dunno if this deserves a new topic or not, though it's really a question of one's psyche while playing shmups.
after credit-feeding through a shmup (usually a manic shmup, namely Cave, Psikyo, and Success series) i tend to get into the habit of restarting the game if i:
A) lose a life during Stage 1.
B) don't get NEARLY as many points in the first level as i feel i'm capable of. (ex: actually missing a Chain in the first 30 Chains of Ikaruga)
C) miss a bonus of some sort (ex: the Ruins in the first level of Einhander)
anyone else share these symptoms? am i a complete basket case for not accepting defeat after a few practice (credit-feed) runs of the game? or am i on the right track toward self-discipline and high-scoring?
...and yes, i have Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, you don't need to tell me that. XD
aside from my own personal vendetta with pathetic deaths, i'm basically wondering if anyone else is like this. guess i'm an all-or-nothing kinda guy, when it comes to gaming. ^^;
Perfect Start Syndrome
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Zweihander
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Perfect Start Syndrome
Schrodinger's cat wrote:Yeah, "shmup" really sounds like a term a Jewish grandmother would insult you with.
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PC Engine Fan X!
- Posts: 9098
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Having 2cc Sidearms PCB in the late '80s + 1cc Klax in '94
Back in day in late 1987-early 1988, there was a cool Capcom/Romstar Sidearms upright cabinet at my local hamburger joint. I'd usually break a dollar and get four quarters back for some mean Sidearms shmup sessions. Sidearms is one of those shmup titles that requires you to memorize where all the enemies will make their grand entrance + their shots as well. If you play Sidearms enough times, then it will become easier for you to get to the final showdown with the giant mechanized worm boss...I could get to that exact point on my first man and have played the perfect 1cc game if not for the hard-ass boss that is the last end-stage "worm" boss. So then my Sidearms shmup session would end up being a 2-credit clear session. At very least, my high score would be displayed for all to see it as it did end being saved at the end of the business day because of battery backup.
Sometimes, it would be possible for me to get the same high score that would be ranked at 2nd or 3rd place with the same intials...I thought that was somewhat odd...but yes, that did occur once during a series of Sidearms shmup sessions I had.
Playing Sidearms on the Ultracade PC emu to Jamma setup isn't really the same as if one was playing on a real Sidearms cab with an 8-way digital joystick controls and a 3-button setup. Would I start back at the very beginning if I had screwed up on my first 1 man on Sidearms? No, I'd just keep on going and see how much farther I could get before losing my last life. If you spend real money playing an arcade game, you would want to see how far you could get on each life which therefore results in higher scores.
Sure, there's been arcade game players who have talked about "being in the zone", a state where you play the "perfect" game no matter what the CPU throws against you...you still have the "upper hand" as your internal instincts and reaction times are honed to perfection.
I have been "in the zone" when playing the perfect arcade puzzler game of Klax in May 1994 at my local arcade...I ended up with 6,000,000+ points on 1 credit although it was never officially recognized locally or professionally by Twin Galaxies fame. I still have a pretty good chance that I can do better today than that day in May 1994 scoring six million plus on one credit on the Klax PCB which took about between 2 to 2 1/2 hours non-stop to do. Sure, I came really close to messing up and barely made it finishing each Wave's minimum requirements to advance to the next Wave. Somtimes a fallen tile just almost was about to registered as the "final" tile to be dropped that would end the Klax session once & for all...but managed to finish the Wave a split-second before it was registered by the Klax CPU.
I do have an Atari Games Klax Jamma PCB and have developed a cool strategy method to get at least a cool 2,500,000 points by Wave 7 or Wave 8. How does one do that? It takes time, practice and development of one's own strategies to maximize the highest scores with the lowest amount of tiles...some might say that's impossible. Nothing's impossible, you just have to learn the finer workings of a particular arcade game and go from there.
I used to spend countless hours playing the NES version of Klax without learning what the hell I was supposed to do. Then one day, it finally clicked to me that I was supposed to make do with the colored tiles that I was given with and try to position them to get the most points possible for that particular Wave...hence higher scores naturally. The real odd thing was a Klax arcade upright was never available locally for me to play on until it finally made an appearance at one of my local arcade in early spring 1994. Only then could I gauge the Klax cabinet's controls and see if I could do well on it despite the countless hours devoted to playing the NES Tengen version of Klax. On a real Klax cabinet, you control a "true" four-way joystick with no diagonal movements and a single "drop" button. You can't get any simpler than that, folks. It's being said that Klax is easy to start learning how to play but is regarded as one of the hardest arcade puzzlers to master, especially from the Klax developers themselves.
PC Engine Fan X! ^_~
Sometimes, it would be possible for me to get the same high score that would be ranked at 2nd or 3rd place with the same intials...I thought that was somewhat odd...but yes, that did occur once during a series of Sidearms shmup sessions I had.
Playing Sidearms on the Ultracade PC emu to Jamma setup isn't really the same as if one was playing on a real Sidearms cab with an 8-way digital joystick controls and a 3-button setup. Would I start back at the very beginning if I had screwed up on my first 1 man on Sidearms? No, I'd just keep on going and see how much farther I could get before losing my last life. If you spend real money playing an arcade game, you would want to see how far you could get on each life which therefore results in higher scores.
Sure, there's been arcade game players who have talked about "being in the zone", a state where you play the "perfect" game no matter what the CPU throws against you...you still have the "upper hand" as your internal instincts and reaction times are honed to perfection.
