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Further notes on my uncoordinated ass and DDREx2.



I'm now through the A and B levels on the Dance Master mode. There's still stuff that I need to unlock by, for example, getting AAA on A-06, but I am not yet good enough to do that. I can get all good/great/perfect on the damn song but that isn't enough. I need all of them perfect (no greats or goods) in order to get AAA. I'm not there yet and it doesn't have a strong rhythm to follow so I tend to rush it. Stupid Baby Look At Us song. The currently open area is X level and that is totally kicking my ass at the moment because it uses combinations of steps I haven't seen before, like holds punctuated with the other foot on some other arrow.

The game has very definite ideas for where your feet are supposed to be and what feet you should be using to hit any given button. You don't have to do it the way the game thinks is correct, but you'll be happier if you do, particularly if the song is marginal for your skillz.

For example, if it gives you
***→ R (weight)
*↓** L (tap)
←*** L (weight)
*↓** R (tap)
***→ R (weight)
*↓** L (tap)
←*** L (weight)

The game expects you to do it that way. Doing it other ways will not make the game happy. It *scores* okay, but that is the foot pattern it's expecting. You'll get this crap in strings that are kind of hard to pick up again if you lose them but that are massively easier if you just do it the way the game is EXPECTING you to do it. (This also generally sets you up to be on the correct foot for the next string of stuff.)

Alternating feet is important. Fail to alternate feet and it will eat you. It wants you to alternate feet, so make an effort in that direction. After you get past the super easy songs, there is no game expectation that you're standing in the middle and waiting for an arrow. It's frequently beneficial to stay where you ended up and wait for the new arrow. (Moving less means you don't get as tired and can, therefore, play longer.) Standing in the middle is not required as long as you can tell where the arrows are for your feet.

I think the game shows a slight preference for the left foot on the down arrow, at least thus far. Similarly, right foot seems to be supposed to hit the up arrow, all other things being equal. This isn't an always true, just that's the way to bet if you're sight-reading a new song and don't have any better ideas.

Bouncing along to the music when there's nothing to do is helpful if you have trouble with that. Songs without a solid, dance-club rhythm are a lot harder to follow and there are some of them. I do not like the songs without a solid dance-club rhythm. I also despise the cover of Oops, I Did it Again employed in this game.

The screen really does tell you when you've gotten a hundred combo.

There are given pattern steps that you are going to see over and over. The set above is one, they also seem to be rather fond of across-the-board, both left and right start.
(left, down, up, right OR right, up, down, left -- the arrows, one at a time, in the order they appear across the top of the screen). Might as well learn these -- you're going to keep seeing them.

I got through all the lesson things it had to offer in Lesson Mode. They were very helpful but more of them would have been nicer. I liked how it slowed them down and had a little guy there to show me where the hell my feet were supposed to be going.

I can do two foot songs and some three foot songs. Four foot songs still elude me. This is with about six hours of playtime on the game, for those keeping track of how long it takes the uncoordinated old person to get not-sucky at DDR. (Not-sucky is hereby defined as "able to play the thing on standard mode like normal people.")

まだまだだね

Date: 2005-12-29 03:25 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] electroweak.livejournal.com
Four foot songs still elude me.

And they will continue to elude you until you mutate into a centaur, I presume?

Date: 2005-12-29 04:41 am (UTC)
ext_9278: Lake McDonald -- Glacier National Park (Default)
From: [identity profile] sara-merry99.livejournal.com
Hey, she could train the Insane Red Horse on how to play DDR--it would be an exciting adventure for both of them. :)

Date: 2005-12-29 04:58 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] which-chick.livejournal.com
I have one of the soft, foldable DDR mats. The horse would destroy it. I do harbor thoughts of the IRH (or perhaps the slightly more sane bay horse, whom you have not met yet but who has been added to the spring agenda) and music. Music is good for horses and I don't have rhythm without music but I don't do badly *with* music.

