Marisa Kirisame Beta1 available!

[Seravy]

This download is meant for beta testing. If you only want to play, I recommend waiting until the first non-beta version.


http://seravy.x10.mx/Wordpress/

Known problems :
-No intro, win/lose animation yet. I'm tired and don't have any good ideas at the moment for these, actually I can't think any more today at all, so any suggestions are welcome.
-Phantom Thief Marisa Strikes Again will only apply the special effect for another Marisa because the move will require a compatibility update on the other characters to work. This update will be available at the time of the first non-beta release.
-The character was just competed a few minutes ago. I haven't played it yet, and had no time to do any testing except checking each move at the time of their completion to confirm that they work. This means that any form of balancing hasn't been done yet.
-I haven't removed unused sprites and sounds from the SFF/SND yet.
-There is no spellcard video and character description yet in the readme.
-I haven't made palettes yet either.

[Ricepigeon]

Found in the first 5 minutes of testing
      Posted: June 15, 2013, 06:12:20 AM
Aside from the video:

• Why are j.5A and j.2A classified as throws?
• j.2A produces the same effect j.5A does in the video above
• j.5B can keep Marisa in the air indefinitely as long as she keeps hitting the opponent with it
• j.5B also have some pretty wonky trajectories when used during the start of a jump
• Why does Miasma Sweep use both QCF and QCB motions, when Witch Leyline uses a QCF motion as well?
• Both versions of Miasma Sweep are -11 advantage on block, which feels a bit too safe for a shoryuken-type move especially when you consider this move has -27 and -35 in IaMP
• Witch Leyline is way too safe on hit, +19 to be exact, especially since it doesn't knock down. At least its -12 on block, though
• Stream Laser and Narrow Spark are +6 and +7 on block, respectively
• 5 Air dashes seems to be too much
• Master Spark is +3 advantage on block, while Final Spark is even worse at +10 on block
• both 2A and 2B hit OTG. Any reason for this?
• Requires some timing, but j.5B can create an infinite

      Posted: June 15, 2013, 06:21:09 AM

• Miasma Sweep can be cancelled into anything on recovery, even on whiff
• Both versions of Miasma Sweep don't have invincibility to supers on startup
• Recovery roll from getting up has almost 0 friction, causing her to go across the entire screen

[Seravy]

Why are j.5A and j.2A classified as throws?

I want it to count as a magic attack but not be grazable. Projectiles are grazable and attacks count as physical so it only leaves throw. This also means you can't dodge it which is good considering it's an explosion in an area.

j.2A produces the same effect j.5A does in the video above

I guess these moves could use a height limitation. The y velocity will be aimed downward when above a certain height in the next update.

j.5B can keep Marisa in the air indefinitely as long as she keeps hitting the opponent with it
Requires some timing, but j.5B can create an infinite

Forgot to add a juggle cost for the aerials, will fix.

j.5B also have some pretty wonky trajectories when used during the start of a jump

The kick is aimed towards the enemy head position. It kinda defies physics, but everything does, anyway. These girls can fly...

Why does Miasma Sweep use both QCF and QCB motions, when Witch Leyline uses a QCF motion as well?

There is a typo in the readme file. Witch Leyline is QCBb, but it was listed as QCFb instead. Miasma Sweep is on the c button.
Would QCBb+QCBc for Miasma Sweep and QCFc for Witch Leyline be better?

Both versions of Miasma Sweep are -11 advantage on block, which feels a bit too safe for a shoryuken-type move especially when you consider this move has -27 and -35 in IaMP

I agree, will be -20 next update on the weaker version. Stronger version will get an additional -2 y velocity and will last 5 ticks longer on cooldown due to that, which makes it -25.

Both versions of Miasma Sweep don't have invincibility to supers on startup

Intentional. Abilities without a power cost aren't supposed to be able to avoid supers that have one, with a few exceptions. Dodges and graze don't work against supers on my characters either.

Witch Leyline is way too safe on hit, +19 to be exact, especially since it doesn't knock down. At least its -12 on block, though

Will change it to not having control and add the ability to cancel into 5b instead. You will be able to cancel it into 5b, the flask projectiles, and spellcards only. I also noticed that I forgot to add the normals->spellcards cancel, will fix that, too.

Stream Laser and Narrow Spark are +6 and +7 on block, respectively

Will make them +2 and +3. They have slow startup and do blocked damage so they need to have enough advantage to let Marisa attack first after one.

