Shmups

[phillv85]

Has anyone else had issues with Deathtiny mode where after a couple of game overs, I start a new game and cannot enter DD mode at all?

It's driving me fucking nuts. No matter what I do, how long I hold bomb, when in the game I first press it, it just will not activate. Turn off the PS4 and start again and it works just fine for the first couple of games.

 

Edit: Nevermind, think I've worked it out!

[Riven]

Was given a code in order to preview the Cotton Reboot! recently and it really surprised me how good the remake is as a shooter and the new scoring system added really benefits the game. It was based on the 1993 X68000 version and also includes it as an added extra, so you can directly compare it. Downside doesn't include the original 1991 arcade version, which was heavy changed for the X68000 port, so you have three version of the game. Not the longest or shortest game and it's an old school shooter. So suspect bullet hell veterans will be able to clear it very quickly.

 

 

There's been some good releases on the arcade archive recently as well with the original arcade Raiden and the little known Hacha Mecha Fighter now on PS4. Spent the start of July playing R-Type Final 2, which I enjoyed, wouldn't say it's as good as R-Type III, but worth getting.

 

Hacha Mecha Fighter is totally bonkers as well as a shooter very much in the Parodius style of graphics and design.

 

 

[ImmaculateClump]

I done a better score in ketsui deathtiny.

Felt like such a sloppy run, again. So much potential that's pissed away with a couple of silly mistakes.

Once you slip out of the rhythm of the game, those mistakes just seem to keep stacking

 

[Jonster]

Take that Deathtiny!

 

 

Stages 1 and 2 felt pretty bad, and on checking I was a few million behind my normal pace at this point. Was 800k up after stage 3, and then 8 million after stage 4, so must've done something right in these at least! That nagging feeling of trying to improve the score is there now though

[spatular]

nice work Marlew, ImmaculateClump and Jonster! 

 

10 hours ago, Riven said:

So suspect bullet hell veterans will be able to clear it very quickly.

i guess it's a different skillset or something, i can't do old school shooters at all.

 

that hacha mecha fighter is the one where you get points for ramming the right hand side of the screen, which is definitely pretty bonkers!

 

edit - had a good go on ketsui but failed to improve.

[ImmaculateClump]

Got a better score today but I had to go out straight after and didn't have time to come on here and brag!

 

 

Still feels like there's a much bigger score there waiting for one of us.

I managed to do that weird thing Marlew was talking about the other day where loads of popcorn enemies spawn and rush at you for ages on the last stage. That feels so good! Christ knows what sets that off.

 

edit: and another!

 

 

That thing with the kamikaze zakko happened again!

 

https://streamable.com/rw48rn

[Camel]

Finally got round to trying Cotton Reboot. Arrange mode is loads of fun. I like how the ‘game manual’ doesn’t mention the fever button/mode at all.

[Marlew]

@ImmaculateClump Can't check the clip right now and away for a few days but awesome work, mate. That's a big jump. Looking forward to checking it out! Bravo. 

[Jonster]

The only thing I dislike about Deathtiny is how the multiplier is nerfed on the last life. I've never liked it and like it even less when I dropped to one life about a minute before the final bosses and ruined the entire run. Obviously my fault for dying, but feels a bit arbitrary.

[ImmaculateClump]

@Marlew I was playing really cautiously there, keeping the deathroy at level 1 most of the time.

In your video you were playing way more aggressively with the hypers and that's making me wonder how lucrative those higher level hypers are.

Playing it safe, keeping the safety net of the autobomb just a few seconds away does wonders for my confidence.

 

It must be all about finding your own balance and then trying to push the risky play as much as you can.

I'll try and play more risky next time!

 

I think one of the best things about this mode is how when you go back to the main mode of ketsui, it feels like it's playing in slow motion by comparison!

 

This really is a great release. A game that's always felt so daunting and beyond my skill level suddenly feels at least in the realms of possibility!

It's great how they're even teaching you the ura patterns by stealth!

[Jonster]

I find normal Ketsui much harder than Deathtiny, probably because of the lack of autobomb.

 

Anyway, lost a second run to being on the last life right at the end again. Both times well on track for a new high score, but in fairness I was playing very aggressively with chaining hypers and I'm not very good at dodging bullets

[Triple A]

13 hours ago, ImmaculateClump said:

That thing with the kamikaze zakko happened again!

 

https://streamable.com/rw48rn

Ooh how do you activate that?

And just think of the score increase, when you get confident enough to burn thru lives during that and really get the multiplier going?! (assuming they keep coming after you die?)

