I wanna return to shmups, but...

[P_HAT]

But i'm so bad at them, after years of Street Fighter and Call of Duty. I mean, i haven't played shmup for more than few hours since SF4 was released on PC.

I never was good at shmups, to begin with.

So now, i want to start once again.

For now i'm traing to fix my "caravan games list" and play all games what i can find. Just to warm up.

Then, i have play to pick one or two shmups and start learning them.

Any suggestions?

For gear i have PC so mame and emulators are ok, modded dreamcast(but afaik it's pal so only 50 REAL hz) with pad, modded ps2 with pad and HRAP2.

I love Cave games(even have legit Mushi lol, maybe the only one in Ukraine), but don't really like chain mechannic from DDP.
Also i'm AFRAID of fast bullets.


Dunno what else to say. Halp!

[Keade]

Any suggestions?

Yes, here is a nice read: ST: Full Extent of the Jam - Playing Shmups Competitively
Now stop thinking and go practice !

[Blinge]

Now stop thinking

All my this.

[moh]

How can you get better if you don't try? We all sucked at shmups when we started. just go play, and have fun, they're just games after all

[AntiFritz]

Just play them anyway, you don't have to be good at them and that's fine. Not unless you want to be of course.

[BPzeBanshee]

P_HAT, welcome back!

XII Stag's bullets are slow, last I recall you were pretty good at that! Or did the later stages and wobbling put you off that one forever?

[P_HAT]

P_HAT, welcome back!

XII Stag's bullets are slow, last I recall you were pretty good at that! Or did the later stages and wobbling put you off that one forever?

Hehe, thanks.

Main problem with XII Stag was pre-last stage.
Final one was easy as heck. As far as i can remember.
But yes, good ideat to try this one.

But i need to find my PS2 component cable first

[BPzeBanshee]

Space stage? I didn't get the opportunity for that one, that walking hand was as far as I got on the run that got me in Top 10 leaderboards for the 360 port when it came out last year. Find that component cable!

[e_tank]

retroarch + fba + a button on your controller assigned to rewind might be something to look into, imo it's a much more convenient way to practice and learn a game quickly than using save states. i find it allows me to quickly learn from mistakes and/or practice certain parts over and over again in a way that's completely seamless, which helps me to stay focused and keep an "in the zone" mindset. trying to manage save states during intense practice sessions can be really frustrating sometimes, like when you accidentally overwrite the state you were working off of.

[Udderdude]

OMG it's P_HAT :O

[El_Spank]

If anyone still has a copy of BernD's musings on the subject, here would be a perfect place to post them.

[BER]

If anyone still has a copy of BernD's musings on the subject, here would be a perfect place to post them.

A possibly helpful starting point: http://shmups.system11.org/viewtopic.ph ... 92#p670792

[El_Spank]

That is a help!

If I recall you had a larger document, possibly aside from your musings on Strikers where you discussed controlling bullet patterns rather than letting them control you, amongs other things. Just generally covering different bullet types and quite a few other subject.

It was really good food for thought back in the day and that's what I thought would be really useful to newcomers.

[BER]

El_Spank, someone was nice enough to archive it in Pastebin:

http://pastebin.com/6dWCLpm0

If dodging bullets is the most constraining part of progressing in shmups (also see "Point #3: Bullet dodging techniques"), a few have found the above helpful. If someone wants to clean the guide up for me, that would be nice. (:

[Blackbird]

Even as a total scrub at this genre, I still really enjoy Mushihimesama Futari. The X360 version has a very lenient "Novice" mode which has slower bullets and autobombs if you're clumsy. Novice Ultra is a pretty enjoyable challenge for a player of starting skill level.

Crimzon Clover Simple Mode is also a nice challenge level I think. Bullets are a bit faster, but most of the patterns are easy to learn.

Touhou games are also another great gateway shmup. The shot patterns are really dense and interesting, but also really slow, especially on lower difficulties. It's pretty easy to get into.

[Oniros]

Just enjoy them. I haven't 1CC'd any of my shmups and I must own like 20 so far.

[PROMETHEUS]

P_HAT !
long time no see :)

[blufang]

You can have plenty of fun in shmups without being awesome at them. I've never been a hardcore shmup player, but I've loved them forever. I just love the self improvement and going through levels in different ways, going longer without a death, etc.

[NZA]

I'm not great at shmups either, but I suggest Jamestown for PC. It helped me get better and it seems to recognize any arcade stick I hook up to it. Mechanics are simple and there are multiple ships that can suit just about any play style you have. The difficulty increases gracefully and the extra challenges reinforce learning important skills.

[MOSQUITO FIGHTER]

Just credit feed 'em. Sacrilege, I know. I've started really enjoying shooters again since I started credit feeding. Not the best way to play but I'm not really chasing scores at the moment or anything.

[Astraea FGA Mk. I]

When I used to put all my effort into learning to score optimally from the get-go with a new game I became extremely frustrated, annoyed and didn't enjoy myself (Akai Katana )
These days I just jump in and have fun, experiment, familiarize myself with the stages, boss fights, etc. With enough hours invested I naturally get the hang of scoring.

Just play, regardless of how well you do. Don't pressure yourself and have fun. Your skill will develop over time.

[dunpeal2064]

From your description, it sounds like you are interested in playing shmups competitively.

So, the first thing I would do is find the one or two games that you DO want to get really good at. Don't worry about their difficulty, just find the game that will still feel fun, even at its most frustrating points.

Then, I would set a realistic goal for that game, and start shooting for it. Compete with yourself first, and you won't feel so overwhelmed by the high scores here.

As for how to reach the goals you set, nothing I say could explain it as well as PROM has in his "Full Extend of the Jam" guide to competitive shmup playing.


As for recommendations... well, you have Mushi, don't like chaining, and prefer slower bullets over fast ones. Sounds like Ultra mode is calling

Just don't worry too much about your current skill level. I think that your practice methods are much more important than your overall skill at the genre.