How long have you been playing shmups?

[Squirrel]

I'm just wondering, I haven't been playing for that long, but it frustrates me when I see these videos of people 1 crediting Strikers 1999 and I can't get past 1-5 on a credit. So, couple questions.

1. How long have you been shmupping?

2. Did you concentrate on one game, and those skills leaked to the other games? Or did you tackle several at once to 1cc?

3. Is there anything I can do training wise to get better and to get closer to 1ccing, or at least 1ccing the 1st loop of Strikers 1999?

[Icarus]

1. How long have you been shmupping?

2. Did you concentrate on one game, and those skills leaked to the other games? Or did you tackle several at once to 1cc?

3. Is there anything I can do training wise to get better and to get closer to 1ccing, or at least 1ccing the 1st loop of Strikers 1999?

I'm sure we've had similar threads like this before, but I'll be damned if I can be arsed to hunt them down in the quagmire of the Shmups Chat subforum. So anyway...

1. Gamer for 20 years nearly, arcade gamer for about 15 of those years.
2. I've always concentrated on at least one or two at a time. Never spread yourself too thin. Set good personal goals and try to beat them, then set a higher goal and try to beat that. Lather, rinse, repeat, improve.
   
   Contrary to popular belief I do think the base skills do cross over from one game to another. Those base skills in my opinion are: precise control, development of good strategy, good observation, and learning from your mistakes. Plus a willingness to experiment.
3. Experiment! Try new strategies and see if they work: if they do, commit them to memory and practice them over and over; if not, try something else. I'd have never discovered most of my Batrider scoring techniques, for example, if I didn't "play silly" on occasion.
   
   Ask the experts on strategies for a particular game. That's what the Strategy Forum is for. Don't be afraid to pick up some tips.
   
   And go post a score. There is no better incentive to improve than a bit of competition.

[crithit5000]

1. How long have you been shmupping?

I was playing shooters somewhat casually since I got a copy of Darius Gaiden for Saturn probably back in '97 or '98. It was mainly support of the 2D genre that lead me to playing these games, and then when Ikaruga was released for GC I was ruined and had to know how to play these games at an awesome level. I'm still working on that, though. So about ten years, I'd guess.

2. Did you concentrate on one game, and those skills leaked to the other games? Or did you tackle several at once to 1cc?

I normally play either Ikaruga or Giga Wing at one time, never really playing both in the same time frame with some other games thrown in to not burn myself out completely.

Do the skills leak over? After really thinking about it... no, not really. Basic reflexes carry over and shit like that, but if you rock DoDonPachi it doesn't mean you're going to tear Mars Matrix a new one.

3. Is there anything I can do training wise to get better and to get closer to 1ccing, or at least 1ccing the 1st loop of Strikers 1999?

I echo Icarus' statement (only a bit more crudely): fuck around until something sticks. Watching replays and reading strategies helps, but what works for someone isn't necessarily going to work for you.

[shoe-sama]

1) Forgot, I think I've played them seriously for 1.5 years

2) I play things all over the place, and tend to gravitate towards games where I've made quite a bit of progress. Dodonpachi comes to mind, spent quite a bit of time with that. Don't see any specific skills transferring, but I know I'm getting better overall.

3) Strikers is heavy on memorization. Once rank starts to increase, the high bullet speeds make reacting impractical at many points, so learn and anticipate patterns.

[Ayanami]

1. I have been playing these games for about 4 to 5 years semi seriously.

2. I usually play a bunch of stuff, but now a days I just play one game maybe two if I am feeling frisky. Gradius V, Strikers 1945 II, and recently Batrider have been my gateway shooters if you will to playing these games really seriously. I am damn near 6 million in the normal course and never in my wildest dreams did I think I could post up scores like that.

3. Videos help me a lot. But more than any thing just playing over and over again. Experimentation helps as well. You will be surprised what will stick in your over all strategy.

[Dann]

1. About two years now

2. & 3. I usually take one game and play it every day for an hour(at least) every day for a month (more if it requires that). I find that the repetition helps me learn, and it's important that I play for the sake of repetition even if I don't really feel like playing that day.

[KBZ]

since 1942

[Motorherp]

1. It was Project-X when I was a kid that first really got me to start taking notice of shooters. Those high speed bonus sections really blew me away. I suppose that makes it 1992 then. After that I went through the r-types and gradius's etc but I think its only in the past few years with my dicovery of Cave that I've become really fanatical about it.

