need some timing advice

[arne]

Hi,

I started with SM like 1 1/2 year ago, played a few month then didnt touch it untill I started playing again a month ago.
My problem is I now FC most 9-footers, but can't AAA anything.. not even something from the 1st or 2nd DDR mix. A few days ago I changed to the "note" skin and set arrow speed to constant 550. This really helps for spotting 16ths and 32nds, but I don't yet see a "red-blue-red-red" as 8th-8th-8th-4th from the color, only the "gap". Ill prolly have this down pretty soon tho.

So what should I do to get the timing thing right? I now play with judge on 6 for practise. Maybe slower arrow speed to learn following the music/color of the notes better? I do seem to make up for lack of rythm with "raw" hand-eye coordination..

Any suggestion is most appreciated.


//Arne "my english sucks because it's my third language" Ihantala

[deposition]

If you aren't already, it really helps to make sure you are looking at your note grade (ex. perfect marvelous) and nowhere above that and just listen to the song to find exactly when to hit the notes. It might help to try playin on hidden for a bit.. Once i got used to looking a little father down and listening to the music for the note more it not only improved my timeng but actually helped me read more complex rythem because I could see the notes a bit longer..

[arne]

wow

The first couple of songs were hard as hell, but then i really started to feel the rythm =)

Thanks a ton, deposition!



(I had to miss one at the end)

[deposition]

Np and gj. Now when you turn hidden off, but keep looking in the middle, and with a little practice you may just AAA it . It should be easier to catch some notes and rythems that may of been harder to see before with hidden off..

[arne]

No AAAs yet, but I now actually feel that I missed when I strike a "great" - I guess that's a little progress =]

Also, what's the term.. "jackhammers"? (lots of the same arrow in a row) are easy now, and I previously had problems with those. FCd CSFIL with just a dozen of greats

[evilbutterfly]

i have a similar problem. i have pretty good rythm (sp?), i can play fast or slow scroll speeds, i can play with hidden on (even on foot), i can do complex things (i've started trying to play with Stealth and mirror on and looking at 2P side. i can do it on light on foot, i'll have to try heavy in SM later), and i've been playing games since i was 4 and my reflexes are great, but for some reason my timing is a lil bit off and i cant AAA anything. i cant AA anything on foot, either. it's really annoying, and playing on Judge 6 for a while helped, but not enough to get me AAAing things. i hate it...

[Ori0n78]

I'm the same way, I can't AAA anything, but I've been playing DDR consistently since 1st mix in late 1997. I can pass the maxes without the bar and pass PSMO, but I can't even AAA 6 foot songs unless I try it a lot of times and eventually get lucky. Hell, I'm not sure if I could AAA a 3 foot song (never tried). I know how to hear a beat and subdivide, but I can't seem to ever consistently nail it perfectly.

Normaly I learn the rhythm of a song and I stare about midscreen and try to "guess" when the arrows will reach the top. Due to this I'm not good at sightreading a song at all. I remember with Sakura on Heavy, when I couldn't even get an A because I could not hit the gallop steps for ANYTHING. What I did was make sure to notice right when the arrows hit the top, so for the gallops I will move my line of vision up to the arrows then go back down (i still do that). Now I can AA it sometimes, usually A though. I think my brain can read the notes in time, but telling my feet to move em in precise timing is very off. If I try to read a whole song like I do with the Sakura gallop steps I usually get flustered and give up easy, I feel more comfortable reading the arrows midway down the screen.

I'm sort of the same with Stepmania, altho I'm better at Stepmania (because I play Konami DDR songs mainly, not the difficult challenge step stuff) I feel like I have the same issue with Stepmania, I can read arrows and patterns fast, but I can't get my brain to tell my fingers precisely when to hit the key, so I get Greats a lot. But I can move my fingers really fast so I can keep combos. Although, I have the HARDEST time when there's lots of doubles. That's why I avoid most challenge steps because if there are lots of doubles inbetween singles, I get so ridiculously confused (deer in headlights anyone?). This is why I like Reach's version of Stratosfortress because it has a high stream but it is also short on the double/single switching back and forth abruptly deals. I'm new to the terminology, I don't know what Jackhammers are either (are those them?). I also don't know what FC means either :\ Enlighten me, I've kind of just ignored it for awhile, only having a brisk understand (not quite AAA, but passing it well? lol.)

Anyhow.. yea... this post got too long. -_-;

[banditcom]

FC = full combo

jackhammers are where there are multiple of the same one in a row... example: 222222 or 666