The Chinese are coming

[Skykid]

Just got back from a shmup meet in Shanghai. There will be an incoming article in the next few weeks all about Lie Huo arcade and China's shmups players, so I can't go into too much detail here, but that one will have plenty of interviews and nice pictures in it.

I just want to share with the western shmup community that I had my mind blown. I've seen a lot of superplayers, either in vids or firsthand, but nothing could prepare me for the level of skill I witnessed over the weekend.

Basically, these guys are better than... well pretty much all of us. And no-one knows they even exist outside of Chinese STG gaming circles. It was both a sad and fascinating experience.

I saw people double play stuff fierce enough to induce nightmares at the thought alone, with a vast percentage of the group basically breezing to DOJ WL's TLB time after time (this is the most loved game on the whole, I saw too many nigh-on perfect runs to remember). Elsewhere guys were 1cc-ing Saidaioujou over and over again - with C-Type Swimsuit Edition - for clarification that's balls hard mode from the get go - and ripping into the overflow bug for insane scores.

After one breathless performance on Futari God Mode, I asked the same player (apparent no.1 in a team that's generally masterful all-round) to show me his DOJ WL skills. I've never seen so incredible a firsthand gaming feat in all my years as a gamer. I was literally dumbstruck.

I remember Prometheus saying loop 2 of WL is often downright unfair and he was unsure if it could be beaten with any consistency. Well it can. It can be broken down utterly consistently. The chap who did the weekend finale run was a god pilot: a machine threading bullets with exact precision, never missing a beat. He made it to the TLB on loop 2 with a NO MISS. It was unreal.

His score? Sorry Iconoclast! I know you only recently got a superb top spot on the WL table, and I don't know if the Chinese chaps will be posting scores here (I encouraged them to get more exposure by joining us as a community and share their achievements - and some are already members here) but:



Even more amazing, this is his second highest score. He totally stuffed up the TLB on nerves - If he had cleared the game we were thinking it would end at 2 billion or thereabouts.

Anyway, it's time to face the music! The shmup players of China have their own small STG leaderboard maintained by my friend Chris, and you can check them out here:

http://www.Niyaozao.com/Ranking

[Edit: Chris says this may not be viewable outside of China, and my VPN test says that's true. I'll try to screengrab a few games if anyone wants anything specific and post em here when I get the chance).



Thanks for reading, much more to come when I finish the article.

[Shepardus]

Nice, I look forward to seeing that article! More insight into different STG/arcade communities is always welcome.

For the record I can see that leaderboard site just fine from California. I've also seen it linked before in x91's signature.

[SCOOP]

Very interesting. I can't wait for a full article.

[Bananamatic]

the leaderboard looks pretty dead, no one seems to be posting the sdoj ex scores there

[Skykid]

the leaderboard looks pretty dead, no one seems to be posting the sdoj ex scores there

The community is small, but I'm sure Chris updates wherever possible. Keep in mind the guys who have access to Lie Huo are only those local to Shanghai - others have to wait for the occasional shmupmeet.

I didn't photograph the SDOJ EX scores - perhaps I should have - but as there were two guys clearing it on rotation every 10 minutes it became so incidental I didn't really think about it. My bad.

[emphatic]

Holy carp.

[scrilla4rella]

Really interesting stuff! I'm looking forward to reading the full article

[chempop]

Haha this is awesome. I’m going to start eating more noodles with chopsticks, get my fingers strong like chinese shmup masters.

[pokemon123]

as much as I dislike DDP scoring I find superplays of the game a thing of beauty to watch. Would have love to been there. I'm way over here in the states and it will probably be a long time before I go to China let alone shanghai. I speak some basic mandarin right now so you never know XD.

Looking forward to the article.

[MrSalamander]

Cool!
So happy talking with you those days.
Looking forward to seeing you next time and your new article.

[rjosal]

Do they play DOJ Tamashii over there? What are their thoughts?

[theMot]

Lei Hou is pretty good eh! I did a bit of a review of it here: http://www.neo-geo.com/forums/showthrea ... highlight=

[x91]

the leaderboard looks pretty dead, no one seems to be posting the sdoj ex scores there

We only have one single sdoj pcb in Shanghai, and in China. X360 players here seem have no interest in score attacking of this game. Probably because of the overflow?

And I'm that Chris guy handling the update and maintenance of the site. There are not many activties on the conventional arcade board now, all the shmups arcades in China are dwindling, very fast. But you can check the update log to see what went before. Stretch from 2010 when this board was set up.

A Few of us who can understand and speak some English, is, or have been here, but most of them just get covered by the sands of time, and never be known by other places in the world.

[Skykid]

Hi Chris & Mr Salamander! It was a great 48hrs with you guys, will definitely head to Lie Huo again as soon as possible to marvel at the skills. Missing the place already. A high speed train awaits.

