GD: Progear scoring

[Shogun]

Nevermind I'm starting to figure it out. I can do about 75% of what is shown in the clip (using save states and trying over and over).

[maxlords]

*hops on the diamond-encrusted Progear bandwagon*

Sat down with Progear for about an hour tonight. I did some reading online and I'm JUST starting to get a handle on how the ring and stone combo system works. Man....how the FUCK did anyone figure that out on their own with how much is going on onscreen!?? I'm starting to get used to the hitbox too....I'm gonna be so screwed when I go back to Toaplan and Irem games

So lemme get this straight....correct me if I'm wrong here, but I basically need to collect as many rings as I can in Shooter mode until my stone changes to diamond, then wait for a particularly large bullet pattern and smoke the enemy firing it in Gunner mode by holding down my fire button right? For a two button shmup this is one hell of a complex system with the amount of shit flying at you! lol

I haven't really figured out when to bomb though (other than to save my ass)...or how to build back up your ring count very fast. I blew my wad a few times and ended up picking up rubies and amethysts....I'm guessing that's fairly pointless...

I've managed to survive partway into Stage 2 so far on one credit....and I think part of that was sheer luck...I've been mostly playing for survival so far until I get a better feel for the patterns. That Stage 2 midboss beat me like a redheaded stepchild though!!

BTW...what are the best Pilot/Gunner combos? Or at least the preferred combos?

I figured I'd start with Progear and work my way up to DDP DOJ...

[RNGmaster]

Stage 2 midboss (and train) can be milked for lots of diamonds, which can shoot up your score crazy high (see this video)

Key is not to just go hogwild and shoot everything - keep some clusters of popcorns alive, herd a clump of bullets towards them, and bam! Instant diamonds.

Also, remember that you can enter gunner mode faster if you have autofire mapped to a third button and you hit both autofire and normal fire at the same time.

Best combos are Bolt & Nail, Ring & Chain, and Ring & Rivet - see details earlier in this thread.

I suggest you never bomb - it decreases your jewel count, gets rid of any maximum bonus you may have had, and you really don't need bombs in this game given that you can just turn all bullets into diamonds whenever the going gets rough. Find dangerous areas, then plan so that you'll have diamonds in stock when you reach them and you can set off a nice screen-clear.

[maxlords]

Hmmmm......interesting. So I've kinda got the basics down it sounds like. I can't map autofire to a 3rd button as I'm playing a PCB, not MAME tho

I'm DEFINITELY not good enough to wholly avoid bombing yet though!

[RNGmaster]

You'll find that, if you plan correctly, scoring is the same thing as surviving - notice that in the video, the guy doesn't ever get trapped in a dangerous situation, nor does he make many tough dodges - that's because he's always either deleting or setting up for deletion. Now, boss fights are an exception for me - I always bomb the Stage 4 boss, and sometimes the Stage 3 final.

I highly recommend looking at superplays, and using MAME to practice with savestates. Just, y'know, general stuff.

[Frederik]

For a two button shmup this is one hell of a complex system with the amount of shit flying at you!

This is what I love about this game. The basic rules are very simple, and even though a lot of people (myself included) are quite confused about its intricacies at first, once you get it it is incredibly satisfying to clear huge clusters of bullets and grab screenfuls of diamonds.

And really, I think Progear does this bullet conversion a lot more elegantly than Espgaluda. I was really looking forward to Galuda at first, but when I finally got to play it I was really disappointed how hamfisted and fiddly it felt. Progear feels a lot more aggressive, fluid and juicy. And as others mentioned, the scoring system is directly tied to survival - if there every was a CAVE game where you can´t just ignore scoring it´s Progear. Definitely my favourite CAVE scoring system, Ketsui being a close second.

I also really love the artstyle. The liftoff sequence at the beginning, the cheering kids when you have full bombs, the little portraits on the stage result screen...the whole steampunk setting is very compelling and it gives the game a lot of character.

Not to mention that it has some of the craziest bullet patterns in any shmup ever. It´s a shame Ikeda himself talked so badly about this game later on, calling it a failed experiment... if you ask me, Progear easily trumps a lot of other CAVE titles. I´m glad they went back to horis with Deathsmiles and Akai Katana - there´s a lot of things left to do with the horizontal style.

Really would love to see a proper sequel!

I can't map autofire to a 3rd button as I'm playing a PCB, not MAME tho

You can do that in the service menu - C button autofire isn´t a MAME thing.

I also agree with RNGmaster on playing it on MAME as well - this is a game where it really pays off to experiment a lot, and to get the timing down just right. Later stages get quite tricky if you don´t master the bullet cancelling (everything after stage 3 just wrecks me!). You could use MAME for training purposes and do full runs on your PCB

[DrTrouserPlank]

Is there a superplay of this anywhere that uses the US version of the game?

[BareKnuckleRoo]

The only 2-All I've seen on Youtube thus far of the US version is actually a shitty, blatantly tool-assisted one where the guy has absolutely no idea how to score (dat stage 2 counter, lol). The US and JP versions are so similar as to be identical, IMO, at high game rank (which you can get by stage 2) I honestly can't tell the difference. People keep saying they're different, but I've never seen anyone state any specific examples of stages/bosses where you can clearly see any changes. At best, I think rank might rise marginally slower in the US one, maybe.