% Period 3: Nov. 2002 to June 2003
% Reducing variability
% (diary entries by Bernard Doria)

(Acronym definitions: WAF, Wingmen Attack
Formation--Hayate's super-shot in Strikers 1945 II; LHS,
left-hand side; RHS, right-hand side)

[02 Jun 2003, 21:10 PDT]
Bite the bullet

I have cleared 2-3. By luck, the second round stage order
was the sea, the sky, the mine, and finally, the town. But
I had too many bad experiences going into sea. Another
plane that's not supposed to appear? Bomb. Can't make that
cutback? Bomb. Can't squeeze through those two rows of
bullets? Bomb. Afraid of return bullets? Bomb. And I
eventually ran out of them.

I have rediscovered the problems I have with using the bomb
in the second round. It reeks of Gunbird 2. One, the bomber
doesn't add anything to my level gauge. If I need a certain
level of charge later on, I won't have it and I'll need to
use another bomb. And when I die, I'm not doing anything.
I'm not killing the boss, I return with weak firepower, and
I see some unfamiliar attacks. Time to use those bombs
again.

At least I can be wherever I want to be, unlike Alucard's
bomb.

Now I have to rethink my bomb distribution. I think I
should reserve three bombs to recover lost power. That
brings it down to five free bombs. Now I have to
re-evaluate where I should use them. Maybe I have to get
rid of the bombing situations during the sea and sky
stages. I'll have to return to those stages and figure them
out.

Nine bombs, eh. I feel like I have to use them all. But
look what happened. I run out in 2-4, the town stage. I had
no chance to survive.

It's very important that I commit to my bomb distribution
ahead of time. If I bomb whatever scares me, I'll have a
tough time figuring out what's wrong. And when I die, all I
can note is "I ran out of bombs". But even if I die to
something stupid with nine bombs remaining, I can jump up
and down and point at the problem. I can say, I've made a
bad decision and I need to fix this.

I shouldn't improve on bombing whatever scares me. I've
mastered that already. I need to find situations that are
giving me trouble, create firmer strategies.

When I'm playing to meet a goal, I should see everything as
a random event. Either I'm going to live or I'm going to
die. I've decided how to handle each situation already. I
just need to react appropriately. If I die, fix the
problems, and try again tomorrow. I was so successful in
the first round because of this.

I have eight bombs going into 1-8. If I see something
scary, do I bomb it? No. I have nine bombs going into 2-1.
If I see something scary, do I bomb it? I should learn to
bite the bullet and say, "No."

[01 Jun 2003, 12:54 PDT]
Nowhere to hide

After a hundred and fifty deaths, I have given the eight
orphan bombs their homes. The results surprised me.

The mine stage turns out to be predictable if I follow
ZAP's four-bomb plan. All I have to do is lead bullets
away. There is no giant group of drones to get in my way.

The sky stage. Just an extra bomb is needed.

It turns out that I need a few bombs for the supposedly
easy sea stage. I have three bombs listed and I still feel
that's not enough. It's those damn drones clogging
everything up. When I need to move from one side of the
screen to the other, their return bullets get in the way.
When I need to squeeze through two lines of bullets, they
create dead ends. If I stop shooting, then those seeking
wingmen will shoot those drones. It's a mess and there's no
way to go around it. I may want to use more bombs until I
can get things settled down.

If I can get more bombs anyway. I have already thrown six
bombs at the town stage, but it turns out that I need four
more. The enemies are relentless. Lots of small tanks
firing bullets everywhere. Lots of missile carriers firing
bullets everywhere. Even two bombs won't stop the turrets
from firing bullets everywhere. And of course, there are
lots the drones firing bullets everywhere. At least I can
predict something in the sea stage. Here, no.

Anyway, the thing I got out of this is that I know where to
place those extra eight bombs. The problem is I needed more
and I know I won't get them. It's time for me to cut down.

[30 May 2003, 18:43 PDT]
Nowhere to run

The second round in Strikers 1945 II was harder than I
expected. I went through the sea stage and sky stage. And I
kept dying and dying and dying. This is going to be harder
than Gunbird 2.

I thought that with the information I've received by one of
the better writers, ZAP, I would get through this just
fine. But his guide isn't detailed enough, and sometimes, I
would find a better method. Take the sea boss's first form.
Okay, one WAF on the right side and one WAF down the
middle. This should destroy the slugger quickly. And then
look what happens: bullets everywhere. I can't control it.

I wondered why there are fewer bullets in I.O's run and I
found out why. Don't destroy the slugger right away. Just
destroy the stuff on the right hand side quickly and
control the slugger. If it aims initially at the lower-left
corner, then it will circle around once, but it will never
circle towards the upper-right part of the screen again--it
would just swing back suddenly. So I can use this part of
the screen to avoid the pattern entirely, and I can dodge
any bullets up there with some confidence. Now when I
destroy the slugger, I see fewer bullets and I feel all
right.

So why is this going to be harder than Gunbird 2? In
Gunbird 2, there are only a few drones flying about
plopping random return bullets all over the place. I can
still play aggressively, point blank the larger enemies and
control their more predictable return bullets. The drones
didn't serve as much of a threat.

But in 1945 II, there are drones everywhere! I can't
predict which drone is going to fire what kind of return
bullet. And because the Seeking Wingmen have a will of
their own, I can't just stop firing whenever I want to
avoid return bullets. It's a mess.

I need to master the cutback.

I performed few cutbacks in Gunbird 2. I would find some
way to circle around the enemy. That's why I enjoyed so
much success in the game. But in 1945 II, no. Drones pop up
from everywhere. There is no opportunity to circle around.
It makes me wonder why some consider 1945 II to be one of
the easiest two-loop games to clear.

Maybe it's because in Gunbird 2, if I don't have any Bat
Drills ready, I'm screwed. And I have to fit through tight
spaces in some of the bullet barrages. Either I will live
or I will die. There's no way to improvise. But in 1945 II,
if I master the cutback, it seems that I will be fine.
Perhaps that's why ZAP can use brute-force strategies, and
I have to depend on tricks. He knows how to do the cutback,
I don't.

I made no groundbreaking progress. There's still plenty to
control in the game. What should I do? Split up each stage
into sections, and find out how much margin of error the
game gives me. Let's plan first and then play. I think
things would go much quicker by then.

Also, after considering the one bomb I will always use in
the first round and the bombing places that ZAP recommends,
I'm left with eight bombs. I think I'll push them all
towards the second round with the way things are going
right now. There's so much that I've yet to control that I
need this large buffer to get through it. I think it's also
better to use these bombs as ways to clear difficult
situations. By the time I decide a situation is out of
control and react by pressing calling in the bomber, it'll
like be too late.

[29 May 2003, 13:37 PDT]
Go go go, next zone!

I intended to clear the first round of Strikers 1945 II
without dying and with six bombs in stock. Really, this
means that I should learn how to dodge those explosion pods
in during the 1-7 boss battle and bomb the last boss three
times again. I got sick of doing that. I felt that this
intention was half-goal, half-expectation. I want to strive
only for goals, not expectations. So I decided to skip
through the process and go straight for my next checkpoint:
clear the game without dying and with nine bombs in stock.

And amazingly, I did it.

My heart was rushing early on, probably a little at 1-3 and
then I started to feel it from 1-5 on. I didn't recover
fully from my previous failure. But hey, I'm not a machine,
I think I can do just fine operating a little out of
control. And rarely have I made an excursion from my
intended strategy. In the end, this was an awesome feeling.

I still don't feel confident I can do this on demand. But I
remembered, why work on consistency? There will always be
some variability in my play, there will always be some
situation whose result I cannot forecast, where the bullets
fire off at random directions. I want to make rapid
progress again. It's time for me to move on. If I still
mess up in the first round, I'll find some way to fix it.

How I would approach the second round, then. I will follow
ZAP's guide in final runs, but for test runs, I might go
without using bombs. It's probably too high of an
expectation to go through these stages without using a bomb
every time, but I have considered something. What if I
enter a stage with no bombs? Would it be good to dodge it
anyway? Have some chance at survival instead of leaving
myself at the mercy of the enemy? It would be nice.

But I'm unsure if this is the right decision. If I practice
using no bombs just to create survival opportunities, then
I would have to work more. But if I practice with bombs,
then I would expect to have those bombs when I make my
final runs. Would extra practice mean better chances for
survival?

Maybe there is a compromise. When I'm actively practicing,
I'll follow ZAP's bomb distribution in test runs. When I
feel like making an excursion, I'll try to eliminate those
bombing situations in which bombing is only a convenience
and not a necessity. There are so many problems that I have
introduced to this that the easiest way for me to deal with
them all is to follow my interests.

Let's recap. My next goal is to clear 2-4. I'm not sure if
I want to clear the first round without dying and with nine
bombs in stock. I'm afraid I would be trying to do too
much, trying to satisfy two goals at once, discovering new
problems in the first round, and such. If I get frustrated,
I can always relax this assumption.

[28 May 2003, 19:07 PDT]
I am the fortress, not you!

Early in the afternoon, I have cleared the first round of
Strikers 1945 II without dying and with five bombs
remaining. I still pushed all of my bombs to the second
half, so I could guarantee myself victory against the final
boss. Soon, I'll have to let this go.

I do have a strategy set up for ROMMEL. It's a little easy.
Place a Lv.2 WAF along the center line. I want to get
ROMMEL out of the way. Now aim for the round turret on the
left side. When I anticipate that the large left gun up
above is about to fire, I move to the right. Now, since I
don't have much distance between this gun and me, it's hard
for me to dodge. Maybe I don't need to be right on top of
the turret, maybe I don't need to destroy it, I don't know.
There's still some uncertainty here, so I should take care
of it sometime.

Then I am for the round turret on the right. When I have a
Lv.1 WAF ready, I charge it, move to the center, and place
it. But with the right gun and center cannon blazing, I
must do this quickly. Otherwise, I'm a sitting duck. I must
take care of this fear of being hit.

From here, it's easy. The left gun fires off a bunch of
triangles that are easy to dodge. The right gun does the
same, but I have trouble deciding to circle above it or
below it. Maybe I should be braver and move higher up into
the screen. ROMMEL should be destroyed from here.

It took me plenty of tries to formulate this strategy, and
I still feel that this isn't the best solution. Can I start
at the right turret instead of the left? If I can't, how
much distance can I place myself from the left gun? So many
decisions I have to make. No wonder why it's better just to
use a bomb.

