No Bar / No Double-Step DDR

Is there any point in making a meet-up group or hosting a competition where people don't hold the bar or double-step? I've seen people not hold the bar but then doublestep. The more intense charts are simply impossible to do without holding the bar, but I'm not giving up on them!

What would be cool though is if I could join a tourney for peepz like myself. It's unfair to play against those with a clear advantage (bar) -- it's not even worth trying.

For the record play how you want to play, but I just want to play how I want to play as well. And my play style means basically never joining tourneys.

I have a feeling mf32892 might be up for something like that. Although, a lot of charts in DDR (especially in the older mixes) have parts designed to be double-stepped...

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Want to be competitive? Learn to use the bar! Don't want to use the bar? Good luck on finding a tournament with that in mind.

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We did a no-bar tournament locally once. It was fun... because I was like the only person there who did 9s without a bar and won.

It was among friends who wanted gimmicky tournaments. Not sure it'd be viable unless you found local DDR players first and planned a tournament with their interests in mind second. Or like a side tournament at a bigger event.

No double-stepping, though...? That's crazy talk. o_o Good luck learning all of those, if you choose.

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This is how I've been looking at charts recently. Everything from Basic on S!ck and Revolution to Expert on Think Ya Better D and Mars Wars 3, and that's just singles. I have done Make A Jam EDP without double stepping before as well.

It is completely possible, but certainly requires some different thinking, mostly the notion that you have to be facing the screen at all times. I know a lot of charts looked like they have double steps to me originally, but looking over them again I realized it is completely possible to do many charts without doing so. The only reason it is awkward (which I'm trying to make normal) is because the game never really teaches you these things, and it had plenty of time to do so.

Pump It Up has much better tutorials (at least in my experience on NX) than any of DDR's tutorials I have seen. DDR covers Beginner on singles and... that's it, really. PIU teaches you how to do more complex patterns on both singles AND doubles. I am mostly just comparing PIU NX's tutorials to Ace's tutorial song and past arcade mixes, so I might be missing something on console versions or something.

It's fun to try out at least.

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So the vibe I get from this topic is that I'm a freak of nature and my initial feeling was correct -- I am literally one of a handful who play without the bar / without double-stepping. This is two-fold. One, it means I'm probably one of the best people in the world with no bar / double-step DDR. But two, it means there isn't really a way to test that out. And honestly I'm just about having fun with the game and challenging myself to go farther.

DDR A's focus on brostep (a genre that really feels like it was meant for DDR), is really almost a narcotic-level high when you are playing without the bar. It's like it's own form of dance and the music actually seems to match up.


Basically if you know people who play without the bar or double-stepping, re-direct them to this topic if you have the chance. Even if it's just to compare scores / skill-level.


For me, I can play most of 16s with a really solid score... and half-ass my way through the harder 16s / easier 17s. I think at my best, in the future, I might be able to do most 17s and maybe even an 18 here or there (Dead End Groove Radar for sure).



Basically I read that Healing Vision Angelic Mix was made to do WITH the bar. That's an intense song without the bar but honestly it's child's play (like I find it hard to believe that even bar players couldn't do that song without the bar). So then I see songs like the Max series, then the upper echelon 19s like Valkyrie and Egoism, and I think "Were these charts designed for double-stepping?" Probably. So what's the hardest song that's still possible to pass without the bar or double-stepping?

nd I'm not trying to over-the-top boast here, but I feel like there's only 100 people on the planet playing without the bar or double-stepping and I just want to know where I stand. I don't care if i'm the worst, average or the best, I just want to know.

I guess another thing is for me, is that No Bar / No double-stepping DDR isn't about scores. It's about the hardest song you can possibly do, and still pass.

Personal Best (in stepmania, no DDR A near me unfortunately): No-bar'ing Night of Knights ESP (15-footer), for survival.

What's the hardest song possible to pass with no bar?
Valkyrie Dimension CSP: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lv7ubsDvwgg
Paranoia Revolution CSP: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OWAN-dXJyT8
19's have been passed no bar, albeit at some point (Paranoia Revolution in a few spots is most notable, though VDO has a few spots too) you must double step at least once. It's simply unavoidable.

Hardest song possible without double-stepping?
EGOISM 440 CSP, as the chart has more-or-less no double steps; the steps actually frickin' flow on the feat, an incredible rarity for a 19 (or even an 18, really).

You know me so well, haha. I'd totally be up for a no-bar tournament (but that's because I'm fairly confident playing no bar and scoring decently well on stuff). I guess the problem would be finding local people who play no bar.

In terms of chart design (responding generally now), no-bar is definitely possible in passing songs. No doublestepping...I think that's a different story. Definitely would have to get over the bias of facing the screen or being able to see the screen at almost all times. While I do perform most crossovers, there are many songs' charts (especially on older mixes) where I'd doublestep instead because I don't necessarily want to have to figure out where to turn on a dime.

Feel free to check out my YouTube or my score tracker on here if you're looking for score comparisons.
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL2UuNxONQOIy0lXUnZ2RXRqWxrFLUZATz

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@mf32892
To be fair, I am like your biggest fan and I am totally aware of your play style. I bet if no doublesteps were forced, every time you turn around, you'd wish "please let there be another "doublestep" so I can face the screen again!"

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I've passed EGOISM 440 without the bar. Not the other 19s, though. They're simply just too dumb to play without holding on to something...

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Double-stepping double-stepping double-stepping.....



Video proof of someone doing egoism without double-stepping. I'm not saying it can't be done but this is a thread addressed to the heartland of the bemani community asking for all the non-bar players, non-double-steppers, to come out the woodwork...

Obviously no one's going to be stupid enough to do EGOISM 440 without double-stepping without the bar, but the chart allows for it if you're /that/ mental.

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I haven't even met someone in real-life that can play 17s without the bar, so I call bullshit on that.

also while i do doublestep, i can pass 18s and even egoism challenge without the bar

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Double-stepping doesn't count. Not for the style I'm talking about. I'd like to see a video of you passing an 18 without double-stepping, without the bar.

PS It's not 'stupid' to play without the bar. It's FUN balancing yourself. And when you combine that with actually moving your feet to the arrows and not double-stepping, you end up river-dancing. It's very challenging and I would recommend people who are bored with the game give it a try.

If you were bored with the game, then I would suggest trying a new game out.
Might I suggest IIDX?

No one said it's "stupid", but 99% of high-level players use the bar simply because it improves performance. You aren't likely to find a tournament just for no bar. I'm sure that was a thing in the early 2000's but people stopped caring about it nowadays.

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If you can read charts while facing backwards, great, but it's not something most people would do, especially in long lasting sections where you have to do that if you absolutely want to avoid doublestepping. :/ Really, I think it's ideal to just AVOID doublesteps in charts altogether but that's just me.

it is literally 2016 and people are still crying about how people play or hold a fucking bar jesus fucking christ

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oh

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You're right, you're top ten in the world to do that.

Because there's about ten people who do that.

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