Improving your DDR skills

[ShAwTiE]

gallopin is hard fer me cuz i always think theyre the (i think) 8th notes (not shure) so i press the arroews to fast and get goods and almosts.... need H E L P

~P00cRU|V|z!!

[TBxVividos]

i just got ddr:max 3 days ago. previous to that, i'd only played ddr twice at a friends house and thats the only experience i'd ever had with the game. after 3 days of constant playing im to the point where i can do just about every song on standard except for the 7footers and above.
2 days ago my friend had a late christmas party and had me n some of my friends bring our ddr's and there was one girl (the best of all of us) who said i was really good considering i had so little ddr experience...am i really learning *that* fast? and if i go to the mall and try to play there what are the odds that im just going to look like a fool compared to the other ppl playin? every time i'd watched ppl playin i didnt know anything about the game so i cant just think back to what songs they were playing and see if i can do them.
i'd like to go to the mall arcade and be one of those people i used to think was so cool to watch, but im not sure if im good enough yet =X

[CataBarAbuser]

Hmm.. Ive been playing DDR for about a year maybe. I can beat almost all cata's except So Deep, Max 300, and Max Unlimited. But for some reason, I still have some problems with gallops too. I know its been said before but Matsuri Japan is about the best song for learning gallops even though there are a lot of them. And (even though most guys dont want to be seen playing it in public) Cow Girl. Cow Girl is probably the more appropriate because Japan can be hard for some to pass whereas in Cow Girl you can miss some of the gallops and work youre bar back easily. My two main problems still are stamina, and my never-ending quest to abuse the bar to keep my balance. Keep at it guys, and if anyone has tips for more on So Deep I would be very grateful!
_________________

If another person calls me gay for playing Twin Bee (Generation X), Mobo Moga, and Door of Magic (The Theme of Space Magic) in a row, then Ill walk around with an "Im Gay! Deal With It! " T-shirt.

[Jusenkyou]

Ni Hao [hello]. Im new here. and I dont write as much...soo..

I played DDR for a long time,but not as long as Cata guy up there. Im getting very good at it and can passed most songs. Still need to learn those gallops like what Cata said. I do much of the DDR stuff at home since I have DDR MAX and a dance pad [both plastic and metal]. I hope I can get better at this game. Dun wanna be bad to the public. lol.

[Dangime]

Well I think everyone has a ceiling they hit once they start learning DDR, based on their coordination, physical condition, and ability to pick up the techniques to beat more advanced songs.

I started about a month ago. After 1 week of play I was on 5s, learning to deal with 1/8th notes. After a month I've broken into some 7s and can pass most of the 6s. Now I notice that if I rest a couple days with no DDR and come back, I've actually improved. Its my body trying to catch up from all the moves I've learned. I guess now I can push it again.

Now this is all at home. For some reason, my arcade performance is variable to say the least. If I do anything more than a 4 in the arcade I risk blowing my quarters. I've come up with a list of excuses of why I suck in the arcade lol.

*Going to the arcade means wearing shoes, which ammounts to playing with weights on your feet.

*Arcades have the "miss" ranking. Meaning screwups are treated alot more harshly and its easier to fail.

*Metal Pads are raised platforms. If your foot slides off a softpad, you feel the change in texture and your brain says "adjust your next step by X." Put your foot off a metal pad, and you'll start balancing one one foot and waving your hands in the air, and not hitting the steps.

*Arcade pads have smaller, harder to activate step areas.

*The songs are weird. The mix you have isn't neccessarily the one the arcade has. There will probably be a few in common, but only a few.

*The difficulty is sometimes ONLY viewable through the groove radar. No "feet" ranking. If you're flying blind you and you don't know the exact ranking...it opens doors to sudden deaths, and accidentally choosing 1 footers that have 4 foot remixing on your home version or something liek that.


That's all I could think of besides the fact I've prolly played 50 times at home for each of my few attempts at the arcade. When college resumes though, those large gaps between classes will becon me to the arcade for sure now.

