Shmup Related Questions That Don't Deserve a Thread

[Juju Kenobi]

Is Mushihimesama Ultra WITHOUT AKI doable by a regular person? XD or just crazy stuff regardless? How does it compare to other games?

I've played this game quite some time and somehow it still draws me in. It's just pure simple fun. I've cleared several modes and particularly enjoyed Original, Maniac and Novice-Ultra. So... What's next? Original scoring, Original 1.5 MAX or (no TLB) Ultra? The latter sounds interesting but I don't know what I'd get into XD

It's definitely very doable. If you have solid routes for stage sections, you will realize that there are just a few tricky sections where you need to keep your finger on the bomb, just in case, then as long as you plan your bombs on the bosses and use the supershot, it's not too bad.
Before clearing, I was pretty much reaching Aki on every run and I was far from being any good.
Aki is quite a challenge but it's something you should give a try.
The first phase can be done very consistently with only one bomb, once you have a good understanding of all the patterns (it's mostly streaming but you need to understand when to move or not, and there are a few variations).
The 2nd phase can be skipped entirely with the supershot.
Then the final pattern looks and feel impossible at first, but if you actually take the time to learn it (be it with the suicide strat or the dodging strat, personally, I recommand the dodging strat), you will slowly come to understand it and get better at it. It's definitely not easy, but not impossible either.

[xxx1993]

Why aren't the villains in Sol Cresta referred to by gender despite the some of the design and voices? Also, why is Mandler's core blue in Terra Cresta II as opposed to the first Terra Cresta and Sol Cresta where the core is red?

[brokencube15243]

Does anybody know similar games to P-47 Aces.
horizontal shmups with very fast bullets?

[Terramax]

Hey guys, which would be the best arcade stick for the Nintendo Switch? As strange as it sounds, I plan to play the Switch, with a stick, in handheld mode.

Currently looking at either the Real Arcade Pro.V HAYABUSA or 8Bitdo Arcade stick, though I have read a review on Amazon that the latter won't work with switch in handheld mode(?)

[Bassa-Bassa]

Does anybody know similar games to P-47 Aces.
horizontal shmups with very fast bullets?

Most obvious answer would be Sengoku Blade, I guess? Also, Mustang for the pedigree, of course.

[BIL]

Does anybody know similar games to P-47 Aces.
horizontal shmups with very fast bullets?

Its NMK predecessors P47 Thunderbolt (aka The Phantom Fighter) and USAAF Mustang (retitled Fire Mustang for its MD port) are broadly similar - not as refined as Aces, but might scratch the same itch.

There's also Sengoku Blade aka Tengai, basically a traditional Video System/Psikyo vert rotated to horizontal. Great game if you dig their short, nails-hard 2ALLs.

[BloodHawk]

Hey guys, which would be the best arcade stick for the Nintendo Switch? As strange as it sounds, I plan to play the Switch, with a stick, in handheld mode.

Currently looking at either the Real Arcade Pro.V HAYABUSA or 8Bitdo Arcade stick, though I have read a review on Amazon that the latter won't work with switch in handheld mode(?)

I have the older 8Bitdo model (the N30) with a JLF stick and love it. The wireless connectivity and smaller/lighter form works great when you just want something to turn on and play without having to mess with cables each time. The input lag is pretty low and consistent as well (not as low as the joy-con's, but about identical to Nintendo's Pro controller). The new 8Bitdo stick has introduced new features like macros but I am not sure how that would impact its input lag when compared to the older version though. Also, if you are accustomed to the weight and size of regular arcade stick bodies it takes a little getting used to.

I don't have any experience with the Hayabusa stick so I can't help much there, but I have heard good things about it.

[Rastan78]

Personally I would want the RAP for the slightly lower lag and the ease of putting in a Seimitsu LS-32, which is my fave joystick. Heard some Seimitus can be tough to fit into the 8bitdo. RAP is definitely the higher end stick, but is also much more expensive.

For what you're doing, I think the wireless 8bitdo might actually be the right choice. Since the USB port is on the bottom of the Switch, plus you probably need a USB-C adapter, it's going to be awkward to play in tabletop mode without some type of stand that allows for the cable.

The stock parts one the 8bitdo might be slightly fishy compared to real arcade parts, but you could always swap them out for Sanwas with all the money you saved over the RAP.

