Guys you need to calm down at Travis. I read his first post and blatantly knew he was joking from the start before I read any of your hostilities that followed. Additionally, you should know who this person is anyway, and if you don't because you're new to the community or whatever else, you should just hold off on chewing people out until you are... Sarcasm can be hard to read but his was extremely blatant and y'all got defensive right-quick.

Also
Song selection and monitor problems? The monitor is slightly off at the ends but there's 0 effect on the actual part of the screen where anything is to be 'looked at' and there are over a thousand custom songs... I don't know where you'd be coming from to think this machine as a 'no-play'.

Lastly
These have been broken for over two years. So quickly while we're bringing it up, when exactly did you guys expect to 'have the time'? Because frankly we've heard it all plenty for literally years ...

Thanks, Allan. That sounds reasonable.

Thank you so much for giving us the green light for this! I have the materials to mod the pads all ready to go. Only thing left for us is to wait for someone who can balance the sensors after the modding is finished. Is Tony the only person who can get into the machine? If so... TONY PLEASE HELP US, WE WANT THIS DONE! 

"You need to calm down, because you're wrong". See how that instantly defuses situations and makes everything better?


Because I know the OS it's running on, I know why it's not working, I wrote a substantial portion of the memory card handling code, I've set up several non-standard OSes to run memory cards correctly under Linux, and Tony and I have been in talks to make it happen once our respective schedules line up for a free day. Also, I moved here less than 2 months ago and we still found time to renovate the AC drive. Perhaps you should hold off from chewing people out until you know what's going on.

You know this, and Tony knows this, but I don't think the rest of us knew this.  From my perspective, we've had non-functional USB ports for a very long time, and I just figured they were never going to work again.

Post in my capacity as the acting moderator of this forum:  Nobody has crossed a line yet, but this thread is clearly getting a bit tense and I don't actually like deleting posts and yelling at people, so this is just your friendly reminder to keep it as civil as possible!

Post in my capacity as a dance game player: I don't play 14s or really competitively at all, so it's up to you guys whether or not to foam mod (as long as you have Bill's approval, which you now do,) but I am curious HOW flush the arrows will be with the brackets after the foam mod - IE will I still be able to no-bar 7s by feel or will I not be able to tell whether my foot is on the arrow or the metal part? I'm not gonna be a dick if the mod doesn't suit my playstyle, but I would like to know what I can expect!

Post in my capacity as Tony's wife, in which I REALLY struggle to take my own advice about the whole civility thing: Tony has a challenging, exhausting full time job, which drains him of much of his energy.  This job also requires him to be out of state on business for 20-25% of any given month.  Despite this, he still took the time to build you guys an awesome fucking computer, and has not been lying when he has previously referenced all of the time he has sunk into trying to figure the whole USB thing out.  He also frequently makes EXTREMELY inconvenient last minute ACME trips to fix things for you guys on a somewhat regular basis.  Despite this fact, you guys spend a lot of time criticizing him, spamming him with text messages, and demanding he do additional work as your whims see fit. 

I am Tony's goddamn wife and even I am not half as naggy and entitled as many of these posts (and said aforementioned text messages.)  I understand how some of you could be frustrated with the fact that USB is still broken, but think about what you've gained: an INSANELY fast computer, complete with 1000s of custom songs and mods, many of which Tony has taken unplanned and unnecessary ACME trips just to add to the machine for you.

LAY OFF.

And if you don't, then you would at least do well not to even think about trying to get to Tony through me as many of you (actually, literally many of you - I am not singling anyone out, I swear) have tried in the past.  The only thing worse than nagging a dude who has spent a lot of time busting his ass for you is asking his wife to do it instead, and this particular wife will not tolerate it.

Don't forget every Mudkyp pack; including the two Korean packs

Also all of the 'We Love Noise' packs by Gazebo

Let me start with the caveat that I play at Acme no more than once a month these days, so don't really expect machine decisions to take my preferences into account.    But I still like to run my mouth and express opinions, so with that clarified....This is pretty much the same as my attitude towards the foam modding idea.  I don't really play much of anything harder than 7s and 8s with the occasional weak 9, so am mainly concerned as to whether I'll still be able to "feel" where my feet are without looking down to check, especially during Double.  Not sure how recessed the panels generally are after foam modding is done.

