Omega Fighter

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EOJ
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Post by EOJ »

rtw wrote:
What if "Tsunoda" is "Tsuneki" ? :D

rtw
Not likely. Changing the "-eki" to "-oda" while retaining the "tsun-" makes no sense in Japanese (not to mention "Tsunoda" is historically three morphemes while "Tsuneki" is historically two). Furthermore "Tsunoda" is always a surname while "Tsuneki" is a given (first) name in Ikeda's case (it can also be a surname, however, though this surname is actually just homophonous as it is morphologically different, written with different kanji).
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Post by rtw »

TWE wrote:Not likely. Changing the "-eki" to "-oda" while retaining the "tsun-" makes no sense in Japanese (not to mention "Tsunoda" is historically three morphemes while "Tsuneki" is historically two). Furthermore "Tsunoda" is always a surname while "Tsuneki" is a given (first) name in Ikeda's case (it can also be a surname, however, though this surname is actually just homophonous as it is morphologically different, written with different kanji).
Thank you for that info TWE :D

I'm curious about this sentence:

The game design of "Omega fighter" is not Mr. F.

But there is no name which starts with F in the hi score list ?

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oxtsu
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Post by oxtsu »

The way that the ex-UPL guys talk, Mr.F was the nickname of one of the main programmers/designers at UPL (I don't know who that is on the list, but I would guess Iwatani or Nobuyuki Narita), who was credited with design or programming on Omega Fighter, even though he was not actually the one ('switch the register'=his name was put in place of this 'super famous game designer' who was actually in charge).

If it was S.Yagawa I wouldn't be surprised, considering IKD paid tribute tp Omega Fighter's system in Ketsui, and we know he is a big fan and friend of Yagawa now. And at the the time of Omega Fighter, Yagawa was relatively unknown. That would make sense.
Imhotep wrote:UPL rocks

what intrigues me is that Black Heart (a seemingly totally third rate game) is still being played competitively it Japan. I credit feeded to the second loop yesterday and there it gets crazy. it must be a challenge even for the best players to get far into the third loop.
Actually, Black Heart was developed by NMK, also the UPL published games Task Force Harrier and USAAF Mustang.
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Post by szycag »

oxtsu wins the thread
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Ko.oS
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Post by Ko.oS »

well ive only played OFS, but here's some more similaritites to well-known games. sorry for the shit writing style/poor grammar btw, but my english is getting worse . . .


- when you die, your ship blows up into a big explosion that will take out minor enemies if they fly into it. this is typically yagawa, just look at recca or garegga. also, some bosses can be taken out with a well timed suicide. this is no good for your score but its fun.

- while you can get extends endlessly, you can only keep a limited amount of extra lives in stock at any time. yea, like in the shiki games and batrider, etc

- some enemies have different base values if you attack them with a bomb (bakraid, etc)

- experts will max out the narrow shot and just flip around the screen with the "melee" attack, this is a bit like using the tickle shot in recca or aura-ing everything in 'rider.

- if you kill enemies efficiently you will fill the bar at the top of the screen, which, when it crosses a certain thresold will give you a bomb. the more bombs you use, the more bombs you get. this is a bit like in doj where you fill up the hyper bar, and use hypers to get more hypers. one of the ray games works in a similar fashion (score well and you get more bombs)

- galuda's kakusei thing could be seen as a hommage to OF's slowdown item. yea, im stretching things a bit.

- you can deliberately choose on which side you want to mount the extra weapons (left or right), this is a bit like Einhander (mounting weapons on bottom or top). seriously.

- like in feveron, the 2p sim mode is very playable.



overall the game is a little bit on the easy side of things (1st round anyway), but the scoresystem and the pseudo randomness keep it fresh. while its a bit minimalistic (psyvariar, etc), visually its rather gratifying, for instance if you use a bomb at the right place the screen will go completely crazy (trying not to spoil). also, there's some nice details, for example -> in stage 1 as soon as the game begins, dont move horizontally, but only move up to the top of the screen, and then watch your afterburners take care of the first two formations. ;)
also, in stage 7 its technically easier to destroy the big boss first and then taking out the little satellites, but if you do that, the game will stop, and you'll get stuck. it's probably more a bug in the code than any intentional programming, but still.


btw
I managed to end stage 2 with 1 million
i dunno about OF, but in OFS, it's all about exiting stage 1 with at least one bomb and a slodown item in stock, and then go crazy. exiting with two bombs would be perfect, of course.

there's more, but the end is near . . .


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Icarus
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Post by Icarus »

SPECIAL POWER UP!

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Note to self: do NOT pick it up.
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Herr Schatten
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Post by Herr Schatten »

Ko.oS wrote:- you can deliberately choose on which side you want to mount the extra weapons (left or right), this is a bit like Einhander (mounting weapons on bottom or top). seriously.
More like Ibara, actually.
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Post by Shatterhand »

Now I really hope this does NOT get picked up on the Hidden Gem Week.

Everyone is playing it right now!
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Post by lowemark »

Shatterhand wrote:Now I really hope this does NOT get picked up on the Hidden Gem Week.

