Shmup Ticker: What are you playing RIGHT NOW?

[LordHypnos]

Because the game strictly outputs 240p, that's why it doesn't support VGA. You can force it to display through VGA by abusing the video-out swap trick, but the game begins to suffer from awkward graphical glitches once you hit stage 4. Just about every other shmup on the console is NAOMI-based (aside from Mars Matrix and Giga Wing, which are both CPS2-based and scaled), and therefore natively supports 480p. Bakuretsu Muteki Bangaio is also locked at 240p.

Yeah, it does make sense really, but I wish you could choose to scale it without all that shitty slowdown that you get through VGA.

I'm usually pretty good keeping myself in check, but that particular run was frustrating despite putting up a high of 1.4 million XP.

Had I not shit the bed I would have started stage 6 with 2 ships in reserve. I think I probably would have reached the end of the stage since the stage itself is getting easier and I kind of have plans for the bullet vomiting turrets on 6 now so there's that.

I guess the biggest positive is my new strategy for the last train car. I used to hang back and fire normal shot, but when I no missed him I got in his face, pierced it as much as I could before the first volley came, and killed him quite a bit faster.

Yeah, IDK. I usually pierce the final car at point blank until he starts firing, and I still seldom make it through alive. Also, it's always sucky to get so close. I don't think I've ever not 1cc'd when I make it to the final stage with two extra lives.

As far as games not working in VGA - I finally got my hands on Last Blade 2 over the holidays (with my nice new Hanzo VGA bow too!) only to get it home and realize it is on the same short list of games as Gunbird that you can't even force into VGA (the Hanzo allows you to do this via a switch).

Good thing I have an S video cable:D

Yeah, the main issue is that I'm using a PC monitor because it was free, 17", lagless, and has decent image quality (albeit the white level sucks). You can actually force GB2 into VGA, but it gets graphical glitches and runs like half speed after the first stage or so.


EDIT: Was playing Mars Matrix again, and it was pretty epic. Got a very high chain in stage 1, missed the end chain in stage 2, had an extraordinary stage 3 that ended me with 1.8 million before the boss, (higher than I've ever gotten before in the first 3 stages). Then I did a close to perfect stage 4. To top it off, there were no misses at all in the first 4 stages, so I had 4 extra lives by the fifth stage. Naturally, this couldn't go on forever, and I broke the 5th stage chain every way possible and died three whole times. Somehow managed to no miss the trainfight, but then died at the beginning of stage 6. Fortunately I executed everything else perfectly, and managed to narrowly edge out my old high score by only about 20 million.

Spoiler

Gotta love how based on those three scores it looks like experience is inversely porportionate to scores. Reason is that getting higher experience earlier on ends up boosting your score a lot, because it's a multiplier (e.g. 1.8 million as opposed to 1.6 million (the other ALL pictured), or 1.5 million (my recorded run which scores slightly lower with slightly more experience than the other ALL pictured) by the 3rd stage), and in the highest experience run there I didn't destroy any of the boss forms or get the end of stage bonuses.

My new obsession is now going to be trying to get experience higher than 2.5 million and clear, at least until something else distracts me.

[ryu]

... that feel in your right hand when you discover button-mashing in Blazing Star powers up your main weapon. Ouch.

Anyways, I have only played the game a little so far. Credit-feeded myself through the game once yesterday. It seemed to me like the difficulty spiked a lot on stage 4 onwards and I wasn't confident I wouldn't be getting anywhere close to stage 5 on 1 credit for a long time, but then I made it to that stage's boss with 1 credit on my second attempt today. Haven't felt that good playing a shmup in a long time!

[Shepardus]

New PB on Batrider and first time reaching Discharge:

I feel myself getting closer to that 1cc, though it's still going to take a while unless I can seriously cut down on my silly mistakes in the early stages.

[durias]

Just spent some quality time on a Raiden DX upright at a pizza place.

