Well I never looked at the stars as a skill rating, just a score rating (which is what it is). I see what you're saying, but you can still determine "skill" of a song by the percentage and note streak you end up with. But after a while the star system almost becomes meaningless since it ends at 5 and your scores will start going well above that. That's why I like how scorehero added 6, 7, and 8-star ratings.
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Guitar Hero II (360) -- April 3rd
- Thread starter BuddyC
- Start date
PedroLumpy
Member
bune duggy said:
Well it would be nice if they just said straight out how the star ratings are determined in the game.
Perhaps I should explain how I got into the habit of not using it. Since the amount of points you can get using star power varies wildly on where you use it in the song, one could get a higher score on one run while actually performing worse than another run when looking at the streak/percentage. Now this is back on the PS2, I didn't care so much about what my score was, so much as that I cared that I would be slowly increasing it as I got better. Now since I was using my score as an indication that I was getting better (by beating the high score), I didn't want to use star power to mess that up. So I just played through songs without using it unless I HAD to to survive. In which case I signed my initials as SP so I knew that the score was bogus.
Hopefully that was clear. Now are you referring to Super Mario Brothers? Because yes I did use stars in that.
Mejilan said:
The 360 version looks (because of HD, not graphics) and sounds better.
The guitar has a thinner neck and it feels alot better in my hands especially after playing for a long time.
The patch fixed the whammy bar on some guitars. I think some people had problems with it not working sometimes. I don't know if the patch bricking consoles is true. I think somebodys console probably just died the average 360 death when the patch came out and started an uproar on the internet.
PedroLumpy said:
It's a GAME, not a sim. And if you really think just using star power will let you 5 star all songs, you have another thing coming. First of all, you have to nail the star power sections, then you have to use them at good points so that you can finish before the next star power notes come up. Once again, this is a GAME. There are aspects to it that make it like any other game - planning, anticipation, and study. The people with the best scores know when exactly they should be using star power. The game is about getting high scores, not "being able to play the song". In the end you aren't playing anything except air guitar on a solid structure.
bill0527 said:
Ya, at 8 years old, I'm sure that kid has had LOTS of professional training. Was that a joke? Playing guitar doesn't make ANYONE better at guitar hero. A lot of people that play guitar complain that they suck at guitar hero. They are 100% different. There is a video of the guitarist from All That Remains battling this one guy on his own song "Six". The other guy beat him at his own song - once again, nothing alike. The kid probably just practiced a lot, and picked up on moving his hand around fast to compensate for his tiny fingers. You seem him sometimes even using 2 fingers to press down one button. That is not something you learn from playing guitar. It's something he does to compensate for weak fingers. The point was that PRACTICE is what makes someone good at this game.
Comfort_Eagle
Banned
So im on the third set list on hard now after finally getting past Woman (thanks for the advice LakeEarth). Im struggling a little bit so i'm going back to finish of all 5 stars on medium. I think i have another 6 or 7 songs to finish there, then Ill put my full attention to hard mode. Im still enjoying the hell out of the game, though, and I really do like the learning curve.
brokenwatch
Member
Hey, where does Hey You rank in terms of difficulty on Hard? Would it go on the 1st tier if it was part of the campaign? I just got 100% on it (my first song on hard to do that) and I was just curious. Do you guys think it is as easy as something like Radium Eyes?
I got to play the 360 version a few nights ago. The guitar definitly felt a little sturdier/heavier, and the buttons were smaller and closer to each other. I own the PS2 version which I'm ok at(almost finished on hard averaging 3/4 stars on songs). I gotta say though the guitar completely threw me for a loop. Songs like Message in a bottle, and Sweet child of mine were unbeatable, where on the PS2 I can easily 4 star them. I'm sure I just needed to get used to the controller. The graphics were noticably slicker too (my buddy has a 52" Samsung LCD).
PedroLumpy
Member
BboyDubC said:
Allright there tough guy! I'm not telling you how to play. I realize there is skill in using star power effectively, I still don't think it should be a factor at all. Why this bothers you so much, perhaps you'll be kind enough to share?
bboydubc said:
Yeah, I checked your achievements buddy. You don't have the hard or expert careers done. Achievements are there so you can check stuff like this before you call me out like that. Needless to say I'm gonna stay with my assumption that I have a good shot at finishing up 5 stars on Hard. I have no illusions about Expert of course.
...
Gee I hope that Xbox.com achievement thing updates relatively often...
PedroLumpy said:
The reason I don't have the hard achievement yet is because I'm 5 starring everything as I go along. I can beat every song on hard easy. I've five starred the first 6 tiers. Just started the 7th tier.
I checked you out, and you beat expert. I thought you were talking that you were only playing on hard, not expert. If you can beat expert, then you can probably(?) 5-star hard.
Keep in mind this is my first guitar hero, and I've only been playing since April 3rd when the game came out for 360.
