Rock Band 2

[Afrobean]

The more dedicated the kits' pads get, the less flexibility there is, and at that point you ought to just skip the middle man and buy a midi drum kit.

I disagree. Even with additional dedicated pads, it's not as stiff as you're thinking. Cymbals could still collapse and change around as the song dictates, the pedal could be used as either a second kick or as a pedal for a hihat. Even the tom pads could be different types of toms depending on the song-- they could even be put in place of other instruments such as cowbells or woodblocks or tambourines. I'm not saying things shouldn't be condensed at all; I'm saying the way it is now is TOO condensed.

And yes, what I'm describing is basically a very simple edrum adapted instead into a video game controller, and thus, lacking the brain components that would make it a functional kit on it's own, and instead have the guts of a controller in its place. But is that such a bad thing? People have even adapted the current RB drum kit into a musical instrument in its own right, even if its too simple to do anything of any true value with it. Hell, people have adapted Guitar Hero controllers to function as midi controllers. Does this mean the GH controller is too complicated? Is it so bad to have a special controller for a rhythm game which could be adapted into a musical instrument? I'd say that's a very good thing for the gameplay of the game, because if the tool is nearly functional as an instrument on its own, it increases the functionality of its ability to perform within the constraints of the game.

Originally Posted by EnR

Having 1 snare, 3 toms, 3 cymbals and 2 bass pedals would be way to hard to read off the television because there would be so much **** going on at once

Not really. It would be very easy to have colors shared between toms and cymbals, and the way to read it would be a difference of the note that scrolls down. Like, a circle would be a cymbal of a color, while a square would be a drum head of that color. This sort of solution would also make it easier to justify playing on the RB1 sets, because all that would need to be done is to ignore the differences of scrolled notes... basically, it could uncondense the setup of the current kit for the next generation, while also making it condense-able on the fly for anyone playing on the previous set.

Originally Posted by Biff_tech

Or is it....

Topic: How about instead of focusing on the number of pads they should focus on the quality of them, Because face it there is to many flaws with the rb setup.
- The end pads (red and green) need better support, yellow and blue are fine they have a fairly sturdy base.
- This Plastic piece that holds the sensor in.... No I broke the censor protector within a week.
- Metal Kick.. or even a metal plate..
- The Metal poles at the bottom suck they a pain in the ass to get in and they hardly work. They should just use a clip or something.
- I also wouldn't mind if they got rid of the patch cord for the headset.
- Also did I mention Metal kick.

All the things you're alluding to would be better functioned as a high end extra peripheral. That would probably cost like 2x as much as the standard one. Metal costs a lot more to work with than plastic.

I agree though. I would love to see first part high end peripherals mass produced. You've no idea how much I'd love to have a guitar controller with metal frets on a wooden fingerboard. That would be amazing, even if I hardly ever play with it. And I've got tons of disposable income, so you know I'd totally drop a couple hundred on this in an instant.

I really hope they loosen the timing windows a tiny bit...

I think the underlying problem you're getting at is the fact that as notes appear closer and closer together, the window on each one gets smaller and smaller. I'd rather have a straight window on each note, and honestly, I wouldn't mind seeing variable judgements on each note hit as well. I know the tonal release on it would probably have to be the same regardless of judgement (due to the fact it only plays from a master file, rather than making it "keysounded"), but this would also open the door for more competitive play. Just think of how competitive FFR would be if there was only "Perfect" and "Miss". If you just combo through the song, it'd be the same as a AAA.