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Rock Band 4 |OT| We're Putting The Rock Band Back Together

T

TheFurizzlyBear

Member
It has been ~5 years since Rock Band 3 released and the gaming world has shifted since then. The plastic instrument genre died out, we saw the release of new consoles from the big 3 and the internet is quicker to outrage than ever. So now, back due to popular demand, Rock Band 4!

The Basics:
Rock Band 4 is the fourth main line Rock Band title and the seventh Rock Band title that uses plastic instruments. Playing vocals, guitar, bass or drums; join up with up to three friends and match notes in time with the song playing on the screen. The better you do, the more points you score! Move up the four difficulty levels (Easy, Medium, Hard and Expert) to maximise your potential score and be rated on a scale of 1-5 stars and a potential gold stars for really high scores. Harmonix is pushing Rock Band 4 as the only (at least mainline) Rock Band game this gen. As such, they plan on updating the game frequently with new features to keep the game growing and expanding instead of releasing sequels.
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The Soundtrack:
.38 Special – Caught Up in You
4 Non Blondes – What’s Up?
Aerosmith – Toys in the Attic
Arctic Monkeys – Arabella
Avenged Sevenfold – Hail to the King
Benjamin Booker – Violent Shiver
The Black Keys – Fever
The Both – Milwaukee
Brad Paisley ft. Keith Urban - Start a Band
Brandie Carlile - Mainstream Kid
Cake – Short Skirt/Long Jacket
The Cure – Friday, I’m in Love
Dark Wheels - V-Bomb
Disturbed – Prayer
Dream Theater – Metropolis, Pt. 1: The Miracle and The Sleeper
Duck & Cover – Knock ‘Em Down
Eddie Japan – Albert
Elvis Presley – Suspicious Minds
Fall Out Boy – Centuries
Fleetwood Mac – You Make Loving Fun
Foo Fighters – The Feast and the Famine
Gary Clark Jr. - Ain't Messin 'Round
Gin Blossoms - Follow You Down
Grouplove - Tongue Tied
Halestorm – I Miss the Misery
Heart – Kick It Out
Heaven’s Basement – I Am Electric
Imagine Dragons - I Bet My Life
Jack White – Lazaretto
Jeff Allen - Recession
Johnny Blazes and the Pretty Boys - Cold Clear Light
Judas Priest – Halls of Valhalla
The Killers – Somebody Told Me
Lightning Bolt – Dream Genie
Little Big Town – Little White Church
Live – All Over You
Lucius – Turn It Around
Lynyrd Skynyrd - That Smell
Mark Ronson ft. Bruno Mars – Uptown Funk
The Mighty Mighty Bosstones - The Impression That I Get
Mumford & Sons - The Wolf
The Outfield – Your Love
Ozzy Osbourne – Miracle Man
Paramore – Still Into You
The Protomen – Light Up the Night
Queens of the Stone Age – My God is the Sun
R.E.M. - The One I Love
Rick Derringer – Rock and Roll, Hoochie Koo
Rush – A Passage to Bangkok
Scandal – The Warrior
Scorpions – No One Like You
Slydigs – Light the Fuse
Soul Remnants – Dead Black (Heart of Ice)
Soundgarden – Superunknown
Spin Doctors – Little Miss Can’t Be Wrong
St. Vincent – Birth in Reverse
System of a Down – Spiders
Tijuana Sweetheart – Pistol Whipped
U2 - Cedarwood Road
U2 - I Will Follow
Van Halen – Panama
Van Morrison – Brown Eyed Girl
The Warning - Free Falling
White Denim – At Night in Dreams
The Who – The Seeker
Click to expand...

New Features:
Harmonix hired a “famous musician” to show off the new features and I believe this is the best way to check them out: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d00SUGJRA48
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Here is a quick rundown for those who can’t check out the video though:

Freestyle Guitar Solos:
Since the beginning Harmonix has tried to give guitarists some freedom to make their own sound in their music games. First the whammy bar in Guitar Hero, then the effects switch in Rock Band and now Freestyle Guitar in Rock Band 4. During guitar solos, instead of having a note chart, you will have prompts that tell you either high or low frets, 8th or 16th notes, to sustain notes or just wail at it with reckless abandon. If you want old style charted solos, they will still be in the game so don’t…...fret ;) I recommend this video to see it in action and a very good explanation of it all: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0WXRvgi8ZTw
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Vocal Freestyle:
Harmonix is trying to give vocalists a chance to break away from the exact right note. As long as you are singing in key you will still be awarded freestyle points. You can do a combo of filling your circle with singing the proper note and the freestyle points. For a visual notation explanation checkout this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TLoPx-7tukI
and for a song in play: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iu1rY-V1hj4
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Shows:
A new way to play your songs in a party setting. Instead of backing out and selecting songs every time you are finished you get to vote. These choices can be specific songs or they can be buckets like “A song from the 80’s”, “A Long Song” or “A song by Weezer”. It has changed some since this video I believe but here is a good idea of what Shows is: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7dZlVmzVuuU
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Career:
So the new career mode allows you to tour all around the world doing shows with your band. You have setlists to pick from that come in pre-built, random, select or vote. During your career you get to make decisions regarding your band like to take a manager or get a sweet, sweet van. This will affect your rewards, setlists and future choices. You travel around earning fans, money and stars trying to become the most famous band in the world. For a nice lengthy video showing off Career choices, gameplay and some voting: https://youtu.be/z7Wf7TNFqKg?t=929
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DLC:
A very large chunk of your old songs will work for Rock Band 4. You have to be using the same account you bought the songs on to redownload em and you have to be on the same console family (PS3>PS4 360>XB1). Most of the official DLC is what is available right now but there are a few kinks which I will go over in the FAQs but a few quick notes:
Exports (RB1, RB2, RB:GD, RB Blitz and various Track Pack discs) are not available yet. “Shortly after launch” is the timeframe for em.
RBN songs do not transfer at all, due to extra licensing steps they are looking like a 50/50 for right now but Harmonix is looking into it.
If you bought a pack of songs you have to find the singles on the store to download em for free. They packs will still show as not free.
If something is missing or not showing for free after you a have confirmed that you have bought it (actually check, don’t just assume) let Harmonix know. They are working on any issues and know about a lot of em already.
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Instrument compatibility: Here is a nice chart:
77kb47ht0owl.png


What's Missing:
Well the biggest omission is online multiplayer along with smaller features that are missing or diminished. Character customisation is limited when it comes to the physical aspect of your character, you can’t set custom characters to fill empty band slots when you don’t have friends playing, building setlists in quickplay is missing among a few other things. Harmonix has updates planned for this game so it does not mean that they will be missing forever. If the game is not in a state to your liking don’t buy it yet. These features weren't “removed” as so much as they “have not been rebuilt yet” so let Harmonix know (in a nice and kind fashion) what you would like to see added to the game as it will be ever growing.
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The First Update:
The first major feature update for the title will be released on December 8, 2015 for both Xbox One and the PlayStation®4 computer entertainment system.

This first major feature update will be available to all players for free, and will focus on exciting new social and competitive features, along with some surprises for fans. Additionally, based on feedback from its community, Harmonix has confirmed it will be adding “Variable Breakneck Speed” to the game for the first time. “Variable Breakneck Speed” will let players control note scrolling speeds for each track independently, a feature long-requested by many in the Rock Band community.
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Review Thread:
Link
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Export Info and extra info (Thanks to FyreWulff):
FyreWulff said:
xposting from Penny Arcade forums RB thread

http://forums.penny-arcade.com/discussion/comment/33308232/#Comment_33308232

FyreWulff's Next Gen Guide To Quickly Expanding Your Rock Band Library

None of this guide requires you to own a 360 or PS3, or even put in a disc. This guide will also only cover methods that work 100% right now; it may be possible to get some other expired exports and offers, but YMMV.

Rock Band 1 Export Key - 5$
Xbox | Playstation
This will give you 54 songs compatible with Rock Band 4. You do not need the Rock Band 1 disc; this key will become a digital download on your One and PS4.
Value: 10 cents per song

Rock Band Blitz - 15$
Xbox | Playstation
This will give you 25 songs compatible with Rock Band 4. And a game! All of Blitz's songs are available individually on the store otherwise. It's likely Blitz will be compatible with the One's Backwards Compatible mode as well.
Value: 60 cents per song

Rock Band 2 Harmonix Pack - Free
Xbox | Playstation
This is a pack of Harmonix songs from Rock Band 2 that were given to everyone for free!
Value: Freedom cents per song



Rock Band Track Pack Volume 2
Check your favorite retailer, new copies only
A physical disc release that contained a collection of 20 Rock Band DLC songs that also includes a marketplace code for that disc's console family. Notably, it's the only way you can now obtain Snow ((Hey Oh)) by RHCP, which was pulled from the store due to license expiration, making it worthwhile to get this song pack. You only need to redeem the code from the manual to obtain the songs.

