New member making a shmup progress blog. (UPDATED: ITS LIVE)

[GDLKscrub]

as uhh.. 3 of you guys know, I am a new member of the shmup community coming from a socal based competitive fighting game past.

As I'm basically a Day 0 player of these kinds of games, I thought it would be cool to record/track/blog my progress in this genre.

If I was to keep a daily updated blog, what kind of stuff would you guys be interested in seeing from a new player? or even if you guys don't you'd read it, what kind of stuff should I record for my own personal sake?

my thoughts:
My 1 credit replays, my high score history in a given title, thoughts and opinions as they change over time the more i play, etc.

UPDATED: ITS LIVE (first update will be either April 28th or 29th)

Heres the link! http://www.GDLKshmups.blogspot.com

hi all, a quick update, I forgot to mention (and i'll toss this as an update up at the first post), I'm actually out of town until next monday, so I probably wont be doing too much responding to the forums, and I definitely wont be updating my blog post-intro until monday night, tuesday night at the latest, I'm really sorry about that guys, but this was a project I was very excited to start, and I wanted to get this off the ground ASAP, so I may have pulled the trigger a tad bit early. Please look forward to what I'm very happy to share with you all very soon

[CDexWard]

Your first project should be a 2-ALL of DOJ WL.

[Squire Grooktook]

My personal advice would be to try a bunch of games and find one that you really like in every aspect before setting any serious goals. Myself, if I don't really like a game before I go all in on it, than it starts to feel stale for me and drive me crazy, ha ha.

[GDLKscrub]

My personal advice would be to try a bunch of games and find one that you really like in every aspect before setting any serious goals. Myself, if I don't really like a game before I go all in on it, than it starts to feel stale for me and drive me crazy, ha ha.

yeah that was another aspect of it that I was highly considering, something like "hey the community really seems to like this game, heres my day 1 experiences with this game" etc

[Squire Grooktook]

My personal advice would be to try a bunch of games and find one that you really like in every aspect before setting any serious goals. Myself, if I don't really like a game before I go all in on it, than it starts to feel stale for me and drive me crazy, ha ha.

yeah that was another aspect of it that I was highly considering, something like "hey the community really seems to like this game, heres my day 1 experiences with this game" etc

Yeah. You can probably get a lot of recommendations.

Personally one of my first would be Dodonpachi. It's a great introduction to bullet hell, and it's the game that got me to enjoy the sub-genre after initially being skeptical.

Also if you have an Xbox 360, Eschatos is a game a lot of people here would swear by, and it's pretty cheap to import from PlayAsia (like 30 bucks last time I checked?)

[CloudyMusic]

Your name sounds familiar, but I haven't been following the FGC for a couple of years now. Welcome!

I think it could be potentially very interesting. There's often a bit of contention (way more than is probably actually deserved) among the community about what a "normal" rate of progress is for a new player, and what accomplishments are actually "easy" or "hard" for someone starting from the complete ground floor. If you're completely honest and unfiltered about your experiences, I think it'd be really interesting to follow your progress. (I attempted to do something similar by archiving periodic replays to a YouTube playlist, but instead it just makes me cringe when I try to go back and watch the older ones. Having a diary blog component would probably make it much more interesting.)

Topic ideas:
- Regular diaries about progress, challenges, frustrations, successes; the obvious stuff
- Try out a new game, then write about what you liked/didn't like about it. If you don't like a game, revisit it a year later and see if the things you like/dislike have changed.
- Enter a multi-game forum tournament (STGT, etc) and write about each week's experiences

I'll also echo the sentiment that you should try out a bunch of games before picking one to really pour time into. I can say from personal experience that the games that you may be drawn to initially may not end up being the ones that you actually enjoy the most in the long run, especially in regards to their scoring systems.

[ArmoredCore]

Welcome, Im a huge fighting game too. SF2T & AE2012 are my main games i play. Will look forward to your blogs. You got PSN or XBL? We should play SF together. I'm from the norcal Keystone era days lol.

