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Dance Dance Revolution PA Guide by TCCMagnus

***INSERT WITTY TEXT ART HERE! :O***

Versions:

July 30, 2005 - Second Stage!

Added song info on the Complicated Songs List.
Seperated all of Chapter 3's Subchapters into it's own Chapter of subchapters.
Added more to Subchapter 4B.
Added a new chapter to get newbies to shut the hell up.


June 5, 2005 - First Stage!

Sup.

************
Contents:
1. Intro and Such
2. How to Get Better: Perfect Attack and the Grading Scale
3. The Nine-Footers and Other Hard Songs
4. WAT
4a. Using Mods Effectively
4b. Hug Someone's Bar Tonight
4c. Nonstop DDR Action!
4d. Headin' to the Gym
5. Look Ma, I'm on the Interweb!
6. Contact, Credit, Etc.

************

************************************************
Chapter 1: Intro and Such
************************************************

Congratulations! You have just proven to yourself and your loved ones that you
have no life at all! Welcome to the void that is Dance Dance Revolution, a
socially depriving world that will sap your time and money like a venemous
spider. Not to worry, however, using this guide, you'll make your time
worthwhile.

This guide will teach you, essentially, how to get better. Now, before you
start spamming my e-mail into oblivion asking for more in-depth information,
I'm going to admit right now that I am FAR from the greatest DDR players
in the country. With my luck, I'd barely break the Top 1000 (which still isn't
horrible considering the tens of thousands of people who play hardcore).
But I do know the fundamentals of this game and I've taught some people
how to get better the same way I did (leeching off information.
Thanks, Random Negro!).

To use this guide effectively, you must actually go out and play some DDR. For
the sake of this guide, I will assume that you're starting to play Heavy
(although people comfortable to Standard can use this as well to get to
Heavy). If you have trouble deciding where the Down Arrow is, this guide
is not for you. If you have problems passing 8-footers, go back to the arcade.
If you've got a nice handful of AAA's and SDG's, you're probably going to
want to stop reading this. This is for the people who want to get better and
have the ability to do so. If you can devote at least one day out of the week
to go to the arcade, pump a good $10-20 into an 8th Mix machine, and come
out feeling accomplished, then you will get better. The speed of your growth
is entirely up to you.

************************************************
Chapter 2: How to Get Better: Perfect Attack and the Grading Scale
************************************************

Well, this sure is an obvious chapter, isn't it?

The best way to get better is to know where you stand. I don't care that you
passed Rhythm & Police with a B, it's up to you to know where you are at in
terms of progress. If you tell yourself that you are "awesome," you are probably
not. If you tell yourself that you're "decent," then you are.

The thing with DDR is that the score-system is flawed. The amount of points
you get per song tells you almost nothing if you are unfamiliar with the
concept of Perfect Attack. You can tell yourself that getting 55 Million
Points on Tsugaru is a lot, but when you consider that the maximum amount of
points possible on it is 90 Million, you easily see yourself in a slump.
DO NOT trust the score system.

Instead, there is an alternative. It is commonly known as "Perfect Attack."
Perfect Attack, which will now be referred to as PA, is the basis for all score
tracking in the DDR world. So what exactly determines it? Obviously, the
amount of Perfects that you get. That's what it is, getting as many Perfects
as possible. There are stipulations, however. Everything else that you get,
a Great, Good, and so on, has an effect on your overall score. Getting a
certain amount of Dance Points, or DP, will determine your overall
ranking on the song.

The DP System works like this:

Perfect = 2 DP
Great = 1 DP
Good = 0 DP
Boo (Almost on home versions) = -4 DP
Miss (Boo on home versions) = -8 DP
OK = 6 DP
NG = 0 DP

Remember that getting anything that isn't a Perfect will pretty much subtract
from your score. While a miss is is -8 DP, you still lose the 2 points from not
getting a Perfect. Therefore, it is better to see it as so:

Perfect = 0
Great = -1
Good = -2
Boo = -6
Miss = -10
OK = 0
NG = -6

Looking at this, it works to your advantage to get as many Perfects as you
possibly can. If you cannot, then the next best thing is the amount of Greats.
When working on PA, you'll most likely hear from other players, "I got thismany
Greats on soandsosong." This indicates that they got all Perfects and however
many Greats they got, giving them a total of the maximum amount of DP possible
minus whatever they got in Greats.

Knowing this, it also works to your advantage to get every single freeze arrow.
I cannot stress this enough. You could think to yourself, "what's so hard about
that?" Kiss Kiss Kiss, Ordinary World, and others with freeze arrows, all of
these are usually sort of easy songs. However, scores will be determined when
it counts and you'll need to get EVERYTHING. Don't rely so much on your
Perfect Attack if you're unable to hit all the freeze arrows through. A Freeze
is worth three Perfects, and that could be the difference between getting that
AA or losing to an opponent at a tournament.

So how does this affect you? Simple. The percentage of DP you have is
dependant on your ranking and overall score. With a certain amount of points,
you can get that B, A, or AA that you've been looking for. All you need to do
is some simple multiplication and minor percentages in order to figure out
where you stand and what you need to do to get to that level.

This is how your grade is determined.

AAA = 100% DP (in other words, all Perfects and all OKs)
AA = 93% DP
A = 80% DP
B = 65% DP
C = 45% DP
D = Anything Else (negative percentages have been recorded)
E = Failed the song at any point.