Value: 65 cents per song . Average price of the Track Pack is 13$

Various Free Songs
These songs are free on the store for promotional reasons.

Still Alive [X | P]
Am I Crazy [X | P]
Charlene [X | P]
I Still Believe [X | P]


Rock Band: Green Day
While the game's export has officially expired (it may or may not work for you at this point), the entire disc setlist is available on the store as regular DLC in album packs and singles.

Songs Re-released
Rock Band 1: The covers of Run to the Hills [X | P] (non-export) and Tom Sawyer [X | P] (export) have the original artist studio versions available on the store, which are linked. Wanted Dead Or Alive [X | P] is available as RB3 DLC. It's also available as part of the Bon Jovi: Greatest Hits Pack [X | P].

Rock Band 2: Alive (export expired) has a Live [X | P] version on the store. Give It Away [X | P] (non-export) and Spoonman [X | P] (non-export) are available as DLC singles or via the Blitz export. Livin' On A Prayer [X | P] is available as RB3 DLC. It's also available as part of the Bon Jovi: Greatest Hits Pack [X | P].

Lego Rock Band: Fire (export expired) has a Live [X | P] version on the store as a single or as part of the "Are You Experienced" album pack [X | P]. We Will Rock You [X | P] and We Are The Champions [X | P] are available as RB3 DLC in the store. You Give Love A Bad Name [X | P] is available as RB3 DLC in the store. It's also available as part of the Bon Jovi: Greatest Hits Pack [X | P].

DLC: Fortunate Son [X | P] , Working Man [X | P], Limelight [X | P], and Number of the Beast [X | P] all have a studio version of the song that was released after the cover version. The cover versions are still available on the store, so pay attention to the big "As Made Famous by" when shopping on the store. I've linked the studio versions.
Click to expand...
A quick rundown of the current status of exports:
RB1: Still possible
RB2: Gotta try and get a code from EA support, recent success but it will most likely take multiple tries
RB3: Not exportable but maybe in the future
Blitz: Yes
Green Day: Expired*
Lego: Expired
Various Disc Track Packs: If you can get a hold of a code it should work.*
The Beatles: HAHAHAHAHAHAHA.......no...... :(

None of the exports are currently available for use in RB4 yet though. Should be shortly after launch according to HMX

*some people have claimed to be able to get these from EA support as well so if you wanna try go for it.
Click to expand...


FAQs:
Lady Siara said:
Here's some stuff I thought of for the FAQ section:

1. Link to the Reddit spreadsheet with the DLC songs having issues

2. Guide to updating instrument firmware

3. Guide to asking EA for RB2 export - chat link

4. XB1 legacy instruments must have their batteries removed to power them down

5. Guide to correctly download the pre-order DLC and not Jane 10+ times

6. Section detailing score differences between static fills, dynamic fills, legacy fills (or whatever they're called) and freestyle guitar solos

7. To download your legacy DLC, you have to go through the store one by one. If you're on XB1, you can give this a try but few have been successful. Seems to work if you have a low DLC count.

8. Yes, it's hard to find stock of most things

9. Standalone instruments and cymbals not available until next year

10. Ion support for PS4 and weird XB1 work around

And, for fun, tons of useless facts about the RB4 setlist.
Click to expand...


So here we are...it’s that time again... it’s time to Start a Band and Rock The World!

P.S. My first OT so go easy on me. (I kept images limited so it would be more MobileGAF friendly)
 
dugdug

dugdug

Banned
Whoa, you can't build setlists in quickplay? That's literally the only way I played RB2. Hope they add that in eventually.
 
G

Guess Who

Banned
No building setlists, no online multiplayer, and no RB3 export are huge misses. All that, plus the fact that I went from 360 > PS4 meaning none of my DLC or instruments work, means I'm probably sitting this one out. :( Shame, RB2 and RB3 were some of my favorite games ever made.
 
Z

ZoomyRamen

Banned
Anyone in the U.K having issues actually getting the bundle?

Heard a few people saying they've been told guitar bundles are delayed! Especially on Xbox One
 
Living Proof

Living Proof

Member
Got a half day of work tomorrow and a full band bundle ready to pick up. My ions are assembled, and I'm sweeping through PSN for last-minute DLC sales (seems I waited too long though).

I'm so fucking ready.
 
G

Got the Shakes

Member
My XB1 BiaB shipped from Amazon this morning and will be here tomorrow. All of my previous DLC has been downloaded on my console and my body is ready. Probably going to be ugly for awhile as it's been at least a few years since I last played a Rock Band game.
 