[Doctor Butler]

Gradius
R-Type
Raiden
Touhou
DoDonPachi

Play some of these series, and see which one you like best. It doesn't even really matter which consoles you do/don't own, since these are long running series, with installments everywhere.

See which ones you enjoy the most, and you'll see which games to take on next, based on various mechanics and design elements;

faster v. slower, horizontal v. vertical, grazing v. dodging, etc.

[majik989s]

I would suggest watching all of the STG Weekly episodes first. They have covered a great number of shooters thus far.

Personally I would try as many games as possible. That's really how you get your feel for what you will like. Also, don't exclusively group games by developer, you will be doing yourself a major disservice. There are cave games I love (mushi, Ibara) and ones that I can't stand (donpach); try them all!

Don't worry about the 1CC yet, that will come in due time. Good luck, brother!

[GDLKscrub]

Thank you all for the feedback I'll respond to everybody's posts later on after dinner but for now I finished my first post on my blog!

http://GDLKshmups.blogspot.com/

So at first I thought it'd be more of a progression tracker through a specific series or game, but after getting some feedback from this thread, I think for now, as I'm still learning key fundamentals, it'll be more of a "I tried these games today, here's how I did, here's how I feel I'm getting better (or worse), and/or here's my progression on fundamentals, etc" blog.

Anyway I hope you all enjoy reading ^_^ please look forward to many updates!

[ArmoredCore]

Thank you all for the feedback I'll respond to everybody's posts later on after dinner but for now I finished my first post on my blog!

http://GDLKshmups.blogspot.com/

So at first I thought it'd be more of a progression tracker through a specific series or game, but after getting some feedback from this thread, I think for now, as I'm still learning key fundamentals, it'll be more of a "I tried these games today, here's how I did, here's how I feel I'm getting better (or worse), and/or here's my progression on fundamentals, etc" blog.

Anyway I hope you all enjoy reading ^_^ please look forward to many updates!

Nice, watch some stunfest videos. Top fgc players were in awe of live shmuppers on stage lol.

[Furry Fox Jet Pilot]

If you are going to be trying out the Raiden series, you should definitely go for Raiden DX in the classic series and Raiden Fighters Jet in the Raiden Fighters series. Both have excellent scoring systems which are very rewarding once you've gotten the hang of them, but Raiden DX is better than RF Jet to be honest. If you want tips and tricks on any of the Raiden games, (especially Raiden DX, it's the shmup I've spent the most time on in my life) just ask me, or fellow forum member saucykobold, he's in the process of putting together an excellent guide on Raiden DX.

[casualcoder]

I'll check in on your blog. Maybe start with a pic / description of your most commonly used setup. I found that a lot of beginners don't get a primer on the hardware basics and what to expect especially in regards to decent input devices, lagless monitors etc. it makes a difference if you are going past pure casual play which it sounds like you are.

[ArmoredCore]

I'll check in on your blog. Maybe start with a pic / description of your most commonly used setup. I found that a lot of beginners don't get a primer on the hardware basics and what to expect especially in regards to decent input devices, lagless monitors etc. it makes a difference if you are going past pure casual play which it sounds like you are.

On OP's behalf, the FGC is pretty anal with lag/netcodes/input delay like we shmuppers are if not more than us ^^. Im sure he knows all about it lol.

[LordHypnos]

Cool. as a fellow beginner, I think it will be nice to read about someone else going through the same trials and tribulations as I.

[Blackbird]

Sounds great. Here are some shmups I would strongly recommend to a new player:

Jamestown: Easily available on Steam and very cheap by this point. Extremely fun gameplay with lots of modes and scaling difficulty to match what you're comfortable with. The scoring system is addictive and highly reminiscent of DoDonPachi's hyper chaining system, but it's a lot more lenient. Much more robust/well balanced co-operative gameplay than most shmups if you enjoy playing with friends. Tracks your scores on a leaderboard if you like that feature. Great game.

