I searched the whole teamliquid and only 2 of the same thread title appeared. Both were more than 2 months old so I decided to create a new thread about it.[/i]
The primary game type features the following game play: as arrows scroll upwards on the screen, they meet a normally stationary set of target arrows. When they do, the player presses the corresponding arrows on his or her keyboard or dance mat. The moving arrows meet the targets based on the beat of the song. Stepmania strongly utilizes a player's sense of rhythm in its game play. The game is scored based upon how accurately the player can trigger the arrows in time to the beat of the song. The player's efforts are awarded by letter grades and a number score that tell him/her how well they have done. An award of AAAA (quadruple A) is the highest possible award available on a standard installation and indicates that a player has triggered all arrows with "marvelous" timing (within 0.0225 seconds under official settings) and avoided all mines and completed all hold arrows. However, a patch is available that provides "ridiculous" timing (within a window of 0.01125 seconds, or half the timing of marvelous) and a top grade of AAAAA (quintuple A). An E indicates failure for a player to survive the length of the song without completely draining his/her life bar. Default scoring and grading for Stepmania is almost identical to scoring in Dance Dance Revolution; however, timing and scoring settings can easily be changed.
StepMania allows for several input options. Specialized adapters that connect console peripherals like PS2 and Xbox controllers or dance pads to one's computer can be used. Alternatively, and most popularly, the keyboard can be used to tap out the rhythms using arrow or other keys. Many song charts designed for keyboard are unable to be passed using a pad. In addition, the game possesses the capability to emulate other music games, such as Beatmania itself, o2Jam and DJMAX's 7-key arrangement, Pump It Up and Techno Motion - but scoring however, remains identical to DDR-style play, although some have found a way to change the scoring method to a Pump it Up style.
In general, it is a game played on keyboard usually involving only 4 keys.
After playing Stepmania for little over a month, I started to realise my APM rising quickly. A month ago, it averaged at 80 APM for the whole game - pretty standard for a diamond level player in StarCraft 2. Recently, when I opened my replays to analyse them, I realised my APM averaged at about 135. (Thats a whooping 55 APM increase!) This discovery lead me to find out that stepmania improves one's finger reflexes.
I don't know why, but do you do any finger exercises/ do anything else to improve your APM?
Is this gametype available on all servers? If so I'll play around with it today when I get around to it. Sounds interesting. I do think that finger exercises will improve your apm, at the end of the day it's all muscle memory and that should improve it. Thanks for sharing, guess I'll have to come back in one month to report whether it's true.
EDIT: Ahh fuuu I just read over the hole post once, figured it was a sc2 custom -.-
A micro intensive game that can help you raise your multitasking and micro managment is Emergency (prefers Emergency IV to Emergency 2012).
But really i think the best way to up your apm is playing the game. And when APM is an indicator to a skilled player. APM isn't all (look at White-RA or Lucifron (not sure about him though)).
imo stepmania is quick reaction before quick fingers.
On September 22 2011 17:23 FFW_Rude wrote: A micro intensive game that can help you raise your multitasking and micro managment is Emergency (prefers Emergency IV to Emergency 2012).
But really i think the best way to up your apm is playing the game. And when APM is an indicator to a skilled player. APM isn't all (look at White-RA or Lucifron (not sure about him though)).
imo stepmania is quick reaction before quick fingers.
And that I find baffling. I find myself hitting the control groups out of reflexes whenever the minimap shows signs of red. This seemed to come from quick reaction that I got from Stepmania.
Sure, playing the game itself will improve your APM, but it won't hurt to have a higher APM to lean back on in times of crisis, eh?
On September 22 2011 17:23 FFW_Rude wrote: A micro intensive game that can help you raise your multitasking and micro managment is Emergency (prefers Emergency IV to Emergency 2012).
But really i think the best way to up your apm is playing the game. And when APM is an indicator to a skilled player. APM isn't all (look at White-RA or Lucifron (not sure about him though)).
imo stepmania is quick reaction before quick fingers.
And that I find baffling. I find myself hitting the control groups out of reflexes whenever the minimap shows signs of red. This seemed to come from quick reaction that I got from Stepmania.
Sure, playing the game itself will improve your APM, but it won't hurt to have a higher APM to lean back on in times of crisis, eh?
Yeah sure. That's why i talked about emergency.
The emergency series is a crysis managment RTS game And it's basicly :
"React quickly or lose" There is a ton of micro and the game increase the speed of stuff you have to do. The more quickly you react the more intervention you have to manage at a time
I have a gameplay video i think. Wait a few minute
I really don't think that reflexes form the basis for high apm, for me it really is knowing what to do at any given time that increases my apm. Last winter I played a lot, and during that time my average apm peaked at 120 or so, now that I only have time to play maybe a match or two per week my average apm is back at a lousy 60-70.
rotating between control group no longer increase your APM so it would not be an effective way to increase your in game APM anymore, though having fluent finger control might improve your in game army control.
