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Once in a while you need a break from long games. Instead, you want a bite-size experience, to whet your appetite, but not take up too much of your time. One way to scratch that itch is to play a caravan shooter. For the uninitiated, caravan shooters are short experiences, specifically timed, that give you the opportunity to shoot a bunch of enemies, obstacles, or targets, and score as many points as possible in a short time. Caravan scoring competitions began in Japan in the 1980's, particularly with Hudson shooting games, and many shmups since then have included caravan or time attack modes, specifically to give players a more condensed experience, and an opportunity to maximize high score, without having to learn the larger game.

While caravan shooters might not be as popular as they once were, there's still love for them in the scene. A more modern example is the homebrew Sega Master System game, Flight of Pigarus. Developed by Kagesan, and released in 2018, it's a free to download game ROM where you control a flying pig, and shoot everything that moves, and everything that doesn't! The game has both 2 minute, and 5 minute modes, and gives players that short burst of gameplay that sometimes fits the bill. The game is free to download via SMS Power (https://www.smspower.org/Homebrew/FlightOfPigarus-SMS), and is playable via emulators, most Sega Genesis and Master System flash carts, and FPGA devices like the MiSTer. Join the RF Generation Shmup Club in December 2020, as we play Flight of Pigarus!

Keep in mind, the game was designed to run at 50Hz, like classic PAL games, so if you have the ability to set your emulator/console/device to use that, it may be best to do so.

Participants:
MetalFRO
Addicted
zoydo
cork

Oh, and for those interested, the game is apparently getting a physical release, as well! It won't ship until January, but if you play it, and like it, it may be worth investing in a copy.

https://www.2minds.fr/en/sega-master-system/flight-of-pigarus-23.html (https://www.2minds.fr/en/sega-master-system/flight-of-pigarus-23.html)

Cool, i always wanted to check it out since it's release. But never did. Sign me up.

Ok, I got it up and running. Ha! It has a time limit! Well, I'll be able to get a lot of runs in then.

 Happy blasting everyone! :guncannon:

Think i found the secret bonuses in 2min mode, still figuring out in 5 min.

2min - 34.140pts:
https://youtu.be/zXx3up8yXmY

5min - 91.180pts:
https://youtu.be/vYdGjT4-nWw

I see. Nice job Zoydo! I was playing 2 min mode and thought there was somewhat of a max possible score. Those secret bonuses spice things up!
 

Great work, zoydo! I'll have to scope these, and see what it is I can do to raise my score. I certainly have a bit to go to catch up to your 2 minute mode score, as you'll be able to see with my best run from tonight.

Here's my progress so far.

I'll have to find some more scoring in the 2 min game somewhere or find more secret bonuses. 

Didn't beat the 2nd boss in the 5 min game so I know what to do better there.

Good scores! I was gonna post last night's best from me, but given that you've both already surpassed it, I'll hold off, and see if I can up the stakes a bit :D

Good job, guys! :)

Forgot to post last night's high scores - I got better in the 2 minute mode, and managed to secure the 5K mid-boss bonus a few times, and also tried my hand at the 5 minute mode, and did okay in that. One thing I noticed is that if you're really aggressive in taking out enemies waves as they come on screen, future waves will continue to come sooner, so you can kind of throw off your rhythm if you get too specific about it. On the other hand, that also means you can trigger additional waves that wouldn't otherwise show up, which is more chances to score points, so there's definitely a risk/reward element to being a lot more aggressive.

New PB in 5 minute mode! I finally managed to take out the 2nd boss. There was some speculation, as to whether or not it's possible to track 100K in that mode. I think maybe, if you're ultra aggressive, getting all gems, all ground targets, and all secret bonuses, but that might still be pushing it.

I'm jumping in a little late, but this is a perfect fit for the type of game I was looking for to close the year. Mostly trying the 2 min mode for now, will move on to 5 min once I feel like I know what I'm doing. That 2 min Zoydo score is a great carrot in front of me though.

So for now my 2 min score is at 28,890 !

Good early score, FauxMacho! Make sure you watch zoydo's 2 minute video, to see the secret bonuses, because that will help you get there :)

New PB for me on the 5-minute mode tonight. Did anyone else notice the Space Invaders homage in the 5-minute mode?

Upped my 5 minute PB again! I'm beginning to see how you reached the score you did,  zoydo. Seems like you have really well optimized the 5 minute mode quite well.

Anyone have thoughts to share about Flight of Pigarus to close out the month?

I just able to get 2min score a touch better at 29,530 and got a 5min time of 65,230.
I was never able to off the 5 min final boss but I did get close.

I'm never played much of any caravan shooter but this was really fun so I hope there's one in the future of the club. The game's visuals were really great, really sharp looking for a Master System game. Health and power being tied together was a great choice too. I found myself restarting less than I might usually when aiming for a high score because it was fairly easy to rebound from an early mistake. I like playing with trying to defeat waves asap since the next immediately spawns, but it all seemed to average out in the end for me. I'm not sure exactly how that worked, would the bosses always spawn at the same time, but if you played fast you could get a few more waves and points in?

The one small complaint I have is the sound effect when you take a hit is very slight, specially if you are hitting enemies at the same time. It would take me an extra moment to notice I got depowered and then I was maybe missing the next powerup. Oh and I wish I read the manual sooner because it took me too long to learn about the speed toggle button.

Like every other game ever made, PUT THIS ON THE SWITCH!