Yeah, I'm not even excited about Rock Band 4 as a source for new tracks. I'm more interested in migrating what I already have to newer hardware, and getting a new guitar.
RB4 is really going to need to be really well put together.
Wanna elaborate?
Like most music game franchises, or games with licensed tracks, they usually get a great first few selections but as they drag, they start getting deeper and deeper into that barrel, which means results are.... Mixed.
Yeah, they have promised DLC legacy support but that's not going to be immediate, and I'm not thrilled with the majority of the announced tracks so far.
Essentially this. It's not really about not liking the soundtrack so far, though I find it to be largely uninspiring. They can't all be winners. It just seems like they're really scraping the bottom of the barrel for on-disc songs. Plus, I wasn't entirely thrilled with much of RB3's design. So I'm really wanting RB4 to be, not a return to form per se, but at least a solid enjoyable experience. Something more in line with what I want gameplay wise.
I am extremely wary and so far there has been little they've announced that has me particularly interested.
God dammit, Harmonix. You're in Boston. You should know damn well that All Over You and Lightning Crashes are two of the most overplayed songs on the radio, and I'm not even limiting it to "songs by Live that are overplayed." I would have been happy with literally any song off of Mental Jewelry or Secret Samadhi (which is a terrible album) over All Over You. It doesn't help that Aaron (I think it was Aaron) mentioned Secret Samadhi and Lakini's Juice recently on Twitter. Getting me all excited that we'd get something decent...
End Rant.
Secret Samadhi is a really weird album.
On the one hand, you've got "Lakini's Juice," "Ghost," "Graze," and "Heropsychodreamer," which, while having terrible lyrics("I saw your tongue/It licked my heart/They called you queer"), is a fun, rocking song.
On the other, you've got "Rattlesnake," "Century," "Insomnia and the Hole in the Universe," and all of the others, which fit somewhere on the meh-to-outright terrible spectrum.
But, yeah... "All Over You" is their worst popular song this side of "The Dolphin's Cry."
So I'm really wanting RB4 to be, not a return to form per se, but at least a solid enjoyable experience. Something more in line with what I want gameplay wise.
Can you say what that would be? Having played all three of the main games, I honestly don't know myself what I'm hoping for. There's a lot I liked about RB3's handling of objectives, and I'd hate to lose that. I'm sure there are relevant things that the third game dropped or got wrong, I just can't think of any.
"Nothing is gonna save us forever but a lot of things can save us today." - Night in the Woods
Santa hates all the music because he hates all the things
Except the stuff he doesn't hate
Thus far they have not provided enough of the latter
I haven't seen a ton of stuff in the new tracks that has me excited either. Outside of one of the bonus tracks from preordering through Amazon (Follow Me Down by The Pretty Reckless) there's maybe a handful that make me think "Yeah, ok, I'll probably play that" and the rest are pretty firmly in "meh" territory.
But then I'm not buying it for new tracks I'm buying it for an actual campaign mode (we'll see how this plays out) but mostly because DLC will carry over.
I appreciate the game on two levels -- on one level for being able to play music that I really like, on another level for playing music that isn't really my cup of tea but is really great from a gameplay standpoint. Sometimes tracks only hit on the former for me (Kids Don't Follow, I Wanna Be Your Dog), sometimes tracks only hit on the latter (A Jagged Gorgeous Winter), sometimes tracks hit on both perfectly (Maps, Funk #49).
These songs aren't really exciting me in terms of being songs I'm super into, but of the ones I know, I think there'll be some really fun gameplay in there. And honestly, between how specific my taste in music is and how much of a back catalog I've already got of songs I love, I am totally fine with Harmonix finding songs that are mostly in that territory.
So I'm really wanting RB4 to be, not a return to form per se, but at least a solid enjoyable experience. Something more in line with what I want gameplay wise.
Can you say what that would be? Having played all three of the main games, I honestly don't know myself what I'm hoping for. There's a lot I liked about RB3's handling of objectives, and I'd hate to lose that. I'm sure there are relevant things that the third game dropped or got wrong, I just can't think of any.
