STGT 2010: Final Thoughts

[Aquas]

Was a pretty good STGT for me this year. I adored Xexex and Raiden Fighters 2, the other three I really didn't give strong efforts. Cyvern because I was away. I'd like to go back and 2-ALL Xexex for sure, I didn't practice that 2-7 stage for no reason, heh.

Was having some issues as Xexex week ended, Saturn pad kept on sticking on a direction and royally screwing up my runs. The cyber boss was hilarious but also a real fucking pain. Only untill the very end did I discover that if I hugged to the bottom brain on "Cyber Junker" that those seeking yellow fishing bobbers wouldn't circle around from top to bottom of the screen. That boss did a great job at keeping you on your toes.

I dunno, I watched the Uo Poko Dangun Superplay where the cat just humps the top of the screen and got turned off a bit. But I'd like to give it a sure go sometime since it sounds like some people were enjoying it.

RF2 was probably the best choice this year, the fact that it's a toned down RFJ was inviting for beginner shmup players who don't vibe with scoring systems very well. Very cool, I can appreciate that because the medalling of RFJ got me to realize shmups with the shiznat when the game becomes a lot more frantic and entertaining managing floating medals and micluses, fairies quickshots etc.

Oh and I must say that being able to play RF2 on RFAces for the tourney was a real joy. The only game I submitted a score with the stick, too.

What you guys gonna do now? Me? Back to Mushi Futari 1.5 Original Mode, the baddest ass shit yo.

Videos, replays, miscellaneous shit can go here.

[gs68]

Well it's been great playing five weeks of shootan gaems. From a change of pace (Xexex) to being able to play something via non-MAME means (RF2), there were some good selections. Although some of the selections did make me want to flip tables (Mars Matrix, Dangun Feverson).

Hopefully next year will see more creative choices in games. Preferably stuff I haven't seen yet so I can expand my horizons, although stuff I'm closely familiar with (Gradius series, V-V, etc.) wouldn't hurt either.

See you all next year!

~gs68
Member, League of Generally Nice People
Future Captain, Shota--I MEAN, Shot☆ Squad

[dpful]

Cyvern: incredibly solid and well rounded choice.
Xexes: another amazing choice, minus the random element of the hidden powerups and one ups, which I personally liked, but un-leveled the playing field for anyone who took it very serious. Great, straight forward game otherwise.
Mars matrix: amazing choice for the advanced or experienced player! Amazing game!
Raiden fighters 2: another amazing choice, minus the fact that you could t compete unless you knew the secrets (micluses), which I didn't bother to research, which made my best efforts look puny.
Dangun feveron: a little turned off (just right out of the competition, actually) by the required usage of the secret ship-- I assumed it was required, anyways. I didn't use it a single time. And by the weird high score screen that I couldnt get onto. -if I wasn't to lazy to load up the blank score screen, I wouldn't have had to drop out. All this a real shame since the game's so amazing.

So in retrospect, I was whole heartedly into all but RF2 and dangun.

[TrevHead (TVR)]

For the most part ive had a blast as it allowed me to concentrate solely on scoring and not on the 1CC which as a traditional 1CCer who can spend 2-6 weeks on beating a game is a good thing.

Im certainly gonna be playing some games and posting in the high scores section in the future

Props to dex and everyone else who made this event happen i cant wait for next year

[sirmax]

This being my first STGT, I had absolutely no experience with the played games. Nevertheless it was a lot of fun, helped me in terms of motivation and skill/reflex - although some games got me really angry. And now my oppinion about said games:

Cyvern: Didn't like it at first, but got hooked by the end of the week. Easy to understand, but way too small bullets for me to see. Maybe with more practice and not playing for score, I might be able to 1ccthis one day.

Xexex: GIT! Effing game about random extends. Being a fan of R-Type, I found it to be a cheap knock-off with a more than stupid pod. Seriously, offscreen-bullets from behind? Enemies that walk through walls? What were they thinking? Also I'm no fan of the power-up system.

Mars Matrix: Same as Cyvern. Wasn't very fond of the xp-based power-up system, but once I figured out how to get more xp, I started to like it.

Raiden Fighter 2: Fuck yes, best game of the STGT, loved it the moment I played it and once I got the slaves unlocked, I loved it even more. Definetly going to 1cc this one day, maybe with scoring.

Dangun Feveron: This game is sooooo demotivating. You play like a madman, dodging bullets, killing stuff as fast as you can, collecting discomen, but by the end of the stage your score is still laughable. Even when I tried the ultra-twitchy, high-on-cocaine cat, I never got the 300k to break.

Back to Mushi Futari 1.5 Original Mode, the baddest ass shit yo.

Either that or back to ChoRenSha, gotta 1cc the 2nd loop.

