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Amplitude 2015 [OT] Rock The Disco Tech

kenta

Has no PEINS
I've got a couple more songs to unlock but I think once I do that I'm going to be done playing altogether... The soundtrack is super weak in my opinion, literally none of the Harmonix tracks are catchy to me. They either sound like really generic royalty-free music or just a complete mess of random samples. The last song in the campaign is just so awful, it's not even a song at all (and who decided to make the entire thing "trippy"? That person can please get bent). Good thing a couple of the third-party songs are good enough to keep playing as I try to unlock everything. I really like playing the Necrodancer song and the Wolfgun song in particular

And what's frustrating about actually playing is that as I finish up a sequence I will too frequently be unable to tell what the first gem will be in the next track I need to skip to, since it will be off-screen. I wish the camera would tilt or zoom out or something so that it kept beaconed gem(s) in view; at least that way it might feel a bit more fair when I drop a combo. Plus the presentation and overall polish just seems really shallow. I dunno whatever
 
And what's frustrating about actually playing is that as I finish up a sequence I will too frequently be unable to tell what the first gem will be in the next track I need to skip to, since it will be off-screen. I wish the camera would tilt or zoom out or something so that it kept beaconed gem(s) in view; at least that way it might feel a bit more fair when I drop a combo. Plus the presentation and overall polish just seems really shallow. I dunno whatever
Try Freq mode, it helps a lot with this. Since you're in a tunnel instead of a highway they double up the lanes and also there is no hard left or right lane to end up, you're always in the middle.

I agree about the in house music. I love electronic music but for some reason almost all of the campaign tracks sounded really discordant. I'm not a music critic so I can't really explain myself other than just saying I don't enjoy the songs at all. When I replay them I usually skip triggering the vocals since they're my least favorite part.
 
Has anyone tried playing this with an arcade stick..? Just out of curiosity?

I play amplitude pretty regularly, hype for this.

EDIT: I completed the demo on expert (100% clear on second song) is the whole game generally easier then amplitude on ps2 or is it just the first few stages?
 

Maggo007

Member
Forgot that i was paying for the early access.
Searched through my emails and found the email with the link to backerkit with my code. Ok my fault for paying 20$ extra and not using the early access but the code was not working yesterday and not today.
I'm not sure if it would have worked in the early access time but i'm pissed now that the game is out and I still can't use the code.
 

kenta

Has no PEINS
Try Freq mode, it helps a lot with this. Since you're in a tunnel instead of a highway they double up the lanes and also there is no hard left or right lane to end up, you're always in the middle.

I agree about the in house music. I love electronic music but for some reason almost all of the campaign tracks sounded really discordant. I'm not a music critic so I can't really explain myself other than just saying I don't enjoy the songs at all. When I replay them I usually skip triggering the vocals since they're my least favorite part.
I actually did try Freq mode in an attempt to fix that problem and it still didn't seem to help. Not sure if the camera angle was off or if I was remembering Frequency differently, but yeah I had the same thought and wasn't satisfied. Maybe I'll try it again tonight though
 
FWIW after playing the last few weeks a number of the campaign tracks have got their hooks in to me and even the songs I'm not too into have great patterns and links.

And what's frustrating about actually playing is that as I finish up a sequence I will too frequently be unable to tell what the first gem will be in the next track I need to skip to, since it will be off-screen. I wish the camera would tilt or zoom out or something so that it kept beaconed gem(s) in view; at least that way it might feel a bit more fair when I drop a combo.

I struggled with this at first. You get better at looking out for a stem to link to ahead of time, as in figuring out which stem you want to jump to next 5-10 notes before the end of the current stem, not RIGHT when it ends.

It may sound crazy impossible but you get used to a quick glance at the right moment very quickly.
 
So I just played through the campaign up to Dalatecht couple of times on Advanced and had tons of fun, it's great to get into a fun, pretty rhythm game that is both challenging and good to zone out to. I played it with L1, Triangle and R1 and it's working just fine for me.

I totally thought that to get past Dalatecht you were supposed to go through all 3 barriers with a 4x combo, so I tried for ages and couldn't get it. Glad I checked this thread!