5 Air dashes seems to be too much

All my Touhous have that many, except Cirno who has unlimited. Non-Touhous usually have 3 or less. You can stay floating for quite a while if you fire projectiles, and you will need the ability to graze if you want to safely do so. 5 works well because the danmaku bar lets you fire up to 5 projectiles usually, so you can cancel them all to grazing if necessary.

Master Spark is +3 advantage on block, while Final Spark is even worse at +10 on block

Reduced it by 25 for both. Not entirely sure about it, though. Considering the power cost, if these get blocked, you are already in a bad situation, I'm not sure if any additional punishment is necessary.

both 2A and 2B hit OTG. Any reason for this?

Nothing special except that it looks like it's able to hit there and Marisa isn't someone who would miss out on this chance.  Will add a down.velocity to these, however.

Miasma Sweep can be cancelled into anything on recovery, even on whiff

You gain control after finishing the attack instead of staying in recovery until landing. Intentional, I almost always code aerial attacks like that.

Recovery roll from getting up has almost 0 friction, causing her to go across the entire screen

Will check this later. It probably has issues on other characters as well. How much distance should these cover, maybe 150?

[Ricepigeon]

I want it to count as a magic attack but not be grazable. Projectiles are grazable and attacks count as physical so it only leaves throw. This also means you can't dodge it which is good considering it's an explosion in an area.

Except now the attacks will either whiff on armored move or completely break them when they're not supposed to.

The kick is aimed towards the enemy head position. It kinda defies physics, but everything does, anyway. These girls can fly...

Part of that causes the infinite I mentioned

There is a typo in the readme file. Witch Leyline is QCBb, but it was listed as QCFb instead. Miasma Sweep is on the c button.
Would QCBb+QCBc for Miasma Sweep and QCFc for Witch Leyline be better?

It would be better to at least keep the commands consistent for both versions of the special

Intentional. Abilities without a power cost aren't supposed to be able to avoid supers that have one, with a few exceptions. Dodges and graze don't work against supers on my characters either.

Except it gives melee invincibility to normals and specials, but not supers. Might as well have all three or none at all.

Will check this later. It probably has issues on other characters as well. How much distance should these cover, maybe 150?

Sounds about right, maybe a little less. I think I had mine at 120 before I scrapped it.

Miasma Sweep can be cancelled into anything on recovery, even on whiff

You gain control after finishing the attack instead of staying in recovery until landing. Intentional, I almost always code aerial attacks like that.

[Seravy]

Except now the attacks will either whiff on armored move or completely break them when they're not supposed to.

Only if they aren't coded right. The hitoverride works as intended against throws and they take damage normally from non-custom stated ones, which these are. Custom stated ones are prevented by it so if the hitoverride is present, the armor can't break. And nothing will whiff that needs to hit unless they include a nothitby for throws which doesn't belong in an armor and would make even Royal Flare miss...

It would be better to at least keep the commands consistent for both versions of the special

I actually consider same button (c for both versions) a form of consistency, like Reimu's Dimensional Rift is DDb or DBb similarly, but I see your point.
I don't like the DBc command either, it's a short range move so the B direction isn't practical in it. It'll be DFb and DFc.

Except it gives melee invincibility to normals and specials, but not supers. Might as well have all three or none at all.

None at all would take out the primary use of the attack, so that's not an option. All three, hmm, wouldn't that be far too powerful?

The video...ummm...so why is that wrong that she can do those? If you can do other aerial attacks after finishing another one, for example launching a projectile then another then a kick, so why not also do that when you started from the ground but ended up in air as part of an attack?

[Sinnesloschen]

If you can do other aerial attacks after finishing another one, for example launching a projectile then another then a kick, so why not also do that when you started from the ground but ended up in air as part of an attack?

There's a reason most DP attacks don't allow attacks until you've landed. They need to be unsafe so they aren't too easily thrown out. Attacking while still in the air after a DP makes it far too safe.

[Seravy]

If you can do other aerial attacks after finishing another one, for example launching a projectile then another then a kick, so why not also do that when you started from the ground but ended up in air as part of an attack?

There's a reason most DP attacks don't allow attacks until you've landed. They need to be unsafe so they aren't too easily thrown out. Attacking while still in the air after a DP makes it far too safe.

Even if they are -20 on block? That should be enough time for the opponent to strike back while Marisa is still going upwards.

