Pump It Up Pro Comments March 12, 2007
Posted by Kyle Ward in : News, Pump It Up Pro , trackbackJust to clear some information up that I’m seeing.
(Please feel free to ask me further details if you want more specification)
I understand all the concerns and let me remind you that the machine is beta. Updates are still being made. Please try the product and leave feedback.
Pump It Up Pro judgments - I understand the concern about attack play . Let me emphasize the fact that the extra “superb” window is NOT extremely tight. (like you might be familiar with from other games) IE - Not turning the game into attack based play. It does allow people to have a goal towards accuracy if they choose. In addition to this, the “bad window” has been removed from play.
Why Pump It Up Pro? - This is a branch of the Pump It Up brand. This does not have an effect on the classic Pump It Up that everyone is currently familiar with and loves. This new product line is being developed to satisfy another market.
Pump It Up Pro Music -
- There are additional licensed tracks specifically for PIUPRO.
- Some of the old favorites have made a re-appearance for this game. (some songs that were not in other versions
- Additional favorites familiar to people.
Pump It Up Pro Grading –
- The grading retains a similar and user friendly scale that people are use to. There is additional information for people who find it beneficial
- Song difficulties have been reformed into a “1-16 block” system. It relates to other versions that people may be familiar with.
- Hold grading has NOT changed: This is only an alpha of the game at this time. Hold judgments are handled in the familiar style. This is not yet implemented in the test location as of now. Please look out for this in the next few days.
- single pad/ double pad play - This is a beta configuration. The machine is able to switch between these modes like other pump it up products.
Pump It Up Pro steps –
I’ve noticed a video surfacing of a few songs. Please don’t judge step data by a few videos. There are several songs with different “styles”.
Additional information –
So far, the test location has been very happy with Pump It Up Pro. It has created a lot of interest and has received a lot of play. If you are able, please try to make it out and give feedback.. HERE is a review that I thought was very well done. http://media.rhythmatic.net/gallery/main.php?g2_itemId=4164
THIS PRODUCT IS NOT ASSOCIATED WITH ROXOR OR ITG.
Please, give the product a chance and try the game for yourself. It’s beta and things change over night. (literally)
Thanks!
K
Comments»
Okay, so were you approached by Andamiro or was your (or someone else’s) concept?
BTW, I’m fairly excited about this; it seems to have a lot of potential. It should promote PIU more in the states, which IMO is a great thing; many pump players are concerned that it will take over the original pump series and only PIU Pro cabs will be available.
I don’t think piu players should be worried about this replacing the pump it up they are used to. From what i can tell, this is just a side project. Kind of like the bemani series, which is more than just ddr. It’s also guitar freaks, drummania, beatmania, etc etc. I think this is a great thing, and I look forward to this and the future of dancing games.
I’m pretty happy that we’re getting something else aside from SuperNOVA and regular PIU, this seems to be a solid project and I look forward to seeing it grow. Keep up the good work!
BTW, I was wondering… who else is involved in this project? (I would love Chris Foy charts… :P)
Were you hired be Pump It Up? Is it you own project?
“HERE is a review that I thought was very well done.”
thanks
Well, its making more sense I guess. I mean, I can’t say anything until I play a finished product, so…
Maybe this won’t be too bad…
haha, tried to make a heart smiley but I guess it thought it was HTML. whatever
But yes, I definitely feel that people need to play the game before they write it off.
Will it be possible for both pump style holds and dance style holds to coexist? I’d think that would make things interesting, especially when it comes to using hands.
wow ^ that idea is very interesting, but very strange
which makes me wonder if rolls and mines are coming back
Yes rolls and mines are in Ward’s songs.
Rivvy he meant places putting this into their Pump It Up machines, eliminating more places to play the real game. Show me one arcade in the US (besides Disney Quest) with two Pump machines so I can choose to play NX over this.
If you insist on releasing this, at least keep in the things that make Pump good. Namely always having 3 songs+Bonus and being able to switch between Crazy and Nightmare in the same credit with no additional cost NO MATTER WHAT. Don’t tarnish the Pump It Up name with needless changes that immensely detract from the experience.
Ok Kyle, I want to say this RIGHT NOW.
I friggin LOVE YOU, everything you did was perfect, the theme is perfect ( I love your use of Forgotten Futurist, if thats the font, and the stats graphics glow of awesome
we have got quite a few different locations all over with different versions. zero, exceed 2, nx.. basically, if you dont like one go to another location. if there are none, then i guess you don’t have much choice but to do some traveling or play pro! i am pretty lucky in that there are many places around where i can play different versions of ddr, piu, and itg. Quite a few places won’t upgrade or change what they already have though so if you REALLY don’t want to give it a chance, you might not have to. Tell the arcade owners what you think if you don’t want them to put in pro, sometimes they listen.