[mesh control]

I had a great time playing this year, and can't wait to compete next year when I can dedicate more time (and practice like a madman until then).
Game choices had a great variety, and included some of my favorites.


Thanks for putting this on, Dex.




now back to Batrider...

[Plasmo]

now back to Batrider...

[gs68]

back to recca for me

oh wait i've been playing that instead of dangun all along

[Voxbox]

Thanks for putting this on, Dex.

[Dragoforce]

Well, it was awesome as usual. My performance was terrible due to 13 hour workdays, I was actually thinking about pulling out halfway.

Three cheers to Dex!

[robivy64]

I was actually thinking about pulling out halfway

I did that once. It's called "just the tip".

I wish I had time to compete this year. I almost signed up, but decided not to at the last minute. Glad I didn't because I would not have been able to dedicate the time.

[sven666]

would have loved to play cyvern and RF2, both are games ive been meaning to come back to properly.

alas, my real life is much too pressing at the moment to set any time off for such things.

[KBZ]

thanks Dex! I really enjoyed xexex, cyvern and expecially RF2. Wouldn't have played them otherwise.

Thanks to my team for being awesome and showing the world how nice guys finish first.

And thanks to all for participating and making it a kick ass way to start my winter :p

see you next year!

[Skykid]

Want to apologise to my team for not submitting a score on Dangun. My time was very limited in the week as my old man was visiting and when I did get to play it I couldn't get on the PCB scoreboard.

Sorry guys, think we did well though.

My preference of games were in this order:

Raiden Fighters 2
Xexex
Dangun Feveron
Cyvern
Mars Matrix

[Ruldra]

Awful performance from me, but I barely had time to play this year. This is my last semester at college, so I'm overloaded with work to do. I shouldn't have joined this tourney, in fact.

Next year I'll probably have lots of free time, so I'm looking forward to the next STGT.

[Herr Schatten]

Thanks, Dex, for another STGT.
Thanks also to the rest of Team Oldschoolers. I feel very proud of what we have achieved this year.

I wasn't really happy with the choice of games, though, mainly because almost every single one of them had annoying issues. The only exception was Cyvern. But the rest? Xexex had stupid random extends. Mars Matrix suffered from input lag. RF2 had emulation issues on many computers (including mine). Dangun Feveron had the annoying hidden score thing. I would much prefer it if games that run without such massive issues were chosen next year.

Still, STGT2010 made me appreciate both Mars Matrix and Dangun Feveron more. I'll probably put some more time into Mars Matrix. Also, I'll never play Dangun ever again. The cat totally ruined the game for me.

[MX7]

Cyvern - Amazing game. Will have to properly get into it if I have the time.

Xexex - Horrible, broken, eyehurt game. Some nice music though.

Mars matrix - chainingxchaining=not a great tourney choice, but I had a laugh.

Raiden Fighters - Not emulated properly. Looked quite fun, but glitchy with no sound.

Dangun Feveron - This made everything better.

Cheers Dex! If all the games worked on MAME it would have been awesome

[clp]

Good year thanks dex

cyvern - fantastic game really hope the backgrounds are fixed in mame soon

xexex - gtfo

mars matrix - fantastic game although not my thing

RF2 - FUCK YEH! best stgt game easily and emulated 100% here not sure why so many ppl stuck to spastic mames which dont emulate it properly .

Dangun - the only mame cave game with a bearable scoring system , love this game but got very tired of it after a day.

Hopes for next year more psikyo! preferably more strikers or gunbirds would be nice also the vasaras and how about batsugun now its fully emulated , id like to see rtype delta or last resort make an appearance to oh yeah and batrider .

[ShadowWraith]

Was a pretty good tournament for me. Had a ton of freetime so I was sinking in 20+ hours into each game per week. Bit disappointed that I didn't manage to clear Dangun Feveron, but I'll come back to that eventually. I'm putting it down to savestates not working with it on my MAME so I couldn't practise the final stage enough! >_>

My favourite week was easily RF2 week. Most relaxed week for me, I think, since I got my score fairly early on. Emulated perfectly for me too.

All of the games were pretty fun though. Cyvern probably the worst of the bunch imo, but I made my feelings about that known in the Cyvern thoughts thread that was here a while ago.

Oh yeah, here's the times I spent on each game this year:



Fun stuff.

Thanks to dex for running! More non-looping games next year plzkthx.

[DMC]

Good tournament, good organization! Well done, dex!

Please bring back voting threads though. It was part of the fun, seeing how teams voted and following the debates and motives behind the votes. The hi score threads are typically more quiet, so the voting have their social point. The viper phase 1 vote comes to mind as one of the better stgt memories I have, in fact. Voting threads also increases the likelihood of variety in game choices.

