optimizing skills

[Findarian]

To help you figure out what division you belong to, please feel free to compare scores to what other people in your division have gotten on various songs. If you feel that any of these are incorrect, please let me know.

All scores are done by raw scoring (not total score, which is mainly combo-based)

D1
low
mid
high

D2
low
mid
high

D3
low
mid
high

D4
low
mid
high

D5
low
mid
high

D6
low
mid
high
elite


======================================
(hi19hi19's version)

D1 - Difficulty PAing 8s and lower.
D2B: Able to PAs 8s and can read many 9s and possibly low VCs.
D2A: PAs nearly all 9s and can read VCs.
D3B: PA the lower VCs well, can read up to the low FMOs.
D3A: Able to PA nearly all VCs, can read mid FMOs well.
D4B: Can PA low and mid FMOs well, can possibly read a few lower FGOs but difficulty PAing them.
D4A: Can PA high FMOs and possibly the lowest FGOs, but struggles with higher FGOs.
D5D: Can PA low FGOs, can read mid FGOs well.
D5C: Can PA low and mid FGOs, can read high FGOs well and PA them somewhat.
D5B: No problem PAing mid-high FGOs, can read and decently PA 13s.
D5A: PAs 13s extremely well. The usual elite.
======================================

^ this will be removed after sufficient data has been collected from the community to make the other one more applicable.





==revising to fit exact divisions soon==


I'm just taking a stab at what is the best way to improve from division to division. I need help as to how to climb up the D6 ladder at an optimal rate, so that would always be helpful if you've done it and want to give advice, or share what you did.

I would love for this to be a general guide, but I need a lot of input (and im typing this out on my phone) so help is greatly appreciated!

-I'll add in a list of general requirements for each division in the morning






EDITED VERSION:

General Rules to follow to improve no matter your division:

-Play charts that are slightly above your level, just out of your reach on being able to pa well on.
-Take breaks if you're needing them. You won't lose that new skill boost if you wait 5mins to rest your hands.
-If you're having an off day, it won't kill you to just not play that day. If you're having an off week, go find something else to do and come back to it later.
-If you've taken an extended absence, it will take time to get back up to where you were, but it will come much faster than it did before, just keep improving as if you were worse again to get there faster. (if you were D3 and now feel like D1, don't play songs that you did as a D3 player, it will only lead to frustration and not getting back to your original skill level as fast)
-Give SM a try, it seems to help almost everyone improve vastly. I personally wouldn't recommend it until at least high D2, just because the timing is more strict.

Improving tips for each subdivision:

After you have figured out your division, and where you stand, these are some useful tips to improve at a more rapid pace than you would probably otherwise.

Low D1 -> Mid D1: Play until you're at least able to pass every song. After you're able to do this, work on the lowest levels trying to fc them with having as few boos as possible.
Mid D1 -> High D1: Try AAAing some level 1-15 songs, mainly focus on playing level (old scale 6-8 = ?? 1-99 scale)
High D1 -> Low D2:
Low D2 -> Mid D2:
Mid D2 -> High D2:
High D2 -> Low D3:
Low D3 -> Mid D3:
Mid D3 -> High D3:
High D3 -> Low D4:
Low D4 -> Mid D4:
Mid D4 -> High D4:
High D4 -> Low D5:
Low D5 -> Mid D5:
Mid D5 -> High D5:
High D5 -> Low D6:
Low D6 -> Mid D6:
Mid D6 -> High D6:
High D6 -> Elite D6:








From low d1 to high d1, playing focus on muscle memory, and reading patterns. 99% is just playing focused though

From D1 to D2, Main focus should be reading ability, followed by speed or accuracy (preference)

From D2 to D3, main focus should be accuracy (able to aaa 300-500 notes in a row on easier songs) and speed (able to move your fingers without having them get super tense) with a secondary focus on reading ability, followed by stamina

From D3 to D4, main focus should be consistency with vc's and a preference in either speed or accuracy (you should be able to tell vs others in you division which you lean more towards) and have a secondary focus spent on optimizing scores on songs via looking at how you play and figuring out what you're doing wrong, or finding patterns you suck at and improving them for weeks on end. (I personally couldn't vibrate at all until high D4. The way I figured out how to do it was to control the muscle used when making a super tight fist that it begins to shake uncontrollably. It took me 3 days and 15hrs to be able to do it decently well I practiced solely on dossar's engine on his vibrating files) Play files that are a little bit above your level until they click with you and you're able to do them well.

