****************************************************************************** __ __ |__| __ | | __ __ ___ | | | |___ _____ | || / \ | | | / \/ _ \ | || || | | | | || || |_| | | || || | | |_ | || || __/ |__||__||__| \____||__||__|\_____/ ____ __ ___ __ ____ ____ __ ___ _____ / \ || / | / \ / \ | | / // _ \ | || || __|| || || || || |/ /| |_| | | || || / | || || || || | / | ___/ | || || | | || || || || / | |_/ / \___ ||___| \____/ \____/ |___/ \_____/ ____| | \______/ ****************************************************************************** In The Groove (PS2 Version) A FAQ/Walkthrough by CyricZ Version 1.1 E-mail cyricz42 at yahoo.com ****************************************************************************** Table of Contents 1. Introduction 2. FAQ 3. Basics 3A. Controls 3B. Menus/Displays 3C. How to Dance 3D. Modifiers 3E. Dancing Tips for the Beginner 3F. Dancing Tips for the Intermediate 3G. Dancing Tips for the Advanced 3H. Dancing Tips for Doubles 4. Default Songs (Part 1) 4A. Bend Your Mind 4B. BOOGIE DOWN 4C. BOUFF 4D. CHANGES 4E. Charlene 4F. CRAZY 4G. Da Roots (Folk Mix) 4H. DAWN 4I. DELIRIUM 4J. DISCONNECTED 4K. Do U Love Me 4L. DON'T PROMISE ME 4M. DREAMS OF PASSION 4N. DRIFTING AWAY 4O. Driving Force Classical 4P. EUPHORIA 4Q. Fly Away 4R. Fly With Me 4S. Flying High 4T. HAND OF TIME 4U. HARDCORE OF THE NORTH 4V. Hip Hop Jam 4W. HYBRID 4X. I think I like that sound... 4Y. I'll Get There Anyway 4Z. July 5. Default Songs (Part 2) 5A. Kagami 5B. Kiss Me Red 5C. Land of the Rising Sun 5D. Lemmings on the Run 5E. LET ME BE THE ONE 5F. LET MY LOVE GO BLIND 5G. MELLOW 5H. Mouth 5I. My Favourite Game 5J. MYTHOLOGY 5K. NO 1 NATION 5L. NORMAL 5M. NOT WORTH THE PAPER 5N. OASIS 5O. ON A DAY LIKE TODAY 5P. PA THEME SONG 5Q. Perfect 5R. QUEEN OF LIGHT 5S. REMEMBER DECEMBER 5T. ROM-eo & Juli8 5U. SOLINA 5V. Tension 5W. THE BEGINNING 5X. The Game 5Y. Torn 5Z. Touch Me 6. Default Songs (Part 3) 6A. Tough Enough 6B. Turn it On 6C. UTOPIA 6D. VerTex 6E. WALKING ON FIRE 6F. Which MC Was That? 6G. While Tha Rekkid Spinz 6H. WHY ME 6I. Zodiac 7. Unlockable Songs 7A. ANUBIS 7B. BUBBLE DANCER 7C. DISCONNECTED -HYPER MIX- 7D. DISCONNECTED -MOBIUS MIX- 7E. DJ PARTY 7F. DON'T PROMISE ME -HAPPINESS COMES MIX- 7G. FUNK FACTORY (from ITG2) 7H. incognito (from ITG2) 7I. Infection 7J. Liquid Moon 7K. PANDEMONIUM 7L. Tell 7M. TRIBAL STYLE (from ITG2) 7N. WAKE UP (from ITG2) 7O. Xuxa 8. Marathon Mode 9. Other Modes 9A. Fitness Mode 9B. Practice Mode 10. Secrets 11. Standard Guide Stuff 11A. Legal 11B. E-mail Guidelines 11C. Credits 11D. Version Updates 11E. The Final Word ****************************************************************************** 1. INTRODUCTION ****************************************************************************** Hi! Welcome to my FAQ/Walkthrough for Roxor Games new hardcore dancing game: In The Groove for the Playstation 2! Similar to Konami's famous Dance Dance Revolution series, this dancing game uses the same kind of mechanics, brings an entirely new list of songs into play, and extends the difficulty to astronomical proportions. ****************************************************************************** 2. FAQ ****************************************************************************** Q: What is In The Groove? A: This is a new dancing game made by Texan company Roxor Games, published by RedOctane. Q: Isn't this just like Dance Dance Revolution? A: Yeah, pretty much. A group of fans were sick of how the Dance Dance Revolution series was put on indefinite hiatus in the arcades, and decided to make a dancing game of their own along the same lines. The game was developed around the existing DDR emulator for the PC called StepMania. Q: Wow. This is an obvious rip-off. Can't Konami sue Roxor for this or something? A: Nope. Konami doesn't own the dance mechanics setup. Q: But I heard about a lawsuit! What was it about? A: The lawsuit was Konami suing Roxor because the arcade version of ITG didn't have its own cabinet, so Roxor decided to use Konami's DDR cabinets, without asking them. They were only burned on this recently. Anyway, the lawsuit has yet to be resolved, but will probably end in settlement. At any rate, the lawsuit has nothing to do with the console version of ITG, nor the new arcade version, ITG2, which has its own cabinet. Q: How many songs are in this game? A: 76. 61 open by default, and 15 unlockable. The game has all 72 songs from the arcade version of ITG, and four songs from the new ITG2. Q: Hey! The lyrics you give don't match the lyrics in the game! What gives? A: Several of the lyrics in certain songs were censored to keep the ESRB at bay. I give you the original lyrics where I can. Q: I picked "TOP GRADE" sort and now I can't access the Main Menu! Help! A: There's an unfortunate glitch in the "TOP GRADE" sort. Don't select it. If you do, there's a way to fix it. Start the game without a memory card in the slot, then Load from the Options Menu. Then, without leaving the Options screen, change the sort to something else. ****************************************************************************** 3. BASICS ****************************************************************************** This covers most of the stuff you can find in the instruction booklet, but we all know how often people hang onto those. ============== 3A. Controls = ============== Directional Buttons: Moves your selection on all the menus or steps in that direction. X: Confirm selection Triangle, Select: Cancel selection Start: Start game Start and Select at the same time: Hold to return to title screen ==================== 3B. Menus/Displays = ==================== Main Menu Dance Mode: Select