[Shroud]

There are some customs here and there which have “zero” difficulty for pro keys, where really that isn’t the case ” src=”/wp-content/uploads/invision_emoticons/default_SA_smile.gif” />

 

I opened up the metadata file (I am on PS3 so I have only a single songs.dta file for all customs) and in fact those songs show real_keys = 1.

 

I just want to put some more reasonable difficult value there, and it seems all that’s needed is just change the value in the metadata file. Piece of cake really…

 

Now, my question is actually: what are the numerical values that correspond to different difficulties in the 0-5+ scale used by the game?

 

It should be very simple to know (I could in fact just try out different numerical values, and check how they are displayed in-game), but I was a bit surprised that I wasn’t able to find this simple information in the authoring documentation… or did I simply overlook it?

 

Also, generally speaking, I can see that authors have assigned all kinds of numerical values with a level of precisions, so you could have instruments with a single-digit difference, but they show up with the same difficulty in the 0-5+ scale. Do we have any sort of guidelines or criteria for properly assigning an instrument’s difficulty score, or is it totally up in the air at the author’s mercy?

[SanicStudios]

Should just be 0-6

0-5 dots and then 6 = devil heads?

[TrojanNemo]

THIS IS HOW RB3 PICKS DIFFICULTY TIERS IN GAME
WHEN USING MAGMA OR MAGMA: C3 ROKS EDITION
THE VALUE ASSIGNED IS ALWAYS THE LOWEST OF THAT TIER

USING GUITAR AS AN EXAMPLE:
0 = NO PART
1 – 138 = 0 BUBBLES
139 – 175 = 1 BUBBLE
176 – 220 = 2 BUBBLES
221 – 266 = 3 BUBBLES
267 – 332 = 4 BUBBLES
333 – 408 = 5 BUBBLES
409 OR HIGHER = DEVIL TIERED

(rank_index_min 1)
(rank_index_max 7)

(guitar_ranks
1
139
176
221
267
333
409)

(pro_guitar_ranks
1
150
208
267
325
384
442)

(bass_ranks
1
135
181
228
293
364
436)

(pro_bass_ranks
1
150
208
267
325
384
442)

(drum_ranks
1
124
151
178
242
345
448)

(keys_ranks
1
153
211
269
327
385
443)

(pro_keys_ranks
1
153
211
269
327
385
443)

(vocal_ranks
1
132
175
218
279
353
427)

(band_ranks
1
165
215
243
267
292
345)

[Shroud]

Ok… so the thresholds are actually different for different instruments!

[VreyIsGrey]

Odd. I wonder why they decided to go with that.

[FUGGNUTZ]

The thresholds for each difficulty changed in each game, depending on the value of the lowest rated song in that tier on-disc. This is why RBN songs from the RB2 era have incorrect difficulties in RB3.

[Shroud]

Are authors following any guidelines about how to estimate the difficulty of each instruments? Or do we have good reference songs for this purpose?

 

Sometimes I have encountered customs with what IMHO are seriously underestimated difficulties ” src=”/wp-content/uploads/invision_emoticons/default_SA_smile.gif” /> But maybe it’s just me, and now that I have to pick difficulties for my own customs, I don’t want to mark something as significantly less/more difficult than they should.

[VreyIsGrey]

There’s a page listed somewhere on the RBN Docs but I can’t access that right now.

[FujiSkunk]

The Magma page in the RBN docs talks about how to set the difficulty for each instrument chart, but doesn’t really give any advice on how to set each one. Really you just have to use your own judgement about how your song will fit into the existing setlist’s difficulty spectrum. There are plenty of official songs people will tell you should have been rated differently — I have a few such complaints myself — so don’t sweat it *too* much. If the biggest complaint you ever hear is how a particular chart should have been rated one dot higher or lower, you’re doing fine.

 

Having said that, there are a few pointers you can use when making a decision:

• Harmonix seems to rate a given instrument based not on how hard it is to FC, but how hard it is to pass without “no fail”. Several times a chart will have a blistering little riff that would kill all but the most skilled players if the entire song had that kind of charting, and overall the instrument is still rated only two or three dots.
• If a chart is nothing but long chords, zero dots is a safe choice.
• If a chart has what you think is a challenging riff, but that riff is repeated over and over, you can get away with nudging the difficulty down a dot. For many players, repeated riffs are easier to learn than more dynamic charts that are otherwise just as hard to play. Again, though, this is a judgment call!
• Generally speaking, bass is assumed to be easier than guitar, and often players will opt for bass if they think guitar will be too hard for them. Therefore, an exact same chart should be considered “harder” for bass than for guitar. Whether it’s “harder” enough to rate another dot or two would still be your call. Some authors don’t agree with this philosophy, but again, this is how Harmonix tends to do it.

[Author]

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