Shmups

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Michiel K
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Re: Shmups

Post by Michiel K »

A friend once connected his Madcatz SFIV TE stick to my 360 and I tried to play Mushi Futari with it. Took some adjusting, alright!

Loving the excitement.
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Stanshall
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Re: Shmups

Post by Stanshall »

I went home from work via my mum's and picked up the Magic NS Mayflash adapter and it works really well! My Hori RAP Ex feels imperceptibly similar to how it responds on the 360, albeit I've also had one tinnie.

I merrily played some Darius Gaiden, some Rolling Gunner and finally Ikaruga. And in short: lol. The first two were great fun but Ikaruga made me feel like I'm recovering from a stroke. All my muscle memory is tied up in that Pro Controller. It was like 'Twitch plays Ikaruga' or something. The messages my brain was sending weren't translated into anything but 'twat yourself straight into the nearest bullets'.

Good buy, though. Much snappier than I thought it'd be.
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Stanshall
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Re: Shmups

Post by Stanshall »

No, I'm absolutely shite at it, I must be honest. Some games seem to have clicked quicker than others (DOJ and Ketsui felt right straight away, but they're both kind of stiff, I dunno, seems to suit them) but for most things I'm still much better on the pad.

And yeah, definitely analogue controls on the Switch version of Ikaruga which now makes me feel a bit like I've not played it as was intended. Too late though, I can never go back!
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KSubzero1000
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Re: Shmups

Post by KSubzero1000 »

...Well, I'm still eyeing the F500. At least this guy on the shmups forum seems pretty happy with his purchase.
My initial plan was to buy a replacement LS-32 and put it in there, plus maybe some Sanwa buttons while I'm at it.

Input lag is less than ideal, but I doubt I would be too bothered by it unless it was serious. I've been playing on the same LCD screen for ten years and it doesn't feel like a deal-breaker.

But clippa's dismissal of Mayflash made me hesitate and I'm afraid of wasting my money. All those shmups-related purchases add up and I don't have unlimited funds.

Any and all genuine advice welcome.


EDIT: Oh, and they are bringing an even newer version with built-in Sanwa components! :o

http://www.mayflash.com/Products/XBOXXB ... elite.html
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KSubzero1000
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Re: Shmups

Post by KSubzero1000 »

clippa wrote: May 31st, 2019, 9:08 pm I'd just go for it, myself. Get it from amazon or something so you can send it back if you're not happy.
Thanks, man. I think that's what I'll do. I was hesitant to go for the regular F500 considering its standard components were supposed to be of below average quality (and I wasn't looking forward to all the modding), but this newer revision with the Sanwa components looks tailor-suited to my needs. And I still have a wired 360 pad to plug in.

If I understand correctly, Sanwa sticks are supposed to be great for fighters but not quite perfect for shmups. I'd imagine they'd still be the next best thing though, right?

Will report back, obviously!
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hazeredmist
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Re: Shmups

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clippa wrote: May 31st, 2019, 4:28 pm Hazeredmist, before I forget, the box I got from the supermarket was a bit bigger than it needed to be (seabrooks beefy crisps (I did not eat all of those beefy crisps like the fat, daft knacker I am (I don't like beef flavour, it gives me indigestion))) so I packed it with some crumpled up newspaper, it was the daily mail TV guide, I do NOT read the daily mail, don't judge me on that, it doesn't represent my political views, my dad left it here. You can judge him on that as he is an arsehole.

I've also been using it as a place-mat for a couple of weeks (I say a couple of weeks, I dread to think, you can post the date on the top of one of the pages if you want to publicly shame me) so one or two of the pages might have splashes of curry or tomato sauce on them. Sorry, it's all I had.

I've also got the lurgy so your whole family might get infected when you open the box, I did try not to breath when I was packing it up, but I'm still alive so I must been doing it a little bit, to my eternal shame.

