General Strategies (including GIVE UP Chain)

Note: While identifying stages by number, this also states their (Row, Column) position and a visual keyword.
Topics covered here:
- Preloading
- Tab Key Usage
- GIVE UP Chain

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Preloading
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Levels are loaded from the server only when they are needed. They are loaded when the game starts up.
To get rid of any time waiting for stages to load, the player should load the webpage and enter each stage.
This may require beating the game again if progress was previously reset. This only needs to be done once.

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Tab Key Usage
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The following stages can be beaten quickly or more easily by using the Tab key:
- Stage 76 ((1,6) Finger Tower) - not faster, just easier
- Stage 81 ((2,5) Paint Drops) - may or may not be faster

Not all browsers and website handle Tab the same way. The goal is to reduce the number of Tab elements.
From my experience, playing on the hoshisaga.jp site using Chrome keeps Tab focus specifically within Flash.

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GIVE UP Chain
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It is possible to beat stages quickly enough that the GIVE UP button never disappears.
When this happens, the player can return to the Stage Select and try to beat another level quickly.
The player only gets three seconds after finding a star to beat another stage, as STAGE CLEAR is in effect.
Completing additional stages while using this strategy results in a "GIVE UP Chain".

Each stage added to a chain, but not at the end, saves anywhere between 1 and 3 seconds.
Useless glitches my occur if the player is fading between stages or loading data when the STAGE CLEAR ends.

STAGE CLEAR time-to-fade: 3 seconds
GIVE UP time-to-appear: 1 second
Stage Select fade-in/fade-out time: 0.5 seconds

A stage can extend the GIVE UP chain if it can be completed in less than one second.
The following are known to extend the chain:
- Stage 72 ((1,2) Stack)
- Stage 74 ((1,4) Sun & Moon)
- Stage 75 ((1,5) Stamp)
- Stage 77 ((2,1) Weight)
- Stage 80 ((2,4) Light Blobs)
- Stage 83 ((3,1) Laser)
- Stage 84 ((3,2) Spin)
- Stage 86 ((3,4) Clamp)
- Stage 91 ((4,3) Hanging Men)
- Stage 93 ((4,5) Keyboard)
- Stage 98 ((5,4) Wall Catch)
- Stage 99 ((5,5) 3-D Points)

A stage can end the GIVE UP chain if it can be completed in less than two seconds.
However, you must click the GIVE UP button and the next stage, so a target time of <1.5 seconds is desired.
The following are known to end the chain:
- Stage 87 ((3,5) Cards)
- Stage 95 ((5,1) "Dame!")

Under ideal conditions, a player can complete a chain end stage on the same frame that STAGE CLEAR ends.
When this happens, the star chime is heard, and the player is returned to Stage Select with the star awarded.
This saves about three seconds. It is believed to be a frame-perfect trick. No consistent setups are known.
It is not known if it can be achieved on every chain stage, but is has been verified in the following stages:
- (none so far -- these are present in other games)

Stage 94 (Row 4, Column 6) in Less Than 5 Cursors

It is possible to clear this stage in less than five cursors. This video shows it done with two (11.67 seconds):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DLlN-iN9c6c

New Life fade-in/fade-out time: 1 second each (fade-in does not apply to the first cursor)
Cursor Life: 5 seconds (150 frames / 30 fps)

Using these values, we can see that getting a 5-cursor win costs at least 28 seconds.
By using gravity and the pendulums, we can position some pieces without using a cursor.
As a result, each cursor saved will shorten the time by about 7 seconds.

In the video above, the following steps were done to complete a 2-cursor win:
First Cursor:
- Drag a bottom piece up to the opposite-side top, pulling tightly while touching just the corner to the top.
- Release when 100 shows on the timer. Setup a side piece with the rest of the time.
Second Cursor:
- Take the other bottom piece and do the same maneuver as the first, releasing at 100. 
- Grab the center piece, holding as close to the top as possible. Release when the timer shows 30. 
- Grab the last piece and quickly move it into place.

This approach is not viable for a full-game run at this time. A 4-cursor or 3-cursor win is viable.
It would be ideal to use the first cursor to set the first pendulum, and get another piece into position.
The second cursor can attempt the other pendulum and place the fourth piece into position.
If the pendulums are timed correctly, the last piece is set by the third cursor.
Otherwise, catch and hold one of the pendulums with cursor 3, and use cursor 4 for the last piece.

Submission Rules

A recorded run must start with a Reset Data on the opening screen. Time will be taken from the Start Game click to the Credits click.

Having a timer on screen is required. If a run displays a seemingly incorrect time due to human error during the run, this can be corrected later. In this case, time from Start Game black screen to Credits black screen will be used.

Name	Author
General Strategies (including GIVE UP Chain)	MOUTHWEST 4 years ago
Stage 94 (Row 4, Column 6) in Less Than 5 Cursors	MOUTHWEST 4 years ago
Submission Rules	MOUTHWEST 6 years ago