I have a couple of leaderboard issues which slightly bugged me:
- I don't have the little 'K' kickstarter icon by my name on the leaderboard. :(
- I did the first 4 or so songs on Intermediate to get used to things, then changed to Advanced and played up to Dalatecht, then replayed the campaign again on Advanced (and a bunch of quickplay songs) and I still have an "i" next to my name on the leaderboard.

I know they're pretty petty things, but it'd be nice if they worked properly.
 

5taquitos

Member
So I just played through the campaign up to Dalatecht couple of times on Advanced and had tons of fun, it's great to get into a fun, pretty rhythm game that is both challenging and good to zone out to. I played it with L1, Triangle and R1 and it's working just fine for me.

I totally thought that to get past Dalatecht you were supposed to go through all 3 barriers with a 4x combo, so I tried for ages and couldn't get it. Glad I checked this thread!

I have a couple of leaderboard issues which slightly bugged me:
- I don't have the little 'K' kickstarter icon by my name on the leaderboard. :(
- I did the first 4 or so songs on Intermediate to get used to things, then changed to Advanced and played up to Dalatecht, then replayed the campaign again on Advanced (and a bunch of quickplay songs) and I still have an "i" next to my name on the leaderboard.

I know they're pretty petty things, but it'd be nice if they worked properly.

Did you install the extra Kickstarter add-on? I'm pretty sure that's what gives you your K icon, but I may be mistaken.
 
- I did the first 4 or so songs on Intermediate to get used to things, then changed to Advanced and played up to Dalatecht, then replayed the campaign again on Advanced (and a bunch of quickplay songs) and I still have an "i" next to my name on the leaderboard.

I know they're pretty petty things, but it'd be nice if they worked properly.

I am pretty sure the leaderboard reflects whichever run you had the best score on so if your Intermediate run was a better score than your Advanced it isn't going to replace it with a worse score.
 

Kumubou

Member
As an aside, the multiplayer trophies can go screw themselves. It would have been a fun platinum to go for between beating everything on Super and doing the Campaign on Expert in a single segment, but now that's not happening

Has anyone tried playing this with an arcade stick..? Just out of curiosity?

I play amplitude pretty regularly, hype for this.

EDIT: I completed the demo on expert (100% clear on second song) is the whole game generally easier then amplitude on ps2 or is it just the first few stages?
I've been playing on a stick myself. The Left Side layout works stock, but it's kind of weird as you have to do some real goofy pesudo pinky scratching to move from lane to lane. That and buttons are double bound, so you have to be really careful to not accidentally hit another button or you will drop your combo instantly. Now I have been playing with a modified Blitz layout (since it puts the lane changes on buttons and using the Accessibility system option to reassign some buttons) and it feels like borderline cheating.

- I did the first 4 or so songs on Intermediate to get used to things, then changed to Advanced and played up to Dalatecht, then replayed the campaign again on Advanced (and a bunch of quickplay songs) and I still have an "i" next to my name on the leaderboard.

I know they're pretty petty things, but it'd be nice if they worked properly.
The overall leaderboard shows the lowest difficulty you have a high score on. I started playing on Expert and it showed an X until I tried playing Dalatecht on Advanced, and then it showed an A until I managed to beat that score on Expert and it went back to showing an X.
 

Dio

Banned
Mine keeps getting an error in the middle of songs. It's really annoying.

AN ERROR HAS OCCURRED (SU-35931-1)
 
It's one of the few games that puts me in the 'Zone'.

WipEout is known to put you in the Zone (well, especially in Zone Mode). At one point, everything is going so fast, everything is so flashy on the screen + the electric music = boom you're in the Zone. You're playing automatically, your brain handles all the controls for you, and you're playing like a God.

I don't know if I'm the only one experiencing this.
 

5taquitos

Member
It's one of the few games that puts me in the 'Zone'.

WipEout is known to put you in the Zone. At one point, everything is going so fast, everything is so flashy on the screen + the electric music = boom you're in the Zone. You're playing automatically, your brain handles all the controls for you, and you're playing like a God.

