Switching to spread

[redsea]

Hey guys,
I have been playing Stepmania/FFR for over 6 years now, and have been using the same awkward style the entire time. I believe that I might have gotten as good as I can with it, as I am capable of AAAing FMO's, SDGing 75's, etc. I have pretty much reached all of the goals that I have set, and have gotten a lot of respectable scores in both games. All this being said, I want to get to that next level. I want to be able to FC gurus without much effort, and maybe even AAA some. With the style I use now I feel like it is near impossible.

I made this thread because I want advice, tips, anything you can give me that will make switching easier for me. I am scared that I will lose a lot of skill that I will never get back if I cannot do it right. I want to be able to get familiar with the spread setup as quick as possible, but I don't want to spend my whole life doing it. I have a girlfriend, a job, and I really don't have all that much time to play.

I hope that some of you guys can help me! Any comments are welcome.

[dAnceguy117]

Originally Posted by redsea

I have been playing Stepmania/FFR for over 6 years now, and have been using the same awkward style the entire time. I believe that I might have gotten as good as I can with it

That's exactly the same position I found myself in at this time four years ago! I made the switch to spread as well. Even if you have a tough time switching to spread, I don't think you will lose any skill overall. I can still play index just as well as I could back then.

Picking up spread was a gradual adjustment for me. I'm actually still learning, but even so, my scores on difficult files far surpass what I could ever get with my old playing style.

My advice: play a variety of files. Working on many different types of patterns should get you to where you want to be more quickly than if you only practice in one area. Good luck! I'm interested in seeing what everyone else has to say, too.

[ssbmchamp]

Actually switched to spread myself this year. It's just like anything you have to practice to get good at it. The first month is by far the worst because at the beginning you will struggle FC'ing level 20's and lower simply because you're not used to hitting different keys. How fast you learn will obviously depend on how much you practice. I was able to practice for about 6-10 hours a week and by the end of the first month I was finally able to AAA 20's. After about 3-4 months I was at an equal, if not slightly better, skill level than my previous set up. Idk if it's the best way, but what I did was play a song that was in my comfort range 3-5 times in a row and what I found was that each run I would get more used to the setup and generally I would shave off some goods each run. Again maybe that's not for you but it seemed to work for me, it's just boring after awhile playing songs over and over lol. Goodluck with your new set up!

[TheSaxRunner05]

Just find a comfortable style and practice regularly with it, and the scores will come. I used to play with my arrows crammed on the arrow keys before I switched to spread.

[DossarLX ODI]

First off you need to know which spread style you want: Linear or concave.

Linear would be something like DFJK, concave would be something like DCMK (if your middle finger is bigger and the curvature position is more natural, etc. this is a terrible setup for me so I don't use it)

Try to make your taps more efficient by striking the keys faster. I'm basically at my limit for this, but it will allow you to use less effort when managing faster files. Staiain's strikes are ridiculously fast, so that allows him to do extreme stream speeds.

Another thing: Get used to whatever keyboard you are using, and make sure it is a good keyboard.

I look forward to seeing what scores you can get with this transition to spread, redsea -- are you still able to vibrate? I'd love to see some vibrating videos from you again since in 2008 you were one of my main inspirations to continue playing hard vibrating files haha.

[redsea]

Thanks for all the advice guys, I really appreciate it. Im trying out ASKL spread right now and it is a little depressing lol. Im going to try my best though. The patterns that include left hand trills are very awkward even in the easiest songs, any tips for that? Dossar, im trying linear, concave seems a little awkward to me...also, im glad to hear that I was a inspiration to you! I can still vibrate but my ability has diminished a bit. Maybe when I get good at spread ill do some dumb rates on ffr that include vibrabursts lol.

[TheSaxRunner05]

I personally like G,H,K,L because they are towards the center of my keyboard, register quads, and are in the order of the arrows on the screen. I used to play H,J,K,L but my fingers were so close together than my thumbs collided. Find something comfortable for you and stick with it, ASKL doesn't work for me because the down and up arrows are so faaaar apart they don't feel right, as they are right next to each other on the screen.

[redsea]

Ive decided to go with dfjk it does feel alot more comfortable

[SK8R43]

Originally Posted by redsea

Ive decided to go with dfjk it does feel alot more comfortable

haha can't go wrong with this setup at all, I personally use this too :P

[redsea]

Originally Posted by SK8R43

haha can't go wrong with this setup at all, I personally use this too :P

When you switched from one hand, how long did it take you to adjust and get at least to your previous level of skill? Also, how did you take getting used to the left hand?

[SK8R43]

heh well, i played One Hand for what 4 years. Once switching to spread it really only took a couple months of practice to get to my old skill and not much longer to pass it.

Getting your other hand to be on par though, that's the hard part. Took about 6-7 Months to really get my left hand as good as my right.

I would say, i played One hand with my right hand, and my left is definitely as good or better than my right when playing spread. I can jack faster, one hand trill better and all around its just not bad. Takes some getting used to, but in the long run its not a bad choice really.

Edit: I have been playing Spread for alittle over a year now and i have alot to show for it I'm SURE you can get that way too!!

[redsea]

Originally Posted by SK8R43

heh well, i played One Hand for what 4 years. Once switching to spread it really only took a couple months of practice to get to my old skill and not much longer to pass it.

Getting your other hand to be on par though, that's the hard part. Took about 6-7 Months to really get my left hand as good as my right.

I would say, i played One hand with my right hand, and my left is definitely as good or better than my right when playing spread. I can jack faster, one hand trill better and all around its just not bad. Takes some getting used to, but in the long run its not a bad choice really.

Edit: I have been playing Spread for alittle over a year now and i have alot to show for it I'm SURE you can get that way too!!

Glad to hear I'm not the only one who has felt this way about the left hand! I hope I can get good
again because I am only going to play spread from now on unfortunately my sister won't allow me to use her laptop anymore cause we got in a fight lol so I'm gonna have to buy and reinstall windows on my old broken-down laptop ://

[dAnceguy117]

I struggled with absolutely everything at first. Lefty trills, righty trills, stream patterns, you name it. Progress will come. It's all muscle memory.

[Poison-]

I've played semi-petanko since I started and never plan on switching to regular spread as my main style of play

[redsea]

Dance- so am I really, but I'm sure when I can play again I will progress.

Poison- what is your current setup???

[Poison-]

I play "df[]". It's pretty random, but i've been using it for over a year now and I can't seem to find anything more comfortable

[j-rodd123]

good luck!! I've never had the patience to switch to spread so doubt that will ever happen haha. but there's no doubt you will improve, so yeah im jealous :P

[redsea]

Thanks dudes, I haven't gotten many impressive scores unfortunately. The most brag worthy thing i can say is that i got a 19 great score on Frictional Nevada lol. I can fc some gurus, but in general its taking me a long time to get used to the switch.

[rushyrulz]

it'll be a while. Takes some getting used to.

[Im God]

i switched to spread soon after joining here, i found hitting double notes on the arrow keys too hard