/jp/ - Otaku Culture

[Anonymous No.]

Hello /jp/
I've been playing Touhou since around 2009. To this day, I cannot 1cc a game, even when I use a fake recording program to lag the game. The farthest I have gotten in a game was in PoFV, stage 5 as Marisa.
Here's a question I must ask for you guys that use joypads/sticks/PC controllers
1. What's a good one that you'd recommend that has a control stick and is around 5 dollars to 20 dollars (Possibly 25) American?
2. Would you suggest this controller for use on 12.3, or a totally different one, like an arcade stick?
3. Should I screw the whole controller gig and go for an Arcade stick?
Thank you for your time and cooperation
The reason I ask this is because my keyboard sticks and I have to use a USB keyboard, though it's not the touhou type since the keys are too smal for my meaty fingers. And yes, I know I can go online and look myself, but I don't trust many online reviews of controllers

[Anonymous No.]

>I cannot 1cc a game
On what difficulty? I find it hard to believe you can't after so long.

[Anonymous No.]

>>7446460
Normal, sadly. The thing is, my mind always wants to focus on one thing (Thanks Autism)and it always tells me "Either focus on the character, the bullets, or the boss."
However, I don't really count it since it's not a danmaku game, but I HAVE completed Sanae's UNL story in Normal difficulty without getting a Game over.

[Anonymous No.]

>>7446460

You would be surprised. Im playing it about 4 months and still can't 1cc th6 on easy. I nearly did it today though, I just know I will soon!

[Anonymous No.]

Stop cheating.

[Anonymous No.]

Get a Dreamcast controller.
>>7446473
Lies.

[Anonymous No.]

>>7446476
I only did it once to test it, and it crashed my computer.

[Anonymous No.]

Also, don't play on easy at first. Practice on normal or hard instead.

[Anonymous No.]

>>7446480

No lying here.

[Anonymous No.]

>>7446480
Nice try, Yuyuko, but you failed to be a troll this time

[Anonymous No.]

>>7446473

You should be working on Normal. Even if you really suck at first. That's what I did.

[Anonymous No.]

>>7446447

I'm with you OP.
I decided that I wouldn't move on, to the next Touhou game, until I unlocked Flandre's extra stage.

I've been stuck on EoSD for two years now.

Also, I've NEVER done easy mode and practice on Insane difficulty.

[Anonymous No.]

>>7446507

I did that with TH8 but got nowhere, so I just played on easy. Ill move up to normal once I 1cc on easy. Im quite happy on easy at the moment.

[Anonymous No.]

>>7446518

Well if you really want to, go ahead I guess. I played on Normal even when I couldn't beat Nazrin when I first started out, but playing Normal even just an hour a week helped a lot more than Easy would have.

[Anonymous No.]

You're not alone OP. I'm in pretty much the same boat as you, a little over a year of Touhou, 710 hours in IN alone of practicing on only Hard/Lunatic mode and still unable to 1cc any game. I highly doubt that a joystick/gamepad will help, though. I don't think the problem is in controlling the character, but rather focusing/skill overall. Good luck in your search though, OP. What works for some, is trying to use a different character. It didn't help me, but I guess it could be worth a try before buying a gamepad.

[Anonymous No.]

>>7446473
You are not alone. I've been playing Touhou since 2010 too and the only game I can 1cc is Imperishable Night (the easiest game) on easy mode.

My suggestion is to learn how to deathbomb. It works as extra lives, and learning how to do it will greatly increase your chances of getting a single continue clear.

[Anonymous No.]

>>7446514

I think that's holding you back some. Try all of the games, don't play chronologically until you can beat the next one, playing whichever one you feel like while focusing on one game more than the rest will help loads more. At the very least you'll be able to get your first 1cc easier.

[Anonymous No.]

>>7446538

The thing is, I just tried PCB (and others) this summer, but I didn't play them for completion. If I didn't know any better I'd say EoSD is actually harder than the games which succeed it.

