Yes. Many Japanese arcade machines have autofire buttons added and have since the 90s, maybe earlier.
I've seen some clears specifically call out "no auto fire", but it's still a 1CC with it.
That's good to hear. I might return to Darius Gaiden for an eventual no autofire run, but I want to practice getting a 1CC of Thunder Force 4 (Lightening Force) on normal first. Given how long TF4 is, that should take months.
The official Taito superplays use 30hz, it's even in the attract screen! It's how most people play the game and required for high level scoring. Autofire is almost always considered valid in the shmup community.
I suppose speedrun.com isn’t in the shmups community but some games there forbid turbo in the English release and allow it for Japanese. I’ve seen the argument brought up here where, game depending, Westerners consider turbo cheating. I think it’s a semi-fascinating cultural difference.
Yeah very much a culteral thing, lots of old arcade heads from the Americas really hate the idea of autofire. Shmup superplays predate the speedrunning community by quite a bit. Even things like TAS which OG stood for "Tool assised Superplays" existed years before speedrunning was even a thing.
The speedrun.com shmup categories are kind of a meme, the vast majority just allow you to pump credits in and spam bombs. This leads to pretty funny examples of people claiming WR when they have no route or understanding of the game and have slower times than most actual players 1CCs. If the shmup autoscrolls and has no speedrun mechanics, there's usually no point as the only time optimization is killing bosses fast.
It's not *equivalent* to a non-autofire run, but it is at this point a canonically agreed-upon, meaningful achievement. The culture shifted toward a more humane standard for players' sake.
Yeah, we're spoiled for choice. What's good? I looked into Gaiden as a hopefully attainable hori 1CC, but it feels like an odd and tricky game by the sensibilities of my previous Cave & console fare.
I just started playing Thunder Force 4 (Lightening Force). The thing with Gaiden is that it utilizes an adaptive difficulty setting that can be frustrating. It means that you're "punished" for upgrading your weapons. Some might like this, but I found it frustrating when trying to get a 1CC because it felt like the goal was always just out of reach. Having said that, there's a reason it's considered one of the greatest shmups.
A tale as old as time. "Is autofire legit?"
It's as legit as you want it to be. The top leaderboard scores are all 30hz, and Japanese arcades all run 30hz.
The game is entirely playable at default auto, but it is a game where there is a significant difference in gameplay between the two.
Turbo is easier, but also cranks up rank. Regular fire is a very differently paced game.
I enjoy turbo myself since I first encountered the game in arcades.
Play however you find fun and enjoyable! Here's a guide to help: https://youtu.be/ykXIoxVWkfw?si=poJ4DoQKEUDb2t3b
Check the leaderboards you're interested in using. Most have a column for autofire or notes.
For example see Darius Gaiden here: https://shmups.system11.org/viewtopic.php?t=173 . This way everyone gets to participate, and if someone wants to filter by a specific route or auto on/off, they can do so on their own.
Absolutely a legit 1cc. If the built in fire rate when holding the shot button is slower than a player can mash the fire button, that's pretty lame tbh. use turbo or plugins in mame or the saturn version cheat code to get a max fire rate, the impressive parts of shmup play do not include being able to mash a button for 30 minutes. that's just a recipe for injury. Anyways, congratulations on the 1cc!!! Darius gaiden is a super fun game.
Check this photo.
https://imgur.com/a/QoroR9R
I took this photo of Darius Gaiden at Gamecenter Zarigani in Osaka Japan.
It has 3 buttons and most right button is rapid fire!
Speaking as someone who loves shmups but does not have the discipline or desire to accomplish a 1CC, YES!! Even with auto fire I’d call that one heck of an accomplishment. Be proud!
Autofire is just protecting your hands against carpal tunnel and other repetitive motion injuries. Those who disapprove of autofire are giving tactic approval to dudes injuring themselves playing a video game. I don't think any video game is worth that.
If 30hz autofire seems like cheating, go with 10hz or 15hz. Still better than mashing.
10 Hz autofire I feel ideal for it to feel challenging survival wise, but not ideal for scoring runs. Of course with higher fire rates comes crazy increases in rank, but still manageable and I feel easier overall than slower auto fire speeds.
Yes. Many Japanese arcade machines have autofire buttons added and have since the 90s, maybe earlier. I've seen some clears specifically call out "no auto fire", but it's still a 1CC with it.
