For the second time in as many weeks, there’s been a significant update to the Touhou Project Replay Archive – match replays from IaMP and SWR can now be uploaded and archived! Check out the main upload page to add your own, or the updated Vs. Matches page to see what’s been added!

Many thanks to mauve for his assistance in breaking down the IaMP and SWR replay formats.

You can download the patch here. More information can be found on this page at the mizuumi.net IaMP wiki.

Changelog:

• Fixed excessive CPU usage bug.
• th075e.exe no longer spawns a command prompt window.
• th075e.dat can be read from any directory.
• Added config_loader.exe, which runs the config program without the need for compatibility mode. Optional.
• Various dialogue fixes.

Also released with it is the final version of the netplay client Cowcaster, which you can obtain here.

Currently, the group has no plans to translate Scarlet Weather Rhapsody. Enjoy!

Just recently, the guys from #iamp finished a tutorial video project for Immaterial and Missing Power. It covers most, if not all, of the basics for those who are starting out on the game, and it even makes a handy guide for casual players to brush up on.

Props go to Bellresia, Xenozip, Mauve, and everyone else involved in making the vid!

Here are some examples of what to expect!

If you like a palette on the random color generator page, just click it and you can save it~

This time, characters have up to 4 custom color palettes and are transferred between players! Read more below:

Last three updates:

07/10/10 v1.5a
- Blocking for custom color edits fixed.
- Fixed freeze bug with processRemotePalettes.
- Some minor text fixes.

07/10/09 v1.5
- Custom color edits are now transferred between players! See palette.txt for details.
- processRemotePalettes added to config file, press ‘ at the char select screen to cycle it.
- Infinite spirit cheat added: Press F8 in matches to turn it on.
- Re-enabled 1 delay. Why not?
- Fixed obscure bug with character select info not being sent to spectators when in booster mode.
- Fixed bug with practice dummy air teching causing unnecessary blocking.
- “debug :” changed to “setting :” where applicable.

07/10/06 v1.4c
- Names, remote port sent across standby links correctly now.
- Fixed bug with Unknown names on spectating, when remote host is player 2.
- Booster/Practice Dummy shouldn’t be frozen after some matches anymore.
- th075Quit being disabled still lets the game quit out normally when speccing is over with.
- roundShow now prints out round times, total time spent.
- roundShow will now print out the current time with individual match results.
- replayFilenameFormat can now print out round time in one of three formats.
- replayFilenameFormat can now print out a date that skips the first two digits of the year.
(%D will give 07 instead of 2007)
- autoSaveRename now kicks in as soon as it reaches the main menu, rather than the char select.
- replay time and date now defaults to local time, can use system time with new systemTime flag.

CowCaster has been updated again for Immaterial and Missing Power. The previous version was the 070930 version, which was only 7 days ago. To download the new CowCaster, click here.

To read about changes, click below.

07/10/06 v1.4c
- Names, remote port sent across standby links correctly now.
- Fixed bug with Unknown names on spectating, when remote host is player 2.
- Booster/Practice Dummy shouldn’t be frozen after some matches anymore.
- th075Quit being disabled still lets the game quit out normally when speccing is over with.
- roundShow now prints out round times, total time spent.
- roundShow will now print out the current time with individual match results.
- replayFilenameFormat can now print out round time in one of three formats.
- replayFilenameFormat can now print out a date that skips the first two digits of the year.
(%D will give 07 instead of 2007)
- autoSaveRename now kicks in as soon as it reaches the main menu, rather than the char select.
- replay time and date now defaults to local time, can use system time with new systemTime flag.

Features:

• Synced up to th075Caster-070923.
• New features:
  • Enhanced practice dummy to supplement IaMP’s rather crummy built-in one. It adds random guard, one-hit guard, selectable guard reactions, HJ ovement, random movement, move repeating, random guard crushes, random attack, and configurable teching, amongst other things.
  • Replay autosaving. Originally from moeCaster.
  • Player names can be set, stored, and transferred.
• Usability changes:
  • config_caster.ini and info.ini translated to English.
  • English documentation on general Caster usage added.
  • Keyboard inputs no longer taken if window is not focused.
  • Player 1 pad is optionally not bound if spectating, preventing charInit() errors if you disconnect your pad when not playing.
  • Player 2 pad is not bound if not in Broadcast mode, preventing unnecessary charInit() errors relating to the secondary pad.
  • Spellcard hiding has been fixed. Originally from moeCaster.
  • Remembers the last picked characters after saving a replay.
  • Automatically calculates a default delay on connecting.
  • Can resolve hostnames now.
  • All port options completely removed from main menu. In order to access a non-standard port, enter the address in host:port form. (e.g: mizuumi.net:7500)
  • Remembers last chosen port and IP for connecting. Default Standby address is now set to mizuumi.net
  • roundShow flag can print out who won each match and the total number of rounds won in a given session.
  • Spectate option on main menu waits for the remote client to begin playing before trying to connect.
  • Get Information will now optionally report the remote host that the destination is connected to if both clients are using CowCaster 070923 or later.
  • Booster no longer listens when you play it when you don’t want it to.
  • Automatic replay naming and file renaming when using autoSave.
• Miscellaneous:
  • Fancy Yuyucow icon, by popular demand.
  • Windows Vista is now automatically detected.
  • Booster listening glitch fixed, can now properly listen on games run at faster than normal speed. (Replaywatcher at full blast will still mess up, though.)
  • Compatible with translation patches.

