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

=======
Preloading
=======
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.

==========
Tab Key Usage
==========
The following stages can be beaten quickly or more easily by using the Tab key:
- Stage 39 ((1,4) Runners)
- Stage 59 ((4,6) Gun) - hold Left Click and Tab at the same time
- Stage 67 ((6,2) Nosehair) - only after making all hair appear

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.

==========
GIVE UP Chain
==========
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 40 ((1,5) Dress)
- Stage 41 ((1,6) Outlines)
- Stage 44 ((2,3) Pentagon Roll)
- Stage 48 ((3,1) Mirror)
- Stage 50 ((3,3) Clouds)
- Stage 59 ((4,6) Gun)
- Stage 62 ((5,3) Surface Regions)
- Stage 66 ((6,1) Elastic Drag)

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 36 ((1,1) Fireworks)

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:
- Stage 36 ((1,1) Fireworks)

Individual Level Guide

Stages covered in this guide:
- STAGE 43 ((2,2) Bags)
- STAGE 47 ((2,6) Glass Music)
- STAGE 49 ((3,2) Bomb)
- STAGE 51 ((3,4) Screws)
- STAGE 54 ((4,1) Falling Tiles)
- STAGE 56 ((4,3) Drag Planes)
- STAGE 59 ((4,6) Gun)
- STAGE 68 ((6,3) Tile Puzzle)
- STAGE 70 ((6,5) Obstacle Course)

=====================
STAGE 43 ((2,2) Bags)
Flip the Star bag (furthest right) before flipping the Bomb bag (second from right).

=====================
STAGE 47 ((2,6) Glass Music)
The same glass can be played twice by swiping again without releasing the Left Click button.

=====================
STAGE 49 ((3,2) Bomb)
The bomb can be clicked as soon at is it visible on the screen.
Compared to the text on the Stage Select, the bomb first appears next to ト above the center of です .

=====================
STAGE 51 ((3,4) Screws)
When unscrewing a screw, you may move your cursor toward another screw by holding down Left Click.
Make sure not to release and re-click the mouse until the first screw is removed.

=====================
STAGE 54 ((4,1) Falling Tiles)
It is possible to calculate the odds of completing this stage within N tile drops. Here are some odds:
5 tiles: 0.03%
14 tiles (or less): 12.98% (about 1/8 attempts)
19 tiles (or less): 32.67% (about 1/3 attempts)
23 tiles (or less): 49.93% (about 1/2 attempts)
More values can be seen by running the following JavaScript code in the browser Console:

m=(y,z)=>y*z||0; // speedrun.com takes the asterisk to be italics
a={0:1};for(x=0;x++<30;){n={0:0};for(b=0;b<5;b++)n[b]+=m(4,n[b+1]=a[b]);
n[5]+=m(5,a[5]);a=n;if(x>4)console.log(x,m(100,a[5]/Math.pow(5,x)).toFixed(2)+"%")}

There is a 0.366 second delay between tiles, and the first tile arrives after 3 seconds.
This means we can calculate the odds of completing this stage within a certain time limit:
10 seconds = 3 + 7 = 3 + (19.09 tiles) * 0.366 --> 33% of attempts take 10s or less on average
This is a helpful method to determine the feasibility of aiming for a given time during each run.

=====================
STAGE 56 ((4,3) Drag Planes)
A plane remains controlled if a lower plane is being dragged and is released on the edge of a higher plane.
The left plane is lowest, the top plane is in the middle, and the bottom plane is highest.
It is possible to move all three planes at the same time by manipulating this mechanic twice.

=====================
STAGE 59 ((4,6) Gun)
Start holding Tab while fading out of the Stage Select. Click once and hold near the top of the square.
This may result in a Stage Clear fast enough to extend a Chain (see General Strategies guide).

=====================
STAGE 68 ((6,3) Tile Puzzle)
This can be solved in a minimum of 15 clicks:
１０１０１１０
００１００００
００００３２０
０００２０００
０２１００００

=====================
STAGE 70 ((6,5) Obstacle Course)
Left Click the pentagon and then Right Click it. Right Click 5 more times where the point pieces appear.

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.

Nazwa	Autor
General Strategies (including GIVE UP Chain)	MOUTHWEST 4 years ago
Individual Level Guide	MOUTHWEST 4 years ago
Submission Rules	MOUTHWEST 4 years ago