@Zkibu You are also struggling to get past the third level I see. I think I have around 220000 now. After the first level it gets tricky really fast. And those coins... very tempting to pick them up when blinking. But those are also the moments where attention slips and it's easy to get hit by something. @Lroy No problem, it's a lot of fun.
You should be getting near 300k range in first three levels without any coin chaining bonuses or milking.You need to destroy the different parts of the bosses though.
For those who don't know, collecting more than one coin with their max value in a row leads to bonuses. First one is the normal 2k, second 2,5k and third and subsequent are 4k each. Collecting coin with non-max value will break the chain (and chain can continue over levels). A word of warning though, it's super hard as you need to be consistent with getting the max values (and it's not easy to time it right) and trying to figure out safe time to collect without getting hit. I do not recommend it before you know the levels very well as it will otherwise lead to getting destroyed.
I think we will be seeing scores around 200-400k range in this challenge unless somebody who is experienced shmupper or knows the game well in advance participates.
@riccyjay Yeah it is a great game,
I love the game itself and the music..surprised it's so quiet though, only one of the modes has recently reached 100 players on the leaderboards!
@GFoyle That's an unreal score! How have you managed to score so high by the 4th stage? I just had my best run there, was so close to taking out the 3rd stage boss yet I'm only on 242,600. If I'd beaten the boss I'd have been on around 260k. So an average of about 87k per stage. Some stages I only score around 75k while others I can score 90k+.Ive never broken 100k though, I think my highest for one stage is 99k. The forest stage is always the lowest scoring for me, I struggle to reach 50k by the time I hit the first stage of the boss.
I do alright collecting the coins, usually stringing a few max score together but I rarely activate that face and when I do I usually get killed trying to get the blue gem.
Anyway, my new score. The top 2 have been with Tavia but I reckon I've got a bigger score in me with ValpiroI. I'm getting quite good with the closeup attack and Valpiro's is pretty powerful. Knowing when and where to use it seems to be the best way to keep things under control. By taking the strong enemies out with a close up attack before they can start firing you have a little more time to concentrate on coin collecting.
When I used to play it before I only used manual shot, special and bomb. Never bothered with close up attacks but spammed special shots every chance I could. Now I'm using autofire, tactical closeup attacks and bombs. I try and let the meter fill up enough so I can use 2 or 3 quick close up attacks on the 2nd form of the boss I feel a lot more comfortable playing this way. I've stopped using charged shots though, I find it bit awkward switching quickly from A to Y. I'm going to try setting bomb to ZR and manual/special shot to B so I can easily make use of it when I want.
@OorWullie I'm not exactly sure as I'm pretty sure I don't get that much extra from coins. I have started to get occasional chain bonuses, but usually it's not that much (getting there maximum values in a row is not that common), but I think I have managed to increase the average value I get from them a bit, let say closer to 1k now.
I'm thinking it's probably the boss parts. Especially the the "forest" stage, the first form of the boss (plane) has tons of parts and it's very easy to destroy it "too soon". Aine, which I mainly use, has very narrow shot so it's not that easy to accidentally damage the main part, which would destroy the whole boss (like with Valpiro or Alucard which has quite wide shots). I also use the melee attack a lot. The winter stage, first boss form tank for example has those 2 side cannons on each side, you want to at least destroy one of those sides with melee immediately and then attack the other side (melee or normal shot) before shooting the middle.
Stage 4 doesn't have coins I think (or not much if any) so you can get pretty consistent score by just killing the enemies.
I'm pretty sure you can get 50%-100% more than I have from those stages with coin chaining and boss milking (boss milking in this case means you power down by hitting into boss and waiting for those power ups dropping ships again and again, which requires you have to be able to know and dodge those boss attack patters perfectly). So I guess it's good for a amateur like me who can't get further than this, but nowhere near maximum you could get.
Btw. I think the charge meter increases faster the less power it has. This means if you use your melee often (when the charge has power for one melee attack only), you get more use of it instead of trying to get enough power for three consecutive melee attacks. I don't use the charge attack at all because Aine's suck and it only has few specific situations where it would make sense to use it... and I never even remember. Other characters have better ones and more use of it, especially if the melee is weaker like with Tavia.
