Easy - B1
Heartbeam - 30,357,630 - C - 0.120% -
ReplayEasy - B2
Heartbeam - 35,021,850 - C - 0.110% -
ReplayEasy - C1
Heartbeam - 32,217,330 - C - 0.060% -
ReplayEasy - C2
Heartbeam - 37,003,890 - C - 0.260% - ReplayThoughts about these remain in the
shmups forum.
Hard - C2
Heartbeam - 61,634,960 - C - 0.110% -
ReplayJust because. Not on Easy so of course it's going to be a stupid run. About an hour ago I picked up Yyk's C2 replay and thought
Hey! This doesn't look so bad so maybe I'll give it a try on Hard. How about a ballpark estimate of 67M. The other ancient entries outside of the A route would probably go down without much trouble, but it'll be a waste of time as the succeeding runs won't be impressive and just as susceptible to being beat out if someone else cared enough to play the difficulty. I might invest some time into C2 Hard...sort of doubt it right now.
The previous post was supposed to be finished? I'll put it off again.
Easy - C2
Heartbeam - 37,633,940 - C - 0.050% -
ReplayHow does the 38M target look? Better than before when I thought the entire run would be hinged on the outcome of Luna Child's opener and her Wall Break (2nd spell). And to a much lesser extent her first spell, but it's about normal to get high and low numbers of 70K (sometimes 110K+) to 20K in any given run. It still is, mostly, but at least I can raise the score in other places and make the 38M run come around that much earlier. Too often I'm ending the stage with 11.2M and less when the run barely touching 37M did 11.5M. Based on everything I've seen you could enter stage three with 12M.
When I come back to it, which should be in a few days again because I feel apathetic towards these games right now, I'll no longer be able to make myself ignore studying the stage. Third one in particular. There's too much fluctuation in the stage of about 150K, and one particular spell and noncard bring to question whether or not I should freeze early for almost twice the value, but deal plenty of extra damage to the bosses. A balance needs to be worked out, probably more suiciding for the noncard.
A bomb was transferred out of the stage, costing roughly 200K but...where did I use that bomb? The important part is being able to freeze one of the massive yellow waves for bomb stock and making it feasible to reach 1000% motivation while bombing the usual spots, but the benefit from moving the bomb, and the performance of this run with a stage two score of 11.4M...something doesn't add up. Barely froze enough bullets to bomb the final spell three times, and I had to shoot down one of the side fairies before the final bomb finished for fear of it ending the spell (which it did, maybe with some help from the icicles). So a side note that everything will count and I should freeze Ice Dissolver (second endstage spell) while shooting it down, and possibly during Fairy Overdrive when I can't reach them that well. Bombing the massive yellow wave needs to be copied carefully. Watch a run that worked better than usual, do everything. Count the waves of bullets spawning.
(/note: My mind always associates the word "Route" with Visual Novels before anything else, even if it's not the topic at hand (e.g. talk of Routes in 12.8, i.e. this). Jokes about the "Lily White and Black Route"'s have been made far too often IRL when I'm talking with my special friend, not that it's a bad thing)
That would basically sum it up.
Oh, even something like "A1 Route"? I've had it creep up on me while writing up comments for PCB stage four and its boss battle, but I can't of an alternative as short and convenient as that. Everything else sounds off, but "route" is fine if the mind isn't already influenced by other things. Out of the very few VNs I've played, I can't remember the last time I touched one...I'd like to try out Umineko soon.
Oh yeah! So, after making
this post and thinking I should find a better input device, I began with a key remapper. Nothing worked without jamming except for the numbers (at least bringing up the menu is convenient) and I tried that out for a while. The directional keys on the laptop were very good, or I wanted to think they were, and I stayed with it until the keys locked up on me anyway and acted as though they were pressed down. Happened on and off, regularly, no clue as to what I actions I should take.
Next up, bought a Razer Lycosa. I wanted a regular one but the store I looked up and went to only had the mirror edition in stock. I couldn't test the keys on the spot, but other keyboards were on display so I went around and fiddled with them. A sales associate whose help I turned down when first arriving at the aisle approached me again 20 minutes later, making light of the fact that I'm still here. In a nice lighthearted way. He really was a genuinely nice person, and after opening the box to let me try the keys I couldn't say I didn't want them. Didn't test them that long to be certain of the purchase, but I'm already nervous enough from being in social contact for that short period.
I tried it for a few days and decided it wasn't for me. If you like quiet keys then have a look at these, but I could never be sure when I made contact. I need that defining click. Took some
pictures before returning it because it looks nice. Now the latest version of the SpeedPad, the n52te, was on display when I checked at a later date, and functioned quite well. These games aren't important enough for me to be in a hurry to try it out, but there's a full refund if returned within two weeks. And how long ago did I see this? There's only my shyness stopping me from going out and buying it.
Another day when dropping by the store I saw several the Deathsmiles Limited Edition on sale. Not wanting to be seen near the game for too long I picked out a case in the middle, glanced at it to assess the damage, and made the purchase. I return home to see there's two creases on the corners, damn it. They were still selling several copies a few days ago. Hmm...
I've yet to play it.
Finally, while testing with the Razer Lycosa I thought of using the arrow keys on the laptop while the keyboard handled everything else, just to see how much better the keys are. Then I realize I'm an idiot for not doing the same with the SpeedPad, and that's the setup I'm currently using. I know there's much better out there, but no rush.
Now I've uploaded a raw video recorded about two months ago, partially to show the setup (and you can't even see the whole thing), more because of an inspiration from a certain someone. Putting it up because there's not enough of its type but I'm not going to fix it, because I'm going to do it right in the distant future, because I think it's beyond repair because of that huge damn glare on the screen. And I guess I should have tested somewhere other than the menu, like running the game a few times so I'd know it would happen. I'm technologically impaired and don't have the slightest clue about properly setting up. Using a camera, attach it to a study lamp where my head would be so I have to look at the screen from the side. I don't even have it on a desk normally; the laptop is usually sitting on the floor. The neck of the lamp blocks the screen so it's a little difficult to make small adjustments. Don't know how to work with the focus while recording so if the camera itself adjusts the lighting for the screen to look decent then you can't see the keys, which is why I had to turn the lights (not the lamp) on.
Anyway,
here if anyone is ever curious about the setup. It's only PCB stage three (as if I would play anything else). I'd enjoy seeing it from other people, preferably more than just a picture.
