Parsec47

[Pirate1019]

All of that makes sense to me, but somehow I can never get it to work.

Are these strategies only effective on the extreme difficulty?

[shiftace]

Pretty much, yeah. In Practice/Normal your ship is slow (hard to collect everything) and everything is worth less items (hard to reach the limit, so it's less of a worry). I don't play those levels very much or very well... Maybe I should try Normal.

I try to play Hard about the same way as Extreme, and that works OK.

[Pirate1019]

The fast ship speed is exactly the reason why Hard/Extreme difficulties seems so unplayable for me. I run into bullets I feel I should have missed because I simply move too fast.

[Anarchos]

Yes, it all makes sense. I'm playing normal very aggressive, but haven't seen big differences between points and style of play (as in extreme), but the shots are slower so the game should be easier playing with point blanking in mind. Shiftace, you didn't get any enemies that didn't shoot at all in your replay, do you read the pattern and then hurry up when that sort of thing happens? Maybe you're faster than me, because I usually die when that happens. I try to be on the top of the screen after every midboss just in case, and many times I manage to escape I it's a false alarm so to speak. I'm sure you could try it out as well, although I'm not sure how often those things happen for it to be worth it...

[shiftace]

I'm playing normal very aggressive, but haven't seen big differences between points and style of play (as in extreme), but the shots are slower so the game should be easier playing with point blanking in mind. Shiftace, you didn't get any enemies that didn't shoot at all in your replay, do you read the pattern and then hurry up when that sort of thing happens?

I did try Normal today, pretty good results. The ship speed screws with my timing a little bit, trying to hit moving gaps or waiting to dodge slow incoming fire, etc. Point-blanking is definitely easier, probably more useful as well. I should note that you can go point-blank against enemies that do fire immediately, so long as you find a nice gap. And yes, if I see an enemy that waits before shooting, that's incentive to hurry up. It feels good to never see a shot.

The fast ship speed is exactly the reason why Hard/Extreme difficulties seems so unplayable for me. I run into bullets I feel I should have missed because I simply move too fast.

Practice... I've done this for way too long.


P.S. Scores:

Roll/Normal: shiftace - 17 120 000 - 97 - keyboard
Lock/Normal: shiftace - 15 850 010 - 107 - keyboard

[piyo]

I saw ur video. Skillz!

Scores updated. The reigning extreme champion shiftace dabbles in normal... Who am I to stop him?

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piyo

[Pirate1019]

Shiftace, when you recorded your replay, did you do it only using VLC? VLC seems to support recording, but I couldn't figure it out and a quick browse of their help files on the site didn't help any.

[Anarchos]

Is that possible, recording videos with only your computer? I can record what's playing (sound) RIGHT NOW with the simple "sound recorder" that comes with windows, is there an equivalence to that in video recording? We could all make videos and get ideas from each other! ^^

What I really hate about normal is the amount of bullets that end up behind me due to the slow speed. It's most troublesome the first 40-50 parsecs though. Because that is what we're calling levels, right?

And btw, do we get more points for bonuses on the different difficulties, or is it simply the amount spewn out that changes? Remember that you, shiftace, talked about the differences.

[Pirate1019]

I know you can do it with a program called Fraps, although, on my computer it ran and recorded really slow, like 25 fps (when using MAME anyway). I have yet to try it with something like Parsec47. Although, it also seems to record in very, very large file sizes and I have to try to fix that. So I asked because if I could do it with just VLC then maybe I can forget about Fraps altogether.

[shiftace]

Yes, I used just VLC, with some variation of the following, going from memory. Don't know if it's the Right Way, but it worked:

Code: Select all

vlc screen:// --screen-fps 30 --sout "#transcode{vcodec=mp1v,width=640,height=480}:std{mux=ts,access=file,dst=filename}"

I should have used cropright and cropbottom instead of height/width; this is where the scaling came from. I tried using H.264 and divx with the AVI mux, found that neither of them worked in virtualdub, which I wanted to play with (what's a VFW codec, anyway??), so I got frustrated and just did an mpeg stream. I cropped it afterwards using a similar command line. Can't remember what I did about the bitrate... I think the file was ~96MB at first, without me choosing a bitrate; then I transcoded it to 128 kB/s, getting ~32MB. Hope your computer is recent. This is getting a ways off-topic, so PM or a different thread might be better. If, that is, there's more to talk about.

And btw, do we get more points for bonuses on the different difficulties, or is it simply the amount spewn out that changes?

It is just the amount of bonuses that changes. The maximum number that can ever be on the screen is 128 in all modes, but the game will attempt to place more items per enemy on higher difficulties.

[Pirate1019]

Don't worry, no more to talk about. You lost me a long time ago.

It might have been my imagination, but I seem to remember the bonuses increasing in value faster the higher the difficulty. Maybe it was in Noiz2sa, not Parsec47, or maybe I was just picking up more stars then I thought. You, Shiftace, should know though, since you've rooted around the code. I know they always max out at 1000 apiece, but do they raise in value faster?

[Anarchos]

Oh. My. God. This game is sick! I beat my level score on extreme (got 2.7XX.XXX) and got game over on the first boss! Which means I died eight times and still managed to get a dream score. Wow, death is really overrated in parsec 47... but out of curiosity, how much more would I get if I managed to survive all the way through? Ok, maybe I died more times in a row which would mean that I didn't get a chance to get my multiplier up to 1000 before I died, but I should have really missed out on alot of enemies and bonuses! Shiftace, what is your level record, and what do you deem possible?