[Sinnesloschen]

You're assuming an awful lot there. You're assuming P2 has a fast jump attack or a DP, which not everyone does. You're assuming P2 will immediately know that Marisa can attack while heading downwards, which not everyone will the first few times.

Not everyone can reach such an awkward angle and canceling out of her DP helps showcase that. It's broken almost any way I can look at it.

[Darkflare]

-It's actually -11 on block
-Marisa's too high to be hit by nearly every Anti-air at that point.
-Jumping to her to counter attack takes too long and allow her to save herself with some other aerial
-It's dumb.
-GIVE IT A DP COMMAND

[Seravy]

-It's actually -11 on block

Current version is -20 already, mentioned that in a previous post. -25 for the strong version.

Marisa's too high to be hit by nearly every Anti-air at that point.

So I guess anti-air isn't always fast and goes high up? I thought they usually are, but it's true that not every character actually has one. It's also true that with the increased movement of the strong version, they might not catch her in time.

Jumping to her to counter attack takes too long and allow her to save herself with some other aerial

Yeah that's definitely true.

How about adding guard.pausetime=25,5 so she actually stops moving upwards when it's blocked instead? Let me see how that would work. Ok, nevermind, it looks awful. I'll make the move only regain control on hit.

-GIVE IT A DP COMMAND

My QCfs do trigger on DP so you can use that if you wish and it'll still work. The definition is D,$F,b/c.

[Darkflare]

So I guess anti-air isn't always fast and goes high up? I thought they usually are, but it's true that not every character actually has one. It's also true that with the increased movement of the strong version, they might not catch her in time.

Anti-air moves tend to have a good vertical reach. Marisa is too high for said vertical reach.

How about adding guard.pausetime=25,5 so she actually stops moving upwards when it's blocked instead? Let me see how that would work. Ok, nevermind, it looks awful. I'll make the move only regain control on hit.

Or ditch it....or give it a proper follow up.

My QCfs do trigger on DP so you can use that if you wish and it'll still work. The definition is D,$F,b/c.

That's not a DP command.

[Seravy]

That's not a DP command.

It's not but it does trigger on entering one. DP is F,D,DF, which contains D,DF, which matches D,$F. I tried and it works.

Or ditch it....or give it a proper follow up.

That's actually not a bad idea.
Strong version will just return to ground, and weak version will only allow D+a on hit.

Now, what do I do with Escape Velocity? It has a power cost so there is no real need for it to be unsafe, but I guess it would be still better if it worked the same way Miasma Sweep does.

[Seravy]

Beta 2 is available. Download link is the same.

Changes :
[UPDATE] Reduced startup of Meteonic Debris
[BUGFIX] Aerial a and D+a will make Marisa fall faster when used above a certain height
[BUGFIX] Fixed aerials not having a juggle cost
[UPDATE] Reduced guardstun times on Miasma Sweep. Stronger version has -2 more y velocity.
[UPDATE] Reduced frame advantage when blocked of the lasers by 4. Reduced it on Master Spark by 25.
[BUGFIX] Fixed not being able to cancel normal attacks into spellcards.
[UPDATE] Set down.velocity for the crouching attacks
[UPDATE] Reduced cooldown of Meteonic Debris
[BUGFIX] Fixed invincibility not being applied on the 3 Phantom Thief spellcards (character is still vulnerable to HT but nothing else)
[BUGFIX] Fixed invincibility not being applied to Master Spark and Final Spark
[BUGFIX] Fixed laser positioning of Orreries Pulsar being wrong
[BUGFIX] Fixed Marisa's standing up animation
[BUGFIX] Fixed cards appearing at wrong scale when being stolen by Phantom Thief Strikes Again
[UPDATE] Misama Sweep and Escape Velocity now requires landing before regaining control. Weak version of Misama Sweep can be cancelled into D+a on hit.
[UPDATE] Adjusted dampening values on Escape Velocity
[UPDATE] Fixed AI failing to guard the exploding flask when it passes them by making the star effects face the opposite direction and have attack distance (they aren't actually attacking, though)
[UPDATE] Reduced hit velocity on standing b
[UPDATE] You can now cancel D+b into the same things as F+b
[UPDATE] Added new danmaku attack : "Galactic Rain", command is D+c
[BUGFIX] Fixed Beam Blasting having a cost of 2000 instead of 1000
[UPDATE] Makai Torch startup is faster (both animation and projectile)

