RQ: Deathsmiles Volcano Double Recharge - Windia

[Wishworm]

I have used the search and can't find the answer. Can anyone tell me how to do the double recharge on the volcano stage with Windia?

Thanks.

(mod edit - fixed thread title, see strategy section guidelines)

[Tyjet]

You mean doing the first recharge at the big rock mid stage?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-iK38Zd3 ... page#t=33s

If so, then the video shows how to. It's with rosa, but the technique is similar for all characters.

The second recharge is where the pig butchers are located right before you enter the area with the rising flames. Just before they disappear off screen, stay left and face right. Bomb and hold lock shot. You should still be in power up mode with your counter at 100-150 (I think) Watch out for the frogs.

There's a couple of ways to do the recharges at these point, but this is what I have seen and done.

[Udderdude]

Is this some sort of secret, hard-coded effect? Because I can't figure any other reason this would work ..

[Tyjet]

I could be totally off with the calculations but here's my reasoning:

The recharge is just based off the large amount of items enemies drop. Take for example the eyeballs you see in the video before reaching the big rock. If you know that the eyeballs drop "X" amount of gold crowns while in lock shot and in power up mode, you can estimate what your counter is:

((# of eyeballs)*(Items produce while in lock and power up mode for eyeballs))*(Value of the gold crown) = Total Value of Item counter

(10*(8))*10 = 800

So now you have a counter at least 800, but remember you still have other enemies around you that are producing items.

The number of items produce while in lock and power up mode is unknown, I just used 8 as an estimate.

[deexor]

Yeah, there isn't anything hardcoded in the recharges. The purpose of the bomb is primarily to lower the item power-up counter quickly (more so with lock-on) and secondarily to kill a bunch of enemies at the same time. Being in lock-on mode generates items with the lock-on types and amounts, even if they get killed by the bomb.

To do recharges on the Volcano stage, bombing is not required, but it really helps with getting the timings right.

Positioning the character, the direction she's facing and the option location all matter, because they affect the position where the bomb explodes - that determines when the enemies get killed by the bomb. They are also slightly different for each character.

All this timing is crucial, because you want a mass of enemies to die while you're still in power-up & lock-on; the power-up to end; and then start picking up high-value items.

[n0rtygames]

Being in lock-on mode generates items with the lock-on types and amounts, even if they get killed by the bomb.

Hold up... does this apply outside of this bomb scenario? i.e if I let off a stray bullet that just happens to collide with an enemy and kill it while I quickly go in to lock-on mode... does that hit count as a hit from lock-on, or does the bullet get flagged when fired by the player?

[BareKnuckleRoo]

Hold up... does this apply outside of this bomb scenario? i.e if I let off a stray bullet that just happens to collide with an enemy and kill it while I quickly go in to lock-on mode... does that hit count as a hit from lock-on, or does the bullet get flagged when fired by the player?

The problem is shots travel fast enough in the game that firing a basic shot then quickly going into lock shot before it kills the enemy is not very feasible, at least when it comes to the main witches' shots. Maybe with one of the slower character familiar shots like Casper or Rosa, whose shots stick and multi hit the enemy and move somewhat slow, but even then to get the most out of this if it worked you'd need really, really precise timing to switch to lock shot right before they die, but I can see this working with Rosa whose lockshot latches on behind her. You'd need a lot of precision to fire roses at a large enemy so that they're hitting while you enter lockshot just before it dies. Flagging each bullet seems a somewhat complicated way of programming it, probably they just check which player's shot killed what enemy, and what shot type they're using at the moment of death (it would explain why this works when bombing?).

[n0rtygames]

The problem is shots travel fast enough in the game that firing a basic shot then quickly going into lock shot before it kills the enemy is not very feasible, at least when it comes to the main witches' shots.

Yeah for sure - sorry I wasn't really asking with the intention of doing that and trying to reap any rewards from it.. I was simply trying to ascertain if this was the logic Deathsmiles implements as that would definitely explain the bomb behaviour. Useful to know and understand!

Flagging each bullet seems a somewhat complicated way of programming it, probably they just check which player's shot killed what enemy, and what shot type they're using at the moment of death (it would explain why this works when bombing?).

Not the place to go in to it - but I've written that tagging system in 'that game' and yeah - it's complicated but works. I just assumed this was how Cave did it in their games!

[BareKnuckleRoo]

If I recall, there's something like this in Ketsui too - enemies drop more chips when killed when you're using the lock shot, but if you kill an enemy with the basic rapid fire then quickly lockshot as they're exploding (particularly with larger ships that take a while to drop all their point chips) the game will drop more chips as it explodes if you're in lockshot, presumably because it checks if you're using rapid shot or lockshot as chips are dropped/generated, not at the initial moment of the target's death.

Enemies will drop more Chips when Lock-Shot mode is active. You must get in the habit of keeping Lock-Shot HELD DOWN even after an enemy is destroyed, because there are several that will continue to drop boxes even after death or explode multiple times.

http://shmups.system11.org/viewtopic.php?t=5123

[endoKarb]

Hold up... does this apply outside of this bomb scenario? i.e if I let off a stray bullet that just happens to collide with an enemy and kill it while I quickly go in to lock-on mode... does that hit count as a hit from lock-on, or does the bullet get flagged when fired by the player?

Yes it does apply. All that matter is the type of shot you are using at the exact moment the enemy dies.

Windia's owl's shot in particular gets "stuck" inside of big enemies for a long time, damaging them constantly and giving you the perfect chance to switch to the appropriate shot type, just in time for the kill. It's a very significant part of the game play.

[deexor]

There are many popular places for using the technique. Pig chefs on stage A1, recharges on A2, floating islands and vines on B1, anything on the train tracks on C1... Deal some initial damage to them and switch to lock shot just before they die, and you can get the lock-shot items from them without wasting your counter. Easier with lingering option weapons (Rosa, Windia, Casper), slightly harder with Follett at times.