#gespenst dancelog

[callgespenst]

The Latest:

- Cleared New Millenium BSP. It uh, wasn’t great, I only got through because the Flare Gauge turned off after so many tries. But it’s still a win! Now I get to challenge Hou.

- A few more AAA rankings on different songs. Most notably, my first PFC ever, on Bloody Tears DSP.

- The local machine is finally back online, even if it’s still A20+ instead of A3, there’s so much only available with an e-amuse.

- First 14 clear on Poseidon (kors k mix) (ESP). Not an inspiring clear there either but, it’s good to know it’s within the realm of possibility.

- Got like 2/3 of the way through Aether DSP when I tried it. Definitely need to continue to improve my stamina to pull that off, but not bad for a first attempt.

- Found a possible new favorite 13 with that one idol sentai song that I don’t actually know the name of.

- Next R1 trip is in a week and that’ll probably be an all day affair. Hoping I can make the most out of it, I’ll need to be prepared.

[callgespenst]

september '24 update

I have cleared two! 15s now. Air Heroes ESP and Valkyrie Dimension DSP. I think the former was the harder one. Valkyrie Dimension isn't too bad if you're familiar with the song's gimmicks from lower difficulties (which I am, I've played the 9 and the 13 quite a bit each).

I am just shy of having a full combo on Last Card DSP. I either mess up during the middle slowdown or at the very end, but not usually both. One or two more tries and I think I should have it.

I've become a lot more comfortable with speed modifiers! I used to keep x2 on at more or less all times. Now, for some higher difficulty songs, I'll bump it up to x2 or x3 if need be. My maximum read speed appears to be 450 BPM, which I definitely want to improve upon. I think I'll aim for 600, above that is (hopefully) overkill.

My stamina continues to improve, I can do a full set of 13s and maybe even 14s all in a row. I need to try a few more 14s, I think, I tend to mostly do 13s and then skip to a 15 to wrap up the set.

Another FC I got just recently was on Hoshikuzu no Yohate DSP, which is a top favorite. I always mess up towards the very end, so I was fairly over the moon to get that one, even if I got a Good or two in the process.

We leave for Japan in...just over a month now? Yeesh. Well, I've got the arcade I want to go to picked out, and there's a few bath houses near it so I don't have to take the bus back to our hotel while I'm a sweaty gaijin mess. Hoping to get a domestic R1 trip in before that and update some of my scores.

[callgespenst]

It's apparently only been just under two months since I last updated the Dancelog but it feels like it's been way longer.

I now have three 11 AAAs! Air Heroes, Night of Nights, and 打打打打打打打打打打. That last one I got just yesterday and I'm particularly proud of it because there's a decent number of quarter arrows in there.

I haven't managed to clear a 15 yet but I also haven't tried again recently. I should give it another shot next time I play. My main focus lately has been to keep to the 11s-13s and find ones I like that are Chaos heavy. Plus a lot of Ghost Kingdom ESP and AM-3P Chaos Special once I get up to the 14s. The hope is to get better at accurately hitting anything that's not regular on beat or half notes. My stamina's continuing to improve, my combos are getting better, but I'm getting way too many Goods on higher difficulty songs.

I can't do it consistently but I've FC'd び DSP twice now. I think I want to make that my first 12 AAA so I can never have to play it ever again. It's catchy in a way that makes me feel like it should be played in prisoner of war camps.

I did get to try DDR WORLD last month. Don't know the next time I'm getting out to an R1 and I hope they make some adjustments between now and then. It's not bad, but definitely feels like it lacks polish.

Anyway I definitely really want to step up my game, burying the lede a little here, but we're going to Japan in three months! Still have my goals I want to hit by then. Feels achievable if I keep practicing at least twice a week.

[callgespenst]

dance, chance, romance

I cleared Eon Break DSP for the first time yesterday! It was, pretty close, I'm still kind of in disbelief I pulled it off. I had two misses before the speedup and picked up one more shortly after, and I got through the entire last segment with no further misses. My accuracy definitely dropped (I had like, a 200:30 ratio of Fast to Slow hits) but I can do it better next time!

I cleared AETHER DSP about a month ago, which is probably my hardest clear to date. Feel almost too intimidated to try it again, tbh, if I can't clear it on a second goaround I don't know if I could take that.

