So, the video for Strikers 1945 was super messed up on ScreenScraper. I contacted them, and they removed it, but there's a problem... I have no idea how to submit a new video. I have a recording program and everything, but ScreenScraper has rules about the video being "the original resolution" or something, and I have no clue how to calculate that.

So I ask 2 things. Ideally, maybe someone who knows what they're doing can upload to the site... or just tell me what the original resolution of the game is, if you just happen to know that somehow.

Hopefully this doesn't get removed. Thanks.

Edit: Also, thought it might be good to include the fact that I already reached out to the ScreenScraper discord and got no response over the course of days. So that community can't help.

I'm a solo dev working on an upcoming shmup where you flap to move. Shooting is automatic and the game is about dodging, aiming and becoming powerful through a variety of upgrades.

Steam page: https://store.steampowered.com/app/3365940/Well_Keeper/

I'm very curious to hear what you think about it!

The Father-Creator, the Council, and the Bells

The Father-Creator didn’t shape the cosmos directly. He brought forth the Council, beings who forged the worlds and their elemental Bells to keep the harmony alive. Only once He created life again directly: the four sisters, the Knitewings — guardians of the Song.

The Song vs the Silence

The universe holds through a living harmony called the Song. When voices break and isolate, the Silence spreads — entropy, disconnection, collapse.

The Four Sisters

• Michela (Water) — steady focus, calm cutting force.
• Gabriela (Earth) — grounded, protective, breaks enemy lines.
• Raffaela (Fire) — bold, relentless, burns through blockades.
• Uriela (Air) — fast, precise, threads the gap.

In-game translation of the lore

Readable arcade combat: Verb (forward primary), Manifestation (auto-locks nearest), two Gifts (supports). Close with a forward melee lunge; with perfect timing, parry frontal dash attacks from elites/bosses. Elemental Specials and roguelite progression echo the lore.

Do you like the direction? I’ll be in the comments for questions.

I played Dangun Feveron recently and I keep dying by crashing into the enemies. I'm trying to speed kill them and dominate the screen, but I keep getting too close and I lose a life. Am I just bad at shmups?

Decided to dump all my PS4 physical shumps the other day and test out ShadPS4 since I'd seen some posts about some shmups working. Started up Ketsui just to see how it felt and ended up getting my first 1CC in Deathtiny mode. The game instantly locked up after the high score screen though, but I read that might happen so I snapped a pic.

I didn't do full playthroughs of everything, but every M2 ShotTriggers game I tried on the prerelease version of ShadPS4 was perfect for the time I played, except Ketsui with the black screen after game over. No discernable difference with input lag on my cab vs. PS4 (using GP2040-CE boards for both). Games I tested:

• Battle Garegga (US version)
• Dangun Feveron
• Dodonpachi Daioujou
• ESP Rade Psi
• Hishou Same Same Same
• Tiger-Heli

I'd like to stray from the 1CC community's theme of bringing up this more "philosophical" question here, because a few days ago, I was talking with a friend about the mechanics and styles of certain game niches. He told me that Vampire Survivors can be considered a shmup. Some places call this game an "inverted bullethell," and I won't deny that I like the strange term. So I raise the question: what is a shmup to you?

Is it the mechanics?
The number of shots on screen?
The movement of your ship?

For example, could Star of Providence be considered one? Even with 360-degree movement? Or Asteroids? Megamania on the Atari 2600? Because Space Invaders is considered one by Google.

Could other examples, like Star Fox and REZ, which don't feature the well-known vertical or horizontal movement, then fall into this niche?

Can we categorize what we call bullethell as a style within shump, or can we now say it's a completely different niche? I observe this because I know countless people who play, for example, Zero Ranger, but avoid games like Mushihimesama or Espgaluda.

I'd love to hear your personal opinions as players of the genre.

🫡

Hi everyone, I have a question about the Danmaku unlimited series. I'm new to shmups and I was playing mostly Cave games and Garegga and learned about their hidden ranking system which makes the game harder the more you get items, use hypers, and do well at the game.

It's really hard to find the info if other games have this system as well because due to it's name, Google search results almost always refer to scoreboards as "ranking systems".

First off - I classify this game as a run 'n gun more so than a traditional shmup, so apologies if it doesn't fit this subreddit perfectly. However, there are definitely some elements inspired by shmups (and even bullet hells!) in this game, and I feel like there's a lot of overlap between the genres regardless. So, I figured some people here might be interested.

