ST: HellSinker [PC] (Draft + Record listing)

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Zaarock
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ST: HellSinker [PC] (Draft + Record listing)

Post by Zaarock »

Work in Progress.
Unfinished sections:
  • 1.3 advanced techniques
    2.2 secrets
    3.2 stage strategy
    0.1 resources
Sections to be added:
  • 3.1 general strategy
    3.4 extra stage strategy
Image

HellSinker ST (supplement to game manual)

English strategy guide for HellSinker. The game was developed by Ruminant's Whimper AKA tonnor, a one-man development team. HellSinker is his second STG, following Radio Zonde. Released in 2007 at Comiket 72.

HellSinker is a quirky STG that is untraditional in that most of the difficulty comes from mastering the game system rather than dealing with bullet patterns. Enemy attacks aren't trivial but learning to use all the tools at your disposal will make the game much easier. Characters have a variety of powerful attacks and the game expects you to learn to use them. It's similar to titles like Thunderforce and Radiant Silvergun in this sense. Each playable character has significant differences in playstyle and the game is full of secrets and little tricks.

This guide is meant to supplement the manual that comes with the game, which has been translated to English by the translation team at gensokyo.org. It's unusual but this is a STG where you should read some of the instructions before playing to avoid confusion.

The English manual for the game can be viewed HERE. It also comes with the english patch.
Before the translation there was a consensus that the game is very cryptic about how it works on purpose. The manual mostly disproves that; it explains everything about the game barring stage specific strategy and secrets.

Since the instructions that come with the game cover the basics, the point of this guide is to give overviews of how characters and scoring work, describe secrets in the stages and give strategies for both survival and scoring play. Some content is copied over from the game manual, GD threads and the japanese wiki.


Contents
0.0 Introduction
  • 0.1 resources
    0.2 thanks / contributors
1.0 System
  • 1.1 basic system appendix
    1.2 character overviews
    1.3 scoring system
    1.4 advanced techniques
2.0 Secrets
  • 2.1 unlockables
    2.2 stage secrets
3.0 Strategy
  • 3.1 general strategy
    3.2 stages
    3.3 extra stages

0.1 - Resources

Game
Steam (PC digital) version store page
Booth (PC digital) version, Tonnor store

Official website - patches, news, etc. / ruminant's whimper
English manual (by translation team @ gensokyo.org)
English translation patch & manual / gensokyo.org

Import store: nanapo store / 7-iro
Import store: march hare / 3-get
Import store: tokyo shmups / rancor

Information
Japanese wiki for HellSinker and Radio Zonde (40.atwiki)
shmups.system11 General Discussion thread: current, previous
English wiki

Scoreboards
Main scoreboard revival @ royalflare (2016/8)
Previous main scoreboard for HellSinker with replays. (7-iro) - update: permanently down
shmups.system11 hi-score thread: Current, RNGmaster, Macaw

Records / replays / videos:

Full Sequence Order -

KEEP YOUR DIGNITY.
Last edited by Zaarock on Sun Aug 08, 2021 2:53 pm, edited 135 times in total.
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Zaarock
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Re: ST: HellSinker (Draft)

Post by Zaarock »

1.0 - System

For basic system information check the game manual


Controller config
You can set which action is mapped to each button on your controller using HS_padas.exe or HS_padas_e.exe (english translation)

Keyboard control has the following mappings (layout cannot be changed):
Movement: Arrow keys
Button 1: Z
2: X
3: C
4: V
5: ESC
6: F10
7: 1

Movement is mapped to main joystick / left analog on a gamepad.
English translated control config also works for the japanese version.

Mapping translation
Image

Settings listed in bold on the right:
1. Main shot
2. Sub weapon
3. Bomb
4. Pause
5. Return to menu during play (hold button)
6. Retry/replay fast forward (hold button)
unlisted:
7. Slow movement button. This isn't listed on the right even in the english config. It's the one that starts with brackets, mapped to the 8th button on this screenshot.
8. Unassigned. Marked with a white triangle. 2nd button on screenshot is unassigned.


Video config
Graphics settings can be changed in the window that opens upon starting the game.

TBA

Game settings / DIPSW are covered in the game manual.

1.0X - Bugs & compatibility issues

version 1.009 (required for english patch) has some problems if ran on Windows 8 / 8.1:
- game crashes if a certain type of USB controller is connected to the machine (ex. Xbox360 controller) : no known workaround so revert to version 1.008f if this happens
- ?


1.1 - Basic system +
HellSinker jargon in common STG terms
R=jargon&meaning R=Archivement of Executors&Rankings R=Bootleg Ghost&Autobomb setting R=Discharge&Bomb R=Executor&Player R=imMORTALITY&Extend bonus R=Luna&Main shot gauge R=Prayer&Enemy R=Segment&Stage R=Segment Location&Stage Select R=Sol&Bomb gauge - but also affects main shot power R=Spirit&Score R=Stella&Rank - difficulty scaling R=Suppression Radius&Aura R=Tuning Dipsw.&Options


Additional status visualization around player
Image

- Characters can have individual indicators for special luna states (like overfire, xanthez reloading his ammo).
- Since there are indicators for Bomb and Main shot being ready it's not necessary to look at their respective gauges on the HUD, unless you want to know how far they are charged.

- Spirit gain is displayed in orange if the value is 10 or higher. There's also a sound effect to accompany this. (optional setting, default: on)
- The white 'spirit locus' that are released from destroyed enemies also visualize how many spirits you get, but their number stops rising at some point. (optional, default: on)

- The stella visualization with the stars seems to be slightly delayed
- If the stars circling your character are red it means you are in 'death recovery' state where additional deaths give larger penalties (further explained in the manual)


1.1.2 - Corrections to previous ST
- Spirit score is affected indirectly by tokens - every 100 adds one life token, so collecting tokens will get you more immortality bonuses in a playthrough.
- Requirements for the second breakthrough bonus depend on which requirement is reached first (spirits or kills), described in manual.



1.2 - Character overviews
Gives rough overviews of how characters work, their performance in both survival and scoring and examples of weapon usage.

stat system copied from japanese wiki:
◆ on character stats shows to what extent something can be performed easily
◇ on character stats shows additional performance that can be attained depending on your technique with the character

Overall character stat potential is both ◆ and ◇ added up.

