Shmup of the Month Club 2014 (Completed)

[DocHauser]

As for the auto-fire thing, you lot are obsessed with auto-fire! There isn't even an option to turn it on or off! Talk about creating a debate where none exists...

[mjmjr25]

mjmjr25 - 808,930 - white ship - auto-fire on - left thumb on analog toggle - right thumb and pointer finger on b and y respectiviley - 32" LG LCD - two kids asking for a different movie on, one wife calling for soap in the shower - one friend on steam chat pinging me that he's proud of me - STEAM (PC)

[ExedExes]

As for the auto-fire thing, you lot are obsessed with auto-fire! There isn't even an option to turn it on or off! Talk about creating a debate where none exists...

It seems to be a bit of tradition in the ExedExes age of things.

But this is this month's TR too -- no excuses not to play!

I'll go with what the shmups forum has to say, and I'll do 2 tables. That's no work at all, really. Keep the scores coming.

[dsheinem]

white ship - auto-fire on - left thumb on analog toggle - right thumb and pointer finger on b and y respectiviley - 32" LG LCD - two kids asking for a different movie on, one wife calling for soap in the shower - one friend on steam chat pinging me that he's proud of me

[skate323k137]

There's a ship option on steam? This is new to me... I've only played arcade/dc/gcn versions which are one default ship.

Auto-fire is a moot point on this, I don't even think it's an option to turn it off (at least on the arcade and dc/gc ports)

Anyway holy crap, nice score Mike. Level 4 destroys me on normal, I can no-miss up till level 4 then I'm toast.

[Ivo]

There's a ship option on steam? This is new to me...

I'm pretty sure Mike was joking with the "white ship" thing, I mean read the rest of that post...

[DocHauser]

There is a ship option on Steam; I think it's basically just a choice between the Player 1 or Player 2 ship.

[DocHauser]

NullDC is fired up and everything seems to be running fine, so this'll do for a first credit...



DocHauser - 4,835,600 - Stage 3 - Max 94 Chain - Normal - DC

Can't remember what my old high score in Normal was; I think I could make it to the Stage 4 boss at least.

[ChrisHaha2049]

I think someone needs to look at that shmups forum topic again... Their first table is:

Normal Arcade/DC/GC/PC

Doesn't PC=Steam? Besides, the 8th post is where the TC says he's including the Steam scores with the DC and GCN since the consensus is that scoring is faithful to the original.

Nobody objected, so... They separate ONLY the XBLA version...

I don't have the PC version or XBLA, but I put 100+ hours each into both the GCN and DC. They are indeed exactly the same. The Gamecube's graphics and sound just aren't as pretty. However, I do recall there was a minor issue with the PAL Gamecube version regarding lasers not targeting the chapter 1 boss. So if that's someone's only version, I guess that person's SOL...

So:
Normal Arcade/DC/GC/PC
Normal XBLA


As for autofire, this might be confusing, but... I do recalled hearing about some arcade cabs having a separate fire button rigged for auto-"rapid single taps" to produce a single stream of bullets. This is different from the normal autofire that is already built into the game.

The 'normal' autofire designed into the game produces a double stream of bullets:

||
||
||
/^\

A single tap of the button produces a single bullet...

|
/^\

Therefore a series of rapid single taps thus produces a single stream...

|
|
|
/^\

So what's the big deal about the single stream?...Nothing for most players. It just makes getting some very difficult chains a little easier. Particularly at the end of chapter 1, and only if you get 6 'bonus' rows of little enemies there (not easy to get in the 1st place). And the 'chase' part of chapter 3. Having the auto-rapid taps is potentially more advantageous, but not absolutely necessary either. Those chains are still possible with the double stream. So unless you're expecting to get 134 max chain in chapter 1, and/or 250+ in chapter 3, the double stream will do just fine.

Anyway, bottom line: Autofire is part of the game's design. Holding the button down is the ONLY way to get a double stream of bullets. Rapid taps, no matter how fast, will only produce a bunch of single shots. There are NO options for auto-single stream, auto-double stream, single-double auto butt wiping, whatever. As I understood it, this is solely an arcade cabinet mod. That is all. Trust me.

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Ship option: There is a sort-of ship option on the DC and GC versions too. Just plug in 2 controllers and start the game with player 2's controller to be the player 2 ship...

[dunpeal2064]

If we are going to care about autofire (we shouldn't), then we should also pull the PC port out for having different slowdown (according to Errpo, who is nearing 30m in the game and has been playing both versions enough to note a difference).

But, who is going to bust 30m honestly. The XBLA port is obviously fudged in scoring potential, but the rest should just be fine to throw on a board.

Less autofire talk, more chaining!