Author Topic: Ask a Staffer Ep. 21 - Sapz  (Read 43327 times)

Sapz

  • There's no escape.
  • *
  • It's time to burn!
Ask a Staffer Ep. 21 - Sapz
« on: July 07, 2011, 05:26:11 PM »
Sorry about the delays, things didn't go as planned. :V Anywho, you guys know the drill by now. Go nuts with the questions!
Let's fight.

theshirn

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Re: Ask a Staffer Ep. 21 - Sapz
« Reply #1 on: July 07, 2011, 05:26:50 PM »
Why don't YOU try hard? >:(

[09:46] <theshim|work> there is nothing like working for a real estate company to make one contemplate arson

Pesco

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Re: Ask a Staffer Ep. 21 - Sapz
« Reply #2 on: July 07, 2011, 05:33:05 PM »
You spaz?

Rin Kagamine

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Re: Ask a Staffer Ep. 21 - Sapz
« Reply #3 on: July 07, 2011, 06:04:13 PM »
What's the deal with Nue?

Re: Ask a Staffer Ep. 21 - Sapz
« Reply #4 on: July 07, 2011, 06:28:32 PM »
How would you advise I practice DDP in order to improve? Simply trying full runs over and over doesn't seem to get me very far.

There is a special challenge path in Kingdom of Loathing called "Bees Hate You". How do you feel about this?

Other than updating high score threads, what is your jurisdiction as an Acolyte?

Iryan

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Re: Ask a Staffer Ep. 21 - Sapz
« Reply #5 on: July 07, 2011, 06:35:50 PM »
What was your biggest achievement in life so far?

What is the worst shmup you have ever played, design-wise?

Stumbled upon any Finntroll-esque Touhou arranges yet?
Old Danmakufu stuff can be found here!

"As the size of an explosion increases, the numbers of social situations it is incapable of solving approaches zero."

Edible

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Re: Ask a Staffer Ep. 21 - Sapz
« Reply #6 on: July 07, 2011, 06:44:42 PM »
Are you, in fact, covered in bees?

Silent Harmony

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Re: Ask a Staffer Ep. 21 - Sapz
« Reply #7 on: July 07, 2011, 07:26:51 PM »
>"ARE YOU READY?"

>How much time a day, on average, do you practice shmups?
>I remember you calling DOJBL "the best thing ever" or something similar. If that's the case then what is your 2nd favorite shmup?
>If the former answer is not a Touhou game, which Touhou game is the best in the series (not counting 10D because it's not done)?
>What is your favorite shmup theme?

>What's your favorite tea?

1CC List (all shmups)
League of Legends / Battle.net: Harmony11(#1694)

Tamashii Kanjou

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Re: Ask a Staffer Ep. 21 - Sapz
« Reply #8 on: July 07, 2011, 07:40:02 PM »
Obligatory how did you find MotK?
Obligatory how did you become a staff member?
Obligatory what DO you do here as staff?

And now for something completely different...

You spend the day with your 3 of your favourite characters from Gensokyo. How do you spend the day? Explain!

Sapz

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Re: Ask a Staffer Ep. 21 - Sapz
« Reply #9 on: July 07, 2011, 07:42:43 PM »
Why don't YOU try hard? >:(
Well, I could, but where's the fun in that? :D
You spaz?
Very much so.
What's the deal with Nue?
Quite a few things, actually. I was a lot more concerned with the storyline/fandom side of things back when UFO was first released, and I'd made an effort not to have anything spoiled for once. None of the characters had really stood out to me much until playing Extra, and seeing Nue was a little '...what the hell is that?!' After reading translations she came across as very intelligent, manipulating and tricking everyone else into going on wild goose chases and pretty much orchestrating the whole of UFO just for kicks, which was hilarious and awesome.