I felt like huge weights had been lifted from my ankles. Then I went right back to EoSD with little success.

[Anonymous No.]

>>7446588

It's fucking Sakuya man.

I do alright until I get to her.
I'm terrible at remembering patterns and strafing is my strong suit in the Touhou series, so she always eats my fucking lives, forcing me to use up my first continue.

Ironically she's one of my favorite Touhou characters.

[Anonymous No.]

>>7446588

That's because it is harder. PCB has borders that can act as a way to keep you safe from death, IN I don't know why it's easier, but it is, MoF gives you ridiculous amounts of bombs and I think the other two main games are harder. I made MoF my first goal to 1cc because for some reason I absolutely loved it and I managed to do it about eight months ago on Normal.

>>7446600

I only recently beat EoSD, I kind of just Master Sparked her to death because her patterns were tough for the most part. I managed to 1cc it but I didn't capture a single one of Sakuya or Remilia's cards. I want to try to capture their spellcards someday though.

[Anonymous No.]

Guys, you all need to learn to abuse bombs more.
If you know that a spell you can't capture comes up just try to stay away from bullets as long as possible and as soon as something gets near you just bomb.

For me it was difficult to get rid of the urge to capture too but once I managed to do that 1cc was pretty easy in pcb and eosd

[Anonymous No.]

>>7446608

>That's because it is harder.
I fucking knew it.

I always try to save my bombs for Remilia. I'm actually really close. I always get her down to a little bit of life (when the bombs stop working) before I fail. I'm bound to get it one day, but for now I think I will spread my wings and play the other games.

[Anonymous No.]

>>7446636

Yeah, that's a good idea. Might even be able to 1cc one of them. PCB should be pretty easy in comparison if you can get that far in EoSD. There are some difficult parts, but it's easier to get lives in it. Actually, even though MoF is the game I managed to 1cc first, I still don't think it's the easiest even with the bomb spam.

[Anonymous No.]

>>7446636
>I always try to save my bombs for Remilia
See and their is your problem.
Every bomb you still have when you lose a life is WASTED.So better just spam them all before this can happen.
When you die you will get new bombs anyways

[Youmu Konpaku !MyonHUTINA No.]

>even when I use a fake recording program to lag the game.
I take this to mean you don't use the vsync patches.

Use the vsync patches.
http://www.mediafire.com/?izzv1lmnamm

[Anonymous No.]

>>7446668
What does this do?

[Anonymous No.]

>>7446652

I know.
It took me over a year to realize that.
That's why this is the year.
The year I'll finally reach Flandre.
.
.
On a side note, Fairy Wars is fucking HARD.
I had a harder time with it than EoSD even.
Insane mode is well... insane.

[Youmu Konpaku !MyonHUTINA No.]

>>7446675
Removes input lag, especially in EoSD and PCB. It helps greatly.

[Anonymous No.]

>>7446681
Let's find out.

[Anonymous No.]

>>7446678

Fairy Wars is one of those games that's much less forgiving at first but is much easier to get better at. The patterns are more difficult and it gets harder much faster, but the fact that it's only three stages long as well as freezing keeps it at relatively the same level as the other games I'd say because you get a ridiculous amount of lives and bombs. However, imagine if Fairy Wars had six stages instead of three.

[Anonymous No.]

vsync patch is for pussies.

[Anonymous No.]

>>7446447

Really, it's just practice. As other anons have said, abuse your bombs more, but only when you have to. Again, it's practice to know how to read the patterns and when to bomb.

Also, EoSD and previous are a bitch because of the invisible hitbox. Try PCB, MoF, IN, or UFO for a bit.

Remember, the whole point of Touhou penis waiving is: you really spent THAT much time to memorize the patterns and defeat the boss.

Also, fuck survival spellcards.

[Anonymous No.]

