Topic: Bangai-O Spirits

[KDR_11k]

Dunno but it strikes me as silly since there's, you know, WIRELESS RADIO in the DS...

[Flames_of_chaos]

So what's this I hear about being able to swap levels with the microphone?

Basically you create levels or have the option to modify existing levels however you want. To trade the levels the game encodes it to a series of beats (in a way like morse code) and if another player wants to get that level it has to hear that beat via the DS microphone.  I believe treasure made this method to bypass friend codes.

[Flames_of_chaos]

Well I got it today and you gotta like bilingual box art sigh.

[KDR_11k]

I'm more worried about it being mirrored horizontally

[Flames_of_chaos]

Thats the side effect of the macbook's iSight.

[KDR_11k]

Also if you think bilingual is bad you haven't seen some of the covers used on GBA games in Europe with five languages on the back.

[Flames_of_chaos]

Also if you think bilingual is bad you haven't seen some of the covers used on GBA games in Europe with five languages on the back.

Well I think it's unnecessary to have the copyright info in English and french.

[TheFleece]

I just got it and playing through the tutorial is sort of lengthy and it makes me crave the actual game more, but I'm afraid on missing out on small details. I should be eating dinner, I should be continuing work on my Halloween costume, but instead I'm all over this crazy ass game. Also it finally broke me away from Final Fantasy IV. It was worth the wait. Also China Town, NYC- I brought your only copy Mwahahahaha!!!

[NWR_Lindy]

I've been playing through the tutorial and it's pretty crazy...lots of different kinds of weapons.  I feel like I haven't even tapped the surface of it.  I can't even get all of the different types of ammo straight.

It's like part puzzle, part shooter.

[KDR_11k]

Grrrr, Amazon has listed the release date wrong, no wonder I can't find it anywhere.

[Infernal Monkey]

Imported 'dis since it's never getting an Aussie release, this is pretty much one of the best portable games I've ever played. God damn.

Baseball bat > all

[NWR_Lindy]

Ah, the languages on the back of the box remind me of my days back in Canada.  French is all over the place on everything up there, and it's almost entirely unnecessary.

[UltimatePartyBear]

My copy arrived yesterday, and it didn't take long for me to get stuck.  I couldn't figure out how to hurt the big robot in an early Treasure level, so I just started goofing around with the editor.  It's amazing!  The only drawback is that you're limited to a plain black background.

Edit: I found the options for backgrounds and music, so now the editor is flawless.

[KDR_11k]

... still not out ...

[KDR_11k]

Yay, finally got it. Only one store had it at all and only two copies (my guess is they shipped only tiny numbers of it).

Still gotta figure out what makes the Longai-Os fire their bombs, occassionally I hit one with a full Direct+Break volley and kill it but most of the time they bomb and my volley is stopped. Going pea-shooter on them doesn't seem to work very well...

[UltimatePartyBear]

I fought one of those as the final boss of a level I made.  I got him down about a third of the way in a protracted firefight, then finally finished him off by using one Direct+Homing volley to get close to him, then firing off another one at nearly point blank range to counter his counter before he had time to react.

[KDR_11k]

They have no limit to their reaction time (I've traded EX attacks with one as fast as I could and he kept up), the opening is when they perform a dash attack (now to figure out how to make them perform one). Freeze and direct works too but that needs two bombs which you can't always afford...

[NWR_Lindy]

The 3.5mm cable I need to transfer the sound file to PC should be coming in the next day or two.  Then, my Bangai-O level shall be unleashed on the world!

[UltimatePartyBear]

They have no limit to their reaction time (I've traded EX attacks with one as fast as I could and he kept up), the opening is when they perform a dash attack (now to figure out how to make them perform one). Freeze and direct works too but that needs two bombs which you can't always afford...

I tested it yesterday, and my method works as long as you're quick enough.  You have to be really close to him and fire yours off immediately after his so that you hit him while he's still stuck in place after shooting.  I haven't had any luck doing this without using two bombs because I need to be able to predict when he'll use one of his own, and the only way to do that is to do something that always triggers it.

I think I already have the cable I need in my car, so I might upload some of my own levels.  Mine are largely oriented around surviving against great odds, but maybe someone will enjoy them.

[TheFleece]

I haven't tried to make any stages of my own yet, but I've downloaded some nifty ones that I've found around online. Should a new thread be started to keep track of stages?
Overall I feel that Bangai-O is like Contra but in space and every fight is like a giant robot anime final battle. It's also the only DS game I own that hurts my hands. I love it.

[NWR_Lindy]

What form will the files be in after you've recorded them?  MP3s?  I suppose it could be any kind of audio file that you want.

[TheFleece]

What form will the files be in after you've recorded them?  MP3s?  I suppose it could be any kind of audio file that you want.

All of the files I've dealt with have been mp3, but I'm sure if you can get it onto a smaller format it will be fine. The other thing is that you have to put your file somewhere so people can play it from their computer or download it.
If anyone wants a bunch of custom stages you can check them out here.

[UltimatePartyBear]

I've tested these to make sure they work.  It's finicky.  You have to hold an earphone right on the microphone without letting it slip at all or it'll tell you there's too much noise.

So, my levels:

UPB Maze-ish was (Edit: the "is" made it sound like the rest of these were throwaway experiments, but I didn't post any of those) my first real attempt at a level other than just playing around with the editor.  It's vaguely maze-like, hence the "ish."  There's a long fuse that will release a lot more enemies near the end of the level, but you have to light it to reach the final target.  The center corridor with the ninjas guarding a gate was planned before I learned how gates really worked.  The original intent was to force you to fight the ninjas in a long, narrow corridor, but I had to either move the gate to the other end of the corridor or redo the whole thing.

UPB Gauntlet is the result of me practicing how to use the gates.  It's just a series of rooms that you have to complete in order, hopefully with each one harder than the last.

[UltimatePartyBear]

(Continued because of size limitations.)

UPB Sadist should probably be named Masochist instead, honestly.  It's a symmetrical stage in which you have to clear out almost everything to unleash the target, a Longai-O.  There's a core under his gate so you can control when he's unleashed if you want.  There are fuse-opened rooms in the corners, the lower two of which must be cleared out.  The upper rooms have max health powerups if you need them, but they're guarded, so you should save a couple of bombs for the occasion.

UPB Double Climb simply requires you to take a box all the way to the top of a tower, then go back and do the same thing on the other side of the tower.  I tried to mix up the challenges quite a bit on the two sides,  not to mention prevent cheating by pushing both boxes up the same side.  There's no puzzle to it.  I was just trying to add a new wrinkle for time attack purposes.


I'm working on a stage that's simply about surviving until a fuse reaches the target, but I'm stymied by the inability to make spawners invulnerable, or even spawn more spawners.  I've already managed to clear the whole stage before the fuse runs out.

[KDR_11k]

I tested it yesterday, and my method works as long as you're quick enough.  You have to be really close to him and fire yours off immediately after his so that you hit him while he's still stuck in place after shooting.

Er, when a Longai-O counters one of my bombs he often uses a 400 bomb, being less than half a screen away is instant death (getting hit the frame the bombs spawn) then.

Invulnerable spawners seem to be done by placing them inside walls...