[AHK] Beating the Secret Game

Making the impossible, possible!

Getting access to the Secret Game

First of all, you'll need access to the game itself. After you've finished the main game, in the menu there will be zodiac signs above each level that you must select in the correct order to unlock the Secret Game. The correct sequence is shown with the corresponding constellations in the background during the last level's dance, and it's as follows:

• ♏ - Scorpio
  
• ♒ - Aquarius
  
• ♉ - Taurus
  
• ♌ - Leo
  
• ♍ - Virgo

Every time you restart the game you'll need to input this sequence to access the Secret Game. As I'm not really used to zodiac signs, I memorized it as normal M / water / necklace / sperm and stylish M.

Gameplay

The Secret Game consists of a rhythm game. In it you're tasked to shoot down falling colored notes with the corresponding colored beam (cyan or pink) at the right time. Each type of beam has an energy bar that depletes when the beam is used, but is recharged when notes are hit with the correct color.

Unlike the main game, the Secret Game is meant to be played with the keyboard. The controls are F for cyan beam and J for pink beam. You may hold down the key when met with fast sequences of same colored notes. Clicking a beam's tank will shoot it out, allowing for some mixups of control scheme.

Hitting a note with the wrong colored beam or letting a note fall onto the city on the bottom will remove a bit of energy from both energy supplies. Having no energy = game over. You'll need to survive by hitting notes and saving energy for the duration of the song (roughly 2-3 minutes depending on the speed setting).

Originally posted by SuperChop Games (developer):

(...) The secret game is intentionally extremely difficult. Since the main game is very laid back, I thought it would be fun to make the secret game the opposite. (...)

Setting up AutoHotKey

The thing that makes the Secret Game so impossible to beat is the controls: just one key pressed for too long will waste a reasonable chunk of your energy bars. It requires smooth, quick and precise key strokes from the player, so as to have enough fuel to last the whole song. With the help of this guide right here, not as much anymore!

We'll need some help: AutoHotKey is a freeware script and macro platform, with many varied uses and applications. You can download it here[www.autohotkey.com]. From its endless number of tools and usage, all we're going to need are 3 simple hotkey assignments.

AHK isn't a GUI-oriented software: installing it won't bring up a nifty window to record and save macros or scripts, but rather make your computer able to recognize and run .ahk files at their full glory.

The Code

After installing, open up any usual text editor (notepad works fine) and copy+paste the following:

q::
send fffff
return

p::
send jjjjj
return

i::
send fjfj
return

Save it as something like "dragonfly.ahk" (with quotes) and later run it. A new tray icon will appear to warn that the script is up and running. Right-clicking the icon will allow you to kill the script, edit it or reload it (after changes have been made on the script), among other options. For more info on AutoHotKey usage, check its help guide included with the install and remember that the internet is your friend[google.com].

If AHK isn't available to you (e.g. on Macs), any other macro software should also work for this... probably.

How it works

While it's running, the code dictates that whenever you press Q, instead of registering a Q press, it will register 5 presses of F (in-game = cyan beam). Likewise for P = J five times (pink beam). Pressing the I key will shoot both types of lightning (for the few chaotic moments during the song). You may switch Q, P and I to any other keys by editing the script, and change how many key strokes for F and J as you see fit, but five key presses is what worked best for me on all 3 speed modes.

The twist here is that when using this, the game will receive key strokes either with just enough time between them or too fast for it to register them as normally, thus evading the Secret Game's main problem: energy waste. Magic!

However this isn't fool-proof. Holding or spamming key strokes will accumulate them to be registered later, which is obviously against the objective of a rhythm game. And more importantly, you still need to beat the Secret Game while prone to its difficulty, to bad timing, wrong shock color used, cramps, flash floods, nuclear fallouts, etc.

Just think of this as a huge aid, as those are basically alternate key binds that don't waste your energy.

This method was tested on two low-end computers. If this doesn't work on your end, do comment. Also make sure that you have a consistent framerate before trying this method out: lowering your display's resolution does wonders against the possible slowdown when too many hit effects are shown.

If you followed this guide correctly, you just made the Secret Game doable, and getting 100% achievements a reachable goal.

Reaping the rewards

Beating the game will net you 3 different achievements related to the 3 different speed settings.

Beat The Secret Game On Slow

— Make it all the way to the end of the secret game playing on slow
Should be your first try and a testing environment for the script.

Beat The Secret Game

— Make it all the way to the end of the secret game
Getting a bit harder now...

Beat The Secret Game On Fast

— Woah, you just did that
If you followed this guide thoroughly, this shouldn't be too hard. Good luck anyway.

Closing notes

There we go. If this guide has helped you out, don't forget to rate it. And if there is any way that I can make it clearer, do comment.

[Neutral Star]

Thank you. Finally managed to beat it now.

[Delfar]

Thanks to this guide and this thread I could know all the achievements:
https://steamcommunity.com/app/335920/discussions/0/617328415056727362/

Thank you very much, you can include other achievements to have a complete guide on all of them.

[Flem]

I was able to do the slow and normal this way. Thank you so much. Still struggling with the fast one though..it seems impossible to me.

[SuperChop Games]

Wow, this is amazing. You just made my night.