Shmup Related Questions That Don't Deserve a Thread

[CloudyMusic]

Incidentally and unrelated - does anyone have any general tips to avoid getting pushed up the sides and trapped while streaming bullets? I have this issue some times where I'm streaming and just run out of room and the stream doesn't stop so I either have to try and cross it or bomb. Some times I reeeeeaaaally don't want to cross it and go the other way... it's really stressful to attempt, but some times I can do it and not have a heart attack.

Doing "U-shaped" or "figure 8" patterns while streaming can help make cutbacks easier. By moving vertically a bit before you change direction, you can usually create a bigger opening for yourself.

[Shepardus]

In addition to what Keres said, making a sharp movement to create a gap in the aimed bullets helps when you need to cut back through the stream of bullets.

[copy-paster]

Never heard the "figure 8" strategy, how does that work?

[r3l0]

Does anyone know if there was ever a shooter made for Dreamcast VMU as bonus on a game or even homebrew? The reason I ask is 'Gekioh: shooting King' on PlayStation 1 has a bonus "pocket" game where the title screen looks an awfully lot like a VMU. If not it would be a fun project to try and recreate or port.

[BIL]

No idea about shooters for the VMU - but as for "Jienryu," AFAIK, that mode was referring to the PocketStation.

I don't think PS1 Shienryu actually has any PocketStation features ala Raycrisis or other games - Jienryu is just a minigame mimicking the format's limitations.

[ardiel]

Never heard the "figure 8" strategy, how does that work?

Basically it is doing the opposite of streaming for a brief moment. This was actually something I learned in Touhou but forgot because I'm a dummy and quit playing for a few years.

When you're streaming you almost sit still and just make little taps in one direction so that aimed bullets will miss you. You know they will miss because they were aimed at where you used to be but now you're a few pixels over. The figure 8 is where you almost stop streaming and do a bit of a loop or jerk to make the shot pattern spread out and hopefully create a hole for you to cut back through. They call it a figure 8 because that's what it starts to look like when you're doing it in both directions.

This doesn't always work on enemies that shoot really dense streams though. The idea is to make them adjust their fire so that they leave a gap but some enemies have a rate of fire that is so high that it doesn't make an appreciable difference and the stream just gets fatter instead of making a gap in it.

[r3l0]

No idea about shooters for the VMU - but as for "Jienryu," AFAIK, that mode was referring to the PocketStation.

I don't think PS1 Shienryu actually has any PocketStation features ala Raycrisis or other games - Jienryu is just a minigame mimicking the format's limitations.

Well that explains it. I was not aware of the pocketstation. Much thanks. I see that ff8 is one of the few US releases that supported it which might be pretty neat.

As far as shooters on VMU, I was able to find at least 1 in this repo so far called 'alien fighter'
http://bswirl.kitsunet.org/vmu/game/?lg ... en_fighter

[Stevens]

Does anyone know if there was ever a shooter made for Dreamcast VMU as bonus on a game or even homebrew?

It's a long time ago for me, but Powerstone might have had one for Fokker.

[KAI]

Kikaioh has some kind of shmup for the VMU.

[Shepardus]

When I play Strikers 1945 Plus in MAME it only starts me off with one extra life rather than the usual two. What am I doing wrong?

[KoopaTGR]

The default settings in the Europe/US version give you two lives. Japan defaults are supposed to be three although changing the BIOS to Japan in MAME doesn't do anything in that regard.
Just go into the test mode and change the 'FIGHTER' setting to 3.

[Shepardus]

Ah, I was thinking it was a region thing, but was confused why changing it in MAME wasn't working. Thanks!

[Shepardus]

Has anyone encountered a bug in MAME (specifically MAMEPlus 0.160) that can make you invincible in Batsugun? Twice so far when I've played that game I've ended up invincible and bombing didn't consume bombs, the same as turning on the invincibility dipswitch except I didn't actually turn it on. It just happened to me today while I was recording an input, and playing back that input triggers the same thing consistently. However, saving and loading a savestate after the invincibility is triggered removes the invincibility.

[copy-paster]

Has anyone encountered a bug in MAME (specifically MAMEPlus 0.160) that can make you invincible in Batsugun?

I haven't encountered it so far.