And that’s all, folks.

CowCaster is essentially an upgraded version of Caster, an accessory which allows netplay for Touhou 7.5: Immaterial and Missing Power. Although the release occurred two days ago, I figured it’d be a good idea to announce it here as well. CowCaster features many more capabilities than the regular Caster, so for all you hardcore IaMP fans, please go check it out.

You can find out more information about CowCaster here.
To download the newest version of CowCaster (version 070930), click here.

Click below to find out more information about CowCaster.

This is copied and pasted from the CowCaster.txt file.

—————————————————————————-
FEATURES OVER REGULAR CASTER
—————————————————————————-

- New features:
* Enhanced practice dummy to supplement IaMP’s rather crummy built-in one.
It adds random guard, one-hit guard, selectable guard reactions, HJ
movement, random movement, move repeating, random guard crushes, random
attack, and configurable teching, amongst other things.
* Replay autosaving. Originally from moeCaster.
* Player name information transferred

- Usability changes:
* config_caster.ini and info.ini translated to English.
* English documentation on general Caster usage added.
* Keyboard inputs no longer taken if window is not focused.
* Player 1 pad is optionally not bound if spectating, preventing charInit()
errors if you disconnect your pad when not playing.
* Player 2 pad is not bound if not in Broadcast mode, preventing
unnecessary charInit() errors relating to the secondary pad.
* Spellcard hiding has been fixed. Originally from moeCaster.
* Remembers the last picked characters after saving a replay.
* Automatically calculates a default delay on connecting.
* Can resolve hostnames now.
* All port options completely removed from main menu. In order to access a
non-standard port, enter the address in host:port form.
e.g: mizuumi.net:7500
* Remembers last chosen port and IP for connecting. Default Standby address
is now set to mizuumi.net
* roundShow flag can print out who won each match and the total number of
rounds won in a given session.
* Spectate option on main menu waits for the remote client to begin playing
before trying to connect.
* Get Information will now optionally report the remote host that the
destination is connected to if both clients are using CowCaster 070923
or later.
* Booster no longer listens when you play it when you don’t want it to.
* Automatic replay naming and file renaming when using autoSave

- Miscellaneous:
* Fancy Yuyucow icon, by popular demand.
* Windows Vista is now automatically detected.
* Booster listening glitch fixed, can now properly listen on games run at
faster than normal speed.
(Replaywatcher at full blast will still mess up, though.)
* Compatible with translation patches.

—————————————————————————-
SETTING UP CASTER
—————————————————————————-

Step by step guide:
- Patch IaMP to 1.11. The patch may be found at:

http://www.tasofro.net/touhou/download.html

- Download the full unlock file if you have not already unlocked all
of the characters: http://iamp.mizuumi.net/stuff/tools/score.dat
Replace your score.dat with that.
- If the folder containing IaMP has japanese characters in its name, rename
it to something that doesn’t.
- Copy the CowCaster.exe, config_caster.ini, and info.ini from the exe
folder to the exact same folder that th075.exe is in.
- Optionally edit config_caster.ini to your preferences – setting player
names if you want.
- Run CowCaster, select 9: vs th075Booster. If all is well, you will be
brought to the character select.
- Use 1 to host a game, or 2 to connect to another user. CowCaster will
automatically calculate a recommended delay value when you connect to
each other.

Troubleshooting:
- If you see a CharInit() error, there is a problem with your pad
configuration.
- For anything else, you probably did something wrong.

Router issues:
- If you are behind a router, you will need to forward port 7500 to your
computer in order to host to host. This is not required to connect
to another user. http://www.portforward.com/ contains information
on this.
You may use 8: Test myPort to see if your port is open. Simply connect
to mizuumi.net to see if it works.
- If neither user can forward ports, then you may connect to each other
through a Standby relay. Simply have both users use 7: Standby on
mizuumi.net and, as long as no one else is trying to connect, it should
connect you to each other. See below for more information.
- If _that_ fails, you’ll probably need to go get Hamachi, but this should
be considered a last resort.

