Kage06's Score Board

[Kage06]

Hey, I'm Kage, and I'm 23 (getting on a bit)

I usually play on my Cobalt Flux at home, because my arcade only has DDR:X, which isn't the best machine to practice on at the best of times.

Well, this thread is going to be dedicated to my scores.
I'm trying to learn to flat foot. Even after around 6 years of play, I have not gotten this technique. I tend to play on tip toes, and have done since I started. My Cobalt though hasn't got any arcade mods.

I see people flat footing properly, and they hardly move, yet are hitting so many arrows, its unbeliveable. I have problems with drills, and hitting the same arrow multiple times on the same foot, because my muscles physically lock up and I don't know why (MAX 300 at the end for example)

Tomorrow I'm going to have another long play to see if I can improve, but I'm going to post up some pictures now from songs on Mungy Dance, and some official step file scores I've achieved in the past

I'm hoping some people can challenge me to pass some songs if you could, and I'll try my best over time to pass and get good scores on them
I may have quite a few songs already, but if I don't, I'd love links to some you want me to have a go at.

For now, here are a few. I have a lot more AAA's on some, but I haven't saved them out as images







Running Stepmania 4.0 on the default difficulty of 4 I think?

[Kage06]

Then some official step files:








Again, I have gotten more, but need to start saving more out.

I also have a camera now that can do high quality video, so I may try and film myself so you can get an idea. Won't be a pretty sight; A Cobalt Flux with a chair at the back, but there you go

[Dark_Chrysalis]

Welp, you seem to have some decent scores so far... unfortunately, ITG scores are meaner than DDR scores XD Though they're all AAA's to DDR, your scores on ITG would be: *, S+, S+, *, and * for the 8-9s and **'s for the easier songs. In any case, you seem to have no problem on this difficulty level... time to start moving on to 10s and 11s good sir! And like Halogen said, if you have a song you really like, he (or me!) could step something for you with a specific technique in mind, or a specific difficulty.

As far as having problem with drills, dont worry about it; there's different ways hard songs can test you. I myself am definitely a stamina player. Stuff that has 8,12,16+ measure streams but at lower BPMs are my strong point compared to bursty stuff at 250 (as a comparison, I still do better on Infernoplex than I do on stuff like Jamais Deux though both are solid 13s.)

Also, I've decided to take up your request of linking to some training files... and HERE is your 1st "Challenge Pack". The difficulty is varied, from solid 10s to low 12s (tossed in one from me and one of AJ's I had lying around) so I can see where you're at in terms of what you can pass. Hopefully, there's something in here that you cant pass right away, or else you're getting harder **** immediately XD So yeah, go play those and show us your moves! I know you'll enjoy trying Sync out... stepped MUCH more closely to its full potential :3

[Kage06]

Thanks a lot you two, your being a major help

I'll be trying out that pack right now!
Just setting up my Cobalt as I type (well, okay, I'm not obviously)

Calculate I had around 50 goes at to get that SSS score. I loved that song, and knew I had to do it.

I'll report back shortly

As for the scoring, I'm not sure what difficulty Stepmania 4.0 is set to as apposed to DDR/ITG. I'd assume it'd be set up to ITG step difficulty, no?

*EDIT*

On Around The Galaxy, I managed an D. Failed near the end on that pausing bit, but I found that entire song a struggle

Trying to teach yourself to use your entire foot is hard, especially since I bang a lot more, haha, and I'm on a top floor

Pretty much all the songs since they have really long streams at the end are leaving me out of breath, haha

I really wish I had a Blueshark or even a real ITG2 machine here

First go at I Can Walk On Water, I Can Fly:



Not great I know

[TC_Halogen]

Around the Galaxy is really tiring for someone who isn't used to streaming, but that's the point - it was made as a training file for one of my friends. Once you nail the flat-footing technique, it will become a matter of just keeping a consistent form/speed through until the end.

