ST: Battle Garegga (20.7.14 - edits, record replays list)

[Twiddle]

It works like Batrider. Each time the "intro animation" in attract mode fully runs the starting rank level goes back down about 65k points (to a "minimum" of 15.7 million/F00000), and each game that ends brings the starting rank level up by the same amount.

PCB owners just have to wait 5-10 minutes to start a new game at minimum rank without having to reboot it, I would wager.

I haven't been bored enough to find the maximum starting rank level though I doubt anyone cares what it is.

[Icarus]

Hmmm... ok. I guess that reloading a state saved just after the bootup sequence should work then, as it does with Batrider in MAME. Thanks for the confirmation.

[Middlemoor]

Wow, nice guide man.

[Vorpal]

Hrm, it's been a few months since I've checked out the strategy forum. The guide is looking great everyone ;)

[Icarus]

Hrm, it's been a few months since I've checked out the strategy forum. The guide is looking great everyone

Could this guide get any bigger? -_-;;
(Probably.)

I've been tempted to print out the first page and see how many A4 sheets it weighs in at, but I haven't for various reasons (one of them being there aren't enough trees to cover the first page ^_-). I'll be working on finishing off the stage7 guide during the summer, then going through the whole guide and rewriting/reformatting sections with updated/new info, and adding screenshots and replay clips where appropriate.

Hopefully the guide will be finished in summer. Would it be worth considering making a PDF or HTML printable version for people to make a hardcopy from? ^_-

[BulletMagnet]

Would it come with a matching bookshelf to store it all on?

Then again, you could ask the same about the glossary...

[Neon]

Started playing Garegga again, gawd help us

Could I do the same to the Saturn port, just leave it running for 10 minutes to lower the rank down?

I keep maxing out the autofire and it doesn't seem I can bring it back down >_< omg teh evil r4nk

[Twiddle]

Started playing Garegga again, gawd help us

Could I do the same to the Saturn port, just leave it running for 10 minutes to lower the rank down?

I keep maxing out the autofire and it doesn't seem I can bring it back down >_< omg teh evil r4nk

The Saturn port already starts at minimum rank and resets to that each time you go to the Options screen.

Also, you might want to avoid tapping the button to avoid autofire increase oopsies. However, increasing the autofire rate from 10hz or the default is a must in stage 5 onward -- you will need the extra firepower.

[Randorama]

Well, with some practice, you can procrastinate the extra firepower by frequency to stage 6, but not later than the turrets' phase. In general, though, try to stay closer to enemies, enough to still get bullets (and thus avoiding the "cancelled bullets" rank increase).

Nice to see the work shaping up so nice I., you should definitely get a Ph.D. in theoretical shmupping

[Icarus]

@Randorama:
I'm still waiting for you to proofread it all and add some of your valued input. ^_-

@Neon:
Surprised you've forgotten how to play it. My tip is to just keep it simple until you can re-familiarise yourself with everything. You should start to recall your strategies once your hands and brain get used to the game again. ^_-

[Randorama]

Godot should soon come and give me the magic twix to get extra daily time -__-;;;

Aside that, the rank session should be entirely re-written, from what i can see, but that shouldn't be a true problem. Will check soon (!!!)

[Icarus]

Aside that, the rank session should be entirely re-written, from what i can see, but that shouldn't be a true problem. Will check soon (!!!)

Yeah, the rank section wil be redone at some point, now that we know exactly what influences it. The main problem is putting all the fancy numbers into a form that regular people can understand. -_-;;

I'm open to suggestions. Until then, I'll be writing up the stage7 guide, and finally getting down to reformatting the main guides with cleaner info and images.

[BulletMagnet]

I'm open to suggestions.

It might be heretical of me to ask this, but I'd be willing to try to condense at least some of the new rank info for you.

[Icarus]

Feel free to, BM. No rush. ^_-

[BulletMagnet]

*cracks knuckles*

Well, you asked for the "Rank for Dummies" edition, I'll do my utmost to make it so.

[BulletMagnet]

Actually, a quick question for Twiddle, while I'm thinking of it...when it comes to the rank increase for "Bomb Discharge," is the number the same no matter whether it was a full bomb or partial bomb that you used?

[Twiddle]

Actually, a quick question for Twiddle, while I'm thinking of it...when it comes to the rank increase for "Bomb Discharge," is the number the same no matter whether it was a full bomb or partial bomb that you used?

Yeah.

In my experience though, the rank increase caused by this is insignificant compared to what else you can do to worsen it -- like picking up Options you don't need, for one.

Also, bombing has a lot of score benefits, so it helps more than it hurts.

[BulletMagnet]

Okay, thanks. I might have one or two other questions later on, now that I'm compiling the new info...

[stratos]

I haven't done yet: thanks to Icarus for the guide update!


And some of the new rank infos are really helpful, especially those on the first four level medal catching: now I understand why my rank is so unpredictable or so much severe in some runs... Probably, if you lose your chain on Plateau and you want to save your run rank wise, you shoul'd avoid the train of medals in the rails on stage 3....

[BulletMagnet]

Okay, the "Rank for Dummies" summary is pretty close to completion, but I did think of a handful of other things I need clarified, by anyone who might know...

1) When you raise the autofire rate, does this affect both your options and your main shot, or just the former?

2) When you activate the "search, "homing," or "trace" formations, you increase the per-frame rank by 2 points...is this nullified if you "turn off" the formation, or is it more or less permanent?

