Where the Darius Love at?

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Re: Where the Darius Love at?

Post by Pretas »

Gaiden and G also retain your weapon power levels after dying. I think this alone puts them on a lower level of difficulty.
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Re: Where the Darius Love at?

Post by Jonst »

ACseraph,check out the shmupemall replay for tips on mirage castle...could have 1cc myself last night if it wasn't for getting murdered by the castles homing laser! It seems to be about detaching the burst option and using the burst as a shield as well as doing some damage...

EDIT: just played again,thought the clear was within grasp...if you thought mirage castle was a bitch,thousand knives is worse,as i've just discovered!
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Re: Where the Darius Love at?

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Hell yeah! Just got the clear!

I did the basic ABCEH course with Next so I had Hungry Glutton as my final boss. He's easy compared to Mirage Castle since you can just leave the laser on top of him all day. Haven't seen Thousand Knives yet, but I'm sure I will when I try out the other courses. Man it feels so awesome to clear a shmup, I'll never get over dat feel.
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Re: Where the Darius Love at?

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ACSeraph wrote:Man it feels so awesome to clear a shmup, I'll never get over dat feel.
Congratulations on the clear. My first 1CC was Darius 1, so I know well what you're talking about.
Pretas wrote:Gaiden and G also retain your weapon power levels after dying. I think this alone puts them on a lower level of difficulty.
All right, I guess I'll concede, though I think with careful route-planning, the original Darius isn't impossible.

I will reiterate that I'm digging the Extra Version of Darius 1. I think the boss tweaks (my observations: Dual Shears and Fatty Glutton easier; Keeny Bayonet more aggressive) bring a good sense of balance to the game, in the sense that you are not punished for powering up your weapons like you are in the original with its punishing Fatty Glutton fight. The later levels are by no means a cakewalk; tight corridors are a Darius staple from the beginning, and adding the semi-random enemy spawns can make for some frantic shootouts. In general, the easier levels are always the ones that give you lots of room to maneuver (Space, Mountain, and Sea).

Since the game is basically and structurally identical to Darius 1, I think people should mostly switch to playing the revision instead. The scoreboards are wide open, at any rate!
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Re: Where the Darius Love at?

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ACSeraph wrote:Hell yeah! Just got the clear!

I did the basic ABCEH course with Next so I had Hungry Glutton as my final boss. He's easy compared to Mirage Castle since you can just leave the laser on top of him all day. Haven't seen Thousand Knives yet, but I'm sure I will when I try out the other courses. Man it feels so awesome to clear a shmup, I'll never get over dat feel.

Same! 1cc,route and the feeling! :)
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Re: Where the Darius Love at?

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Jonst wrote:
ACSeraph wrote:Hell yeah! Just got the clear!

I did the basic ABCEH course with Next so I had Hungry Glutton as my final boss. He's easy compared to Mirage Castle since you can just leave the laser on top of him all day. Haven't seen Thousand Knives yet, but I'm sure I will when I try out the other courses. Man it feels so awesome to clear a shmup, I'll never get over dat feel.

Same! 1cc,route and the feeling! :)
Nice! /fistbump 8)

Now we have to move on to the more difficult courses. I kind of want to drive up to the city this weekend and play Another Chronicle all day...

Tonight the Saturn copy of Darius 2 I ordered came. Damn... this game is hard as fuck. I can't even make it past the second stage yet. Seems way harder than Gaiden (auto-off of course :wink:) to me. Fun game though. Gotta figure out the best survival course first I think.
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Re: Where the Darius Love at?

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Thanks man! i screwed up saving the replay.doh! Shit! That's not what I want to hear! Ordered saturn darius 2 myself a while ago,havn't played it yet though,hard you say?
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Re: Where the Darius Love at?

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Oh yeah... it's hard. Burst doesn't even come remotely close to it. It's cool though, very fast paced.
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Re: Where the Darius Love at?

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I wonder how much harder it'll be compared with the megadrive version? Either way,i look forward to getting my ass kicked on it in a few days!
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Re: Where the Darius Love at?

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Darius II is really frustrating...
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Re: Where the Darius Love at?

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K, I've finally managed to get into this series. Took some time, but I knew it would happen eventually, as it susually takes me quite some time to get into even the best games. Wow, and this topic just started too.

