Shmups

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Stanshall
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Re: Shmups

Post by Stanshall »

I reckon you gotta make it as easy as possible to funnel unwitting punters into the community and Undertale is insanely popular considering the core gameplay mechanic is basically primitive bullet hell. Might be a good gateway, Jaimers tearing it a new one, turning to camera and saying:

play mars matrix
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Stanshall
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Re: Shmups

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Somewhat inspired by my Novice Ultra fun on Mushi and Futari and the blinding joy of mad whole screen 30000 bullet cancels, I've been playing a bit of Futari Black Label God Mode. As daft as it may sound, it's not that much harder than Original Mode. That's not me humble bragging, either.

From watching some Gus 1.01 Ultra, I learned that stage one is meant to be the second hardest stage after stage 5 so I decided I'd just credit feed through it to experience BL God stage 2 and beyond and see how I got on. I actually made it to the Stage 3 boss on one credit! That's roughly where my original mode runs tended to finish so I'm pretty happy with that for a starter and I have to say it's an incredibly fun mode.

The reason it gets easier after stage one is because of the massive bullet cancel opportunities. In Stage 2 those orange lobsters, icicles and giant mantas clear the screen instantly. Sure, there are some tough patterns to fluke your way through but most of the really tough stuff is cancellable. The hardest parts are the mantas' first patterns because you have to dodge them before you can do enough damage to cancel the second pattern for massive points. Almost everything else is dodgeable and if you move around misdirecting stuff, it's not much harder than Original, honestly.

In stage 3, it gets a bit hairy but again the lanterns and bug nests are guaranteed massive cancels, and most large enemies also cancel so probably every fifteen seconds or so, you have an opportunity to clear the screen for a few moments. It's also so satisfying and exciting, the slowdown and these dazzling gems, plus the maxed out 30000 turns a rusty golden colour. It's unbelievably spectacular.

I would recommend it! It's quite a bit easier than Ultra 1.5 or 1.01, not least because you do a lot more damage. It will take a lot of effort and practice for me to 1CC this but I think I 4CC'd it just now which is a start. What a game this is.
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Stanshall
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Re: Shmups

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No miss stages 1&2 of Futari BL God Mode before Stage 3 does its thing. Six months ago, I would never have imagined this would be possible for me. Shows how much these games are all practice.

https://youtu.be/-5j1NG-QxCE
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Stanshall
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Re: Shmups

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clippa wrote: October 14th, 2019, 6:18 pm Wow! That was fab. Some fluky dodges going through the walls on the last stage there which I'm sure you'd hold your hands up to. Pretty bloody impressive.
Makes me want to try this now!

It's a shame normal people don't understand and give you the respect you deserve. It must be such a culture shock going from that to being pushed ahead of in queues.
The man just saved the world from mutant insects, give him a fucking burger already!
Some flukey dodges at the end of stage two, as well! That's part of the beauty of God/Ultra modes,. You have a good chance to plough straight through the wall and sometimes you basically have to. Stage one is really hard, though. I've properly got restart syndrome. That boss is a complete fucking cunt, number of times I've got to him with the 30k ready to cash in and I die a millisecond before the cancel. Not entirely sure this game is healthy for me but I'm going full shmup now. This is what I came for. Living for the cancels and micrododging and wall flukes.

And yeah, you're right. I am given absolutely no respect or appreciation for my shmup progress. Showed my wife and she said why they make a game with so many pomegranate seeds. Showed my mate in work, total nerd, nothin. No I'm not not playing Hearthstone mother fucker. Showed my mate in the pub, asked why there's a girl with big tits on two thirds of the screen, ignored the wonders of the middle third. Showed my brother, said it gave him a headache. Showed my nephew, kid said it was so cool. Kids are the future. Amen.
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Michiel K
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Re: Shmups

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Stanshall wrote: October 14th, 2019, 1:48 pm No miss stages 1&2 of Futari BL God Mode before Stage 3 does its thing. Six months ago, I would never have imagined this would be possible for me. Shows how much these games are all practice.

https://youtu.be/-5j1NG-QxCE
You're amazing, man. Making me feel very small for playing these games for years and not coming near that level of skill. :lol:
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Stanshall
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Re: Shmups

