Shmup Pet Peeves

[Andy 5]

Here are mine:

-Enemies that look like powerups.

-Anticlimactic final bosses.

-Shots that are supposed to help by firing forwards and backwards simultaneously, but instead distract and ruin the satistfaction of shooting down enemies head on.

-Huge, distracting lasers with a horrendous firing rate and awful stopping power. Notably, the laser shot from Earth Defense Force.

-Manic shmups with unrealistically colorful, copious “firework” bullet patterns that A: are terribly frustrating to dodge, and B: are distracting and garish to look at. Namely ESP Ra.De or Guwange, rather than fun manic shmups like DoDonPachi or Batrider.

-Shmups where you're walking, as in Guwange. At least this gives some interesting obstacles to move through...but the again, if I want a top-down game on-foot, I'd go play Shock Troopers.

-Organic-type bosses that look more like something in your aquarium than something about to kill you, eat you or force you to be its unwilling host.

-Recent shmups that focus mostly on eye candy.

-Anti-aliasing.

-Final levels that restart when you continue.

-Explosions that go “plip”

-Ugly player shots, like ones that look like yellow and aqua TV static mixed with tomato juice.

-Pre-rendered graphics in most instances (although Blazing Star is way cool.)

-PC-based shmups with extremely fancy particle effects and pre-rendered graphics, trying to make a 2D game seem like a 3D one.

-PC-based shmups with generic techno music instead of the catchy tunes common in 90s arcade, SNES and Genesis shmups.

-2D games with prerecorded music files such as WAV or MP3.

-3D games with sequenced music...although that does include N64, and I love N64 with all my heart.

-Players who act like it's easy to one-credit it all through any given Cave game, and believe that only those who do the same can be a “real shmupper.”

-Overly-competitive Players who taunt people like me who only play shmups for the fun of it, not for single-crediting through every godd*mn game.


What are yours?

[Twiddle]

-waves of slow bullets that go at 2mph

-threads like these

-Final levels that restart when you continue.

I know what game series you're talking about and please learn 2 play

[shoe-sama]

-waves of slow bullets that go at 2mph

-threads like these

-Final levels that restart when you continue.

I know what game series you're talking about and please learn 2 play

[P_HAT]

please learn 2 play

+1

[Twiddle]

to be honest i like the last two items on your list but everything else has got to go

[Andy 5]

to be honest i like the last two items on your list but everything else has got to go

I'm just making a stupid forum. Lighten up.

[Kaiser]

please learn 2 play

+1

+2

[Andy 5]

please learn 2 play

+1

+2

Quit ganging up on me!

[Andy 5]

to be honest i like the last two items on your list but everything else has got to go

Twiddle, do you like specifically picking on me?

Oh yeah..."do not double post"

I hate you all. I try to come back and make a fun forum, and you guys just end up being mean.

[JJG]

I hate it when stupid companies (Milestone) don't test their games before releasing them.

[Andy 5]

I hate it when stupid companies (Milestone) don't test their games before releasing them.

I've played several un-tested games. On one, I pressed left but then it locked in place and I kept going left.

[Twiddle]

to be honest i like the last two items on your list but everything else has got to go

Twiddle, do you like specifically picking on me?

Oh yeah..."do not double post"

I hate you all. I try to come back and make a fun [thread], and you guys just end up being mean.

not really.

aside from the last two the rest of your bullet points seem pretty whiny ("anti-aliasing" a pet peeve? the fuck do you do with games you play in MAME?) and it'd be hard to find a shooting game you'd actually fully enjoy from the looks of this list

[sikraiken]

I don't like Mushihimesama's scoring system that is heavily based on precise rapidfire mechanisms. It just ruins the game for me.

[shoe-sama]

Quit ganging up on me!

Don't worry, we do it to everyone.

also, shit homing missiles

[Andy 5]

not really.

aside from the last two the rest of your bullet points seem pretty whiny ("anti-aliasing" a pet peeve? the fuck do you do with games you play in MAME?) and it'd be hard to find a shooting game you'd actually fully enjoy

FYI telling me I'm whining is one thing that pisses me off the most. So quit. And why are you so angry all the time. Get a life, ass.

Anti-aliasing is from the perspective of a game designer (as I am,) not a player. It's a big pain to make good-looking sprites and then have your computer make them all blurry when you zoom in. I personally like the look of unfiltered pixels better...sort of Mode 7-ish.