I’ve been a piu, itg, ddr, basically dancing game player since 1999. I’m always excited to see new things and how this game has evolved. The one thing that always bothers me though, and this has happened over time, is how much the communities have become so hostile. I get bashed by itg people because I play piu and piu people because I play itg and ddr. It didn’t used to be like this. I think more people should welcome this new game moreso than bash it without trying it, and it should bring people and communities together. This reminds me of what happened when ITG first came out, and the ddr people went batshit crazy (yeah I won’t lie, I was one of them initially but then I heard anubis and queen of light! haha).
Give it a chance before you say anything bad about it. Kyle worked his ass off on this for us and all I see is negativity. It makes me sad, and this is why I don’t usually post in places. Hell I’m probably going to get bashed now, but I don’t really care.
Back to life now!
Anonymous -
this feature is available on the machine. (I suspect most machines will be set like this) You are able to switch between freestyle/nightmare/hard/crazy as much as you want. This feature is still very much present and a very COOL feature of the pump line.
Wolfman2000 -
The hold style is based on a “checkpoint tick” system like other pump products. The Alpha software does not currently reflect this; but soon will. (most likely within the week) There will not be mixed hold types available.
Rivvy -
Thanks for the comments. I’m excited to be involved in such a great product. I know that people may have immediate doubts about things, but I believe people will enjoy the final product. I welcome all feedback types.
Hey, that review you liked also commented on the lack of a 1337 accelerando. Because, you know, it is a REALLY long pause.
Also, do you think you can put in song readouts a la ItG on the selection screen? You know, with, say, the number of steps, jumps, mines, hands, and rolls? I don’t recall one of those being present, but I wasn’t paying that much attention.
Also, I think the mod menu is significantly more cumbersome than the ItG mod menu, what with having to select each mod type and THEN select the particular mod.
Still, I loved it. A lot of fun. But part of that was the company!
Request correction: make the readouts a little more obvious as to what they mean. Graphics are cool, but confusing n00bs…is…too? Wait a sec…
- Will there be pauses, stops, BPM changes, and those kinds of things?
- Is this based on StepMania?
- How much involvement do you have in programming this thing, the graphics, and all that stuff?
- Are any of the former Eye Tee Gee team besides yourself working on this?
Looks awesome though. When can we expect this thing to come out?
Matt Herson -
I will look into your suggestions. Thank you for playing, glad you had fun. Hope to see you back!
dt -
This game borrows elements from the SM engine. However, things are heavily revamped and custom to this. People seem to have worries; but please wait until you see the final product.
A new team has been specifically assembled for this project.
(THIS IS NOT RELATED TO ITG OR ROXOR GAMES IN ANYWAY)
While I realize that the test version is still early, there are a few issues I’m concerned with:
Song List. K-pop is one of the main attractions of Pump, and it saddens me to see so little of it. Are there plans to add more?
Scoring System. Does this function basically like ITG’s %? Is the scoring system that is in place pretty much final? Is the Superb window here to stay?
Mines. Why? =( This is something I definitely think should stay exclusive to ITG.
Speed Mods. C200 and C400 seem kind of…slow. Maybe C450 and C600?
What worries me is how easy is it to upgrade the game from an GX Exceed 2 cab? And how much will it cost? Where is the pre-order information?
And why isn’t Vertex^2 on this? I could think of some stupid hard chart to make for this =).
Will we have R21? More importantly, can we use USB drives for this for saving our data?
I know this is a comment/feedback place, but I thought this would be a good place to get my answers.
SGX -
Song List. K-pop is one of the main attractions of Pump, and it saddens me to see so little of it. Are there plans to add more?
This is the initial song list for Pump It Up Pro, things could change more in the future. This will depend on feedback and specific requests. If there is demand, steps will be taken. (no pun intended)
Scoring System. Does this function basically like ITG’s %? Is the scoring system that is in place pretty much final? Is the Superb window here to stay?
Classic Pump players will be familiar with the grading tiers. (they are very similar here as well –> F-S). The percentage takes place of the big score so that attack players have something to judge their performance on as well. Non-attack players should not be harmed by this. The superb window should not harm scoring concerns for common play, this is still beta and anything can happen based on play feedback.
Mines. Why? =( This is something I definitely think should stay exclusive to ITG.
These are innovative concepts that are be introduced slowly. Will they be present in a lot of charts? Not likely. There are very many songs that don’t have mines/rolls or other gimmicks. Classic players should be able to avoid these easily.
Speed Mods. C200 and C400 seem kind of…slow. Maybe C450 and C600?
The speed mods have been “Pumped up” for PIU Pro. Players will likely notice the speed difference immediately. This should be an easy adjustment for players. (Yes, scroll speed can be slow also.)
Sigma -
More information is coming. Hang tight!
USB support has been planned for allowing special features exclusively for Pump It Up Pro. More information coming soon.
Also, the core interface has some new features that all players should find very appealing.