Mostly I was satisfied with how RB2 did things. Mostly in look and content. I know they couldn't just add pro guitar or keys without making changes to the engine, but the RB3 engine put me off. I didn't like the avatars. I didn't like the removal of individual attitudes. I didn't like the removal of Band World Tour. I didn't like that what used to be the large LA venue no longer displayed the band name behind the drummer. I didn't like that I couldn't just set a band mate to a specific instrument. And probably others I didn't bother to write down.
A lot of what I didn't like about RB3 are little minor things, but it added up to what I considered a lateral move at best. The things I liked: The lighter reviews. No-fail mode. I don't use it much, but the library filters are pretty nice. I was grateful that quickplay used my created avatars for the band rather than randomly picking from default selections. But that's just a positive in the face of the negative of losing BWT.
What I'd want is a more dynamic BWT. I want the graphics to be more like RB2. I want to be able to pick my venue. I want the band logo graphics back from RB1. And probably a bunch of other little shit.
I haven't paid a lick of attention to announced features because none of them matter to me. Freestyle guitar solos? Shit. I'd be happy if they could make it so that the non-solo buttons could work without strumming during solos. At least without having to modify the damned hardware. I want RBN content to make the jump, but doubt it will.
At a minimum it's 'don't fuck with anything else' and 'add venue select'. But until they start actually talking about game content rather than flogging song selections I'm just not interested. I want to know what the game will do for gameplay. I want to know what the planned/expected/hoped for schedule for DLC transfer. A list of twelve songs, three that I know, two of those that I like, does nothing for me.
Thanks for writing that out, Santa. I remember when we got started on RB3, there were lots of little things that we missed, but by now I've forgotten about most of them.
I have to say I'm very curious about the Freestyle solos, how they'll work musically and in terms of gameplay. Other than that, has anything been announced about the gameplay other than the features they've dropped?
Thirith on
"Nothing is gonna save us forever but a lot of things can save us today." - Night in the Woods
The other significant change I've noted is the addition of the drum fill library. I am ambivalent about this one; it sounds potentially cool, but I turned off fills in RB3 to see the original underlying drum chart, and wouldn't be surprised if I end up doing the same here (assuming it's still possible).
Edit: Oh, and the new handling for ad-hoc harmonization when singing alone. I'm not clear exactly how this works, but it sounds up my alley since I do like to harmonize when singing. This might only be for tracks that do have harmony parts charted, maybe?
You can turn off the new drum fill stuff. You can do it RB1/2 style, Beatles style, or the RB4 style.
Edit: Oh, and the new handling for ad-hoc harmonization when singing alone. I'm not clear exactly how this works, but it sounds up my alley since I do like to harmonize when singing. This might only be for tracks that do have harmony parts charted, maybe?
If you know what notes belong in the chord for a note line, you can sing another note in that chord that sounds good and you'll fill the pie (but backwards). It's supported in all songs. Basically think of it as literally every song having harmonies no matter what, Harmonix is just charting "invisible" harmonies for solo-only songs.
edit: Also, I'll have to disagree on scraping the bottom of the barrel for songs. Not only should we wait until all of them are announced, they have a legitimate problem where they have big acts for RB4, but they already burned some of their biggest tracks as DLC, like Ozzy. So we're going deeper into their catalogue because we already -have- some of their bigger songs.
For the Beatles style, there are no fill sections. You just play the song as charted, and in order to trigger overdrive you hit the very last note of the section that would have been an overdrive section. To not activate overdrive, just skip that one note.
You can see it in here. When the chart builds up to a green note that has the track underneath it also green, that's an overdrive section. You can see the drummer occasionally skip those green notes while maintaining combo, until he finally decides to activate OD.
If you're planning on getting a One or PS4 for RB4 I'd just wait until the game comes out. You only benefit from waiting. I'm waiting until I actually own RB4 to get a One and Microsoft's desperation makes it a better buy the longer i wait. Holiday deals, etc.
LOL that monster. Oh man, midly related, I wonder if JD may finally get Barkerville in some form in Rock Band.
Anyway, yeah @firewulf I ended waiting on the PS4. I know I'll buy one for the inevitable RB4 + COD + Fifa combo later this year. Until then, Steam machine it is!