2. I tend to play one game at a time mostly. Every now and then I'll chuck in something else for a distraction but if I'm trying to concentrate on too many games at once I dont get anywhere.

3. Most of the PS2 ports tend to have training modes which I find invaluable. Other than that, if you're playing on MAME then running Fraps during any bits you're struggling with and watching it back can help you spot the safe routes and analyse bullet patterns.

[PROMETHEUS]

1. I've been shmupping for something like 450 hours over 4 years.

2. I totally concentrated on Dodonpachi (200 among these 450 hours were done with Dodonpachi). Obviously skills you learn from one game leak on every other games, otherwise it would mean there is little to no skill in shmups. I believe there is a lot of skill (mainly control precision and pattern reading) involved in shmups and that's the main reason why I'm playing them. The reason why you can't really do anything good when you start a new shmup is because there is also a lot of knowledge involved, and you can only begin to perform well and use your skills in a new shmup when you have good knowledge of many of its details.

3. If your only goal right now is 1CCing Strikers 1999, I have no particular advice for you. If you want to get good at shmups as a whole, my advices would be the same as Icarus' advices. Dodonpachi is great for improving your skills because it offers great variety and intelligent difficulty.

[exquisite_torture]

This thought scares me. I can remember battle patterns from games over 22 years old, but I can't remember A-Level Physics, History or anything else I studied at school. I was a social-pariah - I had an MSX.
It's probably a familiar and boring story to most, but I first got into shooters at a snooker club were my mates and I used to hang-out.
Although my main faves weren't shooters at all - I was really into Green Beret, Ghosts n'Goblins, Jail Break, Road Fighter and Iron Horse and was and still something of a Konami fanboy. Shmup-wise I also loved Commando, Gunsmoke, 1942, Sky-Kid, Tiger Heli, Slapfight, Dangar etc etc, but the first shooter that really nailed it for me was Gradius/Nemesis.
This love continued when I discovered a dedicated Salander cabinet in Blackpool. It had the coolest speech ever and the graphics for the time were absolutely awesome. I still remember playing it and hearing 'Get Ready' , blaring from a Space Harrier machine in the backgound.
Not really going anywhere here, just thinking-out-loud.
I've recently picked up a Ps2 after years of protest and now regert not buying one earlier in it's life-cycle. The first game I bought to play on it it was Gradius V. I actually got a shiver down my spine during my first encounter with the boss on the Salamnder homage level - when the Salamander music kicked it. I may need help ;0)

[Pirate1019]

1. Started playing when I saw Kenta Cho's Gunroar on Attack of the Show. Got Ikaruga shortly after that and that was it for about a year. Last September I finally registered here and then the addiction really started. It's almost ludicrous how fast a transformation I took after I joined here.

2. I really should try to concentrate on only 1 or two games, but I just don't have that sort of dedication. I think I'm improving though. I haven't opened MAME in over 2 weeks. Parsec47 and Noiz2sa have been getting a majority of my play time.

3. Like stated before, Psikyo games (not just strikers) rely more on memorization then most other games. Instinct will not be enough. Learn the patterns. I guess I could also recommend trying other ships too. If you get really frusterated, then play with a different ship to throw some variety in there. "Play silly" as Icarus put it.

[Sonic R]

I made my bones in 1987 with Graduis and Zanac (both on NES) - almost simultaneous.

I have been dedicated console fellow since then.

I have major flaw in genetics - I am have difficult time to dedicate time to one thing only I am having shorter attention. I spread my self to play too many games at one time - I can bounce between 10 shoot them up games in one day I have done it before and sometimes I am play 2 games in one seating.

Skills of mine seem to be different for each game but yet some are the same. Its always going to be dodge bullets to stay alive. Also I am like to be aggressive sometimes when I play - it is true in RSG when it says 'Be attitude for gains'. Being attitude can lead to better gains in these games.

My 1cc list it pathetic I am count on my hands the games in the list

Sonic R's views on super plays:
I hate them they are discourage me to never enjoy the game I watch the ESPGaluda super play and I hate that game. So I never watch super plays they are make me feel more like shit.

Sonic R's views on FAQ/Stratagys:
These are very informative. the delivery is friendly and encouraging. I read Zach Keene & Wayne Yoshida Zanac FAQ and improve my game play in Zanac Neo. So I am in total agree when fellows say post RQ's in the stratagy section their are many fine folks here ready to help and assist.

