A sad conclusion

[Bloodreign]

I only 1CC'ed PSX Gradius awhile back, I may not be good at shmups, but I still have a ball and dodge in amazement the bullet spam I see laid before me. Age may kill skill, but it doesn't kill enjoyment, even if you suck at the game, practice it much, and sooner or later you're bound to surprise yourself at what you can do.

[system11]

I used to be better at shmups when I was a kid. Now I suffer a little bit of deer-in-headlamps syndrome. Of course, a lot of the newer ones are much harder than the older games, and I used to play the older ones like it was a crack habit.

There is a saying: Jack of all trades, master of none.

The thing I'm best at right now, is Midnight Club style street racing. I'm one of the best in the world. It's also easily the game I've played most.

[ZacharyB]

If you get rid of all your friends and enter the shmup community alone your concentration might improve (hypothetically speaking...)

The same way it is harder to learn a different language when you already know one (after puberty, when opportunity windows for NMDA receptors ("learning synapses") start to become shorter). Psychologically the slot for "primary" has been taken up and everything else comes second. This happens as we become older and entrenched in responsibilities more crucial to immediate life, like a steady job that supplies money. The answer is simply to change those obligations' priorities, or at least fool the brain into that kind of state where shmupping is crucial to life

It takes some kind of zen "fuck everything except this" mentality is what I'm saying, but not only on the conscious level, but also on the chemical level

In other words, your social environment is a key factor. I believe this holds true for any skill, not just shmupping

[rib]

In other words, your social environment is a key factor. I believe this holds true for any skill, not just shmupping

thats true, i couldn't have said it better.

[zaphod]

it's a known fact that learning becomes more difficult with age.

People in school in other countries often learn 3 or motre languages, while adults struggle to master even a second.

That's just the way it is. I wish tweren't so, but the adage y"ou can't teach an old dog new tricks" has some basis in fact.

That said practice will eventually win out.

[Randorama]

...Now, i wonder: where is the cyclic thread on how rank stole [insertnamehere] girlfriend?

[tizerist]

some of these things were mentioned or touched on, but heres a at-a-glance summary

1)learning does become more difficult with age, but your ability to plan different techniques when faced with constant failure should improve

2)if your frustrated with game A, play game B instead cos your obviously not enjoying it. key factor

3)come back fresh after a break.
could be 2 hours or 2 weeks

4)dont be scared to play on easy settings if its required.
build up slowly

5)trying to NOT CONTINUE on, say, an easy setting is probably better that credit feeding on normal setting.
youll put everything into staying alive and youll be surprised where you got that extra 20% effort from.

just my 2 bobs worth.
whadya reckon??

[chempop]

^excellent advice. It took me some time to realize what was realistic. Now I tend to beef up lives and drop difficulty to what I'm comfortable with, but is still a challenge. Gunbird 2 used to drive me nuts on normal, it would really kick my ass. So I tried it on baby just to see... and I 1LC it, then bumped the difficulty one step at a time. Very easy actually took a bit of practice to 1CC and I realized how much I have to learn in the genre.

Watching superplays also made me realize that you can't just jump around between shmups. You have to really pick and stick, learn the ins and outs, etc. Building a strategy for each level is also helpfull, and remaining consistent is key. If something works continue that method, but also look for ways to improve your results/score.

I used to play shmups laying at the bottom of the screen very defensively. Then I learned how to take the offensive and the glorious feeling of point blanking enemies that you will kill before they have a chance to fire. HAHAHA!

sorry, getting off topic

[Vexorg]

I've recently come to the conclusion that I'm pretty much rubbish at action games, period. That doesn't mean I don't play them, but there aren't a lot of shooters I can make it past level 2 on without credit feeding, I tend to finish in last place about 75% of the time when I play Halo with my brothers, and even with lots of practice in multiplayer racing games I just about always end up in last place, usually 15 seconds behind the person in front of me. I think a significant portion of this is my tendency toward being easily distracted (which makes it hard to put in the hours of effort that would be required to improve much) and the fact that I have problems with my eyesight that are the main factors contributing to this.

That said, I believe that I can make up for this with better-than-average skills in less action intensive puzzle games, and actually do quite well on those.

[BulletMagnet]

...Now, i wonder: where is the cyclic thread on how rank stole [insertnamehere] girlfriend?

Sorry, I've been busy.

[neorichieb1971]

I've never made it past level 6 on any shmup on 1 credit. I did do the first loop of Gradius 1, but I don't know how many levels it has.

As for G5, the spider wall boss is where my first life usually gets lost. I have beaten the boss with 1 life before but its uncommon that I can do it.

However, the next level disturbs me, with those organic walls you plough through.. For some reason they keep rebuilding behind me and killing me. I got through it once by just forcing myself to the right side of the screen 3" above the bottom. After this level, it just goes nuts no matter what difficulty i'm on. That gassy level with the green shit does my nut and I have never found a comfortable control scheme for backwards fire on that boss ball that rolls around in a box. Well I would have lost 3 lives going backwards just before it. I know about option 2, but I cannot control it comfortably in other parts of the game.. I lose lives trying to direct fire, it distracts me from looking at my ship.

[MSZ]

Difficulty was definitely different. I had put in over 20 hours on the US release. I knew the game fairly well and could get pretty far without losing a ship. In the Korean version I couldn't kill the first boss before rotation and I was seeing bullets coming out of the last form of the second boss I hadn't ever seen before.

Last time I checked, all versions(Japanese, Korean, US/Canada, PAL regions)have the same difficulty setting.

Try to set it as default and have another run.

I think tviks can confirm that as well.

[neorichieb1971]

To be honest I didn't see much difference in the difficulty settings between very easy and normal on the US version. It did get a bit harder towards "normal" with a few more enemies on screen, but even on the very easy setting the later levels I found impossible due to the fact that as soon as you lost one life it was credit feeding the whole way.

The speed through level for example, once you lose your speed up's by losing a life you cannot even navigate the level fast enough, so thats a credit gone right there

The first time I completed G5 I was up to 13 or so credits and I would 1 credit to the point of the green gas level.

I find the early levels so easy now, that boss marathon at 2-1 was such a bitch when I first played it, I can kill all 4 of them in less than 2 minutes now.

[sjewkestheloon]

i still find the boss rush of stage 2 in gradius v a complete bitch but i've only played it for about 5 hours so i hope i actually progress past it soon.

oh and to be honest i'm getting better at shmups all the time. my 1cc of fire shark and constant score improvement highlights this, along with my constant small improvements on ikaruga as i slowely get closer to defeating the stage 3 boss. sure it's slow improvement, but with a game like ikaruga there are so many little things that you can improve in that each credit brings something new to the table that not only helps int hat game but also improves my skills in another.

i've decided that i want gradius v and ikaruga to be the first modern shmups that i actually try and get good at. i know there are some awesome players out there that i'm sure i won't get close to but i constantly have fun with these games every time i boot them up so i'd say that's a main factor to me improving. i own a lot of shmups but very few actually make me feel enjoyment after the 50th run. find that or those shmups and you're one step closer.