I really hope Norway gets a machine, we have like 2 ITG dedicabs 3, ITG2 upgrades, 2 PIU machines (dunno version), 5 DDR extreme machines, and 50-60 Dancing stage EM2 machines
I’ve got a few things
Pad Related Entry. Many Pump players are very fond of this system, and have major distaste for walking up to the machine. Other players prefer to use buttons on the front of the machine. It would be great if there was a system so you could choose to use either method. Enter by stepping on center panel twice, or by pressing the button. An option to enable foot-navigation afterward through a step-code, and to disable it with a button combination. Could panel combinations still do basic modifiers outside of the mod-screen?
Midgame 2nd Player Start. It would be great to see this feature retained - letting players join in after the first player has begun song selection. More options for players, and more money for owners!
Multi-Cab synch: Mostly tournament (and doubles at that) related - allow multiple machines to synchronize when the same song is chosen at nearly the same time. That would have been really useful at wpf2006.
Lifebar/Stage Break: Due to the difficulty of many charts, this is of major concern. There are several stepcharts currently existing in pump it up that with stage break on, by world class players, cannot be passed. Dignity NM (note wpf05), Liadz2 CZ (less so)/NM (definitely). The guy who won $30,000 at wpf06 would have stage broke out of Canon D NM in the winning performance, and its not the hardest song. How does PPro handle this?
Scoring/Grading: Pump has generally rewarded Combo (step-accuracy) much more than timing-accuracy. In one sentence, pump scoring is: 2*perfs, 1*greats, -1*misses, and when your combo is over 50 you get an extra perfect every step, meaning that a well isolated miss costs 100 greats. All pump players agree that system is not optimal. Still, the concept that missing two steps separated from each other means youre having more trouble with the song than if you miss two consecutive steps. Will there be a combo-related aspect to the scoring?
Remix’s: Theyre about a song and a half long - if they take two songs, thats a gyp! Right? Maybe work like Special Station in NX?
Extra Stage: Will this exist at all? Be based upon ‘all grades of at least XX’? Approximately what kind of accuracy does that require?
More Difficulties: I saw another singles difficulty - some songs really need something between the HD and CZ charts! (canon anyone?) Will there be another doubles difficulty between FS and NM? Will the existing difficulties retain their classic feel?
Alexander Olson -
I’ve got a few things
Pad Related Entry. Many Pump players are very fond of this system, and have major distaste for walking up to the machine. Other players prefer to use buttons on the front of the machine. It would be great if there was a system so you could choose to use either method. Enter by stepping on center panel twice, or by pressing the button. An option to enable foot-navigation afterward through a step-code, and to disable it with a button combination. Could panel combinations still do basic modifiers outside of the mod-screen?
I will look into this possibility. However, one of the key features around Pump It Up Pro is based on this user Interface involving the buttons. (it’s one of the main differences between the Pro line and the original line.) We can certainly look into this further and see about demand from players/playtests.
Midgame 2nd Player Start. It would be great to see this feature retained - letting players join in after the first player has begun song selection. More options for players, and more money for owners!
You’ll be happy to know this already part of the beta as we speak. There are advancements even being made that are regarding this concept.
Multi-Cab synch: Mostly tournament (and doubles at that) related - allow multiple machines to synchronize when the same song is chosen at nearly the same time. That would have been really useful at wpf2006.
I agree, this is also something that I see value in also. If not possible by the first version, I hope that that this can be supported. I hope that it’s supported in PIU as well as PIU PRO.
Lifebar/Stage Break: Due to the difficulty of many charts, this is of major concern. There are several stepcharts currently existing in pump it up that with stage break on, by world class players, cannot be passed. Dignity NM (note wpf05), Liadz2 CZ (less so)/NM (definitely). The guy who won $30,000 at wpf06 would have stage broke out of Canon D NM in the winning performance, and its not the hardest song. How does PPro handle this?
PIU Pro does not currently have settings for “stage break”. The current default setting is the “standard” (which also helps solve confusion by different machine configurations) This default behavior is “Fail at end of song” Even if the player fails, they are able to continue playing the song. Details are still being finalized.
(There are revamped settings for lifebar sensitivity, that will also help this solution)
Scoring/Grading: Pump has generally rewarded Combo (step-accuracy) much more than timing-accuracy. In one sentence, pump scoring is: 2*perfs, 1*greats, -1*misses, and when your combo is over 50 you get an extra perfect every step, meaning that a well isolated miss costs 100 greats. All pump players agree that system is not optimal. Still, the concept that missing two steps separated from each other means youre having more trouble with the song than if you miss two consecutive steps. Will there be a combo-related aspect to the scoring?
Scoring details are still being finalized for PIU PRO. The current plan is to have the current familiar “S” standard for not missing combo. (this isn’t related to judgment accuracy) A new grade will be available above that tier for the players who are attacking and/or have accuracy concerns. This will most likely be the SS tier.
Remix’s: Theyre about a song and a half long - if they take two songs, thats a gyp! Right? Maybe work like Special Station in NX?
Remixes and/or longer song version will be available in the same songlist,; costing another stage. (not a different mode separating available music to play.)
