Coffee & Shmups [ep.14] Lung Ching Edition - Are you bad at Shmups?

Hey, everyone
At long last, I've got the first Coffee & Shmups episode of the year finished...except this time, we're doing Lung Ching and Mahjong.
Enjoy the episode and a huge thanks to Scowsh and BB for their generous contributions!
Thanks for watching, and we'll see you all next time.
Take care.

[@Chinopolis]

I've always said shmups are their own "language" in video games and what I mean by that is legacy video skill is basically not going to transfer at all which can lead to a lot of frustrations. No matter how good you are you have to learn exactly what these games want from you and play by their rules. It takes time to do that, but I think with the right approach anyone can excel.

[@Shmuptopia]

Thanks for watching, Chino! Totally agree. Operating within the framework enters you into an unspoken agreement of sorts and Shmups will always be a completely different ballpark compared to everything else. I think the required learning from these games is a huge part of what I enjoy because you can't be amazing at something like the C-sides in Celeste or 5-cell difficulty in Dead Cells and expect it to mean anything in arcade shooters. However, at the same time, you can at least apply a similar inner drive if you've established various traits. But even there, the way in which these strengths pan out would be different when it comes to the flow of Shmups.

[@LittleBigKid707b]

Very well said. I too have heard, "yea I suck at shmups" countless times. Then when asked how often do you play them? The response if usually "oh I've played them a few times but they were hard for me." One thing with this genre is 99.9% of us will only get better by putting in the work. I remember when I started my shmup journey some 12 years ago, I too sucked. Wouldn't last but a few seconds before I would die. Now I can proudly say, I've 1cce'd a couple Cave games and many other classic shmups. I never thought I'd be able to clear any shmup, let alone a bullet hell, but that's proof. If you have an interest in the genre and you actually play, your skill level will improve. The better you get, the more you'll fall in love with these games. Now, my only shmup problem, is it's harder for me to enjoy other genres.

[@DharmaPunkGames]

Mmm tea and tiles. Nice video Dace, really enjoyed the analogy with your daughter and Stardew Valley. Growth based mindset is such a powerful thing!

[@Shmuptopia]

Thanks for watching, Christian! Growth mindset is truly instrumental. I think mindset in general is always playing a role in the background but fine-tuning it is when things get interesting!

[@psymagearcade]

Great video. I like what you said about not being negative because even I've struggled with that with certain types of shmups, most notably bullet-hell stuff. I know I'm capable of beating bullet-hell games and have done so, but I sometimes start thinking that I'm bad at bullet hell games because I seem to be faster at learning traditional shmups. In reality, I shouldn't be thinking that way. So the negativity can even creep into the minds of more experienced players.

[@Shmuptopia]

Thanks for watching, Psy! If you have more experience with traditional shooters, then it wouldn't surprise me that learning bullet hell feels like a slower pace to you. I think an important thing to remember is to keep the bigger picture in mind. It's easy to get attached to a rough session but in the grand scheme, those are mere moments and don't represent what your performance will actually look like if you continue practicing and playing regularly.

[@JohnSmith-cq7lk]

Thanks for posting, love this series.

[@Shmuptopia]

Thanks! Ideally it doesn't take another six months before the next one rolls out.

[@blazinglazers69]

As long as I'm enjoying myself blasting away, I'm winning according to my deepest intention: To have fun.

[@AlviEao]

That was a great video Dace! ☕🍵🍵☕

[@Shmuptopia]

Thanks so much Uncle Al! Glad you enjoyed it!

[@scowsh]

Really enjoy your videos on mindset - I think it’s the key to growing the most as a player (& person) whilst journeying through these games. Got very distracted by the Mahjong though haha

[@Shmuptopia]

I didn't put much thought into my moves since I didn't want the entire video being mostly a screen of inactivity. So if it looked like rushed playing, that's why. You bring up a great point on mindset and I definitely feel it's the main driver behind how we experience these games and life in general. Thanks for all you do, brother! Glad you enjoyed the vid and ideally I can bang out another before the next six months go by.

[@SpidersSTG]

This was beautiful! Plenty to meditate on. You're hitting a higher gear brother! Really exciting and awesome to watch:)

[@Shmuptopia]

Thank you for watching and appreciating the talk, Spiders! I'm always happy to hear that these topics resonate with others.

[@HideAndRead]

Great video. If anyone can no miss no bomb the first stage, you are cool in my book.