[ImmaculateClump]

I don't know! Marlews had it happen a few times too. Maybe you need a certain number of lives in stock for it to trigger?

 

17 hours ago, Jonster said:

I find normal Ketsui much harder than Deathtiny, probably because of the lack of autobomb.

Oh yeah, there is that, but it's a really good training tool for the main mode, things feel way more sedate once you go back.

[Klatrymadon]

Akai Katana exA Label announced! (I've never seen an exA cab IRL but STILL!)

 

 

[Spoonman]

Well you can put exA in any cab I suppose. Cool announcement!

[Klatrymadon]

Yeah deffo - it's the new Neo Geo! I just haven't seen anything outside Arcade Otaku sales threads, etc.

[Spoonman]

Yeah, I know what you mean. I am tempted by one but it is not cheap. The games are one thing but I have to get the motherboard itself... 😕

 

The money would have been for holidays, but that ain't happening (seems to for others, weirdly, but there we go).

 

There are EXA in a few places in Japan, also in Europe, possibly UK also, but C19 hasn't helped anything, has it? 

 

This depressed me further yesterday: https://www.wired.com/story/covid-coronavirus-japanese-arcades/

[ImmaculateClump]

Really underrated game, I think. A pretty easy cave 1cc, relatively speaking, but you make the game harder for yourself by pushing for score.
I don't know if I was ever doing it right though, to be frank.
I tried reading people calmly explaining how it all worked but it just felt like staring into a bowl of alphabetti spaghetti.

 

I just had to trust my intuition and feel my way through it until all the big chunky coins were coming and it felt like I was doing the right thing.

Love the medals in that game, and how the bosses summon up these old trains and shit through time holes or whatever? I dunno. It's cool.

 

The exa is a pc running windows 10, spoony, just in case you weren't aware.
I've seen how upset you can get about that sort of thing on discord!
I wouldn't want you spending all that money, getting the thing home and setting it up before finding out, because I'm not sure you could easily jam it down a grate without the help of an industrial shredder and that'd be another few grand down the swanee!

[Spoonman]

3 hours ago, ImmaculateClump said:

Really underrated game, I think. A pretty easy cave 1cc, relatively speaking, but you make the game harder for yourself by pushing for score.
I don't know if I was ever doing it right though, to be frank.
I tried reading people calmly explaining how it all worked but it just felt like staring into a bowl of alphabetti spaghetti.

 

I just had to trust my intuition and feel my way through it until all the big chunky coins were coming and it felt like I was doing the right thing.

Love the medals in that game, and how the bosses summon up these old trains and shit through time holes or whatever? I dunno. It's cool.

 

I feel like this. I've not 1ccd it but really enjoyed what I played and the coins really give an incredibly satisfying feeling that absolutely turn it more into scoring than simply going for a 1cc.

 

3 hours ago, ImmaculateClump said:

The exa is a pc running windows 10, spoony, just in case you weren't aware.
I've seen how upset you can get about that sort of thing on discord!
I wouldn't want you spending all that money, getting the thing home and setting it up before finding out, because I'm not sure you could easily jam it down a grate without the help of an industrial shredder and that'd be another few grand down the swanee!

 

Ha! I deserve that, I suppose. Indeed, I know what the EXA is. I am more in favour of it than most, because if it allows any chance for arcades to operate at all in a conventional manner, then I am for it. What I like about it is that it is closer in approach to buying PCBs of games and running them, without some cumbersome internet-link-up-subscription model, which seems neat at first and quickly descends into shit, like the rest of the internet.

 

I'm tempted by EXA for a few reasons. Still on the fence, though. 

 

What I won't be doing is buying a PC and spending hours of multiple nights setting up blitter values in MAME to "replicate" PCB gameplay on a pirated rom. Don't get me wrong; I have a fair few roms. I'm a big fan of the MiSTer FPGA. But playing shmups on a keyboard, on an LCD screen, or laptop, as my main method of play, is just not for me. I'm happy for people that do so, but a lot of those people also shit on the 360 ports calling them "bad ports" when they have never even played them and just groupthink whatever some other people have concluded. I dunno, it's a whole separate rant, really. Don't want to derail anything, though the highscores for Deathtiny have stopped coming in now.

