Rock Band Platform |OT|

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TheGreatDave said:
Objectively, I think Rock Band looks better as a result of moving to the rectangles, but I still find that when I play GH:3 I have an easier time of spotting HO/PO than I do with RB. That's really all I care about. What looks best in screenshots stops mattering 10 seconds in to your first song. RB2 does have a new UI and hyperspeed, so maybe I'll be more accepting. I still wish both games offered most customisation when it came to how the game displays notecharts.
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That's what I love about Beatmania IIDX. You can go nuts with customization, even down to the explosion you get on perfect hits.
 
Unplug/re-plug with the system already on. I used to have that problem pretty frequently, but now that I think about it, it hasn't happened in months. Fixed in a patch? Only happens when connecting via the hub, which I no longer use?
 
Saerk said:
I want me one of these

2008-08-25drumrocker-20.jpg
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That's like buying a pocket pussy shaped like your fist.
 
Ding said:
Unplug/re-plug with the system already on. I used to have that problem pretty frequently, but now that I think about it, it hasn't happened in months. Fixed in a patch? Only happens when connecting via the hub, which I no longer use?
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Tried it, and without the hub, no luck so far: but will try again, cheers.
 
more impressions from joy -stiq

http://www.*******.com/2008/08/25/ion-drum-rocker-unboxing-and-initial-impressions/

with even more pics. they said the cymbals were unresponsive..... :0

* Our order arrived in two boxes weighing in at 33 lbs. and 6 lbs., respectively. The lighter box contained the third cymbal and colored discs to put on all three cymbals for differentiation.
* Total time to unbox: 20 minutes (although, to be fair, we were taking a lot of pictures). That said, total time for setup (no camera usage) was close to an hour, with a large amount of time spent trying to screw in the cymbal clamps. Just another 2 or 3 mm on the screw length and we would've had a much easier time here.
* Protip: Make sure you screw everything in very tight, or you'll be having to either pause the game to make fixes mid-song or learn to adjust to the added difficult of a drooping tom or cymbal. Even then, adjustments will have to be made to get the toms placed just right.


# The pads are very well constructed, quiet and very responsive, although we found them susceptible to catching dust. Buy yourself a lint roller!
# The kick pedal, too, feels sturdier and and better constructed for quicker notes. That said, it's also a bit noisier.
# At least with Rock Band 1, the cymbals proved quite unresponsive, and no matter how hard we hit them, it only seemed to register about 65% of the time. It was especially noticeable going through "Tom Sawyer" on expert.
# Like we did at E3, we still have our reservations about the novelty of the cymbals.
# This is a minor quip, but one thing we liked about the RB set is that each tom gave off a slightly different noise when hit. That's not the case here, where every pad makes the same thud.
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Johnkers said:
A Geo Wars 2 style leaderboard before and after every song would be AMAZING
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I mentioned this to someone from HMX this weekend and he tried to tell me that "Battle of the Bands" was essentially that. That's not really the case -- I think we're both talking about having it after EVERY SONG you play, period. I have no real reason to want to play a single song over and over again to "FC" it or whatever the kids are calling it, but I would play a track over and over again to trounce a friend's score. This doesn't mean going through nine menus to see who's on top.

Outside of Battle of the Bands, the leaderboards work the same in RB 2, which is kind of disappointing. There are always updates!
 
AlphaTwo00 said:
There should be nothing stoping 2-man bands: See Tenacious D as perfect example.
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I missed this by a page, but Yeah Yeah Yeahs are technically a 2-man band. Karen O doesn't play any instrument. It's really all in how they do their magic in the studio that has to do with 2-man bands finding their way into Rock Band.

Using a controller to play Rock Band kinda defeats the purpose of simulating instruments.
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I remember back in the PSOne days, everyone would import the latest DDR game, then spend the next week playing it on the couch with a controller to unlock the good stuff :lol Fun times!
 
Flynn said:
Using a controller to play Rock Band kinda defeats the purpose of simulating instruments.
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The picture is the ION rocker's Rockband Brain. I want it to plug my roland set into. If you look on the side you will see 1/4" mono jacks for plugging pads into. This should allow for any standard pad to be plugged into it.
 
I'm thinking of doing a write-up when I get my RB2 kit and my ION. I will have 4 drum sets in the household. QM RB1 Set, Good Wood Mods Stealth Set, RB2 Set, ION Set.

