The Siroi Danmakukun Challenge!
Time Survival:
1. Bern-D - 200 Seconds [replay] *
2. cigsthecat - 145 Seconds [replay] *
3. Rob - 104 Seconds [replay]
4. Ex_Mosquito - 100 Seconds [replay]
5. Kaneda - 98 Seconds
6. rezo - 96 Seconds [replay]
7. Mode7 - 84 Seconds [replay]
8. amerrykan - 82 Seconds [replay]
9. Jef - 72 Seconds [replay]
10. flashmastergrand - 64 Seconds
Individual Replays:
Thanks to Bern-D for digging this one up:
http://user.ecc.u-tokyo.ac.jp/~g940455/wp/sdmkun/
The link to download is about mid-page. Essentially it's a small program that does its very best to imitate patterns from a variety of popular shooters and, in general, succeeds quite nicely about it.
Ranking Info:
Our chart will be based purely upon survival time for the 'main' modes. That is, the first and second options in the main menu.
No score gimmicks, no extends, no different ships -- Just pure balls-out dodging.
This sounds simple enough, but there are a couple potential exploits that should be addressed. Specifically, during some patterns the 'bullet source' may move outside on the play-field in such a way that subsequent patterns become harmless to the player, and thus huge times are easy to attain. The final ESPrade "hand" attack is a common offender -- watch Ex_Mos' Bug replay to see a mild example of this in action. Any times achieved through this bug will be ineligible. If you do get a massive time ranking, simply provide a replay to verify. Replays made with the two faulty ESPRade attacks deleted will be marked by an asterisk. Please note that if they are not deleted on your own computer, they will not work properly.
Getting started with sdmkun:
When you first fire up sdmkun, you will be greeted with a message very much in Japanese. This is a cue to enter your initials. Do so by using the directional keys, and then press Z -- welcome to the title screen.
Pressing Z once more will take you into the main menu. In order:
- Play a series of randomly selected patterns. General information is displayed to the sides.
- Same as above, but without the peripheral information.
- Play a specific pattern. Great for when one has you stumped.
- In-game options. Most are self-explanatory; others are not.
- Ranking chart.
- Replay function. Again, more on this in a bit.
And those are the basics -- hopefully someone who has spent more time digging than I can clear up the specifics. Particularly, if someone can define the options available when playing specific patterns, that would be excellent. Please note that pressing and holding down Z during play will slow your dot down in a Cave-like fashion. Also, pressing X often serves as a 'back' button when in menus.
Saving and Distributing Replays:
After any given run, you'll be greeted by the ranking chart displaying where, if at all, your last run placed. If you want to save this run, press anywhere from 0-9 -- these numbers function as save slots. To replay a run, simply highlight it and press Z. And away you go.
To trade replays, enter the 'replay' directory in your sdmkun folder. You'll see a variety of different files, but all have a numerical prefix. If you want to trade a replay from your replay slot #1, for example, simply gather up all files preceded by a 1 and zip/rar them up into a single file. All the recipient needs do is unzip these files into their own replay directory. Bear in mind that it is possible to overwrite your own replays this way, so be careful about it.
I'll also be hosting replays for anyone who needs them hosted. Send them along to this address: symphonyofbullets@hotmail.com
Replays for the main time competition are of course welcome, but feel free to bust out a replay for individual patterns and other particularly impressive runs as well. I've created a separate listing to accomodate these.
Phew - rather a lot, there. Be sure to give it a shot though, as it is really very interesting. Happy dodging.
