fucking .gif....
I use my PS2 controller. although I wish I could use the analog stick, but d-pad is fine for the majority of what I play.
Updated.
Breakdown - 863,900 - Quaid - 1-5
Starting to feel back in the swing of things with this one, this a little less than 100K off my previous best. Think I'll get there sometime in the next couple days, it's been a long time since I've seen that little turtle push out a trophy.
It seems to me that most of you guys are playing very survival minded, which isn't a bad thing certainly, but you should keep in mind even if you have trouble surviving in stage 2 or 3, stage 1 is a great time to play aggressively for score since the rank hasn't had time to kick up yet and the bullets are still slow and not nearly as numerous. Here's some tips on how:
First, let me rattle off what I average on the different stage 1s
Sky - ~170K (best is about 174K, lot of practice on this one)
Sea - ~170K (best is about 180K)
Plant - ~180K (best is around 190K)
Desert - ~185K (best is around 195K)
bsidwell's already said this, but the key to getting around those scores is to dragon shot basically everything. Pay attention to when and where the enemies spawn and their movements, how long they stay on screen, when they may bunch up for easy multiple kills and plan a route accordingly. I find it helps to use the stage music for audio cues. Be sure to get the flying jackpot thinger guy as well, it's worth letting a bunch of other guys go to make sure you get him.
While on the subject of the flying jackpot thingers, the safest way to get the most out of them is to simply not recall your dragon after killing the enemy that spawns it and keep firing, the dragon will collect for you. However the most lucrative way to play them is to park yourself in front of it and keep throwing dragon shots at the enemies while you collect. This takes some practice, but you'll net a bunch of extra points. The only stage 1 I don't do this in is Sea, and in Plant the benefits aren't nearly as big as Sky or Desert. Keep in mind you need to keep shooting to keep it in place and watch out for bullets obviously. You can do this in later stages too, but the difficulty ramps up.
As you start to get a better feel for where the enemies are coming from you should really try to stay towards the top half of the screen and just pick them of as they come with your dragon shot and weave back and forth alternating between killing guys and picking up the coins they drop. I know staying towards the top is a bit counterintuitive for a shmup, but it'll help your score immensely.
Also keep in mind the bumping into enemies doesn't kill you, just powers your regular shot down and has no effect on your dragon shot whatsoever. You do still want to avoid this if possible as grabbing power ups when your at full power are worth 3,000 a pop, but generating gold coins is definitely more important. Also if you're close enough to enemies they don't fire at you.
Some stage specific stuff (all for stage 1-1, though similar tactics work in later stages):
Sky - When the bats come in the beginning pick a side and alternate between killing the center one and whatever side you pick and kill as many of the fly enemies as possible. Be ready for the big dragonflies and pick em off before they have a chance to fire and move for easy coin collecting, same for the battleships.
Sea - Defintely the stage 1 where I get the most use out of my regular shot. Generally try to kill the plant things as soon as they open up with your dragon shot and in the two parts where the squids and little pods show up use you dragon shot to kill a group then move left or right and fire regularly to kill any pods left before they explode. Of the first four stages this one has the smallest window for the jackpot thinger so be ready for it. Get it, just park the dragon and shoot as many of the little green guys as possible with your normal shot while collecting. It should run out just after the big jellyfish fires of it's first round of shots, try to get it with a dragon shot before it fires again. Also be ready for the big fish enemies, ideally you can kill just about all of them except the 3 at the end before the have a chance to do their aimed shots (and you can get 2 of those if you're in the right position).
Plant - Kill any and all of the stationary plants as soon as possible as they'll clog the screen with bullets pretty quick if you don't even on level 1. The only other real threat here is the big flying enemies, know when they spawn and take em out quick. For the first form of the boss, don't speed kill him but wait until after he spits out the second set of pods as you can get a bunch of coins from them. Be ready for the attack and shoot once at one of the "arms" right when they spawn and then do a quick recall and shoot again in the middle.
Desert - Rough stage. Try to rig up killing the little wagons when the flyers spawn on top of them for a mess of coins. For the big wagons try to kill them as soon as they come on screen and take as many of the turrets out before you register the main kill for extra coins. For the big wagon at the end, DO NOT kill the first section immediately but instead use your dragon shot on the bombs it spits at you. This is tricky, but highly lucrative. It can be done without bombing, though it does make it alot easier, especially for Quaid and Rob. For the second section try to take out all the turrets before killing the main gun starting with the one at the bottom center (make sure to wait for it to open so you can one shot it).
One more advanced tactic, for the boss of desert you can get more points from him by ignoring the tech bonus and instead keeping him alive long enough to milk the sets of drones he spits out. In stage 1 it's not really worth it, but in 2 and up it makes a fairly substantial difference. It'll spit out 3 sets over the course of the fight, 4 if you manipulate him just right. Make sure you soften him up a bit while doing this though, because when he's done spitting out drones he'll ditch his bulky carapace for a faster flying form that spits out a nasty pattern. Hit him too much though and he won't spit out drones at all and just spit a nasty pattern from the carapace. It's a fine line to walk, but it's worth it.