USE VSYNC

>>7446470

Then focus on the bullets. If you hold down Z and just try to dodge everything, you'll win eventually. If you get a sense of how much your character moves without looking, you won't need to focus on anything else. You can also use your shot behind the bullets as an indicator of where you were a split second ago, without moving your eyes back down to your character.

[Anonymous No.]

>>7446447
>1. What's a good one that you'd recommend that has a control stick and is around 5 dollars to 20 dollars (Possibly 25) American?

Anything with buttons, seriously? You think some sort of PROFESSIONAL GAMING KEYBOARD/PAD will make you any better? Do you think it really has any impact on skill aside from a fractional margin on players who are already near the peak of their skill?

Just play, play it and learn it, and play some more, and eventually you'll dodge simply on reflex with actively trying.

NEVER play easy, play normal. Easy mode wont even net you the good ending if you do 1cc on it, and it promotes bad habits that will take even longer to undo when you decide to move forward.

If you cant handle it, you don't deserve to take it easy.

[Anonymous No.]

>>7446681
Hmm, I don't notice any difference in PCB asides from the fact that I get some lag now when a lot of bullets are on screen.

[Youmu Konpaku !MyonHUTINA No.]

>>7446724
That... what? You're lagging? How old is your computer?

At any rate, you should be able to actually deathbomb now, especially as Reimu. As Reimu you can deathbomb on reaction to death, even.

[Anonymous No.]

>>7446730
My computer is not the issue, I guarantee it. Doesn't vsync increased input delay?

[Youmu Konpaku !MyonHUTINA No.]

>>7446743
Yes, vsync increases input delay. The vsync patch removes it, not adds it.
I don't really see how you could be lagging because of it though, that doesn't sound right.

[that damn zombie !FairYK4wpI No.]

I use a PS2 controller with an ancient RadioShack PSX to USB adapter. I doubt they even produce them anymore, but there should be other alternatives out there. I think there's also the option of downloading USB drivers for PS3 controllers, but I haven't looked into much as I have no PS3 myself.

As someone mentioned earlier, though, the vsync patches are your friend. I don't use them, but I do recall reading at some point that it didn't affect gamepad input nearly as much as keyboard input.

As for controller mappings, I use X for shot, □ for focus, △ for skip, and R1 for bomb. Seems to give quick, comfortable access to anything I need. For STB-like focus/charge systems, I use O for the charge. In Ten Desires I use R2 for manual trance activation.

[Anonymous No.]

>>7446751
Would having vsync off be bad, then?

[Youmu Konpaku !MyonHUTINA No.]

>>7446764
The only benefit of vsync is removing screen tearing you see sometimes. I usually notice it at the very beginning of UFO Extra and not really any other time.
You should turn vsync off to remove input lag. There's no option to do so, so in Touhou games you generally use the vsync patch. In games like Samidare where there's no option at all, you gotta mess with your grafics card's settings.

[Anonymous No.]

I'm trying to get PCB to work with the Vsync patch, but when I run vpatch.exe it gives me the error message : ゲームの実行ファイルが見つかりませんでした.
vpatch_th07.dll and vpatch.ini are both in the game directory. what am I doing wrong?

[that damn zombie !FairYK4wpI No.]

>>7446704
I'd normally recommend the opposite (playing EoSD first to get a feel for hitbox so you don't rely on visibly seeing the dot) but at this point, hitbox awareness probably isn't the OP's problem. I'm leaning more toward input lag.

[Anonymous No.]

>>7446723

Additionally:

I tried the 'trial by fire' approach of practicing on lunatic, and I failed pretty bad. It's because the patterns become too complex to follow for a beginner, and thus you don't actually learn how to read them; instead you end up just bombwhoring.

So, start on normal, and go from there.

[Youmu Konpaku !MyonHUTINA No.]

>>7446781
Rename your th07e.exe (or whatever it's named) to th07.exe

[Anonymous No.]

