Dodonpachi Daioujou a Game Made in Hell

[CloudyMusic]

It's nothing specific to DOJ, or even bullet hell games. Very few games have the player's hitbox actually match the full size of the ship sprite, even non-bullet hell games with "big" hitboxes. The ship sprite needs to be big enough to easily see, but having the hitbox be that huge would generally be very limiting in terms of what the game can actually throw at you.

[qmish]

I understand, i mean "abusing" of this concept, throwing at you patterns with such density that you need to watch for area where hitbox is... Which destroy you eyes unless you focus only on spot where your ship is , not looking on the whole screen

[Shepardus]

*sighs*

Then i think it's better to be played on large enough screen unless you have very good eyes. I both try it in mame on 15" in yoko and iOS port on iPad (on "Hell" difficulty as it's faithful to arcade? i know it's "wrong experience" but still (and at least i supported Cave a bit with that..or..); i use "medium size" of display there so i have empty area below it so i control ship from there while seeing actual game area without overlapping with fingers and use "two tap" for switching shot/laser).

A smaller screen makes it easier to see the whole screen at a glance, actually helping in some cases. Of course, you have to strike a balance and figure out what works for you.

I understand, i mean "abusing" of this concept, throwing at you patterns with such density that you need to watch for area where hitbox is... Which destroy you eyes unless you focus only on spot where your ship is , not looking on the whole screen

If you practice and get comfortable with the game's hitbox there are few situations where you actually need to focus your eyes on your ship.

[qmish]

So, after enough practice, you "feel" ship's collision even without looking at place around, right?

[Shepardus]

Pretty much, yes. The bullets/laser you fire are also really helpful for keeping track of where you are without looking at the ship itself.

[rjosal]

The stage 5 boss final pattern requires the hitbox the size it is, but other than that at least for loop 1 you don't have to get all that close to bullets. It just takes a lot of memo for bullet leading and killing enemies as soon as you can (except when needed for chaining).

[R79]

Found this game to be a bit more manageable once started playing it on a much larger telly. One day I will actually watch a replay and memorise the correct mechanisms, but for now, just wing it, so to speak. Got a lot of gameplay out of this so far since it came out (JP PS2), and must be one of the few shooters I can think of that seems to cost a bit less now that when it came out. Later stages really are mental... one wonders if any of the CAVE designers ever took acid, or something similar. Helluva trip.