Z-I-V Workout Challenge

A few weeks ago, there was a thread where we tried to figure out how to build up stamina when playing DDR. We constructed a monstrous 40-song course, made up of songs from DDRMAX USA 2, and setup the ZIV Workout Challenge. The challenge itself is to play as far into the course as possible, before 28th February.

The challenge is about building up enough stamina to pass the course within a month. To do this, we'll be playing smaller courses, and then starting to build the course week by week. As our stamina improves, the courses we play will get longer, and on the final week, the very fittest ZIV members will start trying to tackle the full 40-song course.

Of course, any workout is more effective if you have other people striving towards a common goal. The point of the thread is to share your progress, as well as sending any advice and encouragement to others who are taking the challenge.

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Signing Up
Just post the following in the thread, and I'll add you to any statsheets. Most of the questions are just for the sake of comparing a couple of interesting things at the end.



The following people accepted the challenge in the previous thread :

Android
Silver Spirit
Max
Tyma
agentmargo
Lucie
Pureblue


Reports
At the end of every week, please report your progress in this thread. Make sure you include a photo of your best attempt, and a breakdown of how you feel about the challenge so far.

You can post updates every day, or as often as you want, either to keep track your progress, or let everyone know how it's going. Think of this thread as your progress diary for your challenge. If you're doing any dieting or extra workouts to go along with the challenge, let us know how that's going, too!

The Course
The course is a series of 5-song blocks, which start off gently, and then increase in difficulty. After every 5th song, the difficulty lowers slightly, before building up again. This is based on the exercise principles of repetitions, and allows your leg muscles to get a full workout. This is more beneficial to them than simply playing 10-footers back to back.

You probably aren't going to pass it on the first attempt, and even if you do, it's going to feel exhausting the first time you play. However, it's important that you record your first attempt at the course. This will let you know in 4 weeks time how far you've really come. Make sure you post a report of this first attempt in the thread!

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How To Take Part


Stepmania Players

SM Players can download This Pack, and extract it to your Stepmania directory. It contains 4 course files, along with all the songs required to play them. Make sure your Stepmania is set to default difficulty settings (Judge : 4 / Life : 3), and Fail Type is set to “Immediate”.

Play the course as many times as you want, between the 1st and 7th of January. It's upto you how many times you play the course, but you must play it at least once a week. I recommend making a serious attempt at passing it at least once every 3 days.

Week 1 (1st - 7th)
Play the “Week 1” Nonstop Course as often as you like. Take a photo of the results screen to record your progress, and at the end of the week, let us know how you did.

Week 2 (8th - 14th)
Play the “Week 2” Nonstop Course. It's the same course, but with 5 songs added at the end. Be sure to report your progress before the end of the week!

Week 3 (15th - 21st)
Play the “Week 3” Nonstop Course.

Week 4 (22nd - 28th)
Play the “Week 4” course. Make your final Weekly report, assuming you still have the use of all your limbs. Did you stick with it until the end? I'm sure at this point, you'll have a lot you'll want to talk about, and reflect upon your progress. How far have you come between the first attempt, and the final report?

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Playstation 2 Players

First of all, create the following Nonstop course on DDR MAX USA 2

01. Let's Groove (6)
02. Dream A Dream (7)
03. Busy Child (7)
04. Groove (8)
05. Afronova (9)
06. Keep On Liftin (5)
07. Dive More Deep & Deeper (7)
08. Will I? (7)
09. Lovin You (8)
10. So Deep (9)
11. Bad Routine (6)
12. Heaven (7)
13. The Shining Polaris (7)
14. Spin The Disc (8)
15. Tsugaru (9)
16. more deep (6)
17. Don't Stop (7)
18. A Little Bit Of Ecstacy (7)
19. Drifting Away (8)
20. Twilight Zone (9)

Make sure your copy of the game is using the default difficulty settings. Make sure you don't lower the difficulty, and that the game fails you immediately, if you run out of life bar.

Week 1 (1st - 7th)
Play the Nonstop Course as often as you like. Take a photo of the results screen to record your progress, and at the end of the week, let us know how you did.

