DONKEY KONGA
Scoring FAQ
Version 1.0, 19 January 2005
by Scott Hammack
----------------------------
0. Table of contents
--------------------
0. Table of contents
I. Introduction
II. Terms
III. Core point values
IV. Scoring explanation
V. Examples
VI. Upshots
VII. Raw data
VIII. Quick reference
IX. Contact information/copyright
I. Introduction
---------------
Since the release of Donkey Konga, a lot of people (myself
included) were unclear on exactly how the scoring system in the game
worked. We knew that you get points whenever you hit a note, but beyond
that, the details were fuzzy. So I decided to sit down and figure out
the scoring system once and for all, and I think now I've got a pretty
good idea of how it works. This information may be helpful to you if
you're trying to improve your scores or compete against others, or if
(like me) you're just interested.
All the information in this FAQ comes my from own observations
and calculations, based on either experiments I did myself or videos of
the game found on IGN. I've included some of the raw data in section
VII in case you want evidence. I encourage anyone to double-check
my work, as there may very well be something I've missed. My contact
information is at the end of the file.
Basic algebra ability is needed to fully enjoy this FAQ.
II. Terms
---------
Just so we're all clear on what I'm talking about when I use certain
terms, in case you didn't read the manual:
a. A "note" refers to any of the barrels that pass across the screen.
Each note can be:
1. Yellow -- requiring that you hit the left barrel on your bongos.
2. Red -- requiring that you hit the right barrel on your bongos.
3. Pink -- requiring that you hit both barrels at once.
4. Clap -- requiring that you clap (or tap the side of the bongos).
You will also encounter "rolls," which can be any of the above, but
require you to keep hitting them for the duration of the roll.
b. A "hit rating" refers to the game's judgment of how well you time
it when you hit the note. This can be Great, OK, Bad, or Miss.
c. A "combo" refers to a string of consecutive greats or OKs. The
game keeps track of your current combo in the white box on the left
side of the screen. A bad or miss will break the combo.
III. Core point values
----------------------
These are the basic core point values for the different types of notes
in the game. The actual system is significantly more complicated than
this, but these are the starting points for score calculations.
great OK bad miss
yellow 100 50 0 3
red 100 50 0 3
pink 200 100 0 2
clap 10 5 0 2
IV. Scoring explanation
-----------------------
Now we get to the meat and potatoes. The first thing to note is that
every time you hit a note, the game is keeping track of several
variables. These include the number of greats/OKs/bads, coins, etc.,
but we don't need to worry about those. The ones we're concerned with
are:
x. The core values shown in the chart above. We'll call this variable
x.
y. Your current combo -- the number of consecutive greats/OKs since
your last bad or miss. We'll call this variable y. It starts at
1 and increases every time you get a great or OK, but whenever you
get a bad or miss, it resets to 1.
z. Your highest combo -- the highest number of greats/OKs you got in a
row during the entire song. We'll call this variable z. At the
beginning of the song, it will be equal to y, but once you get a
bad or miss, y will reset to 1, while z will keep its current value
until it gets replaced with a higher one. Basically, z can
increase, but never decrease.
So when you hit the note, what happens? The game rates the hit based on
how well you timed it, displays that rating above the note, and
increases your score based on that.
If it's a great or OK, and it's not a clap, your score will increase by
x+2y.
If it's a great or OK, and it's a clap, your score will increase by
x*(z+1).
If it's a bad, regardless of the type of note, your score will be
unchanged.
If it's a miss, regardless of the type of note, your score will decrease
by x*(z-1).
V. Examples
-----------
So for example, if the third note is pink and you get a great on it...
a. Check the formulas above -- the one you need is x+2y.
b. According to the core values chart, a pink great gets you a core of
200. That's x.
c. Since this is the third note, your combo is at 3 (assuming you
managed to hit the previous two). That's y.
d. Now just plug the values into the formula: 200+2(3)=206. So you
should get 206 points for this note.
Now let's say the next note is red and you miss it.
a. Check the formulas above -- the one you need is x*(z-1).
b. According to the core values chart, a red miss gets you a core of
-3. That's x.
c. Since you hit all three previous notes, your combo is at 3. That's
y, and since this is the only combo so far, it's also z.
d. Now just plug the values into the formula: 3*(3-1)=6. You should
lose 6 points for this note.
VI. Upshots
-----------
So what does this all mean? Well, we can extrapolate several things
from these formulas.
a. Scores for reds, yellows, and pinks vary based on how well you're
doing in your current combo. But for claps, if you got a really big
combo earlier but then missed a note, it doesn't matter; you'll
still get lots of points on every clap from then on (but you'll lose
lots of points for misses, too).
b. Getting a large combo earlier in the song increases the points you
can get (or lose) from then on.
c. Missing pinks and claps is not as bad as missing yellows or reds.
d. It is possible to work out the maximum possible score (excluding
rolls) for any song, but you have to know how many of each type of
note there are, and in what order, so it's probably more trouble
than it's worth.
e. I have no life.
VII. Raw data
-------------
These are the data I used to come up with these formulas, in case you
don't believe me. They also provide a good example of the system in
action, in case you still don't get it.
Notes
+ The first column represents the value of the variable y, which is the
number of consecutive greats/OKs.
+ The second column represents the type of note: Y(ellow), R(ed),
P(ink), (C)lap, or D(rumroll).
+ The third column represents the rating of the hit.
G = great
O = OK
B = bad
M = miss
D = (drum)roll (no rating)
+ The fourth column represents the score once this note has been counted.
