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THUMPER |OT| THE BEETLE'S ROCK BAND - HIGHWAY TO HELL!

Genkobar

Member
Nope, those contribute points to the blue diamond number at the end.

After testing I think it has to do with the amount of stuff that get hit by the wave sent out when you ground pound, but even then it still seems to be adding kills from out of nowhere.

This was my thought as well, since I've been getting kills with no blue rings or yellow bars hit.
 

Genkobar

Member
When you do the ground pound after flying and see the shock wave clear out the tentacles to the sides of the track, you'll also hear a high-pitch scream of sorts. As you do more shock waves in a row, these will rise in pitch, which I think just signifies the higher kill count for the segment.
 

Stoze

Member
When you do the ground pound after flying and see the shock wave clear out the tentacles to the sides of the track, you'll also hear a high-pitch scream of sorts. As you do more shock waves in a row, these will rise in pitch, which I think just signifies the higher kill count for the segment.

Holy shit, you just kind of blew my mind. I never even mentally registered those or considered that stuff in the background would contribute to gameplay and your score, by "stuff" I meant notes, turns, etc.. I just tested and that's totally what the kills are, you're right:

The "tentacles" that creep up from the background in certain parts of each level can be killed by performing a ground pound on a note (you don't need a multiplier going). The pulse from your pound will travel along the track and kill the tentacles by making the scream sound and the tentacles will flash red. The number of kills = number of tentacles hit.

I don't know if that's something really to be considered often with high level play since you're going to be constantly pounding to generate health packs anyways, but that's still crazy. This game man. edit: Also my apologies at missing your post a couple hours ago that referenced it, I got carried away testing stuff.
 

Genkobar

Member
I don't know if that's something really to be considered often with high level play since you're going to be constantly pounding to generate health packs anyways, but that's still crazy. This game man. edit: Also my apologies at missing your post a couple hours ago that referenced it, I got carried away testing stuff.

No worries :)

Yeah, I think these kills are pretty important to high-level play, but man can that get hectic! I'm currently working through level 5 and try to get these kills when I can, but often that just makes me wipe out on the required moves.

There's a specific sequence somewhere in level 3 that alternates between notes and turns, like [left turn] [note] [right turn] [note]... repeated with tentacles appearing throughout. To get those kills, you'll have to fly through a turn by doing a perfect turn, pound the following note, turn normally and fly right off the next note. I haven't tried this yet, but that is the sequence I was thinking about when I read your guide on extending flight with perfectly timed turns. Intense!
 

Mdk7

Member
MY GOD THIS GAME.
Holy shit, it's sooooooooo good.
Level 4 was INTENSE.
Having a blast with it, using PSVR is so trippy. <3
 

jett

D-Member
I had noticed the tentacles screaming and withering away after pounding, but I didn't realize those were the "kills" in the scorecard. That's pretty awesome.

Maybe you need to have the 2x multiplier to create it? That or just extra inputs cancel it out.

Also I totally forgot about Kills in the scoring system. I'm still not sure how those are totaled up other than it's related to pounding to create health notes (I think).

I think I had the multiplier because it went all slowmo. I guess more testing is required!

Did you complete the sequence on your first attempt? I think that has an effect on it too.

Also, you don't need to press anything during the attack. What matters is only how you hit the final note.

Yeah I did.

And yeah now I know I don't need to press anything, I was just messing around heh.
 

EVO

Member
FDBDCCBBA023D0C62D367DAD132D4114D8497C1A

I'm coming for you Stoze ;)
 
D

Deleted member 125677

Unconfirmed Member
aw yeah, going to connect my arcade stick as well next time!
 

totowhoa

Banned
Man, I just want to get home from work and play this some more.

Thanks for all the great sleuthing in this thread so far guys! Great to know how boss health and kills work now.

Probably worth linking to Stoze's post in the OP as required reading once you hit level 3 or 4. Whichever one introduces all the core mechanics by that point.
 
D

Deleted member 125677

Unconfirmed Member
dammit! Thumper doesn't recognize my madcatz fightstick pro :(

any ideas?
 
D

Deleted member 57681

Unconfirmed Member
Okay so apparently 4-13 is where SHIT GETS REAL
I mean I somehow made it through Level 4, but I have no idea how I'm supposed to get somewhat decent scores from now on. It's just CCCCCCC all the way, and I'm feeling like barely passing some crazy Expert guitar solo in Rock Band or something. And hell yeah do I know that I'm not even halfway through.
 

mckmas8808

Mckmaster uses MasterCard to buy Slave drives
Okay so apparently 4-13 is where SHIT GETS REAL
I mean I somehow made it through Level 4, but I have no idea how I'm supposed to get somewhat decent scores from now on. It's just CCCCCCC all the way, and I'm feeling like barely passing some crazy Expert guitar solo in Rock Band or something. And hell yeah do I know that I'm not even halfway through.

That's EXACTLY where I'm stuck. The game is literally going too fast for my brain to register what to do next.
 
Don't worry, it auto saves your progress. You should be able to pick up from the last checkpoint.

Yeah I was glad to discover that today!
Finally beat the game as well, and my god the 'final' boss, 9-27 and Level Infinity were jaw-dropping. What a remarkable game this is. Easily one of my favourites this year!