[Terramax]

RAP is definitely the higher end stick, but is also much more expensive....but you could always swap them out for Sanwas with all the money you saved over the RAP.

Here in Japan, the two are basically the same price. With that in mind, it's actually sounding like the RAP is the better option.

What is the case when it comes to weight? Is the 8bitdo heavy enough? I can't stand the light ones that I end up picking up off the ground during intense gaming moments.

[BloodHawk]

RAP is definitely the higher end stick, but is also much more expensive....but you could always swap them out for Sanwas with all the money you saved over the RAP.

Here in Japan, the two are basically the same price. With that in mind, it's actually sounding like the RAP is the better option.

What is the case when it comes to weight? Is the 8bitdo heavy enough? I can't stand the light ones that I end up picking up off the ground during intense gaming moments.

If you are concerned about weight and they are a similar price in your area I would then definitely go with the RAP. I love my N30, but it is much lighter than most sticks as I think it's 8Bitdo's way of making it more "portable/travel-friendly".

[Terramax]

RAP is definitely the higher end stick, but is also much more expensive....but you could always swap them out for Sanwas with all the money you saved over the RAP.

Here in Japan, the two are basically the same price. With that in mind, it's actually sounding like the RAP is the better option.

What is the case when it comes to weight? Is the 8bitdo heavy enough? I can't stand the light ones that I end up picking up off the ground during intense gaming moments.

If you are concerned about weight and they are a similar price in your area I would then definitely go with the RAP. I love my N30, but it is much lighter than most sticks as I think it's 8Bitdo's way of making it more "portable/travel-friendly".

Righty ho! I'll set my sights on that one then. Big thanks for all the help.

[XoPachi]

Why is Raiden III disliked?

[Lord British]

Is there a good flip grip for Switch OLED anyone recommends?

[John4300]

Why is Raiden III disliked?

Late answer is late, but.

Most likely because Raiden III is rather different from Raiden 1 and 2. Gameplay style changed quite a lot, no horizontal screen scrolling as you move from side to side, game looks rather plain compared to the extreme fidelity and detail of Raiden 2, only one loop... It's not the worst game but rather different and not as good as what the first two ones were. Fans of the series probably dislike it for being so different.

[XoPachi]

Late answer is late, but.

Most likely because Raiden III is rather different from Raiden 1 and 2. Gameplay style changed quite a lot, no horizontal screen scrolling as you move from side to side, game looks rather plain compared to the extreme fidelity and detail of Raiden 2, only one loop... It's not the worst game but rather different and not as good as what the first two ones were. Fans of the series probably dislike it for being so different.

Hrmm... I suppose. Flaws aside I always liked all of them. Except 5.

And speaking of Raiden, what determines the behavior of the slaves in Raiden Fighters? Is it different between the 3 games? I really like the triple spread formation when they're swaying from side to side. I'd like to know if theres a way to consistently earn that.

[BareKnuckleRoo]

I'd like to know if theres a way to consistently earn that.

I learned the answer to this when playing Xeno Fighters R (a Raiden Fighters Fangame with a gigantic selectable cast, really good stuff, highly recommend). The formation you get when collecting slaves is determined by your lives and bombs remaining. This works similarly in all RF games as far as I know, though the later ones don't require a charge attack to trigger. From RF-Emporium:

SLAVE FORMATIONS

You actually have some control over the slave formation you want. The formation depends on the number of lives you have plus the number of bombs you have. Slaves only assume these formations if you collect a Slave icon when you already have 2 slaves. Additionally, the slaves automatically assume these formations when you play as the Raiden mk-II and the Judge Spear. Playing as the any of the five standard planes requires you to use a charged attack in order for your slaves to assume these formations. You can only change the formation if you collect a bomb or lose a life (!) as the five standard planes, as the Raiden mk-II and the Judge Spear, you need to collect another Slave icon after your "Formation Sum" changes. This secret is also present in Raiden Fighters 2 and Raiden Fighters Jet.

