IIDX Mini-FAQ: If you have newbie IIDX questions READ THIS!

[gs68]

[[symphony]]

great FAQ, lots of helpful stuff there.

The first time i've ever played was on a 4th style machine(lucky me lol)
I found myself playing Light 7 and 5.1.1(I think) just about every time. Yea It wasn't as fun as it could've been, but I found my self feeling more comfortable. I've never touched a BM, BMIII, BMIIDX machine, let alone seen one before that day. I was just so emmensed(sp?) in the coolness, i'm saving up to buy a home version. What I found enjoyable was to play the occasional 5Key game. I'd go from 2-3 star songs for L7, to 4-5 Star songs on 5 key, and improving my movement of the keys. I've heard you shouldn't do that, but oh well. It's frustrating, but some of the best things take a lot of time to reach. Ultra High Heels is one of the coolest songs I got to play. Like I was saying, I could pass it on 5 Key, and then come close to passing on L7...yea

[rampage]

[A Minute]

on the "regular" IIDX controller, i heard the buttons are too stiff and the turntable isnt that good.
ive heard the buttons thing way more about the turntable
are people comparing to the arcade or just saying the buttons are down right bad?

or are all these myths???
_________________

DONT
WAIT
WATCH IT!
NOW!

[rampage]

[OVER_DOSER]

[quote="CStarFlare"]Your point?

IIDX requires practice. Lots. I play for 2 or so hours a day. 2 months later, I can beat B4U Another.

[/quote]

You're saying that you played IIDX for 2 months. At which time you then beat b4u(a)?

[CStarFlare]

Yes, I beat it once. I havn't tried after I beat it, though.

I play alot.

[OVER_DOSER]

That's quite an achievement, congratulations indeed.

[CStarFlare]

Thanks.

I played it again- 30%. Heh.

Though, when I beat it, I'd been playing B4U 7-Key for about an hour strait.

[DKW]

rampage - Okay, you seem genuinely concerned (I commend you for that), so...one more time.

Issue #1: Difficulty scaling
Certain number of back-breaking songs in Bemani game: Not a problem.
Back-breaking songs kicking in at about the halfway point: Problem.
Back-breaking songs kicking in at about the halfway point of the beginner difficulty: HUGE problem.
I know that there will be songs that give me problems. When the majority of the songs on Light 7 (let alone regular 7-key) are like that, I'm sorry, that is just plain WRONG.

Yes, yes, I don't have to worry about failing (or losing my sanity) if all I ever play is 5.1.1., Remember You, Doigts de Fatima, Bad Boy, etc. on Light 7. I don't want to do that. It's no fun. And I guarantee you that I will never, repeat, never reach the point where Fantasy or Era or Summer Vacation would be passable. Look, the thing that I find the most annoying about watching others is that too many of them pick the same tiny handful of songs over and over (suprisingly, the Pump It Up players seem to be the worst offenders); the last thing I want is a game that FORCES me to do this. This has definitely happened with the arcade IIDX (4th and 6th Style, FYI), to the point where I can't play it at all anymore, because I know I'm going to end up playing Doigts de Fatima, and Silhouette of My Mind, and either Just Do It or Paranoia Max or Remember You or Love Will for the big finish. I've had sessions on Yebisu Mix (a 10-song bonus disk for the PSX BM) that were less predictable.

I wanna have a crack at least the great majority of them on at least the very easiest difficulty, and IIDX is the ONLY music game I've ever played where this is not possible. (The non-musical Fightingmania is even worse, but that's another thread.)

The fact that Konami decided that 5th Style needed a “Beginner Mode” when they ALREADY had Light 7 and 5-key is telling.

Issue #2: The need to just keep at it
Again, I have DDR, PnM, and BM at home. Every single installment in every single one of those games has plenty of playing time (even the most recent one, PnM6), and none of them have forced me to choose between playing one bonecrushing song after another or sticking to the same tiny handful of songs for all eternity. Why so much replay value? Because of the wide vareity of songs, the fact that I can PLAY and CLEAR nearly all these songs, and the fact that I enjoy doing this.

I’m not tolerating a game that continually spits in my face. I’ve made that horrible mistake before (Strider on MAME without any save states or cheat codes, and at the default difficulty...man, what the hell was I thinking??); it’s not happening again.

Lemme put this another way...I once had Mixwaver and over a hundred songs on my hard drive. All have been deleted. Reason? Way, way too many superhard, impossible-to-clear songs, and too few easy or even moderately challenging songs. I’d say that about half of them were completely out of my league. There are many things that can keep me going and inspire me to do better, but seeing an empty groove meter again and again isn’t it. I was so disgusted that I eventually bought nearly the entire PSX BM collection (not to mention the necessary $50 modchip to play them and an extra memory card for Gotta Mix) just to get back on familiar ground. Many tireless hours spent at it; no signs of getting tired of it. Again, I’m getting far more value from a BM collection that I spent hundreds of dollars for than a computer version which cost me NOTHING. All because I couldn’t stand to keep at it another second. Now, if I’m going to pay at $70 for a modchip and another $70 for one game, I’m going to be DAMN sure I’m getting my money’s worth.

