Sparen's Danmakufu ph3 Tutorials Extra Unit Lesson 1 - How to Use Bulletforge

This is a guide to Bulletforge by Sparen of Iria.

Part 1: What is Bulletforge?

This tutorial assumes no prior knowledge of Danmakufu scripting, but assumes that you know how to play (and, more importantly, want to play) Danmakufu scripts. If you do not know what Danmakufu is, how to download it, or how to install scripts, I suggest reading Unit 1 Lesson 1. If you do not know how to run and use Danmakufu, I suggest reading Unit 1 Lesson 2 as well.

Bulletforge is a site where Danmakufu scripters can upload their scripts for the world to see. It is run by Blargel, and he pays for hosting all of our content. Therefore, you should be respectful to him and follow a set of general guidelines when using the site. Bulletforge was designed as a place where Danmakufu scripters could share and distribute their work to the public. It is not a place for you to host whatever you want to. Here is a link to the Bulletforge news and announcement thread on Maidens of the Kaleidoscope.

Part 2: How Do I Search for Scripts?

By default, the search function will only search titles of scripts for words put into the box. Use the Advanced Search for more comprehensive searches.

You can also browse all projects. The Featured Project is, at the time of writing this, whichever of the last hundred scripts with the highest download votes. The Most Downloaded category is self-explanatory, but since the golden days of 0.12m and Bulletforge or over, it is unlikely that any project, even featured projects, will ever end up here nowadays.

There is also a 'Latest' tab, which lists scripts by release date. Once you fall off the top five, you lost a significant amount of traffic and must turn to other forms of advertisement to promote your script. Please note that the 'Updated Date' sort is dysfunctional, as it does not actually sort scripts by when a new version was made. Use Created Date when searching for scripts, and if you want to play really good scripts, high download counts tend to sift out some of the less impressive scripts, although now that the rating system is gone, it is best to search on RaNGE in the Maidens of the Kaleidoscope Forums.

Personally, I check Bulletforge every day or so - usually, there are no new scripts. However, scripts pop up very often during contest times, so keep an eye out for those.

As a final note, you can click on a tag, but note that most people neglect to use helpful tags, so this is rarely, if ever, helpful.

Part 3: How Do I Download, Install, and Play Scripts?

By pressing the download button on a script page, you can download the latest version of the script. As of the time of writing, Bulletforge no longer stores old versions of scripts.

For installation and playing, please refer to Unit 1 Lesson 2. Also note that the Bulletforge description may contain helpful information, and if there is a ReadMe that comes with the script, it may be helpful to read it. Also, make sure that you are using the correct version of Danmakufu. 0.12m scripts will not run in ph3 and vice versa, and some ph3 scripts will not work in [.1], while others will require a newer version in order to function correctly.

Note that some scripts come with their own player scripts, and that other scripts come pre-packaged with Danmakufu. If it comes pre-packaged with Danmakufu, always run the copy of Danmakufu it comes with - do not put it into the script folder of your copy of Danmakufu. As for players, don't dump players included with a script into your general player folder unless asked to, as custom players may require files located within the script.

Part 4: What Details are Present on a Script Page?

On a script page, there are a number of helpful and interesting things.

Under the Details tab, there are various pieces of information, such as the person who made the script (as well as a link to their Bulletforge project list), the type of script, Danmakufu version (important!), tags, and update date (unreliable). There is also a space for the download link and stats on downloads for the current version (listed next to the name of the script). There is also a box for description text below all the key information - always read this, since they may specify how to play the script, whether Danmakufu is pre-packaged, etc.

Under Images, a list of the uploaded images can be found. Under Video, a video will be displayed if the scripter has chosen to link a video.

Part 5: How Do I Upload My Own Scripts?

In order to upload your scripts, you must first have a Bulletforge account. In the upper right hand corner of the screen, hit New Project and fill in the information. Note that for version, just put the number - the word 'version' will be automatically appended. Fill out the form, and then browse your computer for the archive file.

A word of caution: Please read Part 8 of this guide before uploading scripts.

Remember to hit the "Upload" button!

To update your project, you can select Edit Project on the project page. Here you can add Images and Videos, which are shared across all versions. You can also change the properties of a version, such as the description text, version number, etc. To upload a new version, hit the 'Delete' button next to 'Download', then upload a new version. The 'Delete' button is NOT the same as the 'Delete Project' button. DO NOT hit the latter unless you want to wipe the entire project from existence.

