Progear no Arashi HS Thread! (US/JPN) UPD Aug2021

[Trevor spencer]

Nice work guys , I just missed the 2nd loop last night , boss was on his last form but my nerves got the better of me

I can get to the last boss without bombing now also my score is improving so not long now

Just got to try and squeeze a few games in when i can these days tho

[RNGmaster]

JPN - Shmupmame 2.2
RNG - 18,627,060 - 1-5 - Bolt - Nail



Oh man I can't stop playing this game, I'm determined to loop this shit.

NMNB till stage 4 boss, that was special. No bombs, either, died after I got the shakes on Volvox. If I hadn't totally collapsed on Kraken I would have gotten an extra extend, oh well.

Love this scoring system.

[BareKnuckleRoo]

I think you're scoring better way better than when I was when I first got the loop. If I can manage to loop this I know you can!

I'd actually use bombs on Volvox when you're down to 1 extra life left. That way you can use the 2 bombs you're allowed, and if you die again then loop the game, you'll at least start the loop with 3 bombs (whereas if you die then bomb twice with no lives left, you'll enter the loop with only one bomb, and that'll probably end badly if you're not prepared for the loop's craziness).

[RNGmaster]

nvm got it
JPN - Shmupmame 2.2
RNG - 21,765,230 - 2-1 - Bolt - Nail


still got a ways to go to beat your score (you no-missed, damn O_O definitely doable if i iron out stage 5 but it won't be easy). gonna go savestate practice the loop, i was totally unprepared even though i faintly remembered a route from 3 years ago

i can't get the wide gunpod formation even if i tap a and c on the same frame, i swear. idk what's going on. what's the other gunpod formation?

[BareKnuckleRoo]

The no-miss run was honestly a bit of a fluke. I nearly died several times (the last pattern of the stage 4 boss I made a critical mistake and it was pure, bullshit luck and the small hitbox that saved me). Grats on managing the loop though, it's really damn brutal isn't it?

i can't get the wide gunpod formation even if i tap a and c on the same frame, i swear. idk what's going on. what's the other gunpod formation?

If you're using A + C or C + B to try and get a special formation it won't register. The special formations 'locked' and 'forward' are activated with A+B combinations only, the C button won't work! You don't need to tap them at the same time either - pick your pilot with the shot or bomb button, hold that button, and use the other to pick the gunner. Much easier than tapping A+B together and hoping it registers!

Each Gunner gets 4 gunpod formations: The basic one is tap A, B, or C during gunner selection without holding any buttons. To get a special formation when selecting a gunner (you don't need to worry about holding anything when selecting pilot, the special formation is activated during gunner selection), you cannot use the C button - they're all done with A or B button. For instance, if you want 'locked' formation, select your pilot with A and hold the A button, then while holding A, pick your gunner with B. When you're in the pilot and gunner select screens, holding your start button will change costume but holding the OTHER start button changes the formation you get (if you're playing 1P, then 1P start is costume change and 2P is formation change, vice versa if you're playing 2P side). Whether you use the costume change or not has no effect on what formation you get, it's just for looks.

The special formations:

A + B (Select pilot with one, and while holding that button press the other one to select gunner): 'Locked' formation, unique in that when using gunner, the gunpods do not move, they only rotate to aim at the target, gunpod position depends on character. Chain's are wide, Nail's are at the rear, Rivet's are in forward position. Interesting alternative, they make it so your gunner shots tend to spread out a bit more though. This could be handy if you find the gunpods moving around your ship a bit distracting.

A or B + Holding Alternate Start button: Wide formation, the gunpods are above and below. Not so useful because when in Gunner mode, they don't actually move quite as close to the enemy to shoot as other formations. Your gunner shots get a bit more spread when using rapid fire though.

A + B + Holding Alternate Start Button: Forward formation. Handy for pointblanking bosses, my personal fave. Every bit of extra damage helps.

[STG]

I never really got into using the different formations. Kind of neat, but the regular config always seemed perfect to me. Might be something to test out!

Oh, and I beat my score tonight, lol. Absolutely crushed the first loop, carried out my line near perfectly and finished without death and with 46 million. Stumbled hard at 2-2 though, and pissed away 5 lives on the stage, so sad. Next time I won't hesitate bombing when I have such a high ring count... 440K, gone. T-T

JPN PCB

STG - 82,299,870 - Ring/Nail - 2-4

[BareKnuckleRoo]

The formations slightly change things, but gunner shots do very little damage when you're using rapid fire, so it really doesn't make a huge difference for the most part compared to the default formation. It's not like they're a major cheat or secret that massively ups your damage output, it's just a little extra customization really. The forward formation is handy though, because being able to jam your gunpods right in the face of enemies/bosses ups your damage output a small amount. Not by much, but it helps.