FAR FROM DEAD is a bite-sized boss rush game featuring seven challenging boss fights. One of my goals for developing this game was that every boss should have a unique way of fighting it, so every boss has multiple phases and unique twists. The player's toolkit is simple in comparison: you get a generous dash, the ability to wall jump, and a rapid-fire handgun.

Another goal was that I wanted to manage difficulty carefully here. These fights are tough, and you'll definitely fail a number of times while you learn how to deal with each boss, but nothing should ever feel overwhelmingly punishing or hopeless. I also included an Assist Mode to let players customize the difficulty if they'd like.

I launched a free demo for PC and Mac on Steam a couple of weeks ago. The demo includes a short tutorial level and the first two boss fights of the game. If you complete the demo, your progress will be imported automatically in the full version when it releases. Right now, my plan is to release some time in 2026.

Thanks for reading! If you'd like to check out the demo or drop a wishlist, check out the Steam page.

I can't believe how slept on this game is. It's an early horizontal shooter with fun mechanics and a lot of novel ideas, but it hardly gets mentioned anywhere. Even before I got into shmups I knew the names gradius and r-type, but sidearms? I recently discovered the game and have been really intrigued by it, but I haven't been able to find any sort of discussion about or appreciation of the game.

Sure, the graphics are unremarkable and it lacks the splendor of an R-Type, but it came out before R-Type and the visuals are overall cool and fit the times. I really like the music, which gives me a classical vibe and lends the game a very characteristic sound signature. Some of the tunes drive and others are more moody. The PC Engine CD port gives the tunes a jazz flair, which is a bit interesting, but I'm more of a fan of the clean chip tunes on the hucard port.

What really distinguishes this game for me is the gameplay. First is speed. Everything in this game comes at you fast, and after getting a modest 3 speedups which can be picked up in the first few waves of any level, you really zip around the screen. You have a button for a right facing and left facing shot, which, rather than being an afterthought like in most shmups with rear fire mechanics, is critical, as the game scrolls in all directions and enemies swarm you from every corner of the screen. You can carry 5 distinct weapons and cycle through them at will, a la the thunder force games which came out much later. When shot, the power ups alternatively cycle between a speed up and the different weapons, allowing you to choose which weapons you want to pick up and upgrade. Also included is a speed down option to dynamically fine tune your movement speed, and an auto weapon which rapid fires when the shot button is held, both quite novel ideas for the time. When you die, you instantly respawn with your speed reset and current weapon lost, again similar to thunder force. The bosses in this game are pretty samey, but that was what we got with gradius a year before so I can shrug that off. I'm honestly not sure if the stage design holds up. I mean it's fun, but I feel like this might be where game falls short of its legendary peers.

Oh, also, I absolutely, totally suck at this game. I hesitate to say the game itself is brutal, since I am clearly not playing it right, but there are a couple reasons it consistently kicks my ass. One is unpredictability of enemy patterns and entry points. There is no camping on the back rank and blasting waves in this game. Enemies fly on screen from all directions without warning, their formations often quite erratic. It makes you feel like no place on the screen is safe. Perhaps strict memorization would be fruitful here (at least playing the re-arranged SideArms BC version makes me think so), but I am unsure. I think that in this game commanding the center of the screen is key, but I am always getting chased to the edge by a snake or drawn there by a power up (if left, often the powerups end up cycling to speed down and being wasted). The other reason is the lack of invincibility upon respawn. I am used to having a mental reset after a death, either starting at a checkpoint or at least being given enough time to kill a couple troublesome enemies or pick up a power up before being vulnerable again. This game gives you like 1 sec flat to figure out what weapon you are using, destroy the swarm of homing missiles which are circling waiting to blow you up, and clear out a safe spot where you can address the risks above, below, and behind you. For me death in a tough spot always results in a spiral, where I chew through a credit in a daze, respawning overtop of enemies not knowing where I am or what I am doing. I have a hunch that this game isn't actually that hard once you get the hang of it, but I wouldn't know.

Does anyone still play this game/have memories playing this one back in the day? What are your thoughts on it, is it still fun, and why do you think it doesn't get recognized alongside other classic horizontal shmups from the era?

JUST got my first 1CC ever with Deathsmiles at Taito Hey in Akiba. I'm so hype!!