Control description: A = main shot, B = subweapon, C = bomb/discharge

MISTELTOE : TOGARI-MARU
FOLLOWING TYPE [RELATIVE POSITION] || SOLITUDE TYPE [FIXED POSITION] (switched by pressing pause)
D E A D L I A R
Spoiler
Character that specializes in hit-and-run tactics at medium and close range. Has powerful attacks but narrow attack range. His subweapon is difficult to master. Has high scoring potential, but reaching it requires very risky play.

With FOLLOWING TYPE the sub-weapon can be used as a melee weapon: you can place it on top or near your character's hitbox. The main shot pierces enemies if you mash the button rapidly. Secret ability: If you charge the main weapon for 60 seconds the aiming reticule starts spinning and the attack becomes extremely powerful, enough to instant-kill some bosses.

Survival: Big attack power with the charged main weapon. However, his main shot has narrow attack range so it is difficult to attack enemies from range if they're not directly in front.

Scoring: Highest scoring potential on full sequence along with Minogame. Has the highest spirit value raising ability of all characters using the 'firing spark' of his main shot. Charging his bomb can be used for some safety while grazing. Because of all the point-blanking required and having few avoidance/safety abilities, Deadliar is difficult to play for score and requires risky play.

Recommended weapon usage:
Single target damage: Charged main weapon 'Dead Array' combined with subweapon.
Multiple target damage: Combine main shot and deployed subweapon. Or deploy subweapon with B-hold and use charged main shot on another target.

Single target value increase: Point blank with A-shot from any direction.
Wide range value increase: same as single target method.

Bomb usage:
'Carnage Raid': Covers a massive area and does big damage. Great for boss fights and destroying large groups of enemies. You can delay its activation by holding the bomb button, and will also get invulnerability during the delay. Useful for grazing.

Character stats:
Power ◆ ◆ ◇ ◇ ◇
Attack range ◆ ◆ ◇
Safety ◆ ◆ ◇ ◇
Easy to handle ◆ ◆ ◇ ◇
Icon Collection ◆ ◆ ◆ ◆ ◇
MISTELTOE : SARAGA-MARU
[OMNIDIRECTIONAL SYNTHETIC FIREARM]
F O S S I L M A I D E N
Spoiler
Versatile character that can be difficult to use at first. Can aim almost all attacks in 8 directions. Alter the shot direction with either A+B or the slow movement button. Has a bomb that recharges quickly. Easy to use for scoring play, but has lower potential.

Survival: Difficult to use but has a versatile array of attacks. Has a close-medium range melee weapon with A+B that can deal good damage. The bullet cancelling laser 'Breaking Chain' (A+A with max Luna) and her bomb can be very good for safety.

Fossilmaiden's Aura is weak and she cannot use slow movement, making dodging tight bullet patterns a bit harder.

Scoring: Since she can raise spirit values from any direction, and has a non-damaging secondary bomb for safety during grazing & milking she is easy to use for scoring purposes. Also has the ability to get massive amounts of points from one of the final bosses because of how her A+A laser works.

However she has much less score potential than Deadliar and Minogame because
1. she cannot raise spirit values as quickly
2. significantly less points from grazing
3. slower rate of getting extends for 'immortality' bonuses


Recommended weapon usage:
Single target damage: alternate A+B 'Lance Device' & A+A 'Breaking Chain'. Space the Lance so that both the base of it and the 'flame' that comes out hits the enemy
Multiple target damage: main shot OR subweapon

Single target value increase: yellow flame from the reverse side of A+B 'Lance Device'. Covers a surprisingly large area.
Wide range value increase: widened main shot (hold it for it to widen)

Bomb usage:
Normal bomb 'Curtain Riser': for high damage over a large area. Button can be held to throw it further & you can attack simultaneously.

Secondary bomb 'Bacillus Cloak': use for safety if not wanting to damage enemies, or when trying to graze.

Character Stats:
Power ◆ ◆ ◇ ◇
Attack range ◆ ◆ ◆ ◆
Safety ◆ ◆ ◆ ◇ ◇
Easy to handle ◆ ◆ ◇ ◇
Icon Collection ◆ ◆ ◆ ◇ ◇
STAND BY ONESELF
[NO ADDITIONAL EQUIPMENTS]
M I N O G A M E
Spoiler
Easier to use character with good defensive abilities. Has very untraditional weapons for a STG. His normal shot is weak, but he has many powerful unaimed homing attacks, and a melee attack that uses his Aura as a weapon. He is fairly powerful, the only thing he is lacking in is single target damage.

Survival: Good at dealing with large crowds of enemies. Minogame has the most defensive abilities of all characters. He has a very strong aura, allowing you to cancel normal bullets. A+B (lv2) creates an area which gives you invulnerability. Allows you to momentarily ignore bullet patterns, but sacrifices damage.

Scoring: Very high point gain from grazing and good spirit value increase. On par with deadliar, but with some more emphasis on grazing. Only thing he lacks in is collecting the crystals in the Shrine of Farewell, as he doesn't have an 'option' to place for collecting items.

Single target damage: Charged main weapon 'Forbidden Shell' + LV2 sub while holding main 'Nimbus Cluster Yellow Blank'. Point blank bomb.
Multiple target damage: LV2 subweapon 'Reality Hedge' + Charged + cancelled main weapon 'Forbidden shell break'.

Single target value increase: point blank main shot
Multiple target value increase: point blank main shot + LV1 subweapon while holding main shot

Bomb usage:
'Azure Lotus': fires out projectiles in all directions around the player. Does more damage to enemies at point blank range.

Character Stats:
Power ◆ ◆ ◇
Attack range ◆ ◆ ◆ ◆ ◆
Safety ◆ ◆ ◆ ◆ ◇
Easy to handle ◆ ◆ ◆ ◆ ◇
Icon Collection ◆ ◆ ◇
EQUIPMENT : KOB-07S GROOM EATER
MOON CRADLE [MULTI TRAJECTORY SHELL]
K A G U R A
Spoiler
Well-rounded character. It can simultaneously fire its main shot while charging it. Has a subweapon attack that can be aimed at any point in the screen, which does massive damage at maximum charge. Has a weak bomb but it can be fired twice at max gauge. In general, it can throw out a variety of attacks while maintaining constant fire.

Survival: Great power when holding main shot. Can deal massive damage with well positioned charged subweapon shots. Bomb is weak but higher capacity, so you get more chances to ignore patterns.

