Controller and hand positions

SilentSinr · 10-05-2008, 05:58 PM

ok so i just recently got into IIDX and i have a view questions about controller positions and what fingers should be a what keys

so i am right handed...not sure if that matters at all when determining which side to put the turntable on
currently i believe it is set to that the turntable if on the right side and the keys are on the left

...also what keys should each of my hands be on to optimize speed/etc

i know a game like this definitley does not come right away and takes a lot of practice but i am asking these questions to try and get started out on the right foot ^_^

thanks

Checky · 10-05-2008, 06:14 PM

From the "Comprehensive IIDX Faq + controller tutorial" thread.

Q. HOW DO I GET BETTER AT THIS BEATMANIAIIDX GAME OH MY GOD ITS SO HARD X_X!!!!
Practice, practice, practice.
- Use as many fingers as possible. Most importantly, don't leave your thumbs out of the game; they're a huge help especially in situations where you have to scratch and hit keys at the same time.

Q. I want to be cool like LISU and use one hand!! Is this a good idea?
Yes and no. The most common way to play beatmaniaIIDX is to use both hands on the keys and scratching with whatever hand whenever it is needed (left hand for 1p side, right hand for 2p side). However, you should try various different play styles and find one that suits you best

Basically play however feels comfortable. If you force yourself to conform to a certain style it will probably hamper rather than help you initially. Just try what feels good and evolve from there.

word · 10-05-2008, 06:28 PM

This type of thread is becoming a daily thing...

There's no right or wrong way to play.

Quantium · 10-05-2008, 07:04 PM

Yea, isn't this like the 9-bajillionth thread about this? Just play whatever way you want, and what works for you. Forcing yourself to play the way someone else does won't achieve anything.

Blackraven · 10-05-2008, 11:09 PM

Agreed

In any case, just try and use whatever playstyle you'd find comfortable or effective.

Then just work your way from there.

For instance, you may see experienced BM IIDX players with weird playstyles.

For instance, DJ MASA never uses pinky scratch (meaning that if you have 1+5+7 and scratch, he use any finger for 1,5,7 and his right hand free for scratching.....since he's a 2P player)

Or that dude named GH (aka. the salad fingers dude)

I for one always make fun of his playstyle as well as how crippled his fingers look when he plays.

Plus the fact that it is nasty to look at (like his fingers and fucked up and shit).

Still if it works for him, then so be it (and he can get high AAs and stuff on a RED arcade machine which has strict timing).

So yeah

In short, try and experiment with different playstyles then just choose one that would be the most comfortable to you.

Hope that helps

BemaniAK · 10-06-2008, 02:48 AM

I haven't made a thread about this yet and I'm playing level 8's.

Am I a good boy?

SilentSinr · 10-06-2008, 09:37 AM

kk thanks for the info everyone
what was throwing me off about it is that you can switch which side the keys are on so i thought that one side was for right handed people and the other is for left

but i have clearly been proven wrong lol
anyways thanks again i will keep practicing the way i have been playing

Blackraven · 10-06-2008, 09:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SilentSinr

kk thanks for the info everyone
what was throwing me off about it is that you can switch which side the keys are on so i thought that one side was for right handed people and the other is for left

but i have clearly been proven wrong lol
anyways thanks again i will keep practicing the way i have been playing

Oh regarding playing on 1P 2P.

Generally, here's the usual norm:

For two-hand play:
1P - right handed peeps
2P - left handed peeps

Of course, it doesn't mean that you strictly have to adhere to this.

There are people who do the opposite (left-handed but play on 1P like PXY or right handed but play on 2P like SILV/ANB)......and they still do well (as they've gotten used to it already).

So it's really up to you.

Still if you ask me, it's better that you train yourself to do equally well on both sides.

This avoids you being reliant on only the strength of your play hand and this also helps when you get into double play (ie. one person handles both keypads).

M4j3s7ic12 · 10-06-2008, 12:27 PM

If you are curious as to why the controller has the functionality to swap the turntable side, it is due to the original Beatmania having both 1P and 2P turntables on the right side.

Presumably, when Konami was developing IIDX, they realised that not only does it look better to have a symmetrical cabinet design with the turntables on the outside, but is does make more sense for right handed people to play with the turntable on the left and cover the keys with the dominant hand.

You might notice that there are a lot of Japanese players who will play with the TT on the right, simply because they started playing Beatmania and naturally used the player 2 side when they progressed to IIDX.
I fit in to this category too as I also started out on the original Beatmania and went through a patch where I thought I was restricting myself by playing on the right despite being right-handed. The answer is that there was no reason why my left hand should be weaker so I stayed where I was comfortable and made an effort to increase strength and dexterity.

I also found that playing with the turntable on the right is like typing on a keyboard (for me at least). I use my left little finger to hit the shift key or the first white key in IIDX. My right thumb hits the space bar or the last white key in IIDX and my right pinky jumps out to hit enter or hit the TT in IIDX so it feels like a similar setup!

I guess what I want to say is that once you find a comfortable position, you should probably try and stay relatively close to that position while you are getting better. Once things heat up a little, you will find that just three fingers from each hand is not enough so you will automatically start bringing in your thumbs and little fingers, these are definintely recommended! Good Luck man!

SilentSinr · 10-06-2008, 01:38 PM

Thank you M4j3s7ic12 and Blackraven those last two posts helped a lot to explain
why the turntables are positioned in that manner for 1player and 2player

and that comparison to a computer keyboard also really helped ^_^

btw i have one last question...i was wondering which iidx game do you guys think is the best for starting out on (besides the American beatmania game that i got with the controller)
because i have played gold before and it seems like almost all the songs are geared towards upper level players

UTJ DHALSIM · 10-06-2008, 01:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SilentSinr

Thank you M4j3s7ic12 and Blackraven those last two posts helped a lot to explain
why the turntables are positioned in that manner for 1player and 2player

and that comparison to a computer keyboard also really helped ^_^

btw i have one last question...i was wondering which iidx game do you guys think is the best for starting out on (besides the American beatmania game that i got with the controller)
because i have played gold before and it seems like almost all the songs are geared towards upper level players

I would recommend you play any style really. I personally would stay away from the older styles, such as 5th style and below, but that's just me because I like the grading system in 6th and up.

IIDX Gold has beginner mode just like some of the other later styles that released. Try building your skill from beginner and improve from there.

M4j3s7ic12 · 10-06-2008, 03:45 PM

Yeah, definitely 6th and up are quite recommended as they give you a proper grade after each song so you can judge your progression which is cool.
In fact 6th also has a Drill Mode which is useful to learn common patterns. In Drill Mode there are lots of small sections of a song with 3 versions of each section which get progressively harder. Each section gives you a different score depending on how well you play! I used this a lot when I started IIDX and it was fun as well as worthwhile.

i agree that the newer games are generally harder overall, but I find them easier and more enjoyable to play as they have better interfaces etc.
Also, from 9th style onwards IIDX became high resolution so the game looks a lot cleaner and the note charts are a little smoother.

I think that 6th is a great style to learn with due to the Drill Mode and as it has some great songs, but you can't really go too wrong with any of the newer styles either. It also depends on what is available really as it will probably quite difficult to find RED or lower new anymore unfortunately!

Blackraven · 10-07-2008, 04:17 AM

I'd say 6th (because of drill mode) and 10th (because it has the most number of beginner-friendly songs for DOUBLE PLAY/14 KEYS).

Otherwise, anystyle would do