Anyway, does C-S is the most effective ship to clear DDP ?

[The Armchair General]

Anyway, does C-S is the most effective ship to clear DDP ?

Imo it's A-L. Some people say it's C-S though. I think it just comes down to personal preference when picking shot types in DDP.

[Shepardus]

C-L's my favorite - the laser feels a lot better to use than C-S's (you move faster while using it and it pierces through waves of enemies much more effectively) and the shot's still more than powerful enough. Might be different if you're going for a 2-ALL though.

[GGA_HAN]

Here's one for you sega console shmuppers...

I'd like to use my custom sanwa arcade stick on some genesis shmups, but unfortunately the PS360+ does not support this console for some reason. I've tried using http://www.tototek.com/store/index.php? ... h940epaug6 adapter to adapt a psx rj45 cord to the genesis and it doesn't work, even trying to "force" the ps360+ into PSX mode by holding down light kick.

Any other ways to get this to work besides doing a dedicated pad hack for genesis? I'm really trying to avoid it and want to use the PS360+ stick I've got already.

Would this adapter work:
http://www.raphnet-tech.com/products/sn ... /index.php

Any other thoughts?

Thanks in advance!

[SapphireDensetsu]

C-L's my favorite - the laser feels a lot better to use than C-S's (you move faster while using it and it pierces through waves of enemies much more effectively) and the shot's still more than powerful enough. Might be different if you're going for a 2-ALL though.

I'll second C-L. B-S is also interesting if you want a different playstyle.

[Xyga]

I was going to ask on IRC but I can't seem to be able to connect right now so; any leads yet on the differences in that Akuu Gallet Alt. version Artemio found ?

[Perikles]

I'm pretty sure to know the answer already, but has anyone here cleared Argus or came somewhat close? Game's completely nuts.

[Shepardus]

Is there any version of MAME in which savestates work properly in Darius Gaiden? Loading states often causes the graphics to get messed up, making various sprites disappear including the player ship and its shots.

I'm pretty sure to know the answer already, but has anyone here cleared Argus or came somewhat close? Game's completely nuts.

Perikles has probably done i-oh wait

[Perikles]

It seems like the best way to handle some of those Taito shmups is to load savestates once the "Wait a moment" (or the equivalent thereof) appears on the screen. Depending on the game the background might go black or the text message will stay, but at least the game can be played without massive graphical errors.

[Martinov]

Were there any changes made to the difficulty of PAL R Type Delta? It wasn't made easier compared to the NTSC editions or anything like that I hope?

[Feedbacker]

Why is 1945 Strikers so much more popular in South Korea than any other shmup series ?

[Ghegs]

Were there any changes made to the difficulty of PAL R Type Delta? It wasn't made easier compared to the NTSC editions or anything like that I hope?

Well, it runs in 50hz instead of 60hz, so it's slightly slower and therefore a tad easier in that regard.

[KoopaTGR]

I spent my holiday in Japan and got to play shmups on a cab for the first time!
However, I had my fair share of issues. The screen seemed quite big and tilted back which made it hard to concentrate on several parts of the game (the cab was an Egret II), not to mention that I haven't spent much time with joysticks.
Anyone else had problems when switching screens and/or controllers?

On an unrelated note, I also saw this IRL:
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CmBB-uCWkAAeugU.jpg

[NTSC-J]

On an unrelated note, I also saw this IRL:
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CmBB-uCWkAAeugU.jpg

"Ikeda"

[Martinov]

Were there any changes made to the difficulty of PAL R Type Delta? It wasn't made easier compared to the NTSC editions or anything like that I hope?

Well, it runs in 50hz instead of 60hz, so it's slightly slower and therefore a tad easier in that regard.

Well, I kind of meant any others changes to difficulty besides the obvious 50hz issue. I'm intending to play the pal edition on epsxe at 60hz so it shouldn't be a problem. I was originally planning to pick up a jap edition of the game to play on my NTSC-J PS2, but looking at the increasingly high prices for this version I think I'll settle on the pal version unless someone points out any serious changes to difficulty.

[atheistgod1999]

Are there any good shmups exclusive to the NES, Master System, SNES, or Genesis (and released in NTSC U/C)?

[trap15]

BioMetal, at least.