Though looking on the net there ain't a lot of info/fansites/whatever on this series. Like it's not that popular. And that HG101 article on the series is crap. Done by that guy who's a shmup pretender. And he's taking all the big names on this genre instead of letting someone who actually plays these games to do them, lol. Typical gaming journalism :( Hardcoregamers my ass. :x More like Casualgaming 101. Where you learn how to state save through games for crappy journalism... wish he'd even do that, cause it looks like he just researches around the net for them articles, and he even screws that up. :D ... Sad, as I really think this series is right up there with the other top horis of this genre, with Gradius & R-Type (Guess who done these articles on that site too. That Gradius one on there really upsets me).


Been mostly playing the first two games and all it's ports via emulation (will own them eventually) via Sega Genesis, PCE/CD, ePSXe, and MAME. Though so far I prefer to play the first game on PCE (CD more because of better music) ver the 3 screen Arcade version. As 3 screens 's taking some getting used too. Wish there was a dual screen version for the first one too.

Gaiden and G Darius are kinda scary difficuty wise. In G Darius the 3D really makes things harder to keep track of things on screen. Not as easy os 2D sprites, even when I do get a better hang of 3D shmups. So I'm kinda playing these 2 the least. Kinda saving them for last too, since most agree they're the best. But the first don't seem far behind if this is true?

Darius Burt is kinda boring to me at the moment from very liitle playtime. Wonder how much my opinion on it will change after some more playthroughs? But I'm in no rush to put in some serious hours into this one in the meantime. Really upset there ain't a proper port of the improved PCB version. And that Castle Boss. Wow, he for sure overstays his welcome.

Darius Twin (8 meg cart size) is another lame-o Darius. Freaking game even lies about it's multiple paths, cause in first 3 forks in the road, I couldn't tell any difference in one of them besides powerups; another only had a slight colour palette change; and third fork I think has a slight colour pallete change too? Then the last, and forth fork in the road has the same level basically, just that one scolls upwards, while the other downwards. Lame. So yeah, what's that? 12 levels minus 3.5? Yup. Only 8.5 levels in this games. Pretty sad a Darius game. I only except this on GameBoy (so that game is fine with few levels). And the sad thing is that I've read on the net of people actually prefering this one over Darius Force. What?! How? Why? That game for the same cart size (Sagaia for Genesis is also 8 meg) has way more levels and even 3 different ship choices. So way higher replay value ... Wait, don't tell me it's because of checkpoints? Anywho, Darius Force is at least fine to me. Not better then the others, but that's because it's not of Arcade origin... that eplains why Darius Burst don't appeal to me as much either?


Only thing that sucks about this series is no extra loops. I want my sucide bullets, ... Not that I can handle them yet. :roll: But it's nice to have something to look forward too to keep me going forever at a game.

Well, that's my two cents of the series to far... gots to go play me some more Darius now. ... Crap this is one mad long post.
ACSeraph wrote:Darius II is really frustrating...
Play Super Darius II for the PCE CD then. ... Don't have it? Emulate it. ... Why easier? Well, if you select the Easy difficulty, you don't lose your weapon levels upon death. So yeah, this should ease you in a bit better until you get more comfortable. Then play it on the other difficulty levels, and then come back to the Saturn/PCB version. It's better playing on easy for a bit, just to get you ferat wet (don't even have to beat it on easy, just a few warmup playthroughs), then being scared off completely. ... Another cool thing about this version? There is a cheat that allows you to play any level and in whatever order. So you could play them all if you want. BACKWARDS!! :twisted:
MathU wrote:I've been meaning to get a guide put together for the game for some time now but I think I may have overloaded myself with work due to the amount of detail I plan on having in it.
Ah, of man of detail. Even more reason for you to get this guide up and done. Plus it should help generate more interest into this series Which it badly needs if you ask me.
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Re: Where the Darius Love at?

