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DDR a ITG: FAQ a kody
Frequently Asked Questions, codes and unlock for DDR and ITG
===================================DISCLAIMER==================================
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This document Copyright 2004 Daniel Engel
===============================================================================
Dance Dance Revolution Festival FAQ
January 06, 2006
Daniel (FecalLord) Engel
fecalord [AT] gmail [DOT] com
*NOTE*
For some bizarre reason Konami decided to make pretty much all of the text in
the game Japanese despite EVERY other game in the long-running DDR series
having mainly English text. This can makes navigating menus confusing for many
players, but these menus are translated in the FAQ.
###############################################################################
(A) TABLE OF CONTENTS
###############################################################################
Table of Contents
(A) This Table of Contents
(B) Menus
- (B-01) Game Mode
- (B-02) Party Mode
- (B-03) Options
(C) Secrets
(D) Song List
(E) Basics
- (E-01) Beginner/Light
- (E-02) Standard
- (E-03) Heavy
(F) Dance Pads
- (F-01) Types Of Pads
- (F-02) Where To Buy
(G) Thanks
(H) Experimental
###############################################################################
(B) MENUS
###############################################################################
Bricklayer J. Gastronomy
The main menu of the game has 12 options in total, but when you first start up
the game there are only 11 (the fourth option, mission mode gets added after
you have played about 50 songs).
01) Game Mode
- Choose your mode (single, versus, double), your character, and your songs
02) Party Mode
- Play minigames with or without the eyetoy camera.
03) Beginner Mode
- Play songs on the beginner difficulty with an image of the CPU making the
steps as you play.
04) Mission Mode
- Pass songs while also meeting certain objectives.
05) Lesson Mode
- Learn how to play the game by following interactive lessons. If you don't
know Japanese then these aren't as helpful, but still worth a try.
06) Training Mode
- Practice any song, or even specific parts of a song, VERY helpful.
07) Edit Mode
- Create your own step sequences for songs.
08) Diet Mode
- Allows you to keep track of calories burned as you play and other such
things.
09) Record
- View your records on all songs that you have played so far.
10) Options
- Set many game options.
11) Credits
- View the game credits.
12) Information
- View information about game achievements and unlocked secrets and features.
###############################################################################
(B-01) GAME MODE
###############################################################################
This is the mode that people will use most of the time.
You can choose between three types of gameplay.
Single - One person playing on one pad.
Versus - Two people playing, one on each pad.
Double - One person playing on two pads at once.
Once you have chosen your mode you get to pick a dancer, or you can choose
"---" if you would rather not have a dancer.
By default you get to play three songs in a round, unless you fail one of them.
Left and right scroll through the songs and up/down changes the difficulty. Up
makes a song easier and down makes it harder.
If you want to keep playing until you quit, then you should turn on event mode
through the game options. Otherwise you only get to play a certain number of
songs per round [3 by default].
###############################################################################
(B-02) PARTY MODE
###############################################################################
You get to play minigames in this mode if you have an eyetoy camera, but even
if you don't have an eyetoy camera you can still play some minigames.
==================
Normal Game - Race
==================
The first game is against the CPU and the second one (with extra text) is
against another human player.
Simply hit the left and right arrows as fast as you can, then hit up or down
when it appears on screen to slow down the other player.
==================
Normal Game - Food
==================
The first game is against the CPU and the second one (with extra text) is
against another human player.
Each arrow corresponds to a type of food, and you need to give that food to the
animal that appears on the screen to get rid of it. Dogs want bones, cats want
fish, frogs want flies and bunnies want carrots.
============
Eyetoy Games
============
The eyetoy games are played with an eyetoy as well as a dance pad. Jason
Wright was kind enough to send me the following descriptions for these games.
[Watch Me Dance]
"Just like regular DDR except that the background is a video of you playing
DDR or whatever the EyeToy is pointing at. (I like to point it at my
lighting fast feet ^^)"
[Hands & Feet]
"A new way of dancing with the EyeToy. In addition to the 4 basic arrow
steps, you have two handprints on the top corners on the screen. You use
your hands to hit the handprint steps just as you do with the arrows with
your feet. This mode is only played on single mode. There's only one mode
to play on but you can go into the options menu and select a different
difficulty and the handprints will be thrown in there with the steps."
