GD: Hellsinker

For posting and requesting strategic gameplay tips on shmups!
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shiftace
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GD: Hellsinker

Post by shiftace »

Anybody ever try this? It's the other PC game by Inudon Empire, after they abandoned Radio Zonde (lots of sites seem to list the developer name as Dogma, which I think is actually the name of a fighting game they made). But they haven't abandoned Hellsinker, so you can only play the first half free. Like the Shanghai Alice games.

I haven't decided if it's any harder than Radio Zonde, but it is more complicated.

I think the two demo characters have the same control scheme, but mostly I've played Minogame. Here's all that I found:
- tap Z: fire forward. Shot strength depends on Sol level.
- hold Z: charges up some kind of aura. When you release Z, you have a red aura that causes lots of damage for a couple of seconds.
- X: fires heavier, missile/bomb-type shot(s) that last for a couple seconds. There is a shot gauge that determines when you can fire -- first it charges orange, and then green, and you can fire any time it's partially green -- but I haven't noticed any penalty for firing at partial charge.
- Z+X: fires the X shot in a different formation.
- C: Bomb. Drains your Sol power when fired, must start with Sol level above 3.
- don't press Z: After about 2 seconds, you develop a blue aura that persists until you fire a weapon. The aura damages anything it touches, prevents certain enemies from firing, and slows/reverses nearby bullets. If you keep a bullet in its influence for a couple of seconds, the bullet turns into a bonus item. This aura behaves like Gophn's "panic button" (Z+X) in Radio Zonde, except that it moves with you and doesn't dissipate. Does anyone but me even know what that means?

The blue aura is incredibly powerful -- and to my limited experience unprecedented -- but it takes some getting used to.

I couldn't tell you the first thing about the scoring system or what any of the items do. Except that little red hearts with an L in them count towards extends; the number needed is shown prominently.

I just barely 1CCed the first stage a couple times. The difficulty ramps up slower than Radio Zonde, I think, but you have to play all the stages in Hellsinker. I'd consider buying it, if I had more time, a better computer, and less else to do.

Anyway, it's pretty cool.
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Macaw
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Post by Macaw »

So now there is a new (totally different) version of the game out.

How the fuck does scoring work. I've read that topic in shmups chat describing the system somewhat, but still much more information is needed.
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Macaw
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Post by Macaw »

Uh....so:

High score determined by number of Spirits. Do spirits do anything else?

Collecting the blue tokens left by enemies increases token counter, but do what exactly? Collecting more makes them level up and get bigger.

Do you need to finish the game to unlock level select mode?

What is the deal with the crazy boss about half way through the game that you get infinite lives for?
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SFKhoa
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Post by SFKhoa »

Macaw wrote: Do you need to finish the game to unlock level select mode?
Not exactly, You just have to go far enough into the game to unlock the previous levels that you've passed. I haven't Cleared the entire game yet and I can replay some of the stages I've previously cleared; namely Segment 1, 2, 4, and 6 for some reason.
Macaw wrote: What is the deal with the crazy boss about half way through the game that you get infinite lives for?
It's merely a challenge to see if you can defeat the boss within the time limit.
While it's good that you have infinite lives in the process, it's a bad thing to actually die because you get like a 3-4 second delay before you can actually start shooting again.
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Macaw
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Post by Macaw »

I've been downloading heaps of replays but they dont seem to work properly (always stuff up at stage 4 or so)

There also seems to be heaps of 'segment' replays for a single stage, but I cant run them because i am yet to unlock segment mode.

Also from browsing sites it seems possible to get like 4000 spirits from stage 1 and stuff, how on earth is this possible! I need to unlock segment mode so I can run these replays.
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Macaw
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Post by Macaw »

Ok, finishing stage 4 with a single credit unlocks the 4th character, Kagura, and also the segment mode. You can only replay the stages you have completed. It is strange that you can replay stages 4 and 6 and not 5, although sometimes the game skips stages for some reason and maybe that is how you missed out on 5. When I was playing before it skipped stage 6 for some reason and went on to stage 7.

These seem to be the main ways for getting spirits (score)
- On most mid-sized to big enemies there is a small counter underneath the remaining health % counter. This counter is the amount of spirits the enemy will give you when you destroy that section. The counter can be jacked up by going right up against it and grazing it WHILE doing your characters standard shot attack (preferably above the enemy so the counter goes up without you doing too much damage to the enemy) Destroying all the parts of the enemy will also increase the spirit counter of the central section of the enemy.
- Grazing the long thin sharp bullets increases spirits incredibly fast. These seem to be the only type of bullets that rapidly increase spirits while grazing.
- With most characters it is worthwhile bombing enemies with a SEAL on them to increase spirits.
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viniciusvbf
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Post by viniciusvbf »

omg this game is insane. I have no idea what i'm doing when i'm playing this.
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Macaw
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Post by Macaw »

yep!
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viniciusvbf
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Post by viniciusvbf »

I've read this thread, played the game for about an hour, and still have no clue what the hell is going on there.
But the game looks cool 8)
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Macaw
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Post by Macaw »

This thread will help you out as well: http://shmups.system11.org/viewtopic.ph ... hellsinker


And trust me, if you think the game looks cool now then just wait till you see further on. The last half of the game is 50 times more crazy, dramatic and insane than the first half.
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Macaw
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Post by Macaw »

Ok I've pretty much sussed out completely how the scoring system works.

