RQ: What's the advantage of suicide in Border Down??....

[zaphod]

Rank works strangely.

Red border is the hardest, but rank has more of an effect then border level.

Rank effectively acts as a score multiplier in this game, though beccause more bullets=better break laser scores.

So the ideal level of rank is the higest you can handle.

At times, it is very advantageous to start on green border, and border down all the way to red, to lower the rank down enough to survive a particularly nasty spot that would have owned you if you started on red border. then you can go on playing red border as normal and the rank will jump up pretty quickly again so you can go back to scoring.

or something like that.

[gameoverDude]

Rank works strangely.

Red border is the hardest, but rank has more of an effect then border level.

Rank effectively acts as a score multiplier in this game, though beccause more bullets=better break laser scores.

So the ideal level of rank is the higest you can handle.

At times, it is very advantageous to start on green border, and border down all the way to red, to lower the rank down enough to survive a particularly nasty spot that would have owned you if you started on red border. then you can go on playing red border as normal and the rank will jump up pretty quickly again so you can go back to scoring.

or something like that.

Sometimes suiciding is not just good for rank, but actually for score thanks to that 3x multiplier. VTF-INO's replay at SuperPlay has a suicide in the first part of stage 5. On the boss, he starts out by building up a large break count and then tearing down the wall with the BL. Since the 3x multiplier is in effect, he makes out like a bandit on this section.

[RoninBuddha]

how many "bumps" does it take before you die, when you hit surfaces? cuz i noticed you buzz on surfaces first when you slightly bump them..

[gameoverDude]

how many "bumps" does it take before you die, when you hit surfaces? cuz i noticed you buzz on surfaces first when you slightly bump them..

It depends on your speed. If you're at a faster speed, your ship will have a little less collision tolerance.

[BulletMagnet]

Red border is the hardest, but rank has more of an effect then border level.

AFAIK the red sections aren't generally much "harder" than the other sections in the "traditional" sense, it's just that you CANNOT die there without losing your credit, while on green or yellow sections you can at least try to recover on a lower border after being vaporized. Methinks the "risk vs. reward" bit here comes not from "raw" challenge, but rather the amount of "lives" you have left to work with.

[Randorama]

Red border is the hardest, but rank has more of an effect then border level.

AFAIK the red sections aren't generally much "harder" than the other sections in the "traditional" sense, it's just that you CANNOT die there without losing your credit, while on green or yellow sections you can at least try to recover on a lower border after being vaporized. Methinks the "risk vs. reward" bit here comes not from "raw" challenge, but rather the amount of "lives" you have left to work with.

By personal experience, i can say that Red borders, at the same rank level, are a bit more difficult than the others. However, if you strictly follow the right routes (score-wise, so the ones i outline in the guide), difficulties are minimal. For scoring purposes, though, the most difficult boss is 6C, as the trick i outline in the guide is very difficult to do, 6D is more straightforward.

[Knuckles-chaotix]

This game is hard!

Esp the second boss..

Why doesnt it let you borderdown when you pass a stage?

[Plasmo]

short question because i dont want to open a new thread:
why do i die whilst having my huge laser on???!i thought it would make me invulnerable.i always die on the first midboss WTF!?this sucks

[Knuckles-chaotix]

short question because i dont want to open a new thread:
why do i die whilst having my huge laser on???!i thought it would make me invulnerable.i always die on the first midboss WTF!?this sucks

Are you dodging the bullets?

I always use one power laser..
Why cant games just be like r-type ?

Im so trying hard to get into these more complex shmups but there damm confusing!

[BulletMagnet]

short question because i dont want to open a new thread:
why do i die whilst having my huge laser on???!i thought it would make me invulnerable.i always die on the first midboss WTF!?this sucks

It does make you invincible for the first few moments you use it, but after that you become vulnerable again, even if you're still firing off the beam. Offhand I don't think there's any obvious indicator as to exactly how long the invincibility lasts, but I could be wrong.

[Icarus]

Your ship flashes while it's invincible while firing the laser, then it stops flashing when your invincibility stops. Your invulnerability period lasts about 3 seconds from the initial firing of the laser. After that, dodge just like you normally would.

[BulletMagnet]

Your ship flashes while it's invincible while firing the laser, then it stops flashing when your invincibility stops.

