Espgaluda II

[dmauro]

I knew this game was gonna be hard, but man... Maybe I should just ignore zesshikai for a bit.

[clp]

Maybe Im missing something here, but so far, it's just plain irritating. .

Nope your just a noob .

[antares]

So if you're playing on a CRT don't turn Smoothing "OFF" for any modes. I assumed this was just some dumb filter, but without it on the background is segmented into horizontal bars and brings back horrors of bad PS2 ports.

Also, why no proper Tate option that fills the screen? Having to zoom to 140% seems awkward and quite unintuitive.

I think the zoom to 140% is why you get the segmented background when smoothing is off. It was the same with the Futari port if you chose a zoom that wasn't in the correct ratio. Try zooming to 150% and see if it's still there.

[GaijinPunch]

I mean, not that I expected too much from the scoring; before DeathSmiles and Futari, the only Cave game with scoring I didnt totally hate was Progear, but still.

So you hate every single Cave game then. Gotcha.

And unlike with BL, I dont see the use of Overmode in this one.

It's more important than Black Label.

I think I'll just stick with Black Label on this one, at least for now.

I think you're dismissing it far too quickly. It is likely the most complex scoring system Cave has put out, true, but it's wicked once you get the hang of it.

So, here's a REALLY old video... I took this soon after I bought the PCB back in 1993 or something
Mega Fucking Upload. The pattern was quickly outdated as "not as high scoring" but it does yield a nice score w/o having to use the tutorial bug.

So, the video should clearly illustrate a few tricks:
1: The importance of kakusei overmode (at kakusei level 4 you get more gems in normal mode, more gold in kakusei zetsu over. It doesn't reset when you die like it did in the first one).
2: How to "peel the skin" off of those flying things in stage 1.
3: How you should move around the screen when you use zetsushikai
4: How to get more gems (shot from far away = x1, laser = x2, point blank w/ shot = x4)

Enjoy.

[StarCreator]

zesshikai

zetsushikai

Um, okay... which is it? Little tsu or big tsu?

[GaijinPunch]

zesshikai

zetsushikai

Um, okay... which is it? Little tsu or big tsu?

I would say the latter since that's the way Cave romanized it in the game (turn score display on). I'm probably responsible for the first one, but I think it was a forgivable mistake.

[Schrodinger's cat]

If you have a tate setup and part of the screen gets off when you change to a pixel-to-pixel zoom ratio, these settings will hopefully make things a little better for you. Some sacrifices still have to be made in regards to cutting off the edges of the screen though, but I think this is better than having to moving the screen around until you only see half of your score and the (not so useful) top half of your guard meter.

1. Under Screen in the options menu change the zoom setting to 150% (you can tell if a zoom level is pixel-to-pixel if the smoothing setting doesn't change anything)
2. Increase the Position Y setting to about 20 or so (the guard meter should be gone and about half your hitbox will be cut off if your character is at the bottom of the screen)
3. Under General Screen change Extra Window setting to preset 3
4. Go to the Extra Window Setting No.1 menu and change Show Type to 1P guard, change Position X to 15, and Position Y to 6 (the useful bottom half of the guard meter should be right on top of the score)
5. Toggle Show Window off under Extra Window Settings No. 2-4

If this all works out, you should see both your score and half of your guard meter clearly after doing this. No more having to stretch the screen with ugly pixelation or scrolling artifacts!

[dmauro]

So if you're playing on a CRT don't turn Smoothing "OFF" for any modes. I assumed this was just some dumb filter, but without it on the background is segmented into horizontal bars and brings back horrors of bad PS2 ports.

Also, why no proper Tate option that fills the screen? Having to zoom to 140% seems awkward and quite unintuitive.

I think the zoom to 140% is why you get the segmented background when smoothing is off. It was the same with the Futari port if you chose a zoom that wasn't in the correct ratio. Try zooming to 150% and see if it's still there.

I was just gonna say the same thing. I turned down the hsize and vsize on my monitor so that I could get the actual size needed, and it's 150%, and the filter does little if anything, and I don't have any problems with the background.

But arcade mode looks god awful. I'm not touching that mode at all.

[Schrodinger's cat]

But arcade mode looks god awful. I'm not touching that mode at all.

