SHMUP Strategy

[Pezcore343]

I'll be the first to admit that I've never been good at Shoot 'em Ups. I've always found them ridiculously hard, and even the ones I like I can't seem to get good no matter how much I practice. I think my biggest problem is not being able to pay attention to where my enemies are so that I can shoot them, and at the same time watch whatever projectiles/enemies are about to hit me. And when enemies come from behind you as well forget about it.

So my question is this: When you're playing a SHMUP, where are you looking? Do you look at your targets, at yourself, or are your eyes all over the damn place? Other than have fingers of lightning, what are some general strategies you guys use for overall shoot 'em up success?

[poloplayr]

I think that any overall strategy for shmups is very difficult to define, since they are usually so different (despite being at first glance simple and straightforward) but the one thing that truly brings them all together is: practice, practice, practice.

It might sounds silly and obvious but no other genre requires as much training (ok, maybe fighting games) as shmups. Start off playing with no pressure; get to know the feel of the game and start to understand the mechanics. How do enemies behave, how do they attack, how many hits do the different enemies require to be taken out, etc.

Then set small goals, such as completing the first level on one life, then reaching stage x on one life or credit. Get to know the stages in order to master them and this will doubtlessly take time.

Should you still want game-specific strategies then i highly suggest you go visit shmups.com andi its forum.

Hope this helps somewhat, even though it's mostly obvious stuff...

[insinion]

My biggest improvement was when i switched to watching myself. That way it's easier to dodge bullets and enemy's will die anyway since most of the time you'll have ridiculous beam weapons anyway.

[chicnstu]

So my question is this: When you're playing a SHMUP, where are you looking? Do you look at your targets, at yourself, or are your eyes all over the damn place? Other than have fingers of lightning, what are some general strategies you guys use for overall shoot 'em up success?

You're not supposed to be consciously looking at everything on the screen. You let your mind take over and it will do that work for you. Your eyes will eventually adjust and see every little threat at once, and they will do a quick focus on the major or large threats.

But a lot of shmups have patterns in each section, enemies will appear in the same place every time. So practicing the section a few times and knowing ahead of time exactly where they will be will help your ability to dodge their attacks.

[VACRMH]

You're not supposed to be consciously looking at everything on the screen. You let your mind take over and it will do that work for you. Your eyes will eventually adjust and see every little threat at once, and they will do a quick focus on the major or large threats.

Yeah, that's how I do it. Eventually my eyes unfocus and I just kinda get in the zone.

I've never bothered, but would looking into how big a ships "hitbox" is help at all?

[Iron Draggon]

just sweeping back and forth with all guns blazing seems to work pretty well for me in most SHMUPS... occaisonally you have to interrupt your pattern to avoid stray bullets or enemies that happened to penetrate your wall of fire, but most SHMUPS are ridiculously easy to beat using this method... even most bosses are susceptible to this tactic, but some require other patterns... in general though, the idea is to cover as much of the screen as possible with your own bullets, which is what makes the sweep tactic so effective... it's also much harder to hit a moving target, so always keep your ship moving!

for enemies that attack from the rear, keep a couple of inches between your ship and the edge of the screen... that way you'll usually have enough time to avoid them before they can ram you... sometimes it's inevitable though... in those cases all you can do is memorize when and where they attack you

I usually keep my eyes focused on my ship, and the areas within a couple of inches of it... those are your vulnerable zones, so you have to keep an eye on them... but you also have to keep an eye out for powerups, so you have to scan the whole screen for signs of trouble, as well as for signs of help

the main thing you have to do is anticipate the actions of your enemies though, and the only way to do that is to memorize their patterns... so whenever you get hit, just try to remember when, where, and how it happened, so the next time you can anticipate it and avoid it... that's really all you can do... and of course practice... the more SHMUPS you play, the more you'll begin to notice similar patterns in all of them, and learning how to react to those patterns will get you through most situations without any damage... and of course it also helps to learn which weapons are the most effective in which situations, when you have a choice of weapons... it's also important to learn when to avoid picking up the powerups... sometimes they hurt you alot more than they help you, especially when they downgrade your weapon to something alot less effective... those are the most annoying!