Extra Stage: Will this exist at all? Be based upon ‘all grades of at least XX’? Approximately what kind of accuracy does that require?
This is still to be determined for Pump It Up Pro. (unknown at this time) There are several factors that will be considered.
More Difficulties: I saw another singles difficulty - some songs really need something between the HD and CZ charts! (canon anyone?) Will there be another doubles difficulty between FS and NM? Will the existing difficulties retain their classic feel?
Pump It Up Pro has an additional “easy” difficulty for new players. This difficulty does not have any of the speed changes/pauses that the others do. This has been very successful at the current test location. All songs in the list have Easy / Normal / Hard / Crazy.
This first version will have 2 styles available for both pads. (Freestyle and Nightmare) These difficulties & availability differ from song to song.
I live about a 6 hour combined ferry ride/drive away, so I’m seriously giving this some thought. You know what would be neat? If you could bring the beta test machine to a big scale event like Sakura con, I’m sure they would be very very happy to accomodate, and it would get your machine a crazy amount of exposure to the right kind of crowd. Just a thought, anyway.
Something I posted on AIJ:
“A few reasons I didn’t like PIU:
- The old big screens weren’t very easy to read from (I think they fixed this in newer releases?)
- The timing window (at least used to be) lax
- Song selection was so-so
- The bloody arrows were different colours depending on which arrow, not based on timing. (Besides, I normally play flat or robot, so it’s quite annoying)
- User interface is just annoying and counter-intuitive
- I suck at crossing over (Not as much as I used to anymore)
This is all speaking from relatively limited PIU experience, of course.
It looks like PIU Pro addresses some of these issues, though, and I’m actually vaguely close to the test location, well, a LOT closer than most people, so I’m considering checking it out.”
(Source: http://www.aaronin.jp/boards/viewtopic.php?t=3109&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0 )
I’m willing to give this a chance, don’t worry too much about all the whiners, they’ll eventually want to give it a try. Honestly, I think some of the “superficial” things that I’ve mentioned are really big things that turn people off Pump, ESPECIALLY beginners. As far as I can see you’ve addressed at least some of these with this release.
First off I want to say that I embrace the button input system. It is a feature that I really felt would make pump better, so I’m glad that it’s in. My only question concerns the songs: about how many of your songs are in this game? 10, 20? I think the more the better :O.
I’m looking forward to this, Kyle. I do hope it’s not too hard to convert current Pump machines to this version, though. I have an NX machine, with the MK6 box — when this releases, do you think I’d have to buy a whole new hard drive/box, or could just replace a CD or something? The former is generally a lot more expensive and difficult than the latter.
How long will beta testing be continuing and when do you expect this to be released? Ive already discussed this at work and we had originally planned on getting a new NX machine to complement the Dedicated ITG machine but this would please customers MUCH more. Any estimated prices too?
- The old big screens weren’t very easy to read from (I think they fixed this in newer releases?)
They aren’t hard to read. And if you’d open your eyes, you’d see there are several different models of pump it up machines, with varying screen sizes and types.
- The timing window (at least used to be) lax
The game is about full combo’ing songs and having fun. Not stressing out over getting one too many excellents.
- Song selection was so-so
You mean very professional level in house music and licenses of some of the most popular songs in the history of Korean music (which by the way is where pump it up is made and is initially targeted toward).
- The bloody arrows were different colours depending on which arrow, not based on timing. (Besides, I normally play flat or robot, so it’s quite annoying)
The game had speed mods in it’s first version, way before any other dance game. There are no “1x players”. Once you speed the arrows up, the noteskin is irrelevant.
- User interface is just annoying and counter-intuitive
Sorry you can’t figure it out when generations of Korean players could access it no problem, thus causing them to leave it the way so many had already learned it by the time it was released in the US.
- I suck at crossing over (Not as much as I used to anymore)
This is somehow a problem with the game? Boy you’re dumb.
“This is the initial song list for Pump It Up Pro, things could change more in the future. This will depend on feedback and specific requests. If there is demand, steps will be taken. (no pun intended)
Well, I’d love to see Nina and Digital Explosion make an appearance in the game, and I think alot of people are with me on this one, so there you go, a specific request.
I feel obligated to second that request. Reflection Theory would be nice, too. However, if I recall correctly, some/many of the ItG song artists were licensed through RoXoR, which is not affiliated with PIU Pro. Onyx (”Stop & Go”) and Affinity (”Monolith”) might have been more personal contacts of Kyle’s.
The one big thing that I want to know is, will different difficulties be able to have differently scripted BPM changes/pauses? PIU allows this; SM/ITG/DDR do not.
