Beat the clock

[Cowman715]

This is a really funny story and thought i should put it here... Me and my friend mynor were waiting to play DDR... but the people in front of us were just wasting time... FOR EVERY SONG... So when they went up again i told mynor... Hey ill bet u 10$ that if we walk around the mall for 30 minitues and we come back there still palying... he said ok... We came back 20 minitues later and they were on there 3rd song lol... so i was wondering... wats the longest possible time that you can waste picking a song on DDR...

Oh btw.... i lost the bet... by 7 miniutes
_________________

I LOVE FAMILY GUYYYYYYYYYYYY

HE'S SO FUCKING FUNNY WITH THE RANDOMNESS AND MY CAPS PROVE IT TO BE TRUE!!!!!!!!

[Wolfman2000]

If you were using the DDREX machine...let's walk through this.

You put the coins in...you normally get 30 seconds to choose your style, followed by another 30 seconds to choose the difficulty level. For this, we will assume that you play BEGINNER MODE, for that takes up extra time. Then, 15 seconds for the freeze arrow demonstration. Take out an extra 5 seconds for the menu transistions, and you got about 80 seconds off the bat. (If it's not 30 seconds, then you get the idea; I used MAX2 for that one).

Now, the song selection timer is set at 99 seconds. HOWEVER, if you sonstantly hold down an arrow button, time seems to go MUCH slower. For my purpose, we'll pretend the timer is at 100 seconds for ease of rounding. It seems to me that if you just HOLD the arrow button, one second will go away after about 4 or 5 real life seconds...we'll say five. 5 times 100 = 500. BUTT...the start button is held down...to the song options we go for another 30 seconds. Let THAT timer run down, and if you are in beginner mode, you are shown how to PLAY for the next 45 seconds or so (i don't know if this is every song; I'll guess not). Then, you actually play...let's say it's a 90 second song...with a 10 second startup time (from "1st stage" to applause) Then, the "CLEARED" message comes on (another 5) and you get 15 seconds to take a snapshot if your AAA.

So far, 80 seconds was covered in the intro, and 650 seconds for just one song. Most machines are 3 song style, so we'll use that. Since the beginner mode "how to play" thing shouldn't be done again (i'm guessing), 45 seconds is removed from the remaining two songs.

This means 80, 650, 605, and 605. BUT HOLD ON! Your partner AAed that on heavy...that means Extra Stage! Here, the 99 seconds kind of stays 99 since you can't really cycle through all of the songs...round it to 100. Another 100 seconds later, the extra stage is beaten...SPECIAL STAGE EARNED! After gloating of the grade for another 20 seconds, you just have to wait about 100 more seconds (plus 10 more before the first note comes in) for Sakura to start. Get through the whole song (I'm guessing 90 seconds again), and use the final 20 seconds to gloat over that grade, with an extra 15 for gloating over the average grade. NOW he is done...NOT! Don't forget about signing the name! Another 60 seconds is wasted.

80, 650, 605, 605, 200, 200, 15, and 60 = 2415 seconds...roughly. Divide that by 60...40 minutes and 15 seconds.

Now, I'm sure my math is off at some point, but this gives you an idea on how long you might have to wait if there are loads of time wasting idiots on any given night.

[ZZZ]

It helps to know that after a while of song scrolling, the timer wisens up to your little plan of drawing out time [to rest after getting your sorry butt kicked by MAX 300], and it resumes ticking in real-time after seven or so "extended" seconds. Let's just assume five for best/worst/whatever possible scenario. That reduces your 500 second figure to about 120. (100 - 5 + 25.) Add 30 seconds for the options menu, and you get a per-song figure of 150. 450 seconds so far. Add a one time delay of 45 seconds for the beginner's introduction. 495. The songs themselves are 100sec (including the startup/shutdown time), so 795 seconds assuming I added right...(can't think with Trip Machine CLIMAX playing in the background) 45 seconds total for snapshot time. 200 sec for the extra stage. 200 sec for the bonus stage....1240 seconds, assuming a 3 song machine. (It seems as if the original poster was looking at a 4 or 5 song machine because he notes that they were on their "3rd" song, instead of final song. [Of course, if I am mistaken, feel free to point this out. That goes for my horrendous math, too.]) 80 seconds for the initial intro, and 1300 seconds. 1300 over 60 and you get 21 minutes and 40 seconds.