From D4 to D5, accuracy and consistency is a must, if you don't have them, go practice until you do, or you'll be stuck. Speed is essential as you move up, js and streaming abilities should be 260/200 bpm 16ths about. Practice anchors and walls if you haven't already. This is where dumps should become your friend. learn vibrating if you haven't already, and hopefully you're beginning to realize that you can still improve your reading ability. It should be your main focus along with speed.

From D5 to D6: (Thanks Dossar)
- Be in good health. I myself don't exercise much at all (I tired out fast when I played DDR at 8 on the break) but I rarely eat fast food and I instead have a wide variety of foods. If your body isn't nourished very well and you aren't getting much rest, it won't be surprising if you tire out faster.
- Look at files more closely. That is, don't mindlessly whore files anymore. Isolations aren't magic, but they help with timing and give a hands-on approach to certain sections. Take advantage of these; I personally am still not able to do sections like Crowdpleaser's 64th cluster part consistently, but it's better than wasting your time. FFR is 30 fps, so frame placements matter a lot. I've done a lot of manipulation for files like Grist, grind2, Rave7, and so on.
- You need an operating system that runs the game decently and a responsive keyboard that isn't physically burdening you. I myself can't play on bulky keyboards. This is very crucial at this point as it does make a tremendous difference, so find out what works best. I'm currently handicapped with legacy on the official site for now, so I'm still a bit stuck here if I don't want to play offline for harder files.
- Play a variety of files. VERY IMPORTANT. The same file from what I've observed will almost always give you bad habits. If you notice you're doing worse, stop. When I was whoring Rave7 one day and got a low SDG, I was doing worse and worse and went to 9 goods, and stopped and played it later.
- Learn to manipulate. Jumptrilling, etc. you still may not be able to AAA a file, but it's better than dumping like 10 goods in a section that you can read but still aren't hitting remotely close.
- Be able to full combo jacks at a moderately fast speed. Most files on FFR don't require much vibrating, but a lot of the longer jacks are at a pretty fast speed.
- Be confident when you play. Yes, I myself still sometimes have nerves when I'm playing files like Scrap Syndrome and have an AAA to the last 100 notes. If you don't AAA the file in your run, you at least will be able to finish knowing you did what you could, and just weren't as lucky that time.
- Play through an entire file a few times. Most players will quit out of a song after seeing they have 1 good or whatever. I do this too, but sometimes even if I have a good or two I get to have a feel for the entire file and remember combo marks.



==revising to fit exact divisions soon==


This is just a general outline for now, tomorrow when I have my computer I'll be posting scores for low/mid/high of every division and general skills to check along the way, and optimization for moving up in D6 if someone shares any info

[cedolad]

I've been doing it wrong it for 3 years.

[supermousie]

I'm like D-124984621349817359.
I mean come on, it took me 6 years to AAA Excite Bike.

Gr9 guide though; will be handy when I become pro in 2024.

[foxfire667]

Ironically I believe the optimal way to increase your overall skill in FFR is to actually play SM instead. Seriously, attacking StepMania allows for you to familiarize yourself with extremely ridiculous songs and patterns you would never normally see here on FFR (with the exception of the very few 90+ files). Playing SM also forces you to learn speed, pattern recognition, and accuracy (since Mash Mash Revolution isn't allowed in SM) simultaneously.

I think players of any division who wish to improve at a much faster pace should (if they haven't already) start playing StepMania as well.

