Getting them to play

[raigon50]

So, this weekend, a few friends and I are going to play D&D. We (they) also plan on playing Black Ops a lot. Any suggestion on ways I can convince them to play something a bit more pure in heart (*hint* shmup)?
Get creative, I don't care what you come up with.

[Despatche]

If you have a computer in the room, open up MAME and have a game of your choice going on attract.

There are also games like Score Rush.

[raigon50]

They mention playing Dead Ops mostly, supposedly a arcade shooter, something like an arnea shmup that I can totly own them in. Maybe I should make bets. lol

[TrevHead (TVR)]

Maybe some 2player DDP or Raiden or 1player Rayforce? If your not getting anywhere with tradition spaceship shooters you could try a overhead run and gun like ikari warriors or shock troopers. could even try twinkle tail on the MD if they want a piss easy and enjoyable shooter. Twinkle star sprites, change air blade? Try out some horis aswell

[drauch]

Show them Smash T.V. and tell them Dead Ops is imitating that game. Then they'll be like "oh, maybe arcade games ARE kewl." Then you can show them arcade shmups and they will be converted! Everyone wins.

[RNGmaster]

Everyone has fond memories of Raiden. That or Rayforce will do the trick, but bullet hell generally has a way of scaring newcomers off.

CAPTAIN OBVIOUS TO THE RESCUE!

[renardqueenston]

Show them Smash T.V. and tell them Dead Ops is imitating that game. Then they'll be like "oh, maybe arcade games ARE kewl." Then you can show them arcade shmups and they will be converted! Everyone wins.

smash TV makes everybody love arcade games. robotron as well. so +1 for Smash TV! Total Carnage (arcade version, not the SNES port) is also a blast.

Everyone has fond memories of Raiden.

the first time i played raiden i really, really hated it to be honest. i felt it was both brutal and slow. then i played the fighters series and went back to the original after the fact. i appreciated it much more at that point.

now that i think of it, i still don't think i was into it. i just appreciated it.

[TrevHead (TVR)]

While im no master at trying to get my mates into shmups (most have grown out of gaming anyway) I suppose its all down to what sort of gamers your mates are. Are they challenge gamers like us? and seeing almost impossibly hard games gives them a woody. Then danmaku is your friend. Are they gamers who like exploring new worlds? Then maybe Twinkle Tale or a scenic hori like r-type final or dx or Einhander or Radient Silvergun if you have a Saturn or a good emulator. If theyre achievement / pokemon whores then maybe something like Genetos thats very easy to 1CC but is ment to be beaten many times to unlock new weapons.

If they seem like just your average im game for anything aslong as i dont have to jump through too many hoops gamer type then Ild say 2player DDP or Raiden, shooting love or anyother 2 player shmup, get him used to the simple fun factor while informing him about hitboxes, not creditfeeding, 1CC and all that jazz then set him loose on a 1player game of Rayforce, DDP or maybe a classic hori like Gradius or R-type. Just try to get him to understand what it is that makes them so fun to play as its very easy to form a bad opinion about shooters and not give them a chance. (I did the same due to playing Xenon 2 as a kid which put me off shmups untill recently (fucking Xenon 2!!! ggrrr)).

If you cant get him into classic shmups theres lots of sub-genre shooters for tehm to play which they should enjoy atleast 1 or 2 games, ie metal slug, twinstick shooters, tube shooters, onrails shooters like panzer dragoon or lightgun games like house of the dead or Sin and Punishment 1 or 2 And then play some quake 2 or Serious Sam to finish the night off

[xris]

