Seeking Improvement Methods

[Mr. Ed]

Hey all,

I've toyed around with this game for a while and I want to start taking it seriously when I have the time. I was wondering if anyone has input regarding efficient ways to improve skill.


Currently I'm going for AAAs. Starting with easy stuff and going down the list. When I'm bored of that, I throw myself at a high 40 or low 50 until I can AAA it. But this is kind of tedious, and I'm not sure if it's exactly what I should be doing, or if I should add other things.


I was thinking about adding rate practice, and I can do this in two ways. I can take a song I've mastered, and try to get the same score at a higher rate. Or I can take a song that's beyond my level, and slow it down to the point where I can FC it (no boos), then gradually increase the rate over time. I'm not sure which is better, or if both are valuable.


Have any of these methods worked for you guys? Would you suggest changing or adding anything? Thanks!

[MinaciousGrace]

play stepmania

[Celirra]

play more stepmania

[Celirra]

Memes aside, just play more, and analyze what you do wrong. It's good to gradually work your way up, though I'd personally advise against rates in FFR, especially if you're slowing down rather than speeding up.

With the meme in mind though, a combination of both FFR and Stepmania can help a lot (in my experience); FFR is focused around AAA'ing, while Stepmania is dominated by going for AA, which can help you learn harder patterns without simultaneously worrying about flawless accuracy (not to say that accuracy isn't important). Plus, Stepmania has a wide breadth of files that can help in specific areas, such as jacking / jumpstream / etc, all of which can be applied to make it so it's easier to improve at FFR.

If you don't want to play Stepmania though, just play FFR more. If you lack motivation, try to find yourself a rival who's at a similar skill level to you, and work from there. Some people also like playing with instant fail if a good or worse is obtained; I hear it can help, though it can also be extremely frustrating and can make the experience as a whole much less fun for some.

Above all else, remember that FFR is a game, and treat it as such: take breaks if needed, and if it starts becoming less about fun and more about trying to constantly improve, you may want to consider taking a step back for a while. Just try to enjoy yourself!!

Good luck friend.

[Mr. Ed]

I assume this is because sm is less forgiving? Or more variety / both? I'll see if I can set it up again. I wish it was as convenient as ffr though.

EDIT: I see.

[choof]

play stepmania as there is a wider breadth of charts to play
even with ffrmania, you will have significantly more charts to play on stepmania
there's also playing on a higher judge which makes it strictly hard to hit notes

ffr has rates sure but you're capped at however many songs there are on ffr at the time and even though there's semi-weekly song releases, 2,000 songs pales in comparison to the probably 10,000+ songs available in sm


the ffr engine itself can also be an issue

the only thing ffr really has in regards to convenience over sm is that you just make an account and play. but I assure you, playing sm is a much better way to improve.



or you can forgo all of this advice and play bms

[ifeelit]

Just play for fun, always play out of comfort zone, and play like you already AAA'd it. Don't take it too seriously, the more you think the more you mind block

[Dinglesberry]

I feel like the best way to improve is to play stepmania, play judge 5, and push yourself constantly. If you really want to improve, you need to always be playing things slightly out of your reach. Going for AAAs is obviously good, but if you just go for AAAs, sure you will improve accuracy but you aren't pushing your stamina, your speed, your reactions etc, which are the keys to improving.

Play songs you can't even A but barely, push them to an A. Find other songs you can't A, push them to an A. Play more songs that you can't A, and try to A them. You'll be shocked when you replay songs that you struggled with earlier, and now you can suddenly AA them.

I wrote this for a friend one time when he asked me how to set up stepmania, perhaps it may help out: http://pastebin.com/86Y0k0jU

I scanned through some of your scores as well, regarding songs you would want to play, I would recommend the community keyboard packs, or PPP, both have decent songs with a good variety of patterns around your level, here's some links to download them:

http://stepmaniaonline.net/downloads...20Pack%20I.zip
http://stepmaniaonline.net/downloads...0Pack%20II.zip
http://stepmaniaonline.net/downloads...Volume%201.zip
http://stepmaniaonline.net/downloads...Volume%202.zip

Good luck, and make sure you keep playing FFR as well, the games complement eachother really well.. Its fun to play stepmania and then come to FFR and see how much you have improved, in terms of your rank + scores

[Walrusizer]

play more

[Mr. Ed]

Originally Posted by Dinglesberry

I feel like the best way to improve is to play stepmania, play judge 5, and push yourself constantly. If you really want to improve, you need to always be playing things slightly out of your reach. Going for AAAs is obviously good, but if you just go for AAAs, sure you will improve accuracy but you aren't pushing your stamina, your speed, your reactions etc, which are the keys to improving.

Play songs you can't even A but barely, push them to an A. Find other songs you can't A, push them to an A. Play more songs that you can't A, and try to A them. You'll be shocked when you replay songs that you struggled with earlier, and now you can suddenly AA them.

I wrote this for a friend one time when he asked me how to set up stepmania, perhaps it may help out: link removed

I scanned through some of your scores as well, regarding songs you would want to play, I would recommend the community keyboard packs, or PPP, both have decent songs with a good variety of patterns around your level, here's some links to download them:

[I can't do links yet]

Good luck, and make sure you keep playing FFR as well, the games complement eachother really well.. Its fun to play stepmania and then come to FFR and see how much you have improved, in terms of your rank + scores

Thanks for taking the time to put that together! I'll definitely set that up when I have the time. A variety of things seems to be best practice. I think for now I will reach for decent FCs and occasionally revisit for better scores for competition/fun. Completionist-ing stuff below my skill level doesn't seem to be the way to go at the moment.

[MikeShinoda12345]

Stepmania isn't some magic pill though
Just have fun playing and you'll get better naturally - though generally speaking, AAA'ing stuff doesn't help you improve nearly as fast as playing things that actually push you. (AAA'ing stuff is also hella boring, too.) At your skill level, FFR still offers more than enough songs for you to get better.

It's true that FFRMania has a lot more songs to offer than the FFR base engine, and Stepmania can have more songs than FFRMania if you download a ton of packs, but I don't think that's very pertinent to you right now because you don't seem to have exhausted the song selections of FFR or FFRMania.
Also, while Stepmania has different metrics that can push you to play better, it also loses a competitive element that's much more built into FFR itself. Leaderboards are iffy on Stepmania, etc etc. And that competitive element is a huge factor in both wanting to improve and having a sense of achievement when you do.

tl;dr Just have fun! I was almost purely focused on FC'ing stuff until D5 or so