I thought I was getting decent at shooters, and then...

msm · Post by **msm** » Tue Jul 31, 2007 7:21 am

Arvandor wrote:I wonder if putting it in tate would help at all?

i think that would help a lot, the saturn version looks much better in tate but stil not as good as in mame.

Arvandor · Post by **Arvandor** » Tue Jul 31, 2007 10:13 am

I actually DID bother to tate the TV in my room. I was a bit nervous about such an attempt (I really love my flat screen tube TV), but it seems to have gone better than the crap TV we got for the express purpose of tate. As in, my TV hasn't had any color issues ^_^

And holy wow. The tate TV looks sharper than my TV, or even the big screen in the main room, but flipping my 19" Panasonic on its side? It's... Unbelievable... Indescribable... And... Certainly more helpful to my DDP game than even confidence ^_^ At least... I think so... I'm too inebriated right now to tell for sure.

Though... Now if I want to play a non-shooter (or RSG or Souky or something) I'll have to do so in the main room rather than my own room. My room is going to be vert tate shooters only from now on =D

MJR · Post by **MJR** » Tue Jul 31, 2007 10:35 am

Shatterhand wrote:Yeah, I find difficulty to be something subjective. I find Treasure shmups to be extremely hard (RSG, Ikagura and Gradius V), while I am sure people have finished at least Gradius V pretty quickly.

I don't think I am an awesome shmup player, but I know I don't completely... but certain shmups manage to kick my ass so hard that I just can't understand. I am pretty sure that if I gave DDP the proper time I'd 1cc it (Reaching level 5 wasn't that hard to me, and I know I could beat it with some practice), but Radiant Silvergun, for example, I tried it HARD, I played it more than I played DDP, and still I can't beat the FIRST level without problems (I usually die before that), and the 2nd level is just impossible. Soukyugurentai is another one that gives me a real hard time (though I admit I didn't play that one THAT much), while I actually 1cc Batrider in normal mode (from the SAME DEVELOPERS! )

Crazy, I got easily into last stage in silvergun after 6 weeks of casual practise in 1 credit, while in batrider I never got further than level 3 in one credit!

Kaiser · Post by **Kaiser** » Tue Jul 31, 2007 10:38 am

MJR wrote:
Shatterhand wrote:Yeah, I find difficulty to be something subjective. I find Treasure shmups to be extremely hard (RSG, Ikagura and Gradius V), while I am sure people have finished at least Gradius V pretty quickly.

I don't think I am an awesome shmup player, but I know I don't completely... but certain shmups manage to kick my ass so hard that I just can't understand. I am pretty sure that if I gave DDP the proper time I'd 1cc it (Reaching level 5 wasn't that hard to me, and I know I could beat it with some practice), but Radiant Silvergun, for example, I tried it HARD, I played it more than I played DDP, and still I can't beat the FIRST level without problems (I usually die before that), and the 2nd level is just impossible. Soukyugurentai is another one that gives me a real hard time (though I admit I didn't play that one THAT much), while I actually 1cc Batrider in normal mode (from the SAME DEVELOPERS! )
Crazy, I got easily into last stage in silvergun after 6 weeks of casual practise in 1 credit, while in batrider I never got further than level 3 in one credit!

Imagine after year of practice haven't got into level 6 in batrider yet. However getting into 7th level of strikers 1945 II took me month or two

Post by **Shatterhand** » Tue Jul 31, 2007 12:17 pm

well, the last two posts just prove my point

-Bridget- · Post by **-Bridget-** » Wed Aug 01, 2007 5:09 am

Arvandor wrote:
-Bridget- wrote:That section with those green ships that teleport in and then cover the whole screen with that red spam..... very dang annoying.
That's not even the trouble spot for me. I've found a pretty good path through that part. It's the very beginning of the giant red ship where all the popcorn enemies come in. A couple of those popcorn enemies (especially the ones with the spread shots) will usually corner me and I have to bomb or die. I think I need to remember where they come in and kill them faster really. At least... I'm HOPING that'll solve my problems with that part ^_^

