Looks like I really missed the boat on this one. Does anyone else play it anymore? Normal - 958,020 (ALL) Another - 869,350 (ALL) My current theory on the performance evaluation system is that it's based on the average size of your gem clears. Very rough testing on the first section of Another suggests that an average gem size of 6 or under gets you the bad outcome, above 6 but no more than 8 gets you the middle outcome, and above 8 gets you the good outcome. I still haven't missed a chance at a second date...
Sure, I'm still playing it, just not every day, that's all. As for the performance evaluation (or branching dialogues/coloured backgroud/whatever), I used to think that it was entirely based on score (closely related to the size of your gem clears), but I've had many games where I've been clearing nothing but huge white gems, and still had red backgrounds. Hearing that Kitaru was constantly getting the second dates by playing fast yet not scoring as high, I tried doing the same. Lo and behold, I started getting green backgrounds regularly. However, when I went all out for speed and completely neglected scoring, I found it was still possible to get red backgrounds. I can only conclude that performance is evaluated based on some combination of both speed and scoring/gem clears. Also, I'm not sure if I've shared this with you already, but as for the scoring mechanic, I started making notes about the size/shape bonus for white gems that colour_thief was talking about earlier. It seems that the base value is 1000, and the two bonuses are capped at +500 each. Here's some of the data I collected: massive link Also, the deadline for the competition is either today or tomorrow, so don't forget to enter if you haven't already!
Light - 1,072,810 ALL Also, the bottom right of this picture seems to indicate that there's a hidden scenario in JMT light: http://www.arika.co.jp/product/jmt_hp/point_light_3.jpg I suspect that it's also present in Hard mode of the main game, and I wouldn't be at all surprised if there was also a hidden scenario in Another, too.
Light - 1,094,850 ALL That makes 3 out of 4 for me! But Edo can still boast the highest score achieved in any mode...
Pah, I promise that by the time you get home from work today, I will have reclaimed at least 2 of the top spots Honestly though, it shouldn't just be you and me battling it out at the top, Kitaru and Billmaan definitely need to get in on the action; and sjoe, kevin and ray, have you stopped playing this game? If anyone else has an XBOX360, JMT Light is literally only $1, and is pretty good value for money - although survival isn't at all hard due to the reduced speed, score attack is still extremely entertaining. More people need to play this game!
I think we'd get a better response if we completed our understanding of the scoring system and wiki'ed it. From the looks of things everyone else has settled playing for survival for the most part.
Sadly, I have no idea what the Japanese players are scoring on this game, except for a couple of old photos on 613's blog which I linked to earlier. I doubt they can be scoring much higher than we are - unless there's some secret source of points that we're unaware of, the maximum score possible with optimal play is in the region of 1,300,000. By the way Ai, if you still need help getting this game, I'm quite willing to gift you some UK microsoft points.
Your kind offer is really appreciated, but I'll be buying both games somewhere after the Carnival of Death myself.
Hard - 1,127,340 ALL I, um, forgot which mode I wasn't 1st in and accidentally improved the wrong record.
Normal - 1,135,520 ALL And complete domination is mine! I guess I'll try to break a million in Another now, though I'd really love to get 1.25 million in another mode as well. Another != another... You know what I mean. Right? Which Japanese person decided Another was a good name for a difficult mode... Someone at Konami I think? I hope it sounds cool in Japanese at least.