Date: 2005-12-29 05:02 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] which-chick.livejournal.com
I believe I'm being mocked, here.

Date: 2005-12-29 12:35 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] ladyivy.livejournal.com
Mocked? My husband MOCK someone? Perish the thought!

Date: 2005-12-29 01:11 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] which-chick.livejournal.com
No, no, it definitely had the authentic look-and-feel of mockery. I saw a lot of it in my younger days and I'm quite familiar with spotting it in the wild.

Given his recent foray into mockery, I'm sure that he has m4d l33t DDR skillz the likes of which I can only imagine. Would he be willing to demonstrate his own prowess? (Since I'm such a n00b, I shouldn't pass up any opportunity to learn from my betters.) If it'd help, I could bring the stuff along to New Year's. I'm sure Sector R would let us borrow his TV...

France France Revolution!

Date: 2005-12-29 02:26 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] teflon-tim.livejournal.com
I can't speak for Comrade Electroweak, but I've been known to venture into the realm of multiple-foot songs myself -- albeit on the original PS1 DDR. By all means bring your gear; I'll bring my pad as well for some head-to-head action.

[Is it just me, or does that sounds vaguely suggestive? Didn't mean it that way. Honest.]

I'll also bring my Pump It Up pad and give a demonstration of my m4d l33t FIVE-pad skillz. You'll never look at Betthoven and Vivaldi the same way. :)

The tricky part will be where to set things up. Matt's basement ceiling is a bit too low for proper demonstration of m4d l33t skillz, so we may have to improvise.

Re: France France Revolution!

Date: 2005-12-29 04:48 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] which-chick.livejournal.com
I'm shorter than you are by a fair piece. Basement is good, gives me the 'all ya'll knock your heads on the ceiling' advantage. :)

Note that I am not *good* at this. I am beginning to be vaguely capable on the lame-and-pathetic level. I can usually make it to the end of songs with three feet and NOT DIE. On about half of the three feet songs (this is on the "light" level, mind) I can score better than a C and put together double-digit combos.

I don't know if three feet is three feet everywhere or not. Normal humans, I am told, play better than three feet. (Good for them. These things take time. I play three feet with a passable degree of competence. Rome was not built in a day.)

Date: 2005-12-29 02:56 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] cousin-sue.livejournal.com
The person I find interesting to watch is Father Rusty.

And it will keep him in shape to deal with middle of the night feeding calls, so he should be encouraged to do more of it at the New Years Party.

Date: 2005-12-29 04:30 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] which-chick.livejournal.com
Yes, I'd heard (Aisha is very informative) of the impending Father status for SGM Rusty.

Date: 2005-12-30 11:43 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] ladyivy.livejournal.com
You can bring it but I seriously doubt you will get Jon to play DDR in public. I'd like to see, though.

Date: 2005-12-30 01:19 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] which-chick.livejournal.com
He plays it in private, then? (Very much a member of the read-for-meaning community, here.) And why the hell wouldn't he? I mean, honestly, nobody looks good playing the game, not even skinny fourteen year olds. Besides, he made with the mockery, which is only allowable for people who can do better. Also, I am a n00b in a weak and noncompetitive state. If ever there were a time to hand my ass to me in DDR, this would be it.

Date: 2005-12-29 04:21 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] gwangi.livejournal.com
I have a friend who went as a Dance Dance Revolutionary for Halloween. She wore this hilarious 80's spandex outfit (like the gal in that movie where she's a steel worker and a ballerina at the same time...?) , bandoliers, and guns, all while carrying around a DDR pad. It was really cool.

Date: 2005-12-30 03:23 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] electroweak.livejournal.com
DDR pad, little beret, croissant, and tricolor flag. France France Revolution.

*YOINK!*

Date: 2005-12-30 05:51 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] teflon-tim.livejournal.com
I am *so* stealing that idea. I think you also need the stereotypical striped shirt, and maybe a wine bottle as well.

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