for standard arcade-style ITG play. See "How To Dance" for more info. Battle Mode: This is a head-to-head mode for two players, or one player versus the computer. In this mode, the better you do, the more modifiers you'll unleash on your opponent. Marathon Mode: In this mode, you select a course consisting of four or five songs to play in a row. Some courses will also feature modifiers that get thrown in during song play. Fitness Mode: A fitness-oriented way to play. See Section 9A for more info. Tutorial: This will start the Tutorial so you can learn how to play In The Groove. Practice Mode: This mode allows you play songs as you want without worry of playing hard parts or failing. See Section 9B for more info. Records: Use this to check your high scores on the songs and courses. Options: Basic option stuff. Check below for more info. --- Options Menu Game Options: Control Type: Select "Dance Pad" if you're using a dance pad controller, or "Controller" if you're using a Dualshock controller. Doubles Mode: If you set for "One Controller", then the L buttons will be used for the right pad on Double Mode. If on "Two Controller", each controller will operate as a normal controller. Songs Per Play: Select the number of songs to play in a Dance Mode game, from 1 to 8, or set EVENT for continuous play without returning to the Main Menu. Song Sort: Use this to change how the song list is setup when you start the game. You can sort by Title, BPM, Popularity, Top Grade (DON'T SELECT, IT'S BROKEN), Artist, Easy Meter, Medium Meter, Hard Meter, or Expert Meter. Default Difficulty: Set the difficulty that the game starts on when you start the game. Life Difficulty: The higher number you set here means how quickly the Life Meter will deplete if you miss or hit a mine. BG Brightness: Adjust the brightness of the background video. Timing Sync: Adjust the timing if your speakers have any kind of delay between the video. Autosave: Turn on and the game will automatically save for you after every full play, loss, option change, whatever. Load Game: Load up an ITG file from your Memory Card. Save Game: Save the game to your Memory Card. Credits: View the game's credits. Restore Defaults: Set the game back to the default options. ================== 3C. How to Dance = ================== Pick The Step Mode 1 Player Mode: This is a 1-player mode using the pad you used to start the game. 2 Player Mode: This is a 2-player mode where each player uses a pad. Double Mode: This is a 1-player mode where the player uses both pads. Every song has different steps for Double Mode than Single. --- Pick A Tune Use Left and Right to switch songs. Double tap Up or Down to change the difficulty. Press X or Start to select. Press Up, Down, Up, Down to bring up the Sort Menu, where you can change how the song list is displayed. While your selection's on a song, you'll see a little graphic for the name. Below the picture, you'll see the artist name, the BPM for the song (which may be dynamic), and the song's popularity. Below that will be the difficulty set for the song. The higher the number, the harder the song is to play. In the lower corners, you'll see stats for the song, including the current difficulty, the number of steps, jumps, holds, mines, hands, and the best record. Difficulties: Novice (NOV): All songs have a difficulty of 1. This is for those who've never played a dance game before. However, I wouldn't play this for long if you wish to get better. Easy (ESY): Songs range from 2 to 6 in difficulty. This is pretty simple if you're getting used to ITG. Medium (MED): Most songs range from 4 to 8. Largely, you'll find that steps reflect how the music goes, as opposed to just being on the beat. Hard (HRD): Most songs range from 6 to 10. These are the tough ones where they focus on two things: matching the song's notes exactly, and/or kicking up the difficulty to give you pains. Expert (EXP): Songs range from 9 to 13. Beyond Hard lies this mess. In addition to massively difficult stepcharts, this difficulty also throws in plenty of Hands and Mines, which fans of other dance games aren't very used to. Highlight RANDOM and the game will pick a song for you. You're not committed to this song, mind you, but it's an option. Pick CHANCE and the game will also pick a song for you, but you can't back out on your choice. You can play songs you haven't yet unlocked through this. Once you make your selection, you have the option of pressing START to access the Modifiers, which are explained in the next section. Otherwise, you'll continue right on to the song. --- Get Your Groove On! The main field consists of the arrows and the Targets, which is a line of arrows on the screen. As the song plays, arrows will begin scrolling along the screen. As the arrows reach the Targets, you need to step on those arrows. If you see a long Hold Arrow, you need to step on that arrow and hold it until the Hold Arrow ends (you don't need to remove your foot when it ends, just stay on it until it ends, and move your foot at your leisure). If two arrows appear at the same time, you need to step on both at the same time. On some difficult tunes, you may have to step on three or four arrows at the same time. For that, you'll need to use your hands, or potentially some other appendage. Also, on difficult songs, Mines may be thrown into the mix. Don't have your foot on the arrow when mines come up or else your Life Meter will decrease. Above your Targets are the Percentage Score. The better you step, the higher your score will be. Naturally, 100% is the maximum. On the top of the screen is the Progress Bar, which fills as you go through the song, so you know how much time