Scoring: Great ability to raise spirit values using the held main weapon and charged subweapon. Good point gain from grazing, but with Kagura having aura active reduces points gained from it so using Adept style is necessary for getting graze when not firing. Score play is a bit risky as you get no autobomb.

Recommended weapon usage:
Single target damage: rapid main shot + rapid subweapon or pre-emptive LV2-3 charged subweapon
Multiple target damage: Held main shot, LV2-3 charged subweapon.

Single target value increase: point blank rapid main shot + LV1 charged subweapon
Wide range value increase: LV1 charged subweapon + close range held main shot

Bomb usage:
Knows Only Blazing - 'Ring of Light': Uses 2 SOL gauge, gauge amount has no effect on the attack. Low damage and duration. With 4 gauge you can bomb twice at the same time.

Character Stats:
Power ◆ ◆ ◆ ◇
Attack range ◆ ◆ ◆ ◇
Safety ◆ ◆ ◆
Easy to handle ◆ ◆ ◆ ◇
Icon Collection ◆ ◆ ◇
EQUIPMENT : KOB-06S PAIN KILLER
ELLIPTIC CHARIOT [EXTERNAL GUNNER]
K A G U R A
Spoiler
Character with a deployable gunner unit, very similar to the mechanics in the game Dragon Blaze. The gunner unit is controlled with subweapon, and does some damage as it is shot out. You can cover most of the screen with bullets with the gunner detached. You lose some total firepower if the unit is attached, but having it attached speeds up your movement.

Survival: Very good attack coverage makes weaker enemies not much of a threat. Can deal high damage with good positioning of the gunner. Very long lasting bomb is useful for safety. Using the bomb for damage requires getting close up to the target.

Scoring: Very bad spirit value raising ability. As with other Kagura types, the aura reduces points gained from grazing so using Adept style is necessary to get more spirits.

Recommended weapon usage:
Single target damage: At high LUNA: rapid main shot with subweapon detached. Low LUNA: hold main weapon and keep firing the subweapon at the target and calling it back.
Multiple target damage: Held main shot with subweapon detached, bomb.

Single target value increase: Unknown, no real ability.
Wide range value increase: LV5 bomb, held main shot with gunner detached.

Bomb usage:
Knows Only Blazing - 'Kindled Flame': Drops a bomb at the point of your hitbox. Cancels bullets in a wide area but does damage in a smaller one. Does decent damage and lasts very long, making it useful for survival. Bomb power/size/length depends on the level of the SOL gauge.

Character Stats:
Power ◆ ◆ ◇ ◇ (Dependant on bomb size)
Attack range ◆ ◆ ◆ ◆ ◇
Safety ◆ ◆ ◆ ◇
Easy to handle ◆ ◆ ◇
Icon Collection ◆ ◆ ◇
EQUIPMENT : KOB-0CS PROMISED DAWN
INFERNAL SABBATH [VARIABLE GUN]
K A G U R A
Spoiler
Most simple to use character in the game, almost no tricks or gimmicks to learn. The closest thing to a generic STG ship the game has to offer. Has a strong forward shot with controllable width using subweapon. Holding main weapon attacks the sides. Has a decent bomb. Lacks scoring ability.

Survival: Being very easy to use and fairly powerful makes this an easy character to use for survival. It also gets a lot of extends because the extend requirement never goes up. Has no special tricks up its sleeve.

Scoring: Low spirit raising ability. Since you get a lot of extends you can get a fair amount of points from immortality bonuses. Like other Kagura types having aura active reduces spirits gained from grazing, so it's necessary to play with Adept (autobomb off) to get more points.

Recommended weapon usage:
Single target damage: Narrow main shot.
Multiple target damage: Held main weapon or widened main shot, depending on enemy positions.

Single target value increase: Point blank main shot, preferrably from above or the side.
Wide range value increase: LV5 bomb, held main weapon.

Bomb usage:
Knows Only Blazing - 'Blockbuster firebomb': Large bomb that does more damage to targets near its core. Can be shot further by holding the bomb button. Hits rapidly enough to be decent for raising spirit values.

Character Stats:
Power ◆ ◆ ◆ ◆
Attack range ◆ ◆ ◆ ◇
Safety ◆ ◆ ◆
Easy to handle ◆ ◆ ◆ ◆
Icon Collection ◆ ◆
EQUIPMENT : KOB-0FS NO CHASER
XANTHEZ [ANTI BACILLUS SABER]
K A G U R A
Spoiler
Very powerful attacks but difficult to use. Weapon usage requires some planning. Lacking in scoring ability. Has a main shot that automatically targets targets in the front, more shots are fired if the enemy is directly in front. The shot also has a unique ammo system. Subweapon is a melee attack with wide range.

Survival: While the main shot is powerful it's easy to run out of ammo. Charged main shot is powerful but the charge time is long, so it has to be used pre-emptively. Subweapon has great coverage and damage but has a slight interval between attacks. Bomb is bad for safety due to short duration. Requirements for extends rise quickly (second only to fossilmaiden)

Scoring: The only rapid-fire attack is the main shot, which does too high damage to be good for raising enemy values. Like other Kagura types having aura active reduces spirits gained from grazing, so it's necessary to play with Adept (autobomb off) to get more points.

Recommended weapon usage:
Single target damage: Rapid fire main shot & subweapon for quick damage. While reloading or as the target appears, Charged main shot and subweapon.
Multiple target damage: Subweapon while charging main shot (gives extended radius). Charged main shot has decent coverage and piercing but takes too long to charge to use on reaction.

Single target value increase: Rapid fire main shot at point blank.
Wide range value increase: Aura/'Suppression Radius'.

Bomb usage:
Knows Only Blazing - 'Penetrating Arrow': A laser that does massive damage to the front but has short duration. Highest damaging bomb in the game when at max level, great for boss fights. This bomb does LESS damage the closer you are to the enemy.

Character Stats:

Destructive power ◆ ◆ ◆ ◇ ◇
Range attack ◆ ◆ ◆
Safety ◆ ◆ ◇ (Bomb isn't very reliable for survival)
Easy to handle ◆ ◇ ◇
Icon Collection ◆ ◇

1.3 - Scoring system: 'Spirits'
The details of the scoring system are explained in the manual but spread between various pages, so a more condensed description is useful. Some text is copied over from the manual.

Score sources will be listed in order of importance. I recommend ignoring the less important ones until learning the ones above them.


