Why is it...

PooshhMao · Post by **PooshhMao** » Wed Apr 05, 2006 7:49 am

.. that although the Raiden jet fighter displays VTOL capabilities later on (while fighting a static boss, or landing mid-game), it scrambles in a traditional carrier-style at the beginning?)

(Yes, I have too much free time, and yes, I realize it's for dramatic effect)

Any other glaring why-is-it's out there?

Post by **system11** » Wed Apr 05, 2006 7:59 am

Because it looks better seeing it launch for the intro.

JBC · Post by **JBC** » Wed Apr 05, 2006 8:33 am

Uhm...? Why is it that the Vic Viper seems to be almost exactly the same from game to game in the Gradius series yet supposedly many many years pass by between each of them?

Unless of course it is proven to be a 100% flawless economic design that the best AI in the universe could never improve upon... which isn't likely.

I know there have been slight modifications to it but with that much time elapsing between games you would think that the Vic Viper would look completely different by now.

Twiddle · Post by **Twiddle** » Wed Apr 05, 2006 9:24 am

circuitface wrote:Uhm...? Why is it that the Vic Viper seems to be almost exactly the same from game to game in the Gradius series yet supposedly many many years pass by between each of them?

Unless of course it is proven to be a 100% flawless economic design that the best AI in the universe could never improve upon... which isn't likely.

I know there have been slight modifications to it but with that much time elapsing between games you would think that the Vic Viper would look completely different by now.

Major improvements for the Vic Viper in Gradius V would be that the standard weapon is a machine gun instead of a semi-automatic gun, and there is only one point in the ship that's sensitive to damage.

mice · Post by **mice** » Wed Apr 05, 2006 10:07 am

PooshhMao wrote:.. that although the Raiden jet fighter displays VTOL capabilities later on (while fighting a static boss, or landing mid-game), it scrambles in a traditional carrier-style at the beginning?)

Actually it is catapulting away from the carrier to save fuel. Yes the engines are on, but that's just to warm them up.
C'mon, developers wouldn't just add something for the effect, would they?

Sly Cherry Chunks · Post by **Sly Cherry Chunks** » Wed Apr 05, 2006 11:41 am

circuitface wrote:Uhm...? Why is it that the Vic Viper seems to be almost exactly the same from game to game in the Gradius series yet supposedly many many years pass by between each of them?

Gradius V established that the Vic Viper could time warp.

sffan · Post by **sffan** » Wed Apr 05, 2006 1:20 pm

While we're saying that shmups should be realistic, what's the deal with medals and why do they fall horizontally?

How can bullets turn into numbers and get sucked into your ship?

etc.

howmuchkeefe · Post by **howmuchkeefe** » Wed Apr 05, 2006 1:31 pm

Gradius V established that the Vic Viper could time warp.

They just forgot to tell the pilot about the feature.

"Impossible! ...there must be some mistake!"

Kiken · Post by **Kiken** » Wed Apr 05, 2006 3:13 pm

Sly Cherry Chunks wrote:
circuitface wrote:Uhm...? Why is it that the Vic Viper seems to be almost exactly the same from game to game in the Gradius series yet supposedly many many years pass by between each of them?
Gradius V established that the Vic Viper could time warp.

It's good to see the Flux Capacitor getting more use.

88 MILES PER HOUR!!!!!111!!~~11!!

Leeram · Post by **Leeram** » Wed Apr 05, 2006 7:07 pm

It's common knowledge that operating in VTOL mode sucks up far more fuel than when they don't. That's why Harrier Jump Jets are still seen blasting off the back of ships rather than just vertically prancing away. More fuel to kill the baddies with!

Cheers

Leeram

captain ahar · Post by **captain ahar** » Wed Apr 05, 2006 7:12 pm

sffan wrote:How can bullets turn into numbers and get sucked into your ship?

there is a very specific justification grounded in physics and the natural sciences... but this isn't the place to elaborate...

Super Laydock · Post by **Super Laydock** » Wed Apr 05, 2006 7:18 pm

captain ahar wrote:
sffan wrote:How can bullets turn into numbers and get sucked into your ship?
there is a very specific justification grounded in physics and the natural sciences... but this isn't the place to elaborate...

You are right captain!
A link to it will do just fine, but where was that again?

Specineff · Post by **Specineff** » Wed Apr 05, 2006 10:28 pm

If you look at your jet when you're fighting the first boss in Raiden, you will see how it is using the VTOL feature to hover in place. And it also disables the feature in order to go forward after defeating the boss. So I'm willing to believe the catapult is used to save fuel, as mentioned above.

Turrican · Post by **Turrican** » Wed Apr 05, 2006 10:46 pm

Sly Cherry Chunks wrote:
circuitface wrote:Uhm...? Why is it that the Vic Viper seems to be almost exactly the same from game to game in the Gradius series yet supposedly many many years pass by between each of them?
Gradius V established that the Vic Viper could time warp.

@circuitface:

The Vic-Viper model changes quite frequently, and it just goes unnoticed. When the model stays the same, chances are the games are chronologically close (Gradius chronology is a mess, but that's another point - by close I mean "only" some centuries distant each other...).

@Sly Cherry Chunks:

And the Vic-Viper crafts, or at least their rather obscure cousins (Metalion, Vixen) have been able to warp through time at least since Nemesis 3. As far as I know, the Vic Viper was always referred to as "super space-temporal fighter plane".

Zweihander · Post by **Zweihander** » Thu Apr 06, 2006 12:56 am

Stop it! You're trying to make sense of a shmup!! Quiet, you fool, or you'll cause a paradox!

Turrican · Post by **Turrican** » Thu Apr 06, 2006 1:01 am

Zweihander wrote:Stop it! You're trying to make sense of a shmup!! Quiet, you fool, or you'll cause a paradox!

I tried much harder than this (perhaps I'll post my notebooks here someday) and obviously failed

However, we should admit that R-Type's plot makes sense.

dai jou bu · Post by **dai jou bu** » Thu Apr 06, 2006 1:45 am

I think the Bacterian are leftovers from the Bydo Empire humanity forgot to clean up.

If you think about it, it sorta makes sense.