Hydorah: It's highly reminiscent of classic shmups like Gradius and Salamander and plays like a very competent "clone" of these games. Great visuals and sound. The difficulty is challenging, but not overwhelming. Best of all, it's completely free!

Touhou: It's got a rep for a reason. This game has very slow bullet patterns, but they are very interesting and dense. It's one of the better bullet hell games for novices because you really get a taste for "threading the needle" without being soul crushingly difficult. The stage graphics themselves are pretty bland, but the patterns can be quite beautiful.

Mushihimesama Futari: One of Cave's best games, and one of my favorite bullet-hell style shmups. I find the Novice mode to be a very enjoyable challenge for a casual shmup player. The game's visuals are outstanding and I think this game has some of the most interesting shot patterns around. If you want to get more serious, this game has virtually unlimited scaling; Novice mode can be easy enough to beat on a blind run, while Ultra mode is one of the hardest fair games ever made. A little pricier than the above options, but well worth it in my opinion.

[nasty_wolverine]

I think illyrian had a newbie list. if you are just starting and want to get into bullet hells, start with BWR+, want some classic challenge? play CRS68k.

[CKR]

I'd recommend that you stick with one shmup for awhile. I like to dabble, and it has hindered my progress. Maybe this time next year, we can both have some impressive high scores. Good luck to you, and I'll periodically check your blog to see your progress.

[GDLKscrub]

so this is gonna be a gigantic response post to everybody who has given any form of a response, and because im super lazy as its super late, and I dont want to rapidly bomb this forum with quote posts, i'm just gonna have a giant wall of snip quotes, just find your username, and it'll have a response following

Your first project should be a 2-ALL of DOJ WL.

after asking around, and doing some research, I've decided you're a super mean troll but if i do ever 2 all of WL, you owe me a beer... or something

[snip] Personally one of my first would be Dodonpachi. It's a great introduction to bullet hell, and it's the game that got me to enjoy the sub-genre after initially being skeptical.

Also if you have an Xbox 360 [snip]

I'm actually really enjoying Dodonpachi, and it'll probably be one of the first games I really dedicate some time to in my blog

At the moment i only have a ps3, and because I'm just now getting into this genre, I don't think I'm ready to put too much money into this new found hobby of mine. (says the guy that just bought a new portrait capable monitor)

[super snip]

What I'm really proud about is the fact that I come from a competitive community background so I know how being the new guy in a circle feels like already, so I'm completely comfortable being upfront and honest about my experiences going through this.

those are really good ideas though that I'll definitely keep in mind in the coming days thanks alot

that echo'ed sentiment is really one I keep hearing, so i'll be sure to keep that in mind

Welcome, Im a huge fighting game too. SF2T & AE2012 are my main games i play. Will look forward to your blogs. You got PSN or XBL? We should play SF together. I'm from the norcal Keystone era days lol.

woot! Something that's worth noting, my character choice says west coast all over it haha, in all the recent fighting games, if there is a boxer, I'll pick him. Persona 4 - akihiko, tekken - steve, SFxT (for the first day, until I discovered that I hated it) Balrog x Steve, etc. KEYSTONE?! fuuu, I actually learned CVS2 at keystone II with the norcal crew. fun times long passed lol

my PSN is GooDLucKscrub (my name actually means Godlike scrub, but Keits and Skisonic got my name wrong the first time they heard it.. and its been a inside joke ever since.)

and my steam name is GDLKtao

[snip]


See which ones you enjoy the most, and you'll see which games to take on next, based on various mechanics and design elements;

faster v. slower, horizontal v. vertical, grazing v. dodging, etc.

for now my taste is very broad, however I REALLY dig vertical shooters much more than horizontal, dont ask me why, I really dont know however I still own R-type on the sega master system, pretty sure that was my first shmup.

[snip]

Actually its funny you mention that If you havent already had a chance to to read my blog, ( if you're interested in that kind of thing anyway) STG weekly is actually what brought me here, they had a shmup marathon at a fighting game tournament in socal that I had an opportunity to spectate, it was awesome!