"YUP. And they're great. I'm glad they're back. The audience will also shout requests when you're playing in "Shows" mode (in between songs). It's preeeeety great."
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NocrenLt Futz, Back in ActionNorth CarolinaRegistered Userregular
I loved the crowd sing alongs!
Though it sucked that you couldn't always hear them.
For example, Final Countdown. Play guitar solo and crowd sings with opening synth. Play with a band or any other instrument and you won't get the high enough percentage to hear it till later in the song.
And taking requests will be great (and could also be a nice subtle way to plug DLC).
"Play some Skynyrd!"
There will be backwards compatibility, but only on the same hardware family (exception: microphone, which is just a regular USB mic for either platform). I think for wireless Xbox 360 gear, there will be a purchaseable dongle that allows you to connect it up to the Xbox One... details haven't yet been fully announced besides that they confirmed there'll be a way to use your old hardware provided it's Sony -> Sony or Microsoft -> Microsoft.
They haven't, as far as I'm aware. I don't think they've talked about any specific pieces of hardware. I've got two of them and I'd certainly spring for the 360 converter dongle if it meant I could use them.
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Xavier1216Bagu is my name. Show my note to river man.Greater Boston AreaRegistered Userregular
It would be a cool extra if you got some kind of bonus in career mode for playing a fan suggestion as your next song. Like you get extra followers for that set or something.
"YUP. And they're great. I'm glad they're back. The audience will also shout requests when you're playing in "Shows" mode (in between songs). It's preeeeety great."
I forget which song it is now (I want to say "Learn to Fly" by Foo Fighters), but for one of the singalongs has a guy/gal shout "WOOOOOOOOOO" along with the song at one point and it sounds like a bum note in the song. It's extremely fucking distracting.
Posts
Essentially this. It's not really about not liking the soundtrack so far, though I find it to be largely uninspiring. They can't all be winners. It just seems like they're really scraping the bottom of the barrel for on-disc songs. Plus, I wasn't entirely thrilled with much of RB3's design. So I'm really wanting RB4 to be, not a return to form per se, but at least a solid enjoyable experience. Something more in line with what I want gameplay wise.
I am extremely wary and so far there has been little they've announced that has me particularly interested.
Secret Samadhi is a really weird album.
On the one hand, you've got "Lakini's Juice," "Ghost," "Graze," and "Heropsychodreamer," which, while having terrible lyrics("I saw your tongue/It licked my heart/They called you queer"), is a fun, rocking song.
On the other, you've got "Rattlesnake," "Century," "Insomnia and the Hole in the Universe," and all of the others, which fit somewhere on the meh-to-outright terrible spectrum.
But, yeah... "All Over You" is their worst popular song this side of "The Dolphin's Cry."
"Nothing is gonna save us forever but a lot of things can save us today." - Night in the Woods
Santa hates all the music because he hates all the things
Except the stuff he doesn't hate
Thus far they have not provided enough of the latter
I haven't seen a ton of stuff in the new tracks that has me excited either. Outside of one of the bonus tracks from preordering through Amazon (Follow Me Down by The Pretty Reckless) there's maybe a handful that make me think "Yeah, ok, I'll probably play that" and the rest are pretty firmly in "meh" territory.
But then I'm not buying it for new tracks I'm buying it for an actual campaign mode (we'll see how this plays out) but mostly because DLC will carry over.
These songs aren't really exciting me in terms of being songs I'm super into, but of the ones I know, I think there'll be some really fun gameplay in there. And honestly, between how specific my taste in music is and how much of a back catalog I've already got of songs I love, I am totally fine with Harmonix finding songs that are mostly in that territory.
Mostly I was satisfied with how RB2 did things. Mostly in look and content. I know they couldn't just add pro guitar or keys without making changes to the engine, but the RB3 engine put me off. I didn't like the avatars. I didn't like the removal of individual attitudes. I didn't like the removal of Band World Tour. I didn't like that what used to be the large LA venue no longer displayed the band name behind the drummer. I didn't like that I couldn't just set a band mate to a specific instrument. And probably others I didn't bother to write down.