It sounds like you're really getting close to seeing a 2-ALL! Any idea if the final boss in the second loop is invulnerable to bombs? That last TLB phase seems to be seriously durable, but I can't tell if it has a bomb shield like many of Cave's TLBs do.

[STG]

The formations slightly change things, but gunner shots do very little damage when you're using rapid fire, so it really doesn't make a huge difference for the most part compared to the default formation. It's not like they're a major cheat or secret that massively ups your damage output, it's just a little extra customization really. The forward formation is handy though, because being able to jam your gunpods right in the face of enemies/bosses ups your damage output a small amount. Not by much, but it helps.

It sounds like you're really getting close to seeing a 2-ALL! Any idea if the final boss in the second loop is invulnerable to bombs? That last TLB phase seems to be seriously durable, but I can't tell if it has a bomb shield like many of Cave's TLBs do.

Interesting, I honestly haven't played much with the formation changes since I initially got the board. So you know, I just forgot about them basically! I'll try the forward options on Wednesday, seems like it could be worth trying with my play style.

As for the final boss, man, I'm personally not quite there yet. 2-5 is ruthless. It's more a problem with the stages and the mandatory restarts as I'm sure you're now experiencing with looping the game.

But I've watched a few superplays and studied them, and to answer your question, it appears the final boss doesn't have a shield like other Cave games have when you bomb. Lot's of life and a couple extra phases... Crazy stuff. I'd love to nab a 2-ALL, but I got some major work to do on 2-5.

[RNGmaster]

bareknuckleroo: ty for the tips, the new formation is cool and it doesn't fuck with my diamond wave timing too bad. i'll keep it in mind

i could prob get 40m if i looped. but the loop has so much slowdown and cancelling, it's gross. not sure i want to take this too seriously but i love first loop scoring

ah well onto the next foe

[STG]

i could prob get 40m if i looped.

You should go for it!

Even with a couple deaths in the first loop or simply losing your bomb bonus at the end, ending up with a score of 30, 40, or 50+ mil is certainly within reach. I'm not too sure exactly the math behind it, but it always seems like the first life you play in each stage of the loop is by far and away the highest to score with. After each stage death/restart your points start drastically dropping, almost to the point that you score next to nothing on the stage. The scoring on the first loop is indeed fun, and I'm still coming up with new ways to refine my line or milk more score out of certain sections, but I find the second loop even more fascinating nowadays.

[Blinge]

Hey there, haven't played in a while so I was stoked to get this on my first credit tonight!

US - Shmupmame
Blinge - 16,586,290 - 1-ALL - Bolt/Nail

[Trevor spencer]

still havnt got the loop but managed this tonight



my scoring is definitely increasing , almost got the gem streaming trick working on stage 1 too, shouldnt be to long

Unfortunately my rank is also increasing making the loop even harder to get too , i just cant put this game down now its like an addiction

[Trevor spencer]

Still no loop but this im happy with , no bomb , no miss upto the middle of stage 5

JPN PCB (Rapid Fire C Button)
Trevor spencer - 22,449,550 - 1-ALL - Bolt/Nail



could of managed more if i would have managed the gem trick on stage 1 but i keep f--king it up

[spadgy]

Blinge - 16,586,290 - 1-ALL - Bolt/Nail

Ow! You got me. Not so long ago when Casino Arcade was still clinging on you were a fair way from a 1CC right? That's pretty impressive going!

[BareKnuckleRoo]

Still no loop but this im happy with , no bomb , no miss upto the middle of stage 5

JPN PCB (Rapid Fire C Button)
Trevor spencer - 22,449,550 - 1-ALL - Bolt/Nail

If you can get that without looping the game, you can easily get 30 mil once you're in the loop, especially if you can make it to 2-2 with all your hoarded gems.

Remember that the 'gem trick' in the first stage is basically just a matter of learning to get 7000 on your ring/gem meter built up before the last section with the popcorn planes. At 7000 on your counter, the rank increases to the point where they fire a constant stream of shots, which basically auto diamond chains when you're positioned half-decently. The hard part is getting to 7000 since you need to squeeze every point you can out of the enemies in the first level (best I've done is like 6000 or so, not enough to trigger the diamond vacuum properly).