Aside from that, her stage and spellcards make for my favourite Touhou Extra, a ton of the cards are really cool and seem less gimmicky compared to most other Extra stages, which was nice. And, er, of course, the delicious zettai ryouiki doesn't hurt, either. :V
How would you advise I practice DDP in order to improve? Simply trying full runs over and over doesn't seem to get me very far.
Full runs are, to put it bluntly, the least efficient kind of practice you could be doing. What you want to do is to make a savestate at the beginning of each stage, and then go through each one using those until you can do each of them... without dying, say, or some other similar arbitrary goal. If you find a spot that consistently gives you trouble, make a savestate before that point and practice that, trying various strategies, until you find something that works for you. It's also an excellent idea to watch mid or high level replays depending on how far you plan on taking it (where mid-level is someone getting a little way into the second loop and high level is something like Prometheus' 500m+ 2-ALL replays) - don't be ashamed to pinch strategies from these guys, they know what they're doing and it's usually better than what you're doing. :V

If you're serious about the goal, you'll also want to play daily even if it's just a single credit or run through a stage for a few minutes - you'll get rusty otherwise. Keep at it!
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There is a special challenge path in Kingdom of Loathing called "Bees Hate You". How do you feel about this?
I feel it pretty much goes without saying.
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Other than updating high score threads, what is your jurisdiction as an Acolyte?
Aside from that, the main thing is running the weekly shmup tournaments - alternating a Touhou tournament and a general STG tournament each week. It's really nice to see more interested players join and improve. On the rare occasion that something's off in HME, I'll also try to solve that.
What was your biggest achievement in life so far?
Hmm... I guess I'd have to say keeping up with maths and getting into a good university to study it. It's a pretty ordinary thing, I suppose, but I like it and was damn pleased when the work to get in paid off.
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What is the worst shmup you have ever played, design-wise?
Ahaha, oh man, this might take a while. In terms of straight-up badness, the one that springs to mind is Xexex. It actually has some pretty cool concepts/features, and there are quite a few people that like it a lot, but it just pisses me off so much. Almost all of the weapons are useless, the tentacle pod is incredibly stupid, the stage design is... questionable (what the hell is up with stage 2?) and that goddamn first boss shrapnel is pretty much the most annoying thing ever.

Another one to point out is Dimahoo. It has the greatest intro clip ever created, but the scoring system is a mess. You essentially have a charge shot and depending on how long you charge it up, a meter fills up determining what level of item a certain enemy will drop and if you get all the items in a set you get a multiplier, and there's a polarity system aside from that and... really, I have no idea. Give this a watch if you want a look.

The flat-out silliest, though, has got to be Battle Bakraid. I'm sure a few of you have heard me go on about how cool Battle Garegga, a game infamous for its crazy rank which forces you to die a lot if you want to actually have a chance of winning, is - this is pretty much an extension of that. What we have in this game is death-chaining and bomb-chaining! I won't go into details, but it should suffice to say that the world record run has over sixty deaths, and that seeing the game literally rain lives on you after a ridiculous multi-suicide chain is completely hilarious.
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Stumbled upon any Finntroll-esque Touhou arranges yet?
Not yet, sadly. :(
Are you, in fact, covered in bees?
Naturally. To tell the truth, I don't ever touch the keyboard myself; I dictate and have the bees do the actual typing.
>"ARE YOU READY?"
YOUR MISSION STARTS NOW!
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>How much time a day, on average, do you practice shmups?
It depends how busy I am, and some days I don't play at all, but if left to my devices I could easily find myself playing for hours on end. Generally, I try to get at least an hour or two in daily (this is more likely if I'm actively working towards a goal at the time).
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>I remember you calling DOJBL "the best thing ever" or something similar. If that's the case then what is your 2nd favorite shmup?
Right now, I couldn't really settle on a #1 favourite - it's a three-way tossup between Dai-Ou-Jou Black Label, Ketsui, and Mushihimesama Futari 1.5.
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>If the former answer is not a Touhou game, which Touhou game is the best in the series (not counting 10D because it's not done)?
As much as I think UFO is the best game in the series so far, my actual favourite is EoSD. It's where I got my start with shmups and I still find it a lot of fun to just play a credit of every so often.
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>What is your favorite shmup theme?
NO REMORSE, the original version. It's such a cool theme. The timing is great - it starts out as a much more intense, speedy version of the final boss theme, and then Ketsui's main theme kicks in just as Doom's final phase begins. Most people seem to prefer one of the newer remixes of it, either from the 360 port or Ketsuipachi, but for me you can't beat the raw intensity of the original.
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>What's your favorite tea?
Really, I'm not that knowledgeable about it - usually I'll just go with milk tea.