# Lives + # Bombs ("Formation Sum") / Slave Formation

0, 4 or 8 / 11:00, 1:00 Front Fixed (2 way firing)
1, 5 or 9 / Slow Trailing (and only) or Fixed Position (standard planes via charged attack) (Double Shots)
2 or 6 / Crossing (3 way firing)
3 or 7 / Enemy Searching (Normal firing)

Basically, add up how many extra lives + bombs you have currently in stock to determine the formation you get.

[XoPachi]

I'd like to know if theres a way to consistently earn that.

I learned the answer to this when playing Xeno Fighters R (a Raiden Fighters Fangame with a gigantic selectable cast, really good stuff, highly recommend). The formation you get when collecting slaves is determined by your lives and bombs remaining. This works similarly in all RF games as far as I know, though the later ones don't require a charge attack to trigger. From RF-Emporium:

SLAVE FORMATIONS

You actually have some control over the slave formation you want. The formation depends on the number of lives you have plus the number of bombs you have. Slaves only assume these formations if you collect a Slave icon when you already have 2 slaves. Additionally, the slaves automatically assume these formations when you play as the Raiden mk-II and the Judge Spear. Playing as the any of the five standard planes requires you to use a charged attack in order for your slaves to assume these formations. You can only change the formation if you collect a bomb or lose a life (!) as the five standard planes, as the Raiden mk-II and the Judge Spear, you need to collect another Slave icon after your "Formation Sum" changes. This secret is also present in Raiden Fighters 2 and Raiden Fighters Jet.

# Lives + # Bombs ("Formation Sum") / Slave Formation

0, 4 or 8 / 11:00, 1:00 Front Fixed (2 way firing)
1, 5 or 9 / Slow Trailing (and only) or Fixed Position (standard planes via charged attack) (Double Shots)
2 or 6 / Crossing (3 way firing)
3 or 7 / Enemy Searching (Normal firing)

Basically, add up how many extra lives + bombs you have currently in stock to determine the formation you get.

Forgot about that site. Damn.
This game is RUTHLESS on arcade mode.

Also, I miss the version of Xenoblade R I used to have with Zapdos. :c

[Rastan78]

Last time I posted in this thread I hit the jackpot and rediscovered the obscure input for how to enter the special menu in Darius Gaiden Extra. Now I'm curious about another DG mystery.

My question is what did the devs think about autofire usage? In some ways its too game breaking, in others it seems almost impossible that the game was designed without considering it. IMO this is an important question since this game along with others like Gun Frontier and Battle Garegga were important in fleshing out the relationship between rank and scoring in shmup design.

I think main programmer Akira Kurabayashi mentions autofire being used to boost rank, acknowledging that part of the game's design in a 1994 interview, but I don't have the knowledge of Japanese to confirm it.

This interview was translated at shmuplations, and here's how the relevant part was written:

Kurabayashi: Well, if you divide them up very finely, there’s 16 million levels of gradation. (laughs) But if you look at the actual effect of the rank on enemies, it’s far less, somewhere between 16 and 256 levels of difficulty. The way you raise the rank is by firing your shot continuously, destroying boss parts, destroying entire enemy formations, and taking power-up items. All of these will raise it a little. It also goes up naturally the longer you play. Conversely, if you don’t take power up items, the rank will stop rising temporarily.

And later he says this:

Kurabayashi: Scoring will cause the rank to rise, but you also need to raise the rank if you want to score more. Do your best!

The part that I wonder about is where he says, "The way you raise rank is by firing your shot continuously." I've seen the word "rensha" which means rapid fire in Japanese often translated, especially via Google translate etc as "continuous fire," but it definitely is used to refer to auto fire circuits in strategy wikis and guides.

https://www.japandict.com/%E9%80%A3%E5%B0%84

Looking back at the original interview, I do see the word rensha used in that section. Here's the page:

Spoiler

It's the section where "KRB" is talking end of the 3rd row down into the 4th.

The full Guide can be found here:
https://archive.org/details/dariusgaidengamestmookvol.6

Too bad we don't have more in depth discussion, but I'm still curious what we can learn from this rare nugget of ancient developer lore. Anyone have some thoughts?

[Steven]

Coincidentally, I have been thinking about autofire in older games that don't have autofire recently. It feels like cheating even though it's not considered to be cheating (and many arcades have autofire on their old games now anyway), but I don't know. I still use it anyway because smashing that fire button for like 30~45 minutes sucks and nobody's going to argue with that, but I do wonder about it.

