No thought required

[X]

NOTICE: Until I have a Section done, it will be cluttered with unorganized information that has == REFERENCE ==
above and below it. This I suggest to ignore until I have organized it. I will attempt to update this every weekend at a minimum throughout the summer.



I'm saving this as for topics I'd like to expand upon when I think about relating to Rhythm gaming in general.



Suggestion for topics, or ideas on specific sections are greatly appreciated. I will be working on this a bit over the summer.

(In Progress) = little to no work done
(Unfinished) = Mostly done
(Finished) = Finalized

Table of Contents

(1-3) Mindblocks (In Progress)
(4-6) Optimal Improvement (In Progress)
(7-9) Myths Busted (In Progress)
(10-12) Born Better? (In Progress)
(13-15) Optimal Setup (In Progress)
(16-18) Patterns (In Progress)
(19-21) Improvement over time (In Progress)
(22-24) The delusion of difficulty (In Progress)
(25-27) Accuracy, what is it made of? (In Progress)
(28-30) What makes a Great Simfile

open for suggestions.

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NOT FINISHED (In the process of getting all the topics that I will discuss down)

0. What is a mindblock
1. Build up a bad consistency on part of a song
2. Mental buildup
3. Memorization of a part
4. Muscle memory
5. How to get rid of mindblocks
6. How to prevent mindblocks

== REFERENCE ==

For me, I think I get mindblocks when I repeatedly do a part over and over again, mash or not.
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You tend to get mindblocks on files that you can memorise with ease, and then you memorise it wrongly and then well, you do the part wrong. Which is also why I don't get mindblocks with bursts, it's a little too fast to be memorised for me.
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You can either don't play the file for a long time and you might forget about the file (Doesn't work all the time though, some people still have mindblocks for years), Mirror or just paying extra attention to the part that you're blocked on.
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whenever I get a mindblock, I change my settings from stepmania/1.95x to letters/2.15x mirror

Sounds retarded but my best attempt at a file is normally my sightread. So this is almost like a 'reset' button for me. Makes it look so borked that when I replay it normally it appears to be a brand new chart ;D
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Mine are all on the beginning of files, since I can replay them so many times so quickly, I tend to develop bad habits on them.
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This, basically. It's all about getting used to making a mistake. My personal way around it is to force myself to read the notes - mirror helps, as does playing the song on mute or using a different noteskin/speedmod.
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rely on muscle memory to help me get past my mindblocks.
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I believe you get mindblocks when you are anticipating a particular part of a song. You will become anxious and that causes you to mess up.
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Don't play awkward files more than twice in a row
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1st option: Have focus points. In my case, I usually focus on 8th notes (blue arrows) and it sort of guides me to the type of pattern it is, how many frames apart it is from the next or previous note, and how to time it perfectly or at least near the early-perfect window. If the pattern has no 8th notes, then I focus on 4th notes, or 16th notes, etc.

2nd option: Mirror. This option is usually used when I feel curious enough to play the file reversed and see if it feels more comfortable on the opposite hand, which in most cases it does and almost feels like a different file. Perhaps you feel better with rolls that start on the right arrow than on the left, or vice versa.

3rd option: Take away arrows. In other words, it's just like the 1st option, except you're not focusing on just an arrow color, but all the notes to that arrow. If you feel dominant on the up and right arrows, or just one of those two, focus on that/those arrow(s) and hopefully it should help you keep in rhythm. This may not work for everyone but it sometimes helps me and is a personal tip that I follow.

4th option: Screenshot the pattern. Pinpoint framers, different ways to hit the pattern with precision. For example, one could have issues with trills and hit them as jumps/flams/quick gallops and get away with it (I would rather you actually hit the trill accurately but in some cases it's excusable for high BPM charts). Also with fast rolls, you can jump trill them and there won't be much of a problem. If I notice a pattern has spin or roll patterns and then an awkward transition (assuming it's a burst which means it's at a very fast NPS), I lose focus on the first notes since I know those are easy patterns and hit them as jump trills (so if it's like 1243 1234 then a random 1423, the first 8 notes can be hit as [12][34] jumps or flams, so hit it like that twice, then focus on that next 1423 pattern with precision). In other words, take the easy patterns away, and focus on that awkward pattern. Take baby steps to tackle that awkward section by focusing on what's hard.

