So we've all had WLK for a few weeks now. Has anyone figured out exactly the purpose of this level? How big are you supposed to get and how/which items get you that big?

This one is making me mad. :crybaby :woot

I rank that level on a par with the cowbear level--it's not a whole heck of a lot of fun. Every time I've made a near-perfect run through it, without picking up anything tiny, some silly little animal walks into my katamari, or I run over a patch of grass I can't even see because it blends in with the background, and everything's ruined.

As far as strategies go, I can't help you--I've been avoiding that level, pretty much! :(

dont go for big... go for things that will expand your size (i know that sounds absolutely dumb but pick up a cow then pick up a street lamp and see the difference)... those long skinny items that make your katamari bobble around are usually the ones that increase your size the most

Has anyone made a list anywhere of some of the bigger items and their sizes?

im typing up a full list for it as we speak... so expect sometime by tomorrow to have one =p

Got an unbelievable 7m28cm0mm on this one (so far, there IS room for improvement). Here's what I did: Made a list of all items in the stage and what size you needed to be to roll each of them up. Then went through and collected each item while I was at the size closest to the size needed to collect it. Noted the increase in size of my katamari, and gave each item a ranking. Doing this, I was able to determine what the best possible item to pick up would be at any time based on my current size. There are definite items you want to get, and definite ones you want to avoid. This all took a couple days, but was mission accomplished, as I believe I have the best possible order to pick up items.
I've been watching a friends place while he's out of town and am able to put a lot of time in this challenge. But I'm completely cut off from internet for another week (Just stopped in to my place to pick up some things, then it's back to his place 'til next Sunday), so I won't be able to see or respond to any replies to this for another 6 days. Full disclosure will be made upon my return, and hopefully a higher score. Suffice it for now, this score is legit, and I expect to be able to up it to at least 7.5 - 8.0 m.

Sweet!! this is awesome. I think 8m is possible because of the booth's! :thumbsup

Upped my score to 7m 58cm. This level is like Cowbear Extreme! Instead of just trying to dodge cows or bears, this time you try to avoid EVERYTHING but your next target item. If you hated the cowbear level, don't even try to attempt this. I'm so glad this isn't timed.

Here's a walkthrough to grabbing the Hippo (5m 25cm) as your 22nd item. Grab ONLY the items on this list.

Coelacanth (X2) - In the swamp. One can be a little tricky snagging it out from under Jungle, but it's very possible. Grab it from the rear, Jungle sits up front.

Black Bear (X2) - Around monkey mountain. First the one with the cubs, then on to the one manning the TV camera.

Lion (X2) - Grab the one in the bear ride first, that way you won't be big enough to accidentaly pick up the ride too. After the second one you should be in position for...

Horse/White Horse - You only need one to get big enough for our next target, but grabbing both is ok too (explained later).

Rhinoceros (X2) - One is doing laps behind some kangaroos around the safari zone, one is back by the palm trees and camels.

Big Bear (X3) - One is doing laps pushing a big red ball. Try to avoid the ball. The second and third are on a plateau with some people that aren't so easy to avoid. One bear up there is easy to grab, but the other can be tricky. You need to get close enough to the guy balancing the ball and bear that you knock off the ball without grabbing the guy. I also always knock it off toward the direction of the fossil hill, it makes retreiving it much easier. And avoid picking up the ball if possible. And look out for the ibis in the tree.

Falling Rock (X5) - Grab the pile of 5, leave the single one. Make sure no cavemen get in your way. And avoid the ibis in the tree on the way down.

Pegasus (X2) - Both by monkey mountain, one circling in the sky, one just chillin'.

At this point our next main objective is the Hippo, but we aren't quite big enough yet, so...
Optionals until we hit 5m 25cm (Hippo size):
Lion Statue - By entrance to zoo. Easy to grab while you're there for the pegasus.
Blue Tent - Hard to miss.
The other horse or red balls if you happened to grab them.
The last falling rock.

Now we should be big enough to grab the Hippopotamus after only 21 or 22 items!

I'll usually do an instant restart if I pick up anything not on this list before this point, so I've gotten quite good at making it this far without any *wrong* pickups. Another handy tip is where to cross over between areas of the zoo. I use the area by the four sea otters circling the small iceberg holding the donkey statue. You can go both ways quite safely with a little practice. It keeps my path entirely out of the seating area for the sea world area, which I find extremely difficult to navigate without picking up railings, flowerbeds, streetlights, or penguins. One more thing is PATIENCE. I'm not afraid to sit still for minutes at a time in a safe area until the little random movements of certain "undesirables" gets them out of my way.

Try playing as Jungle. Then you won't have to worry about him in the level. :)

Dr. Thinker:

Quite interested to hear if you've managed any additional improvement over your current 7580...

Not yet, though I have been trying. On my high run only 41 of my 50 items were intended to be picked up. I feel that still leaves plenty of room to improve, but it's just so dang hard to avoid things once you get that big. Here's my list of 41 in the order I picked them up...

