I am near despair: tell me your best Fireworks tips please

[DemonLlama]

My family is getting really annoyed. Every time they turn around I am glued to the monitor focused on my fireworks game.

I play and play and play, thinking the practice will get me to that 240,000 mark, but I just keep ending with between 210,000-214,000 most games. Highest for me ever was 220,000.

What are your best tips?

When I try to wait for the star, often I miss it altogether. Is it better to go for awesome every time or does is the flawless the real key to getting the big scores?

Does the "click" of setting them off on flawless cue to the music in some way?

I'm trying to figure out the little tricks that can get me past this block. . .any advice from you pros is greatly appreciated!

 

[JeanJoe]

What are your best tips?

I have not broken 200k, LOL, but I heard that there was a fireworks game video of the person who scores 280k.

My impression was that people commented that he had the firework selected AND cursor placed in the correct area of the screen, frequently BEFORE the firework had even been shot off.

So, it seems that one tip is to have memorized both the entire sequence of fireworks, as well as knowing the locations.

Granted, you should be crushed by a boulder of salt, seeing as I have not played in weeks (since before the "stars") and have not broken 190k.

 

[threeboysmom]

LOL! Same here, DemonLlama! I think my DH is about to mutiny on me. He just shakes his head and walks away......poor guy - he's lost his wife....

I've heard that you have to click every single firework to get the 240,000 mark so if you've missed on, you're out of luck. So based on that, I would say it's probably better to get the "awesome" rather than miss out entirely because you were trying to get "flawless".

I still continue to blame my consistently low scores on my dumb laptop.

 

[BrerRabbit28]

You have to remember the order of fireworks it is always the same, and even though flawless is better than awesome, 2 awesomes beat one flawless. So here are my tips

-Only get flawless when you have the time to do so
-good is better than a miss when there is cluster s get them all without worring about the score
-if two are shot up at the same time click one first and then get the other at its peak
-if two of the same type are next to eachother gett them both at the same time

 

[FlyThenFall]

Here's my tips (coming from a guy who scores between 240-260K most every game)...

* Yes, you can miss fireworks and you can miss a good lot of them and still make the 240K mark.

* Yes, go for the Awesomes and not the Flawlesses if you're not completely comfortable with waiting. It's better to score 100 less points than missing out on 1000 possible points. In fact when I was scoring just above 240K (before the stars) I usually had very few Flawlesses per game. If you want to get into the 250K+ range, that's when the Awesomes can start to hurt your score.

* If two fireworks of the same type are shot off at the same time, you need to get one as fast as possible (get a Good) and then wait to get an Awesome or Flawless on the other one.

* Understand the direction and speed of the fireworks and estimate where the star will appear. As JeanJoe (can I still call you Bezoar?) said, you need to get your cursor to where the firework will be...before it gets there.

* Always keep your cursor slightly above the fireworks symbol when you explode it. Therefore you can see when the star appears and then you can click.

* At the final barrage just try to get as many of the fireworks as you can. Don't even try for Awesomes or Flawlesses there...just get the points!

* To get pins, don't be afraid to ask a good fireworks player to beat your for it...when you're good the hardest part is finding someone to beat you!

I know I have more...I'll edit this post if I think of more stuff! I hope it all helps you on your journey to a fireworks magic pin!

 

[JeanJoe]

Here's my tips (coming from a guy who scores between 240-260K most every game)...

I was hoping you would post, Fly -- I remember, before WDWTigger, yours was the name that was always up there. Someday, I'm going to get around to putting in some serious fireworks time... It's just that the thought of memorizing fireworks... blech.

 

[FlyThenFall]

Oh gosh...that's the most important thing isn't it..

MEMORIZE THE FIREWORKS LIST!! It helps so much!!

 

[JeanJoe]

Oh gosh...that's the most important thing isn't it..

MEMORIZE THE FIREWORKS LIST!! It helps so much!!

LOL, yep, sometimes the Masters forget where the younglings are starting from...

I guess I'll memorize them. Someday.

 

[skuttle]

I have never reached higher than 220 on our desktop, but I can consistently get in the 230's on our laptop. FINALLY got the pin a week or so ago on the laptop. So, unfortunately, your computer could also have something to do with it. Could be making it a little harder on you.

Good luck! It took me WEEKS!

 

[HollyJoy]

wish I knew! LOL The highest I've gotten so far has been 231,000! I'm getting closer. I already have the pin, thanks to Capecad, but I'd sure like to win one myself

OH, and WHAT FIREWORKS LIST?

 

[FlyThenFall]

Oh you know...the fireworks selection bar. Make sure you know the distances between each type of fireworks so when you see them, you know how many times to press either the left or right arrow buttons!

 

[Adventuredaz]

I agree with needing to memorize the order of firing, it is overlooked but key in good scores. keep in the center, move to where abouts it will apear and select your firework in advance. If you know you have the wrong one hit it with what you've got and try to get back in sequence. a few points is better than none. Focus on hitting fireworks till you get that if you wait for flawless and you are not skilled you may miss altogether. Some points that do have an effect, Laptops can be tough especially without a mouse but also the location of the keys. processor speed, slow computers can lag behind. Don't use a cordless mouse, same thing happens. Note if you score too well you may miss the pin -> solution here is if you know you are aproaching 240,000 watch the score at the bottom, back off after you get the score not before.

