Jack of all STGs

[Aliquantic]

I've owned a Japanese 360 and all the Cave releases plus MAME and some doujin in the past, and I kept having the feeling I was diluting my time far too much to get good at any one game... it was alright while I was still learning the ropes, but it quickly led to a plateau, not much scoring, and no sense of accomplishment. Given what I've heard when talking to other people, it seems to be a fairly common feeling too, and I was wondering how people dealt with it?

I've sold my collection a couple months ago for base reasons but I've found since then that being "restricted" in my choice of games (I only really like DOJBL on MAME, and Ketsui/Progear to a lesser extend) has led to rapid progress, but at the same time I can get pretty sick of grinding a single game. So I've been wanting to get a few more games, but it seems pretty hard to decide which ones to pick (even sticking exclusively to region-free games), and it doesn't help that most games come with multiple modes/Arrange versions!

So what are your STG playing habits like? How do you pick which games/modes you are going to play, and do you set goals for yourself before moving on?

[Skykid]

I only really like DOJBL on MAME

You have great taste.

Personally, I have too much to play and get distracted too easily from one game to another. I often surprise myself with getting good early scores, have every intention of beating those scores later, but then always find that the game is swapped and it doesn't happen.

Too much choice is a bad thing for sure. I think if I dedicated myself to just one thing as I did when I only had Progear in the cab (which sat there until I got the clear) I'd get more out of each game.

It was good to meet you briefly the other day too, I hope you had a pleasant trip home.

[DEL]

You're doing the right thing. Hammer one game at a time.

[mrsmiley381]

I have this problem with gaming in general. My problem is I like everything that isn't sports or Call of Duty. The end result is stacks and stacks of unfinished and even unplayed games. I don't even want to count how much I've spent on shmups I haven't even cleared. I can 1cc MUSHA, DeathSmiles, and maybe another couple of games I can't even recall at the moment. But for some games it's a matter of picking them up and playing them at the right time. I've owned Dead Rising for six months and hadn't played it more than hour until Saturday; I've spent two whole days straight playing it. Having options isn't too bad, because then you might get lucky and the game will pick you, in a way, than the other way around.

Cycle until something sticks. When it does stick, play the hell out of it. Gradius V stuck with me a good ~25 hours and I still never managed to 1cc it. I'm going to get hit by a sudden, random mood and decide to binge on it again. It's just a matter of time.

I think it was a six-month time frame with DeathSmiles as well. I bought it and drunkenly credit fed it the night I got it with my friend, then six months later I just sort of went nuts on it.

Lesson learned: Dump money in a game, play it once, wait six months, enjoy binging. I think this only works on Xbox 360 games, however.

[Blackbird]

I usually play games until I complete them. If I thought the game was only ok, I usually put it down after a cursory playthrough. Once I find a game that really "grabs me" I'll sit down and try to master every portion of it. I've only mastered a few games, but that's because those are the games I most enjoyed =D.

[Casper<3]

I'm the same way, I want to play and be good at everything all at once. I also play fighting games, which unlike shmups I kind of do move forward while playing multiple games at once. ...but even if I focus on a fighting game for a while I seem to lose progress in shmups when I get back to the one I was playing. Some nights I just have a single run at 3 or 4 different games to get my fix. I know I have to just stay playing one and focus, but it's kind of hard to do. ...as lame as it sounds, achievements help this out. If I'm chasing achievements I feel are obtainable, I'll keep playing until I get them. (or at least give it my best shot)

[Sapz]

I find it really difficult to stick with a game for more than a week or two at a time. Usually I'll play whatever game it is as intensely as I can for a week or two, working out new strategies and such, then setting a realistically attainable goal. Ideally it'll push up my high score by a decent amount, and after that (or if it ends up taking too long, I guess) I'll drop the game completely and come back to it a while later. It usually only takes me a day or so at most to get back up to speed with whatever game it is if it's something I've practiced a lot in the past, and I find it stops me from getting burned out/frustrated, for the most part.

[Bananamatic]

The only game I ever played seriously is Dimahoo

I took it seriously for a week then stopped for months

[Vyxx]

The only game I ever played seriously is Dimahoo

I took it seriously for a week then stopped

Thats... not really serious.