[Clean The Screen]
"One of the hardest to do and sometimes requires your friends to wave their
arms and jump around behind you to pass songs in this mode. The arrows are
covered with a foreground and you just create some kind of movement to clear
the foreground. However, the screen sill get covered again if there's no
movement."
[Coconut Panic]
"You're not playing DDR anymore. This time you're doing an EyeToy mini game.
What you do is you have to repeatedly hit the left and right arrows on your
pad to force the coconuts to fall. You must wave your arms over the
coconuts to catch them and earn points. Sometimes other stuff will fall and
are worth extra points if you catch them. When it starts to rain, press the
up or down arrows on your pad to open your umbrella."
[Magical Ball]
"Another non-DDR EyeToy mini game. This is just like the old game that
almost everybody remembers but this time you don't have a paddle at the
bottom of the screen to bounce the ball up. You're HANDS are the paddle.
Simply hit the ball upward and hit the blocks up above. Easy as that, yes?"
###############################################################################
(B-03) OPTIONS
###############################################################################
The options menu has the following layout.
Many thanks go out to Kristen "Yuffie" Wargo for all her help translating these
menus.
1) Sound Options
- Sound [Stereo / Mono / Dolby Pro Logic II]
- Voice [All=green / No Booing=2red / Off=7red]
- Timing
- Return To Menu
2) Control Settings
- Double Mode Settings [Off=green / On=red]
- Return To Menu
3) Save/Load
- Save
- Load
- Support (Party Collection) [Unlock all secrets if you have a DDR-PC save].
- Autosave [Off=green / On=red]
- Edit Folder Load [Off=green / On=red]
- Return To Menu
4) Game Options
- Game Level
- Max Stage
- Game Over [arcade=green / end of song=red]
- Event Mode [off=green / on=red]
- Default Difficulty
- Return To Menu
5) Graphic Options
- Dancer Display [on=green / off=red]
- Movie [on=green / off=red]
- BG Brightness
- Arrow Colour [Type1=green / Type2=5red / Flat=4red]
- Flicker Free [on=green / off=red]
- Screen Adjustment
- Return To Menu
6) Exit
###############################################################################
(C) SECRETS
###############################################################################
You unlock mission mode after playing around 50 songs.
You unlock new costumes for each dancer after every 15 songs or so [2 new
costumes per character MAX].
=============
SECRETS SONGS
=============
004 Songs - Keep Ya Body Movin'
008 Songs - There 4 you
016 Songs - ABSOLUTE (Cuff -N- Stuff It Mix)
020 Songs - ANALYZE
028 Songs - FIRE DUB
032 Songs - What is Love?
040 Songs - PUT YOUR FAITH IN ME (SATURDAY NIGHT MIX)
044 Songs - BABY BABY GIMME YOUR LOVE 2002
052 Songs - GORGEOUS 2012
056 Songs - BAILA!BAILA!
064 Songs - MEANING OF LIFE
068 Songs - INSERTiON (Machine Gun Kelly Mix)
076 Songs - BALLAD FOR YOU
080 Songs - BATTLE BREAKS
088 Songs - Mind Parasite
092 Songs - GET IT ALL
100 Songs - KEEP ON MOVIN' (DMX Mix)
104 Songs - Quickening
112 Songs - SANA MOLLETE NE ENTE (B.L.T.STYLE)
116 Songs - SOMETHING WONDERFUL
124 Songs - NEMESIS
128 Songs - In My Eyes
136 Songs - INFINITE PRAYER
140 Songs - MATSURI (J-SUMMER MIX)
148 Songs - MGS2 mission R
152 Songs - MAD BLAST
160 Songs - INFINITE PRAYER (floating flock style)
164 Songs - OUTER LIMITS
172 Songs - I Need You (True Platinum Mix)
176 Songs - MAXIMIZER
###############################################################################
(D) SONG LIST
###############################################################################
A list of all songs is below along with the difficulty ratings on single and
double mode.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Single Double
Song Name [ B L S H B L S H ]
- Artist
B = Beginner, L = Light, S = Standard, H = Heavy,
* = Difficulty isn't available
-------------------------------------------------------------------
.59 [ 1 4 6 7 * 4 6 7 ]
- dj TAKA
5.1.1 [ 1 1 5 7 * 2 5 8 ]
- dj nagureo
ABSOLUTE (Cuff-N-Stuff it Mix) [ * 3 6 6 * 4 7 7 ]
- Thuggie D.