I emailed ya Kyle, but i might as well ask a few things on here too for the sake of discussion
Any plans to add true PIU revivals in PIU Pro? I would think it would distinguish this version from everything since exceed. I’m talking about songs from kim gun mo and taiji boys….stuff from Premiere 2 and before…some of those songs havent been on a version since, and they are good songs. Csikos post, vook, xtreme, and others are nice, but they are ALWAYS together in EVERY mix since their release
make room for new (old) music 
Swing Baby anyone?
i also agree about the stage break issue…some songs are just too hard for even the best of players to keep from dipping low enough to fail…in the standard PIU series, if stage break was off, you could have an empty bar, but build it back up over time and still get a D or even a B…as of now, sure you can still finish the song but if it’s your first song you just wasted money
also, the sakura-con thing…i think it would be pretty neat if you could have it there, but big al’s is probably the only machine of that that works eh? I’m sure tons of people would play it there though.
i also hope you are workin on double songs only counting as one song
i think you said you were but i can’t remember :/
and yea im in the area to play this frequently so i can check out the updates.
thanks
Alright Kyle, I love what you are doing with this game. I really can’t wait to see this game come out and be able to play it. There is one thing that I will complain about. The name. Having the name be Pump It Up Pro makes it sounds almost like a PS2 or Xbox port of PIU. In my opinion (and the opinion of others), the name should be Step Evolution. This way you would have your own new franchise. Since Pump It Up is certainly the game type, you could have it say Pump It Up in little lettering just like on Andamiros ITG2’s. I know that this is not a continuation of the PIU franchise so I think that this deserves its own franchise title. Asking my friends to see if they want to play some StepEvolution or something like that sounds more appealing that having to say Pump It Up Pro. Arcade managers may get confused on this having being told the latest PIU is NX but Pro could be confused with it. I may just be picky but I really think the game deserves its own title.
Thank you for taking the time to make this great game and reading our comments to make this game the best experience possible,
Nick
- Can we expect the game to be released in 2007?
- Also, the name “Pro” seems kinda intimidating to newer players and people who haven’t played Pump It Up in the past. Sure, it is not necessarily only for advanced players but the title makes it seem that way. Is this title finalized or can it be changed?
anonymous -
Please try to be constructive with your posts. (Please don’t talk down to other users) Your opinions are just as valid, so I’m not interfering.
Jared -
The one big thing that I want to know is, will different difficulties be able to have differently scripted BPM changes/pauses? PIU allows this; SM/ITG/DDR do not.
Yes, I’m aware of this behavior. Currently, the easy difficulty does not reflect any BPM changes/Pauses, but other difficulties do. This behavior has also been a topic of internal discussion. (As you know, the engine doesn’t support, but it doesn’t mean that it can’t easily) As of right now, the belief on the matter is “keep changes constant to avoid confusion” This might be something specific to PIU Pro versus traditional Pump It Up. Currently, the plan is for “consistent behavior” among step types. (Again, not because of the engine, because we feel it’s an improvement for PIU Pro)
Ryan -
I will look into this further.
In the case of keeping BPM changes across difficulties, won’t certain PIU charts have to be modified? Some songs have BPM changes in certain difficulties, that, when applied to other difficulties, would really mess it up.
Hamm -
Indeed, the timing is slightly different. These changes are already present at the test location.
sorry for reposting this but:
Alright Kyle, I love what you are doing with this game. I really can’t wait to see this game come out and be able to play it. There is one thing that I will complain about. The name. Having the name be Pump It Up Pro makes it sounds almost like a PS2 or Xbox port of PIU. In my opinion (and the opinion of others), the name should be Step Evolution. This way you would have your own new franchise. Since Pump It Up is certainly the game type, you could have it say Pump It Up in little lettering just like on Andamiros ITG2’s. I know that this is not a continuation of the PIU franchise so I think that this deserves its own franchise title. Asking my friends to see if they want to play some StepEvolution or something like that sounds more appealing that having to say Pump It Up Pro. Arcade managers may get confused on this having being told the latest PIU is NX but Pro could be confused with it. I may just be picky but I really think the game deserves its own title.
Thank you for taking the time to make this great game and reading our comments to make this game the best experience possible,
Nick
Hey Kyle, I have a couple questions that I hope you can answer:
1.) How does the difficulty ranking sync up to regular PIU? Since PRO only goes to 16, and PIU goes to 21/??.
2.) Console Release? Has Andamiro planned something like this? I really want to know this because that’s probably the only way I’ll get to play PIU Pro regularly (all arcades around me suck and have crappy management), and honestly, this looks better than DDR, ITG, and original PIU. This is looking incredible. PS2 plz. Or PC.
3.) Are there rolls? I don’t like them too much, but just wondering.
Is Machinae Supremacy going to be in Pro like they were in ITG? I think that would make the game complete, plus they wouldn’t charge much (if anything at all) for their songs to be in the game I’m sure, but you’d already know that. ;D
Hi Kyle,
I’m a Pump player that got a bit concerned when I heard about Pump Pro. After reading pages and pages of forum discussion, I think one of the biggest concerns is how arcade managers will react to another PIU. Many people have said it should have its own name, and that wouldn’t be a bad idea either.