>>7446790
Thanks, but it's still giving the same error.
The thing is, the patch used to work but I had to reinstall PCB because for some reason it wasn't keeping scores and spell card statistics.
I got the patch from http://coolier.sytes.net:8080/th_up3/file/th3_8419.zip.. is there an alternative source with a more recent version? google doesn't help.

[Alice Margatroid !DoLLFaGERs No.]

>>7446802
http://www.mediafire.com/?izzv1lmnamm

[Anonymous No.]

>no hitbox on EOSD is a problem
Oh come on, Reimu is like 3 pixels wide in that game. Is it really that hard to sense where the hitbox is?

[Anonymous No.]

>>7446809
Works great, thanks!

[Anonymous No.]

>>7446825
(oops, just noticed it was posted further up the thread... thanks Youmu)

[Anonymous No.]

>>7446824

Fuck the library.

Fuck it.

It wouldn't be a problem otherwise.

Fuck.

[Anonymous No.]

Also, what shot type would you guys recommend for PCB? I've been using ReimuA so far, but I find her shot to be relatively weak and her bombs underwhelming. is SakuyaA any good?

[Alice Margatroid !DoLLFaGERs No.]

>>7446851
Reimu B, Sakuya A, and Sakuya B.

[Anonymous No.]

I can see the problem
NEVER ever play the fighting game, that's why your skill sucks!!!
Keep playing the danmaku ones, you moron.

[Anonymous No.]

i 1cc'd IN in Easy

[Anonymous No.]

This thread makes me feel so much better about myself.
Touhou games were my introduction to bullet-hell games, and god do I suck at them.
I started out on Normal on the PC-98 games, and beat them all (had to use continues). Then I pretty much couldn't beat any from EoSD onward. I went down to easy modo and still can't 1cc any of them. I always do really well until like the stage 4/5 boss, then I just lose it. 3 or 4 deaths in a row, sometimes on the same spellcard.

[Anonymous No.]

>>7446824
Initially, yes. Then you notice that when you graze a bullet white sparks fly from your hit box. Or just let one of Cirno's lasers hit you as they're both super slow and aimed.

Once you get used to sensing where your hitbox is you get a lot better at planning paths through bullets. Most other bullet hells don't even bother pointing out where your hitbox is.

>>7446786
>>7446723
I say play on whatever level is just above your skill level. If that means playing on Easy for a while, then so be it. At least they're playing the games.

[Youmu Konpaku !MyonHUTINA No.]

>>7447117
>3 or 4 deaths in a row, sometimes on the same spellcard.
The solution is clear.

[Youmu Konpaku !MyonHUTINA No.]

>>7447130
>Most other bullet hells don't even bother pointing out where your hitbox is.
Well, that used to be the case, but lately shmups have been giving explicit hitboxes at least some of the time, like when using hold-fire. Even Cave games.

[Anonymous No.]

>>7447133
Yeah, you're absolutely right. I'm terrible when it comes to bombs. In the back of my mind, I keep thinking that using them is a cop out, and i won't get any better if I rely on them. And then I start using them, and I get trigger happy.

[Youmu Konpaku !MyonHUTINA No.]

>>7447145
Part of being good at Touhou is knowing when and how to use bombs. You're, ah, holding yourself back by trying to not hold yourself back.

Being trigger-happy is probably better than never using them at all, but finding that happy medium will give you some 1ccs for sure.

[PRINNY !nLFbzB/0pw No.]

Generally I try to make it to Stage 3 without bombing. By the 5th boss bombing has become a regular thing, almost to the point of being reliant on it. I also happen to restart if I die anytime during the first 2 stages because I know I can do better.

[Anonymous No.]

You know what pisses me off?
Every time I play PoFV, I'm able to get to Shikieiki with at most two deaths and even if I have max lives I lose all of them.

[Anonymous No.]

>>7446447
>>7446460
It took me about 6 years (started in 2004) to 1cc MoF Normal. Granted there were stretches of time where I didn't play for about a year or so...