[Kage06]

I'm still tip toeing everything o.O HAHA

Now I'm warming up, I'm getting better though at them. I'll post some scores later I think

*EDIT*

I find Crazy Loop a really good one to warm up too. I think I could get a SSS on that if I keep trying. The streams on that are quite repetitive, so it doesn't really take a lot out of you

So far:

Summer Kamp:


Around The Galaxy (Finally did it now I've warmed up)


I'm soaked now though haha, and had like 3 litres of water

Crazy Loop:

One miss!!! Have to give it a break now for an hour since my dads teaching, then I'll probably play for another hour, and I'll have to stop for the night

So far I've been playing since 1pm UK time, to 2pm and had to stop for an hour because of teaching. Then another hour and now I've got to take another break...

*EDIT 2*

Mne Uzhe Haiducii doesn't seem to work It works for the first couple of steps and then says N.G after every step even though I'm getting them

*EDIT 3*

I've recorded myself playing Crazy Loop with a bit of the end showing my feet. My parents were getting annoyed at this point that I was still banging.

I'm done for the day

[Gizmo Dude]

Are you kage that dude who plays ganondorf in smash bros

[Kage06]

Huh? To be honest I have no real clue as to where my name came from, but no

[Dark_Chrysalis]

Originally Posted by Kage06

*EDIT 2*
Mne Uzhe Haiducii doesn't seem to work It works for the first couple of steps and then says N.G after every step even though I'm getting them

Hmm... IIRC NG comes up when you drop a hold or roll. I'd assume your SM doesnt have roll support, but there's a slot for them in your results screen..... are you just mixing them up with holds on your noteskin? If not I have no idea, unless I could see a vid of whats happening

[Kage06]

It was dropping on standard steps with no holds.

The rolls work on one of the songs in the pack, that appear green and you have to keep tapping

Arrow Packs I've tried don't seem to work..

What do you think of the scores I achieved?

[Dark_Chrysalis]

Another thing that could be happening is that, in the very beginning of the song before the little jumpchain bit, almost all of those notes are mini-freezes that only span a 192nd in length. I dont know if that would affect anything, but it could be.

Also, the scores...

Crazy Loop: Yerp, nice warmup song. Decent score, about where I thought you'd be.

Summer Kamp: Also decent.

Walk On Water: Don't feel too bad about that score, the ending is pretty rough

Around the Galaxy: Harder than it looks lol


Looking forward to what you get on the other half! Especially interested in what you can get on Sync and my file since the change of pace is different. BPM is a lot higher in those, but there isn't really any "stream"

[Kage06]

Thanks
Least I should have room to improve, but what do you mean, where you thought I'd be? Haha!

I'm working tomorrow but on my next day off, I'll chance the next set

It really is a shame I don't have access to a machine, because the pad themselves feel a lot better to play on (apart from X's I've mentioned)

I gave Sync a play but by the time I got round to it, I was pretty done in

*EDIT*

Just found OpenITG. Will give that a whirl next time. It should replicate scores better?

If so, haha, even on keyboard, I can't achieve anything close to 3 stars, and definitely not 4 stars. The Excellent/Fantastic timing is so close together. Even if I feel like I'm in beat; have an excellent, haha

[Dark_Chrysalis]

Well, all you have to do is look in the right spot on your scores to get the percentage... For you, you'll be looking right underneath your Max combo where it says EVNT:

Just in case...
90 = S-
92 = S
94 = S+
96 = *
98 = **
99 = ***

[Kage06]

I meant on OpenITG.
If those are the real timings, I have no chance on a real ITG machine to even get close to 3 staring/quadding anything!
How do you guys do it? I just tap to the beat, and I'm getting Fantastic's then a random Excellent, especially on streams, and this is using my computer keyboard. No doubt I'll be worse on my feet

[TC_Halogen]

Originally Posted by Kage06

I meant on OpenITG.
If those are the real timings, I have no chance on a real ITG machine to even get close to 3 staring/quadding anything!
How do you guys do it? I just tap to the beat, and I'm getting Fantastic's then a random Excellent, especially on streams, and this is using my computer keyboard. No doubt I'll be worse on my feet

OpenITG is a bit tighter on the timing windows, but you have to realize something; OITG is meant for arcade cabinets. If you hook up a pad to play OITG at home, it's going to take a lot of getting used to because it doesn't account for pad latency. You'd have to adjust machine offsets to properly account for this.

