optimizing skills

[Findarian]

Re: optimizing skills

It might not work for everyone, but since it worked for me, I figured it would be okay advice.

Anything like this I really appreciate, because there is a bit of variation on the optimal way to improve, and if I can have a listed out way for each subdivision to improve it would be very beneficial.

Really this thread is meant for anyone who is either tired of the skillcap they hit and are looking for another way around it, or for new/old players to get back in the groove and climb the ranks as fast as they can.

[Reincarnate]

Re: optimizing skills

I think reading ability is vastly underrated. Being able to read things better almost always gave me a huge improvement in scores. Even once you get to the point where the arrows are basically reflexive muscle memory (i.e. you can play files without thinking / FC a file and be totally braindead about it), there are always going to be annoying little patterns that will occasionally trip you up bc you can't tell wtf is happening on your screen.

What helped me here was Stepmania. I slowed a song down and slowly sped it up once I mastered it. It did wonders for my ability to read clustered shit.

[d4u7211]

Re: optimizing skills

Yeah I agree with foxfire667 actually. I'm not fantastic or anything, but I got my best score on Eclipse Solar by draining the **** out of myself playing RATO and coming back later. Plus, I used to mash like crazy and now I can pass shit on SM i never dreamed I could pass (Binedump, A Very Gabber Xmas, Guillame Tell, Magical 8bit Tour, JHM to name a few...) and it's helped me feel like I don't have to be "scared" of passing a song with shit PA. I don't get discouraged as much anymore, and it goes a long way with helping my consistency on PA, AAAing easier files (even sightread AAA's on 50-60)

[TC_Halogen]

Re: optimizing skills

From D5 to D6:
- Be in good health. I myself don't exercise much at all (I tired out fast when I played DDR at 8 on the break) but I rarely eat fast food and I instead have a wide variety of foods. If your body isn't nourished very well and you aren't getting much rest, it won't be surprising if you tire out faster.
- Look at files more closely. That is, don't mindlessly whore files anymore. Isolations aren't magic, but they help with timing and give a hands-on approach to certain sections. Take advantage of these; I personally am still not able to do sections like Crowdpleaser's 64th cluster part consistently, but it's better than wasting your time. FFR is 30 fps, so frame placements matter a lot. I've done a lot of manipulation for files like Grist, grind2, Rave7, and so on.
- You need an operating system that runs the game decently and a responsive keyboard that isn't physically burdening you. I myself can't play on bulky keyboards. This is very crucial at this point as it does make a tremendous difference, so find out what works best. I'm currently handicapped with legacy on the official site for now, so I'm still a bit stuck here if I don't want to play offline for harder files.
- Play a variety of files. VERY IMPORTANT. The same file from what I've observed will almost always give you bad habits. If you notice you're doing worse, stop. When I was whoring Rave7 one day and got a low SDG, I was doing worse and worse and went to 9 goods, and stopped and played it later.
- Learn to manipulate. Jumptrilling, etc. you still may not be able to AAA a file, but it's better than dumping like 10 goods in a section that you can read but still aren't hitting remotely close.
- Be able to full combo jacks at a moderately fast speed. Most files on FFR don't require much vibrating, but a lot of the longer jacks are at a pretty fast speed.
- Be confident when you play. Yes, I myself still sometimes have nerves when I'm playing files like Scrap Syndrome and have an AAA to the last 100 notes. If you don't AAA the file in your run, you at least will be able to finish knowing you did what you could, and just weren't as lucky that time.
- Play through an entire file a few times. Most players will quit out of a song after seeing they have 1 good or whatever. I do this too, but sometimes even if I have a good or two I get to have a feel for the entire file and remember combo marks.

A lot of the points that Dossar mentioned are huge for optimizing in my opinion.

The first point involving health can be taken slightly less seriously, but it does help to have an adequate amount of sleep/energy when playing, because a.) you'll have more focus and b.) you'll be able to exert a fair amount of energy longer in areas where you might have to strain yourself (jacks for me, just as an example.)

Second: playing a variety of files is extremely important too. You'll never get good at every aspect of the game only playing one specific type of file. You might be good at streaming, but what's going to happen if you can't handle jacks? Even the slightest addition of rigidity will murder you. Same thing goes with accuracy -- you might be able to condition yourself to hit things in even intervals, but if you have a freeform song that has constantly changing rhythms, your PA will take a severe hit.

The essence of doing well on FFR involves frame manipulation, as well. You might know the direct rhythm of a pattern, but hitting it as such might be more difficult than trying to attack a particular pattern a certain way (or with a certain rhythm, as I like to do). Think about a song like Skeletor: is it easier to roll straight 32nds at this high speed, or is it easier to hit jumps on each hand at half of the physical speed? The choice is pretty obvious for almost every person.

Confidence is something that's hard to build, but confidence in yourself while playing a full song will inevitably come down your confidence to doing the section that makes you the most nervous. Train yourself to be able to do well on the toughest parts of songs to the point of being able to do it on command, but look at the file and figure out strategies for taking on particular patterns and structures BEFORE playing the file. You can build a much stronger muscle memory at a faster pace if you slowly tap out a fully-working strategy and build up to the speed that you need. Eventually, you'll be able to trash the hardest parts of songs. You might have nerves, but having light nerves is better than having your heart pounding out of your chest. Uneasiness or heart attack? The choice is yours.

And yes, play through the entire file. If you make a mistake, it's important to see the entire structure before trying again. There's nothing worse than replicating what could have been a sightread run only to lose it by something you never got to when you lost the perfect run the first time.