5th option: Replay spam. If the awkward pattern is only in the beginning, try this method. Play up until that part, and hit only the first 2-3 notes of the pattern, then just don't press anything and let the game quit on itself. Repeat this for 3-4 tries. Then add another note and hit the first 4 notes of the pattern (making sure you get perfects or at least as many perfects as you can). Repeat this for a few more tries, and keep doing this until you hit the whole pattern perfectly).

6th option: Isolation files. If you can make them, go for it. Since the FFR online converter is down, try it on Stepmania. The music doesn't really matter, but duplicate the pattern and play it over and over again until you get the hang of it.
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Sometimes i recreate the pattern giving me trouble in SM5 and whore it at a higher bpm than the actual sound, about a million times.

== REFERENCE ==

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Optimal Improvement

1. What is Optimal Improvement
2. How to go about finding what songs to choose
3. Finding what patterns need the most work
4. Finding songs based on skill level
5. Focusing on what matters, while having fun
6. How to vibrate


== REFERENCE ==

I could do a detailed analysis of weight lifting optimization but it'd probably be lost on 99.99% of you nerds and the rest would already know it anyway. Basically step 1 is weight lifting ~stepmania style~. I'll give u a clue, when u lift weights to become stronger, u do not lift weights that take no effort to lift!!!!!!! (for all u ****ing idiots who think aaa'ing files over and over again makes u better at any discernible rate (unless u are ma freak then this is ok but not exist on ffr ?))

This is more complex but the essential idea is that every pattern and every movement that would otherwise be strictly done through only your fingers can be substituted for slower finger movements and wrist motions and/or forearm motions. Ex. a one handed trill can be converted from 20 nps to 18 nps by rotating your wrist longjacks can be substituted for wrist or forearm motions exclusively. Swings in polys can be achieved through wrist rotations and in really fast jumpstream one handed jumps can be substituted for a wrist and forearm snap down onto your keyboard. if u do not understand breakpoints and why maximizing efficiency is important you will most likely fail at life anyway so sucking at stepmania won't really make any difference. or maybe im biased because my job is basically telling people how stupidly inefficient they are at their jobs and why millions of people around the world are dying because of it.

even if u are stepmania iron man and theorycraft braniac if u cannot read the patterns and do not spent the time into developing the proper muscle memory u will never be able to achieve tru power. this is mostly a function of time spent but there are ways to improve reading very quickly. mostly it involves crap like blue planet 1.6 u figure it out geniuses

wow in practice u can aaa every separate pattern in (insert file here) but when u actually play it!!! u get crap score. Unlimited stepmania power is useless if your final execution is inept, just like vaulting 16' in practice is worthless if u only vault 14' in tournaments. Also u need a little bit of this thing to get anywhere in the first place since playing 25 nps files for 5 hrs straight takes some ability to focus.

--Shiki's idea --

Improvement happens when warming up moreso than when completely warmed up. EXPAND
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--Blooyy's idea--

Improvement while not playing the game - what to do - what's useful - what isn't useful

== REFERENCE ==

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Myths Busted

1. Keyboards
2. Speedmods
3. Vibrating

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Born Better?

1. Advantages some are born with
2. Disadvantages some are born with
3. How to overcome Disadvantages
4. How to optimize advantages
5. Speed/Vibrating

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Optimal Setup (speed mods, keyboards, fingers, key setup, wrists)
1. Speed mods
2. Keyboards
3. Fingers
4. Wrists
5. Key setup

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Improvement over time

1. How many hours it takes to be able to score X on song Y
2. Where the information is coming from
3. Correlations

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The delusion of difficulty

1. How everything is subjective
2. How to rate songs
3. Extreme examples
4. Best method for up and coming players
5. Best method for elitist view

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Accuracy, What is it made of?