[chempop]

nice Shepardus, what character/s are you using? What about starting rank (do you hold start on boot-up)?
Discharge can be a royal pita, keep at it, you’ll get it eventually

[Shepardus]

Using solo Shorty-B, holding start on boot. Trying to make my first clear as easy as possible, though sometimes for fun I use Flying Baron C/Strawman A/Carpet A to trigger some of the secret bosses.

The first time I credit-fed through the game I used two or three continues on Discharge alone. I'm going to need to do a lot better than that if I plan on making it through.

[Meseki]

I finally got Hitogata Happa today, after trying the demo again recently (2.5 years after getting a semi-fluke 24.2 million on Euridice in the demo) and realizing that scoring wasn't as overly strict as I initially thought; I didn't realize that some dolls had auto-collection for gems (preventing gem value loss), as I tended to use Leaf on the majority of the stage in the demo.
Now, Rooty has mostly replaced Leaf for me, due to auto-collection and being able to aim (which can be really useful on some stages and for milking some bosses). However, Rooty's inability to shoot straight foward can be a bit of a problem occasionally; it makes it hard to get gems from the wings and body of those enemies that have three sets of wings, and it can be a bit difficult to use the Zone of Control for gems on the flying rotating enemy that shows up a lot in stage 2.
I've also found that I need a few Clovers in order to beat the last form of the stage 5 boss, because I can't reliably deal with that pattern, and I'll reach timeout if I don't sacrifice Clovers.

I'm also a bit disappointed in myself for not realizing that stage 4 was a big reference to Battle Garegga until the second-to-last boss started dropping grenades.

[Chaos Phoenixma]

If you got the TLB clear(only one of the Gundemonium games where it appears on easiest difficulty), you'd probably take #1 on Restart Syndrome or at least be close. The requirement is to buy 112 dolls over the course of the playthrough(the leafs in Mission 0 do count on difficulties above Euridice because you don't get infinite on those while on Euridice any Leafs used in that mission don't count for/against you. The costs are a lot higher, and the patterns are a lot more ridiculous on harder modes).

112 dolls is the maximum, so don't just buy a lot expecting to buy more than that and make your purchases count. If you use all 112, you'll get a special doll for your 113th, but your run is probably over at that point, but if you use your last life as a bomb and it clears the final boss or true final boss, it will count as a clear(and in the case of the TLB, it must be finished off with a bomb).

The requirement is different for Solo Voyage and Destiny 13. The TLB will never appear on Euridice difficulty on those modes, but will always appear on the 3 higher ones regardless of how many lives you have. I don't even see how you would manage it in Destiny 13 where you only have 13 lives for the full game as you'll likely have lost quite a bit during the stages and bosses.


I'm not really familiar with how good scoring goes in the Gundemonium games. I never could figure out how to properly score in Gundemonium Recollection or Hitogata Happa. And I only know how to do some with Nagi in Gundeadligne, but Nagi is so overpowered, I'm more interested in how a great run with someone else plays.

[Meseki]

112 dolls shouldn't be a big problem; I think I had around 90 while completely ignoring three default dolls (since I don't know how to use them to score, or they just seem bad for it).

Does Solo Voyage count for unlocking characters?

I'm not really familiar with how good scoring goes in the Gundemonium games. I never could figure out how to properly score in Gundemonium Recollection or Hitogata Happa. And I only know how to do some with Nagi in Gundeadligne, but Nagi is so overpowered, I'm more interested in how a great run with someone else plays.

For Hitogata Happa, dropping gems decreases gem value (not sure of the exact amount), so try to not destroy enemies you won't be able to pick up the gems from. Destroying an enemy with an active Zone of Control turns the bullets inside into auto-collected triangular gems. Dying without bombing halves your gem value, so try to bomb when you need to die. Also, gem value is kept between stages (somehow I came to a different conclusion when I posted in the Strategy thread).

[Chaos Phoenixma]

Supposedly it needs to be different clears. So 2 clears of Normal mode Euridice wouldn't work, but 2 clears of Solo Voyage Euridice with 2 different dolls would work. Or solo voyage clear of different difficulties with the same doll should work. You don't get Destiny 13 until you have all the dolls since that mode gives you 1 of each of them to go through with.