If theres any increase in interest in the game, or if people request to know how it all works, then I might write an ST outlining everything.
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shoe-sama
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Post by shoe-sama »

Will it be longer than Icarus's Battle Garegga ST?
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landshark
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Post by landshark »

I've just started playing this - but ... I just see lots of colors on the screen. So many colors, all moving at me.

Made it to level 4 and have no clue what is going on. This is similar to the previous release, but a bit easier.
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shiftace
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Post by shiftace »

Macaw wrote:Ok I've pretty much sussed out completely how the scoring system works.

If theres any increase in interest in the game, or if people request to know how it all works, then I might write an ST outlining everything.
If you're sure, then I'd like to see.
landshark wrote:This is similar to the previous release, but a bit easier.
Yeah, the old version had harder stages, and some character attacks didn't exist yet.

BTW what happened to the old stage 1-2 bosses? I sort of miss the Red Queen. I haven't bought the full game yet, if that matters.
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Waddle Dee
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Post by Waddle Dee »

I barely remember the old Hellsinker demo levels, but I believe they are now Stage 1 "Lead" and Stage 2 "Lead", while the standard levels are "Behind". The old Stage 3 is still on the standard path, while Stage 3 "Lead" is something else entirely...

After completing Stage 4, subsequent full-sequence playthroughs should give you the choice of "Lead" and "Behind" for Stages 1-3. This should be available in the demo.
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Macaw
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Post by Macaw »

shoe-sama wrote:Will it be longer than Icarus's Battle Garegga ST?
Lets leave it up to Twiddle to de-throne Icarus with his RFJ ST.
Waddle Dee wrote:I barely remember the old Hellsinker demo levels, but I believe they are now Stage 1 "Lead" and Stage 2 "Lead", while the standard levels are "Behind". The old Stage 3 is still on the standard path, while Stage 3 "Lead" is something else entirely...

After completing Stage 4, subsequent full-sequence playthroughs should give you the choice of "Lead" and "Behind" for Stages 1-3. This should be available in the demo.
Yep, the old bosses are in the 'Lead' versions of the initial stages. So yeah, Scarlet Queen and fake Rex Cavalier are still there.
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Goshi
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Post by Goshi »

Pressing X is the Sub-Weapon. Its different for each character.

Not firing (Charging shots is allowed though) will allow the sub-weapon gauge to charge again giving you an even stronger one which is pretty useful.

I'm unsure on what settings determine what character you get though. Often you plays as muscular guy and at one point I was playing as a girl who would spin a lot and shoot Radiant Silvergun like lasers.
Last edited by Goshi on Sun Nov 04, 2007 6:40 am, edited 1 time in total.
Zeether
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Post by Zeether »

Deadliar is the muscular guy with the sword attack, Mindgame is the one with the homing lasers and the spinning bomb attack.
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Macaw
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Post by Macaw »

Goshi wrote: I'm unsure on what settings determine what character you get though. Often you plays as muscular guy and at one point I was playing as a girl who would spin a lot and shoot Radiant Silvergun like lasers.
You press left and right at the main menu to change character.
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Post by Zeether »

http://shmups.system11.org/viewtopic.ph ... hellsinker

The first post here has a great explanation of game mechanics, I think it will be a nice addition to this ST.

BTW, I cannot get past the stage 4 boss, it rapes me. I think I have a solution to beating it though that I saw on a replay: Stay at the top of the screen and dodge the red aimed shots. :wink:

And shiftace, I believe it's spelled Mindgame, but the font on the select screen doesn't really help...:P
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Goshi
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Post by Goshi »

If you play on Easy difficulty you don't fight him so if you're just playing to complete the game choose easy difficulty.

As far as bosses go Perpetual Calender (5th boss) is the one giving me trouble -_-;
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Macaw
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Post by Macaw »

ZeetherKID77 wrote: And shiftace, I believe it's spelled Mindgame, but the font on the select screen doesn't really help...:P
Its Minogame (min-o-gah-meh)


Also, the 4th boss is fought depending on the amount of lives you have when you get up to it I believe. If you only have about 1 life left at the end then you wont have to fight the boss.