Okay, I'll post this wall now and continue with the questions in a bit before this post gets unmanageable. :V
« Last Edit: July 07, 2011, 07:45:07 PM by Sapz »
Let's fight.

nintendonut888

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Re: Ask a Staffer Ep. 21 - Sapz
« Reply #10 on: July 07, 2011, 07:58:32 PM »
Are you mad that this makes you have to go back and edit your post you were making before I posted this?

Where do you get your kicks?

What is your favorite era in history, and how would you want a shmup to take place there?

About that game you complained about earlier, do you feel the awesome intro cheated you? Do you feel as though you were nickle and dimahoo'd?
nintendonut888: Hey Baity. I beat the high score for Sanae B hard on the score.dat you sent me. X3
Baity: For a moment, I thought you broke 1.1billion. Upon looking at my score.dat, I can assume that you destroyed the score that is my failed (first!) 1cc attempt on my first day of playing. Congratulations.

[19:42] <Sapz> I think that's the only time I've ever seen a suicide bullet shoot its own suicide bullet

theshirn

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Re: Ask a Staffer Ep. 21 - Sapz
« Reply #11 on: July 07, 2011, 08:05:16 PM »
Another one to point out is Dimahoo. It has the greatest intro clip ever created, but the scoring system is a mess. You essentially have a charge shot and depending on how long you charge it up, a meter fills up determining what level of item a certain enemy will drop and if you get all the items in a set you get a multiplier, and there's a polarity system aside from that and... really, I have no idea. Give this a watch if you want a look.
I confess disappointment that it wasn't my clip. :getdown:

And, because I've been waiting since my week to ask this:

Are you an Englishman in New York?

[09:46] <theshim|work> there is nothing like working for a real estate company to make one contemplate arson

Iryan

  • Ph?nglui mglw?nafh
  • Cat R?lyeh wgah?nagl fhtagn.
Re: Ask a Staffer Ep. 21 - Sapz
« Reply #12 on: July 07, 2011, 08:12:22 PM »
Why should we vote for you becoming president?

I confess disappointment that it wasn't my clip. :getdown:
My thoughts exactly.
Quote
Are you an Englishman in New York?
Wooooo~, I'm an Alien
I'm a Heian Alien
I'm a youkai girl in New York~
« Last Edit: July 07, 2011, 08:48:55 PM by Iryan »
Old Danmakufu stuff can be found here!

"As the size of an explosion increases, the numbers of social situations it is incapable of solving approaches zero."

Re: Ask a Staffer Ep. 21 - Sapz
« Reply #13 on: July 07, 2011, 08:46:30 PM »
thoughts on the news of the world phone hacking scandal?

(tl;dr explanation for those who don't understand the q)

Zengar Zombolt

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Re: Ask a Staffer Ep. 21 - Sapz
« Reply #14 on: July 07, 2011, 09:19:26 PM »
Expectations for STGT?
Expectations for RL?
INSTANT BRAIN?

Mimachiro

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Re: Ask a Staffer Ep. 21 - Sapz
« Reply #15 on: July 07, 2011, 09:38:41 PM »
How did you get into Touhou?

Are you actually a bee youkai?

What do you do for a living these days?

"I don't have anything against you, but I hope you're ready to die a dog's death!
Oh, don't worry, that cat will carry off your body, so you'll be able to live in our place!"

Re: Ask a Staffer Ep. 21 - Sapz
« Reply #16 on: July 07, 2011, 09:54:14 PM »
Chances of TiH taking #1 at stgt?

theshirn

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Re: Ask a Staffer Ep. 21 - Sapz
« Reply #17 on: July 07, 2011, 10:29:49 PM »
NAUT >:( ?

[09:46] <theshim|work> there is nothing like working for a real estate company to make one contemplate arson

Fetch()tirade

  • serial time-waster
Re: Ask a Staffer Ep. 21 - Sapz
« Reply #18 on: July 08, 2011, 12:41:59 AM »
Who is your most important person? (does not have to be named specifically)
Rate your life on a scale of table salt to red velvet cake.
What is the most delicious food you have ever eaten?
Would you prefer bionic or magical augmentation?
How do you feel about Justin Bieber?

