I've played this board a bit and my best score is 6m13cm2mm, which is definitely improveable since I hit about eight small items towards the end when going for the Oxen and then the Swan Boats. I'm definitely not one of those "I can't do it so it must be bullshit" people, but the top scores definitely made me go "hmmmmmmmm....."

1: 7m79cm5mm - Dr. Thinker
2: 6m95cm7mm - yoda
3: 6m81cm8mm - Bruno
4: 6m80cm8mm - khfan1
5: 6m26cm2mm - Sylph
6: 6m18cm1mm - slo_bro
7: 6m9cm6mm - Sully (my new score was just submitted and won't change the ranks)
8: 6m4cm4mm - Myst Erik Ery

There's a pretty substantial jump from Sylph's 5th place score (which is not too far ahead of slo_bro and myself) to the 2nd through 4th scores, which have got to be pushing the limits of perfection. The possibility of adding almost a full meter more blows my mind. I don't mean to claim shenanigans without having some serious discussion. I'm definitely a very casual player, and there is a ton about both WLK and KD that I don't know, so I'd like to hear what everyone else thinks.

As for my strat, I prefer to start at the peacocks. I grab all four of them (4), then the standing bear (5), then roll over to the other standing bear (6) near the swamp area (he has smaller bears around him), then I grab the two peacocks (8) at the wooden table. Then it's over to the camels (10), then back to the lion (11) and his bear vehicle (12), then over to the pumpkin carriage for the two horses (14), the lion (15), and the two bear vehicles (17). Then the four zebras (21) and the two rhinos (23), one of which is stationary while the other is circling with four kangaroos. I also grab the bear rolling a red ball (25), then the other bear (26) back by the starting peacocks. Then the two horses (28) leading the sheep and then the two pegasus (30), one which is flying, the other which is standing still. As far as I can see. the items left that are definitely worth getting at this point are the two hippos, the two oxen, and the two swan boats. I have not made it to this point without some random crap pickups.

I can't quite tell if the kangaroos, lions, or gorillas are worth grabbing. Also, the rocks atop the hill near the giraffes are very very very very difficult to get without grabbing some random cavemen.

Also, does anyone know if it's possible to get the giraffes? Perhaps I'd do better if I knew the sizes needed to get different items, which must be listed somewhere.

the booth near the horses, native americans and lion tiger and gorilla was the last item i picked up to get 6m 95cm. i too start at the peacocks, get the zebras, camels, lion on bear car without the car and get horses and another lion. by this time you should be big enough to get the two rhinos so grab them and then i think i get the camping tent then the fallen rocks. from there i get any large animals to be able to get the hippos. after getting the hippos i move to the oxen. i then circle around to get the truck and dinosaur fossil. eventually i got the booth which was my last item. ask dr. thinker and i think his exact route is in another thread. hope this gives some justification to my score.

edit:im pretty sure that dr. thinker picked up the giraffes

note: the bear vehicles don't help your katamari out all that much in comparison to animals

peacocks: 9cm
bear vehicles: about 5cm

watching your size increase for each item significantly boosts your scores

Sully, this may help you out a bit: http://s9.invisionfree.com/Katamari_Damacy...p?showtopic=647

:)

Thanks.

I was on the same wavelength with the "pick up the largest item possible each time" idea, but I never got around to taking it as seriously as Dr. Thinker. Good Work.

Here's what ya do, Sully:

Get over to one of the sides and wait for the guys to move away (there's less chance of them coming at you if they only come from one side), then climb up as fast as possible, grab the boulders, then roll off the back of the hill. :china

I was able to get the lion when I couldn't get the bear car, so I assumed that the bear car was larger, therefore adding more size. I did notice that the bear car added less size than a lion, but I guess I assumed that this was due to the fact that my katamari had grown since getting the lion, resulting in less size added per item.

I'm actually at 7m exactly now, I haven't updated any of my scores for a long time.

I had played both katamari games for a long, long time before I figured out that sometimes, an item that requires you to be bigger to pick it up actually adds less to your size.

The lions and the shark seem like they add ridiculously much to your katamari size. At the same time, objects such as the well require you to be big to get them but add little to your size. Dr. Thinker says the bamboo is the same, adds little to your size.

