Six String Samurai, i.e. Guitar Hero post

[essentialsaltes]

It occurred to me that an extra level of difficulty could be squeezed out of the Guitar Hero controller. Just as you can strum a guitar without holding any frets down, GH could require you to strum without holding any fret buttons. The hardware/software picks up this information and it has a clear relevance to musical playing. The difficulty is coming up with an obvious way of showing such a note on the display - my solution would be to have an extended bar that extends across the entire virtual fretboard, like a five-button chord smeared out into a long bar reminiscent of the strum bar itself.

In tangentially related news, Brad Delp of Boston died. That's Boston as in "More Than a Feeling" Boston.

I am filled with trepidation about RB's plan for a Guitar Hero showdown between myself and MW. My main fear is that there will be a skill mismatch, and that would lead to no fun. I know that there are eight-year-olds and slices of pizza that are better Guitar Heroes than I am. So as one more thing the world doesn't really need, I suggest there should be some sort of GH ranking/handicapping scale, based on the completion of particular objectives. Other Guitar Heroes and Zeroes should feel free to propose additional levels, dispute my ordering, or just vent. The scale could help foster more equal competition (for people who like that sort of thing; me, I'm content with co-op).

(except for the specific mention of Jordan, 'songs' means just the regular setlist. Rocked means successfully played to the end.)

0 - What is Guitar Hero?
1 - I've played and rocked a few Easy songs at parties
2 - rocked roughly half the songs on Easy
3 - rocked all songs on Easy
4 - rocked roughly half the songs on Medium
5 - rocked all songs on Medium
6 - 5 starred all songs on Easy
7 - rocked roughly half the songs on Hard
8 - 5 starred all songs on Medium
9 - rocked all songs on Hard
10 - rocked roughly half the songs on Expert
11 - rocked all songs on Expert
12 - 5 starred all songs on Hard
13 - rocked "Jordan" on Expert
14 - 5 starred all songs on Expert

On this scale, I'm a 12 (it's one higher than one higher)

Most recent godlike accomplishment: 5-starring Beast and the Harlot on Expert. Yet, I still cannot 5-star Woman.

Comments

[bestepisodeever.livejournal.com]

You should play left-handed.

[talentlessclod.livejournal.com]

i'm about a seven on your rock scale. admittedly, i haven't put in the time to get better. if i did, i'm sure i could jump to a nine or ten.

i must say i'm surprised you cannot 5 star 'Woman'. that is the Danzig song right? there isn't some other hidden song i don't know about that is really hard?

[essentialsaltes.livejournal.com]

The Danzig song is "Mother", which is in the first tier along with Wolfmother's "Woman".

[popepat.livejournal.com]

Although I only just began GH2 over the weekend, I'm going to call myself a 13.5 based on GH1. I 5-starred everything but the last 2 songs in Expert. (oh, those last 2 are impossible...)

I have gotten to the point (based on my months of playing GH1 NON-freaking-stop) to where I can 5-star anything the first time I play it. Regardless of level. To make my GH2 last longer, however, I am resisting the urge to go straight to Expert.

I propose (as I did previously) that we have a GH3 party/contest where EVERYONE PROMISES to not play the game at all until the night of the contest/party.

PS. I'm drawing a blank on who MW is. I know RB of course. Remind me? Perhaps via email?

[essentialsaltes.livejournal.com]

Great heavens! You've been working at it hard. I'm sure I didn't get as far in GH1 (and I can't face going back to the sucky versions of hammer-ons).

However, I demote you to 12.5 until you at least have a look at Jordan on Expert.

The only drawback I see to waiting on GH3 is that (if the gameplay is the same) just out of the box, the songs aren't unlocked until you get to them in career mode, yes? So we'd have to either settle for 5 songs on co-op, or play the one-player career mode one song at a time to unlock things. But I'm hip to the shared voyage of discovery.

Finally, MW.

[popepat.livejournal.com]

I am duly clued in and appropriately demoted.
Egads, that is not EVEN within the realm of my already calloused GH hands.

As for the GH3 competition... the shared discovery is going to RAWK WITH A HARDON! Especially if there are Oingos and Boingos to be found.
(Damn is it going to be hard trying to resist reading any pre-game-release set lists... ugh.)

Oh right. Morgan. I think we've met, but not face to face. A heh. Heh heh heh.

(I bet there are like, 2 of us in Enigma who have even read an issue of The Question... which also rawked.)

[essentialsaltes.livejournal.com]

Your GH-foo appears to be stronger. I went back to the OG GH and I find I cannot 5-star Texas Flood. I looked to see what the score cutoff for 5 stars is, and I doubt I'll ever be able to do so: I'm about 30K points short.

How's GHII coming?

And the rumored GHII 80s is rumored to be released in June, according to rumor. I'm up for the blind playtest.

MaxiAxey

[popepat.livejournal.com]

I think our grand end-of-all-creation GH contest at MaxiCon will be more evenly matched than previously thought. I went back to GH 1 last night and it turns out I did *not* 5-star everything on Expert (and certainly not Texas Flood). Many, perhaps, but not all. I must have been thinking of Hard.

This is good news for all concerned. MaxiAxey is likely to be quite the spectacle.

Re: MaxiAxey

[essentialsaltes.livejournal.com]

MaxiAxey is likely to be quite the spectacle.

Indeedy yes.

[aaronjv.livejournal.com]

Wait, am I a 7 or an 8?

I've ALMOST hit 5-stars on all medium songs (FINALLY got a few more on GHII, only "Carry me Home" is left, plus four on GH1), but haven't TOUCHED hard level, aside from the first two songs on GHII (another button, are you mad!??)

So a 7, I guess.

Has anyone noticed that Guitar Hero songs are cropping up on the radio more often now? Or is it just me? BTW, when I have my next bday party, I demand that we play GH whenever a Headbanger's Ball video of a GH song comes on (there's about five, I think).

Don't fear the Orange Button!

[essentialsaltes.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I knew that different people (e.g. you) would go through the list of 'accomplishments' in a different order. I'll spot you at 7.98.

Is Hard really that much Harder? I seem to find that the hard-tier songs on one level are pretty similar in difficulty to the first songs on the next level.

I'm such a bad musician, I don't do much practicing at a particular level. I just push my way up the difficulty, leaving 3- and 4- stars everywhere, and when I get tired of bashing my head against something, I go back and fill in the gaps in the lower difficulties with relative ease.

(Latest accomplishment: 4-starred Psychobilly Freakout on Expert.)