[TBxVividos]

wow...if it took you a month to get down 6footers and start hittin the 7's, and ive got every 6footer nailed after 5 days, i guess i am learning fast!

you made some nice points about playing in the arcade though...im probably heading there to play for the first time...lets hope all this practice at home has not been in vain =X

[Paranoia Reveloution 200]

For some reason gallops always caused two big problems for me:

1) Stamina goes DOWN, DOWN, DOWN.
2) Don't understand, but I usually lose the beat of the song.

Actually we should think of "gallops" as some kind of 8th note and play it as an 8th note. This is one of the reasons people might get "goods" or "almosts" (or misses) when doing them.
_________________

To be sarcastically sarcastic is sarcastic for anyone sarcastic who can be sarcastically sarcastic to my sarcastic sarcasm is sarcastic
*someone help me think of a better one*

[wraith985]

Dude, Cow Girl is such a fun song! I don't have a problem with playing it in public

About gallops - think about the noise that horse hooves make when they gallop. It's oneTWO, oneTWO, oneTWO - once you get it they're really not hard to do - you just have to be able to read them properly, and that will just come with experience, both with the song and with the steps.

Personally I think they're fun and kinda relaxing - not nearly as stamina draining as eighth note runs or multiple steps on the same arrow (you know, like in the old paranoia eternal...that's crazy stuff).

[frilock]

I just want to say that this game is only for the people that are die hard fans of the DDR series. And i want to tell all new-comers to stick with it and dont give up. In the beginning i think that i was the worst player that i you probably ever seen but now i am not to bad. I have passed quit a few catas and can pass most songs on maniac mode except the insane ones like: max 300, R&p and others on that line but overall im not to bad. So just just keep with it. I started playing about a year ago but it has been off and on. I play for two weeks and get tired so i give it a break and after a month or two i cokme back and play for another two weeks or so. so overall i have only put in about 2 solid monhs of DDR playing every day so things will start to get better. I know a guy that works at the arcade in town and he is a pretty good oubles play after only a month of playing he passed Drop Out for the first time this week. Never give up hope it will get better for the ninth time.

[PxDnAkumA]

Here's my problem....hear emough of that yet

I can pass several catas and while several of them are not the prettiest sight many of them are pretty good. That being said there are two songs in particular that just befuddle me to no end. Healing vision Angelic Mix and Exotic Ethnic. It's not that I can't see the arrows and get them it's just that my body hasn't yet figured out the best way to turn to hit some of the more awkward ones without losing balance and or turning in a circle. A buddy of mine can do Angelic mix without turning his body and it's simply painful looking but he does it. Hell he does most every song he does without ever turning is body at all and he ends up looking quite bizarre but it works. So my question is....(after much rambling).....Any ideas how I could nail those two songs?
_________________

[SuGaDaDy]

ok, for angelic mix, try it on 1.5x speed, you may think it's fast enough, but you'll see the arrows more clearer and eventually get used to it, it worked for me.

as for exotic ethnic, try to master rythm & police, that song also has twist and turns for your body and it's mostly the same thing, just that exotic has jumps and freeze arrows. after doing r & p and get the twisting and turning down pretty good, you should be able to recognize it on any song. it worked for me so i'm just trying to help ya out.

~peace

[SuGaDaDy]

i also want to add.....for gallops, try to put mods on that'll be easier to read them, like 1.5x/2x speed, solo (to see the arrow colors better and recognize them), etc. it took me a while to get used to it, but i worked on it and i'm trying to read gallops and off beat steps on flat now, yea it sux, especially on rain of sorrow, but i think it's helping me read the arrows and getting them on the beat of the song, and yesterday i got a full combo, with an A grade, on ever snow, with flat. yea, i'm getting way better at the game and i also got a B on max 300 for the second time. my stamina is getting better and i'm not getting off the machine as much as i used to before when stamina was a prob.

