Shmup Related Questions That Don't Deserve a Thread

[microfolk]

What's the best MAME version as of september 2015? I remember reading that the latest shmupmame has got some frame of input lag (and pausing while moving and then unpausing in Dodonpachi results in my ship moving for a couple of pixels after that so I guess its true), while the 2.2 version doesn't seem to suffer from this but doesn't support games such as the above mentioned Dodonpachi... I remember reading that mame plus is pretty good now, but why should it be better than shmupmame? I'm pretty confused when it comes to mame in general, there are tons of versions out there and all the talks about cores and versions and what not are pretty intimidating, so I hope I'm not asking a dumb question (that doesn't deserve a thread).

[trap15]

Latest MAME Plus, always.

[microfolk]

Latest MAME Plus, always.

I was hoping for your answer. I guess MAME Plus is the most elaborate version out there? Does this statement remains true for the vast majority of games or is there some famous STG which should be played on some other version? I'm thinking of Battle Garegga and Garegga MAME, but I don't even know what this version offers!) What about input lag?

I'm asking tons of question out of curiosity, I'm still a really bad player and I should spend my time playing games instead of trying to understand what should I do in order to have the most accurate and smooth experience while emulating but it's fun to understand how these things work.

[Shepardus]

It's not the most "elaborate" version out there, but it's got everything you really need without getting overcomplicated. Which is to say, it's mostly stock MAME with a couple extras like autofire settings. You don't really need GareggaMAME for Battle Garegga; as far as I can tell it's the same experience as playing it in MAMEPlus except it's got a more comprehensive cheats file (which you can copy over to other versions of MAME anyway). Input lag is the same as regular MAME, that is to say it doesn't have shmupmame's hacks (which decrease emulation accuracy to reduce input lag a bit). I find MAME's input lag in most games to be quite tolerable, with a couple exceptions (Guardian Force), but maybe I just don't know any better.

[SMC]

Regular MAME and MAMEplus both have some distorted sound effects in Gradius 1, which are most noticeable when you destroy Big Core's shields with laser. Shmupmame doesn't have this distortion so I guess it's something that got broken in later versions.

[Xyga]

MAMEUIFX's got some extra stuff and convenience like;
- samples support for the few Toaplan games still missing sound
- extra romhacks playable
- M1 music player
- 'video snaps' support
- video recording
- GLSL shaders files management from the menu (though not yet fully operational I think, but soon)
Just don't install it in the Windows Program folders or it may not work properly.

[MrOldSchoolCool]

Does Batsugun (Saturn) have Yoko mode without screen wobble?

I used to own the game but I always played it in TATE back then. Could somebody who owns the game tell me?

[Squire Grooktook]

Not quite sure how the rules work, but would it be okay if I made a high score thread for Mecha Ritz? Would be fun to get some competition going for that game.

[Shepardus]

Go for it, I'd love to see some more people playing the game. I just gave it a go after reading your post and cleared the game with the TLB for the first time.

Speaking of Mecha Ritz, how many different fighters are there? It seems that you unlock more as you play. I'm at three so far (0, 1, 2), not sure if there's more after that. And does "Bullet Type" just affect the color of the bullets?

[Squire Grooktook]

I have 6 unlocked currently (0-5), and I don't think bullet type effects anything but color.

Also made the thread lol.

[qmish]

Guys. Currently i only play stg on my laptop, which has 14" display.

So, am i really bad at dodging because everything is so small when i play vertical shmups or just because i need to get better?

[Stevens]

Guys. Currently i only play stg on my laptop, which has 14" display.

So, am i really bad at dodging because everything is so small when i play vertical shmups or just because i need to get better?

I avoid playing on my laptop for this very reason. Yeah the screen size could have something to do with it.

[Shepardus]

I do tend to play better on my desktop's 21"(?) monitor than my laptop's 12.5" display, especially since I use an external keyboard with my laptop so I don't sit very close to the screen.

[Shepardus]

Agreed, too large and it becomes hard to pay attention to the whole screen. If I could tate my laptop display that would be perfect (which is pretty close to the size of the image on my desktop display without tate).

[Blinge]

Which is the easier clear, Raiden IV or Fighters?

[Kollision]

The larger the TV/monitor the better.
Also get close to it. Like, really close.
That's how you do it in a real arcade, so why not do it at home?

[Xyga]

The larger the TV/monitor the better.
Also get close to it. Like, really close.
That's how you do it in a real arcade, so why not do it at home?