And most shmups I really like. I'm just listing things that are less-than-perfect...and most shmups with the things I don't like are still great games, just less than ideal.

[Andy 5]

Quit ganging up on me!

Don't worry, we do it to everyone.

also, shit homing missiles

Just the "noobs" and people you think are lame, or everyone?

And yeah, shitty homing missiles can be terrible.

[Twiddle]

FYI telling me I'm whining is one thing that pisses me off the most. So quit. And why are you so angry all the time. Get a life, ass.

I can see why you can't seem to stop making threads of this quality.

Anti-aliasing is from the perspective of a game designer (as I am,) not a player. It's a big pain to make good-looking sprites and then have your computer make them all blurry when you zoom in. I personally like the look of unfiltered pixels better...sort of Mode 7-ish.

Okay, look closely at the individual pixels of a game on an SNES or Genesis on a CRT TV. Do you see a perfect square block, or pixels blurred at the edges? I realize that interpolating is pushing this to the extreme, but it's not much different from what you see from a small TV where you can't easily see scanlines.

[worstplayer]

- weak bosses

- repetitive stages (ten totally similar waves of enemies in a row kind of repetitive)

- flickering shadows (whose bright idea was THAT?)

- lack of firepower

- limited ammunition

- unnecessary cutscenes

-2D games with prerecorded music files such as WAV or MP3.

-3D games with sequenced music...

WTF? Please elaborate.

[Rob]

FYI telling me I'm whining is one thing that pisses me off the most. So quit. And why are you so angry all the time. Get a life, ass.

It seems you are very sensitive. For instance, I've never noticed anyone taunting people who don't "one credit clear every game." Now using "fun" to mean "I don't really try and just stare the graphics," they might get playfully taunted a little.

[MathU]

-sprites that don't represent their hit-boxes well

-the ugly polygon trend; I like my 2-D games 2-D

-useless power-up systems that might as well be non-existent

-screen-clearing "smart bombs"; I have never been a fan of dull get-out-of-jail-free cards

-Scoring systems that neglect whole digits. Does everything have to be worth 500 or more points?[/b]

[Sonic R]

score 'em ups.

[bsidwell]

-the ugly polygon trend; I like my 2-D games 2-D

Polygons stopped being ugly in 1999. Any ugly games made since then are the artists' fault.

[Super Laydock]

-the ugly polygon trend; I like my 2-D games 2-D

Polygons stopped being ugly in 1999. Any ugly games made since then are the artists' fault.

Sprites > polygons (even the good looking ones) ... anytime! (though I guess that´s a personal opinion of mine).

[Arvandor]

-Power-up systems that take one or more full stages to power up, only to be fully lost on death, leaving you completely, totally, utterly, helpless, and fucked. Gradius... Darius... I'm looking at you guys.

-Getting hit by enemies spawning from behind.

I think that's really about it...

-Recent shmups that focus mostly on eye candy.

I can't think of any "recent" shmups that focus on eye candy that aren't also extremely good games. Maybe Under Defeat. MAYBE... Even that game has its merits, even if I'm not a fan.

-PC-based shmups with generic techno music instead of the catchy tunes common in 90s arcade, SNES and Genesis shmups.

I hope you're not referring to the Zun games. The Zun games have AMAZING music.

-Players who act like it's easy to one-credit it all through any given Cave game, and believe that only those who do the same can be a “real shmupper.”

First off... Difficulty is very subjective, especially depending on experience levels with a particular game. ESPgaluda is CAVE's easiest game to 1cc, but that's only relatively speaking. It's still no walk in the park. Secondly, I don't know anybody who will think you're not a "real shmupper" for not being any good at them. If you enjoy the genre and play them a lot, you're a "real shmupper." And anyone who thinks otherwise is just an elitist prick you should promptly ignore.

-Overly-competitive Players who taunt people like me who only play shmups for the fun of it, not for single-crediting through every godd*mn game.

Ignore them? I mean... who cares? I know at least 4 people personally who love and adore the shooter genre, but don't care about single credit clears at all. In fact, 3 of them only have a single 1cc each, and that's only because they loved one particular game so much, and played it so much, they eventually got good enough to clear it without specifically trying for the 1cc. ALSO, some people get taunted for trying to 1cc as many games as possible. People will tell them to "focus on a game, and actually get good at it, go for score," etc. Screw all that.