So far the good wood mods set has been perfect. GHWT drums will make it 5 sets. :(
 
nicholasbrutal said:
I mentioned this to someone from HMX this weekend and he tried to tell me that "Battle of the Bands" was essentially that. That's not really the case -- I think we're both talking about having it after EVERY SONG you play, period. I have no real reason to want to play a single song over and over again to "FC" it or whatever the kids are calling it, but I would play a track over and over again to trounce a friend's score. This doesn't mean going through nine menus to see who's on top.

Outside of Battle of the Bands, the leaderboards work the same in RB 2, which is kind of disappointing. There are always updates!
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I always have to wait about a day for them to update, currently, which is so freaking aggrivating.
 
onemic said:
That's not good.
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I'm betting it will work fine in RB2. The likely problem is that the cymbal is not outputting enough of a resistance (low pressure sense) to be noticed consistently by the RB1 code. With RB2 programmed to take into account pressure sensitivity I'm thinking it will work fine with that game.
 
Mr Jared said:
I missed this by a page, but Yeah Yeah Yeahs are technically a 2-man band. Karen O doesn't play any instrument. It's really all in how they do their magic in the studio that has to do with 2-man bands finding their way into Rock Band.
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Technically Nine Inch Nails is a one-man band. I mean, yeah he brings in session guys and friends to lay down additional tracks every so often, but whosshisname the drummer from the Dresden Dolls mentioned that when he was invited by to record some drums they played Rock Band first and then Trent asked him to basically just play whatever he wanted and that he'd just end up using it in some form or another.

With the discussion of They Might Be Giants in here I have to wonder about them. I mean, I'm a serious, massive fan. I own all the albums, most of their more recent EPs, State Songs, tons of their released mp3s, podcasts, etc. At the same time they don't always do a lot of songs that really rock in the traditional sense and I can't think that they'd really fit well into the lineup.
 
JonathanEx said:
Hang on, the press have copies of the game, why the hell don't we know the regio lock status?
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My understanding is they rarely get retail code, so it's not like they'd be able to tell.

Guys, what if it's region free? My nightmare of not being able to play with BBG again for months may be over.
 
M3wThr33 said:
Dev kits are region free. Right?
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I didn't know if they were dev copies or final. If they were just given them at the end of the event, could have been final, might not be. We'll see. Ah well, Helen went offline on facebook before I got to ask. I'll email.

I'm no expert on dev kits, unless it's smashing a bunch of them on a sports track.

ps reptillia tappy bits now
 
Belgand said:
Technically Nine Inch Nails is a one-man band. I mean, yeah he brings in session guys and friends to lay down additional tracks every so often, but whosshisname the drummer from the Dresden Dolls mentioned that when he was invited by to record some drums they played Rock Band first and then Trent asked him to basically just play whatever he wanted and that he'd just end up using it in some form or another.

With the discussion of They Might Be Giants in here I have to wonder about them. I mean, I'm a serious, massive fan. I own all the albums, most of their more recent EPs, State Songs, tons of their released mp3s, podcasts, etc. At the same time they don't always do a lot of songs that really rock in the traditional sense and I can't think that they'd really fit well into the lineup.
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first, you got the stories mixed together. They played ROck Band and then Trent allowed the guy to use whatever he wanted to do percussion during recording - these were two separate events.

Second, do you have the 123 album? Triops Has Three Eyes has some excellent drumming in it. They have plenty of stuff that sound great, they'd just have to use live versions for the "band" aspect to shine through.
 
bune duggy said:
first, you got the stories mixed together. They played Rock Band and then Trent allowed the guy to use whatever he wanted to do percussion during recording - these were two separate events.

Second, do you have the 123 album? Triops Has Three Eyes has some excellent drumming in it. They have plenty of stuff that sound great, they'd just have to use live versions for the "band" aspect to shine through.
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I guess my writing was unclear because that's exactly what I intended to convey. I guess technically Rock Band was the previous night before the session, but I didn't feel it necessary to really distinguish in any greater detail.