I've gotten pretty close on clearing Possession DSP and made strides on Bitter Chocolate Striker ESP. Problem is, by the time I get up to the point in my routine where I'm like yeah! I'm warmed up enough for this now! I'm like, too warmed up, and I'm actually pretty exhausted and should probably start cooling down instead.

I've cleared a few other 14s (RPG, Sakura Sunrise, Ghost Kingdom, Iron Heart, AM-3P Chaos, maybe one or two more I'm forgetting). I should probably try a 15 again soon, I feel like I could probably clear one of the less difficult ones now.

My stamina has definitely improved and I can go longer and play harder songs now! But I also get, so much sweatier now. It's genuinely gross. You'd think that would have gotten better too.

[callgespenst]

Possibly some tmi in here:

- I keep getting closer on ÆTHER DSP. Last I tried I think I was maybe fifteen seconds from the end of the song. Next time for sure, just want to be certain I’m not already overextended by the time I’m warmed up enough to try.

- I’ve hit the point where most 11s/12s are more fun than they are challenging. It’s no longer that I have to gear up for something hard, but that I can readily enjoy a new stepchart for a song I already like. For songs I’ve never played though, I still tend to try the 8/9/10 first if that’s an option.

- I need to get more comfortable letting go of the bar if I need to. I’m decent with crossovers but there’s some freeze-heavy segments I’ve run into recently that need full 360 spins.

- I’ve definitely gotten more comfortable with stream-heavy segments. And I can more frequently keep my accuracy up during them too.

- I’ve started wearing tank tops out dancing which, feels a little weird still. I try not to show my shoulders if I can help it because I have an /awful/ farmer’s tan. But I think they’ve been working for me so far. Ended up shaving my armpits yesterday, never done that before, but it was definitely necessary.

Got another R1 trip this weekend! Hoping to get some good scores registered, but it’ll be in the evening after a party so who knows how I’ll feel.

[callgespenst]

The Latest:

- I’ve gotten to the point where I can get high AAs/solid AAAs on sightreads for most 6-8s and even some 9s and 10s. Which probably means I should focus on those less and start really working on stamina with 10s-12s and get more 13s in.

- I’ve gotten two (2) Perfect Full Combos now. One on Bloody Tears DSP, one on Zephyranthes BSP. Which, again, if I can pull that off on a 6/7, it’s probably time to start pushing the bar.

- I definitely lost some steam after having to take a few weeks off. I had a bad cold and also a minor surgery that prevented me from doing much of anything for a while. I could literally feel my legs ache from disuse while I sat on the couch, that was a first.

- Cleared Healing Vision Angelic Mix ESP for the first time the other day. That’s one I always thought was just downright impossible in my youth. Definitely want to keep that in the rotation, it’s very stream heavy and will be good practice for the even harder stuff down the road.

- I haven’t cleared ÆTHER DSP yet but I’m getting closer. I’m going to R1 tomorrow so I’m hoping to give it another try. I can get past the part where it speeds back up, but it gets noticeably harder at that point.

That’s all the major updates for now. Hope I have a 15 in me in the near future.

[callgespenst]

more dancing

Went to the local(ish) R1 yesterday and got to play online for the first time in weeks.

New AAA rankings on Roppongi Evolved (Beginner, 6), Toy Boxer (Basic, 9), and 宇宙(ソラ)への片道切符 (Difficult, 10). Feel like there might have even been another one I'm forgetting.

Got previous offline AAA on Zephyranthes (Basic, 7) on my official A3 record. Was unable to quite pull off Sterling Silver (Difficult, 10), kept getting 985k-ish.

Cleared No. 13 (Expert, 13) for the first time online. New 13 clear for Gradiusic Cyber (Expert).

Cleared out a lot of B scores from when I started playing in the arcade, getting them up to A/AA/AAA.

Tried Eon Break (Difficult, 13) for the first time. Got up to the speed boost before I failed!

Cleared come to m1dy (Basic, 11) on Flare Gauge II. Got a full combo with a 949k score. The only Babylon's Galaxy song left to clear on Basic is New Millenium but, that one's a doozy.

