GD: Judgement Silversword

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iatneH
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GD: Judgement Silversword

Post by iatneH »

Starting this off as a GD, maybe once members can contribute some more exact details of the mechanics, we can change this to a ST. But let's begin...

Title: Judgement Silversword -Rebirth Edition-
Platform: Wonderswan Color
Release: 2003 (original print), 2004 (Happy Field Project reprint)

1 Premise
Shoot your way through 31 short but intense areas. A Judge appears every few areas which you must defeat.

2 Controls
Movement is controlled by the Y buttons.

X1: Wide shot
X2: Linear shot
X4: Shield

Shield has precedence over the shots. Wide has precedence over linear.
Use of this precedence for scoring/survival will be discussed in the strategy section.

3 Mechanics
3.1 Shield:
The shield decreases when you touch a bullet. It does not decrease when you touch an enemy.

It replenishes slowly when you are using shot, and replenishes slightly quicker when not shooting at all. It does not replenish when in use.

3.2 Points:
Points are obtained in a number of ways (need exact point values):
(1) hitting an enemy with shot
(2) hitting an enemy with shield
(3) hitting an enemy with your ship (during invincibility)
(4) destroying an enemy
(5) touching a bullet with shield
(6) cancelling a bullet with shield
(7) end of area time bonus

3.3 Multiplier
There is also a multiplier by which the point value of destroyed enemies (4) increases. Does this also apply to other point methods above?

The multiplier can be increased in the following ways:
(1) hitting an enemy rapidly with shot
(2) hitting an enemy with shield
(3) touching a bullet with shield

Wide shot increases the multiplier more than linear, but only if all bullets hit a target. An example of where to use this is the battle against Magnificence. This Judge is very wide and almost fills the screen, so it is very hard to miss using the wide shot.

(2) increases the multiplier at a moderate rate, while (3) increases the multiplier quickly.

Touching multiple bullets/enemies at the same time with the shield also increases the multiplier faster. An example of where to use this is the beginning of the second attack pattern of Mitsurugi. When the sword is raised and ready to swing, you can hit both the body and the sword using a full shield, but be sure that you can destroy the sword before it swings!

The multiplier decreases when you are not attacking any enemies with the bullets or shields. It decreases very quickly when it is high.

3.4 Invincibility:
You become invincible in two ways:
(1) Respawn after death (need to count how long it lasts)
(2) Collect a 1-up item (need to count this too)

(2) lasts for a shorter time than (1), but it can still be handy to get out of a tight situation.

3.5 Extends:
Unsure of when extends are released. They seem to be released earlier the more you die.

Usually released from destroyed enemies, it is possible to have an extend released from your own ship when you die (not sure if it's due to one of the point methods mentioned above).

If you are on your last life, and an extend item is released upon your death, the game will pause momentarily, the 1-up item is collected automatically with a "Nice recover!" message, and the game continues.

Special note:
Enemies get pushed back when damaged with shot or shield. Be careful when you are point-blanking, because if you stop, the enemy will move forward.

Likewise, you are pushed back when blocking bullets. Large bullets which are not cancelled immediately or a barrage of smaller bullets may push you into danger.

4 Strategy

Not sure how well this will work, hopefully maybe I can make a replay sometime and give references along with the video timeslider values.

4.1 Try to kill (or at least damage) enemies using the shield.
Example: Try it on the first large blue satellite thing in Area 1. This is actually combined with (4.2) below. You can also try it on the enemies in Area 2.

4.2 Try to destroy an enemy as soon as possible after blocking bullets. The multiplier may drop quickly if it is increased beyond what it would normally be by simply attacking the enemy with the shield. Some examples below:

4.2.1 On the large grey robot in Area 6, destroy it during the pattern where it sprays small blue bullets. Block the bullets at point-blank range. You should have worn it down enough beforehand that you can kill it with the shield during this pattern. If it gets dangerous, try to block as many bullets as you can and then back up and finish it off with linear shot, but the multiplier will not be as high. I have gotten x30 on this enemy.

