Tips from experts

Ever since I've started getting decent, I've had some big trouble with two things:

Making my greats into perfects

Most sections that have 1/12's, 1/16's 1/32's etc. (Also sections that are 1/4's on upbeats, but less so)

Anyone have tips for these or general tips?

------------------
Be polite and ignore the idiots. - rollergator
"It's not a Toomer" - Arnold Schwartzenkoph
"Those who know don't talk and those who talk don't know." -Jeff

Making greats into perfects: This may seem like a simple thing, but if you're playing at home, turn up the music. The louder I have my stereo, the more perfects I get.

Also, never stop tapping your feet to the beat. If there's a quarter-note break, keep tapping the arrow anyway to hold the beat.

For the faster notes, the only thing I can say is to use the handclap option in the training mode.

If you want to practice 16th-note runs in some easier songs, you can try: Conga Feeling, Super Star, Get Me In Your Sight, Lovin' You, Ghosts. (Well, those aren't exactly easy songs, but they're not catas).

EDIT: The only song that has 32nd notes is Tsugaru, so you don't have to worry too much about those. And the only songs that have 12th notes in abundance are Burning Heat, Heaven is a '57 Metallic Gray and Bag. There are a few other songs that have just a couple triplets (Gentle Stress, Afronova, Ska a Go Go, etc.). All FYI. :)

------------------
A day is a drop of water in the ocean of eternity. A week is seven drops.
*** This post was edited by Den 10/30/2003 4:42:56 PM ***

Well, I'd hardly consider myself an expert, but I do have a few tips on how to get better overall.

First off, challenge yourself! Don't stick to songs you know you can pass easily. For your last song, pick a song you're not sure if you can pass. Not something COMPLETELY beyond your capabilities, maybe the next level up from what you currently play at.

Second, really LISTEN to the music. Most of the arrow patterns are set to some sort of musical feature in the song, so if you if you've heard the song a few times before, you'll have a good idea of what to expect.

I think the hardest part about 16th steps and such are actually reading them and processing what you need your feet to do. One thing you could do is start by playing songs with 16th's in them (Den mentioned some good ones) and turn your PS2 to Event mode (so you won't fail), and focus specifically on the 16th's. Once you've practiced reading them, they'll become a lot easier.

And, of course, practice. Some songs may seem hard right now, but if you practice enough and push yourself you'll eventually get 'em.

That makes me feel a lot better. Thanks!

------------------
As Mitch always said, "Never wave to someone you don't know, because what if they don't have a hand?"
-Tomas

I'm doing this all on StepMania, so stuff like event mode and last song selection isn't really a problem. I guess the thing that I really have trouble with is getting any perfects on the sections where the the steps follow an irregular line of the song (the opening section of Music from 5th mix comes to mind right away). I'm always barely hitting greats, if that.

------------------
Be polite and ignore the idiots. - rollergator
"It's not a Toomer" - Arnold Schwartzenkoph
"Those who know don't talk and those who talk don't know." -Jeff

Oh, so you're talking about *isolated* 16th notes. If that's the case, the best song to practice on is Don't Stop!, because it has those for most of the song, yet they follow the music exactly and it's fairly easy. Dam Dariram and I Do I Do I Do also have sections like that that follow the music exactly.

So in these cases, like AB said, it's a matter of really listening to the music, and knowing it well.

------------------
A day is a drop of water in the ocean of eternity. A week is seven drops.

As hard as it may sound, try speeding up the songs a bit up to 1.5x or 2x speed. The arrows move faster, but instead of a gigantic mess of arrows slowly roaming up the screen they are spaced out a bit. This should make it easier to recognize what the heck is going on with the more complex songs, especially ones with 16th steps in them.

Before I did this I had trouble with 5 footers and up. I remember I doubled the speed on I like to move it move it, a song which I had not passed before, and got an A on it :). Now I can pass any 7 footers, most of the 8's, and a few 9's.

But don't depend upon those 1.5 or 2x mods too much... it's generally frowned upon in the DDR community if you depend on mods.