you have left to finish it. On the side of the screen is the Life Meter. It starts about half full. As you step properly, it'll fill more. If you misstep or step on mines, your Life Meter will start emptying. If it empties completely, the game will end after you finish the song. Also in the middle of the screen, you'll see words pop up as you step: FANTASTIC: This is the perfectly exact step on the arrow. Combo continues, the Life Meter increases, and you get the maximum possible score for that step. EXCELLENT: You stepped more or less precisely on the arrow. Combo continues, the Life Meter increases, and you get a medium possible score for that step. GREAT: You just about stepped on the arrow. Combo continues, the Life Meter increases, and you get a smaller possible score for the step. DECENT: You're off on the step by a bit. Combo stops, but the dance meter doesn't change. You get no score. WAY OFF: You're off on the step by quite a bit. Combo stops, and your dance meter decreases. You get no score. MISS: You completely missed the step. Combo stops, and your dance meter decreases. You get no score. YEAH!: You stepped on the entire Hold Arrow. You get the normal maximum score for a step. BAD: You stepped off the Freeze Arrow before it ended. Combo continues, but your Dance Meter will decrease. You get no points. Also marked on the screen is your combo, which is how many FANTASTICS, EXCELLENTS, and GREATS you have in a row. This combo carries across songs, regardless of what mode you play. --- Check Your Stats Once you complete the song, you'll see a Stats screen giving you a letter grade based on your Percentage Score. You'll also see your individual results based on steps, jumps, holds, mines (scored for NOT hitting them), and hands. Also, there's a chart that shows how your Life Meter looked throughout the song. Your max combo for the song is marked in blue on that chart. Each step is worth five points, and every hold is worth five extra points for the hold part. The maximum score for each song is the total possible points. Here's how each step breaks down: FANTASTIC: +5 EXCELLENT: +4 GREAT: +2 DECENT: 0 WAY OFF: -6 MISS: -12 And for holds: YEAH!: +5 BAD: -5 Each mine you hit docks you 6 points as well. So, you'll be given a final percentage based on that point total, and given a grade based on it. Here are the possible grades: ****: 100% ***: 99% **: 98% *: 96% S+: 94% S: 92% S-: 89% A+: 86% A: 83% A-: 80% B+: 76% B: 72% B-: 68% C+: 64% C: 60% C-: 55% D: <55% Thanks to ThunderBird for giving me these stats nice and quick-like. At the end of your play, if you manage to average an S+ or better through all the songs, you'll get a "bonus" ending, featuring pictures of the developers and people who made the game possible. =============== 3D. Modifiers = =============== One of ITG's main selling points over other dancing games is its vast (and I mean VAST) set of arrow modifiers. Press START after you select your song and you can access them. Speed: Use this to adjust the speed of the arrows on-screen. Adjust this if you need to speed up the arrows to space them out to be seen better. This will not change the playback speed of the song, however. x1 - Default scroll speed x1.5 - 50% speed increase x2 - Double speed x2.5 - Speed boosted by 2.5 times x3 - Triple speed x4 - Quadruple speed x5 - Quintuple speed x6 - Sextuple speed C# - These are speeds that set at a constant BPM#, and adjusts the song if there are changes in tempo. Using these on a song that has BPM changes or stops won't allow you to record high scores. Perspective: This changes how the arrows come to the target in a 3D manner. Overhead - Entirely 2D. The arrows start at the bottom and maintain the same perspective. This is the default setting on DDR games. Hallway - The default ITG perspective. Arrows start from some distance and move up to the targets, as if you were tilted looking over the top of the stepchart. Distant - The perspective is tilted so that it's normal-sized at the bottom, and further away at the top. Incoming - The targets are a lot closer to the screen than at the bottom. Space - The perspective is very low, starting big at the bottom, and quite small at the top, like a Star Wars crawl. Notes: This changes how your arrows look. Metal - This is the default stylized ITG arrow. Cell - This is a more solid-colored arrow without the extra lines in it. Flat - These arrows are all the same color regardless of where they fall in the rhythm. Scroll: This changes how arrows scroll. Default has none turned on. You can turn on any number you wish. Reverse - Activating this will make the arrows all go from the top to the bottom. Split - Left and down arrows go up. Up and right arrows go down. Alternate - Left and up arrows go up. Down and right arrows go down. Cross - Left and right arrows go up. Up and down arrows go down. Centered - The targets are placed in the center of the screen. How the arrows move are based on which of the above mods you've selected. Acceleration: Sudden speed changes while arrows move. Accel - The arrows move faster as they approach the targets. Known as "Boost" in DDR. Decel - The arrows move slower as they approach the targets. Wave - The arrows move in a constantly shifting pattern of speed, as if in a wave. Expand - The entire stepchart bounces around as if the speed mods were constantly changing. Boomerang - The arrows enter the screen from the side of the targets, pass them, then "boomerang" back and go for the targets. Effect: Other goofy effects. Drift - The targets (and arrows) drift left and right as you play. Dizzy - Arrows spin around individually as they scroll up. Mini - Arrows are a lot smaller