4.2.2 An easier example may be the same first large blue satellite in Area 1. Blank it with the shield as soon as it enters the screen. It should die very soon after firing at you. You should be able to get at least x20 on this.

4.2.3 Area 13, Magnificence. Attack pattern goes missile -> spread+aim -> wedge -> wall -> stream+aim -> laser -> random spray -> repeat.
Wear it down using linear shot during the first patterns, then switch to wide shot during the random spray pattern. Block a few bullets in the denser clumps and finish it off with wide shot during the second round of missile barrage.
Not sure if this is the best since I get only x17 at most. Maybe killing during one of the other patterns (wall or stream possibly?) allows better milking.

4.3 Graze bullets with the shield if it is relatively safe (even if unnecessary for survival)
If there are few bullets on the screen, instead of dodging them with a wide berth, dodge close to them and lightly graze them with the shield as you pass by. This is where the button precedence of the shield comes in handy. You can keep X1 held, but as you pass by the bullet, press X4 for just a moment, and you can get a little increase in multiplier (and points for blocking the bullet). You can do this a lot and still destroy the enemies in only a slightly longer time. I have a number of examples where this can be done.

4.3.1 At the beginning of area 1, when the small ships come down and fire a single bullet at you, block whatever is fired at you. At the very most you will get a x2 on the enemies afterwards, but it's the technique that is important.

4.3.2 At the end of area 4, with the 3 large blue satellites. Before, I just blasted them all at the same time using wide shot, and they all die at the same time at about x3 each. Now, whenever a bullet passes by, just lightly press shield and continue shooting. I still kill them in roughly the same amount of time (before the big blue bullets and homing lasers come out), but at x7 or x8 each.

4.3.3 Area 5, Mitsurugi. Use only the shield (4.1) while staying directly below the sword except when he approaches the bottom of the screen. Graze the large orange bullets a tiny bit as you pass by, but don't block them too much otherwise they get in the way later. Combined with strategy (4.1) where the shield touches both the sword and the body during the final attack, I can defeat this Judge with a x40 multiplier or more.
Extra tip: You can keep hitting the body for points and keeping your multiplier up even after the sword is destroyed, so that you can kill the enemies in the next area with a decent multiplier.

4.3.4 Area 6 and elsewhere
The small blue ships that swoop in and fire a single medium-sized bullet. Instead of blasting with wide shot and dodging all the bullets, just graze the bullets with the shield from time to time and maybe you can get a x3 or x4. Even if one or two of them get away, the multiplier more than makes up for them.

4.3.5 Area 17, with the tons of little yellow guys coming in from the side of the screen. I bet you all have used the shield here to save your ass, and noticed your multiplier go up. But in the first wave where you're not in so much danger, use your shield a bit and you should still have enough to keep yourself safe during the second wave. You can also do it when you have thinned out the second wave a bit.

5 Options and unlockables
I don't know what can be unlocked and when anymore. But at now we know a safe way to erase the save data (Thanks glitch)

6 Extra
6.1 Differences between original and reprint
(I only have the reprint, so somebody with the original please confirm.
- Box and cartridge sticker are branded with HFP logo
- Boot up shows HFP logo

I think that's all for now. Please post any additions or corrections.
I have no strategies for the later areas because it's still a struggle to survive, and there are still a few trouble spots for me in earlier areas.

edit:
update 2008 January 27 - Fixed original release date, removed uncertainty in representation of ship stock, and added official method of erasing save data. Thanks to forum member glitch for the contribution.
Last edited by iatneH on Mon Jan 28, 2008 5:20 am, edited 1 time in total.
glitch
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Re: GD: Judgement Silversword

Post by glitch »

iatneH wrote:Release: need original release date, 2004 (Happy Field Project reprint)
my original says 2003.
iatneH wrote:Is there any safe way to clear the saved data?
in the "set up" menu, select "default setting", keep A and B pressed, then press X1. tried this (on the REV.4321 version), works. you hear an explosion, all unlocked options turn back into question marks, and the highscore tables are cleared.

note: the game does NOT ask for confirmation. the manual says that "the matter is decided with EXIT". i take that to mean that the data is erased definitively upon selecting EXIT after performing the above procedure.
iatneH wrote:- Ship stock >= 5 in gameplay is represented with a single ship icon and a number, instead of 5 icons for 5 stock, 6 icons etc. Not sure about this
i read this too somewhere, but no, not true.
both use numerals for 5 or more lives.
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Dave_K.
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Re: GD: Judgement Silversword

Post by Dave_K. »

Does anyone know how the Area time bonus is calculated?