+ The fifth column represents the change in score since the previous
note (in other words, the number of points earned for this note).
+ The sixth column represents the formula I think the game uses to
determine the number of points earned for this note. This is
determined based on the note type, hit rating, and y.
Data set 1: Pokemon Theme, Chimp
Source:
http://streamingmovies.ign.com/cube/article/550/550723/konga1_wmvlow.wmv?
wu=http%3A%2F%2Fmedia.gameboy.ign.com%2Fdownload.html%3Fmu%3D%3CURL%2F%3E
1 P O 102 102 x+2
1 P D 11312 11210 n/a
2 P O 11416 104 x+4
3 C G 11456 40 10(3+1)
4 Y G 11564 108 x+8
5 Y O 11624 60 x+10
6 C O 11659 35 5(6+1)
7 P O 11773 114 x+14
8 C O 11818 45 5(8+1)
9 Y O 11886 68 x+18
10 Y G 12006 120 x+20
11 Y O 12078 72 x+22
12 Y G 12202 124 x+24
12 P D 13552 1350 n/a
13 P O 13678 126 x+26
14 C O 13753 75 5(14+1)
15 Y O 13883 80 x+30
16 Y O 13915 32 32
17 C M 13883 -32 -2(17-1)
1 P O 13985 102 x+2
2 C O 14075 90 5(17+1)
3 P G 14281 206 x+6
4 P G 14489 208 x+8
5 P G 14699 210 x+10
5 P D 15859 1160 n/a
6 Y G 15971 112 x+12
7 R O 16035 64 x+14
8 C B 16035 0 0
1 Y O 16087 52 x+2
NOTE: In the above table, check out y=16 for a strange
anomaly. Instead of x+2y, in this case the game only added 2y. When
I watch the video, there does not appear to be anything special about
that note, so for now I can only assume this is a bug.
Data set 2: Pokemon Theme, Chimp
Source:
http://streamingmovies.ign.com/cube/article/550/550723/konga2_wmvlow.wmv?
wu=http%3A%2F%2Fmedia.gameboy.ign.com%2Fdownload.html%3Fmu%3D%3CURL%2F%3E
Note: This is a continuation of the data above, but a few notes were
apparently hit and/or missed between videos.
? ? ? 16235 ? ?
1? R G 16337 102 x+2
2? C O 16427 90 5(17+1)
3? C M 16395 -32 -2(17-1)
3? Y M 16347 -48 -3(17-1)
1 C G 16527 180 10(17+1)
2 C O 16617 90 5(17+1)
3 P G 16823 206 x+6
4 Y G 16931 108 x+8
5 R O 16991 60 x+10
6 C M 16959 -32 -2(17-1)
1 Y G 17061 102 x+2
2 C O 17151 90 5(17+1)
3 C B 17151 0 0
1 R O 17203 52 x+2
2 C B 17203 0 0
1 C M 17171 -32 -2(17-1)
1 P M 17139 -32 -2(17-1)
1 C M 17107 -32 -2(17-1)
1 C M 17075 -32 -2(17-1)
1 P D 18835 1760 n/a
1 Y O 18887 52 x+2
2 R O 18941 54 x+4
3 C O 19031 90 5(17+1)
4 Y G 19139 108 x+8
5 C M 19107 -32 -2(17-1)
1 C B 19107 0 0
1 R G 19209 102 x+2
2 C O 19299 90 5(17+1)
3 C M 19267 -32 -2(17-1)
1 Y G 19369 102 x+2
1 C M ? -32 -2(17-1)
1 C O 19427 90 5(17+1)
2 R O 19481 54 x+4
3 P O 19587 106 x+6
4 P O 19695 108 x+8
Data set 3: Turkish March, Monkey
Source: independent trial
462
8 C O 507 45 5(8+1)
9 C G 607 100 10(9+1)
10 C G 717 110 10(10+1)
11 P G 939 222 x+22
12 C G 1069 130 10(12+1)
13 P G 1295 226 x+26
14 Y G 1423 128 x+28
15 Y G 1553 130 x+30
16 C G 1723 170 10(16+1)
17 C G 1903 180 10(17+1)
18 C G 2093 190 10(18+1)
19 P G 2331 238 x+38
20 C G 2541 210 10(20+1)
21 P G 2783 242 x+42
22 Y G 2927 144 x+44
23 Y G 3073 146 x+46
24 R G 3221 148 x+48
25 C G 3481 260 10(25+1)
26 R O 3583 102 x+52
27 C O 3723 140 5(27+1)
28 P O 3879 156 x+56
later... 9079
42 Y M 8956 -123 -3(42-1)
1 C O 9171 215 5(42+1)
VIII. Quick reference
---------------------
In case you don't want to wade through the rest of the crap (I don't
blame you).
great OK bad miss
yellow 100+2y 50+2y 0 -3(z-1)
red 100+2y 50+2y 0 -3(z-1)
pink 200+2y 100+2y 0 -2(z-1)
clap 10(z+1) 5(z+1) 0 -2(z-1)
IX. Contact information/acknowledgments/copyright
-------------------------------------------------
I wrote this. Do whatever you want with it. Thanks to Sean Walters and
the guys at KongaNavy (
http://www.blindecho.net/kirby/konga/) for help
and encouragement.
I'm not a mathematician by any means, and it's quite possible that I've
screwed something up. If you find anything, email me. The address is
the first letter of my first name, then my last name, at gmail.com.
(Sorry, I get enough spam already.)
Thanks for readin'!
