1. Keyboard
10/10 would recommend
Magicforce by Qisan - 68k Brown switch mechanical keyboard
2. Key Map
Alternated between QWOP and ASKL for ages, trying diagonal setup now (QSLP) to improve ergonomics and it seems to be working out well so far.
3. Speed/Offset
For R3 Air I'm currently using 2.9x scroll speed and -0.9 Judge offset. Global offset will change from time to time if the conversion is off.
4. Visual Mods
No background (this mostly applies to a few older legacy files, but there is no reason not to leave it on anyway). I do use other mods from time to time, but they are just for fun and not for performance.
5. Noteskin
Default FFR noteskin
6. Window Resolution
Default, which I think is 780x478(?) after doing some quick cropping and checking the size.
7. FPS/Refresh Rate
60 on 60hz monitor
8. Headphones
These less than stellar
SADES headphones. I have much better bookshelf speakers, but they'll have to do for now when I stream until I buy some better ones.
9. Secret to gettin gud
Practice, variation, adaptation. But...
Control cheat code:
Play a song way beyond your level (to the point where you are basically mashing) for a few minutes. Go back to a song that is just a little tough for you to hit, you should feel much more confident with the patterns.
Reading cheat code:
Play a song a fair bit out of your level (not straight mashing tier but like maybe the patterns are too fast or at times a little tough to read) and crank the speed mod up significantly (like .5x). You'll hit very late, but you should be able to read the pattern better. You can then take this reading memory into your normal speed mod and then understand it how to hit it better. Note that if you are plateauing skill wise you might want to consider permanently increasing your speed mod by a certain amount, like +.1x.
Mind block cheat code:
If a song if giving you trouble with mind blocks, play that same song on random (literally every arrow is shifted randomly in the chart) a few times. Once your done confusing your song muscle memory sneak in a normal play through. This should give you around a 3-5 minute window where you aren't nearly as likely to mind block on the patterns you normally would. Back when I was actually good I used this a lot to pull through on some dumb mind blocks I had and finally AAA. Try to avoid whoring files and alternate to different mind blocks when doing this, as playing the same song over and over can solidify old blocks and make new ones if you aren't careful.
Daunting walls cheat code:
For a newer player it might seem like certain patterns are impossibly fast to hit, but in reality are designed a very specific way so that they can be hit flawlessly in FFR's rather large judge window. A fair number of very fast 32nd and 64th note patterns can actually be hit by either doing a [12][34] alternating jumptrill or a [34][12] jumptrill. Be on the look out for 32nd or 64th rolls, or [12]34 / [34]12 patterns, or split rolls (e.g. 21342134 \ 34213421) and know it's not as crazy as it actually looks.
Hiatus cheat code:
Can't seem get out of your plateau despite playing all the time? Stuck in a rut you can't get out of? Take a break, honestly even just a couple of weeks should be fine. When you return you'll have lost some skill,
but prepare to marvel at your sudden break of plateau after a couple of days of return play. You'll wonder to yourself, why was this so hard to begin with?
Skill grind efficiency:
Part of improving is having a large variety of content to play. FFR has a large setlist, but don't sleep on the incredible power of alt engines (particularly FFRMania). You can practice stuff that is far too ridiculous to ever be approved in FFR's judge batch, along with an absolutely massive selection of files that you can grind out to. Everything can be a sightread, and since there is no super official rankings there is no nerves or anything else to hold you back when you play.
Also anecdotally I find that when I play FFR files on rates, I preform better than I would if a file of a similar difficulty were played at normal speed. I don't know why, but I'm sure that can be used to carry over learning various skill sets too.
Keeping the fire burning bright:
Skill mastery takes a while, and while self improvement is the beauty of the game, it's tough to stay on top of it if you've got no motivation. Get that motivation, have a rival, get involved with the community, cheer people on, post scores, do multiplayer, stream, anything to get that validation to keep on chugging along. It's all about the journey, and it's much more fun when you've got a group of people chilling and having a good time along for the ride. If you want it more, you'll be much more likely to get it.