Shmup Ticker: What are you playing RIGHT NOW?

[Jonst]

Thanks stevens, sorry for your loss too man... Yeah, it's the worst...

I'll get back to shmuping soon, just gonna take a couple of days out, I'm sure I'll find something to get stuck into soon. I could dust off the dreamcast and finally get that fast striker clear I've almost nearly done a number of times or gigawing...

[MintyTheCat]

Thank you endokarb. Yeah, we're pretty devastated, he'd been with us a long time and was a hell of a character!

You have my sympathy. We are very close to our cats. Give yourself some time and keep in mind what you have shared with your cat. It is really sad to see them go

[Jonst]

Thank you mintythecat.

[Kollision]

My condolences, jonst.
I was against cats until my wife moved in and we got our furry baby. It's been three years now and it's kinda hard to know she might not be with us in, say, a decade from now.

[Jonst]

Thank you kollision. Yeah, it's rough times. You know it's coming at some point, you're never prepared for how much stuff can hit you. I've lost people too (a long time ago) but God damn, animals feel different as they aren't complicated and are unconditional.

[dink]

PC Engine Psycho Chaser. The game might be a bit dull at first, but the last stage (music / bosses) is excellent - that being said, its worth playing just to play the last level

[amdiggywhut]

Just want to pay my respects to Jonst regarding the cat situation... That shit really hurts and it sucks.

I tend to get mad when I'm knee deep in a credit and my cat tries to jump onto my lap uninvited. Dude just wants love though. Technosoft explosions are a comforting phenomenon for him. Couldn't imagine him not around.

Here's to you & yours & a future clear in the feline's name.

[Jonst]

Thank you amdiggywhut... It was not my intention to derail this thread in any way, I'm sorry. I appreciate the kind words and condolences, thank you all, it means a lot and is helping me through this horrible time.

[Chaos Phoenixma]

Played some more Raiden IV. Got a 2-2 run on the PS3 leaderboards for Arcade Mode and screwed around on Additional mode and Overkill. Even played some Ultimate Difficulty on Additional(360) Mode and got up to 1-3. I know I could get to at least 1-5 probably on Ultimate for those modes(maybe not for Overkill as those mission stages never go well for me), then get destroyed cause the stages that aren't in Arcade are a pain to do well in.

[Shepardus]

Still Battle Bakraid. It's sure frustrating to fail Axebeak several times in a row and then when I finally get it right I accidentally fail at the Railroad stage right after, and then when I get past Railroad I accidentally die trying to grab an extend in Naval. I really should be more consistent at this than I've been for the past few days...

Also playing a bit of CC:WI, trying to get over 1 trillion with Type III in Novice Original, since I've done it with all the other ships. For some reason my very first attempt is still my highest score, at 976 billion. I've gotten in the 900 billion range several times already, but I just keep dying too much to push it over my goal.

[Ikazu-san]

Operation Megucaing is is going as planned so far.
The thing is to not kill big reds so fast.

[OmKol]

Testing Top-10 of the hardest NES games by playing NES (american) version of Star Force which has ending screen after stage 24. It's harder than japanese Star Force. It's also hard than any NES/Famicom shmup I know. And it's harder than some 1CC in Cave 1-loop games. I have some strats but I still don't know how to beat this game because it's insane.

[CaptainBadAss]

I got the chance to play Mushihimesama Futari in a candy cab over the weekend. It was insanely fun and I found my Xbox 360 in my closet just so I could order it to play. After playing ProGear at Galloping Ghosts and Mushihimesama Futari, I'm really getting sucked into Cave STG .

[Kollision]

Testing Top-10 of the hardest NES games by playing NES (american) version of Star Force which has ending screen after stage 24. It's harder than japanese Star Force. It's also hard than any NES/Famicom shmup I know. And it's harder than some 1CC in Cave 1-loop games. I have some strats but I still don't know how to beat this game because it's insane.

