What's the 'original' purpose of rank

[D]

I remember back when they had me believe that Battle Garegga changed it's difficulty if you played really well.

That I like, but shots fired to raise rank?
Any noob will bash the button like crazy, so that rank rule missed it's target.

I guess the purpose of the rank is; find out how the rank can be kept low.

Also what is the history of rank? When was it introduced? When was it discovered? Is there a rank guru around.

How do you find out how the rank works? Any tips?
Did you guys get the rank tips from japanese websites?

Can some links be given to jap sites which contain usefull information and which can be translated by google or babelfish.

Do other genres/games have this as well?
Like purposelly lose the first round in a fighting game and then you can win the second and third round?

so many q's.

[kidneythief]

the severity of the rank system in battle garegga is a complete myth, and anybody who has played it for more than a week can tell you that

[Sly Cherry Chunks]

In the first Gradius game, rank seemed to serve two puropses:

1. Rank would increase so that the game would still provide a challenge when your craft is fully armed.

2. Rank would decrease when your ship is unarmed to give you a fighting chance to progress.

Personally I find the game far too hard on full rank, forcing me to control rank by not grabbing weapons. I feel that "not being allowed" to use all the weapons ruins the game somewhat.

(Oh, and if all this has been said before - that's because I usually stay away fom the dreaded 'r' word.)

[kidneythief]

you're allowed to get weapons, and if you feel that the difficulty is too hard under those conditions, maybe you should stick to quake 3!

[sffan]

Xevious may be the earliest shmup with a ranking system.

[Andi]

Xevious may be the earliest shmup with a ranking system.

Xevious's rank system wasn't only meant to challenge better players though. Instead it was supposed to make the game more challenging as a whole. Your rank goes up not only based on how long you have been alive, but also based on the number of enemy bases you didn't destroy on the ground.

[professor ganson]

I guess the purpose of the rank is; find out how the rank can be kept low.

Note, though, that there is a trade-off involved in keeping rank low. In Psikyo games like Strikers 1945 I, I find that keeping rank low is good for survival but bad for score. Less powerful weapons usually translates into fewer kills and fewer points, but it is much easier to stay alive with slower bullets coming at you-- however strong your attack is. In my own case, staying alive longer does not add to my score: by keeping rank low it is fairly straightforward for me to get to 1-5, but in doing so I won't beat my fully powered-up runs that end in level 1-4.

It does seem that there are two main functions served by rank:
1. To make for more balanced gameplay in games that involve power-ups (so that, e.g., losing your power-ups does not mean end of game).
2. To add depth to the gameplay. Rank can add an extra dimension of strategy and it can make a game more challenging (as in Xevious). In either case it makes the gameplay deeper IMO.

Am I missing a third something?
Anyway, very interesting topic, D.

[thesuperkillerxxx]

I thought the whole point of rank was to munch quarters/yen?

EDIT: The whole "original" point of rank that is!

[sven666]

I thought the whole point of rank was to munch quarters/yen?

hell no, its there for a mystical reason meant to be debated over and over untill the end of time, its said that in order to find an answer one must be completely enlightened and in tune with his spiritual side... squeeeeeze the button - dont mash it...

segata sanshiro told me that in a dream once...

[kemical]

to make money, at least in the us.. average play times of 2.5 minutes per credit are good and encourage more credit feeding.

[captain ahar]

the original purpose of rank is very simple... its fun.

at least that's what i like to think, nothing is more relaxing than pumping up the difficulty. please realize, i have no illusions about "very hard" being the "way developers intended it to be," i just think bullet hell is relaxing. its nice to know there is a damn good reason why i just died, as opposed to the "collision with bullet i already dodged" death.