I’ve never played ITG, I’ve only heard the songs. I’m strictly a freestyler and that’s why ITG never appealed to me. One of the mainstays of freestyling in Pump is K-pop. If Pump Pro was going to replace the existing pump machines, I hope there’s still room for K-pop and freestyling. Even better would be if K-pop songs that were discontinued in older mixes were brought back. This, along with good freestyle stepcharts to accompany them, would give Pump Pro my support. I understand its probably not your target demographic, but the music in Pump (specifically K-pop) is the only reason I play a dance game at all.
P.S. If you brought back some K-pop from DDR 3rd mix, I would definitely look forward to seeing Pump Pro.
Thanks.
Do you consider including a USB port, so players can play edit stepcharts, or even play their own songs on the machine? Like on the ITG2 cabinet. (If yes, a PC version it would be certainly necessary)
Is The Game Actually From The Piu Corperation Or Just Branched Off It? And Will It Be Alot Simalier? I Mean The Piu Setup Is Pretty Basic Any Other Changes Would Be Sad.. But There Are Some Suggestions U Guys Could Fill! : )
Regarding the stagebreak issue, this is kind of a tough call. Many pump players are used to it and would do much worse with it off, but then there are people (like me) who play on stagebreak-on machines and prefer them. I dunno, it’s just much more exciting and you definitely become a better player faster if stagebreak is on. Regardless, the first stage is stagebreak-off by default so you can still play a difficult song in your rotation.
You should definitely keep the 1st song thing, and either way keep it as it is in PIU. Let the operator choose between stagebreak on or off, fail at end of song is kind of an interesting compromise, but maybe that should also be a 3rd option or something. I dunno…
Anyway, you mentioned before that “this feature is available on the machine. (I suspect most machines will be set like this)” when talking about doubles. FOR THE LOVE OF GOD DO NOT MAKE THIS A FEATURE. Make it locked to have doubles premium and switching during the same credit. NM is integral to PIU (far more than DDR/ITG) and many NM players don’t even touch CZ anymore (myself included). If there’s any chance that we’ll have to pay double the price to play NM, no matter how small this chance is, it’s disastrous. Please, make this feature locked in and unchangeable.
even though i only got a 5 word response…i feel loved, lmao
which part are you able to do anything about i wonder :O
I’m extremely concerned about the possibility of ever paying two credits for double. This should never have been an option in the first place, and just because DDR set the precedent doesn’t make it any more logical. The only argument against having this “feature” locked is it keeps the lines moving and ensure two players are playing at all times. Unfortunately, whether two credit double is enabled or not, its ultimately up to players to exercise arcade etiquette. I can’t imagine turning double for one credit off would even boost arcade profits either, because despite shorter lines, players would lose interest in the game nearly twice as fast, and longtime Pump players wouldn’t even touch the game (since nightmare is the focus of most serious players).
Thank you all for your comments. (I have read them all) Due to the volume, I’m unable to respond to people individually. Thank you for your comments/messages and your emails. I’ll be sure to forward them and help present them.
Keep your comments coming!
K
Dear God… the series I STARTED on, Pump It Up, is getting the Kyle Ward music treatment. YES! *totally psyched*
I can’t wait to get a machine closer to me (I live in Texas). Washington seems a bit far, eh? XD
Hey Kyle,
I know this is a tad off topic, but will Virtual Emotion and your other new songs be released to the public?
Have a great day! (b^.^)b
Are there any unlock codes? Eg. as good ending, Xuxa unlock or jokes like:
I have a question.
Since the team is going ahead and trying to emulate PIU style holds in the SM engine…. are there any plans to bring over the Exceed 2 Battle Station as well? It was really the best way to battle another player and allowed control over the battle as opposed to the current SM battle mode which just shoots off mods but not by the players choice.
Also is the songlist final? The songlist so far looks a bit too much like NX - some songs + some other songs…. in other words not too different in change… any plans to bring songs from the PREX2 era back?
Oh and about classic noteskins… videos are not clear so I have to ask this… are classic noteskins like classic noteskins in PIU? Or does the classic noteskin refer to the noteskin introduced in Pump it Up Premiere which is light blue/light red bright yellow instead of the really old ones from Extra mix and older?
totally forgot this too… I don’t know if this has been addressed or not :
Seperate BPM changes for each mode… is it being worked on? Songs like Arch of Darkness, I’ll Give You All My Love, and Solitary 2 have seperate changes on each mode… will PIU PRO have seperate BPM changes for each mode like other PIU mixes?
After playing last night… Finally, a playable PIU. Coloring steps based on timing! (No, speed mods don’t make that unnecessary. Speed mods are for making steps not overlap. Coloring notes based on timing is for giving a *direct* correlation between a note in isolation and where it fits musically.) A user interface that’s not based on memorizing sequences of steps to activate features!
I’m a *big* fan of this. I hope it proceeds.
