FAQ (from The PS2 Version) - Guide for Fantavision

+----- Fantavision FAQ -----+
Courtesy of : Thefonz
Version     : 0.9
Email       : [email protected]
ICQ         : 3472880

+----- Section Guide   -----+
0. Preliminary Copyright Stuff
1. Introduction to game
2. Menu Guide and explanation
3. Game Guide & Theory
4. Level Guide
5. End Credits & Etc.

+----- Section Zero    -----+
Preliminary Copyright Stuff:

You've probably heard it all before but it bears repetition here: please 
don't plagarize my material unless you have express written consent of the 
NFL... um, I mean, me, and so on.

+----- Section One     -----+
Introduction to game:
"FANTAVISION is an interactive action-puzzle game which allows you to 
display beautiful fireworks. This game was designed to be entertaining for 
anyone of any age. It will be wonderful to share the beauty and excitement 
of this world with family, friends and someone special. We hope you enjoy 
the fantastic world of FANTAVISION."

So quoth the front of the case of Fantavision, by Sony Computer 
Entertainment. What's nice is that this lead-in isn't too far from the 
truth; those of you that were afraid that Fantavision really isn't a game 
don't have to worry. To be fully honest, I didn't think that Fantavision 
would be as purely difficult as it is, but if you have patience I think many 
of you will find that this game has something more to offer than "purdy 
graphics".

+----- Section Two    ------+
"We are hoping for joyful and peaceful days."

Menu Guide:

Here's a listing of all the menu options that you'll find:

*Main Menu*

-Game Start
This begins the game at the first level with normal difficulty.

-Extra
Goes to the Extra Menu, which is only open after you beat the normal
game. Make sure you save your game once this option is open!

-Replay
Allows you to replay any data you may have saved to review it as you
wish. While in Replay Mode these are your controls (items seperated
by slashes means that pressing the button cycles through those
items):

Start  Button: Pause replay / option menu / unpause replay
Select Button: Pause replay / Unpause Replay

·While in Replay mode you can use the following to change the Camera
  Angles or graphic effects, this can be done at any time, even while
  the Replay is paused.

Camera Angle Changes:

Circle   Button: Camera Type 1
X        Button: Camera Type 2
Square   Button: Camera Type 3
Triangle Button: Camera Type 4
Left  Direction: Camera Type 5
Right Direction: Camera Type 6
Up    Direction: Camera Type 7
Down  Direction: Camera Type 8

Pressing the button again while the camera is moving will cancel the
Camera Angle Change. The 8 camera angles will move the view in a
specified pattern which will all bring the view back to the normal
view where it started from. While in motion, most of the background
items will be uncolored, giving the focus to the fireworks   themselves.  
Once back to normal, the background will regain color.

Effects Toggling:
L1 Button: No weather           Toggling these will change the
            Snow                 weather effects that will be
Weather    Snow × 2             seen in the game. The multiplier
Effects    Snow × 3             shows the quantity of rain or
            Snow × 4             snow that will be displayed on the
            Rain                 Replay.
            Rain × 2
            Rain × 3
            Rain × 4
L2 Button: Map On  / Chain On   Toggling these will turn the map in
            Map Off / Chain Off  the corner of the screen on or off,
Displays   Map Off / Chain On   as well as the display that tallies
            Map On  / Chain Off  any Chain Combos that may occur.
R1 Button: Normal               No Screen Effect
            Overlap              Flashes overlap the screen if
                                 they happen to be rather large.
Screen     Mood                 Background objects are rendered
Effects                         with minimal lighting effects.
                                 Looks very nice with Stages 1 and 2.
            Soft (Distance)      Items far from view are blurred.
            Soft (All)           Entire view is blurred.
            Psychedelic 1        No backgrounds, colors streak from
                                 top left corner down.
            Psychedelic 2        No backgrounds, colors streak from
                                 center out.
            Psychedelic Mirror   Same as Psychedelic 2 , but cut in
                                 half and mirrored.
R2 Button: Auto Select On  / Colorful Fire   I honestly have no
            Auto Select Off / Normal   Fire   idea what the normal /
AutoCam    Auto Select On  / Normal   Fire   colorful Fire toggling
            Auto Select Off / Colorful Fire   does, but Auto Select
                                              keeps the camera in
                                              constant motion by
                                              automatically changing
                                              views.

