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Sparrow's Parsec 47 (PC)
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| [January 27, 2005 01:53:56 AM]
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Well, thankfully the only thing I lost in the crash was my Growlanser review... I'm kind of done with that game for now, so no hair off my hide.
Anyway, I've switched to Extreme-8 for my score attack fix - more, er, "entertaining" than Extreme-1. Current hi score stands at 4,392,000... might have been luck. Right now I can hit 3.5M once or twice a session.
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| [August 10, 2004 09:39:22 PM]
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Been awhile since I played this, but thankfully I haven't gone as rusty as I expected. 4.3M on Extreme-1 today, without "zoning" - that score was on my third run.
It's a good game to just pick up and play if you have a few minutes to spare, although I can see how it might be somewhat "draining" for some people.
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| [May 17, 2004 10:13:28 PM]
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Whoa.
- Neo
I had trouble getting into the correct mental state today, but on my last run (Ex-1 as usual), I managed to get it when I was at about 4 million points, with no lives remaining.
(Just a note: Parsec 47 is quite generous with extra lives; you get one every 500,000 points, but there's a maximum of 4 - and you can lose them very easily.)
I managed to ride the state up to 8,790,490 points - that's not only 1.3 times as much as my previous score, but higher than any score I've got on the game (even Practice level)!
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| [May 16, 2004 12:00:14 PM]
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"I understand now... The meaning of the AT Field."
- Asuka Langley, _The End of Evangelion_
NEO: What are you trying to tell me - that I can dodge bullets?
MORPHEUS: No, Neo. I'm trying to tell you that when you're ready, you won't have to.
- _The Matrix_
I seem to have picked up on some sort of secret. By unfocusing my mind and my eyes, I gain greater focus.
Weird.
To put all this in context - I've been trying, for the past week or so, to beat my own high score for Extreme-1 (5,490,000). I couldn't even hit 80% of it at best. I tried most of the mental exercises and suchlike that people tend to talk about - you know, deep breathing, relaxation exercises, etc. No dice.
Then, reading over some people's accounts of gaming experiences "in the zone", I realised that one common experience was to go into a sort of "daydream state" where one is internally disconnected from the external reality of the game - perhaps in prosaic ways such as trying to solve a math problem or making up a shopping list, or daydreaming about whatever. Theory is that this suppresses the "fight or flight" response and dampens adrenaline shock - although I suspect there's more to it than that.
So on my next run, I went through the usual warmup regimen: 2 rounds at Ex-3, then 3 at Ex-5 and Ex-8 each, and finally 2 at Ex-15. The first score run on Ex-1 wasn't so good, but once I got the pattern down, I managed to hit 5,850,000. Took me about an hour, I guess.
Today I did score runs on Ex-1 again without a warmup(!), and scored 6,260,000. Perhaps the warmup cycle works if you're not using this technique, but is counterproductive if you are. Who knows?
I'm not sure that this can be applied to all games (even action games), though. FPS are a possible candidate for the technique. I suspect, also, that it takes a great deal of practice with a particular game to acquire the reflexes and visual discrimination necessary to survive in that game.
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| [April 25, 2004 01:02:30 AM]
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STILL playing this game. I'm going back to try and make higher scores on the lower levels.
I've hit Extreme 14 in lock mode. Doubtful if I'm capable of going any further, but it's worth a shot.
Going from extreme 14 to hard 1 is weird. After playing extreme, hard mode feels like slow-motion - almost like bullet time ^_^
And by the way - EVERYONE should d/l this game. It's free!
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| [March 26, 2004 02:19:45 AM]
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Still playing it. Part of why I like this game is that it adapts very well to your level of skill. In the beginning, you wouldn't even dream of trying Extreme mode, but after that the difficulty curve is practically perfect.
I'm stuck on Extreme 10, but that may be because it's 1 am and I'm a bit sleepy...
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| [March 23, 2004 05:06:22 PM]
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Well, I'm SORT OF done with this game, having unlocked all the "regular" levels of Lock mode. Yes, that includes Extreme Level 9. Booyah.
For those who don't know, Parsec 47 is a "pure" shooting game: no role-playing elements, no ship customization, no excess baggage. No powerups, either! The real genius in the game is the way in which it forces you to make hard choices every step of the way: you could risk it and try to maximise your score, or play it safe - BUT if you play it safe and sacrifice your score, you might not have enough extra lives to survive at the tougher levels.
The game is really very much about "getting into the zone", to borrow a term from old-school action gaming, and staying there. After a couple of runs, I found myself flying blithely through hailstorms of gunfire I could SWEAR I couldn't have survived, absolutely dead calm - until I stopped playing, and noticed my hands were shaking.
I'll still be playing it just to try and beat my high score, though...
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Sparrow's Parsec 47 (PC)
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Current Status: Playing
GameLog started on: Sunday 22 February, 2004
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