You're pretty close with the last part there TrevHead, it's really just a matter of playing games with your friend. Mix it up, and play several games with them and say hey I also like these types of games it's fun lets play this too! I've gotten many of my friends to play shmups with me, you just have to suck it up and except it's a credit feeding funfest. It might even be for you, playing with another player can be a distracting, score breaking mess, but fun. I done it by saying hey lets beat a bunch of games I have! I had started with stuff like Stryder 2 for psx, playing through trying to do well but honestly you'll both contine and have a blast. Then something like Zombies Revenge on Dreamcast, creedit feed the hell out of it but see all 40 minutes of game, and have fun, again. Then play a few games off of a favorite collection, Taito Legends 2 on ps2 is great, Gekirinden, Darius Gaiden are great starters. Just get that attitude about having fun, and beating games, and you never know, you'll end up having friends that will sit down and try to take Alien Hominid a little seriously, then go on and do surprisingly well playing Novice mode in Futari and doing well and enjoying it because they have found the fun of trying to play through games. Be sure to also understand your friends, and let them choose what games you wanna play through together also, I'm playing through a Harder difficulty of EDF 2017 just 'cause my friend wants to, I'm also having fun. (He actually got 1000, in this with another friend at his house when he barrowed it from me, and he just wants to help me get 1000 in it.) Next I might see if he want to play a couple of Saturn shmups I got awhile back. Just play games and try to show them what shmups are and show hitboxes and encourage bombing, and see if you can even clear it with them playing.

[toaplan_shmupfan]

Sometimes they just won't. They don't want to learn the play mechanics, they are intimidated by the difficulty even with the classic aimed bullets non-danmaku shmups. Something about the game, they just won't even try or if they do, they lose all their turns quikcly, don't want to try again as part of the learning process, so they refuse to play ever again.

[TrevHead (TVR)]

Sometimes they just won't. They don't want to learn the play mechanics, they are intimidated by the difficulty even with the classic aimed bullets non-danmaku shmups. Something about the game, they just won't even try or if they do, they lose all their turns quikcly, don't want to try again as part of the learning process, so they refuse to play ever again.

So true Ive a mate who only plays sports sims and point blank refuses to play anything else. Which for me is a bummer cos (post 16bit) sport sims is pratically the only genre I just dont have any intrest in (that and dance mat games).

[raigon50]

A lot of good ideas. I guess I should say that one of my friends will play shmups if they want (He seems to enjoy R-type and Gradius). The other is a "I want to blast s#%$ up with a gun all night." kind of person. He's the one that will be hard to deal with .Probably doesn't help either since he's never played games such as Zelda, Starfox, Dragon Warrior, Megaman, Final Fantasy, so on and so on (there is a pretty big list).

[Voxbox]

Just take something simple and action packed, and set up a highscore competition.
I think the competetive aspect is the core of the genre. Especially if there's some trick to the scoring.

[Blackbird]

Had some fun of the shooter variety tonight. My buddy and I have been wondering what this "Touhou" is all about for a while, and we finally got Mystic Square working on his Mac tonight. Much fun was had. He agreed that bullet hell was fun; surprisingly, he grasped the idea that small hitboxes + lots of bullets = fun immediately.

Afterwards, I blasted some of the Ketsui arranged soundtrack, and we agreed that it was awesome =).

[gs68]

Just shove DFK Arrange A Hibachi in their faces. [/terribleidea]

I've found that playing RayForce tends to attract new players, or those who haven't played shmups in a while.

[ZOM]

Show them Rayforce. If that doesn't work change friends.

You might want to show them AP Batrider first though, just in case they're not very "space-friendly".
Speaking of Raizing, if they're so keen on D&D, (Great)Mahou Daisakusen might be worth a try...

[dunpeal2064]

If they laugh at really stupid humor, then turn on the dialogue and play some Shiki 2 us version! The sillyness of this game got me and most of my friends really into shmups. really bad dialogue, still great gameplay.

[raigon50]

Show them Rayforce. If that doesn't work change friends.

You might want to show them AP Batrider first though, just in case they're not very "space-friendly".
Speaking of Raizing, if they're so keen on D&D, (Great)Mahou Daisakusen might be worth a try...

Not a bad idea.

If they laugh at really stupid humor, then turn on the dialogue and play some Shiki 2 us version! The sillyness of this game got me and most of my friends really into shmups. really bad dialogue, still great gameplay.

"When fights get hot, I may undress."
or
"Slaves for fashion dislike bulges."
Yeah, I think that would work. lol

[Drachenherz]

Show them Rayforce. If that doesn't work change friends.

