DoDonPachi Saidaioujou coming to Xbox 360 (REGION-FREE!)

[Sumez]

How much clothing are you wearing for your Novice runs? Going swimsuit for the full-plank experience, or are you properly dressed?

[DrTrouserPlank]

How much clothing are you wearing for your Novice runs? Going swimsuit for the full-plank experience, or are you properly dressed?

Just normal, shot or laser it doesn't matter.

[BareKnuckleRoo]

I've come to the conclusion that novice is about the only part of the package with any value at all, and even that is too hard and I don't particularly like it. The whole game just feels cheap with it's ultra-speed screen filling "patterns". I've never died so many times on the first two stages of an arcade mode as I have in this game. The game is clearly one massive joke for the developers at the players expense.

Novice really isn't that bad. Granted I haven't put much time into the other modes yet other than Shot 360, but I don't see a clear being much more difficult in Novice because even with fewer hypers you get more bombs to throw around. Would you have preferred it to be like Futari's Novice mode where you have an autobomb that you can't turn off that works like DFK (one bomb = autobomb, autobomb is weaker than normal)?

Frankly you have enough resources to bomb early and still reasonably clear the game. When I first got the game the few credits I put into Novice mode got me to stages 3-5 (the few runs that went to 5 ended quickly at the midbosses because I had no clue what to do yet) and all my deaths were extremely stupid and avoidable (I was playing autobomb off, I shoulda been bombing way more). Honestly, I can only think of a couple Novice patterns where it's an automatic 'get ready to bomb/hyper' for me, nothing is really unreasonably fast or dense and is a good balance between being an easier mode and not being too trivial. not really sure why I bother responding

[DrTrouserPlank]

I've come to the conclusion that novice is about the only part of the package with any value at all, and even that is too hard and I don't particularly like it. The whole game just feels cheap with it's ultra-speed screen filling "patterns". I've never died so many times on the first two stages of an arcade mode as I have in this game. The game is clearly one massive joke for the developers at the players expense.

Novice really isn't that bad. Granted I haven't put much time into the other modes yet other than Shot 360, but I don't see a clear being much more difficult in Novice because even with fewer hypers you get more bombs to throw around. Would you have preferred it to be like Futari's Novice mode where you have an autobomb that you can't turn off that works like DFK (one bomb = autobomb, autobomb is weaker than normal)?

Frankly you have enough resources to bomb early and still reasonably clear the game. When I first got the game the few credits I put into Novice mode got me to stages 3-5 (the few runs that went to 5 ended quickly at the midbosses because I had no clue what to do yet) and all my deaths were extremely stupid and avoidable (I was playing autobomb off, I shoulda been bombing way more). Honestly, I can only think of a couple Novice patterns where it's an automatic 'get ready to bomb/hyper' for me, nothing is really unreasonably fast or dense and is a good balance between being an easier mode and not being too trivial. not really sure why I bother responding

No, it's better that the mode is non-trivial unlike most novice modes. I just think they went too far in the opposite direction, but that's not too surprising when you look at arcade mode ;\

[Stevas]

Planky: I just read your reply, and while I do think I have a handle on the score upload/replay save questionaire you get in these Cave malarkies (games) - and I believe I was bumbling my way through them correctly (it was fucking uploading something) - you did remind me that I WASN'T FILTERING TO THE SHIP/SHOT TYPE when I was checking for my score.

(In my defence, I have just got too used to 360 mode, which obviously defaults to the ship/shot I always use, and I'd kinda got used to just hitting X to jump straight to my score...)

In other words: my spastication confirmed.

[Cagar]

It seems that I didn't properly know what trouserplanking meant until now.
He's just saying that the game sucks because it's so hard, that's it?
The novice mode is piss easy. I cleared hibachi on my first credit, and I think that at least 20% of the users here could do it.
How about this: try playing more than one credit between your stupid posts. Focus and give it a few hours of practice at a time, it shouldn't take THAT long to clear it..
I cleared 1.5 mode with all shot types already long time ago, but it took me a few days of practice. The game is just hard, that's all.

[Udderdude]

Yes, he still keeps going with the "It's too haaaaaard" thing despite all effort. It's turned into a running joke, hence Trouserplanking.

[1up]

I agree with TP that DDP SDOJ Novice is a lot harder than other Novice modes in Cave games. It took me about 25 credits to finally 1cc it, with C-L, but to me it seems a little unbalanced?

I can no miss stage 1 - 4 and go into stage 5 with 5 extra ships (2 start stock, 2 extends, 1up from 4th midboss) and get absolutely destroyed going into the final battle with maybe 1-2 ships in stock.