Coelacanth (X2)
Black Bear (X2)
Lion (X2)
Horse or White Horse (only one or the other)
Rhinoceros (X2)
Big Bear (X3)
Falling Rock (X5)
Blue Tent
Lion Statue
Pegasus (X2)
Hippopotamus (X2)
Swan Boat (X2)
Ox (X2)
Fossil
Shark
Minivan
Palm Tree (X3)
Giraffe (X2)
Camping Tent
Information (the one by Bear Rides)
Pumpkin Carriage
Small Totem Pole (X2)
Information (the one on the top of the hill)

The best I've been able to do is go 26 items (up through the first Ox) before I grab an unwanted. If I could get through this with less errors, I'd manuever over to the swamp area for the Tropical Jungle Gate, another Information, more Palm Trees, and some Bamboo. I have a feeling the Bamboo would be a significant growth, probably enough to get me large enough for the Bus Stop Shelter (7m87cm8mm to pick up), but I just haven't been able to make it that far within 50 items.

Gracias, Thinker...

Took a bloody lot of acrobatics before I managed to even *approach* your record. I have a feeling that this challenge is going to be in contention for quite a while.

Finally made it over to the swamp, and I was wrong on the bamboo. My last 2 pick-ups were bamboo, and they didn't do near what I was expecting. I would've been better served just grabbing the palm tree and information while I was directly in front of them! :doh Oh well, live and learn. Hindsight and all that. Next time I'll get it right.

The best I've been able to do is up to the three palm trees. I think the hardest parts (the parts where I accidently pick up the most unwanteds) are getting the hippos and the oxen. I can usually hit them fine, but then they end up bouncing into the worst possible spots where I have no choice but to roll up a few things in the way if I want to grab them in time.

I get the Hippo from the seats fine, making sure to start rolling fast right away to throw that crazy clown off me. The Hippo on the island is a pain, probably my most hated pick-up. If it weren't for the growth factor, I'd forgo him completely. I'll wait out where the first hippo was on the stands until the water is clear of any swimmers, then make my move and bounce him toward the swan boats, resigning myself to the fact that I will get something I don't want.
The Ox are a little easier as far as I'm concerned. I'll camp out in the safe spot by the swan boats until I'm sure the parade of sheep led by two horses is nowhere in sight. Then up between the rows of tires, and left a bit to a flat spot where I can rest (out of the path of the Eagle). I bounce my Ox toward Monkey Mountain, directly through the opening in the fence to the left of the two Cows. Nice and easy pick-up before they run away.
You do have limited "herding" abilities to get the Ox to move where you want them, it just takes time. A good example of this you can check with the Rhinoceros by the Camels. His "freak-out" path is determined by where you happen to be at that time. Use the same technique with the Ox and, later, the Giraffe.

Manning? Bearly!

Wow, Dr. Thinker! I'm IMPRESSED!
Thanks for sharing the walkthrough with us....can't wait to try it out! :thumbsup

A couple more tips I find handy:
On the way to the swamp, before picking anything up, give the centaur a bounce, but don't pick him up. He'll then run away, leaving one less thing to worry about when going for the ox.
Use your shadow as a guide. This is extremely helpful for me once I get over 7m. It helps me get through tight spaces, especially when going for my first information booth. I'll pull my katamari rather than push it, and watch my shadow to make sure I don't hit anything on the sides of the path.

I am impressed by how much work it must have taken to come up with the item list. I look forward to your video. By the way, you should submit a guide to Vix for the FAQ.

As am I! ^_^ This'll help a lot. I hate that baby... >.<

? for dr. thinker (or anyone else who might know): whereabouts do you pick up the Coelacanths? ive looked for them both in the swamp and pond to no avail, and have just been picking up a zebra and the cenataur as substitutes, which ends up leaving me too small to grab the lions after picking up the black bears. i usually pick up a camel to boost me up to rhino grabbing size, but it feels rather unnecessary (they really dont add as much to the overall size as one might think).

thanks alot for that walkthrough, btw.

The two Coelacanths are in the swamp along with the (much larger) alligators. One of them has a cousin riding on its' back. Can't miss it.

mmm, got it. thought they were alligators :)

After I watch your video, I am going to go for a better record than my 7m... :ninja

50-item run
Here it is. I posted this in the other 50-item thread too, but I'll add some comments to this one.
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.

dr t i been watching your 50 item movie.
impressed.
is that your best run?
did you want the bamboo as your last items or was that a mistake?
:china

See this post:

http://s9.invisionfree.com/Katamari_Damacy...dpost&p=3445335

i just thought of this: if you bump the camels after you pick up the first lion, you'll have 2 less unwanteds to worry about. :bleh

Anything to make it easier is a plus. Good find. BTW, that avatar is strangely disturbing :eek

I tried to open the link to the run, but the site says the video has maybe been removed. Does anyone else have this video? Or I have no chance to see it (I'd like to improve my record, but I wanted to see the great master run of Dr. Thinker)?

Sorry vix if I have posted in a dead topic, but it is something I do like to see. ^^ Please, don't close the topic. I didn't want to break any rule.

I have it. I will upload it to Google Video as soon as I have faster internet, which with any luck will be within half a month.

That is, unless anybody else knows where it is online already?

Slo, if you have the video saved into the hard disk, could you upload it on rapidshare so I can download it and watch at anytime? :)

Sure, I will. Does Rapidshare eventually delete files if they're inactive?

Hopefully I'll have the faster Internet within a week so I can do that.

Rapidshare deletes the files after a month of inactivity, I heard.

Dr. Thinker's 50 item video is on the web again.

Here it is :)

Great! :woot

I'll try to beat his record, even if I hate this level.