ok so i finally started playing doubles today

putumayoman · 07-28-2008, 10:13 PM

and im getting owned by level 4's. im a level 8 player on singles but doubles is killing me, any help ? any place were i can find a guide for beginner doubles players ? damn i feel like a total noob all over again.

DKW · 07-29-2008, 01:58 AM

Speaking from painful experience here. Doubles is at least twice as hard as the traditional, righteous way of playing, and anyone who starts out is going to get hammered on songs that are a snap with one set of controls. The first time I played Bad Boy L7 on doubles, I finished with something like 54%.

What's there to say? You have to be really good at watching two notecharts at once, you need to be nimble, and you have to put in a lot of time to get the notes down. All I can recommend, really, is playing the regular stuff one-handed. Autoscratch can also make it less harrowing and easier to get comfortable with it. Don't laugh, some extremely hardcore doubles players have recommended this.

The best thing to do is to play the Doubles expert courses on an arcade machine. The high score chart can be a powerful motivator.

TBsmasher · 07-29-2008, 04:11 AM

USE THUMBS!

And once you're getting good at L14, try going back to singles. You'll be at 9* level easily.

POST RENAISSANCE · 07-29-2008, 06:16 AM

IMHO, I don't think you should start playing doubles until you're at least consistently clearing level 11's in singles. But at the same time, being really successful with doubles and then going back into singles will help you a lot more in terms of hand usage and stamina.

But that's only if you're really successful. I'm not trying to be an ass or anything, but it's just a personal opinion.

putumayoman · 07-29-2008, 09:32 AM

thanks for the input, i really want to be good at doubles and i will put the time and effort i did into getting good just like i did when i was playing single, i just hope i can atleast pass every song on normal 14 keys one day, i wonder why konami doesnt make easier charts for doubles normal? double players seem neglected a little bit.

MC Yiffalot · 07-29-2008, 12:17 PM

Because IIDX isn't intended it be easy. It's intended to be bone-crushingly difficult. And they know that if a player is delving into doubles, they should be well-aware of this fact by now, and ready to accept their punishment and enjoy it.

IT'S TOO COOL

putumayoman · 07-29-2008, 02:58 PM

haha yea youre totally right, i should have expected this coming but the satisfaction of saying " yea i play iidx doubles" is well worth it and i will continue to practice.

Blackraven · 07-30-2008, 09:49 AM

yup, doubles really inclines you to work on your non-dominant hand.

Now I'm starting to clear more lvl 10s and a few lvl11s because of it.

aroomwithaview · 07-30-2008, 07:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by POST RENAISSANCE

I don't think you should start playing doubles until you're at least consistently clearing level 11's in singles.

you should start playing double when youre ready to commit to playing double regardless of how well you play seven key

any months or years spent on getting able to pass seven key elevens is months or years that you could have spent on double thus putting the seven key player that much behind

double is almost a whole new game

youre not going to get better at it until you start and practice

putumayoman · 07-30-2008, 07:23 PM

yea this is my 3rd day playin and iidx is a totally new game to me now, yea i always thought i should have started iidx with doubles striaght off the bat, but at that time i didnt have 2 controllers, so i was only playing half of the game, now im a noob again, but i will get better, i will practice hard !

Deca · 07-30-2008, 11:17 PM

Man I'm clearing 12s and still struggling with 6s and 7s in DP. I really need to get a second controller so I can play more often than just when a friend stops by though :<

POST RENAISSANCE · 07-31-2008, 02:47 AM

It's always good to practice with the side that you don't usually play singles on (if you're a 1p player, then 2p, vice versa) to practice your weaker hand and to learn to scratch with the other hand.

Hsanrb · 07-31-2008, 06:40 AM

Yea, only start doubles when you are committed to playing doubles. Have as many styles as you can when trying to play doubles since I think doubles is getting harder and harder as each version comes out. Guess I should start listing some actual tips...

1)Try every screen setting before committing to playing, I use larger notes on singles, and arcade view for doubles (where the notes in middle, score chart on right and video on left) even though my TV isn't a widescreen.

2)Play class mode from 8th kyu and work your way up (or whatever it starts at) before you judge where to start (I'm assuming you aren't working on US which has like 10 DP [a]'s) this would get you started on finding songs to challenge you but not feel like "I don't know where to start, lets try X"

3)Use speed mods roughly 1 FULL highspeed slower than you would for singles

4)Grab a drink, you'll need one for the intense IIDX you will go through. LOL maybe thats not a tip?

5)Loosen your hands up with some DBAS (double battle autoscratch.) 9/10 times you will fail songs that aren't scratch related, plus you might have already played some charts (you said your at 8's and I'm assuming you played normal prior to) so you could get additional practice. I might suggest having 1 side (your main singles side) on mirror so your brain has less work to process (may vary on personal preferences, plus most DB videos are recorded this way (unless no AS.)