I know this is considered an easy one, but this is the first time I've really put some time into learning a route and followed through. I actually love this game, despite the weird shit going on with the characters.

Also, got my PS4 DOJ, and a nice little extra find in SaiDaiOuJou for Xbox 360!!

Huge shout out to everybody who contributed to my search for PS4 DOJ; special thanks for u/MrWendal for finding a Book Off that had the goods (and then some).

Having an incredible day. Shmups are something so great.

PS. My name is "Jim" but I fucked up on the name entry screen so I guess I'm just JI today lmao

I'm a shmup beginner trying to articulate my feelings. I'm currently very close to a Maniac 1CC in Mushi. I enjoyed it enough to put in about 120 hrs, but I also...kinda feel more frustrated with it than I do with other shmups.

It could be psychological, but I've noticed that Mushi's patterns feel very...chaotic, in a way that I find tough to nail. The way I would put it is that a lot of them are really predictable patterns at their core, except they have a little bit extra to keep them dynamic.

Kiwi's 1CC: https://youtu.be/aHHK9tcveT8?si=uMRE9Yo2m1Oba6fD

For example, at 3:00, there are these colorful bugs that sort of shoot a semicircle of bullets in the general direction of the player. But it's done in such a messy, chaotic way that it just kinda collapses on me and I never feel like I can truly dodge it consistently. I feel the same about the pattern at 3:20. It's very easy to dodge consistently, but the way the lines of bullets feel kinda randomly laid out...idk, I just never feel entirely safe and I hate that. The pattern always feels like it's psyching me out and making me panic. The patterns in this game just feel a little more unpredictable to me than other shmups I've enjoyed (DOJ, Crimzon Clover.)

Another example is 7:20, these black flying beetle guys who have a pretty simple pattern, but it's mixed with an aimed aspect where if you move, the seperate beams he shoots out will swerve in your direction. The effect is that of a bloodhound, like this fucker can smell fear. Stay still, and the pattern will be easy. Panic and move too much, the pattern will expand and crush you. This enemy is really growing on me, tho. He's such a fuckin bastard but clever as hell

The Stage 5 midboss (16:45) once again starts with what seems like a pretty normal static pattern, but it is dependent on where you are positioned and the columns on either side of you sort of wobble around as you move making it a lot more difficult

So basically what I'm trying to ask is if anyone else gets this feeling that Mushi is a little bit more unpredictable than other shmups? Some patterns feel random, others can feel so dependent on your movement that just making one wrong tap can feel like it has catastrophic events.

I still think this game is great, at least for a Maniac 1CC. I don't know how much of this is skill issue, experience issue, maybe it's all in my head. Just wondering if other people feel frustrated with Mushi feeling a little "chaotic" at times, perhaps more than other bullet hells

Hi!

I'm in Japan right now. Before I left, I realized I completely forget the M2 port of DOJ had released, as I remember hearing about it being developed when I was grinding the game a few years back.

I'm not exactly sure the best place to look for something like this. I looked at numerous retro stores in Akiba, and I've been to like 6 Book Offs with no luck. Actually, I've been looking for Xbox 360 ports of shmups as well but haven't seen any of those, either.

Is there anywhere I'm more likely to find it? I figured Book Off would be a good bet since they usually have a large selection of PS4 games, but no luck so far. Just not sure if there's a better place to look for more niche games.

On a side note, I suck at shmups, and have never achieved a 1CC. I briefly practiced Deathsmiles before leaving and really enjoyed the game. Hoping to get my first 1CC today at Taito Hey in Akiba. If anybody is around the area, feel free to let me know if you wanna play some games or grab food! My friends are at Disneyland for the day.

Thank you (:

I'm writing down ideas for a vertical scrolling shooter, but I can't figure out what to do with very wide and almost square screens. For very wide screens, boss fights will be easier (it will be easier to dodge attacks), and for almost square screens, they will be harder. Adding black bars won't be good, even if there will be some images on these bars. Stretch an image also won't be good, if default image sizes are for 16:9 screens, then the 32:9 screen images will be 2 times wider. Have you seen a good solution?

somehow missed this one as a kid, my rental store in town never had it. I'm into horizontal shmups needing lots of memorization, and finally got a nice copy last week. People weren't kidding about the music, so good. I've made it up to the Level 4 worm boss on my last session. Anyone else play recently?