[Bananamatic]

Well, seriously as in actually practiced for score, figured out routes and stuff, got really close to a 1cc once too. Played it for months otherwise. Even hit my goal in that period.

Takes me ages to pick one game and even more to actually make myself learn it.

[Deca]

I'll take long breaks between periods of very focused playing, usually switching to one of a few games I'm working on when I do that. Lately it's been DDP because I really just wanna get this 1-all out of the way. I don't find it too hard to stay focused once I put enough time into a game, because starting a new one will feel like a really daunting task. It's more appealing for me to finish something I've invested a bunch of time in already, I get that drive to keep playing when the end is within sight more than when I just start out on some new thing or a game that I've spent very little time with.

[xbl0x180]

So what are your STG playing habits like? How do you pick which games/modes you are going to play, and do you set goals for yourself before moving on?

Simple. I don't. I just buy the games and play them at random. I have some 360 shoot-'em-up disc releases, except for DOJ, Senko No Ronde Duo, and DDP 1.5, as well as a few games for the PS2, NDS, and PSP. I suck at all video games... yet, ironically, I like playing them. I probably spend about 30-45 minutes at a time on a game and then I go on to something else. This most likely has to do with the fact that I also collect videos, music, and books, and that there's only 24 hours in a day. I can't really afford to grind at one game for extended periods of time for any reason, except to just have a blast for a little bit. It's probably why I haven't burned out on shoot-'em-ups... or anything else, for that matter (except for anime and manga)

[Avatar Ignis]

Do you play any other genres of games?

I usually just pick 2 shmups to play at a time along with a single 2d fighting game. Cycle through the games once i get bored of one. At the moment I'm playing deathsmiles, crimzon clover and mortal kombat 9. I feel its enough games to be mix things up all the while enough to focus and achieve goals i set.

[Aliquantic]

Thanks for your answers I'm pretty much exclusive to STGs and the only genre I have the slightest interest in is fighting games, so I don't have to split my time between genres at least.

On second thoughts my problem isn't so much burn out as knowing which games to focus on... there's at least a dozen that I'd enjoy and have goals for, and I'd be happy with any single one of them for a while, it's just hard to decide which one will get a month or two of attention (Or more, I'm not that good to, say, clear Pink Sweets 1.00 that quickly!)

[Nifty]

This is exactly how I play, and I'm sure I've improved more quickly than I would have if I'd just played the one thing over and over, even though I'm aiming more for exposure rather than perfection at the moment.

[Bananamatic]

Yeah, it sucks when you also play FPS and RPGs like I do

[gray117]

I only ever went through one phase of playing one game 'seriously' [ibara] for score - because it seemed you had to do it [my scores were never actually all that high]. Generally I'm not actually interested in highscoring/serious play. I think it's just going to be a case of being comfortable in the fact you've got a [or very few] game that is really YOUR game, but be happy in accepting that the other games are just around for messing about on.

You don't sound like the guy to fixate on one game for life. But being comfortable that some games get played very little, whereas others are played a lot, seems to be competing with your ambition to get really good at a single game (?) - something you'll probably need to get used to if you want to chase high scores at all.

Whether or not other games [and setups-eg. changing controls/screens etc.] improves your play is, again, an individual issue ... Even perhaps an issue that changes with your level of expertise [at the higher end I would guess that keeping the setup the same would be best... but I wouldn't know ].

I'm sure you can 'train', but you'd really want to make sure training is fun for you and that your comfortable with it [in general or with a specific game]... unless your day job is just so much fun that you don't mind a bit of more work in your time off

[NTSC-J]

Prometheus is a great example of what dedication to one game can get you: beastly scores. He stuck with DDP for a long time and it paid off. He's now doing the same with the sequel and I admire his perseverance and wish I could have some of that.

It sucks putting so much time into these games over the years and having nothing to show for it except for a bunch of first-round clears and scrubby scores. These games are easy to burn out on, so lately I've been trying to have a small list of games I rotate through when I need a break.

[Bee Cool]

I also play quake 3/cpma/live and several fighters. I find that having some variety helps you not overload even when you focus primarily on one game/genre over a stretch of time.