I have been "in the zone" when playing the perfect arcade puzzler game of Klax in May 1994 at my local arcade...I ended up with 6,000,000+ points on 1 credit although it was never officially recognized locally or professionally by Twin Galaxies fame. I still have a pretty good chance that I can do better today than that day in May 1994 scoring six million plus on one credit on the Klax PCB which took about between 2 to 2 1/2 hours non-stop to do. Sure, I came really close to messing up and barely made it finishing each Wave's minimum requirements to advance to the next Wave. Somtimes a fallen tile just almost was about to registered as the "final" tile to be dropped that would end the Klax session once & for all...but managed to finish the Wave a split-second before it was registered by the Klax CPU.
I do have an Atari Games Klax Jamma PCB and have developed a cool strategy method to get at least a cool 2,500,000 points by Wave 7 or Wave 8. How does one do that? It takes time, practice and development of one's own strategies to maximize the highest scores with the lowest amount of tiles...some might say that's impossible. Nothing's impossible, you just have to learn the finer workings of a particular arcade game and go from there.
I used to spend countless hours playing the NES version of Klax without learning what the hell I was supposed to do. Then one day, it finally clicked to me that I was supposed to make do with the colored tiles that I was given with and try to position them to get the most points possible for that particular Wave...hence higher scores naturally. The real odd thing was a Klax arcade upright was never available locally for me to play on until it finally made an appearance at one of my local arcade in early spring 1994. Only then could I gauge the Klax cabinet's controls and see if I could do well on it despite the countless hours devoted to playing the NES Tengen version of Klax. On a real Klax cabinet, you control a "true" four-way joystick with no diagonal movements and a single "drop" button. You can't get any simpler than that, folks. It's being said that Klax is easy to start learning how to play but is regarded as one of the hardest arcade puzzlers to master, especially from the Klax developers themselves.
PC Engine Fan X! ^_~
Last edited by PC Engine Fan X! on Sat Jul 30, 2005 1:57 am, edited 1 time in total.
Yeah, this happens to me every fucking day.
If I die on dodonpachi, I'm usually like "well, that was disgraceful." and I reset/die to reset. Ikaruga doesn't get much play as I'll just constantly reset chapter 1 if I mess up the 224422 guys.
It happens alot in arcade games, so that's why I play RPGs.
If I die on dodonpachi, I'm usually like "well, that was disgraceful." and I reset/die to reset. Ikaruga doesn't get much play as I'll just constantly reset chapter 1 if I mess up the 224422 guys.
It happens alot in arcade games, so that's why I play RPGs.
I do that a LOT.
Dying in the first stage of ANYTHING.
Screwing up points in the first stage. (Especially holds true for Takumi shmups.)
Making stupid mistakes on areas that I KNOW are easy.
Losing 3 or more lives in a row, when I'm not even up against a boss. (This happens a lot on Espgaluda)
And yes these hold true for the arcade versions as well. As soon as my game is screwed, I either walk away from the cabinet, or que up my next credit and just bullshit around if I want. ex: seeing how far I can get in Mars Matrix without firing at all.
Dying in the first stage of ANYTHING.
Screwing up points in the first stage. (Especially holds true for Takumi shmups.)
Making stupid mistakes on areas that I KNOW are easy.
Losing 3 or more lives in a row, when I'm not even up against a boss. (This happens a lot on Espgaluda)
And yes these hold true for the arcade versions as well. As soon as my game is screwed, I either walk away from the cabinet, or que up my next credit and just bullshit around if I want. ex: seeing how far I can get in Mars Matrix without firing at all.
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professor ganson
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I have a rule: only restart if I'm really fixated on a specific goal that will very clearly be undermined by my screw-up.
Like last night my goal was to get beyond 1-3 in Gunbird 2. If I lost a life in 1-1-- forget about it--I would have to start over because I'd need that life later. In the end I was too tired to reach my goal, but it wasn't too frustrating because I was getting a bit more comfortable with the game mechanics.
Like last night my goal was to get beyond 1-3 in Gunbird 2. If I lost a life in 1-1-- forget about it--I would have to start over because I'd need that life later. In the end I was too tired to reach my goal, but it wasn't too frustrating because I was getting a bit more comfortable with the game mechanics.
I guess it applies when you're only playing seriously or for competition, otherwise, if it's all fun and games, who cares if you die at the first stage.
Yes, I always have this syndrome with me, especially in Mushi, and GIGA WING 2 [Basically, I memorized all the volcanon spots that I can find, and if I miss even ONE or if I die, I just suicide and start the game all over, and I only play this in the arcades so I casn't emphasize how much money went down the drain from screwing up on the runs.].
Yes, I always have this syndrome with me, especially in Mushi, and GIGA WING 2 [Basically, I memorized all the volcanon spots that I can find, and if I miss even ONE or if I die, I just suicide and start the game all over, and I only play this in the arcades so I casn't emphasize how much money went down the drain from screwing up on the runs.].
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howmuchkeefe
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I'm with Ord. If you're annoyed, you won't play as well. If you're anything but calm and focused, you won't play as well.
If you play the first stage of any game too many times, you'll get sick of the game.
..but it can be hard to resist the urge to restart the game the moment you make an early mistake. Sometimes I'll stop playing a game for the day if I make a stupid mistake on the first stage; sometimes I'll just play through my credit; sometimes I'll take the opportunity to credit feed through the game, just so I get some late game experience. In any case, I only allow myself one "restart" per game per day. I've gotten sick of games because I played their first stage one too many times before, only to miss them years later, after they've been traded in.
If you play the first stage of any game too many times, you'll get sick of the game.
..but it can be hard to resist the urge to restart the game the moment you make an early mistake. Sometimes I'll stop playing a game for the day if I make a stupid mistake on the first stage; sometimes I'll just play through my credit; sometimes I'll take the opportunity to credit feed through the game, just so I get some late game experience. In any case, I only allow myself one "restart" per game per day. I've gotten sick of games because I played their first stage one too many times before, only to miss them years later, after they've been traded in.