[snip]

I'm playing the Raiden Fighters series at the moment, I havent played the main series just yet, I don't want to overwhelm myself too much with so many titles just yet. However, its worth mentioning that Raiden Fighters has a really weird simulation rating system that i still don't understand... but its fun soo.. fuuuuck it.

When I do delve into the main series though, I'll remember to hit you up

I'll check in on your blog. Maybe start with a pic / description of your most commonly used setup. I found that a lot of beginners don't get a primer on the hardware basics and what to expect especially in regards to decent input devices, lagless monitors etc. it makes a difference if you are going past pure casual play which it sounds like you are.

yeah... I played fighting games competitively for a while, so lagless monitors was a must have for serious play. Right now my full specs are...

Asus VH236H (that i'll be replacing very soon with a portrait capable lagless monitor)
ps360+ PCB with sanwa JLF and Sanwa silent 30 mm buttons (they have that sanwa softness but because of the foam, its silent and it feels more like seimitsu)
I think thats all I have that is worth mentioning... I can expand if you're interested

On OP's behalf, the FGC is pretty anal with lag/netcodes/input delay like we shmuppers are if not more than us ^^. Im sure he knows all about it lol.

LAGLESS MONITOR OR DIE YOUNG

Cool. as a fellow beginner, I think it will be nice to read about someone else going through the same trials and tribulations as I.

awesome I'm glad that the community is growing, and that there are new people joining along side me, hopefully we'll keep in touch and challenge each other to get better.

Sounds great. Here are some shmups I would strongly recommend to a new player:

Jamestown

Hydorah

Touhou

Mushihimesama Futari

thanks for the recommendations

I've actually played jamestown via steam, it's suuuuper fun, and I played it a lot when I was casually playing this genre, maybe its time to go back and see how I do now that I'm a bit more competent?

I havent actually played Hydorah just yet, so I cant comment on that, however i'll be sure to look it up

Touhou was my first game I played when I decided to give this genre a serious chance Actually from an outsider's view, the touhou series is synonymous with bullet hell and shmups.

I'm playing the first Mushihimesama right now, and in fact, the reason why I'm posting this so late was because softdrink 117 was streaming maniac runs of the different mushi titles haha

[LordHypnos]

I'd recommend that you stick with one shmup for awhile. I like to dabble, and it has hindered my progress. Maybe this time next year, we can both have some impressive high scores. Good luck to you, and I'll periodically check your blog to see your progress.

I kind of agree with this, but I do think that it's important to play a lot of games before settling on one, and it can be kind of excessively frustrating to keep playing a game when one part is just too hard, by which I obviously mean Mars Matrix Stage 4 >_>
Also, sometimes I've found myself getting better after taking a break from one particular game.

I think it's hindered my progress a bit though.

[endoKarb]

I say pick one game that you find inspiring and stick to it.

By all means play around and try other shmups you think are fun, but if you manage to keep playing one particular shmup alongside without interruption, even just one credit a day, even just one credit every few days, that would make an interesting read I think.

[casualcoder]

yeah... I played fighting games competitively for a while, so lagless monitors was a must have for serious play. Right now my full specs are...

Asus VH236H (that i'll be replacing very soon with a portrait capable lagless monitor)
ps360+ PCB with sanwa JLF and Sanwa silent 30 mm buttons (they have that sanwa softness but because of the foam, its silent and it feels more like seimitsu)
I think thats all I have that is worth mentioning... I can expand if you're interested

Getting rid of your VH236H If you possibly give me an awesome deal I may be able to throw in some items and I would also bee your best friend forever. *

Silent Sanwas? Never heard of them (unintended pun). I always use the TAP TAP sounds as cues when pulling off combos. At any rate, watch the accidental bombs. The sanwa buttons are quite a bit more sensitive than the seimitsus.

*NOTE: May not actually be forever.