Also, note that automatic links are not supported in the description text, so it is best if you include links on a separate line so that it is easy for people to copy them.

Part 6: How Do I Receive Feedback on My Scripts?

Detailed commentary is usually reserved for Let's Plays, Videos on Youtube, and PMs. By including a line in your description that says "Please Rate and Review" or "Please PM me on Maidens of the Kaleidoscope if you have any comments," you can increase the amount of feedback you get. Ever since comments were removed from Bulletforge, the best way to get feedback is to post a link or location in the description where people can contact you (i.e. 'Please contact me via PM on Maidens of the Kaleidoscope', 'Please send feedback to xxx@xxx.com', etc.).

When you receive feedback, it is a good idea to read it and, if possible, implement the suggestions. Feel free to create a new version of a script and upload that to Bulletforge with improvements (as long as you are not in a contest - you cannot post new versions of a script between the contest deadline and the release of the results without permission from the people hosting the contest).

Part 7: How Do I Advertise My Scripts?

So you have very few downloads, and your project has just slipped off the front page of Bulletforge. How do you keep getting people to download your work?

If you are on a forum such as Maidens of the Kaleidoscope, you can post a thread about your projects and describe the virtues of your script (and of course, link to the download). It is generally a good idea to have an eye-catching first image for your project (the first one is the only one that gets displayed in thumbnails on Bulletforge). You can also make a video of your script and post that to Youtube, but if you have few subscribers, you will not get much from this - you will have to build your channel.

A slightly more reliable method is to have someone else make a video of your script. Generally speaking, they will not inform you if they have made a video, although some will. You can usually request that someone make a video (they may refuse, of course). However, if you use any of ZUN's music or character sprites/graphics, you may be met with opposition if the video is posted to Niconico with a download link. As a result, if you wish to post a download link and you use ZUN's resources, you should have the video posted to Youtube. Remember ZUN's Copyright guidelines as well. They can be found on the Touhou Wiki and Maidens of the Kaleidoscope.

If you are making a big project however, you may want to blog, use Facebook or Twitter, or do something large scale such as a website - this will inevitably lead to downloads if given site is well-advertised.

Of course, the best way to advertise is to communicate with other members of the Danmakufu community and try out each others' scripts. You never know - you may strike gold!

Part 8: Unofficial Code of Conduct

FOR ALL USERS:

• Please do not mass-download the same script multiple times to knock up the download count. Someone did this on CURSE01 and some peoples' scripts were inflated by up to 200 illegitimate downloads. It did not cause immediate problems, but it confused a lot of people when they woke up with 200 extra downloads out of nowhere.
• If you wish to post a review, it is better to send the person a PM on MotK/Skype/wherever else. Scripters may not always post contact information in the description box, but you should be able to find their release thread if they do in fact have one. However, whatever you do, please give positive feedback and constructive criticism - purely negative feedback does not make their work better.

FOR SCRIPTERS:

• Plagiarism is not tolerated by the Danmakufu Community. Always cite function libraries and code snippets you use, and never use someone else's danmaku, animation systems, backgrounds, or custom systems, etc. without their explicit permission.
• Please, please, PLEASE test your scripts in a clean copy of Danmakufu before uploading. Always include necessary shotsheets and players inside the folder of your script. If your script errors on someone else's computer due to a file path error, it is very much your fault, and you will be prompted to fix it by other people who play your script.
• Please do not upload scripts with .wav for bgm. By throwing an extra 50+ MB onto the download, you are going to discourage people from playing your scripts. Also, Blargel is paying money to store all of your content, and you are sucking up more memory and bandwidth than is necessary.
• Always have your entire script in a folder and then archive the folder as opposed to archiving multiple files and folders. You can screw up someone's computer if you just archive a bunch of files into a .zip or other archive, and people will be pissed when whatever folder they unarchived your archive into explodes with files (oftentimes the desktop, always scattering files everywhere). Danmakufu scripts are meant to be packaged in folders. If you do not know what I am referring to here, look up Tarbombs here or refer to the Wikipedia page here. Note that although it is referring to .tar archives, .zip and .rar do the same.
• If you require a certain player script, provide the player with your download, and put it inside your script - DO NOT tell them to copy your player into their script directory. In other words, the #Player line should be using relative pathing, and not absolute pathing. You can always recommend a player, and that tends to be optimal if you don't require a specific player. Just make sure the recommended player is easy to find. I.E. you have a link to it in the Bulletforge description.