Abyss [ 1 2 5 7 * 3 5 7 ]
- dj TAKA
ANALYZE [ * 4 5 7 * 4 5 7 ]
- B.BANDJ
BABY BABY GIMME YOUR LOVE 2002 [ * 3 5 7 * 3 5 7 ]
- DIVAS
BAILA! BAILA! [ * 3 6 7 * 3 5 8 ]
- DANDY MINERO
BALLAD FOR YOU [ * 2 6 7 * 2 5 7 ]
- NM feat. Thomas Howard
BATTLE BREAKS [ * 3 5 7 * 3 5 7 ]
- DJ TAKAWO
Believe [ 1 4 6 7 * 4 7 8 ]
- Eddie.J
Bizarre Love Triangle [ 1 4 5 7 * 3 7 7 ]
- Jerry
BROKEN MY HEART [ 1 4 5 9 * 4 6 9 ]
- NAOKI feat.PAULA TERRY
CANDY(heart) [ 2 3 5 7 * 3 5 7 ]
- Riyu Kosaka
Cutie Honey [ 1 4 6 8 * 3 5 7 ]
- Anime
D2R [ 1 3 5 7 * 3 5 7 ]
- NAOKI
Diamonds [ 1 4 5 7 * 3 6 7 ]
- J-Pop
DIVE [ 1 4 5 8 * 4 6 7 ]
- Be For U
Don't Stop! -AMD 2nd MIX- [ 1 4 5 7 * 3 4 6 ]
- Dr. VIBE feat. JP miles
Electro Tuned (the SubS mix) [ 1 5 6 9 * 4 6 8 ]
- TaQ
era (nostalmix) [ 2 3 6 8 * 4 6 8 ]
- TaQ
FIRE DUB [ * 3 5 8 * 4 5 7 ]
- ASLETICS
Firefly [ 1 1 5 7 * 2 5 8 ]
- Be For U
Funk Boogie [ 1 4 5 6 * 3 5 6 ]
- Funk Kid feat. KOOL BOYS
Gakuen Tengoku (School of Paradise) [ 1 5 6 6 * 4 7 7 ]
- J-Pop
GET IT ALL [ * 4 7 8 * 4 5 8 ]
- BRASS TACKS
GORGEOUS 2012 [ * 3 6 7 * 3 5 7 ]
- THE SURRENDERS
GRADIUSIC CYBER (AMD G5 MIX) [ 1 5 7 9 * 5 7 9 ]
- BIG-O feat. TAKA
Holic [ 1 4 6 8 * 4 6 8 ]
- TaQ
HYSTERIA [ 2 4 6 8 * 3 5 7 ]
- NAOKI 190
I Need You (True Platinum Mix) [ 1 4 5 6 * 3 6 7 ]
- Sho-T
I Was The One [ 1 3 5 7 * 3 5 6 ]
- good-cool
In My Eyes [ * 3 7 8 * 4 5 6 ]
- ric
INFINITE PRAYER [ * 2 6 9 * 2 6 7 ]
- L.E.D. LIGHT feat. Goro
INFINITE PRAYER - floating flock style [ * 3 6 8 * 3 6 8 ]
- L.E.D. feat. GORO
INSERTiON [ 2 4 6 9 * 4 6 8 ]
- NAOKI underground
INSERTiON (Machine Gun Kelly Mix) [ * 3 5 7 * 3 6 7 ]
- Thuggie D.
KEEP ON MOVIN' (DMX Mix) [ * 3 5 8 * 4 5 7 ]
- N.M.R.-typeG
Keep Ya Body Movin' [ * 2 4 5 * 2 4 6 ]
- Thuggie D.