[ArmoredCore]

Godlike bro, was hoping you were a XBL player, we could shmup coop & play high level SF haha. I have psn too though, i'll add you over the weekend if you dont mind.

[ArmoredCore]

edit: oops dbl post.

[PurpleTheGuy]

Hey GDLKscrub, welcome to the shmup genre! It's great to see that another new person has come to playing shmups, it means one more person to relate to! I, too, came around not long ago, and that was in light of my increasing skill in Touhou since getting back into it last August, making many accomplishments, such as beating a some extra stage bosses, beating a few of the games on Hard mode difficulty, considering I don't have much time to play (Particularly, I re-discovered that old passion of mine's when I've gotten my 1st Lunatic 1cc clear of PoFV back in early February earlier this year. I've forgotten how good and fun this genre is). Of course, that will change, starting this summer, but anyhow...

Hmm, I see that you've started a blog. Maybe you could take pictures of your very first 1cc's of each game you've played, and maybe record the replays of those, and put them up on YouTube for everyone to see, and learn? That, and you could take that around, and show to your friends and others in like, say, for example, an arcade maybe?

Yes, it would be interesting to see your thoughts and opinions changing over time, especially when you do start making noticeable progress in the genre, and the game(s). You could probably start out with these:

Touhou, Akai Katana, Deathsmiles, Espgaluda, BWR, Eden's Aegis, among some others, are good places to start off at! The other recommendations the others have made earlier in this thread are pretty good too, it looks like! I've personally played these, and they're all not too bad! I think these are new shmup-player friendly, based on my own experiences, though, these are Bullet Hell genre games I am recommending.

Best of luck in getting into the genre! Hang in there, and if you ever get stuck, don't ever give up! There is always a way to get past an obstacle! Just keep practicing and playing, and eventually, you will get through and you'll get that first 1cc, and hey, you'll get even better, as a result of it! Soon enough, you could try harder difficulties and/or start to really get down into scoring in the game(s)! I, myself, have started not long ago compared to you, so I think we can have a lot in common!

[GDLKscrub]

hi all, a quick update, I forgot to mention (and i'll toss this as an update up at the first post), I'm actually out of town until next monday, so I probably wont be doing too much responding to the forums, and I definitely wont be updating my blog post-intro until monday night, tuesday night at the latest, I'm really sorry about that guys, but this was a project I was very excited to start, and I wanted to get this off the ground ASAP, so I may have pulled the trigger a tad bit early. Please look forward to what I'm very happy to share with you all very soon

[hylian_elf]

Nice idea, Scrub. I'll be sure to read it, specially as a almost-newcomer myself. Always been into shmups since I started gaming in the early '90s, but more as an enthusiast. Been trying to get better recently.

Nice to know you're a fightman. So am I, to an extent, but I'm a Londoner. Not much choice around here, but I'm off for a session later at Heart of Gaming, a place where they collected together some cabs and set up consoles too. Pay an entrance fee, play all day!

Oh, hi everyone. Been lurking for a while, thought I'd finally join. Not least because I could do with getting you guys' opinions on some shmups and keep up with news etc.

[Doctor Butler]

At the moment i only have a ps3

I come from a similar background; local fighting scene, with a preference for Sony products.

But if you're getting into shooters, you gotta get an xbox, because that's where all the shooters are. I picked a used model up at Gamestop late last year. Ran me about 90 bones.

What fighters do you focus on?

[Blackbird]

If you're interested in tackling DoDonPachi first, I would recommend checking out this video:

Prometheus Melts Faces

This video records a 488 mil run which was the Western record of DDP until a year or two ago. Prometheus has since improved his score to 547 mil (or more?) but this is still a good example of a very high level game. Obviously aiming to jump directly from scrublord to Western record attempts is foolhardy, but you can still observe quite a bit about how to chain the different stages and evade different bullet patterns from this video. Hope this helps =).

P.S.: I think "DanGanRonPa" would make a pretty awesome shmup name, lol.

[Mad Grab]

Looking forward to seeing your progress, I come from fighters too