Then the stage 3 boss always gives me some trouble. I'm still trying to find the best order to take out parts in, but I always end up getting killed by a destructable turret once the main part starts the circular waves of large blue bullets. There always seems to be a pink turret bullet where I need to go through the blue ones. Unless you can squeeze through the blue bullets where they look like they're connecting Mushihime style. Perhaps I'll have to try that =D It's so difficult to make those kinds of dodges with the A-type ship though (which I actually prefer for its speed... figures eh?)

I do pretty good on Stage 4 itself, but the boss just rapes me. I have a pretty hard time with all of his patterns (especially since I rarely get there to practice them... Perhaps I should increase my self imposed credit limit to one or two instead of zero just for practice on those later parts -_^)

Oh I just HATE that 4th boss.

Oh sure, I can beat it NOW.....

But I remember the first time I got there: "Ok, that level wasnt so bad, but I dunno what this boss is gonna do..... not shooting at me yet *SPLAT* WHO THE HECK SAID THE BOSSES COULD LEAP AT ME?!?!?"

Hoboy that boss drove me up the wall for quite some time......

As for that 3rd boss, try to blow off the stuff on the front of that first, I think. Then I target the side parts, which turn into those red-spray turrets when blown off. Not too hard of a fight if you take it slow.

Post by **BulletMagnet** » Wed Aug 01, 2007 5:30 am

-Bridget- wrote:As for that 3rd boss, try to blow off the stuff on the front of that first, I think. Then I target the side parts, which turn into those red-spray turrets when blown off. Not too hard of a fight if you take it slow.

The thing that annoys me about this boss is one of the 3 random patterns he sends at you from his "main" section, which get meaner as you wear him down...2 of the patterns aren't much of a problem, but the third one, I find, almost requires you to bomb it if he chooses to use it late on (and with me, he ALWAYS does, at least once).

Arvandor · Post by **Arvandor** » Wed Aug 01, 2007 12:32 pm

I have NEVER seen any pattern the main body can send out on its own that I can't handle. Once I've cleared off all the parts, the win is mine.

Well... Tate really is helping me a lot. I've become more consistant suddenly at stage 3, and got to actually experience the stage 4 boss patterns a few times without panic bombing through them. That basic pattern that I hated so much is pretty cake in tate (though the upgraded version is still pretty tough), and the other two patterns I've seen are easy enough to dodge once you've seen them once. I had a pretty decent run into stage 5 earlier today, but my score was pretty bad. About 8M below my top (I did REALLY bad chaining stage 2... Worse than usual).

Arvandor · Post by **Arvandor** » Sat Aug 04, 2007 6:27 am

Tch, I downloaded MAME and a ROM of Dodonpachi so I could take it to work on my flash drive and play it there. The arcade version is so superior to my Saturn version... It makes me quite sad =(

Arvandor · Post by **Arvandor** » Fri Aug 10, 2007 7:05 am

Well this is an interesting and very frustrating phenomenon. I'm getting to stage 5 more consistantly than I ever have before... BUT... It's because I'm getting better at stage 4, NOT stage 3. I still die 2-3 times on stage 3 at various random spots (no ONE spot seems to give me trouble anymore, yet I die a lot), and then quite often one-life no-bomb stage 4.

I just... don't get it... Why do I suck so bad at stage 3? If I could bring my consistancy on stage 3 up to where I'm at with stages 1, 2, and 4... I'd be making some seriously impressive progress towards the clear of the first loop.

neo · Post by **neo** » Fri Aug 10, 2007 11:34 am

Arvandor wrote:I just... don't get it... Why do I suck so bad at stage 3? If I could bring my consistancy on stage 3 up to where I'm at with stages 1, 2, and 4... I'd be making some seriously impressive progress towards the clear of the first loop.