You have games like Thunder Force AC, where autofire Hunter pretty much breaks the game (to the point where I think Thunder Force III, while still ridiculously easy on normal, is considerably more difficult than AC with autofire, although this might be because one of the stages they removed in AC is way more difficult than its replacement, as in the AC asteroid stage you can just sit there in the middle of the screen and rarely move while using the Hunter with autofire), and then you have stuff like Hishouzame, where I'm not really sure if autofire is even all that useful for many situations, and I prefer to just use the manual fire button there unless I'm point-blanking something or fighting one of those big enemies that are apparently not considered to be bosses for some reason. I haven't gotten that far in Hishouzame yet, but for the first few stages, I don't really use autofire all that much.

Then you have stuff like R-Type and R-Type II, where Irem added autofire to both games when they came home on the PS1 (maybe before, but I haven't played any of the older home versions of either of them), so I don't feel bad about using autofire in either of those, but the charge shot is more useful most of the time anyway.

It seems that I will be meeting Uemura next month, so I'll be sure to ask him about autofire. Apparently Yuge goes to Uemura's lives occasionally, so if Yuge is there, I'll ask him about it as well. Those guys are from before autofire became standard, so I am very curious to see what they, or at least Uemura, will say about it.

[Gamer707b]

Coincidentally, I have been thinking about autofire in older games that don't have autofire recently. It feels like cheating even though it's not considered to be cheating (and many arcades have autofire on their old games now anyway), but I don't know. I still use it anyway because smashing that fire button for like 30~45 minutes sucks and nobody's going to argue with that, but I do wonder about it.

You have games like Thunder Force AC, where autofire Hunter pretty much breaks the game (to the point where I think Thunder Force III, while still ridiculously easy on normal, is considerably more difficult than AC with autofire, although this might be because one of the stages they removed in AC is way more difficult than its replacement, as in the AC asteroid stage you can just sit there in the middle of the screen and rarely move while using the Hunter with autofire), and then you have stuff like Hishouzame, where I'm not really sure if autofire is even all that useful for many situations, and I prefer to just use the manual fire button there unless I'm point-blanking something or fighting one of those big enemies that are apparently not considered to be bosses for some reason. I haven't gotten that far in Hishouzame yet, but for the first few stages, I don't really use autofire all that much.

Then you have stuff like R-Type and R-Type II, where Irem added autofire to both games when they came home on the PS1 (maybe before, but I haven't played any of the older home versions of either of them), so I don't feel bad about using autofire in either of those, but the charge shot is more useful most of the time anyway.

It seems that I will be meeting Uemura next month, so I'll be sure to ask him about autofire. Apparently Yuge goes to Uemura's lives occasionally, so if Yuge is there, I'll ask him about it as well. Those guys are from before autofire became standard, so I am very curious to see what they, or at least Uemura, will say about it.

I dunno, but nothing feels like cheating in the first two R-Types. I cleared R-Type 1 with I think 3 credits on PS1 a while back ( R-Types ) and it felt cheap. It had that old, 80s arcade challenge and not in a good way. If you died once, you had to pretty much start your run over because recovery is next to impossible. It was obviously done to devour as many quarters as possible. So as I said, in most games, maybe I would consider auto fire cheating, but in R-Type, it feels very justified. Thankfully, the console exclusive R-Types in the later games, were a lot more fair and had a good challenge to them.

[Steven]

I dunno, but nothing feels like cheating in the first two R-Types. I cleared R-Type 1 with I think 3 credits on PS1 a while back ( R-Types ) and it felt cheap. It had that old, 80s arcade challenge and not in a good way. If you died once, you had to pretty much start your run over because recovery is next to impossible. It was obviously done to devour as many quarters as possible. So as I said, in most games, maybe I would consider auto fire cheating, but in R-Type, it feels very justified. Thankfully, the console exclusive R-Types in the later games, were a lot more fair and had a good challenge to them.

Yeah, those games are hard, especially R-Type II. I generally prefer the charge shot over the autofire, though. I hope to not suck horribly at both of them eventually and get at least the loop 1 no miss on both. Lots of practice needed first, though.