You might want to show them AP Batrider first though, just in case they're not very "space-friendly".
Speaking of Raizing, if they're so keen on D&D, (Great)Mahou Daisakusen might be worth a try...

Not a bad idea.

If they laugh at really stupid humor, then turn on the dialogue and play some Shiki 2 us version! The sillyness of this game got me and most of my friends really into shmups. really bad dialogue, still great gameplay.

"When fights get hot, I may undress."
or
"Slaves for fashion dislike bulges."
Yeah, I think that would work. lol

Please tell that this are NOT actual quotes from castle of shikigami?

[dunpeal2064]

My favorite is how often Ko tells the bad guy, "I'll give you 2 choices. A) Beaten then caught B) Caught then beaten

At least it loads at a normal rate and has its true name, unlike Mobile Light Force (was worth the $5, but not much more.)

[Despatche]

Please tell that this are NOT actual quotes from castle of shikigami?

"XS Games". That is all.

[renardqueenston]

If they laugh at really stupid humor, then turn on the dialogue and play some Shiki 2 us version! The sillyness of this game got me and most of my friends really into shmups. really bad dialogue, still great gameplay.

"When fights get hot, I may undress."
or
"Slaves for fashion dislike bulges."
Yeah, I think that would work. lol

my favorite is still
"I am Kim, of two homes and seven moms."

[Thjodbjorn]

So true Ive a mate who only plays sports sims and point blank refuses to play anything else. Which for me is a bummer cos (post 16bit) sport sims is pratically the only genre I just dont have any intrest in (that and dance mat games).

Pretty much the same here. He wouldn't even have me put the game in, he's that disinterested in trying. Meh.

[Pixel_Outlaw]

Ugggh the CoD crowd (I call them CoDpieces).

Sorry, the only way to convince them to play anything decent is to plunge them into a room of people playing shmups who have no interest in playing FPS games. They will adapt or leave. 'Tis the only way.

[raigon50]

Ugggh the CoD crowd (I call them CoDpieces).

Sorry, the only way to convince them to play anything decent is to plunge them into a room of people playing shmups who have no interest in playing FPS games. They will adapt or leave. 'Tis the only way.

Or I can challenge them to beat my scores. They are the competitive type, they'll try. I may not be exactly an expert at shmups, but I'm the only person in town who actually plays them.

[mesh control]

Giga Wing 2

It's pure chaos, but my friends enjoyed it.

[Pixel_Outlaw]

My favorite part is watching a shmup n00b slowly get pushed into one of the lower corners.

CoDpiece mentality: Get hit by two bullets immediately whip around and avoid the rest.
shmupist mentality: Head strait into the bullet spray dodging them all in an attempt to "shoot the core".

[xris]

^Amen, Brother!

[Blackbird]

Trying to get my buddy into shooters. We tried Touhou 8 (Imperishable Night) recently. He liked the bullet hell aspect of it, but felt a bit offput by the need to think about a lot of different scoring mechanics, like bullet grazing, item collection, and spell cards. He also felt a bit pressured by the time attack element of needing to destroy bosses quickly, preferring to learn the bosses with less consequence.

Basically, he's got enough challenge trying to learn the patterns and dodge the bullets without having to worry about other stuff, too.

Any recommendations on a bullet hell game that is more survival oriented, or perhaps a scoring system that is a little less abstract?

[Lance Boyle]

Trying to get my buddy into shooters. We tried Touhou 8 (Imperishable Night) recently. He liked the bullet hell aspect of it, but felt a bit offput by the need to think about a lot of different scoring mechanics, like bullet grazing, item collection, and spell cards. He also felt a bit pressured by the time attack element of needing to destroy bosses quickly, preferring to learn the bosses with less consequence.

Basically, he's got enough challenge trying to learn the patterns and dodge the bullets without having to worry about other stuff, too.

Any recommendations on a bullet hell game that is more survival oriented, or perhaps a scoring system that is a little less abstract?

DODONPACHI and ignore the hit counter.