Improving your DDR skills

[Dynamite2U]

Wait a minute how the hell am i a basic member!?!?!
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[evn]

Maybe you could read this:
http://www.ddrfreak.com/phpBB2/faq.php#9
and find out.

You joined only a couple of hours ago, that makes you a newbie and a basic member. If you stick around for a month you should be automatically 'promoted' to trick. after that it's probably the end of the road - there are only about 20 maniac members, all of them are moderators.
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[Dynamite2U]

Thanks dude
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[마왕]

hey i started to play ddr over spring break this year, and i can already do six and sometimes seven feet.........so is that good progress or should i practice more?? cuz i already practice about 2 hours everyday at home, but i wanna get bad buttocks!!

[마왕]

umm........yeah.........i didn't actually say buttocks, i said the "A" word^^..that whole whole buttocks thing sounds funny

[ninjafetus]

Ok, I can help ya out here...

the "half steps" on Afronova start off with a not too hard pattern...face right and do the l,d,l,d, r,d,r,d (right foot on down, left for the others)...

...then swing your body right and face right to do the l,u,l,u,r,u,r,u, (right foor on up this time)

Then it gets wierd with the "sets of three". They go lefy to right, top three, bottom three, top three bottom three, etc. or...

l,u,r
l,d,r
l,u,r,
l,d,r
l,u,r.

Repeat. The rest isn't too hard after that, save one repeating pattern later. You have to repeat up in between the beats, and hit r,d,l.
I use my left foot on up, and fact right, using my right foot for r,d,l. There is a set with r,(pause),l... but I do that just the same! Hope it helps, and if you are unsure on a song, look for patterns on a step chart to exploit, or use an emulator.
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Drunk Slugs.

[Knuckluz]

could someone possibly give me some tips on getting Japan Maniac from 5th? any help would be very great.

[ninjafetus]

Well...Japan...you could look at the step charts...but....

It only really has two rhythms the entire song. The first starts off with triplet gallops (I think...if they really are true 16ths, they are so fast it doesn't matter)

101101101101101101... where three numbers is a beat.
So TRI-pl-IT TRI-pl-IT....

LAter, it has straight eights with a fewe 16th thrown in after the beat. It's where those voices say "yah, yah-da!" or something unspellable.

101010101010 (eighth notes in 16th notation)
10001000110010001100 (16th rhythms. ONE-e-and-a TWO-E-and-a)
So it's like a gallop AFTER the beat, where instead of the gallop being a pickup before the beat, you hit the beat first, and then the 16th after it.

The rest is just 8ths!!! This is the song I learned gallops on, and an easy cata. (as far as catas go)
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Drunk Slugs.

[Knuckluz]

cool thanks

[J-luv]

I just started two weeks ago and I a starting to topple tricks and what not. One tip that i learned from someon who has been playin DDR for like years, is when you first start going on songs that have a lot of consecutve 8th and 16th steps is to first "Play it in your mind" i dont know if that would help that tip is pretty vague. Oh yeah a big help is go up against people that have played for like a long time and play one of their songs that would normally be hard for you. (Youll ge experienc and theyllkeep you alive) Hope this helps a bit
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When it seems like I've hit the bottom, someone always throws me a bigger shovel.

[ninjafetus]

I play on an emulater, or with the controller first. Emus are good, with assist taps, and speed downs...learn first, then dance!
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Drunk Slugs.

[Ninja_Step]

I just passed 5th mix - Japan on maniac the other day. I was kinda stunned so i did it again to make sure it wasn't just luck.... i passed it again with an even better score. One thing you have to be sure you do is pay attention to the rhythm. I know i have a problem with followin the arrows without listening to rhythm, which i have almost completely solved now. you won't be able to pass most maniac levels without knowin how to hear the beat. and STAMINA is a big problem for Japan, and Afronova Eternal and Primordal Eternal on Maniac. keep your feet moving, and look one step ahead. for a combination like URD..... you don't want to do right foot UP, left right RIGHT, now how the hell you hit the back one without tangling your feet. make sure the foot you start off with isn't gonna get your feet tangled into knots halfway through the step combo. startin off with the wrong foot is a sure way to fail.... just keep practicin till you find out which starting foot gets you through the combo. i don't have much more advice hope i helped

[3:05]

if you want to know when to step i would use assist, its nice
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www.kingdomofloathing.com - I'm a DJ at www.radio-kol.com check 'er out.

[Parvus Imperator]

If you're having trouble with half steps, you should go back to easier songs that have half steps, maybe something like Put Your Faith In Me Basic.

But if you're having trouble with the step combinations ('cos I don't know what you're trying to say in your post), try looking at the step charts. Only you can know which way to turn your body and step as fast enough to attain "Perfects" and "Greats"...I don't know which parts of the song you're talking about, too: is it the beginning, the middle, or the end.

There are a lot of half steps in this song, so be a little more specific...

[baka_kitsune]

okay. I'm fairly good at DDR, being able to pass all 8-feet tracks (from 5th down - never played MAX ) but one step combination always messes me up
l,u,r,d or r,u,l,d
and r,d,l,u or l,d,r,u

I just never seem to get the footing right.. I worked out that if you start with the foot that you're supposed to, you'd end up facing away from the screen, which is really awkward for the next set of arrows. short of memorising the next pattern to right yourself, what can I do?
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yeah. I humped some signs.
two coke signs
and a stop sign.
it means stop humping
it didn't stop me.