Re: Ask a Staffer Ep. 21 - Sapz
« Reply #19 on: July 08, 2011, 12:47:53 AM »
what sports, if any, are you into?

theshirn

  • THE LAWS OF THE FIESTA MEAN NOTHING
  • *
    • Wisdom is Not a Dump Stat
Re: Ask a Staffer Ep. 21 - Sapz
« Reply #20 on: July 08, 2011, 01:00:27 AM »
SAPZ GO TO BED

[09:46] <theshim|work> there is nothing like working for a real estate company to make one contemplate arson

Re: Ask a Staffer Ep. 21 - Sapz
« Reply #21 on: July 08, 2011, 01:03:20 AM »
"* Kuruminut is KIX'D 8D" ?

When playing UFO, do you most often go for red, green, blue, or rainbow?

Do you do Danmakufu?

Re: Ask a Staffer Ep. 21 - Sapz
« Reply #22 on: July 08, 2011, 02:28:16 AM »
Other than (Do)donpachi, why bees?

E-Nazrin

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Re: Ask a Staffer Ep. 21 - Sapz
« Reply #23 on: July 08, 2011, 05:23:20 AM »
Is the yellow or black more important?

What makes shumps fun to you?
There was something here once. Wonder what...

Sapz

  • There's no escape.
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Re: Ask a Staffer Ep. 21 - Sapz
« Reply #24 on: July 08, 2011, 04:37:56 PM »
Obligatory how did you find MotK?
I followed Donut here from GameFAQs, to cut a (somewhat) long story short. I'd pretty much been using his threads on EoSD's message boards as my sole point of contact with other Touhou fans before that, so MotK was a nice discovery.
Quote
Obligatory how did you become a staff member?
A little after Matsuri stopped making the SotW after STGT '10 (I think), I spoke to him about it and we decided that I'd get it back up and running. I got Janitor primarily for that kind of thing, as well as keeping scoreboards in check, and after lgb left I got the HME mod position, and here we are today.
Quote
Obligatory what DO you do here as staff?
See previous post!
Quote
And now for something completely different...

You spend the day with your 3 of your favourite characters from Gensokyo. How do you spend the day? Explain!
Hm... for some reason, regardless of how I think about it, I can't imagine a day out with Nue, Remilia and... probably Youmu turn out to be anything other than absolute carnage. :V
Are you mad that this makes you have to go back and edit your post you were making before I posted this?
This seems to have backfired. 8)
Quote
Where do you get your kicks?
They're all homemade!
Quote
What is your favorite era in history, and how would you want a shmup to take place there?
Probably ancient Greece, that always seemed like a really cool period to me. You could easily make a shmup out of the mythology, whether it was something canon or just a free-for-all between the Gods.
Quote
About that game you complained about earlier, do you feel the awesome intro cheated you? Do you feel as though you were nickle and dimahoo'd?
* Sapz kicks Donut
I confess disappointment that it wasn't my clip. :getdown:

And, because I've been waiting since my week to ask this:

Are you an Englishman in New York?
Har har. Maybe one day. Right now, I'm an Englishman in New Malden.
Why should we vote for you becoming president?
I pledge to raise awareness for both shmups and metal, and abolish vegetables.
thoughts on the news of the world phone hacking scandal?

(tl;dr explanation for those who don't understand the q)
Well, obviously it's a terrible thing for people to do since it's a huge invasion of privacy, but no particular feelings beyond that; I must admit I haven't been following the story very closely.
Expectations for STGT?
Top 5 for sure, 2nd or 3rd as a goal. 1st is... somewhat unlikely. I'll be disappointed if we're below 5th, we have an extremely strong team this time around.
Quote
Expectations for RL?
Beyond continuing uni... not much right now, honestly. I'm hunting for a summer job, but that's not gone well so far. :(
Quote
INSTANT BRAIN?
INSTANT BRAIN!
How did you get into Touhou?
I actually first saw a friend playing IaMP; it seemed completely bizarre how many projectiles and the like were going everywhere, almost like a puzzle game rather than a fighter for some of the spell cards. I got hooked after trying EoSD, working on a Normal 1cc (with max lives) and then an Extra clear.[/quote]
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Are you actually a bee youkai?
I'll leave that up to your imagination.
Quote
What do you do for a living these days?
See previous post. Right now I'm living with my parents since uni is over for the year, and hunting for a part-time job, but no luck so far.
Chances of TiH taking #1 at stgt?
100%, obviously.