PedroLumpy
Member
BboyDubC said:
Hey, it's the internet. Misunderstanding are about par for the course. But Achievements come to the rescue! Man they are great. Crisis narrowly averted. Anyway that's an interesting way you're going through the tiers. It saves one the annoyance of playing through normal/easy after you get to the point where they are boring to play.
Oh, hey don't worry, no ones judging. We all started at Easy, and that is some great progress for starting with this version of Guitar Hero. I've been playing since Guitar Hero 1.
PedroLumpy said:
Well, I started on Medium because that was all I could do. I also 5-starred that as I went along. Then when I was done I started into Hard and am doing the same course - 5 starring everything. 2 tiers left, and I've played through both psychobilly freakout and institutionalized, and it looks like I'm going to need a lot of practice to 5-star them (no worries, since I've spent up to 2 hrs or so in practice mode to get down some songs to 5-star them). Just finished 5-starring Crazy on You which was quite an achievement for me. Where are your standings on the leaderboards?
Edit: Also, none of this changes what I said. This is still a GAME, and the score aspect is part of the game. It isn't just "try to mimic the artist as best as possible". It is about score and getting high scores on the songs. If your personal goal is just to play as many notes as possible regardless of score that is fine, but the strategy of using star power at the right places that you know you can pretty much ace (to get the 8x multiplier) is important for the game aspect of it. Also, it tends to come to the point that if you are hitting most of the notes, those will be your best scores regardless. Using star power will be the same carrying over, so it really doesn't hurt you at all. Most likely you'll be using it at the same points in the song everytime, so your best scores will be the ones you actually played better.
PedroLumpy
Member
BboyDubC said:
2695 of 291871
Man looking at the leaderboard causes me pain. "Oh, that guy ahead of me only has 150 more points! I could get another couple thousand in 5 minutes!" But boy is that a bottomless pit. There will always be someone, I'd never sleep again.
BboyDubC said:
Roger roger, understood.
And yeah, Crazy On You is a toughie for sure
Comfort_Eagle
Banned
I really hate the Allman Brothers. Jessica is such a horrible song.
Its not a hard song, its just a really crappy song. :lol
Its not a hard song, its just a really crappy song. :lol
Christoff Yurievich
Member
TMBG do a sub 4 minute version of the song and it's pretty good. I think in this case shorter = better.
PedroLumpy said:
Meh, almost don't want to add you then, since I've got like 800k to catch you, and you haven't been using star power supposedly... meaning if you did.... bah, I guess I need someone way ahead of me to keep me honest... or do I.... lol, I'll have to think about it. I'm too obsessed with leaderboards, and am someone that wouldn't sleep just to catch up lol.
BboyDubC said:
Honestly? Do you think that the dexterity that goes along with playing real guitar doesn't help? Everyone I know that plays guitar ends up being pretty good at GH. It's not 100% different.
The ability to hammer on and off and switch from pinky to ring finger is a lot easier if you play guitar. You left hand is much stronger and dexterous.
Mejilan said:
Personally, I think the 360 guitar is better in some ways, and worse in others. The fret buttons seem to be more responsive, but I really question the ergonomics of the controller. As I've mentioned before in the thread, the corner that points up in a rather sharp angle on the guitar body is made in a way that prevents me from holding my right arm in a comfortable position when playing.
Maybe I'm alone with this, 'cause I haven't seen anyone make the same complaint. I've been getting somewhat used to it though, but it's still a stupid design, and it doesn't really look good either.
British Monsoon
Member
I actually really like the Explorer design, my right arm sits nicely on the top side while strumming - it didn't find it awkward at all, but I haven't used the SG so I can't compare. Just got through Medium, tried Hard and that freaking orange button is killing me, so i've gone back to easy to 5* my way through that and medium before I take on hard again.
Kiriku said:
I agree. Both my roomate and I complain about how it jabs into you. I love everything else about the controller but that upper corner is annoying. I am sure it has a lot to do with how different people prefer to hold the controller. I prefer it higher up.
painey said:
Heh, same here actually. It's the edge directly above the strum bar. I like to rest my arm on there, and I have a sore spot there now. It cuts into my arm everytime I play. I wish they had installed some kind of soft cushion or rubber padding on that upper edge.
PedroLumpy
Member
BboyDubC said:
I would just go with the 5 starring stuff you've been doing. If you 5 star hard, then you're pretty ****ing good, and could do very well on the leaderboards. Now if you follow through and do 5 stars on expert... well... yeah you'll be doing pretty good. In any case I wouldn't worry about leaderboards until you've put in a serious effort on the expert career. But your call of course.