Let's see how this plays out on a certain song. An easy one. Ah, Nori Nori
Nori! A classic. It's easy to PA and it's Happy Hardcore up the wazoo. Plus,
it's the only N song on 8th Mix. It has 215 steps and 16 Freeze Arrows, which
totals up to a small but modest 526 DP.

Nori Nori Nori Heavy DP Cutoffs
AAA = 0 DP Missing
AA = 36 DP Missing
A = 105 DP Missing
B = 184 DP Missing
C = 289 DP Missing
D = Anything Else
E = Failed (you poor thing)

Of course, you may not always be so lucky. Even if you get 36 Greats or less,
you must factor in the amount of anything else you may have gotten. For
instance, say you picked up 30 Greats and a Miss. That's a total of 40 Missing
DP, so you get an A. 174 Greats, 5 Goods, 2 Boos and a Miss? That totals up
to 190 Missing DP, so you just got yourself a C.

It's a little confusing at first, but once you understand the system you're
more likely to do better. Knowing is half the battle. Simply get Perfects.

Alternatively, there's an unofficial count called SDG, or Single Digit Greats.
If you'rehalf-intelligent, you should've guessed that means that one got a
lot of perfects and less than or equal to 9 Missing DP. Most players at higher
levels tend to shoot for this, especially on more difficult songs, than to
simply play them out until they earn the coveted AAA. It's a count that can
determine how well you play. Some go as far as to count the amount of songs
which they score in the teens. Most online trackers have a section for this.

Speaking of which, if you honestly want to get better, there's an easy way to
keep track. There are online scorekeepers where players can upload scores they
have gotten onto their account, compare themselves to others, and give/receive
challenges from friends and other players. There used to be one called NNR,
and it was a big success until the server crashed and left everyone searching
for alternatives. There are now two well-sized trackers, one called Over the
Monkey (http://www.cydirum.com/OtM), the other, which is the one I use, called
DDRecall (http://ddrecall.com, my account is THECapedCaper if you'd like to add
me to your list). These are both free, although you can get Premium Services by
making a one-time donation to DDRecall.

Because of this, it is imperative that, if you decide to get an account (which
is highly reccommended), that you update constantly and with plenty of scores
so that you and others know where exactly you stand. Currently, I have
most of the 256 songs on 8th Mix down (hate to brag, but most of them
AA's ^^;;; ), so I know where I stand and where I can improve, as well as
others to send me challenges that are respectable to my PA and
help me get better.

When you play, keep note of any scores you get (or want to keep, your choice).
Take pencil and paper, or a camera (digital so that you don't waste film).
Write down the amount of non-Perfects you get, and your OK amount if you got
any NGs (since DDR only keeps track of how many OK's you got and not your NG's
as well). Bring them back to your tracker to see your improvement. Over time,
you'll start to remember your scores like they were your friends. You'll be
scrolling through the Song List wondering, "Don't I have 48 Greats on that?
I can easily break 35." Voila, you get a score that you weren't even thinking
of getting when you came to the arcade.

This isn't to say memorize your scores and be a douchebag about them. You're
now my Apprentice, and I don't want my pupils going around and bragging, "I got
14 Greats on Freckles! TAKE THAT, FURRY!" If you are bragging about your
scores to other people, you are either desperate for attention or you're
compensating for something. It's okay to talk about them to other people, but
try and show some respect for the masses.

Remember, you are now playing to get better. But do not, I repeat do NOT let
this get in the way of your ability to have fun with this game. One of the
guys I've played with said it the best, "He who has the most fun is the true
winner." It's good to get better, but if you're making a chore out of it then
you should be playing something else. DDR was meant to be fun and competitive,
but if you choose to be the more competitve type (like guys who come to
tournaments to steal the prize money and waste most of their day not talking
to people) you will probably be shunned by the DDR Community.
Keep this in mind.

Now on to happy things!

************************************************
Chapter 3: The Nine-Footers and Other Hard Songs
************************************************

Now that you know what PA is, it's time to get you started.

First thing's first, no home versions. None. The timing window is too off
compared to the Arcade's. Unless you're playing to prevent yourself from
getting rusty, or if you like the exercise, you should not be playing home
versions. A better thing to use is Stepmania (www.stepmania.com, it is a free
download), a computer program that allows you to play DDR songs, official
and fan made alike. You can pillage the Internet for StepFiles, just ask
around. Honestly, home version is great to start off with for beginners. But
for the more experienced, definitely hook up a pad (a hard one like the
RedOctane Afterburner or the Cobalt Flux) to your PC, put on Stepmania and
adjust the timing window accordingly.