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Michiel K wrote: October 14th, 2019, 11:45 pm
Stanshall wrote: October 14th, 2019, 1:48 pm No miss stages 1&2 of Futari BL God Mode before Stage 3 does its thing. Six months ago, I would never have imagined this would be possible for me. Shows how much these games are all practice.

https://youtu.be/-5j1NG-QxCE
You're amazing, man. Making me feel very small for playing these games for years and not coming near that level of skill. :lol:
Too kind, man! And I meant it, God Mode isn't that much tougher than Original, there's just a lot more noise. The main difference is that you're constantly streaming or misdirecting bullets so it looks like you're weaving through the patterns but actually, a lot of it can't possibly hit you if you keep moving at the right speed. You're in control of the patterns in many cases. It kind of feels like tying the bullets into knots or something like that and then BAMMM. You get a big cancel. I reckon I can get to stage 4 with some more sensible bombing and that's Cancel Central.
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Stanshall
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Re: Shmups

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Good on the little fella. Got to sample the entire buffet.

And yeah, you gotta give God Mode a try, man, it's beastly. I started trying to figure out score tonight just to see if I could push my stage one a bit from my previous best of 25m. Absolutely twatted it with a 115m and even got a ludicrous death where the boss's health bar was smaller than my hitbox. Some gorgeous cancels here. The colour of that 30000. Goddamn. Feel like 120m would be doable. I'm absolutely chuffed with this progress, though. Probably the most fun I've had with any shmup. Totally in love.

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hazeredmist
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Re: Shmups

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^Jesus. You are skilled... Just watching that makes me feel ill, imagining how you could put it all together!
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Re: Shmups

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Meanwhile in Early Learning Center, after adventures in Batrider detailed elsewhere, I treated myself to a go on Deathsmiles which I grabbed on Steam via Humble Store I think it was not so long ago.

I have to say I really like this game - I get total Rolling Gunner feels when playing it and I seem to gel well with the gameplay, cancelling bullets when my meter thing hits 1000, switching sides depending where the enemies are, I don't know why it feels so good and I engage with these hori shmups that have extra shit to worry about but it somehow works. I actually got all the way to the Final stage without continuing, thinking I may even be close to a 1cc, but then I lost a bunch of continues before beating the game with a bit of credit feeding. Will be going back, there seemed to be a fair few modes and stuff in the menus too. Along with DDPR, these Cave games on Steam seem like excellent value packages.

After a bit of a lull I feel like shmups are crawling back into my brain somewhat. Fun times.
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Stanshall
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Re: Shmups

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hazeredmist wrote: October 15th, 2019, 11:40 pm I have to say I really like this game - I get total Rolling Gunner feels when playing it and I seem to gel well with the gameplay, cancelling bullets when my meter thing hits 1000, switching sides depending where the enemies are, I don't know why it feels so good and I engage with these hori shmups that have extra shit to worry about but it somehow works.
Sounds like you're pretty close to the 1CC there. I really should go back to this. I love Rolling Gunner like yourself and love Cave and cancelling bullets. Maybe I just need to embrace the moe on this one occasion and only with the older lass. Keep us posted how you're getting on, and totally agree about the great modes and stuff in these ports. Can I recommend Mushihimesama HD to you next? Might be the best of the lot on Steam.
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Stanshall
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Re: Shmups

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clippa wrote: October 16th, 2019, 9:03 am In a right and just world, this would be a legitimate mating ritual that'd bag you the cream of the catwalk.
and you wouldn't have died in the last microsecond.
I battered my stage 1 HS this evening from 115m to 197m, so maybe that will get the prettiest feathers ruffling.

Went all out in terms of point blanking as best I can and cancelling as late as possible. I also found that cancelling the midboss gives a shitload more points than the big lad popping out the ground. I'm sure I can take advantage of some more lucrative boss patterns and crank it further but I'm still too grateful to just get past him unscathed. Really pleased with the run, though. Shows how much depth there is to the scoring side of things.

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KSubzero1000
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Re: Shmups

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These ridiculously high skilled rapid-fire updates are giving me an inferiority complex. :oops:
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Stanshall
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Re: Shmups

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Trying to strike while the iron is hot and really enjoying the spectacle of it, but honestly that hitbox really is just a suggestion. I probably would have died ten times in Original Mode with that dodging, but it's fun running through the walls! I really recommend the mode if you ever fancy something which makes you feel totally overwhelmed but is much more generous than you'd think. The bullet cancels feel sooooo good.
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Re: Shmups

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KSubzero1000 wrote: October 16th, 2019, 10:18 pm These ridiculously high skilled rapid-fire updates are giving me an inferiority complex. :oops:
Well you know what to do...