[broken harbour]

Giga Wing - DC

Is it just me or does this port have some input lag? And Jeezuz this game feels cheap sometimes, throwing un-dodgeable patters at you at light speed, game feels like a heavy memorizer. First attempt resulted in a 3cc, barely. I assume the delay when activating the reflect shield was intended? Was that present in the arcade version?

[EmperorIng]

The shield facilitates those huge patterns. It requires a different play style, with more macro dodging and smart shield use. I don't know about the arcade, but it feels like the shield delay is intentional. It keeps it from being a purely reactionary asset to being something you strategize with - where and when to reflect and so on.

[Kiken]

Giga Wing - DC

Is it just me or does this port have some input lag? And Jeezuz this game feels cheap sometimes, throwing un-dodgeable patters at you at light speed, game feels like a heavy memorizer. First attempt resulted in a 3cc, barely. I assume the delay when activating the reflect shield was intended? Was that present in the arcade version?

Yeah, the Reflect Force requires very deliberate usage in the first game (I seem to recall the CPS2 board being about the same in that regard). This was altered in the sequels.

It should also be noted that the DC port of GW1 is missing a lot of slowdown (particularly in stages 6 & 7). Like those crazy blue spiral patterns that the stage 6 boss throws out are supposed to slow the game to about 50% speed, but the DC runs them at full tilt.

[LordHypnos]

Giga Wing - DC

Is it just me or does this port have some input lag? And Jeezuz this game feels cheap sometimes, throwing un-dodgeable patters at you at light speed, game feels like a heavy memorizer. First attempt resulted in a 3cc, barely. I assume the delay when activating the reflect shield was intended? Was that present in the arcade version?

Yeah, the Reflect Force requires very deliberate usage in the first game (I seem to recall the CPS2 board being about the same in that regard). This was altered in the sequels.

It should also be noted that the DC port of GW1 is missing a lot of slowdown (particularly in stages 6 & 7). Like those crazy blue spiral patterns that the stage 6 boss throws out are supposed to slow the game to about 50% speed, but the DC runs them at full tilt.

Yeah, the no slowdown thing probably is the biggest issue with it. Other things that might make it feel cheap include the bullet size: which is fairly small which can make them a bit hard to see (you get used to it, though). Also, if you're used to CAVE style bullets, you probably would have problems with the fact that the whole bullet can hurt you as opposed to just a tiny spot in the middle. There are a few spots where it can be difficult to tell what's going on, as well (the lava stage boss' lock on attack comes to mind here).

I didn't notice any input lag, but I almost exclusively play on CRTs. As far as the reflect lag goes, I have heard several accounts that there's more lag in the DC version than in the arcade. I didn't particularly notice this myself (comparing to MAME), but I didn't compare them back to back, either. One possibility, however, is that there is extra lag when using the autofire, like in Mars Matrix, so keep that in mind. Also, at least a tiny amount of lag is necessary to distinguish between tapping to fire or holding to shield.

It's been a long time since I've played it, but a few things to consider are: There is no punishment at all for bombing, IIRC so use all those bombs. They're probably more intended to be your panic button than the shield is. If you die at least once, I believe there's an extend somewhere you can collect. IIRC, there is rank in the game that is set based on how soon you die (i.e. the game will be easier if you suicide right at the beginning, though probably not that much easier; also it's reset if you get the extend, so it'll be back to the hardest state then). Additionally, if you actually managed to 3cc on your first try, it sounds like it's not actually that hard of a game. That means something like 6-9 deaths, if I'm calculating this correct. Those issues should be pretty easy to iron out with a bit of practice if you wanted to. I doubt that any arcade game is going to be less than a 3cc blind.

Personally, I couldn't really get into it though. I really think Mars Matrix improves on it in every conceivable way. I know there are others who disagree, however.