No, never picked up 123, ABCs, or, No! which I keep hearing is great. However I did start watching Cartoon Planet because they used, IIRC, "No One Knows My Plan" for the theme music and I remember the Daily Show episode they were on, I think it was the millenium special, where they introduced the current theme music that TMBG composed "Dog On Fire". And, of course, I've also heard their Oblongs theme song, their wonderful Drinky Crow Show theme, and a bunch of other minor things. I even own the damn second Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me Soundtrack that has "Dr. Evil" on it (don't ask, a friend bought it and then no longer wanted it and gave it away... it actually has some good tracks on it and is arguably much, much better than the first soundtrack).
 
Saerk said:
The picture is the ION rocker's Rockband Brain. I want it to plug my roland set into. If you look on the side you will see 1/4" mono jacks for plugging pads into. This should allow for any standard pad to be plugged into it.
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Ah. My bad. I'm totally wrong.

That thingy is awesome.
 
Saerk said:
I'm betting it will work fine in RB2. The likely problem is that the cymbal is not outputting enough of a resistance (low pressure sense) to be noticed consistently by the RB1 code. With RB2 programmed to take into account pressure sensitivity I'm thinking it will work fine with that game.
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You finally got yourself an avatar! yay!

And I'm thinking/hoping you're right, because I'm totally buying that kit.
 
JonathanEx said:
I didn't know if they were dev copies or final. If they were just given them at the end of the event, could have been final, might not be. We'll see. Ah well, Helen went offline on facebook before I got to ask. I'll email.

I'm no expert on dev kits, unless it's smashing a bunch of them on a sports track.

ps reptillia tappy bits now
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Do you have live BTW?
 
TheGreatDave said:
If Rock Band 2 is region free, I'll jump on the whole EA renaissance "youse so awesome" bandwagon.
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It's not likely EA's call whether or not RB2 is region free. MTV Games is the publisher.
 
Saerk said:
The picture is the ION rocker's Rockband Brain. I want it to plug my roland set into. If you look on the side you will see 1/4" mono jacks for plugging pads into. This should allow for any standard pad to be plugged into it.
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Alas, it's not quite that simple. Unlike all "real" drum brains, the ION unit doesn't have any way to adjust the parameters for different brands and types of triggers. (trigger type, sensitivity, threshold, scan timing, crosstalk cancel, etc.) The ION brain is essentially hardwired to work only with the triggers that are part of their kit. Are there triggers out there that have characteristics close enough to ION's that they will also work? Probably. Can you assume that a given Roland pad will work? No.

I'll be anxious to hear what "3rd party" triggers, if any, will work with the ION brain.
 
Saerk said:
I'm betting it will work fine in RB2. The likely problem is that the cymbal is not outputting enough of a resistance (low pressure sense) to be noticed consistently by the RB1 code. With RB2 programmed to take into account pressure sensitivity I'm thinking it will work fine with that game.
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Boy, I hope you are right, (I have the ION set on pre-order) but I suspect that you may not be. The RB1 software doesn't know or care about velocity. Therefore it is hard to imagine that it would suddenly be unable to register notes because they are "too quiet". The RB1 is just looking for an indication that the cymbal was whacked. It's the ION brain's job to listen for those whacks, and then send a signal to the console. If the ION brain is also sending velocity info, I would presume that it would just get ignored by RB1.

Unless... the ION brain "knows" that it's talking to RB1, and bizarrely decides that it will only send note-indications if they are within a certain range of volumes. The brain is deciding that gentle hits on the cymbals "don't count", and is not even telling the game about them. That seems asinine to me, since you should be able to play with any velocity you want, as long as it's able to be picked up my the brain.

No, sadly, it sounds like an actual problem to me. If I was having the same problem on my real kit, I'd suspect that the trigger settings for that channel of my brain were incorrect configured. Needs more sensitivity, or crosstalk rejection, or something. Since the ION brain doesn't have any adjustments like that, we have to hope the 'Stiq just got a bum brain, or two bum cymbals, or that they have really bad technique.

Cymbals can be replaced, and I would hope that the firmware in the brain can be updated if need be. So, there's still hope for a fix, if one is even needed.

(Again, I hope your original theory is correct. Maybe Harmonix told ION they had to cripple the set on RB1, to insure that Harmonix got their RB2 moneys.)
 
Belgand said:
With the discussion of They Might Be Giants in here I have to wonder about them. I mean, I'm a serious, massive fan. I own all the albums, most of their more recent EPs, State Songs, tons of their released mp3s, podcasts, etc. At the same time they don't always do a lot of songs that really rock in the traditional sense and I can't think that they'd really fit well into the lineup.
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I dug through my collection and found a dozen that could work, technically. Not the best list, but still.