A lot of what I didn't like about RB3 are little minor things, but it added up to what I considered a lateral move at best. The things I liked: The lighter reviews. No-fail mode. I don't use it much, but the library filters are pretty nice. I was grateful that quickplay used my created avatars for the band rather than randomly picking from default selections. But that's just a positive in the face of the negative of losing BWT.
What I'd want is a more dynamic BWT. I want the graphics to be more like RB2. I want to be able to pick my venue. I want the band logo graphics back from RB1. And probably a bunch of other little shit.
I haven't paid a lick of attention to announced features because none of them matter to me. Freestyle guitar solos? Shit. I'd be happy if they could make it so that the non-solo buttons could work without strumming during solos. At least without having to modify the damned hardware. I want RBN content to make the jump, but doubt it will.
At a minimum it's 'don't fuck with anything else' and 'add venue select'. But until they start actually talking about game content rather than flogging song selections I'm just not interested. I want to know what the game will do for gameplay. I want to know what the planned/expected/hoped for schedule for DLC transfer. A list of twelve songs, three that I know, two of those that I like, does nothing for me.
I have to say I'm very curious about the Freestyle solos, how they'll work musically and in terms of gameplay. Other than that, has anything been announced about the gameplay other than the features they've dropped?
"Nothing is gonna save us forever but a lot of things can save us today." - Night in the Woods
Edit: Oh, and the new handling for ad-hoc harmonization when singing alone. I'm not clear exactly how this works, but it sounds up my alley since I do like to harmonize when singing. This might only be for tracks that do have harmony parts charted, maybe?
If you know what notes belong in the chord for a note line, you can sing another note in that chord that sounds good and you'll fill the pie (but backwards). It's supported in all songs. Basically think of it as literally every song having harmonies no matter what, Harmonix is just charting "invisible" harmonies for solo-only songs.
edit: Also, I'll have to disagree on scraping the bottom of the barrel for songs. Not only should we wait until all of them are announced, they have a legitimate problem where they have big acts for RB4, but they already burned some of their biggest tracks as DLC, like Ozzy. So we're going deeper into their catalogue because we already -have- some of their bigger songs.
You can see it in here. When the chart builds up to a green note that has the track underneath it also green, that's an overdrive section. You can see the drummer occasionally skip those green notes while maintaining combo, until he finally decides to activate OD.
You might be thinking of the $350 Xbone bundles? I haven't seen a PS4 bundle for less than $400.
Nope, they cost $400. There might be a deal tomorrow for Prime Day at Amazon, but I'd expect a bundle rather than any sort of price break.
If you don't mind signing up for Target Cartwheel, they have a 10% off coupon this week. That would get the price down to $360
And they have the Target debit card which takes off another 5%.
http://forums.harmonixmusic.com/discussion/258718/hmxhenry-has-left-the-building
I bet Drake did this.
3DS Friend Code: 2165-6448-8348 www.Twitch.TV/cooljammer00
Battle.Net: JohnDarc#1203 Origin/UPlay: CoolJammer00
Anyway, yeah @firewulf I ended waiting on the PS4. I know I'll buy one for the inevitable RB4 + COD + Fifa combo later this year. Until then, Steam machine it is!
Remember, kids: Make sure your calibration is properly set. I've been doing so much better recently since I made some adjustments.
I honestly had never considered the possibility that they wouldn't be there.
"YUP. And they're great. I'm glad they're back. The audience will also shout requests when you're playing in "Shows" mode (in between songs). It's preeeeety great."
Though it sucked that you couldn't always hear them.
For example, Final Countdown. Play guitar solo and crowd sings with opening synth. Play with a band or any other instrument and you won't get the high enough percentage to hear it till later in the song.
And taking requests will be great (and could also be a nice subtle way to plug DLC).
"Play some Skynyrd!"
They were neat, but I stopped caring much about them when they phased them out.
I got the PAX guitar but I also want to keep using this!
They haven't, as far as I'm aware. I don't think they've talked about any specific pieces of hardware. I've got two of them and I'd certainly spring for the 360 converter dongle if it meant I could use them.
PSN: PLD_Xavier | NNID: Xavier1216
That's probably the thing I missed most in RB3.