GitarooMan
Member
Yeah, Woman on hard is a bit of a jump, I barely finished it with about 73 percent notes hit. Even practicing the pull off section quite a bit it's tough for me to pull them off in the song, the hammer ons are easier. I've 5 starred Medium, figure I'll get as far I can in Hard than go back and try to five-star early stuff in hard.
sublime085
Member
YESS!
Freebird on Expert!!!! After probably hundreds of retries I finally beat it!
When I got past solo i I started sweating, because I never got that far, but it was smooth sailing and I ended the song with a full star power bar.
I've been unable to beat it since last November on PS2. It felt so good, and I have an achievement to show for it to boot. Now all I have to do is raise another two grand so I can actually buy my hard-earned Battle Axe.
I'm so happy!
Freebird on Expert!!!! After probably hundreds of retries I finally beat it!
When I got past solo i I started sweating, because I never got that far, but it was smooth sailing and I ended the song with a full star power bar.
I've been unable to beat it since last November on PS2. It felt so good, and I have an achievement to show for it to boot. Now all I have to do is raise another two grand so I can actually buy my hard-earned Battle Axe.
I'm so happy!
sublime085 said:YESS!
Freebird on Expert!!!! After probably hundreds of retries I finally beat it!
When I got past solo i I started sweating, because I never got that far, but it was smooth sailing and I ended the song with a full star power bar.
I've been unable to beat it since last November on PS2. It felt so good, and I have an achievement to show for it to boot. Now all I have to do is raise another two grand so I can actually buy my hard-earned Battle Axe.
I'm so happy!
Congratulations, I've managed to 5 star Freebird on Medium today, getting a score of 252k which feels like an achievement. I'm about 2/3 of the way through 5 starring medium, which is probably going to take another week or so. Then it's back to trying hard, I haven't gotten very far yet though, Woman keeps getting in the way.
The Innocent X
Banned
Inspirius said:
Damn, every time I go up 1000 places on the leaderboard you go up 2000. Still, I`ll revel in my single 5* on medium!
I see you snuck in a 500 note streak while I wasn`t looking!
platypotamus
Member
McBacon said:
I have a rough time with that as well. The biggest thing to remember is to keep holding the lower note. Hold red and then just mash yellow on and off (while strumming if non-hammer-on-able). I literally had to practice mode Psychobilly Freakout to 5-star it on medium because of that stuff.
The Innocent X
Banned
oo Kosma oo said:I traded GH2 for the Halo Beta and Splinter Cell.
After completing Easy (5 stars) and Medium (4 stars) the jump to Hard was just to daunting for me
I may get bored before finishing hard, but just the survival aspect of it is in a way almost a different game, trying to pick out phrases you can hit while avoiding the dreaded flashing red. Beating Woman on hard tonight felt great, even though I didn`t really do that well, but because I hung on even through the sections which felt way beyond me
Imperial Hot
Banned
:lol :lol :lol :lol :loloo Kosma oo said:I traded GH2 for the Halo Beta and Splinter Cell.
After completing Easy (5 stars) and Medium (4 stars) the jump to Hard was just to daunting for me
storybook77
Member
So Woman and Mother get much harder on hard but Life Wasted and Heart-Shaped Box got easier. I finally got my fingers to play Mother with the exception of that damn guitar solo but the bridge on Woman flat out kills me every time.
BboyDubC said:
Not true dude. I jumped into GH1 on hard mode and never looked back, I can't imagine myself easily stretching for those orange notes if I'd never played before. Not only that, but having a good understanding of the timing in solos and generally being used to hearing the guitar more than other instruments when listening to songs as well all adds up to give your long-term guitar player a big head-start over someone who has never touched a guitar.
I'll also add that imo the hardest part for a serious guitarist playing GH on easy/medium is actually trying to figure out which notes they DONT want us to play.
PedroLumpy
Member
5 stars on all the Hard songs today. Star power as it turns out is my friend afterall. Also got a nice bump up the Leaderboards for my efforts. Probably drop back down tomorrow. Trooper on Hard almost got me though, I had to practise to learn the repeating 3 quick note sections (Verse 1b for example I think). I have to say I've always hated parts like that where you have to strum up and down really fast because it usually sounds horrible, but won't kill you. You're only missing one out of every 5 notes let's say, but all you hear is PLUNK PLUNK PLUNK PLUNK PLUNK. I gotta say though, once I learned that section in Trooper though, it was soooooo satisfying to play right!
I think I've heard somone at Harmonix say this. When they were testing, actual guitar players had trouble since like you said, they would play notes they weren't supposed to, playing by ear so to speak. Normal video game players would have less trouble because they would depend more on watching the notes reach the bottom, playing by 'sight'.
Fusebox said:
I think I've heard somone at Harmonix say this. When they were testing, actual guitar players had trouble since like you said, they would play notes they weren't supposed to, playing by ear so to speak. Normal video game players would have less trouble because they would depend more on watching the notes reach the bottom, playing by 'sight'.