Hope that helps some of you guys out a bit.
Breakdown - 863,900 - Quaid - 1-5
Starting to feel back in the swing of things with this one, this a little less than 100K off my previous best. Think I'll get there sometime in the next couple days, it's been a long time since I've seen that little turtle push out a trophy.
It seems to me that most of you guys are playing very survival minded, which isn't a bad thing certainly, but you should keep in mind even if you have trouble surviving in stage 2 or 3, stage 1 is a great time to play aggressively for score since the rank hasn't had time to kick up yet and the bullets are still slow and not nearly as numerous. Here's some tips on how:
First, let me rattle off what I average on the different stage 1s
Sky - ~170K (best is about 174K, lot of practice on this one)
Sea - ~170K (best is about 180K)
Plant - ~180K (best is around 190K)
Desert - ~185K (best is around 195K)
bsidwell's already said this, but the key to getting around those scores is to dragon shot basically everything. Pay attention to when and where the enemies spawn and their movements, how long they stay on screen, when they may bunch up for easy multiple kills and plan a route accordingly. I find it helps to use the stage music for audio cues. Be sure to get the flying jackpot thinger guy as well, it's worth letting a bunch of other guys go to make sure you get him.
While on the subject of the flying jackpot thingers, the safest way to get the most out of them is to simply not recall your dragon after killing the enemy that spawns it and keep firing, the dragon will collect for you. However the most lucrative way to play them is to park yourself in front of it and keep throwing dragon shots at the enemies while you collect. This takes some practice, but you'll net a bunch of extra points. The only stage 1 I don't do this in is Sea, and in Plant the benefits aren't nearly as big as Sky or Desert. Keep in mind you need to keep shooting to keep it in place and watch out for bullets obviously. You can do this in later stages too, but the difficulty ramps up.
As you start to get a better feel for where the enemies are coming from you should really try to stay towards the top half of the screen and just pick them of as they come with your dragon shot and weave back and forth alternating between killing guys and picking up the coins they drop. I know staying towards the top is a bit counterintuitive for a shmup, but it'll help your score immensely.
Also keep in mind the bumping into enemies doesn't kill you, just powers your regular shot down and has no effect on your dragon shot whatsoever. You do still want to avoid this if possible as grabbing power ups when your at full power are worth 3,000 a pop, but generating gold coins is definitely more important. Also if you're close enough to enemies they don't fire at you.
Some stage specific stuff (all for stage 1-1, though similar tactics work in later stages):
Sky - When the bats come in the beginning pick a side and alternate between killing the center one and whatever side you pick and kill as many of the fly enemies as possible. Be ready for the big dragonflies and pick em off before they have a chance to fire and move for easy coin collecting, same for the battleships.
Sea - Defintely the stage 1 where I get the most use out of my regular shot. Generally try to kill the plant things as soon as they open up with your dragon shot and in the two parts where the squids and little pods show up use you dragon shot to kill a group then move left or right and fire regularly to kill any pods left before they explode. Of the first four stages this one has the smallest window for the jackpot thinger so be ready for it. Get it, just park the dragon and shoot as many of the little green guys as possible with your normal shot while collecting. It should run out just after the big jellyfish fires of it's first round of shots, try to get it with a dragon shot before it fires again. Also be ready for the big fish enemies, ideally you can kill just about all of them except the 3 at the end before the have a chance to do their aimed shots (and you can get 2 of those if you're in the right position).
Plant - Kill any and all of the stationary plants as soon as possible as they'll clog the screen with bullets pretty quick if you don't even on level 1. The only other real threat here is the big flying enemies, know when they spawn and take em out quick. For the first form of the boss, don't speed kill him but wait until after he spits out the second set of pods as you can get a bunch of coins from them. Be ready for the attack and shoot once at one of the "arms" right when they spawn and then do a quick recall and shoot again in the middle.
Desert - Rough stage. Try to rig up killing the little wagons when the flyers spawn on top of them for a mess of coins. For the big wagons try to kill them as soon as they come on screen and take as many of the turrets out before you register the main kill for extra coins. For the big wagon at the end, DO NOT kill the first section immediately but instead use your dragon shot on the bombs it spits at you. This is tricky, but highly lucrative. It can be done without bombing, though it does make it alot easier, especially for Quaid and Rob. For the second section try to take out all the turrets before killing the main gun starting with the one at the bottom center (make sure to wait for it to open so you can one shot it).
One more advanced tactic, for the boss of desert you can get more points from him by ignoring the tech bonus and instead keeping him alive long enough to milk the sets of drones he spits out. In stage 1 it's not really worth it, but in 2 and up it makes a fairly substantial difference. It'll spit out 3 sets over the course of the fight, 4 if you manipulate him just right. Make sure you soften him up a bit while doing this though, because when he's done spitting out drones he'll ditch his bulky carapace for a faster flying form that spits out a nasty pattern. Hit him too much though and he won't spit out drones at all and just spit a nasty pattern from the carapace. It's a fine line to walk, but it's worth it.
Hope that helps some of you guys out a bit.