All of this applies for normal Caster as well.

—————————————————————————-
USING CASTER
—————————————————————————-

— Hosting, connecting to games

To host a game, simply select “Wait for access”. To connect to someone
else, select “Try access” and connect to their IP. If the host doesn’t
know his own IP, he can find out by going to http://www.whatismyip.com/
If on IRC, a simple /whois nickname works as well.

“Try access ( Tough )” is similar to a normal connection, but will continue
trying to connect, and try to maintain the connection, even if the
connection is known to be unstable. Note that this will also cause Caster
to not know if the other person really does lose connection!

When you connect, it will randomly assign players(if playerSide has not
been set) and request a delay value from player one. CowCaster will
automatically suggest a delay, based on these values:

- 0ms to 4ms: 1 delay
- 5ms to 43ms: 2 delay
- 44ms to 75ms: 3 delay
- 76ms to 107ms: 4 delay
- 108ms to 139ms: 5 delay
- 140ms to 171ms: 6 delay
- 172ms to 203ms: 7 delay
- 204ms to 236ms: 8 delay
- 237ms to 267ms: 9 delay
- 268ms to 320ms: 10 delay

Any higher than 320ms is not playable no matter what. Additionally,
1 delay is disallowed if ping is over 4ms.

If you enter 0 delay, it will refresh the ping with the remote host and
ask you to enter delay again.

Note that you Caster will prevent you from selecting Sakuya-day stage,
Youmu-day stage, or Suika’s stage because of visibility issues with
certain projectiles. You may disable this at the character select with
the [ key, but it is not recommended to do so unless you absolutely
have to.

"Get Information" will tell you the state of a remote Caster client.
It will return the following possible states:
- "Default" Either sitting at the main Caster menu or waiting on the
remote client. No game is running at this time.
- "Default (Wait)" if they are hosting a game and waiting for someone
to connect
- "Menu" If in game, sitting at the character select menu.
- "x vs y (n sec)" If in game, with the given matchup, that has been
running for the given amount of time.

Relevant config_caster.ini options:
- defaultIP: This is the host that Try access will automatically
attempt to connect to. This is unique to CowCaster.
- autoWaitOn: While hosting, after a session with another client,
it will automaticlaly go back into a hosting state.
- beep: Sounds a beep whenever someone connects to you while you are
hosting, or when a Standby connection occurs.
- playerSide: With this, you can choose to be player 1 or player 2
at all times.
- stageLimitCancel: If enabled, will allow selection of banned stages.
This is not recommended.
- autoNextOn: If enabled, Caster will automatically skip past the
end of match win quote and menu. This may be toggled by pressing ]
inside a match.
- replaySave: Makes the default selection at the end of a match to
save a replay, rather than return to character select.
- autoSave: Will automatically save a replay at the end of every
match. This may be enabled or disabled by pressing – or = in
the middle of a match. This is unique to CowCaster.
- roundShow: Prints information on the result of each match, and
total information at the end of a session. Its state may be cycled
by pressing ] during character select. This is unique to CowCaster.
See config_caster.ini for more information.

— Standby

Standby uses Skype-style UDP hole punching to allow two users that are
both behind routers to connect to each other by using a third party.
mizuumi.net runs a standby daemon at all times that you may use, but
any running Caster client will work.

It will tell you the IP and port of the client that has connected to
you. If you want someone to be able to spectate your games, simply
send that address to them.

It is recommended to use this instead of Hamachi whenever possible, as
it is a direct connection.

If you want to run a standby daemon yourself, the FreeBSD/Linux source
code can be found here:

http://mauve.sandwich.net/misc/standbyd.tgz

— Spectating games

Spectating active games is easy. Simply connect to a client that already
has a Caster game running. You will receive a verification prompt as to
whether or not you want to watch.

Don’t snipe other people’s games! Use “Get Information” to make sure that
they are playing before connecting. CowCaster has a special option on
the main menu for spectating that will wait until the remote client has
started playing to join, it is highly recommended that you use this.

Spectating does not lag the players unless their upstream is really,
really, really bad. Like modem bad.

There is a limit of four users spectating on each client. However, you can
spectate on users who are spectating others.

Additionally, you can spectate on people when they are playing Booster
or against the Practice Dummy. (Note that if you use any cheat codes, they
are not transferred and will have to be pressed on the other end!)

Relevant config_caster.ini options:
- obsCount: If enabled, tells you when new observers connect. Does not tell
you who is connecting, though.
- allowObs: If disabled, prevents people from observing your games.
- disablePadsOnSpec: If enabled, will not bind gamepads when spectating,
instead reverting to a default keyboard configuration of
the arrow keys and ZXCV1. This is unique to CowCaster.
- practiceNoSpec: Disallows people from spectating you when you are in
Debug, Booster, or Practice Dummy modes.
This is unique to CowCaster.

