TARGET FOR THE WEAK POINTS OF '8TH STG THREAD'. DO YOUR BEST YOU HAVE EVER DONE.

[Sapz]

WHY DON'T YOU TRY HARD?

Go!

On-topic: goddamn, DS2 arcade is a bitch to score properly in with Casper. :derp:

[Matsuri]

Eh? No Eight Forces quote?

I am disappointed, Sapz.

[Jana]

Deathsmilies 2 was fun, but I don't really get scoring mechanics in general. :\

[Aliquantic]

Three hours of sleep-deprived practice later, I can almost plausibly reach stage 6 in Guwange with a pretty drab 3 or 4 million... Not impressed  :blush:

Donut: I think Cave said they'd talk about Zatsusa around mid December, and I wouldn't be surprised if they made an announcement about DLCs at the same time too because I don't see any other reason for them to tease us so long in advance. Alternatively, maybe they're waiting for the DOJ BL patch to get released 

[Sapz]

Deathsmilies 2 was fun, but I don't really get scoring mechanics in general. :\

DS2's mechanics are pretty damn convoluted. You have to keep track of two seperate counters, use different shot types depending on which counter you need to raise and use the lock-shot to spawn a load of suicide bullets which then chase you around the screen for a while before you blow them up. Takes a little getting used to. :V

Aliquantic: Keep going! A small way into Stage 6 you can get all three lifebars back, which should see you most of the way through the stage if not most of the way through the boss, who gives a load of points for each form you destroy. If I remember right, the first two total up to something like 1.5m, so it's a nice score booster. :]

[Jaimers]

...I just now noticed I almost perfected Guwange-Sama in my 1cc run.
Got stupidly hit during the very last second.  :colonveeplusalpha:

[Aliquantic]

Aliquantic: Keep going! A small way into Stage 6 you can get all three lifebars back, which should see you most of the way through the stage if not most of the way through the boss, who gives a load of points for each form you destroy. If I remember right, the first two total up to something like 1.5m, so it's a nice score booster. :]

Haha, thanks I've been training a fair bit on stage 6 because of all those juicy health items, yes... I almost feel spoiled actually! Until that final attack in Arcade anyway... I didn't notice the point bonuses, though, so I guess my score isn't quite as bad as I was thinking.

Spoiler:

Is it just me or does Guwange-Sama look like an undead foetus? That's a... pretty interesting look.

[Erppo]

Goddamn Guwange. All my runs basically fall into one of two categories: either I make it to the final boss with really lousy score, or I chain the whole thing and game over somewhere like the start of stage 5.

If I didn't have the input file saved I'd refuse to believe I was actually able to clear this more than 6 months ago. I guess the game is just so unique that generic dodging skills won't help you as much as they do in most other games.

Edit: Watched Jaimers' 10M replay. I had no idea the game had so huge endgame bonuses. The score was 7M the moment the final boss died, so 2 bombs and one full lifebar must have earned 3M.

[ebarrett]

RAAAAAAAAAAA THAT FINAL ATTACK

Then again I'm doing fine vs the final boss, and not bad vs the final attack - it's the whole getting murdered by the carts thing that indirectly ruined three runs in a row.  :ohdear:

must resist urge to practice with savestates




edit:

Spoiler:

Is it just me or does Guwange-Sama look like an undead foetus? That's a... pretty interesting look.

Spoiler:

As far as I understand, it is the "newborn" child of the nun Amagisu, possessed by the demon-god Guwange four hundred years before the events in the game take place. Either way it looks like exactly what would come out of that.

[Erppo]

The carts are easy to pass safely with one bomb if you learn a good way to do it. I usually wait for them to enter at the left edge and then quickly kill the first two with my normal shot (not sure if this is possible if not using Kosame). Then I go sit in the bottom right corner until the bullets are just about to hit me and then bomb. If timed right, you should be safe if you are at the left edge when the bomb finishes. This way also has the added benefit of leaving two of those half extends floating around in case of screw ups in the next area.

[Jaimers]

Guwange Blue Arrange 1cc.

Honestly didn't found it that much harder, only took two attempts.

Sure the game is a bit harder and the first forms of the stage 5 and 6 boss's are a pain in the ass, but the final attack is much, much easier, evening it all out.

[Aliquantic]

Spoiler:

As far as I understand, it is the "newborn" child of the nun Amagisu, possessed by the demon-god Guwange four hundred years before the events in the game take place. Either way it looks like exactly what would come out of that.