The whole "7s and 8s with an occasional 9" thing is also partly why I remarked on the anime-themed sets.  There are a fair number of such songs in those sets, which is why I tend to play from them.  If a new set shows up that's entirely songs rated 10 and higher, I have to skip it, because I know that's way beyond my abilities (but I'm aware there are people who are just warming up on 10s before playing harder songs).  Yeah, I could keep to the other dance games at Acme, but it's nice to have options.

On the USB issue, I never used it to keep track of personal scores, so the only impact it has on me is reduced motivation to try to write steps for a song, as there's no public place to test them out (or play them) after writing them.  Apparently that hasn't slowed SPERGIN down any.

This is why I write easier steps in nearly all of my stepcharts. Not everyone can be Stamina McDragonforce. But unfortunately, the "popular" simfile packs seems to go with intense expert only charts. I remember my wife liked to play songs with me and loved Basshunter music, but we had to write easier charts for her to enjoy those songs, because they only came in 5 minute 11-12 step stamina charts.

Let me take the time to clear up the "how will foam modding affect my performance/feel/ect?"

Not one person should be worried about being able to feel the pads/each arrow.
Laura is very right is saying that having the brackets still on will keep the pads recessed.
The only way to go completely flush is to counter sink the brackets(which isn't happening) and with the stock bolts still on the machine, you can't have them to loose or they will catch on your feet.

The best way I can describe how it will feel is, A) like a brand new unused dedicab B) A tini tiny bit higher than scott's pads are currently.

You will definitely be able to feel where the arrows are and you won't get lost on the pads.

It will feel a little different because where you place your foot to trigger the arrow will feel flat and not very dipped over the inside sensors.
 
What you really have to remember is the concept is to make the game more effortless to conserve energy to improve on stamina draining songs.

So your normal play style will work just fine but should you chose to step more minimally you will still be able to trigger the pads.

Also what everyone should also take into consideration is that stock pads are actually fairly flush by design and there is already foam on the brackets STOCK.

DDR machines DO NOT HAVE FOAM STOCK inside their pads.
As a result they are very recessed.
So really think of this as a revamp of an already STOCK idea and just slightly adding to it.

Hope that clears a few things up.


 

There is no need for hostility!  

First of all let me start by saying that we aren't attacking Tony in any way and I would like to apologize if we came across that way.

I do understand that Tony is a busy person and he has a life outside of ACME Bowl.

Having said that...

Tony and Vyhd (not sure what their name is...), as far as I know, are the only two people who are capable of getting into the computer. We the ITG community rely heavily on them to help us if anything goes awry with the OS or if we need/want change. In understanding that Tony has a very demanding job, shouldn't someone who is able to commit more time be left in charge of the ITG machine in his absence?

I know that work takes a lot of time away from you, no matter what you do, and I understand that Tony can't be on call all the time and we don't expect that of him. Because Tony and Vyhd have taken responsibility over the machine they are the first people we will go to, especially if it has to do with the computer. The frequent questions, the frequent requests, and the occasional criticism should be expected.  

This "nagging" may come off as "nagging" because there is a lack of communication on the other end. When we ask questions with regards to changing the machine externally or internally we rarely get a response back. So, we will continue to ask until we get an answer. Again, let me re-emphasize that Tony and Vyhd are the only two people who can answer these questions, and we really need their cooperation and timely response.

Ultimately, the issue seems to be a lack of communication between the community and those in charge of the computer.

Thank,

Chris

The concern isn't so much that I feel like you guys are purposefully ganging up on Tony as it is that I feel like this community is not demonstrating respect for healthy, appropriate boundaries - but I'm going to give you guys the benefit of the doubt, because I think there may be a serious misunderstanding going on here and maybe you didn't know: The ONLY part of the machine that Tony has ever volunteered to be in charge of is the computer, which he built.  Anything else (pads, coin mech, screen) are things that Tony can sometimes help with if he happens to be at ACME, but are not his "job" nor things he claims to hold any more expertise in than anybody else in the ITG community.  Those things are the job of Masterman Vending employees, and their phone number is posted on the machine. 

