What's Up With Bullet Hell?

[Woodshop Flunky]

Wow! Under Defeat looks really nice!  Makes me wish I had one!

[HaRuMaN]

Radirgy for DC is fun, too.

[emphatic]

Just a heads up for US folk with 360's: http://www.maxim.com/gaming/akai-katana

Of course also available for PAL and NTSC-J.

[vidmouse]

Heh, I read the title of this post and thought there was an actual game called "Bullet Hell"


One that I see missing from this thread is Dangun Feveron.  Love that game.

[sharpfork]

I played video games as a kid in the 80's and early 90's and spend years with old computers in my Mame cab.
I too played Raiden a bunch with my kids and was bitten by the Bullet Hell bug after playing Cave titles in CoinOps on the Xbox.  I ended up changing my cabinet around to be better suited for Bullet Hell shmups. 

• I started by rotating my monitor to to a tate/vertical position.
• I needed more horsepower to play newer games so I tried a ballsy PC but ended up moving to a region free (jtag) x360.  There are a ton of great ports with cool arrange modes available.  They even support tate monitors
• I swaped my Happ joysticks for Sanwa JLW based on a recommendation by opt2not for a decent shmup joystick with a classic feel.  Everyone including my wife loves the balltop look and gameplay- thanks opt2not

I started messing around with lighter activation pressure switches (than Cherry) for my Happ/IL buttons.  I am guessing that I'm going to have some sort of Japanese buttons in there at some point.  I'm also keeping my eyes open for a good deal on a local (Denver) Candy Cab with 29" monitor, the main type of cab the newer Cave titles are played in, but I'm not holding my breath.

I now have a second cabinet that has a horizontal 27" CRT in it and I'm thinking the next thing I'm going to explore is StreetFighter II, III, and IV.

[opt2not]

  glad the JLW's worked out for you.

[emphatic]

Really curious about the JLW's. Gonna get one next time I buy parts.

[amendonz]

hori cave shmup Akai Katana out now on 360 (pal) 

[eldiau]

I got  caught in the bullet hell net too! Because of this thread I started playing DoDonPachi and I got hooked!
Unfortunately I have no space for another cab so I'm looking into building something smaller using an old naomi universal control panel with sanwa buttons but I'm opting for Seimitsu LS-56 joysticks, I was told they are the best for shmups... now you guys are talking about JLW, are they any better?

[opt2not]

... now you guys are talking about JLW, are they any better?

I recommended the JLW to sharpfork because he wanted a compromise between a stick that works well with shmups, as well as classic games.
The JLW's are pretty much on par with the LS-32's, except the JLW's have a lesser "dead-activation" zone and a bit stiffer in throw. IMO they're the overall best stick for a wide variety of games. But if you're looking for just a great shmuppin' stick, the Seimitsu LS-56 is your stick. 

[eldiau]

opt2not thanks for your advice, I'll post picture of the project... in the mean time I'll keep up trying to chain in dodonpachi on my "woody" cab

[mgb]

... now you guys are talking about JLW, are they any better?

I recommended the JLW to sharpfork because he wanted a compromise between a stick that works well with shmups, as well as classic games.
The JLW's are pretty much on par with the LS-32's, except the JLW's have a lesser "dead-activation" zone and a bit stiffer in throw. IMO they're the overall best stick for a wide variety of games. But if you're looking for just a great shmuppin' stick, the Seimitsu LS-56 is your stick. 

I completely agree the Jlw is a great all around stick.
My player 1 stick is a Jlw with cherry switches from a super and a round restrictor and I love it for shmups and the like. Its quiet and smooth. One vertical game that I really like it for is Gyruss (not a shmup, but one of the greatest games ever)
I do prefer the older shmups over the bullet hells. My cab has a vertical 27" monitor so vertical shooters are a pretty big part of my machine.

[Woodshop Flunky]

What stick is the U360 based on?

[opt2not]

What stick is the U360 based on?

The JLW

Which is why you can buy Andy's (ultimarc) octo-gate for the U360 and it'll fit on a standard JLW.
Like I did:

[Woodshop Flunky]

We've got the U360 with an octo-gate on my son's cab.  I like the play action, but sometimes the stick has "mechanical" feel to it.  I don't know how else to describe it.  I've played other sticks (long ago) that didn't register any mechanical feeling to my hand.  I think they might have had rubber grommets, but I really have no idea.  I'd love to have that feeling again on my son's cab.

[opt2not]

I'm trying to picture what you mean by mechanical.

Are you referring to the clickiness of it?
Or how much strength it takes to move the stick around, the "throw"?

[Woodshop Flunky]

I'm trying to picture what you mean by mechanical.

Are you referring to the clickiness of it?
Or how much strength it takes to move the stick around, the "throw"?

It's hard to describe... but when I'm playing, sometimes I can feel the mechanics of the thing.  When I"m playing a game really fast, I can't feel it so much, but when I'm trying to make slow movements, then it feels "sticky".  It's most noticeable when I'm just navigating the front end.  Also, when I'm playing a game that doesn't require a lot of fast direction changes, like Donkey Kong, or even older shmups like Xevious.

It may just be that I need to lube the joystick... but I'm not sure if that's a good thing.

I'd like the pressure required to go from dead center to any extreme to be constant... regardless of the speed I'm moving.

I may be asking for too much.

[Los Abrazos Rotos]

Totally know what you mean with that mechanical feeling. I find the U360 sticky too, even after lube.  I love the many functions but absolutely hate the way it doesn't go back to dead centre...  I wouldn't buy another thats for sure.

[mgb]

It sounds to me a bit like maybe your stick is grinding a little?

[Los Abrazos Rotos]

Its just the way that stick is designed I think - it doesn't feel like its grinding.  Its just personal preference, sticks that dont centre are not cool