Worth starting now?

[Palm_Tree]

Hello there. Long story short, I'm thinking of giving SM (or FFR, maybe?) a go, though I have a few small questions.

1. Would you say the community is, well, there? Although I don't mind a small (but active) community, is it declining, stable, or growing? Or is it pretty hard to gauge at this point in time?

2. How does SM compare to osu!mania? I hear the judgment in o!m is pretty horrible, though I've stumbled across videos from greats like Halogen and Staiain playing o!m a fair bit. Should I be playing o!m instead if I want to play a vertical rhythm game? Or would SM be a better choice?

3. Are there any beginner packs you would particularly recommend for learning keyboard play? I just downloaded Stepping Stones of Stepmania; is that a good one to start with?

4. On OS X, running SM 5.0.7, how does one change the arrow speed? I searched through the arrow speed sticky and can't seem to find information relevant to my current state.

Thank you very much.

[Wayward Vagabond]

The FFR community is active enough. The sm community here is dead but the stepping community here is still here though barely.

I prefer sm over OSU just because its more streamlined.

As far as packs are concerned its a good place to start. A lot of the older packs are great for beginners because they're easier because of the skill level of players at the time. You could also play my files they're easier than most stuff

[Wafles]

Originally Posted by Palm_Tree

Hello there. Long story short, I'm thinking of giving SM (or FFR, maybe?) a go, though I have a few small questions.

1. Would you say the community is, well, there? Although I don't mind a small (but active) community, is it declining, stable, or growing? Or is it pretty hard to gauge at this point in time?

2. How does SM compare to osu!mania? I hear the judgment in o!m is pretty horrible, though I've stumbled across videos from greats like Halogen and Staiain playing o!m a fair bit. Should I be playing o!m instead if I want to play a vertical rhythm game? Or would SM be a better choice?

3. Are there any beginner packs you would particularly recommend for learning keyboard play? I just downloaded Stepping Stones of Stepmania; is that a good one to start with?

4. On OS X, running SM 5.0.7, how does one change the arrow speed? I searched through the arrow speed sticky and can't seem to find information relevant to my current state.

Thank you very much.

1. Eh, the community is around but yeah, not a lot of active posts go on here. I don't feel like the community has gotten any smaller or larger since i started playing a couple years ago. Stepmaniaonline.net for playing online has remained relatively active for a while now, and there's a facebook group which gets a few new posts every day as well.

2. o!m literally only has the benefit of being integrated with osu (better community/online features). Stepmania is superior for 4k in every way.

3. Stepping Stones is a great place to start. From there I would move on to the FFR Seasons packs, ODI2/3, then you can start considering Nuclear Blast and Yolomania stuff to start getting into harder files.

Not sure on #4, though if you want a theme that has cmods in increments of 10 which will cover everything you would probably want I'd recommend checking out this theme: https://github.com/ca25nada/ultralight

[Gundam-Dude]

if you haven't already referred to my thread for simfile packs, check here: http://www.flashflashrevolution.com/...d.php?t=133223

look for packs that have a blue star (★) next to the name for some beginner friendly files with multiple charted difficulties. pad (4-panel) packs are also recommended for an easier transition into keyboard play.

[Palm_Tree]

Thank you for the input everyone. I downloaded the ultralight theme from the link Wafles posted, and have set the speed at C600 to start things off. Also using the noteskin that I saw Staiain using in his videos, because I like how simple it looks.

Cheers for the link, Gundam-Dude; looks like there's about a decade's worth of material there.

I was skimming through the Brag Board SM thread for 2015 and saw that quite a few players are using a mod called "Distant" (I believe). Is this mod largely used to increase the distance between the arrows' appearance on the screen and the receptors, when using higher speed mods, in order to facilitate ease of play?

[TheSaxRunner05]

Hell I only use C550

But I suck

[rushyrulz]

Originally Posted by Palm_Tree

Thank you for the input everyone. I downloaded the ultralight theme from the link Wafles posted, and have set the speed at C600 to start things off. Also using the noteskin that I saw Staiain using in his videos, because I like how simple it looks.

Cheers for the link, Gundam-Dude; looks like there's about a decade's worth of material there.

I was skimming through the Brag Board SM thread for 2015 and saw that quite a few players are using a mod called "Distant" (I believe). Is this mod largely used to increase the distance between the arrows' appearance on the screen and the receptors, when using higher speed mods, in order to facilitate ease of play?

Distant mod helps with readability for people. It's really a preference. Experiment with mods like distant/hallway/overhead as well as different speedmods to see what works the best for you.

[ShurykaN]

You don't have to play only stepmania or osu!mania, I encourage you to play both or at least test them out and other various games you happen across as well. The judgement in osumania is you have to time when you release the holds and can make patterns more interesting once you get used to it. There is a community for both but these games are intrinsically about self-improvement so even if there wasn't it wouldn't make the game much different.

[Rapta]

I think FFR can be fun for playing alone without hanging around the community, but it can also be fun getting involved with the community, though it might take more time to get used to our community.