And 1 early 80's shooter wouldn't hurt either.

[third_strike]

Was a pretty good tournament for me. Had a ton of freetime so I was sinking in 20+ hours into each game per week. Bit disappointed that I didn't manage to clear Dangun Feveron, but I'll come back to that eventually. I'm putting it down to savestates not working with it on my MAME so I couldn't practise the final stage enough! >_>

My favourite week was easily RF2 week. Most relaxed week for me, I think, since I got my score fairly early on. Emulated perfectly for me too.

All of the games were pretty fun though. Cyvern probably the worst of the bunch imo, but I made my feelings about that known in the Cyvern thoughts thread that was here a while ago.

Oh yeah, here's the times I spent on each game this year:



Fun stuff.

Thanks to dex for running! More non-looping games next year plzkthx.

I would love others players do the same.
Congrats for results!
Just a quetion: did you play cyvern before?

[Skykid]

Oh yeah, here's the times I spent on each game this year:

My mind is blown. I can't believe you put that many hours into each game. The most I gave was about 3 hours to RF2, and around the same for Xexex.

[Kyper]

Good times as usual. Cheers to dex, Davey, any other organizers involved and all participants. Since I don't play shmups all that often, the game selection didn't bother me. Although, there was a fair amount of item collecting! Lots of variety though. A Raizing-esque game, a Konami hori, a reflect-em-up, a Seibu Raiden Fighters game and a Cave game with a super-fast ship!

I'm annoyed at my performance as usual. I think I put in a decent amount of time overall; according to MAME I had 20+ hours recorded for 3 games. I abused savestates as much as possible (and it got better/worse when I discovered that letters are a save slot as well!), and built on from there to map out a strategy for each stage. However, when it was showtime, I quickly found out the hard way that my 'performance' skills are crap. I begin to panic and choke halfway through a run, sometimes even before that. No wonder speedrunners/SDA members are doing so well, when it's time to do work, they do it!

Guess there's nothing else to do but to play more shmups.

[Hattori Hanzo]

This has been kind of my first shmup tournament. I only played along a bit last year, but only Varth and RFJ, which sums up 95% of my shmup experience. So my initial goal was just staying in the upper half of the field, because I knew I'd be going to put in some time and a lot of the people won't do the same or show up every week. But somehow I managed to do quite good. Partly because I spent not much less time than ShadowWraith (I guess about 25h per game on average) and surely also because my team was numbered down to three people. One of our members was just signed up because there's been a free slot, another one's been moving during the tournament and another one had a rough start into the winter term.

The tournament itself was really fun and I personally didn't mind some technical difficulties with some of the games. I face worse conditions with software on a professional basis
Raiden Fighters 2 was absolutely great for me, as the similarity to RFJ helped me a metric fuckton. Cyvern was also great, as was Mars Matrix. Xexex I still do hate with a passion and Dangun Feveron would have likely been a cool game without the annoying MEOWing. I do suck at it none the less and made my final score on it just because of tremendous luck and nothing else.

So I can just say thanks to dex and all the other people involved in the organization. You did a great job and stole a lot of my time
If I had one wish, then it would be more frequent updating of the dynamic scoreboard. But I know that this process still involves a lot of manual work and some people do have something like a real life.
I am looking forward to next year and hope I'll be in again

[moozooh]

My mind is blown. I can't believe you put that many hours into each game. The most I gave was about 3 hours to RF2, and around the same for Xexex.

For pretty much every STGT game I've played I spent up to an order of magnitude more on it compared to my previous experience. It's the reason I can pull off a decent score on an unknown game in a week, but all the same reason I can burn out on it for years within that week. But hey, gotta do well on a yearly tournament!

This STGT I'd say I spent around 50–55 hours in total (can't tell how much exactly because I used different MAME versions on different computers). Probably never spent more than 60 on any one of them, though. In some games, like nomltest, I got my highest score within the first 3 or so hours (ironically I missed the deadline with nomltest due to unexpected absence of internet connection at the time).

[spadgy]

My mind is blown. I can't believe you put that many hours into each game. The most I gave was about 3 hours to RF2, and around the same for Xexex.

Man - you race classic motorbikes, pilot dirigibles, organise a badger baiting ring, fence, hand carve mahogany smoking pipes, do medieval re-enactments, restore Spitfires, customise diving bells, tailor fine tweed jackets, poach game birds, embroider silk gentlemans' napkins and freelance as a private eye. Don't feel bad that you haven't got much time left. You're making the most of your time here.

I had awesome fun in this year's STGT. Great to be pushed in some new directions and play for scores that mean a little more. Thanks so much to Dex. We all owe you one.

[ShadowWraith]

Just a quetion: did you play cyvern before?