[Ricepigeon]

• Aerial 5A and 2A no longer cause Marisa to infinitely ascend, but now they keep her suspended in midair indefinitely.
• Both versions of Miasma Sweep now feel a little too unsafe on block, with -41 and -51 respectively
• Both versions of Miasma sweep have 19 active frames, which feels a little too much. Additionally, both versions have identical startup invincibility time. The C version of Marisa's Miasma Sweep in IaMP, SWR, and Soku never had melee invincibility.
• I see that Miasma sweep can no longer be cancelled into anything on whiff, but even though the B version can only cancel into j.2A now, you can still cancel it into anything you want afterward.
• Same issues that Miasma Sweep had before the update, Witch Leyline now has.
• Witch Leyline is supposed to cause knockdown in source. Here it doesn't.
• Witch Leyline isn't supposed to last until Marisa reaches the end of the stage, it has a set amount of active frames
• Witch Leyline is also supposed to be -26 and -28 on block in IaMP. Here its only -12
• Magical Reusable Bomb feels way to fast on startup. This move only had 25 for the light version in SWR/Soku. Here it has 13
• Hitting the Magical Reusable Bomb is supposed to make it move around. Here it does not
• Makai (Devildom) Torch also feels a bit too fast with only 9 frame startup, as opposed to 16 in source
• It would make more sense if Narrow Spark and Stream Laser were both mapped to QCF commands for consistency
• The properties for Narrow Spark and Stream Laser would make more sense if they were reversed, where Stream would deal more damage with a larger hitbox at the expense of startup time, like how her 6C can be delayed in SWR/Soku (minus the additional power and hitbox increase of course).
• Dragon Meteor has shadows on the beam, and the beam looks like it cuts off prematurely

[Seravy]

Aerial 5A and 2A no longer cause Marisa to infinitely ascend, but now they keep her suspended in midair indefinitely.

I know but I don't see this as a problem. If you do that instead of using your air dash, you'll just get yourself hit by projectiles. You can stay in the air for a long time with those anyway.

Both versions of Miasma Sweep now feel a little too unsafe on block, with -41 and -51 respectively

Well, they can only hit when you come down due to the reasons DF pointed out so -20 or -40 doesn't really make a difference, but I will return the guard hittimes to their old values.

Both versions of Miasma sweep have 19 active frames, which feels a little too much.

If I want to be able to hit both standing opponents and those high up in the air, it's necessary I think.
Hmm, looking at it from debug, I guess it's not necessary. Will be reduced to 12.

Additionally, both versions have identical startup invincibility time. The C version of Marisa's Miasma Sweep in IaMP, SWR, and Soku never had melee invincibility.

I have no intention to reproduce the original versions. In case of mine, they are intended to be identical except the weak version can be followed up by 5a while the strong can't and does more damage by itself but less compared to the weak+5a and knocks the opponent further away.

I see that Miasma sweep can no longer be cancelled into anything on whiff, but even though the B version can only cancel into j.2A now, you can still cancel it into anything you want afterward.

Yes, that's how 5a/2a works. I don't plan on changing that.

Witch Leyline is supposed to cause knockdown in source. Here it doesn't.

It does low damage on its own but you can cancel into 5b which knocks them down and adds damage. If Leyline itself was causing fall, this wouldn't work.

Witch Leyline isn't supposed to last until Marisa reaches the end of the stage, it has a set amount of active frames

I prefer it this way. Stopping halfway would feel weird and annoying. Especially if it happens near the opponent. The attack is risky enough as it is, you can get hit by projectiles both on startup and during cooldown, so even on a successful hit, you might take damage.

Witch Leyline is also supposed to be -26 and -28 on block in IaMP. Here its only -12

Will be changed to -26

Magical Reusable Bomb feels way to fast on startup. This move only had 25 for the light version in SWR/Soku. Here it has 13

In my case it has the same startup as y. It costs double bar and takes about 3-4 times longer to reach the opponent however.

Hitting the Magical Reusable Bomb is supposed to make it move around. Here it does not

I don't plan to reproduce that, it would make this risky to the point of being unusable. To be honest I rarely use it anyway, because it's slow, expensive and it's very random if it hits or the opponent moves out of range.

Makai (Devildom) Torch also feels a bit too fast with only 9 frame startup, as opposed to 16 in source

It also takes 12 ticks for the flask to produce the explosion so it's a total of 21 ticks until the effect. It was slower in beta1 but it was useless. It always got blocked. It doesn't do much damage and there is no blocked damage so it should be at least fast to be useful.
Am I correct in assuming that "Devildom" means Makai?