than they normally are. Flip - Arrows and targets are flipped left to right. In other words, the targets go right, up, down, left. Tornado: Arrows travel up to the targets in a spiral pattern. Float - The targets float up and down independent of each other. Fade: Arrow visibility effects. Fade In - Arrows appear only halfway up the screen. Also called "Sudden" in DDR. Fade Out - Arrows disappear halfway up the screen. Also called "Hidden" in DDR. Blink - Arrows appear and disappear as they scroll at various intervals. Invisible - Arrows do not appear at all. Also called "Stealth" in DDR. Handicap - Makes the song easier. With the exception of "Simple", using these will not allow you to get high scores. No Mines - All mines are removed. No Holds - All holds will become normal arrows. Simple - Removes all steps that aren't colored red (on the beat). Also known as "Little" in DDR. No Jumps - All jumps and hands are converted into single arrows. No Hands - All hands are converted into jumps. Turn: Adjusts the stepchart by changing arrows. Mirror - Turns the stepchart 180 degrees. In other words, all ups are now downs. Left - Turns the stepchart 90 degrees to the left. In other words, all ups are now lefts, and all lefts are downs. Right - Turns the stepchart 90 degrees to the right. In other words, all ups are now rights, and so on. Random - All arrows of one type are changed to arrows of another type. For instance, all ups can become downs, and all downs can become lefts. Also known as "Shuffle" in DDR. Blender - All individual arrows are given a new direction. For instance, one up can become a down, but the next up could be a left. Insert Steps: Adds arrows to the existing stepchart. Stream - Adds eighth notes in between quarter notes, creating more streams. Quick - Adds sixteenth notes in between eighth notes. Skippy - Adds a sixteenth note before quarter notes, creating more gallops. Echo - Adds an extra eighth note in the same direction after a quarter note, making more taps. Will not allow you to recored high scores. Wide - Adds random jumps, mostly of adjacent arrows (up and left, or up and right). Stomp - ALL non-hold steps will become jumps of up and down or left and right. Insert Other: Adds other effects to the stepchart. The first three will not allow you to record high scores. Planted - Converts some steps to holds, which will only require you to hold one arrow at a time. Floored - Converts some steps to holds, which will require you to hold up to two arrows at a time. Twister - Converts some steps to holds, which can require you to hold up to three arrows at a time. Hide: Removes some things from the screen. Hide Targets - Removes the the targets from the screen, known as "Dark" in DDR. Hide Judgment - The combo counter and step judgment notifications are removed. Hide Background - The background video is blacked out. Difficulty: Simply allows you another chance to change the difficulty. =================================== 3E. Dancing Tips for the Beginner = =================================== KEEP PRACTICING! So, you've just got into ITG, eh? Good for you! You've made a good choice in music games, and will probably sweat off a lot of pounds! This game will probably seem quite overwhelming to you at first, especially if you watch people play it and watch them do difficult songs. Don't sweat it. You CAN be as good as them with the proper practice and effort. If you really want to get into this, definitely use the a dance pad. There's no PS2 controller to use in the arcades, so learn the pad nice and early. Most game stores have a few of these tucked away (possibly more, if RedOctane's hyping this game like they should). If you're truly a beginner, you may just want to start with a nice cheap pad. That way, if you find it's not for you, you're not out a huge investment. So, to begin, use the Tutorial the game provides you. It will walk you through the basics and coach you to be a better dancer. Despite the Tutorial, here are some tips I can give you as a beginner: 1. Get a good feeling for the beat. People who have performed with music have an advantage. People in marching band have a serious advantage. ~_^ You'll be stepping to the beat in these early stages, so get used to it now. 2. Now that you have the beat, you must "find the arrows". Yeah, sure. I know they're right there in front of you, to your sides, and behind you, but can you hit them without looking? Early on, you'll find that's your biggest problem: taking a step and not landing on the arrow. If you have to look, look, but that tactic won't last forever, so before a song takes off, take some cursory steps to make sure you're hitting arrows. 3. Keep your center. I KNOW the Tutorial tells you immediately to get off the center, but this game was made by hardcore players who don't remember being bad at the game. Especially on cheap pads with no definition, you'll find yourself often taking leave of the center of the pad as you continue stepping. If there's a break in the song, look down to make sure you're in the center. 4. Use the balls of your feet. You may notice, after some days of a lot of playing, that your ankles will start hurting. That's normal, and it's happened to most everyone I know that DDRs. This is your feet telling you to not step with your heels, but with the front of the foot. Get into that habit. 