[Kiken]

It's been a long time since I've played it, but a few things to consider are: There is no punishment at all for bombing, IIRC so use all those bombs. They're probably more intended to be your panic button than the shield is. If you die at least once, I believe there's an extend somewhere you can collect. IIRC, there is rank in the game that is set based on how soon you die (i.e. the game will be easier if you suicide right at the beginning, though probably not that much easier; also it's reset if you get the extend, so it'll be back to the hardest state then). Additionally, if you actually managed to 3cc on your first try, it sounds like it's not actually that hard of a game. That means something like 6-9 deaths, if I'm calculating this correct. Those issues should be pretty easy to iron out with a bit of practice if you wanted to. I doubt that any arcade game is going to be less than a 3cc blind.

Yeah, the extend is in stage 4. The game isn't absurdly difficult, but stage 7 can only be reached by single-crediting the first 6 levels.

[Kollision]

{on Giga Wing DC}
Yeah, the no slowdown thing probably is the biggest issue with it.

I'm not relly fond of calling that an "issue", as if the arcade iteration is the one-and-only model to be compared to.
Why can't we see it as an improvement for once?

[Kiken]

{on Giga Wing DC}
Yeah, the no slowdown thing probably is the biggest issue with it.

I'm not relly fond of calling that an "issue", as if the arcade iteration is the one-and-only model to be compared to.

As opposed to what other version? The CPS2 version of the game is the original. That was the hardware platform for which the game was developed. Any and all ports/emulations that came after would be compared to it.

Why can't we see it as an improvement for once?

Because it isn't. The patterns were designed and balanced around them triggering X amount of slowdown to make them navigable.

[LordHypnos]

{on Giga Wing DC}
Yeah, the no slowdown thing probably is the biggest issue with it.

I'm not relly fond of calling that an "issue", as if the arcade iteration is the one-and-only model to be compared to.
Why can't we see it as an improvement for once?

Well, it really just depends on how much the game is designed around it. Honestly, I don't know how much Giga Wing was. In the sequel, Mars Matrix, the slowdown is very clearly not intentional (and pretty scarce, anyway), so perhaps it wasn't in GW, either, but in most CAVE games it's quite intentional to make the section more reaction based, and easier (I'm sure there are some sections where one could argue that it's better without the slowdown though).

I was more of saying in terms of being harder than the AC version, though, which in retrospect might not make a whole lot of sense, as Broken Harbor is not familiar with the arcade. Still, if the slowdown was intentional then removing it could give a sense of cheapness (Or even just having bullets that fast. Many people think Psikyo shooters are cheap).

Do you feel that the DC version is an improvement over the AC? I haven't really played either that much myself.

[Kollision]

Well, I disagree with this whole arcade master race mentality that says an arcade original is the one and only best thing around ever.
But as it always is in cases like this, to each his own.

[Jonst]

Ketsuipachi. In between progear practice.

[BareKnuckleRoo]

Well, it really just depends on how much the game is designed around [slowdown]. Honestly, I don't know how much Giga Wing was.

There's really no noteworthy slowdown in Giga Wing. The only major slowdown is during reflects, if you're reflecting an incredibly dense continual spray) and since that's when you're already invincible any slowdown that happens there doesn't give you a major advantage. When you're not using reflect you generally won't see any slowdown, even in the arcade version. If that's all that's really different in the DC version is a bit less slowdown, I'd say they're quite comparable.

[finisherr]

Now that I've got a second DOJ BL 1-ALL (never good enough to get the second loop), I'm starting to play Dragon Blaze. This game is so addictive. Love the scoring mechanisms (they're not annoying), technical bonuses, and the traditional Psikyo method of changing up the first few stages. Keeps it fresh.

[Chaos Phoenixma]

Played a bit of Hitogata Happa as well. Did a run where I accidentally ended with 111 dolls because I bought something I shouldn't have which I reset immediately at the start of the final stage.

Tried out a bit of a different strategy and improved my Euridice score by around 30 million(to a bit over 442 million). Could still be improved upon if I didn't die as much. Maybe 500 million is possible for me? Not sure how many points I dropped due to accidental deaths so it may not actually be that high, and the TLB will just kill me a lot anyway, so I won't be getting too many points on that.


