http://score.royalflare.net/th125/ranking125.html for the full leaderboard.
More or less 100 records, out of a possible 207 (excludes reverse spoiler). This has been a goal of mine for a long time, so it is great to finally finish. That said, I don't intend to end Double Spoiler. In fact, my intentions to stay with Double Spoiler for as long as I'm able remains. It is quite possibly my favourite, I just love how technical and deep it is. Everything about Double Spoiler except the format of infinite retries is so utterly difficult. I love that. I love how much goes into just controlling the camera, it is seriously complex and fascinating. I love how much goes into figuring out and executing how to control all the scoring components. This is quite possibly the most technical shmup I've ever played, and this is why the individual level format is so necessary. The game would be completely impossible without it. As for Shoot the Bullet, there are no intentions of ever returning, other than possibly some random scene if I'm interested. Shoot the Bullet is good for beginners, but once you're mastering Double Spoiler, then the limitations of the system in Shoot the Bullet makes it a boring game to play. For me, I believe it to be obsoleted by Double Spoiler in every way except for the fact that its scenes are different, and some of these scenes are really quite amazing. So I may return for some scenes at some point, but there is no longer the will to work on every scene in StB ever again. I can consider that chapter as half closed, I guess.
It is a shame, but I still have real life reasons that get in the way of playing. At least I'm able to play from time to time. It is enough, and I'm still thinking about the long term now. Even if I usually don't play for super long sessions, I've given this game a few years already and I hope I can give it a few more, and then a few more again. That would be fantastic, though at some point perhaps impossible. At least I'm hoping that if ever I do end this chapter of my life, I can do so while satisfied with my accomplishments in DS. I can't say I strive to reach this kind of conclusion with StB or GFW. I don't really want to play GFW under my conditions, so returning to that game will depend on how my real life situation looks. As for any other STGs, there are no plans for serious playing. Only casual diversions or the like may occur, as usual, but there's hardly ever any of these anymore. I guess that's a good thing for DS, though! I'm still a bit sad that DS is so inactive other than my own efforts, but at least t1100 submits a new score every now and then. It would be great to see some more players.
Future DS goals are all over the place. Rather than discussing this, I'm keeping a chart. I saw people posting clear charts on 4chan, and it struck me that this would be very useful for Double Spoiler scoring. Here is my current revision, though some greens maybe should be yellows, etc.
That is all for now. I realize that my high score list hasn't been updated for over half a year... but I'll do it when I feel like it.