------------------
Tommy Penner

Not in the DDR community around here... *everyone* uses x1.5, at least, on every song. I hate it, myself... I only use mods on Bag and So Deep, because I couldn't pass them if I didn't.

------------------
A day is a drop of water in the ocean of eternity. A week is seven drops.

I think speed mods are perfectly fine for practicing. If I can't pass a song on the first go, I usually use x1.5 to practice a bit, then try it again to pass it without mods. I don't consider myself to have passed a song till I've passed it without mods.

Just don't do rely too much on them. I once saw someone who could do most 9's with x1.5 fail a 7 because he didn't have any speed mods on.

That section in towards the end of "I do I do I do" that starts with the stream of downs and lefts is exactly what I'm talking about. I have no idea what to do there and usually end up tripping over my own feet. It doesn't sound like it's following any specific line of the music at all.

------------------
Be polite and ignore the idiots. - rollergator
"It's not a Toomer" - Arnold Schwartzenkoph
"Those who know don't talk and those who talk don't know." -Jeff
*** This post was edited by ApolloAndy 11/2/2003 5:08:56 PM ***
*** This post was edited by ApolloAndy 11/2/2003 5:09:14 PM ***

The end of I Do I Do I Do? If I *recall* correctly, starts with some eighths that go right into 16th's. What you need to do is pay attention to how fast you hit the 8th's first, then just hit the 16th's twice as fast. I know that probably doesn't make any sense, but that's usually what I do.

Hopefully you're talking about I Do I Do I Do. It's a pretty tricky 8 and still gives me a bit of trouble.

What mix is I Do I Do I Do on?

------------------
-Sean Newman

It's on DDR Extreme only. Here's the step chart:

http://www.ddrfreak.com/stepcharts/stepchart.php?song=idoidoido&mode=Single&difficulty=Maniac&code=Normal&Submit=Submit

The part I was talking about starts about halfway down the second column. It includes isolated 16th notes and goes with the background of the music.

Near the end, there are some gallops that probably don't go with the music. I call those the "Twilight Zone" gallops, because they sound just like the ones in Twilight Zone, and they are in a *lot* of songs (such as this one, So Deep, Insertion, Can't Stop Fallin' in Love, Dynamite Rave, Dam Dariram, etc.).

I bet looking at that step chart will help as much as anything.

------------------
A day is a drop of water in the ocean of eternity. A week is seven drops.

The part that I have massive trouble with is the start of the 5th measure of the last column. I put on the clap assist and I still can't get the rhythm. I guess I'm just going to have to keep trying...

------------------
Be polite and ignore the idiots. - rollergator
"It's not a Toomer" - Arnold Schwartzenkoph
"Those who know don't talk and those who talk don't know." -Jeff

OK, that's the "Twilight Zone" rhythm I'm talking about. Just think about how that song starts and you've got it.

------------------
A day is a drop of water in the ocean of eternity. A week is seven drops.

I got it now. Thanks!

------------------
Be polite and ignore the idiots. - rollergator
"It's not a Toomer" - Arnold Schwartzenkoph
"Those who know don't talk and those who talk don't know." -Jeff

Okay, a new problematic section:

In Frozen Ray (and quite a few others) there're these threesomes of 8ths that're like RDR, DLD, LUL etc.

I never get the right feet on the right pads for these sections. I always end up starting a triple with the wrong foot and not having a foot to finish it with. Should I just memorize it and spin or is there a better way to do these patterns?

------------------
Be polite and ignore the idiots. - rollergator
"It's not a Toomer" - Arnold Schwartzenkoph
"Those who know don't talk and those who talk don't know." -Jeff

Some would spin, but I would double-step that section. I would do the RDR with my right foot on the right arrow, then cross my right foot over to the left arrow to do DLD, then do a quick hop with my left foot to the left arrow to do the LUL.

Spinning might look less awkward, but it's no more efficient, as far as I'm concerned. Besides, in songs like HVAM and Breakdown, you'll have to double-step unless you want to make yourself dizzy.

------------------
A day is a drop of water in the ocean of eternity. A week is seven drops.