STGT'09 Week 5 - ...do I even need to tell you?

[emphatic]

Insert credit, up up down down left right left right A B C start. Alternately, if you have cheat.dat/cheat.zip, you can unlock in the cheat menu. Or, you can use zakk's patch, which has them already unlocked.

To reset rank, either reset the game with F3 or use zakk's patch, which maintains constant starting rank. This is what I do though:

Resetting is annoying in this game due to ultra-long boot sequence plus having to Konami code if you want a Mahou ship plus having to wait for timeout for easy ABC type selection. I'd just create a savestate, near timeout, on the character selection screen. There might be some graphical glitches at the very beginning, but they quickly go away within a couple seconds.

So zakks patch is OK in this competition then?

[dex]

Can't see why it shouldn't. I'm not Mike, though, so don't take this as official.

[ED-057]

$#!+. I have come to fully understand the term "invisibullet."

[Twiddle]

Mahou D. or I bet even APB would have been less ridiculous to play for score.

Also, the instructions on setting up the ROMz for MAME are outdated; the game has different ROM names now. Both bgaregga and bgareggat2 have Japan and Asia in them. Which date revision do we want - the Sat Mar 2 1996 set (bgareggat2)? Edit: actually, that one isn't working for me, but the Sat Feb 3 1996 one is.

Mahou Daisakusen is right, but APB is far, far worse to play for score and rank than Garegga. I'll leave it up to you to figure out why.

(hint: possible score is cut by 60% by choosing single character mode)

Also if you don't mind screwing over your item cycle order (and players in Japanese arcades don't always have the luxury of restarting the machine and those scores still get submitted) zakk's patch is fine.

[Twiddle]

Oh and I didn't pop back up because of Garegga, guys. I seriously had a swarth of schoolwork last two weeks.

[CRI]

CRI - Gothloli Luftwaffe - 6,294,290 - Base - Golden Bat - Saturn

[clp]

is the boot up sequence really that hard to get past ? map a fast fwd button on your joystick and hold it down to get through the boot up in a couple seconds .

[captpain]

is the boot up sequence really that hard to get past ? map a fast fwd button on your joystick and hold it down to get through the boot up in a couple seconds .

It's really the code-entering thing that's irritating.

Isn't there a bug with that patch anyway, though?

[unsane]

unsane - Drink 'N Fly - 1,191,160 - 3? - Gain - MAME

I don't yet know much about this game, so no idea of the stage name i died in, but i think it was the 3rd. I let the timer run out for ship type, which i'm guessing is represented by no letter...

[croikle]

You actually get the ABC version when you let it time out. It's the easy way to get it.

[Ed Oscuro]

(hint: possible score is cut by 60% by choosing single character mode)

Also if you don't mind screwing over your item cycle order (and players in Japanese arcades don't always have the luxury of restarting the machine and those scores still get submitted) zakk's patch is fine.

I was enjoying Danbo Daxter's explanation better.

*Image macro I used in a previous week

Anyway I will give this one an honest try, bullet do not scare me

[mikwuyma]

Yes, Zakk's patch is okay.

Rank watch can be used for practicing, but not for posted scores.

[Arvandor]

Arvandor - Drink 'N Fly - 4,510,140 - 5 - Golden Bat - MAME

Ahh, the game of ultimate mixed feelings for me. I love the music, and the drab and industrial atmosphere, and even many aspects of the scoring system.

But I hate HATE HATE HATE HATE suicide rank control. It's a crime against my gamer's nature to die on purpose. It also makes it harder to get serious in this game. I always play very relaxed, because if I die it's just kind of "*shrug* I needed the rank drop anyways." So I never really try my hardest to survive unless I'm on my last life with like 700k to go to next extend.

[coffeejoerx]

coffeejoerx - Pelé Shooting Team - 2,925,600 - Factory - Golden Bat - MAME

[Enhasa]

But I hate HATE HATE HATE HATE suicide rank control. It's a crime against my gamer's nature to die on purpose. It also makes it harder to get serious in this game. I always play very relaxed, because if I die it's just kind of "*shrug* I needed the rank drop anyways." So I never really try my hardest to survive unless I'm on my last life with like 700k to go to next extend.

You understand using bombs to score and get more lives. So think of it as trading lives for more bombs. The scoring cycle of life!

[captpain]

But I hate HATE HATE HATE HATE suicide rank control.

Get over it, biotch!!!!!

Don't complain about one of the deepest and best shmups ever made.

