Improving your DDR skills

[Raloth]

[Nope™]

[Emorgasm]

I think that the difference between playing arcade and at home is the way the pad is designed. With a softpad (the kind I use) there's no specific are you hit that's a button for the arrow, it's just kinda a region of the pad. This is the only thing I've noticed that's different, so if you had a hard pad, you wouldn't run into this discrepency.

Unrelated question:
I've been trying to work on spins, putting them into songs and stuff, but I can't seem to recognize the patterns fast enough or get the footing right. Can somebody give me some tips?
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It's all about the sesh.

[Slowpoke]

[Emorgasm]

I mean the buttons in the arcade have a rigid outline (a square) whereas on a soft pad there is no rigid outline, just a general area.
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It's all about the sesh.

[Delita_chan]

So would you guys advise me not to get comfy with the home soft pad? That's all I've ever worked with; I've been to the arcade like 4 times and it is harder on the arcade for me.
At home, I can only muster standard mode (no AAs yet just A, B but mostly Bs and Cs).
Just like a lotta people like to brag "I moved from light to heavy in a week" well I've played since Thanksgiving and I've only started doing good in standard. SLOW progress. I don't think I"ll ever make it to heavy ^^

[Slowpoke]

[Slowpoke]

[Desoulman]

Of course, Stepmania tends to be off synch much more often then home versions songs (after you have the overall timing adjustement correct), and it (at least for me) will sometimes lag a bit... I dont play stepmania for those reasons, and the fact that there is just too much selection, and I dont like how it looks (no, it does not look 100% identical to ddr).
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CattyCam

[Slowpoke]

[Tondog]

Delita_chan, your progress is better than mine.
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[boss matsumoto]

how do i get those damn Matsuri Japan gallops? theyre the weirdest gallops in the ddr world, i get about halfway through those "yoy, yoy, yoy" parts, you know the: gallops, then i psycologically crap out and my feet start going down right, right down like normal gallops. is there any trick to getting this move down (and im going for PA)? thanks.
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I suck, but I am in Team Phunk!

[kotetsu213]

G'hah, I LOVE those.
What I do is put all my weight on my left foot which is on down, then just hop up and down.
I come down on the down arrow then bring my other leg down to hit the right arrow.
(Sorry if that was confusing, I have no idea how to post the arrow graphics)
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Hi! Enjoying the day?
oh My Goodness!

[gimpindian]

I've been playing for 2 months, 2 weeks, and 3 days. It may seem like a short amount of time, but i can already pass 5 10 footers consistently, so my words of wisdom, imo, shouldn't be disregarded.

I got into DDR because my friend and I were bored... and apparently, I got addicted instantly.

But I reached the bridge between 9's and 10's and had a hard time getting over it and realized that there was 1 thing that will get me over it easily.... Stepmania.. The more you play it, the more songs you will pass, guarentee it. Your PA will drastically increase. My biggest problem though for 9 footers, which some of you may be working on right now was crossing over. All I did was read stepcharts and try and learn to turn my body. Now I can play exotic, rhythm, and even paranoia survivor, near flawlessly.

So get stepmania, practice, work on weaknesses. But most of all, focus on the arrows and play comfortably. Don't try and do things that feel weird while you play.

[Shadow_Dragonz]

[kablooie13]

I agree, do NOT underestimate Stepmania. If you walk into a song with the rhythm already down to a science in your head, you've got half the battle. Maybe a little less than half, if you're talking about 10 footers, but Stepmania is by far the best way to prepare outside of actually practicing.
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SKINYAH

[Emporer Z]

[rscott]

for some of us poor people, SM is all there is. Maybe, though I'm just poor, because I spent a $130 on buying a Redoctane and a converter and for those of you lagging, maybe its time to get a new computer, I mean, it only needs like a PII 400 and 128MB of ram...too much running in the bg?

I have a big difficulty with going from my redoctane and SM to the arcade. Is it perhaps because I don't wear shoes at home, and if i don't wear shoes in the arcade I fall? IDK, but my grades are 2-3 lower than at home...that discgourages me....

[AntiBass Alpha]

I'm finding that playing at home is both a curse and a blessing... I get to practice all I want to which is great. Yet... at the arcade my PA is incredibly low. I have a CF at home and my PA's there are outstanding. I think I've gotten too used to barely having to step at home vs. the terrible condition of the right platform at the arcade. I'm in a tournament here on saturday (I'm missing my school's winter formal for it!! ) and I'm baffled on what to do. I find that my having to stomp at the arcade is wearing me out so fast and I'm trying to build up stamina. It doesn't much help that I'm not the heaviest person in the world? I'm so nervous about this tourney for some reason and I'm really looking for some sort of tip to help me out for my arcade PA to increase. Should I start playing Stepmania instead of my PS2? At one point I tried adjusting the Global Timing and such but I gave up... Now I'm kinda concerned since the timing on the PS2 is different at the arcade?? I'd never considered it but now that it was brought up... maaybe? I'm currently practicing turning my body and those uncool jumps that I hate with Afronova and those funky Matsuri Japan gallops any suggestions...?
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"For those with wings, fly to your dreams"

[simx]

ahh... i noticed that when i started to play Stepmania, i started to suck at DDR... and now that i don't play Stepmania anymore, i don't suck at DDR anymore... idk