I don't know if I'm the only one experiencing this.

Definitely, sometimes I rock a pattern and I'm like "how the fuck did my fingers just do that?" Then I'll whiff a simple on-beat note.
 

cj_iwakura

Member
It's one of the few games that puts me in the 'Zone'.

WipEout is known to put you in the Zone (well, especially in Zone Mode). At one point, everything is going so fast, everything is so flashy on the screen + the electric music = boom you're in the Zone. You're playing automatically, your brain handles all the controls for you, and you're playing like a God.

I don't know if I'm the only one experiencing this.

It's typical for rhythm games.
 
It's one of the few games that puts me in the 'Zone'.

WipEout is known to put you in the Zone (well, especially in Zone Mode). At one point, everything is going so fast, everything is so flashy on the screen + the electric music = boom you're in the Zone. You're playing automatically, your brain handles all the controls for you, and you're playing like a God.

I don't know if I'm the only one experiencing this.

I know that WipEout 'in the zone' feeling; my record for Zone mode itself is 116 I think on Fury's Syncopia which I'm pretty proud of.

I'm finding it difficult playing this demo, I keep thinking I am hitting the beats at exactly the right time, but turns out it's too early, but I can hit them pretty late after the beat and it still counts? Really puts me off.
 

Dio

Banned
Wetware is one of the worst songs I've heard in a rhythm game.

What the fuck happened? This sounds like someone's Fruity Loops project they left on the cutting room floor.
 

5taquitos

Member
Wetware is one of the worst songs I've heard in a rhythm game.

What the fuck happened? This sounds like someone's Fruity Loops project they left on the cutting room floor.

That whole first area is probably the worst-sounding part of the campaign.
 
I am pretty sure the leaderboard reflects whichever run you had the best score on so if your Intermediate run was a better score than your Advanced it isn't going to replace it with a worse score.
The overall leaderboard shows the lowest difficulty you have a high score on. I started playing on Expert and it showed an X until I tried playing Dalatecht on Advanced, and then it showed an A until I managed to beat that score on Expert and it went back to showing an X.
Gotcha, thanks.

Did you install the extra Kickstarter add-on? I'm pretty sure that's what gives you your K icon, but I may be mistaken.
Yeah I did, I'll just check tomorrow in case it needs some time to update, if not I guess I'll just try reinstalling that add-on (for a third time). vOv
 
So, my personal experience with the game: The gameplay is as fun as I originally remember. The controls the tight, the ability to change latency is great, the visuals are awesome. The biggest grip is with the lacking soundtrack. Some songs are good but some are just 'noise' to me. At times, I would play without any audio and just follow the screen because some songs are annoying. I get it that they are going for the whole "concept album" feel, with a story about you trying to revive a comatose patient, but I would've loved a soundtrack twice the size, with half of it being licensed tracks. Maybe even get license and use tracks from the previous Amplitude games. Last but not least, an online battle mode, where you and another player play the same song, would've been a great addition. It sucks that they didn't reach the stretch goal, and its something that Slacker Backer funding would've saved, but it really is a very barebone game.

I'm glad they have DLC planned, but I'm hoping they add licensed tracks as they have some good relations with the music industry, and can hopefully justify it.

But yeah, currently its a barebone game with basic features. DLC and hopefully future updates will make it a complete game.
 

5taquitos

Member
I'm glad they have DLC planned, but I'm hoping they add licensed tracks as they have some good relations with the music industry, and can hopefully justify it.

But yeah, currently its a barebone game with basic features. DLC and hopefully future updates will make it a complete game.

Sorry to burst your bubble (and mine, and many others)

sadface.png
 

5taquitos

Member
It's an impossibly stupid move on many levels, unless this is typical 'at this time' PR speak.

Yeah, it doesn't make any sense to me, especially coming from a company that has made so much music DLC in the past and present. I feel like the attach rate would be huge for DLC tracks for this game, at least initially, that they would recoup costs quite quickly.
 