It would make more sense if Narrow Spark and Stream Laser were both mapped to QCF commands for consistency

y is THE laser button. Every horizontal laser attack on all my characters is on that button I believe. I usually map commands so the same kind of attack goes to the same button (x for meteonic, y for lasers and flasks, and c for everything else in this case).

The properties for Narrow Spark and Stream Laser would make more sense if they were reversed, where Stream would deal more damage with a larger hitbox at the expense of startup time, like how her 6C can be delayed in SWR/Soku (minus the additional power and hitbox increase of course).

I checked Narrow Spark in UNL and surprisingly it's a very thick beam. I thought it's thinner and more focused from reading the description. That name was misleading. Will exchange the two, someone else also asked for this.

Dragon Meteor has shadows on the beam, and the beam looks like it cuts off prematurely

Removed shadows.
I tried to create an impression that the beam hits the ground. Would it look better if it went into the floor and through the bottom of the screen instead? I'm not sure.

[Ricepigeon]

Replies in red

I know but I don't see this as a problem. If you do that instead of using your air dash, you'll just get yourself hit by projectiles. You can stay in the air for a long time with those anyway.
She only has a limited number of air dashes though. And nothing stops her from air dashing and resuming the infinite air suspension. Even if its not practical, its still odd and looks shoddy. Take Yukari's infinite air suspension glitch from IaMP as an example, which was performed the exact same way as here, except using her gap specials. The fact that it can no longer be done in SWR or Soku must say something about that.

Well, they can only hit when you come down due to the reasons DF pointed out so -20 or -40 doesn't really make a difference, but I will return the guard hittimes to their old values.
Both versions were -27 and -35 in IaMP, respectively, if you want to use that as a reference

I have no intention to reproduce the original versions. In case of mine, they are intended to be identical except the weak version can be followed up by 5a while the strong can't and does more damage by itself but less compared to the weak+5a and knocks the opponent further away.
Its not so much reproducing the original versions of Marisa's moves as much as it is trying to follow the general format of Shoryuken type moves. Typically, lighter versions that deal less damage have more invincibility frames than the stronger variants. Take SSF4AE Ken for example. The light version is the hardest to punish, and only has 3 invincibility frames. The Medium has 6, while the hard version has 4. Ryu follows a similar format with 2, 5, and 2. The purpose of this is to give the medium versions better utility as anti-airs, while the hard versions are used for for combos.

Yes, that's how 5a/2a works. I don't plan on changing that.
See comment above about j.5A/j/2A infinite suspension

It does low damage on its own but you can cancel into 5b which knocks them down and adds damage. If Leyline itself was causing fall, this wouldn't work.
Except the move could only be cancelled on whiff in IaMP, and only after a level 1 card upgrade in SWR/Soku. Even then, it could only cancel into other specials or spellcards on block in SWR/Soku. Its more of a combo ender than a combo starter.

I prefer it this way. Stopping halfway would feel weird and annoying. Especially if it happens near the opponent. The attack is risky enough as it is, you can get hit by projectiles both on startup and during cooldown, so even on a successful hit, you might take damage.
Which is why the move had two versions as opposed to one in IaMP, with the B version traveling further and having more active frames

It also takes 12 ticks for the flask to produce the explosion so it's a total of 21 ticks until the effect. It was slower in beta1 but it was useless. It always got blocked. It doesn't do much damage and there is no blocked damage so it should be at least fast to be useful.
Am I correct in assuming that "Devildom" means Makai?
Based on how the appearance of the attack was, I was referring to it by its original name in SWR/Soku.

y is THE laser button. Every horizontal laser attack on all my characters is on that button I believe. I usually map commands so the same kind of attack goes to the same button (x for meteonic, y for lasers and flasks, and c for everything else in this case).
Its an odd way to do things. Like how Miasma Sweep had both a QCB and a QCF command before the update, it feels inconsistent. The button presses in these cases should follow attack strength order, while the direction inputs remain the same. Every fighting game I can think of follows this, even Touhou

Removed shadows.
I tried to create an impression that the beam hits the ground. Would it look better if it went into the floor and through the bottom of the screen instead? I'm not sure.
If it were me, I would create some kind of effect to show an impact with the floor, like a burst of energy at the very tip. As it is now, it just looks like its sinking into the floor and absorbing it, or going behind the floor

[Seravy]

She only has a limited number of air dashes though. And nothing stops her from air dashing and resuming the infinite air suspension. Even if its not practical, its still odd and looks shoddy. Take Yukari's infinite air suspension glitch from IaMP as an example, which was performed the exact same way as here, except using her gap specials. The fact that it can no longer be done in SWR or Soku must say something about that.