I would guess that Dr. Thinker spent many hours in his research, then many hours practicing before he came close to his present score. And I am one of the fortunate few that have already seen Dr. Thinker's 7m79cm video (WOW!) so I know he's telling the truth.

As completely frustrated as this level makes me, it is quickly becoming my favorite. I wish that there was a level like this for all the areas (underwater, racetrack, etc).

Is it possible to figure out how much size something adds to you, like via some formula (since size required to pick up is not directly proportional to size gained)? Or is it just a matter of trial and error with every item to find the best pickup (which isn't necessarily the item that requires the largest katamari to pick up)? The game must use some sort of a formula to calculate katamari growth. If you could figure out the size gained by each item at a particular katamari size, along with the list of all items available on the level (which someone said already exists somewhere), then you could easily figure out the optimal route and also determine the maximum final size (I'm assuming that Dr. Thinker had to use trial and error to figure out what would cause the most growth each time he was ready to move to the next pick up).

A perfect run seems like it would be next to impossible due to all the small moving stuff throughout the stage. I've played for a few hours (5, perhaps?) in the past few days (which is way more time then I've ever spent with WLK or KD since I play so casually) and my best size is still around 6m20cm with at least 10 crap pickups. Following Dr. Thinker's first 30 items, I can often get to the hippos flawlessly, but the hippo out in the middle of the water area seems impossible to get cleanly (without small crap stuff getting in your way). I also sometimes have problems getting the big bear on the ball on the person cleanly. And those damn cavemen near the 5 rocks are so unpredictable. The bottom line with this level is that impatience is your worst enemy.

I agree. It would be nice to have a level of this type in one of the larger areas like the racetrack or city.

50 item run

I had to compress it quite a bit to get the file size small enough to be hosted so the millimeter number along with the item names came out pretty blurry, but it's still watchable. It's just under 24 megs, and lasts 14 minutes. Enjoy!

Nice, if I follow your item list, I bet I could get a better score! (than my previous score, not yours) :lol

Dr. Thinker- GREAT RUN!

I just got over 7m myself, finally.

My run is a lot like yours (well, since I've used all your legwork to get my score- thanks!). Very minor difference- after the first black bear, I go between the peacock and the guy in the chair rather than by the sea otters. My farthest flawless run is to the first hippo. And my 7m run ended with 2 items left going for giraffes- I just kamikazed and got one and a zebra.

I get better and better each run, as it takes a lot of practice to perfect each "next" item, which you can only really get once you are actually ready to collect that item.


And how did you record the run, btw?

Thanks. So much of this game mode comes down to the tiny little factors, I think you just need to play it enough times so that you get a run where everything goes your way.
To record it I simply plug my PS2 outputs directly into my VCR inputs and record my play sessions onto tape. Then I use Dazzle, a program I picked up at Best Buy for $50. It comes with a little adapter that you plug your VCR outputs into, then sends that signal into your computer via a USB port. The movie-making software is called Pinnacle Studios 9, it came with the whole Dazzle package. The options for file size and type are somewhat limited, but it works for what I need it to do.

Eventually, the stars will have to be aligned in such a way that I play through with no mistakes. I just got to the point where I was able to get the first info booth and the pumpkin carriage, and my mistakes start to happen around the second hippo. Once you get around 6m, it gets extremely difficult to manuever without making a mistake.

Do you think a perfect run can break 9m? I really have no idea what the good pickups are after the ones in your run, and it looks like you had around 10 mistake pickups.

Do I think 9m can be reached? No. I only had 4 unwanted grabs (flag bouy, crocodile, zebra, horse), with a very slight possibility of 3 others (pumpkin carriage, and 2 bamboo) being better used elsewhere IF the growth factor for the tropical jungle gate is something huge. Towards the end of my run I'm big enough to grab it, but there is *no* clean way to get to it. I don't feel the growth could possibly be big enough to justify wasting a couple pick-ups to get there, but I really don't know. The only other pick-up after that that could possibly give the most growth would be the bus stop shelter. Again, you would have to burn a pick-up or two just to get to it.
If you're really dead set on getting the perfect run, the items to grab after my run ended would be the tropical jungle gate, the bus stop shelter, then on to some medium trees.

I just watched your run again, since I didn't ralize that you only had 4 mis-grabs. And three of them weren't exactly terrible (like an ibis or grass). Sick.