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Sinful wrote:Play Super Darius II for the PCE CD then. ... Don't have it? Emulate it. ... Why easier? Well, if you select the Easy difficulty, you don't lose your weapon levels upon death. So yeah, this should ease you in a bit better until you get more comfortable. Then play it on the other difficulty levels, and then come back to the Saturn/PCB version. It's better playing on easy for a bit, just to get you ferat wet (don't even have to beat it on easy, just a few warmup playthroughs), then being scared off completely. ... Another cool thing about this version? There is a cheat that allows you to play any level and in whatever order. So you could play them all if you want. BACKWARDS!! :twisted:
I'm one of those weirdos who refuses to play easy modes on Principal. I figure I either adapt or die gloriously thousands of times until I either get better or give up. Darius II just seems, sadistically designed. They love to put stuff that spews tons of bullets at you behind obstacles so that you can't kill them, and the recovery is such that you may as well just reset when you die. I'll probly get used to it eventually though.

I definitely find it a lot harder that Gaiden and G-Darius, but maybe those ones get a lot harder in their final stages I'm not sure. I can get to stage four or above consistently in those two, but I rarely make it past stage two in Darius II without getting murdered by something. I've scraped into stage 3 before, but I can't get anywhere in it without my powerups.

Darius Burst will grow on you I think. A lot of the fun of it is using your laser effectively. Once you figure it out its pretty fun, at least for me. The PCB version is actually a different game, not really an improvement. Mechanically they are the same, so if you aren't feeling he PSP version the Arcade one wouldn't change tings much.
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Re: Where the Darius Love at?

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Sinful wrote: Darius Twin (8 meg cart size) is another lame-o Darius. Freaking game even lies about it's multiple paths, cause in first 3 forks in the road, I couldn't tell any difference in one of them besides powerups; another only had a slight colour palette change; and third fork I think has a slight colour pallete change too? Then the last, and forth fork in the road has the same level basically, just that one scolls upwards, while the other downwards. Lame. So yeah, what's that? 12 levels minus 3.5? Yup. Only 8.5 levels in this games. Pretty sad a Darius game. I only except this on GameBoy (so that game is fine with few levels). And the sad thing is that I've read on the net of people actually prefering this one over Darius Force. What?! How? Why? That game for the same cart size (Sagaia for Genesis is also 8 meg) has way more levels and even 3 different ship choices. So way higher replay value ... Wait, don't tell me it's because of checkpoints? Anywho, Darius Force is at least fine to me. Not better then the others, but that's because it's not of Arcade origin... that eplains why Darius Burst don't appeal to me as much either?

Only thing that sucks about this series is no extra loops. I want my sucide bullets, ... Not that I can handle them yet. :roll: But it's nice to have something to look forward too to keep me going forever at a game.
I agree on the SNES assessment. I think Darius Force gets something of a bum rap. It's not terrible, though some of its level design and enemy design is rather pedestrian. The music and atmosphere is pretty good, all told. The checkpoints can be grating, especially with some of the cheap-o later levels, but I found it to be a legitimately fun game.

I think the higher difficulties of Darius Force add some suicide bullets (can't confirm that though). I do know that bosses get new attacks on hard mode in Darius Force as opposed to normal.

Darius Twin is a snooze-fest, but it has some nicer enemy design and ok music. I sort of wish that the more distinct visual design of Twin (in the enemy department - the backgrounds are garbage) was combined with the playability, challenge, and atmosphere of Force, but you can't get it all, I guess.
ACSeraph wrote: I'm one of those weirdos who refuses to play easy modes on Principal. I figure I either adapt or die gloriously thousands of times until I either get better or give up. Darius II just seems, sadistically designed. They love to put stuff that spews tons of bullets at you behind obstacles so that you can't kill them, and the recovery is such that you may as well just reset when you die.
I was playing Darius II before I was too "serious" about shmups, but I still had the basic principle of avoiding Easy Mode. Darius II made me drop that principle. The power-ups are much more generous on Easy and Super Easy, and allow you to get better at the primary task at hand: memorizing the levels and layouts so you can survive on Normal. In Darius II, proper ship placement is key in wiping out enemy swarms before they become a threat. In the later levels, you have to sort of use the terrain to your advantage, hiding behind something while enemies bullet-spam, and then moving in for the counter-attack. Though generally, the name of the game is kill everything as fast as possible (especially true for midbosses). I also recommend the autofire code and extra credits code: C R L Left, and B L Right Down, and the other two codes (one for extra lives, the other for stage select). They're basically there to help you train for the game. The Autofire code is essential though. Makes the game bearable.