Okay, thank you

Spoiler:

I wonder if that also explains the naked babies/children that are roaming around the demon plain on stage 6?

For those of you who have imported a JP 360 in Europe or the US, how bad was the custom duties sting? I'm looking into buying one in a few months and I'm debating whether to import it straight from Japan or through a reseller in the West.

[Aisha]

I live in Canada, but I don't remember ever being hit with customs duties when importing anything from Japan. Video games and related hardware are exempt from customs tariffs here due to most Asian countries being on our Most Favored Nations list. I also don't use private couriers like UPS and Fedex in order to avoid their horror story calibre fees; I just stick to the postal service or EMS. Strangely, I've never had to pay sales tax on anything I have imported either, and I haven't been able to figure out why.

I bought my J360 from NCSX, which is located in the US. I didn't have to pay a penny over what I was charged during checkout. Their J360s are about $100 more expensive than the ones listed at Play-Asia, but I reasoned that I'd end up paying about $100 in shipping anyway if I bought it from them, so there was no reason for me not to go with NCSX.

[Chaotic Phoenixma]

Just played a run of Futari Black label original.

No Miss No Bombed all the way to past stage 5's midboss and extend. Died with around 90,000 on the counter. Finished 2/3. Could have been 3/1, but 10 million * 2 * 3 obviously gives higher than 10 million * 3 * 1 so I suicided at the end.

536,109,591


I really need to figure out how to get much higher point items. I shoot as close as I can as much as I can but I still don't seem to get as much as I could be.

BTW, Futari Black Label may very well be my favorite Cave game from the ones I've played.

[Sapz]

Just played a run of Futari Black label original.

No Miss No Bombed all the way to past stage 5's midboss and extend. Died with around 90,000 on the counter. Finished 2/3. Could have been 3/1, but 10 million * 2 * 3 obviously gives higher than 10 million * 3 * 1 so I suicided at the end.

536,109,591


I really need to figure out how to get much higher point items. I shoot as close as I can as much as I can but I still don't seem to get as much as I could be.

BTW, Futari Black Label may very well be my favorite Cave game from the ones I've played.

Badass score! Are you point-blanking a lot? It's definitely the fastest way to up your counter... my current route has 110k by the fourth boss or so on the very, very rare occasion that I don't mess up, and that's still pretty sub-optimal. :V Futari BL is definitely one of my favourites too, all three modes are badass. Did you mess around with BL Maniac much?

[Chaotic Phoenixma]

Mostly Original and God. I should get BL Maniac 1cc done sometime though.

[Sapz]

Translated list of DOJBL patch changes from Cave-STG. They look pretty awesome for the most part... old replays not working though, while understandable, makes me very sad. That 240m run... ;_;

[Jaimers]

...brb seppuku

[DarkslimeZ]

Been struggling through Donpachi for the last couple weeks. Finally found MAME's savestate function in an earlier build, which means I can practice stage 4 without having to go through the first three now ;_;

That said, I've gotten a lot better at stage 4 since then. The boss is still tricky though.

[Aisha]

Apparently, Cave's idea of making the home version of Akai Katana easier is by adding more bullets. :V

..I still don't really understand just what is so bad about the game that Cave had to go as far as recalling unsold PCBs, making changes to the gameplay mechanics, and personally selling them to private buyers at a lower price.

[Aliquantic]

I don't think Akai Katana was supposed to be easier, actually... and according to Cave STG it will be arcade difficulty and a harder one. I'm hoping the slowdown is gone for good in that game, though, and it's not just a very flattering video... the arcade cabs seemed to have very intensive slowdown.

[Chaotic Phoenixma]

Why is Stage 4 of God mode so much easier than Stage 2?

I almost no miss no bombed stage 4 in training. Stage 2 kicks my ass all over the place.

[Jaimers]

Goddamn, that was stressfull.  @_@
Scoring in the first three stages and pure survival in the last two pretty much.  :V

I think the only Yagawa CAVE game left to do for now is Deathsmiles 2, but I don't have that one ATM and neither soon I'm afraid.

[Erppo]

Then there are the Ultras and all 2nd loops...