Yeah, I wonder about this sometimes. Does arcade look a lot better on an arcade cab monitor than on a CRT or HDTV? I read about people preferring to play in arcade mode for a more PCB-like experience, but I'm not sure if this is just for nostalgia's sake, slowdown reasons, or if that mode actually does look a LOT better on an arcade monitor. It certainly doesn't look good on my TV.

[dmauro]

This is on a 31KHz arcade monitor:

ESPGaluda II arcade mode < DOJBLEX < DeathSmiles arcade mode < Mushi Futari arcade mode

I'm not trying for a "more PCB-like experience," I just like pixels, but when they get all fuzzy, they're no good. Mushi Futari is the only Cave game on the 360 that's worth playing in arcade mode, but even for that game the hi-def mode just looks so much better that I usually stick to that.

[TLB]

But arcade mode looks god awful. I'm not touching that mode at all.

Yeah, I wonder about this sometimes. Does arcade look a lot better on an arcade cab monitor than on a CRT or HDTV? I read about people preferring to play in arcade mode for a more PCB-like experience, but I'm not sure if this is just for nostalgia's sake, slowdown reasons, or if that mode actually does look a LOT better on an arcade monitor. It certainly doesn't look good on my TV.

GP was right; it looks worse than shit on mine.

[Special World]

Retrieved it from my mailbox today.

Don't think I'm cool enough for Arcade/360 mode.

But that's fine, because Black Label rocks shit.

I'm not huge on the whole "invicibility bullet slowing" thing but eh what're you gonna do.

Reading up on Black Label scoring just fills me with joy.

[GaijinPunch]

I'm not huge on the whole "invicibility bullet slowing" thing but eh what're you gonna do.

Play arcade mode.

[Special World]

Yeah, you've got me there.

It was a dumb thing to say.

But I'm just not ready for it yet. I'll graduate to it someday, I'm sure. This game will definitely keep me occupied.

But for now, Black Label. This isn't like Futari where the BL is clearly superior (IMO) than the Arcade version, just seems like BL is more accessible.

[TLB]

I mean, not that I expected too much from the scoring; before DeathSmiles and Futari, the only Cave game with scoring I didnt totally hate was Progear, but still.

So you hate every single Cave game then. Gotcha.

I think I'll just stick with Black Label on this one, at least for now.

I think you're dismissing it far too quickly. It is likely the most complex scoring system Cave has put out, true, but it's wicked once you get the hang of it.

So, here's a REALLY old video... I took this soon after I bought the PCB back in 1993 or something
Mega Fucking Upload. The pattern was quickly outdated as "not as high scoring" but it does yield a nice score w/o having to use the tutorial bug.

So, the video should clearly illustrate a few tricks:
1: The importance of kakusei overmode (at kakusei level 4 you get more gems in normal mode, more gold in kakusei zetsu over. It doesn't reset when you die like it did in the first one).
2: How to "peel the skin" off of those flying things in stage 1.
3: How you should move around the screen when you use zetsushikai
4: How to get more gems (shot from far away = x1, laser = x2, point blank w/ shot = x4)

Enjoy.

I did enjoy. After a good little while of restarting stage 1 and copying your strats to see what the fuck was up, I've found that I think I like this game's scoring system more than I like DOJ's...and that's saying a lot. The funny thing is, I actually like this scoring system, unlike Futari, Progear, ESPRaDe, Guwange, Dodonpachi, Donpachi, Dangun Feveron, Mushihimesama...I guess it just takes a game like Ibara (which is a YGW game anyway) or DOJ to be incredibly complex or incredibly sadistic enough to make me like it. ESPGaluda 2 fits these descriptions, and I like playing it. The way you have to flit around the screen doing random weird shit is a lot more fun and keeps me a lot more interested than, say, DDP or butt-paRaDe.

PLAY ARCADE. Or forever be a pussy.

[Dave_K.]

But arcade mode looks god awful. I'm not touching that mode at all.

Yeah, I wonder about this sometimes. Does arcade look a lot better on an arcade cab monitor than on a CRT or HDTV? I read about people preferring to play in arcade mode for a more PCB-like experience, but I'm not sure if this is just for nostalgia's sake, slowdown reasons, or if that mode actually does look a LOT better on an arcade monitor. It certainly doesn't look good on my TV.

I just got the game today, and had the PCB for a long time. Arcade Mode in the port looks nothing like the PCB. In fact, I'd even say the PCB looks better than XBOX mode on my Windy vertical 31khz monitor....which is quite strange considering I thought the Futari port looked stunning. Maybe its just that I'm too used to the PCB, but the sprites look too big in HD and glazed over with something. The lack of a scanline option for arcade mode really hurts this port, but I guess most people will never play that anyway.