[ED-057]

ED-057 - Team Oldschoolers - 2,155,730 - Plant - Bornam(ABC) - MAME

[charlie chong]

soz for non participating last week team i've had an extra hour added to my commute because of office change i was too tired adjusting my sleeping patterns last 2 weeks.
i cant miss gregor tho

charlie chong - ketsui defense force - 4,455,600 - cloud - rust champion - pcb

[Warp_Rattler]

Warp_Rattler - Shooting Snobs - 1,801,280 - Plant - Wild Snail - MAMEPlus!

So much to keep track of in this game! It's like I should have some sort of goddamn mental spreadsheet going at all times ("next flying enemy is going to drop the 600 point medal and if I get this powerup it'll put me into the small bullet shot and if I miss these next TWO options but get the doohickey after that I can get the homing options and FUCK WHY DID I JUST EXPLODE??")

[bkk]

bkk - letsdestroystgt09 - 6,932,590 - ALL - Miyamoto (C) - MAME

[Ed Oscuro]

Congratulations, bkk!

Dependent on whether scores from a savestate (after I unlocked the Mahou characters) are acceptable, since that locks in the stage order (I don't feel like doing what I did with Strikers '45 II again and foregoing stage edit), here is mine:

Ed Oscuro - Slap Chop My Nuts - 1,133,670 - Factory - Bornam C - MAME Plus! 0.134u1r4397-20090927 no autofire or nuthin'

Hearing the Expander music for the first time brings to mind Louis from L4D yelling "shit...Shit...SHIIIIT!" No bombs! No problem! We got the extend! Probably won't be too much trouble once I learns it. Nice improvement from today's previous high of 846,480K

Ahh...well, today has been good for my Garegga playing. First time to 10K medals, and (just now) my first 1M+ score. Nothing amazing but another milestone brought on by focused STGT playing.

@ Warp Rattler: Doesn't seem too complicated to me actually. Just remember where bomb pieces and medals are, also how to dismantle bosses for max points, and a lot of the rest takes care of itself. I just took the time to re-acquaint myself with Icarus' strategy post and cleared up a misconception I had about rank on continuing plays (never rises above the default, which takes care of that worry I had).

[Plasmo]

Plasmo - TCACTRM - 7,961,780 - Cloud - Gain (ABC) - Saturn

[Danbo]

So much to keep track of in this game! It's like I should have some sort of goddamn mental spreadsheet going at all times ("next flying enemy is going to drop the 600 point medal and if I get this powerup it'll put me into the small bullet shot and if I miss these next TWO options but get the doohickey after that I can get the homing options and FUCK WHY DID I JUST EXPLODE??")

The special options aren't THAT useful, I find. However if you let all the options go past in the first stage except fro the one directly before the boss you'll get the special Wide formation which is useful for picking off the tail. Garegga isn't the best choice for a tournament but since it's the best shmup of all time this year I figured some people might have played it...

[Nifty]

HAHAHAHAHA, those tiny little MSPaint lines count as bullets?

EDIT: Oh right scoring tricks.

DoubleThink - The Team With No Name - 1,768,780 - Factory - Bornman - MAME



This game suddenly got a whole bunch more enjoyable.

[Erodion]

Erodion - Team Mancos - 3,822,720 - 4 - Gain (abc) - MAME

[Kiken]

Kiken - Drink N Fly - 6,182,310 - Sky - Musashi B - Saturn

First credit I dropped in, I managed to break 6 million for the first time ever. As usual Black Heart just fucks me up with that annoying sway fire (I always over-tap inside that pattern).

[Kiken]

BTW, that should be stage 5...
Can someone just list the stage names in the OP, please?

[TLB]

Warp_Rattler - Shooting Snobs - 1,801,280 - Plant - Wild Snail - MAMEPlus!

So much to keep track of in this game! It's like I should have some sort of goddamn mental spreadsheet going at all times ("next flying enemy is going to drop the 600 point medal and if I get this powerup it'll put me into the small bullet shot and if I miss these next TWO options but get the doohickey after that I can get the homing options and FUCK WHY DID I JUST EXPLODE??")

WELCOMETOVIOLENTCITY

[Ruldra]

Rank watch can be used for practicing, but not for posted scores.

How do I watch rank?

[Danbo]

BTW, that should be stage 5...
Can someone just list the stage names in the OP, please?

stage 5 is actually called Cloud, not Sky. it goes Valley, Plateau, Factory, Plant, Cloud, Base, Airport...

hopefully i can get a letter score this time!