A nice thing to start shooting for, especially if you've grown comfortable to
Heavy, is to start picking up some AA's. If not, then start getting A's on
nine-footers and hard eights, which will be mentioned later. If you'd like to
make a decent first impression on DDRecall, it'd be nice to put up a few AA's.
That said, here are the 20 Easiest AA's to get on 8th Mix, with the amount of
Greats you need (or less):

---Easy AA's to start off with---
Kind Lady- 47
1998 - 46
Let the Beat Hit Em! - 26
After the Game of Love - 28
Love Love Sugar - 35
Butterfly (Heavy) - 29
My Summer Love - 36
Sync (Heavy) - 45
Do it Right (Harmonized 2Step Mix) - 47
Sexy Planet (from Nonstop Megamix) - 44
We Will Rock You - 26
Sobakasu Freckles - 48
Happy Wedding - 39
Last Message - 51
Love Shine - 52
Mahou no Tobira (Door of Magic) - 41
Nori Nori Nori - 36
Spin the Disc - 45
Think Ya Better D - 33
La Copa de la Vida - 33

This is a general overview of what are the easiest songs to AA. Keep in mind
that everybody has a different playing style. Knowing this, it is most likely
that you will AA something not on this list before you can complete it. It
happened to me. I was AAing harder things such as I'm in the Mood for Dancin'
and Cow Girl before I even got Sync. Heck, Think ya Better D was the last thing
on this list for me (although some argue that it's a hard song to AAA because
of its slow beat), and before then I already had about 35-40 AA's. Investigate
what is easy and what is not when you make your turn into the PA world. By
getting used to the easier things, you will eventually learn the basics of what
makes the harder songs work.

Let's cover that now. Oh, and before you ask, I am not covering the ten-
footers. Not only have I not beaten any of the "real" tens (I have too poor
stamina for them. I am working on this, but I know what my flaws are as a
player, which is why I'm trying to get better so that I CAN BEAT THIS
SONUVAMOTHER), but they are simply hit-or-miss. Max 300, for example, is simply
half-steps and streams, nothing incredibly complicated, just fast. Paranoia
Survivor Max Oni is a complex mix of half-steps, gallops, speed changes,
complex streams, and what have you, but some even consider that to be easier
to PA than it's Heavy counterpart. For better information on this, I refer to
you to Sir Orion's Level 10 Guide. It's a pretty good guide if you don't have
Stepmania to play the songs with and don't know what to expect.

Now the fun part. Here's the guide to all the songs that are deemed difficult
to PA. I have divided them into seperate sections to fit specific
playing styles.

***I WILL ADD SPECIFIC DATA FOR EACH SONG IN LATER VERSIONS OF THIS GUIDE***

---Complicated Songs---
A Challenge
Candy Star
Dance Dance Revolution Heavy/Challenge
Daikenkai Heavy/Challenge
Do You Remember Me
DXY!
Dynamite Rave Heavy/Challenge
Frozen Ray ~for EXTREME~
Gentle Stress (AMD SEXUAL MIX)
Insertion
Kakumei Heavy/Challenge
Lovin' You ~Rob Searle Club Mix~
Stoic (EXTREME version)
Sync Challenge
The Reflex
Trip Machine Survivor
Tsugaru

These songs, for the most part, aren't very fast and one is likely to not lose
their breath over them, but they require some fancy footwork. Some of these
songs will require you to turn (A Challenge, Sync Challenge, Frozen Ray),
others love to have odd speed runs (The Reflex, Gentle Stress, Lovin' You is
offbeat like no other), and some have annoying step-step-jump movements
(Dynamite Rave, DXY!). Players often have trouble with these in the beginning
because of the way the arrows are placed, causing unfamiliar turns, gallops,
what have you. Others tend to see these as easier due to their overall lack of
speed, causing more time to think about their body position and timing.
Again, it's a matter of playing style.

___A Challenge___
Those familiar, or with a decent score, on A Heavy shouldn't really have much
of a problem with the Challenge version. The trick here, however, is that while
A Challenge is a nine-footer, it requires less Greats to obtain a certain goal
than it's Heavy counterpart. It tends to piss off most players. The beginning
portion of the song is about as difficult as the Heavy part. As soon as it
speeds up, you'll find annoying step-jump patterns, which can pick you up some
bad non-Perfects if you're not careful enough. After the Freeze Arrow, you'll
get a constant stream of crossovers, and at 191 BPM it's easy to lose your
place. A few measures into this, there will be an odd step plus another freeze
arrow (some people turn on the odd step, so it can be learned eventually).
After this, there will be a few more odd steps, which may require some fancy
footwork in order to land. Overall, it's a slightly confusing song but it can
be done with a little playing around.

___Candy Star___
Personally, there isn't much to it except for some odd steps with Freezes.
It's not a necessity to crossover on the first half of the song, it can be
done with moving your feet rapidly (especially with a high speed mod). Just
be careful with the Freezes in this, as it is possible to get an NG from this
part. Other than that, it's really not too difficult but it can bring you down
if you play differently.

___Dance Dance Revolution___
Heavy
The Heavy steps to DDR follow the lyrics and beat to the song, which gives it
much space for off-beats, odd steps and crossovers. There are quite a few
gallops as well, but it isn't incredibly difficult after you've played some
songs with similar qualities.

Challenge
This song gives most people trouble. It's got tons of Chaos so it'll probably
mess you up a bit. The key to remember here is that DDR Challenge consists of,
well, DDR songs. You'll see Brunin' the Floor (I believe), Dynamite Rave,
Afronova, AM-3P, Celebrate Nite, B4U, and more Dynamite Rave at the end. What
confuses most players is this layout and switching the style from one song to
the next. Just remember that the song does not change tempo. Afterall, who do
you think of when "DDR All Stars" is named? Naoki. Almost all Naoki songs are
same. 150 BPM.

