opponent, so the only latency present will be between you and your opponent. The caster will also connect to a central server (previously known as the Web Server component). The caster will not relay messages through the server to your opponent. Matches will not lag because of this server. Statistics, room data, player data, and other information are the only things sent and received by the server. It will also be managing tournaments, ladders, and coordinating the casters so they know what IP to connect to.

Since the caster will be on the local system, it can (and will) poke at the game’s memory to do things. For example, I should be able to force fish decks (all 20 cards are fish). Just some things to look forward to.

Here’s a diagram showing how the new setup will work:

Click to enlarge

Here’s how things will work:

1. Download the caster.
2. Start Touhou 12.3 and the caster.
3. Login with your profile name and a password in the caster.
4. Using the caster’s GUI, you can create rooms, join rooms, spectate, partake in tourneys, view player stats, and chat with others.
5. The caster will modify the game’s memory and send it “correct packets” while playing.
6. Casters will send their own gameplay and chat messages to each other.

Some things that can now be possible that weren’t before:

• Force decks (Fish deck!)
• Player’s won’t have to upload their deck every time they change it – the caster handles that
• Less lag
• Display your opponent’s name instead of “Touhou Server”
• Both players won’t be on p2′s side
• Gathering statistics without analyzing key presses or patching the game

Last night I got the majority (if not all) of the stages, characters, and bgm labeled and paired with their coded value.  In the process I have also found extra stages that can be played on (that you can’t play on normally).  You will be able to play these stages, except the last one, by using the caster.

• Touhou 10.5 Final Boss – Earth’s orbit
• China’s “cartoonish” stages (including the Fish Final Boss)
• A completely black screen (Suwako Boss Fight?)
• And codes that will crash the game.

For updates, you can check the Project page.

Memory Hacking

Here I was just screwing around with memory hacking. The games aren’t using my server when I recorded this.