>>7446470
Focus should be on the safe spots, not the bullets, not your character, not the boss.

[Anonymous No.]

>>7447200
The Yama's power is infinite.

This actually happened to me too...

[Anonymous No.]

>>7447145
They're sort of a cop-out. There's lots of cards that I've just blasted away because I can't be arsed to dodge and possibly screw up a good 1cc run on stage 4 or 5. But they're also freebie bail outs for whenever you mistakenly get yourself into trouble.

Touhou drops so much in terms of resources you should have more than enough bombs if you use them wisely.

[Anonymous No.]

This thread inspired me to try playing the Touhou games again and to do my best to get around my problems and get through them finally.

>playing MoF, shooting enemies
>I usually get an extra life by this point in stage 2, where is it?
>keep shooting, keep getting point items
>come on, where is it?!
>EXTEND!
>There it is, f--
>enemy flies out from the side and surprises me, kills me.

...welp, looks like i'm beating my head against the wall until i get a concussion tonight

[Anonymous No.]

>>7447200
At least she isn't like Yumemi

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nwCt9KmRuu0&feature=related

[Anonymous No.]

>>7447145
Look at it this way. Play practice mode and conserve bombs. Watch a replay and figure out the spell card if you can't on your own. Note with cards you can almost do and ones you flat out cannot, and use that to figure out which cards to bomb into oblivion.

[Anonymous No.]

>>7447249
So you die stupidly. At least you've burned that memory in and won't get killed by it again. I think I got caught out by Nitori once or twice riding the PoC line for too long.

[Anonymous No.]

>>7447273

Yes I will. It will happen again because I'm shamefully stupid. Such a shamefully stupid death means I don't even deserve to play Touhou, because only a pathetic rookie would get caught by something as idiotic as that. A REAL player wouldn't even be IN that situation.

[PRINNY !nLFbzB/0pw No.]

>>7447278
Just keep working on it. You are better than a lot of Touhoufans because 1) You are playing the games, 2) You aren't playing on Easy.

[Anonymous No.]

>>7447294

What's wrong with not playing the games? They're not for everyone, not everyone enjoys or can play shmups very well, does that mean they should be outlawed from enjoying the characters and setting?

And I've played Easy mode in the past, so that attempt at praise goes right out the window.

[Anonymous No.]

>>7447249
Oh come on it's only stage 2, It's not like you lost your last life on Kanako's final spell card... that's a bit more frustrating.
I personally restarted on stages 2 and 3 dozens of times until I got them down perfect...

[Anonymous No.]

>>7447305

Also, at least he didn't lose five lives on Kanako's last card alone.

[Anonymous No.]

>>7447249
MoF's extends are based on score, so to have a good chance of 1CCing it, it helps to have a good grasp on how scoring works.
The same applies to EoSD.
The basic concept for both: grab point items as far up the screen as possible.

[PRINNY !nLFbzB/0pw No.]

>>7447298
I mean there are fans who haven't even played the games at all. If they have, they only played on Easy. As long as you even play the games sparingly and at least try to improve, you are a better fan than someone who ignores the most of the source material.

[Anonymous No.]

>>7447305

I THOUGHT I had them down perfect, I've gotten through both levels without losing a single life. And at least someone who loses all their lives on Kanako's last spell card is already good enough to GET to Kanako.

>>7447313

I KNOW that! Plus, that's why I always get killed, darting up to get point items at their highest point levels! Hell, that's why I got killed that last time!

>>7447318

I guess that at least makes sense. Thank you, I understand your position now.

[Anonymous No.]

>>7447310
I actually found "Mountain of faith" (the Spell card) to be not that bad (on normal)... even managed to capture it a couple of times , as opposed to , let's say "Misayama Hunting Shrine Ritual" which I never managed to capture.

[Anonymous No.]

>>7447298

Because you don't get the full story. The only way to learn certain things or see the actual character relationships is to beat the games.

