Footswitches opinion?

Mm, to be honest, I actually enjoy them a lot. :P However, the problem is when I present previews of them in the chat some of the users there begin complaining that the patterns are garbage even though it clearly contains footswitches, so, uh... I'd like a wider opinion on the matter.

(if you don't know what a footswitch is click here)

Just their own personal opinion. Some people like footswitches, some people don't.
It could also be that they're just unfamiliar with footswitches. Fair enough, it's not a straightforward technique and usually it has to be explained to people the first time.

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Yeah, to be honest when I encountered your FIGHT! file I myself thought "uh, wait... i don't think gameoson [the simfile shuffle 2014 + summer contest 2015 king] is genuinely using doublesteps, is he?" and then once you explained what it was and with the mines too I quickly caught on. :P

As long as they are marked with mines (or maybe even color notes) I'm fine with them. Case in point, thanks to them, I immediately caught onto footswitches in Leviathan.

I don't have a problem with footswitches as long as:
-they're either marked (with mine(s) or something similar) or extremely obvious in the patterning. Admittedly the latter has to come down with practcing them a fair bit.
-they aren't mixed together with regular jacks
-they actually go to something in the music that warrants it and aren't thrown in at seemingly random just for the sake of having them

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I mainly like using them to accent drum patterns that sound something like;

Bass : X---X---X--X----
Snare: ----X-------X---

(blue is the footswitch)


I agree. In addition to FIGHT!, I started to want to experiment with them after playing rikame's Rock The Club, but as awesome as that chart is there's some really awkward footswitches.



Even further is, like you said, there's a footswitch mixed in with a jack (specifically at 0:50).

Sucks when you ask for someone's opinion and their opinion isn't 100% what you wanted, right? In any case, I don't like footswitches much. Especially when they're "telegraphed with mines" i.e; not telegraphed at all. I mean, come on, how is "THERE'S A MINE" translating to "FOOTSWITCH"? It didn't look right and it doesn't make you come off as sophisticated.

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I think the idea is stupid but at the same time I want to make a file that uses them.

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I'm surprised no one has mentioned this, but foot switches work way better with continuous gallops, and actually make the gallops more fun. I believe TSUGARU, Awaodori, and Matsuri Japan all have gallops than can easily be done as footswitches.

However I think it is weird to just throw in a random footswtch in the middle of a stream, like the example.

Of a minor note, but people who tend to play only DDR and files that are geared towards people of a DDR-only mindset usually don't like or understand footswitches, so implementing them in files is a double-edged sword since you eventually have to explain where they are cause someone will complain that you fucked up in the charting. You can avoid this by telegraphing when the footswitch is coming up, like with mines (not everyone does, that is very naughty).

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Footswitches are bad and you should feel bad for making this thread.

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They don't seem fun to me, and they arent intuitive when playing a chart for the first time. They require a person to know a chart pretty well in order to do them correctly, which is also why I generally don't like overuse of speed gimmicks and pauses.

There's a trend at least in my community to do footswitches right: you make the first note a hold that goes practically up to the second note. It's very visually distinctive and serves as an easier tell for a sightread than mines.

Check this pattern out:



The mine forces you to lift your left foot unless you want to hit the mine, and thus the smoothest way to hit the second down arrow is to use your left foot. Or you could hop on one leg, which at least to me, feels a lot more awkward to do.

Eventually, as you come across more and more charts with footswitches, you start to recognize these patterns and hitting them correctly becomes more and more natural. I disagree with the statement that you have to have knowledge of a chart beforehand to be able to consistently hit marked footswitches, you just need enough experience with the gimmick in general. I just find it odd that footswitches are so hard to accept when seemingly a lot less people care about ambiguous patterns like LR jumps followed by a single up or down arrow, that may force a double step later in the pattern:



I feel like I could go on forever on this topic (and gimmicks like stutters and bpm wave gimmicks etc.) but you probably get my point.


Although this is usually more distinctive than marking with mines, it might actually be counterintuitive since one's natural reaction might very well be to keep the foot on the hold for longer, giving you less time to then switch feet.

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My advice is go all or nothing. Having one or two footswitches in a chart is annoying, it's just an extra uncommon thing you have to remember, and is likely to throw you off while contributing very little. Having a million footswitches in a chart is fine though, if footswitches are the 'point' of the chart.

That is pretty much my opinion on any chart element. Crossovers, drills, footswitches, gimmicks, mines, etc. If you throw one in just because it could maybe fit, it'll end up being annoying. If you go completely overboard, it's okay because it has purpose.

This sounds like a great way to stifle creativity and have a lot of bland charts that bleed into each other too much.

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fixed

Also, I don't see why it's okay to limit a player's ability to be creative just because a pattern isn't too obvious. It wouldn't make sense to add mines next to some of the spins in 回レ！雪月花 S-, for example, yet there is nothing forcing you to do the spins either. Also, it would be bad game design to take away any incentive for the player to keep playing the game, one of them being charts that can be easily conquered on the first try.

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Personally, I find footswitches to be fascinating every so often. I've only ever really looked into DDR charts as of recent so they don't come across as the most apparent thing to do when sightreading them. Looking into Rock The Club at 0:50, the first 2 of those footswitches at that moment were the only ones I would've known if it were on a slower modifier. >.>
To me, the most apparent footswitch would be those; any other variation would involve looking into the chart a second or third time to know. (The only reason is because of PARANOiA Rebirth (X-Special) about 3/4ths into the chart, which makes itself heavily apparent e.e)

Though, the pattern makes me remember the chart a little more than others because of how I'll have to remember it the next time I try. Summer fantasy (Darwin remix) , Air Heroes , and UNBELIEVABLE (Sparky remix) are ones that come to mind aside from the aformentioned X-Special. Granted, Summer fantasy isn't exactly the greatest example of how it was used, considering how the chorus mixed them with the jacks in a deceiving fashion.

Other than that, the pattern, when used lightly, kind of adds a little "spice" to some charts, and I like a little variation in how charts are created so they can be a little more memorable. o.o

I agree with Mad Matt. Having one random footswitch or spin or crossover in a chart is annoying, unless (1) it is blatantly obvious that it is a footswitch or spin or crossover, and (2) it happens to go with a very unique part of the song that stands out. Just deciding to throw in a random footswitch is unnecessary and it will likely throw players off. However don't make your chart filled with footswitches like Sunkiss Drop is filled with crossovers.

comparing a footswitch to a simple crossover? uh, okay

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Here's a possible solution I came up with for that.



See it? The footswitch is optional and is there if you step on the down arrow with the wrong foot. It allows you to recover without doublestepping. Although then again it's possible you might get compulsed to footswitch when you're on the right foot and that could be problematic too.

Really, what I usually do with these, though, is made the arrow you're supposed to keep your foot on a mini freeze or use a mine to make yourself lift the foot you need to use.