RQ: Progear's bombs

8 1/2 · Post by **8 1/2** » Mon Apr 27, 2009 6:24 pm

What exactly determines if a bomb will travel the whole screen or just explode immediately? I can't count how many bombs I've wasted in boss battles because my bomb just blows up right after pressing the button.

It seems like it's just colliding with enemy ships that does it, but then I swear I've seen it just go by some small planes and then explode at the edge of the screen before. Maybe my eyes are playing tricks on me, but it's driving me nuts.

croikle · Post by **croikle** » Mon Apr 27, 2009 6:34 pm

I think you need gems to fuel the bomb, i.e. when your counter runs out the bomb explodes.

8 1/2 · Post by **8 1/2** » Mon Apr 27, 2009 6:40 pm

Oh ok. That makes a lot more sense, because it always seems that if I end up needing more than one bomb in a boss battle that the first one does a lot of damage and the subsequent ones just blow up.

Is there a way to stop it short and conserve gems between bombs?

croikle · Post by **croikle** » Mon Apr 27, 2009 7:00 pm

I doubt it. You could try scoring better to have more gems

Chi_Ryu · Post by **Chi_Ryu** » Mon Apr 27, 2009 8:15 pm

8 1/2 wrote:Is there a way to stop it short and conserve gems between bombs?

No. Using bombs totally kills your score (not only because you lose the per-shot bonus when you collect an extra bomb over your starting stock, but because you will lose tons of rings).

Also, when the bomb is in contact with an enemy, the worse the effect on your ring counter is, too :{ Bombing over a large boss can easily deplete the best part of 10,000 rings. Conversely, if your bomb doesn't pass over any enemies you'll only lose a few hundred or so.

8 1/2 · Post by **8 1/2** » Mon Apr 27, 2009 9:24 pm

Chi_Ryu wrote:Using bombs totally kills your score (not only because you lose the per-shot bonus when you collect an extra bomb over your starting stock, but because you will lose tons of rings).

My next question was going to be, "So what exactly is the max-bomb bonus doing?" So you get a bonus for each shot that hits an enemy with max bombs?

Chi_Ryu · Post by **Chi_Ryu** » Mon Apr 27, 2009 9:55 pm

Yes. The max bomb bonus has three effects.

Firstly, it adds on 10,000 to your ring gauge.

Next, you default to large amethyst instead of small amethyst when your ring gauge resets (i.e. after killing enemies with gunner mode) until you die or use a bomb - if you get even more bombs, it'll default to even higher gems (e.g. ruby).

Lastly, it doubles the points you get for hitting and destroying targets.

Btw, the ring gauge is reset to zero if you continue (not that anyone here would, of course

), but so is your score so...

croikle · Post by **croikle** » Mon Apr 27, 2009 10:16 pm

You get counter/1000 points per hit, whether or not you have max bombs. The bonus doubles this. (and maybe other point sources?)

8 1/2 · Post by **8 1/2** » Mon Apr 27, 2009 11:49 pm

Thanks all, good to know. I can usually get to the stage 3 boss without using a bomb, but his last pattern usually gets me if I don't bomb in the final moments when the waves of bullets start to whip around more violently.

I think I'm finally starting click with this game's score system. I've tacked on another couple of million to my best just today.