Cardinal Gate information?

[Oni140]

Yes, I'm aware there's like a billion of these threads already (slight exaggeration xP)

I already know most of the important details:

Cardinal Gate is a category that appears on the songlist after certain conditions are met. The player has to then clear 4 stages:

ESOTERIC SLOWCORE - Ganymede by 玄武 (Genbu) ~72-82 BPM~
SUBLIME TECHNO - CONTRACT by 朱雀 (Suzaku) ~180 BPM~
DANCE SPEED - waxing and wanding by 青龍 (Seiryuu) ~191 BPM~
ASIAN MIXTURE - 華蝶風雪 (Kachou Fusetsu) by 白虎 (Byakko) ~199 BPM~

All songs are based off the four Chinese symbols, and they all have their own special gameplay skin (blue design, metallic purple design, etc). After accessing the Cardinal Gate folder, you cannot go back to the original songlist.

The threads I have read so far didn't cover enough technical information on all aspects:

1) Is it known what kind of requirement it takes to be able to access the Cardinal Gate category? AAA the last song? AAA all the songs played? AA a 12 leveled song? I haven't been able to find out what needs to be done to be able to play these.

2) Are you able to choose which of the 4 songs to play? Or are they in a certain order? If it isn't the latter, does it mean that there are different requirements for playing all the songs? If you can indeed choose which song to play, or is it random or in a certain order every time?

3) Are you able to change modifiers? I've seen this in one movie, but if so, can you in between songs? Or must you play through all of them without stopping? Or does it have preset modifiers, or can you not use them at all?

4) I've seen screenshots of songs being unlocked and become playable without having to play Extra Stage (take a look at the screenshots on the Game Info section here). Are they unlocked by playing them and/or being able to pass the song? Or is there some other way to unlock them?

5) IF they are played (by just selecting them, unlocked, but not by getting the Extra Stage), do they retain their original skins, use the DistorteD ones, or randomly select one of the original Cardinal Gate ones? I've seen CONTRACT been played with a Genbu (Ganymede) skin: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=raoZI7wLLwk, and I've seen CONTRACT been played, but it only had the standard DistorteD skins. Maybe it's out of random chance?

6) Is the difficulty preset for playing Extra Stages? If not, how can you play different difficulties? I've seen screenshots with 華蝶風雪 (Kachou Fusetsu) only playable with an Another difficulty, but I've seen screenshots with Ganymede only playable with Normal and Hyper difficulties, and a movie with only Another playable. Anyone by chance know why? Maybe the playable difficulties are randomly selected?

7) Is the full song played? Or does it only play a portion? I've seen Ganymede been played only at the end on Another. And I've seen waxing and wanding been played for the full length. Maybe again it's also random? Or maybe it's song-specific about how long you play?

If all 4 stages are played and have been passed, you can gain access to play the One More Extra Stage:

CONTEMPORARY - 嘆きの樹 (Nageki no Ki) by 金獅子 (Kijinshi(?)) ~160 BPM~

1) What difficult is it played on? Is it preset, randomly selected, or selectable, like the other Cardinal Gate songs?

2) Can you change modifiers, or do you have to play with the ones you played with on the last Cardinal Gate song you played? Or are they preset, or turned off?

3) I've also heard that it's impossible to get to this song without e-Amuse, so if you don't/can't use the e-AMUSE system, does it just stop there? Or is another song selected? (I have absolutely NO knowledge about how the e-AMUSE system works, just that it sends a signal to an area and you can unlock special songs and record game data on it)

4) Is the difficulty the same as the last Cardinal Gate song played, or is it preset?


Sorry for all the questions, it's for a request I want to submit to an arcade to get a DistorteD machine, and I want to get all of my facts straight. I've had very little resources, so I was hoping some of you would be able to answer

May make some edits at some point

Thanks in advance!

[rmz]

Originally Posted by Oni140

it's for a request I want to submit to an arcade to get a DistorteD machine, and I want to get all of my facts straight

How would that affect whether they get a IIDX machine?

Anyhow, as far as I'm aware you have to clear the Cardinal Gate songs on Another and Nageki no Ki is therefore on Another as well. I don't believe you can get it via playing the Cardinal Gate songs on Normal or Hyper.

[Trick]

If you present arcade owners with this in-depth of information, they're either going to laugh at you or just completely skip over it.

Seriously, unless they are die-hard fans already, they most likely won't want to know the content of the game - they will want to know how much it costs, whether or not it will make money, and if it will cost a lot to maintain.

