Vacant Ark - Revision history

Birb: /* Bugs */

2026-03-23T09:31:40Z

Bugs

Birb: /* Difficulties */

2026-03-23T09:24:52Z

Difficulties

Birb: /* Secret Extend */

2026-03-23T09:20:01Z

Secret Extend

Birb: /* General Tips */

2026-03-22T22:16:01Z

General Tips

Birb: /* Scoring Strategy */

2026-03-22T22:12:41Z

Scoring Strategy

Birb: /* Scoring */

2026-03-22T22:10:32Z

Scoring

Birb: /* Extend/2X Ratio */

2026-03-22T22:09:31Z

Extend/2X Ratio

Birb: /* Scoring Strategy */

2026-03-22T21:03:14Z

Scoring Strategy

Birb: /* Scoring */

2026-03-22T21:03:01Z

Scoring

Birb: /* Extend/2X Ratio */

2026-03-22T21:00:36Z

Extend/2X Ratio

@@ Line 121: / Line 121: @@
 == Bugs ==
 * End score display: After a run, the displayed score at the top of the screen in the main menu will sometimes display the score before the clear bonus is applied. The actual clear bonus is displayed during the ending. If the player uses the Q button during a session. The score displayed during the ending will show '00'.
 == General Tips ==

@@ Line 94: / Line 94: @@
 |-
 | style="text-align:center;" | '''Deep'''
-| Normal mode, minimal revenge bullets.
+| Normal mode, aimed revenge bullets. Larger enemies shoot a fan of revenge bullets. Some bosses are more aggressive.
 |-
 | style="text-align:center;" | '''Abyss'''
-| Hard mode, Lots of revenge bullets. Most enemies shoot back bullets instead of rewarding Gems. Some enemies/bosses are more aggressive.<br><br>
+| Hard mode, defeating almost all enemies does not spawn fish gems. Instead they shoot aimed and random revenge bullets. This makes the difficulty much more chaotic and Force weapon to be essential.<br><br>
 |}

@@ Line 78: / Line 78: @@
 [[File:Redmermaid.png|128px|thumb|center|The red mermaid during Zone C]]
-Upon defeating the red mermaid during Zone C. The player will be rewarded with a guaranteed Life/2X Ratio. The red mermaid has three phases indicated by the position of her options which imitate the players weapon options mentioned previously.
+Upon defeating the red mermaid during Zone C. The player will be rewarded with a guaranteed Life/2X Ratio. The red mermaid has three shields indicated by the Auto-Shield sound effect before you can defeat her(she dies the same way the player game overs). The pattern she will use can be identified by the position of her option(similar to the position of the players' option). But the pattern order is fixed anyways.
 == Difficulties ==

@@ Line 128: / Line 128: @@
 * Never use '''Riot''' in '''Abyss''' difficulty.
 * Learn how to ''Cannon Force''. It's a combo in which you use cannon(3 to 4 shots) Switch to Force and use it on a cluster of bullets, rinse and repeat. Incredibly helpful during some bosses in Zone B with high health bullets.
 == Trivia ==

@@ Line 114: / Line 114: @@
 === Scoring Strategy ===
 * '''Max out gem counter:''' This is very important as gems become lucrative throughout the whole run given the player never loses a life. Avoid collecting gems manually early on for optimization. Only 2 Double Ratio's are needed to reach +25,600 counter. In Abyss, with the right optimizations and some RNG. You can reach max counter value during the section after the 2nd boss in Zone A right before the 2nd extend drop.
-* '''Max out lives:''' Once you finish maxing out the gem counter, make sure to go for lives for a better clear bonus.
+* '''Max out lives:''' Once you finish maxing out the gem counter, make sure to go for lives for safety and a better clear bonus.
 * '''Speedkilling:''' It's very easy to get overwhelmed by enemy waves. Learning which enemy to go for and which weapon to use is important. Speedkilling bosses is as important too to minimize counter depletion. Especially since a high Gem Counter can reward a large clear bonus.
-* '''Recovery:''' Triggering the auto-shield is not the end of the world as 3,000 counter value is a mere few large enemies. The most dire situation in Vacant Ark is to lose a life when your counter is close to max value. In most situations you might as well reset. But If you are close to getting an extend drop. Then a 2X Ratio will put you right back on track. High HP enemies such as the shell enemy, the large eel-like enemies with multiple parts in Zone A, the tunnel creepers during Zone B or the shrimp men at zone C are great recovery points. Learning how to deal with those enemies is important to scoring.
+* '''Recovery:''' Triggering the auto-shield is not the end of the world as 1,000 to 5,000 counter value is a mere few large enemies. The most dire situation in Vacant Ark is to lose a life when your counter is close to max value. In most situations you might as well reset. But If you are close to getting an extend drop. Then a 2X Ratio will put you right back on track. High HP enemies such as the shell enemy, the large eel-like enemies with multiple parts in Zone A, the tunnel creepers during Zone B or the shrimp men at zone C are great recovery points. Learning how to deal with those enemies is important to scoring.
-* '''Surplus Lives''': The bonus that is rewarded when collecting surplus lives is not worth it at all and should be avoided, unless the counter value is maxed out.
+* '''Avoid surplus lives''': The bonus that is rewarded when collecting surplus lives is not worth it at all and should be avoided, unless the counter value is maxed out.
 == Bugs ==