Kudos for playing Star Force.
I was trying it too, but had to stop for a while or I'd go insane.
Imo it's just as tough as the arcade original.

[OmKol]

Testing Top-10 of the hardest NES games by playing NES (american) version of Star Force which has ending screen after stage 24. It's harder than japanese Star Force. It's also hard than any NES/Famicom shmup I know. And it's harder than some 1CC in Cave 1-loop games. I have some strats but I still don't know how to beat this game because it's insane.

Kudos for playing Star Force.
I was trying it too, but had to stop for a while or I'd go insane.
Imo it's just as tough as the arcade original.

Still trying. My current PB is Area Lambda (11).
Funny thing - this game is not balanced. I savestated whole game and midgame have more intense patterns than last stages.

[Jonst]

It's been a really shit week, but I'm back on doj, I felt a bit of progress. As much as I've claimed I don't enjoy this game, I'm not going to let it beat me!

[amdiggywhut]

Considering I've been playing Crimzon Clover nonstop the last couple weeks, the new arrange soundtrack that dropped today will be much appreciated. Looking forward to more credits tonight...

[Ikazu-san]

http://warframe.wikia.com/wiki/Wyrmius
Wish me luck. Or something.

[ptoing]

Because of Stunfest I got back into Muchi Muchi Pork. For sure gonna try to get at least a 1ALL in 1.01.
Best atm is 62mil with Ikuo, dying a bit before Boss 4.

[BareKnuckleRoo]

"The One Case"

Stumbled upon an awesome little doujin, cleared all its modes. It looks like a fairly standard doujin at first, and the Standard Difficulty isn't too rough. But play on Challenge Mode and you experience the full awesomeness of the game. Same with the Extra Stage - dodging moving walls, an escape sequence, aerial landmines, attacks from behind, targetted bomb strikes, reflecting lasers, enemies that fire off shots that have the same appearance as your own bombs and that BLOCK your shots - the threats in this game are quite varied compared to your average doujin. It's very refreshing.

Bombing seems to make you invulnerable to collision damage for a second or so, but sadly there's no graphical indicator of invulnerability time when you bomb. You also start the extra stage extremely weak. The laser ship has a lot of trouble due to how thin its shot is, I much preferred the spreadshot.

[BIL]

Cotton! Wan Handred Paasento (SFC). Didn't like this at first - weak firepower felt unnervingly euroshmuppy. HOWEVER that all changed when I started abusing the charge shot. Going without it is like playing Dragon Blaze without Dragon Shot. Much more satisfying this way. It's a pretty neat CS too - pierces both enemies and scenery, letting you annihilate distant threats well in advance. And you can hit the button again to recall it instantly, holding to start a new charge right away.

That sorted out, seems like really good fun. Standout feature is the dense stage design, lots of walls and obstacles to clamber over. Nice hectic pace.

[OmKol]

Star Force on NES, reached area 14 (X). Died on the last hard pattern.

[Stevens]

Under Defeat and ZG 2. I don't know what it is with me and helicopters.

Lackadaisically trying for the ALL in Under Defeat. I'll probably get it accidentally at some point, but I still need to get better at no missing 1-5.

I'm happy to be back into ZG 2. It is a lot of fun and about as unrealistic in setting/bosses as UD is realistic. I'm playing it on normal and usually eating it around 1-6.

How are you doing Jonst?

[Jonst]

Hey man! How am I doing?... I'm not, is the short answer! Life just getting in the way of having a few credits on anything... Although I did clear ketsui x again the other day then almost did it again with the other ship from my usual. Couple of lazy doj credits on the same day, I made stage 5 but haven't been able to play anything since due to some new crap every other day!

Glad you're back to zero gunner, but what happened to your Ak clear?!