For FFR specific improvements, I can tell you what you should do if you feel as though you have hit a stopping point in your skill growth (again, for any division):

Try increasing your speed-mod by about .25x. This sudden, but not extreme, boost in arrow motion should improve your ability to see patterns. With better vision of patterns, you will quickly boost your overall stream / js / bursting skills. Obviously you will have to play a few songs to get used to the speed mod, but after that things should feel easier.

Mash. Go ahead, mash your heart out on songs way above your difficulty level. Get yourself physically tired from the intense mashing, and eventually you will increase both your stamina and your speed. I know it might sound silly, but as you improve you will find that some songs are very intense and drain a lot of your energy to consistently keep up with. Getting yourself ready for this earlier on in your career is a good idea, and an occasional mash to keep a good run isn't always a bad thing either.

Also keep in mind that even though FFR is combo scoring, don't be afraid to lose your combo and try to pa songs to further understand patterns. FFR isn't all about mashing, and you can gain a lot of reading skills from trying to not mash on songs a decent amount higher than your AAA level (like if you AAA 40's, try to pa 65's or something like that). Try to avoid jump-trilling rolls and faking bursts, and really play the song as accurately as possible. You will find that harder songs will click faster when you aren't completely disregarding the patterns and hitting random keys, making you a far more skillful player.

Um...I think that's it (long post is long) but yeah. The majority of skill boosting that occurs for players isn't division related, nor should be generally explored at a certain time of their career. It's typically just a few good tips that should be repeated and set to a higher level of difficulty as the person who is playing progresses in overall skill. Well aside from perhaps playing spread, and using a standalone to reduce lag that is.

Hope that helped you!

[Patashu]

stepmania also makes reading, PAing and comprehending stepcharts easier since it's 60 or more fps and doesn't have choppily, frame-based placed arrows and timing windows

[Choofers]

Originally Posted by foxfire667

Mash. Go ahead, mash your heart out on songs way above your difficulty level. Get yourself physically tired from the intense mashing, and eventually you will increase both your stamina and your speed. I know it might sound silly, but as you improve you will find that some songs are very intense and drain a lot of your energy to consistently keep up with. Getting yourself ready for this earlier on in your career is a good idea, and an occasional mash to keep a good run isn't always a bad thing either.

This is hilariously bad advice and I hope no one ever takes you seriously.


Mashing will, without a doubt, pave the way for bad habits. You won't gain speed, you won't gain reading skills, you might gain a bit of stamina but what good is that stamina if you're slow and you can't read patterns for shit?

Literally the best thing you can do is to play Stepmania.

Nuclear Blast Packs, midare packs, HSMPs, old school packs on high rates, j7 training, etc.

Controlled mashing, however, can still be considered a skill to lower division players. I'm a pretty good player, and I still mash the beginning of the wall in chik habit, the second half of do i smile, the ending in system doctor, and a few other files. It's easy to compare mashing and controlled mashing. Just look at the scoreboards for any hard chart.

[i love you]

Focus on your weaknesses. Do not try comparing your skills to high tier players. Enjoy the game.

[Wayward Vagabond]

treat stepmania like a sport and you will improve in leaps and bounds

[Hakulyte]

Stepmania was useless for me. All my skillboosts were me buying new keyboards/computer adjustments and taking care of my health. I guess it's different from people to people. I can see how stepmania could be useful, but I'm at a point where my scores are all the same no matter how I try with slightly MA variations. I need to change how I play, not just play more. I still consider myself D5 because the line should be to be able to AAA at the very least one FGO to show out of ordinary control.

