Dodonpachi: DOJ - First time playing properly *sulks*

[Signius Layzar]

Only had the DOJ short while and had my first real session with the game today (not just trying to survive). Man, hardest game ever is an understatement!

I've been practising stage 1 and can consistently get a 210 chain but always lose it when those medium sized ships come down after destroying the massive gun turret. Usually finish the level with around 3.7 mil.

Unlike Mushi and ESPGaluda, DOJ has no buffer for error at all, which I'm not too sure I'm a fan of. If you're not causing explosions or hitting an enemy with lasers, your chain is gone like that. Oh well, if it gets too frustrating I think I'll buy Dodonpachi and go from there (I hear it has a friendlier learning curve?). I won't let it beat me now though, as it is admittedly a bloody fun game to play despite the extreme difficulty (plus you can always play to survive).

It seems to be like Ikaruga in that you need to plan your path through the levels down to the finest of details. This will be great for replay value as it will take some time to be able to chain stage 1 alone!

If anyone has any tips for a DOJ newbie, I'd love to hear them! What ship is the best for chaining? I'm using Exy at the moment.

[Palmer Eldritch]

DOJ doesn´t really start to kick you in the face until Stage 3. The first 2 stages are pretty easily handled.
I´m not much of a chain-master, mind you. Best one so far on stage 1 is around 300 and Stage 2 around 240.

People usually talk about how little room for error DOJ gives you, but for me this currently goes much more for the final boss in ESPGaluda.
I mean, how on earth am I going to waste this thing when I can´t even find room to maneuver? There are bullets coming from the sides, from above, from below, and if that wasn´t enough, my shield-thing-attack actually restores energy to the enemy....?!

I use the green ship (B) with the first doll (Shotia?), but, as I said, I don´t play to chain.

[zlk]

The a-exy or b-exy ships are the best for chaining. The only tip I have is to play for survival. As you get better and can get further in the game, your ability to chain will naturally improve by itself.

[mirkvid]

The a-exy or b-exy ships are the best for chaining. The only tip I have is to play for survival. As you get better and can get further in the game, your ability to chain will naturally improve by itself.

i totally agree! just by concentraiting on survival, i've learned better routes to take to chain and where most of the bees are. the bees are key to a high score! in the 2nd half of level 2, i've scored a 425 hit combo with a bee. not yet a pro, but not to shabby either!!

[Signius Layzar]

i totally agree! just by concentraiting on survival, i've learned better routes to take to chain and where most of the bees are. the bees are key to a high score! in the 2nd half of level 2, i've scored a 425 hit combo with a bee. not yet a pro, but not to shabby either!!

What do you mean by this, scored a 425 hit combo with a bee? What exactly is the deal with those things?

[zaphod]

DOJ is REALLY anal about it's chainin,g, an dto score well you MUST play the early stages perfectly! yeah, it's really that hard. but as poeple say, jus tplay for survival first, get familiar wit hthe stages. you must walk before you can ruhn, and run before you can fly..

[BulletMagnet]

What do you mean by this, scored a 425 hit combo with a bee? What exactly is the deal with those things?

Bees are different in DOJ than they were in DDP; IIRC, instead of their values increasing as you collect more in a row, this time their value relies on how big of a chain you have going when you collect them (I think it's 100 points x your combo number). So now not only do you have to find the bees, you also have to time exactly when you snatch them up.

[ResOGlas]

What do you mean by this, scored a 425 hit combo with a bee? What exactly is the deal with those things?

Bees are different in DOJ than they were in DDP; IIRC, instead of their values increasing as you collect more in a row, this time their value relies on how big of a chain you have going when you collect them (I think it's 100 points x your combo number). So now not only do you have to find the bees, you also have to time exactly when you snatch them up.

Holy sh*t! I had absolutely no idea. Back to the drawing board.

[landshark]

Yeah, the little bees can really jack your score up when you get a good combo going.

I completely suck at comboing and personally hate it. But I can usually get a 400+ combo on level 2 by using a hyper in the beginning or after the midboss. Hypers jack yer combo up as well somehow.

Level 4 kicks my ass.

Give Death Label a try too. I was so close to killing the last guy a few nights ago. Got him down to just under a 1/4 health and I died twice with full bomb stocks (6). Dirty endboss. Cost me a controller and a gash in my hand.

[Icarus]

...this time their value relies on how big of a chain you have going when you collect them (I think it's 100 points x your combo number). So now not only do you have to find the bees, you also have to time exactly when you snatch them up.

The formula is:

(100 x (amount of times all bees collected in stage + 1))
x
(current chain)
x
(if all bees collected in stage, then x2 the above totals)
= total value of bee medal

If you successfully collect all bees in a stage without dying, then the base value of the bees in the next stage is incremented by 100pts, up to a maximum of 1,000pts in stage 2-5. You also get double the value for the last bee medal if you succesfully collect all ten in a stage without dying.

That's a lot of points if you can fully chain the likes of 1-5 and 2-5.

[zakk]

Regarding survival vs chaining.

As Mode7 said years ago in a DOJ HS thread, if you're chaining, you're surviving.

Not to say there's no value in playing purely for survival. If the chain thing doesn't interest you, it's certainly a fun way to play.

[chtimi-CLA]

[quote="Icarus"][/quote]
you mean 1000 (1-1)--> 10000 (2.5) for base values.
i think you can die, the not dying is between the first and the last bee (a bit like in ddp the bee value resets on death).
even if you die, you won't get the *2, but the base value will be raised next stage.
is that right?

[Icarus]

I think that's wrong. You MUST get the X2 for the last bee for the game to recognise that you've met the conditions to increase the base value for the next stage. A few times I've died in-stage, collected all bees, and not had any increment in the next stage.

If anything, score players must play every stage perfectly. A very rigid game system indeed.

[iatneH]

Yeah, bust out a Hyper after the stage 2 mini-boss and rake in the bee bonus points!

Use Hyper on bosses too, you'll get a lot more points for the boss hit counter, if you can survive that is...

[chtimi-CLA]

I think that's wrong. You MUST get the X2 for the last bee for the game to recognise that you've met the conditions to increase the base value for the next stage. A few times I've died in-stage, collected all bees, and not had any increment in the next stage.

If anything, score players must play every stage perfectly. A very rigid game system indeed.

i checked and you were right.
it's true it's rigid, i think that's because cave wanted to make the shooter with the widest score spectrum and it worked (not to mention the maximum bonus).