KI-SE-KI [ 1 5 7 8 * 4 7 8 ]
- Be For U
Kids In America [ 1 4 6 7 * 3 7 8 ]
- Kim Wilde
Ladies' Night [ 1 4 5 7 * 3 6 8 ]
- Angle R
Like A Virgin [ 1 3 5 8 * 3 5 8 ]
- tama_happytone
LOVE AGAIN TONIGHT (For Melissa MIX) [ 1 4 6 7 * 4 6 7 ]
- NAOKI feat. PAULA TERRY
MAD BLAST [ * 4 6 10 * 4 7 9 ]
- THE INFECTION
MAKE IT BETTER (SO-REAL MIX) [ 1 5 6 8 * 5 7 8 ]
- MITSU-O!
Matsuri (J-SUMMER Mix) [ * 4 5 9 * 4 6 8 ]
- Re-Venge
MAXIMIZER [ 2 6 7 8 * 5 7 8 ]
- CLI-MAX S.
MEANING OF LIFE [ * 3 6 7 * 3 4 6 ]
- K.Wit feat. GARY
MGS2 Mission R [ * 4 5 9 * 4 6 8 ]
- L.E.D.
Mind Parasite [ * 3 6 8 * 3 6 8 ]
- Tomosuke
NEMESIS [ * 4 6 8 * 4 6 8 ]
- D.J.SETUP
Dancing Pompokolin [ 1 2 5 6 * 4 6 7 ]
- Anime
OUTER LIMITS [ * 5 7 10 * 5 8 10]
- L.E.D. -G
Put Your Faith in Me (Saturday Night Mix) [ * 3 6 7 * 3 5 6 ]
- Uzi-lay
Quickening [ * 3 5 8 * 3 5 7 ]
- dj TAKA
Sakura [ 3 5 8 10 * 6 8 10]
- RevenG
Sana Morette Ne Ente [ 1 2 5 8 * 2 5 8 ]
- Togo Project feat. Sana
Sana Morette Ne Ente (BLT Style) [ * 2 7 8 * 2 5 8 ]
- Togo Project feat. Sana
SOMETHING WONDERFUL [ * 3 5 8 * 4 5 8 ]
- L.E.D.
Superstar [ 1 4 5 7 * 3 6 7 ]
- Jamelia
There 4 You [ * 3 5 6 * 3 5 7 ]
- Thuggie D.
un deux trois [ 1 4 6 7 * 3 6 7 ]
- SDMS
Waiting For Tonight [ 1 4 5 7 * 3 6 8 ]
- P.A.T.
What Is Love? [ * 3 6 7 * 3 5 7 ]
- Tomosuke
You're Not Here [ 1 4 6 8 * 4 6 8 ]
- Heather
Your Rain (Rage Mix) [ 1 3 4 6 * 2 5 7 ]
- Akira Yamaoka feat. Mary Elizabeth McGlynn
###############################################################################
(E) BASICS
###############################################################################
Before I start anything here it's important to realize that you're not going to
be amazing on your very first try. Everyone had to start at the bottom and yes
everyone failed songs at the beginning and even fell over.
You will definitely get better if you practice, but you should try to mix
things up a bit to keep it interesting. Use the random modifier so that you're
not just memorizing entire songs.
For example, this means that there will always be a series of four notes in the
same section, but the actual notes themselves will be random.
Try different songs, just be sure not to bite of more than you can chew. This
means that if you can only barely pass 2-foot songs on beginner, you shouldn't
jump into a 6-foot song on standard.
Regardless of what difficulty you play and what advice you follow, you should
check out the arcade, or some other location and watch other people play. See
how they handle certain situations and even try asking them for some advice.
As long as you don't ask them AS THEY'RE PLAYING, they should help you out a
bit.
###############################################################################
(E-01) BEGINNER/LIGHT
###############################################################################
==============
Where To Stand
==============
When you first start playing, one of the main things people tend to do is keep
their feet in the middle of the pad most of the time. They only move their
feet out when they need to step on notes, then quickly move them back to the
middle. This is a lot of extra work and also makes the game a lot harder than
it should be.