[Valgar]

Normal rank systems exist for the following purpose.
Primary purpose:make the game more accessible to novices by making it easier on them, while at the same time, making the game difficult for god players. A rank system is supposed to shorten the games of good players, and lengthen the games of bad players, but not enough so that bad players last longer than good ones. This increases the profits of the arcade owner. Novices play more often beecause they feel they got their money's worth out of the game. Back in tthe old days, bfore rank, games like Defender wer just BRUTAL. Without wizards showing off at the game, to prove they could be mastered, peopel wouldn't play them. They had to give good players a challenge so people couldnt' monopolize the game, but to do so, they had to be mercilless to peopel learning the game. Rank changed all that. Games could start off easier, and as the player got better, continue to provide a challenge by ramping up the difficulty at a fair rate.

[raiden]

Vulgus had rank in 1984. In Vulgus, you raise rank by grabbing 3 kinds of icons which increase enemy speed and variation, but also increase score possibilities. The "uncommon" enemies give more points, and by grabbing those icons consistently, a star worth 10.000 points pops up occasionally, which doesn´t happen when you evade the icons.

[Dandy J]

To take your money.

[TGK]

Rank has been around pretty much from the beginning of video game. In the original Space Invaders, the very last enemy left on screen will shoot like mad. It is actually easier to leave 2 adjacent enemies left on screen at the end and then try to shoot both down successively before the suicide mode kicks in.

I strongly believe that the original purpose of rank is to eat coins. Arcade machine is, in spirit, a cousin of the one-arm bandit, only that it has no arm and actually manage to give you something (fun) back as it robs you.

The first "subtle" use of rank where you don't blatantly notice the enemies become super fast and strong is Zanac I think. Actually all Compile games seemed to have rank.

Fighting games as early as Street Fighter (NES) has rank. Suicide the first round makes the second and third noticeably easier.

After all is said and done I still want a side of ranks with my game, overpowered player characters are overrated...

[zaphod]

The purpose of rank is not to take quarters. It is to increase the profits of operators. The two are NOT the same thing.

A balanced rank system allow novices to get into the game easier, while at the same time make the game a challenge. it's supposed to be a bit of an equalizer.

One common thing to do is tie rank directly to the score. the more points you have the more difficult the game gets. this is a simple and balanced method of rank.

Actually rank in xevious is based on how quickly and efficientl you kill enemies. as you destroy types of enemies, that type of enemy gets it's AI upgraded. I believe leaving groud observation targets alive to also affect rank in it.

Getting more difficult as you progress farther in the game has been around since day 1, and is not considered rank. I also consider rank that ges up with purely survival time as not really rank, unless it backs off on the difficulty when you die.

Another thing that rank is often based on is the powerup level of your ship. Gradius games are infamous for this. To see it in action, take NES gradius, and pause and enter the konami code. watch your rank shoot up. this is so stuf can actaully kill your powered up ship. however the benefits of powering up generally outweigh the risks. This is therefore also a balanced rank system. As another bonus such a system allows for recovery after death. A number of shooters have a syndrome where if you've died once, you mgt as well keep on dying because if your tooled up ship was threatened, your normal ship has no chance. Rank changes that, making your tooled up ship in danger, but still allowing for recovery. of course if rank is too vicious then powering up is not worth it. then you have an unbalanced rank system.

Raizing treats rank very differently. Rank in Garegga has a different purpose. it's to force you to learn to play the game the *right way*. Rank In Terra Diver is the same way. it's there to force you to learn to use the "web" weapon as your primary weapon to play with. if you ignore the main gun, and do that the game becomes playable. if you powwer up the main gun, the rank eats you alive. The rank system is put there for you to exploit. that's the big differnece. in other games you aren't supposed to manipulate the rank system. you arent' even supposed to know it's there, much less attempt to use it to your advantage!

There is one other type of rank. this is best exemplified in the game BOrder Down. As rank rises (through survival time) the difficulty ramps up, but the opportunities for score ALSO increase signifigantly. The rank effectively acts as a score multiplier! Overmode in ESPGALUDA is another such thing. rank shoots up when you use it, but your scoring chances go up. instead of being "punished for good play" you are rewarded by being given better (but more challenging) scoring opportunities! Again the rank system is meant to be exploited, but in this case, it's more of a case of risk vs reward. greater risk is greater reward.