I guess I'll use a counter similar to air dashes and make these unavailable if the counter is 5 or higher and the previous move used was another of these.

Its not so much reproducing the original versions of Marisa's moves as much as it is trying to follow the general format of Shoryuken type moves. Typically, lighter versions that deal less damage have more invincibility frames than the stronger variants. Take SSF4AE Ken for example. The light version is the hardest to punish, and only has 3 invincibility frames. The Medium has 6, while the hard version has 4. Ryu follows a similar format with 2, 5, and 2. The purpose of this is to give the medium versions better utility as anti-airs, while the hard versions are used for for combos.

In my case the idea behind the two versions is completely different. The "light" version does more damage and knockback overall if you use followups, while the "strong" version does more damage on its own but that's all you can do. So the strong version is always less useful in situations when you can do a followup. It's not actually "stronger" in the sense of the potential overall damage, I would rather call it the "easy" version as you don't need to do anything else for your extra 40 damage, but miss out on doing even more damage than that.

If it were me, I would create some kind of effect to show an impact with the floor, like a burst of energy at the very tip.

I will try to add the same effect other similar beams have and see how it looks like. None of those beams were this thick or rainbow colored, so I'm not sure, but it might work.

Its an odd way to do things. Like how Miasma Sweep had both a QCB and a QCF command before the update, it feels inconsistent. The button presses in these cases should follow attack strength order, while the direction inputs remain the same. Every fighting game I can think of follows this, even Touhou

I very rarely have multiple versions with different attack strength and the same effect, so I usually group abilities based on similarity to the same button. 90% of the time, even if an attack does have 2 versions, they are equal in strength and something else is different, for example Reimu has a high and a low Dimansional Rift, and she can place 2 seals around the opponent either vertically or horizontally, or she can place one seal in front of her or one above her, or she can teleport to release Yin-Yang orbs forward or back. Neither of these are stronger/weaker than the other and they come in pairs of 2 while she has 3 projectile attack buttons. Having them on the same button with different directional input that in some cases where possible refers to the attack version (DF for the talisman in front and FD for the one above, DB for the teleport back, Df for the teleport forward).
I aim to put attacks that get upgraded by the same Skill Card to the same button. The 5 Meteonic skills are on x, the 3 flasks and the 2 lasers are y, and the green missiles and the etc stuff are on c.
There are a few cases where I followed the different button for different version rule, but it's not a general rule, I usually priorized grouping by SKill Cards.

If I were to change the beam command to DFy and c, I would need to move Miasma Sweep again. I'm quite used to the beam commands being DFy and/or DBy, most characters have one of the two, or in case of Yuyuko, both. If I were to change it on Marisa, I would need to change it for Yuyuko as well, and that would be quite inconvenient. I use that character a lot. I don't think the change is worth that much.

Am I correct in assuming that "Devildom" means Makai?
Based on how the appearance of the attack was, I was referring to it by its original name in SWR/Soku.

I meant to ask if "Devildom" was an English translation for the Japanese word "Makai", or are they not related? Because if it's the same thing, I prefer to use the word Makai in my readme as it is more well known. I don't think I have ever seen the word "Devildom" outside of 12.3 yet, every fangame uses "Makai".

[Ricepigeon]

I guess I'll use a counter similar to air dashes and make these unavailable if the counter is 5 or higher and the previous move used was another of these.
I'd rather just increase the vertical acceleration/decrease the initial y velocity so as to make it so that Marisa is at a lower vertical position than when she started. Either that or force her air normals to be in a recovery state so she cant perform any action other than cancelling into a special or spellcard, but I know the touhou fighters never had this

