Totally new; a few questions

Re: Totally new; a few questions

The communities for SM and FFR are kind of blended together a bit, people tend to play both. That being said, this is the FFR Forums so you're bound to see a bit more FFR discussion. Typically the brag board gets about an equal amount of score posts for each game so I would argue that StepMania might actually be slightly more popular overall.

The other main difference is that you don't have to download anything for FFR. Its easy to just load up and play it.

For StepMania, I would suggest using 5. Its newer, has a few less bugs, and looks a little prettier. Generally speaking the people who use 3.9 either are used to it and don't want to switch or have bad computers that makes 5 feel worse.

In terms of how you should start out, you should first understand that people generally play here with a 4 key setup, i.e. 'z','x','.','/'. You play with 2 hands and use your index and middle fingers. Pretty straight forward here.

Generally StepMania is focused on downloading packs of files. There is no good way to go about downloading single files, you just download a pack with usually 40-90 files or so on average and usually get some sort of quality assurance through that. You should start by looking at the packs mentioned in this thread:



You should look for the ones with stars next to their name as they will likely be a bit more novice friendly.

Welcome to StepMania/FFR!

Re: Totally new; a few questions

^ Well said

Re: Totally new; a few questions

3.9 has the most themes, and is kinda okay.

3.95 is basically 3.9 with online connection abilities and rolls implemented (they're like holds, but you tap them).

5 is the best in terms of... overall enjoyment of the game.
It has 4key (what FFR is like), 5key (Pump it Up), 6key (Solo) and 7key (think of Beatmania). It has a few really well done themes, and is by far the best version for most people to start out on.

Though it comes down to which you prefer. Try them all and see what suits you best.

(Stepmania)
Learn the playing styles. See what works for you.
Like with everything, start out nice and slow, go for easy songs (Otaku's Dream Anime Mix 1-5 are best for starting imo).
Change settings Trial and Error style. Speedmods, reverse/upscroll, etc.
Practice makes perfect.

(FFR)
Learn the playing styles. See what works for you.
Start with 1-20, then make your way up as you feel you're getting better.

Other than the fact FFR is flash, and Stepmania is a program? The timing and song limitations.
There are custom FFR engines out there, but you can't just drop in a song whenever you want like with Stepmania. That's the biggest difference (again, other than the program/flash difference).
You also can't play 5, 6 or 7 key on FFR.
There's only 1 difficulty per file on FFR.

FFR's forum basically acts like a general rhythm game forum (along with non-gaming sections), so it's not surprising this has a "larger community surrounding it than SM". That and it's on the same site as the game, so it's just a click away from the forums.



> Typing shit as he goes along.
If I didn't answer a question properly, or said something obviously wrong, just be like "hero you dumb shit" and I'll see what I did wrong.


Here's some links for reference and just study-stuff.

"How to get better at FFR" thread by lxDestinyxl. (General information)


"The Official FFR Picture Dictionary" thread by rushyrulz. (Information on styles and terms used around the site.)

Re: Totally new; a few questions

Play my files

Re: Totally new; a few questions

Don't play his files

Re: Totally new; a few questions

Mollo is a JERK

Re: Totally new; a few questions

additionally, 3.9 themes don't work with 3.95. it needs its own themes. it has some decent ones though

i would say try out each build and see which one you like the most tbh, they each have their ups and downs.

if you're having too much trouble with keyboard files try starting off with pad officials (DDR, ITG) and then moving up to old kb packs like keyboard collaboration once you can do okay on harder pad files

Re: Totally new; a few questions

Thank you all for the help! I will check out SM5 and download some simfile packs later this evening.

Re: Totally new; a few questions

Another minor question: I find it quite hard to navigate the menu screens because the menu shows a color rather than a key to press when instructing you how to do something. Is it possible to change the keys on-screen from showing colors to perform actions to showing the actual keys to perform various actions?

Re: Totally new; a few questions

I'd recommend looking at different themes or perhaps editing your current theme to make the colors stand out more

Re: Totally new; a few questions

Green = Enter
Gray = Escape
Arrows = obvious

It doesn't show a key because these are all configurable I think, you'd have to edit a theme to get it to show a key. I tried 3 or 4 different themes to check and they all show the colors, sorry bud.

Re: Totally new; a few questions

Thanks for the help. I think I'll just stick with the default theme for now. I'm sure this will all become second nature after a few days.

Re: Totally new; a few questions

alt. themes are gay anyway
just like alt. lifestyles

Re: Totally new; a few questions

I'm in love with this!

As of now I'm using all default settings except for changing the arrow keys to DFJK. Are there any other settings that players generally use that you would recommend to just about anybody? Any for a new player in particular?

Thank you!