___Do You Remember Me___

It's odd at first since there are so many gallops and freeze strings to deal
with, but the thing to watch out for here are the crossovers. You're going
to want to crossover whenever you can. If you shuffle your feet on something
like this you'll most likely lose your spot. Keep with the flow and move your
feet around.

___DXY!___

This song is hit-or-miss. I couldn't get this one until just recently, but
that's just me. You've got some gallops in the beginning, followed by a
somewhat easy stream. But the real killer is the stream of step-step-jumps
towards the end. You'll probably end up doing an unintentional crossover here.
This is a decent plan, but for a song like this it's best to try and avoid
that. The steps could've been made better IMO, but for now just try not to
crossover on this one.

Ironic how I tell you when to cross and when to not, eh?

___Dynamite Rave___

Heavy
Ah, classic Cata. You've got your gallops in the beginning, quarter-beats
throughout the song, You'll end up with jump streams in the middle, followed by
even more quarter-beat runs. Afterwards, some simple runs, followed by
step-jump-step movements. Gallops in the end, but they're simple enough.
It's odd, however. While the song is amazingly on-beat, it's hard to PA for
most. Probably because they sneak in so many areas where people find their
Greats. It's harder than it looks.

Challenge
About the same difficulty as its Heavy Counterpart, however it looks harder
than it really is. Simple crossovers in the beginning, after the freeze arrows
there are some step-step-jump movements from other songs. Don't worry, however,
the quarter-beat runs are still there and they'll probably cause you damage.
That, and the gallops towards the end make this one a song to watch out for.
But if you have no problems with the Heavy version, the Challenge version
shouldn't be hard for you as well.

___Frozen Ray (for Extreme)___

Slightly tricky, Frozen Ray will give you Greats like no other if you cannot
shuffle your feet around, or if you haven't memorized the song. Lots of gallops
in the beginning, followed by some simple runs. Afterwards, the turning. If
you're uncomfortable with turning your back against the machine, you'll end up
shuffling your feet. This is probably where you'll get most of your Greats.
After that, some crossovers. You don't necessarily have to cross on this song,
but it will probably work to your benefit to do so.

___Gentle Stress___

I. HATE. THIS. SONG.

Onto happy things, you'll encounter some on-beat gallops in the beginning,
followed by some crappy-beat gallops, and then some Sorrow-ish runs in the
middle. Be wary of the jump runs. The middle-end piano runs are the worst.
Remember it goes: "One-Two. One-Two-Three. One-Two-Three. One-Two-Three-Four.
One-Two." Hell, that's even an inaccuracy. If you can somehow read 3x on this,
it will be easy. It looks like Hell on 2x or pretty much anything lower. Of
course we must mention the White-Boy Runs in the end. Learn to keep beat with
just one foot, but even so it is a great challenge to get that through.

___Insertion___

Classic 5th Mix. Starts off with some gallops, which lead onto quarter-beat
runs. This is going to keep going until you get to the stop. The trick after
the stop is that the arrows will gradually slow down, speed up, slow down, and
then pick itself back to its original speed. It generally follows the music
very well. Afterwards, it's back to the gallops. For this portion, I
reccommend crossing-over, keeping one foot on the down arrow and letting
the other do the rest. This will happen for three measures, then there are
sets of gallop-gallop-gallop-gallop-step-step. These ten arrows will continue
until you get to the stream of half-step runs. This will then speed itself up
to 225 BPM. Fortunately, it's not very complicated, so speed mods on this
song are useful in taking care the slow part.

___Kakumei___

The Heavy and Challenge parts are pretty similar. Keep in mind of the gallops
that take place on the piano parts. Most find the Heavy part to be one of the
harder songs to PA, but the Challenge one is relatively easier. Before trying
out the Heavy one, take on the Challenge, as it is only an 8-footer. Also be
on the lookout for triplet runs, especially in the end's freeze arrows. It may
look like a jump but it's really just fooling ya.

___Lovin' You___

While most consider Lovin' You to be offbeat, it essentially is not. Rather,
the TIMING changes around in order to mess with you. It's a song like this
that you should probably listen to a while before playing. While it doesn't
change tempo, the beat slightly changes around from 3/4, 4/4, and 7/4 timing,
which really confuses most people. Don't rush the quarter-beat runs, they will
be on beat and are surprisingly easier to land than they appear.

___Stoic___

In a sense, it's a lot like DXY! is. The majority of the songs contains step-
step-jump patterns that makes DXY! a pain in the ass. This becomes especially
true in the middle of the song, before the quarter-beat runs. A nifty trick to
do is to crossover-type trick with the jumps in order to avoid getting lost.
Again, it's hit-or-miss for this one. Some people can SDG it easy, while others
need more time to get it down. But it's a song worth getting down.

___Sync Challenge___

Face it, if you don't know the music for Sync, you should be playing the
Heavy part first (but why wouldn't you, it's easy!). The song's steps follow
to the blips, but what's tricky is that you have to crossover and them. It can
be PA'd no problem with knowledge of the song, but some choose to use Shuffle
when doing so. See if that works. If not, learn to crossover better.

___The Reflex___

This song is rediculously slow. Again, like Lovin' You, it's probably wise to
listen a few times before playing. The gallops and quarter-beat runs make this
one of the harder 8's, but the SLIGHT tempo change (it's only a 1 BPM
difference) makes it even more confusing in the end when landing those jumps.

