How do you stay disciplined with infinite credits?

So i have a question; how do you get the most enjoyment out of a game when you have access to infinite credits and could theoretically beat it no matter what?

I have a friend that tracks his high scores by starting each game with one credit, on standard difficulty (typically 4.) I have tried this but man it's hard not to insert another coin and keep going!

I think once i've beaten each game i own, see it through, see the ending, it will be easier to start with less credits and work on pure high score runs.

How do you all go about this; and what have you found works/doesn't work well?

Could always do it the way you'd have to in the arcade. For every additional credit, add a dollar into your savings

Realistically though, I just try to play as best as I can to need as few coins as possible.

Well the first credit is really the only one that counts, but for casual play of arcade games I usually adopt the Neo home system approach: I give myself 4 credits, and that's it. That's enough that I don't die instantly in most games I'm unfamiliar with, but getting to the end is still a struggle.

But the real answer is you need to stay disciplined. There are games that took me 20 years to really beat (arcade Double Dragon, several NES games) and some I'm still working on after all these years (Don Pachi, any of the Aero Fighters.) It took me almost a decade of ownership before I 1cc'ed Metal Slug, although I don't think I could do any of the other Slug games except maybe 2, which I've done in two credits. Also instead of credit feeding you could try lowering the difficulty, but I wouldn't consider "beating it" until you 1cc on default settings.

I do this approach with the Strikers games, I've 1cc'ed the first few difficulty settings of Strikers 1 and 2 but I'm still a ways away from being able to even clear the first loop of the regular difficulty.

What GohanX said, play in NGH mode, where the legendary 4 coins rule (plus another 4, if you swap to the 2nd player in time). It's a pretty cool default.

Sup Rick. I always start at 4 credits on default difficulty and aim for 1cc runs. Once I can 1cc the game, I up the difficulty a notch and start at 4 credits again while aiming for the 1cc run again. I repeat this until I can 1cc the game on max difficulty. Once I can reliably do that, then I try to maximize my score on the max difficulty 1cc run.

This play-cycle is why I’ve never tired of anything on the neo geo even after all these years of just playing the same games. “Easy to play, but extremely difficult to master” is why I still love arcade games.

Edit: My bad Gohan. I just noticed our responses came out so similar and I didn’t see your write-up before I posted; I guess we were thinking and typing the same thing at the same time.

GohanX said:

Well the first credit is really the only one that counts, but for casual play of arcade games I usually adopt the Neo home system approach: I give myself 4 credits, and that's it. That's enough that I don't die instantly in most games I'm unfamiliar with, but getting to the end is still a struggle.

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Yep, this basically. Its a good middle ground.

More important question: How do you stay disciplined with infinite ROMz?? Play a game for 5 minutes then hit the button on your everdrive. Its a curse i tell you.

Rick Dangerous said:

how do you get the most enjoyment out of a game when you have access to infinite credits and could theoretically beat it no matter what?

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I can beat any game no matter what. I play to win, and with the "credits" system there is no discipline. However, I do strive to do it in less credits or as your friend does to track scores on a limited credit system. It all depends what sort of game session I am getting into.

Massive Urethra Chode said:

More important question: How do you stay disciplined with infinite ROMz?? Play a game for 5 minutes then hit the button on your everdrive. Its a curse i tell you.

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I limit myself to one game at a time. My current title is Final Fantasy Tactics. I have beaten this game many times, but not once in the last few+ years, so I forget many things and it is somewhat fresh and new again.

Rick Dangerous said:

How do you all go about this; and what have you found works/doesn't work well?

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Once you experience the enjoyment/thrill of overcoming/achieving/growing in a game after doing single credit runs, then theres no turning back.

You can't "unfeel" it. There won't be a "temptation". You'll never want to go back to credit feeding.

BlackaneseNiNjA said:

Edit: My bad Gohan. I just noticed our responses came out so similar and I didn’t see your write-up before I posted; I guess we were thinking and typing the same thing at the same time.

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I can assure you, I'm rarely thinking when I'm typing.

andsuchisdeath said:

Once you experience the enjoyment/thrill of overcoming/achieving/growing in a game after doing single credit runs, then theres no turning back.

You can't "unfeel" it. There won't be a "temptation". You'll never want to go back to credit feeding.

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This, only after several weeks of brickwalls will I credit feed to just see the late stuff to maybe handle down the road. Last boss deaths are the worst, I always end the credit there.

Kid Panda said:

This, only after several weeks of brickwalls will I credit feed to just see the late stuff to maybe handle down the road. Last boss deaths are the worst, I always end the credit there.

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Right. Controlled credit feeding for practice is a different animal, but OP isn't even in the zoo yet

As mentioned, one credit really is all that counts. Credit feeding feels pretty crappy once you get used to that approach. It actively prevents you 'learning' the game as designed, so your enjoyment of that game naturally suffers. That's the major motivating factor in limiting my credits.

I try to stay strict with a one credit limit. I find this is especially true with STG's or any hi-score oriented arcade title and memorisation reliant games (i.e Toki, or Ghouls n Ghosts series). Not so much for fighters really.