5. Now that you have these basics, play Novice Mode and start tackling songs. In particular, get used to the speed of the songs, as well as the speeding-up, slowing-down, and stopping some songs do. When that just gets too easy, take a deep breath and head into the real ITG world with Easy Mode. Try to keep your songs at difficulties of three or below, but don't be afraid to venture out into the great unknown. ======================================= 3F. Dancing Tips for the Intermediate = ======================================= KEEP PRACTICING! Well, you're definitely not a n00b anymore (pardon my French). You're at the point where you wouldn't completely humiliate yourself at the arcades, but you probably won't impress many people there. In fact, you may just bore them with your simple steps. It's time to go to the next level. At this point in your career, it's time to consider a new pad. For me, this meant going to redoctane.com and ordering their standard soft pad. This pad has a soft bottom which won't slip or bunch up as much. It's still not a serious pad, but you could do worse with fifty bucks. So, first tip is to KNOW THE SONGS. You don't necessarily need to memorize the steps, but have a basic understanding of the song before you go into it. Even memorize the music itself, the lyrics, etc. so you can whistle along. Know where the tempo changes may occur, where stops are. Most importantly, know where the songs musical notes occur in the melody, because these will be mostly what you step. Practice Mode can help you here, immensly. Now that we're heading into dangerous territory, there is one big rule that I have to stress right away: Remember how in the last part I told you to "find your center"? Well, you've found it by now, so now it's time to GET OFF IT. That's a crutch that's let you into the game, but it will hold you back later on. What you have to learn is to return your feet to the center as rarely as possible, if at all. Move your feet from one arrow to the next, and don't move them unless you have an arrow to go to. This is probably the hardest thing you'll ever have to learn as an ITG player. Once you've relinquished your grip on the center, you only stand to improve up to the highest reaches of ITG-dom. This actually leads to the other major point of going intermediate: Eighth notes. Those are those blue-colored ones. You'll have to deal with a lot of them, so learn to love them now. This is actually a good first step to leaving the center, because you are absolutely required to step three or more arrows in succession, and you'll have no time to return to the center at all. Use groups of three eighth notes to figure how to properly move between arrows; combinations such as up-left-down, where your right foot goes on up, left foot goes on left, and your right foot is already carrying back towards the down arrow, for example. Once you get strings of three down, you'll be ready to tackle longer strings, of four, five, seven, even nine if they're not too tangly. So, for this end, you'll want to go for songs of four to six in difficulty, as well as treading into the yellow (ick) waters of Medium Mode. Just about all songs of this difficulty have at least several eighth notes to give you practice. Take these opportunities to develop your step combinations for your own style, so you'll be ready to use them when they appear again in harder songs. Also, it may behoove you to get into Fitness Mode and repeatedly hammer some songs, particularly those of a brisk pace. This is a good first step to building up all-important stamina. =================================== 3G. Dancing Tips for the Advanced = =================================== KEEP PRACTICING! All right. You're through messing around, and through getting condescending looks from your peers at the arcade. It's time to show them what you can really do and kick it up a notch or three. If you're really serious now, it's once again time for a new pad. Although 7, 8, and even some 9's are possible on a soft, flimsy pad, you just won't get the high scores you cherish. For this, I turned to RedOctane's Ignition 3.0. It's also a soft pad, but the thick foam insert, soft gripping bottom, and raised step platforms make it a good pad for aspiring champions, all for a paltry 100 clams. Of course, if you have the money to blow (approximately $300), you may want to take it even further and buy the Cobalt Flux pad, which is a custom-made hard metal pad. It's VERY resilient, and much like pads you'll see in the arcades. Anyway, pads aside, it's time to get down to business: First, you better have mastered the stuff from the previous sections. I want to be able to yell out a song title and for you to hum it right there so you know what it sounds like. I don't wanna see your feet touch that center, soldier, or you'll drop and give me fifty. At this point, you should also have quick enough eye-foot coordination so that matching arrows on the screen with proper steps is second-nature. Now, for some new tactics: Chaos. You'll soon find as you reach the higher levels, that not all arrows are quarter notes and eighth notes. You'll find sixteenths, twelfths, and thirty-second notes thrown in to mess you up. Very rarely will they be in random. Almost always, they'll match up with how the song goes, so you'll at least have that going for you. So, a thorough knowledge of the songs will allow you to surmount this hurdle with little difficulty. Taps. This is the name I like to give eighth notes all on the same arrow. These are always a pain, because you have to train your foot to tap rapidly on the same arrow for a possibly long time, and it can really wear you out. There's no easy way to get around this, you just have to learn it as you go. Gallops. This is the popular name for a series of steps that has two sixteenth note steps together, then two sixteen notes of dead space, then two note steps together, and so on. When you step these notes, you'll feel like a horse gallopping, which