 

Having said that, should we not all be "friends" on PSN so we can compete a bit with high scores? Could be fun? I am always envious of Leon from the Cane and Rinse podcast talking about his friend's leaderboards etc. Without physical friends, some online ones might be nice. *gets out small violin*

 

Anyway, I would both run exa in the cab like a psycho, or on my 1080p monitor. I would get SDOJ and Aka&Blue. Including the motherboard that is between 4-5 thousand pounds sterling. On the other hand, I can't fucking travel anywhere and this is basically another "lost year" for me so... will I miss the money? Maybe if I need it for something else, and can't sell the EXA.

 

I guess it could be hacked and games released to the wild, but they're encrypted, and the hack would have to come from the West as Japanese people are nice and wouldn't do such a thing.

 

On one hand it would be nuts to do such a thing and on the other, I am absolutely uninterested in any "AAA new releases" and even the PS5 at this stage.

[ImmaculateClump]

I just wanted to try and nudge you out of that "us and them" mindset.

I honestly didn't know if you were on the wind up on there so I wasn't sure what your reaction would be to me bringing it up

 

From what you've said it sounds like it's started as a direct response to a couple of arseholes trying to wind you up, so I don't blame you at all.

 

You're obviously enthusiastic and pretty knowledgable about all kinds of hardware, but pc gaming is a bit of a blindspot and you're letting yourself down when you jump in to bad mouth it. I've cringed pretty hard at some of the things you've said on there.
To most people you'll just be coming across as ill informed and bitter, and that's all because of a few pricks winding you up, they're making you look bad and letting you do the heavy lifting, so rise above it!

 

I would definitely get the exa if I had the money! Dooooooo iiiiiiiit!

It's gonna hold it's value really well, I'd imagine. Look at it as an investment Yeah, I'd get aka to blue, sdoj and akai katana.

 

I don't know if PSN does friends leaderboards, does it? Or is it M2's fault that they're not using them in their games?

[phillv85]

Speaking of the Xbox 360 ports I set up an NTSC-J 360 today and had a blast on Deathsmiles, Deathsmiles IIX and DDP SDOJ 360 mode. I’d never noticed (because I always played Shot) that choosing Laser mode on SDOJ made the game about 4 fucking times harder. I thought I’d try Laser because I kept messing up on Hibachi and thought I could see her off faster. Tried playing Laser and couldn’t even get to stage 5 😆

[Spoonman]

2 hours ago, ImmaculateClump said:

You're obviously enthusiastic and pretty knowledgable about all kinds of hardware, but pc gaming is a bit of a blindspot and you're letting yourself down when you jump in to bad mouth it. I've cringed pretty hard at some of the things you've said on there.
To most people you'll just be coming across as ill informed and bitter, and that's all because of a few pricks winding you up, they're making you look bad and letting you do the heavy lifting, so rise above it!

 

Well, PC gaming is definitely a blind spot for me in general, I suppose. I’m definitely happy to learn and listen, and am happy for people to play whatever they like, however they like. I follow some french dude who plays Ikaruga using a keyboard and it’s actually got this ASMR vibe about it! Clackity-clack! But, I am definitely ill-informed. I have absolutely no idea of what kind of PC I would need (I did say I have been a mac user for the last 20 years and have zero interest in building a PC or whatever), and even, what some of the best games are for it. The list is almost endless, seemingly. 

 

What does annoy me though, is a select couple of Discorders that are clearly part of some groupthink without realising it, spouting shit about all sorts of things, discussing “shit ports” and so on, when most of what they do is play pirated material rather than make any effort ever to support the genre they “love”, and then shit on CAVE for not bringing out a new game, etc. I’ve actually had to block one poster because he was just antagonising me constantly with his bullshit. As you say, rise above it. Kind of hurts to think it’s making me look bad, so I need to reflect on that.

 

I miss the 90’s, 00s and hell even the 2010s for the gaming and arcade scenes, but I won’t be changing it. I should just enjoy what I can and let the rest wash over me, and try not to lament the situation. It’s over.

 

Without turning this into a discussion on my mental health, since March 2020 things have not been so great all round. I’ve lost almost 2 years doing bloody nothing (apart from recently some 1CCs, nice!) and coming across as bitter is hardly unsurprising to read, but is still a bit sad, as that’s not really my intention. I’m just turning into a very grumpy person I think, and I certainly down want to be that. I don’t want to be giving a false impression of myself being I am ranting because I am miserable being stuck in the same apartment for over 1.5 years with no friends and quite a few other issues! I think I’ll wind down my Discord use and even general internet use. Thanks for the wake up call, in any case.