[Nate]

Not counting the highly versatile Atari 2600, I would say it started around 1986 with Lifeforce (NES). Few titles later: Zanac, Metal Storm, Metal Fighter, Silver Surfer. Then the TG-16 came out and it was all over.

So, about 21 years?

[exquisite_torture]

Not counting the highly versatile Atari 2600, I would say it started around 1986 with Lifeforce (NES). Few titles later: Zanac, Metal Storm, Metal Fighter, Silver Surfer. Then the TG-16 came out and it was all over.

So, about 21 years?

Scary, isn't it?

[Zeether]

Since I found this site

[Veracity]

20-25 years, most of my life, or as long as I can really remember, however you choose to think of it. None of that time 'seriously', I don't think, though maybe I'm deluding myself considering the horrifying number of hours I've wasted, albeit enjoyably, on some games. I've never personally felt inter-game skill (pattern recognition and precision) is a huge factor compared to familiarity with a specific game, but it clearly can be, since some people will blow in hours through games that'd take me months. Could be my retention just sucks - I degrade pretty rapidly even on games I've played quite a lot, though getting back up to speed is far easier than starting from scratch.

If you want to clear a game and feel like you're at a plateau, turn the difficulty down - where's the fun in punishing yourself by playing at a setting that just overwhelms you? You can crank it back up once you feel like you're making progress again. I don't know Strikers - obviously, this won't help if the game's difficulty settings aren't well differentiated. Practising stages and bosses through stage select or emulator save states is the other obvious route to improvement, since it saves you wasting time on mind-numbing repetition of sections you could do blindfolded. Do all Psikyo games have that stage shuffling thing? I've never quite figured out whether I like that or not, but if you're fixed on getting a clear, turn it off. It'll only make memorizing early stages more awkward.

[system11]

1. How long have you been shmupping?

2. Did you concentrate on one game, and those skills leaked to the other games? Or did you tackle several at once to 1cc?

3. Is there anything I can do training wise to get better and to get closer to 1ccing, or at least 1ccing the 1st loop of Strikers 1999?

1) About 26 years.
2) I just play to enjoy, there are very few games I've 1cc'd. Want to know a secret? People who /do/ 1cc modern games are the exception, not the rule. When you watch a replay, it's usually from someone in the higher skill brackets.
3) Natural ability (reactions, motor skills) and practise. Very few games have a random element now, so you can just perfect a section, memorise it, and parrot it back each run. Personally, I have a really shitty memory, and prefer reaction based play.

[SFKhoa]

17 of the 18 years I've lived.

[Fighter17]

About 14 years.

[szycag]

Man, I had Gradius III growing up and stuff like that, but it was just too tough for me when I was a kid. I didn't get hardcore into shmupping til someone told me to play DoDonPachi in MAME. And that's been a couple years ago now.

Scoring systems and stuff like that are all different. If anything you must get your reflexes sharp, play with a clear head. Usually the only thing in common from one game to another is that you're dodging bullets. So um... get good at that. Always start playing for survival first and the other stuff will slowly come to you I think.

Also you could castrate yourself. Thinking about women and stuff might cloud your judgement. Seriously tame those raging hormones and you'll be a shmup beast. I mean, that's what most of those superplay people have done right? I can't think of any other way.

[landshark]

When did Scramble come out? That long.

[Nate]

exquisite_torture:

Scary, isn't it?

Yeah. And, I'm not very permissable when it comes to other genres. I'd rather hunt down and find some shooter I've never played than run out and pick up anything new and non-shmup at the stores. Always have been like that. I actually do not own any new systems or any of the last 3 (GC, XBOX, PS2). I had a PS2, but I sold it and bought a bike. I'm happy w/ my Saturn, my DC, my lappy for Magic Engine, my GBA, and the PSP. My X'EYE, SNES and NeoGeo AES are stored. I'm spending more time doing game soundtracks than playing games these days.

[Regdren]

My first "Real" shmup was probably Gradius 3. Played it at a friend's house. If you count the REALLY old one...it would probably start at Centepede or Space Wars when I was 5 or so.

My first 1cc wasn't with a shmup though, it was with a 1 on 1 fighting game. There weren't too many acrade shooters that I could get so I had sort of a gap for a few years until Ikaruga and its online competition. I've been looking for more modern shooters ever since then. And I tend to concentrate on one game at a time.