 

[JeanJoe]

Oh you know...the fireworks selection bar. Make sure you know the distances between each type of fireworks so when you see them, you know how many times to press either the left or right arrow buttons!

Actually, that's not what I thought was happening. Do all the fireworks still come out in the same order to roughly the same locations each game? Did you memorize the actual order that the fireworks were going to come out and where they would go, so you wouldn't even need to wait to see the fireworks launched?

 

[DemonLlama]

Laptops can be tough especially without a mouse but also the location of the keys. processor speed, slow computers can lag behind. Don't use a cordless mouse, same thing happens.

D'oh! That's what I have. Couldn't play without someone to move the arrow keys without a mouse, so I got a cordless and thought I was all set.

I have noticed some lagging in the game, but thought it was something else.

Sigh.

Is there a mark for each level you try to reach? Looks like if I'm not at 40,000 at the end of level one I am out of the running. And at least 50,000 each level thereafter.

If you see BlueMinnie or Kuzkotopia standing in the Fireworks lobby, say hi. I'm living there these days.

 

[piratesmate]

I didn't set out to memorize the sequences, but after playing and playing and playing...I did learn it. IMHO it's essential to learn the sequence of the bar at the bottom: purple, daisy, pink, red, green, yellow, lt blue, dk blue.

It's also extremely helpful to learn the order in which the fireworks are shot off & which section of the screen. There is a sequence in Tomorrowland (level 3 - I think where they alternate red & purple...sometimes single, sometimes in pairs or threes. I know when to hit the right arrow 3x to change from purple to red and back again. I do it without even thinking now.

Something that also really helped me was figuring out which fireworks last longer/shorter. The red ones seem to have the shortest life - so there are times I'll hit the red one first even though the yellow may have been shot first...and still have time to hit the yellow. The yellow ones seem to last the longest with the green spirals close behind that. The lt blue (level 5, 2nd from right on bar) also have a short life span.

Oh - and I also miss some of them and still can get over 240k. I rarely get over 250k, though, because there are entire sequences where I can't get all "flawless".

And I totally agree that the speed of your computer, how much RAM and connection speed affect how well you'll be able to do. DD's computer is a P3 850 with 256MB RAM on a DSL connection and I can't break 200k on it. There are too many "pauses" in the re-draw. Turn off Outlook/Outlook Express so that you aren't getting mail notifications. That can cause pauses in the re-draw too. Definitely close any other windows & don't have other programs running in the background, etc. (except for anti-virus of course)

 

[piratesmate]

....

Is there a mark for each level you try to reach? Looks like if I'm not at 40,000 at the end of level one I am out of the running. And at least 50,000 each level thereafter.

......

Check this site: http://www.vmkguide.com/?action=fireworks

They have a list of recommended scores. However, I have found that my best levels are the last two. I can make up a lot of ground in levels 4 & 5! I don't worry unless I end level one-stage one under 8,500. Then I'll bail out & start over. Also, I can hit 240k if I start level 5-stage 1 with only 189k.

 

[Mable]

I always had a hard time getting more than 240000 as a score.
Forever I would get 210 through 230.
Something that I found out by accident, that helps me get the flawless more often, was to turn off the music in the preference settings but with the effects on.
Whenever I have the music on for some reason it throws my timing off.
That is just me.
With this "trick" I finally go over 240000!
I haven't been able to get the pin since the times I scored 240, i got first place
I would never think that getting first place in a game would me me sad.

 

[renda460]

I had been scoring around 210,000 to 220,000 with a cordless mouse. Last night I switched it out for a cord mouse and my scores went up to around 225,000-239,000. There were a lot less delays in my mouse movement to what was showing on the screen. Still havent made the 240,000, but am confident that it will come any day now.

 

[piratesmate]

For those of you who can score enough but keep coming in first....I'd be willing to arrange to meet and play with you. Of course, there's no guarantee but I usually can hit the 240 mark with enough to spare. I'm Piratesmate on vmk also - either look me up or send me a PM here.

 

[CapeCAD]

I usually score in the high 260's to low 270's if i pay attention but never understood why everyone was having a problem until I played on another computer.

With my computer if I see the star and click right away I get awesome, if I pause a second I get flawless if I wait a little longer I get flawless and 1000 points.

I have noticed that you can get different scores even when you get flawless depending on the timing of the click, so the longer you wait the better the score but you do have to be fast to not miss it.

I have seen people mentioning to turn off music because it helps with timing, but another advantage to that is it helps with speed. If you turn everything off on your computer but vmk, you will find that the click time is faster and you will not miss as many flawless marks.

You can miss many fireworks and still score over 240 when you consider each round is a possible 20,000 and there are 15 rounds total if you are getting close to 1000 points per firework.