 

1 hour ago, phillv85 said:

Speaking of the Xbox 360 ports I set up an NTSC-J 360 today and had a blast on Deathsmiles, Deathsmiles IIX and DDP SDOJ 360 mode. I’d never noticed (because I always played Shot) that choosing Laser mode on SDOJ made the game about 4 fucking times harder. I thought I’d try Laser because I kept messing up on Hibachi and thought I could see her off faster. Tried playing Laser and couldn’t even get to stage 5 😆

 

If you can, or want to, set your 360 to output at 480p as you’ll get the best input lag results. And yes, laser mode is harder. Expert is ridiculous!

[Muz]

Just got cotton reboot on the switch. Haven't played a game like this in years... Absolutely loving it! 

[Marlew]

@Spoonman Just to say, I don't really know your circumstances so I can't say I know exactly how you feel but I'm sorry to hear it. I've had plenty of tough times over the last year for various reasons and fallen out with people both online and at work. You always come across as a good guy to me, for what it's worth, and I hope things get a bit easier for you soon. 

[phillv85]

Cheers @Spoonman, I’ll see if the reduced lag makes any difference, not convinced it will with my SDOJ (lack of) skills. Also, don’t let people grind you down. It’s been a tough time, but don’t give up on the internet. I just visit forums and parts of forums that I enjoy and it works for me. Keep on shmupping.

[ImmaculateClump]

1 hour ago, Spoonman said:

What does annoy me though, is a select couple of Discorders that are clearly part of some groupthink without realising it, spouting shit about all sorts of things, discussing “shit ports” and so on, when most of what they do is play pirated material rather than make any effort ever to support the genre they “love”, and then shit on CAVE for not bringing out a new game, etc.

 

Yeah, I don't know the specific people you're talking about, but I definitely know the type, there were loads of those on the shmups forum.
People for whom gaming began with emulation and ended with piracy. Really entitled.

 

Spoony, I probably didn't word that very well.
To be honest, I thought you were trolling at times, pretending to be less clued up on the pc stuff, poking a few bears to see what kind of reaction you got, so if anyone does ever pull you up on it, just go with that!

 

Sorry if I've made you self conscious, that wasn't my intention.

You're cool, just I've seen that whole platform wars thing turn good men bad, it's not something you want to slide too deep into.

The more people get to play, the better.

[ImmaculateClump]

@Spoonman I feel bad about bringing that up now. I honestly thought it was something you were doing for shits and giggles. That's what I was expecting, you to go "Oh, don't worry, I'm just trolling, seeing what shades of true colours I can coax out of the diehard pc nutters"

 

It's all totally cool, I probably wasn't reading the whole conversation, I just skim read the discords now and then and probably read your comments because I recognised your name. You were probably just balancing the books and I wasn't reading the arseholery that incited your comments.

Honestly, I like reading what you've got to say, especially your posts on here. No need to check yourself or anything.

 

 

Pretend retro speccy cassette version of star hunter DX.

I can definitely feel that tickling my underdeveloped nostalgia receptors.

If I had the sick grabber gene, I think that'd be going straight into my drawer of dusty miscellanea.

 

That bit where they show you the shiny, groovy tape surface

Almost instantly cancelled out by "and of course you get this big lump of plastic crystal to hang round your neck, and a certificate that tells everyone you fell for it"

 

I often get the urge to support plucky indie developers further to buying their games, like often after I've bought a game for 10, 15 quid or whatever, I'll be like "shit, this is worth so much more". I've bought copies for other people in the past, that's a good way of doing it. I kind of wish there was a tip jar feature on the steam/itch.io or developers web page.

Space moth was great but nobody bought it and idiots badmouthed it, but the team stuck with game dev and even the genre and the demo for their new game is fab and they've even got a publishing deal and are releasing on consoles and I'm gonna buy the plastic thing, alright? Don't judge me, I don't have to justify myself to you.

 

 

August 5th for the steam and switch release.

[ImmaculateClump]

Asked if Espgaluda 2 was coming to other consoles or pc.

 

Quote

Dear Fuckface, thank you for your inquiry.
I am the staff in charge of CAVE shooting games at Live Wire.

I will answer your question.

Currently, the content announced at Espgaluda 2 is only port development to Nintendo Switch.
We are also considering porting development to STEAM,
but when it is time to announce something, we will inform you via Twitter etc.

 

An official PC port would be the goodness!

I was playing it a few months back and the black label mode feels like a great way of learning the game, the bullets kind of politely slow down and sort of rub against you like friendly cats.

[phillv85]

I wish they’d redo Espgaluda 1 as well. 

[Marlew]

I asked them to bring Futari and DOJ and they said:

 

'We will make an effort to realize it.'

 

I'll take that as a yes.