— Broadcast

Broadcast creates a local 2 player game and allows other people to spectate.
Delay A and Delay B are the respective input delays of the two players.

— Test myPort

This tests to see if you can host games, by having another client try to
connect to you. Simply point it at someone else’s running Caster or the
relay at mizuumi.net to see.

— th075Booster

Booster is an enhanced AI that learns from playing. Without any data
files it won’t do anything, though.

See http://iamp.mizuumi.net/index.php/Th075booster for more information,
as well as th075Booster in config_caster.ini

— Command line parameters

The following command line parameters may be passed to Caster:

-w Automatically go into wait mode.
-i ip Caster will automatically try to connect to the given IP.
-p port Sets the port used for the -i parameter.
-f Uses info.ini to do connection if allowFileMode is enabled.
It can be set to:
- Wait for a connection
- Wait for a connection from a specific IP set in the file
- Connect to an IP set in the file
See info.ini for more details.

Relevant config_caster.ini options:
- allowArgMode: Enables -i parameter.
- allowFileMode: Enables -f parameter.
- fileModeState: Acts as if -f parameter is always set.

— Autosave

Automatic replay saving is a special feature of CowCaster and moeCaster.

To turn it on, simply edit config_caster.ini and set autoSave to 1. All
replays will have a blank name, and it’s up to you to organize them.
You can also skip replay saving entirely by setting it to 2.

Pressing – and = in game will turn it off and on, respectively.

This feature was written by tropsy, and all credit goes to him.

— Enhanced practice dummy

The practice dummy is a special feature of CowCaster added to help with
training.

Available practice modes:

- 1: Random guard crushes

The dummy will randomly use 22a or 22b while walking forwards inbetween them.

Additionally, Youmu will use 214B and Yukari will use 236A.

- 2: Repeat selectable move

You can choose any of the standard moves in the game and the dummy will
spam it for you.

- 3: Jump, Repeat selectable move

Same as 2, but now you can set the dummy’s jump!

- 4: Any normal/command normal/guard crush/graze attack

Randomly uses one of 5a, 5b, 2a, 2b, 6a, 6b, 66a, 66b, 33a, 33b, 22a, or 22b.

This is probably best used on Suika.

- 5: Move randomly

Dummy will use any of 5, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, D4, D6, D7, D8, or D9 in as
unpredictable fashion as possible.

- 6: Move and do selectable move randomly

As with 2, you will be able to select any single move in the game for it to
use randomly in addition to the above movement.

- 7: Jump

Dummy will jump repeatedly in the way you choose.

- 8: Random Guard (with 5)

Dummy will use any of 5, 4, or 1. Note that since there is no testing of the
opponent’s actions implemented, it will be constantly doing this and thus
walking away.

- 9: Random Guard (without 5)

Dummy will use either of 4 or 1.

- 10: Standing guard

Dummy will constantly use 4.

- 11: Crouching guard

Dummy will constantly use 1.

- 12: Jumping guard

Dummy will jump repeatedly in the way you choose and guard any hits. Note that
HJs have a vulnerability period that will cause CHs on hit.

- 13: One-hit guard

Immediately after recovering from hitstun, dummy will block until it is left
alone for half a second.

- 14: Do nothing

Mostly used for teching.

- Notes:

The dummy does not understand the concept of buffering inputs, so it is delayed
by a few frames in inputting things and it is very possible to hit it out of
things that are normally escapable. Assume that if it got hit on a guard
reaction, it would have dashed out or something.

Spellcards require declaring to use. If you set a spellcard to be used in any
of the selectable modes, it will immediately try to 22d on wakeup after
knockdown.

The first 9 modes can have a timing factor set which determines how often they
pulse or change their current action. ASAP mode will always change as soon as
it is able to. This has entertaining results on random guard.

On the guarding modes, you can set a reaction move that it will use immediately
after it comes out of blockstun. The main purpose of this is to test how
airtight your blockstrings are, either by dealing with specific counterattacks
or how escapable they are. Additionally, reaction moves can be set on being hit
or on wakeup.

Teching can be set for all modes, to be forward, backwards, random, or none at
all.

- Cheats:

In order to best make use of the dummy, IaMP’s built-in cheats need to be used.
Taken directly from the IaMP wiki:

* F2: Puts both players on first lifebar
* F3: Puts both players on second lifebar
* F4: Stops refilling health
* F5: Continuously refills health instantly and gradually fills spellcard meter
* F6: Quickly raises spellcard meter as long as it is held
* F7: Quickly decreases spellcard meter as long as it is held

Unfortunately, there is no way to change spellcard interactively.

And that’s all.