Chatanmaku 2 Scoring

~~Chatanmaku 2: Advanced Knowledge~~

	So you want to score in Chatanmaku 2? You should probably work on being able to beat the game before you worry about that, but ok

	While playing, you may have noticed several values on the right side. You probably only paid attention to lives, bombs, and maybe power. However, although you'll still want to not die, you'll also need to pay attention to the values below that: Graze, Omni-Trust Points (referred to as OTPs), Value, and the Relation Meter. I'll explain what these are, but not in that exact order because it'd be harder to explain.

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	Graze is probably something you're familiar with if you've ever seen any sort of bullet hell. It's what happens when you get close to a bullet without getting hit by it. In Chatanmaku 2, the grazing hitbox is fairly large (except for stage 4's lasers); your graze counter will raise by 1 if you are within 96 pixels of a bullet. For reference, the player character is about 32 pixels. If you want to get as much graze as possible, you'll need to get closer to enemy bullets than you may be used to. Make sure not to get hit, though.

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	The Relation Meter is one mechanic unique to Chatanmaku 2, and it's pretty important to know about even if you don't plan on scoring. Whenever you defeat normal enemies in stages, you may see them drop items. These include red power items (hopefully you know what these do), blue point items (to be covered later), and smaller pink heart items. This final category is what allows the Relation Meter to be shifted. When you collect a heart, the meter goes towards a side depending on whether you are focused or not - Red (related) without being focused, Blue (unrelated) while being focused.
	The non-scoring significance of this is that it determines what order you fight the bosses in on every stage except 3 and 6 (and extra). If you go through the game multiple times, you may have noticed that some spellcards differ between runs: this is why. If you find out which side's spellcards are easier for you to handle, you can adjust your focusing habits to make the meter stay on that side. Heart items never drop during boss fights (except right before the final card), so you don't have to handicap yourself by trying to do everything unfocused (or focused).
	When it comes to scoring, choosing a relation side becomes more important. It doesn't matter which one you choose, but you will want to keep it as close to being completely one color as possible at all times. OTPs will be covered more in a second, but know that having more of them is good. Whenever you Graze a bullet (everything is connected~), your OTPs increase by an amount depending on your relation's absoluteness. When your meter is completely filled by one color, it's a 1:1 relationship between graze and OTPs; however, as the bar becomes more balanced, the amount of OTP per graze decreases. (imagine the meters being almost even as 1 and one side taking over as 50: for each graze, you get relation/50 OTPs.) The catch here is that whenever you get hit (even if you deathbomb), your relation meter returns halfway between its current position and the balanced middle position (if it's 50, it goes to 25). Yet another reason not to get hit.

	In summary, commit to one side of the relation meter and don't die.

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	OTPs, as explained earlier, are a value that increases as you graze bullets by an amount determined by your relation. It is directly connected to gaining bomb pieces (those little green stars that fall from the sky every so often); every bomb piece is 1/5 of a bomb, so 500 OTPs = 1 bomb basically. You also lose 100 whenever you die. remember not to die.
	This section would be longer if I didn't explain how you gain them in the last section, but what's really important is how they affect the Value. For now, just know that scoring well will give you loads of bombs. Use those bombs to not die.

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	Value represents how many points you get from Blue Point items. To be exact, it represents how many points they give you at the top of the screen; as they fall down, their worth decreases too. To get around this, you can use the Point of Collection; this is the (invisible) line above which items are at full value. If you go above this line while focused or at full power, all items on the screen will move towards you. It can be a dangerous move if not timed properly, but if your value is high enough it'll be worth it.
	How do you raise value? By doing everything else mentioned in this guide! OTPs have the largest impact, but grazing, staying at full power, and maxing out your relation all give a boost to your point potential. Point items are everywhere in the game, so make sure to get the most out of each one!
	Also don't die.

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	There are several other sources of points. You get score just from shooting enemies, although it's not really enough to make a huge impact. You may have noticed a Spellcard Capture bonus: if you clear a boss's spellcard without bombing, getting hit, or running out of time, you get a certain amount of points depending on how quickly you cleared it. (There are survival cards in the middle of stage 3 and at the end of stage 5; these can only be captured by running out their timer and not getting hit/bombing.) There's also a bonus for clearing stages, and after the last stage for the lives and bombs you have left. Keeping lives on hand, capturing spellcards, having as much time to shoot as possible. You know what you should do to make all of those possible?

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In summary, how to score:
	Stay on one relation side.
	Graze.
	Use the point of collection.
	Don't die.