Erppo wrote:Naut wrote:The "imbalance" is that the second loop shit is still significantly harder than the first loop shit (which is what it should be, and thus should be worth more points). There is a very good reason it's easier to get first loop chains than second loop chains, even though it requires more precision to keep the GP meter up in the first loop. It's easier.
So how would you compare the difference in difficulty between good full chains of say 1-5 and 2-3 or 2-4?
You're now talking only of the chains, and those yield equal score in both loops in all DDPs. The difference in the earlier games is entirely max bomb (and DOJ bees) which is completely separate. It's a full game process and you need to NMNB the first loop to even start getting the second loop score from that so it's not the same thing at all.
In DDP, MAX bonus means greater difficulty because you are not allowed even one mistake, and the 2nd loop is obviously much harder than the first, but like you said there's a twist : chaining is much harder in first loop, survival is much harder in second loop. You could say the first loop rewards methodical skills to a greater extent (the ability to execute memorized sequences of actions very precisely), while the second loop rewards danmaku skills to a greater extent (the ability to read and navigate through slightly random bullet patterns, can't be memorized, needs to be improvised). This is pretty much the same formulae as the URA/Tsujouu loops found in newer games (you have to perform very, very well to access the "top tier" part of the game and get a better score).
DOJ functions much the same way as DDP except that playing with MAX bonus and scoring well increases the difficulty of the game (the rank increases). The better you play, the harder it gets. Now we are exactly with the URA/Tsujouu formulae, the only difference being that you can return to Tsujouu if you make mistake(s) in 2nd loop, which is why the MAX bonus keeps track of whether you are still in URA or Tsujouu and rewards you consequently. This among other things is what makes DOJ superior to DDP in my opinion.
DFK has Ura/Tsujouu loops. You can't get out of URA if you make mistakes, so the maximum bonus was "removed" (it doesn't impact your score significantly). Instead, URA loop is worth more points... but only a little bit.
I agree that DFK's balance is less interesting, because the first loop is damn easy compared to earlier DDP games, and also compared to its own second loop (tbh it does look significantly easier than earlier DDPs as well though). You are playing easy first 4 stages, then make all your score in stage 5. I think the general strategy with the values of the stages, the difficulty of the game, the hyper cancelling bullets and the fireworks graphics style was to attract the more casual gamers into scoring. That's also why you have like 20 different tables keeping track of the best scores of the day with each ship type and subtype, so that most players can reach high in at least a table, and no general score board. To the seasoned scorers I'm sure the game feels more like a waste of time than the previous DDPs, since most of the game is dull, and the lack of general scoreboard feels like the competition is split and you aren't playing against a large pool of players like you would like to. I don't think I mind the stages' respective values very much, because they seem to reflect the difficulty rather accurately, but I imagine playing through 4 easy (relative to previous DDPs) stages before getting to the one stage that presents a nice challenge is disappointing. Also, the 50-50 distribution of points between loops isn't nice to the better players because achieving a score that is twice higher is much more than twice harder, and score is expected to reflect that.
That might as well be me up until the third boss. Same sort of score. Except then I get mullered. He doesn't even collect the two hypers from the first boss!
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