Also, are extends point based or number of enemies destroyed?
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colour_thief
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Re: GD: Judgement Silversword

Post by colour_thief »

I'm only going from my experience, but this is what I think:

Extends are based on kills, not points. But it's not straight kills, I feel tough enemies contribute disproportionately more. Almost like the game is adding the HP of every enemy you kill, and whenever it passes some threshold you get an extend. Incidentally, your misses also contribute to this extend counter. And I feel that each extend takes substantially more kills than the one before it.

I feel time bonuses start at a given point value when you start an area, and drain a little every frame until the area is completed. So it's like a "leaky bucket". And if I'm not imagining things, playing for score will also slow the decrease of the time bonus ("plug the hole a little"). Though I really don't know the exact mechanism.

If anyone can recommend a Wonderswan emulator with a good debugger I might investigate properly.
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Dave_K.
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Re: GD: Judgement Silversword

Post by Dave_K. »

Great observations! Sounds fascinating, even if not confirmed yet. M-KAI has said in interviews that he wanted to keep the scoring "simple", but maybe he just meant how fast you kill enemies and the shield multiplier. Even his JSS website doesn't have actual details on how extends and bonuses are calculated. I guess leaving things up for players to figure out is part of the allure, like in Cardinal Sins Greed stage.

I think OSWAN is the best emulator for wonderswan right now.
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ratikal
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Re: GD: Judgement Silversword

Post by ratikal »

Just wanted to mention a few things.

The multiplier itself rises through each area you don't die or use the shield. It actually becomes better for scoring NOT to use the shield at all in normal mode. I think my like Area 26 or so, you can get up to like x20.

Also, alternating between the straight and wide shot makes an extremely powerful and multiplier boosting shot. M-KAI himself said he thought this wide shot was too strong in JSS, hence why it was nerfed in Eschatos.
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colour_thief
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Re: GD: Judgement Silversword

Post by colour_thief »

Man, that's crazy. Since when I first started playing, I was using my shield aggressively for score, making it impossible to experience a baseline multiplier increase. This changes everything. It's definitely less good for scoring early on, but the long term benefits are potentially lucrative.

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention about extends: For bosses that have destructible projectiles, you can milk them for additional kills. I'm not sure if it's enough to get you more extends, or if it only gets you the same number of extends a little sooner, but it works. The bosses time out kind of quickly though so it's only a modest amount of milking (with modest return).
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Re: GD: Judgement Silversword

Post by Chaos Phoenixma »

I knew about that with the secret ship and I figured it was compensation for the fact that it didn't have an actual shield. The base multiplier even goes up still if you use the shield button with the secret ship.

I never actually had tried it with the default ship till now, so that's why I never posted about it since everyone pretty much used default since there was no scoreboard for secret ship. My 70+ million default ship Normal was done without this tactic. I'm not sure if the base multiplier maxes less than the secret ship or not, but if it gets to x100 like the secret ship, you're looking at 100+ million scores being possible with the default ship, 200 million + if you no missed the entire game. Once you get to the max multiplier, you'd be fine using the shield for defence.

I even loaded the game up to try some attempts, but I've only gotten up to area 20 No Miss No Shield so far. I then died due to rustiness, but then I No Miss No Shielded area 26 in that same run. Of course I died several times before.

You're much better off using shield for multiplier unless you really want to push your score. It's much safer as a single death too early in the no miss no shield tactic will screw over any chance at decent score.
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Kollision
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Re: GD: Judgement Silversword

Post by Kollision »

What's this talk of secret ship in Judgement Silversword?
You need to beat the game to see it or what?