I still want to seal the victory against the final boss. I
still want to keep my emergency bomb stock at three. The
next thing I should do is deal with those explosion pods
against the 1-7 boss. Although it's difficult to track
bullets along horizontal trajectories, all I need to do is
move down. This shouldn't be too bad.

It should be easy for me to "no miss" the first round with
six bombs remaining. The rest is eliminating variability
and gaining more confidence against the final boss.

[27 May 2003, 11:06 PDT]
It worked

Okay, enough wandering about aimlessly. I can breathe
again. I've just cleared Strikers 1945 II without dying and
with three bombs remaining. It seems that reducing
variability on the scary bits works well. But the strategy
can be improved.

I was playing with my heart rate uncomfortably high. Maybe
it was the Rockstar Energy Drink. Anyway, if I hear little
thumps in my chest, that makes me nervous. So instead of
dying, resetting, and play again worried about what's going
to happen, why not do something else? Play through a part
that has much variability. Just play without a stressful
goal in mind. Do something other than running through the
game again from the beginning. That should bring down my
heart rate to my standard of comfort.

If I can't be in control of my body, how can I be in
control of the game?

I've also realized that I value my time. I go through the
first half of the game adequately, and then I get scared
whether I'll smack into some phantom bullet in the second
half. Maybe I should push all of my bombs to the second
half and just deal with the first. I think the first half
is getting easier, anyway.

And there are still a few places that I need to touch up.
1-3, U.S. mine. When the boss's second form fires its pods
and then lets loose its bazooka blast, I would encounter
some stray bullets around the lower-left corner. That
scares me. Time to get rid of it. 1-8. If I run into the
first UFO, it's difficult for me to recover and destroy the
next two UFOs quickly. Let me see how far I can be from the
first UFO and still seal its fire. 1-6 planes again.
Sometimes, I would still refuse to cutback. I would travel
up the edge, hoping I would squeeze by some bullets. Not
good.

What to do. Redistribute bombs. Get rid of these new
problems.

[26 May 2003, 23:44 PDT]
Work on the right problems first

I've done so much today for Strikers 1945 II. I'll just run
down what I've done.

My crowing glory was against the 1-5 boss's second form.
All this time, I was making cutbacks to avoid the third and
fourth attacks (the former is all aimed bullets, the latter
is a fixed attack that pushes me towards the center). One
time, I was bored and decided to circle around the third
attack. What have I got to lose? I've gained so much. Not
only did I circle around the third attack successfully, I
am right on top of the fourth attack. No cutbacks. I was so
relieved.

I know how to manage the flower pattern near the end, too.
Just be brave and dodge them up close, while the escape
path is smaller.

Now, 1-7, the cranes before the UFOs appear. Actually, I
decided to start after the C.A.N.Y. boss is destroyed,
since I was scared of those blue tanks, too. All this time,
I aimed my WAF along the main path of the ruffian tank,
just to the right of the center line. But then I slowly
realized that the ruffian tank wasn't the problem, the blue
tanks were! I could eliminate two of them by placing the
WAF along the center line and destroy the ruffian myself.
And it works. With fewer tank bullets to deal with, I can
make cutbacks with more ease. The WAF would also destroy
the left crane, and I can destroy the right crane before it
fires anything. Problem solved.

1-sea, the planes at the end. I realized that I can power
up! Now that I have a strong grasp of the techniques
experts use to dodge bullets, I can trade-off a rank
increase for extra firepower. And it was worth it. I was
always scared that I would die to a stray bullet while I'm
inside the fixed 4-3-3 pattern from those large planes. So
let's eliminate the fixed pattern by eliminating those
planes! By powering up, I can destroy them just when they
fire the pattern, and I can track the rest of the bullets
easily. Amazing.

The sky boss's first form. Just some simple bullet leading.
Lead the bullets to the right, use the lower-left corner to
dodge the white bullets. But then I realized I can be above
the white pattern if I'm right near the boss's wings. This
is impractical for the first two times the boss fires this
pattern, but the third has no stray bullets getting in the
way, so to be safe, I would move right near the boss's left
wing and finish it off. Also, I have remembered to save a
Lv.2 WAF so that I can dispose of the boss quickly.

The rest is making sure I have my strategies memorized.

Tomorrow, we'll see if taking care of the situations with
the most variability helps me get up to the 1-8 boss
without dying again. I didn't really do much about the 1-8
boss, but I've done so much already that I want to see
whether the progress I've already done works.

[25 May 2003, 22:32 PDT]
It's always something

It's obvious now that I need to set that standard of
comfort. I died in so many different places today, it's
inexcusable. The whole game's out of my control. It's time
for me to get rid of these errors.

What is a good standard of comfort? If I die, obviously
I'll feel uncomfortable. If I feel my heart pounding, I
feel uncomfortable. If I know I can get through a situation
through rational means, but I improvise anyway, I feel
uncomfortable. If I still feel uncomfortable handling a
situation that I can get through six times in a row, I
should find some way to feel at ease.

My standard of comfort is this: I feel that I have control
over the enemy. The enemy cannot dictate my heart rate. The
enemy cannot control me. If I die, then it's because I've
overlooked something. It's never due to some random error.
I know better.

Let's make a list. Where do I feel variability?

1-5. The second form of the boss. Everything moves so fast,
I can't keep track of anything. I have died when a stray
bullet trapped me at a corner. I have died to some unseen
fast aimed bullet. I have died to that spiral attack that
looks different to me each time. Fearing I would make these
errors again give me the jitters. Eliminate them.

1-7. I have finally died to those cranes before the UFOs
begin to pop up. Those two white spreads are fixed, I know
that. But I don't know their trajectories. They would cross
and I would be paralyzed. But sometimes, I would eliminate
them right away anyway. Let's do that. Use a WAF to
eliminate at least one of those cranes. Maybe I can use
that WAF to get rid of those center UFOs that appear after.

1-8. Two UFOs at the end. Okay, so I don't feel my heart
rate rise, but I know I can do better. Make sure I know
what the bullets from the ring of UFOs look like.

French town. Variability on the boss spread mess thing
forever. Too hard to eliminate.

Sky. The boss at the end. So many annoying deaths. Maybe I
should learn how to lead those bullet clouds. And I should
start saving that Lv.2 WAF for the second form. I should
get used to that. It's a better strategy. I should do
something about that giant plane at the beginning of the
stage, too.

Not much to say about the U.S. mine. For some reason, I
have things under control there. It's a good feeling.

At the end of the sea stage. Stop moving around in random
places. I should learn to move slowly, so I can track the
bullets from those drones. They're the bigger threat. Why
am I destroying those large planes quickly?

1-6. I have strong control over that stage too.

1-7 again. I'm reminded of Block-ade's second attack, its
mess of bullets. Don't depend on the safe spot being at the
middle again. Find other safe spots. The first pattern is
static, after all.

1-8 again. Maybe I should do something about that third UFO
before the mid-boss's bay, too.

Wow, there's so much to do. Tomorrow, I'll figure out which
situations are worth my time based on the following
criteria: how much variability I can reduce, how easy will
it be to reduce it, and how interested I am in the
situation. This calls for some decision analysis.

[25 May 2003, 01:36 PDT]
Rehab

Tonight was a rehab night. My return to Strikers 1945 II.
But not only was I battling sinus allergies, I was battling
with enemies going out of my control.

I have a simple way to indicate when something goes out of
control. If I die twice to a particular scene, it's time to
sound the sirens and work on the problem. And I had to do
so three times.

The first: 1-1 French town, the boss, third form, opening
attack. Three-ways and four-ways and drones everywhere.
It's terrible. I would either make cutbacks or make small
movements, but I've been always staying inside the pattern.
I have to depend on predicting lots of bullet trajectories.

I suck at that. So how do I reduce the number of
trajectories that I must predict? The arc length of typical
spread attacks are small if they're close to their firing
origin, the enemy. If I'm close enough, I can move outside
the pattern if I want. So I should be brave and weave in
and out of the bullet spray. Now I can control better the
boss's aim and I would have fewer trajectories to predict.
There's still some variability in my movements, but I'll
just blame it on random errors for now.

Another thing. I should make sure that the drones appear
form the right side, the same side where the boss first
moves. I hate to predict trajectories from either side of
the screen.

The second scene is at 1-6. The brown planes again. This
time, it's near the end. I would just keep tapping left to
avoid the aimed bullets, but I would be below some
relentlessly firing tanks. Their aimed bullets weren't a
problem before, but my reaction time sucks now and I could
rarely make the cutback.

The solution: why be lazy? I can keep moving while the
large plane has just appeared. It's when it's just about to
fire is when I should stand still and wait. I can do
something while the planes are idle. I could avoid the trap
by moving as far right as I can when those tanks appear.
Then I would have space to move over to the left and
destroy those tanks.

Make idle time productive time. If it works for wafer fabs,
it can work for me.

The final one is at the sky boss's first form. I know how
to dodge its first white attack, but the second, I would
place myself at some random spot, hoping the attack would
go through me. It's stupid. This attack is fixed--let's go
look for the safe spot.

I found it to be at the lower-left corner. I remember doing
this before when I was playing this stage as 1-4. Why
didn't I use it at 1-3? In 1-4, the second arc forces me to
move away from this corner. In 1-3, this arc doesn't
appear, so I can just stay there. Why I was afraid of doing
this in 1-3, I have no clue.

There's still some variability in my movements for the
first two attacks I mentioned. But there are so many things
that depend on one another that I would just have to trust
my eyes and fate to get me through these. Maybe I should
set up a standard for comfortable dodging.

[04 May 2003, 17:31 PDT]
Emergency evasion 

Finally, I have completed Strikers 1945 II's first round
with three lives and one bomb remaining. It took so long
because I had to clear up many stupid mistakes I've been
doing, especially in the random stages.

Now it gets tricky. All of the bombing situations I have
left are real threats, not mere inconvenient situations.
Right now, I want to get rid of the DOUBLE SWEEP (1-8 boss,
second form, opening attack). I'm unsure how to control the
attack so that I see the same holes every time--I don't
even know how the attack works. Plus, my joystick taps vary
too much--sometimes, I would move too far and run into a
bullet and other times, I would move too little and get run
over by a bullet.

But I chose this attack because it requires only two sweeps
of the joystick. Look, move, look, move. The pattern's
simple, so I think it would be easy to tighten my
strategies for it. Other attacks require too many acrobatic
maneuvers. Plus, since this attack occurs twice, I would
have one bomb to use elsewhere. Where should I put it?