[Anonymous No.]

>>7447329

Mountain of Faith destroyed me and still does. First time I went against it I had five lives and thought I could bomb spam to win...Then once I realized I was out of bombs and she took no damage I panicked and died over and over and over again. The second time I only had two lives when I made it to that card and deathbombed perfectly every time until I was left with no lives and power left. I think I could get most of her other cards though if I played against them enough.

[Anonymous No.]

>>7447337
I agree with this 100%. For a bit, I purposely avoided playing the later games until I was able to accomplish something in EoSD or PCB. After a while, I gave up and just played through each one. It gave me a much better understanding of the characters and just made my appreciation for Touhou grow.
Particularly in hearing the original music.

[Anonymous No.]

Yeah, about the "trial by fire" method. . .say, for example, you're playing on hard, since it's supposed to help your skills in normal. But you can't get past stage 3 on hard. If that's the case, all playing on hard does is helping you to build up your basic skills. You can't expect to get to stage 3 on hard, with no knowledge of stage 4 onwards, then expect to 1cc it when you play it on normal. I recommend switching between normal and hard, with normal giving you a feel of the higher end cards, going to hard to get the skills required, then going back to normal to go to higher stages.

[Anonymous No.]

>>7447358

Lol, the music of IN has me hooked. There's like, only 2 or 3 songs I don't like.

Now, if only I could beat the other games (MoF easy doesn't count. T_T)....

[Anonymous No.]

>>7447325
I lose most of my lives in the low stages nowadays, because they're so easy I tend to lose focus (I actually died in SA stage 1 the other day since I was casually flying around the PoC and banging faeries left right center). And I think I have lost more lives in PCB stage 2 than stages 3 - 5 combined.

[Youmu Konpaku !MyonHUTINA No.]

Oh for god's sake.

So I decided to 1cc Crimzon Clover Simple mode, because it's fairly, well, simple to do.
I get to the last stage with max-stock lives. And then burn 2/3 of my stock on the level.
Then I juuuust barely kill the last boss with one life left. Woohoo, that's a 1cc!

NOPE, True Final Boss time. Ookay then.
BOOM, NO-MISS THE TFB (the first time I ever saw it), that was an amazing first 1cc!

...TFB second form kills me.
I'm going back to Samidare...

[Anonymous No.]

whats cc stand for

[Youmu Konpaku !MyonHUTINA No.]

>>7447435
Credit Clear.
Basically, a 1cc is where you beat the game without continuing.

[Anonymous No.]

>>7447435
http://en.touhouwiki.net/wiki/Glossary

[NotQuiteAnonymous !fnMKPCBBmE No.]

>>7447329
Mountain of Faith is hilarious. It's actually easier on Normal than Easy. ZUN must have been sober when he programmed that one up.

>>7447325
I usually combine bullet-canceling bombs and PoC dashes into one. The big fairies in Stage 5 are ripe for milking.

[Anonymous No.]

>>7447456

I've never played it on Easy. It doesn't seem so bad from what I've seen from replays. Anyways, if there was any time he was sober making spellcards, it was during most of Yuugi's.

[Anonymous No.]

> mfw I finally 1cc'd PCB on normal

Also, can anyone post a list sorted by difficulty? I've only really played 6 and 7.

[Youmu Konpaku !MyonHUTINA No.]

>>7447482
My opinions. Easiest to hardest.

normalmodo
PCB > LLS > MoF > MS > IN > EoSD > UFO > SA

hardmodo
LLS > PCB > MoF > MS > IN > EoSD > SA >>>>>> UFO

lunaticmodo
IN > ?

extramodo
IN > PCB > PCBphantasm > MoF > UFO > EoSD >> SA

[Anonymous No.]

>>7447428
Crimzon Clover is really hard for me because my keyboard keeps ghosting and I can't move while laser targeting...
I guess I'll try it again once I get a decent keyboard.

[Anonymous No.]