Rule #1: If you're not having fun, you're doing it wrong. Even if doing it wrong means doing it at all. If you catch my meaning.

Rule #2: If you're letting other people ruin your fun, you're not opinionated enough.

Rule #3: See Rule #1, it's important.

[Andy 5]

I can't think of any "recent" shmups that focus on eye candy that aren't also extremely good games. Maybe Under Defeat. MAYBE... Even that game has its merits, even if I'm not a fan.

Yes, I know what you mean. Most shmups in the "eye candy" era (1998-present) are also pretty good games. I do say so myself. Even though I bashed it before, I enjoyed playing Guwange. ESP .Ra. De. was even pretty fun, even though I couldn't stand the final boss (the stupid lady with the dumb hat who pumps out just endless wave after endless wave of nigh-undodgable, slow-moving shots.) I think what I meant to say was that I like mechanical-looking games the most...something more "specialized" shmups like the aforemented games seem to lack. I like mechanical caverns, military bases, giant aircraft, berzerk robots and the like, and I like it BIG. Big fuckin' bosses and levels. And I may be wied to say it but I think it all looks better in pixels rather than pre-rendered 3D models. I personally think the "golden age" of pixel art-based shmup graphics was from 1990 to 1997.

I hope you're not referring to the Zun games. The Zun games have AMAZING music.

If you think it's amazing, then it probably isn't generic. You see, I have a very set definition of what an "ideal shmup" is, and the many hundreds of games that don't fit it exactly, I still enjoy and even love playing. Even DoDonPachi, a personal favorite, doesn't fit perfectly. Thus I've come to the conclusion that a perfect shmup is in the eye of the beholder, and that it can never be played without being made.

Secondly, I don't know anybody who will think you're not a "real shmupper" for not being any good at them. If you enjoy the genre and play them a lot, you're a "real shmupper." And anyone who thinks otherwise is just an elitist prick you should promptly ignore.

I agree. And good to hear a word of approval from someone who's a lot more full-time here than I am...thus, that might make me both a "n00b" and a "fag" in the eyes of the elite forumers.

3 of them only have a single 1cc each, and that's only because they loved one particular game so much, and played it so much, they eventually got good enough to clear it without specifically trying for the 1cc.

Rule #1: If you're not having fun, you're doing it wrong. Even if doing it wrong means doing it at all. If you catch my meaning.

Rule #2: If you're letting other people ruin your fun, you're not opinionated enough.

Rule #3: See Rule #1, it's important.

Excellent words, and yes. Don't laugh and call me a "little fag son of a bitch pussy" or whatever is Internet-ese for "disagreeable person," but when I play, I just press the credit key on M*ME until I think I have enough. Or when my friend plays, I press the credit key so he can concentrate. Teamwork, eh? Shitty teamwork, but teamwork nonetheless.

[MikeB]

Hmmm.. OK here goes.

Overly harsh restart points that put you back a pre-specified number of screens each time you die meaning if you die a few times in a row you end of going backwards.

Restart points that put you back more than 30 seconds play time.

Enemies that fire at you when you are right on top of them.

Overly complex design ethics that take you out of the game.

Re-spawns that enable you to just sit on top of bosses while you are invincible for too long.

Overly-complex explosions that obscure bullets and power-ups.

Crap J-rock soundtracks like in 1944.

Overly hard bosses that take me an hour to defeat.

Pulstar - cos if I die anywhere after level 2 I have to start again.

Gradius IV.

[Frederik]

-Overly negative people.

(Quoting Calvin & Hobbes here.)

Also: Try to relax a little. Most people here aren´t nearly as elitist as you might think (if you don´t tease them, that is).

[RGC]

.

[Arvandor]

Don't laugh and call me a "little fag son of a bitch pussy" or whatever is Internet-ese for "disagreeable person,"

I think you're assuming a lot about the shmups.org community without knowing much about them. First off, almost nobody speaks "internet-ese" on this board. Proper English runs more rampant on this board than it does most other places on the internet. Secondly, I've never seen anyone resort to such petty name calling around here (not that it hasn't happened, I've just never seen it). Some drama happens here and there, but usually not over anything so unimportant as what you seem to be afraid of getting attacked for.

Just relax a little eh?

[MikeB]

To be honest I can understand why Andy5 might have taken offence to Twiddle's post, it could have come across as a little harsh even if it was intended to be tongue-in-cheek, and the subsequent re-quotes probably did'nt help

Just my two pence/cents..