I've been thinking about the idea of emergency evasion. I
know how to dodge some of the patterns I would otherwise
bomb, so I can use the bombs for the greater threats later
on. It requires that I know what a pattern looks like when
it's out of control.

I depend too much on one method for dodging a pattern, so
when something awkward appears (say, a stray bullet
clogging a hole), I have no clue how to dodge it. But I try
to dodge it anyway and I die. If I recognize that the
pattern's out of my control, then I would be more confident
bombing it--I wouldn't feel bad wasting a bomb and I
wouldn't feel bad dying.

The problem with Hayate's bomb is that the bomber takes a
bit of time to run up the screen. I can make faster
decisions by recognizing an out-of-control situation, but I
still have to press the bomb button and I still have to
wait for the bomber to get up there. Thus, I must restrict
my emergency evasion mentality for patterns that I dodge
close to the bottom of the screen.

I used to hate using bombs as emergency evasion as it
forces me to make a decision on whether to bomb. But if I
know what an out-of-control pattern looks like, my
decisions are predetermined. I hope this will help me
conserve bombs.

Also, looking back, I appreciate the technique models that
aprhodite gave me. No longer do I dodge those brown planes
in 1-6 by running all over the place. I know most of the
patterns are aimed, so I just make small movements and I
have control over the situation. I think I'm starting to
appreciate my strategies more now that I'm aware of the
techniques I use to perform them easily.

Maybe I should summarize aphrodite's work for SAEKI's
Shooting Game so I can make a laundry list of what to look
for in a pattern.

One more thing. Ex_Mosquito, a fellow shooting game player,
brought up the idea of drawing a diagram. I overlooked
this, because I was too used to writing about the stages.
He uses diagrams to help him take account for the drones
that would always kill him. Now that I'm leaving myself
less room for error, I want to take account for everything
in the game. I think a diagram would help me do so
efficiently.

[27 Apr 2003, 17:02 PDT]
What is the problem? 

After reading through aphrodite's guide to Shooting Game
and applying his principles, I wondered if the lack of
awareness for bullet dodging techniques is indeed the
problem. I think those who are at about my skill level
understands how these techniques work, but we just take too
long figuring out how to dodge complex bullet barrages or
dealing with difficult situations. I reminded myself that
mastering technique alone will not transform a motivated
amateur into a gaming god.

I know I can teach people knowledge, technique, and pattern
creation. I know amateurs can improve by leaps and bounds
when they possess mastery of these three things. So where's
the problem? I've re-evaluated the state of the shooting
game community, and I have an idea.

What complaints do people have about the shooting game that
nag me? They are too hard. It takes too much work to
memorize what's going on. There are too many bullets on
screen. It's impossible to dodge this pattern without dying
or using a bomb. Shooting games are just exercises in
bombing, dying, and continuing.

I think people fail to take advantage of the margin of
error shooting games give them. For the complainers, they
have no grasp of the workings of bullet patterns and
enemies. They can only depend on reaction time to dodge
bullets. For the motivated amateur, they set goals too
great for them--scoring high or going through a stage
without bombs. These people just refuse to use the game's
generosity.

What I want to teach people is to take advantage of this
margin of error first. All people need to do is find it.
Yes, sometimes finding knowledge is the fastest way to do
so. But it's hard for me to tell people to translate
Japanese web sites and interpret the information. So
instead, I can tell them to ask questions and to observe
how experts play the game. But everyone knows how to do
that already.

Perhaps we need a reminder about the techniques we use.
Sometimes, there is a better path to dodging a complex
bullet pattern than the one we've memorized. Perhaps when
we're aware of these techniques, we can find more ways to
buy more time and space, use fewer taps of the joystick,
find more margin of error.

Perhaps the greatest source of margin of error is the way
amateurs play the game. Some of them dive into scoring high
right away. That is suicide. Scoring is just trading margin
of error for extra points. How can you score well if you
are unaware how much margin of error you have in the first
place? Once you understand the threats in the game, then
you can start trading unneeded margin of error for extra
points. Then you can make gradual progress. It's better
than jumping to 30 million points and then suddenly hitting
a brick wall. 

Overall, I think people have wrong attitudes toward
shooting games. The enemies are stupid. All they can do is
throw millions of bullets at you. You just have to be
smarter than them.

[26 Apr 2003, 14:38 PDT]
Tools for shooting games, Part II 

I couldn't believe it. In Shooting Game, all I did was use
the tactics I knew for dodging aimed bullets and I barely
scraped through the final stage. Now, I'm bored. I've read
through aphrodite's guide to see if I can pick up a few
things, but much of what I've skimmed through is obvious to
me. What I left from the reading is this.

Predicting bullet trajectories. I doubt there's some
systematic way to learn how to predict where bullets where
go. It's a skill that develops over time. I think this is
our weakness. When a pattern gets too noisy, we don't know
what bullets to watch, so we just dodge frantically and
die. The only thing I can do is to help people separate the
signal from the noise. But I don't know how to do that
precisely. I have only an intuitive idea. What are the most
threatening bullets?

In Shooting Game, I used to take in six hits from the later
bosses. It was difficult for me to find order amongst the
chaos--the patterns overlapped one another. But after
learning about how aimed bullets work, I found that they
are the most threatening bullets. Most likely, they will
shove me into the edges of the screen without any chance
for me to escape.

For example, what I used to do for the third boss was to
run all over the screen and hope that the aimed blue bullet
clouds won't hit me. But then I observed their
behavior--isn't this just the same type of bullet cloud
found in the first boss's opening attack? Instead, I should
weave back and forth. If the clouds move to the left, I
should move to the right and up; if they move to the right,
I should move to the left and up. This V-shaped cutback
helped me reduce the damage I take from this boss, down to
one.

As for the fourth boss, all the patterns are aimed. It's
just a matter of sidestepping a hundred times. And I would
likely get hit only once.

I think this is a good way to understand how complex
patterns work. Separate them into simpler components and
identify the threats. It just takes a good understanding
how the simple patterns work in order to see this quickly.
That I need to develop.

I'll keep reading the guide and playing the game. I still
have to stop taking so much damage from the later bosses in
the game. Maybe I won't be so bored after all.

[24 Apr 2003, 23:23 PDT]
Tools for shooting games, Part I 

I am shocked to learn something from aphrodite's first
stage guide to the game "Shooting Game". Two important
concepts: dealing with aimed bullets and listing what
happens in a stage.

I have an intuitive understanding how aimed bullets work:
the enemy aims a bullet or a pattern at you, and you must
decide how to dodge it. The crucial problem with aimed
bullets is deciding how to make cutbacks when I'm shoved to
the edges of the screen. aphrodite already gave me one
hint: how does the enemy aim and fire?

In the first stage, there are these medium-sized red ships
that dump a clump of bullets. How does the enemy aim and
fire this stream of bullets? Does it aim once and fire the
entire stream? Or does it continue to aim while it's firing
the stream? This enemy does the latter. How should this be
dodged? Do you keep moving until the stream ends? Or do you
stand still, wait until the entire stream finishes, and
then move?

It reminded me about the decisions I had to make in Gunbird
2. In the first form of the 1-6 boss, there was a n-way
spread of bullet lines. If I move while the boss is firing,
then the bullet lines would become arcs because I gave the
boss a chance to re-aim. The spread has been rotated and I
have to deal with a mess. Not good.

There are so many decisions that go into dodging aimed
patterns--or any pattern. I should think about this further
someday.

Another thing I need to do is to list what goes on during
the stage trip. All this time, I've been only describing
what happens in a stage, but I've yet to summarize what's
going on in a list. Sometimes, I forget that a certain
enemy is going to appear and I end up in some awkward
position to dodge their bullets. Just like making a simple
list for the order of a boss's patterns, a list of the
enemies that appear in a certain chunk of a stage will
prepare my mind for what's next. Then I wouldn't die to
some random enemy that I would've taken for granted.

A rewrite of my strategy plan for Strikers 1945 II is in
order. But for now, I want to learn from aphrodite what
other tools I can use in a shooting game. Onto stage 2 I
go.

[22 Apr 2003, 23:51 PDT]
A new way of thinking 

There's a concept in my course in methods of manufacturing
improvement that inspired me to think about improving the
skills of the shooting game community. There was one
engineer working in a wafer fab who is too busy to do
everything, so he let his operators do some experiments for
him. This scared the operators--their job is only to check
that the machines work. What did the engineer do? He taught
them how to inspect the machines more rigorously. He taught
them how to fix problems themselves. Eventually, not only
did the overall efficiency of the equipment improve, but
the operators have more confidence to carry out experiments
and fix problems and whatnot--they no longer felt the need
to call on the engineer when something went wrong.

I'm perhaps one of the most outspoken strategy engineer in
the shooting game community. I have given my knowledge to
plenty of motivated shooting game players. But I know too
little about shooting games. I can't answer everyone's
questions, even though I want to. And when I have
questions, who can answer them?

I want to see the skills of motivated shooting game players
improve. I want them to start solving problems for
themselves instead of hoping that some expert will solve
them. I want them to become the experts and in turn help
newcomers to the shooting game become experts. But with so
few people playing shooting games with different goals, how
do I get them to cooperate with me?

There are two concepts that the shooting game community has
yet to address: technique and pattern creation. By
technique, I mean the general strategies that experts use
to dodge bullet patterns and eliminate enemies before they
become threats. By pattern creation, I mean the progress
that should be made into creating a strategy that
works--bomb distribution, weapon distribution, learning
from mistakes, and so on.

I think the reason why so many game players, including
motivated shooting game amateurs, have too much trouble
with shooting games is because they have a deficient
understanding of how shooting games work. How do I deal
with aimed bullets? odd-way and even-way spreads?
overlapping patterns? If these players understand how the
enemy shocks them like this, then they will understand why
experts dodge bullets in a certain way, evaluate whether
such a dodge works for them, and create their own strategy.
And these players can do so quickly, before they get too
frustrated.

Progress. That's what people like. Why do most people play
RPGs and not shooting games? It's because RPGs make it easy
for people to make progress. It's because it's easy to
exploit enemy weaknesses in RPGs--they may have some
obvious weak point or are overpowered by the hero and
friends. It's because RPGs keep going when the player wants
to keep going.

Why is it so tough to make progress in a shooting game?
Enemies conceal their weak points with elaborate bullet
patterns, enemies hide the real threats. The amateur has to
know how to find these threats quickly so he can make
progress. But he can't because he doesn't know how.