Darius II is extremely unforgiving though, and a death is very often a "this run is over" moment. I played the shit out of Darius II on Super Easy and Easy until I was confident enough to try Normal, and I still haven't cleared that.
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Re: Where the Darius Love at?

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Ha! I can't wait to join the saturn darius 2 frustration fest! :D,don't know when I'm gonna have a chance to try this out,I've got so much other stuff to try out and get better at! Though my love for darius is at an all time high!
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Re: Where the Darius Love at?

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Sinful wrote:
Darius Burt is kinda boring to me at the moment from very liitle playtime. Wonder how much my opinion on it will change after some more playthroughs? But I'm in no rush to put in some serious hours into this one in the meantime. Really upset there ain't a proper port of the improved PCB version. And that Castle Boss. Wow, he for sure overstays his welcome.
I think arcade version is really a evolution compared to psp version, I'm very fascinated by it. 8)
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Re: Where the Darius Love at?

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Jonst wrote:Ha! I can't wait to join the saturn darius 2 frustration fest! :D,don't know when I'm gonna have a chance to try this out,I've got so much other stuff to try out and get better at! Though my love for darius is at an all time high!
I really enjoy griping about Darius II, but it's really a love-hate relationship.

I personally think it's a good game with some faults, as opposed to a faulty game with some bright spots. I keep on going for the clear!
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Re: Where the Darius Love at?

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How does the saturn and md versions of darius 2 compare? Obviously,saturn version sounds like its a lot tougher...what other differences are there?
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Re: Where the Darius Love at?

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Darius II Saturn lets you fiddle with the display size to replicate the triple or dual screen arcade versions, though it will be zoomed-out. MD version is single-screen only.
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Re: Where the Darius Love at?

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The Genesis version also lets you choose to play as Proco Jr. or Tiat Young in the options menu, with Tiat's lowest level of firepower being higher. It's an alternative idea for lessening the arcade game's death penalty than Super Darius II's easy mode.
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Re: Where the Darius Love at?

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ACSeraph wrote:I'm one of those weirdos who refuses to play easy modes on Principal. I figure I either adapt or die gloriously thousands of times until I either get better or give up. Darius II just seems, sadistically designed. They love to put stuff that spews tons of bullets at you behind obstacles so that you can't kill them, and the recovery is such that you may as well just reset when you die. I'll probly get used to it eventually though.
I wish most people didn't think silly like this, because of this reason why so many hate Gradius III AC, yet praise the basterediized & overly oversimplified 4 meg SNES version as "fixed." I mean "geez, people, it's not that hard, really. And you even have the option of 4 extra easy difficluty settings to boot. So there zero excuse for that game getting blasted for it's difficulty." ... That I think just about every other shmup seems harder to me... hmm?

Not to mention the fact that Darius II is pretty much a don't die shmup, and well, have fun playing on Normal starting with the PCB/Saturn is you think you can handle it. But if you totally quit before 1cc'ing it, then I was right. And this is all very sad... And if you're not gonna play less then Normal difficulty, then at least play the easier home ports first... but if you accept that, then your a hypocryte. Cause I think the PCB version on easy is still harder then at least one of the 16-Bit home ports. So yeah. How can this not be viewed as anything but silly? See what I mean? ie. if you ever play a console made shmups on anything the hardest, you're usually playing PCB games on very easy. Have a nice day. :twisted: (Though I hope you don't enterprite this as rude from my end. Guess just my way of trying to knock sense & helping out :))
ACSeraph wrote:Darius Burst will grow on you I think. A lot of the fun of it is using your laser effectively. Once you figure it out its pretty fun, at least for me. The PCB version is actually a different game, not really an improvement. Mechanically they are the same, so if you aren't feeling he PSP version the Arcade one wouldn't change tings much.
But, but, the PCB version like doubles the amount of levels with new levels, no? Or is it just arranged levels? What about new enemies & bosses? But yeah, if it does have these things, then I'm still hopefull that Burst being "Arcadized" also means more "fixed" too. I mean, take the Arcade out of Darius, and well. Yeah.
EmperorIng wrote:I agree on the SNES assessment. I think Darius Force gets something of a bum rap.
Yes. I feel much better now (as in not as crazy as I thought I was?). Thanks. :)
Jonst wrote:How does the saturn and md versions of darius 2 compare? Obviously,saturn version sounds like its a lot tougher...what other differences are there?
Here is a quick question of my own, because I can figure this out on my own. "Between the Genesis & PCE CD port of Darius 2, which is more accurate?" (Excluding bosses & music, of course)
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Re: Where the Darius Love at?