Marcel Randle -
PIU Pro’s easy difficulty currently does not change with BPM’s or stops of other difficulties. All other difficulties are currently locked to each other. This timing might appear slightly different from other versions. (We are aware this is different behavior, we are still testing based on feedback)
C_weaith -
Thank you for the comments. You are not alone on some of these matters. I’m happy to report the PIU Pro has been out earning other dance games currently at the test location. There have been a lot of new players that are preferring PIUPRO to the other choices available at the test location.
General comments -
The hold timing has been updated. (hold notes are now checkpoint based)
Freestyle/Nightmare are now freely chosen at the players request. (from song to song)
Step Comments -
For people wanting to give step feedback; please direct them to me via email. I would like to remind people that the steps have been composed by a team of people and not an individual person. If you have intelligent feedback (about specific songs or parts), please direct this to email and I will forward that on.
Thank you for your comments thus far.
K
There’s only one song by Inspector K on PIUPRO. WHY DO YOU DEPRIVE US SO?!?!
http://www.myspace.com/paytonspages, im sure most of you have one, if not, its a public blog page… Annyyyway. I posted some pictures of PIUP, and will have videos on the way as soon as Adobe Premier gets its head out of its arse. Enjoy for now.
http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.ListAll&friendID=9776028
Just might work for the blog, if not, sorry, gotta do it manually…
ok for seperate BPM changes is there anyway you can get SM to say have seperate SM files for each mode when under PIU play?
for example
song.sm
If you don’t want to search over all Internet then try http://www.piu-pro.com
A lot of people are asking about the song list being finalized and all, and I wanted to suggest that it would be amazing if there were any new Korean licenses in this game as well. Despite this game being catered to an American audience, the appeal for Korean music may have a “fresh” appeal to domestic fans of the genre of music, inclusive of Pump players who followed the genre after playing PIU. This includes a lot of up’n'coming Korean artists, who at this point would be a lot easier to work with than the probable expense of established Korean artists already featured on the game.
Relatedly, are there any plans for recognized American pop licenses as well (though admittedly this would be more expensive)?
Also another feature of Pump (especially NX) is the huge unlock feature, unlocking tons of extra charts, songs, remixes, etc, not just based on code but based on a player accomplishing something at the game. Will this be a feature in Pro?
Keep up the good work!
I’ve read a lot of comments from the PIU community in the US and most players that aren’t so happy about Pump Pro have come up with a solution: change the name. They are afraid that PIU will lose its identity as a unique game and that arcade owners will replace existing machines. If there’s some reason this can’t be done, please let everyone know.
Thanks again.
Yeah I personally wouldn’t want to see this replace any of the machine software around here… but I doubt they’re going to do upgrade kits… it would require drilling holes for the face button panel… I think the best thing for them to do is to have a 3rd machine at USPF with this software installed so a good portion of the PIU community can get a chance to try it and form an opinion on it before suggesting it to an arcade operator (or buying a machine and sticking it in your garage)
Before forming your guy’s opinion on this new machine i’d suggest you play it. It seems like many criticism’s are coming from people who’ve havent played it yet. It’s not a replacement or upgrade, just an innovation. The game is very entertaining and im impressed on how easy it is to learn. The beginner arrows are reasonable and the extreme stuff is insane. I would say congrats to Kyle and im coming back for more. I figure if my son can blow most of his paycheck on this thing it has to be worth playing.
The idea is sound for an alternative to Pump, but you should find a new name for it. You wouldn’t call In the Groove “Dance Dance Pro”, would you?
Since I do enjoy Pump It Up more then I do ITG/DDR series, a new game for five panel play is welcome, but use some originality please! Also I hope there are more “original” songs on there then what’s currently in beta, or this mix might not have much hope (IMO).
Yea, I agree that the game deserves a new name.
I second the new name. Another thing I’m wondering about is how rolls are going to work. If it’s still like the ITG2 rolls, then holds you only have to hit once but add multiple steps to your combo, but rolls you have to hit multiple times but only add one. Are the rolls using this checkpoint-based system as well?
Unfortunately, I don’t think he can change the name. This is because it is a Pump It Up game. Also, I’d like to inquire as to whether there is actually second beta test location now.
Matt Herson - Unfortunately, I don’t think he can change the name. This is because it is a Pump It Up game. Also, I’d like to inquire as to whether there is actually second beta test location now.
Ultimately it is Andamiro’s choice for the name isn’t it? I mean, they only made the game.
If this game ever makes its way to Canada, it may prompt me to start playing PIU! I’m really interested to see where this is going to go.
I just have 1 question!
what kind of market do u want to attract with that??
Just another pump it up player (tho having respect for other dance games) re-voicing “the name needs to be something not to be confused with the primary (’Pump it UP XXXX: The Nth International Dance Floor’) line of dance games”. If the lines have names that are easy to mix up, Arcade ops might be muddled by the choice, and modify a machine with questionable effect on the community.
Also, what alternative dance games are there in the test locations - out-earning other games is not a reasonable measure in and of itself, as seasoned dance game players are much more excited to play something new than something known. (Eg, is it being measured against a DDR Extreme, a four-five year old release, against ITG2, a two year old release, or against PIU NX, a two month old release?) This is true until its quality has been proven. In the meantime everyone’s just looking for a new game to conquer.