Just like what that engineer did to improve the efficiency
of his wafer fab, I want to improve the efficiency of my
fellow players. I want them to move away from trial and
error and this silly notion of "memorizing" and to get into
a more systematic way of thinking about shooting games, a
way that works. I want them to stop putting the cart before
the horse, to stop putting scoring over survival when they
are struggling to survive in the first place. I want them
to stop creating problems for themselves and to start
finding solutions.

Above all, I want people to have fun with shooting games. I
think the allure of shooting games comes from destroying
the masses of stupid, predictable enemies. Once the player
knows how these stupid, predictable enemies work, he can
toy around with them however he wishes. He won't need my
help anymore.

I plan to teach people a more systematic way of thinking
about shooting games. But for this to work, I need to do
the following: (1) get a firm grasp on how shooting games
works, (2) making the entire shooting game community aware
of this way of thinking, (3) convince amateurs that they
can make progress in shooting games, (4) involve as many
people as I can, and (5) teach them the techniques and
strategies I've developed.

But if I want to become a successful leader, I must have a
stronger foundation on how shooting games work. I'm still
an amateur who just knows lots of stuff. I looked through
aphrodite's web site and I found a teaching model that I
want to try out. Instead of teaching a bunch of techniques
and giving examples on how they work, he derives from one
shooting game models that can be used for other shooting
games.

The game is titled Shooting Game. I've played it before,
but I never saw it as a tool to help me be aware of all the
techniques experts use in a shooting game. Even though
moves at a choppy rate of 20 frames per seconds, it forces
me to think about the shapes of these patterns and not to
depend on my reflexes to dodge bullets as they arrive. I
hope aphrodite's guide will walk me through this, so I can
develop my own models and show them off to the world.

(Shooting Game can be downloaded from SAEKI Toshimichi's.)

[20 Apr 2003, 09:08 PDT]
Reduce variability 

Yesterday, I played plenty of Strikers 1945 II. I lacked
enough confidence to clear the first round in two lives,
but I became bored trying to be consistent in my strategies
and I dived right into the game. I ended up clearing the
first round without dying.

I think I screwed around a bit. I found that there's no
need to use a bomb on the 1-3 U.S. mine boss. And I don't
remember using a bomb on the 1-8 mid-boss's docking bay. I
think that gave me enough bombs to beat the boss without
dying. I don't remember if 1-4 ended up being the French
town--I don't think I remember anything anymore. Just that
I cleared the first round without dying.

I want to clean up a few things so that I can clear the
round with fewer bombs. I have problems back in the first
four stages because I never paid attention to the order of
the bosses' patterns. They all seem to mesh together into
this continuous stream of fire, so I never cared to
distinguish one pattern of fire from another. But I take it
for granted that I can dodge them all. After all, isn't the
beginning of the game supposed to be easy?

But this is a Psikyo shooting game. 1945 II gets easy from
1-5 to 1-7, where I have a matured strategy already. In the
earlier stages, I die because I would see some pattern I
wouldn't expect to see, and I would have to rely on my
reflexes to see the pattern and to dodge. Of course, it's
better to know what the pattern looks like beforehand and
to have a mind set on how to dodge it. That way, I can
dodge more confidently.

I liked what touryuumonn did in his strategy guide. List
the attacks the boss is going to do in order, and then it
will be easy to explain how to dodge them. I should do that
too, only I would briefly describe the pattern, give it a
letter label, and then give out the order for each of the
first four stages.

I guess the reason why I have completed the round without
dying is because I was working on the wrong problem. No
matter how hard I try to be more consistent, there's always
some given chance that I would die to some overlooked
bullet.

But the great thing about goals is that once I meet them, I
don't have to meet it again--it's just an expectation from
then on. There will be some probability that I will never
overlook a bullet, and I would succeed.

The problem I should be working on is not about creating
more consistent strategies, but reducing variability. If I
only have a vague idea on managing a certain situation, I
should form a more concrete idea. Paying attention to the
boss's order of attacks is a start.

[19 Apr 2003, 01:06 PDT]
Going into today 

I have played some Strikers 1945 II this week to see if I'm
ready to clear the first round in two lives. I know I'm
capable, but I've yet to be confident enough to do so. I
need to play more consistency. I need to eliminate some of
the nagging mistakes I've done.

And hell, I know I can clear the game without dying. The
eighth stage is getting easier and easier--I feel less need
to bomb those orange UFOs. Maybe I still need to chuck a
few bombs at the boss, but that's it. But for now, I'll
bomb those UFOs to be safe. I shouldn't get ahead of
myself.

Two pieces of strategy I need to address. First, I have to
adjust my WAF distribution. In Greenland, I should place a
Lv.1 WAF after first submarine. That way, I don't have end
up with an unneeded Lv.2 WAF. And near the end of 1-5, I
can simply dodge the planes' fire and save a Lv.2 WAF to
quickly destroy the boss's first form. I forgot what else.

Another interesting piece of strategy is that in 1-6,
there's a more consistent way to dodge those fast bullets
from the large brown planes. Just stand still and then
sidestep. Now there's no need to decide whether I should go
into a pattern or outside.

[05 Apr 2003, 13:11 PDT]
Die later, bomb now 

I wrote last time that I would reduce my bomb usage in
Strikers 1945 II's random stages--from five to three. I
didn't feel confident that I wanted it that way, so I
played through the game to remind myself which patterns are
now easy. It turns out that in stage 1-7, I can dodge a
couple of patterns with more confidence.

First is the C.A.N.Y bosses. I'm no longer scared of the
U.S. boss's fast bullets anymore--all I need to do is to
just jerk the joystick once. I've gained enough confidence
to dodge the U.S.S.R. boss's patterns, too--it's just
leading bullets to opposite corners of the screen.

The second one is at the BLOCK-ADE. I thought the random
blasts would mess up my safe zone, but when I figured out
how large the zone was, then I have no need to be afraid. I
can dance around a little. Besides, when I watched I.O's
replay, I will need to take advantage of this space in 2-7,
so it's good practice to wiggle about.

Dodging these attacks in the later stages is also good
because I hate dying early into the game. In the arcade, I
value my credit--I don't want to waste it on some foolish
mistake I could do early on.

Now that I'm more confident with the new bomb distribution,
the next thing is to test whether this works. I'll see if I
can consistently clear the game with this distribution. I
think it should be easy, especially when I've also learned
a few more tricks since the last time I played.

[29 Mar 2003, 14:24 PST]
Eliminate Down 

I have cleared the first round of Strikers 1945 II.
Unfortunately, it was on an emulator at full speed, so I
won't take this victory seriously, but it's a good
approximation on how well I would do in the arcade. The
next thing to do is to complete the game in three lives. I
have considered the two bomb locations I should eliminate.

Right away, I knew one of them would be at the random
stages. I think they would be at the Arizona coalmines and
the Philippines. For the coalmine, I'm powerful enough to
destroy the boss's first form before I see a switch in
patterns. And for the Philippines--actually, I'm unsure
which one to dump, but either will do.

I tried thinking of another place. I still need a bomb for
1-5 and for 1-6, so I'm left with 1-7 and 1-8. But the
attacks in any of these two stages are too tough. Why not
remove another from the random stages?

I think I can eliminate an attack in France. The boss's
second form is easy. All I need to do is lead the bullets
away from me. It's not obvious, but the attack is a
three-way, so that's why. Great, now I'm left with 14
bombs. That's all I want to think about.

[27 Mar 2003, 11:46 PST]
Full Force 

Over the last three days, I played through the stages in
Strikers 1945 II. I intended to clear consistently each
stage without using a bomb. Even though it's better to
practice with my bomb distribution in mind, I was more
curious how well I would do without them. 1-4-Town and 1-8
overwhelmed me, though, but I should have enough experience
to write strategies about the first round. I was even
surprised to clear 1-4-Mine and 1-6, which have some of the
allegedly toughest patterns in the game. Maybe I should
re-evaluate where I should place my bombs.

As for the challenges I have to face, I'll start with
1-4-Town. Two situations. The first is those 15 turrets and
the kamikaze planes before that. I don't know how where to
start, and even then, I don't know how to lead the fire
away from the kamikaze planes so I can get to my starting
position. I guess I should start from the lower-left so I
can aim my Lv.2 WAF there, but the bullets fly thick and
fast right away. Plus, I'm unsure if I have gained my Lv.2
WAF in time.

As for the second situation, it's about the boss's last
form's. Eventually the boss freezes on the left side to
prepare to fire a flurry of bullets. A fast four-way drop
of white bullets, a horizontal barrier of smaller bullets,
and a ring of white bullets. All I hope to do is close in
on the boss, hope to have enough speed to follow the boss,
and then destroy it before the barrier kills me. So
tough...

As for 1-8, three situations. First is when the second and
third large UFOs appear, with all those supporting turrets
flinging their bullets. Rarely, I have to cut back and
forth in 1945 II, so doing it here makes me feel
uncomfortable. As for the last two large UFOs near the end,
it's just difficult to get the timing right. I would be at
the lower-left corner, then I have to jump over to the
center and then I would circle clockwise around the
perimeter. But if I move too early, there would be bullets
aimed at me on the left side, so I would be stock. If I
move too late, then a fast bullet would kill me.

And the final boss--well, just the final form kills me
often. It's when the boss rushes down and scatters all
these tiny bullets. It's hard to see the gap ahead of time,
because I know for the next attack, I have to stand still
or be dead. It's just better to stay in the center, use a
bomb, and enjoy the victory.

[07 Mar 2003, 21:56 PST]
WAF Force, Part II 

And now, my venture into 1-7 and 1-8. I had to play a
little bit a while ago so I can refresh my memories on how
I distributed my WAFs, but I did much of the experimenting
last Wednesday.

1-7. Once I descend, place a WAF on the LHS. I should align
it with a yellow vertical strip--I don't know what it is
really, but it guides me where I should place the WAF. The
WAF should destroy the plane and the crane that exists on
the LHS, so all I have to deal with is the enemies on the
RHS. Then I save a Lv.2 WAF and use one gained Lv.1 WAF for
the original Strikers 1945 bosses, so I could destroy
either of them quickly. Then I align my next Lv.1 WAF along
the brown ruffian tank's path. Next are the UFOs--place one
Lv.1 WAF in the center. Usually, there's a safe spot on the
lower-left corner, but those middle UFOs can shoot me
there, too.