I cleared DDP DFK Novice on my first credit ever playing the game. Doesn't make it a bad game though, it's just a lot more challenging.

[Cuilan]

SDOJ really isn't hard, per se...

It's just that the hyper recharge system is half-assed, and there's too much popcorn spam in place of "real" patterns.

[mejsu2DGOD]

greetings! this is my first post here!
i bought saidaioujou because i liked how game looks and sounds. this game is too hard, i wonder if this even possible for me to get my first 1cc in this game or go play something else.

sorry for my english !

[trap15]

This is definitely not a "first 1CC" kind of game. For that, I'd recommend either Mushihimesama or Mushihimesama Futari. Or maybe an older STG like Raiden Fighters 2 (on the Raiden Fighters Aces compilation).

[DrTrouserPlank]

SDOJ really isn't hard, per se...

It's just that the hyper recharge system is half-assed, and there's too much popcorn spam in place of "real" patterns.

Maybe that's a bit of my problem. I don't see much pattern in the patterns. I gave expert novice a whirl and actually find it easier in a way because the patterns are more "full" (ie. they aren't missing the bullets that novice normal is, and I can see the patterns far easier)

I still think the bullets in this game move pretty quick considering that there isn't tons of space in some of the patterns, especially those where you have one layer of bullet coming from the front and another layer coming in at a 60degree angle.

[mejsu2DGOD]

so it was good choice to buy futari with SDOJ i try this then and come back to SDOJ when i get better . i tried to clear arrange in first mushihimesama but true last boss was too much for me. thanks for the suggestion !

[sh00g]

1CC'd laser, shot modes on all 3 ships in novice mode, but once I started with red ship expert I'd barely make it to stage 4.

My plan was to 1cc all ships on expert novice and from there go to arcade hd.... but I think I will be stuck in expert novice for a long time I think.

I'm having a blast though.

[DrTrouserPlank]

so it was good choice to buy futari with SDOJ i try this then and come back to SDOJ when i get better . i tried to clear arrange in first mushihimesama but true last boss was too much for me. thanks for the suggestion !

MushiHD has to be easier than Futari, which is definitely easier than this.

Futari certainly isn't easy though, despite what people will tell you. I gave it somewhere between 40-60 hours and never cleared it.

[Cagar]

Futari certainly isn't easy though, despite what people will tell you. I gave it somewhere between 40-60 minutes and never cleared it.

Fixed.

[Muchi Muchi Spork]

It isn't Mushi that is particularly easy, it's Mushi 1.5 Original mode that is. It's not Futari that is easy, it's just Black Label Original mode. With SDOJ you've got the 360 and Novice modes.

[DrTrouserPlank]

Futari certainly isn't easy though, despite what people will tell you. I gave it somewhere between 40-60 minutes and never cleared it.

Fixed.

I wish that was true. It would make it easier to blow it off as a lack of dedication.

Sadly I ran stages over and over and played many hundreds of runs just to discover that knowing the patterns and being able to dodge them isn't enough. You hit shit that you haven't seen, you fuck up inputs and just generally lose lives along the way.... nothing you can do about it.

It isn't Mushi that is particularly easy, it's Mushi 1.5 Original mode that is. It's not Futari that is easy, it's just Black Label Original mode. With SDOJ you've got the 360 and Novice modes.

You must concede however that both futari arcade and MUshiHD arcade are both a lot easier than this.. arcade.?

[trap15]

knowing the patterns and being able to dodge them isn't enough.

You're right. You also need to become consistent with more practice.

You hit shit that you haven't seen

Only if you're not practicing right.

you fuck up inputs

Consistency.

and just generally lose lives along the way

Consistency.

nothing you can do about it.

Practice harder.

[Muchi Muchi Spork]

Futari certainly isn't easy though, despite what people will tell you. I gave it somewhere between 40-60 minutes and never cleared it.

Fixed.

I wish that was true. It would make it easier to blow it off as a lack of dedication.

Sadly I ran stages over and over and played many hundreds of runs just to discover that knowing the patterns and being able to dodge them isn't enough. You hit shit that you haven't seen, you fuck up inputs and just generally lose lives along the way.... nothing you can do about it.

It isn't Mushi that is particularly easy, it's Mushi 1.5 Original mode that is. It's not Futari that is easy, it's just Black Label Original mode. With SDOJ you've got the 360 and Novice modes.

You must concede however that both futari arcade and MUshiHD arcade are both a lot easier than this.. arcade.?