Anyway, wow, I am so exhausted after all that (and a whole lot more that's not as noteworthy). The local A20 cab should be back online by the middle of this next week so I'm excited for that.

[callgespenst]

I've mentioned it before but I've been playing a lot of Dance Dance Revolution lately. I started going to the local arcade to play once or twice a week in early May, and I've already noticed some pretty substantial improvement! I figure I'll start keeping track of notable progress here.

A brief recap of what I can recall of the last few months:

May: I had heard about the local DDR crew from one or two friends and finally gave in and checked it out. I did not do very well at all that first outing (my shoes weren't particularly good for it, I wasn't dressed for it either, and my accuracy was /wildly/ off on the arcade machines. I got a B full combo on one song with mostly Greats/Goods). But I met some of the lads and had fun and got myself an E-Amuse card, which I always thought would be harder to obtain.

After that, I immediately went to the store, bought myself some better dancing shoes and the largest water bottle I could find at Target. And at that point, I really had to keep going, sunk cost and everything.

Summer: It took a few sessions, but I adjusted myself to the arcade machine timing and started hitting a lot more accurately. Keeping to 8s and 9s. I'd alternate between going on half price Wednesdays, and Thursday evenings when my wife was at her Japanese classes.

Fall: Went to the big local tournament at a Round1 two hours away. Didn't compete, but I met some new people and still had a good time. I feel like the start of fall was when the group started going to Round1 more in general (there's one just about an hour west) because R1 locations got the A3 upgrade and D&Bs, did not, for reasons that would take too long to get into here.

Winter: Being a dedicated rhythm gamer, on one of the rhythm games designed to get you real sweaty, is truly awful when it's cold out. This is largely because arcades are not designed to be workout facilities. You gotta go in there in warm clothes, get changed in the arcade bathroom, go do your sets, and then leave a sweaty mess and drive all the way home to shower. The first instant when you walk outside into the cold air is a truly rejuvenating sensation, which is cancelled out by the next five minutes of perspiration frozen all over while you wait for the car to warm up. And it hasn't even been a particularly intense winter thus far.

Current Status: I've cleared five (5) songs at a 13 difficulty. No. 13 (Expert), Burnin' Heat 3-Option Mix (Expert), Xenon (Expert), Leading Cyber (Expert), and today I cleared Legend of MAXX (Difficult). None of these were particularly inspiring clears (that last one, I flubbed the whole last jump sequence, and just barely skirted through), but it's still leagues better than I was performing just a few months ago.

I also have five (5) charts I've cleared on AAA difficulty. Bloody Tears IIDX (Difficult, 6), Dazzlin' Darlin' Remix (Difficult, 8), Sparkle Dreams (Basic, 8, Sightread), Sterling Silver (Difficult, 10), and Zephyranthes (Basic, 7, Sightread). Those last two I just did for the first time today! And I got my best clear on Dazzlin' Darlin' yet (996k, only two greats).

Present Goals: The hope is to go to Japan at some point later this year. By that time, I want to get to a point where I can play at an arcade abroad and feel semi-competent about it. The plan is to get myself to a point where I can at least AA clear: Bitter Chocolate Striker (Expert, 14), Possession (Difficult, 14), and Eon Break (Difficult, 13, but at present, this song is only available on LIFE4, which adds a degree of challenge).

The Path Forward: My footwork has definitely improved substantially, when I started out I'd get awful pain in the arches of my feet, but I haven't really gotten that in a while. I don't think I want to go no-bar, but I might rely on the bar a little too much.

I think the most important improvement I can make at this stage is to work on my breathing. Once I really start going, I really run ragged. I used to be able to breathe properly while I exercised, I just have to relearn how to while I dance.

The other big one is definitely developing the ability to read faster stepcharts. Anything above 400, maybe 450 BPM is too much for me at present. Here I think the best way forward is to slowly amp up the modifier on songs I'm already familiar with. I'll need to be able to read at least 750 for the goals I have set.

That's the full recap so far! My next arcade trip is this coming Wednesday, but I probably won't post an update every time I go, just when I pull off something particularly noteworthy.

...also, writing this up was a great excuse to hang out on the couch for an hour and not move, because wow, I am so exhausted after that last session. My only regret is that I really want to get up and get a snack, but my legs are jelly and there's a cat snoozing next to me.