Just lock your family in the bomb shelter, don a hazmat suit, lift the stick out, give it a wipe down with some anti bacterial spray and incinerate everything else in the garden as soon as possible. Should get posted tomorrow.

Turns out we live really close! Like we could have passed each other in the street before now. What are the chances? It makes you wonder if some of us live in the same street without ever even realising it!
Everything about this arrangement is perfect, I’ve ordered that adaptor thing Stanshall mentioned while I’m still wet :D
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hazeredmist
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Re: Shmups

Post by hazeredmist »

I personally prefer Seimetsu buttons, guys. There’s just no other way
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KSubzero1000
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Re: Shmups

Post by KSubzero1000 »

hazeredmist wrote: May 31st, 2019, 9:41 pm I personally prefer Seimetsu buttons, guys. There’s just no other way
Not helping! :mrgreen:

:lol:
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Stanshall
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Re: Shmups

Post by Stanshall »

I'll second the point that modding is straightforward and I'm sure that it'd be even easier with the Mayflash because it's designed to be accessible for that purpose. It took more effort and involvement than I was expecting to get the LS-32 in my Hori RAP Ex but despite not actually knowing what I was doing and not having a guide to follow, it was easy, obvious and worked immediately. More difficult than making your own 'pot sticker' dumplings, less difficult than performing minor surgery. It was about as difficult as changing an inner tube on a bike, for comparison.

In terms of the stick comparison, I'd say that on a scale of 1-10, with 1 being instantaneous response and 10 being a 90° rotation of your wrist, the Sanwa is about a 5 and the Seimitsu a 3. I could possibly go for something even tighter and shorter than the LS-32 but that's probably just coming off the minimal thumb movement from thirty years of pads. I'm definitely getting better and enjoying it more and more with each hour I put in. There is a tangible difference and I know which I prefer but equally, I was having a great time with the Sanwa for a day or so before I swapped it out. As for buttons, the OBSF-30 Sanwa feel much better than the stock Hori buttons which were rattling around. They feel like a tighter, smoother, more responsive fit. I like just pressing them even when there's no game on, like some kind of simpleton.

That'll be you soon.
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Stanshall
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Re: Shmups

Post by Stanshall »

What can I say, I like a tighter, smoother, more responsive fit. You get what you pay for.

Another interesting variable I've been going back and forth on is the gate shape. Basically, my stick came with the square gate which helps with diagonals, it kind of guides the stick into the furthest crannies (yep) but I also got a circle gate with my LS-32 to have another option. I'm sticking with the square gate for the moment because I like how it feels locked in or something, hard to explain, but the circle gate seems more natural in my mind coming off aeons of pad use.

Anyone got any thoughts or preferences?
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KSubzero1000
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Re: Shmups

Post by KSubzero1000 »

I think the newer versions of the F500 come with an additional octagonal gate, and I plan on installing it sooner rather than later. I adore it on the GC pad. It's great to be able to lock into both straights and diagonals, but it also allows for smoother quasi-circular motions than a square or diamond gate.

Best of both worlds, imo. Sorry if that isn't particularly helpful! :P
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Stanshall
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Re: Shmups

Post by Stanshall »

I bloody LOVE a good infographic.

Thanks, old bean. That's me sold then. I might swap in the circle for a bit of Street Fightin but otherwise, it's clearly hip to be square. The numbers don't lie.
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KSubzero1000
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Re: Shmups

Post by KSubzero1000 »

At the risk of outing myself as a complete imbecile, I don't really understand the logic behind the partitioning on the graphic. Shouldn't the yellow middle part (is that the deadzone?) be round? And if it were round, wouldn't all 8 other sections automatically be of the same size? :?

Maybe arcade sticks are different, but I've never had the impression that analogue sticks had a square-shaped deadzone in the middle.
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KSubzero1000
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Re: Shmups

Post by KSubzero1000 »

Aaaah okay, now that makes perfect sense. Thank you very much.