Week 2 (8th - 14th)
When tuesday rolls around, the course will get longer. You'll need to make a 2nd Nonstop course inside the game, with the following songs in it :

01. Days Go By (6)
02. Do It Right 80s Electro (7)
03. Jam & Marmalade (8)
04. Can't Stop Fallin In Love (8)
05. Breakdown (9)

You will still play the original 20-song course, and take a photo of the results screen at the end. If you manage to pass the 20-song course, then immediately play the second 5-song course, and take a photo of the results screen. Include both photos in your Weekly report

Week 3 (15th - 21st)
Add these songs to the second (5-song) course.

06. I Need You (6)
07. Celebrate Nite (7)
08. Tomorrow Perfume (7)
09. Radical Faith (8)
10. Kakumei (9)

Play and report everything, the same as last week.

Week 4 (22nd - 28th)
Edit the 2nd Nonstop course, and add the following songs to it, to create the final, monstrous course :

11. Get Down Tonight (6)
12. Put Your Faith In Me (6)
13. Kind Lady (7)
14. Burning Heat (9)
15. I feel.. (9)
16. Ghosts (8)
17. Love At First Sight (7)
18. Celebrate Nite Euro Trance (8)
19. Try 2 Luv. U (5)
20. Think Ya Better D (5)

Play the same as you've been playing all month. The ultimate goal of the challenge is obviously to pass the first course, and then immediately pass the second.

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I Don't Have DDRMAX USA 2. Can I Still Take Part?
If you absolutely cannot play either DDRMAX USA 2 or Stepmania on a home pad, then you can still take part by making an alternative course on a game that you do own. You will still get the full benefits of the workout, and you'll only be missing out on the experience of working towards the same challenge as other people.

If you can't play DDRMAX USA 2, and you want your own challenge to be set, then let me know which games you have, and I'll set you a similar course to the one that the rest of us will be playing.

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Can I just make up my own course?
You can if you want, but it'll mean you won't be participating in the ZIV Workout Challenge. If you're setting your own challenge, this is still a pretty good time to do it, and I'm sure you'll be welcome to join in the thread.

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Can I use mods?
You can use any gameplay mods that you want, as long as they don't prevent you from failing a song, or remove any steps from a song. The fastest song in the course is Afronova (200 bpm)

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Should I bracket / use the bar?
It's upto you!

Although we take these techniques for granted when we play for high scores, keep in mind that the reason we use them is to cut down on the amount of effort and energy we use to play each song. If you play the course without these techniques, you will get the full effect of the workout.

If you normally bracket and/or use the bar while you play, then by playing the course without these techniques for a month, you will greatly improve your stamina. Don't worry too much if you don't, though. It's likely that when most people start to reach their physical limit, they will start to bracket without realising it.

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Is There A Prize?
I don't know. Let's ask Lord Toon for prizes that we can put in our signiatures!

This thread looks great! I can't wait to get started! Great job Tyma!

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I can't do this anymore, I can barely play one song without getting complaints from neighbors.

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This sounds like fun.
I'll sign up...

Name : Aegis
Starting weight : 170~ (last I checked) I'll say 175 to be safe.
Play level : 9-10 Old Scale

Format being used for the challenge (PS2/SM) : PS2
What is your “main” dancing game? (DDR/Pump/ITG) : DDR
How many hours of do you normally play a week? 1-2
Soft Mat or Hard Mat? : Soft Mat (DDR PS2 Bundle mat)
Do you normally Bracket when you play? : Not really
Do you play with a bar? : Not at home.
How many of the 40 songs do you expect to pass after 4 weeks? All!! >:-D (Maybe 20-30?)

Name : Tyma
Starting weight : 141
Play level : 10

Format being used for the challenge (PS2/SM) : SM
What is your “main” dancing game? (DDR/Pump/ITG) : Pump
How many hours of do you normally play a week? 1 or less
Soft Mat or Hard Mat? : Hard Mat (Cobalt Flux with Arcade Mod)
Do you normally Bracket when you play? : No
Do you play with a bar? : No
How many of the 40 songs do you expect to pass after 4 weeks? 30

I haven't really been motivated to play DDR since I moved house 5 months ago. I ride horses a lot, so my legs are still in good shape, but my body is a mess right now, and I think I'm going to struggle in the later weeks. I think I'll pass the 20-song course in the first week, and then struggle to get much further than that.

My main worry is getting the motivation to practice every day, so hopefuly people will yell at me until I do.