As for stage order, I think it's best to get the wild west (America) or Venice first or second as those have a lot of coins and you have easier time getting them than if they come later. Forest one I rather get early too because the boss is really easy if you get it initially but really annoying if it comes as third stage. Winter (Japan) is probably the easiest as third stage (and I don't like it as first because it means I would get some difficult more one as third strage)
The score set by @GFoyle is again seemingly impossible to reach. The heat of the battle will probably be around the guys trying to get a higher score in the 200k range. Feel free to post your current scores to have a marker what to aim for.
Just had my best run and sneaked into 2nd place. I was so close to taking the 3rd stage boss out but I panicked. I still had a spare bomb to get me out of trouble too but I forgot to use it. If I manage to take the 3rd boss out and start the 4th stage with a spare bomb I reckon I can hit 300k.
Yesterday I managed to score 112,900 on the 1st stage, unfortunately I lost a life in the process and then collapsed in the next stage. If I could just string a 1st stage like that together with a good 2nd and 3rd, I'd be laughing. I can hit 100k nearly everytime now though thanks to @Gfoyle tips on boss scoring.
Finally figured out how to get the gem face to appear on the Wild West stage everytime. After you destroy the big contraption on top of the destroyed building, you need to shoot the orange and blue flying things in the correct order. Shoot them all in the order they come down except for the last 2.
Very nicely done @OorWullie I was wondering about that gem face. Going to try that next time. It's also nice to see the improvements everyone is making during this challenge.
I think it's actually the location, the middle window of that last building you need to be at at the right moment. You can see it from @OorWullie video too. Shooting those enemies shouldn't matter, but naturally you would want to do that as well.
This is mainly based on what I read / heard from expert comments earlier, that in this game it's about being in certain place at certain time unlike Dragon Blaze where it's about killing certain enemy with dragon attack. I can also see from other videos that the player is at the same location as in that video and then the coin-head triggers. I haven't learned those coin-heads yet at all, probably have to do that. My main goal would to get to level 5, but I can't get the first three levels consistent enough to get to level 4 often enough to learn the boss better (I guess I should use training user and continues for this, but it still would take time as there is no save point possibility)
btw. the world record was just shy of 600k after three levels, order was venice, wild-west, europe/forest (I don't think the order matters that much in this game). Coin chain was 63 at this point so that means the bonus from that alone was 124 500 at that point (62x2000 + 500) + 126 000 (63x2000) from getting all coins at max value.
Had to take a screenshot and upload that since I'm in China and can't get a VPN on my Switch to upload directly. RJ are my scores for this challenge.
Discussions here have definitely helped me improve my score. @OorWullie I also feel like that 300k could be within reach. Honestly, regardless of where it placed me in the competition, if I could get 300, I'd be happy.
I'm there guys, I'll upload a picture soon... should be around 320k-ish.
Not feeling too comfortable with the game - I mean I love it, but my eyes are bleeding from playing it in portable mode. At home I have lag-related problems since my Switch is hidden behind the TV, and btw I still don't have a decent controller for home play
The original fire has died and gone, but the riot inside moves on.
Not sure I can improve before the challenge ends, it would require either getting to level 5, dramatically getting better with coins or getting more points from coin heads and achieving otherwise similar run as my best. None of those are easy and frankly I would much rather survive further in the game than get more points from first levels. The improvements just haven't been there lately, not even in baby steps... freaking hard game.
@RetroGamerAndrew that is amazing result consider you did it portable without using TATE.
Good job guys. I really need to step up my game. I feel like I am thinking too much (especially the chains) and instead I should just enjoy the damn good game.
@Zkibu yes you do, I know you have the (modded for shmups) arcade stick and all so there is no excuses Stop playing all those other great games I see you playing in your game activity history and play more Gunbird 2! Not that many days left in the challenge!
I managed to improve a tiny bit the other day, I'll post the pic a bit later.
When those flip grips are supposed to be delivered? If it's not long, I think we should maybe wait for people to get them before doing another vertical one.
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