[Rastan78]

Coincidentally, I have been thinking about autofire in older games that don't have autofire recently. It feels like cheating even though it's not considered to be cheating (and many arcades have autofire on their old games now anyway), but I don't know. I still use it anyway because smashing that fire button for like 30~45 minutes sucks and nobody's going to argue with that, but I do wonder about it.

You have games like Thunder Force AC, where autofire Hunter pretty much breaks the game (to the point where I think Thunder Force III, while still ridiculously easy on normal, is considerably more difficult than AC with autofire, although this might be because one of the stages they removed in AC is way more difficult than its replacement, as in the AC asteroid stage you can just sit there in the middle of the screen and rarely move while using the Hunter with autofire), and then you have stuff like Hishouzame, where I'm not really sure if autofire is even all that useful for many situations, and I prefer to just use the manual fire button there unless I'm point-blanking something or fighting one of those big enemies that are apparently not considered to be bosses for some reason. I haven't gotten that far in Hishouzame yet, but for the first few stages, I don't really use autofire all that much.

Then you have stuff like R-Type and R-Type II, where Irem added autofire to both games when they came home on the PS1 (maybe before, but I haven't played any of the older home versions of either of them), so I don't feel bad about using autofire in either of those, but the charge shot is more useful most of the time anyway.

It seems that I will be meeting Uemura next month, so I'll be sure to ask him about autofire. Apparently Yuge goes to Uemura's lives occasionally, so if Yuge is there, I'll ask him about it as well. Those guys are from before autofire became standard, so I am very curious to see what they, or at least Uemura, will say about it.

Wow thats awesome. It would be really interesting to hear what they say. While it's common knowledge that most high score chasers in Japan use autofire, it would be cool to hear from OG developers about it.

G Darius is another one where it's just baffling to try and figure out what the devs were thinking. You need autofire (which was added in the PS version and ver. 2 arcade) to counter some final boss beams. My understanding is that some require a 16 hz mashing rate which is bordering on humanly impossible. So did they actually expect people to mash like crazy every single time they do a counter beam? Or did they assume autofire buttons would be standard enough that players could opt out of this part of the design if they wanted to?

I agree Thunder Force AC gets boring with the autofire Hunter weapon on a few stages. In Darius Gaiden by comparison there's so much incentive to do boss milking that high level autofire runs can last over 40 minutes, longer than you would probably ever play without auto bc the rank goes crazy when you milk that long. But the asteroid stage or large battleship stage in Thunder Force AC you'll pretty much get an optimal stage score just by holding down autofire hunter and coasting along. Actually the air ship stage in Thunder Force IV is like that too just with the default shot speed.

BTW Gradius games are also noteworthy for having auto on console for shot and missiles when it wasn't on the arcade version.

[John4300]

BTW Gradius games are also noteworthy for having auto on console for shot and missiles when it wasn't on the arcade version.

This reminded me of one thing too. In some games, certain weapons lose point if you use auto fire. For example, if you play Gradius games on arcade without autofire, laser is super strong and you get more than enough coverage with options. However, if you know how to play the game with autofire, having no laser (Or maybe double) and missiles and positioning options correctly, bosses can be destroyed crazily fast.

Gradius isn't the best example here as laser still demolishes bosses rather quickly, but in some games like Raiden bosses can die super quickly with autofire, red weapon and aggressive playing. Raiden II level 7 boss doesn't even get a chance to attack back in some cases!

[Rastan78]

Yeah auto can work against you in a lot of older games especially when you're underpowered. If you have a shot limit that let's you have only a few shots on screen you end up not having shots when you need them. In the first Darius it can really mess you up with that 3 screen width. The shots that you miss take sooo long to go off screen. Meanwhile you can't shoot at all.

@Steven, so do you speak Japanese? I'm still very curious to see if the developer is taking about autofire in that interview if anyone can take a look.

And very jealous about the Toaplan meet up lol.

[To Far Away Times]

Coincidentally, I have been thinking about autofire in older games that don't have autofire recently. It feels like cheating even though it's not considered to be cheating (and many arcades have autofire on their old games now anyway), but I don't know. I still use it anyway because smashing that fire button for like 30~45 minutes sucks and nobody's going to argue with that, but I do wonder about it.