As for the BLOCK ADE. Jab in as many WAFs as I can in the
start--maybe two Lv.1s or one Lv.2. Then I destroy it with
my shot as usual. The rest is WAF mania on the boss. I
should be able to defeat it when it fires its green lasers
a second time, so that indicates when I should stop using
my WAFs.

Now, 1-8. Two Lv.1 WAFs or one Lv.2 WAF on the LHS. It
should be aligned with the tank craters on the LHS, so I
can quickly destroy the second UFO which appears there and
have plenty of room to dodge the third UFO. Then I quickly
burn two Lv.1 WAFs on the mid-boss, one down the center and
one after the second attack.

When I defeat the mid-boss, it leaves behind a bomb icon
with four P-icons surrounding it. I must collect the
P-icons to collect the bomb. Luckily, there's an orb that
flies down the center after I destroy the boss. This is an
easy opportunity for me to power down twice, because from
here on, it would be difficult to power down. Thus, I don't
want to place a WAF in the center, because if I do, I would
destroy it. Ex_mosquito advised me to do this, touryuumonn
and ZAP suggested the same, so I shall follow.

Finally, I should place a Lv.2 WAF on the RHS. It should be
aligned with the UFO on the RHS, but it's tough for me to
visualize this when I'm paying more attention to the ring
of orbs. As for the boss, I should begin my WAF mania on
its third form, because from here, the boss tosses some
bullet barrages that are difficult to dodge. I can manage
the first two forms, so I can save my WAFs for the last two
forms.

One final thing: I've spent some time dealing with this
last boss, but I don't feel like discussing it. I was only
toying around with it--nothing special.

[01 Mar 2003, 16:04 PST]
WAF Force, Part I 

Last night, I had plenty of time to play Strikers 1945 II.
I decided that I should learn where to place my WAFs. I
learned plenty, so let's get started right away.

Sea stage, boss's first form, large turret. I decided that
two Lv.1 WAFs on either side of the ship will take those
side turrets out quickly. Then I realized that the large
turret doesn't even rotate around and around--it starts
from the 8-o'clock position, spins around once completely,
and stops at the 3-o'clock position. I have plenty of time
to reach the upper-right corner of the screen and when I
get there, I'm safe. I should use this time to make sure
there are no stray bullets up there, so I can destroy the
turret quickly.

Now just the WAF distributions.

Sky stage. Place a Lv.1 WAF at the RHS plane in the
beginning. Then a Lv.1 WAF at the huge, white plane. When
the clouds clear, a Lv.1 WAF on the LHS plane. Then on the
RHS plane, but I should aim for the plane's left tip. This
way, I catch the plane in the center. As for the boss, I
just keep placing Lv.1 WAFs until it dies.

Then I realized that I would learn more by learning how to
manage the second half of the round right away. That's when
I'm unsure where to place my WAFs.

1-5. Place a Lv.1 WAF on the left side of the big tank. It
should also catch the plane that appears later on. The next
part's tricky. I need two Lv.1 WAFs, but if I'm careless
and damage too many things, I end up with one Lv.2 WAF and
I would have to wait a while to earn another WAF. So just
before I earn a Lv.2 WAF, place a Lv.1 WAF on the right
turret on the LHS. Then move over to the turrets on the RHS
and place a Lv.1 WAF. Then I can destroy the tank and the
plane easily. After this, I should place a Lv.1 WAF after I
destroy the roof on the RHS to destroy the plane that
appears there.

As for the boss, I just keep placing Lv.1 WAFs on the giant
gun and then on the crab itself. I should stop placing WAFs
when it fires waves of small bullets with a weak spot in
the middle.

1-6. Place a Lv.1 WAF on the RHS to destroy the hatch
there. Then a Lv.1 WAF on the larger hatch on the LHS. In
the scene with the brown planes, I should place a Lv.1 WAF
on the LHS, but I should aim for the plane's left wing.
Soon, helicopter enemies would appear and the bottommost
ones give me the most trouble. The WAF should take care of
the one on the LHS, while I can take care of the one on the
RHS. This situation repeats itself, only I should place a
Lv.1 WAF on the RHS and take care of the enemies on the
LHS. After this scene are more hatches. Just place a Lv.1
WAF on the LHS and later, one on the RHS.

I can save up my WAFs for the second form of the boss,
because the first form is so weak. I finally understood
where the safe spot is located for the flower formed by
lots of small bullets. Once I'm at the lower-left corner,
all of the bullets pass through me. Getting there is the
problem. Before this attack is a 2-3-2-3 barrage of fast
bullets from either shoulder of the boss. There are a few
ways to deal with this:

. I can stay at the safe-spot corner and get inside these
  barrages, tapping to the right and to the left. 
. I can sweep from the left to the right and back to the
  left. 
. I can start high on the RHS of the screen and move
  towards the safe-spot corner. 

The first strategy is too much of a squeeze--I can run into
a bullet if I tap too far--but I'm already in position for
the safe-spot corner. The second strategy also forces me to
squeeze between two bullet barrages when I make that
cutback to the safe-spot corner. Plus, I'm not confident
enough to think that the safe spot will be there. The third
strategy gives me plenty of room to dodge the two barrages
but I have to be in position to do take advantage of this.
What should I do?

I have to dodge this pattern twice. The first time, I can
be in position right away to use the third strategy. The
second time--I have to think about some more. Not now,
though--I'm too tired...

[01 Mar 2003, 16:04 PST]
Battle at sea 

I went out to sea recently. The sea stage in Strikers 1945
II is the easiest, so to warm myself up, I explored what
could go wrong in 1-4.

The only thing to worry about in the sea stage is the last
three battleships--the first one at the beginning is easy
to destroy. There are two strategies: 
Help the WAFs destroy the battleships, then clean up the
rest of the field (touryuumonn's method), or 
Let the WAFs take care of the large planes, while I destroy
the battleships (ZAP's method) 
I was aware of both strategies, and I thought touryu's
method was better, but to make sure, I tested them. Indeed,
touryu's is better. Why? The battleships are the bigger
threat. Their turrets can fire either fast, white bullets,
or small bullets that fire in awkward directions. So I have
to be careful to approach them. It's easier to destroy
these battleships right away, and then take care of any
remaining planes.

From reading touryu's guide, I discovered a neat trick.
Wait until the front of the third battleship appears, and
then deploy a WAF. Not only would it take care of the
battleship, it'll also hang around long enough to destroy
the large plane that appears later on. All I need to do is
to destroy the annoying drones flanking the plane.

Where I'm having trouble is taking care of the boss's first
form. There are a few strategies:

Place a Lv.1 WAF on the right side and a Lv.1 WAF on the
large turret, or 
Place a Lv.2 WAF on the right side and destroy the turret
myself. Then use a Lv.1 WAF on the left side. 
The first strategy makes the second form tougher. I have no
WAF to place on the left side, so I have to dodge a mess of
bullets from the ship's turrets. The second strategy lets
the turret spin around long enough so that I have to sneak
through a fast arc of bullets. It's equally difficult to
manage either threat--which one should I choose?

Typically, I find it easier to dodge a distinguishable
pattern like the turret's fast arc of bullets. The boss's
second form has no pattern at all--just a bunch of turrets
firing at me. For the moment, I will use the second
strategy, but I think there is another way that I have yet
to test rigorously.

This tactic's scary: place a Lv.1 WAF on either side of the
ship, and then spiral into the turret. Now the turret's no
longer a threat because it turns too slowly to shoot at me.
The only problem is whether a bullet could sneak into my
position. Here, I have nowhere to dodge. But I'm tired now,
so I'll consider this later.

[26 Feb 2003, 18:45 PST]
I am not a clueless idiot 

This morning, I discussed with my buddies at #shmups why
certain idiots tout shooting games as a mindless
experience. After all, all you do is shoot and dodge,
right? It's supposed to be that easy. And when they can't
dodge anything, they whine that the game's too hard to be
fun, whine about it to their clueless friends, and then
return to their mindless treasure hunts.

When I first played Strikers 1945 II, I was surprised to
progress so far with lots of improvisation. When the game
finally overwhelmed, all I did was piece together a bomb
distribution and pick up a few tips that I glanced over
from the capture guides. When I tried to play again, I
progressed some more, but far from meeting my goal. I kept
improvising, I kept worrying about whether I will clear one
difficult bullet barrage after another, I lost confidence,
I lost control. And then I stopped having fun.

I liked to see things blow up, just like the clueless
idiot. I hated it when I stopped blowing up stuff, just
like the clueless idiot. But unlike the clueless idiot, I
know there is a way to outwit the enemy. I was just too
lazy to think about it, just like the clueless idiot.

I was rushing to the end like the mindless treasure hunters
that these idiots are. I need to stop playing like the
clueless idiot--it's no longer fun. Now I remembered where
the true happiness lies in the shooting game: making the
strategies I create work.

I had fun identifying the most difficult patterns so I can
bomb them. Now I should take it a step further--how should
I dodge the rest of the patterns? If I can make all these
decisions confidently, then all I need to do is put it all
together. Play the game, make my way towards my goal, and
enjoy the moment I finally get there.

Yes, playing shooting games can be a mindless experience.
But I'm no clueless idiot. There's little need to put my
mind into playing a game when I've already put my mind into
thinking about it beforehand. All that's left is enjoying
the experience.

[09 Feb 2003, 12:18 PST]
On Strikers 1945 II 

Last Tuesday, I took the bus to school. Guess what was
along the bus route: Milpitas Golfland. That night, I
decided to go in. I nearly became disappointed with the
lack of worth shooting games the arcade had until I looked
at the end of the room and found...

Strikers 1945 II.

I've played 1945 II for a couple of hours on the emulator,
but this was my first time playing it on an arcade cabinet.
So I tried it once. I had to deal with a stiffer joystick
and mushy buttons--sometimes, I felt I had no control over
the game, but I got used to it. And somehow, with the
Hayate, I ended up in 1-7. That's further than what I've
ever done on MAME. I realized again that when I'm at the
arcade, I want to make the most out of my credit.

I couldn't take the bus anymore because I must continue
learning to drive to school with my Dad, so I won't be able
to go to that arcade in a while. But at least I know I can
go somewhere after school to have some fun. Now I have some
incentive to think up a plan. 