I haven't played 90% of these songs in forever. Nostalgia time.

Haha, when I was putting it together, I kept thinking "MAAAAAAAAAAAAAN, I'm glad I have an excuse to play this 7-footer again!"

I so wish I had DDR Max2 and a PS2. I could pass this course no problems right now. Unfortunately the best I have is DDR Hottest Party 3 and DDR Wii 2010. Is there any way to set up a course longer than 6 songs?

Oy...What did I do now? lol...//

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Hmm...I'll try this if I can, just gotta get my PS2 from home to my dorm

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Maybe we could get little banners / medals, with the username, and how many songs we managed to pass on Week 4? <3

Do I need to play these at Heavy level? I would like to try a shot at it.

Yeah, I'm an idiot for not mentioning that. All songs are on Heavy.

Okay, I think I'll give it a shot.

Name : Kayninc
Starting weight : 150 lbs.
Play level : Heavy level 8 to 10 foot level.

Format being used for the challenge (PS2/SM) : PS2
What is your “main” dancing game? (DDR/Pump/ITG) : DDR
How many hours of do you normally play a week? Usually between 1 and 3 hours, maybe 10 hours? I I don't know, I never checked that.
Soft Mat or Hard Mat? : Foam mat.
Do you normally Bracket when you play? : Nope.
Do you play with a bar? : Nope.
How many of the 40 songs do you expect to pass after 4 weeks? All of it.

I'm already signed up, but I'll provide this information just to let you know.
Format being used for the challenge (PS2/SM) : PS2
What is your “main” dancing game? (DDR/Pump/ITG) : DDR and ITG are pretty equal right now
How many hours of do you normally play a week? 12-15 hours
Soft Mat or Hard Mat? : Hard Mat(RedOctane Afterburner 2.0
Do you normally Bracket when you play? : Can't do it worth my life
Do you play with a bar? : Yes, but I will try to not use the bar for this challenge.
How many of the 40 songs do you expect to pass after 4 weeks? All 40

Can't Wait!

This looks interesting. I think I would like to participate, but I can't pass Afronova, So Deep, or Burning Heat, and I have been known to fail Tsugaru a lot.


Are you referring to the life meter difficulty setting that goes up to 8? I have mine set at the maximum, so do I need to set it back to 4? I also have my game set on event mode because I always got irritated when it flashed the game over screen. Am I allowed to play any songs as practice before trying the course? I am sure I shall fail Afronova, so I guess that means I have to set it so it kicks me out once I fail and then restart the course?



It is possible that I may not be able to follow through with this challenge -- I can't guarantee that I can get my pad to cooperate

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I think the life meter is set to bar instead of battery. That's how I've been playing the course.
I also play it at x2 speed for all of the songs.

Looks like fun

Name : HellRazoR
Starting weight : 205 lbs.
Play level : Challenge / Expert 10+ (13 Max).

Format being used for the challenge (PS2/SM) : SM 4EVER!!!
What is your “main” dancing game? (DDR/Pump/ITG) : SM 4EVER!!!
How many hours of do you normally play a week? 4-6
Soft Mat or Hard Mat? : Hard.
Do you normally Bracket when you play? : Never.
Do you play with a bar? : Yes, almost always.
How many of the 40 songs do you expect to pass after 4 weeks? Just now downloading, I think I'll be able to do them all and I'm planning on finally passing The Road of Legend as well just because I've never passed that course yet and I can do pretty good at PSMO now.

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Already signed up, going to put this added info here for good measure :3

Format being used for the challenge (PS2/SM) : PS2
What is your “main” dancing game? (DDR/Pump/ITG) : DDR
How many hours of do you normally play a week? Haven't played in a LOOONG time, but i can normally play for a couple of hours a day
Soft Mat or Hard Mat? : soft mat
Do you normally Bracket when you play? : No
Do you play with a bar? : Nope
How many of the 40 songs do you expect to pass after 4 weeks? All 40 DDRMAX2 US songs without breaking an extensive amount of sweat

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Do It Right 80's Electro is a challenge-only song.

Oh, and when I asked about the life meter setting that goes up to 8, I was referring to the setting in the options menu where the life meter can be set so that it drains faster -- 8 means the life meter is depleted by only a few misses -- not the battery meter. Do I need to set my life meter depletion setting back to 4 (medium)?

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