Shmup Pet Peeves

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Andy 5
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Post by Andy 5 »

I think you're assuming a lot about the shmups.org community without knowing much about them.
Post-Newgrounds Traumatic Stress Syndrome (PNTS,) a condition that affects millions of internet users each year. I guess we must all learn to recuperate from armies of 15-year-olds saying "LOL WTF FUCK U N00B U SUK DICK PUSSY!" every second.
Some drama happens here and there, but usually not over anything so unimportant as what you seem to be afraid of getting attacked for.
You're right. My past forum experiences have been hell. With the exception of Twiddle, nobody here is going out of their way to be an asshole it seems.
And no pickles! Oh god help you if I find pickles!
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MA7
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Post by MA7 »

Super Laydock wrote:Sprites > polygons
Yes!
I heart pixel art
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BulletMagnet
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Post by BulletMagnet »

-Invisible bullets/enemies

-Die-once-and-you-might-as-well-reset syndrome

-Vital gameplay systems the developer doesn't bother to explain (or even tell you exist)

-Long bomb delays

-Games in which almost every single death you die will be from a point-blank, sniper, or Instant Death Lazer

-Not getting a warning when enemies enter the screen from behind

-Unbalanced/useless weapons/craft

-Unlimited milking

-Lack of high score save/proper view mode/frame rate in home ports

-PS2 shmups they decided to put on a Blue Disc of Death

-Not resetting the score after you continue
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Arvandor
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Post by Arvandor »

BulletMagnet wrote:-Long bomb delays
Even short bomb delays are starting to frustrate me. The 3-4 frame activation or whatever it is in Dodonpachi has gotten me killed so many times. I try to bomb reflexively when I know I'm going to die, only to die anyways, AFTER pressing the bomb button.
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Pirate1019
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Post by Pirate1019 »

- Really slow ships

- Collisions with enemies
"You are the Hero of Tomorrow!"
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sfried
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Post by sfried »

- Archaic "all or nothing" scoring schemes.

- Repetative level design, which includes lack of enemy variety.

- Long unskippable dialogue. Fast forward isn't quite fast enough.

- Monotenous pacing. (Waves are quite predictable to the point that it becomes boring.)

- Enemies from behind without warning.

- Underexploited systems. I.e. differences in weapon abilities is underutilized.

- Over reliance on memorization needed to simply finish a game.
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popawell
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Post by popawell »

- Quick snake like homing lasers (YOU HEAR ME DARIUS GAIDEN!!!!)

- Moving walls
"There is always an exception to every rule."
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Icarus
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Post by Icarus »

Bullets.
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Rob
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Post by Rob »

-Level 1
tada
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Post by tada »

Ships' fire being the same color as enemy fire. This bugs me to no end.
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Arvandor
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Post by Arvandor »

Even in Ikaruga? :shock:
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MikeB
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Post by MikeB »

- Moving walls
Heh never liked 'em much myself either but this would rule of most of the R-Type series ;)

And Silvergun/Ika.
tada
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Post by tada »

Arvandor wrote:Even in Ikaruga? :shock:
Ikaruga in general too. It's just not my type of game. Completely devoid of any power-ups, or anything to pick up whatsoever.
MikeB
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Post by MikeB »

I can respect that. It's a game I have to be in the right frame of mind to stick on and being a pattern-shooter with a learning curve rather than a straightforward twitcher it won't be everyone's cup of tea.
tada
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Post by tada »

MikeB wrote:I can respect that. It's a game I have to be in the right frame of mind to stick on and being a pattern-shooter with a learning curve rather than a straightforward twitcher it won't be everyone's cup of tea.
Even though most shmups throw the same patterns at you every time, I always seem to play them slightly differently each time, or I discover new secrets (I very recently discovered in GigaWing that you get a 20-point medal for destroying those turrets in level 2 near the bottom of the screen). However, in Ikaruga, you have to play it the same way, or you'll die. It's just pure rote memorization. I may as well be using that hard drive space to memorize more kanji, or even digits of pi.
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bsidwell
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Post by bsidwell »

Powerups that expire, especially without warning. Oh, good, I get to fight the boss with my default weapon. FANTASTIC.
tada
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Post by tada »

That reminded me of more of mine:

- Weapons that degrade over time *cough* Aero Fighters *cough*
- Taking way too long to get the maximum power of your weapon, and losing way too much power if you die. The original Raiden is a painful example of this. 8 levels to maximize your main weapon, 4 to maximize your sub-weapon, and if you die, you go back to level 1 main weapon and level 0 (i.e. nashi) subweapon. Don't even get me started on Fantasy Zone. Die while fighting a boss later on in the game and you are screwed.
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BIL
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Post by BIL »

BulletMagnet wrote:-Die-once-and-you-might-as-well-reset syndrome
About the only thing that can actually make me walk away from a good shooter. As much as I want to 1CC Gradius III arcade at some point, sometimes I just have to put it down for a few weeks.

Besides that, sleepy early levels. Gradius II arcade and Thunder Cross both have second stages that make me hesistate to sit down with either, as good as both games get. If an early stage isn't going to be dangerous, I'd at least like it to be entertaining in some way. Sitting still and steamrolling everything for two minutes straight just isn't rewarding at such low difficulty.
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Zebra Airforce
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Post by Zebra Airforce »

Over-sized sprites
Wonky hitboxes
Boredom
BUBBLE LEVEL
Gradius II ...second stage... isn't going to be dangerous
I seriously have died on this level a million times before finding a good path :oops:
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BIL
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Post by BIL »

Zebra Airforce wrote:
Gradius II ...second stage... isn't going to be dangerous
I seriously have died on this level a million times before finding a good path :oops:
I guess there is some tight manuevering early on, heh. You need to avoid having a bullet fly at you when you've no vertical dodging room. But honestly, thinking of that stage makes my brain go numb. X_X Maybe it's because all the others are so much more involving, including the first.
Andy 5
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Post by Andy 5 »

tada wrote: - Weapons that degrade over time *cough* Aero Fighters *cough*
Yes, I know. I HATE that about that series. Unfortunately, you'll notice almost all of Psikyo's games feature that too: Sengoku Ace, Gunbird, Gunbird 2, and I do believe Psikyo worked on at least some of the Aero Fighters/Sonic Wings games.

Anyway, I found this. Annoyance is guaranteed.[/url]
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JoshF
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Post by JoshF »

That's because 1994-style internet humor doesn't work in 2007. My magnum opus Dobkeratops Ate My Balls will never see the light of day. :(
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Andy 5
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Post by Andy 5 »

JoshF wrote:That's because 1994-style internet humor doesn't work in 2007. My magnus opus Dobkeratops Ate My Ball will never see the light of day. :(
Ah yes, "Ate My Balls." Those were the days for laughing at terribly stupid internet humor. Now it's all about owls and tubes.

lol, what about "Hibachi ate my balls"
And no pickles! Oh god help you if I find pickles!
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