-Explain
Gives vocal (and in Japanese) instructions on how to play the game.
Since this is also the purpose of this FAQ, we won't need the details
from these parts...
·Basic Rule
  Fundamentals on how to play
·Expansion Rule 1
  Same Color Flash
·Expansion Rule 2
  Chains
·Expansion Rule 3
  Items and Starmine
·Exit

Note: If you enter one of these modes and want out, press Start to
       exit instantly.

-Option

·Sound          : Stereo or Monoaural
·Volume BGM     : Sets the balance of the Background music volume
·Volume SE      : Sets the balance of the sound effects volume
·Vibration      : Turns the Dual Shock Vibration on or off
·Flash SE Delay : Sets the amount of time between the flash of
                   fireworks and when the flash is heard. Normally
                   this is at 0.0, however, if you want to give the
                   impression that you're viewing the fireworks from
                   a distance, turn this up. Maximum value is 5.0.
·Exit Option

-Memory Card
Lets you load or save your data as you wish. If there is data   previously, 
there will be a line stating the last time, precise to
the second, when the Fantavision data was last updated.

-Staff
Views the Staff Credit roll, complete with "outtakes" of the FMV
production. The pictures you see here are different when the
Normal and Extra games are completed. Press Start to exit.

-Exit
Returns to the Title / Demo cycling that is displayed when
Fantavision is first turned on.

*Extra Menu*

-Chain Attack (Level X)
Places you in a single stage with the only intent of having you make
the largest chain you can possibly establish. While in this mode,
the score is not monitored and there will be no Starmine bonus
levels, no matter how many Star items you may get while in Chain
Attack mode. Pressing left or right on this menu option will change
the stage you wish to Chain Attack.

-Normal Game (Level X)
Lets you play the Normal Game mode with all normal rules in effect.
Pressing left or right here allows you to choose which stage you
start on.

-Extra Game
Starts the game in Hard Mode, which functions the same as the Normal
Game but with higher difficulty. Upon completion of this game, you
can return here and play it again, which the same option as the
Normal Game above, meaning you can choose which level to beign at.

-Ranking
Allows you to view the scoring tables.
Pressing left and right scrolls through the various charts, press
Circle Button to exit this.

-Extra2
This mode will only open once Extra Game is completed.

-Exit
Returns to the Main Menu

*Extra 2 Menu*

-Thru Replay
This is a replay mode that infinitely cycles through your Replay saves,    
in the numerical order that you saved them.

-Random Replay
This is the same as Thru Replay except it will replay various saves
at random. Note that neither of these modes will use the two Replays
that come with the game by default; therefore if you don't have any
Replay data saved, these modes cannot be used.

-Screen Saver
Sets the screen black with random fireworks flashing in a
never-ending cycle. Note that if you have the Flash SE Delay altered
in the option menu, it will affect this Screen Saver. There are 8
"menus" which the Screen Saver uses, if I'm not mistaken these are
different groupings of fireworks that the Screen Saver uses.

L1 Button             : Menu -1
R1 Button             : Menu +1
R2 Button             : Overlap Effect on / off
Left / Right Direction: decrease / increase Cycle.
                         This value determines the amount of time
                         (I believe in .01 second increments) that
                         elapses between each flash. The default value
                         is 100, and can be set anywhere from 009-999.

-Fireworks
Sets the screen black, awaiting your input to flash fireworks at
random. Each button has a specific type of firework assigned to it;
the location and color of the firework is random with each button
press. Press Start Button to exit this mode.