Now it's time to get those leaderboard scores down :)
I'm hovering around the top 20 for most levels, but I know I can do better!
 

Stoze

Member
I'm coming for you Stoze ;)

bring_it_on_matrix.gif


Nice score. I've slowed down playing a bit but I'll definitely be trying to improve on a level or two everyday to keep myself up there until I get bored.

As expected Level 1's score is very competitive already, I wouldn't be surprised if first place has the max amount of points possible.
 
This game is great up to 4, then it becomes a slog, and fuck whoever decided that the gimmick of 5 was fun or a good idea.

"I know, let's give players an instant fail state if they fuck up in the slightest!"

That's shit you reserve for the hardest difficulty of a game that the insane or dedicated play.
 

Mdk7

Member
Just beat the campaign.
Simply put, my GOTY.
Phenomenal on all levels, this is an instant classic to me.
And with PSVR is simply out of this world.
 

epmode

Member
I'm on 5-18. This game is melting my brain.

I'm not as fast as I'd like but I'm getting there. I'd love to play it in VR. Someday!
 

~Kinggi~

Banned
Finally got around to playing level 1 of my copy. Its a fresh and brilliant game in many ways. One of the best games of this year.
 

jett

D-Member
This game is great up to 4, then it becomes a slog, and fuck whoever decided that the gimmick of 5 was fun or a good idea.

"I know, let's give players an instant fail state if they fuck up in the slightest!"

That's shit you reserve for the hardest difficulty of a game that the insane or dedicated play.

lol

The game gets much harder than level 5.
 

1upsuper

Member
This game should be called Beetle Adventure Racing 2.

I played through the first two levels today. It's quite a trip. I felt pretty tired afterward, actually. I have to say though, there were a few inputs in some of the levels that just didn't feel right rhythmically, and I felt like I had to put rhythmic intuition aside and just memorize, which isn't great in this sort of game, but it is what it is. Still enjoying it.
 

Zukkoyaki

Member
Finished level 4 earlier and all I can say is that I'm terrified of what awaits on the higher levels haha. Amazing game though!
 

NEO0MJ

Member
This game is great up to 4, then it becomes a slog, and fuck whoever decided that the gimmick of 5 was fun or a good idea.

"I know, let's give players an instant fail state if they fuck up in the slightest!"

That's shit you reserve for the hardest difficulty of a game that the insane or dedicated play.

Yeah, I wasn't a fan of the ring of doom. Like, it isn't that big a problem in normal levels but for boss fights it becomes really troublesome.

Man it feels soooo good when you get multiple ground pounds in a row.

Plus it restores armor/gives bonus point multipliers.
 

icedragon08

Neo Member
I don't know why, but the game wasn't that hard for me. Made it all the way to the end and wasn't stuck for more than five minutes anywhere. Even had some S Ranks on my first try in Level 9. I'm not even that good in rhythm games but the flow of the game was so good it carried me all the way through the game. GOTY contender.
 

Mdk7

Member
My review for IGN Italy: 9.2/10

Thumper is far more than a simple, stunning rhythm game: it's an astonishing vertigo at crazy speed that messes up with your brain in a kaleidoscope of psychedelic colors and industrial tunes, an unforgettable trip into a sinister and mesmerizing dimension that thanks to PlayStation VR becomes real. Simply put, an instant classic.

DO
NOT
MISS
THIS
GAME
 

lt519

Member
Finished Stage 5, found it easier than Stage 4. Things ramp up for sure but I can handle the multiple tracks and rings of doom better than the little snake things that showed up a lot on the tracks in Stage 4.

I find myself tapping beats to this game long after I'm done playing it. It ingrains itself deep.
 

kruis

Exposing the sinister cartel of retailers who allow companies to pay for advertising space.
Does this game have 3D support?
 
my wife played the demo last night and now she's keeps texting me how she has to beat that first level.

Gonna buy this one tonight.
 

WEGGLES

Member
Was gifted this for my birthday after being on the fence about it for a while.

Simply sublime. I went home at lunch today to play it, lol.
 

jett

D-Member
How is this humanly possible? Photoshop?

You can restart each level until you get it perfectly.

I have 540K on level 5 myself, with only a few S's in there... S'ing a whole level is a pain honestly, and can be really nerve-wracking, even on level 1.

k

that doesn't mean that the ring of doom isn't complete garbage

Haha, I know. 5-1 was the biggest difficulty hump for me. But it was mostly the odd close pattern of the beats, I think. It only appears in that one sub-level. Other than that the patterns with the ring in front of you are usually not too bad.
 
He said humans. You are quite clearly a cat wearing fake glasses and moustache.
That would be more impressive, no? :D

How is this humanly possible? Photoshop?
I'm not even that great compared to the top 10 scores! Retrying each phase and perfecting it is absolutely essential to getting S ranks, though it's also pretty frustrating and time consuming. if I want to compete with the best players I'd need to learn how to do a level in one go and basically miss nothing....

currently doing Level 6 now and it can take up to 30 minutes just to fully learn a segment https://youtu.be/w3vjpedcGhQ?t=5m8s, and even then, I could still improve on this by a lot, getting every perfect turn and downward thump multiplier.

I wish this game has some terminology for all the moves and objects in the world, I no idea how to describe the gameplay sometimes haha
 
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