___Trip Machine Survivor___

It's no Trip Machine Climax, but Survivor is a tricky nine that is more bent
on making you crossover than it is to trip you up. Fortunately, it's slower.
You start off with your regular Trip Machine style steps, which evolve into
quarter-beat runs and gallops. Throughout the song, it will also hit you with
offbeat steps. After the freeze, it will land you with even more of them,
followed by some crossovers.

___Tsugaru___

Again with the tricky nines. It's way harder than Apple Mix, but you probably
already know this. Like it's brother, Tsugaru's got an insane amount of
gallops. Keep in mind that in the middle of the gallop streams, it'll trick you
with what looks like jumps. These are actually gallops that are *VERY* close
to each other. It is possible, but unlikely, that one can just jump on these
and get two Perfects. Oftentimes, at least one Great comes from this. Keep in
mind the crossovers throughout the song as well.

---Fast Songs---
Across the Nigthmare Heavy/Challenge
Afronova
Can't Stop Fallin' in Love -Speed Mix-
Colors (for Extreme) Challenge
Dead End
Drop Out
era [nostalmix]
Exotic Ethnic
Fantasy (Mellisa)
Gradiusic Cyber
Healing Vision ~Angelic Mix~
La Senorita Virtual
Matsuri Japan
Mikeneko Rock
Orion.78 (AMeruo-MIX)
Rhythm and Police (K.O.G G3 Mix)
Sakura Challenge
ska a go go
V (for EXTREME) Challenge
Waka Laka
Witch Doctor

The exact opposite of the complicated songs, these songs are built for speed.
The majority of these songs breach 170 BPM, which is moderately speedy. What
sets these apart from the easier songs is their complexity, obviously most of
these songs are nine-footers (some argue Witch Doctor to be worth nine,
although it is an eight). However, most of these songs take into consideration
the stamina of the player. Drop Out's last 25-35% is a maniac run of 260 BPM in
which most players find their non-Perfects, same with ska a go go final
machine-gun runs and Gradiusic Cyber's runs in the middle. Again, a matter of
playing style. Since these songs require you to hammer on the pad, one is good
at running in place (preferably on beat) will have little problem trying to PA
these songs. You may notice that some of these songs are not fast at all, but
rather they contain quarter-beats which MAKE them faster by comparison
(Orion.78 (AMeuro-MIX) is only 100 BPM, but with quarter-beats and half-steps
throughout the song, it may as well be 200 like the other version).
They're not entirely difficult, but fast.

---Complicated and Fast Songs---
Afronova Primeval
Burning Heat! (3 Option Mix)
Captain Jack (GRANDALE REMIX)
Cartoon Heroes (Speedy Mix)
End of the Century
Heaven is a '57 metallic gray (gimmix)
Leading Cyber
Love This Feelin'
Orion.78 (civilization mix)
Pretty much all the Paranoias
So Deep ~Perfect Sphere Remix~
Sweet Sweet Heart Magic
The Least 100sec
Trip Machine Climax
Xenon

The children of the first two, it is these songs that cause people the most
trouble when learning to PA. Even people with hundreds of AA's find them hard
(I've yet to get all of this list, but have come pretty close on those that I
don't have). Not only do these songs require fast footwork but an even faster
mind. Most of these have crossovers, gallops, odd foot-placements, the works.
The most dreaded are easily Cartoon Heroes, The Least 100sec, and Xenon, but
the rest of these songs require notice by newcomers to PA. Sweet Sweet Heart
Magic, Captain Jack, and Paranoia Rebirth are excellent songs to build
stamina, which will be described later.

---The Sorrows---
Hyper Eurobeat [this is debated, however]
i feel...
L'amour et la liberte
Memories
On the Jazz
Rain of Sorrow
Tears
Vanity Angel

These songs are hit-or-miss. Some despise these songs with an ever-bitter
passion for their high numbers of offbeats, gallops, and turns. Others love
them for their complexity, as they are excellent picks in tournaments. Decent
PA on L'amour or Rain of Sorrow will win 75% of the time, I saw the best player
in America lose On the Jazz to someone who didn't place, people SHIVER at the
sight of Tears. If you are going to start to play competitvely, these songs
are great picks against most players. Regardless, these are the songs that
will most likely be difficult to the beginning PA player, but with practice
they are so easy. Learn these songs.


************************************************
Chapter 4: WAT!
************************************************

I put a bunch of subchapters with miscellaneous crap here. Mwaha laziness. :<


************************
Subchapter 4a: Using Mods Effectively
************************

Something you're going to see a lot out of PA Players is that they will not
play "Virgin Style." This is basically the default setting, 1x Vivid. This is
mostly from people who have played after 6th Mix (DDR MAX) came out, when mods
were only a system of challenge and not of aid.

After 6th Mix came out, there was a useful addition to Mods, and those are the
speed mods. 1x, 1.5x, 2x, 3x, 5x, and 8x. Beginning players see these as
intimdating and pretty much refuse to use them, thinking they speed up the song
or change it in some style. This is not the case. It changes the speed of the
arrows, which in turn seperates them and makes it easier to read.