[Wolf07]

If you are playing an arcade machine, just keep dumping quarters to you memorize ever bad guy. (I did that once at a Chuck E. Cheeze on Galaga)

If not, you can still just keep on trying until you do remember every bad guy.

Also, trying the Konami Code never hurts. Wait, it can. If you don't use the L and R buttons on Gradius on SNES.

[Berserker]

I'm not that great at Shmups, but when I really get into one and sort of "zone out" I don't focus on my own ship so much as the area immediately around it, so just ahead of it, just behind it etc. Usually what I'm looking for is gaps between bullets to maneuver into.

I also do the sweeping back and forth thing Iron Draggon mentioned, but I can't always do that. Sometimes it feels like I'm basically just navigating a maze of bullets, and then at that point hitting the enemy becomes almost sort of incidental.

[Xexyz]

Just keep your eyes focused around your ship/hitbox and memorize everything. Memorization is the #1 key to getting good at shmups. From old school Slap Fight to the thoroughly modern DoDonPachi: Daifukkatsu. Knowing the enemy pop outs, terrain, bullet patterns, etc. is key to getting good at these games.

[Iron Draggon]

I'm not that great at Shmups, but when I really get into one and sort of "zone out" I don't focus on my own ship so much as the area immediately around it, so just ahead of it, just behind it etc. Usually what I'm looking for is gaps between bullets to maneuver into.

I also do the sweeping back and forth thing Iron Draggon mentioned, but I can't always do that. Sometimes it feels like I'm basically just navigating a maze of bullets, and then at that point hitting the enemy becomes almost sort of incidental.

indeed, some SHMUPS are like that... and apparently the only way to beat them is to use a code or a cheat device... Metal Black for the Saturn is an excellent example of this... after resorting to a Game Shark for help getting past a spot that I was having trouble with, it became very obvious that its designers never intended for anyone to ever beat it without using a cheat device... mandatory death hits on every level, and so much shit coming at you the rest of the time that it would be impossible for anyone to avoid it all... clearly the arcade version was designed to be a quarter muncher and nothing more... even ridiculously hard games like Sinistar give you more of a fighting chance than Metal Black does... it's the most evil SHMUP ever made!

[kainemaxwell]

Just keep shooting and hope you don't get hit by something.

[Haoie]

My strategy?

Bring a lot of money.

[XYXZYZ]

My strategy?

Bring a lot of money.

http://insomnia.ac/commentary/arcade_culture/

[TurboGenesis]

http://insomnia.ac/commentary/arcade_culture/

Icycalm can be a bit extreme, and gets a bit carried away in that article, but its a decent read…

[Pezcore343]

Wow...

Never before have I read an article by someone who is so blatantly an asshole. I'm not one to argue with other people's opinions, and he does kind of have a point, but could you be more of a dick? And what a convenient defense he puts in the beginning of his article. Most opinion articles will say something to the effect of "You can disagree with me but that's ok because this is just my opinion", or something like that at least. But no, this tool says:


So this is how it is, and you either know it, or you don't. But I want to stress here that I am not out to convince anyone of the truth of this claim, or of that of all the other claims I will shortly be making. If you find yourself agreeing with me it will be because you already know by experience that what I am saying is true, so no proof will be necessary. I will merely be putting into words things you are already aware of -- not fully consciously, perhaps, or without quite having worked out all the reasons yet -- but aware of them all the same.

When have you ever read a rational argument where the writer claims, "You're not allowed to disagree with me because I am right, and this is not an opinion"? And then he goes on to bash every single other kind of gamer, including the games-as-art "fags".

What a douche.

[fahlim003]

I think that any overall strategy for shmups is very difficult to define, since they are usually so different (despite being at first glance simple and straightforward) but the one thing that truly brings them all together is: practice, practice, practice.

It might sounds silly and obvious but no other genre requires as much training (ok, maybe fighting games) as shmups. Start off playing with no pressure; get to know the feel of the game and start to understand the mechanics. How do enemies behave, how do they attack, how many hits do the different enemies require to be taken out, etc.