EDIT:
Hmm, tried to remember what I haven't done. Ignoring 2nd loops, console-only stuff and games without home ports/Mame-emulation:
ESP Ra.De. (for some reason I have never gotten around to trying this seriously)
Dangun Feveron (I just suck at it)
Espgaluda (I can't emulate it without some added slowdown so I haven't bothered)
Mushi Maniac and Ultra
Daioujou White Label (Haven't really touched this after I got BL)
Ibara
Futari 1.5 Maniac, Ultra and God (I have to do the Maniac some day. I should be perfectly able to do it.)
Espgaluda II (still on my to-do list, seems pretty possible though)
Deathsmiles II (I don't even own it)

I think that's all. There's still some work but seems that I have cleared way more than half!

[Zengeku]

I seriously need a controller to make playing Cave on Xbox possible. Standard outta-the-box controller simply lacks precision and common decency. I die on Stage 2 Original cause that thing doesn't work. 

But ehmm... that's not really why i'm here. I got curious about DDP DOJ Death Label, that boss rush for PS2. Has anyone actually beaten it? And is there a record of it around somewhere. I know that MON got close but i got in a conversation with a friend who get very sceptical about wether anyone have actually beaten the thing or not... and for once i wasn't able to supply with a clear. 

[Aliquantic]

I've only cleared Progear, DDP and DOJ Death Label with Shotia out of all Cave games I have access to (easy modes aside)  I was 0.7 second away from an Espgaluda clear, and Esprade should also be doable, but I feel like a weak point here!

MOM did clear Death Label a few months ago but it's not on video (you saw his 2-5 video, though, so it's very plausible the guy did it), and there's another guy who's supposed to have cleared it according to the PS2 rankings but his score is surprisingly high given how bad the loop is (what do you mean, no hypers?). It only took him seven years too! 

[Sapz]

I seriously need a controller to make playing Cave on Xbox possible. Standard outta-the-box controller simply lacks precision and common decency. I die on Stage 2 Original cause that thing doesn't work. 

Works well enough to 1cc God mode with.

Just give it time, you'll get used to it. There's also this if you're desperate, which helps a little bit, but honestly I have no complaints with it, it's what I use for playing exclusively. I like it much more than a keyboard, at any rate.  You'll be good with it in no time, it has all the precision you'll need... maybe not the 'common decency' given the fix linked, but eh. :V

But ehmm... that's not really why i'm here. I got curious about DDP DOJ Death Label, that boss rush for PS2. Has anyone actually beaten it? And is there a record of it around somewhere. I know that MON got close but i got in a conversation with a friend who get very sceptical about wether anyone have actually beaten the thing or not... and for once i wasn't able to supply with a clear. 

MON beat it recently, but he hasn't uploaded the clear yet. Seems like he's waiting for something. (edit: whoops, ninja'd by Aliquantic)

Jaimers: You mean non-Yagawa? :V

EDIT: GUYS HOLY SHIT LOOK AT THE AKAI KATANA HOME EDITION IT LOOKS SO DAMN COOL THIS BETTER BE AN AK 1.5 PROTOTYPE I SWEAR TO GOD

...The scoring system is much faster paced, there seems to be less slowdown, you have much less reflect gauge, there seems to be a Guwange-esque bullet slowdown on the option, and the reflected bullets have a very, very vicious curve as you see halfway through the vid. This is almost certainly a much better game, they'd be nuts not to release it properly.

[Jaimers]

I seriously need a controller to make playing Cave on Xbox possible. Standard outta-the-box controller simply lacks precision and common decency. I die on Stage 2 Original cause that thing doesn't work. 

Check if your TV has input lag first. That was one of the main gripes I had with control in the end.
The controller is fine, although mine had some issues with the right and up sensitivity. But I could fix it by scraping the edge around the d-pad a bit away, giving it more room.
Also, putting some ~~friction tape~~ on the d-pad to get more grip on the thing helps too.

Jaimers: You mean non-Yagawa? :V

Probably  :V

[ebarrett]

A small miracle happened a couple of seconds before I cleared Guwange yesterday:



seriously WTF

[Erppo]

Oh God that was awesome!

Things to do on a Friday night: Get slightly intoxicated, play DDP without sounds and have Dodonpachi Daiondo playing in the backround in an endless loop. Not a bad run either, first bomb at the middle of st5, first death at st5 boss. Would have been great, but I totally broke down at the final boss and died 3 times there. Ended loop with something like 58M, final score 74M at 2-3.