[Nazxul360]

I’ve completed all expert instrument parts on my first custom including vocals. I’ve also set all the animations and done the drummer’s animation sequence. So I decided to start putting in the practice sections, and figured I’d look up the full list.

 

Well. My brain just exploded and leaked out of my nose, and I think there might be a little pee in my pants. On a scale of 1 to even, I don’t.

 

Before anyone reads any further, if there is a guide or tutorial out there somewhere that explains when to use what and the accepted procedure for it all with examples, then point me to it and be done. It would also be nice to have descriptions how each one actually affects the venue.

 

But my god. I have so many questions, like:

 

How do you implement things like ‘main riff’ or ‘band enters’ without messing up the basic ‘intro, verse, chorus, verse, etc’ structure? This question basically applies to the rest of my questions, too.

 

I see things like ‘bass intro’ and ‘vocal intro’ etc. Are these to be used whenever those instruments kick in during an intro? Or only for intros that start with that specific instrument?

 

There are so many that refer to a very specific part of a specific instrument (like ‘oohs’ or ‘drum roll’). How can anyone be expected to use these without cluttering up the practice list with so many irrelevant entries for any given instrument (not to mention that they only describe what one instrument and doing)?

 

A lot of things have numerous number appendages, and then lettered number appendages. Take choruses for an example. I think I dabbled in practice mode in the game like once, and remember versus and choruses being numbered. So are the letters for different parts of a chorus? Where one chorus would be ‘chorus 1a, chorus 1b, chorus 1c, verse 1, chorus 2a’ and so on?’ Or are they only meant for like 45min songs with 100 choruses? (eg. verse, chorus 1a, verse, chorus 1b, *20min later* chorus 4c, verse, chorus 4d).

 

Gah, I have a headache now. I have so many more questions but I don’t want to make this into an novel. The Harmonix docs tell me nothing.

[Nyxyxylyth]

Relax. You just need to have a practice section every 10 to 20 seconds or so. When the player uses practice mode, those are the section names they see. Practice section names also help with Magma’s automatic venue generation.

 

You don’t break a song down into 100 sections (20 minute monsters notwithstanding). Nobody wants to practice a 1.5 second section for a drum roll – they need a few seconds to catch the beat before the roll starts.

[Farottone]

Practice sections don’t break the game, they are just aids to tell the user what is what. The only sections that have any impact on the game engine are:

[prc_intro]

[prc_verse]

[prc_chorus]

[prc_bridge]

[prc_outro]

because these control autogenerated venues. How to divide the song is up to you, the important thing is that it’s useful for the user who needs to practice. As a rule of thumb, a normal chorus or verse is probably gonna have no more than 2 subsections (prc_chorus#a and prc_chorus#. Don’t overdo it: it needs to make sense when practicing, so the more difficult is the part of the song, the more subdivided it should theoretically be. But again, don’t overthink it, once you used the basic sections listed above, it’s all about just giving the player indications to help them practice spots.

[Nazxul360]

When the player uses practice mode, those are the section names they see. Practice section names also help with Magma’s automatic venue generation.

I know about practice mode and the automatic venue generation. I believe I mentioned both in my post. That’s why I’m taking this so seriously.

 

You don’t break a song down into 100 sections (20 minute monsters notwithstanding). Nobody wants to practice a 1.5 second section for a drum roll – they need a few seconds to catch the beat before the roll starts.

I would absolutely never do that. Wasn’t even considering it. Just wondering why there are so damn many seemingly arbitrary options available for the very reason that you just stated.

 

The only sections that have any impact on the game engine are:

[prc_intro]

[prc_verse]

[prc_chorus]

[prc_bridge]

[prc_outro]

because these control autogenerated venues.

This sets my mind at ease more than you could possibly know.

 

Thanks guys. ” src=”/wp-content/uploads/invision_emoticons/default_SA_smile.gif” />

[Farottone]

Just wondering why there are so damn many seemingly arbitrary options available for the very reason that you just stated.

 

Because there are no custom practice sections (well, you can hack them in but it’s another story and it wouldn’t pass Magma validation, which is what RBN authors need to adhere to). Practice sections can only be those defined by the game engine. For that reason HMX made sure to include as many as possible and all variants, so that authors would always find a valid option.

[Nazxul360]

Because there are no custom practice sections (well, you can hack them in but it’s another story and it wouldn’t pass Magma validation, which is what RBN authors need to adhere to). Practice sections can only be those defined by the game engine. For that reason HMX made sure to include as many as possible and all variants, so that authors would always find a valid option.

Fair enough.

[Nazxul360]

The only sections that have any impact on the game engine are:

[prc_intro]

[prc_verse]

[prc_chorus]

[prc_bridge]

[prc_outro]

because these control autogenerated venues.

Just for clarity’s sake, does that mean that all the variants of those are treated the same way? For example, if I used [prc_quiet_intro] right at the start of the song, it would have the same effect as [prc_intro] regarding the game engine and venue autogeneration?

[DoNotPassGo]

I usually go through first and add in the obvious section transitions (ie, Intro, Verses, Chorus, Solos, Outro).

 

After that, I go through again and label anything that is “a little different” (ie, Bridges, instrument entering, pre/post chorus/verses.

 

Finally, I see how long each section is, and then break it up into a, b, c… if necessary. My usual rule of thumb for most songs is about a practice section every 8 measures (Tempo depending). However, I prefer more practice sections so the player can practice a smaller section if necessary. I would never go more than 16 measures without a section.

 

If you want, I can upload a file or two with the events tracks for you to look at if you wanted a visual example?

[Nazxul360]

I usually go through first and add in the obvious section transitions (ie, Intro, Verses, Chorus, Solos, Outro).

 

After that, I go through again and label anything that is “a little different” (ie, Bridges, instrument entering, pre/post chorus/verses.

 

Finally, I see how long each section is, and then break it up into a, b, c… if necessary. My usual rule of thumb for most songs is about a practice section every 8 measures (Tempo depending). However, I prefer more practice sections so the player can practice a smaller section if necessary. I would never go more than 16 measures without a section.

 

If you want, I can upload a file or two with the events tracks for you to look at if you wanted a visual example?

Thanks man, but I think I’ve got the jist of it. Your post helped. ” src=”/wp-content/uploads/invision_emoticons/default_SA_smile.gif” />

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