For example, Brilliant2U Heavy is 150 BPM, plus it contains some gallops in
the song. Wouldn't it be easier to land those gallops if you could read the
arrows better? Of course. By applying a 1.5x mod to it, it will be like the
song is 225 BPM, which is slow enough to be comfortable and spreads the arrows
out a bit. But if you can read even faster, apply a 2x mod to it, to make it
seem like it is 300 BPM. It's still the same song with the same steps, the only
difference is the speed of the arrows. Because of this speed, the arrows are
now spread out to make it easier to read. Some will go as far as to place a 3x
mod, making it seem 450 BPM, and bar rape the song and read it incredibly
clearly.

In turn, you are sacrificing reflex time for reading.

Try and figure out how fast you can read and go from there. If you can pass
Max 300 Standard and have no problems reading it, you should be able to 2x a
majority of the songs. Keep working on this, and eventually you'll be able to
read 350 BPM, 400 BPM, and so forth. I've seen people go as far as put Max 300
Heavy on 2x (of course they needed to use the bar), making it seem 600 BPM,
just to prove that they could. Train your eyes to handle the kind of speed
necessary to read certain songs.

Some people go as far as using Boost, with or without speed mods. Same story,
it helps the person read better to the way that they're used to. Try it out and
see how you like it, it may come in handy on certain songs (I know people who
use it on MaxX Unlimited and AA it no problem, for example).

There are other kinds of mods as well, some of these coming long before 6th
Mix. Solo and Flat are two commonly used modifiers as well. Solo changes the
arrows colors so that they don't change, so that it is easier to see different
kinds of beats. Flat makes it so that all the arrows' colors don't change, but
rather they are all the same color. This can be effective when using high speed
mods, but most people tend to prefer Solo than Flat.

Sometimes they are frowned upon (Solo mostly because it effects both players,
regardless of whether or not both agree on it. It's a real pain), but they
can be extremely useful to the beginning PA player, especially Solo. If you're
playing with someone, it usually common courtesy to ask them if Solo is okay
with them when you're picking. If not, stick with Vivid (default setting),
it will do you better in the long run.

Oh, and Little makes the songs easier by erasing anything that isn't a full-
beat. Obviously not worth your time.

Sudden, Hidden, and Stealth are generally for challenge purposes, something new
to play around with if you get bored. Not very handy for PA-building, it's more
of a way to show off to newbies.

Lastly, step turns. In general, not worth it if you've gone into PA, unless you
like a challenge. They're seen as a crutch on some songs (Afronova on Left
or Right is ten times easier than playing it normally), but there are times
when you may need them, such as 5.1.1. or Brilliant2U Orchestra Groove
Challenge. Put Shuffle on these. Shuffle is different because the steps that
come up could be either Left, Right, or Mirror, so it's random in this sense.
Experiment around and you may find it to be easier to PA with.

Use mods to your advantage. Besides, 1x can get boring after a while.

************************
4b. Hug Someone's Bar Tonight
************************

You know that little thing behind you when you're playing? That tall, red metal
bar with the black leather laced on top of it to prevent people from slipping
and falling on their ass and breaking their necks and suing Konami and the
arcade for millions of dollars because there wasn't a safety device? We'll just
call it the bar. To some, it is a safety device that prevents people from
hurting themselves. To others, a method to score higher on their PA.

Using the bar controls your balance, keeps your upper body still to read the
arrows better, and lifts weight off of your lower body in order to reach the
arrows faster and (sometimes) with more efficency. It is also greatly frowned
upon by a majority of players (it is often called "bar raping" instead of "bar
hugging"), insisting that it is a crutch which gives players an insane
advantage.

This isn't so. Using the bar also has its advantages and disadvantes, the same
with mods. While you are benefitting from the rewards mentioned before, you
sacrfice movement. This means that gallop streams, turns, and odd steps are now
your predator.

That is the precise reason why people generally don't use the bar.
They don't feel like they're dancing.

Although people will say that is very difficult to do harder songs without bar,
and in this case they couldn't be more right. Fast, complicated songs and
especially the ten-footers are the most bar-hugged, obviously for stamina
reasons and precision.

Because of this, it's probably wise to pick and choose when to hold on to
the bar. For this, I point you to Kevin Boddy's 7974 Legend Road video.
(http://www.anakedg.com/videos/kevinboddy/KevinBoddy-LegendRoad(7974).zip,
thanks to ANakedG for hosting the vid.)

Notice how Kevin uses the bar. On Max 300, he clutches the bar with both of
his hands, in order to maintain his balance and work his feet to get each
Marvelous with ease. On MaxX Unlmited (2:04 in the video this case), he lets
go of the bar in order to cross over to his left, so he keeps his left hand on
the bar in order to keep as much balance as possible. He suffers a Great out
of this, but it's way better than getting a string of Greats or even something
less. He lets go on Sakura, only grabbing it to land the 14 BPM note, in which
he ends up getting a Marvelous. On The Legend of MAX, he grabs onto the bar
until 5:45 to land the odd stream, and then goes right back to holding onto
it. What's probably the coolest part of the video is the great hand-work he
does at the end of Paranoia Survivor MAX Oni. At 7:41, he does what he did in
Unlimited and keeps the bar held with one arm so that he can crossover. He
switches hands twice in order to land all of these steps. He finishes the oni
course with a whopping 2452 Marvelous, 204 Perfects, 12 Greats, and a Miss.
(Tough call on whether that's a pad miss or not, but either way it's a
rediculously high score). The point of this video is to examine how he uses
every aspect around him, including the bar. He doesn't necessarily "rape" it,
but rather he uses it to his advantage and doesn't when it is a burden.

