When Do You Consider Your Shmups/Credit Based Games Beaten?

[HeLGeN-X]

When do you all consider a game beaten? I haven't 1CC'd a game since maybe... I do not remember, I love shmups but I do not think I have really 1CC'd any at the moment. (I play many types of games to just focus on one genre.

I am asking this because now I have this complex where if I die even once, I restart everything all over, and I can't stop it because I have a game OCD.

[EPS21]

If I get the 1cc on it, and didn't really like the scoring system, I'll consider it beaten right there. More important for me however, if the scoring system is a lot of fun, then the game cannot be truly "beaten" because you can always improve your scores (unless that game is bugged and can be counterstopped )

I would definitely encourage you to stop with the die once->restart, also known as restart syndrome, because you never know how good that run could've been even with that small mistake, and in an arcade setting you certainly can't do that. Some of the best runs I've made I just carelessly lose a life or two somewhere in the first two stages of the game, then decide to serious the fuck up and get into zen-mode, somehow.

[kengou]

1cc = beat the game.

That's not to say you can't keep playing after you've beaten the game in order to improve your score, which is often where the game really BEGINS if it has a good scoring system. But as far as "beating games" are concerned, the 1cc is the equivalent of beating a game of most other genres since it takes around the same amount of time.

[Dragoforce]

The only way that you can actually beat a shmup is by a 1cc combined with a counterstop. Otherwise there is always a reason to go back and try for a higher score. That's what's so awesome with the genre

[Kaspal]

i consider it beaten when i can finish the whole stages with less than 3 credits... and since i tend to not continue when i hit a wall (i mean, i always look forward to the 1CC), i have quite some shmups unbeaten yet... but the ones i've beaten give me a sense of completion that you cant even imagine.

[Acid King]

When I don't want to play them anymore.

[neojma]

I consider a shooter "beaten" even if I credit feed to the end and beat a final boss, resulting in a credits screen. Even if it has something like a second loop that requires conditions met to access, a "True Last Boss", etc... To me that's more of a bonus. Kinda like a "new game plus" mode in some genres, or finishing sidequests or post-ending content in an RPG, or getting all of the stars/coins/whatever in something like a Mario game.

Of course, I also consider "beating" a shooter completely irrelevant. I don't think I can ever be totally finished with a shooter unless I just get tired of playing it. That might come after I play three levels and don't like it, and it might come after I 1cc the game on every difficulty dozens of times. It might NEVER happen. The genre is inherently about going back and playing again and again. Even if I'm not concerned with score, it's all about the experience of playing it. Fighting games, racing games, sports games - same deal.

It's not a book or a movie that you just read/watch from beginning to end, it's a game that is presumably fun just to have the experience. Some games are more along the lines of those narrative experiences - a long adventure game, RPG, many modern action games, etc. You really do consume those more like you would a book - start at the beginning and proceed through to the end. There might be some more interactivity, branching paths, detours, etc. in a game, but it's essentially the same narrative structure.

On the other hand, compare playing a shooter with limited credits to reading a book. You die in the game, you start again at the beginning and try to do better. Could you imagine a 500 page book where you first read pages 1-100, then started over at page 1 again and progressed to 150, then started over at page 1 again and this time progressed to page 200... etc. You might read the first chapter dozens of times, and that's just bizarre! But that IS the way we interact with a shooter.

[Radiant Cinnabun]

Just finishing off the end boss is "beaten" to me. The first time is always strictly for fun and to take in the sights. After that, I spend more time for high score and 1cc (or just replaying it for fun again), but I still feel like I've completed it as soon as I've seen the end credits.

[agustusx]

When I don't want to play them anymore.

Same here. Wouldn't necessarily call it beaten, but I would call it DONE.

But generally I have a goal either scoring or survival wise. I necessarily need to 1cc or make a spectacular score. When I get tired of it I call it "game over".

[scavenger4]

Here's my compromise between always starting over and credit feeding to the end:
I "award" myself 1 continue for every level successfully cleared.
It gives me a chance to learn the game, but prevents wasting credits completely (I used the same rule in arcades).

[HeLGeN-X]

I don't always restart, like I have beaten mushi on maniac but it took 8 credits or more and I still felt accomplished, same for DDPD but that took me less credits.

I am just going to play them through regardless from now on. But fucking Thunderforce 3 and 4... Fucking bastard game. Then Ikaruga... Shit gave me fucking nightmares. And possibly last boss of Espgaluda. Annoying.

[EinhanderZwei]

neojima and Radiant Cinnabun have said everything that I wanted to Once I kill, blow up and dismember the final boss and sit through credits, I mysteriously stop caring about replaying for higher score or 1CC (happy exceptions: Soldier Blade, DoDonPachi, All Parodiuses)

[Aquas]

When I don't want to play them anymore.