1. Enemy spirit values:

Image

The green number on an enemy part shows the amount of SPIRITs that will be obtained if the target is destroyed at the moment.
The amount will change depending on how much you have hit the enemy and on your current rank/STELLA, but this can be a rough guide.

Essentially, enemy values raise based on how quickly you are hitting them and other targets simultaneously and also scales based on the current rank. Using weaker attacks means you can increase their value longer allowing enemy 'milking/leeching'. It's sort of like milking for tick points, only you receive all points upon the death of the enemy.

details:
Spoiler
When attacking a target, its score value rises with the density of hits (the number of attacks simultaneously hitting targets). If you are hitting two targets with the same attack, this attack density doubles, doubling the value increase on both targets. The same applies for any number of targets.

As such, attacks that hit very rapidly but cause low damage and attacks that hit rapidly over a wide area are very good for raising spirit values. These attacks are character specific, but for most the bullet cancelling Aura/'Suppression Radius' has some use as it deals little damage.

NOTE: The visual option COMMON HIT SPARK can visualize how rapidly attacks are hitting.

In cases where one part of the target is dependent on another, destroying child parts (arms and such) can raise the parent parts SPIRIT value. There are also special cases where enemies values are affected by their range to the player.

Even though milking the enemies for spirit values is possible, most stages run on a timer where destroying enemies quickly will give you more and more bonus waves. In a stage like Extra 1 you have almost no time to raise values. It becomes important to know how to raise values quickly, and how fast you need to finish off enemies for the optimal amount of bonus waves.

2. Grazing
'Needle'-type bullets can be grazed for points, meaning if you let them get close to your hitbox you will be awarded with spirits. Point gain depends on your range to the bullet, your character and whether your Aura/Suppression Radius is active. For everyone else than Kagura having the aura active increases point gain, for Kagura it's the opposite. Unlike most games you can graze the same needle-bullet repeatedly (sort of like lasers in psyvariar)


3. Immortality bonus (extends)
Getting extends at max lives will give you bonus points. The bonus increases each time, going up to the thousands. You can easily get over 20,000 spirits alone from these bonuses, so not dying is well rewarded. Characters have different rates for extend requirements, altering the point gains from this a little.

Value of Immortality bonus: 80 + 40*(current count of bonuses). For breakthrough extends it is 200 + 40*count of bonuses.

details:
Spoiler
When you reach a BREAKTHROUGH, either on Spirits or Kills (both are at 5,000), the requirements for extends are reset. So getting more kills in the early game can award you with more points in the end.
It's worth noting that items other than hearts also get you closer to extends, but at a much lower rate. The single spirit items gained from bullet cancels are the second best after extend items. Every 100th token gives you one life token.

4. Shrine of Farewell
The special stage that takes away your spirits upon starting, but doubles your score if you perform well. This is single most important stage to learn for scoring runs.

You are given special crystal items to evaluate your performance. The value of a crystal is 1/200 of your score upon entering. The maximum amount of crystals you can get is 424, multiplying your score by 2.12 as you exit the shrine.

Crystals received are reduced if:
- You die more than 1/2 times
- You hit the 'Spirit Stone' enemies after bosses with a bomb attack
- You take very long to finish the boss rush

Not dying many times is the most important thing. Just getting a route down where you die less than 4 times should get you enough crystals to double your score.


5. Maintaining rank
Rank scales all score sources, so you want to get it to maximum (A) asap. Staying at high rank and playing aggressively will also award you with some extra points over time. A small amount, but it adds up in a playtrough. Picking up excess shot/luna items, not getting hit and staying near the top of the screen raise it among other things.

It's worth noting that the rank in this game does not have a massive effect on difficulty, the difference is small compared to most STG with rank systems. The Segment 7 boss even gets easier attack patterns at high rank.

6. Spirit items / Ingots
The hexagonal orange items give you spirits when collected. Defeating bosses and finishing some boss phases causes a cancel where all bullets are turned into these score items, so killing bosses with good bullet cancels can reward you with thousands of points over a run. The items also count towards getting an extend.

7. Special bosses
Some bosses award you with points when dealing damage to them, namely all the bosses in Stage/Segment 8. Attacking aggressively will be awarded in these fights. For example, it's possible for Fossilmaiden to gain 30,000 spirits from the True last boss because she can rapid-fire a highly damaging attack during that fight.

8. Destructible bullets
Destroying enemy bullets awards you a small amount of spirits. In situations with large barrages of destroyable bullets you can get significant spirit gain, for example on the final phase of the Segment 1 Lead boss.


1.4 - Advanced techniques

Characters with options can pick up any items using them. A big use for this is in shrine of farewell where at the end of the stage 'crystal' reward items home towards your character. If you place your option below yourself it will collect all crystals for you.
Image

Hitting invulnerable enemy parts makes them drop rank-increasing items in large quantities. Great for quickly raising rank/stella.
Image
Last edited by Zaarock on Tue Oct 16, 2018 12:10 pm, edited 48 times in total.
User avatar
Zaarock
Posts: 1877
Joined: Mon Nov 07, 2005 4:18 pm
Location: Finland

Re: ST: HellSinker (Draft)

Post by Zaarock »

!! SPOILERS FROM THIS POINT ONWARDS !!

2.0 - Secrets

2.1 - Unlockables

Kagura - Playable character with 4 different shot types/equipments.
- Clear the first 4 stages on 1 credit

LEAD stages & Stage Select - You get to choose between BEHIND and LEAD for the first three stages.
- Clear the first 4 stages on 1 credit

Main menu themes:
  • "GRAVEYARD" - initial unlock
  • "DRIVING FACTOR" - 1cc the first 4 stages.
  • "A THING LEFT BEHIND" - reach stage 8 on a single credit.
  • "MEMENTO" - beat extra stage 2.
After unlocking all menus you can switch between them in the game settings.

Short Mission mode
- 1cc past stage 7

Extra Stage 1 (Score attack stage):
- Defeat the TLB Lost Property 771.

Extra Stage 2
- Clear Extra stage 1

Inspect strategy recorder
- Clear Extra stage 2

Scribbles of the graveyard 1-8
- View all strategy recordings

True End
- Unlock everything, view all strategy recordings and exit game
- Restart game and sound mode will be unlocked

2.2 - Stage Secrets

Segment 1B: Sealed War Relics Outskirts
- One of the 'Coffin' enemies is vulnerable and drops some extend items.


