Is anyone getting frustrated with a particular shmup?..

[Jonst]

Is anyone getting fed up with seemingly not being able to progress on a particular shmup? Mine is espgaluda 2 black label...it dosn't feel especially hard.i can consistently no miss to the stage 4 boss and then it just falls apart.so I end up on my last life by the final boss.its really bugging me!
It just feels like I'm playing exactly the same game again and again like some kind of Groundhog Day...does anyone else have this kind of thing?
I'm no superplayer but I'm not the worst.i've checked out superplays and all that but just feel like I've hit a brick wall!

Let me know if you guys are having similar hassles...

[PAPER/ARTILLERY]

Not right now but i've definitely felt like that from time to time, just stick at it mate. Nobody ever got any worse at anything by practicing. Try changing your tactics and give it another go.

[ACSeraph]

Hell just about everything I have cleared that was worth clearing had some point where I felt like this. Right now I have some strange obsession with Sengoku Ace that is very much starting to feel like a controller smashing masochistic groundhog day.

[KAI]

Play Pinksweets.

[ACSeraph]

Play Pinksweets.

The difficulty in Picksweets is so nuts it doesn't even piss you off, it just makes you lul

[Jonst]

Thanks guys! I've got a couple of 1cc's,nothing amazing,I'm usually on my last lives.the games I havn't 1cc'd i can normally get to the final boss/bullet pattern.but it still goes tits just before a clear.
This also happens a lot on mushihimesama 1.5 which a lot of people find quite easy...I know what to do and where to do it but rarely seem to get it in the same run.balls.

[KAG]

well for me it should be touhou07.
But if I want to be the best I should not complain. I feel great to overcome myself, I mean score attacking. When the currently 1st play more than 2000 hours and I just 800, there is nothing strange that I just cannot immediately achieve the goal and must retry again and again.

[7711]

Espgaluda and Battle Bakraid.
I just can't understand these hitboxes, no matter how hard I try. So I decided to stick with shmups where hitbox feels natural for me,
but at some point I'll have to be a man and learn how to adapt for once.

[Jonst]

Espgaluda and Battle Bakraid.
I just can't understand these hitboxes, no matter how hard I try. So I decided to stick with shmups where hitbox feels natural for me,
but at some point I'll have to be a man and learn how to adapt for once.

Espgaluda is also quite annoying for me.i find the whole game pretty easy (as everyone says) but I just can't beat the final boss pattern,I just get too panicky!!
Do you have trouble with the game in general or just certain parts? Never played bakraid though...

[7711]

Do you have trouble with the game in general or just certain parts?

Most of the game gives me way too much trouble considering how "easy" it is, not being able to clearly identify the characters hitboxes is really a pain, but some patterns (most of them actually) are also surprisingly hard for me.
I've got near the end of the game a few time so to really answer you, yes, some of the later bosses do have some challenging parts (once again, its just for me, maybe some people can play through the game without any problems).
Maybe when I finally view the hitbox more clearly it'll suddenly get a lot easier, but I doubt it, I dont think this is a game for me.

[Jonst]

Do you have trouble with the game in general or just certain parts?

Most of the game gives me way too much trouble considering how "easy" it is, not being able to clearly identify the characters hitboxes is really a pain, but some patterns (most of them actually) are also surprisingly hard for me.
I've got near the end of the game a few time so to really answer you, yes, some of the later bosses do have some challenging parts (once again, its just for me, maybe some people can play through the game without any problems).
Maybe when I finally view the hitbox more clearly it'll suddenly get a lot easier, but I doubt it, I dont think this is a game for me.

Heh! Sorry,I didn't mean to make it sound like 'oh it's easy!' It bugs me when people say i 1cc'd this on my first go' or 'it's the easiest cave clear'.obviously some games are easier than others for different people.i guess it's just that I'm such an inconsistent player and I don't have the 1cc's I really should have by now! Oh well,hopefully at some point...keep playing!

[ptoing]

Maybe when I finally view the hitbox more clearly it'll suddenly get a lot easier, but I doubt it, I dont think this is a game for me.