SDOJ arcade is one of their hardest base clears ever as I've said for the past year.

[DrTrouserPlank]

knowing the patterns and being able to dodge them isn't enough.

You're right. You also need to become consistent with more practice.

You hit shit that you haven't seen

Only if you're not practicing right.

you fuck up inputs

Consistency.

and just generally lose lives along the way

Consistency.

nothing you can do about it.

Practice harder.

I've always said consistency is the issue, but it's incurable. Unlike pattern knowledge which increases with experience although eventually hits a brick wall, consistency plateaus far earlier and never improves even after hundreds of hours of practice.

Not practicing hard enough has never been my problem. If that's all it took I'd have cleared quite a few games by now.

Anyway. Back to SDOJ.

[trap15]

You can improve consistency with more practice. Practice harder.

[DrTrouserPlank]

You can improve consistency with more practice. Practice harder.

So should I rub it more before practicing or during?

[trap15]

Both. Furiously.

[Udderdude]

Saya is mai waifu :3

[MSZ]

It isn't Mushi that is particularly easy, it's Mushi 1.5 Original mode that is. It's not Futari that is easy, it's just Black Label Original mode. With SDOJ you've got the 360 and Novice modes.

I've 1CCed Mushi(and 1.5) Original and Futari BL Original. But I've spent years trying to 1CC 1.5 Original and it never worked for me.

[Jeneki]

Sadly I ran stages over and over and played many hundreds of runs just to discover that knowing the patterns and being able to dodge them isn't enough. You hit shit that you haven't seen, you fuck up inputs and just generally lose lives along the way.... nothing you can do about it.

I know I posted this a bunch of pages back, but use the shop more if you want an easier game. There are TONS to tools available to make the game manageable. Make your hitbox puny. Make enemy bullets puny. Use auto-hyper as a recharging autobomb, or the shop version of auto-bomb (this uses only one bomb when hit, as opposed to the whole stock). Also check the in-game options, you can increase the max life/bomb count and there's a difficulty setting in there as well. Done, easy game.

And here's the beauty of it: if you mod the game to the point where it's "too easy", you can slowly increase hitbox or bullet size, or disable these modifiers one at a time, until you find a balance that works well for you.

[n0rtygames]

I really don't see any reason to ever use autobomb off.

You say it's better to have it on until you learn the game and then play it with off, but by the time you've learned game enough you really won't need the extra bombs anymore as autobomb on already gives you all the bombs you could possibly need at that point. Plus autobomb on gives you a safety net for if you screw up.

Scoring and high-level play wise it's also better to use autobomb on because you don't lose your level 10 hyper if you get hit and the autobomb is extremely useful on Hibachi.
I've never seen a Japanese player play with autobomb off either.

^ Agree 100%

It's very simple maths. I dunno about Arcade mode - I've mostly been playing 1.5.

A death - sacrifices your chain and you lose hyper.
An autobomb - sacrifices your chain, you dont lose hyper.
A regular bomb - cuts in to your chain - cannot be activated with hyper in stock.

Bombing is better than dying/autobombing.. so you're still required to push the button before you get hit to get the most score out of the situation. It's not like you can treat bombs entirely as extra lives - its frustrating to get hit and have an autobomb go off. You notice it, it sucks and you wish it hadn't happened.

I'd even argue that it might actually be better to do it the other way around. Forget using Autobomb to learn the game - practise the game with Autobomb OFF to train yourself to miss less.. perhaps make your misses more pronounced. But when it comes to your real runs, turn it on for scoring.

[Giest118]

A death - sacrifices your chain and you lose hyper.
An autobomb - sacrifices your chain, you dont lose hyper.
A regular bomb - cuts in to your chain - cannot be activated with hyper in stock.

Small correction: A death and a manual bomb both have the same penalty for your chain, which is about 30%. A death kills your hyper stock, and an autobomb kills your chain.

... So the math isn't that simple. :V

I've been having fun with autobomb off personally, but I imagine it's only really that useful for Shot, where your bomb stock can potentially get lulzy.

[BareKnuckleRoo]

I've been having fun with autobomb off personally, but I imagine it's only really that useful for Shot, where your bomb stock can potentially get lulzy.

Yeah, autobomb On makes sense for Expert where you only have 1 bomb max vs 2 bombs max with it Off, so it's not much of a gain in terms of bombs obtained. Both Shot and Laser potentially get a much bigger stock of bombs with autobomb Off, so they can actually make better use of a bigger bomb stock.