[DEL]

Since 1979

[LUNardei]

I will post the same answer every time this thread appears:

"Since about 2004 "

[Squirrel]

17 of the 18 years I've lived.

Phr34k from Scorehero told me about you. You're insane... do you care to elaborate on more, do you concentrate on one shmup, or spread them out among others?

[Grant Windsor]

Folks who have been around the forums here at Shmups since the beginning know I'm a bit older than the average gamer here (I'm 42). Malc's not too drastically far behind me, though. Given my age, I had a lot of arcade time back when arcades were really a big deal. Shooters? Meh...I never cared for them. Don't know why...they always seemed to be the same thing over and over for me. I passed on being part of the NES generation...videogames just weren't that big a deal to me...personally, I was content to play PC adventure games if I had some spare time. In the beginning of 1990, I popped for a Sega Genesis, though. I was more of the "action" gamer, so I just concentrated on actioney stuff...but my first wife (I've been around long enough to have two) was into Thunder Force II. I watched her play and damned if I didn't get into it too. So, that was my initial spark with the genre...17 years ago. The games that sold me on the genre? In 1990, MUSHA and Thunder Force III came out for Genesis. To this day, I hold them as two of the finest shmups ever made. Many shmups have come since, but those early ones still hold the most wonder. My current wife (11 years my junior) is more of a Zelda fan...she thinks shooters are loud and annoying. My 8-year-old son...eh...I tried to turn him to the shmup side...but he stopped just shy (he loves the Metal Slug games, so all is not totally lost...at least he likes 2D). My daughter was born last week...she probably won't even like games, especially all of this low-tech, antique 2D stuff. Still, we'll see...if the first words out of her mouth are "all your base are belong to us," I'll be a pretty happy dad.

- Grant

[SFKhoa]

17 of the 18 years I've lived.

Phr34k from Scorehero told me about you. You're insane... do you care to elaborate on more, do you concentrate on one shmup, or spread them out among others?

Bahahahaha. you know Phr34k? That's awesome. To be honest, when I was little, I never took serious sessions into mind. At least, not until about 5 years ago where I would just concentrate on one shmup at a time, and just sticking into that one shmup until you've finally 1CC'd it or you're just done for the day and you want to try something else.

For me, it's better for concentrate on as few shmups as you can.
EDIT: I'm not that insane, I'm just really decent locally. :3

[PROMETHEUS]

Folks who have been around the forums here at Shmups since the beginning know I'm a bit older than the average gamer here (I'm 42). Malc's not too drastically far behind me, though. Given my age, I had a lot of arcade time back when arcades were really a big deal. Shooters? Meh...I never cared for them. Don't know why...they always seemed to be the same thing over and over for me. I passed on being part of the NES generation...videogames just weren't that big a deal to me...personally, I was content to play PC adventure games if I had some spare time. In the beginning of 1990, I popped for a Sega Genesis, though. I was more of the "action" gamer, so I just concentrated on actioney stuff...but my first wife (I've been around long enough to have two) was into Thunder Force II. I watched her play and damned if I didn't get into it too. So, that was my initial spark with the genre...17 years ago. The games that sold me on the genre? In 1990, MUSHA and Thunder Force III came out for Genesis. To this day, I hold them as two of the finest shmups ever made. Many shmups have come since, but those early ones still hold the most wonder. My current wife (11 years my junior) is more of a Zelda fan...she thinks shooters are loud and annoying. My 8-year-old son...eh...I tried to turn him to the shmup side...but he stopped just shy (he loves the Metal Slug games, so all is not totally lost...at least he likes 2D). My daughter was born last week...she probably won't even like games, especially all of this low-tech, antique 2D stuff. Still, we'll see...if the first words out of her mouth are "all your base are belong to us," I'll be a pretty happy dad.

- Grant

Nice ~ I want to be a gamer when I'm older too, and I hope I'll get some people in my family to play ! ^^

[Monk 0 Nuggets]

I played Super R-type when I was really little, but I've been semi-serious about them since I bought Ikaruga last fall. That said, I don't have much experience compared to most people here. I bounce around a lot from shmup to shmup. I usually concentrate on 1 for about 2 weeks and then switch it up. This is not very good for memorization, but memorization isn't as fun to me!