Instead of standing in the middle you should stand with your feet on the left
and right arrows while you're waiting for notes. This way you can easily hit
left or right notes by lifting that foot briefly, and stepping down again.
You'll have to move for up and down notes, but you should realize that this
position is much more comfortable than standing in the middle.
=============
Two Left Feet
=============
Once you've gotten away from the middle of the pad you might find yourself only
moving one foot at a time as you play. You can get away with this on a lot of
beginner songs and some light songs, but sooner or later you're going to have
to move both feet.
Getting away from the middle of the pad actually helps this a lot because your
feet are already on some arrows (left and right) when you're not hitting any.
You should find that it's quite comfortable if you alternate your feet as you
play. Hit a note with your left foot, then hit the next note with your right
foot and alternate back and forth. It should help a lot with your speed and
your balance.
===========
Two arrows?
===========
When you first see two arrows at the same time, most players panic and don't
know what to do. Just take a breath, calm down for a sec and think. If you
see two arrows on the same note it means that you need to press two buttons at
the same time. This is known as a jump and can be pretty tricky to time when
you're first starting out. Just keep practicing (try songs with lots of jumps,
or a part of a song with lots of jumps in training mode) and you should find
the timing that works for you.
It's worth remembering that you don't need to leap 40 feet into the air and
come crashing down heel-first on the pad. Doing this is going to REALLY tire
you out, make your feet hurt like hell and really wreck a lot of pads.
Knowing where to stand and learning to do jumps are your main hurdles on
beginner and light mode. If you play all of the songs on these difficulties
then you may run into a few 8th notes as well, but they'll be covered in the
next section.
###############################################################################
(E-02) STANDARD
###############################################################################
=========
8th Notes
=========
Although 8th notes aren't ONLY on standard difficulty, it's the first place
where you'll see them a lot of them in almost every song. You don't have to
hit 8th notes any differently than normal notes, they just happen to fall
between the (quarter) notes that you're used to.
Eg: used to be this is now this
<- (yellow) <- (yellow)
<- (blue)
<- (yellow) <- (yellow)
<- (yellow)
You'll often see 8th notes in groups of three like the picture above (though
not necessarily the same arrow all three times), so you will get a lot of
practice at timing your steps. In the example above you would be hitting the
three 8th notes (on the right) twice as fast as you would hit the three quarter
notes (on the left).
You may also see some 8th notes combined with jumps.
eg:
1 <
2 ^
3 V^
Here you hit the first two 8th notes like usual and then quickly go into an
up/down jump as the third 8th note. It's definitely hard when you first see
one, but you will learn how to balance yourself for it after a few tries.
8th-note jumps are similar, but a little more difficult. With these you're
actually doing a jump FOR EACH 8th note, instead of just one of them.
eg:
1 < >
2 V^
3 < >
This takes the same fast moves as regular 8th notes, but since you're jumping
for each note you need pretty good control over your jumps as well.
==============
Move Your Body
==============
You will start seeing some short note patterns on standard that might feel
awkward if you stand facing the screen (and up arrow) as you play. In some of
these cases it helps to actually play with your body facing in a different
direction. It's quite hard when you first start doing this, because you need
to get used to looking over your shoulder as you play instead of looking
straight ahead.
eg:
1 <
2 V
3 >
Most players would do one of two things here when first seeing this pattern:
1) Hit the first note (left arrow) with their left foot and the other two notes
with their right foot.
1) Hit the first two notes (left & down arrows) with their left foot and the
last note with their right foot.
There's nothing wrong with either of these steps, but by turning your body you
might make these notes feel a little more natural (it depends on the player).
Try turning your body right when this pattern appears, so that your left foot
is on the up arrow, your right foot is on the down arrow. Your body is facing
right on the pad and you are looking left at the screen.
0) Waiting 1)Note1 2)Note2 3)Note3
L ^ ^ ^
* *
< > *L* > L > < *L*
* * *
R R *R* R
*
Now step back with your left foot to hit the first left arrow, step on the
second (down) arrow with your right foot, then step forward to hit the last
(right) arrow with your left foot. This allows you to hit all three notes
without double-tapping. Double-tapping is when you use the same foot for more
than one note in a row and it doesn't feel all that natural for most players.