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Jonst wrote:How does the saturn and md versions of darius 2 compare? Obviously,saturn version sounds like its a lot tougher...what other differences are there?
The levels are fairly different - rearranged to better accommodate a single screen. As it stands, I think it is an excellent console conversion of Darius II.
Pretas wrote:Darius II Saturn lets you fiddle with the display size to replicate the triple or dual screen arcade versions, though it will be zoomed-out. MD version is single-screen only.
The zoom-in feature should come with this rather large caveat: it's worthless as a feature, because survival depends on seeing the entire playing field (you know, so you can tell when enemies are firing at you). It's nice that they included it, I guess, so you can see the detail in the sprites and backgrounds (and DII has really nice art for an 80s shmup), but it just isn't feasible for play. It's similar to Darius R zooming in the screen so much as to make it completely un-enjoyable.
Sinful wrote: Not to mention the fact that Darius II is pretty much a don't die shmup, and well, have fun playing on Normal starting with the PCB/Saturn is you think you can handle it. But if you totally quit before 1cc'ing it, then I was right. And this is all very sad... And if you're not gonna play less then Normal difficulty, then at least play the easier home ports first... but if you accept that, then your a hypocryte. Cause I think the PCB version on easy is still harder then at least one of the 16-Bit home ports. So yeah. How can this not be viewed as anything but silly? See what I mean? ie. if you ever play a console made shmups on anything the hardest, you're usually playing PCB games on very easy. Have a nice day. :twisted: (Though I hope you don't enterprite this as rude from my end. Guess just my way of trying to knock sense & helping out :))
Darius II is very much "don't die," more so than Darius 1, owing to its cruder level design and enemy spawning. DII's aggressiveness makes it a constant battle to stay alive once you lose your shield. On Easy the game is still very challenging. And on Super Easy, the game is doable thanks to lowering the health on the bosses.

But again, the autofire code is essential! No one here would dare argue that autofire "ruins" Darius II (in the way they would Gaiden), and if there are, those people are fools.
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Re: Where the Darius Love at?

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Seems a lot of people who are Darius fans, are Darius fans because of the games after Darius 1 & 2 (usually fans because of Gaiden and/or G). Are the first games really that untouchable to these folks? Are they even giving them a chance? Becase right now I have no problem leaving Gaiden & G more to the sidelines to focus more on 1 & 2. I mean, wow, these games are really growing on me. I think their top notch classics that belong alongside Gradius & R-Type as poster boys for the horis.
EmperorIng wrote:I've been messing around with the Darius 1 Extra version on MAME, and I like how it is essentially rebalanced in terms of difficulty. Mainly stages and bosses have their aggressiveness and difficulty tweaked to make for a much more smoother playing experience. Biggest change: Fatty Glutton is actually beatable with the laser weapon! That's huge! I repeat: LASER WEAPON! That's fucking impossible to do in the regular Darius game, where you have to sacrifice powering yourself up in order to pass through that chokepoint (I still managed to 1CC Darius, my first-ever 1CC).
K, that part I bolded out in your quote stuck with me for quite some time. As I really wanted to see this challenge, accept it, see if I could prove you wrong, and after proving you wrong I would feel superior about my super shmuping skills. :lol:

I didn't remember who the exact boss was, but once I finally got to Fatty Glutton, I just new it had to be him. After all, he's the star of this thread too. So yeah. Remembering what you said + that I had my Lazer on, bascially left me no choice. I had to make a state save in order to fully test this out much better & ASAP. Man. I tried and I tried. But even when I did manage to last some time, that thing just wouldn't die already. Yeesh. I basically threw in the towel right away until the stuborn in me said "No! There has to be a way?! .. Maybe if I stay behind him. Heck, lol, what was I thinking. Them balls track." :lol: Then the keyword "safepot" hit me. The first spot I try and I go "Wow?! I got it already?! Heck yeah! This is working!!... Or not. ... Screw it, I'm done... but wait. It seemed like if I just went a tap higher, it would of worked? Ok, lets try this again." Can you guess where the safespot is? PS. I only played on easy for I think the World version? Will try normal next time and see if I can make it there to test this, but I'm sure it would work too.
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Re: Where the Darius Love at?