EDIT:

What helped me here was Stepmania. I slowed a song down and slowly sped it up once I mastered it. It did wonders for my ability to read clustered shit.

You can build a much stronger muscle memory at a faster pace if you slowly tap out a fully-working strategy and build up to the speed that you need.

See? Other people do the same thing, and that's because it works.

[Reincarnate]

Re: optimizing skills

I think Disregard is actually good for improving reading skills (at least, it was for me) because it was the first file in many years that I had trouble reading at first due to how dense the stream was with respect to speed. It seems to require a slightly different way of interpreting the muscle memory than straight up hard/confident/calculated MA for most files.

[Dynam0]

Re: optimizing skills

I played Stepmania first...playing FFR will only get you so far in skill imo

For going from low divisions to D5/D6:

-Be sure that hardware isn't limiting your skills, ensure that full potential can be realized with the proper computer/keyboard that works best for you
-I won't stress about health that much (I don't) but don't expect to be playing well if you're running on less than 4 hours sleep or you're hungover etc.
-If you haven't by this point, PLAY STEPMANIA!! Challenge yourself by playing files that tire you out, work towards being able to reliably FC songs that you had difficulty on before. I wouldn't stress that MAing is important since it's FFR, but it isn't a bad idea.
-Reading. Probably the most important skill you need to master this game. Like others have said, if you can understand the clusters coming your way, the better chances you have of developing a means by which to attack said patterns. If you can read a certain speed comfortably, increase it slightly until you read THAT mod comfortably (this can take a lot of time so don't rush). Repeat until increasing even a little makes it difficult to read and you've reached your max.
-I wouldn't say that pattern manipulation is of utmost importance, throw that into high D6, since the only REAL manipulation I use is jump-trilling rolls and jump-jacking fast trills...pretty straightforward...taking screenshots of sections is something I've only done once and I don't think it's necessary in order to become D5/D6

[kmay]

Re: optimizing skills

SM hasn't transferred to FFR at all for me. only thing it does it warm up me faster. I can read shit on SM that i will never be able to read on FFR. but thats just me. i apparently suck. or i just need to devote more time trying to transfer my skill

[TheSaxRunner05]

Re: optimizing skills

Playing songs I know on SM on higher rates is helping me improve my speed

[Reincarnate]

Re: optimizing skills

I wanted to add one more upside to reading ability.


Ever tried putting a newbie on a DDR machine and immediately send him/her into a 7-footer? What happens? They flail all over the place, tire out, and get shitty scores (if not fail altogether).

Same thing happens when you encounter a pattern/cluster you don't know how to read: You toss way too many potshot keypresses haphazardly, and with too much energy expenditure (which is why people who resort to mashing tend to wind up with larger boocounts).

Learning how to read means your taps are far more calculated, and you have greater control on how much energy you actually need to use to tackle a pattern. Files like 0x1331 in Stepmania, for example, require speed. Odds are, though, that your hands are perfectly fast enough. But you'll feel incredibly tired if you can't read the file because you're mashing shit randomly.

So, in a way, I'd almost advise against "pattern manipulation" or getting too comfortable with approximating heuristics/"controlled mashing," etc, since all you're really doing is gambling with your PA and not improving your core speed or reading skills.

EDIT: However, I do agree with Dynam0 about jumptrilling fast rolls or jumpjacking fast trills as an approximation -- those tend to work well and are relatively low-risk at the same time.

Vibrating, though, I don't think is a necessary skill at *all* for FFR, except for maybe Crowdpleaser. But even then, I was never able to AAA the trill through vibration alone (again, it's a gamble). Was only able to do it using overlay setup.

[TheSaxRunner05]

Re: optimizing skills

Quick question, is the judgement easier at a higher rate on SM or did I just SDGreat a song at x1.4?

[Hakulyte]

Re: optimizing skills

Anyone on this site can AAA/FC Death Piano end trills without vibrating/overlay/DS?

[Reincarnate]

Re: optimizing skills

Anyone on this site can AAA/FC Death Piano end trills without vibrating/overlay/DS?

Yeah, that one's actually not all that hard to do. No need for tricks on that one, really.

Quick question, is the judgement easier at a higher rate on SM or did I just SDGreat a song at x1.4?

Judgement windows remain constant -- the steps are just faster/harder.

[Emanresu13]

Re: optimizing skills

Focus on your weaknesses. Do not try comparing your skills to high tier players. Enjoy the game.

i'm on the fence about controlled mashing. it's the only way i can pass some stuff, but it doesn't help me to understand the chart. so, woohoo i passed, but what was the point?

the point that was made about actually finishing files is important as well. what better way to get mindblocked, than to keep doing the first 30 seconds of a chart over and over.

i'll echo Reincarnate about reading ability being key. i'll also say that the slower speed mod you can handle, the better your actual reading ability is.

also, to me, ffr feels like stepmania on sudden. this explains why "c575" is comfortable on ffr, while i prefer c750 on sm.

[Findarian]

Re: optimizing skills

Anyone on this site can AAA/FC Death Piano end trills without vibrating/overlay/DS?

I'm pretty sure 180bpm jacks count as vibrating (or w/e the bpm is there) So to say it doesn't require vibrating is kinda silly.

I'll be updating this thread today, and I'm still looking for scores old or new and what division you think they fit in! (really the more the better)

test

[V-Ormix]

Re: optimizing skills

Focus on your weaknesses. Do not try comparing your skills to high tier players. Enjoy the game.

this

edit: If theres anything ive learned regarding physicality, you need to have good finger control. you dont want to use your arms for every thing, this can cause tension which will wreck your speed and stamina.