In my case the idea behind the two versions is completely different. The "light" version does more damage and knockback overall if you use followups, while the "strong" version does more damage on its own but that's all you can do. So the strong version is always less useful in situations when you can do a followup. It's not actually "stronger" in the sense of the potential overall damage, I would rather call it the "easy" version as you don't need to do anything else for your extra 40 damage, but miss out on doing even more damage than that.
In that case, why would you ever use the C version when you can just use the B version with followups? The B version is much safer and can be made even safer by providing Marisa with an escape option and/or additional damage. And its not like you can use the C version as an antiair over the B version because you can use the B version for the same purpose due to identical startup invincibility, with a much greater reward for the lower risk involved

I will try to add the same effect other similar beams have and see how it looks like. None of those beams were this thick or rainbow colored, so I'm not sure, but it might work.
Alice's Return Inanimate has an explosion effect to accomplish the exact same thing, if you can get that to be rainbow colored it could work

I very rarely have multiple versions with different attack strength and the same effect, so I usually group abilities based on similarity to the same button. 90% of the time, even if an attack does have 2 versions, they are equal in strength and something else is different, for example Reimu has a high and a low Dimansional Rift, and she can place 2 seals around the opponent either vertically or horizontally, or she can place one seal in front of her or one above her, or she can teleport to release Yin-Yang orbs forward or back. Neither of these are stronger/weaker than the other and they come in pairs of 2 while she has 3 projectile attack buttons. Having them on the same button with different directional input that in some cases where possible refers to the attack version (DF for the talisman in front and FD for the one above, DB for the teleport back, Df for the teleport forward).
I aim to put attacks that get upgraded by the same Skill Card to the same button. The 5 Meteonic skills are on x, the 3 flasks and the 2 lasers are y, and the green missiles and the etc stuff are on c.
There are a few cases where I followed the different button for different version rule, but it's not a general rule, I usually priorized grouping by SKill Cards.
If I were to change the beam command to DFy and c, I would need to move Miasma Sweep again. I'm quite used to the beam commands being DFy and/or DBy, most characters have one of the two, or in case of Yuyuko, both. If I were to change it on Marisa, I would need to change it for Yuyuko as well, and that would be quite inconvenient. I use that character a lot. I don't think the change is worth that much.
I know this has been brought up countless times already but why not just map Miasma Sweep to a DP motion if you're that concerned? You're only limiting your options by not using it.
Also, considering you're using a 6 button layout, I see nothing wrong with mapping both beam specials to QCF+y and QCF+z, it doesnt conflict with the current commands for Miasma Sweep. The whole "button based on similarity thing" works with individual danmaku projectile moves, but as far as specials it just doesn't flow right.

I meant to ask if "Devildom" was an English translation for the Japanese word "Makai", or are they not related? Because if it's the same thing, I prefer to use the word Makai in my readme as it is more well known. I don't think I have ever seen the word "Devildom" outside of 12.3 yet, every fangame uses "Makai".
AFAIK there's no relation, like how Magipulation "Return Inanimateness" was renamed Demonic Control "Return Inanimate" in SWR and Soku. Probably either an alternate translation or, most likely, a different interpretation on behalf of the person who made the english patch probably based on a misreading of the katakana that makes up most of the spellcard names. Remember back with my Flandre when Hell Catastrophe was originally called Hellcutter's Trophy? Same thing happened there.

[Seravy]

In that case, why would you ever use the C version when you can just use the B version with followups? The B version is much safer and can be made even safer by providing Marisa with an escape option and/or additional damage. And its not like you can use the C version as an antiair over the B version because you can use the B version for the same purpose due to identical startup invincibility, with a much greater reward for the lower risk involved

The C version is for when
-You don't want to risk missing with the followup
-You don't want to stay in air for whatever reason (most likely a slow projectile coming in the air)
-The opponent doesn't have enough life to need the extra damage from the followups of the B version
-You aren't a skilled player and can't reliably use the combo of the B version
-You think the amount of extra damage done by the B version isn't worth the effort of the additional button pressing because you are lazy or used the skill card that reduces your physical damage and do crappy damage either way so it doesn't really matter.
-You believe the extra height/velocity of the strong version is actually needed to reach the opponent because they are so high up or moving too quickly.

The startup of the two versions is equal so neither has more risk involved than the other there. The only thing you risk is doing less damage if you attempt the B version but miss the followup. If it gets blocked, you'll get punished with either, -20 or -25 doesn't make a difference.
I would say the B and the C versions are meant for players with different ways of thinking and skill level of using this character, not counting the situational reasons above.