Bottom line is the PCB looks fantastic on an arcade monitor, and I'm sure the HD port looks just as great if not better on a horizontal LCD screen. To each his own. The extra modes make the port worth owning regardless.

[vld99]

I already knew what I was getting myself into, but experiencing it first hand is another matter entirely. Wow, this game is really hard. The difficulty curve is a *lot* steeper than Futari, mostly due to how the patterns leave you little breathing room with no natural slowdown (that I've seen so far anyway). You really wouldn't expect that after playing the first 2 levels. It seems the comparison with DOJ was not too exaggerated. The hitbox feels slightly bigger too, but that might just be me. I feel it's gonna take a lot of time to start taming it. But I'm not complaining.

On the other hand though, hats off to Cave for making a more accessible version through Black Label. At first I thought the bullet "pushing" would make it a little too easy, but seeing how it's not all that forgiving, and the crazy patterns you have to deal with, I was quite thankful it's there. Took me 2-3 hours and quite a bit of effort to reach the stage 4 boss with a measly 220M, before getting destroyed. As a side note, I love how it gets bigger as you progress in the battle while laughing at you through a projected screen.

I'm enjoying it a lot so far, but I still prefer Futari. For now.

[brentsg]

I just got the game today, and had the PCB for a long time. Arcade Mode in the port looks nothing like the PCB. In fact, I'd even say the PCB looks better than XBOX mode on my Windy vertical 31khz monitor....

This is for certain. I owned the PCB for a while and it is simply a stunning game on a proper monitor.

[EOJ]

Maybe its just that I'm too used to the PCB, but the sprites look too big in HD and glazed over with something.

Did you turn "smoothing" off in the options menu?

Arcade mode will look lousy on a 31khz monitor, just like Deathsmiles' Arcade mode before it. It looks pretty close to the PCB on a 15khz RGB monitor, though. Sans scanlines of course.

[Dave_K.]

Did you turn "smoothing" off in the options menu?

I thought this might be it, and tried turning it off but didn't notice much difference. I'll have to run a side by side comparison with the PCB during my shmupmeet this coming weekend, and get opinions from others, I'm probably too biased having burned in the PCB sprites into my brain. Would also be interesting to get people's opinions on the accuracy of the slowdowns. My first few minutes of impression is that it just felt different (probably more due to the looks).

[GaijinPunch]

my shmupmeet this coming weekend,

You know, I was supposed to be in your hood around this time. The powers the be thought otherwise though.

I'm glad to see people aren't totally turned off by the difficulty curve. I don't think it's as hard as DOJ if you're playing either for score, and I don't think it's too much harder than Futari Maniac. DOJ's stage 4 is just mean, and there's no kakusei to bullshit your way through the tough parts. It is complex though, and takes a lot of studying. On that note, fuckups carry that much more of a bite to them!

[-Bridget-]

I mean, not that I expected too much from the scoring; before DeathSmiles and Futari, the only Cave game with scoring I didnt totally hate was Progear, but still.

So you hate every single Cave game then. Gotcha.

And unlike with BL, I dont see the use of Overmode in this one.

It's more important than Black Label.

I think I'll just stick with Black Label on this one, at least for now.

I think you're dismissing it far too quickly. It is likely the most complex scoring system Cave has put out, true, but it's wicked once you get the hang of it.

So, here's a REALLY old video... I took this soon after I bought the PCB back in 1993 or something
Mega Fucking Upload. The pattern was quickly outdated as "not as high scoring" but it does yield a nice score w/o having to use the tutorial bug.

So, the video should clearly illustrate a few tricks:
1: The importance of kakusei overmode (at kakusei level 4 you get more gems in normal mode, more gold in kakusei zetsu over. It doesn't reset when you die like it did in the first one).
2: How to "peel the skin" off of those flying things in stage 1.
3: How you should move around the screen when you use zetsushikai
4: How to get more gems (shot from far away = x1, laser = x2, point blank w/ shot = x4)

Enjoy.

Feh, I get frustrated easily, so sue me

And I dont hate the older Cave games like DOJ or whatnot, I just never played them for score. Never liked DDP/DOJ's chaining system whatsoever; with DOJ I mostly just played Death Label. And the first Mushi was all about Ultra as far as Im concerned.