My goal is to clear both loops in one credit. This time, I
thought using aphrodite's capture guide for the Focke Wulf
would be inappropriate for my goal. Besides, the reason why
aphrodite wrote something for the Focke Wulf is that there
are plenty of Hayate guides already, so he wanted to do
something different. Besides, even he cleared the game
using a Hayate guide before he moved on to using the Focke
Wulf. 

I found three Hayate guides already, and they seemed to be
detailed enough. Even ZAP had plenty to say about the
second round, so I decided to stick with the Hayate.

At any rate, I know playing 1945 II is going to be a
different experience. In Gunbird 2, it's so easy to create
a pattern. Large enemies wait so long to fire anything so I
can take them out before they threaten me. Now my world's
upside-down with 1945 II. I can't just punch out the large
planes and forget about them--I have to dodge a couple of
bullets, I have to consider whether to use a charge attack,
and I have to hope that these planes go down before they
threaten me any more. But unlike 1945 I, at least I have
some hope. If I manage my charge gauge properly, at least
these planes would go down quick enough before they scare
me to death.

I'm willing to take on this new challenge. I may have to
dodge more bullets than I did in Giga Wing 2 or Gunbird 2,
but I hope that in the end, I can dodge them with just as
much ease.

[01 Feb 2003, 01:17 PST]
Another life 

Yesterday afternoon, I saw an arcade technician unscrew the
marquee panel on the Gunbird 2 cabinet. I knew my reign of
terror ended by then. This depressed me--all the thought I
put into this game, I cannot put into practice for a while.
Although I expected this to happen, I never thought it
would happen so abruptly.

The Bearcade manager did say he might replace the game.
Guess what it is--Strikers 1945. Cheapest shooting game to
lease, I guess. But I've played this game many times on the
emulator, and I didn't like it much. And when I played it
in the arcade, I couldn't bring myself to devote my time to
this game.

My problem with Strikers 1945 is that there's nothing much
to manage. Just consider when to bomb and when to use the
charge weapon. The rest is dodging the bullets. And I have
to dodge lots more bullets then I would in Gunbird 2. No
matter what weapon I use, I can't destroy the enemy as
quick as I want. I have to dodge everything.

That's the great thing about Gunbird 2. I can use different
weapons to eliminate threats quickly, to eliminate threats
with certainty. In Strikers 1945, I feel overwhelmed. Dodge
everything and hope the weapons kill the enemy before I'm
driven to the edges of the screen. It's just not fun. I
can't devote my time to this.

Where do I go from here? I enjoyed the arcade experience. I
know I can't reset the game whenever I please--I must make
every game count. I liked formulating strategies, I liked
using more of my logic to figure out what's going on and
seeing how it would apply to other situations. And when
it's time to play, people leave me alone. I can leave my
worries behind the arcade doors and put my strategies to
practice. And if my game goes out of control, I can allow
myself to take risks instead of pounding the reset button
and looking futilely for the perfect game. The arcade
experience molded me into a more aggressive player, a more
focused player.

I'm hesitant to settle for a Dreamcast port of either
Gunbird 2 or Giga Wing 2. I'm less relaxed at home. Who's
going to stop by my room and disturb me? How can I
constrain myself if I make some foolish mistake? And I can
no longer return to emulation to play these games as
seriously as I would in the arcade--I know I'm not playing
the real thing, so why pretend that I am?

It sucks that I have experienced this when worthy shooting
games have nearly disappeared from American arcades. Now
I'm scrambling to relive the experience. Maybe at Sunnyvale
Golfland, where I'm told there's a Strikers 1945 II machine
there? Maybe I can drive for six hours to Pak Mann Arcade
in Pasadena, where I can play Gunbird 2 again?

I expect arcade managers to give up on worthy shooting
games someday. Amateurs hate them because they're too
overwhelming and experts play too damn long on them because
they're so predictable. It figures why fighting games keep
the arcade scene alive. Each fight lasts for a few minutes
and experts keep feeding the machine, vying to be the best
fighter in the nation. That keeps the cash flow going.

But in a couple of years, when I earn enough money, I want
to give these worthy shooting games a home, my home. Even
if I'm less relaxed at home, at least I get to enjoy the
games that interest me the most and I can record replays
from them. These I cannot enjoy in the arcade. But right
now, I have little money to spend, so I hope to find
another arcade that supports my interests.

[27 Jan 2003, 21:10 PST]
One life 

In the past few weekdays, I played a few games of Gunbird 2
in the arcade. I can consistently clear the first loop and
sometimes, I manage to get past 2-1. But I make tons of
stupid mistakes and I still haven't completely figured out
when I should use my bomb without destroying the flow of my
game.

But then there's a new problem thrown into the mix. What do
I do when I'm underpowered? When I die, I'm left with a
shot level of 2. Sometimes, I need a shot level of 3 to
clear a certain group of enemies, before another group
comes in and messes things up. So what if I need the extra
power and I don't have it? I waste a bomb. I would end up
using bombs I would've never used if I had a shot level of
3.

I thought about this a bit, and I think the best way to get
around this is to clear whatever goal I have in one life.
It's tough to regain control of the field when I die and
revive underpowered. So the two bombs I would get from
dying would be wasted trying to power myself back to
maximum. The bomb distribution I devised with deaths in
mind just doesn't work for me anymore. So I may as well
learn to dodge a few more bullets.

It begins, then, in 1-7. A couple of times, I've nearly
cleared the first round in one life, but I do something
stupid in 1-7 and I become miserable. I think the X-wave
from the mid-boss there has been causing me problems. If I
can't find an opening, I use a bomb, but then I'm too low
to drill the boss in time, and I would die to the following
attack.

I can see why a few experts use Tavia, now. Although her
bomb cannot clear bullets immediately, she can still run
about the screen and destroy stuff as usual. The trouble
with her is that she's weak against the bigger enemies and
I would have to bomb their attacks anyway. So I'll stick
with Alucard and go for perfection.

I'm a bit frightened by this new plan. Beating the entire
game in one life? It's enough to clear it by any honorable
means necessary, but in one life? Ah well, that should give
the BEARcade a bit more cash.

[23 Jan 2003, 02:35 PST]
The value of clairvoyance 

On Tuesday, when I returned to the BEARcade, I braced for
the worst. I thought Gunbird 2 would disappear and I would
have to make a road trip to Pak Mann Arcade in Pasadena to
get my arcade fix. But the arcade manager kept it. He got
rid of Giga Wing 2 instead, but I didn't mind--I couldn't
make any more progress in that game anyway. I still have a
long way to go with Gunbird 2, so I appreciate the
manager's decisions. But who knows, he may still decide to
get rid of it at any time. After playing a game to refresh
my memories, I decided to practice at home overnight.

Wednesday. After class, I decided to give it a go, I wanted
to see how far I would get. I wanted to clear 2-4, even if
my approach for the second loop remained fuzzy. But I only
made it to 2-3 in the better of my two games. What's
holding me back?

One, I misunderstood why I use the bomb. It should be
obvious to me already: bombs help me escape from an
uncertain death. Yet I still take risks. For example, I had
only one unit of power entering into 1-4. Should I either
(a) use a bomb on Slash because I wouldn't gain enough
power on time or (b) save the bomb and instead gain the
power from Slash in order to drill him, hoping he wouldn't
fire by then?

If I had chose (a), I would use one bomb and use the drill
on Gimmick. But I chose (b), because I wanted to save that
bomb for the future. Guess what. I gained the drill and I
used it on Slash, but it was too late. He fired a few
bullets, and I was too close to dodge them. I ended up
using a bomb, anyway. But now I had no drill for Gimmick
and I ended up wasting a second bomb on him.

The point: stick to solutions that have only one outcome.
The bomb should have provided me such a solution. If I used
the bomb beforehand, I knew Slash would be defeated and I
knew Gimmick would fall to my drill. There's no time to
think about how I would react if I took a risk and failed.

The bomb should have also helped me clear the way to the
last gray machine in 2-Italy, before all those annoying
skull fighters arrived. I knew those orange drones from the
right would create a barrier of return bullets, so I have
to sit at the bottom of the screen to look for an opening.
But by the time I moved up to drill the machine, a skull
fighter would run into my drill and fire off return bullets
too close for me to dodge. I chose to bomb just when those
drones from the right arrive, but what happened? I couldn't
move up to destroy the machine. Alucard's bomb lasts for
quite a while, but it is weak. The machine remained and I
had to deal with all sorts of bullets. I died here.

I failed to consider what the real threat here is. It's
those orange drones. I should've destroyed them just when
the bomb ends, so I can quickly take care of the machine
above and eliminate the problem of return bullets
altogether. This is why it's important to understand what
you want the bomb to do. I only needed the bomb against
those drones--I could take care of the machine and the
skull fighters more effectively with my other weapons. But
I never considered that. I just thought the bomb would take
care of everything. And that's wrong.

The other major thing I have to consider are those drones.
Should I stop firing in order to avoid their return
bullets? The only time when it's appropriate is when (1)
they're not guarding anything and (2) there's no need to
earn power for the charge gauge. One time, a stray bat
landed on a drone when my real target was a large turret.
When that return bullet approached me, I had nowhere else
to run so I died. I should have never waited. In all other
cases, I should never hesitate. I hesitated to destroy
those drones before the plane boss in 2-Britain, so when I
charged my Bat Missiles, a few stray shots hit a few drones
running back up the screen and their return bullets killed
me. They guarded the plane's turrets and I should have made
that clear in my head beforehand.

The mistakes I made were moments when I lost control of the
game. These were moments when I needed clairvoyance the
most. I have a bomb distribution, but when do I precisely
drop these bombs? I have an approach to the second round's
random stages, but how do I deal with those drones that
make me lose confidence in my approaches? I'll consider
these questions tomorrow night, when I have a chance to
play again.

[06 Jan 2003, 20:00 PST]
Up in the sky 

One day, I played through Gunbird 2 and somehow, I ended
up in 2-4. It's unbelievable that I can clear the second
round's random stages in a real game, but the practice I
have done helped me get through them. But my score
remained horrible, around 1,250,000. Even if I'm not going
for score, I can't help but prove to people that I know
more about the game than any other American, and going
farther is the only way I will do it. Thus, my new goal is
to clear 2-4.

And besides, this gives me the opportunity to consider
only two places that I should bomb in the random stages,
instead of three or five. I don't need to worry about the
return bullets as much, now.

Clearing 2-4 is going to be rough, though. The stage trip
is manageable, at least. Unlike the random stages, there's
no place for me to run up the screen against a barrage of
return bullets. And I can hold my fire sometimes to get
through the tougher parts.