Think thats all I can think of thats relevant for now, find someone who has good AC rival data thats combines both singles and doubles (you can sort by # of songs played) so you can play the same person if they played both. Might even advise using DP as search data to start from.

Don't think my tips are worth reading... maybe a video that proves I'm horrible DP, and can pass some decent stuff will prove otherwise (and a small video plug.)

YouTube - Hsanrb AA[14] A (AA [h] A)
YouTube - Hsanrb Ixion 14K (Ixion 14k A)

EDIT: Notice the videos actually use 2 DIFFERENT screen settings yet the notes are the same size and smaller than my singles videos? These scores are probably not uploaded to my vjarmy profile since I no longer am able to transfer game saves for scores and probably won't be seeing them uploaded anytime soon.

putumayoman · 07-31-2008, 07:51 AM

thanks hsanrb, how the hell do you set the doubles view with the videos on the side ? im playing doubles in the view where doubles is right in the middle and there is nothing else (no video or score columns) ? i have every style and i find myself constinlently switching them since each style has very little level 3's on doubles haha, but yea thos vids were great.

squeethehobo · 07-31-2008, 02:11 PM

I've been getting into doubles myself pretty recently, in fact theres a VJA Nemesis thread I started (there I go by Waffles).

Inside we've got: 2 people rivaling who are about level 9s DP, me and another person who are in the 6-7 range, and an old buddy of mine who can do 3s and some 4s, DJ CLICK. You might want to rival him, you are probably coming from the same place.

Maybe it would help to tell you where my doubles is: I came from dance games, played a little RED while at friends places, passed some SP 3s and 4s. Came home, played BMUS. Got to passing all 5s, some 6s, a 7 or 2. I played some doubles up to 2s and 3s. I then quit for 2 years. I get GOLD, then HS, DD, and RED (though I've only played like 5 songs on HS&DD, and haven't touched RED yet, still finishing up on L14 on GOLD). Starting, I could do 6*s on Single, 5*s on Double. That was about a month ago. Now I'm taking out DP 6*s and 7*s. I sight-read an 8*. I've passed a 9*. I'm a 1-handed player for singles (except the scratch). I KNOW that helped.

Recommendation #-1: Anchor down your controllers somehow. I used my keyboard stand (well, its really a DJ coffin stand) with a shelf from a bookcase on it, and used packaging tape to hold the controllers to the shelf. In singles you can kind of adjust to moving controllers. With doubles, you just shouldn't have to put up with that crap. At the very least tape your controllers together (its sub-optimal, because they're too close together, but it is an adequate quick fix. 4 inches between the controllers feels pretty nice).

Recommendation #0: Don't forget, IIDX is hard. Don't get discouraged when your miss count seems 3x too high and your grade 2 letters too low.

Recommendation #1: BMUS is decent for starting doubles. I know, I know, but its got 5 1*s, 9 2*s, and 10 3*s. Its the most beginner friendly doubles mix since 3rd, and the only friendly one with high-res and modern timing. Once you're comfortably in the 4* range, you can play whatever style you like.

Recommendation #1.5: Practice with Hard, it will keep you from missing [as many] stupid notes. Missing stupid notes makes you fail in doubles, because they're 4x as hard to avoid as in singles.

Recommendation #2: Train each hand's coordination, without racking your brain. Play singles one handed with random, for each hand. It will force you to get used to using your hands like you need to for doubles. If you can do 8*s with 2H/7K, you can probably do 3*s with your off hand and 4*s with your good hand with only a little practice. For example: I play right handed 7key. When complex melodies appear on the right hand side, i do great, but when they move to the left I have a really hard time. (Note: A doubles chart in the 5* range has maybe 600 notes. Thus a comparative doubles chart has maybe 300 per side. Each hand doesn't have to be THAT good.)

Recommendation #2.5: If you want to get good at scratching while hitting notes, play strictly 1-handed 7key. This is what you're up against playing doubles, after all, except both hands and not as hard.

Recommendation #3: When practicing, don't be afraid to focus on one side at a time and mostly if not completely ignore the other side.

Recommendation #4: Random for doubles is your friend. Not the kind who gets you lemonade when you're dying of heat, the kind who pushes you in a pool and holds your head under water. When it comes to things that don't actually hurt you, that which does not kill you...

Recommendation #5: Play through lots of songs: Throw in a style, play through ALL the 4*s, in name-order. Play them no more than 3 times: If a song is way too hard, play only the left hand part, then the right hand part, then both at once, a la recommendation 3.