>>7447492
My opinions, easiest to hardest, left to right.

Normal:
IN<PCB<MoF<EoSD<SA<UFO

Hard:
IN<PCB<MoF<EoSD<UFO<SA

Extra:
IN<MoF<Ran<Yukari<UFO<SA

Yes, I suck at SA.

[Anonymous No.]

>>7447516
And I missed an EoSD between Yukari and UFO there.

[Anonymous No.]

>>7447189
I used to do this exactly.

It's not worth it.

[Youmu Konpaku !MyonHUTINA No.]

>>7447505
Have you tried remapping keys? You unfortunately can't map shift, but maybe try one of the higher keys.

[Anonymous No.]

>>7447521
I tried in once for Touhou with a registry hack, but it only worked while in windows for some reason.

[Anonymous No.]

>>7447520
Funnily enough, when I do die in the early stages, I go "I'm not gonna win this anyway" and end up doing great dodges and taking risks I normally wouldn't, 1ccing it. When I do play too well early on I go "oh shit oh shit I should just bomb this instead of risking it" and fail to 1cc.

[Anonymous No.]

>>7447538

I usually get my 1ccs when I do really terribly on the fifth stage for some reason.

[NotQuiteAnonymous !fnMKPCBBmE No.]

>>7447470
The fact that the talismans in Easy mode are much slower and partly broken obfuscates the pathways. And Normal mode seems more consistent in the patterns, despite being faster.

For more hilarity, compare Astronomical Entombing Normal to Lunatic. ZUN must have run out of beer there.

[Anonymous No.]

>>7447544
I guess we suffer from the same "I'm not gonna win this so no pressure I'm just gonna do some crazy dodges" condition.

Not that I'm recommending dying at Stage 1 and 2 just to reduce the pressure. . .

[Anonymous No.]

>>7447538
Yeah, in one of my best Crimzon Clover runs, I died twice on stage 2. But it especially doesn't matter in games like PCB, where if you're get enough lives, they go to waste.

[Youmu Konpaku !MyonHUTINA No.]

>>7447548
It's almost embarrassing how easy Astronomical Entombing is using Malice.

[Anonymous No.]

>>7447557

Actually it's less miracle dodges and more bomb spamming for me. But oh well. After playing Fairy Wars for a while, I have to say Fairy Overdrive is one of my favorite spellcards. It requires a lot of endurance, involves a lot of moving around and searching for gaps. I really like it although I also hate it too.

[Anonymous No.]

>>7447585
I have to admit, I can clear most of the Extra's, I have cleared every Normal, I'm at the final card for most of the Hard's, I have Hatate on DS. . .but I can't even 1cc GFW, even on Easy.

What is wrong with me?

[Anonymous No.]

I am able to 1cc EOSD on hard, but can barely 1cc PCB on easy ;_;

[Anonymous No.]

>>7447602

Are you freezing or bombing enough? I've basically memorized places that give me a hard time so I can remember to be ready to death bomb when I need to. Not to mention I've also memorized places to freeze to get more lives and bombs, even though other people are a lot better than me.

[Anonymous No.]

>>7447602
You probably don't know the mechanics very well. Did you know that grazing helps charge your ice power?

[Anonymous No.]

>>7447615
I do graze and freeze in the most optimal way I see, but for some reason I find stage 3 simply unforgiving (and blinding as well), with barely enough time to graze/recharge between waves (too many of these situations, bombing won't last me through sadly). Maybe I should go back and try again, since it's been some time.

[Anonymous No.]

>>7447650
Well, as a tip, I still find A2 and B1 unbeatable on normal. Fuck Star.

[Anonymous No.]

>>7447670
Ironically, my favourite fairy too. Her stage 3 still gives me nightmares.

[Anonymous No.]