[@Shmuptopia]

Thanks so much for watching! I'm happy to hear you enjoyed the video.

[@soratheorangejuicemascot5809]

That what I always try to do in every shmup. Master stage 1

[@Undermog]

Wise words. On top of what you said, the skill divide in shmup players is so immense that even incredibly skilled players can look up at the best of the best and feel inadequate. It also makes it very difficult to make a shmup that can cater to such a diverse array of player skill levels.

[@Shmuptopia]

Absolutely. It's similar to fighting games where the average player is pretty proficient, yet they don't recognize how skilled they are because the standard creates this deceptive appearance of being only as "good" as the average player next to you - the interesting thing being that the overall bar has been raised considerably, so everyone is playing really solidly. There was a time when next to no one was 1CCing arcade shooters. The fact that oodles of people can get close to pulling that off now even if they don't end up doing so demonstrates to me that the bar has been raised for Shmup players as well. Thanks so much for checking this out!

[@letsblocking]

After listening to this, I feel like the best shmup player in the world now. 🤯

[@Shmuptopia]

I love it!! Thanks for listening man! Always a delight seeing your comments drop.

[@soratheorangejuicemascot5809]

I really can't tell if I am bad at progressing but the more I complain and rant to someone, the more I get better results. Sorry for rambling about my struggle on video games!!

[@Shmuptopia]

Likely because you're getting something moving and out of your system.

[@Sanrolino]

Hey Dace, good topic. My main challenge is consistency - to keep the concentration up for the whole 1cc. I always miss something and end up dying without bombing.

[@Shmuptopia]

Hey, man! I always greatly appreciate you swinging on in for these episodes. Despite the short duration of this topic, it's nice knowing people can take something away. On consistency specifically, I'm actually launching a supporter-exclusive series that takes a closer look at ways we can grow beyond our average performance. The first episode is actually almost done and happens to be a primer on consistency with future episodes covering sub-components (otherwise the video would easily be 3-4hrs long). That said, since not everyone will want to support financially, I may consider a way to summarize the material and make a less in-depth version. We'll see how things go though. Thanks again and enjoy the rest of the week!

[@nothingfeelsgood4696]

dragon well is so good, gonna drink some now....

[@Shmuptopia]

Yeah, no doubt! It's been my main tea for 20 years. Always great seeing a new face here, too! Thanks for popping by and enjoy the tea.

[@drifter4training]

havent seen that mahjong tile game on the arcades since the mid 2000s.. only time i seen that was in japan ol skool arcades... now its just family style arcades...either its fade out or keep up with the times..

[@Shmuptopia]

I first played a Mahjong-style game called Taipei some decades ago on PC and really enjoyed it. These days, there are quite a few on Switch and I enjoy solving those puzzles every so often. Thanks for checking this out!

[@hooksnfangs6006]

I'd say you're only bad at something if you don't really put the time and effort to be more efficient in it. I know I'm not "bad" but in general I like to say I'm "bad" just to not overshoot my confidence and to joke around. Being able to 1CC any shmup (even on EZ MODO) is an accomplishment itself.

[@Shmuptopia]

Thanks for watching this! I wouldn't be too concerned about overshooting. The fact that you're conscious of not wanting to do this speaks volumes.

[@NicolaARRMagnolia]

Yeah, it's all relative too. If I compare myself to super players I seem pretty bad, but when I watch my wife play shmups I feel like a super player. Like any skill you can't get better without practice. According to Steam I had played Mushihimesama for 150 hours before I managed to clear any of the modes outside of novice. Some people might take even longer, and that's okay. I don't think I'll ever be a super player because I just don't want to focus on playing shmups as much as I would need to.

[@Shmuptopia]

Thanks for checking this one out! Yeah, it's easy to pump serious time into Shmups depending on what we want to achieve. That said, a little each day is not a huge investment but can still produce huge results if you're consistent. Mindset and approach are two incredibly important factors. I'd love to see your Mushi run at some point! Commentary would be even better but no pressure. Thanks again!

[@MotWhinnana]

That comment about putting where you're dying in the run into context is pretty big, I dunno if people tend to think that way because they tunnelvisioned the "I have to 1CC this or I'm bad" mindset, but if you have the ability to get to like stage 4, you have the ability to finish the game. To me, it's not a question of skill at that point, it's just knowledge and a little practice.