(We call “doujin game” the indie games that are mostly fan games ,in CD-ROMs. Usually, cute girls are the main characters in doujin games. If you want to buy doujin games, you should go to Akihabara.)
Below is one example of doujin games (Touhou Jankitan created by Itsumo-no-Tokoro)
Suppose you enter the stores selling doujin games in Akihabara and get nice ones. You’ll want to start playing them right away.
However, you need to take a little effort to play them.
There’s a famous quote in the doujin-game world.
Making doujin games playable is the tutorial.
南冲尋定『尋定公記』 Book 2, Page153,
This is a very interesting quote. Almost all doujin games have few tutorials in the game, so installing doujin games and make them playable are the tutorials instead.
Let’s do it together.
This time, I’ll try installing “Magical Battle Arena NEXT Gensokyo Kuusenhime” created by Area ZERO（http://area-zero.net）.
This group is famous for its beautiful 3D-CG games. There are some good Touhou fan music (on vocal) in its games.
BTW Area ZERO created a Touhou compilation album “Stardust Dreams 10th Anniversary Tribute” (Below is the picture). I bought one at Melonbooks in Akihabara.
I love it very much.
Actually I want to talk about Touhou music on this blog, but I can’t because I have no knowledge about music (of course I cannot play any musical instrument)…
Setting a CD-ROM -stage1
① Setting the disc on your CD-ROM reader.
② Open the Explorer and execute “INSTALL.EXE”. (or something like that)
In some cases, automatically a popup appears on the right, which is true for this game,
※ Some of installers cannot be executed on windows 10, but it will work if you click “Run this program in compatibility mode” in the properties.
Installing -Stage2
① Follow the instructions shown on the installer. You may want to avoid installation in the directory “Program Files” or “Program Files (×86)”, in order to avoid some unexpected errors.
② Just wait to finish. Usually, doujin-game installation takes less than five minites to complete.
An Error Occurred! -Stage3
If you think you can start playing the game in this stage, (in some cases) you might be wrong.
This time, an error occurs. (“Cannot read config files”)
There is another quote of doujin game.
Every doujin game has modification patches.
南冲尋定『尋定公記』 Book1 Page105
Make sure to download the patches when you install doujin games.
If an official website has closed, you can use Wayback Machine.
(If you still cannot get patches, you might not be able to play it to the end.)
I remember how many times I’ve seen games crash , not applying patches…
So, let’s visit the website to download its patch.
Applying patches -Stage4
Download the patch at the link above and apply it to the game.
You should follow “readme.txt” to learn how to apply.
Then, finally the game has opened correctly!
Conclusion
You need some time to start playing doujin games in perfect conditions, and in worse cases, you cannot even open the game, however you work hard.
Here are some solutions.
・Apply patches (Definitely)
・Install DirectX
・Set the comtibility mode.
・Gather informations by visiting official/unofficial website and reading F&Q.
*Sometimes you’re asked to enter the authentication serial numbers. If you buy a second-hand game, an error “The serial code cannot be used” may appear. There’s no way to solve the error. Therefore, you should buy brand-new ones.
Well, the best way is to accumulate experiences anyway.
Have a good doujin-game life.