[RNGmaster]

My single biggest weakness as a shmup player is how quickly I get bored of one game. I feel the need to take a break after I've reached a goal (like hitting an extend), so by the time I get back to playing I'm more than a bit rusty. While this is definitely a problem for me, I think it's a good idea in general to stop playing a game when you get bored of it, since morale plays quite a large factor in playing well.

[dinosaurjerk]

i play one or two games until i clear them and then if i like them i try to play for score, and i guess even if the pink sweets/mmp or mushifutari only come out of their case once a month, at least i can always pour a finger or two of scotch and gaze at the artwork longingly/creepily on a lonely friday night...

[supergrafx77]

I've had this problem all along w/ too much to play, but not enough attention to one title at a time. But selling the complete 360 collection and focusing on one pcb at a time.... THIS WILL CHANGE NOW

[Icarus]

I have good focus, but I like variety. A game has to be exceptional to keep me hooked for a long period of time.

[TonK]

As others have said, I had a complete Cave setup for the Xbox360 - thought I would enjoy the ability to freely play any game at anytime.

Quickly led to boredom.

Sold the 360 and ports - bought back the few solid titles I wanted on PCB. Won't look back.

Instant gratification doesn't work with STG's.

[dunpeal2064]

I guess I am different from most folks, as I really like having a library of shooters to rotate through. Sure, it ended up taking me 2 months to get a Futari 1cc, but I'm not really in a hurry to get through these games as it is.

Granted, I am not the only one that plays my games. My gf, as well as a hoard of friends all are getting into shooters, and I like to switch it up on them.

Even if I started playing DOJ only for months, I would never get rid of the other ports, because I know that I'll have the craving for some Futari, Pork 'n Sweets, Ketsui, or even DFK.

[TonK]

I guess I am different from most folks, as I really like having a library of shooters to rotate through. Sure, it ended up taking me 2 months to get a Futari 1cc, but I'm not really in a hurry to get through these games as it is.

Granted, I am not the only one that plays my games. My gf, as well as a hoard of friends all are getting into shooters, and I like to switch it up on them.

Even if I started playing DOJ only for months, I would never get rid of the other ports, because I know that I'll have the craving for some Futari, Pork 'n Sweets, Ketsui, or even DFK.

Hey man, that's cool.

Obviously my style isn't for everyone.

I just felt a total lack of appreciation for the games.

Glad you're enjoying that 360 man.

[dunpeal2064]

I think if someone wants to get really good at a game, doin it your style would be better. I'm not too good at these Cave games in the first place I'm happy when I hit stage.4.

I am loving the 360. Worth it just for the chance to finally play Ketsui and DOJ

Granted, PCB's are on a whole seperate level of awesome I'm sure.

I'm curious, which few did you go and get?

[Marurun]

I play a variety of shooters and don't always master any of them unless I REALLY like them(like MUSHA and TFIII). With Cave's games I always find myself annoyed and bored after a while when I play the normal modes if the scoring is too weird for me(DDP. Yes, I hate DDP scoring), yet the arrange modes are as addictive as Tetris for me. It's like it becomes a puzzle game more than a shmup and I can't get enough of it.

[ncp]

I rarely play a single game at a time for more than a day or two. It doesn't take very long to get back into the groove of a game you've played before (a couple credits maybe), so playing a large variety of games doesn't really do you any harm.

[toaplan_shmupfan]

Yeah, I used to play one game for a while until I beat it or totally got stuck, but now I prefer a variety of games in a single gaming session of about 3 to 4 hours in length.

There are even some games I haven't 1cc'd or looped after almost 10 years, at least on their default difficulties (though many of them have been beaten on their Easy difficulty); however, that also gives me a variety of games to try again the next time I play them. I now find that I still won't be playing them over and over anymore--so each new improvement will get me closer to the 1cc or looping the game. That said, I may play a game once, then it may sit on the shelf for as little as a week to as long as almost two years before I play it again.

(Example: Whip Rush Sega Genesis, I think the last time I played that was in 2009... got stuck at the battleship on stage 5 even on Easy difficulty, shelved it because it's definitely not one of my absolute favorite shmups and I don't play games over and over anymore, still not bad game overall so I didn't get rid of it, and I'll probably give it another play someday though I don't know if I'll do any better or even worse after not playing it for so long.)