Don't Let's Start
The Guitar
Cyclops Rock
Man, It's So Loud In Here
Snail Shell
They'll Need a Crane
I Palindrome I
She's An Angel
I Should be Allowed to Think
Hey Mr. DJ, I Thought You Said We Had a Deal
Someone Keeps Moving My Chair
The Cap'm
 
Charron said:
I dug through my collection and found a dozen that could work, technically. Not the best list, but still.

Don't Let's Start
The Guitar
Cyclops Rock
Man, It's So Loud In Here
Snail Shell
They'll Need a Crane
I Palindrome I
She's An Angel
I Should be Allowed to Think
Hey Mr. DJ, I Thought You Said We Had a Deal
Someone Keeps Moving My Chair
The Cap'm
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"Don't Let's Start" was a bit too early period and I doubt it'd work for the game. I mean, great song and all, but I'm thinking that we'll have to go for stuff with more of the full band sound.

"The Guitar" is a great song. A personal favorite and I'm always a sucker for a great little bass riff. However, it seems a bit too repetitive and loose to make the best track. I mean, I love listening to it, but do I want to pay $2 for it? Probably not. Keep in mind, however, that for me $2 is still enough money that I need to think "Do I really want this?".

"Cyclops Rock" is good. I could see it working. It also has "rock" in the title. Rock Band needs more songs with "rock" in the title or that are explicitly about rock and/or rocking. ROCK!

"Man It's So Loud In Here" might get screwed up for vocals because of the effects. Wanna bet that they'll try to make you sing something completely crazy because of that? It's also much too dancey and electronic with a melody on the keyboard that won't translate well.

"Snail Shell" is good. I could see that. Not my first choice, but it would work admirably.

"They'll Need A Crane" is the same thing.

Ok, I'm getting a bit tired of doing the rest of this individually, but I'll say that "Someone Keeps Moving My Chair" is a pretty poor song to begin with. Maybe it's just because I dislike the chorus because now that I think about it I don't dislike it. It's certainly not "Sapphire Bullets of Pure Love" or "Road Movie to Berlin".

Some good choices, but I'm also just not sold that TMBG are the right band for the game despite my deep, deep love for Them.

Ultimately I think some of the stuff that works best for these games are 70s rock anthems, 80s power pop and cheesy overblown hair metal. Some hard rock if done well. Stuff that is deeply and truly about rocking out in the most generically awesome sort of way. The Boston pack got this perfect. "Talk Dirty To Me" got this perfectly. The Ramones were fucking masters of this kind of thing as are AC/DC. The kind of music that can just be described as "Rock". I love other stuff in the games, but ultimately this feels like the purest distillation of what the games are about.

Going from that mentality Springsteen has some great songs that would work perfectly for the game. Probably unwilling to license them. I mean, "Born to Run" would be awesome. Not so certain that the album would entirely work due to some of the slower songs, but I wouldn't fault them for trying. Born in the USA, however, might be an amazing full album. I haven't listened to it in a long time.
 
Yea, you can tell I was stretching to get to 12 by the end. :P

Don't Let's Start, I'll defend by saying it's one of the few early songs that actually had some bass.

Man It's So Loud In Here would be like a Freezepop song, probably, but it has Everlong/RttH drums which drew my ear.

I think I Palindrome I is the best choice of those you hopped over. She's An Angel gives the ballad angle, but the others, yea, don't really care if they happen or not.

Point remains, TMBG needs some representation in my opinion.
 
TheGreatDave said:
I really hope they come up with some solution for RTTH style songs where red is basical a cymbal though. I know I'm LTTP on this, but still.
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Oh, god... this again? Just program the game so that if cymbals are connected, hi-hat is always mapped to yellow, ride is always on blue, crash is always on green. Again, I'm certain that Harmonix failed hard here on a core game play issue.
If they were really on top of things, they'd make the jewels look slightly different for stuff that's supposed to be a cymbal hit. (but let you hit either one for full score) It would be a little harder than the first fix, but nothing too taxing. Again, no way they did it.
 
since we have an official "guy" in here, I want to ask about "The Slip". The masters are out there and readily available - plus I figure Trent is a huge fan of the game - so how hard would it be to take said masters and put the album in the game?
 
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