[DossarLX ODI]

From D5 to D6:
- Be in good health. I myself don't exercise much at all (I tired out fast when I played DDR at 8 on the break) but I rarely eat fast food and I instead have a wide variety of foods. If your body isn't nourished very well and you aren't getting much rest, it won't be surprising if you tire out faster.
- Look at files more closely. That is, don't mindlessly whore files anymore. Isolations aren't magic, but they help with timing and give a hands-on approach to certain sections. Take advantage of these; I personally am still not able to do sections like Crowdpleaser's 64th cluster part consistently, but it's better than wasting your time. FFR is 30 fps, so frame placements matter a lot. I've done a lot of manipulation for files like Grist, grind2, Rave7, and so on.
- You need an operating system that runs the game decently and a responsive keyboard that isn't physically burdening you. I myself can't play on bulky keyboards. This is very crucial at this point as it does make a tremendous difference, so find out what works best. I'm currently handicapped with legacy on the official site for now, so I'm still a bit stuck here if I don't want to play offline for harder files.
- Play a variety of files. VERY IMPORTANT. The same file from what I've observed will almost always give you bad habits. If you notice you're doing worse, stop. When I was whoring Rave7 one day and got a low SDG, I was doing worse and worse and went to 9 goods, and stopped and played it later.
- Learn to manipulate. Jumptrilling, etc. you still may not be able to AAA a file, but it's better than dumping like 10 goods in a section that you can read but still aren't hitting remotely close.
- Be able to full combo jacks at a moderately fast speed. Most files on FFR don't require much vibrating, but a lot of the longer jacks are at a pretty fast speed.
- Be confident when you play. Yes, I myself still sometimes have nerves when I'm playing files like Scrap Syndrome and have an AAA to the last 100 notes. If you don't AAA the file in your run, you at least will be able to finish knowing you did what you could, and just weren't as lucky that time.
- Play through an entire file a few times. Most players will quit out of a song after seeing they have 1 good or whatever. I do this too, but sometimes even if I have a good or two I get to have a feel for the entire file and remember combo marks.

[Findarian]

This is a filler post until I have enough info to update OP. If you feel any scores are misplaced, let me know.








I'm needing scores for 5 songs that you feel like you do well on from all these divisions (Please tell me about where you think you are and save replays and ss or ss them and post here, or pm me)

=KEY=
x18 = 18 people have played that song
- (song name) (Lowest Raw score - Highest Raw score) (what skill the file is testing, if any)
=KEY=


D1
low
mid
high

D2
low
mid
high

D3
low
mid
high

D4
low
mid
high
1x (62630) Clockwork
1x (50755) Hero Reconsidering

D5
low
mid
high
x1- (153620) ==Planet Karma== (Consistency)
x1- (67215) Skeletor (Jumptrilling/Walls)
x1- (58435) BEER (Polyrhythms)
x1- (70095) The Bird's Poisoned Bathwater (Bursts)
x1- (46920) Pandora (Reading/Speed)

D6
low
x1- (70510) Eclipse (Solar) (Stream Speed)
x1- (50110) I Hate The 80's (Jacks)
x1- (51490) Hardkore Atomic (Jacks)
x1- (73000) Reluctantly Accepting Temporary Overexhaustion (Reading/Speed/Awkward patterns/Frames)
x1- (58680) Molto Vivace (??? - I'll check)
x1- (77675) Revolutionary Etude (??? - I'll check)
x1- (66250) Frictional Nevada (Jumpstream Consistency)
x1- (116830) Death Piano (Jacks/Consistency/Speed) - Not sure if this is a Mid D6 score or not, If someone would like to help with placement?
mid
high
elite


---


Quick quesiton for dossar, would the advice you gave more more applicable to the higher end of D6, mid, low, or just a general rule of thumb throughout?



I'm looking for any advice that you personally have given to someone else that worked. If you could tell me how good you were, and how good they were at the time, that would be great.

[Hakulyte]

High D5

==Planet Karma== (Consistency)

Skeletor (Jumptrilling)

BEER (Polyrhythms)

The Bird's Poisoned Bathwater (Bursts)

Pandora (Confidence/Speed/Reading)

[Findarian]

Thanks Haku!

Any other scores are greatly appreciated. If you aren't 100% certain about your division, please just guess the best you can, or go off of hi19's division placement in OP

[DossarLX ODI]

I'd say it's for everyone, because I was actually low D6 back in late 2008 with my Frictional Nevada AAA even though I didn't play FFR much. Back then I could hit jacks pretty well though so I actually had rank 1 on RATO and DP and AAA'd Big Blue, despite not being that strong in streams (my Eclipse score was worse than my Almost There score).