You have games like Thunder Force AC, where autofire Hunter pretty much breaks the game (to the point where I think Thunder Force III, while still ridiculously easy on normal, is considerably more difficult than AC with autofire, although this might be because one of the stages they removed in AC is way more difficult than its replacement, as in the AC asteroid stage you can just sit there in the middle of the screen and rarely move while using the Hunter with autofire), and then you have stuff like Hishouzame, where I'm not really sure if autofire is even all that useful for many situations, and I prefer to just use the manual fire button there unless I'm point-blanking something or fighting one of those big enemies that are apparently not considered to be bosses for some reason. I haven't gotten that far in Hishouzame yet, but for the first few stages, I don't really use autofire all that much.

Then you have stuff like R-Type and R-Type II, where Irem added autofire to both games when they came home on the PS1 (maybe before, but I haven't played any of the older home versions of either of them), so I don't feel bad about using autofire in either of those, but the charge shot is more useful most of the time anyway.

It seems that I will be meeting Uemura next month, so I'll be sure to ask him about autofire. Apparently Yuge goes to Uemura's lives occasionally, so if Yuge is there, I'll ask him about it as well. Those guys are from before autofire became standard, so I am very curious to see what they, or at least Uemura, will say about it.

Wow thats awesome. It would be really interesting to hear what they say. While it's common knowledge that most high score chasers in Japan use autofire, it would be cool to hear from OG developers about it.

G Darius is another one where it's just baffling to try and figure out what the devs were thinking. You need autofire (which was added in the PS version and ver. 2 arcade) to counter some final boss beams. My understanding is that some require a 16 hz mashing rate which is bordering on humanly impossible. So did they actually expect people to mash like crazy every single time they do a counter beam? Or did they assume autofire buttons would be standard enough that players could opt out of this part of the design if they wanted to?

I agree Thunder Force AC gets boring with the autofire Hunter weapon on a few stages. In Darius Gaiden by comparison there's so much incentive to do boss milking that high level autofire runs can last over 40 minutes, longer than you would probably ever play without auto bc the rank goes crazy when you milk that long. But the asteroid stage or large battleship stage in Thunder Force AC you'll pretty much get an optimal stage score just by holding down autofire hunter and coasting along. Actually the air ship stage in Thunder Force IV is like that too just with the default shot speed.

BTW Gradius games are also noteworthy for having auto on console for shot and missiles when it wasn't on the arcade version.

I used to be against autofire, but upon learning that it was standard in Japanese arcades I changed my mind on it. Another baffling game without auto fire is Metal Slug 2. Though not a shmup I guess it's close enough to mention how much I hate mashing segments. There's a scene in Metal Slug 2 where an train hurdles toward you in stage 4. You have to mash the fire button as fast as you can to deal enough damage to stop the train before it crushes you. You can't jump over it or dodge it.

I have never been able to mash fast enough to stop the train. Ever. Arcade stick, controller... doesn't matter. I would lose a life there every single time because of a bullshit forced button mashing segment. If you watch replays on youtube, everyone plays with super rapid auto fire and the train is dispensed with easily.

[Rastan78]

Oh yeah I remember that section. Can't you use some 'nades to slow the train down? But then that requires you to have enough in stock before it comes.

[Creamy Goodness]

Mashing buttons just gets ridiculously uncomfortable after a while. Nevermind the wear it causes to controllers. Couldn't imagine playing without it. Although Darius Gaiden is the only game where I don't have autofire cranked to the highest level. It works a little too well in that game.

[BIL]

I have never been able to mash fast enough to stop the train. Ever. Arcade stick, controller... doesn't matter. I would lose a life there every single time because of a bullshit forced button mashing segment. If you watch replays on youtube, everyone plays with super rapid auto fire and the train is dispensed with easily.

As Rastan suggested, the trains are priority targets you should save some grenades for. Ideally you want to build up a good stock of them beforehand, though yeah, dying will put the kibosh on that. At least you have MS2's bionic reflex-granting slowdown!

It's been a while since I endured MS2, but in MSX, autofire won't actually help there. The firing caps are extremely low on heavy weapons and grenades, and nearly as low on the handgun. So even 15hz autofire won't help much if you're reduced to plinking away. Again I can't recall MS2 as well, but MSX has the penultimate couple trains drop a Super Grenade and a bomb crate apiece, I guess to help out the poor bastards who got plink n' crushed. 3;

[Steven]

Wow thats awesome. It would be really interesting to hear what they say. While it's common knowledge that most high score chasers in Japan use autofire, it would be cool to hear from OG developers about it.