[Kiken]

I had been playing Super R-Type on Hard up until last night (seeing as I'd already No Missed Normal, I felt I should aim higher). The increased enemy aggression wasn't so bad.. but the elevated damage capacity on certain enemies was really turning it into a slog (far more so than the game normally is). I may go back to later, but I think I've had my fill for the time being.

Since I received the Saturn port of Gunbird on Friday, I've been playing that. It's easily the best console port available. The PS1 version only features Original Mode 2 (aka "wobble mode") and the PS2 port is not scaled properly (when running in tate, everything is really blurry... it looks like the PS2 is performing a real-time rotation and scaling of the yoko setting but there's no overscan adjustment).

[Jonst]

Posting for self motivation... Actually managed to play something today! Played a credit of ddp doj this morning and not only made it to stage 5 and died just before the final boss! Probably my best credit yet and playing with a different character. No missed until stage 4, then made loads of stupid mistakes on stage 4 but on the whole, I'm pretty pleased and feel some progress, also my second highest score!

@ Stevens, damn, you really love under defeat!! Checked the tattoo thread nice one!

[Squire Grooktook]

Rayforce, Hyper Duel, and Mushihimesama Futari 1.5 Original. Trying to see if I can casually clear any of these without a significant time investment.

Rayforce never fails to impress me with its aggressiveness. Absolutely vicious game, especially when you no miss for too long and the rank maxes out. I have to balk at some of the later stages ferocity.

Hyper Duel isn't quite as fun as I remember it, but then again, I was playing on the arcade version instead of Saturn Arrange. Will have to try the Arrange and see if it's an improvement. Otherwise, the game has some fun battles in the last 3 stages, but otherwise feels like a less varied Thunderforce without all the flashy weapons to play with. The final battle is incredible fun though, probably worth the price of admission for that alone.

[BIL]

Hyper Duel isn't quite as fun as I remember it, but then again, I was playing on the arcade version instead of Saturn Arrange. Will have to try the Arrange and see if it's an improvement.

I find Saturn HD dramatically more fun simply due to the strafe lock. Being able to keep the mechs' big guns trained on a target while freely evading lets you be way more aggressive and stylish (and style is at least half of this game's worth, certainly early on! :3 nicer GRAFIX help too!).

I like putting mech+lock on the same button - so I can jet around swatting zako, get in a heavy's face to unleash a pointblank mecha meter strafe-rogering, then jet away again all with two buttons. Going back to AC feels really stilted, like I'm trying to play Granada (or indeed DOOM) without strafing.

[T4N3]

Border Down, practicing VTF-ino's route, with st5 in Y instead of R.
How the hell am I supposed to beat Giga Balanus without screwing up left and right
Literally the new Airman.

[LordHypnos]

Mostly focusing on Under Defeat, still, but I'm only getting a little time every week to practice it. Such is life. Still, I managed to no miss up to the stage 3 boss twice today, so I think that's improvement. Using only 2 bombs both times (one on the midboss, one in the second half of the stage, though it's probably just not being too familiar with that part yet. I appreciate the manic reflex dodging a lot in the two sections of the stage surrounding the midboss. It kind of feels impossible, yet it's quite possible to weave through those bullets, and I don't think the RNG is unfair, either, at least not for the most part. I really have no idea how to deal with the boss though. I might have to study some replays to figure that one out.

Other than that I've been playing a bit of Futari 1.5 casually, just because it's so different feeling from Under Defeat that it makes a nice break. I think I figured out which color corresponds to which shot type, as well, which improved my stage 1 score mildly, though I'm not really going for score, as such. I usually don't bother following the shot type thing after the first stage, though. My high score is around 41 mill, I think.

Still been doing a little Triggerheart, too. I still enjoy trying to optimize the first stage, and still have not figured out a good route for the second or third stages. My high score is at 38 or 39 mill right now

Also decided to take a break from new stuff and go back to Mars Matrix yesterday, to keep in practice. It's still pretty satisfying. Was just doing a bit of score attack. I actually got a new 5th stage record.