Share your VO experience or history

[MentholMoose]

Everyone, share your experience with VO! What got you into the game, and when did you start? Did you play the original? Do you use Twin Sticks? Were there other players in your region, and what region were/are you in?

[Schooly D]

Come on, you expect us to spill our guts without you going first?

[MentholMoose]

OK, well here's my VOOT experience. I basically never played the original, although I had interest. When VOOT came out on the Japanese DC, I preordered and had the game and Twin Sticks at launch in 1999. I played mostly single player and some split screen with a friend, but I didn't improve much due to the high learning curve. However, I was working for Activision at the time, and I ended up working as one of the game testers for the US release. Playing 40 hours a week for a few months helped my skills, although the other tester usually beat me (he always used a control pad, too!). My favorite VR was Grys-Vok, but I was probably best with Apharmd B at that time.

I demoed the game at E3 2000... basically I played the game in the Activision booth, answered questions from press, and helped with the small tournament (mainly press and game developers competed). I met several Socal players there, who told me about SHGL. After E3, I started going to SHGL every Saturday. Besides playing at SHGL, I obtained a DC Versus Cable and had some small meets at my house... one of the Socal players had lived in Japan for a year and had incredible VOOT skills, so he helped me improve my Grys-Vok a lot, although he was best with Raiden. The Socal players also arranged a few small tournaments on the DC version. In late 2000 I went to Japan to work for a couple weeks and I played 5.66 a lot, mostly in Shinjuku.

In 2001 I was still going to SHGL regularly, and I went to Washington twice for VOOT tournaments and to hang out. However, by early 2002 the Socal VOOT scene was mostly dead and I wasn't playing competitively anymore. I went to Arcade Infinity occasionally to play 5.66 while they had it in 2002 and 2003. In 2003, I barely played, except when Scott and Sam visited Socal for the Evolution tournament, and we set up a full VOOT setup in the practice room.

Since then I've only played occasionally. A few years ago I put together a single player VER.5.66 setup, so I've played that, but not often since single player is pointless. I played some Cable Versus mode once last year, against a few of the Socal players during a small meet.

Soooo... online VER.5.66 for Xbox 360 should be interesting. I was pretty good at VER.5.45 at one point, but having not played much recently will be a disadvantage. However, mostly everyone should be equally rusty, so maybe I have a chance.

[RVR - 42]

Hahah evenpar...you're too funny man. Alright my first experience was with VOOT as well. Let's see...

A friend and I were bigtime into Gundam Wing. Loved the hell out of that stuff. I've always been a giant robot person though...from the early Transformers to the Power Ranger's MegaZords[yea you all know you liked them too]. So I for some reason or other buy this Sega magazine[can not remember the name of it for the lfie of me...had Sonic on the front...and the cover was orange...was talking about SA i'm pretty sure] and in it there was an ad for VOOT. Had a few screens and 5 mechs. Battler, Cypher, Temjin, Raiden and Fei. I had no diea what Virtual On was...but it captured me. That ad introduced me to my favorite series ever.

So mid 2000 I go into my local Babbage's and ask if they have a copy of Virtual On for Dreamcast[wasn't going to bother with pronouncing Oratorio Tangram at the time lol] and luckily they did. It was the only copy and I had no idea of the rarity, scarcity and flatout limited release of this game. This brings me to my lcoation. Northwest Alabama[15 minutes from Tennessee and about 20 or 30 from Mississippi]. Other than my friend that loved Gundam Wing with me...I knew of no other people that had ever even heard of VO. So my friend and I played VOOT soooo much. Took us forever to figure out how to do...anything. I remember one time for sure...we both loved Cypher at the time and we were in training mode and my friend accidently engaged the non-SLC jet mode. We both wet ourselves. Had no idea how to do it though. LOL! So for years it was a secret and mistake...til I finally figured it out on my own and before I go any further I think it seriously took me atleast a year before I was comfortable with the controls of that game. lol

Anywho...another big anime friend of mine came over oen day and I showed him VOOT. He was hooked. So I lent him my DC and VOOT for like a year. He loved it. And his neighbors whom also went to school with us had a DC and VOOT...and one of them was a Cypher user. Too bad I wasn't really good friends with them at the time, because we never got to play each other or anything. Years later though...he has acquired another DC and a copy of VOOT. I just need tog et some link versus cables and the next time we're in town again...the jets will fly.

And between then and now..i've picked up VOOM for Saturn and Marz[unfortunately lol]. VOOT remains my fave of the series though.

