For a  bit of history, his previous title, Danmaku Unlimited 2 on steam in 2014. Over time, it has received many very positive reviews with players and critics alike. 3 years we have a sequel that indie action fans have been waiting for.

Sunny also provides us another perspective in the world of indie game development. Namely, the unique challenges that arise with essentially out doing yourself.

GameSkinny (Jeffrey): What educational influences, or otherwise, lead you to become a game developer? Were there any particular influences people would find interesting?

GS: Your development history is one that consists of impressive shmups. So why the focus on the genre of shmups? – Was this your favorite genre growing up?

Growing up I played a lot of RTS such as Total Annihilation, Homeworld, Warcraft, and etc. Although, side-scrollers is a genre that I look back on most fondly. Titles like Metal Slug, Philosoma, and Area 88 being some of my favorites. Philosoma in particular, I feel is really underrated as it had great atmosphere/soundtracks and tried to do some very interesting things with perspectives.

GS: For those unfamiliar, your tasks are that of sole director/developer/programmer. What is the most difficult aspect of work for you? – The artwork, sound design or programming?

GS: Danmaku Unlimited is not an easy series of games. Most Japanese inspired shmups I’ve played ignore being easy. However, you’ve created titles vets and newcomers can play. Could you provide details as to how challenging it was to create that balance?

GS: The Danmaku titles as scored by Japanese indie circle Blankfield. Their music is rock heavy & very fitting. How exactly did you come to work together?

So, the challenge became how to maintain that feeling while making it manageable for newer players. The SPIRIT/GRAZE System in DU3 approaches this by leaving the bullets of defeated enemies as “ghost” bullets that the player is encouraged to touch for game play benefits. This not only helps to maintain visual density but also creates a risk vs reward balance. This then encourages players to aggressively move to collect the ghosts bullets while weaving through harmful ones.

GS: So with games the conversation of difficulty seems to stay the same. Games that are too easy are booed and games that are too hard are waved off. At the same time, you have small communities that love them. From your perspective, do you think this will change?

GS: What shmups of the past inspired Danmaku Unlimited 3 and the series directly or indirectly?

GS: When you began development for DU3, what was the first aspect of the game you choose to address? The stages? Bosses? The sprite work?

GS: Any surprises, easter eggs, & or specials with DMU3 we might find interesting to find?

GS: I know its early but what’s next? Will we hear about your next project soon?

We would like to thank Sunny for his time and providing a lot of insight.

STGs (also known as shmups) and bullet hells are genres that tend to have a lot of conventions that are expected to be followed. So I’d like to work on something that is a little bit less defined in that regard. Though it’s pretty safe to say that at some point in the future there should be a remastered version of the original Danmaku Unlimited of some sort!

If you like shmups or if you would like to get into them, I highly recommend Danmaku Unlimited 3. Actions fans can look forward to its release on Steam today.