Segment 1L: WAR RELICS / Sealed War Relics
Image
- Pacifist bonus: Don't kill the two 'Transport' -enemies in the beginning, different enemies will spawn. Keep the transports alive alive through the stage and they will kill the boss for you.


Segment 2B: RUINED CASTLE / Old 7th Sect
- ?


Segment 2L: RUINED CASTLE / Sea Area
- Spirit stone wave 1: destroy the first few enemy waves quickly
- Spirit stone wave 2: destroy all legs of the four-legged 'Waterleaper' enemies before killing them

- The top part of the boss is difficult to destroy but drops ~10 life tokens.
- Boss graze pattern: Scarlet Queen fires a pattern with tons of needle shots if the front parts are destroyed and the 'wing' parts are in a symmetrical state.
Image
- Extra boss form Scarlet Queen ~ SPIRIT KERNEL: defeat the boss at rank 7 or higher
Image


Segment 3B: CLOUDY OCEAN / Beyond Nimbus


Segment 3L: CLOUDY OCEAN / Ocean of Regret
- The spirit value of the wing -enemies only activates at short range (base value 10). Destroying each enemy is worth more points than killing their Masters.
- The large-armed midboss-enemy gets significant spirit value increase as each part is destroyed, and fires a barrage of missiles when only the core remains.


Segment 4: UNDERPATH / Garden Sewage System
- This stage runs completely on a timer. Defeting enemy waves will keep spawning new ones.
- Enemy waves are distinquished as sectors on the top left of the screen.

- On Sector 10 if you go up to the top of the screen after destroying the enemies onscreen bullets are cancelled into spirit ingots. Similar to point of collection in touhou games but you get a bullet cancel instead. Only used in this sector.
Image

- The final enemy waves are formed of unchainable Kaname Stones(Unnamed 443). On the japanese scoreboard there are lots of challenge replays to see how quickly the final wave can be reached.

- The stage boss will not appear if you have 0 terra.
- Boss extend: kill the boss without destroying its wings and it will drop an extend.
- Boss myriad forms: destroy both wings and the boss will go through a massive cycle of attack patterns which cycle as soon as parts/enemies are destroyed.
Eventually it goes into a final form with a constant stream of unchainable enemies.
Image


Segment 5: ON THE MEDALLION / Garden Huge Archive (aka: Sol Cathedral / Luna Crypt)
- The spirit value of yellow turrets in the stage is multiplied based on how close you are to them.

- Perpetual Calendar secret form: destroy all turrets on the final attack 'Astrolabium' twice to trigger a secret final attack.
Image
Destroying Perpetual Calendar's core during the secret attack rewards you with Terra items (which can delay when you go to the Shrine of Farewell stage).


Segment 6: INTO CARDINAL / Cardinalshaft Frame
- Secret extend fountain: between a block formation at the beginning of the stage. Spews out life tokens as it is hit. Hitting this with a rapid fire attack can get you enough tokens for many extends.
Image

- Defeating the midboss Elder Mistletoe [Slug Lady] quickly yields many bonus enemy waves.
- The huge laser fired at you throughout the stage can kill enemies, but you will get no points when it happens.
Image

- The Unnamed 284 enemies switch colors and attack patterns if you move behind them. They fire a barrage of destroyable bullets in this state.
Image



Segment 7: PAST RISINGS AGAIN / Irreversible Lane
Image
- Unchaining enemies on the right side drops extend items, while destroying parts individually on the left side does the same.

- The '1000 Knights' -enemies preceding the boss fight drop life tokens if destroyed after they have attempted a melee attack.

- The boss of this stage chooses one of two attack patterns depending on rank.
- Letting Rex Cavalier's final form empty its MEMORY TRANSFER gauge causes gameover.

Image
- In addition to a gauge the remaining time of the MEMORY TRANSFER is visualized as a circle closing in on your character.

- Significant amounts of bonus spirits are rewarded as 'THE LAST PRESENT' at the end of the stage based on how close the MEMORY TRANSFER was to finishing, so for score you want to finish off the boss right before it finishes.


Segment SH: SHRINE OF FAREWELL / Under the seal
- The aimed laser trail attack on Temperament Nil also damages herself
- Bombing AL4TH's first form heals her

- Hitting the Kaname Stone enemies with bombs prevents you from receiving crystals (shrine specific score item) from them.

- After defeating four bosses you will face an invulnerable boss until the stage times out. It spews out a tont of popcorn enemies so getting to it early can award you with a lot of enemy kills.


Segment 8: LAST DAWN / Cardinalshaft Central
- Bombing the 'Spirit stone' enemies (Unnamed 487) as soon as they appear makes bonus enemies spawn
Image

- During the HellSinker boss fight you raise a 'satisfaction meter' as you cause damage. It goes down over time if damage is not dealt. After the boss has gone through its attack forms you face one of three possible true last bosses depending on how high the gauge is at the end.
  • Bombing the boss near the beginning drops the satisfaction meter
  • Damaging the boss while in invulnerable state does not increase the meter

2.3 - Trivia: Connections to Radio Zonde
- The base story is similar to Radio Zonde: in both games you face machines built by 'precursors' that seem inactive but attack anyone who disturbs their area. In both games it's revealed that the machines were formarly human.

- The segment 5 midboss 'Old Rose' is the final boss of Radio Zonde. Most of her attack patterns are based on ones in radio zonde, though heavily toned down.

- The music for segment 6 boss is a remixed version of the first boss theme from radio zonde.
- Segment 6 bosses appearance resembles the first boss in radio zonde. They also use many attacks based on the two main characters of the game. Could the bosses be them in 'Prayer' form?

- The bosses linked to Radio Zonde and Saint Mauve are the only ones with random attack orders
Last edited by Zaarock on Mon Aug 12, 2019 7:03 pm, edited 26 times in total.
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Re: ST: HellSinker (Draft)

Post by Zaarock »

3.0 - Strategy

3.1 - General Strategy

3.2 - Stages

Segment 1B: Sealed War Relics Outskirts
BOSS: Quiet Minstrel
Image


Segment 1L: WAR RELICS / Sealed War Relics
BOSS: Rex Cavalier (air combat frame)
Image


Segment 2B: RUINED CASTLE / Old 7th Sect
BOSS: Glorious Symbol
Image


Segment 2L: RUINED CASTLE / Sea Area
BOSS: Scarlet Queen (air battle frame) & Spirit Kernel - [Heroic Dead] Scarlet Queen
Image


Segment 3B: CLOUDY OCEAN / Beyond Nimbus
BOSS: Sunken Bishop
Image


Segment 3L: CLOUDY OCEAN / Ocean of Regret
- Destroying all the parts of the 'CLIONE' battleships after increasing their values is worth a ton of points.
- The wide 'Seagull' enemies are worth 10 spirits each (their value only activates at close range). Do not go for unchains if playing for Spirits.
- The midboss-enemy with long arms gets significant spirit value increase as each part is destroyed, and fires a barrage of missiles when only the core remains.


