GuitarFreaks/DrumMania: Beginner Questions

[WEABOO]

Hey everyone. I recently got my hands on gold masterpiece collection and a GH controller and I've been having a lot of fun. I have some questions though:


- What in the world is "Bass" and "Open" (I think?) mode?

- I might be naive/stupid for saying this, but I sometimes feel that I get a miss when I shouldnt have. Is this game just incredibly strict? This is my first day playing and I can do one 27 on the first difficulty, so I figure I shouldnt have so much problems with timing...I was thinking maybe its because Im using a GH controller, but could it be just that the game is that hard?

- How do the speed mods work? Does 2 = 2x tempo? etc etc

- Is there a way to play with 2 GH controllers? Me and my friend tried to play with them but for some reason we could never get the 2P side working...we made sure the controller worked and both were fine, so we have no idea whats going on.

- Is there any kind of unlock system in this game?


Thanks everyone!

[rmz]

Originally Posted by Dark

- What in the world is "Bass" and "Open" (I think?) mode?

Bass: play the bass guitar part
Open: play the regular guitar part but there is an additional "open" note type where you don't hold down any buttons

- How do the speed mods work? Does 2 = 2x tempo? etc etc

Scroll rate is the same for all songs, so 2x is just 2x of the arbitrary universal scroll rate. Once you find a speed setting that you are comfortable with you can use it for every song and they will all be exactly the same scroll speed.

- Is there any kind of unlock system in this game?

Yeah, for complete details/lists check out GameFAQs or something I would say.

[aeriyu]

Originally Posted by Dark

- What in the world is "Bass" and "Open" (I think?) mode?

As rmz said, OPEN is just a variation of the normal guitar notechart, whereas the BASS mode is an entirely different set

- I might be naive/stupid for saying this, but I sometimes feel that I get a miss when I shouldnt have. Is this game just incredibly strict? This is my first day playing and I can do one 27 on the first difficulty, so I figure I shouldnt have so much problems with timing...I was thinking maybe its because Im using a GH controller, but could it be just that the game is that hard?

The timing is quite a bit more strict than Guitar Hero, so it takes a while to get used to. In GF, there are two different ways to get a miss: not strumming when a note is present, and misstrumming. There are two ways to misstrum: holding down the wrong frets though you strum at the right time, or strumming when there's no note (doesn't matter what frets you hold). The former gives you 1 miss, whereas the latter gives you 2 misses; therefore, you lose life much faster when you either screw up your strumming or strum too much. If you turn on LIGHT mode through the Play Style Menu, you aren't penalized for the latter, although your combo still breaks.

To access the play style menu, either choose it from the options/play menus, or hold start when you're choosing your song.

Check out rmz's guide in Gamefaqs -- he does a pretty good job of explaining the basics.

[DKW]

To cycle between Bass, Open Pick, and back to Normal, press G - pick - pick - G. Some songs don't have Open Pick; always check to see that you're actually playing the notechart you think you're playing. None of the long tracks have Open Pick or Bass.

Masterpiece Gold uses a "universal" startup interface. The guitar defaults to the controller it's plugged into. To switch between them, press R or B (don't remember which does which direction). Pressing start "registers" a controller; pressing start again on an registered controller confirms the players. So to get two players, you need to have both guitars in and press Start once for each. (I'm not sure how GH controllers affect this...might have to start on a certain side or something?) In Free Mode, you can switch to autoplay by picking.

Oh, and just IMO, you're starting a little high. If you're new to this game, you should start at...oh, 12. 27 will be there when you're ready for it.

[WEABOO]

Well, I can pass Infinity and Stay something pretty well (S and A) with no problem, and those are the upper 20's. Its just that its SO strict sometimes. I find myself doing fine on some fast streams but barely catching some fairly slow "staircases" because I cant grab the button, pick, and switch to another button fast enough. Its soooo merciless.

And what I did with the GH controllers was first plug in two PS2 controllers. Once I pick my song, I switch out both controllers and put in my GH controller. For some reason though, the 2P side doesnt respond but the 1P side does. You can clearly see that its in 2-Player mode, but its just the right side not responding. We even put the 2P GH controller in the 1P port and it worked fine. I'll try messing around with it more, but I found that really weird.

[aeriyu]

Have you done any modification to your GH controller? If not, you'll find that you can't pick upwards... >_>

[WEABOO]

Originally Posted by aeriyu

Have you done any modification to your GH controller? If not, you'll find that you can't pick upwards... >_>

WHAT!?!?!?!?!

DETAILS!!!! (I knew there was SOMETHING wrong!)



Also, can someone fill me in on all the GF/DM jargon? Like whats doublepicking?

[Checky]

You can't double pick in V with the GH controller.. however, masterpiece silver, V2, and masterpiece gold should all work OK.

[aeriyu]

I've gotta try that out then, checkrox

And well... there's no details :/ you just can't pick up lol

Good downpick practice, but... plays differently

[chocori]

As checkrox said, the only game in which you can't pick upwards is Guitar Freaks V. V had no custom controls and only recognizes D-Pad down/Analog stick as down, so GH controllers can only downpick on it. (Also, you have to use Red-Blue-Orange in V, which puts strain on your hand)

Anyway, doublepicking is when you alternate between picking up and down. Use your thumb to pick down and then use your index/middle finger to pick up as you move your hand back up. Doublepicking allows you to pick faster, but it also comes at a cost of accuracy for most players.

Downpicking is picking down. It tends to be slower but more accurate than doublepicking for most players.

Doublepicking an entire song can be difficult, just as downpicking an entire song can be difficult. Learning to alternate between the two depending on the situation is key to avoid making the song any harder than it has to be.

[Brett]

V2 is actually a little messed up, you cannot hyper pick on it at all with the GH controller.