There are various shmups that have spread shot options, such as Raiden, Mars Matrix, Battle Garegga, Dodonpachi DOJ, etc. I'm talking about the type of weapon where you might send bullets in a Y pattern out of your ship as opposed to a straight laser, which is often the other choice of weapon in these games.
What I'd like to know, is when there is a wide enemy, am I dealing the enemy more damage if I am hitting it with more of the bullets of the spreadshot? Like if I'm playing Raiden and my spreadshot spreads out in three different directions, left, straight, and right, and each of those directions has 3 bullets going that way, does it deal the enemy more damage if I hit it with 6 or 9 bullets compared to just hitting it with 3 (or even just one bullet) from one of the directions?
I've always been inclined to try and hit wide enemies with as many bullets from the spreadshot as possible on the assumption it does greater damage, which means I'm always pushing my ship in close to enemies so more of the spreadshot will hit them. But of course being higher on the screen and closer to enemies reduces my ability to react to a bullet pattern or other hazards, so if it doesn't make any difference at all how many bullets from the spreadshot are hitting the enemy, then I'll probably try to change my tactics. Does the answer to this question perhaps change on a game by game basis? I get the idea that in DDPDOJ for instance, that the bullets in the power up spreadshot may not be individual sprites, in which case, it seems like you're functionally using an extra wide (but weaker) laser.
Question about how spreadshots work in various shmups
Re: Question about how spreadshots work in various shmups
Yeah in Raiden and probably 9/10 other games with a spread shot you get much more damage getting into point blank range and landing all the bullets at once.
The other factor at work is because of the on screen shot limit you can only fire so many bullets at once. When you're point blank bullets disappear immediately so you can basically fire as fast as you can mash or as fast as your autofire is set.
Check put some Raiden/II/DX superplays and you can see just how fast certain bosses can be quick killed from point blank range
So you have the right idea. In the vast majority of shmups even those without a wide spread shot you'll be rewarded for playing more aggressively and point blanking certain enemies early. A lot of times staying in the seemingly safe area at the bottom of the screen is even more risky and requires more reactive dodging bc you end up leaving threats on the screen longer.
The other factor at work is because of the on screen shot limit you can only fire so many bullets at once. When you're point blank bullets disappear immediately so you can basically fire as fast as you can mash or as fast as your autofire is set.
Check put some Raiden/II/DX superplays and you can see just how fast certain bosses can be quick killed from point blank range
So you have the right idea. In the vast majority of shmups even those without a wide spread shot you'll be rewarded for playing more aggressively and point blanking certain enemies early. A lot of times staying in the seemingly safe area at the bottom of the screen is even more risky and requires more reactive dodging bc you end up leaving threats on the screen longer.