Segment 4: UNDERPATH / Garden Sewage System
BOSS: Rusted Dragon
Image
- The boss will not appear if you have 0 terra.

- Extend: kill the boss without destroying its wings and it will drop an extend.
- Myriad forms: destroy both wings and the boss will go through a massive cycle of attack patterns which cycle as soon as parts/enemies are destroyed.
Eventually it goes into a final form with a constant stream of unchainable enemies.


Segment 5: ON THE MEDALLION / Garden Huge Archive (aka: Sol Cathedral / Luna Crypt)
There are two different routes on this stage, SOL and LUNA. you can switch between them using warp points. For the stage portion SOL is longer and more spread out, while LUNA is shorter. For the most score it seems to be best to warp from SOL to LUNA at a certain point, to get the most extend items.

Each turret on this stage drops extend items and there's a ton of them. This can give you a lot of immortality bonuses or refill your life stock for the difficult boss rush ahead.

BOSS: Perpetual Calendar <SOL> or <LUNA>
Image

MID-BOSS: Aristofencer
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MID-BOSS: CuriousMediator
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MID-BOSS: Neverblossum
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MID-BOSS: [Heroic Dead] Old Rose (from RADIO ZONDE) <SOL only>
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MID-BOSS: [Heroic Dead] Saint Mauve <LUNA only>
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Perpetual Calendar secret form


Segment 6: INTO CARDINAL / Cardinalshaft Frame
BOSS: Apostles of the Seed (Dawn & Dusk)
Image

After the boss these large enemies fire lots of destroyable bullets, try not destroying them before they fire for some extra spirits.
Image


Segment 7: PAST RISINGS AGAIN / Irreversible Lane
BOSS: Rex Cavalier (land battle frame) & Spirit Kernel [Heroic Dead] Rex Cavalier
Image


Segment SH: SHRINE OF FAREWELL / Under the seal
Boss rush stage. You can select the order of the bosses in the initial area. Each boss is represented by a symbol.
The stage runs on a timer, by defeating the bosses quickly you get to face a long popcorn rush bonus wave at the end.

Don't hit the "Kaname Stone" -enemies with bombs or you won't get crystals. Spirit stones appear in the same order regardless of the boss order you choose. All spirit stones apart from the first have a safespot directly above them (easily abusable by fossilmaiden, perhaps not others). You can raise the value of the final spirit stone for a while if there is enough time left on the timer.

I'm not sure what causes the difference between 420 and 424 crystals.

BOSS: AL4TH
Image
Hitting AL4TH with a bomb during her first attack 'Strange Moon' heals her, so avoid it. On the same attack you also have to destroy her orb-like options for her to get vulnerable. Don't get too close to he in the second form or you will be knocked around by the options. Don't move while trapped in the last form unless necessary.

BOSS: Millionlives
Image

One of the harder bosses in the stage. The trails of blood in the first form block your shots, use piercing or option attacks to deal with it. The second and final forms are pretty nasty.. speedkilling and bomb use is recommended.

BOSS: Ninelives
Image

Your height on the screen determines the size of the "web" of shots in the first form, stay near the middle for it to be large. stay close to ninelives on the last form because the fire circle is formed around your own position.

BOSS: Temperament Nil
Image
The drawn "lines" in the first form damage the boss more than anything you can do. She always moves in the same pattern in the first form, so you can finish it very quickly with some practice.

Bonus waves after bosses, until timeout: you have no penalty for deaths here. Patterns can be streamed/tap dodged fairly easily. There are a ton of enemies to destroy here, capitalize on it. This is usually where people doing score runs get the Kill Breakthrough if they haven't been trying to get it in early game.


Segment 8: LAST DAWN / Cardinalshaft Central
BOSS: Unnamed 290 / HellSinker
Image

Last Boss 1: Kaleidoscope

Last Boss 2: Floccinaucinihilipilification
Image

Last Boss 3: GARLAND
Image

True last boss Lost Property 771
Last edited by Zaarock on Mon Oct 31, 2016 3:23 pm, edited 6 times in total.
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Re: ST: HellSinker (Draft)

Post by Zaarock »

-
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Re: ST: HellSinker (Draft)

Post by Zaarock »

-
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Re: ST: HellSinker (Draft)

Post by nasty_wolverine »

turns out i never did post my kagura 1 scores, it should probably pretty close to the highest on the boards.

Also, where did you find luna affects bomb? I was under below the impression:
- Sol is your total damage output gauge that can be exchanged for bombing, you have two levels of bomb, low level uses 3 guage and high level uses 5 gauge. So full gauge bomb is the most powerful, if you are at level 3 or higher but not 5, it use a low level bomb. Sol level also affects shot damage.
- Luna is your rapid fire rate. and thats about it.
- Sub-weapon has two levels. second level does more powerful attack.

Also, spirit can be raised by the muzzle flash of shot, i think the deadliar replay uses it alot. apparently it does damage as well.

i might be wrong on some counts, been some time i have played Hellsinker.
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Re: ST: HellSinker (Draft)

Post by Zaarock »

nasty_wolverine wrote:turns out i never did post my kagura 1 scores, it should probably pretty close to the highest on the boards.

Also, where did you find luna affects bomb? I was under below the impression:
- Sol is your total damage output gauge that can be exchanged for bombing, you have two levels of bomb, low level uses 3 guage and high level uses 5 gauge. So full gauge bomb is the most powerful, if you are at level 3 or higher but not 5, it use a low level bomb. Sol level also affects shot damage.
- Luna is your rapid fire rate. and thats about it.
- Sub-weapon has two levels. second level does more powerful attack.

Also, spirit can be raised by the muzzle flash of shot, i think the deadliar replay uses it alot. apparently it does damage as well.

i might be wrong on some counts, been some time i have played Hellsinker.
Thanks for the input! You're right, it's indeed sol that affects shot power, not the other way around. I'm not intending to make a section of the basic mechanics of sub-weapons since the weapons and controls are covered very well in the manual. I'll consider adding a basic mechanic section once the rest of the guide is complete.