The most natural is to hit a note with one foot, then hit the next note with
your other foot and keep alternating back and forth like that.
Personally I find myself turning left on a lot of note patterns, but rarely
find myself turning right. It's a habit that I want to try and break sometime
so I can easily turn in either direction as needed.
I found standard mode a lot of fun, because the note patterns tend to match the
beat and tune of the song a lot better than they did on light and beginner.
###############################################################################
(E-03) HEAVY
###############################################################################
==========
16th Notes
==========
This is a BIG hurdle to get over for heavy mode, since up until this point
you've probably barely seen maybe one or two 16th notes in any of the standard
mode songs. What it boils down to is a lot more notes for you to hit, and a
harder time reading those notes.
Now not only do you have quarter notes and 8th notes, but you have notes in
between the 8 notes, to create 16th notes.
What was once this... ...became this... ...and is now THIS!
< < <
<
^ ^
>
V V V
<
> >
^
^ ^ ^
Pretty scary eh?
Much like when you were learning how to hit 8th notes, you need to get used to
hitting 16th notes twice as fast as 8th notes. This fact alone isn't that hard
to do and you don't have long streams of 16th notes until you get to the
EXTREMELY hard songs.
===============
Is That A Jump?
===============
Another big problem with heavy mode that is related to 16th notes is how
crammed all the arrows are now. When you see a group of 16th notes on a fairly
slow song they are VERY close together and it can sometimes be pretty difficult
to read them quickly.
One way to make the arrows easier to read is to try a faster speed mod. This
means that the song itself is exactly the same as it always was, but the arrows
scroll a bit faster and are spaced farther apart (because they're moving
faster). This makes the arrows a lot easier to read and can certainly help
when first dealing with 16th notes.
Another option that can help some people is to set the arrow colour to Type2 in
the options menu. This means that quarter notes are one solid colour, 8th
notes are another and 16th notes are yet another colour, which makes all types
of notes easier to read.
=======
Gallops
=======
This is an area that throws off a lot of people, but isn't terribly hard once
you realize what's going on. Basically gallops are pairs of 16th notes in a
series, like two 16th notes and a pause, then two more, and so on. Many people
try to treat them as separate notes and really tire themselves out fast.
The best way to think of them is like slightly-delayed jumps.
eg:
<
>
Something like that with two 16th notes can be seen as a simple jump with the
left and right arrows. Due to the right arrow being slightly after the left
arrow, all you need to do is land with your left foot first and then bring your
right foot down on the other arrow. One foot right after the other in a quick
motion that looks, feels and sounds like the gallop of a horse, hence the name.
===================
Sweating Like A Pig
===================
Changing from one difficulty to another is always a big shock because of how
much more your body has to move and how many more notes you have to hit, but
the jump from Standard to Heavy is a BIG one in this department. You are
REALLY going to feel the songs that you play, so you're going to find yourself
getting tired a lot faster when you're just starting out.
This is perfectly normal and if you only have enough stamina for one heavy song
per session, then don't worry about it. You might want to try playing a light
or standard song before-hand to warm yourself up, then try your heavy song and
follow it with another song from light or standard. Like all difficulties, the
more you play them, the more your body will be used to playing them.
###############################################################################
(F) DANCE PADS
###############################################################################
If you're playing DDR on a DualShock controller, then you're not having nearly
as much fun as you should be. The only real way to play DDR is on a dance pad,
but there are many pads to choose from and you might be confused.
There are a few categories of pads and they all cost different amounts of money
and are harder or easier to find, depending on the pad.
Regardless of which pad you buy, you DON'T want to stomp as hard as you can
while you play. This is one of the fastest ways to wreck your pad, and throw
away all the money that you spent on it. You should be perfectly fine with
stepping on each sensor without having to loudly put all of your weight onto
it.