*When saying VOOT I mean 5.45...it's the only version i've played...and 5.2 that you unlock in the game, but yea...you know, not 5.66.

[somepunk]

I spose it's my turn!

It began when I was about 9 years old when I went to a buddy's house to play N64, you know, F-zero, goldeneye, and dk racing.

Well his mom just had acquired a new pc (an e-machine....*vomits*) So we we're figuring out what games we could play on it, and my buddy pulls pc Voom out of nowhere and slaps it in. We didn't know how to configure controls or anything, so I stuck with the base setup, and we played the living crap out of that game for months.

A few years later, he left the states, and I'd totally forgotten about the name of the game, so I couldn't find any information. So I went to our arcade in South Hill, I'd gone frequently for different fighters, and I never noticed that there was a voom cabinet there all along! I sat down, dropped a quarter, and played. Then another, and another, till the campaign was finished. I ended up spending like 10 bucks that day learning all the nuances of ever virtuoid on sticks. I was back the very next day!

And thats how it was for years, then I found voot on accident through a botched search for advanced tehniques for Voom. Research began immediately, within about five days I had a copy from online. I braved through the dreamcast control pad from that date all the way to the beginning of 2009, when I was informed by someone that the Japanese sticks worked with an american dreamcast (I was very pissed about being misinformed) So I finally bought a pair. I mostly did it so I could keep the game alive and learn all the new ATs on stick. I played THAT long, without a human opponent. My friends just didn't like the game, they were all 3rd strike and Marvel players.

And with that, I decided to give finding real human players another go. I did a wiki search on the game series, trying to find every little drop of info I might have missed, and there it was, ver.5.66, three more characters. So naturally, I tried doing absolutely everything I could to acquire the files necessary to run it, and in that little quest, I found an extremely skilled and intelligent VO players internet trail, in posts online from 7 years ago. I gathered all the info I could find on him, tried about six emails, and finally spoke with him. It seemed that all these years, there where hardcore players right here in seattle/auburn! Where I frickin live! His name is Scott Robinson, taught me a LOT of sought after info that no one seemed to know anymore. I was able to acquire custplus and try the 5.66 suits (ZOFGGGG!!!) and I also got into the debug as well. This got me way back into the game. So I joined Seattle VO, organized a meet with scott and some other big players, and faced off in Kent, was one of the best days of my life. And on that same day, VOOT 360 was announced

[Schooly D]

My first experience with Virtual On was way back in 1996. Or 1997. I was a kid, and grew very fond of the "weird robot game with the sticks," that was in the game room of our local bowling alley. I was the only one who bothered to learn the controls, and sometimes I would just go to the bowling alley with no intention of bowling at all.

A couple of years passed. I snapped up the Dreamcast as soon as I could, mostly because I thought my Genesis was the best console ever and I just had to have whatever Sega was making next (my parents wouldn't get me the Saturn when it came out). I had no idea that there even was a new Virtual On game out there (VOOT), much less that it would end up on the Dreamcast. But when I found out about it, I snapped that up too.

Like a fat kid and cake, me and that game.

Unfortunately, I didn't know many people with a Dreamcast, and of those who did, none of them owned Virtual On. My cousin had it, and he knew the basics of the controls, but he never played enough to give me even a moderate challenge. So, for the entirety of my VOOT career, it's been me vs. the AI.

Now, I played this game a lot. A LOT. Way too much considering I wasn't playing against anyone. I would go into training mode, set the AI to dummy, and practice every attack in the game with every character. All the turbo and dash and jumping variations... I tried to practice them all. I wanted to know the game completely. Unfortunately, due to the lack of Twin Sticks, I couldn't easily pull off many of the advanced CC maneuvers. But who needs those when you're Cypher, anyway.

During this time, I stumbled across the internet VO community. First at SydVOC, then onto the (largely North American) IRC channel, headed up by Quad and his gang of Seattle ruffians at Auburn VO.

I got the Xbox the Christmas after it came out, largely because I was hoping it would get a port of Force. Force never came, but Halo did. My attention shifted to that, and I eventually became very good at it. One of the big draws was the fact that it could be played over the internet (via a tunneling app), and it provided the video-game competition that I had been longing for so desperately my whole gaming life.

But, now that I have a way to beat your asses in Virtual On over the internet, I might have a new hobby.

[MentholMoose]

Haha, some cool stories so far. Keep 'em coming!