Image
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hazeredmist
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Re: Shmups

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Stanshall wrote: October 16th, 2019, 10:09 pm
hazeredmist wrote: October 15th, 2019, 11:40 pm I have to say I really like this game - I get total Rolling Gunner feels when playing it and I seem to gel well with the gameplay, cancelling bullets when my meter thing hits 1000, switching sides depending where the enemies are, I don't know why it feels so good and I engage with these hori shmups that have extra shit to worry about but it somehow works.
Sounds like you're pretty close to the 1CC there. I really should go back to this. I love Rolling Gunner like yourself and love Cave and cancelling bullets. Maybe I just need to embrace the moe on this one occasion and only with the older lass. Keep us posted how you're getting on, and totally agree about the great modes and stuff in these ports. Can I recommend Mushihimesama HD to you next? Might be the best of the lot on Steam.
On the wishlist, thanks buddy!
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Stanshall
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Re: Shmups

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clippa wrote: October 17th, 2019, 12:56 pm Wow, balls of steel!
I had a go on this the other day in mame. I didn't say nowt because it was embarrassing. Maxthimum rethpec!
Fucking hitbox seemed big enough to me! Maybe I got unlucky, I'll have another try sometime this week.
Have you been on the jaimers brand readybrek or something? Ridiculous!
Sorry for slow reply, mad couple of days but thanks! I'd love to hear how you get on with it once you're a bit more familiar with the patterns. I fucking love this game and really enjoying every minute I can spend with it.

I have to be honest, watching a lot of Gus really made me realise you need to keep moving, there's a rhythm to the streaming and herding and I felt like I got a different feel for it though just watching how he plays it. But basically it was meth.
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Stanshall
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Re: Shmups

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clippa wrote: October 17th, 2019, 4:06 pm Oooooh - https://twitter.com/rollinggunner/statu ... 1117323266
"Rolling Gunner" Additional content "Rolling Gunner Over Power" Coming soon! Please stay tuned.
Translation of Japanese tweet
1 month left for Digige Expo! Project Rolling Gunner will be exhibiting space on 4th floor UDX GALLERY Y-03ab. And today's first announcement! Here is the Rolling Gunner additional content Rolling Gunner Over Power! Please expect the information as it will be disclosed from time to time.
Free arrange mode dlc? I'm happy to pay. If it's switch only mines away in the shredder.
And I'm absolutely psyched about this. Great news. Hope for some more details soon. I've gone back to it recently and almost cleared Casual Mode but I'd love to get good and clear Normal but just not got the time to commit for the moment. I still have restart syndrome with it and if I don't nail the first stage, I tend to quit out which doesn't help.
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Re: Shmups

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Hey, how are you all doing in here? :)

Not much to report, I'm in complete shmup denial mode at the moment. The only exception to that has been a quick go at Battle Garegga a few days ago. It's not bad, is it? Very different from CAVE stuff, but really good in its own right.

I had heard stories about the game's color palette causing visibility concerns with some of the bullet patterns, but thankfully the M2 port addresses that issue with its various options. Pink Rain aaaaaall the way.
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Re: Shmups

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...You know what? I got nothing. Well played. :lol:
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hazeredmist
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Re: Shmups

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Thanks dude - noted but still nudge me if you see it on sale as I don’t want to miss it if it ends up cheap enough.

Just played through Rolling Gunner novice mode again, no 1cc but I got to the extra end boss and beat it in one so I only used one extra life. It’s reminded me once again that this is the greatest shmup I’ve played and I need to play it more. Every time I fire it up it’s incredible. Curiously it allowed me to save a replay and score, so I’m wondering if my “1cc” on this was due to messing with settings and that could be why the game thought it didn’t count. It has to be this? I’m going to 1cc properly this for sure and maybe upload my first replay if it’s not too hard.

DLC for this would be class. Free or paid I’ll be getting it. They should port it to other platforms (and Steam) as people who haven’t played this are really missing out.
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