SD: Lots of big stars from Area 2 boss in DDP

johnl · Post by **johnl** » Sun Mar 13, 2005 10:38 pm

Hi guys,
This is my first post here, so hello from the Jaded Isle (Ireland).
This may be oooold, or well-known, but here goes.
I've been practising my (lacklustre) DDP skills recently and found this neat trick.

A quick note about the screenshots, they're taken from a game where I just credit-pumped to the boss, for the purpose of taking these shots. The shots are not necessarily all from the same attempt, because taking screenshots and staying alive ain't easy.

This trick applies to the Area 2 boss. Only use bombs or super-laser when I say.
When you go in, he looks like this:

You blow off the far left and far right little boxes, getting the stars each time, which leaves you with this:

Then you blow the cap off each of the big internal cannons which leaves you with the following picture:

Note: Only blow off THE CAP. Doing this results in one star for each.

Both of the guns under the caps should now be shooting little red bullets. Drop a bomb and grab as many of the big stars as you can:

Hope this helps someone!
John

sven666 · Post by **sven666** » Mon Mar 14, 2005 12:07 am

how much do you get for each star? is it worth loosing the bomb-bonus for?

excellent post btw

johnl · Post by **johnl** » Mon Mar 14, 2005 1:17 am

You get 10,000 for each star you can catch.
There are about 30 stars, or maybe more.
They are pretty hard to catch though!
I'd say it's worth losing the bomb bonus for.
Remember, the stars also contribute to the star bonus at the end.
Thanks for the compliment too man.

John

BER · Post by **BER** » Mon Mar 14, 2005 1:56 am

Nice secret. However, I claim that saving your bombs for the maximum bomb bonus is worth more. Suppose you take 40 large stars. Because you get 10,000 points for each large star, then you add 400,000 points to your score. But you would have no maximum bomb bonus going into the next stage, and the next bomb item you take would give you a x2 multiplier (not x3 if you saved your bombs).

Now suppose you never bombed, never died, and never used this secret. Then you would have a x2 multiplier already from the maximum bomb bonus. So you would gain 220 * 2 = 440 points for each frame you don't die and use a bomb in the next stage. Then it would take 910 frames to get at least 400,000 points from the maximum bomb bonus. Since there are about 57.55 frames per second in this game, then it would take less than 16 seconds to make up the difference. The next bomb item carrier arrives much later than that.

Clearly, saving your bombs can yield more points than taking these large stars.

johnl · Post by **johnl** » Mon Mar 14, 2005 11:43 am

This assumes you have got the Maximum bomb bonus. I think you are right, the Maximum bomb bonus is worth more than the stars, now that I think about it.
But if you haven't got Maximum, then using one bomb is probably worth it.

John

samu · Post by **samu** » Mon Mar 14, 2005 2:03 pm

Excellent DDP maths Dr. BER.

However, I would say that anyone with even a little bit of DDP common sense (unless that player is wildly bombing all the time) would realize that 400,000 is small potatoes compared to the maximum bomb bonus.

johnl · Post by **johnl** » Mon Mar 14, 2005 2:33 pm

Yeah. For people who have the Maximum bonus, 40 big stars definitely isn't worth it, but for crap players like me, it just might be

Dylan1CC · Post by **Dylan1CC** » Thu Mar 17, 2005 9:07 pm

Excellent math indeed, BER.

However, you have to admit that the star trick is more enjoyable than saving bombs. In an instant gratification way anyways.

Seriously, it gives you a real rush when you can use the charge shot to pick apart the boss and stay alive long enough to get all them big golden stars.

gameoverDude · Post by **gameoverDude** » Tue Apr 05, 2005 4:26 am

samu wrote:Excellent DDP maths Dr. BER.

However, I would say that anyone with even a little bit of DDP common sense (unless that player is wildly bombing all the time) would realize that 400,000 is small potatoes compared to the maximum bomb bonus.

I wouldn't try the trick myself using bombs since it would blow the maximum bonus. However, if you can do this just by lasering off the "guns under the caps" then it may be worth it. Can it be done like that?

incognoscente · Post by **incognoscente** » Tue Apr 05, 2005 9:19 am

I tried it without bombs, no dice. Missiles are not converted into large aerial stars except by using a bomb.

Just for kicks, I tried every combination I could think up of removing the various turrets and covers and still nothing. Either you give up the large stars or you give up the Maximum bonus.

bitkid · Post by **bitkid** » Sat Jun 14, 2008 4:41 am

Since the first and 2nd bosses in this game have the massive star dropping secret, do any other bosses have something like this?

Lynx Winters · Post by **Lynx Winters** » Sat Jun 14, 2008 4:45 am

incognoscente wrote:I tried it without bombs, no dice. Missiles are not converted into large aerial stars except by using a bomb.

Just for kicks, I tried every combination I could think up of removing the various turrets and covers and still nothing. Either you give up the large stars or you give up the Maximum bonus.

Or you play 2-player, but that has score issues of its own.

Zebra Airforce · Post by **Zebra Airforce** » Sat Jun 14, 2008 5:09 am

Can't you just leave a bomb floating and grab it after activating this trick?

BER · Post by **BER** » Sat Jun 14, 2008 6:07 am

Zebra Airforce wrote:Can't you just leave a bomb floating and grab it after activating this trick?

You can, but you would potentially lose some points because of the mechanics of the maximum bomb bonus. Consider these two cases:

Case I: activating the trick and collecting the bomb icon. Suppose you collect 40 large stars from this trick. Because you get 10,000 points for each large star, then you add 400,000 points to your score. But you would have a maximum bomb bonus multiplier of x1 (not x2) going into stage 3, so you would get 220 points per frame once you're in stage 3.

Case II: not activating this trick. Now suppose you never bombed, never died, and never used this secret. Then you would have a x2 multiplier already from the maximum bomb bonus. So you would gain 220 * 2 = 440 points for each frame you don't die and use a bomb in the stage 3.

You would earn more points in Case II if you survive in stage 3 without bombing for over 1818 frames (about 32 seconds). I think it's easy to do this. And I haven't even considered the points you would getting in stage 2 from the maximum bomb bonus by doing Case II.

So again, if you're going for a high score, don't activate this trick.

elfhentaifan · Post by **elfhentaifan** » Sat Jun 14, 2008 8:49 am

the bomb bonus is much more worth than these stars for sure.
DON'T offer it.

kemical · Post by **kemical** » Fri Jun 20, 2008 2:13 am

the stage 1 boss can drop extra stars if you destroy the side pod things while they are spinning (when they leave trails, each one drops a star)... from what i remember at least, might be wrong

elfhentaifan · Post by **elfhentaifan** » Fri Jun 20, 2008 6:55 am

yes, thats in common knowledge

lgb · Post by **lgb** » Fri Jun 20, 2008 8:34 pm

kemical wrote:the stage 1 boss can drop extra stars if you destroy the side pod things while they are spinning (when they leave trails, each one drops a star)... from what i remember at least, might be wrong

You have to have perfect timing though. I can only get that to work a little less than half the times I try it. Gives you about 10 big stars (if you can collect them all) and requires no bomb.

bitkid · Post by **bitkid** » Sun Jun 22, 2008 11:15 am

For the stage one boss I just make sure I get the pods so they are flashing red and about to die, then I quickly shoot them during the rotation so that one pod is directly above the boss and one pod is below. This makes it easy to catch all the stars since they will all fall in a big clump and not spread across the screen.