[Trevor spencer]

Yeah im going for the top ten , dont think i could ever loop the game but id be happy with 30mil + and a 2-2 , i think ill give this game to the new year but ill only play it weekends when im rested as playing after work tired dosnt seem to be working now im scoring much better

I can actually get 7000 + gems no problem on the 1st stage but i just cant seem to get the position right plus im sure you have to hold the button just the right amount to trigger it ? ive done it a few times now but cant get it every time also im now managing to get the 2nd stage gem trick working with the train , done it twice now and it really shots your score up , feels good too lol

[PurpBullets]

Yeah im going for the top ten , dont think i could ever loop the game but id be happy with 30mil + and a 2-2 , i think ill give this game to the new year but ill only play it weekends when im rested as playing after work tired dosnt seem to be working now im scoring much better

I can actually get 7000 + gems no problem on the 1st stage but i just cant seem to get the position right plus im sure you have to hold the button just the right amount to trigger it ? ive done it a few times now but cant get it every time also im now managing to get the 2nd stage gem trick working with the train , done it twice now and it really shots your score up , feels good too lol

I assume you are not talking about this trick?

Well, lets look at this.
IIRC you dont have to do a certain sequence of button tapping. Just holding the lock-shot will do it.

[spadgy]

I assume you are not talking about this trick?

Well, lets look at this.
IIRC you dont have to do a certain sequence of button tapping. Just holding the lock-shot will do it.

Wow, I've not seen anybody milk that for so long on the stage one boss!

[Trevor spencer]

Yeah im going for the top ten , dont think i could ever loop the game but id be happy with 30mil + and a 2-2 , i think ill give this game to the new year but ill only play it weekends when im rested as playing after work tired dosnt seem to be working now im scoring much better

I can actually get 7000 + gems no problem on the 1st stage but i just cant seem to get the position right plus im sure you have to hold the button just the right amount to trigger it ? ive done it a few times now but cant get it every time also im now managing to get the 2nd stage gem trick working with the train , done it twice now and it really shots your score up , feels good too lol

I assume you are not talking about this trick?

Well, lets look at this.
IIRC you dont have to do a certain sequence of button tapping. Just holding the lock-shot will do it.

Thanks ill take a look

[Blinge]

Ow! You got me. Not so long ago when Casino Arcade was still clinging on you were a fair way from a 1CC right? That's pretty impressive going!

Heh actually my first 1cc was a couple of months after that, I put it down to unemployment, at least an hour practice every day and y'know, mame.. Oh and not playing any other shmups.

So tonight I spent a few credits only reaching stage 4 getting very pissed off, until I somehow pulled this out.



Blinge - US Version - 18,086,600 - 1-ALL - Bolt/Nail

If i decide to really focus on scoring this I'll record every attempt from now on

[spadgy]

So tonight I spent a few credits only reaching stage 4 getting very pissed off, until I somehow pulled this out.

Prick.

(Well done mate!)

[Blinge]

Bahaha. I was calling myself worse on my first few runs, that's for sure.

Maybe we should have a score competition in the near future if you keep running that mouth!! after all I do use a couple of tricks I learned off you at Casino that one time

[spadgy]

Of Progear? I'm up for it. A chance for you to tackle Progear JPN (and beat me there' I'm sure!).

I've got beef with a couple of other shmups to settle first though, before returning to Progear. But soon, the challenge is on!

[Frenetic]

wooT, another score improvement!

Ver. JPN
Frenetic - 14,622,540 - 1-ALL - Bolt - Nail

[Battlesmurf]

I just got a PM for this, no notifications that people were posting. I'm updating the thread tonight.

[Battlesmurf]

Updated. Congrats guys! Everybody is making great progress. Some of you seem to really get this game.

Thanks again for the PMs. I get notifications for those 99%+ of the time. I do not always get thread notifications- I checked my email/spam/trash and didn't find a single one since the last time I updated, so don't think I'm ignoring this, just poke me when you get a score and I'll get it updated.

Thanks guys!

[Blinge]

The top score on JPN version of progear.. how is that figure even possible?? is there a replay of this anywhere?

[RNGmaster]

The top score on JPN version of progear.. how is that figure even possible?? is there a replay of this anywhere?

WR is 350m if i recall correctly
lots of factors but scoring really opens up with a NMNB to the loop, you get diamonds and emeralds p much constantly, and there's tyons of bullets to leech. plus you get bonuses for scratch damage which add up a TON

[Some-Mist]

Some Mist - 10,161,790 - 1-5 - Bolt/Rivet (Japanese PCB version)

died on a single stray when picking up the bomb before the boss still haven't 1CCed it yet. I will get it in 2014.

[STG]

I'm soooo gonna clear 100 mil.

JPN board (all defaults)
STG - 94,259,440 - 2-4 - Ring/Nail



Can't believe I misspelt my initals. I'm gonna upload this run to youtube next week.