Of course stage 4 is easier than stage 3 when the rank is low, but stage 4 becomes way harder once you no miss no bomb stage 3, because the rank will be much higher

.

Arvandor · Post by **Arvandor** » Fri Aug 10, 2007 11:55 am

There's rank in Dodonpachi? I know there is in DOJ, but... DDP?

neo · Post by **neo** » Fri Aug 10, 2007 12:52 pm

There is rank in DoDonpachi, freddiebamboo posted these two screenshots in the old DDP high-score thread to show it:

From my experience, I can say the rank is entirely related to the maximum bomb bonus, I tried to suicide against the stage 2 boss and take the first bomb after suiciding, the rank was still high in stage 4, so I think dying without the max bomb bonus doesn't drop the rank.

tada · Post by **tada** » Fri Aug 10, 2007 2:14 pm

There definitely is rank... not sure what it's based on, but I did notice sometimes the boss of stage 3 fires different patterns sometimes (the one I noticed is the pattern where it shoots the large blue bullets in a circle around it in groups of four sometimes, and other times two)

This game is my Achilles' heel. I'm not good at it when it comes to survival (can rarely make it past stage 4 on one credit) nor scoring (I top out around 12 million).

Is it really worth it to collect bees? Even at their maximum starting value, you still get only 2,665,000 points for sweeping the entire level. And I don't know about everyone else here, but they are a pain in the butt for me to collect.

Kaiser · Post by **Kaiser** » Fri Aug 10, 2007 2:17 pm

tada wrote:There definitely is rank... not sure what it's based on, but I did notice sometimes the boss of stage 3 fires different patterns sometimes (the one I noticed is the pattern where it shoots the large blue bullets in a circle around it in groups of four sometimes, and other times two)

This game is my Achilles' heel. I'm not good at it when it comes to survival (can rarely make it past stage 4 on one credit) nor scoring (I top out around 12 million).

Is it really worth it to collect bees? Even at their maximum starting value, you still get only 2,665,000 points for sweeping the entire level. And I don't know about everyone else here, but they are a pain in the butt for me to collect.

500,000 is maximum value of the bee.....

Arvandor · Post by **Arvandor** » Fri Aug 10, 2007 4:41 pm

Well, looking at the screenshots my rank is probably about always maxed out anyways, so it doesn't matter =D

I think I've discovered where the cramped feeling comes from. It took many hours of MAME play, then switching back, to truly notice. I don't know if it's the computer or what, but the Saturn version runs a fair deal faster at all times. Faster moving bullets and a faster moving ship will of course make you feel more cramped, right?

Anyways, after playing in MAME all night and getting my ass kicked. I come home, play a few rounds on the Saturn, and low and behold, I make it to Stage 6 for the first time o_O Very strange.

shoe-sama · Post by **shoe-sama** » Fri Aug 10, 2007 4:44 pm

tada wrote:boss of stage 3 fires different patterns sometimes

That's randomized lol.

All the other bosses follow a specific attack pattern.

Post by **Shatterhand** » Fri Aug 10, 2007 5:13 pm

Arvandor wrote:Well, looking at the screenshots my rank is probably about always maxed out anyways, so it doesn't matter =D

I think I've discovered where the cramped feeling comes from. It took many hours of MAME play, then switching back, to truly notice. I don't know if it's the computer or what, but the Saturn version runs a fair deal faster at all times. Faster moving bullets and a faster moving ship will of course make you feel more cramped, right?

Anyways, after playing in MAME all night and getting my ass kicked. I come home, play a few rounds on the Saturn, and low and behold, I make it to Stage 6 for the first time o_O Very strange.

I usually play better on the Saturn version, and I heard that the MAME one is actually running faster than it should run.