...Slim, but I wouldn't call it impossible. We don't really have a sikraiken (though .ASP comes close), and we have a lot less experience as a whole compared to the cowboys, but I think our members are at least close to most of them in most games. We'll see how it goes.
NAUT >:( ?
NAUT :D !
Who is your most important person? (does not have to be named specifically)
Eh, I can't really pick a single person. Probably my few really good friends from school.
Quote
Rate your life on a scale of table salt to red velvet cake.
Hm... I'd say it's around cheese on toast.
Quote
What is the most delicious food you have ever eaten?
Pizza in Malta. I don't know why, but it is always, ALWAYS the best thing I've ever eaten, and puts any pizza I've ever had here to shame.
Quote
Would you prefer bionic or magical augmentation?
Magical for sure. So many more possibilities, and so many things that could go wrong with bionic.
Quote
How do you feel about Justin Bieber?
This is pretty cool.
what sports, if any, are you into?
I used to be really into karate. Other than that, not much, I'm not a big sports fan.
SAPZ GO TO BED
The night is still young!
"* Kuruminut is KIX'D 8D" ?
It's kind of a running gag. :V
Quote
When playing UFO, do you most often go for red, green, blue, or rainbow?
Well, I haven't played it seriously in over a year, but I remember by strategy was reds for the first three stages, and greens for the latter three.
Quote
Do you do Danmakufu?
Nope. I'm interested in creating patterns to dodge, but I know that even if I learned how, I'd still probably never get around to actually making them. I have a terrible procrastination habit.
Other than (Do)donpachi, why bees?
That is pretty much it, really. Honestly, I have no idea how it became such a big thing - I thought DDP was the coolest game ever for half a year or so, and suddenly I'm 'that bee guy'. :V
Is the yellow or black more important?
Yellow, definitely.
Quote
What makes shumps fun to you?
Originally I was in it for the cool patterns, since that's one of Touhou's strengths, and the challenge, which was unlike anything I'd seen to that point. These days it's the challenge, the non-stop intensity and excitement of a good scoring run, and competition. There's nothing as satisfying as studying a game, planning the run, pushing it as high as you can go with it, practicing hard, and finally getting that one perfect run and beating everyone else. Improving a score for its own sake is fun of course, but I find I'm much more motivated when I'm actively trying to beat other people.
Let's fight.

theshirn

  • THE LAWS OF THE FIESTA MEAN NOTHING
  • *
    • Wisdom is Not a Dump Stat
Re: Ask a Staffer Ep. 21 - Sapz
« Reply #25 on: July 08, 2011, 05:19:02 PM »
Why can't I get any of your perfect runs if I sink equally ridiculous amounts of time into these games?

Where are the snowdens of yesteryear?

If we were to hang out, what would you want to do?

If we were to hang out, how would you avoid me killing you first?

[09:46] <theshim|work> there is nothing like working for a real estate company to make one contemplate arson

Pesco

  • Trickster Rabbit Tewi
  • *
  • Make a yukkuri and take it easy with me
Re: Ask a Staffer Ep. 21 - Sapz
« Reply #26 on: July 08, 2011, 06:25:16 PM »
Are you lunatic enough to do a run of any game (any difficulty as well) blindfolded?

Reddyne

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Re: Ask a Staffer Ep. 21 - Sapz
« Reply #27 on: July 08, 2011, 11:05:16 PM »
How well do you know your shmups? Enough to identify a game from my adolescence whose name I forgot?

What shmups would you recommend to someone who's only played a few and has only mediocre dodging skills?

What's your theme song?

TA-DAAAAAAA! 61 blood donations and counting! 
Best Mile: 5:30
Best 5k: 18:07
Best Marathon: 3:23:16

FinnKaenbyou

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Re: Ask a Staffer Ep. 21 - Sapz
« Reply #28 on: July 08, 2011, 11:13:42 PM »
I'm having trouble winning over the ladies. I think I need to learn how to speak with a manly English voice like yours. Do you offer tuition?

theshirn

  • THE LAWS OF THE FIESTA MEAN NOTHING
  • *
    • Wisdom is Not a Dump Stat
Re: Ask a Staffer Ep. 21 - Sapz
« Reply #29 on: July 08, 2011, 11:40:03 PM »
You have previously stated in the attached file that you do not have a British accent.  What do you say about this now?

[09:46] <theshim|work> there is nothing like working for a real estate company to make one contemplate arson