[Anarchos]

I'd like to propose a new highscore challenge btw; survival. But not the ordinary kind of survival, but one where your record is the longest parsec you are able to start from in your game. Do I make myself clear? Basically it means that you only play one level. My record for normal roll is 310, and I started at 301, of course. Initials are AVA.

[Pirate1019]

but out of curiosity, how much more would I get if I managed to survive all the way through?

What would you consider "through"? The game never ends.

I'd like to propose a new highscore challenge btw; survival. But not the ordinary kind of survival, but one where your record is the longest parsec you are able to start from in your game. Do I make myself clear? Basically it means that you only play one level. My record for normal roll is 310, and I started at 301, of course. Initials are AVA.

That would not work. And besides, we already have "No Shoot Mode".

[Pirate1019]

Being reminded of No Shoot Mode, I gave it another shot and this is the result:

Pirate1019 - 27 - Roll - Practice - Logitech USB Controller

[piyo]

Have you ever gotten a drop of blood on your body and say to yourself, how did this get here? Then you lick it, even though you're not feeling cut or punctured or anything.

Yesh.
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piyo

[Anarchos]

With through I mean one level, 10 parsecs that is.

Why would the challenge I proposed not work? It works for me!

Piyo: I have no idea what you're talking about. Or maybe I have, but then it has nothing to do with parsec 47, unless you bit your lip while playing.

[Pirate1019]

I don't see how it can work. All it would boil down to is restarting at parsec X and playing until you shit-luck your way through to parsec X+10, then do it over again. It's like using save states in MAME.

[Anarchos]

Ah, there is always that little problem--that there is more luck involved than in a normal game. Although I beat my old record with a lot when I tried it for the first time in half a year, doesn't that mean something? But if only I'm interested then perhaps it's no use.

[shiftace]

Oh. My. God. This game is sick! I beat my level score on extreme (got 2.7XX.XXX) and got game over on the first boss! Which means I died eight times and still managed to get a dream score. Wow, death is really overrated in parsec 47... but out of curiosity, how much more would I get if I managed to survive all the way through? Ok, maybe I died more times in a row which would mean that I didn't get a chance to get my multiplier up to 1000 before I died, but I should have really missed out on alot of enemies and bonuses! Shiftace, what is your level record, and what do you deem possible?

It's hard to say how much score it costs you to die. Certainly, losing a full item counter costs 49,500 via the next 99 items. And letting enemies sit on screen for an extra second lowers their item count. OTOH, the invulnerability you get with a new life can often let you score better than would be humanly possible if you had to dodge everything. Yeah, you're expected to die a lot in this game. Just not too much.

I think my best 10-parsec score is a bit over 3.3M R/E. Can't remember for L/E, I think it's 2.9M and something. From looking at the enemy selection code and assuming a lot, I think that 6M is a fair guess at the theoretical limit.

I'm not up for a "how far can you start?" challenge... although I did like to play Torus Trooper that way. There was one other guy, on page 4 of this thread, said he starts at 420. But nobody talked to him, and he left.

[Anarchos]

Ah, of course, didn't realize that you make up for the lost item points by point blanking during invulnerability. Heh, the theoretical limit for scoring (not counting that the game is endless) is very high indeed if you are correct shiftace, compared to top players and other shmups. But 6 million? Hm, maybe it's "possible".

Somehow that guy on page 4 doesn't have credibility.

[Makoto_Shinobi]

New score! I have an 3 million points improvement on practice mode today.

Roll - Practice - 24,254,600 - 193 - Macintosh Keyboard

Edit:

Another new score I have today. Here it is:

Lock - Practice - 20,153,880 - 183 - Macintosh Keyboard

[shiftace]

Lock/Extreme: shiftace - 22 149 710 - 100 - keyboard

Blurry flickering video exists. Much better playing than my previous recording, I think. It just about has to be; lock mode is oppressive.

[Anarchos]

Yep, that was better played, remarkably good! Don't think there is much more to point out though at this stage. Maybe a question; do you kill yourself on purpose, ever? And do you play differently dependning on how many lives you have? But I guess that happens on a less conscious level, for me anyhow.

[shiftace]

All deaths were accidents. Can never tell when a planned death would help, until it's too late to matter. I try to be careful if I have 0 lives left, difficult enemies, and a long way to the next extend, but that's about it. Room for improvement there, but it doesn't seem like much fun. Maybe I'll think different when people beat my scores.

[Pirate1019]

Maybe I'll think different when people beat my scores.

Good luck having a pulse when that happens.

[piyo]

Got yer scores updated.
Makoto_Shinobi and shiftace make a killing.
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piyo

[Davey]

Roll/Extreme: Davey - 26,425,920 - 120 - Virtua Stick USB

Still can't catch shiftace, but man that felt good. If nothing else, it cements my #2 standing.

And what a difference a joystick makes! I paid a pretty penny for one of these things after using one at Ayanami's house. It looks chintzy as hell, but it works really well. Much stiffer than the HRAP stick, which makes a big difference in a game like this.

[piyo]

oh hai! im in ur scorebaord, yellowin yer out

Davey with the fancy Virtua Stick, updates his score from 19 mil to 26 mil. Virtua Stick over an HRAP? This is the proof.

As for me, I'm doing Rubik's Cube (3x3x3). My JNetCube time is 3 minutes and 11 seconds.
orz, I suck.
Just gotta shave off 3 minutes on that time and I'll be just like this guy.
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piyo

[shiftace]

Lock/Extreme: 26 401 000 - 120 - keyboard

Nice one, Davey.