Issue #3: What version I’m playing
As mentioned before, both 4th and 6th Style in the arcade. I’m not sure that makes a lot of difference. I know that arcades often set the difficulty re. the groove meter higher than what I put it at at home (always 1 for BM; usually 2 for PnM unless I actually want to fail for some reason). Regardless, I don’t think even this makes much of a difference when the songs themselves are so crushing.

All this, of course, only underscores the question of why Konami made this game so hard, especially when none of the other Bemani games is anywhere near this hard.


That said...I might be willing to make a small concession. If the beginner mode in 5th Style is really as simple as it seems, I might...emphasis, might...be inclined to pick it up someday. (I’m definitely getting DDRMax and BM 6th Mix first, and if anything new for PnM arrives, it gets top billing.)

My new question, then, is how easy are these songs compared to either BM or PnM songs? And are all the songs available on Beginner? I might be able to forgive the difficulty of Light 7 if I can work my way up it after clearing all the songs on Beginner.

Also, any and all Gameshark codes for any style would be greatly appreciated. (What? These kind of games are exactly the reason I need a Gameshark!)

Again, thanks for your kindness, but understand that there are very good reasons for my continued trepidation.

[CStarFlare]

On 5th Style, all songs but the unlockables are avaliable on Beginner mode.

On 6th, they all are, but you must unlock the unlockables to play them, obviously (I don't know if you can do this in Beginner).

As for the difficulty of beginner, I could clear all 1 stars within 10 minutes of my starting. I could clear about 5 or so by the end of day one. By the end of day 2, I was clearing a few threes, and most 2s. By day 3, I'd beat everything but Absolute, which I toppled a few days after not playing it for a while.

And, to be honest, the only reason I wasn't throwing things around on IIDX was because I had Beginner to work with. If I went straight to Light 7, I might have ended up selling it in EBay.

[A Minute]

Begin~ <overload of questions\>
Ive been playing BMDX on my comp since i cant reallly afford all of my beatmania gear i got planned out - (Yet )

Anyways, im able to pass stuff like
drunk monky 5key
hell scaper (another) 5key
ALMOST era(nostal mix)
genom screams 5 key
Logical Dash 5key
Attack the Music 5key
Luv To Me (Disco) 5key
ALMOST R5 5key
(some others)
(i want to play holic so bad)

How should i step up to harder songs?

is BMDX helpful? or does it totally screw me over when i head over to real IIDX ?

whatever i can pass, i can pass consistently. Ive been playin BMDX for about 3 days... hows my progress????

Finally, can someone give me a site with reliable IIDX downloads for my BMDX? [preferably zip files] (plz not m-g-z.com)

</overload of questions>
_________________

DONT
WAIT
WATCH IT!
NOW!

[DKW]

CStarFlare - Your words, not mine: "And, to be honest, the only reason I wasn't throwing things around on IIDX was because I had Beginner to work with. If I went straight to Light 7, I might have ended up selling it in EBay."

That says it all right there. Furthermore, I will not ignore the fact that the unlockables aren't available (and probably Hell Scraper-caliber on Light 7).

I've had it up to my eyeballs with challenge-crammed monstrosities. I've fought Dio in World Heroes 2 on the original system (i.e. no codes or save states), I spent $50 on that ultra-cheap piece of dreck Gradius 2...got half of it back on trade in, biggest ripoff of my life...and I've burnt more rubber than a car's tires should have in Gran Turismo 3, and I'M SO SICK AND TIRED OF IT. (I already mentioned my hassles with the arcade IIDX, right?) And this time, I'm not the only one...check out the periodic "Wow, IIDX really is that hard" threads on GamdFAQs.

At this point, it's PS2 Gameshark codes or nothing. I'm not budging an inch on this. I'm not being shafted again (even if previous unfortunate gamers already have been).

Someplace should have them...right?

[MILK]

yes. IIDX is hard.
yes. it is very tough to be a beginner at IIDX.
but most of the people that become experts are really dedicated, and practice furiously. It is my understanding that noone really just "gets" IIDX. It comes with ruthless practice, and extreme frustration. Gameshark codes are useless. I mean, the whole point of the game is playing the songs and listening to the music. Its not to get the STAGE CLEAR screen (although it is nice sometimes) If you really arent budging and inch, then i advise that you DO sell your IIDX (to me). I mean what gameshark codes are you looking for? Bar doesnt drain? No, cause theres no autofail, so you can play through the entire thing even if the bar doesnt go anywhere. Unlock all the songs? No, cause if you play a bunch of easy songs, you will end up unlocking all of the secret songs (which according to you would be impossible for you to beat anyway.)
I mean no offense to you, cause i know that its really hard, and some things JUST ARENT people's bag (for instance, we have a pool table, and ive practiced for years and i STILL suck. horribly. i gave up pool. Its just not my thing. I w a n t to be good at pool, and lord knows ive practiced tons and tons, but i just suck at pool.) But if you have to resort to using a Gameshark for the sole purpose of making the STAGE CLEAR screen appear even if youve got 1000 BADs, and you are fed up with the STAGE FAILED screen, then I guess its time to sell your IIDX (to me.)
Seriously. you got IIDX 6th style? be happy to take it off your hands. PM me if you are dead serious.
and im sorry IIDX did not work out for you.
_________________

[CStarFlare]

[DKW]

(Can't believe I'm responding to this thread again, but here goes nuthin'.)