I'm starting to really hate how the campaign is set up. I need 10 bars to unlock the bonus song in the final region, which means I need at least two 3-bar songs and two 2-bar songs. Any time I get a 2-bar performance, then, is cause for concern. What this means in practice is I replay the same fucking song over and over again trying to get a 3-bar rating and either quitting because I screwed up too many times, or making it to the end and discovering I still haven't met the mysterious criteria for 3 bars. Worse, if you save the campaign and quit at that point, you lock yourself out of playing that song, so now you just have to deal with only having nine bars left in the region to earn and knowing the last song will fuck you up because of the trippy distortion effects. So you HAVE to 3-bar the other two songs or kiss your campaign goodbye.

Just let me replay songs in the campaign. Why won't it let me replay songs in the campaign. This is really frustrating.
 

McFadge

Member
Update from Harmonix on Kickstarter

Harmonix Music Systems says:

Hi McFadge,
We’re aware of backers in certain countries having problems with their Kickstarter codes, and are working with Sony Europe to rectify the issue.

Thank you for your patience!
 

Agent X

Member
It's one of the few games that puts me in the 'Zone'.

WipEout is known to put you in the Zone (well, especially in Zone Mode). At one point, everything is going so fast, everything is so flashy on the screen + the electric music = boom you're in the Zone. You're playing automatically, your brain handles all the controls for you, and you're playing like a God.

I don't know if I'm the only one experiencing this.

No, I get that feeling sometimes, too.

I started Campaign on Intermediate difficulty, but I felt that it wasn't challenging enough, so I juiced the difficulty up to Advanced. It felt like the good ol' PS2 days all over again. I felt "connected" to the game. It was the "Zone", for sure!

After a while, though, I got yanked back to reality when I hit a song that I just couldn't pass on Advanced. After about 4 attempts (and failures), I dialed it back to Intermediate, and blazed right through it. (I'll eventually try it again on Advanced.)

Harmonix did an excellent job with their revival of Amplitude. Despite what I'm reading above, I hope that they consider releasing some additional content in the future.
 

KiraXD

Member
I'm starting to really hate how the campaign is set up. I need 10 bars to unlock the bonus song in the final region, which means I need at least two 3-bar songs and two 2-bar songs. Any time I get a 2-bar performance, then, is cause for concern. What this means in practice is I replay the same fucking song over and over again trying to get a 3-bar rating and either quitting because I screwed up too many times, or making it to the end and discovering I still haven't met the mysterious criteria for 3 bars. Worse, if you save the campaign and quit at that point, you lock yourself out of playing that song, so now you just have to deal with only having nine bars left in the region to earn and knowing the last song will fuck you up because of the trippy distortion effects. So you HAVE to 3-bar the other two songs or kiss your campaign goodbye.

Just let me replay songs in the campaign. Why won't it let me replay songs in the campaign. This is really frustrating.

isnt gold just 100% streak?
 
isnt gold just 100% streak?

Not sure what 100% streak is. If you mean 100% of the song is played in a single streak, it's definitely not that, as I've never been able to 100% a track. If you mean filling the streak gauge, that can't be it either, as I feel like that would be way too easy (you'd just need to hit four sequences in a single streak).

Anyways. Managed to 3-bar all the other songs in the last region, so Supraspatial can go to hell. Did dismally on the final bonus track, but whatever CAMPAIGN IS DONE so now I can just do Quickplay and unlock the remaining songs that way without stressing about my scores.

Also: Harmonix should really highlight the "Interstitials Off" option you unlock after completing the campaign once. In fact, they should just turn it on by default as soon as you unlock it.
 

5taquitos

Member
Wait WTF?! There's a $33 reward for Kickstarter which says it includes DLC. Did they fuck them over?

Not particularly, they already gave PSN vouchers for the value specified in the tier. It was going to be able to be used for DLC, but they've since scrapped that I guess.
 
Not particularly, they already gave PSN vouchers for the value specified in the tier. It was going to be able to be used for DLC, but they've since scrapped that I guess.

Oh man. That sucks balls. Well, I'm glad this game exists for what it is but this sucks... :/

I was reading the backer credit and so many Sony developers supported the game. Shu and Adam and others are all there as backers. One would think Harmonix would open their contact list and get some artists from their Rock Band selection signed up. No need to make original tracks for the game. I'll gladly take a straight up Rock Band track ports.