In the 5th stage, if you do the stage without dying (or only dying once, I'm not sure yet) then you will have to find a different, harder version of Perpetual Calendar (you can tell the different because there is different boss music and it goes to the top-left at the beginning instead of bottom-right)
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Post by Waddle Dee »

If you play on Easy difficulty you don't fight him so if you're just playing to complete the game choose easy difficulty.
There's an "Easy" difficulty?
In the 5th stage, if you do the stage without dying (or only dying once, I'm not sure yet) then you will have to find a different, harder version of Perpetual Calendar (you can tell the different because there is different boss music and it goes to the top-left at the beginning instead of bottom-right)
The "version" of the Perpetual Calendar appears to be based on which path you take through Stage 5, "Sol" or "Luna". You can tell which path you're on by the title on the upper left, the overall color scheme (Sol = orange, Luna = purple), and the presence of those rotating crosses (Luna only). Many portals in the stage will transfer you to the other side, if you're so inclined.


Anyways, I have a question regarding "unchained" enemies... is it worth it to kill the masters first, with all the suicide shots that the unchained enemies release?? What's the point of that mechanic?
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Macaw
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Post by Macaw »

Waddle Dee wrote: There's an "Easy" difficulty?
The Bootleg Ghost option is basically the difficulty. Aspirant is default. Putting it to a harder mode like Adept increases the potential spirits you can get.
Waddle Dee wrote:The "version" of the Perpetual Calendar appears to be based on which path you take through Stage 5, "Sol" or "Luna". You can tell which path you're on by the title on the upper left, the overall color scheme (Sol = orange, Luna = purple), and the presence of those rotating crosses (Luna only). Many portals in the stage will transfer you to the other side, if you're so inclined.
Thanks for that.
Waddle Dee wrote:Anyways, I have a question regarding "unchained" enemies... is it worth it to kill the masters first, with all the suicide shots that the unchained enemies release?? What's the point of that mechanic?
When you 'unchain' the slaves from the master (by killing the master) you will notice a blue number that appears to the top of your spirit count. This is the amount of spirits you get for the unchain. So yeah, waiting until there are as many slaves as possible and then killing the master is what you need to do as you get more spirits that way... The suicide shots can be avoided by using a discharge immediately after unchaining.
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Goshi
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Post by Goshi »

Goshi wrote:If you play on Easy difficulty you don't fight him so if you're just playing to complete the game choose easy difficulty.

As far as bosses go Perpetual Calender (5th boss) is the one giving me trouble -_-;
My mistake, Rusted Dragon appears on Easy as well. I guess it depends on how well you perform.

Anyway finally beat the big Calender and did the remaining segments. Defeating all the Relics in the Shrine of Farewell within the time limit isn't easy. I usually run out of time when I reach the last one -_-

And for some reason the game made me skip Segment 6. Also in the final segment, Segment 8 there doesn't seem to be a boss of any sort. Maybe I did something wrong...
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Macaw
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Post by Macaw »

You have to only use 1 credit. If you use the continue the game gives you it skips some stages and i'm guessing doesn't make the last boss appear.
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Goshi
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Post by Goshi »

Yeah you need to 1CC to reach the final boss. I didn't get to see all its attacks though since I got distracted ;_;

Segment 6 is really hard though maybe I should stick to number 7 =/
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Dandy J
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Post by Dandy J »

Hey macaw you got any links to a 1cc replay for version 1008c? I would really like to see the whole game, as well as see someone good playing it so I have more of an idea of whats going on cause jesus this game is confusing.

Also I just played the lead versions of the first stages and man this game is crazy...

edit nevermind found one on a jap forum: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=QTMORVE8

havent watched much yet but he plays on adept T_t

edit damn it stopped right before 2nd boss :/

Here's the thread in case anyone wants to keep an eye on it: http://game13.2ch.net/test/read.cgi/gameama/1194799949/

last edit this is best: http://www3.uploader.jp/home/hellsinker/
<BEOWOOF> my lifes like battle garegga every time i kill man life becomes harder and the only solution to making things easier is killing ymself.
<SCRUNBABBY> my lifes like gwangs
<SCRUNBABBY> cause .. theres lots of wangs
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Macaw
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Post by Macaw »

Hellsinker can be weird with replays, even full sequence replays I've run on the correct version have cut out or stuffed up at points.

The replays I've found at this site have worked properly though http://www.redsight.net/frames/index.html

Newest one (63478 Spirits with Dead Liar) is for 1.008b though.
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Dandy J
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Post by Dandy J »

sikraiken found this one

http://www014.upp.so-net.ne.jp/wim/replay.htm

theyre all on solidstate though
<BEOWOOF> my lifes like battle garegga every time i kill man life becomes harder and the only solution to making things easier is killing ymself.
<SCRUNBABBY> my lifes like gwangs
<SCRUNBABBY> cause .. theres lots of wangs
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