[PxDnAkumA]

Thanks I'll jump right on that. As for Gallops...they've honestly always come natural to me. I just like doing em really I don't know. I'm so close to Max300 that I can taste but I wear out right near the end regretfully. I also had the chance to play legend of Max on DWI with a pad and all. Jesus man the steps aren't that hard but it just doesn't freakin stop talk about a stamina killer. I passed legend of bag too. I was quite proud of myself
_________________

[HF230]

LoL...ohh my turn. Ok I don't have many problems because I can pass the Max bros with a High B almost a A I think I was like 2 perfects away from a A on 300 and like 30-50 from MaxX Unlimited. But I'm like the only player that plays reverse and can pass the max bros. Do any of yall play reverse???? Ok back to my question. I have some trouble with slow oni course songs. Like let the beat hit them. I can't PA that song. I get like 40-50 greats. I dunno what's wrong with me, any help???? Any help on My Sweet Darlin??? I can A it but it feels like I'm missing something. Thanks.

Yea for Exotic once you get the turns it's easy. I double Aed it.
_________________

Heavy AAA's on Arcade: 464 (6 songs left on Extreme to AAA)

DDRecall (DDR EXTREME SCORES)

CHECK OUT MY DDR AAA Videos updated 09/06/09

[PxDnAkumA]

Yeah I can tell it would be easy I've just gotta nail those turns. Those damn turns.
_________________

[-GTFO its Ang3lz-]

Miss Toy -- thanks for tthe advice. I will be sure to do some of the things you listed.
_________________

[MugsyGoten]

I would like to think that Im a decent player...but there is still one step that seems unnatural to me, although I know how it is supposed to be done. For example, in the song Rhythm and Police on Maniac, there is a point like midway through the song where I am supposed to hit the up arrow, then another, then up again, then another, then up, and so on. The past just before it with the down arrow I believe it easy for me, and actually comes natural. Is there a certain way that this is supposed to be practiced? It just seems wierd to me.

Ive been playing for over a year and a half now, so thats why I think I should have this figured out. Anyways, Im off to the casino to play for a bit, and hopefully help myself out with this problem. All help is appreciated.

[Graciegrace]

Are there any tips that you guys could give me in these two songs?
I tried out So Deep yesterday and found that tiring after so many gallops.

Exotic Ethnic isn't good as well, I sorta get lost after the turns....
BTW are there any better suggestion on turns, 'cos I'm not good at them, I'm still learning how to turn and I often don't know which foot to use after some turns (got caught)

[DDRmunky]

[quote="MugsyGoten"]I would like to think that Im a decent player...but there is still one step that seems unnatural to me, although I know how it is supposed to be done. For example, in the song Rhythm and Police on Maniac, there is a point like midway through the song where I am supposed to hit the up arrow, then another, then up again, then another, then up, and so on. The past just before it with the down arrow I believe it easy for me, and actually comes natural. Is there a certain way that this is supposed to be practiced? It just seems wierd to me.

Ive been playing for over a year and a half now, so thats why I think I should have this figured out. Anyways, Im off to the casino to play for a bit, and hopefully help myself out with this problem. All help is appreciated.[/quote]

I was also baffled by this problem. At first I just skipped around, alternating my L & R foot for the up arrow. It was pretty sad...So after a week's concentration, I was able to come up with an okay method. I first turned sideways and placed my foot (doesn't matter which) on the up arrow and used my other foot for the L, D, & R arrows. I was surprised by the accuracy. I don't know if this is the correct way to do it but it's the best thing I can come up with so far.

[MugsyGoten]

ive tried doing that DDRMunky, but it just feels really wierd to me. Its by no means natural. I can do it fine with the left, right, and down arrows, but when its the up arrow that you have to keep alternating on, its just different. I cant really integrate it into songs other than rythym and police, because I dont really know when its coming, as I dont memorize any songs, just the patterns, and when to use them.

Anyone else know a really good song to practice this on or anything?