derives the name. Oftentimes, these notes will be strung so that the last note in one gallop is the first note of the next gallop. To properly step these, leave your last-stepping foot in place, so it'll be ready to step the next gallop while your other foot moves to the next note. This leads to the final tactic. Axis of Rotation or "crossovers". Contrary to popular belief, you do not have to have your upper body directly facing the screen at all times. A very important tactic for the toughest songs is turning your body so that making truly difficult steps becomes easier. Using alternating feet on long series' of eighth notes is far less taxing than taking two or more eighth notes with one foot. The best way to start turning your body is with left-down-right eighth note combos. Left foot on the left arrow, right foot on the down, and turn so that your left foot hits the right arrow. It'll be very disorienting at first, but the hard songs will really take it out of you if you don't learn. After learning a basic turn, learn to maintain your body at a 90 degree angle to the screen for extended periods of time, and then taking it further by rotating 180 degrees, or even 270 and 360, if you're brave enough to take your eyes off the screen. Hands and Mines. If you've played DDR all your life, this will be completely new to you, but don't panic. For Hands, just be ready to flex your legs into a squat so you can get close enough. Mines, naturally, are just a simple matter of keeping your eyes open for them, and being able to launch yourself off the pad if need be. Finally, it's important to be in relatively good shape for this. You have to have the proper stamina and leg strength to pull off the toughest ones, because rather dexterous and tiring feats will be required of you, so keep pounding at it, do hard songs repeatedly to build up strength, and push yourself harder and harder to go all the way up to the great red Heavy Mode, then on to Expert, if you dare. And lastly, never tackle double digit songs without a good insurance plan backing you up. ^_^ ============================== 3H. Dancing Tips for Doubles = ============================== KEEP PRACTICING! Get ready to relearn ITG all over again as you branch out towards the second pad. First of all, it'd be best you get good pads for this. Soft flat mats are just no good at all, since they'll slide apart and over each other. Even Ignition Pads are tough for this, since they can move as well, unless you can find some way to lash them together. The best, naturally, is the Cobalt Flux dual setup, which you can connect. Okay, you probably should begin your Doubles career after at least mastering Standard on Single, but it's best on Heavy. One of the greatest things to "unlearn" from Single Play is to be able to move your entire body. When playing Single, you'll generally maintain your upper body in one place spatially, but that definitely won't fly on Doubles. Crossovers take on a whole new meaning when playing on higher levels on Double Play. In a general sense, you'll be playing with your left foot on the right arrow on the left pad, while your right foot will be on the left arrow on the right pad. A lot of the stepcharts on Doubles are engineered so you dance around that setup. After that, it's all pretty much getting used to the new setup. Practice and practice some more. Build up your stamina, learn how to read eight arrows, and know where to step. ****************************************************************************** 4. DEFAULT SONGS (PART 1) - (Bend Your Mind to July) ****************************************************************************** Since I run out of letters after twenty-six and there are sixty-one default songs, I decided to split the default list into three alphabetical sections. ==================== 4A. Bend Your Mind = ==================== Artist: REFLECTION THEORY Genre: Atmospheric Trance BPM: 140 Diff - Steps - Jumps - Holds - Mines - Hands Single NOV: 1 60 5 ESY: 6 111 7 44 12 MED: 7 214 11 68 27 HRD: 9 335 12 99 29 EXP: 10 450 16 99 33 Double ESY: 6 109 7 39 12 MED: 8 203 9 55 21 HRD: 9 328 12 85 25 EXP: 10 437 19 76 30 Play Notes: It's worth noting that every difficulty, except Novice, has hands, so don't try this song unless you want to play with hands. Hard Notes: There's a little bit of everything in this song. Actually, make that a LOT of everything. Long streams, lots of hands, plenty of sixteenths, and several crossovers. The second half of the songs contains plenty of holds, as well as the usual mess. Expert Notes: A lot more steps in this version. The hands and holds are about the same, but there are a LOT more sixteenths and some thirty-seconds in the stream sections. --- Lyrics: Bend... your mind... with me Reality... Can you feel... my reality? Bend... your mind --- Artist Notes: Founded by Chris Brickler and Jay Miller in 2001, RT is a group devoted to multiple disciplines of music, visual art, and technology. ================= 4B. BOOGIE DOWN = ================= Artist: INURVISE Genre: Techno BPM: 175 Diff - Steps - Jumps - Holds - Mines - Hands Single NOV: 1 89 2 ESY: 3 183 25 MED: 6 309 7 19 HRD: 8 473 47 14 31 EXP: 9 554 47 28 31 Double ESY: 4 218 16 19 MED: 6 289 30 13 HRD: 8 380 92 20 EXP: 9 476 135 12 30 1 Hard Notes: Plenty of streams in here, with several crossovers. There are also several mines dotted about, but you can see most of them coming. Expert Notes: More steps and the streams are more complicated with more crossovers. The mines are the same, but they're redistributed. =========== 4C. BOUFF = =========== Artist: MACHINAE SUPREMACY Genre: Chip Metal BPM: 200 Diff - Steps - Jumps - Holds - Mines - Hands Single NOV: 1 63 7 ESY: 5 222 12 2 MED: 7 318 16 14 HRD: 9 447 96 3 EXP: 10 537 92 10 93 Double ESY: 5 214 10 MED: 7 293 44 3 HRD: 9 481 109 4 12 EXP: 10 550 106 4 8 1 Hard Notes: This song tends to follow the guitar riffs, with on jumps on syncopated notes. There are also plenty of jumps in the streams, and just a few gallops. The streams have plenty of crossovers, too, so watch your step. Expert Notes: Mines are now thrown into the set. Streams now go into more jumps. There are also several sixteenth clusters thrown in, but a great amount. --- Artist Notes: A Swedish new frontier band formed in 2000 by their charter members: Robert, Kahl, and Jonne. Their love of video games is often reflected in their music. ============= 4D. CHANGES = ============= Artist: Sandy Rivera & Haze Genre: Deep Groovin' House BPM: 125 Diff - Steps - Jumps - Holds - Mines - Hands Single NOV: 1 78 3 ESY: 2 106 32 MED: 5 220 11 14 HRD: 7 337 45 9 Double ESY: 1 61 1 2 MED: 5 175 3 3 HRD: 8 379 15 3 Hard Notes: Streams, mostly. There are parts that go off the beat to follow the music, and there are a couple of rather long streams about halfway through. --- Lyrics: I must move on to a better place 'Cause you can't be here by my side I need to say goodbye And now my life is going through some changes (changes...) Now my life is going through some changes Now my life is going through some changes --- Artist Notes: DJ/Producer Sandy Rivera has been in the house scene for over a decade, based out of his studio in Jersey. Misc. Notes: ============== 4E. Charlene = ============== Artist: missing heart Genre: Euro Trance BPM: 138 Diff - Steps - Jumps - Holds - Mines - Hands Single NOV: 1 91 5 ESY: 3 139 5 3 MED: 4 203 6 19 HRD: 8 351 25 19 EXP: 11 650 51 50 139 Double ESY: 3 120 2 1 MED: 6 271 1 4 HRD: 7 349 16 2 EXP: 9 485 22 5 6 Hard Notes: A lot of simple streams, and there are certain parts where the steps follow the piano notes. There's a rather long stream near the middle, as well. Expert Notes: Who-hoa. Suddenly this song is hard. Well, lots of sixteenths throughout, following the background synth, and mines are liberally spread throughout these clusters, making them almost impossible to read without using speed mods. --- Lyrics: Charlene, please take care, little sister of mine Better stay off the drugs and the wine Don't get lost in that dangerous scene My sister Charlene Stay out Charlene Just beware of the dark side of town That's where passion and sex tear you down Where the people are greedy and mean You'd better stay out Charlene Charlene Charlene I saw you last night In your fancy outfit Eyeing the men in the dark streets They touched your gorgeous body With their greedy eyes So please take care of yourself Don't give away everything you own 'Cause no one will give you back The innocence that you've lost Charlene, please take care, little sister of mine Better stay off the drugs and the wine Don't get lost in that dangerous scene My sister Charlene Stay out Charlene Just beware of the dark side of town That's where passion and sex tear you down Where the people are greedy and mean You'd better stay out Charlene Charlene --- Artist Notes: missing heart was, originally, vocalist Lyane Leigh (of E-ROTIC fame), and producer David Brandes back in 1997, when this song (and MOONLIGHT SHADOW) was recorded. In 2000, the group reformed around vocalist Miss Manu, and released their only album: Mystery. Miss Manu actually does the vocals for this cut of Charlene. =========== 4F. CRAZY = =========== Artist: DJ Doo Genre: House BPM: 135 Diff - Steps - Jumps - Holds - Mines - Hands Single NOV: 1 67 5 ESY: 2 157 13 MED: 5 244 35 5 HRD: 7 388 38 7 Double ESY: 3 145 22 1 MED: 6 270 12 8 HRD: 7 351 56 19 Hard Notes: Mostly simple streams. There are some long ones, but they're not difficult. A few sixteenths thrown around for good measure. --- Lyrics: Are you ready For the party On the dance floor To get started Move your body To the music We'll be dancin' all around To the DJ Doo sound From Miami To Pisa Stockholm City When it hits ya Everybody's Goin' crazy As we dancin' all around To the DJ Doo sound Everybody do the DJ Doo dance Everybody do the DJ Doo dance Don't stop now and do the DJ Doo dance DJ Doo it, everyone Clap your hands and Stomp your feet Move your body To the funky beat Jump around And let's get to it Everybody wanna DJ Doo it Everybody wanna DJ Doo it Everybody wanna DJ Doo it Everybody wanna DJ Doo it Everybody wanna DJ Doo it Everybody do the DJ Doo dance Everybody do the DJ Doo dance Don't stop now and do the DJ Doo dance DJ Doo it, everyone Everybody do the DJ Doo dance Everybody do the DJ Doo dance Don't stop now and do the DJ Doo dance DJ Doo it, everyone ========================= 4G. Da Roots (Folk Mix) = ========================= Artist: Mind Reflection Genre: Folk Techno BPM: 89-134 Diff - Steps - Jumps - Holds - Mines - Hands Single NOV: 1 59 5 ESY: 2 151 6 MED: 4 248 2 7 HRD: 7 378 17 16 EXP: 9 489 9 4 Double ESY: 4 193 4 4 MED: 6 333 1 1 HRD: 9 469 14 1 3 EXP: 9 523 43 1 24 Play Notes: The songs carries at 134 for most of the song until the end, where it slows down to 89 gradually. Hard Notes: Gallop city, as well as small streams, and a few tricks with holds. Expert Notes: Instead of straight gallops, you're now following most of the melodies, both the strings and the guitar, and they each have a lot of sixteenths to cover. --- Artist Notes: Mind Reflection is a quiet group that started in 1994, based out of Zurich, Switzerland. They've released one CD to date. ========== 4H. DAWN = ========== Artist: KaW Genre: Trance BPM: 138 Diff - Steps - Jumps - Holds - Mines - Hands Single NOV: 1 53 7 6 ESY: 3 