Before you spend money on ANY type of pad you should play the arcade version of
DDR in your local arcade or movie theatre. If you go to the ddrfreak website,
then you can use the machine locator to find an arcade machine near you. This
way you can spend a dollar or two and play the game a few times to see if you
like it.
http://www.ddrfreak.com/locations/locations.php
###############################################################################
(F-01) TYPES OF PADS
###############################################################################
=========
Soft Pads
=========
Soft pads are soft like the name says, then can easily be folded up and stored
somewhere safe. This is definitely a nice convenience, but due to the fact
that these pads are the softest, they also don't tend to last terribly long.
A big plus for these pads is the price, they are the cheapest pads that you can
find, and if you're really lucky you got one packaged inside when you bought a
DDR game.
Personally I think the soft pads are one of the very best types of beginner
pads for players that are just starting out. They are very cheap and can be
made to last quite a long time if you play on them properly or even if you
decide to mod them.
If you fold them up properly, it definitely helps make them last longer. This
folding method is pictured below.
- - -
|X|^|O|
- - - <---Fold here
|<| |>|
- - - <---Fold here
| |V| |
- - -
Basically you only fold along the lines between the rows of buttons and NEVER
across the buttons themselves. However if you have space to lay the whole pad
flat without folding, then that's even better (just don't stack anything else
on top of the pad).
I'm not going to detail any mods in this FAQ, but basically modding helps your
pad become more stable. It stops the pad from bunching or moving around as you
play and generally makes it last a lot longer.
You can check out many different mods on the DDR-Freak forums.
http://www.ddrfreak.com/
============
Plastic Pads
============
These pads are made of hard plastic and do NOT fold up like a soft pad. This
means that they are a little harder to store or transport, and they tend to be
more expensive.
I have never used a plastic pad, but they do not have a good reputation and
almost everyone I have talked to that uses one has said that they were a waste
of money as they tend to crack easily.
=========
Foam Pads
=========
Foam pads are made of a slightly stronger plastic than the basic soft pads, but
it is not a hard plastic like the plastic pads mentioned above. These pads
have a zipper along the outer edge of them which allows a foam layer to be
inserted in the middle of the pad.
This makes the pad thicker than a soft pad and more firm, plus it moves around
a lot less as you play when compared to a soft pad. Many foam pads also have
slightly raised buttons for the four arrows, so you can feel a difference with
your feet compared to the rest of the pad. This helps a lot when you're not
sure if your feet are on the correct buttons or not.
These pads can also be folded up like the soft pads (fold them the same way,
according to the image above), but you need to remove the foam insert before
you try this. Like the soft pads it's much better to leave the pads unfolded
without anything else stacked on top, if you have enough space for this.
I bought two different foam pads and I HIGHLY recommend them. You spend a
little more money than you do on a soft pad, but they are well worth every
penny and last a lot longer (even more so if you treat them right).
Depending on how often you play, you should flip over the foam insert every so
often. If problems start to develop and flipping the insert doesn't work, then
you're better off taking it out entirely. At this point the foam pad plays
more like a soft pad, just be sure to zip it up again once the foam is removed.
==========
Metal Pads
==========
These pads are the cream of the crop and the best you can get without buying an
arcade machine. They are made of metal, wood, very hard plastic, and some
other materials. These pads work extremely well and last a VERY long time.
It should go without saying, but you can't fold these pads so don't try.
You have to be VERY careful when buying metal pads unfortunately. Since these
types of pads cost the most money, you can't afford to throw your money away on
a piece of garbage. Poorly-made metal pads tend to bend and crack and cause
you a lot of frustration.
Eventually I did save up enough money for a metal pad and I love it. I bought
a CobaltFlux brand metal pad, and any serious DDR player will tell you that
this brand of pad is the very best that you can buy. They are built extremely
tough and can handle an SUV driving over them. The assembly AND testing
process is very detailed and although it adds some extra time before the pad
ships, you'll be glad that they did it.
Personally I would not bother with ANY other metal pad except for the
CobaltFlux. Especially those metal pads that you find on places like Ebay,
avoid them at ALL costs.
You can buy CobaltFlux pads at their website below, but I will be covering
where to buy ALL types of pads in the next section.
http://www.cobaltflux.com/
###############################################################################
(F-02) WHERE TO BUY
###############################################################################
There are many different places to buy your pads and they are all different.