Milkcarton - I’m going to respond to your post item by item. I don’t usually do this, but your post intrigued me, and I think it deserves a detailed response.

[Elektro Tal]

For starters, IIDX is NOT A BEGINNER LEVEL GAME. The whole point of this sequel to beatmania was to provide a challenge for experts of the original series. DDR is made for people to jump in whenever they want. original Beatmania is the same. Popn was SPECIFICALLY made for children, so of course the difficulty is scaled down.

But Beatmania Two Delux was not. Two extra keys were added, and one of the turntables was flipped, and a whole new range of difficulty was introduced. Hell, even the lane separation for the notes, so that black keys have their own lane instead of going down the line between white keys adds to this.

Bottom line- if you want to play IIDX, then you have to be good. Five key on IIDX is really unsatisfying and more difficult than it has any right to be. In fact, light 7 is much easier to deal with than five key, imo.

Personally, i suck at the game. I can't keep track of all the stuff falling so quickly, and thusly i can only pass 4 stars light 7.

Really though, it seems to me that you are basically unwilling to put in the effort to get over this steep learning curve. Your insistance on having no bar drain codes leads me to believe that you expect Konami to provide for your failings. If you don't like it, stick to games you can play, on lowest difficulty at that.


Has it ever occured to you that if you practice Beatmania 5 key on a higher level than 1, you might get better at it? I know that playing 6th+core at level 4 has made me a much more competant BM player, and it might work for you too.

But if you just want to whine about how hard the game is, stick to popn 5 key, since i cant imagine that you would deign to even try 9 button popn.

[rampage]

Plus, there's always beginner mode. I know I certainly would have never become any better at IIDX if I played in the arcade. Lots of practice at home starting out on beginner mode helped me to get to the level I am at today. I've been playing IIDX for about 3 months now and can pass lots of 5* songs on 7-key mode.

While my progress may be slower than some, I only get to play a couple times a week.

You mentioned that you hate playing the same easy songs over and over again, but with beginner mode you have nearly every song available to you. If you want to get good at IIDX, practice at home *then* play in the arcade.

[CStarFlare]

[DKW]

All right, last time, promise.

Elektro Tal - If that was their intention all along, I still say it's a major misstep. It's possible to cater to the Internet Ranking gang (that's my shorthand for the elitest of the elite) and still avoid alienating the many, many players who haven't quite arrived. They've done this with nearly everything else in the Bemani line. I can think of no good reason not to do this with IIDX as well.

And please don't try to make me feel bad about not being good at a game. While I never want to give up gaming completely, dropping a game is no sweat. I've actually thrown away a number of console games, including Capcom vs. SNK, and that one wasn't even all that hard (just wildly unpredictable AI and got boring too fast).

And don't you ever diss Pop 'n Music, greenhorn. It amazes me to this day how so many players can judge a game completely on the type of graphics it uses. For the record, I play 9-key a little more than 5-key (mainly because not all the songs are on 5-key...there's that want-to-play-everything thing again), so you were completely off on that, too.

And I said, quite clearly, that I'd rather make the game the way I like it than grumble about how much I don't like it. Know what the real purpose of a Gameshark is? It's to turn games I wouldn't give the time of day into games I enjoy a lot. My irritation stems from not being able to get into IIDX at all without constant frustration. Eliminate the frustration, eliminate the irritation. Makes sense?

One more thing...you can clear everything up to 4 in Light 7? Congratulations...you're every bit as good as I am. Lay off the flames, if you please.

CStarFlare - No codes? That's too bad...that means I'll probably have to work out some kind of rental deal with Toys 'n Joys before I'll even consider picking this up. I've given them good business, so they might be willing to work out a deal on this. Or else I can just take their usual return-in-30-days-for-cost-minus-$10 warranty.

And please don't tell me how much I suck...because, frankly, I don't care. As I mentioned before, it's about fun, and enjoyment, and getting into the game. And a good game should inspire me to work at it and get better (at the risk of sounding like an mp3 file on auto-repeat, every other Bemani game I've ever played has done this), not force me to do so as a prerequisite.

As for easy PS2 games...go rent Bloody Roar 3, Gauntlet: Dark Legacy, or Super Bust-a-Move, and see if you still agree with this. Then again, these are relatively old games, so things may have changed since then, I dunno.


Seriously, any other noobs care to respond, please do so!