I noticed that the pumpkin carriage didn't add much size. Perhaps this should be skipped? Also, I saw that you got some palm trees at the end. Are these worth getting? And what was your last pickup?

I think I'll hook up my vcr and just record as I play, perhaps one day I'll have the ability to transfer to the computer. It couldn't hurt.

Oh, and what is the bus stop shelter? The thing up front by monkey mountain with the three green hoods above it?

I actually didn't want the pumpkin carriage, but got pushed into it when trying to squeeze through between it and the (?). I suppose a better route for that section might be to go around and through the water after picking up both small totem poles. Just watch out for penguins, swimmers, and fish.

The palm trees are worth it; the bamboo, not so much. The only reason I grabbed the bamboo is because it was the best thing I could grab at that stage of the run. I didn't want to risk rolling up some piddling object on my way to something greater (tropical jungle gate). So I ended up grabbing 2 bamboos, one of them being my last object.

One other thing that could be skipped is one of the falling rocks. I don't think it's necessary to grab 5 in order to be big enough for the next object(s), but I feel it's more of a hassle trying to grab only 4 out of the pile than it's worth.

Another object that may be a better substitute for something in my run is the jungle gym up on top of monkey mountain. It gives a decent growth, but I never include it because of the difficulty in getting there cleanly.

Yes, the bus stop shelter is that thing you described.

I made some comments about my run in the other 50-item thread, I'll do a quick cut-n'-paste here in case you missed them.

0:15 - Bounce the centaur, but don't pick him up. He then runs away, leaving you with one less thing to worry about when going for the ox.
1:40 - I bounce this ball out of the way when I'm at this stage so it's not left in the middle of the path when I finally pick up the bear.
1:55 - A quick "close-by" right here brings all those cavemen out of hiding from the falling rocks. It gives them time to disperse while I'm away getting the other two bears before I have to come back for the rocks.
2:15 - This part involves a bit of luck. It all depends on how the bear/ball combination decides to land after the bounce. The two items are "bound" to each other, but it only uses the physics for the ball. Meaning, it may land with the bear completely underground or within the hill. I have had many restarts because the bear wasn't accessible after the bounce.
4:20 - After picking up the first hippo, I need to throw off the clown that jumps on top of me; that's the reason for taking the detour before going for the second hippo. I'm not sure it's clear in the video what's happening.
4:55 - My first unwanted pick-up, the flag bouy. I probably could have avoided it, but that's a particularly tricky part to get through without grabbing a swimmer, so I wasn't too concerned with having grabbed it. Plus, I wanted to be sure to get the hippo before it ran away.
5:35 - That dang ox ran into me! I wanted to herd it over to the area I got the first ox, but this happened instead. Considering where it landed, and that you need to be quick to pick it up before it runs away, I got extremely lucky that the only unwanted pick-up I snagged was the crocodile.
8:10 - This is where I would usually grab the giraffes, but the ball I bounced over here earlier happened to land directly on one of the "lines" the animals run, messing up my ability to herd them and make for an easy pick up. That's the reason for the dawdling in this area before I decide to go to plan B.
9:30 - I didn't want the zebra (bad pick-up #3), and probably could have avoided it, but they're just so fast.
10:25 - Another instance where I insist "IT ran into ME!" The only way I can get through this squeeze at this size is to pull the katamari backwards and watch the shadow. Unfortunately, going backwards prevented me from seeing that the horse was running straight for me. $#$@!%
10:50 - I didn't really want the pumpkin carriage either, but as far as being an unwanted, it could have been worse.
11:05 - I am amazed every time I watch this spot that I was able to cross the gap without grabbing something, be it an otter, fence, or whatever. A very lucky part.
11:50 - At this point I am large enough to grab the tropical jungle gate, I just don't know how to get there without grabbing things I don't want. I'm too big to fit under the flags anymore, so I don't know how to do it. I'm very curious to see what the size growth would be for that. Instead, I make my way down to the swamp and my last few items. Even though the bamboo doesn't add that much, I'm pretty much out of options for what's left for me that will be any kind of size increaser, so I'll grab some of that too. I just have to wait a bit for the coast to clear before I make my mad dash across the swamp.
12:35 - One item left, so I pause and do a quick run through of the item list before unpausing and grabbing the last item.