Nope! First time playing it for me. The only games from this years STGT I'd played beforehand were RF2 and Mars Matrix, though it was the US version of RF2.

[Ed Oscuro]

The game choices were pretty good, though I think we ought to consider if we aren't at the end of the road for arbitrary game choices that have to be new each year - we've already played a lot of the good MAME'd games, though the surprise aspect seems to be a good idea, though the hints never help me (and I never see them posted anyway).

The lack of a dynamic scoreboard and the few updates at the last two games of the tournament don't seem to have made a difference in anybody's ranking, and I realize that life takes precedence. I guess we're spoiled.

What I was disappointed in was that the cutoff for late scores wasn't consistent, and that definitely didn't help me. In Mars Matrix week, t0yrobo got a score added at 1:37 am after the deadline, but at the end of Xexex week, my 12:58 pm score (one from earlier that week, so not an attempt to dodge the deadline) got ignored. 58 minutes late, versus an hour and 37 minutes late. Octopod should be more upset since his was just 22 minutes late (though his score boost would have been a lot smaller). I didn't want to raise a fuss at the time to be civil, but I figure it should be mentioned.

Pro / con:
+ Set a standard time for score acceptance and stick to it so people don't get butthurt
- Maybe strip out the "themes" aspect, we're not here to play twenty questions, and I think those only help some people
+ No forgetful and lazy (not my quote) game choices

Overall, though, I'm very happy with the tournament and how it was conducted. I am regret mainly because I did so bad in Dangun despite spending a quarter day + in it. I did good / enjoyed Raiden Fighters 2, I should play that more.

[MR_Soren]

I was disappointed by my team's lack of participation and lack of a private team forum like in previous years. However, their lack of participation allowed more of my scores to be count, and it was nice to feel relevant. (Last year, I never finished above 4th within my team).

Anyway, not trying to criticize anybody, they all beat me when they did play and I know real life has it's demands.


Games:

Cyvern: This might have been my favorite game in the competition. The simple scoring system seemed perfect for a week-long competition, and I thought the difficulty ramp was good for producing a wide variety of scores.

Xexex: I was sick almost all week and only played about seven credits. This was my least favorite game, but I might have grown to like it if I was able to play more.

Mars Matrix: Really fun game, but I think the scoring system was too involved for a week-long competition. Especially in a week where I worked 56 hours.

Raiden Fighters II: I started off hating this game due to the absurd scoring system, overabundance of secrets, and broken sound. Not everybody has access to a MAME that will run it correctly. Anyway, this game really grew on me, and is in contention for my favorite game of the tournament. I definitely want to play it again, but not until I get an Xbox 360 due to the broken sound. Would have preferred a game with fewer secrets for a scoring competition too, but it was still fun.

Dangun Feveron: I don't know why everybody hates this so much. I thought the game was a lot of fun, and it didn't seem so overwhelming if you could get into the game's rhythm and stay calm. My only complaint was that the disco men didn't yell "S.O.S." to warn me I was about to lose one like they did when I played the time attack two years ago. Yeah, the scoreboard sucked, but even I was able to get on it and I'm terrible. I didn't like the cat or appreciate it being allowed, but a lot of people seemed to have fun with it. In the end, I don't think it matters that much because the people who beat me using the cat would have beaten me with a regular ship too. Also, I think the main game is different enough from the Time Attack mode that it didn't feel like a repeat.


I don't always find time to play shooting games, so I'm glad this tournament gets me motivated each year, exposes me to some new games, and reminds me how fun these games are.


I'd like to see Psikyo show up in next year's tournament. I'd also like to see games without technical or scoreboard issues.

[sunburstbasser]

I wish everyone on my team was as into shmups as I am. Congrats to Rhete; he did a very good job.

Weekly:

Cyvern: Still really like it. My favorite Kaneko shmup.

Xexex: I got really pissed at this game. I like Konami's shmups, but they are damned unforgiving once you screw up. Still a good game, great music and visuals.

Mars Matrix: I came into the tournament not really liking this game. As I figured out how to chain the gold, it did start to grow on me. I also noticed that once those chains start building up, the score really flies up exponentially. My single time getting anywhere in Stage 3 more than doubled my score from the end of Stage 2. Still, I prefer Giga Wing and won't be playing a lot of Mars Matrix.

Raiden Fighters 2: Like RFJ last year, a hard game to get into but awesome once you do. My major complaint goes for RFJ as well-invisible bullets. I've gotten better at Raizing's games, but Raiden Fighters bullets simply kill me from nowhere.

Dangun Feveron: I had little time to play during this week. NEVER used the cat before the tourney. Absurd power and speed make for a frenetic game. I suppose if I wasn't playing for score, I'd use a regular ship and let disco men go rather than die trying to catch them. Best music of the tourney.