@@ Line 105: / Line 105: @@
 [[File:ammocounter.png|128px|thumb|center|Ammo and Gem Counter.]]
-* '''Gem Counter:''' The crux of Vacant Ark's score system. The counter increases when defeating enemies and bosses. The amount it increases scales with enemy size/HP and difficulty. e.g. Middle gives +500 for defeating bosses. But Abyss gives +1000. The counter's max value is +25,600. The counter depletes passively and from other actions. Such as grinding the options on bullets, obstacles, or enemies. Using the Force weapon to erase bullets also has the same effect as grazing the options(despite that, it is still worth it to use force in the right situations especially in Abyss where the game gives you a lot of counter value to account for the loss). Collecting gems manually decreases the counter by 40 per item. Triggering Auto-Shield will decrease the counter by a flat amount. Losing a life will decrease the counter by 50% of the current value.
+* '''Gem Counter:''' The crux of Vacant Ark's score system. The counter increases when defeating enemies and bosses. The amount it increases scales with enemy size/HP and difficulty. e.g. Middle gives +500 for defeating bosses. But Abyss gives +1000. Bosses can be dismantled. And these boss parts can increase the counter value too. The counter's max value is +25,600. The counter depletes passively and from other actions. Such as grinding the options on bullets, obstacles, or enemies. Using the Force weapon to erase bullets also has the same effect as grazing the options(despite that, it is still worth it to use force in the right situations especially in Abyss where the game gives you a lot of counter value to account for the loss). Collecting gems manually decreases the counter by 40 per item. Triggering Auto-Shield will decrease the counter by a flat amount. Losing a life will decrease the counter by 50% of the current value.
 * '''Gem items:''' Gems are essential for ammo replenishment and scoring. The amount of value rewarded when collecting gem items is relative to how high the gem counter is. ''Note: There are some oddities with how gems are calculated. Which will be confirmed after much more in-depth analysis of the game's mechanics.''
 * '''Bullet cancels:''' During some boss fights. All bullets on screen turn into gems. Though, it is difficult to time it while focusing on speedkilling the boss to minimize counter depletion.

@@ Line 73: / Line 73: @@
 == Extend/2X Ratio ==
-After killing enough enemies. A tune will play and a Life Gem will appear in the middle of the screen. Every 3 seconds it will cycle between a 2X Ratio and a Life gem. How close the player is to getting this item is indicated by a thin red bar under the live count on the top right which only increases by defeating enemies. If full lives is reached. An additional life item will give the player 10,000 points, indicated by the voice clip that says "BONUS" with the "10,000" text that displays when the life item is collected.<br>
+After killing enough enemies. A tune will play and a Life Gem will appear in the middle of the screen. Every 3 seconds it will cycle between a 2X Ratio and a Life gem then drift towards the player. '''This is how the Life Gem cycle would go: Life > Ratio > Life > Ratio > Disappear'''.  How close the player is to getting this item is indicated by a thin red bar under the live count on the top right which only increases by defeating enemies. If full lives is reached. An additional life item will give the player 10,000 points, indicated by the voice clip that says "BONUS" with the "10,000" text that displays when the life item is collected.<br>
 [[File:BONUS.png|128px|thumb|center|BONUS]]
 === Secret Extend ===