[-Mystik-]

try the arcade forum.
_________________

[Steven in America]

First of all, encore extra stage is DDR, not Sakura. Also, there is no high score for playing a normal game. That's only for DDR Max and before. So you can cut off a lot of that time...
_________________

[slkmmm]

[Poochy]

Select Style = 30
Select Difficulty = 30
Freeze Arrow Demo = 15
Beginner Intro = 45
Transitions = 5
------------------------
Part 1 Subtotal = 125

Timer = 85 (?)
The timer stops for a short time every time you go over a song. This only happenes once per song that you go over per stage. If you scroll past a song, then come back to it, you only get the bonus time the first time.
Assume 0.75 second delay per song
0.75 * 240 songs in Extreme = 180
select Options = 30
Absolute/Kakumei = about 110 seconds (both).
Results = 15
-----------------------
Part 2 Subtotal = 420*3 stages = 1260

You can select your song for Extra Stage on Extreme, so...
Timer = 85 (?)
Assume 0.75 second delay per song
0.75 * 240 songs in Extreme = 180
Legend of Max = 94
Results = 15
Assume that you get OneMoreExtraStage. I don't think you can select your song for OneMoreExtraStage.
Timer = 85 (?)
Dance Dance Revolution = 97
Results = 15
-----------------------
Part 3 Subtotal = 571

Last 3 Stages Total Results = 15
(No name entry for Extreme unless you're playing Nonstop or Oni)
Ending movie = assume 60 seconds
-----------------------
Part 4 Subtotal = 75
_____________________________________________
GRAND TOTAL: *ka-ching!* 2031 = 33:51

That's for 3 stages.

For the maximum of 5:
Part 1 Subtotal = 125
Part 2 Subtotal = 420*5 stages= 2100
Part 3 Subtotal = 571
Part 4 Subtotal = 75
GRAND TOTAL: *ka-ching!* 2871 = 47:51

If you understood all that, then you're almost as big of a geek as me.
_________________

Math problems? Call 1-800-[(10x)(13i)^2]-[sin(xy)/2.362x].

Don't make me mad, I know karate!
(Not to mention a bunch of other Japanese words.)

[Sk1p]

[BTTB]

[yyr]

This is why I hate the fact that Extreme gives you "99 seconds" to select a song. 5th MIX's timer was only at 20 seconds, and nobody I know complained too much. 40 seconds probably would have been enough for most people.

Now, Oni doesn't seem like it takes so long any more...

-----

My "realistic" attempt at figuring out the longest reasonable time a game of Extreme could take, assuming two Heavy players, two loaded memory slots, three songs and one Extra Stage:

inserting coins/inserting cards/waiting for other player: 20 seconds
select style, access memory card, select difficulty: 30 + 20 + 30 = 80 sec
total pre-game: 20 + 80 = 100

select music: 99, plus an extra 30 or so for scrolling. After about 30 extra seconds the time will count down in real-time. 99 + 30 = 129
select option: 30
average song, plus time for stage name, loading, and "CLEARED:" 3 + 90 + 3 = 96
result: 15
total for song: 129 + 30 + 96 + 15 = 270

total for four songs: 270 x 4 = 1080 - 30 (no options for extra stage) = 1050

last 3 stage result: 15
"don't touch the memory card!": 20
"now pull out the memory card": can be 20, but reduced to 4 when impatient waiting players rip out memory cards and smash your face in frustration from waiting so long

total post-game: 15 + 20 + 4 = 39

total: 100 + 1050 + 39 = 1189, or 19:49.
*total, if all the selection and result screen time is cut in half: 70 + 717 + 38 (rounded up) = 825, or 13:45. This is more typical.
*actual time spent playing the game: 6 minutes, less than half the more typical measurement.
*target time most arcades want players to spend on each game: 2-3 minutes.
*time it takes to peel bloodied person off machine after he's been smashed by line of waiting players: about 1 minute
*time to clean off machine's pads before anyone else can play: about 6 minutes, or half that if the arcade keeps paper towels and Lysol handy
*time it took you to read this post: probably quite a bit, and you could have done something worthwhile with it.
*time it took ME to WRITE this post: no comment.
*time it took me to edit this post (no options in extra stage): far less, only about 2 minutes

~yyr
_________________

My GameFAQs reviews
Play Snake360 today!

[Tenaciousmonk]

lets_maxx.. are you sure that they didn't just play another game? I've never seen someone take 23 minutes to play one game of DDR.