If you are buying online then you need to consider how close the store is to
you. This will greatly affect the price of shipping (as well as the price
of the pad itself) and how long it takes for you to receive your pad.
=======
Offline
=======
You can buy pads at a lot of game stores that you might find in a mall, just be
very careful which ones you buy. A lot of the pads at these stores are really
cheaply made, just be sure to find out about return/exchange policies if you
decide to try one. This way you won't be stuck with a pad that has one bad
arrow after only playing for an hour [like my experience with the horrible Beat
Pad].
===================
Online - CobaltFlux
===================
http://www.cobaltflux.com/
This is the ONLY place that you can buy the best pad of all, the metal
CobaltFlux pad. If you have the money for this pad, really enjoy DDR and can
see yourself playing it for years, then by all means GET THIS PAD.
The pad costs $299.99 US and takes 2 weeks to assemble and test BEFORE they
ship it to you. The shipping cost will vary depending on where you live, but
definitely give it a try if you are interested in one of these.
==================
Online - RedOctane
==================
http://www.redoctane.com/ddr.html
http://www.redoctane.com/ignitionpadv3.html
RedOctane is a great site and it's where I bought my very first pad. I got the
foam pad called the Ignition and it definitely lasted a long time. They have
improved the pad a bit since I bought one and now (among other improvements) it
can be used on PS1/PS2 AS WELL AS Xbox, Gamecube and PC. For most pads you
need to buy a separate adapter if you want to use them with a system other than
PS1/PS2.
The pad costs $109.99 US and is highly recommended as a great pad for starters.
Personally I found the optional pad cover useless, but the carrying case was
very helpful.
RedOctane also carries some soft pads, a metal pad and some accessories.
Personally, I would not bother with their metal pad, but you could probably do
fine with one of their soft pads if money was an issue. If you have the money
though, I would recommend the ignition (foam) pad over a soft one.
RedOctane also has a variety of bundles, which are great if you want to get
more than one pad, or get a game with the pad.
=================
Online - LevelSix
=================
http://www.levelsix.com/
(click the DDR Mats link on the left)
I have never used a LevelSix brand pad, but I have heard from some people that
they are comparable to RedOctane's ignition pad and MyMyBox's foam pad.
The DDR Deluxe Dance Mat V.3.1 (PSX/PS2) seems to be their best foam pad. The
price is $43.95 US though. It's a great price, but it worries me because
they're like the only well-known site with such low prices on ALL their pads.
They also offer a soft pad, if you don't want to spend the money on a foam one.
================
Online - MyMyBox
================
http://store.mymybox.com/ddr.html
http://store.mymybox.com/ddrredapamaf.html
I bought a MyMyBox brand foam pad as my second pad and I found it was pretty
much identical to the Ignition pad (that I bought before) from RedOctane.
Their foam pad, the MYMYBOX DELUXE DANCE PAD 3.0 costs $79.99 US and I
recommend it just as highly as RedOctane's ignition pad.
They also sell some soft pads if you don't feel like spending money on a foam
pad. Personally I wouldn't bother with their hard pads or metal pads, but
that's me.
###############################################################################
(G) THANKS
###############################################################################
Huge thanks go out to the following contributors.
CyricZ
ddrfreak
Jason Wright
Kristen "Yuffie" Wargo
Sue Edwards
Thorne
XenoXiaoyu
###############################################################################
(H) EXPERIMENTAL
###############################################################################
For a little while now I've had a paypal link in all my FAQs at the very bottom
here. Mainly as a small experiment since a few other FAQ authors have also had
the same idea.
I had a few people email me before I put this link in because they wanted to
send money, so it's here for those people.
For the record I've received about $87 (which works out to a bit more in
Canadian lol) last I checked, so I've been getting cases of pop and making some
excellent progress on a few FAQs.
If you don't want to send money or can't then send me an email, it's nice to
hear what people thought about my work and there's always room for improvement.
My email address is fecalord (AT) gmail (DOT) com, and the paypal address is
listed below.
For those that want to contribute, you can use paypal at the following address:
fecalord2002 (AT) yahoo (DOT) ca
Many thanks, and I hope you continue to use my work!
~Dan
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