Of course back then I didn't really look into files either. I just mashed the ending of DP and a lot of RATO yet doing a good amount of the 16th streams in there. Remembering combo spots prepared me for what was coming up more efficiently, and when I stopped mashing DP's ending and actually looked into it, I cut my score by basically half. Of course this didn't happen until late 2009, before the site crashed.

I still have physical limitations, but I see if I can work something out. Rare cases like Crowdpleaser I'm not able to, but rarely is that the case. The key is to focus on hitting a part first without getting boos or averages (or in some cases, a boo but nothing else).

Edit: Just found the post with some of my late 2008 scores. I think these suffice as low D6 scores.

http://www.flashflashrevolution.com/...postcount=4904

[foxfire667]

Originally Posted by Choofers

This is hilariously bad advice and I hope no one ever takes you seriously.


Mashing will, without a doubt, pave the way for bad habits. You won't gain speed, you won't gain reading skills, you might gain a bit of stamina but what good is that stamina if you're slow and you can't read patterns for shit?

I don't think you understood the premise of the point I brought up. I'm not telling people to mash all of their songs or anything, I was saying you can gain stamina pretty fast by tiring yourself out from mashing songs far above your difficulty level. You shouldn't be forming any sort of bad habits doing something like this, because you wouldn't be trying to focus on patterns of structure.

Also this point was going hand in hand with the point I made below it about trying to pa files above your difficulty range without focusing on combo scoring. Stamina isn't good without reading patterns, which is why you get stamina and learn how to read patterns.

Everything that I listed I have done (or am doing) in one way or another to improve my skill on FFR. It might not work for everyone, but since it worked for me, I figured it would be okay advice.

[Findarian]

Originally Posted by foxfire667

It might not work for everyone, but since it worked for me, I figured it would be okay advice.

Anything like this I really appreciate, because there is a bit of variation on the optimal way to improve, and if I can have a listed out way for each subdivision to improve it would be very beneficial.

Really this thread is meant for anyone who is either tired of the skillcap they hit and are looking for another way around it, or for new/old players to get back in the groove and climb the ranks as fast as they can.

[Reincarnate]

I think reading ability is vastly underrated. Being able to read things better almost always gave me a huge improvement in scores. Even once you get to the point where the arrows are basically reflexive muscle memory (i.e. you can play files without thinking / FC a file and be totally braindead about it), there are always going to be annoying little patterns that will occasionally trip you up bc you can't tell wtf is happening on your screen.

What helped me here was Stepmania. I slowed a song down and slowly sped it up once I mastered it. It did wonders for my ability to read clustered shit.

[d4u7211]

Yeah I agree with foxfire667 actually. I'm not fantastic or anything, but I got my best score on Eclipse Solar by draining the **** out of myself playing RATO and coming back later. Plus, I used to mash like crazy and now I can pass shit on SM i never dreamed I could pass (Binedump, A Very Gabber Xmas, Guillame Tell, Magical 8bit Tour, JHM to name a few...) and it's helped me feel like I don't have to be "scared" of passing a song with shit PA. I don't get discouraged as much anymore, and it goes a long way with helping my consistency on PA, AAAing easier files (even sightread AAA's on 50-60)

[TC_Halogen]