I remember back when I was first getting into shooters, I played Psikyo's Strikers 1945 on free play and I genuinely thought that the game was dull (I know lots of people still hate Psikyo stuff). A while later, I got it for Saturn (along with Layer Section and In The Hunt) and I forced myself to stick to a credit - my opinion for it vastly improved as I was forced to learn (the fairly simple) scoring system and to memorise enemy positions, level layout and to approach it strategically. Infinitely moreso the case with 8-ing/Cave games... (and lots of older stuff, or games with more complex scoring systems) but yeah, I never looked back. The same goes for most stuff (Metal Slug, etc).

Sometimes the bullet hell stuff can get a bit depressingly hard, Espgaluda II is currently beating my ass. But I resist the coin feeding, otherwise I don't really feel I've earned that ending scene (ah... that little paper plane from MS, I still remember that 1cc).

I have been tempted to keep a coin jar and save up a bit while quitting smokes :P... would be an interesting way to save for sure.

I don't as I can barely finish the fighting games without it and don't even talk to me about metal slug.

Dr. R. Muckley showed me the way out of the credit debt trap... then there was Elta, the TZ-024, Byupo and sexy Kaoru Yamazaki. I'm clean now .

I play one credit at a time and try to get as far as I can.
Once I get into a groove I begin to realize how far I can get with a credit.
With this in mind I begin realizing how far I can get without losing a life.
If I lose a life early on I might reset and start over. I do this to help me get further and further into the game.

If my nephews come over I let them play with infinite credits. As they are playing I pay close attention to what I'll be facing in later stages.

This strategy has helped me complete a few games over the years.

AES Mode baby.

I don't. I credit feed all the time.

If it's a game I'm not getting into, then I'm only going to play it for a bit then move on. So I don't care that I credit fed.

If it's a game I am getting into, then I work to reduce how many credits it takes to beat it until I hit 1. Sure, once you continue you're no longer playing what you'd see in a 1cc, but you still get good practice in, and without fail that first credit lasts longer and longer as you get better.

Strongly depends on the game and scenario.
1CC: most Shmups, my favorite fighting games
AES style: Shmups I find appealing
Credit feed without end, who the fuck cares: R-Type Leo with Raz at the miisalo winter meating while drinking beer

For the rest of the genres there are some games where I don't mind credit feeding as it doesn't really make a difference until you reach a rather high level of skill. (Which would require an invest of time I don't want to put in the game)
E.g.: Ghosts n' Goblins series. Loosing a life is the least of your problems, it's picking up the fucking torch by accident
Another example would be Art of Fighting. It's actually a puzzle game and once you figured out how to beat each opponent with any number of credits, it's a matter of "can I execute the strategy I found perfectly". Again, this is not a time invest I'm going to make, as personally I don't get enough satisfaction from that.

Infinite credits is for casual play and practice. If you decide to get serious about a game, then you can start trying to 1CC, work on your best 1-credit score, or play with AES limited credits. They are separate play styles, so there's no reason one way of playing should prevent you from trying the other.

Neo Alec said:

They are separate play styles, so there's no reason one way of playing should prevent you from trying the other.

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Rank would be one reason.

andsuchisdeath said:

Rank would be one reason.

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I don't know what that means.

Neo Alec said:

I don't know what that means.

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Really?

The better you play, the more aggressive the AI becomes. When certain components in a game are being "pushed" or "maxed out", the game starts to behave differently. The criteria that increases rank can be any one, or often a combination of these factors : High scoring, multiple lives in stock, high power up levels, long survival time, many bombs in stock.

With many games that contain a rank system, dying reduces (or resets) rank. Continuing of course does this too, and if you're continuing during a spot in a game where rank should be at level X, you're reducing rank to a a low level in a part the game where rank would never be so low.

IE, Let's say you're doing a 1 credit run in a 5 stage shooter. You run out of lives 2 minutes into stage 5. You continue. Well, stage 5 is going to be a hell of a lot easier than it would be if you were playing on 1 credit. If your goal is to ultimately 1cc the game, well, your stage 5 experience will be a misleading one by being so far in the game with having rank this low.

So yes, this is one reason why "one way of playing" might not be so great. But of course this is determined by what the player's priorities are. So yes, everything is worth "trying" i suppose, but priorities depending, there are pros and cons attached.

andsuchisdeath said:

Really?

The better you play, the more aggressive the AI becomes. When certain components in a game are being "pushed" or "maxed out", the game starts to behave differently. The criteria that increases rank can be any one, or often a combination of these factors : High scoring, multiple lives in stock, high power up levels, long survival time, many bombs in stock.

With many games that contain a rank system, dying reduces (or resets) rank. Continuing of course does this too, and if you're continuing during a spot in a game where rank should be at level X, you're reducing rank to a a low level in a part the game where rank would never be so low.

IE, Let's say you're doing a 1 credit run in a 5 stage shooter. You run out of lives 2 minutes into stage 5. You continue. Well, stage 5 is going to be a hell of a lot easier than it would be if you were playing on 1 credit. If your goal is to ultimately 1cc the game, well, your stage 5 experience will be a misleading one by being so far in the game with having rank this low.

So yes, this is one reason why "one way of playing" might not be so great. But of course this is determined by what the player's priorities are. So yes, everything is worth "trying" i suppose, but priorities depending, there are pros and cons attached.

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Fucking solid ass post. This why you are top shelf in my book.

As for Little Mac above, how can you review a game properly when a simple gaming term is lost on you? For Shame.

who wants to be disciplined?

-whip crack noise-

not me.