Tell W.Y. (?) next time it's 2ALL or nothing.

And Chris, your English skills are equally impressive, you're definitely the right guy to represent China's STG players here.

[DKA_Darius]

My Iphone can't connect the internet when you were having a dinner...So I miss the chance to chat with this shmup master It is a pity
And the Ikaruga is also broken,The only game which I can play well is DFK ver1.5,TYPE-C Power style
It is very nice to see you in Lie Huo

[Skykid]

My Iphone can't connect the internet when you were having a dinner...So I miss the chance to chat with this shmup master It is a pity
And the Ikaruga is also broken,The only game which I can play well is DFK ver1.5,TYPE-C Power style
It is very nice to see you in Lie Huo

Hello Mr. 1.5! You were even wearing the shirt.

Hope to see you again soon.

[stger-why]

Ketsui: Kizuna Jigoku Tachi ‘s screen was faulty.So I have to watch the others stger played

[monouchi]

Great read, thanks Skykid. Looking forward to the article.

[CHI]

I’m going to start eating more noodles with chopsticks, get my fingers strong like chinese shmup masters.

Don't bother, I've been doing that most of my life, still I play like shit, but don't let me stop you

The great Skids is back (kinda miss you around here)...

[monouchi]

My wife makes excellent noodles and now I am starting to take 1cc after 1cc.
Chinese wife. <3

[Feedbacker]

Interesting post, looking forward to the complete article.

Nice to see that DOJ is still played in all the STG communities around the world.

1st WY/王毅 3,544,501,000 TYPE-A+EXY ALL 2013.2.12

So close to HFD WR

[Stompp]

My wife makes excellent noodles and now I am starting to take 1cc after 1cc.
Chinese wife. <3

That's cheating, Mono I suppose the Mexican diet my wife's keeping me on is the reason for why I'm bombing everything then

On a more serious note: awesome read, Skykid! Eagerly looking forward to the article!

[monouchi]

I suppose the Mexican diet my wife's keeping me on is the reason for why I'm bombing everything then

[Cata]

As been said by others, really looking forward to the article!

[iconoclast]

Yep, the leaderboards that x91 has had linked in his sig are pretty impressive. Their community doesn't look as large as ours, but they're clearly more dedicated. WC and WY especially are almost as good as top level Japanese players.

It makes me wonder how many other high level players are out there that we don't know about. I came across a Korean guy on twitter the other day with 470m in Ketsui, for example.

[Skykid]

WC and WY are really too good to be mere mortals. Even though I witnessed them wrecking games firsthand, the play level was so consistently perfect it defied the odds, particularly on DOJ WL. They just spent the whole day facing off against the TLB like it was nothing, even chatting casually to those watching. If it was me I'd be sweating bullets, letalone trying to dodge them.

One thing I learned is no matter how brutal the game, it can be bent into shape with absolute consistency. No missing 2 loops of WL... as an occasional one off I can believe it, but on almost every run - too much magic. All players agreed that DOJ WL is the hardest shmup of all based on 2 loops, although they admit to not playing Pink Sweets.

There were others too, not just those two. Another guy whose name escapes me was doing similar on DOJ, but was putting SDOJ EX out of commission like it was as simple as taking a leak.

I've already said too much, gotta hold some stuff back!

[Erppo]

I think the fact that many Western players don't even realize you can become consistently good at these games with some work just highlights how detached the community still is from the games themselves. These forums have lots of users but the main focus is still almost entirely on collecting and arcade hardware and stuff like that. Despite fine effort from some individuals, a proper higher level player community has yet to form. Maybe it never will as long as everyone is scattered all around the world, though that would be sad.

[cave hermit]

Aw man, I'm a disgrace to my Chinese heritage if this is the kind of skill level typical over there D:

Only 1CCs I've ever done were Mushi Black label original and Blue wish resurrection

I gotta up my game over the summer...

[cave hermit]

Also my family makes the best Jiaozi around on a regular basis, but the diet doesn't seem to be reflecting in my STG performance

[Icarus]

I think the fact that many Western players don't even realize you can become consistently good at these games with some work just highlights how detached the community still is from the games themselves. These forums have lots of users but the main focus is still almost entirely on collecting and arcade hardware and stuff like that.

This. I've always thought that the Western community had potential, but it's just potential squandered.
To be honest though, the number of really high-level players compared to the size of the community as a whole is generally quite small, no matter what gaming community you go to. It's just we seem to have a much smaller ratio compared to say the fighting game community or the speedrunners.

Despite fine effort from some individuals, a proper higher level player community has yet to form. Maybe it never will as long as everyone is scattered all around the world, though that would be sad.

We have a small group forming around STG streamers on Twitch, of course, but with the big difference in timezones, it's hard to get people together on a regular basis.