I think that in all the ESP games the hitbox is on the torso of the character.

[7711]

I think that in all the ESP games the hitbox is on the torso of the character.

I think in Esprade its kinda on the neck (on the hairs for Hirori or whatever her name is). I'm getting used to those, but in Espgaluda it just feels weird, I think its indeed centered on the character but everytime I have to make some fast moves everything becomes all blurry in my head.

[BareKnuckleRoo]

ESP.Ra.De's are much harder to locate, as they are indeed on their necks (and that's tough to find on some characters).

Espgaluda's hitboxes are easy to learn - the tutorial at the start shows you with a big HIT indicator, and Ageha's got a yellow dot on the back of his shirt between his wings when he's lasering which happens to be pretty much where the hitbox is. Tateha's is also pretty easy - it's centered with the laser between her wings, basically the middle of her shirt. It's quite small, so they're very forgiving, generally moreso than ESP.Ra.De's. Alternately, when in kakusei mode, look in the middle of the ring since it's pretty much centered on the hitbox.

[Deca]

Galuda 2 and Ra.de are games I've sort of set aside and left alone. I could just never get a good feel for them and they didn't grab me enough to stick with it. I'm sure ill come back to them at some point but its not high on my agenda.

[DrTrouserPlank]

Yes.

[Kollision]

Raystorm

Left aside a few months ago, but not forgotten

[Deca]

Raystorm is a mess, just throw on the soundtrack and call it good.

[Biesendorf]

My call goes to Raystorm too.
A friend surprised me with the psx version on my birthday, because he knew I really dig Rayforce.
Great game (and I honestly think it's just as good as the first one), but I never imagined it would kick my butt so hard.
I think the problem is that you only get 3 lives and no extents. No big room for failure, especially in combination with the rank system.
My personal grudge award goes to the fifth boss with his purple beams and yellow homing laser combination.
After two months of playing only Raystorm and no other game I finally pulled the 1CC off.
Surely helped that I had a lot of free time handy during that time...

[PC Engine Fan X!]

My call goes to Raystorm too.
A friend surprised me with the psx version on my birthday, because he knew I really dig Rayforce.
Great game (and I honestly think it's just as good as the first one), but I never imagined it would kick my butt so hard.
I think the problem is that you only get 3 lives and no extents. No big room for failure, especially in combination with the rank system.
My personal grudge award goes to the fifth boss with his purple beams and yellow homing laser combination.
After two months of playing only Raystorm and no other game I finally pulled the 1CC off.
Surely helped that I had a lot of free time handy during that time...

And have you tried out Ray Crisis as well? The JPN & USA region PSX ports of RC comes with a cool mini Pocket Ray game to d/l to your Pocketstation (but aren't cross compatible with each other -- meaning the JPN & US versions of Pocket Ray). Working Designs managed to leave the bonus Pocketstation game of Pocket Ray in the US port of RC but SCEA didn't sell nor distribute such Pocketstation handhelds stateside. It's a nice little bonus worth checking out just for the novelity factor alone.

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

[broken harbour]

I've hit the wall with Darius Gaiden.

It's rank system is way too heavy handed.

[J_Taishu]

I've hit the wall with Darius Gaiden.

It's rank system is way too heavy handed.

I've heard that the best way to go through that game is to get the weapon up to one less than max power. Apparently that weapon is stronger than the max power weapon and not fully-powering up your weapon helps control the rank a bit.

The easiest pathway through the game is thought to be ABDGLQV, if that helps. When I was playing Darius Gaiden, I would suicide at the start of L.

[Kollision]

After two months of playing only Raystorm and no other game I finally pulled the 1CC off.
Surely helped that I had a lot of free time handy during that time...

My hat's off to you sir, congrats!
Your victory fills me with hope that I too shall eventually bend it as well.
This game is pure evil. Probably one of the hardest I've ever played.

[soupbones]

Ibara.

Bought it because I love Battle Garegga, and I see the similarities... but it just bitch slaps me back to where I came from every time I sit down to play. Even Stage 1 gives me problems sometimes.

