Guess who just broke the 270,000 mark?

[judimouse]

I had been stuck at 220-230 range and I was using a wireless mouse and NO mouse pad. I went and bought a wired optical mouse (20 bucks or less I think) AND a mouse pad, and my scores have gone up.

Laura,

Thanks for the info. Ok, my dumb question of the morning (and yes I have had coffee today), is there anything special I should look for in an optical mouse. Or is a mouse a mouse.

 

[Coasterguy]

Congratulations!! and yes, competiontion is a great motivator.

My problem is getting 5 good rounds in. I can usually manage 3 or 4 and that will get me to 250+ but I really need to be in the zone for 5 rounds to hit 260+.

There are some Fireworks game tips in the Players Guide. Unfortunately one of the things that makes a lot of difference is the machine you play on. A fast machine with a good graphics cards will make a LOT of difference. A WIRED optical mouse helps too.

 

[Coasterguy]

Laura,

Thanks for the info. Ok, my dumb question of the morning (and yes I have had coffee today), is there anything special I should look for in an optical mouse. Or is a mouse a mouse.

The main difference with optical mice is the resolution. High end gaming mice have resolutions of 800-1600. I think standard optical mice are around 400. The higher the resolution the higher the sensitivity and accuracy. You should be fine with a non-gaming wired optical mouse. Make sure it's a wired mouse. I went from a wireless optical to wired optical and improved my scores just a bit. Get one that's comfortable to use and depending on your desktop surface a mouse pad might help too. I've conisdered getting a gaming mouse but haven't done it yet.

 

[qruthie]

You know what drives me crazy... I play with some people who are on track to get 270 plus.... and then they stop at 240,001 and sit there and watch at least 1 if not 2 whole sets go by to get there 1000 plus points.

Thankfully I no longer mind coming in first since it keeps spewing out fireworks magic at me... I average 1 a day these days....

That would be me and my pack of mules trying to earn fireworks magic for a game one of my main characters runs. (hangs head in shame) The good news is, I'm starting to go for a higher score once in a while because I do want my main characters to have green car magic!

qruthie (the 'q' is silent)

 

[Bellboy]

I really could use some advice. I finally have my score just about 200k on average. I use a touch screen. I reved up the baud rate (of the mouse on the touch screen) and I do way better than with a wired optical mouse. But still way worse than all of you.

Do you always hit every firework? 9 out of 10?

Tips would be appreciated, from you experts. I am very jelous

 

[Laurabearz]

I really could use some advice. I finally have my score just about 200k on average. I use a touch screen. I reved up the baud rate (of the mouse on the touch screen) and I do way better than with a wired optical mouse. But still way worse than all of you.

Do you always hit every firework? 9 out of 10?

Tips would be appreciated, from you experts. I am very jelous

I can get thru the first 2 levels hitting every firework (98% are flawless) just about every game. It is important to hit every single one, even if you cant change the color in time. And Some fireworks you have to hit at good in order to make it to the other two or three they toss at you.

Also 'awesome' isnt that bad... better to hit on too early than to miss it altogether. Missing bad...

 

[silvrstrfx]

w00t w00t Bears! Get that green car!

Lol, you're totally leaving us behind in the dust! I hope it's pixie dust! My computer can't seem to stay connected through any game anymore much less allow me to practice getting a high score!

 

[DemonLlama]

Laura is right, better "ok" than nothing at all.

However, when you are trying to get your scores way up there, that won't do it either!

A lot of it is timing. It's like learning to play the piano: learn to change the fireworks without thinking about it (fingering) and learn the rhythm of the "songs" with the fireworks to set them off at just the right time. And this takes a WHOLE LOT of PRACTICE.

I use a wireless mouse and think I will have to make the switch to the wired (gaming) mouse to get my scores up to the green car quest.

 

[Nanoer]

wow that's awesome! you beat me by 230,000 LOL

 

[MissGalinda]

A lot of it is timing. It's like learning to play the piano: learn to change the fireworks without thinking about it (fingering) and learn the rhythm of the "songs" with the fireworks to set them off at just the right time. .

What's interesting is the songs in the background mess me up everytime. I've experimented with both ways. My scores when I have the sound off are a lot better than when the sound is on. Which is odd...

I haven't managed to get to the 270k mark yet. I've git the 260k, but right now I'm trying to get a quest generator thing, so yeah I stop at 240k, but most of the time it doesn't seem to matter whether I stop at 240k or not...

EDIT: Ack! I just hit 267,000. sooooooo close...

 

[Mad4WDW]

Many congrats Laura!

I just beat my record, getting a smidge over 260,000. My average now is between 240 and 250,000. A few weeks ago, my best was around 244,000 and my average a whole lot worse, so the best thing is practice, practice, practice. Oh and more practice.

And I have to admit, I am often guilty of the credit stop at 240, especially if I know I am not going to be anywhere near a really good score or stand no chance of getting first.

The other good thing about all the practice is indeed the credits. Thanks to fireworks, I have around 35,000 credits after buying the quest engine, so will have a nice lot of prizes to choose from when I start my quest.

 

[Coasterguy]

What's interesting is the songs in the background mess me up everytime. I've experimented with both ways. My scores when I have the sound off are a lot better than when the sound is on. Which is odd...

I haven't managed to get to the 270k mark yet. I've git the 260k, but right now I'm trying to get a quest generator thing, so yeah I stop at 240k, but most of the time it doesn't seem to matter whether I stop at 240k or not...

I actually play better with the Music off too. The difference I see on slower machines is that I have less reaction time when the white star flashes. Slower machine shorter white star, faster machine longer white star or so it seems.

 

[Captain Brain]

Woot! My highest score to date is 235K.

I can never see 270,000!

 

[qruthie]

What's interesting is the songs in the background mess me up everytime. I've experimented with both ways. My scores when I have the sound off are a lot better than when the sound is on. Which is odd...

I agree 100%. My scores improved a lot when I shut off my sound. The reason was to improve the performance of a slow computer and it did work. My scores got higher but I still stunk at fireworks.

I tried using the sound on my son's new computer which is configured for gaming. My scores improved but I found the audio feedback didn't match up with the video feedback. If I exploded two fireworks at almost the same time, I only heard one explosion but saw two bursts on the screen. For some reason, this really threw me off so I turned off the sound again. Soon after, I won my first fireworks magic pin.

Two things that really made a difference for me but took a while to get used to:
1. Set mouse tracking to the fastest setting.
2. Patience. I was used to clicking on the fireworks as soon as I could to make sure I hit them. That's not the way to play for high scores, I learned to sit there and wait for the fireworks to flash their white star. I still have some problems with premature clicking but nothing like before. With practice (hours and hours of obsessively playing ), you will automatically be able to predict where the white star will be on the screen so you will have your mouse in position before the fireworks get there.

Fireworks to me is a lot like the Dance Dance Revolution game. You have to play it a lot to get used to the patterns and sometimes it takes extra practice to learn how to handle the tricky combinations.

qruthie (the 'q' is silent and so is vmk)

 

[GirlWithSpunk]

CONGRATULATIONS!!

 

[1moredisneyfan]

Congratulations! You are always a great competitor

vmk - moody