[Maelstorm]

Baka Kitsune-

What I do for those combinations is kinda like hop... here's an example.

for L,U,R,D, what I do is push left with my left, up right, then as soon as I hit the up, I kinda hop over to right, and land with my right foot, and push down with my left. I sounds complicated, but it works very well for me. Plus it looks funny . But I have never had a problem with it, and it always works. It just might take some time for you to get it.

Dynamite2U-- Since somone already explained Afronova expert to you, I'll try to explain Dynamite Rave Cata to you... Okay, in the beginning, it is EXTREMELY IMPORTANT that you follow the music. Every single note that the music plays, you have to hit at that moment, it just depends on the arrow(s) that you have to hit.

Then, it moves on to the eighth notes mixed in with the sixteenths. This part can be tricky. It follows the same pattern for a while, just with different notes. BUT WATCH OUT for one of the sixteenth notes combination. There is one (2nd or 3rd sixteenth note combo), and you go from a L+R (jump) to L to R, all in sixteenth notes. This can be very difficult. What I recommend for this, is jump, and IMMEDIATELY lift up your left foot JUST ENOUGH to get off and then press down immediately. With some practice, you should get it, but it's hard to full combo the song if you don't take care of this little annoyance. Then it goes to a bunch of eighth notes, not too hard to deal with, just keep your balance and remember to follow the rhythm, especially the ladies voice, as the arrows usually follow the voices. Then it goes back to sixteenths mixed with eighths, not too much to worry about if you already got the beginning part nailed. And at the VERY end, you need to kinda like gallop up and down, and then do two more jumps. Overall, a fairly difficult cata, but with some practice, it isn't too hard.

What I really recommend you do, is if you have the home version, slow it down to speed 1 or 2 if 1 is too slow. This is what I did, and after about 5 hours of practicing, using the judge (very useful-- USE IT!), and Assist, I have pretty much mastered the song and I can get an A consistently, while nearly making it a full-combo. If you don't have home version, just download DWI. It works pretty good, but to me, not as good practice as a home pad with the game.

Usually, I hit the buttons with the balls of my feet, which is kind of like the half of your sole that is closer to your feet. I dont' really like using my toes or heels, they are too complicated to me, since my natural habit is to use the balls of my feet.

Hmm, what are some tips......? ALWAYS STAY WITH THE MUSIC. Try to get REALLY into the music, it helps me tons, for gettin those AA or AAAs. Like, I love Let's Groove Heavy on MAX or MAX2. I ALWAYS get an A minimum, and about 40% AA. Why so good? Because I GET REALLY INTO THE SONG. It has a really good beat, and I follow it.

[ShinomoriAoshiXx]

I just passed my first 3 cata's and I didn't use any of those tips. All I did was play Practice mode with assist 6 and I played sections of the song until I memorized the step patterns.

Then I played the full song on about 3rd speed setting, then moved it to four, then when I got confident enough (acutally COCKY enough) I kicked it to the full speed and did it.

But now im going after Max300 and Candy from MAX, I know that'll never happen, but it's worth the shot heh.

Oh yeah, the 3 maniacs were: Dyna Rave, Electro Subs (first try without using practice or anything), and Matsuri Japan (No practice, just got on and did it).

[mx]

Some of this stuff has already been mentioned, but it's probably worth repeating:

The most important skill you can have in DDR is knowing what your weaknesses are. For example, if you can't gallop, that's okay -- but at least know that those steps you're constantly missing are gallops. If you can't do quick-turns (like the L-U-R-D mentioned above), at least realize that these steps are the ones that are throwing you off.

Once you know what your weaknesses are, systematically attack them. There's a very, very large toolbox/toolset of moves that any DDR player should have -- practicing in any area will increase your skills in that area. Playing things you know over and over again will only help you to get better scores in that song. (Go to an arcade, watch the people who max combo basics, then immediately fail tricks & ssrs if you want proof).

If you're around the trick level, playing with the keyboard/psx controller is your best friend. There's one key reason: the ability to read arrows is the #1 ability you can have, period. If you can't read arrows, chances are you'll fail just as hard with your fingers as you would with your feet. The payoff of hand-based play diminishes around 8-feet, where steps which are very simple to do with your hand become much more complicated to do with your feet.

Stamina is many a maniac player's greatest nemesis. Don't try to overexhaust yourself -- play to your limit, rest for 10 minutes or so, then start again. But don't play under your limit, either. Push yourself. If you're getting A's and S's on 120 bpm songs, yet getting D's & F's on 200 bpm songs, work on bringing your stamina up.

NEVER drink caffeinated drinks while playing DDR. "Energy" drinks (such as Venom, Red Bull, etc..) are even worse. Ask any runner -- he doesn't go sit down after a few laps/race and drink a 64oz. bottle of Coke. Caffeine is a diuretic, which means you're going to need to pee more from drinking it, which means you lose more water, which means you get dehydrated. Dehydration & DDR = collapsing. Believe me, it's not fun.

[Kage]

The original post by Miss Toy sounds alot like me right now.......I am stuck on 7+8 footers, and can almost do catas. I was also thinking about trying doubles, but I only have one pad @home, and I dont think I would want to mod the a new one. But I would like to buy a set of those GameClubPrice metal ones......


Ah, and I'll try Shuffle, that sounds interesting

[ninjafetus]

I was there, too for a while. I noticed my skill improvement was not linear. I stayed at one level for a while, improving bit by bit, and then BAM! I suddenly "got it" and jumped up to the next level. Then, repeat. I just broke the 7-8 to cata transition this summer, and now the only ones I can't beat are Max300 and MaxX Unlimited... AGGGHHH!!!! I'll get there, though. Maybe as soon as I finish my own metal pad! MWAHAhahahahaAHa!
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Drunk Slugs.