On September 22 2011 17:35 HydraLF wrote: rotating between control group no longer increase your APM so it would not be an effective way to increase your in game APM anymore, though having fluent finger control might improve your in game army control.
No, I'm not talking about repeated control group rotation, I'm talking about general reflexes. for example, when I see Zerg pushing me, I know I would need a colossus and my general reflexes does the job of queueing one up really quickly. Also, when its time to engage, my hand would not shy away from the F and B keys.
These small but laboring tasks seemed a lot easier after playing the game for a month or so.
On September 22 2011 17:35 HydraLF wrote: rotating between control group no longer increase your APM so it would not be an effective way to increase your in game APM anymore, though having fluent finger control might improve your in game army control.
No, I'm not talking about repeated control group rotation, I'm talking about general reflexes. for example, when I see Zerg pushing me, I know I would need a colossus and my general reflexes does the job of queueing one up really quickly. Also, when its time to engage, my hand would not shy away from the F and B keys.
These small but laboring tasks seemed a lot easier after playing the game for a month or so.
ONE WORD :
"EMERGENCY"
About stepmania i think it exists in free version (i guess it's "DWI") but not sure.
On September 22 2011 17:35 HydraLF wrote: rotating between control group no longer increase your APM so it would not be an effective way to increase your in game APM anymore, though having fluent finger control might improve your in game army control.
No, I'm not talking about repeated control group rotation, I'm talking about general reflexes. for example, when I see Zerg pushing me, I know I would need a colossus and my general reflexes does the job of queueing one up really quickly. Also, when its time to engage, my hand would not shy away from the F and B keys.
These small but laboring tasks seemed a lot easier after playing the game for a month or so.
ONE WORD :
"EMERGENCY"
About stepmania i think it exists in free version (i guess it's "DWI") but not sure.
I'm pretty sure Stepmania is free, you'll need to download songs/song packs yourself tho, I remember there isn't anything interesting on there.
I find that the iPhone game Flight Control is pretty good for multitasking practice as well, its defiantly worth a try.
If you hadnt been playing starcraft the whole time you were playing the other game this might be somewhat interesting.
All you can really say though is a combination of starcraft and stepmania may increase your apm, however since it's already known that playing starcraft increases your apm, you cant say anything about stepmania with any authority.
On September 22 2011 17:35 HydraLF wrote: rotating between control group no longer increase your APM so it would not be an effective way to increase your in game APM anymore, though having fluent finger control might improve your in game army control.
No, I'm not talking about repeated control group rotation, I'm talking about general reflexes. for example, when I see Zerg pushing me, I know I would need a colossus and my general reflexes does the job of queueing one up really quickly. Also, when its time to engage, my hand would not shy away from the F and B keys.
These small but laboring tasks seemed a lot easier after playing the game for a month or so.
ONE WORD :
"EMERGENCY"
About stepmania i think it exists in free version (i guess it's "DWI") but not sure.
I'm pretty sure Stepmania is free, you'll need to download songs/song packs yourself tho, I remember there isn't anything interesting on there.
I find that the iPhone game Flight Control is pretty good for multitasking practice as well, its defiantly worth a try.
Played Stepmania for several years until SC2 beta. Started beta with like 70-80 apm. Eventually up to around 160. Stepmania doesn't really have an impact on apm. At least not nearly as much as just grinding ladder games. If you care about improving apm I suggest you just try high apm strats like ling muta, phoenix play, or hellion banshee harass.
Playing Stepmania will give you faster fingers for sure, and more endurance as well, but it wont will your APM that much. APM comes from knowing what to do and when to do it and then do it fast.
Its not Stepmania imo. You're just getting faster at SC2. You're playing the game, so you're improving. My APM was terrible when I started playing, but now it's doubled. Admittedly It hasn't helped completely, but just knowing what you are doing helps more, since it becomes second nature, thus you get to focus on other things
On September 22 2011 18:13 Hassybaby wrote: Its not Stepmania imo. You're just getting faster at SC2. You're playing the game, so you're improving. My APM was terrible when I started playing, but now it's doubled. Admittedly It hasn't helped completely, but just knowing what you are doing helps more, since it becomes second nature, thus you get to focus on other things
Lol, for the 6 months I've played StarCraft 2, I never improved till last month.
Did Stepmania raise your APM, or did you just get used to your playstyle within that month?