So in a sense, yes - it is Tony's job to respond to your questions/requests about the ITG computer specifically, although to say he has to do it in a "timely fashion" is extremely problematic, as each person is going to define "timely" in their own way and I honestly think that this community has unrealistic expectations when it comes to how instantly they can expect gratification. "Continuing to ask until you get an answer" is pretty much just a nicer sounding way to express the concept of nagging, and is not an effective method for accomplishing anything other than frustrating the person being nagged.

The USB problem IS related to the computer, so that is his domain - but, like, last time you guys asked he was working on it, and he's still working on it, so technically nothing has changed and there's no reason for him to say anything about it until something does.  He will let you know when it's closer to working, I'm sure of it.  Until then, try to be patient?

Okay then... So, if Tony isn't able to help with the pads/sensors would Bills techs be able to help? 

Well i was playing double so charts some (most?) Didn't show up.  The bottom of the monitor was funked up and made it feel like i was playing on boost.  The pads were pretty nice though.  Interested in trying it after a foam mod

APHR: I don't have access to the machine per se. I can only work on it when Tony is working on it, since he's the only player with physical access to the computer/drive as far as I know, and we're both pulling full-time jobs (although his involves a lot more travel and stress) so finding time to sit down and work through the USB issue is difficult at best. Also, my name's Mark. Hello! o/

HELLO! 

Name is Chris. 

Yeah, I noticed that as well. It has been like that for a little bit now, and I'm not sure what the problem is. 

It was worse about 1 month ago, A LOT worse! The screen seemed squished, it felt like I was playing on boost for sure! I've been playing on 10% mini to help with that. As far as the Doubles Charts not showing up, I'm not entirely sure why. I wish I could help but my knowledge only extends to the exterior of the machine. 

Bill, I have some useful info regarding replacing the monitor on dedicabs:
http://aaronin.jp/boards/viewtopic.php?t=10564

In summary; It's been discovered that Sony Trinitron 32" CRTs (flat screen) TVs are a perfect match for the dedicab. The mounting locations are even the same. If you want to replace the screen on this machine cheaply, try looking for one of these TVs on Craigslist (I've seen them for <$40) and try having your techs wire it up appropriately.

Suko, thanks for that info, wrote it down.  Is thye monitor really that bad?  Looked pretty normal to me when I last looked, but then agian, I am not staring at it while smashing arrows for an hoir either.  :-)

The monitor isn't bad at all, I guess we are getting a little picky! 

As far I can tell, it's not the same as it used to be. Before we got the new computer installed the screen was near perfect in my opinion. But, after the new computer, the screen size seemed to have shrunk by maybe 1 inch on the bottom; makes it feel like we are playing with boost on. The only minor issue we are having is the background graphics during gameplay. It's far more distracting than it used to be making it difficult to read the notes.

We can stretch that screen out.  As far as the background distractions, could it be that the monitor is set a tad too bright?

We've had one of your techs adjust the screen brightness and its spot on. I think it's some of the graphics in the background that is causing the problems.

I directed Tony to this part of the thread. 

On a less serious note, I just wanna point out that BACK IN MY DAY, we had to deal with background videos like this:

Kon - Gamelan de Couple (Heavy) AAA on DDR EXTREME (Japan)

Now if you'll excuse me, I think some kids are playing on my lawn.

Laura, my thoughts exactly. I didn't even realize ITG had backgrounds until someone told me they did. It's 100 times easier to read the chart compared to DDR.

As far as the background goes, when you are playing expert charts with 1500+ notes and its streaming at 190 bpm, you begin to notice smaller/finer details that hinders your play. I'm not the only one who feels this way.

The problem is that it wasn't like this before. Something is going on with the graphics in the background. If it's a difficult issue to address, why not change the theme so we can play with the background turned off and still be able to score?

And yes, we all had to deal with the awful background clutter back in the day...