Shmups

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Stanshall
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Re: Shmups

Post by Stanshall »

Thus begins the inexorable decline. One foot in the grave. Mr. Tomb. Run out of antiretrovirals. The first time in my life I've ever had to accept reality. I cannot do it. Ikaruga Ideal S++ is beyond me. I am the living dead. The Reaper's icy talons pressing my face into the soil, into the worms. With a stick and no input lag, maybe. Only maybe. With the Pro Controller D-pad, jumping up those columns, I might as well have gammon shanks for hands. I'm not nearly consistent enough to have the opportunities to practise threading the needle and it takes too long to get there each time for a roll of the die. This is not entertainment.

Sooner or later, I'll slide my Switch down a grid. It's the only game to ever make me feel like this, like a degenerate lunatic, teetering on the edge of reason, fuelled by hate and fear of faiblesse. I stab at the diagonals and hope for the best. A stupid idiot blames his stupid tools, they say. I say whoever designed the Pro Controller D-pad, maybe try using the fucking thing before you put it in the fucking shops. Possibly I'm a bit tired. It's not right to feel this way, though.

I've now uninstalled it. I'm moving on, again. It's a game for another lifetime.

I've also been playing Darius Gaiden, Battle Garegga Premium and ESP Ra.De. Psy which are pretty good.
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hazeredmist
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Re: Shmups

Post by hazeredmist »

Keep that game uninstalled. I’m definitely not done with it but it sounds like everyone else is, for the good of their own health :)

I just cleared ESP Ra.De again on super easy, smashing my last score on that mode. I love it, it’s my favourite Cave game now I think. A few more clears learning the game then I’ll try moving up.

The port options are so good. I’ve been playing with the screen settings and have settled on 25% scanlines with no smoothing. It looks fantastic, the old arcade look is really something else. Also the option to have / not have sound limitations of the original PCB. How cool is that. Can M2 port all my games please? I’m even starting to learn where things are on the menu now.

Also after further study the guy says “Esp Raid” with the “d” slightly distanced at the end, so I’ve decided to amend it to that when I mention it aloud.
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hazeredmist
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Re: Shmups

Post by hazeredmist »

Great post. It's covered everything a ClippaTM post needs. Like cuddling up to watch The X Files, and it's one of the mythology episodes. It's got Skinner. Smoking Man. Krycek. Sexual tension between Mulder & Skully. Poorly lit areas and smoke. Paranormal things going on we'll definitely learn the truth about. Mystery! Intrigue! Incredible music! Mad oil inside people's eyes.

Perfect.

I'm not in the hate brigade for Ikaruga though, don't drag me into it just yet :D
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Stanshall
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Re: Shmups

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My Ikaruga hate posts are basically just to motivate me to keep going. Can I really be such a physical and mental husk as to quit when I'm so close?

"It is nothing else than the principle of the man who has the reason for being."
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Stanshall
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Re: Shmups

Post by Stanshall »

Yes. Yes, I can.

I can do the columns better on stick but the actual stage is worse because of the input lag, my timing is too inconsistent now so I'm not even getting to the end section with a full chain more than 10% of the time which is a real shiter. I'm having to work with the lag and try to do things a tiny bit early. It's...not great. I can do the majority of the stage much better on pad and then jumping up the columns better on stick and then threading the columns better on pad.

Is it reasonable to pause and switch input method? Nnnnn...no, it's madness. I hate it less, because I can do the last bit better and can feel some minute progress but I still genuinely hate it more than any game I've ever played.

I bought an Ikaruga T-shirt as well last night which I will only wear if I ever decide to just go fucking mental.
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hazeredmist
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Re: Shmups

Post by hazeredmist »

What? I thought you’d left her!

Now you’re buying her things too?

At this point we, as your mates, should be staging an intervention, ensuring you can get the clean break you clearly need.

As it is, although everyone thinks she’s minging now I’m still quite up for shagging her and talking about it with you so I’ll enable this a little longer because I’m a bastard.

Are you letting yourself finish the level before giving up or are you hitting the admittedly awful several clicks restart immediately? I found that even when I thought I’d fucked it (not at the intro bit, I need that max chain there, I’m not crazy!) that finishing meant I could see my score getting closer to where I want it to be...