I'll add western records to the records section (even if there is no video). Haven't started deadliar's strategy section yet, expect it soon.. I haven't played it in a few months either, will have to start playing it again to flesh out the strategy section.

Anyone can feel free to post input or corrections (here or in PM), I'm sure more will crop up as I keep adding content. If you have any details as to character specific strategies feel free to share it. That really seems like the biggest hurdle with a guide like this, the characters have very different scoring and survival routes through the stages.

edit1: added overviews for Deadliar and Kagura4/Xanthez (sorta sketchy though)
edit2: preliminary overviews added for all characters.

edit4: Found something new about fossilmaiden while practicing Stage 3 lead, the effect of the secondary bomb 'Bacillus Cloak' can be stacked on top of itself. Activating it again will expand the invulnerability time and visual circle further. There are few places with enough SOL items to take advantage of it, though.
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Re: ST: HellSinker (Draft)

Post by microfolk »

I still need to read all the OP but I really wanted to thank Zaarock for their dedication to Hellsinker, I've finally decided to register to this board just to say this. :D

I still watch your Fossil Maiden run on youtube from time to time (although I've never watched it past the seventh stage since I've still got to beat Rex Cavalier), I know it's not the most spectacular run out there but it never fails to impress me, I love this game too much and it's nice to see someone which not only still wants to talk about it in 2015, but it's also an excellent player!
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Re: ST: HellSinker (Draft)

Post by Zaarock »

Thanks. I've been a fan of the game for a long time & want to come back to it some day, so I thought I should write the new guide for it. But most of the information is based on the old strategy thread and various sources. My run isn't the greatest indeed.. actually since I ran short mission some time ago that one is more optimized than full sequence right now.

I'll try to finish the more detailed parts of the guide the next time I start running some category.

Some of the japanese WR holders have still been improving individual level records recently. Hellsinker still gets a lot of attention/talk by japanese players on twitter.
I haven't been able to connect to the main scoreboard in some months though: http://www.7-iro.org/hsscoreboard/
Since it's a 500 Internal Server Error I doubt it's related to client IP? I hope 7-iro can get it back up, would be a shame to lose all those scores & replays
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Re: ST: HellSinker (Draft)

Post by microfolk »

If there is some way I could help please let me know, I'm really really bad (I've just beat the TLB and the Extras today for the first time and my score was abysmal), but I'm playing quite a lot and I'd love to be helpful in any way I can!

(I'm actually trying to understand a little bit better how terra degrades, I know it depends on the bootleg ghost setting and how many times you die in a stage but I'd love to estrapolate some hard numbers from all of this, it isn't even that important since a scoring run should always strive to get to the Shrine after Segment 7 but I'm still struggling to get there while playing for survival, let alone while doing sick scoring tricks)
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Re: ST: HellSinker (Draft)

Post by microfolk »

I hope double posting isn't frowned upon here when it's made with a reason, if it's still prohibited I'll edit my last post.

I was testing some things today in Segment Location mode and I discovered (or to better say, confirmed) the following things:

- Rusted Dragons won't appear if you have got two or less lives and you've got less than 7 stella
- Rex Cavalier memory transfer won't cause game over if you've got more than one life

Both things happened to me in full sequence order runs so I'm sure they aren't Segment Location specific, but I didn't test extensively enough to confirm the exact values of the Stella Rank...
From what I'm seeing the game gets the most difference when playing beyond and above 7 stella, but my tests for the disappearing Rusted Dragon were made at 1 stella, but at the same time the translation machine of the japanese wiki seems to say that if works from 1 to 6 stella.
At the same time I didn't care about rank at all for my Memory Transfer experiment, so it could change at very high stella? I'll need to play some more to confirm this.

I understand these things aren't really useful at all when talking about playing for score but I think these are neat things and I'd love this topic to become the most comprehensive source of information for the game in the western part of the internet so every single bit of knowledge counts. :D
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Re: ST: HellSinker (Draft)

Post by awry »

The manual states the following mappings.

1 Z
2 X
3 C
4 V
5 ESC
6 F10

But what about the 7, 8, 9, and 10 that I see in "PadAssign"? What keys do those correspond to?

Basically I want to use shift key for slow like in Touhou, how do I accomplish this? I also tried using an Xbox 360 controller since keyboard doesn't seem to really be supported in this game.

Also, the game throws error messages at me when starting the English version on Windows 8. The Jap version doesn't give errors, but flickers and doesn't let me use the d-pad on the 360 controller.

Why does this game hate me? How the hell are you guys controlling it? This is the sort of information I would expect to find in a guide like this.

I actually managed to make it to stage five with keyboard controls using fossil maiden, a character that apparently has no use for the slow button. But, I'd like to have these controls sorted out so I can try the other characters. I also want to use the English version.
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Re: ST: HellSinker (Draft)

Post by Shepardus »

I use AutoHotkey to rebind 1 to Left Shift (this is the script I use), and use these settings in the button assignment config:

Image

(I'm using the English patch)

This, along with "Momentary" speed control, gives Touhou-like focused movement.
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NTSC-J: You know STGs are in trouble when you have threads on how to introduce them to a wider audience and get more people playing followed by threads on how to get its hardcore fan base to play them, too.
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Re: ST: HellSinker (Draft)

Post by awry »

Thanks Shepardus, that was very helpful. Strange that the manual did not mention that "button 7" corresponds to "1" on the keyboard.

Apologies if this is the wrong thread to ask, but does anyone know how to get the English patched version working on Windows 8.1? The Japanese version starts, but is very laggy and refuses to enter fullscreen. I already tried compatibility mode, but will try a virtual machine if necessary. I googled and found this post where someone claims it works, but it is not working for me.

The game works perfect on my old Windows 7 laptop, so it's fine it there's no chance of it working on 8.
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Re: ST: HellSinker (Draft)

Post by Zaarock »

I had no idea the buttons after 6 also had mappings on keyboard. You can also replace one of the other buttons with slow movement, since the hold to quit button is unnecessary if you have pause mapped. You're right, the guide should have a config / inputs section. Mostly covered in previous threads so should be easy to carry over. I guess I was thinking of it just as a strategy guide, but obviously people need to be able to get the game to work

I've never been able to get the 1.009 version of the game working on Windows 8 either.. it crashes with or without the english patch if I have a USB controller connected. Your error must be something else if you're trying to play on keyboard? You can try reverting to the previous version (1.008f) if you're ok with not having the english patch. The last update only added more volume control options and some spelling error fixes, it's just cosmetic and doesn't cause any replay desyncs or such.