134 11 6 MED: 5 238 8 5 HRD: 8 380 12 13 EXP: 9 448 24 30 4 36 Double ESY: 4 168 23 4 MED: 6 277 24 4 HRD: 8 351 40 10 3 EXP: 9 430 67 10 9 Hard Notes: Steps mostly follow the melody, here. This calls for small streams, off-beat steps, a few gallops and syncopation. Expert Notes: There are several hands thrown in on holds in this difficulty. Beyond that, this is just more of everything. More steps following the melody, more sixteenths, etc. --- Artist Notes: One of the members of the ITG team, Kyle Ward, also known as "KeeL", has done a large number of songs for ITG. His artist names on this game include "KaW", "Inspector K", "Smiley", "BANZAI", and "Symphonious". He's heavily influenced by euro artists. He says that the name "KaW" means soul, in addition to have his intials in it. ============== 4I. DELIRIUM = ============== Artist: Smiley Genre: Happy Hardcore BPM: 163-279 Diff - Steps - Jumps - Holds - Mines - Hands Single NOV: 1 78 2 ESY: 2 156 2 6 MED: 6 344 5 7 HRD: 8 454 22 7 EXP: 12 597 74 41 12 11 Double ESY: 6 302 43 24 MED: 8 351 73 40 2 HRD: 9 424 118 16 33 1 EXP: 11 587 120 13 22 Play Notes: The song mostly goes at 163, until about two-thirds of the way through, where it stops on certain steps momentarily, and jumps to 279 for about a second, just to throw you off. ^_^ Hard Notes: Long streams for this song, mostly, several of which crossover. A few sixteenths, but nothing too draining. Just lots and lots of streams. Expert Notes: Think of how difficult this song can potentially get with the notes in the song, and you're pretty close to how bad it gets. The hands get done early in the song, and the rest of the first half is tricky holds and odd notes with sixteenths around them. Then, it gets ugly. Mines at the stopping points, and before and after are giant sixteenth clusters, and I mean GIANT. To its credit, the song doesn't spend its entire track trying to tire you out, but it gets pretty bad. --- Artist Notes: See "DAWN". ================== 4J. DISCONNECTED = ================== Artist: Inspector K Genre: Jungle BPM: 200 Diff - Steps - Jumps - Holds - Mines - Hands Single NOV: 1 74 10 ESY: 4 255 20 4 MED: 6 307 22 22 HRD: 8 464 24 11 EXP: 9 593 11 27 43 Double ESY: 4 195 21 2 MED: 6 296 37 2 HRD: 8 395 66 4 10 EXP: 9 440 116 2 60 Play Notes: About two-thirds of the way through the song, there's a stop for about a second. Hard Notes: Just about all of this song is streams. They crossover periodically, but that's about it. No sixteenths. No real chaotic steps. No jumps in the streams. Expert Notes: First, there are mines. They're not too horribly placed, except for the one over the stop. The streams have become a LOT longer, and there are sixteenths thrown in, but their steps are relatively easy, for an Expert song, anyway. --- Artist Notes: See "DAWN". ================== 4K. Do U Love Me = ================== Artist: DJ Doo Genre: Dance Pop BPM: 133 Diff - Steps - Jumps - Holds - Mines - Hands Single NOV: 1 85 6 ESY: 3 131 8 MED: 4 222 10 19 HRD: 6 289 21 9 EXP: 10 601 39 31 16 Double ESY: 2 114 2 8 MED: 4 211 2 8 HRD: 6 290 32 4 EXP: 9 395 32 1 22 Hard Notes: Steps are quite simple. Small streams and jumps and like one tricky hold. Expert Notes: Whoa. Steps, intead of the melody, now follow the rhythm. The hardest part is just following these steps. There are a few jumps and extra holds to deal with, but they're not nearly the issue. --- Lyrics: I want it all baby can't you see If I'm the one you have got to tell me I got to know if you want me to be your baby Sometimes you act like you want to be free I'll give it up even if it hurts me Oh let it out baby tell me now, do you love me? (Do you love me?) Chorus: Say that you want me Say that you need me Do you? Do you love me? Say that you want me Say that you need me Do you? Do you want my love? You call me out when you're feeling down You want my love when you're feeling lonely Oh let it out baby tell me now, do you love me? (Do you love me?) [Chorus] Do you want my love? Do you want my love? Do you want my love? Say that you want me Say that you need me Do you? Do you love me? Say that you want me Say that you need me Do you? Do you love me? --- Artist Notes: Misc. Notes: ====================== 4L. DON'T PROMISE ME = ====================== Artist: REFLECTION THEORY Genre: Trance BPM: 65-132 Diff - Steps - Jumps - Holds - Mines - Hands Single NOV: 1 65 1 ESY: 3 174 7 26 MED: 4 253 21 8 HRD: 6 329 9 35 Double ESY: 4 202 7 3 MED: 5 267 23 4 HRD: 7 352 25 2 EXP: 9 396 60 2 1 Play Notes: Twice this song slows down to 65. On both occasions, you're on a hold note (or not stepping at all), so don't worry about it. Hard Notes: Simple streams, mostly off the beat. Several crossovers, though. Near the end, there's some syncopation with sixteenths, so eyes open. --- Lyrics: Don't promise me a world That you can't figure out If you cannot escape Don't promise me freedom Don't promise me a bridge That you can't cross alone Don't promise me a light That you cannot turn on Don't promise me --- Artist Notes: See "Bend Your Mind". This song features Persida, Sue Yu, and Federico Haro. ======================= 4M. DREAMS OF PASSION = ======================= Artist: DAX Genre: Gothic Rock BPM: 97 Diff - Steps - Jumps - Holds - Mines - Hands Single NOV: 1 59 1 ESY: 2 98 3 MED: 4 159 8 8 HRD: 5 230 16 17 Double ESY: 1 52 1 2 MED: 2 107 1 2 HRD: 5 227 10 6 Hard Notes: The slowness of this song makes it quite easy, even on Hard, with sixteenths. Mostly streams, and following the rhythm. --- Lyrics: Anything you want Now give it to me I'm into you You ask, you will receive I'm on the beach Aw yeah When I ask Your face turns red Better late than never Hidden myself