>>7447650

I've completely memorized the stages and can beat most of them without too much trouble, I've learned how to redirect the bullets to my advantage and whatnot, my biggest problems are the stage 2 and 3 boss fights. In fact, I lost three lives to Lunachild when playing one route. I managed to 1cc it somehow because of how many lives and bombs you get in the game.

[Anonymous No.]

>>7447492
I still don't get how you find SA extra so difficult. I'm a kusoplayer and I still did that ReimuA nobomb Koishi with 3 lives left.
I can't agree more on UFO FUCKING HARD though

[Anonymous No.]

I normally find the most helpful thing to do when playing danmaku games is to think about it.

You keep failing to 1cc?

Think about it.

You keep losing all your lives on the last stage?

Think about it.

You keep dying to that one spellcard?

Think about it.

Every death has a reason. Whether it is just a trivial error at a momentary loss of focus or an ingrained one that is ultimately holding you back from a 1cc.

Think about it.

It is only after you've recognized what the problem is that you can properly fix it.

For starters list every death of your most recent playthrough. Then figure out why those deaths happened. And finally put in practice to make sure they don't happen again.

General practice is fine and will help your skills overall, but without aimed practice at the areas you are having trouble in it is ultimately inefficient.

[Anonymous No.]

>>7447428
Cleared Simple mode on my 5th try. Plenty of lives left for TLB when you don't run into a couple of the bosses in stage 5...

Randomly no-missed the 2nd form as well. Don't ask how, I just did.

[Anonymous No.]

>>7448668

I usually do think about it, but I still can't think of a way to beat some things. Sometimes I just think of a way to bypass it and leave with as many resources as possible it rather than dealing with it directly and sometimes that works. Is that okay?

[Anonymous No.]

>>7448668
Every time I think about it, it makes me only realize how impossible that part is, and gets me all depressed and shit.

[Anonymous No.]

No one has mentioned this yet?
Watching some videos of other people playing usually helps as well. I don't know if you see this as dishonest or something, but watching the tactics of the others can help you through situations.
I could only 1cc EoSD when I watched a video of someone doing it. Then I realized that there were some ways to escape death from Sakuya, for example, that I didn't know before.

[Anonymous No.]

>>7448668
Just tried playing through PoFV on Normal (as Sakuya). No deaths until Medicine, then I got raped... but I actually found myself doing better when I wasn't thinking. I was just moving a lot. Might be just the game though, since it doesn't have the same format.

[Anonymous No.]

>>7451947
I regret watching replays of better players because I just try to emulate what I see, which is much harder to pull off than it seems, and it doesn't make me any better. Most of the time, it's just playing form memory, which doesn't help improve skill, much. Of course, it's may be better than nothing for some. Personally, though, I found it more harmful to me.

[Anonymous No.]

>>7451988
Avoid watching score run replays if you're using them to improve your own play. Go for ones that do no death, no bomb, and no focus challenges.

No death replays will show strategies for survival the player believes are reliable.

No bomb replays will show you where a player has his toughest moments where he dies due to being unable to bomb as well as strategies for areas that you may usually bomb.

No focus replays will show you strategies for dodging without precision. A player is limited in the amount of dodging he can properly do without focusing so strategies that allow for greater leeway in precision may arise.

Also memory helps, the very best players don't go into a run willy nilly just winging it on the fly when they do their best runs. It takes some consideration to make a high score. And that couts for simply clearing as well.

A shmup isn't the type of game which is made to be possible to 1cc on the very first try since they're usually arcade games which are made to take your quarters. Touhou while not being an actual arcade game is in a similar vein.

Also that thing you see a better player do and you yourself fail to emulate. Practice it then and keep trying. Don't just giveup and say I'll never be that good. It's not like that other player was always just doing it. Everybody at one point had no experience in shmups. Don't limit yourself from ever becoming skilled to pull off a fancy trick or two. And when you are skilled enough, try coming up with a fancy trick on your own.

[Anonymous No.]

Solid advice, thanks

[Anonymous No.]

Watch the fucking replays. They're there for a reason.