Dance Dance Revolution/Stepmania

NeoTensai

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So I can guess from the forum that we have all sorts of gamers present.
From Hardcore RTS, FPS, MOBA and RPG gamers to Casual Mobile gamers.
I didn't forget about the Fighters, I just think it is logical enough that on a forum about a Fighting game that features cute fuzzy animals beating the wool/fur/horns/teeth/bells/ponchos/books and hoofs off each other,
(boy would PETA have a field day with this post)
that there is probably a lot of us as well.
But then I was wondering how many of you/us are into arcade dancing like DDR or Stepmania?

I have been an amateur DDR enthusiast since I was about 12/13 years old. My old dance pads are still holding up, but I would need to upgrade.

Also I am starting a side project of making some of my favorite Friendly equine fan made songs and making them danceable, starting with this gem I discovered a few days ago
 

Kuroi Tsubasa Tenshi

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I've been into it for well over a decade. Haven't hit an arcade for any regular length of time in probably 6 or 7 years. Part of it was that the crowd I used to hang out had dwindled down to almost nothing and the other part was that the arcade was getting pretty lax in maintaining the pads. At that point, I made a serious decision. I'd improved enough that the soft pads and old, out-dated DDR mixes that I'd gotten into the game with just didn't hold up for me anymore. Shelled out a bunch of cash for a pair of metal pads and some newer mixes, including ITG. I actually played those pads so much that I eventually broke one of the panels right in half. The other one was having issues with its innards. I've since gotten replacements, one of which I've modified to be significantly more durable. Moved on to playing Stepmania because of horse step charts, but I've also been enjoying playing all the older songs without having to constantly swap discs.
 

A88mph

Game Maker and Starship Captain.
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Feb 4, 2016
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I remember playing a DDR machine in an arcade once back some time in 2004-2006. Most of the music available on it was, and still is, not to my liking at all (I find J-Pop to be a bit... Hyper for my taste). I did however get my hands on DDR Mario Mix from the local retro game store, but have yet to try it out due to a lack of space.

As for your Home Pad issues. I was at a retro games convention a few months ago and saw a guy selling custom-made Wooded Dance Pads, with fully interchangeable parts for about $300 or so.
 

Kuroi Tsubasa Tenshi

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Thanks for mentioning that, although I don't know if I'd want to do wooden pads. I had the opportunity to try a couple earlier this year and the way they were engineered just bugged me. There was way too much give, which threw me off a lot. Granted, I guess similar happened when I got to try a Cobalt Flux and it having basically no give also threw me (but it was still a much better experience because the precision on it was great).

I should note that the one pad where I broke the panel, I was playing a couple times a week for around 7 years and it suffered some pretty heavy abuse from stuff like Paranoia Survivor Max and my failed attempts at Pandemonium.

As far as official DDR songs go, I can agree that I'm a bit iffy on J-Pop, although for a different reason. I don't mind the hyperness, since I feel DDR is best suited to songs with a very quick beat. However, I'm just not fond of the way some of the songs sound. I'd say it's generally 50/50 whether or not I like a particular J-Pop song. I tend to gravitate more toward the techno, trance or intense (stuff like Max300) songs. The funny thing about that last category, though, is that it doesn't play to my strengths at all. I'm more of a perfect attacker, since my endurance is pretty poor, and the surefire way to beat me in any of the local tournies was to pick one of those. I suppose that might be why I kept coming back to those songs.
 

Solvandus

Chin Piece
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Think I've owned a roll-up DDR pad for one game on the Wii way back, played it a couple times. Think it's in my basement somewhere now, not sure, but I enjoyed it while I used it o:

When I went to NY with some friends back in Summer '15, I challenged one to DDR when we went to the Toys R' Us. I literally couldn't walk for the next day and a half after the trip, but it was worth the fun (and winning all 3 matches ;D)
 

Avering

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Think it's in my basement somewhere now, not sure, but I enjoyed it while I used it o:
You should dig it out. The game will be able to handle inputs from that, and Anu once mentioned that he will make a unique hat for anyone winning a serious tournament using a DDR pad.
 

Cinnamaldehyde

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How had I not seen this thread until just now?
Anyway
I have been playing since I was 8 years old and loving it so much.
My aunt was pretty good at it and was the person who introduced it to me. So I wanted to be able to beat her at it so I kept playing and playing.
It took me till I was about 14 but I could beat most songs on whatever the hardest difficulty was called with an A. I only play occasionally though now, mostly because I get tired of all of the same songs over and over but also because all of my friends are too scared to play with me.
I tried StepMania but I don't really like it because the steps people create are either bad, boring, or WAY too hard to do.
I made quite a few step patterns myself but it isn't the same when you made the pattern.
If StepMania worked like Mario Maker where you had to pass a song before you could post it I might try again. Finding songs for it was hard too because I couldn't find a single place with a whole bunch of songs.

Lastly
Have you seen BeatX? it is exactly StepMania but it is on your phone. It even reads the same files as StepMania.
BeatX is free but you can pay for it to get rid of the ad's (you can play offline to avoid these) and the wait time before loading a song.
The only problem with it is how much space it will take up on your phone and how long it takes to download/install/load new music and the app its self.
 

Shadow of Death

Grushdeva Du Kalt Misht
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I never really played DDR/Stepmania. I might have tried one yeeeears ago, once, and probably sucked major.

I used to play FFR (Flash Flash Revolution), which is DDR for your fingers. I was never good though, I think my average ranking was around 35K? I FCed some songs, and AAA'd one or two. I always played single-hand. Haven't played FFR since getting this new computer. You can play it standalone (which I recommend) by getting a standalone flash player and the URL. For those that might be interested, here is the page about setting it up.
 

Illusion Melody

Just your everyday illusion magician
Feb 14, 2016
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I'm a big DDR fan. So we have every game and a few pads. I first started playing it when I was like 5 or 6. I think.
 

Illusion Melody

Just your everyday illusion magician
Feb 14, 2016
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The Super Nova games are fun. I would start someone out with Max 2 since its the easiest and probably my favorite.
 

Cinnamaldehyde

DDR Savant
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The Super Nova games are weird though, the step patterns are very strange and have steps that don't fit the music on the harder levels.
I don't think I have ever played Max though... hmmm
Maybe I will check it out.
 

Illusion Melody

Just your everyday illusion magician
Feb 14, 2016
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The Super Nova games are weird though, the step patterns are very strange and have steps that don't fit the music on the harder levels.
I don't think I have ever played Max though... hmmm
Maybe I will check it out.
You should definitely check out the Max games there probably the best and really good if your introducing someone to DDR for the first time.
 

Stars

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I am modestly skilled at DDR, but I can't play my Wii games right now because I live above other people in an apartment. xp

I'm still rather salty that they cancelled the 8-arrow DDR games that were planned for PS3/360 years ago. IIRC, they opted to focus on motion controls instead once those became widespread.
 

Cinnamaldehyde

DDR Savant
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I am modestly skilled at DDR, but I can't play my Wii games right now because I live above other people in an apartment. xp

I'm still rather salty that they cancelled the 8-arrow DDR games that were planned for PS3/360 years ago. IIRC, they opted to focus on motion controls instead once those became widespread.
That sucks, I hate motion controls. they don't feel real to me. I bought my phone specifically because it has 3 buttons at the bottom for "back" "home" and the "tabs or whatever it is called".
Buttons are definite, always there. Motion controls leave a lot of wiggle room. enough wiggle room for you to do a completely different motion and the game would still count it as correct. Take Wii bowling for example.
I tried one of those Just Dance games and didn't like it because of this.
 
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