E

evanmisha

Member
I'm in the market for an NA PS3 Green Day Rock Band export code. I've got an NA PS3 Rock Band 2 export code to trade. Let me know~

EDIT: ALSO HYPE
 
T

TheFurizzlyBear

Member
Guess Who said:
No building setlists, no online multiplayer, and no RB3 export are huge misses. All that, plus the fact that I went from 360 > PS4 meaning none of my DLC or instruments work, means I'm probably sitting this one out. :( Shame, RB2 and RB3 were some of my favorite games ever made.
Click to expand...
The first three things are most likely temporary so I'd say just keep an eye on the game and check up the updates
 
P

PROh1bited

Banned
Nice job on the op. But you might wanna add info on the export options. I'm sure we're gonna get asked that on every page like we were in the other topic.

But yeah, one more day to rock out with your cock out.
 
lem0n

lem0n

Member
Gonna bust out RB1, 2 and 3 today to warm up for next weekend when I'm picking up my copy. Hype!
 
T

TheFurizzlyBear

Member
PROh1bited said:
Nice job on the op. But you might wanna add info on the export options. I'm sure we're gonna get asked that on every page like we were in the other topic.

But yeah, one more day to rock out with your cock out.
Click to expand...
I'm searching out the post now but we both know that ain't gonna stop the question lol
 
H

hesido

Member
Guys, please DO let me know the latency from the DS4 output. It's my only chance of this game working (under 40ms should do)

Well, I can theoretically measure that by connecting speakers to the DS4 and measuring in auto in Singstar, but if anyone has done this, I should not bother to dig those speakers up.
 
K

KaYotiX

Banned
Had to cancel my order at Best Buy so i could add more rewards certificates to it so i dont need to pay for the game but their system is so slow with refunding me i wont be able to grab his till Thursday......(i have work regardless so its ok i guess :( , but im pumped to be playing more Rockband!!!!
 
G

Gunstarheroes

Member
Still mad currently that i'm not getting my adapter in til Thursday :mad:

I'm hoping it ends up somewhere early today or is at least easy to get Thursday. I'm more then cool with just giving a friend the adapter or something to that extent.
 
S

sqwarlock

Member
That decision to buy this for PS4 and have almost zero DLC or buy an Xbox One then this so I can have all of my 360 DLC.

...

Maybe this'll just be an "in the future" decision.
 
S

Shadow2222

Member
sqwarlock said:
That decision to buy this for PS4 and have almost zero DLC or buy an Xbox One then this so I can have all of my 360 DLC.

...

Maybe this'll just be an "in the future" decision.
Click to expand...

For me, I had hundreds of dollars invested in DLC for 360, so I went out and got an Xbox One the week after Rock Band 4 was announced. I don't regret it one bit, since I've already got my money's worth (Halo, Forza, Gears, Rare Replay, etc.)
 
D

Deleted member 57681

Unconfirmed Member
Let's do thiiisss. Well, in a few days. My Gamestop had the guitar bundle already, but no preorder songs, so I kept my Amazon order.

In other news, my used Warriors of Rock guitar bundle (PS3) came today, paid 15€ for it and it's basically new. Dude that sold it to me said he used it once, and that's how it looks (and feels). Amazing guitar.
 
T

TheFurizzlyBear

Member
sqwarlock said:
That decision to buy this for PS4 and have almost zero DLC or buy an Xbox One then this so I can have all of my 360 DLC.

...

Maybe this'll just be an "in the future" decision.
Click to expand...

How many songs would you rebuy? compare that to the cost of an Xbox One. Factor in exports and other unavailable songs that you might own.
 
V

VexyWexy

Member
"Character customisation is limited when it comes to the physical aspect of your character, you can’t set custom characters to fill empty band slots when you don’t have friends playing"


This is probably irrelevant to most people, but not being able to create your whole band is a major bummer for me.... I was so happy when they added that in RB3.

The character creator is limited as well? How severely?
 
E

Edag88

Banned
impact said:
No online mode? What is this, a Nintendo game?
Click to expand...

Great post. You sounds like a funny person.



So do we have any updates on when the old DLC will show up on the PS4 store? When I checked this morning Add Ons still wasn't on the game's store page.
 
G

Gipsy Danger

Member
Nice OT!

Anyone know where I can find a Xbone Legacy Adapter in the UK? Seems to be sold out everywhere, or didn't ship at all - difficult to tell.
 
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