[Oni140]

Originally Posted by rmz

How would that affect whether they get a IIDX machine?

Anyhow, as far as I'm aware you have to clear the Cardinal Gate songs on Another and Nageki no Ki is therefore on Another as well. I don't believe you can get it via playing the Cardinal Gate songs on Normal or Hyper.

It's a written request, and I believe that DistorteD uses an Extra Stage system that's pretty different from the previous versions (AC or CS)

I haven't played it myself, and since there have been major additions from 8th Style (the machine they currently have) over the span of games that were released after that, so I'm trying to do a lot of research to get my facts straight as well as provide technical information before they get a machine (if they decide to)

It's like buying something without even knowing how it works or what it does, not a good idea. So I want to provide all the details possible before I submit the request in

[Loserbait]

Sure you know what it is but can you even get to it? It's like saying IIDX has some incredibly awesome secret stage that can only be accessed by some impossible (or at the very least really time-consuming) method -- which is basically what the Cardinal Gates are. If no-one in the arcade can even get to it (and you can judge) then there's no point in relaying this information. It's really cool, it is... but I doubt your local operator is a die-hard fan. Honestly, I'd rather a Pop'n Fever :P

[dj Z00M]

Originally Posted by Loserbait

Sure you know what it is but can you even get to it? It's like saying IIDX has some incredibly awesome secret stage that can only be accessed by some impossible (or at the very least really time-consuming) method -- which is basically what the Cardinal Gates are. If no-one in the arcade can even get to it (and you can judge) then there's no point in relaying this information. It's really cool, it is... but I doubt your local operator is a die-hard fan. Honestly, I'd rather a Pop'n Fever :P

I would second the pop'n music fever

[ΩOMEGAΩ]

ok I just want to point out, you are going to pay an ass load of money to get that to the U.S. That machine is heavy... and not to mention big. I also have asked an arcade operator (its a huge arcade). The reply back was I had to pay for shipping if I wanted the machine that bad, and well we did not know the exact cost, but we both knew, it was a bitch.

PS... sorry for the language, it sets the mood, if you want to edit this, or want me to, I will be happy too.

[navfn2000]

Originally Posted by Loserbait

Sure you know what it is but can you even get to it? It's like saying IIDX has some incredibly awesome secret stage that can only be accessed by some impossible (or at the very least really time-consuming) method -- which is basically what the Cardinal Gates are. If no-one in the arcade can even get to it (and you can judge) then there's no point in relaying this information. It's really cool, it is... but I doubt your local operator is a die-hard fan. Honestly, I'd rather a Pop'n Fever :P

well, of course you could get an unlocked distorted, but it would defeat the purpose of playing the cardinal gate songs in their respective skins/modes.

[June.H]

Originally Posted by ΩOMEGAΩ

ok I just want to point out, you are going to pay an ass load of money to get that to the U.S. That machine is heavy... and not to mention big. I also have asked an arcade operator (its a huge arcade). The reply back was I had to pay for shipping if I wanted the machine that bad, and well we did not know the exact cost, but we both knew, it was a bitch.

PS... sorry for the language, it sets the mood, if you want to edit this, or want me to, I will be happy too.

And where did you gauge the weight of this magical IIDX machine?

And if you get a DistorteD machine, just get one that's post-Beat Ranking #3 (was it 3 or 4?). It'll have the Cardinal Gates unlocked for normal play. You can still get Extra Stage anyway, and allow Cardinal Gates with a pushbutton combination (just can't get OMES).

[Trick]

Any machine that has DistorteD on it at all by now is going to have the final Beat unlock anyway, so describing the mystical extra stage that can't be accessed in America anyway is pretty much a moot point

DistorteD hard drives will be up on yahoo within 2 weeks, and will be cheap and in large supply.

[Razma]

Originally Posted by Oni140

I haven't played it myself, and since there have been major additions from 8th Style (the machine they currently have)

First off, the HDD will be plentiful in Japan once Gold is released. You do realize, though, that the switch to anything post-8th style requires a hardware upgrade. If you don't have the Bemani PC hardware, the Distorted HDD will do you little to no good.
I have an 8th Style machine at my arcade and I've been looking for a hardware upgrade with no luck at all. In fact, I don't even think they've made factory hardware upgrades since RED.

Also, as an arcade operator, we really don't need to know everything about the game. If it will make money and the cost is justified, it will be considered as a purchase regardless of game features.

[PkerUNO]

Originally Posted by Oni140

1) Is it known what kind of requirement it takes to be able to access the Cardinal Gate category? AAA the last song? AAA all the songs played? AA a 12 leveled song? I haven't been able to find out what needs to be done to be able to play these.