Oh well!!!
 

Stackboy

Member
I backed this game via Kickstarter and my code doesn't work. This is likely the last time I put money into a Kickstarter.

I just wanted to play the game and now I have to wait for a fix.

Glad everyone is enjoying the game though.
 
ALRIGHT.

Decided to start getting serious about all this weird campaign stuff I've noticed. First a transcript of interstitial voice overs and lyrics of each song will be necessarily so I've started pulling that together. Did my best transcribing the first song, but not always easy.

Depending on how much you care about the 'story' I guess consider everything beyond this spoilers as I am not going to bother with spoiler text for the entire rest of the post. You've been warned if you care!! (It is barely spoilers and more like theorizing.)

To lay some ground work, this is how I see it. The first song introduces, what I believe to be, four unique voices, so I have assigned each one a generic character letter. It is possible some of these 4 voices are in fact the same person and my hearing is just shit.

We know at least one named character, Sarah. When you first start the tutorial a login sequence animation plays and someone logins with the name Sarah (the name also comes up in a later song/s). I've decided to name the primary female vocals in this song as Sarah until we can figure out who exactly she is/more evidence comes to light. I believe the campaign is the story of Sarah going through some.... uhhh... let's call it "Brain stuff" for now. As I've mentioned before I am convinced Harmonix created an electronic "rock opera" or concept album or however you want to think of it and this is why the campaign consists of all HMX produced tracks.

(I realize the player could be Sarah, and there is evidence pushing in that direction, but holding that until we get to those parts of the campaign.)

Anyway, here is what I have so far with the first song. Anyone who could double check it as it might not be perfect, as well help out on a few words I just could not decipher would be amazing. I'll move on to song 2 when it feels like song 1 has been hammered down.

Code:
CHAR.A (WOMAN DOCTOR/NURSE/SCIENTIST?)
CHAR.B (MAN DOCTOR/NURSE/SCIENTIST?)
CHAR.C (MAN?)
CHAR.S (Sarah?)

01.PERFECT BRAIN
INTERSTITIAL VO:
A: Chromesthesia, spatial sequence, graphene [color?]
B: If successful this will lead to a renaissance of human thought.

SONG BEGINS:
[Orchestral Women Singing]

S: Red and yellow
S/C: We touched a flame
S: Let us make you
A perfect dream
S/C: Full blue and violet
A lost refrain
[thoughts?] and [cellos/channels?]
In a perfect brain

CHORUS:
C: We can change
Change how you feel
Just don't think it through my love (x2)

[You?] can change
Change the way you feel
Just don't think it through my love (x2)

S: Red and yellow
We touched a flame
Let us make you
A perfect dream
Full blue and violet
A lost refrain
S/C: [thoughts?] and [cellos/channels?]
S/C: In a perfect brain

S: Red and yellow
C: We touched a flame
S: [thoughts?] and [cellos/channels?]
C: A perfect dream

S: Red and yellow
C: A lost refrain
S/C: [thoughts?] and [cellos/channels?]
S/C: In a perfect brain (x2)

[Might be more at the end]
 

hamchan

Member
Sorry to burst your bubble (and mine, and many others)

sadface.png

Man Harmonix does not seem like a healthy company right now.

I'm enjoying the game so far. Using the d-pad and square, cross, circle to hit notes because I'm used to two handing my rhythm games and using shoulder buttons to move lanes. I'm finding it impossible to continue a streak when two lanes are super far apart but I don't know if it's a problem with my controls or whether the game is just like that.
 
Not being able to choose what songs you want to go back to in campaign is a silly decision.

I'm up to Dalatecht...and I still have the bonus song to unlock...but in this current playthrough, I need to 3 bar Dalatecht. It's either that or start over AGAIN.

I could have sworn I already beat the campaign on expert but don't see Super.

Going to give it a few more tries before I start over. If I knew the score requirement for hitting 3 bar, it would give me an idea how much better I need to do.
 
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