Also considering the point brought up in the PPro forum regarding speed mods… if the goal was to reduce/remove the need for speed mods by tweaking arrow speed, why not just have the scroll rates of every song on every difficulty optimized, with ability to modify that? My question boils down to: Arrow scroll speeds have been consistent in dance games up to this point (a comfortable ‘modified bpm’ - base bpm * speed mod will be approximately the same for players of any dance game), so why is that being changed in such a seemingly arbitrary way? (A pump player, who could pass every Pro-exclusive song, found a 118bpm song at 3x to be too fast, who would normally play at 4… 350 is too fast, when 470 is normal?)
Alexander Olson -
Good points. We are still making adjustments to the software. The scroll rate could change if this is a high demand. Thank you for this feedback
The location currently also has a Dance Dance Revolution SuperNOVA.
The name of the product is consistent to Andamiros line of 5 panel dancing games. Pump It Up Pro is a Pump It Up Product.
I can understand if Kyle decides not to implement the Split BPM system that the traditional Pump It Up games have.
However, there is something I want to bring up. It has been done before. I used to have a video of a custom SM machine that showed split BPM in action. Unfortunately, I had deleted it during a hard drive cleanup, and the person that pulled it off is not willing and/or not able to share how it was done.
For those wondering, Pump Pro is still StepMania. Almost any change that is made on one ends up in the other. That is what has happened with In The Groove. The eventual question becomes: how can Split BPM be handled on stock SM? What of writing to .dwi files on Dance Mode? It could be that it’s not yet time for Split BPM to be tackled. It could be on the next PIU Pro.
At this point, I’d be happy with what there is.
PS: Is it possible to get a percentage of the step chart authors that have actually played crazy and nightmare charts on Pump?
Do not cut or modify any part of any official Pump It Up song (I’ve already heard you took out the beginning of Chimera and changed the beginning of Love Is A Danger Zone). You’re just adding more and more reasons for actual Pump It Up players to hate this game.
I notice you managed to implement pump style long notes. Can you increase and decrease the tick count of each individual long note? Can you make it follow the music (Final Audition Episode 2-1 Hard)? Do you have to hit the note to start the hold or can you just have your foot on the arrow when it begins (yes people do this and there are many parts of songs that are made for it)?
You could most likely just code stepmania to use multiple .sm files with one for each difficulty with it’s own BPM changes, in the same way Pump It Up simulators use multiple .ksf files.
From what I’m reading there hasn’t been a single person to offer positive feedback on the changed speed mods, and I’m not going to either. Change them to how they should be.
Also rename “Classic” noteskin to “Original”.
Yeah it sounds like a list of demands but you want feedback from Pump It Up players so here ya go.
I personally think split BPM wouldn’t be that hard to implement…at all. Instead of specifying the BPM at the beginning of the .sm file (where all of the other info is), why not just have BPM/stop tags in each individual stepchart?
#NOTES:…
…
…
#BPMS:
#STOPS:
(next chart)
#NOTES:…
And so on.
WinDEU -
That sounds easy, but I’m guessing it is a nightmare.
I am very glad that PIUPRO using StepMania. Why? PIU support in StepMania will be greatly improved, therefore allowing home play. I think.
Can anyone post a picture of the machine? I would visit it myself but i’m thousands of miles away!
FUCK THE PIU PRO! ITS REPLACING OUR LOVELY NX’S WITH THAT UGLY-ASS ITG/STEPMANIA PIU-RIPOFF. You fuckin’ killed it with ur “talent” of making 5-step charts.
…needless to say, there is some hostility from the existing Pump community. Machines are already being replaced. I was hoping more that 4-panel machines would be replaced, not Pump.
It’s a little hard to replace 4 panel machines…you’d have to replace the pads too.
Now, hopefully there will be dedicated cabinets of this Pump Pro. I’m sure Zero and NX would be nice to have as well as Pro.
Release your songs! Namely Virtual Emotion!
Is this going to be the only Test location avalible? Also, is there any word on pricing, or a rough price range?
Please Kyle, change the name!!!!!
linkismyhero: I believe another machine has Pump Pro right now actually. I don’t recall where, though.
I meant “replaced” in a more global sense, meaning arcade owners would opt to buy a 5-panel rather than a 4-panel, eventually becoming the clear preference for dance game players in the US. Either way, are there going to be dedicated machines? How exactly do you “upgrade” a normal PIU machine to Pump Pro if its got those buttons? It seems kind of difficult. If a location wants to change from Pro to NX, will that be possible on a dedicated machine? More than anything, I’d like to see PIU/Andamiro rule the world, so if this is going to get owners of DDR machines add or replace the existing machine with a new 5-panel, I’m all for it…
All information at one site - http://www.piu-pro.com
There is a beta test at Speedzone somewhere in California, I think. It is a modded NX cabinet.