That being said I’ve still not beat my own high score somehow set before I became more arsed about it it. That’s due to ESP Raid taking up my limited shmup time lately though.
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Alex79
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Re: Shmups

Post by Alex79 »

hazeredmist wrote: February 11th, 2020, 11:09 pm Keep that game uninstalled. I’m definitely not done with it but it sounds like everyone else is, for the good of their own health :)
I'm still trying to 1cc it. Not fussed about score, though. I can get to 2-boss without dying, but not beat it yet.

I also find I never use the powerup when the meter is full so I need to remember to do that as well.
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KSubzero1000
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Re: Shmups

Post by KSubzero1000 »

Reliably playing through Chapter 3 in MuFu without bombing is proving to be exceedingly difficult.

Stick is becoming very easy and enjoyable to use. I'm not super-precise with it, but I'm having fun. Interestingly enough, I seem to struggle more with the push-buttons than with the stick itself!

I have an urge to drop it and get on that sweet Ikaruga action but now would be the absolute worst time to start juggling several games! :D
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Stanshall
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Re: Shmups

Post by Stanshall »

I'm definitely going to get back to Ikaruga on the 360 to remove the input lag from my 360 to Switch stick adapter.

It's no big deal bombing in Ch. 3 of Futari. It's actually a pretty common and sensible thing to do to control rank. I don't know which mode you're playing but it's pretty much expected.
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KSubzero1000
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Re: Shmups

Post by KSubzero1000 »

I'm playing BL Original for now. BL seems like the clearly superior variant in comparison to 1.5, honestly. Better scoring systems and more visually appealing.

The thing about bombing is that I prefer to consider it a get-out-of-jail-free card, to be used only when I messed up. I don't like to incorporate it into my strat from the very beginning, makes me feel like I'm not learning the game properly... :(

Which adapter is giving you trouble? I'm using the MayFlash MAGIC-S PRO and I've definitely noticed a bit of lag when using my stick on PS4. Not enough to be a deal-breaker, but just enough to be annoying. :|

(Can't imagine how much worse it would be with a wireless controller, btw.)
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Stanshall
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Re: Shmups

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KSubzero1000 wrote: February 14th, 2020, 6:40 am Which adapter is giving you trouble? I'm using the MayFlash MAGIC-S PRO and I've definitely noticed a bit of lag when using my stick on PS4. Not enough to be a deal-breaker, but just enough to be annoying. :|
I've got Mayflash and Brook converters. I feel like the latter is a tiny bit better but I bet I couldn't pick one or the other in a double blind test. I would definitely be able to tell whether I was using an adapter or not, though.

My timings feel perceptibly different when using the Pro Controller D-pad and using my 360 stick, which is extra frustrating because my muscle memory gets screwed up. With the stick, I have to try to do everything quicker and this brings its own issues. To give a concrete example, in the Prologue, I sometimes miss the 22nd chain when playing on stick if I switch to black to destroy the final black trio. That literally never ever happens on pad. When it comes to some of the really tight sections in the stage, stick is often too sluggish and I screw it up. But again, I find movement up the columns easier on stick because the Pro Controller D-pad is squishy and the inputs are sometimes randomly imprecise. Every time, I just stab at the diagonals and hope for the best. I have zero confidence in it as a precise input device. I actually find the analogue stick more reliable.

Yes, yes, workman blaming his tools and all that but it's true. I need to somehow get Ikaruga back onto my 360 but my laptop takes about half an hour to start up these days so I can't be bothered.
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Stanshall
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Re: Shmups

Post by Stanshall »

Universal Board is on the cards one day, defo. I keep looking at them and thinking what am I meant to do with that? I can't be bothered, basically. I'm a bit off shmups at the moment, as well, so it's not enough of a priority.

I defo play more shmups on the 360 though so totally happy with the decision to get a 360 stick. The day that Cave bring out all their stuff on the Switch is the day I launch my 360 into landfill, though. I did get that Hori Hayabusa stick for the Switch way way back when but returned it. That was way before I even got into shmups, though.

Maybe one day I'll get a PC but on balance I prefer the one-second wait for the Switch to come on with a wall of icons to click and straight in. That's it, basically. I choose convenience in that respect and shit input lag problems because I don't really play any shmups 'seriously' on the Switch.