[RVR - 42]

Hahaha evenpar! That last line. LOL! Hilarous! But yea great, great stories. Oh man! It's soo good to find a place like this. It's always been me versus the AI as well, evenpar. I feel your pain. If I ever get a frickin' vs cable...oh my gosh...it is on! It's official i'm hooking up that DC sometime soon. Gotta get my SLC Dive on!

[circuscommando]

i played VOOM a long while back, in the arcade and i had a ton of fun with it, but then i lost the name of it for years.

recently (last year) i found VOOT and i thought it was the same game, i rushed out and bought both a DC and VOOT.

I had fun with it even after realizing that it wasn't the same game (VR dorkas in the previous one was my favorite) and decided the sticks were a necessity, so after buying some recently i've started practicing, not that great at all yet, but my favorite is Raiden (he was my other favorite in the last game).

yeah, not much to it, but that's about it.
the other game that i lost for years, one i played in the arcades, was thunderblade, i recently re-found that too (it was the first arcade game i ever beat)

[Davo87]

Played Voom on arcade like 1996, the first few times always dieing on ai Dorkas like typical noobs. Kept playing until 1998, and later got VO on PC and play endless nights on versing AI. Its a shame, the internet connection was crap back and theres no channel for ppl to join. Manage to play 2p versus with cousin anyway. Then I found Sydvoc, entered only one tournament and not long after the scene dies quickly. Guess I entered too late. I mainly used Temjin and was trying to learn Bal-Bas Bow.

Heard about Arcade VOOT from some JP magazine and I couldnt sleep for a few nights. Kept fantasising the mew game from the magazine snapshots. Until finally when DC VOOT import was available, instantly bought a Dreamcast just for it. Totally embraced the new system and characters and try to learn everything back to front. I instantly fell in love with Specineff and later on got hooked into Bal-series.

Altho not wasnt able to find the old VOOM players from Sydney anymore, so got stuck into play DC VOOT for 2 years. Arcade 5.66 then finally reached Sydney in 2001, and its ashame no one touches it so. In the meanwhile, play fighting games: SoulcaliburIV and learning SFIV. Somehow, I become more interested in learning data and techniques thru all these years of fighting games. There is an underlying comparison btn 3D fighting games and VOOT. That being spacing and movement control are its similarities. Whats different is how they engage in battle, landing in CC hits or projectiles. What VOOT stands out is vector control and given the change from VOOM>VOOT added watari dash, vertical turn, highjump, airdash/lowairdash it makes talking about its mechanics very difficult on paper than executing it ingame.

Ah, I might open a new thread for character discussion. It should not drive away newcomers.

[RVR - 42]

Played Voom on arcade like 1996, the first few times always dieing on ai Dorkas like typical noobs. Kept playing until 1998, and later got VO on PC and play endless nights on versing AI. Its a shame, the internet connection was crap back and theres no channel for ppl to join. Manage to play 2p versus with cousin anyway. Then I found Sydvoc, entered only one tournament and not long after the scene dies quickly. Guess I entered too late. I mainly used Temjin and was trying to learn Bal-Bas Bow.

Heard about Arcade VOOT from some JP magazine and I couldnt sleep for a few nights. Kept fantasising the mew game from the magazine snapshots. Until finally when DC VOOT import was available, instantly bought a Dreamcast just for it. Totally embraced the new system and characters and try to learn everything back to front. I instantly fell in love with Specineff and later on got hooked into Bal-series.

Altho not wasnt able to find the old VOOM players from Sydney anymore, so got stuck into play DC VOOT for 2 years. Arcade 5.66 then finally reached Sydney in 2001, and its ashame no one touches it so. In the meanwhile, play fighting games: SoulcaliburIV and learning SFIV. Somehow, I become more interested in learning data and techniques thru all these years of fighting games. There is an underlying comparison btn 3D fighting games and VOOT. That being spacing and movement control are its similarities. Whats different is how they engage in battle, landing in CC hits or projectiles. What VOOT stands out is vector control and given the change from VOOM>VOOT added watari dash, vertical turn, highjump, airdash/lowairdash it makes talking about its mechanics very difficult on paper than executing it ingame.
Ah, I might open a new thread for character discussion. It should not drive away newcomers.

Tell me about it man. That game is sooooo deep. Like...so ahead of its time it's not even funny. I, for one, don't dissect games though...and try to figure out all the little intricate details, but I definitely see a huge difference between VOOT and any other fighter out there. New thread for character discussion? I'm all for it! Thanks for sharing your VO past with us.