Post by ACSeraph »

Sinful wrote:Easy mode stuff.
Don't worry I'm not offended, but I won't change my (personal, other people can do as they please) anti-easy ways. There are reasons for it, I generally find the hard way is the best way for me to get better. Been that way since my first 1cc in Triggerheart (True ending and auto-off or it doesnt count).

I can't say I agree that if I give up before getting a clear it was all for nothing. The battles I have in trying to get there are the most important part for me, if I get to a point where I decide the clear is beyond my reach, I will still have had plenty of epic battles on the road to my ultimate defeat. Plus who's to say I won't come back in a few years after my skills have improved? For my personal goals, the easy clear serves no meaning, and will likely teach me bad habits I want to avoid in the real thing.

There one other important point to, as to why I specifically want to learn normal. It's because down in Tokyo at Taito Hey Arcade they have an extremely badass Darius II setup with the game running on two projectors making the screen totally massive. Last time I was there I watched this guy 1cc the game on that amazing setup and was moved by it. I want to get to a point where I can sit down in front of that massive screen and give the game a good solid run (doesn't have to be a clear) rather than having Proco reduced to red paste before the end of stage two. To do that I have to take the long brutal road.

I agree with what you are saying in that often the normal modes in older home ports of shmups are easier than their arcade versions though, but I've never found this particularly important, because I consider them different games.
Sinful wrote:Seems a lot of people who are Darius fans, are Darius fans because of the games after Darius 1 & 2 (usually fans because of Gaiden and/or G). Are the first games really that untouchable to these folks? Are they even giving them a chance? Becase right now I have no problem leaving Gaiden & G more to the sidelines to focus more on 1 & 2. I mean, wow, these games are really growing on me. I think their top notch classics that belong alongside Gradius & R-Type as poster boys for the horis.
I think it's mostly because ports of the first two are harder to come by than G and Gaiden. They also lose a lot of their charm outside of the arcade imo. I'm not sure I would have been blown away quite the same way if my first experience hadn't been an original Darius 1 cabinet.
Sinful wrote:But, but, the PCB version (Darius Burst) like doubles the amount of levels with new levels, no? Or is it just arranged levels? What about new enemies & bosses? But yeah, if it does have these things, then I'm still hopefull that Burst being "Arcadized" also means more "fixed" too. I mean, take the Arcade out of Darius, and well. Yeah.
It's a much huger game for sure, but as far as I can tell there isn't a couse that matches the PSP version. They are different games that feature the same mechanics and bosses. I love both of them. But I'm not really sure what there is to "fix" in the PSP version. As far as I'm concerned there isn't anything wrong with it, aside from maybe it lacking content when compared to say, G Darius or Gaiden. Best comparison I can think of would be Dead Rising 2 and Dead Rising 2 Off the Record. Kind of the same game but not really, and one does not really negate the other.
EmperorIng wrote:But again, the autofire code is essential! No one here would dare argue that autofire "ruins" Darius II (in the way they would Gaiden), and if there are, those people are fools.
On my saturn version the autofire is there by default, with various options available. 1/10 seems to be the best one. I assume this code is for the MD version?
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Re: Where the Darius Love at?

Post by EmperorIng »

No, there is an autofire code for the Saturn version. It doubles the amount of shots allowed on screen at once. Check the wiki for the cheat codes to mess around with (extra continues, zone select, more difficulty options, and autofire).

@Sinful: if there's a safe-spot, screen-cap it! I'd love to see it!
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Re: Where the Darius Love at?

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EmperorIng wrote:No, there is an autofire code for the Saturn version. It doubles the amount of shots allowed on screen at once. Check the wiki for the cheat codes to mess around with (extra continues, zone select, more difficulty options, and autofire).