Up    Direction: Wide
Left  Direction: Bee
Right Direction: Palm
Down  Direction: Small Wide
Triangle Button: Splash
Square   Button: Willow
Circle   Button: Peony
X        Button: Daisy
L1       Button: Peony + Daisy (Type 1)
L2       Button: Peony + Daisy (Type 2)
R1       Button: Peony + Daisy (Type 3)
R2       Button: Peony + Daisy (Type 4)
L3       Button: Toggles Normal / Overlap screen mode
R3       Button: Toggles weather effects (Like L1 in Replay Mode)

-Digital Control
Allows you to change the control scheme rather significantly, though
after playing the game so much, any other control scheme feels
dramatically odd to me at least... especially Layout 2.

Off     : Default Setting
Layout 1: Left  Direction rotates Guideline Counterclockwise
           Right Direction rotates Guideline Clockwise
Layout 2: X        Button rotates Guideline Counterclockwise
           Circle   Button rotates Guideline Clockwise
           Up    Direction cacthes the shells
           Down  Direction flashes captured shells

-Exit
Exits to the Extra Menu

+----- Section Three   -----+
"Things that I imagine will come in sight and it will make me imagine
something else again."

Game Guide:

The object of Fantavision is to manage a fireworks show by utilizing
all of the shells that are offered. This is done by grouping a
miniumum of three similar colored shells in a row and detonating them
(known as "Flashing") before the shells wither away. For every
shell that flies by without being flashed, your energy meter
depletes; if you let too many shells fly by witout being flahsed, the
game is over.

Main Controls:

Left Analog Stick: Guideline direction
X        Button  : Catch a shell
Circle   Button  : Flash a group of shells / release incomplete group
Triangle Button  : Release all caught shells
Square   Button  : Same as Triangle

The basic play of the game goes as follows:
You use the left analog to point to a shell, which you then Lock-On
by pressing X. Once a shell is "caught" in this manner the game will
default the Guideline in the direction of the closest shell of the
same color; once this is done at least three times, you can press
Circle to flash the shells. If you press Circle with less than
three color shells caught, the Guideline will be released and the
shells will no longer be caught, meaning you have to catch them again
before they die out.

In the upper left corner of the screen there will be a small
display showing you what you've already captured. Also, when a shell
that you've captured is about to die out, the circle will be flashing
to indicate that you need to flash the shell soon! This will also
help you see what you have set up.

-Game Theory and General Notes

The three basic colors are red, green, and blue, but these are not
the only shells that you will find. There are shells which are
colorless which are Wild shells; these can be used as any color as
needed and allow you to string two or more different color groupings
together in one flash; in fact this is the only way to perform this
action, known as a Daisy Chain. In other words, if you already
have three Red shells grouped and there are only three Blue shells
floating in view, you still won't be able to catch those Blue shells,
as the Guideline will still be searching for Red shells. But, if
you were to get a Wild Shell after that group of red, then you could
round up those Blue shells and flash them all for one big 2 Daisy
7 Chain. ^_^ Below I'll provide a more visual explanation of this.

Also of note are the Item shells. These act as Wild Shells as far
as grouping goes, meaning that they'll comply with what ever color
you need them to be, but these Item Shells also serve other
functions:

Round Firework Item : Many circles in an octagonish pattern
This creates a Wide Flash of the color that's grouped with
Whatever shells you have, making it easier to sustain Chain Combos.

Bonus Point Item: B
When flashed, the Bonus Point item multiplies the bonus score
you get upon completing a chain, and for each "B" you get in the
chain, the mulitplier is increased by one.

Energy Item: E
When flahsed, this item gives a higher amount of energy back to your
energy bar compared to playing the game as normal.

Star Item: Star within a circle
When flashed, this will light up a letter in the STARMINE word
found above your Energy meter. When all eight letters are lit, a
Starmine Shell will appear on the screen and must be flashed to
enter the Star Mine bonus event.
Note: There are two types of Star Items: those with circles around it
can possibly be "reused" if flashed fast enough, giving you a chance
to fill multiple letters in one chain. Star Items that are only the
star itself will always only be usable once.

