so I started playing dance dance revolution: extreme, last saturday

[Kitsune Ascendant]

I'm already playing some of the easier songs on light mode. I think Caption jack is the hardest one I've done so far, simply because of it's speed.
speaking of speed, I absolutely love speed over Beethoven.

so, advice on improving (other than practice. I've had plenty of that so far, and I have the sore muscles to prove it), fave songs, that kinda thing.

[Supercheese]

Have you learned/figured out crossovers yet?

Also, are you able to make it so the arrows are different colors based on their respective notes? (i.e. red for quarter notes, blue for eighth notes, etc.)

[Kitsune Ascendant]

what's a crossover?

and I think I know how to. hold down the green button after selecting a song, and select "little" on one of the options.

also, what's the best song on light mode to imrove my skills? keep in mind that the hardest one I've beaten so far is probably captian jack. 

[Supercheese]

A crossover is when you have a series of notes that require you to step across the pad using alternating feet instead of  "double stepping." Ahem, you have a series of notes like:

left  down  right  down  left

<       \/      >      \/      <

So, naturally, you'd start with the left foot on the left arrow and then follow with the right foot on the down arrow.

However, now you are presented with a choice: use the right foot again to step on the left arrow, removing it from the down arrow, or instead using the left foot to step on the right arrow, crossing over your right foot. The latter option is much more efficient, especially at higher speeds.

Comprende?


Also, the "little" option does not change the notes to their respective duration-colors. I believe it simply eliminates jumps or something like that.

[James StarRunner]

Hmm... how'd I figure you'd find this thread Supercheese?

I could probably take some pointers though since I don't have that much experience with DDR. (There's no arcade in this town!)

[Supercheese]

What can I say, but to quote Gene Kelley from my favorite musical of all time:

"Gotta dance!"

[Kitsune Ascendant]

*looks again*

ah. little takes out all non-quarter notes. it's solo mode that colors the arrows. as far as crossovers, I haven't really done that yet. I think at this point it would end up throwing me off balance.

james, what level do you play?

[luiqui]

Does it have Nori Nori Nori in it? Taught me to do crossovers, or as I call them, turns.

Dealing with speed is probably the best practice you can get for the moment. It's a very useful and transferable skill - you can usually improvise stepping movements for the harder songs if you can react to the arrows fast enough, whether or not you know the 'right' way of doing it.

Other than that. Keep on pushing yourself. Ramp up the difficulty and play some tracks you're familier with. I'd recommend Tsugaru as your first real 'hard' song, although I'm probably thinking too far ahead with that suggestion.

*goes off to the arcade*

[insanekaosx]

My favorite song is most definitly, without a doubt, Breakdown *From Max2*. It was the first actual heavy song I beat *Dream a Dream does not actually count as heavy *, just through playing it over... and over... and over... I'm also rather fond of afronova, even if I'm not very good at it.

If you're playing Extreme.... oh god... the YMCA is on that one, isn't it >< A good song for practicing speed would be 321Stars if I remember correctly, I haven't playedd Extreme in a while.

[Howru]

I don't think any of the light songs have gallop steps but you'll definitely run into them later on.  Off the top of my head, true... and Cowgirl are good heavy songs to learn them since they're not that fast.

Best advice I can give you is to memorize where you are on the stage.  That way you can keep your eyes on the arrows instead of figuring out where you're stepping, run into your partner during versus, or run off the stage in the middle of a song (especially the faster songs).

*also runs off the the arcade*

[Nikki]

i love DDR cuz it's excercise diguised as a videogame and vice-versa ^^;

[Supercheese]

Then there's In the Groove, which I actually like better than DDR... but DDR has mmore songs (especially the latest SuperNOVA).

Also, what about Doubles or 6-arrow (solo) mode? I like them both - they're harder and provide more variety once you get to higher difficulties and want to mix it up a bit. Also fun are modifiers. Make the arrows spin, fade out, and bumpy, and the targets drift....

God, there's so much to talk about when discussing DDR...

[insanekaosx]

I am morally against mods. I don't use them if I don't have to. Just like the bar.

Its just the way I play >>

[Supercheese]

I would use the bar, except it makes me worse... >.<

And mods are most fun on In the Groove.

[Nikki]

is there a way to import music to the games? cuz i wanna dance to a few songs X3

[Supercheese]

is there a way to import music to the games? cuz i wanna dance to a few songs X3

Stepmania for the computer is the ultimate in this and other departments. However, one must buy special dance pads/converters to hook up to one's USB ports.

Speaking from expierience, this is very much worth it. *goes back to DDR-ing on his laptop*

[Nikki]

ooh yay X3

[Supercheese]

DDR-ing to "He's a Pirate" (you should know that song ) is really hard, but fun.

[Kitsune Ascendant]

'ey everyone.

I'm currently at the point where speed isn't really an issue (I can do crash, which is probabably the fastest four footer on the machine). at the moment, it's off-beat notes and corner doubles that are keeping me from going much further. so, any recomended songs to train for those would be apreciated.

[luiqui]

Okay - corner jumps. First, to get in the swing of things, do a few on the pad before starting to play. Visualise the step as it would appear on screen as you do this. This should mean you know what to expect, and don't get too thrown off before starting. Then, maybe give Afronova a go on light. It has corner jumps, but the song is quite gentle with you, usually giving a few preparatory steps (if you need to hit down+right, the two preceding steps will probably to down, right or right, down). Just watch out for the pattern at the end: a triplet rhythm that requires a crossover/turn. Actually, you could probably get away without hitting it at all if you've been steady throughout the song.