Pop'n Music 13: Carnival Assistance

[Xayro]

Hey everyone.

I just got Drummania/Guitar Freaks V2 and Pop'n Music 13.

I was kinda bored with the song selection in Guitar Freaks, though much better than the music on Guitar Hero, so I switched over to Pop'n Music. Now, the controller for Pop'n hasn't came in yet, so i'm played with the Dualshock.

So once I get it, I wanna know how to do some stuff, since I can't read japanese.

1.) How to switch normal to hyper and expert.
2.) What exactly all the modes in Arcade do.
3.) What the HELL are you doing when you match the cards up and build those... whatever they are.
4.) What is regular arcade mode.. with the points and clear bar... and the song list that is diagonal.

Thanks alot.

[Loserbait]

1) You press both yellow buttons together to switch difficulties (or whatever buttons they are on the dualshock)
2) Modes in Arcade? Um... Refresh my memory
3) You're unlocking. Carnival's unlock game is where you choose two cards. The addition of those cards is your total points (Jacks = 11, Queen = 12, King = 13, Joker = other card's value). If you get two of the same value (2 Jacks) you get a 4x multiplier. Then, you simply choose which item you wanna build (the theme park rides towards the right of screen generally cost more points. For instance, if I have 200 points to spend, I don't want to use it on the 1st ride that costs 50 points because I waste 150. So I'd spend it on the rides to the right of screen).
4) Not sure what you mean...

[Arctures]

1. At the song select screen, press both yellow buttons at the same time. Keep in mind that not all songs have expert modes.
2. Arcade: Play songs.
Challenge: Play harder songs.
Expert: Play a predetermined set of songs.
Battle: Play against someone else, each person gets three buttons each.
Is Osusume in Carnival? I can't remember.
3. This is the unlock game for Carnival. You get a choice of a bunch of cards, and you have to choose two (if you get two kings it's a total of 108 points). The more points you get, the more you build on something. When a building is complete, a new song (or in some cases, a course) is unlocked. The point values vary from song to song, so don't depend on each one being 100 points.
4. I'm not sure what you mean by this question, this is just the song select screen as far as you have described it.

[CStarFlare]

The select button can also be used in place of both yellows for difficulty changes/mod menu/etc.

[DKW]

Challenge is the main mode of PM. I think this is what you meant by the "regular arcade mode". Indiviudal song high scores are recorded here. Each chart has a challenge score you get for clearing the song; you can add modifiers to increase the value (not exactly sure what they do in Carnival, though). Completing three stages gets you an Omake picture. These are usually random; a few are song-specific.

Enjoy is the "easy" mode. It has a limited songlist and uses simplified notecharts. It has a separate high score chart and does not save scores for individual songs.

Expert is the standard four-song course mode.

As for the unlock system, the cards you get are mostly based on your scores for all the songs. You have to get at least one score very close to 100,000 in order for a King to show up. ALWAYS go for a pair; even the lowest pair is more than anything you can get with two unmatched cards. The unlocks are actually divided into two areas (based loosely on Disneyland and Disney World). A double king, 104 points, is enough to complete about the first four or five unlocks; most of the rest will require two or more cracks, and at least one requires three or more. Don't sweat wasting points, though (which'll happen no matter what); you'll get these prizes very quickly. Just use your judgment, and if you're a bit off, just keep playing.

[eldiablo3005]

Not sure if this is just for arcade because I haven't tried it on 13 at home, but if you press both white buttons, you can activate cools.

[Xayro]

What am I unlocking when I build the carnival? Songs?

I figured out how to change difficulty on the dualshock last night, but thanks for telling me how with the controller. And yeah, Challenge mode is the closest thing to what I would consider the real arcade mode. It has the songlist, you can switch difficulties, it shows your score, and it runs like how I see people play in Tatsujins.

Enjoy mode was confusing the hell out of me. Thanks for clearing it up.

Also, one more question:
Can you do battle with just one controller? I tried it, and it wouldnt let me.

[Arctures]

Originally Posted by Xayro

What am I unlocking when I build the carnival? Songs?

As previously stated, yes, this is the unlock system. When you complete a building, you unlock a song.

[Alex]

Originally Posted by Xayro

And yeah, Challenge mode is the closest thing to what I would consider the real arcade mode.

As of Pop'n 12, that's how it works, even in the arcade. Enjoy mode for the newbies, Challenge mode for everyone who knows what they're doing.

[Xayro]

ok. Thanks alot everyone.

[Slarty]

Originally Posted by eldiablo3005

Not sure if this is just for arcade because I haven't tried it on 13 at home, but if you press both white buttons, you can activate cools.

Greens. Not whites.

S-Challenge mode, AKA SUPER

[[NesS]]

Originally Posted by SirSlarty

Greens. Not whites.

S-Challenge mode, AKA SUPER

Super Challenge only activates cools? Or is there something else? And what is that screen I see in arcade tatsujins (and some home I think) where you have all this japanese and these numbers? There's two columns and I'm guessing you have to set it.

[CStarFlare]

S-Challenge is the same as Challenge except for Cool timing.

That menu is part of Challenge. The options you pick are conditions that you get points for if you meet them during the song. If you build up enough points during your game, you get an extra stage. Most of them are pretty self-explanitary; get over 80k or get a 300 combo and so on.

[tomokosasaki]

S-challenge isn't just adding cool timing.
It adds different ojamas, aswell as the ability to use ALWAYS ON.

This is why i want an EVENT challenge mode instead of FREE, i wanna use ojamas sometimes. :|

[eldiablo3005]

Elaborate on ojamas :]