[Kage06]

Ah Halogen, that will explain why I'm finding it so hard to get good scores, even on the keyboard Least its not myself then being crap, phew

So, I'll carry on using Stepmania 4.0 then for tomorrow's session
How far off are Stepmania's timings then to the real ITG timing using home pads, or is it about the same?

Updates tomorrow!

[TC_Halogen]

I'm not sure of the exact deviation, but I know OITG is a bit tighter from SM's typical judge 4.

[Kage06]

Sync on my second try today...I was doing really well up to the part you'd think was easier than that fast bit after those steady steps which I got right. I had quite a high max combo, and then I started to lose the timing etc.
My muscles started locking up:



Will My Heart Survive (Another tricky one) first try today


Cubikated: (Around the 3rd go, after watching the autoplay with the claps to get the beat. I still had problems getting the speed right on the streams though, for some reason, even though I thought I was being pretty steady:


Go! The beat was tricky to get at first. Again I had problems with lock ups:


Loituma (Found this easier than some of the 11's, even though its a 12) Still got a bit worn out towards the end though:


I believe that is all of them I've done now, except for the one that won't work due to my Stepmania build.
Now to try them again to see if I can get scores higher, until you post another pack!
I'm sweating cobs though, literally. My hair is sopping wet even when using a towel haha! Though I think I have improved over the time I've been playing on pad more for sure.

I'm going to try turning holds off on Mne Uzhe HAIDUCII actually!

OMG that was the hardest one for sure. The rolls weren't too bad because I just tapped like I would with 1/2 notes inbetween the others, but the mines. Stepping off quickly enough not to hit them (which I did a lot).

The runs were also the hardest I've had so far. I couldn't keep a combo going on any of them, but I managed to pass the song, barely. I was not going to fail it after all that:


I don't think the holds made much difference because there were mostly rolls, but yep, that's all passed now!

*EDIT:

I just tried to pass Infernoplex. No way can I keep up with those streams... especially for that long

Stuff like Delirium on Expert I can't pass either. So I think I have a problem with really fast streaming, and fast positioning, probably due to the way I play.

Then on Hands Of Time on Expert, you have a hold on the left foot one part, and you have to tap with the right foot multiple times. I can't do that either, since my muscles lock, but I can at least pass that song with an A (88.33)

Though at the moment, I'm too tired to do anymore. I've been playing for almost 3 hours now non stop haha

[Dark_Chrysalis]

Glad to see you're taking a serious effort here... I find it interesting how well you're actually doing on the stream ones... I thought I was better than average at stream compared to other aspects, but Loituma was like my last pass out of all those lol. Oh side note too: Loituma is retroactively rated an 11, I just didnt change it oops.

It really seems to be the footspeed you need to work on here. Mne Uzhe is definitely hard for a 10, but really its only those 1 measure runs that make it hard. I'd say focus on those songs more than the stream ones, your scores are way ahead on those I'll try and run through stuff and see what I can come up with for you to try.

[Kage06]

Hehe, thanks

It would seem the next time I get to have a serious play on it would be Monday now, as I have work pretty much all day (Can't really play after around 5PM) every day

I agree, it would seem the foot speed is my down fall. That said, it is probably due to the way I am playing. Since I'm mostly playing on tip toes (but still relatively close together to the center of the pad) I'm not able to get up to speed.

I tried today putting my foot fully on the pad, and playing, but all I do is create more bangs, my accuracy goes down, and I tire out quicker. It almost feels, probably because I am doing it wrong, that there is no point playing when I attempt to play like this, as it took the fun out of it for me + my Cobalt Flux screws seem to get in the way even though they are almost flat headed.

But like I said, I'm probably doing it wrong

I've seen people play flat footed, and I can't seem to replicate what they are doing at all! I think I have most of Adam Styles videos for example that I used to watch to get an idea.