Twiddle · Post by **Twiddle** » Fri Aug 10, 2007 5:53 pm

The MAME version acts like a fresh PCB, actually

Keade · Post by **Keade** » Fri Aug 10, 2007 8:02 pm

I'd add that very old MAME releases ran Dodonpachi much slower than today's releases (see M.T's 570,000,000 MAME 0.60 INP record at MARP) - M.T's comment was that the game was (at that time) emulated slower than the real machine.

Post by **Shatterhand** » Fri Aug 10, 2007 8:30 pm

Twiddle wrote:The MAME version acts like a fresh PCB, actually

Why, when the PCB gets rotten, the game plays slower?

Damocles · Post by **Damocles** » Fri Aug 10, 2007 9:26 pm

Shatterhand wrote:
Twiddle wrote:The MAME version acts like a fresh PCB, actually
Why, when the PCB gets rotten, the game plays slower?

Apparently, there is a discrepency even between legit DDP boards. Some run faster than others during different parts. A member (can't remember who, sorry) did a comparison between boards and was able to easily discern the differences.

Nuke · Post by **Nuke** » Fri Aug 10, 2007 11:06 pm

Just do like I do when I'm in doubt of my skills, play some Dangun Feveron for fun, and you'll feel good about yourself even though you only reach level 2

Arvandor · Post by **Arvandor** » Fri Aug 10, 2007 11:21 pm

Eh, when I'm start feeling discouraged, I'll just throw on some Mushihimesama Maniac. I took more naturally to that game than any shooter I've ever played. I find it to be even easier than ESPgaluda for who knows what reasons.

Or I'll just read a book or something -_^

tada · Post by **tada** » Sat Aug 11, 2007 3:13 am

Funny - I seem to have burst in DDP skill after reading this thread. I can make it to mid-stage 5 pretty consistently now. I'll probably be reaching the second extend before I know it.

Arvandor · Post by **Arvandor** » Sun Aug 12, 2007 1:03 pm

AHA!!!!^#$^&#!$&$*@$ !$#& $ !#$*$^@$#!$&! *swears fluently*

I found out one of my bigger problems. How I ever made it to stage 6 without realizing this is quite beyond me.

The hitbox is probably a good solid 6 pixels lower than I thought it was!!! I thought it was that grey spot in the center of the ship, when it's really the spot right BELOW that where there's an actual hole in your ship and you can see the things behind it. THAT is your hitbox.

*sigh* Why is it so unusually low? No wonder I keep dying when I think I'm weaving through a cloud of death successfully; only to go "pop."

Edit: This epiphany has improved my DDP game by a HUGE amount. I got to the final boss for the first time ever despite some stupid deaths while I was still holding a lot of bombs in stock. Stage 5 is IMMENSELY easier now. Still evil, but much more doable.

tada · Post by **tada** » Sun Aug 12, 2007 10:49 pm

I just dreamt I was playing DoDonPachi, and I got an 843-hit combo in stage 2. I don't think that's even possible. I remember my score being 32 million something.

This game's beginning to own my mind...

Arvandor · Post by **Arvandor** » Thu Aug 16, 2007 3:20 am

*cires* Go watch shoe-sama's Dodonpachi replay on youtube. That exact same thing just happened to me. Only, he had like... 4 more pixels of health for me.

I feel so... dirty bombing through the problem spots in stages 5 and 6 though =/

tada · Post by **tada** » Thu Aug 16, 2007 4:03 am

Arvandor wrote:*cires* Go watch shoe-sama's Dodonpachi replay on youtube. That exact same thing just happened to me. Only, he had like... 4 more pixels of health for me.

I feel so... dirty bombing through the problem spots in stages 5 and 6 though =/

I wish I *had* bombs left by stage 5. I think the most I've had so far is 1 life, 0 bombs going into it.

Ed Oscuro · Post by **Ed Oscuro** » Thu Aug 16, 2007 7:40 am

Fuck these games:

Dragon Blaze
Strikers 1945 III (it's like Dragon Blaze!)
Blazing Star (I CAN'T SEE MY SHIP)

these games make me sad