And then come back someday and beat them again!

[Jockel]

When I don't want to play them anymore.

And then come back someday and beat them again!

Just like i do it with my ex-girlfriends.

[Crass]

Almost all of my most favorite games are ones I've never actually finished/beaten, in all genres.

[EOJ]

On the other hand, compare playing a shooter with limited credits to reading a book.

Or compare feeding a turtle with wrapping Christmas presents! That would make about as much sense.

[Elixir]

I consider a game beaten by the 1cc benchmark usually, but only if there's no other loops. It also depends on the game; some games are really easy to 1cc, but it really kicks in on the second loop onwards (ie. Batsugun).

I can 1cc DOJ BL, but I want to play the second loop even if I won't ever beat it. The way the game is designed makes me want to play it for personal progression.

[toaplan_shmupfan]

For me, I've beaten the game when I've finished the last level on the Easy or Normal difficulty, which ever is harder (i.e., I've 1cc'd the game). So if the game has Easy/Normal/Hard or but defaults to Easy, I've not finished the game until it's been 1cc'd on Normal. If the game has Normal/Very Hard, then I've not finished the game until I've beaten it on Normal. If the game only has Easy and Hard, then of course I've not beaten the game until I've beaten it on Easy.

Also, if rapid fire is an in-game option--or if I can fire faster than a default continuous fire rate by using an alternating finger tapping technique on fire button(s), I don't disqualify that.

If I credit feed to the end of the last level of the game (whether the game ends or loops), I've certainly reached the end of the game (or reached the next loop if the game loops), but I haven't actually beaten the game.

[DMC]

On the other hand, compare playing a shooter with limited credits to reading a book. You die in the game, you start again at the beginning and try to do better. Could you imagine a 500 page book where you first read pages 1-100, then started over at page 1 again and progressed to 150, then started over at page 1 again and this time progressed to page 200... etc. You might read the first chapter dozens of times, and that's just bizarre! But that IS the way we interact with a shooter.

So how do you die in the book?

[Icarus]

When do you all consider a game beaten?

Never.

[Radiant Cinnabun]

So how do you die in the book?

Maybe it's ilke the Matrix where, if you die there, you die in the real world. From this we can obviously conclude that most or even all deaths are the result of someone dying in a book at that exact second.

That's what I believe, anyway. And I follow my heart.

[gs68]

"Not beaten until 1-credited."

I wish i where as hardcore as you.

Fine, go have fun with your disguised infinite lives cheat.

[spadgy]

I have this complex where if I die even once, I restart everything all over, and I can't stop it because I have a game OCD.

That's a bad habit I sometime fall prey to (only on games I'm playing the hell out of for weeks, at home where I'm not paying for credits), and sometime I get so bad I restart without loosing a life, because my score isn't up to standard at a certain point in the game.

As Rupert H taught me,it's not a good idea. It means you don't get to stay consistent, and diminishes your ability to play under pressure. I always do better at the arcade when I'm not restarting.

Of course if you're playing Raiden fighters Jet. it's fine!

More on topic, 1CC means beaten for me. If you're completing other loops, I guess it means beaten senseless. If you can't go on and the 1CC hasn't been reached, I guess the game has beaten you!

[Mero]

I have this complex where if I die even once, I restart everything all over, and I can't stop it because I have a game OCD.

and sometime I get so bad I restart without loosing a life, because my score isn't up to standard at a certain point in the game.!

I was doing this on Donpachi last night, i kept missing the second bee at the start of level one and then suiciding all my lives straight away >_>


OT I probably never consider them beaten really, I just 'retire' certain games for a while (maybe a long while, maybe forever)

[t0yrobo]

When I don't want to play them anymore.

And then come back someday and beat them again!

Just like i do it with my ex-girlfriends.

You just made my day

[NR777]

A 1cc is technically "beating" the game, but if I stop there without trying to improve on score I view it as the game beating me.

[brentsg]

My shooting games typically beat me. It's just simpler that way..

But I'm not sure when they consider me beaten.

[DMC]

brentsg: When you repeatedly press "restart", that's when they know they own you.

[agustusx]

My shooting games typically beat me. It's just simpler that way..

But I'm not sure when they consider me beaten.

When you stop playing because of Carpal Tunnel

[Engineer]

My shooting games typically beat me. It's just simpler that way..

But I'm not sure when they consider me beaten.

When playing on a console a smashed controller or two is always a clear indication. Although I haven't done that since sometime in the '80s while playing the nes

As for me I think that I consider a shmup beaten when I can 1cc it on easy or normal. I don't however consider myself finished because I can always improve my score, unless I didn't particularly care for the game or scoring system at which point I'm just finished with it.