"I'M HOT JAVA! I'M HOT JAVA!!!" That'll never get old.

In my opinion, I think bar hugging on easier songs is overkill. People will
claim AAA's and other high scores on easier songs but they do it with a crutch,
the same way more experienced players can get the same scores by playing
straight DDR. It's almost as if they feel accomplished by this, and this is sad
and weak. However, on harder songs (especially ten-footers) I think it's fair-
game. I watched a video of a guy playing Legend Road no bar, but even he
had to clutch the bar a few times to keep his balance up.

Unless you have a physical ailment that prevents you from playing no-bar
(I know a few people), or if you're playing a hard song, you should not be
using the bar. By all means, if you slip, grab onto it. It's common sense. But
in no way should you be bar raping on Kind Lady for an easy AAA. That's
complete atrocity. Save it for the harder songs.

************************
Subchapter 4c. Nonstop DDR Action!
************************

Aside from playing song after song, there are alternatives to playing normal
DDR. You've probably seen them and have maybe played a round or two.
These are the Nonstop and Oni Courses. While they generally don't mean much
when calculating PA, they're a great help to building it, especially if you
play or want to relearn 1x (from the Oni courses). Online trackers such as
DDRecall also keep track of Nonstops and Onis, thus building even more
competition with others.

Nonstops are great for stamina, quick thinking, chaos, and probably even speed
training. Since you can apply mods, they're just as versitale as playing normal
songs. There are plenty to choose from, but what is most reccommended is
Random All Nonstop, or Random Caprice Nonstop. On Random All, you don't get
to see what comes ahead of you, but Random Caprice you do (but they mostly tend
to be easier songs). I generally prefer Random All with a 2x mod attached to
it, but if you're uncomfortable with your PA (or Marvelous Attack, rather), it
could be wise to play one of the other Nonstop courses. Pop4 is a great way to
start, as it's easy to MA and it is one of the more popular courses.

Onis work the same way, of course with two huge differences. Firstly, you don't
get to select your mods. Secondly, anything that is below a Great (or NGs)
deduct from your life, which can become costly if you go down in the first or
second level. Oni Courses are generally preferred to Nonstops, due to the
complexity and extra rules set for them. However, people who have grown
attached to speed mods often find themselves blundered at even the simplest
of Onis. Naoki Standard, Soul 6, and From Solo (in that order) are probably
the easiest Oni courses to start yourself out at.

Although, if you're hardcore about boosting your PA, you might want to stay
away from Onis. But if you're up for the challenge or if you simply want to
milk some more fun out of the game, go ahead and try them. You won't be
disappointed.

************************
Subchapter 4d: Headin' to the Gym
************************

This question always pops up in every DDR Forum. "What exercise can I do to
improve on DDR?"

This answer is always the reply. "DDR."

It is typical for a player to believe that since DDR is a form of exercise (a
damn good one at that), other forms of exercise will improve on their ability
to play. This is not the case. It's good if you're losing weight or trimming
your flabby body, but it will get you no better in stomping arrows.

It's probably obvious to you. Over the months you've played DDR, your legs,
especially your calves, have probably acheived a thick muscle from stepping so
much. Right there it makes it pointless to work these muscles out. Why work on
building muscle for them when you do it anyway at the arcade? It's pointless.

The same thing goes for stamina-based workouts. While it's nice to jog or swim
once in a while, it won't get you better at DDR. While some argue that it
helps when passing harder songs, and this is probably true, it will probably
have little to no effect on your Perfect Attack.

High-intensity workouts, swimming, climbing, long-distance running, will
probably improve your stamina. Sports such as football, soccer, and rugby
(if you live in one of those wacky countries that constantly play it) are
good bets, especially if you are constantly in motion.

However, it's not worth it unless, like your PA, you do it constantly and
preferably with consistancy. Then you're double screwed out of it all.
Besides, you can work on your stamina by playing "Stamina Runs," or a game
that consists of only hard songs that you normally lose your breath on. Play
a lot of these and you will notice how quickly you won't break a sweat on some
songs.

So there are no shortcuts to this game. To get better at DDR, you have to,
gosh, *PLAY* DDR! What a coinkydink! Surely nobody thought of this!

************************************************
Chapter 5: Look Ma, I'm on the Interweb!
************************************************

This isn't really a part to help you out with PA, it's more of a guide to get
others to help you out with PA. Nobody can determine your speed of growth but
yourself. Always remember that. No matter who you meet, you are always in
charge. Take advice the same way you're taking mine: Liberally and with close
attention (kind of an oxymoron if you ask me =P ).

From my experience, the best way to find out how to get better is to watch
other people, ranked at or above your level, play DDR. If you're within the
targeted level I reccommend for this guide, there should at least two to a
dozen people at your arcade significantly better than you. Watch how they
play. See how they move, look at their mistakes, think about the mods they use
and how it affects their PA.

I'm going to tell you how I got from Standard to Heavy. I was on a school
trip down state to Bowling Green, Kentucky (har har redneck). The mall they
have there has an arcade, Alladin's Castle, which of course contains an 8th
Mix. I was playing some of the 8th Mix songs on Standard, and when I'm done
playing, this guy, a lot larger than me, in full clothing, comes up and plays
Let's Groove 2x. He gets an A on it.