'Depends on the quality of the monitor and the player's eyesight.
Personally when playing sitting at 'arcade distance' I'm fine with 20"~25" (4:3 area), but I find larger ones of 29" (actual 27") like in Japanese cabs slightly too big for my vision comfort, my eyes and neck have to work a bit too much to cover the whole terrain, my glasses' frame will also get in the way. Unfortunately with cabs it's impossible to adjust your sitting position, which kind of sucks.
LCD's are even more of a problem because of additional issues, depending on the panel's PPI, the game's resolution and refresh rate, even the backlighting, playing on those very close can be a real torture. Anyone performs poorly with bleeding eyes and a migraine anyway.
So with LCD's I always sit further than I would with a CRT of equal size, because I'm kind of sensitive to all that.

[Shepardus]

Is there any translated manual or explanation of mechanics for StellaVanity? Game looks interesting but I hesitate to actually try it without some idea of what to do.

[BulletMagnet]

The official site can be run through Google Translate, but last time I checked the "scoring" section was incomplete...

[soprano1]

Does the MD version of Truxton contain "enhanced" features like Hellfire and Slap Fight?

[copy-paster]

Is the both version of G-Darius runs perfectly on latest Shmupmame?

[qmish]

About "danmaku" patterns and speed. By "danmaku patterns" i mean those waves, usually caused by bosses, which fill the whole screen. As Futari on iOS was my first real entry to stgs, it was also the first game when i saw them. And those "waves" were a bit slo-mo which i found cool because that was pretty hypnotizing and didn't require uberhuman reflexes.

But after reading recent discussions about "slowdown problem in modern stgs" AND watching recent stream of Mushihimesama 1 (where those "waves" are pretty fast from Stage 1 Boss on ultra and maybe on maniac sorry i don't know well)...

...does that mean that "slo mo" patterns are "too easy" or something? Or these are two possible designs? Because while i respect insanity of, let's say, DDP DOJ's final boss attacks, i liked aesthetically (and not only...but i'm a bit casual) slo mo waves better.

[Shepardus]

It really depends, patterns like those of the Futari Ultra TLB are pretty slow but obviously really hard, while there are also fast patterns that are easy. They're different styles, and how you use fast/slow is more important than how fast the bullets are. You can definitely tell a difference in style between, say, a Psikyo game and a Touhou game, even though both are tough. Personally I like having a mix of fast and slow, oftentimes overlapping each other at the same time.

[Squire Grooktook]

It's a balancing act. Patterns become harder to read and execute based on speed and density. Faster patterns don't need to be as dense to be hard, and denser patterns don't need to be as fast to be hard. Patterns that are both fast and dense are hell.

*edit*

I'mt not sure if I misread and you're talking about patterns that slow down the entire game, or just patterns that have slow bullets in them.

Personally I like having a mix of fast and slow, oftentimes overlapping each other at the same time.

Yeah me too.

[CWM]

As someone who dislikes slowdown in general, my issue with it isn't related to difficulty or actual bullet speed, but rather the fact that it effectively lowers the framerate, resulting in input lag and a general feeling of sluggishness. It's the worst in games like Futari, where it comes and goes at difficult to predict and somewhat arbitrary times. It doesn't bother me much in DOJ, where it appears in certain sections and is consistent throughout them, but I'd still rather not have it at all.

[qmish]

Is there a way to be "slo mo" without just reducing framerate? Because otherwise it's more like game's bug.

[Kollision]

"natural" slo mo should have no frame drops

slowdown.. good
frame drops... bad
slowdown.. goooood
frame drops... baaaaad

[Giest118]

Is there a way to be "slo mo" without just reducing framerate? Because otherwise it's more like game's bug.

Cut the speed of all objects in half during the desired "slow-down" period, as well as the rate at which all objects do things.
It'd work for movement, but for things like explosions, which have frame-by-frame animations, you would need to provide twice as many frames for them to continue looking smooth.

But if the slowdown is due to hardware limitations or some such, then it's impossible to maintain the frame rate without doing something weird like removing objects arbitrarily.

[trap15]

Hardware slowdown is CPU bound in almost all cases, removing objects would not help unless they were actually deleted entirely.

[kayakoyaka]

I just bought Mamoru kun on psn sale, and it's really fun so far. I like it better than Under Defeat. My question is if I should get used to the dual stick control? I am much more comfortable with the regular control setup for now...