Now that I have all the shells explained, allow me to set them to a
key so that we can represent this visually:

R : Red                  Shell
G : Green                Shell
B : Blue                 Shell
S : Starmine             Shell
W : Wild /Rainbow        Shell
M : Multi/Round Firework Shell
E : Energy Item          Shell
s : Star Item            Shell
b : Bonus Point Item     Shell
f : Flash point
[]: Caught/ Captured Shells

Fundamental Chains:

[R][R][R]f    - 3 Chain Red
[G][G][G][G]f - 4 Chain Green
[B][B][B][W]f - 4 Chain Blue

Also remember that you need to have a W or similar item to Daisy Chain   
colors:

[R][R][R] BBB      = [RRR]f [BBB]f    - Two 3 Chains
[R][R][W][B][B][B] = [RRRBBB]f        - One 2 Daisy 6 Chain
[REWRBBWs]         = [RRRRBBBB]f      - One 2 Daisy 8 Chain

If you have a group of item and Wild shells together, remember
that you need to catch at least one normal colored shell in the
group or else they will NOT flash!

[EWMsb]f              - No Flash
[EWBsbR]f  = [RRRRRR] - 6 Chain

When a Multi Shell detonates, it will leave behind 6 of the same
colored shells in a hexagonal formation, automatically caught.
You must flash these shells before they die out, and by pressing     Circle 
they will automatically be flashed before any shells that you    have 
grouped yourself.

This also correlates to the fact that if you flash a group of shells,
any unflashed shells nearby of the same color will flash on their
own, whether you want them to or not. If this occurs, those shells     that 
are automatically flashed will be inclued with your current      Chain Combo 
tally. More often than not this is to your benefit but     there are those 
times... example:

[GGG]f         -   W R R ,  4 Chain
  G W R R

For a Star Mine to activate you need to have at least two shells of
some color be grouped with it; however keep in mind that the more
you have chained to a Starmine, the longer the starmine will last, AND    if 
you have a Starmine be part of a Daisy Chain, the Star Mine
round will feature the colors that were in the Daisy Chain as well
as giving you a mulitplier bonus for having more than one color!

[BBS]f - Single color, blue, Starmine , approx. 30 seconds
[BBSRRR]f - Two color, red and blue, Starmine, approx. 45 seconds
[BBBBBBBS]f - Single color, blue, Starmine, approx 50 seconds

In order to create long Chain Combos, try to keep your groupings as
short as possible and wait to flash your shells until there is no
activity in view. I believe it's approximately one second that is
allowed between flashes in order for flashes in succession to be
counted together as a Chain Combo. Overall, yes, they are a pain to
maintain but it's the biggest challenge Fantavision offers as well
as the fact that you reap the most benefits if you pull it off.

Keep in mind that Fantavision politely reminds you that you're about
to die if it suddenly starts raining. Yes, this even applies to the
space and Moon levels, but don't ask me how. ^_^

One small and almost pointless little trick I've found is this:
If you ever want a sneek peek at the shells you're about to encounter,
sooner than the "Next" display will tell you, just pause the game while
there's nothing in the "Next" area, this includes before the stage
officially starts. Let it sit for a second and the next round of shells
will pop up in the "Next" display. This isn't really a useful trick
but it can be done if you want to...

Finally, remember that Fantavision rewards you more for longer
chains than more elaborate Daisy setups. You will get more points
for a 2 Daisy 32 Chain than a 4 Daisy 16 Chain.

*Examples in Practice*
Below I'll give a few general setups as well as how I'd approach
the situation:

R s W  If this were the first shells I got, I'd string 'em together.
G b R  Otherwise I'd make three seperate 3 chains of it in order to
G B W  hopefully start a larger Chain Combo going. Either way I'd do
        it so that the last shell would be colorless, so that if I
        needed to, I could group it with anything else that comes up.