Alice's Return Inanimate has an explosion effect to accomplish the exact same thing, if you can get that to be rainbow colored it could work

Will check, might be the same one I usually use. I think forcing the sprite to use a gradient rainbow color palette instead of the original could work but only if the colors in the actual palette are ordered from lightest to darkest. If not, then there is palfx, it only allows one color at a time but I can change it every tick.

I know this has been brought up countless times already but why not just map Miasma Sweep to a DP motion if you're that concerned?

I use D,$F for QCF. That triggers on a DP motion so it would cause a potential conflict. I use relatively loose command definitions, so it's far too easy to end up with an unintended attack if the commands are partially the same (D,$F for QCF and F,$D,$F for DP, the difference is a single F which can easily get there as an extra from walking or the release button bug).
I hate DP motions anyway because I had negative experience with them in the past (Out of 10 Summer Reds in IAMP, 1-2 usually comes out as Spring Wind for example). I can move of Miasma Sweep from B/C to A/B, that's not the core problem.
The big problem is that I have been playing Yuyuko for 3+ years already with DFy and DBy being the two lasers. I'm already used to those commands and other people who play my characters might also be. I remember that I specifically changed every laser command in every character to either DFy or Dby (most characters only have one). If I were to change these now, it would affect a lot more than just Marisa.

QCF+z

That's the command for using the declared spellcard. Z is the spellcard+graze button. It's fully reserved for system related things. If anything grants a character any system related ability, that and only that can go to the Z button. (Byakuren's Master Sorceress card allows using a spellcard and keeping it in your hand instead of using it up by QCb for example)  I only use the other 5 buttons for attacks.
A and B are always for physical attacks. X and Y are always projectiles. C can be both.

[Ricepigeon]

The C version is for when
-You don't want to risk missing with the followup
-You don't want to stay in air for whatever reason (most likely a slow projectile coming in the air)
-The opponent doesn't have enough life to need the extra damage from the followups of the B version
-You aren't a skilled player and can't reliably use the combo of the B version
-You think the amount of extra damage done by the B version isn't worth the effort of the additional button pressing because you are lazy or used the skill card that reduces your physical damage and do crappy damage either way so it doesn't really matter.
-You believe the extra height/velocity of the strong version is actually needed to reach the opponent because they are so high up or moving too quickly.

Even if you do whiff with the followup to the B version, it still makes it ridiculously safe. And about staying in the air, if anything the C version seems to stay in the air the longest (not counting the followups of course)

The startup of the two versions is equal so neither has more risk involved than the other there. The only thing you risk is doing less damage if you attempt the B version but miss the followup. If it gets blocked, you'll get punished with either, -20 or -25 doesn't make a difference.
I would say the B and the C versions are meant for players with different ways of thinking and skill level of using this character, not counting the situational reasons above.
I don't think "B and the C versions are meant for players with different ways of thinking" should be the correct train of thought here. It renders one of the two obsolete when both versions should have their own uses.

I use D,$F for QCF. That triggers on a DP motion so it would cause a potential conflict. I use relatively loose command definitions, so it's far too easy to end up with an unintended attack if the commands are partially the same (D,$F for QCF and F,$D,$F for DP, the difference is a single F which can easily get there as an extra from walking or the release button bug).
In that case, either remove the $ from the QCF command, or implement an additional DF in the command so it doesnt trigger a false positive. I use the former without any problems.

The big problem is that I have been playing Yuyuko for 3+ years already with DFy and DBy being the two lasers. I'm already used to those commands and other people who play my characters might also be. I remember that I specifically changed every laser command in every character to either DFy or Dby (most characters only have one). If I were to change these now, it would affect a lot more than just Marisa.
The change would make those characters more cohesive then. I mean, try to imagine if Ryu used QCF+x, QCB+x, and DP+x for his light, medium, and hard versions of his Hadouken. Then picture QCF+y, QCB+y, and DP+y for his three Shoryukens, and QCF+z, QCB+z, & DP+z for Tatsumaki. It feels confusing, jumbled, and inconsistent. What I just illustrated is more or less the system you're using but expanded to Street Fighter's 6 button layout.

That's the command for using the declared spellcard. Z is the spellcard+graze button. It's fully reserved for system related things. If anything grants a character any system related ability, that and only that can go to the Z button. (Byakuren's Master Sorceress card allows using a spellcard and keeping it in your hand instead of using it up by QCb for example)  I only use the other 5 buttons for attacks.
A and B are always for physical attacks. X and Y are always projectiles. C can be both.
Right. Meant X and Y.