[MentholMoose]

Tell me about it man. That game is sooooo deep. Like...so ahead of its time it's not even funny. I, for one, don't dissect games though...and try to figure out all the little intricate details, but I definitely see a huge difference between VOOT and any other fighter out there. New thread for character discussion? I'm all for it! Thanks for sharing your VO past with us.

I concur. The crazy thing is that each VR is very unique, and can be used with varying styles, and the game still mostly works!

[IMD1]

For me I was first introduced to the series at a close friend's house. It was the pc port of Cyber troopers that we played and despite the many low review scores that it gets we still loved it (although I didn't know review sites existed then). Having vs matches was a blast despite the keyboard not being the perfect method of control. Whenever I lost I thought it was because of a lack of skill rather than blaming the keyboard . I then went on to play it consistently at a movie theatre arcade near my house. I just found out recently that the cabinets are a really rare site to see in Canada let alone North America. I'm glad they still have the machine and I still go there to play the occasional game. Later on I bought a Dreamcast and with it Oratan. Sadly the Dreamcast went up in flames from a fire that wasn't my fault(I swear ). Only powerstone 2 which was inside it got burned but the rest of my games including oratan were in another room and survived. But without the dreamcast I just sold all the games. I never got a chance to try Marz or the cybertrooper remake for ps2.
So let's hear it, what was your first experience with Virtual On.

[MentholMoose]

IMD1, welcome to the forums! Sorry I didn't catch you on IRC, I've been busy with... uh, certain Twin Stick related tasks.

[Davo87]

Having vs matches was a blast despite the keyboard not being the perfect method of control. Whenever I lost I thought it was because of a lack of skill rather than blaming the keyboard

keyboard have a max limit of keys pressed, sometimes missing a command in splitscreen mode with a shared keyboard is quite common.

Later on I bought a Dreamcast and with it Oratan. Sadly the Dreamcast went up in flames from a fire that wasn't my fault(I swear ). Only powerstone 2 which was inside it got burned but the rest of my games including oratan were in another room and survived.

Atleast u lived another day. So u get a chance to play VOOT once again.

[NGEFreek]

Somewhat late to the party, but fun all the same.

I guess I started out playing VOOM in the local arcade at the mall before it closed down and kinda fiddled here and there whenever I saw a cabinet until the local Wal-Mart got a cabinet in somehow, so I had fun destroying the military chumps who came in and thought they were hot **** until I sat down and taught them a lesson.

Eventually I came upon a saturn and of course tracked down a copy of VOOM for it, played it for hours on end, played it at lunchtime with a few friends who would bring it into one of the AV rooms that we could hook up the saturn to, and eventually the DC came out and we transitioned to that, dreaming of owning twinsticks someday.

I think I stumbled upon this site quite a bit back, while SHGL was still open and saw that a group would come out and play on Friday or Saturday nights, being this was a 2 hour trip for me, I didn't make it up more than once or twice, but after playing with Menthol and the others who came up there was great, great fun, seeing how everyone used the VRs differently was quite a sight for me, even though I didn't win bt maybe 2 matches, I took away quite a bit of strategy. My friend I bought also had gobs of fun, but I've lost contact with him over the years, as he and myself have moved and never exchanged info.

Played the 5.66 at AI a few times since it was after SHGL had closed, had a bit of fun, but no one was ever there when I went in and I didn't have the 5.66 disk for DC working properly so I wasn't able to try the color edit mode out.

Played Marz on my brothers PS2 and couldn't bear to play more than a few missions. I was very worried of what happened, hoping it got better towards the end, but I never found out.

Anyway, long story short, VOOT, alongside Rez and Ikaruga is pretty much the only reason I still have 2 DC's and a link cable around, and with the announcement of 360 VOOT I'm trying to track down money to get a 360 just to have fun online, since singleplayer gets very boring and predictable

[Davo87]

Yo

U mite get to see most DC games coming to 360. Ikaruga already downloadable. Marvel vs capcom is coming and other rumored SEGA titles.

[MentholMoose]

Wow, NGEFreek! It's been a long time. I guess the last time was at SHGL. It's definitely awesome to play with different opponents, because style and tactics can vary tremendously. Hopefully this new release will be popular online.

It's great to see some old school players! And of course it's nice to see some new faces, too.

[Schooly D]

Sup NGEFreek. Is it from GameFAQs that I remember you?

[RVR - 42]

Loving that avatar NGSFreek. Viper...Cypher...Myzr, love all the successors and precessors of Cypher. So good to see this place fill up. Very good to be in a community that shares my same history and love of such an epic series.