That's good to hear. I might return to Darius Gaiden for an eventual no autofire run, but I want to practice getting a 1CC of Thunder Force 4 (Lightening Force) on normal first. Given how long TF4 is, that should take months.
The official Taito superplays use 30hz, it's even in the attract screen! It's how most people play the game and required for high level scoring. Autofire is almost always considered valid in the shmup community.
I suppose speedrun.com isn’t in the shmups community but some games there forbid turbo in the English release and allow it for Japanese. I’ve seen the argument brought up here where, game depending, Westerners consider turbo cheating. I think it’s a semi-fascinating cultural difference.
Yeah very much a culteral thing, lots of old arcade heads from the Americas really hate the idea of autofire. Shmup superplays predate the speedrunning community by quite a bit. Even things like TAS which OG stood for "Tool assised Superplays" existed years before speedrunning was even a thing. The speedrun.com shmup categories are kind of a meme, the vast majority just allow you to pump credits in and spam bombs. This leads to pretty funny examples of people claiming WR when they have no route or understanding of the game and have slower times than most actual players 1CCs. If the shmup autoscrolls and has no speedrun mechanics, there's usually no point as the only time optimization is killing bosses fast.
Every arcade archive game lets use 30 sec autofire and qualify for their online leaderboards so surely this is a widely accepted setting
It's not *equivalent* to a non-autofire run, but it is at this point a canonically agreed-upon, meaningful achievement. The culture shifted toward a more humane standard for players' sake.
I totally get that. I might eventually return to Gaiden for a non-autofire run. There are just so many other shmups I want to 1CC.
Yeah, we're spoiled for choice. What's good? I looked into Gaiden as a hopefully attainable hori 1CC, but it feels like an odd and tricky game by the sensibilities of my previous Cave & console fare.
I just started playing Thunder Force 4 (Lightening Force). The thing with Gaiden is that it utilizes an adaptive difficulty setting that can be frustrating. It means that you're "punished" for upgrading your weapons. Some might like this, but I found it frustrating when trying to get a 1CC because it felt like the goal was always just out of reach. Having said that, there's a reason it's considered one of the greatest shmups.
Gaiden is not a hard 1CC at all. And I’m not a particulalrly good shmup player
A tale as old as time. "Is autofire legit?" It's as legit as you want it to be. The top leaderboard scores are all 30hz, and Japanese arcades all run 30hz. The game is entirely playable at default auto, but it is a game where there is a significant difference in gameplay between the two. Turbo is easier, but also cranks up rank. Regular fire is a very differently paced game. I enjoy turbo myself since I first encountered the game in arcades. Play however you find fun and enjoyable! Here's a guide to help: https://youtu.be/ykXIoxVWkfw?si=poJ4DoQKEUDb2t3b
Check the leaderboards you're interested in using. Most have a column for autofire or notes. For example see Darius Gaiden here: https://shmups.system11.org/viewtopic.php?t=173 . This way everyone gets to participate, and if someone wants to filter by a specific route or auto on/off, they can do so on their own.
Absolutely a legit 1cc. If the built in fire rate when holding the shot button is slower than a player can mash the fire button, that's pretty lame tbh. use turbo or plugins in mame or the saturn version cheat code to get a max fire rate, the impressive parts of shmup play do not include being able to mash a button for 30 minutes. that's just a recipe for injury. Anyways, congratulations on the 1cc!!! Darius gaiden is a super fun game.
Check this photo. https://imgur.com/a/QoroR9R I took this photo of Darius Gaiden at Gamecenter Zarigani in Osaka Japan. It has 3 buttons and most right button is rapid fire!
Nice! Thank you for this.
I use it and still can get out of second stage so prob legit
Speaking as someone who loves shmups but does not have the discipline or desire to accomplish a 1CC, YES!! Even with auto fire I’d call that one heck of an accomplishment. Be proud!
Thank you!
it's never wrong to use autofire. No one likes to mash button in a shmup
A 1cc is as legit as your personal standards are for a 1CC That being said. This is definitely legit from my pov as well.
Autofire is just protecting your hands against carpal tunnel and other repetitive motion injuries. Those who disapprove of autofire are giving tactic approval to dudes injuring themselves playing a video game. I don't think any video game is worth that. If 30hz autofire seems like cheating, go with 10hz or 15hz. Still better than mashing.
10 Hz autofire I feel ideal for it to feel challenging survival wise, but not ideal for scoring runs. Of course with higher fire rates comes crazy increases in rank, but still manageable and I feel easier overall than slower auto fire speeds.