3) On that note, does anyone know whether activating the "chain" formation ona 2-player game has a similar effect on the per-frame rank? I ask this only because apparently the "wide" formation does not, I wonder if this is the same or not.

Thanks in advance!

[Icarus]

1) When you raise the autofire rate, does this affect both your options and your main shot, or just the former?

Upping the Shot Frequency affects both Shot and Option fire.

2) When you activate the "search, "homing," or "trace" formations, you increase the per-frame rank by 2 points...is this nullified if you "turn off" the formation, or is it more or less permanent?

I'd assume that it will reset the rank-per-frame increase back down to what it was before Special Formations were activated. However I don't have the actual experience with the numbers like AWJ and Twiddle do, so they might be able to answer that better.

3) On that note, does anyone know whether activating the "chain" formation ona 2-player game has a similar effect on the per-frame rank? I ask this only because apparently the "wide" formation does not, I wonder if this is the same or not.

Chain is a Special Formation, so I'm assuming that it also increases rank-per-frame.

Man you work quickly. Looking forward to seeing what you have. ^_-

[Twiddle]

Rank per frame does not go down by any means.

[Icarus]

And there's your answer. ^_-

[BulletMagnet]

Upping the Shot Frequency affects both Shot and Option fire.

Thanks, that's one down.

Chain is a Special Formation, so I'm assuming that it also increases rank-per-frame.

I would assume so, but again, for some reason the Wide formation is a confirmed exception to that rule, and I can't help but wonder if Chain is similar in that regard...then again, as little info as there's been on Garegga's rank before now, I wonder if there's ANY on how rank works in two-player mode...

Heck, I might as well include that as a fourth question...has anyone observed how rank works during a two-player game, and if it's any different from a one-player game? I wouldn't call this particularly vital info or anything (since few play Garegga in 2 player anyways), but for the sake of completeness I think it'd be interesting, if nothing else.

Rank per frame does not go down by any means.

It's not QUITE the same thing, but in case you haven't you might want to check out the "Rank: A Hacker's Guide" section on the first page, wherein it's stated that if you first raise the per-frame rank via special options or small shot items level-ups, and then raise the autofire rate, the rank points previously gained from the formations/items will be pretty much "cancelled out," as if they'd never happened...granted, it's not exactly "going down" since autofire upping does by far the most harm to per-frame rank, but I was wondering if you'd taken that into consideration...

In any event, thanks for confirming the "cancelling the formation" question...looks like if you activate Search by accident, you might as well leave it on and enjoy it, heh heh.

Man you work quickly. Looking forward to seeing what you have. ^_-

Well, I'm not doing much of anything "from scratch," it's like the glossary, I just compile stuff that's already there into one place. In any event, once I "finish" it (more like a first draft, really), I'll still need you and/or someone else to fact-check it and give me some feedback on how to improve it. But in any event, said first draft is getting there, hopefully I can get it to you by the end of this week, at the very latest.

[Twiddle]

It's not QUITE the same thing, but in case you haven't you might want to check out the "Rank: A Hacker's Guide" section on the first page, wherein it's stated that if you first raise the per-frame rank via special options or small shot items level-ups, and then raise the autofire rate, the rank points previously gained from the formations/items will be pretty much "cancelled out," as if they'd never happened...granted, it's not exactly "going down" since autofire upping does by far the most harm to per-frame rank, but I was wondering if you'd taken that into consideration...

Yes, I have. Ultimately, the rank per frame is not going down, as a change from 31 to 33 is still an increase. Yes, the RPF increase is efficient, but it's not a decrease, nor does it really cancel anything when you get down to it. The additional rank you have gotten when the RPF was 31 is still there.

Code: Select all

Rank per frame: 22

Player powers up to level 4 by small shot icons: +3
Player activates 3 special option formations: +6

Rank per frame: 31

Player accidentally sets fire rate to 12hz: = 33

Rank per frame: 33

[BulletMagnet]

Yeah, I know, but I figured I oughta mention it, regardless.

Although, theoretically, you could activate a whole bunch of special formations and pick up a bunch of small shot icons (maybe after dying once or twice) and via those alone put the per-frame increase up to, say, 35...then, when you put the autofire rate up to 12hz it would decrease to 33...though it's pretty much a non-issue, since a run with that many rank increases up to that point is pretty much screwed anyways.

[Twiddle]

I haven't been able to test that at all yet, but in practice, I doubt someone would (or could) actually raise the default RPF from 22 to 34 or more before they start raising the autofire.

[BulletMagnet]

Well, note the "in theory" disclaimer. At any rate, for the moment I'm more interested in info on 2-player rank and the Chain formation specifically, though again, it's nothing too vital.

[BulletMagnet]

Okay, one last question (I think) before I can finish up this thing (the first draft anyways)...in the "Hacker's Guide" in the first few posts, it's said that pretty much any means of "canceling bullets" (including running into them while invincible, possibly bombing?) increases the rank, while more recent posts say that only "sealing" them via an enemy's "dead zone" does so...can I get confirmation on which of these is accurate?

[Twiddle]

Sealing them via deadzone/noshoot dist. provides a definite rank increase.

If you do away about 100 bullets with a bomb you're actually being more efficient in bullet cancelling than cancelling two or three, since the only rank modifier present is the 16k bombing event.