@Sinful: if there's a safe-spot, screen-cap it! I'd love to see it!
Zone Select will be majorly appreciated, but I'm going to have to call that autofire code non legit for my purposes, since the shot limit is a massive part of the game's difficulty and something that exists and must be dealt with in the arcade version. I mostly just hate that the game (and a lot of my favorite horis unfortunately) makes it impossible to recover in once you die. It's such an incredibly terrible part of old shmups, but it is what it is and those are the rules. The good parts of the game overshadow that flaw I think. Also the fact I cant speed up the game over countdown is strangely infuriating.

Just played a bit on my lunch break, still can't make it past stage 2 without being killed, and even stage one gets pretty rough near the end with all those fireballs and jumping fish and shit. What the fuck kinda stage 1 is that?! But I guess its better than the boring stage 1 most shmups have...
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Re: Where the Darius Love at?

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I don't see a difference between the autofire-code + fire-rate set at 1/10, and (in an arcade setting) continuously tapping the fire button at a steady rate. Try it out and see what you think.

Old, OLD threads on this forum mention Darius II's easiest route being ABEIHMRX, so try that out - that seems a lot less aggressive for me anyhow. Stage 2 is a slap in the face; you have to kill the turrets ASAP, sometimes positioning yourself to kill them before they can even fire.
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Re: Where the Darius Love at?

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EmperorIng wrote:I don't see a difference between the autofire-code + fire-rate set at 1/10, and (in an arcade setting) continuously tapping the fire button at a steady rate. Try it out and see what you think.

Old, OLD threads on this forum mention Darius II's easiest route being ABEIHMRX, so try that out - that seems a lot less aggressive for me anyhow. Stage 2 is a slap in the face; you have to kill the turrets ASAP, sometimes positioning yourself to kill them before they can even fire.
Well at about half screen at 1/10 youll fire a consistent stream of shots, but when you are forced further towards the back of the screen there starts to be a very noticable gap between streams of shots that can easily get you killed when shit is rushing right at your face (read: always). If the autofire doubles the shot limit it would cause that gap to disappear, making the whole thing a helluva lot easier. When I played it at the arcade they had it set up with an autofire button, so the basic in game autofire options are legit I think.

I'll definitely try out that suggested course, if of course I can ever learn to no-miss stage 2. Probably I'll either grind stage 2 using stage select or play using save states in MAME for a bit to get it down. How much harder does it get compared to stage 2, because theres like what, 7-8 stages? So if it gets exponentially harder with every stage the game may just straight up be impossible at my current skill level.

Also unrelated Darius Burst question: What exactly are the controls for maneuvering your laser? Half the time it doesn't spin the direction I'm expecting when I try to move it. Is it different between the ships? A highly detailed "Lasering for Dummies" explanation would be vastly appreciated.
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Re: Where the Darius Love at?

Post by Xyga »

I've had a fun experience with Saturn Darius II and the DVDO iScan VP30: full size/screen gameplay ! :D
(plus that was with an XRGB in-between so it looked really awesome)

Some tvs might be able to do this without the help of an external scaler, just check if yours got some zoom options somewhere in the menus.
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Re: Where the Darius Love at?

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Xyga wrote:I've had a fun experience with Saturn Darius II and the DVDO iScan VP30: full size/screen gameplay ! :D
(plus that was with an XRGB in-between so it looked really awesome)

Some tvs might be able to do this without the help of an external scaler, just check if yours got some zoom options somewhere in the menus.
Yeah that's how I've been playing it on my HDTV actually, just zoom in and it fills most of the screen except for a small border at the top and bottom. It's awesome! Unfortunately though they put the score/lives/weapons info at the very top so I can't see them when it's zoomed, but that info isn't really all that important to play it.
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Re: Where the Darius Love at?

Post by PedroMD »

Also unrelated Darius Burst question: What exactly are the controls for maneuvering your laser? Half the time it doesn't spin the direction I'm expecting when I try to move it. Is it different between the ships? A highly detailed "Lasering for Dummies" explanation would be vastly appreciated.
IIRC, it will simply spin towards your ship. The direction in which it will rotate is probably the one of the smallest angle between your ship and the laser.
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