Everyone is playing it right now!
true, this game doesn't really feel like a hidden gem anymore. :P
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Post by Twiddle »

Icarus wrote:SPECIAL POWER UP!

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Note to self: do NOT pick it up.
How the hell did you end up getting that?
so long and tanks for all the spacefish
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Icarus
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Post by Icarus »

Twiddle wrote:How the hell did you end up getting that?
No idea. All I saw was a (∞) floating down the screen, so I picked it up to see what it was.
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Post by Twiddle »

This is why you don't pick up what's not familiar.

Saber or machine gun at full power have serious tactical caveats and powering them to the point where they actually harm your effectiveness is meant to be avoided.

Thankfully, OFS is less random about the pickups so powering down is easier.
so long and tanks for all the spacefish
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Icarus
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Post by Icarus »

Twiddle wrote:This is why you don't pick up what's not familiar.
EVERYTHING is unfamiliar when you've only played the game for a total of 30 minutes (all this afternoon).
Saber at 8x range is pretty good fun, however.
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Twiddle
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Post by Twiddle »

Herr Schatten wrote:
Ko.oS wrote:- you can deliberately choose on which side you want to mount the extra weapons (left or right), this is a bit like Einhander (mounting weapons on bottom or top). seriously.
More like Ibara, actually.
Ibara nicked its pod positioning from Image Fight though.
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Post by Stefan_L »

mainpatr1 wrote:And Iwatani?

Could that possibly be Toru Iwatani?
Thats what i heard... i think that info was on the UPL site earlier.
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Post by rtw »

Created my own little dual boot version of Omega figher :D

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You have to lift pin 30 (A17) in order to get it to work.

Now could someone please tell me how to get a bomb in this game ?

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Post by captain ahar »

professor ganson wrote:How different are Omega Fighters and Omega Fighters Special? I've only played the latter.
beyond formations and general difficulty, i thought the distance multipliers worked a little differently.

haven't played OF though since i started in on OFS. actually kind of happy others are giving the game a try, seems like a remember some kind of effort to get people interested, sometime in the past, that really didn't work...
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Post by shoe-sama »

rtw wrote:bomb
1) Build up the x10 bonus meter halfway.
2) Slowdown pods appear as you do x10's. Sometimes red bombs appear instead.
<Sidwell> TSS is manlier than a jet figher made of biceps.
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Post by Twiddle »

Slowdown bombs appear randomly, reds appear on the halfway mark on the gauge
so long and tanks for all the spacefish
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Post by shoe-sama »

Slowdown bombs seem to appear more frequently as you do x10's though.
<Sidwell> TSS is manlier than a jet figher made of biceps.
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Post by Twiddle »

Well, it is less random in Special
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Post by oxtsu »

Ok, I have the PCB now, + Special ROM.

quick thoughts~

Seems like Special is easier...more item drops.

Enemy placement appeared the same to me (st1, 2).

-take all of the above with a grain of salt-

Less random? couldn't tell, yet.

Also of note, original (speaking of Japan rev) doesn't allow continue, while Special does. very unusual.
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Post by szycag »

BUMP

now you have to play it! (if you're in STGT) enjoy!!!
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Post by oxtsu »

power-up system = one miss domino effect

arrgh
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Post by Zebra Airforce »

I thought this game was just "average", but now that I've played it more I realize just how cool it is!
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Post by BulletMagnet »

The random item appearances, too-short invincibility time after dying, and inherent upped frustration of a system relying on risky point-blanking are a pain, but most of the rest of the game is done well enough (especially considering the era it's from) to have convinced me to vote for it.
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Re: Omega Fighter

Post by Obiwanshinobi »

So this many years down the line it appears to be still fairly hidden.
Kinda makes you think what could have been if Compile had guts to make coin-op shmups.
It does look somewhat "abstract" indeed (Image Fight or Radiant Silvergun way), but I'm not sure whether it was intended, or was it due to the small art budget. Among all verticals I can't think of, Omega Fighter has got the best looking ship sprite (at least in the mecha SF category). It's also one of those "epic" shmups where something seems to be going on off the screen where I can't see (like RayForce, Scrambled Valkyrie or Varth). Unlike, say, Cave shmups with their "tunnel of love" look and feel.
The rear gate is closed down
The way out is cut off

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Re: Omega Fighter

Post by ookitarepanda »

I'm resurrecting this thread because now it's actually possible for us Joe Shmoe Jackasses to talk to Cave directly and ask retarded questions like this:

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Maybe it is Yagawa and I should have asked that, too... :oops:
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Re: Omega Fighter

Post by soupbones »

I managed to get the original PCB of Omega Fighter today... It wasn't cheap.

But it was worth every penny!

I never played before - so I'm still learning the scoring system, but man this game is mad fun. Im a little surprised more people don't talk about this game more -


Anyway, just wanted to chime into a very old thread and say how awesome this game is. :D
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Re: Omega Fighter

Post by drboom »

Did you grab the one off teh bay? There was an Omega Fighter normal that I know of at least three people watching and bidding...:)

We played the hell out of this during my last meet and it seemed to surprise those who hadn't played it before with its gameplay. It really is a stellar title.
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