[Biesendorf]

After two months of playing only Raystorm and no other game I finally pulled the 1CC off.
Surely helped that I had a lot of free time handy during that time...

My hat's off to you sir, congrats!
Your victory fills me with hope that I too shall eventually bend it as well.
This game is pure evil. Probably one of the hardest I've ever played.

Thank you very much!
It was a satisfying but nevertheless frustrating ride.
I planned out a route for most parts of the game and had to resort to a few superplays concerning parts I just couldn't find the right strategy for (like Boss 7).
Btw, you got a quite impressive shmup backlog on your own (and a very entertaining read too!).
You're playing Raiden II right now? Thinking about it, this one might be just as big a pain in the behind as Raystorm, difficulty wise. Never got past stage 6 on one credit.

[Biesendorf]

My call goes to Raystorm too.
A friend surprised me with the psx version on my birthday, because he knew I really dig Rayforce.
Great game (and I honestly think it's just as good as the first one), but I never imagined it would kick my butt so hard.
I think the problem is that you only get 3 lives and no extents. No big room for failure, especially in combination with the rank system.
My personal grudge award goes to the fifth boss with his purple beams and yellow homing laser combination.
After two months of playing only Raystorm and no other game I finally pulled the 1CC off.
Surely helped that I had a lot of free time handy during that time...

And have you tried out Ray Crisis as well? The JPN & USA region PSX ports of RC comes with a cool mini Pocket Ray game to d/l to your Pocketstation (but aren't cross compatible with each other -- meaning the JPN & US versions of Pocket Ray). Working Designs managed to leave the bonus Pocketstation game of Pocket Ray in the US port of RC but SCEA didn't sell nor distribute such Pocketstation handhelds stateside. It's a nice little bonus worth checking out just for the novelity factor alone.

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

No, I haven't tried out Raycrisis yet. But it is definately on my must buy list. From what I saw it looks great and has some interesting new concepts, although it seems to get little love for whatever reason.
Thanks for the Pocketstation info! Maybe I will buy one along with the jpn Raycrisis psx version.
Right now I'm playing the Ray-series much loved cousin Soukyugurentai. Guess I just love the look-on thingy

[PC Engine Fan X!]

I think that in all the ESP games the hitbox is on the torso of the character.

I think in Esprade its kinda on the neck (on the hairs for Hirori or whatever her name is). I'm getting used to those, but in Espgaluda it just feels weird, I think its indeed centered on the character but everytime I have to make some fast moves everything becomes all blurry in my head.

Yep, it'd be Irori alrighty as properly spelled in the International Version of ESP.ra.de. PCB and on Mame/Mame32 emulation as well.

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

[Marc]

All of them at the min.
Futari BL - reached last boss a few times but never cleared.
DFK - reached last boss a few times but never cleared
AKS - reached last boss a few times but never cleared

See the pattern?

Actually enjoying MMP at the min as I've never reached the last boss and thus am not frustrated at the lack of a clear.
Eschatos is on the way for me to rage at as well.

[Astraea FGA Mk. I]

I think I have a good strategy when learning a new game.
When I get the game I play a great deal for a period of time without any instruction or replay watching. I am most likely scoring much less than optimally.
I learn the basics of the game first hand, I get to know the layout of the levels, learn the fundamentals.
Then I read strategy posts, study replays, and my next run will yield substantially more points than the previous uninformed attempts.
At this point with SDOJ I am still winging it and still improving... but on the cusp of getting specific with it.

I ruined Akai Katana for myself by trying to replicate scoring runs from replays from the get go. I suck at this game, my brain can't yet comprehend how to score properly.

So for me, if I try too hard on a new game I often don't develop the basic skills needed to handle the game.

[endoKarb]

I ruined Akai Katana for myself by trying to replicate scoring runs from replays from the get go. I suck at this game, my brain can't yet comprehend how to score properly.

So for me, if I try too hard on a new game I often don't develop the basic skills needed to handle the game.

I've had similar experiences. Too much expert feedback too soon can ruin a game.

Also, trying different scoring strategies is fun, but there's no point in doing that if you already have the optimal route memorized.

That's how Deathsmiles got frustrating for me.