GD: Just the Tip [big tips for those who suck]

[Eaglet]

One very important thing that you failed to mention and what i feel is the most important lessons of all for n00bs to learn:
Economy of Movement
(sounds like a DEP-album lol)

In my work (lolol) i see a lot of new people trying out shmups and the first and biggest problem they have is that they play like an epileptic having a seizure.
Aimlessly flailing around all over the screen.
Of course this creates a maze of bullets that will be very intimidating to get through for someone new and so they die.
Not moving unless you have to is one of the absolute corner stones in a good shmup players arsenal of skills.

Of course, "not moving unless you have to" can entail a lot of movement in Yagawa games etc. where you need to pick up lots of items and differentiate between those you need and those that aren't good for you.

[Chirpy13]

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[BareKnuckleRoo]

In my work (lolol) i see a lot of new people trying out shmups and the first and biggest problem they have is that they play like an epileptic having a seizure..

I seriously don't get this either. Reminds me when I saw this dude on Canada's Worst Driver. It's like they're panicking and hoping that flailing aimlessly will somehow help them. I think this is only an issue with absolute beginners though; anyone who's spent a few hours with their first shmup will probably learn that random, jerky movements aren't all that helpful.

[JOW]

I think this is only an issue with absolute beginners though; anyone who's spent a few hours with their first shmup will probably learn that random, jerky movements aren't all that helpful.

I'm not so sure.

Ok, the overtly spastic movements may no longer be there but if you compare a video of yourself to a super play or even a very good player, I bet one of the stand out features will be the fine control of very small movements - e.g. take a look at a simple movement such as tap dodging. The better player will often be using very small 'taps'.

It's something I've worked on myself. I think I'm well on the way with the small movement 'mentality' but my motor skills need more work

[finisherr]

Yeah, lots of beginners twitch around and spazz out when it gets heavy. Who didn't at first? It mainly derives from the player's lack of skill and/or confidence. As a result, he or she puts everything up to pure luck to get through it. Funnily enough, sometimes staying completely still will give you a better chance of survival (obviously, this isn't not always true).

But yeah, I'd agree in saying it's best to curb that impulse. Random motions definitely shouldn't be confused with skilled motions that have some idea of a path to safety, or objective.

[qmish]

8. If you die somewhat early on in the game, don't automatically restart.

That's my current problem in Triangle Service games where there are no extends so you can't allow stupidly loose a life early

[Shepardus]

It's especially useless to reset in games with checkpoints, since hoarding lives doesn't help you much when you have to defeat the final boss in one life anyway. If the game has difficult recoveries, the early game may actually be the only place where you can afford to die. That said, I still reset if I die super early like in the opening waves of stage 1.

Vertical movement (horizontal in horis) is useful for putting threats behind you as soon as possible. If you see an opening in a spread of bullets, it's better to dive through it while it's still there, rather than wait for it to come to you, when it may be blocked by an overlapping pattern. More generally, be on the offensive and dictate the pace of the game as much as you can rather than letting the game force you to do things.

In games where it's possible, you should at least occasionally experiment with different weapon sets or other strategies. For example, using double instead of laser for a stage in Gradius, raising autofire at different moments in Battle Garegga, or changing when you get speed ups in Parodius Da, or even just choosing a different ship/character. By putting in a bit of effort to go outside your comfort zone, you may uncover a technique that ends up saving you a lot of effort and frustration. For this reason I like it when games give players multiple ways to deal with challenges.