The blimps should have been the most difficult parts of
the stage, but dealing with them wasn't as harsh as I
thought. For the first blimp, I would fire off Bat
Missiles and then pop it with a Bat Drill. The problem
here is the blimp's fast bullets. There's a pattern, yes,
but I haven't figured out a landmark that would help me
dodge that pattern every time. Using the blimp's fins is a
bit fuzzy.

The second blimp is no problem. Lead the bullets from the
skull fighters to the right side, let the blimp fire off
its bullets and then pop it. Strangely, the blimp is
weaker after it fires off that pattern. The first blimp
needed some extra shots, the second only needed a Bat
Drill. Weird.

Where I run into problems is the boss. I have only one or
two units of charge from being too much of a pacifist at
the end of the stage, so I have to gain a few more units
from the boss's front turrets. I have to circle them
closely, and then use a Bat Drill on the right two
turrets. Very dangerous, as I am slow from here and the
left turrets can easily knock me out of the sky. But if
I'm successful, I can nudge myself between the two left
turrets and knock them out with shot.

Then I would chicken out as I would in 1-4, but it's not
easy, here. It's kind of tough to find openings in the
arcs attack, the second attack in the cycle. Other than
that, I need to find out when the airship would self
destruct so I could recharge for the next form.

I'm glad I learned that landmark for finding the safe spot
during the bird's loose spray. I can use Mode7's method
confidently from here.

[01 Jan 2003, 03:01 PST]
And the rocket's red glare 

What a relief. I finally managed to gain consistency over
the second half of the 2-3 Italy stage trip.

From the destroyed submarine, here's what I did. Destroy
the first skull fighter, and then move to the left edge.
The next target is that turret up there. Then slowly move
to the right. I think I rushed those skull fighters over
there, and that usually pushes me to the right faster, but
as long as the right turrets don't aim downward too soon,
I'm okay.

Now out at sea. I would destroy the large gray machine
late because I would sit at the bottom of the screen and
wait until I see a good opening among the small return
bullets. If I move up too early, I can accidentally shoot
a drone from the left side and get caught by its return
bullet. Or I could run into a white shot. I know the
machine is vulnerable on the right side, so I take my
time.

After I would rush to the left side and nick off that left
turret. After all of its fast, white bullets leave the
screen, I would fire off some bat missiles and get rid of
that right turret. Then I would lure a few bullets to the
right, and then make my way to the left side. I should
have plenty of room to do so.

The only disadvantage to all this is that I end up with
very little energy in the charge gauge. This is important,
since I need to end up with two bat drills for the second
part of the battleship. But I'll consider this later. For
now, I'm relieved that I overcame the toughest part of the
second loop I've encountered so far.

[31 Dec 2002, 23:57 PST]
Return fire 

I'm frustrated dealing with 2-3 Italy. It's supposed to be
the easiest of the random stages, but there's one problem:
the skull fighters. They have big return bullets and can
also fire in random directions. Very intimidating and can
sure make a mess of things.

They start causing loads of trouble a while after I
destroy the red submarine. That's when these skull
fighters begin to arrive. I would sweep to the left and
then move slowly to the right. But if those return bullets
fire in strange directions, I get shoved to the right side
of the screen quickly and die there.

They continue to be a problem when I'm out at sea. I want
to take out those turrets, but the skull fighters guard
them well. When I fire my bat missiles, lots of bullets
begin flying in all sorts of directions, and it's
difficult to sit still once the barrage ends.

I've thought about this a bit, and I think I have some
feasible solutions. As for the first scene, I tend to
stick to the bottom of the screen. I should try to use
some of the room above me, so I can have more space to
dodge those crazy return bullets. I should be close enough
so that I can destroy those skull fighters quickly, but
far enough so I have enough reaction time to dodge the
field. This way, I don't let the return bullets control
me.

As for the second scene, maybe I should wait until those
skull fighters begin to leave and then let the bat
missiles loose. Just to get more reaction time for those
return bullets. I remember this worked well before. I
should also begin moving to the left instead of standing
still and hoping that the two-way bullets pass through me.
Sometimes, a big bullet would knock me out of position and
I couldn't take advantage of those two-way bullets
anymore.

I made great progress otherwise. In Japan, I finally
figured out how to dodge the bullets from the last two
grey machines. Go through the lane where there's few
bullets on either side and then push to the left to dodge
the triangle. Stand still and shove to the right to avoid
the other triangle. By moving through the fan, I have some
space to avoid the triangle. There's no need to squeeze
myself into the triangle.

I've made tons of progress in Britain. I learned that it's
easy to run up to the turrets to destroy them quickly. I
learned when the second walker is no longer invincible. I
found the boss easy. The only real problem I can think of
is relying on fate to let me approach that second walker
unscathed.

As for the United Stages, my strategies a little bit.
Those bandits in the two scene began to piss me off a bit,
so I had to devise a better route to deal with them. I can
finally appreciate how difficult this stage really is.

[26 Dec 2002, 12:23 PST]
Paralyzed 

I've played the second loop versions of the random stages
for a couple of hours, and I'm paralyzed how much I've
progressed. So paralyzed that I can't bear to play for a
while.

Alucard's characteristics have a greater impact in the
second loop. I look back at the Tavia videos and I can
understand why people use her. Not only is she cute, her
shot can take out turrets and other strong enemies
quickly, so that their bullets don't get in the way of the
random bullet mess. It takes longer for Alucard's weak
shot to deal with these strong enemies. That means more
bullets on screen. That means I have less room to dodge
the random bullet spew. That's scary.

But I am starting to use his bat missiles more often. At
times, they're great to beat up strong enemies that guard
the weak but more deadlier ones. Look at the end of the
Italy stage: those pirate heads guard that final turret on
the right side of the screen. They can take a beating so
that turret is free to fire its fast, white bullets at me.
But I can use my bat missiles to destroy those pirate
heads right away and now I can nick off that turret. At
other times, it's good to destroy enemies in awkward
positions. I find myself circling around the screen more
often, so I need to destroy enemies that are out of my
reach. The bat missiles provide that reach.

In the end, it's about firmly following a pattern. You can
clear the second loop with any character, but you just
have to be creative. Now for the stage trips themselves.

Italy. Tougher than I thought. The beginning is all right,
but the bullets start flooding over after the submarine
scene. Two turrets to the left, three floating from the
right, and pirate heads and drones in the middle. I would
start from the left side and move slowly to the right. But
the aerial enemies are so close to me, I don't have enough
time to react to their bullets. Even Galford leaves it up
to fate to get through this. I hate that. Instead, I would
destroy the enemies up close and rush to the right side.
That way, I have more room to dodge the bullets. Then I
would cut back to the left. I hope to destroy the turrets
as I cut back.

Japan. There are two large machines at the end. They fire
a fan of bullets as usual, but to mix things up, a fast
triangle of white bullets. This is tough. Usually, I would
swing to the other side to avoid the triangle, but I'm
trapped by the fan of bullets. So I have to squeeze
through somehow. I still don't know how to deal with this.

As for Engalnd, I haven't practiced much on the stage. All
I remember is to make the turrets aim the way I want them
to aim. It's important to do so throughout the second
loop, but more so here, since those large turrets will
stay there a while. I don't remember much else.

America is a surprise. Once I learned how the stage
worked, it became easy. As for the bandits in the town
scene, I just lead the bullets away from me. For the
cactus scene, I just run around the perimeter of the
screen and use bat missiles. This stage is simple because
I'm allowed to use the whole screen. Not many aerial
enemies come from the top. Wonderful.

In all of these random stages, the bosses turned out to be
benevolent. Even though they fire off difficult patterns
right away, I can still dodge them because (1) I know how
and (2) there are no random bullets to mess up my timing.
All I need is to accurately position myself at all times
and I'm set.

[20 Dec 2002, 01:34 PST]
Back in control 

Today, I've regained my consistency. I've managed to enter
Stage 2-1 three times out of three plays, twice going in
with one life and no bombs remaining. Even just a few
plays at home a few days back were enough to remind me how
to play the game. Better to die at home than at school.
Having only three bombs to spare for 2-1 wasn't enough,
though. I expected five. Maybe next semester, I can blow
through.

My performance would've been better though. The only thing
that's keeping me back are stupid mistakes. Sometimes, I
think I dodged a bullet too far to the left or what have
you. I try to correct my mistakes, but I end up running
into the bullet I was trying to dodge. It's better to
trust my arm, better to die because I over-dodged instead.

I think the key play in my game is learning how to destroy
the first two large walkers in the beginning of the fifth
stage. It's critical for me to have two Bat Drills ready
for the heads after the turrets. Otherwise, the stage is a
mess and I would die or needlessly use a bomb. But I don't
usually have enough energy by then, so the only way I
could save a Drill is to smack both walkers at the same
time. The Bat Drill isn't as wide as the Valpiro Punch,
but it's wide enough when the left walker parks itself
right next to the right walker and begins firing. That
walker fires bullets on either side of me so I can safely
position myself ahead of time and smack both of them out.
Now I can get through the rest of the stage comfortably.

Oh, maybe there's another key play. Contrary to what
aphrodite said, Alucard can disarm the sixth boss's first
form as Valpiro would. It just would take four Bat Drills
where Valpiro would only use three Punches. There's plenty
of time for Alucard to recharge his fourth drill before
those double nets arrive.

I must comment that Triple Lei from the TNL boards has
renewed my faith in message boards. Although he's playing
more for score than for survival, he's playing at about my
level. And he's asking good questions that force me to
look back at certain patterns and deal with them. I
usually find more and more efficient ways to dodge those
patterns that way. Maybe I should start a DeCal course of
my own like the BEARcade is doing for its Street Fighter
games.

[12 Dec 2002, 00:09 PST]
Out of control 

Last morning, I completed my final exam on linear
programming. I thought I did well, so I felt like
celebrating. I wandered into the arcade. I wanted to play
a few games of Gunbird 2, check if the joystick and
buttons still worked properly, see if I can clear Stage
2-1. I had a winning streak, after all. It should just
take me four games to get back there again.

Six games later, I still didn't meet the Stage 1-6 boss.
After a few games, I became desperate. I took no breaks, I
took no time to understand why I would die so foolishly so
many times, I wanted to rush to Stage 2-1. I should know
everything by now! But all I did was waste time. I let my
winning streak get the better of me.