@Steven, so do you speak Japanese? I'm still very curious to see if the developer is taking about autofire in that interview if anyone can take a look.

And very jealous about the Toaplan meet up lol.

Yeah, I can do Japanese... just usually not people's names since those can be messy or especially law/science/political type stuff since that is far beyond my current level of comprehension. Basically the translation you already found is close to perfect. The only thing I could criticize about it is that the Japanese text specifies destroying zako formations, not just enemy formations in general, but it's mostly perfect otherwise as far as I can see.

Yeah, so I'm going to see Uemura's band play live on the 8th and then I guess everyone will go hang out together afterwards. Satou Go, the Raiden composer dude, will be there as well since I guess it's actually his event and he invited Uemura. I... have only played Raiden DX for like 5 minutes and game overed in the training stage while learning the game lol. I do have Thunder Force VI, though, and he did work on that, so I'll at least be able to ask him about that game, but maybe I should go get Raiden on Arcade Archives or something since I know it's there...

I will do my best to avoid inundating Uemura with too many questions and asking him to sign too many of my growing stack of Toaplan games, but I am thinking about possibly gathering a small amount of questions (and I do mean small, like 5~10 at most, but we'll see, since I'm not going there to interview the guy, as much as I'd like to lol. I do have my own questions I want to ask him as well, so...) from users here, as I'm sure someone has questions they'd love to ask both him and Satou, but I am very familiar with the Japanese mindset after living here for so long and I don't want to inconvenience them too much...

With autofire, I think there is a careful balance in adjusting it so as to not break the game, but since many older arcade games don't have it, they probably were not balanced or intended for autofire, and I've been thinking about this recently since I've been playing Kyuukyoku Tiger for at least a small amount of time daily for a while. I really don't feel like smashing that fire button for 43 minutes straight in some long game like Kyuukyoku Tiger, but it will be interesting to ask one of the dudes who made the game about using autofire in it. I have a feeling that he'll be like "lol dude use autofire, screw manual firing!", but we'll see.

[Rastan78]

Very cool to meet Go Sato as well. The Raiden II/ DX and Raiden Fighters soundtracks are some of the best ever IMO. I'm pretty sure the composer of the original Raiden, Akira Sato, is a completely different person who just happens to have the same family name. Kind of confusing since in those days staff would often use nicknames or variations on their name in the credits.

http://vgmpf.com/Wiki/index.php/Akira_Sato

Sounds like it might be not be the best setting to grill then with 50 questions about their old games lol. Hopefully you can have some good conversations and maybe share some details about the event after.

I wonder if they would be more bothered by players finding safe spots they didn't think of than players using auto. K Tiger has a good one on the last boss.

Basically the translation you already found is close to perfect. The only thing I could criticize about it is that the Japanese text specifies destroying zako formations, not just enemy formations in general, but it's mostly perfect otherwise as far as I can see.

Thanks for taking a look at it. I figured the shmuplations version would be really good. It's just that one line "continuously holding your shot" that's a bit confusing.

To add some context, that's not how the rank in DG actually works. Holding down the default shot won't raise rank at all. So some players thought maybe he couldn't remember his own rank system?

However holding down autofire leads to a massive boost in rank over time. So high level scoring runs become focused on the combo of holding down 30hz auto constantly, combined with extended boss milking, which leads to sort of a snowball effect where the rank gets pretty crazy, but scoring potential also increases.

Intentional master stroke of influential shmup design, happy accident or broken cheating by players who subvert the designers intention? I think if what he actually said was holding rapid fire will raise the rank that's fairly meaningful. Especially since some western players are very vocal in their insistence that the DG devs had no intention of players ever using auto.

This line is pretty significant too IMO : Kurabayashi: Scoring will cause the rank to rise, but you also need to raise the rank if you want to score more. Do your best!

Players sometimes debate how much rank systems were a cynical method to increase income without much thought put into the relationship between score and rank. Even Garegga's balance gets called out as nothing more than a happy accident sometimes. This is a clear example of a dev acknowledging and highlighting that relationship.