Now, this was back in the day, an A was amazing! There's no way someone
is better than that! The guy looked at me, he was all, "Eh."

When I got back home from the trip, I turned on my PS2 with DDR MAX2 inside.
Let's Groove was the first song I played. Of course, I had forgotten
about mods, but I pass the song anyway. From there, I start to play more sixes
and sevens, and eventually work my way up to the eights and nines.

I went back to Bowling Green a few months later. I'm having problems passing
nine footers, and this guy comes up to me and says, "Wanna play Sakura?"
I figured, "What the hell, can't be that bad, right?" Sakura obliterated me
into a pulp. I'm pretty sure I failed it, and even if I passed it would have
scored a very low D. The guy I played with had a low score as well, but
passed. "It's more like a 9.75 footer." He smiled at me.

From there, I played at the arcade a lot more, pretty much forgetting about
the home version. Sometime that summer, I was getting a lot "better" (still
sucking, haw). This guy comes up to me and wants to bet on a game of DDR, since
I had just gotten an A on B4U. I was reluctant at first, of course I'm not
going to do this. But he kept pestering and pestering me to do it. So I give
in for a bet of $1. He wipes me out on the first two songs. I pick The Legend
of MAX as the last one to see how good he really is. He slaps a 1.5x mod and
passes it with ease. I walk out feeling gyped.

It turns out the guy was Jayvis, creator of OhioDDR and other Ohio-based Video
Game Organizations.

WOW, I FEEL LIKE SHIT NOW, DON'T I?

Not really. These experiences basically told me to get better. Not because
there are people in front of me, not because I can get recognized for it, and
not because I can sandbag random people for money (I did it once, but I gave
the money right back and told the person to not bet on a video game). I do it
because the fun factor of the game significantly increases as you get better.
Players begin to notice you and you start to befriend them. You eventually
go to tournaments and meet more people there. You join communities and talk
about this stupid arrow game and how much it sucks, yet you go back week after
week and pump more money into the machine and brag about your new scores.

It's Crack Crack Revolution!

The best way to get better is to meet people and meet them, talk to them,
get ideas from them. If you live in or near a populous state (or at least one
with at least enough DDR machines to go around), it's very likely that your
state has a DDR Community. I live in Ketucky, but I reside in the Ohio DDR
community because it's got more players, more locations, more tournaments,
and what have you (plus I'm like ten minutes from Cincinnati, woop-de-doo).
I know there's a Kentucky DDR, an Indy DDR, DDR Texas, DDR New York, even a DDR
Maine, plus countless state-oriented DDR communities. Non-state-oriented
include DDRFreak, Bemani-Style, tons more. International communities also
formed: DDR Europe, DDR England, DDR Spain, all at your disposal. All it
takes is a valid e-mail address and a half-intelligent mind and you've got
access to people who play at your level and love DDR as much as you do.

Why are they here? "Why aren't they here?" should be the correct question
to ask. Because people love DDR and they still play it, even after three years
since the most recent official mix was released, people cling on to hope in
the alleged 9th Mix. All the while, people have gotten better, some have
AAA'd the game, friendships were made and relationships have started (and even
bitter, bitter chaos!). The fact that a game, a simple game such as this, has
brought so many people together it is unmistakable to dismiss the
power of a community.

Find a community near you, or a widespread community across the nation.
Either will work. Befriend people who can help you and you can help back.
Symbiotic relationships are the best for a game like this, since everybody
has a different playing style.

Or, if you're extremely lucky, as I have, you'll meet a DDR Freak from a
friend who doesn't play DDR at all. That's how I came across Random Negro,
whom I owe pretty much the majority of the credit for helping me get better
over the past year. By taking his advice, emulating it, and forming it to mold
on my playstyle, I've improved gracefully. I went from one AA to 225, from
not knowing what an SDG is to almost 40. You'll probably be able to find
someone be your DDR guru, it just takes a little looking around.

Eventually, you'll start seeing someone else where you were and want to help
them get better too! All it takes is a little socializing and lots of DDR.

************************************************
Chapter 6: Contact, Credit, Etc.
************************************************

___CONTACT___
email: schreinera1@nku.edu
AIM: TCCMagnus
phone: 859-347-1111 (tastes so good you'll want it bad)
DDRecall: THECapedCaper

___CREDIT___
GameFAQs for hosing.
Konami for making the awesome game.
DDRecall for the online tracking system (nod to Over the Monkey as well).

___ETC___

Special Thanks to the Cincy DDR kids, thanks for all the awesome times on
Newport's crappy machine.

Also to Random Negro for getting to where I am now.

The people at OhioDDR, who are assholes for the most part until you take away
their computer monitor, then they become really sweet people.

Copyright information: Dance Dance Revolution, DDR Extreme, Bemani, and
such namesakes are copyrighted to Konami. This work is written and owned by
me. It may be posted at GameFAQs.com with my permission. No one else may use
this work, in whole or in part, without my permission (I'm not too concerned
about fame, just give me an e-mail if you want to post this). This work
may not be used to earn profit, including but not limited to advertising
directly on this FAQ.

This work is copyright 2005 by Andy Schreiner (TCCMagnus).

Remember, it is not who's got the best PA, it is who has the most fun.
More versions will come.

---

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Další informace ti poskytne Czech DDR, nebo Czech DDR forum.