I can't find info anywhere on this.
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Re: GD: Judgement Silversword

Post by BareKnuckleRoo »

You need to 1CC the game to unlock the secret ship. It's a superpowered shot type with a repelling ability instead of a shield (huge area of effect), a laser as a straight shot and an aimed shot instead of a wideshot. I think a 1CC on Easy qualifies to unlock it.
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Kollision
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Re: GD: Judgement Silversword

Post by Kollision »

Tks. :)
1CC it is then, as I suspected.
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Zaarock
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Re: GD: Judgement Silversword

Post by Zaarock »

The second ship actually unlocks by 1ccing the Special bossrush mode, which is significantly harder than a normal 1cc. The ships secondary shot is homing. As far as I know only SFKhoa and a couple japanese players have gotten legit 1ccs on Special with the default ship, everyone else has changed options from defaults to get through it. It's worth the effort to unlock, the ship plays very differently from the default one and it's fun to use in hard and special modes. The Type-C ship in Ginga Force is based on the secret ship from Silversword.

Special mode is unlocked by playing through normal.
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Re: GD: Judgement Silversword

Post by BareKnuckleRoo »

Oops, my bad. I thought the extra ship unlocked before the Special stage did for some reason.

But yeah, God Mode enabled will allow you to clear and unlock it (once you earn God Mode).
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ratikal
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Re: GD: Judgement Silversword

Post by ratikal »

This is a hypothesis but I think in order to get into Area 31 in Normal mode, you only need to score 20,000,000 points.
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Re: GD: Judgement Silversword

Post by Chaos Phoenixma »

I'm pretty sure 1cc of the first 30 areas with default settings is good enough and that there's no score requirement. You definitely have to start from area 1 though as starting at a later stage to practice and 1ccing from there doesn't let you enter. But then I never tried playing intentionally terrible to test the requirements. Could be wrong about default settings being a requirement.


Edit: Okay, I can rule out default lives as a requirement(that only matters for achievements). Just ran through Hard with modified settings and still entered area 31. Will check low score Normal soon.

10 million is perfectly fine. Did a crap run where I intentionally timed out stages and tried to minimize scoring. That's assuming there's a score requirement in the first place(I really think it's only a 1cc needed though)
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Re: GD: Judgement Silversword

Post by PurpleTheGuy »

I'm not sure if this was already talked about somewhere before, but I like to ask, how exactly do you unlock the god mode option (What BareKnuckleRoo mentioned) for Judgement Silversword? Is it something like you just play the game for a while and then it just unlocks after some time? I'm suspecting this to be so.

I like to wonder about that, since not long ago, I actually 1cc'ed JSS in Normal mode, and I'm interested in unlocking the special ship. I understand that the special ship can be unlocked by clearing special mode in JSS in some way or form, and clearing special mode w/ the default ship seems pretty brutal, looking at the leaderboards, so I like to know about how to unlock god mode, so I can go unlock the special ship using that option.

Thanks, if anyone could tell me about that bit! :)
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Chaos Phoenixma
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Re: GD: Judgement Silversword

Post by Chaos Phoenixma »

It's based on Option Level. So you need to accumulate some more total score. I'm not sure when exactly you unlock the option. The Debug/Super Shot(press one of the buttons for a shot that kills anything within seconds, I think it's Y on the 360, but just try the buttons out) option should also work extremely well for clearing Special, though I'm not sure which one of the 2 unlocks first.
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PurpleTheGuy
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Re: GD: Judgement Silversword

Post by PurpleTheGuy »

Thanks for that bit, Enigma!

Yeah, I finally got to unlock god mode at last for Judgement Silversword. Took a while to get, but I finally unlocked it. As it turns out, you need to reach option level 33 to unlock god mode for Judgement Silversword. That's for the Xbox 360 version, at least. No idea about WonderSwan & Oswan, though, & that's if those two even have that and all, so yeah.

Well, time to go to special mode, & use the god mode option to go unlock the secret ship, haha. :P

Edit: Some time ago, I found that the super shot option can be unlocked at either level 43/44 (It was one of these two, I believe, I forgot, it's been a while), but yeah, for sure, for the X360 version, at least, you'll unlock the god mode option first before the super shot option.
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