I don't think Rooty is very useful for scoring outside of maybe the Mission 3 boss. She'd also be useful if you were able to consistently do the left/right thing for i-frames, but I can't get it to work well. And even then I don't know if it'd be worth taking much of her for either of those. Just way too slow for me. I mainly use Fortuners and Sikkims which also have auto-collect on gems and try to avoid dying to bullets and enemies when flow gauge isn't full, which is a lot easier said than done.

[Meseki]

I don't think Rooty is very useful for scoring outside of maybe the Mission 3 boss. She'd also be useful if you were able to consistently do the left/right thing for i-frames, but I can't get it to work well. And even then I don't know if it'd be worth taking much of her for either of those. Just way too slow for me. I mainly use Fortuners and Sikkims which also have auto-collect on gems and try to avoid dying to bullets and enemies when flow gauge isn't full, which is a lot easier said than done.

Rooty is also useful on the Mission 2 boss for getting rid of the side shells and milking the cannon pods on the engine at the bottom afterward (especially since the Mana Action can be used to avoid the near point-blank shots if you react quickly). I mainly use Rooty so that I can more easily destroy enemies all around the screen (while still having auto-collection). The Mana Action isn't too hard for me to do, since I play on a keyboard (though I do need to get more used to it).
Sikkim's narrow range doesn't really work well with me, though I may consider Sikkim when I need a little more power, instead of just throwing out Clovers to use their Mana Action and die. The only unlock I have right now is Platina (who is a great example of making something look good but actually be really bad).

[Chaos Phoenixma]

Platina is more for survival oriented runs definitely. Would definitely have not cleared Destiny 13 if it weren't for her on the final stage, but you drop so many points with her.

Did some more attempts and got this




This could have easily been over 500 million if I hadn't completely screwed up Mission 3 boss, Mission 4, and the TLB stuff. I need to learn how to fight Mission 3 boss without many deaths. Mission 4 was just bad play in general(was using Lovers and still died a few times). And as for TLB, I don't ever expect that to go well since some of the patterns are just complete crap. Was getting worried that I'd time out on it because the amount of time you have to survive on each of the survival patterns gets reset when you die on one, and there was one I was dying to quite a lot.

I'd love to see the replays of the top scores. I have no idea how you would get over a billion.

[Kiken]

With all the Giga Wing talk I pulled out the DC and started playing it again. I've SCCed parts 2 and 3 but not the first; so I've been spending time in practice mode to develop some solid patterns/tactics for the stage 5, 6 and 7 bosses. The trick is going to be whether or not I can no-miss to stage 6 and if I can keep a couple of bombs going into that level.

[CloudyMusic]

I played a handful of credits of Hotdog Storm for no particular reason. The weapons are pretty satisfying and the bosses are pretty fun, but the difficulty seems really uneven and I'm not a fan of how a handful of attacks are basically undodgeable on reaction. There are also too many weird sections where literally nothing happens on-screen for several seconds. But, hey, giant robots.

[dink]

Saint Dragon by Jaleco

[Chaos Phoenixma]

Now at a bit under 700 million on Hitogata Happa Euridice. Still not done with this mode(for main game at least) though as I had a run where I entered the TLB at over 600 million and game overed to timeout.

This clear was a bit over 500 million entering TLB.

I know that the strats I'm using for this won't work for scoring on any of the 3 higher difficulties outside of maybe a few of them.

Once I get a run I'm satsified with, I'll upload the replay to Restart Syndrome. But at the moment, I'm not really satsified.



You can get quite a bit of points on Mission 3 boss with Rooty. Basically once you're in the final phase, point her options sideways, then just spam the mana action while shooting sideways. If done right, you'll be invincible and get a lot of points from the targets it drops. You can do this until the boss times out. I usually lose quite a bit of the potential though as I die a bit before the milk and die a few times as Rooty before I get it right.

[Stevens]

I currently feel like someone who did not sleep well and played Mars Matrix for 5 hours even though he knows he should have walked away three hours ago.

And other than discovering I can get equally as far with either ship today was a total bust.

I feel dejected, probably because I could have done other things with that time, but I know the truth is some time off is what I need.

At least till sometime tomorrow:D