1. What is accuracy?
2. Naturally accurate vs Trained
3. Speed mod


.. -Not currently sure about this topic- ..

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Reserve 30

[kisler]

I'll beat someone else to it: Do you /really/ need 30 posts for this?

[xMUSICxMASTERx]

You could have just made 1-2 posts with a bunch of spoilers

[Housekeeper]

rofl is this serious

[X]

I'll beat someone else to it: Do you /really/ need 30 posts for this?

Yes, and this is serious

If I wanted to postwhore then I'd just continue my count to a million thread

[X]

You could have just made 1-2 posts with a bunch of spoilers

Limit of 20k characters per, and I'm going to be going over that

[kisler]

If I wanted to postwhore then I'd just continue my count to a million thread

Or double-post when you could really put two quotes in one.

I think you should've opened with a bit more content before taking thirty reserves. Plus, it doesn't matter where the posts end up in a thread anyway if the OP has links to all of the topics.

[X]

Or double-post when you could really put two quotes in one.

I think you should've opened with a bit more content before taking thirty reserves. Plus, it doesn't matter where the posts end up in a thread anyway if the OP has links to all of the topics.

I have no idea how to do that actually.. and it's not like you have to come here and be anal over posts that i've reserved for a thread i'm going to spend a lot of time on

[DTDsphere]

Reserve #1

[kisler]

I have no idea how to do that actually.. and it's not like you have to come here and be anal over posts that i've reserved for a thread i'm going to spend a lot of time on

Click the "#38" in the corner of the post (or whatever number it is). You get a link which jumps there.

Just saying, you might get more feedback if you posted releases in installments peppered throughout. People might not know that the first thirty posts are the substance and instead look to the discussion at the end. I know it looks like you're trying to build this a little at a time, but the forum isn't necessarily the best place for idea storage. Plus, you get the benefit of ~episodic tension~ by posting up one chapter at a time, and you perhaps even gain a following who will read them all.

[X]

Thanks for the suggestion, but I'm just gonna update this throughout.. When parts are finished or in progress, it'll say on the OP

[Nocturne]

Make me super mod for a minute to merge all these posts into OP. This is ridiculous lol.


I'll beat someone else to it: Do you /really/ need 30 posts for this?

You could have just made 1-2 posts with a bunch of spoilers

rofl is this serious

I agree with them. It might get clustered on 1-3 big posts, but the ease of viewing makes it completely worth it if you want anybody to read this. I already can tell right now, flipping through pages is gonna be a pain in the ass for some users trying to navigate through extremes in "chapters". You might as well just merge them so it's easier for someone to navigate instead of this.

[X]

How about after I finish everything, you guys can go ahead and format it into however many posts..

Hopefully after I'm done with this it'll be worth reading.

[Bloodyy]

team x

[Spiller]

If you really need 30 posts and there is a 20k character limit per post, you would have content enough for a whole book. A web forum is certainly not the right medium for that. Reading long texts on forums isn't that great either, as the typography is nearly always terrible...

[Nocturne]

If you really need 30 posts and there is a 20k character limit per post, you would have content enough for a whole book.

Lol'd. The more you know...

[SenatorJohnDean]

WTF? I had trouble just flipping thru the first three THREAD PAGES...

ADD is a reality. Sound bytes. 8 bits, preferably.

[X]

WTF? I had trouble just flipping thru the first three THREAD PAGES...

ADD is a reality. Sound bytes. 8 bits, preferably.

I'm sorry you had troubles clicking buttons and scrolling. Maybe you shouldn't use a computer?

Next hate comment will be marked as spam, as I'm starting this next weekend and saying anything negative is really just making me not want to bother sharing my results I find from diving into all these subjects..