[PhantomPuppy]

i think starting on FFR or any rhythm game is well worth the time. i personally think that communities based around rhythm games are much better and more accepting than other communities ive come across in different games. the communities are really what make the game, or any multiplayer game, good or bad. in this case good.

[alphabet123456]

1. The FFR community is relatively small and active, but it's there. Tournaments are held all the time, and the official tourney (held annually) generates heaps of buzz.

2. osu!mania is a very finicky program. For example, I've found that I need the perfect skin and settings that suit me in order to play somewhat decently, and sometimes I could have bad days just because I used a different keyboard/monitor/headphones or just because. I haven't really had this problem with FFR and SM.

A lot of people have already mentioned the timing difference on hold notes between SM and osu!mania. If you wish to become a god at hold notes, I'd recommend playing O2mania. Just be prepared to learn 7K.

If you want to play a VSRG that's extremely easy to get into and progress in, I'd start with FFR. Play SM to improve your accuracy when you're used to hitting patterns/to play offline. Play osu!mania if you want to play SDVX (Sound Voltex) sounding songs. SM has heaps of mods that can help you improve your skill or challenge you in 4K/5K/6K (mainly).

3. When I started playing SM, I got the Stepmix ones from the Stepmania website. Not sure if they're still there.

Hope this helps, Palm_Tree. Don't forget to have fun.

[Kyzentun]

Originally Posted by Palm_Tree

4. On OS X, running SM 5.0.7, how does one change the arrow speed? I searched through the arrow speed sticky and can't seem to find information relevant to my current state.

5.0.7 uses the system shown in this album of images: http://imgur.com/a/5D1nI
Basically, on the Player Options screen, the first thing on the line is your current speed (also shown in a nameplate in the corner now, the screenshots are a bit old). The choices with a + will increase your current speed and the choices with - will decrease it. Xmod, Cmod, and Mmod change the type of the speed modifier.
You can change the size of the increments used in the Advanced Options part of the Service Menu, reachable from Options on the title screen or pressing Scroll Lock.
The point of this system is so that nobody ever has to edit the theme again to be able to use the speedmod they want. (unless they're Jousway with his weird Amod implementation, which is just Mmod with different logic for figuring out the song's intended bpm)

SMO has a list of too many packs. Personally, I play the Animusic packs and the Touhou Gensouyou/Mahouyou/whateveryou pad packs, even on keyboard.

[Palm_Tree]

Thank you all so much for your help, I really appreciate it.

I will also give FFR a go, though I was a bit put off by some of the drama threads I was perusing in FFR General Chat a few days ago. I suppose that's more a community than a game thing, though, and not that relevant.

Regardless, really enjoying my time with StepMania now that I have spent some time configuring it and getting oriented with it. Slowly plodding through easier songs in the Stepping Stones of Stepmania pack before moving on to higher difficulties and other song packs.

Cheers!

[MinaciousGrace]

no

[Kyzentun]

Originally Posted by Palm_Tree

I will also give FFR a go, though I was a bit put off by some of the drama threads I was perusing in FFR General Chat a few days ago. I suppose that's more a community than a game thing, though, and not that relevant.

The best part about Stepmania is that you don't have to talk to anyone in the community. You could just go on the SMO pack list and download random packs and not care at all about any drama that occurs in the community and still enjoy the game just fine. It works quite well as a single player game.

[TheSaxRunner05]

I like the leaderboards on FFR and the ranking system, but I also like to make my own dumb charts in SM.

I think it's best mixed, you can always steer clear of drama just my not reading about it, and just playing.

[justin_ator]

To be honest any drama that does take place on the forums is pretty easily ignored or quickly moved on from; if you're a likable person then people will usually be accepting of you and it'll be a great experience.

[Palm_Tree]

Man, some of these "Easy" songs are 100x harder than other "Easy" songs. Having a hell of a lot of fun though!

My girlfriend saw me playing and now she wants to bring her old DDR pads up to college so we can face off, heh. I was so unbelievably bad at DDR about 12 years ago, this should be interesting in coming weeks. Are there many pad players, or do 99% of SM players just use keyboard?

[dAnceguy117]

Originally Posted by Palm_Tree

My girlfriend saw me playing and now she wants to bring her old DDR pads up to college so we can face off, heh. I was so unbelievably bad at DDR about 12 years ago, this should be interesting in coming weeks. Are there many pad players, or do 99% of SM players just use keyboard?

Fun times!

As far as I know, pad play on SM itself has died down quite a bit. A pretty large portion of the keyboard SM/FFR community is also active in the In the Groove scene, though, or at least dabbles. Not to mention, custom simfiles meant for use on ITG cabinets are typically created either in the SM editor or in DDReam Studio (a software tool for creating SM simfiles).

[Kyzentun]

Originally Posted by Palm_Tree

Are there many pad players, or do 99% of SM players just use keyboard?

I play pad once or twice a week, depending on desire. The people at r21freak make pad simfiles for upper end skill level all the time, and sometimes include easier charts.
The people at zenius-i-vanisher make some bad simfiles, aimed at lower skill levels, but typically lower quality.