So, part of the issue seems to be where and what people think this game is. I am a super casual non-touhou sorta fellow. I prefer brawlers/beat'em up/shoot'em ups (which is the other half of this hybrid). That's also how I play Starward Rogue (and perhaps why I'm not very good). That also very strongly represented in the types of enemies I've made.
For me, a shield system that regenerates isn't this horrible thing that makes the game far too casual (I'm already too casual by all Touhou standards). It's a mix between the tons of health available at easy and the more moderate levels available at normal. Consider FPSes, many of them have switched over to a regenerating shield system, examples include Halo and Mass Effect. I not sure that people generally complain that those games are slow and frustrating due to the shield regeneration mechanic. I like the level and type of difficulty in arcade classics such as Shadows over Mystara. It is possible to beat the game without getting any health ups, but other people end up having to buy new lives all the time. And the game is still fun. So regenerating shields being a bad mechanic is strongly dependent on the type of game you are playing.
From my perspective nothing I've encountered, even the bullet hellish touhou-ish bosses, suggest my way of playing won't work. And given that, that's where my perspective is going to continue to come from. I want outrageous Contra like weapons and I'm okay with the lethality of Metal Slug. Which seems is still very different from the version of the game that other people are playing. And that's okay for me. I could even make the changes to make it more my style of game (after these 18 other things that I need to build first). I'm pretty sure there are other people out there like me, those who aren't into the hard core Touhou/Issac lifestyle.
Which is where the different switch in game type settings come from. Right now, the harder difficulty levels mimic Touhou whereas the lower mimic brawlers. But I'd like to fight my own bosses on hard (and die), and to do that I'd need to mod my super casual settings in. So perhaps instead of linking touhouness to difficulty have a touhou/brawler setting. On touhou Misery can have his Misery, and on brawler I can have my energy regeneration, shield regeneration, over-powered weapons, and multi-use consumables.
Does it need official support? Maybe.
Would it split the community? Maybe.
...Energy regen: [bad]...
...Energy pickups: [bad]...
Just remember that your skill level is way beyond the skill level of most players. As a good rule of thumb, if you have more than 100 games on Steam you are different than 99% of the people who use Steam. And of that 1%, I'm guessing less than 1% are even in the ballpark of your level of proficiency. The casual player isn't even in your ballpark, but he is going to be playing the game.
Side note: Given massive energy weapon re-balancing is underway, statements about the worth and necessity of energy items are a bit premature. I mean sure, there are some general guidelines, but the energy scarcity is part of how the balance is being constructed. Although, I'm in no position to talk since you know all of this already.
The only way to alter the "bullet hell" feel of the game or whatever would be to actually alter *all* of the patterns.
I'm also not sure about this one. I feel it is just fine as a brawler. I just want enough copies to be sold to allow the development of the multiplayer expansion.
The bit about energy, shield, or health regen has nothing to do with skill level. Abusing it involves.... not doing anything at all. No dodging, no fighting. You get behind a block and you just wait. THAT is the problem. It was an immediate issue during early development (and one that I've already discussed a bunch with Chris, too), and again, I've seen it before in other games; players of ALL levels abuse it. For low-level players it just makes the game really easy (and really slow). For high-level players it makes it impossible to lose (and really slow). That's the problem with regen systems in anything like this. And something that damages the game's pacing that much just cannot be introduced. That's a sale-killer sort of thing.
It's also not going to help you against the bosses anyway, because you cant step outside of them. So it's not going to change the "bosses are too hard on Hard" bit, in relation to the ones I've designed. If they're what's killing you, they'll probably still do it, since there's nothing to hide behind. However, 95% of the game is normal rooms, and that's where it's exploitable as all hell on all difficulties.
Think of it this way: Consider one of the oldest FPS games, Doom, right? Doom was a pretty wild run-&-gun sort of thing. You were encouraged to really dive out there and get into the fray, and take your enemies down fast. That game used normal health. When you needed more... guess what, you had to fight for it. You couldnt just wait for the game to magically heal you; one way or another, you WERE going out there to deal with those enemies directly. The game's pacing ended up being very fast, because simply standing there accomplished nothing, and the game's challenge also never waned. Nowadays? Everything uses regenerating health.... so EVERY FPS boils down to sitting behind walls for most of it when you're regenerating, and occaisionally popping out to take shots. Aside from being dull, they're VERY slow compared to those older games, and actually getting hit doesnt really matter all that much because you only need to do another phase of sitting behind a wall before you're ready to pop back out and get shot some more. Skill is not encouraged here (and one way or another, this game is part roguelike; do something to discourage skill and you've got instant problems. The complaints we sometimes hear about the shield mechanic as it already is confirms this), particularly when damage just doesnt matter much. This doesnt go JUST for health or shields though. Energy, whatever, can be exploited in the same way. Pop out, use guns + energy to attack, and when energy is drained, sit back and wait some more. And then they'll get bored because it's a shmuppy game with no action happening and very slow pacing. Trust me, players WILL do this. They absolutely will. Even most of those that are after a true challenge in a game like this will still do it; there's a natural tendency towards it, particularly with so many games these days putting players in that automatic mindset with such mechanics.
Except that it's alot worse in a game like this than it is in something like an FPS. Particularly for those that are attracted by the shmup aspect of the game; that group already has enough complaints about the mere fact that this game uses a freaking healthbar or shields, but they accept it at least a bit because it's like Isaac. Give constant regen of any sort though, and, well... I'll just put it this way, *I* wouldnt buy it either. When the game hits any point where I can genuinely say that I would not purchase it in that state, something's very wrong.
I mean, even Isaac avoids this one like the plague. Just think about that for a second. Even Isaac, with it's monstrous combo effects, avoids doing this. There's ONE way to regenerate in that via time. (EDIT: No, wait, there's two, but they're both slower than a brick in sludge, to the point where they're totally worthless). And it's so unbelievably slow that you'd have to sit in a single room for like 60 minutes for it to do something useful. And that's it. Even that game just refuses to do this, and for good reason.
It's one of those occaisional things I wont be budging on, definitely.
Now, one thing that might be a better idea would be to simply add another difficulty level. Something like Hard, with those patterns, but you start with, say, extra HP and an extra shield, to allow you to either get used to the patterns before REALLY playing Hard mode, or to just let you experience them without dying quite so easily. It would give players something they can step up from past normal without it being AS MUCH of a step as Hard mode currently is. Sort of a midway point.