For using the d-pad on a 360 controller you can either use a key mapper like xpadder or joy2key, or install third party drivers for the controller that allow you to remap the inputs (apparently not 100% reliable, but I've never had any problems with XBCD and can swap between it and default drivers).

Fossil maiden does have some use for the slow button, it changes the direction of her shot.
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Re: ST: HellSinker (Draft)

Post by awry »

Zaarock wrote:I've never been able to get the 1.009 version of the game working on Windows 8 either.. it crashes with or without the english patch if I have a USB controller connected.
Well that explains why the English patch version worked for me initially, but didn't work again after I plugged in the 360 controller. I was baffled and now I feel really dumb. I'm using keyboard now with the English version, thanks all for the help.
You're right, the guide should have a config / inputs section.
If you add input help to this strategy guide, include the mapping that is not mentioned in the game's manual ("Button 7" = "1") and how to remap it to a useful location, or don't, because you say that the hold to quit button is unnecessary if you have pause mapped, meaning it's useless to worry about Button 7. I don't know, just say something about that stuff to help clueless people like me. This isn't like MAME where the inputs are very easy to set up.

Also, please state that some controllers cause the English patch version to spit out errors on Windows 8. But not all controllers cause an error; I just tested my Saitek P990 and it worked fine for whatever odd reason. As a bonus, this controller has a button that lets me use the d-pad instead of analog, no remapping required. I would use it if I wasn't more comfortable using the keyboard. Since this one works, other controllers should work with the English patch on Win8. I just don't have more to test.
Fossil maiden does have some use for the slow button, it changes the direction of her shot.
Oh, I was changing direction using the subweapon key + shot key.
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Re: ST: HellSinker (Draft)

Post by microfolk »

Is there a simple and nice way to understand when to bomb duringt Unnamed 290's last attack in order to fill its satisfaction gauge? I always fuck up in a way or the other and thus I'm really really inconsistent at getting at Garland, I could learn to avoid the lasers but I'd love to do it in the cooler way. :\
Here the player is able to bomb without draining the gauge and I don't understand how this is possible.
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Re: ST: HellSinker (Draft)

Post by Zaarock »

As far as I know you don't get penalized for bombing during Quazar, it won't drain the gauge. Just bomb when the attack starts. If it drains the gauge then you bombed during the previous attack. Bomb damage and other attacks stack so remember to keep attacking while the bomb is active. If this doesn't work then you didn't deal enough damage during the previous attack (normal shot seems to work for every character?)

edit: BTW, since the 7-iro scoreboard seems permanently down I'm gathering any WR-level replays I have on harddrives. And if they don't have videos anywhere I'll eventually put them up on Youtube.
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Re: ST: HellSinker (Draft)

Post by Zaarock »

There's been a surge of activity on this game recently. Maybe because of the official scoreboard going down and hype for STGs on steam.

Extra 1 - Kagura3 15,281 spirit (best known score)
Extra 1 - fossilmaiden 15,646 token
Full Sequence - fossilmaiden kill attack (18,342 kill)

Now where's the content from western players :p
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Re: ST: HellSinker (Draft)

Post by Zaarock »

Hellsinker has got a new downloadable release and an absurd amount of patches since the new year. Mostly new UI features and a training mode. The UI features make it so the information in sidebars can all be put in the vertical screen. So maybe a TATE build of the game later. Personally I hope a hard/arrange mode is added at the end to have more reason to go back to the game.
In some of tonnors test videos he had english dialogue active so I assume he wants to keep some kind of support for translation patches.

Training modes also give good general advice on mechanics and scoring so this strategy thread is becoming less relevant.

Some players have been grinding the game for score recently. Phox and fufufu got new WRs in Extra 1 and 2. 1st post has been updated with this info.
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Re: ST: HellSinker (Draft)

Post by burnman »

I'd really like to see a new translation of the config screen, as the options are definitely different than they originally were (and there's a lot more).
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Re: ST: HellSinker (Draft)

Post by MathU »

Whoa, big news. I've been playing Hellsinker all year while this was happening without a clue too. Hope this doesn't make trying to get Hellsinker to run perfectly in Wine more disappointing than it already is. Can we get some web links to the patch downloads, Zaarock? The negishiomaru website hasn't been updated in years.
Of course, that's just an opinion.
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Re: ST: HellSinker (Draft)

Post by Zaarock »

MathU wrote:Whoa, big news. I've been playing Hellsinker all year while this was happening without a clue too. Hope this doesn't make trying to get Hellsinker to run perfectly in Wine more disappointing than it already is. Can we get some web links to the patch downloads, Zaarock? The negishiomaru website hasn't been updated in years.
https://booth.pm/en/items/905509
Patch the game to dl19c then apply dl19d.

I didn't notice any performance difference, the base game runs the same. But there's a bunch more optional and higher res stuff you can enable.
This game still runs on a toaster compared to any more recent shmups. Not like the graphical style is dated either.

I'm surprised how much of the new features is around the scoring, should be easier to approach now.
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Re: ST: HellSinker (Draft)

Post by MathU »

Thanks Zaarock... Sheesh, you need a Pixiv account to download them? Why won't Tonnor just upload the patches to his website already?
Of course, that's just an opinion.
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Re: ST: HellSinker (Draft)

Post by Kuroonehalf »

Tonnor is working with Henteko Doujin - the guys publishing his game on steam - to make several translations for the game. There's English (which I don't know if it's a complete retranslation or just the new content), traditional Chinese and simplified Chinese. He posted some screenshots of how it looks ingame, and I think he's doing the implementation.

I've been over the moon following his tweets daily and seeing all the new stuff he's been implementing. I'm hoping all this new quality of life stuff and the steam release finally give the game proper exposure and recognition.
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Re: ST: HellSinker [PC] (Draft + Record listing)

Post by Zaarock »

Some new scores for this game the past couple weeks: new total spirits WR after (with Deadliar) and new Fossilmaiden WR by twilightex and sro. Also some new extra 1 scores. Both of those scores stood for like a decade, surprised to see them taken out now. Updated the first post with these.

The steam release of this game has been working nicely, played it a fair bit. Fullscreen crashing when you alt-tab is a bit archaic though :lol:
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