Originally Posted by DossarLX ODI

From D5 to D6:
- Be in good health. I myself don't exercise much at all (I tired out fast when I played DDR at 8 on the break) but I rarely eat fast food and I instead have a wide variety of foods. If your body isn't nourished very well and you aren't getting much rest, it won't be surprising if you tire out faster.
- Look at files more closely. That is, don't mindlessly whore files anymore. Isolations aren't magic, but they help with timing and give a hands-on approach to certain sections. Take advantage of these; I personally am still not able to do sections like Crowdpleaser's 64th cluster part consistently, but it's better than wasting your time. FFR is 30 fps, so frame placements matter a lot. I've done a lot of manipulation for files like Grist, grind2, Rave7, and so on.
- You need an operating system that runs the game decently and a responsive keyboard that isn't physically burdening you. I myself can't play on bulky keyboards. This is very crucial at this point as it does make a tremendous difference, so find out what works best. I'm currently handicapped with legacy on the official site for now, so I'm still a bit stuck here if I don't want to play offline for harder files.
- Play a variety of files. VERY IMPORTANT. The same file from what I've observed will almost always give you bad habits. If you notice you're doing worse, stop. When I was whoring Rave7 one day and got a low SDG, I was doing worse and worse and went to 9 goods, and stopped and played it later.
- Learn to manipulate. Jumptrilling, etc. you still may not be able to AAA a file, but it's better than dumping like 10 goods in a section that you can read but still aren't hitting remotely close.
- Be able to full combo jacks at a moderately fast speed. Most files on FFR don't require much vibrating, but a lot of the longer jacks are at a pretty fast speed.
- Be confident when you play. Yes, I myself still sometimes have nerves when I'm playing files like Scrap Syndrome and have an AAA to the last 100 notes. If you don't AAA the file in your run, you at least will be able to finish knowing you did what you could, and just weren't as lucky that time.
- Play through an entire file a few times. Most players will quit out of a song after seeing they have 1 good or whatever. I do this too, but sometimes even if I have a good or two I get to have a feel for the entire file and remember combo marks.

A lot of the points that Dossar mentioned are huge for optimizing in my opinion.

The first point involving health can be taken slightly less seriously, but it does help to have an adequate amount of sleep/energy when playing, because a.) you'll have more focus and b.) you'll be able to exert a fair amount of energy longer in areas where you might have to strain yourself (jacks for me, just as an example.)

Second: playing a variety of files is extremely important too. You'll never get good at every aspect of the game only playing one specific type of file. You might be good at streaming, but what's going to happen if you can't handle jacks? Even the slightest addition of rigidity will murder you. Same thing goes with accuracy -- you might be able to condition yourself to hit things in even intervals, but if you have a freeform song that has constantly changing rhythms, your PA will take a severe hit.

The essence of doing well on FFR involves frame manipulation, as well. You might know the direct rhythm of a pattern, but hitting it as such might be more difficult than trying to attack a particular pattern a certain way (or with a certain rhythm, as I like to do). Think about a song like Skeletor: is it easier to roll straight 32nds at this high speed, or is it easier to hit jumps on each hand at half of the physical speed? The choice is pretty obvious for almost every person.

Confidence is something that's hard to build, but confidence in yourself while playing a full song will inevitably come down your confidence to doing the section that makes you the most nervous. Train yourself to be able to do well on the toughest parts of songs to the point of being able to do it on command, but look at the file and figure out strategies for taking on particular patterns and structures BEFORE playing the file. You can build a much stronger muscle memory at a faster pace if you slowly tap out a fully-working strategy and build up to the speed that you need. Eventually, you'll be able to trash the hardest parts of songs. You might have nerves, but having light nerves is better than having your heart pounding out of your chest. Uneasiness or heart attack? The choice is yours.

And yes, play through the entire file. If you make a mistake, it's important to see the entire structure before trying again. There's nothing worse than replicating what could have been a sightread run only to lose it by something you never got to when you lost the perfect run the first time.

EDIT:

Originally Posted by Reincarnate

What helped me here was Stepmania. I slowed a song down and slowly sped it up once I mastered it. It did wonders for my ability to read clustered shit.

Originally Posted by my post

You can build a much stronger muscle memory at a faster pace if you slowly tap out a fully-working strategy and build up to the speed that you need.

See? Other people do the same thing, and that's because it works.

[Reincarnate]

I think Disregard is actually good for improving reading skills (at least, it was for me) because it was the first file in many years that I had trouble reading at first due to how dense the stream was with respect to speed. It seems to require a slightly different way of interpreting the muscle memory than straight up hard/confident/calculated MA for most files.