To access the category: Play 3 songs in ascending difficulty, last one must be an 8* or higher, must be AAd.

2) Are you able to choose which of the 4 songs to play? Or are they in a certain order? If it isn't the latter, does it mean that there are different requirements for playing all the songs? If you can indeed choose which song to play, or is it random or in a certain order every time?

Songs available in the Cardinal Gate category are unlocked when you fulfill certain requirements. I forget what they are, search.

3) Are you able to change modifiers? I've seen this in one movie, but if so, can you in between songs? Or must you play through all of them without stopping? Or does it have preset modifiers, or can you not use them at all?

You can only play one song per extra stage. It behaves like any other song, you can play it with any modifier.

4) I've seen screenshots of songs being unlocked and become playable without having to play Extra Stage (take a look at the screenshots on the Game Info section here). Are they unlocked by playing them and/or being able to pass the song? Or is there some other way to unlock them?

They're unlocked through Beat 3 of Internet Ranking.

5) IF they are played (by just selecting them, unlocked, but not by getting the Extra Stage), do they retain their original skins, use the DistorteD ones, or randomly select one of the original Cardinal Gate ones? I've seen CONTRACT been played with a Genbu (Ganymede) skin: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=raoZI7wLLwk, and I've seen CONTRACT been played, but it only had the standard DistorteD skins. Maybe it's out of random chance?

After Beat 3, selecting one of the CG songs through the normal songlist will make you play it without the special skin. By beating a CG song you unlock its skin and can set it as your system-wide skin through Konami NetDX (on your mobile phone).

6) Is the difficulty preset for playing Extra Stages? If not, how can you play different difficulties? I've seen screenshots with ???? (Kachou Fusetsu) only playable with an Another difficulty, but I've seen screenshots with Ganymede only playable with Normal and Hyper difficulties, and a movie with only Another playable. Anyone by chance know why? Maybe the playable difficulties are randomly selected?

Depends on the last song you played to get the extra stage. See question 2.

7) Is the full song played? Or does it only play a portion? I've seen Ganymede been played only at the end on Another. And I've seen waxing and wanding been played for the full length. Maybe again it's also random? Or maybe it's song-specific about how long you play?

Full song.

1) What difficult is it played on? Is it preset, randomly selected, or selectable, like the other Cardinal Gate songs?

On Extra Stage, only Another. After Beat 3, normally selectable.

2) Can you change modifiers, or do you have to play with the ones you played with on the last Cardinal Gate song you played? Or are they preset, or turned off?

On Extra Stage, don't know. After Beat 3, normal modifiers available.

3) I've also heard that it's impossible to get to this song without e-Amuse, so if you don't/can't use the e-AMUSE system, does it just stop there? Or is another song selected? (I have absolutely NO knowledge about how the e-AMUSE system works, just that it sends a signal to an area and you can unlock special songs and record game data on it)

If you don't have e-AMUSE, then all the above info is pointless, as you can't access Cardinal Gate without having either e-AMUSE or a Beat 3 copy of the game.

4) Is the difficulty the same as the last Cardinal Gate song played, or is it preset?

See 1 above.

[Cybeast Gregar]

Originally Posted by PkerUNO

To access the category: Play 3 songs in ascending difficulty, last one must be an 8* or higher, must be AAd.



Songs available in the Cardinal Gate category are unlocked when you fulfill certain requirements. I forget what they are, search.



You can only play one song per extra stage. It behaves like any other song, you can play it with any modifier.



They're unlocked through Beat 3 of Internet Ranking.



After Beat 3, selecting one of the CG songs through the normal songlist will make you play it without the special skin. By beating a CG song you unlock its skin and can set it as your system-wide skin through Konami NetDX (on your mobile phone).



Depends on the last song you played to get the extra stage. See question 2.



Full song.



On Extra Stage, only Another. After Beat 3, normally selectable.



On Extra Stage, don't know. After Beat 3, normal modifiers available.



If you don't have e-AMUSE, then all the above info is pointless, as you can't access Cardinal Gate without having either e-AMUSE or a Beat 3 copy of the game.



See 1 above.

Wow.That's a lot to say about some legend.what's next dragon slaying in IIDX 14

[Arkaaito]

I think you're better off pointing to the information from the thread on how far people are willing to drive for a spankin' new IIDX Distorted machine. This information (Cardinal Gate) will really, REALLY not be of interest to an arcade manager.