ESPrade

[MechDeus]

Ah, okies. I knew how to get my multiplier higher, but wasn't sure of the exact mechanics, I just knew it had something to do with killing the enemy while the secondary weapon was hitting them (or immediately after that).

[BBH]

Hello! Newbie here.

Are scores from emulators fair game? I ask this because I recently recorded a game in MAME. 22,899,310 with Yusuke Sagami, ALL stages with 4 lives remaining. On the default factory settings.

One of the pics here seems to have been taken through an emulator, I can provide a screenshot of mine too (or the .inp for anyone who wants to play it back). It'll have to wait a few hours though since I'm not at home right now.

[Mode7]

Aye, emulators are fair game. No rush on the picture -- just post when you have a chance and I'll get it accounted for in the rankings.

[BBH]

Originally posted by Mode7
Aye, emulators are fair game. No rush on the picture -- just post when you have a chance and I'll get it accounted for in the rankings.

thanks for the quick response. K, here's my screenshot.



Also, I only had 13.8 million after the last boss was defeated too... so 9 million of that came from the end bonus. I still have to work on maximizing the score in the rest of the game to get closer to the 40 million+ that Japanese players have gotten...

[Mode7]

I can't say for certain, but I don't think it would be possible to hit the 40 mil mark without milking bosses. Which is arguably a bit cheap, and definitely a lot tedious.

By the way, do you happen to know how the end bonus is calculated?

[BBH]

Originally posted by Mode7
I can't say for certain, but I don't think it would be possible to hit the 40 mil mark without milking bosses. Which is arguably a bit cheap, and definitely a lot tedious.

Yeah, I just talked with someone that suggested doing a bit of "leeching" on Satoru (the Houoh High School boss), don't shoot him but instead focus your shots on the little laser-shooting things he releases. Just keep destroying those over and over with possibly x16 kills for extra points. Problem is, Yusuke fights him first, so he has a smaller life bar, and you can't leech as much... oh well, I'm considering trying to see what kind of scores I can get with Irori anyway. For all the other bosses, I would guess it would mean trying to use the secondary weapon on them more than the primary weapon, since that gives you more points too... but yeah, that's definitely tedious. I was hoping it wouldn't come down to something boring like this.

By the way, do you happen to know how the end bonus is calculated?

Yeah. There are four factors that play a role in how the end bonus is determined

Remaining lives - 1,000,000 each
Maximum life boxes (explained below) - 500,000 each
Red point items - 3,000 each
Remaining Special Energy - up to 1,000,000 (can't really calculate it on the fly, but basically a full tank is worth 1 million)

About the life boxes, you start off with 3 like this: (the asterisk represents the little "heart" inside the box)
[*][*][*]

Now, if you avoid dying and get an Extend, it will add another box with another heart inside it:
[*][*][*][*]

However, if you died before reaching an extend, one of the hearts disappears...
[*][*][ ]

And then when you get the Extend, it returns to the way it was before, so no box is added.
[*][*][*]

So you can have a maximum of six boxes on default settings, but ONLY if you reach 4 million, 8 million, and pick up the "hidden" 1-Up on Stage 4 all without dying. An early death will penalize you in the end. So as long as you can reach 8 million and the hidden 1-Up, you'll be guaranteed that 3 million if you can finish the game, regardless of your remaining lives.

I think my end bonus went like this

4000000 (4 * 1000000) +
3000000 (6 * 500000) +
1284000 (426 * 3000) +
737000 (?? not sure on the formula for the energy, I had to do a little math to get this remaining number) =
9,021,000

I've been playing this game waaaaay too much.

[Mode7]

Thanks for the info -- that definitely puts an interesting slant on things. 500 is the maximum the red cube counter can reach, yes? I'll definitely have to start depleting my ESP meter earlier in any case.

[BBH]

Originally posted by Mode7
Thanks for the info -- that definitely puts an interesting slant on things. 500 is the maximum the red cube counter can reach, yes? I'll definitely have to start depleting my ESP meter earlier in any case.

500 is the most I've ever reached, but I never get the max 500 until the last boss... it should be possible to make 600 the maximum, but I've never done it myself. You'd have to use up some special energy IMMEDIATELY after hitting 200 to make that possible.

I'm still experimenting with using my first burst of special energy at different times, so as to affect the parts in later levels where I'd hit 300 and 400... trying to figure out the most convenient times to get that refill. Right now I've been doing the first special attack about two-thirds of the way through Stage 3, so I can start working towards 300 on the boss.

[Mode7]

What are you selecting as stage 3?

[BBH]

Bay Area. I tend to have more problems with the Shopping Mall boss if I get it on Stage 3, so I find it works better for me to fight that second. I always end up pussing out and using special energy during the Shopping Mall boss if it's 3rd.