I was staring at the graph for a good five minutes asking myself "but what exactly do those vertical & horizontal bars represent??". So basically, while the input covers a 360 degrees angle, the physical inner workings of the arcade stick itself are still based on an old-school up/down/left/right model.

Fascinating stuff. I'll leave the square gate as is, then!
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KSubzero1000
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Re: Shmups

Post by KSubzero1000 »

DoDonPachi Resurrection is intense. I'm starting to get more involved in the different ships and styles and the intricacies of the combo system, and it's quite the experience. I'm at the point where I'm seeing some actual improvements with every new run, which is very satisfying.

Kicking myself for not grabbing the BL DLC back when it was still available, though. One year ago, I could have just hopped on the 360 marketplace and bought it for a mere €10! :mrgreen:
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shadowless_kick
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Re: Shmups

Post by shadowless_kick »

My Life in Gaming has a new Q&A video with the M2 Shot Triggers team: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DKkCTB2eWRw
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Stanshall
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Re: Shmups

Post by Stanshall »

Cheers. I really enjoyed the broader vid they did with M2, been looking forward to this.
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Michiel K
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Re: Shmups

Post by Michiel K »

clippa wrote: June 1st, 2019, 12:32 am Is this any good to you? Wouldn't be cheap to buy both but you can combine it with the universal fighting board to make your stick compatible with modern systems too - https://arcadeshock.com/products/brook-retro-board.
Heyyyy thanks. That seems worth pursuing.
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hazeredmist
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Re: Shmups

Post by hazeredmist »

clippa wrote: June 1st, 2019, 6:44 pm I can't vouch for the quality of the other games, but you can get steel vampire for less than half price in this "anime stars" bundle over on fanatical at the minute, comes with steam keys for 5 other games in various different genres. Valid for another 11 days at the time of writing.

Image

The idea is to play as aggressively as you can.
You do more damage up close and want to be taking out enemies before they get a chance to shoot.
Picking up the red orbs raises your rank/score multiplier by 5, and collecting the green orbs lowers it by 1.
Your rank is always rising automatically, slowly at first, but then faster as it gets higher. Bombing or getting hit also makes you drop rank, so it's all about pushing it as far as you can, finding your sweet spot and riding the wave.

......................
Tempted by this! Could be one to test my PC out with. The I was gonna ask actually - you reference here being up the further up the screen, is that typical across shmups?
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hazeredmist
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Re: Shmups

Post by hazeredmist »

@Stanshall I see you've got Velocity 2X too - What do you think? I'm ahead of you score-wise on the 2 or 3 levels you've done so far. I want this recorded in history, 3/6/19 I am ahead of someone in a shooter. I realise you'll have probably fired this up while drunk, in the middle of watching telly and conversing with someone at the same time, barely glancing at the screen to earn your scores, but history won't remember that. 3/6/19.

Anyway, the game - I really like it. There is something about this series that hits the right notes. Strangely for me despite the game having the mobile-esque XP system to unlock levels, I don't find it a problem at all, certainly nothing approaching the level of filth Sky Forces Reloaded inflicts on you. You very, very quickly unlock loads of levels in this as the system is a LOT more generous, almost like it WANTS you to enjoy it's content! Plus the way it breaks down how you earn XP is great - so when you do replay levels, you replay them differently based on what you're targeting. Such as time, collectibles, points, survivors to rescue etc, so it doesn't bore you. I found myself obsessively playing the first 6/7 levels to earn all the XP, and I've got tonnes more to play without needing to worry about XP, it's on me to be arsed about it or not which is nice.

The dual nature of the game is interesting, with speedrun type platform gameplay mixed with tate (are you impressed lads) shmup gameplay with the teleport twist. I love the music too. It's not too difficult (yet) and the style is gorgeous. Definitely one I'll be chipping away at. I don't think it's a true shmup due to the variety with the platform bits, but that just makes it unique.
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