It's hard to figure out which one actually helped your APM, maybe both did, but APM by itself is meaningless, especially in SC2. Playing these games will definitely help with your reaction speed, but that wouldn't help you split marines against blings.
if you want to increase your multitasking (far more important than APM) there is a multitask trainer on NA server. EXCELLENT for anyone looking to improve their ability to micromanage producing units scouting and completing a goal. My game play has greatly improved since using it. The name is Multitasking Trainer v0.94 - BR published by Kralisek
EDIT: Not sure if its up on EU or SEA servers unfortunately
I don't think Stepmania would ever help your APM. In RTSs, APM is about knowing what to do, so it's more of a brain and muscle memory thing than actual finger speed. I mean in Stepmania I can easily do 230 bpm 16th stream, so that like 18 arrows per second and I guess something ridiculous like 1000+ APM and that hasn't helped my starcraft at all :-).
Can't see it improving your -> useful <- APM. As mentioned on the first page; yes you will probably get faster fingers, but it won't help you all that much pressing arrow keys in SC2. The best way to improve your APM in StarCraft would probably be through mass-gaming... becoming 110% comfortable with where the hotkeys are and when to use them. I guess the better you become at the game the more you understand the point of always getting reknewed knowledge, which in turn leads you to move around with your units more often, and again raises your APM.
I would play SM on and off in my spare time over the 8 years or so that I've been playing DDR and to be honest it really shouldn't help you in sc2 at all.
Why are people wasting time on stuff like this.... You have to be on such a high level that you can't physically do whatever you want in game... even then, its much more likely that your multitasking and brain will be to slow, and not your fingers.
Just play the game, focusing on apm a bit more if you want. When your apm jumped from 80-160, you probably didn't get more then 3 useful APM.
On September 22 2011 21:25 Gotmog wrote: You have to be on such a high level that you can't physically do whatever you want in game... even then, its much more likely that your multitasking and brain will be to slow, and not your fingers.
Yeah, that was my point exactly. For the vast majority of players, low APM will mostly indicate a lack of direction or urgency, not that their fingers in themselves can't move.
If gaming time is limited, using it on other games would probably be detrimental if anything.
Playing Stepmania will not improve your APM. Sorry. I guess I have to disclose that I'm the best ITG (In the groove, it's like DDR but.... basically not retarded, bad or japanese) player in Canada to pull in credibilty for that statement. Even though I've stopped playing for a little while now.
But hey, play it for fun.
Funny fact: One of the top players (top 3 I would say) in the world for ITG is called Flash, and he has no idea about starcraft. He's american though.
I find that practicing playing SC2 with a metronome is a lot more effective way of increasing APM than playing another game to increase APM as it forces you to think and play SC2 with a set rhythm that you can increase as you progress.
On September 22 2011 18:24 flx! wrote: I don't think Stepmania would ever help your APM. In RTSs, APM is about knowing what to do, so it's more of a brain and muscle memory thing than actual finger speed. I mean in Stepmania I can easily do 230 bpm 16th stream, so that like 18 arrows per second and I guess something ridiculous like 1000+ APM and that hasn't helped my starcraft at all :-).
This. APM has almost nothing to do with finger speed which is all that Stepmania will help you with, after all anyone can spam 400 APM at the start of the game. Rather APM is a reflection of how well you've learnt and memorized what you need to do in a game, and how well you can manage what you've learnt in unison with what you are about to learn about the current situation (since no two games play out exactly the same). Learning how to play Stepmania will give you a good APM in Stepmania through memorizing the songs & beat patterns, at best this will 'teach' you how to get a good APM, say by exercising your memory a little, but it definitely won't directly improve your APM in StarCraft 2.
Not to be a hater because I love Stepmania and have played it a lot but wouldn't it be better to just practice Starcraft 2 to become better at Starcraft 2 Micro/Macro/APM/etc ?
To the person saying metronome I say FUCK YEAH! Playing Music or repetitive sounds on a certain BPM really works for me to get into a steady pace of playing.
stepmania doesnt improve your apm, it just teaches you how to read patterns. Furthermore, as you progress to the ridiculously hard songs, you realise that you have to remap your keys to anything but the direction keys, and end up using two hands with two fingers for each key. Feels like more of a beat game to me.
I've been playing Guitar Hero (which is pretty similar to stepmania) for over 2 years and it didn't affect my Starcraft APM at all. I can hit roughly 20 notes per second in guitar hero, yet my APM in Starcraft is never above 100 ingame apm (~140 real apm). So I'd say, stepmania, Guitar Hero or any similar game don't really help improving your apm a whole lot.
EPT
And it's basicly :
