December Shmup Competition Thread

[singlebanana]

What is it that makes Aguira so menacing?  Perhaps it's the beauty, complete look of innocence, and just a little bit of sinister just below the surface. What a great villian.

[img width=700 height=466]http://2e130c55e0c2763c8a20-c7a4d0feffd26319b59c92c4aecae366.r18.cf1.rackcdn.com/1c2fac4e687a7e2acdb670cbd0c3b71a46cf5b12.jpg[/img]

What are we going to do with UN Squadron? The score disappears after you lose all your lives, so you have to take a picture before you die. I was thinking one of two things.

1 - Pause and take the picture at the last second when you're about to die.
2 - When your lives total is 0, just take the picture. Kind of like pretending you always have one less life than the game gives you.

Neither are perfect solutions, but we have to work with what we got. Anyone else have an idea?

Hmmm..... That certainly is tough and I will have to look into this tonight. I'm not really for cutting away a life and if there is no way to retrieve the score, pausing and taking photos during your last run may be our only option. Can you pause quickly after your last ship goes down, or is pause disabled at that point?

[JerryGreenwood]

Can you pause quickly after your last ship goes down?

Probably not, but we can check. I like the first option the best, but I was thinking that some people won't like having to worry about pausing a game for a pic in the middle of the action.

I wish I tried to get Xyanide. I usually dismiss the original xbox because I think it's one of the worst systems of all-time but that game looks good.

[RetroRage]

Holy crap ain't no way I'm beating that UN Squadron score.  Jerry is killin it.

The Xbox gets crapped on an awful lot for one reason or another.  People are fanboys to other systems, or they hated the fact that Microsoft came in the console game so late to take a bite out of the market, and lots of reasons I'm sure.  So a lot of folks wrote it off before it was even released and held a biased negative opinion about it until it died.  But I think if people went back and played it again they'd be surprised with how well it still holds up.

[techwizard]

The Xbox gets crapped on an awful lot for one reason or another.  People are fanboys to other systems, or they hated the fact that Microsoft came in the console game so late to take a bite out of the market, and lots of reasons I'm sure.  So a lot of folks wrote it off before it was even released and held a biased negative opinion about it until it died.  But I think if people went back and played it again they'd be surprised with how well it still holds up.

i've never been a big fan of the xbox because it doesn't have many good exclusives that i'm interested in, most of it's best games are either on PC or PS2. other than that i have no problem with it, i've played it a bit and enjoyed it as much as any other console of that generation.

[JerryGreenwood]

I've never been a big fan of the xbox because it doesn't have many good exclusives that i'm interested in, most of it's best games are either on PC or PS2.

That's what I mean. My xbox was basically a Morrowind machine. Maybe I was unlucky, but I was greatly disappointed in the xbox exclusives I bought. Pound for pound, it cannot compare to the titles PS2 has.

(For the record, I'm not a fan boy for either Sony or Microsoft)

Holy crap ain't no way I'm beating that UN Squadron score.  Jerry is killin it.

Sure you can. Which pilot are you choosing? I'm not sure if any are "better" than the others, but I prefer Shin. Which routes are you taking? I try to knock off a few trucks, the planes, and the sub before I attack the real stages. Also, aside from the first stage and the truck stages, I usually max out on every weapon I can afford.

[RetroRage]

I was using Greg, not that it would make a difference for me because I've never played the game before.  After beating the first level I'd just go to that purple plane and get whooped.  I did a couple of the trucks once and fought the sub with little luck.  I need to get in more playing time tonight.

[GrayGhost81]

I'm sorry, but I refuse to ruin my adoration of this absolute masterpiece by playing it this way. Not having a high score displayed after the game is absolutely astonishing. Anyway, here's for my participation points:

[img width=700 height=393]http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h32/grayghost81/IMG_20141210_185915_053_zps6b748843.jpg[/img]

[JerryGreenwood]

I'm sorry, but I refuse to ruin my adoration of this absolute masterpiece by playing it this way.

What way are you playing it? Just play it like you would normally. I'm not trying for points, I'm trying to beat the game. It looks like you only beat the first stage so I'm not sure what you mean by "playing it this way".

[GrayGhost81]

I'm sorry, but I refuse to ruin my adoration of this absolute masterpiece by playing it this way.

What way are you playing it? Just play it like you would normally. I'm not trying for points, I'm trying to beat the game. It looks like you only beat the first stage so I'm not sure what you mean by "playing it this way".

I made two attempts before this with much higher scores (no, really!) in which I couldn't pause in time to snap a picture when I died. The stress of trying to get the best score I could while being "ready" to pause the game at the right time was sucking all the enjoyment out of it.

I also like to play this game to beat it, and therein lies my point exactly. The progression and customization options in this game are amazing. But this is a score competition, and the unfortunate circumstances involved in posting a score take away from what makes this game great.

[Shadow Kisuragi]

Would it be better just to post scores without pictures for UN Squadron? Basically just guesstimate score?

[GrayGhost81]

Would it be better just to post scores without pictures for UN Squadron? Basically just guesstimate score?

That poses its own issues, but it's up to Rich ultimately.

[RetroRage]

I'm ok with the honor system as long as everyone else is.

[Fleach]

Would it be better just to post scores without pictures for UN Squadron? Basically just guesstimate score?

That poses its own issues, but it's up to Rich ultimately.

We're going on the honour system but pictures help prove someone's claim to a score. I'm sure we trust each other but pictures are fun to look at.

[singlebanana]

For competition months, I typically like participants to post pics, but I understand the issue we have going on here, so I will make this ruling (FOR THIS GAME ONLY).  If you can snap a pic, that's great, but if you can't, please be honest when posting your score. You should have a pen and paper handy while playing this game to quickly jot down your score. If you are unsure about your score, DON'T post it.

My suggestion is that you write down the top 3 high scores and have them beside you while playing, if you pass a top score, pause and take a quick pic. I don't think that's too much to ask and proves that you at least topped it. You can post your final score along with the pic.

I understand the aggravation, but we just have to do what we can to get through this week, so be patient, bear with it, and most importantly, HAVE FUN!

[JerryGreenwood]

But this is a score competition, and the unfortunate circumstances involved in posting a score take away from what makes this game great.

I hear that. That's why I was wondering if taking a picture the INSTANT your life total went from 1 to 0 would be a good idea. It would take out the stress or trying to hit pause in the heat of battle.
Personally, I don't think it's that difficult to move your thumb a few centimeters to the left when you take your second to last hit. You have invincibility for a second or two after you take a hit so there shouldn't be too much pressure. When you have 0 lives, say to yourself "when I have 2 hits left, I gotta be ready to pause it". You have plenty of time. But I understand that it's not pure and would be much better if it kept your high score.

You shouldn't stress over 'playing the game to get a high score'. If you beat a stage in UN Squadron, you've likely destroyed 95% of the enemies in that stage. Beat stages and your score will be good.

My guess is that Capcom was ahead of it's time and realized that nobody cares about high scores (except us apparently). The only reason they have a points total is to determine when you've earned an extra life.

(To counter my point that Capcom realized nobody cares about scores - Ultra Street Fighter 4 has a score total and that game came out last June. Of all the video games ever created, USF4 is the last game that should keep score, but it does for some unknown reason)