I also can't really be bothered with emulation at the moment so no DDP for me. My Retroarch build on the PS Classic fucked itself up based on nothing I'd done differently and my comp is too tiresome to rebuild it (or basically justify copy the files back onto the USB). That's my other issue with emulation, there's always some fiddling to do. I can do it but I just can't be fucking fucked sometimes. It's like I've made my own pasta before and it's a little bit better but I can't be arsed.

I think the common denominator here is pretty clear. I am a lazy bastard.
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Stanshall
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Re: Shmups

Post by Stanshall »

Really interested to hear how you find it. I feel like I have mine locked into muscle memory but it's definitely not as tight as I initially expected. Still plenty of waggle room on the LS-32.

In other news:
Spoiler: show
Image

I've just spent the past hour working on a Perfect Full Chain No Miss S++ Rank on some jazzy J-pop atrocity and I'm having the time of my life.

Edit:

Image

Ediiiitttt:

Here's the song, just seen what the lyrics mean as well.

This is instantly the most obnoxious post in this utopian dream of a thread. I don't regret a thing.
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Stanshall
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Re: Shmups

Post by Stanshall »

Haha. And in other examples of them knowing their other audience, I just unlocked the Darius ship avatar and Darius SFX when I hit a note. Playing a Darius Gaiden remix now.

Darius.
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Stanshall
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Re: Shmups

Post by Stanshall »

That will be some achievement. Jia you! Looking forward to seeing the run when you're done.
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Stanshall
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Re: Shmups

Post by Stanshall »

After enjoying Battle Garegga so much more via the M2 STG release, I found my old Japanese PSN log-in via an old email address and readded my account so I could pick up Ketsui Deathtiny. It's so much better than the 360 version in every way. I really really love these ShotTriggers ports, they're literally a dream come true.

The Deathtiny Mode is also brilliant fun, seems easier than the Garegga Premium Arrange to me but maybe because I'm already somewhat familiar with Ketsui (the first two stages, at least!). It's probably the most fun way to play Ketsui without being any good at the game. I understand that it's really deep and complex for scoring like Garegga Premium but I'm just happy using it to learn the game and setting off the hypers to cancel bullets.

Ketsui is a good game, in short.
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Stanshall
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Re: Shmups

Post by Stanshall »

Ehhh, I barely use my PS4 these days, anyway, so I got the M2 STG Dangun Feveron port, too! Might as well. It's my least favourite Cave game from my experience with emulation but I've actually been enjoying it. It's pretty goofy and I find the aesthetic and soundtrack less appealing than their usual stuff but the gameplay is something different. It's exciting whizzing around with the lock shot. The Fever Mode is the most fun for me, a bit more spectacular, and I also like the VIP Arrange OST more than the regular one, too.
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Stanshall
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Re: Shmups

Post by Stanshall »

Bravo! Awesome stuff. I haven't played on keyboard for probably thirty years but that's how Prometheus plays DDP, I seem to remember. Impressive that you can take that muscle memory over to stick. And yeah, curious whether you dig into the chaining or whether enough is enough there. Either way, great work.

I really wish this would get ported to any current gen consoles but it ain't happening. I might finally get Instant Brain, that Cave 360 visual novel with unlockable DDP. Can I sit through umpteen hours of Japanese VN with a guide just to play Dodonpachi on the 360? Yes, I probably can.
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Stanshall
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Re: Shmups

Post by Stanshall »

I grew up playing on keys before we got an Amiga, too. I had a BBC Micro and CPC464 but I was always Z/X for L/R and then some punctuation keys on the right hand for U/D. Castle Quest and Repton 3 represent. This sounds like a bullshit retcon but the first game I remember playing was Harrier Attack on the Amstrad. I've been a shmup bro for life! (excluding the years 1986-2017). Actually, I also remember playing a game called Solo or something on the C64 at my auntie's. I remember that being really fucking intense. Dare I look it up and destroy a childhood memory? It was a single-screen vertical shmup, possibly no scrolling but got really intense with loads of waves of enemies, like Robotron.

OK, I'm off down the rabbit hole but will report back.
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Stanshall
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Re: Shmups

Post by Stanshall »

Ehh, no sign of anything called anything like that. It was a buried memory so while it felt like DOJ in my imagination, it was probably some Shoot Em Up Construction Kit thing.
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