How to read in IIDX?

Because I feel like that's the issue that I'm running into, is that I'm having trouble reading the notes. Specifically, charts that have lots and lots of double/triple notes. Lots of those in a row and I just can't read it at all.

Like...Sakura Reflection Hyper, the first half of the song I can read pretty easily, but after the little break/chorus in the middle, it starts spamming double notes and I can't read it at all.

I've hit a wall around level 7/8 where I just can't read charts because of double/triple spam. I feel like I'm doing something wrong.

I assume you've tried raising your green number if things are going too fast? Possibly try lowering it to see if you can react faster than your brain can understand what it's doing?

I'm pretty sure the answer to most IIDX troubles is: just keep playing.
If you're getting frustrated, focus on some easier songs that you like just so you're having fun and aren't getting discouraged. But once you're warmed up, also play a few songs that are (a little) too tough for you every session. Don't focus too hard on what you can't do; just try, accept that you might fail, and come back to it later. That's my strategy at least!

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just keep playing, there's not really a big secret to it

also using random is a nice way to introduce yourself to patterns that you wouldn't really see otherwise

Yeah, I'm using speed mods, but the issue is that I can't read lots of doubles/triples that are close to each other. They're just...not registering in my head, I have no idea how to move my fingers to hit these. It doesn't feel like it's too fast or too slow, I just have no idea how to react to those patterns of doubles/triples. I'm having the same issue in PopN as well.

I haven't tried random yet (mostly because I have no idea how to turn it on, all the menus being in japanese and such) but I have tried a bit of just going into the level 6 folder and hitting the random button to play a song I've never played before.

I suppose it doesn't help that I'm coming from DDR/PIU, where lots of rapid doubles/triples almost never happen, 95% of the content is streams of single notes.

And I'm pretty sure I'm not doing the right setup/playstyle with my hands either, the "1048" or whatever it's called just feels horribly unnatural. I tend to use my index/middle fingers for everything with my thumbs thrown in here and there, and pinky/ring on left hand for scratch.

Your thumbs should pretty much always be in a position to hit notes, and your ring finger of your hand that isn't using the turntable mostly should be as well.

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Yeah, I watched a video about how to do that, and I tried to do the "1048" thing, but it felt super unnatural and I almost immediately went back to the way I was playing before.

But at the moment, as far as I can tell, my biggest issue is not being able to read the notes, as opposed to not being able to hit them.

When you say "double/triple notes" do you mean hitting two/three keys at the same time (which I call a chord but I'm not 100% sure if that's an agreed upon term) or hitting a stream of something more like 1, 2, 3, 1, 2, 3, 1, 2, 3.

If it's the former, work on your hand position and give 1048 a serious try for at least two weeks. I use my pinky on key 7 rather than ring finger, which is usually considered a better form. Yes it will feel unnatural for a while. Yes, your scores will probably go down at first. No, there's no ONE TRUE hand position. But there's a reason it's popular; being able to cover all the keys at all times gives you a huge advantage. Combined with a low green number (I usually keep mine at 280) gets you REACTING rather than consciously READING. Reacting is fast, reading is slow. For hard songs, you won't be able to think fast enough to go "okay, make sure I'm hitting keys 1, 3, and 4" but by building up your reaction, you'll just see notes in those lanes and know to hit them.
It takes a LOOOONG time to install that kind of reaction-response in your brain.

If your problem is the latter and you literally can't read the 1, 2, 1, 2 type-patterns, or if the screen is producing an after-image, make sure you have SUDDEN+ turned on! Bring it 1/3 of the way down but keep your green number the same! I'd never be able to play with a green number of 280 without SUDDEN+. I also found it helpful to pay attention to which note is playing first in a stream. Colors (radio edit) on normal gave me trouble for what seemed like a long time due to the very end of the song, but once I started focusing on the transitions in the streams was the key for me and now that that song is a breeze.

Anyway, I'm only 3rd Dan and therefore maybe not the BEST person to be giving advice since I'm also only able to clear 8s, but I hope this helps! That you've been able to clear 8s with just your index and middle fingers is pretty tremendous because that's definitely a harder way to play.