But it was also because I was so out of practice. I
haven't played much since last Thursday, so when I played
today, it looked as if every situation was new. I had to
remember what to do on the spot. And of course, I would
make mistakes and die on the spot.

I don't feel like going back anymore this semester. I'll
keep studying for the rest of my exams, so I won't have
much time to do any trial runs at home. I want to make
every credit count when I'm in the arcade. Maybe next
semester, after a winter break's worth of play, I will be
ready again. But not now.

[05 Dec 2002, 20:19 PST]
Be in control 

I got bored in school. I completed all my homework, and I
don't know what to do for the final exams. So I decided to
play a game of Gunbird 2. I figured in one out of five
games, I would clear the first loop. Not so. I cleared it
on my first try. No miss until stage 1-6's boss. But even
in one play, I learned a few things.

I'm obsessed about the 1-6 robo boss's opening attack. I
say go find a safe spot and push down when the last ring
of bullets threaten you. You don't need to worry about any
other bullets. But now, I have to worry about staying
within that crevice. It turns out that if my rank is low,
the bullets move slower. I practiced playing at a high
rank, so the bullets below me would move fast enough to
leave the screen as I pulled down to the bottom edge of
the screen. But when the rank's low, those bullets below
me wouldn't leave when I wanted them to and I died.

I hate rank. Such a tricky thing to deal with. I learn to
dodge one way, when rank is high, but when it's low, I
must have something else in mind. Guess I just have to
find the essential strategy. Here, just stay in the
crevice. If rank is low, tap-tap down. If it's high, just
pull down. Hmph.

I also learned about the proper use of the bomb. First
off, I should use it when the threatening attack actually
happens. In 1-7 against the mid-boss, I bombed the double
sweep of almond-shaped bullets. I feared that I would have
to cut my melee attack short when the slow-fast mess
arrived, so I wanted to have more time. That wasn't the
case and I died approaching the boss. I should've thought
about survival more than gauge management. I would have a
Level 2 charge in the end, anyway.

Next, if the bomb burns out and the next pattern is
position-based, don't put yourself out of position. I
tried to nick off both bits of the 1-6 boss with my bomb,
but when I was out of position, I panicked and wasted more
bombs. I have to keep in mind why I'm using a bomb. Is it
to attack a whole bunch of enemies or to simply clear a
bunch of bullets from the screen. Just keep those purposes
in mind, and you should be in control of the game.

I guess that's the reason why I cleared the first loop,
anyway. For the most part, I know how to approach each
situation, and I scraped by. Maybe with a bit more
refinement, I wouldn't have to use up a fourth life to
clear the first loop.

[28 Nov 2002, 11:12 PST]
Ten steps forward, no turning back 

Yesterday, twice I managed to clear the first loop of
Gunbird 2 with Alucard. Amazing how quickly I've adjusted
to his character.

The funny thing is, in the four games I've played, the
game drew the U.S. stage as the third stage in all of
them. It's some sort of curse.

First game, I died in 1-3, so I thought I should conserve
my bombs for later. That didn't work. I died fooling
around with the bird in 1-4 and the turrets in 1-5. I
thought that if I failed to clear the game today, I should
practice dodging the later parts when I might have no
bombs instead of dodging the earlier parts that I should
clear with the bomb. Second game was the usual unmemorable
performance.

Third game was weird. I died in 1-3 again, so I lost 5
bombs. The only thing I remembered getting out of this rut
was through more selective bombing. I didn't bomb the 1-4
jet bird's spiral pattern, I didn't bomb the 1-5 boss's
all-way blast, and from there, I forgot. But I dodged
stuff much of the way through, and I was more confident
doing so because I practiced. And the practice I did at
home surely paid off.

But I nearly died to the Medicine God again. The one bomb
I had, I used it on the triple-pill attack, so I'm left to
dodge the frog attack. I killed the left frog as usual,
and then waited for the right frog to run its course
before killing it. But it still left some stray bullets. I
was so relieved to dodge them. And I managed to dodge the
following fireworks pattern too. Easy victory from then
on. Welcome back to 2-1, Bernard. It was the Japan stage
again, but I didn't get so far this time.

I took a break with my friends on #shmups, then I went
back in for my fourth game. I planned on clearing the
first loop with only three lives, and I nearly did it,
too. This time, much went according to plan, didn't die
until 1-6, stuff like that. But for the Medicine God, I
had one bomb left again. Bombed the pills again, but I ran
up to the boss, thinking I had another bomb. Whoops. When
I was on my final life, I was confused so I wasted my
bombs on it for the easy victory. Ah well.

But I can't help but feel that no one helped me through
this, just capture guides. Sure, message boards has helped
me get started with the game, but no one wants to play at
my level, now. No one there can give me advice anymore. I
can't use these message boards, anymore. All I have left
are these capture guides and my web site.

I must realize that I can clear the first loop now, and
it's time for me to move on. I hope GAL's capture guide
can help me figure out the second loop.

[25 Nov 2002, 18:59 PST]
Two steps forward, one step back 

Today, I made much progress. Last weekend, I practiced
dodging the patterns I would otherwise bomb. And it paid
off today. I nearly cleared the game because of that. But
first, two quick stories.

Early into my first game, the fire alarm went off,
probably a false one. That upset me. Now I have another
thing to fear. Fire alarms, idiots jumping on the
one-player side. But I'm more relaxed in the arcade than I
am at home, so I'll just deal with it.

Last game, the game drew the U.S. stage as the third. I
swear, my performance just falls apart if the game decides
that. Ah well.

Fourth game, now here was my best game with Alucard. But
it was one of those strange games. On stage 1-3, I died in
the Italy stage to the battleship's front turrets. I
thought I destroyed them all, but there was one in front
of me that I thought I destroyed. It breathed its last
bullet and spat it on me. And this wasn't the first time
it happened, either. So stupid.

I did dodge a few tough patterns. I'm more confident
handling one attack from the 1-5 boss: all-way ellipses
from either shoulders. Here's how I did it. Sit in the
middle. Let the first ring reach the bottom of the screen
and move to the leftmost portion of the charge gauge. Wait
until I see a bullet aimed at me, and move to the third
portion of the charge gauge. That's it. It's just a mess
of bullets with a simple way to dodge it. And now I can
use the second-player charge gauge to help me out.

I'm also getting a hang of those small blue enemies in
1-6. As they fire, I would keep tapping in one direction.
When I'm starting to reach the edge of the screen, I would
wait for one enemy's five-way bullets to leave the screen
and then rush to the opposite side, scraping along the
opposite end of the two-way bullets. It works quite well.
I'm not afraid of them when they're alone anymore.

The 1-6 mid-boss's opening attack is easy. Move left a
little bit, and move left again to the small gap in the
last ring. I still feel afraid to approach this attack
since it's so dense, but I'm feeling more and more at ease
dealing with this, now.

1-6 boss. The first net is still giving me problems. But
the double nets attack is easier. Find an opening and go
to the middle of it, let the second net run its course and
dodge from there. Easy.

Okay, I think I got lucky through 1-7. Had a bomb for the
pillars and another for the mid-boss's bullet trap, where
it would fire two lines of slow bullets, re-aim, and fire
a fast line. So confusing. Skip over to the Medicine God.

Good thing I practiced this part. I would bomb the triple
pill attack and the frogs, but I had no bombs left, so I
dealt with it. For the triple pills, charge up and release
to destroy those pills. As for the bullets. Tap twice to
the left, wait a moment, tap twice, wait, continue this
until I'm clear. For the frogs, I would destroy the left
one with my drill, wait on the left until the Medicine God
fires its laser, and kill off the right one over on the
right side, where there are fewer bullets.

The embarrassing thing is, I thought it would be easy from
here. The two fireworks attack again. Start at the right,
move to the left to dodge the fireworks from the left. But
I didn't move to the upper-left for the right one. I
stayed at the bottom edge. I paused a bit so I didn't get
driven into the laser, but there was no room. I died. What
a waste of effort.

I will practice for tomorrow's games. I have a new bomb
distribution in mind, I know that I'm doing well with
Alucard, I just need to get it all together. Maybe I'll
declare victory over my Big Game tomorrow.

[23 Nov 2002, 08:48 PST]
Another wasted day 

Yesterday, I wasted four hours in the arcade. At first, I
didn't feel prepared to take on Gunbird 2. Giga Wing 2 it
is, then.

Three times, I played it. Three times, I cleared the game.
So what. I never beaten my high score of 35 quadrillion. I
had a good run in my third attempt. A multiplier of 320
million in the first stage and over 370 million in the
second. But I ended up with only 420 million or so in the
third. I don't understand this stage. Two of the volcanoes
are tough to trigger, and I end up missing the last one in
the end of the boss battle.

I also tried to milk the fourth boss. Yes, I bombed the
wall patterns, but I try to divert my bomb laser away from
the boss. And I ended up dealing with his final patterns.
I thought it was easy, just a bunch of random scatter with
a winder as bullet fodder. But it turned out to be tough
and I think I used a bomb there, too.

And at the end, I only ended up with an extra quadrillion
points. How lame. Maybe I'm not collecting those medals
efficiently. 

Also, I always end up missing one volcano in each stage. I
hate it. Yes, I can perform consistently enough to
survive. But I just don't have the right procedures in mid
to trigger a volcano every time I want to. I should be
working on that, but trying to do so in all seven stages
is too great of a task. Maybe later.

So I got bored of Giga Wing 2, and I decided to try out
some other games. Puzzle Fighter, Point Blank, Dungeons
and Dragons. I've played Puzzle Fighters for a while, but
one guy kicked me out of the machine with skills
outclassing mine. So I'm still rusty. I expected to do
fairly well at the other two games, but I never managed to
get far. With some practice, I'm sure to do well in them,
but I don't feel like it. My hear's set on shooting games.

So after all, I decided to jump into Gunbird 2. I started
off with Valpiro, and when I was done, I don't miss him
anymore. I've grown accustomed to Alucard's quicker speed
and my timing's based on Alucard's character, so I'm not
in the groove to play as Valpiro.

With Alucard, I managed to get a wee bit further into
stage 1-7. I kept dying to those enemies that shoot
bullets in a 3-4-5 formation, though. If I don't destroy
them quickly, they sure can make a mess.

Now it's the weekend, so I should have plenty of time to
practice on the emulator. Even though it deviates from my
goal, I want to practice dodging patterns I would
otherwise bomb. That way, should I die early on, I would
know how to dodge these patterns so I could try to salvage
my game.