Back when I got the PS2 ports, I wouldnt have been skilled enough to consider going after score anyway.

Gotta say though, these new ones (new to me anyway) have me enjoying the scoring quite alot more. For now though, I am just gonna probably stick to BL for this game. For whatever reason, BL clicked with me fast, but the original version just didnt. I'll get to it eventually.

[evil_ash_xero]

This isn't frustrating me like DOJ did, but if I was totally green to these types of shmups, i'd probably be banging my head against a wall.

I have figured out the scoring system enough to get extra lives to make it into stage 5, and i've only had it since yesterday. So, it's not as tough as some make it out to be, although it's way harder than Futari, ESP 1, and certainly DS. I do way better on this than Futari 1.1 though(the bombs not hurting the bosses make that version pretty much impossible to me).

I was playing Futari, DS, and this all today, and I was just like "oh yeah, this rocks". All three of these games are awesome, and we got them all so close to each other. For me, this is blowing the PS2 Cave blitz out of the water. Good times.

Bring on Ketsui.

[Dave_K.]

I just got the game today, and had the PCB for a long time. Arcade Mode in the port looks nothing like the PCB. In fact, I'd even say the PCB looks better than XBOX mode on my Windy vertical 31khz monitor....which is quite strange considering I thought the Futari port looked stunning.

Forget everything I said here, I must have been on drugs, as I just did a quick side-by-side test and the HD port looks a ton better than the PCB. I guess the big difference in my eyes are how everything looks more like vector art than pixel art of the PCB. I got over it. Anyway, I noticed all of the fonts used in the demonstration/character select/stage endings/game over/scoreboard is different than the PCB, but thats about all I could tell....hardly worth mentioning.

I'm willing to bet if there was a scanline option for arcade mode, it would look a lot better like the PCB does. Strange it was in Futari, but not here.

[Strider77]

You can make arcade mode look ok if you:

A: have a display device you can tate
B: that display device can handle 480p natively
C: set your 360 to output in 480p
D: play the game tated in 480p with no zooming or filteres turned on

now... if it MUST have scanlines there for it to look good then there is no hope for you unless you get some extra equipment. otherwise it will look just like the PCB line doubled.

but.... I just say play it in 360 mode. keep in mind I'm really anal about the scanline thing.

[Natephish]

Can someone explain the game to me or direct me to somewhere where it has already been explained? I played the first Espgaluda so long ago that I don't remember it (and this one seems quite different anyway). This is much more complex than Mushihime Futari and I really have no idea how to play this correctly, particularly Black Label.

[Dave_K.]

Can someone explain the game to me or direct me to somewhere where it has already been explained? I played the first Espgaluda so long ago that I don't remember it (and this one seems quite different anyway). This is much more complex than Mushihime Futari and I really have no idea how to play this correctly, particularly Black Label.

Start here. I'm sure someone will add other threads with detail on the port modes.

[EPS21]

You can make arcade mode look ok if you:

A: have a display device you can tate
B: that display device can handle 480p natively
C: set your 360 to output in 480p
D: play the game tated in 480p with no zooming or filteres turned on

now... if it MUST have scanlines there for it to look good then there is no hope for you unless you get some extra equipment. otherwise it will look just like the PCB line doubled.

but.... I just say play it in 360 mode. keep in mind I'm really anal about the scanline thing.

I've been playing futari with a setup exactly like that, in a tated 21" dell trinitron computer monitor. In larger CRT's as they get bigger in size, lower resolutions produce more and more distinct scanlines. even so at 480p I mostly prefer 360 mode over arcade, a monitors native scanlines might not be enough, but to throwing fake scanlines on top of real scanlines just seems silly to me. It's a shame the 360 doesn't support 320x240 else arcade mode really could have potential to be 1:1 with the PCB's (barring the slowdown differences of course).

[GaijinPunch]

Start here. I'm sure someone will add other threads with detail on the port modes.

Port mode stuff added, courtsey of Gwyrgyn Blood

[Shuurin]

It is something of a minor gripe, but I noticed in the Score Attack leader boards (least in BL, only mode I tried) it allows you to continue...and still get your score uploaded. It will state how many continues are used, but your score will get matched in rank with scores that did not make use of a continue. I think personally it sort of ruins the spirit of score attack in the first place despite the fierce difficulty in Esp2's Arcade/BL modes. Just curious if anyone else noticed/cared.