Then set small goals, such as completing the first level on one life, then reaching stage x on one life or credit. Get to know the stages in order to master them and this will doubtlessly take time.

Should you still want game-specific strategies then i highly suggest you go visit shmups.com andi its forum.

Hope this helps somewhat, even though it's mostly obvious stuff...

What this user said.

Practicing to great lengths will see your skill improve in shooting games as there really isn't a good formula aside from this sole aspect. Of course, it helps if you really enjoy the game, that way practice doesn't seem so tedious or dull.

First goal in any given shooting game should be play to survive. Many of the newer games are very heavy on scoring and as a result it's easy to get blindsided by the fact your score might not be up to par. Play to enjoy, play to survive, & play to learn. After you've done that, all these aspects can be combined into playing to dominate said game.

As far as where to look, I tend to look where the enemies/projectiles are, which can be troublesome, but I do keep a general idea where my ship is and after time I noticed it wasn't such a big deal. I would say look where you feel comfortable as it will differ from player to player. Looking at the ship and generally to area directly in-front of the ship is a good place to start.

One piece of advice I can lend is to mix and match. Variety in terms of shooting games I've found to be beneficial. As mentioned earlier, practice is key, however even if you really enjoy a game you might with tonnes of practice wear out the experience and perhaps be frustrated or stuck in a specific area. Before that extreme, maybe then try spending time another shooter you enjoy and improving your skills there. Coming back after time to the original game may yield improvements in the form of transferrable skill. Shooters, while not all the same, tend to require the same basic good eye-hand co-ordination, good attention, and good memory to some degree and while the practice in the original may not be continuing, practice on the whole and perhaps in a slightly different area of skills regarding shooters will improve, helping the individual to improve overall in genre.

You cannot go wrong either way, it just depends on your mentality. Personally I know a few people who would spend hundreds of hours in a single game and would be rather good across the board while others would need to mix it up for the best results. The choice is yours. Eventually the variety in terms of games you like will narrow but your view on the genre and what makes a good shooter will be much more refined.

[swlovinist]

Unlike most other types of games, many shooters have to be played with perfection. There are usually predictable patterns, and the challenge of these types of games make many fans keep coming back for more. You want a challenging shooter? Try Last Resort on Neo Geo or PS2 collection.

[Jim-]

Seconding the calls for memorization. You generally don't need to know things enemy-by-enemy, but having an idea of what's up ahead aids you immensely. Also, for titles that feature screen-clearing bombs and the like, you never want to die with any of them left in stock. They may sometimes hamper your scoring, but you'll get much further if you use every last one shamelessly instead of trying to look cool dodging all those bullets.

[Ed Oscuro]

Did somebody say Shmups strategy? (http://shmups.system11.org/viewforum.php?f=5)

For those who are wondering how to get better at this sort of reflex-driven game, I am also being serious when I point out this topic (http://shmups.system11.org/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=27121) for its few nuggets of wisdom. Lots of posts for the lulz but there's some useful hints in there. My favorite post thus far:


during one of my surfing sessions on the information super-highway, i found a blog site of a top japanese player. and what was really encouraging was in the Introduction section, he said (in not so many words):

have you started playing a game, and after a few credits you can reach stage 3 or 4 on 1 credit, only to see the Arcadia record which dwarfs your score, and you feel despair and give up? that is the single biggest, most common-place mistake. anybody can be a good player as long as they have the following:

time - try to play everyday, at least 1 hour a day

patience - try not to get frustrated when you play

information - magazines, dvds, the internet, etc

environment - a place where you can play comfortably and relaxed

***************

i found it quite endearing :)

[MetalFRO]

Shmups are my favorite genre, even though I'm only marginally good at them :)

Your strategy really depends on the game & its design. Some shmups really beckon you to concentrate on your ship & its immediate surroundings, others force you to practically ignore your ship & watch what's coming at you. There's no "tried and true" strategy that works for them all. And for memorizers (Gradius, R-Type, etc) it's all about just knowing what's coming so you can do the appropriate thing at the appropriate time.