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1048 position isn't the only position that exists, and some other one(s) may be more comfortable for you. There's even a video about hand positions:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zwfZCT9kGIQ

As for helping with reading, using decent high speeds (which you may or may not be doing already) and using Sudden+/Lift to maintain a pretty much constant green number (which represents how long notes are on screen; as far as I know, most experienced players tend to settle on a value that's around 300 or a bit lower) can help with keeping the note scrolling consistent. Using the Random modifier and/or Hard gauge can help to force you to actually try hitting the right notes and to do less guessing/assuming. (Random can also sometimes help you realize what's actually happening in an individual chart if you're not noticing some of the notes in that chart)

Assuming you're trying to set the options in the arcade, if holding Start is just giving you a menu with very few options (I think it includes Assisted Easy, but not anything like Hard, EX Hard, Random, Sudden+, etc.), then you may have to press the VEFX or Effector while holding Start to get the full options (and while in the full options, press the other button to swap to a different set of options that don't affect gameplay as directly).

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Kinda both. Rapid chords as well as chords thrown in with regular single notes. I could bring up some specific examples from songs if it helps.

I've never used SUDDEN+, again because I have no idea how to turn it on. I don't really mess with any of the settings, I really only use regular High Speed settings by holding the start button in a song and selecting.

Yes, I'm that much of a fucking scrub.

Yeah, at the moment it doesn't really feel like I'm being held back by finger positioning/movement(still gonna try new stuff though), it feels like I'm being held back by "oh my fucking god what is this pattern how do I even hit this".

hold start, i don't know if you're playing arcade or console but in arcade, if you see a very small menu with very few options, press the button that says "effect" to change to the more complex menu that has all the options. in the console games just holding start will give you all those options

Getting used to sudden+ is a good start since it will allow you to see the green number (aka GN, aka how long a note is on screen). There is also the white number that just indicates how low the lane cover is. One thing about green number is that there are two extremes: high speed+high cover and low speed+low cover. In either case, you can have the same green number but note spacing vastly differs.

You want to be careful with high speed settings with an LCD screen since all panels have some degree of "ghosting". In other words, each note will appear to have a trailing note, which can affect readability. This is where the old CRT televisions were king.

Anyways, what I would try is open up sudden+ to find your usual green number and work from there. I would probably raise the green number to give a little more time to react to the note pattern. Play around with the height of the lane cover and see what it does. It mostly comes down to practice and building muscle memory, but having a good lane setup certainly helps.

Another tip is to play older style Level 7 and 8's, like Happy Sky or prior. Not sure how describe it off the top of my head, but the chart design play differently than your usual Level 7 or 8.

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I typically set my High Speed so that the green number is around 450 or so.

I tried using SUDDEN+ but it didn't really seem to do anything. It actually made my scores worse. Am I doing it wrong? I turned it on and moved the cover thing downward until it was...I'd say 40% of the way down of the screen, from the top.

That might be a little too far down to start. The farther down the lane cover is, the slower your high speed modifier will be if you maintain the same green number.

So with that said, it sounds like you might need a higher high speed modifier. Increasing the high speed will make it easier to read, but of course at a cost of the notes being on screen for less time. This is where finding a comfortable green number is key. Try playing a song you are comfortable with and lower the green number by increasing the high speed as far as possible without making it uncomfortable. Try to keep it like that for a bit to adjust yourself to it.

As Meseki said earlier, 300 or a little lower is around what many players use. Personally I use between 290 and 300 depending on how reactive my brain is on a given day haha

Oh and just a random piece of wisdom, avoid making changes to the visual offset. If you haven't touched it, then you're in the clear for now. It is worth looking at though. If you notice yourself getting more "fast" notes than "slow" or vice versa, you may need to adjust for your TV / monitor.

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It's an arcade cab, I can't adjust the visual offset.

There is an advanced option in recent arcade versions that allows adjusting the offset. You access it by pressing the VEFX button while in the complex options menu (the one that includes options like Hard, Random, and Sudden+).

I'm pretty sure the options menu with the offset option has stuff like total judgement display, changing the height of the current judgement/combo display, changing the combo display to EX score, and other stuff that mostly doesn't directly affect gameplay.

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