[RRWGGWBsb]f - 3 Daisy 9 Chain, Bonus×2
[RRb]f [GGW]f [BsW]wait... - 6 Chain, Bonus×2, waiting for more...

B R S W Whenever a Starmine finally shows up, I always save up as
R G b s much as I possibly can for it; sure it may kill a good Chain
B G W W Combo you have going, but once the Starmine activates it's
s B R G dead anyways, so there's no reason to not wait to make a
         Starmine flash as long as possible.

[BBWSRRRWbGGGWBss]f - 4 Daisy 16 Chain Starmine - Color×3, approx 65
                       sec.


+----- Section Four    -----+
"I want to enjoy every possible thing within today as my heart wishes, but I 
will leave some for tomorrow."

Stages Introduction

Stage 1: Night on South Island
Stage 2: City Lights
[Daughter Britteny Sparks calls Star Boy Heidon Stokes]
Stage 3: Into the Space
Stage 4: Shooting Stars
[Star Boy gives Moon Girl Chelsea Phils a ring]
Stage 5: Moon City
Stage 6: Snow on the Moon
[Moon Girl drops a line to Professor Eric Pickles]
Stage 7: Unknown Space
Stage 8: Beyond the Infinity
[Professor calls Britteny to confirm and wrap-up a good show.]

Truthfully there are not eight stages, but there's 4 "levels", and each
two groupings runs through the "level" on a different angle with other
small changes.

One important part of the levels are where they are located in terms of
gravity; on the City and Moon levels, the shells will blast from ground
level and arc to the sky before slowly falling down, and as one would
hope, the shells linger longer in the atmosphere of the Moon than the
Earth. However, for the space levels this means that shells will come
from all possible directions and stick around for however long they feel
like, since they don't really have any laws of gravity to adhere to.

As far as I've noticed, the only thing that's similar between each play
is that the first three rounds of shells in Normal Mode are always the
3 Chain Red, 3 Chain Green, and 3 Chain Blue with Wild. If I'm not
mistaken, from that point on in Normal Mode, everything is random in
terms of what shells appear. It's always random in Extra and Chain
Attack modes.

+----- Section Five    -----+
Etc. stuff and End Credits.

Things I want in a sequel:

I basically want Fantavision World Tour. Keep the 50's motif, keep the
music, just keep all the levels on Earth and hovering over the most
expansive cities on the Earth; going from NY to Chicago to LA to Tokyo
and on from that would simply be nice.

Branching camera routes depending upon your current score/progress in
the game. In other words, I'd like more stuff like the rain when you're
about to die but I'd like to have some stuff like that to reward good   play 
as well.

If we're going to see building and shorelines, let's see some people
spectating the event! We don't have to hear them cheer/boo or anything,
but it'd be nice to see a live city.

More varied flash sound effects would go a long way...

Also, here's a thought: what if you earned something like money for ...
completing the game, getting a #1 Chain Attack rating, whatever, and
you can use that to buy new types of Shells to add to the game, like
Dragon Tail Peonys or whatever. Fantavision does have a wide scope of
fireworks covered but there are many more types that would work well
here.

One other thing that'd be nice would be a way to more balance the game
towards those that would prefer to gamble waiting on Multi Daisies than
wanting to Chain Combo; something along the lines of having a bonus for
flashing _just_ at the proper time or not getting as much points for
flashing in time, just too soon or too late. After all, nobody likes
fireworks if they explode TOO close to home...

*Credits*

SCEI for making a PS2 game I've played and enjoyed.
JP Gift of Arlington Heights, IL, for having the game. www.jpgift.com
CJayC for potentially posting this FAQ.
Pnut for making the first Fantavision FAQ.
#sakurataisen on Dalnet to remind me how much my PS2 "sucks".
You for reading this FAQ.