Hm, shows how observant I am, I never noticed, heh heh. Thanks for the tip.

[thchardcore]

I like BD's soundtrack more than anything-reminds me of Layersection 2/Raystorm.

[zaphod]

Rank works strangely.

Red border is the hardest, but rank has more of an effect then border level.

Rank effectively acts as a score multiplier in this game, though beccause more bullets=better break laser scores.

So the ideal level of rank is the higest you can handle.

At times, it is very advantageous to start on green border, and border down all the way to red, to lower the rank down enough to survive a particularly nasty spot that would have owned you if you started on red border. then you can go on playing red border as normal and the rank will jump up pretty quickly again so you can go back to scoring.

or something like that.

Sometimes suiciding is not just good for rank, but actually for score thanks to that 3x multiplier. VTF-INO's replay at SuperPlay has a suicide in the first part of stage 5. On the boss, he starts out by building up a large break count and then tearing down the wall with the BL. Since the 3x multiplier is in effect, he makes out like a bandit on this section.

Except then why wasnt' he there on red border in the first place, so the multiplier was already there?

That's what I mean. By bordering down instead of starting at red border in the first place, the boss becomes more maneagable, and you still have your 3x multiplier, and the rank reductionreduction at that point doesn't really have much of a score penalty. And then he gets the rank back up by the next good scoring opportunity.

[DEL]

Looking for high level Border Down Replays.
I can get the super-play.co.uk ones - except for ST4 that stops after 30secs .
Nico video only seems to have Green Border or Remix replays, so that's no good.

Any other sources for BD replays? Particularly ST3 Red and ST4. (ST5 and 6D are already covered).

Cheers, DEL

[DEL]

EDITed for now until I get back into shape.

Optimal route for a 6D run is as follows:-
ST1R/R/R ST2Y/Y/Y ST3G/G/GYR ST4YR/R/R ST5YR/R/R 6DYR/R/R-ALL

This involves a 999 Red Break on the ST3 Green Boss first form (by suiciding twice on the ST3G Boss first form), then returning back to the standard Yellow Red format for Stages 5 & 6D.

[CHI]

DEL your links doesn't work...
http://shmups.system11.org/viewtopic.ph ... 8&start=30

that stage3 replay, i think the files too large for photobucket, it's 6min22sec long...

[DEL]

Ok I've fixed the links now.
CHI - Can you host Stage 3 2nd half only, in order to fit the Stage 3 Boss in? The Boss takedown is worth hosting.

[CHI]

CHI - Can you host Stage 3 2nd half only, in order to fit the Stage 3 Boss in? The Boss takedown is worth hosting.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AOa17EqPfSs

[Plasmo]

Quite awesome background music.

[DEL]

^Oh yeah they were playing Sega music on the IC09 loudspeakers all day .

By the way, Uncle CHI has obviously been having merry fun with youtube recently. Posting moody 5 year rusty runs etc.
CHI - Let's record a proper full 6D ALL run and host that instead of this trash .

[Plasmo]

DEL, to be honest, that video indeed wasn't too impressive. I know you can do MUCH better than that. Do you usually go for a Stage 3 on green border and then suicide twice on the boss? I've never seen a superplay starting stage 3 at yellow border and then switch to red before the boss - then again, I'm not too familiar with Border Down.
A full run played by you with approx. 150mill would be really awesome, please go for it!

[DEL]

Sure that won't be a problem. CHI just put that up for fun. I have very little memory of my old routes through the game. It would have been good to take some footage of me playing five years ago when I knew the game like the back of my hand, but still .

I've never seen a superplay starting stage 3 at yellow border and then switch to red before the boss - then again, I'm not too familiar with Border Down.

That's because its not the optimal scoring route. It is however the route I preferred taking to 6D.
I have reached 6D on the Stage 3 Green/2 suicide/999 Break route as well, but I found it to be a pain and unless you perform the 999 break perfectly, you'll end up clearing Stage 3 with the same score as the less troublesome Stage 3 Red Boss route.

I'll bring CHI round my yard and record a 6D full run. A half decent Stage 3G 999 break route would net me about 190mil for a 6D ALL I guess, so long as I score around 70mil for ST3G, compared to 92mil for the Jap guys.