nice post buddy

My protege AML has been playing there recently, he says that the pads have gotten SIGNIFICANTLY worse in the last week. The tech apparently thought that diagnostic mode was appropriate for seeing if you'll miss steps in a song. Welp, where's Art?
So yeah, this location is apparently still shit. I'll give a full report later.

Hi, I'm new here! I was just at GK last night. I was there pretty late and the place got really empty after 1 or so so I was really excited to have the DDR machine to myself . . . AND ACTUALLY BE ABLE TO HEAR THE MUSIC! GK gets so damn loud sometimes, argh. (Probably looked like a weirdo playing a bunch of DDR totally by myself but oh well) . . . Anyway I know the machine isn't in the greatest shape but I still had fun.

I am a pretty casual (read: terrible) player right now but I would like to get into the game more. I've loved the game even after its "fad" phase and I've wanted to keep playing but as you guys know it's hard to get a good setup at home/find good arcades to play at. Any advice you guys have on that front would be appreciated!

The best case scenario would be to just move to Japan and play at the best arcades and all the BEMANI games you want there, but it's awesome to see another DDR player in Portland too, so welcome to the forums! Right now, I would say the two best arcades in the area are GK and John's Incredible Pizza in Beaverton, which has an X2 in much better condition on the P2 side (that is if you're willing to pay for the buffet entrance fee). If you have good pads and a good library of songs at home, then that's an option too.

And it's okay if can't score well right now. With the lack of good machines in the area, sometimes I just forget about the score and just freestyle to my heart's content.   

Thank you! It's really a shame that GK's machine is stuffed off into a corner and not cared for properly. GK kind of annoys me in that it sounds like a gamer's paradise but it's really mostly patronized by boring people who just want the novelty of being surrounded by a bunch of old arcade cabs while they drink. Now that DDR isn't a fad anymore people play one game and then quit because it actually takes skill! They really need to find a bigger space too, it's so cramped in there. Or they need to get rid of some of the WAAAAY too many pinball machines. A whole floor of them? C'mon.

But ANYWAY, I wanted to know more about how to rig up a decent setup at home too. I looked around the forum but I didn't see too much about it. Nowadays what are the good pads to buy? I think I should start with a hard foam pad (if they still make those) and go from there, either modifying it or getting a hard pad (if they even make good hard pads anymore) when it wears out.

Maru,

Welcome to the forums. My advice is just have fun and play how ya want to. Sure, Ground Kontrol's pads aren't the best, but they're good enough for some arrow stompin' fun now and then. If you find yourself getting really serious about the game, to the point where the pads can't keep up with you, then perhaps look into buying a decent home pad setup or start looking at other locations in the area (if there are any?).



There are plenty of DIY options out there. It'd be nice to know more about your skill level and what you want to get out of the game before making recommendations.

For instance; When I first started playing DDR, the first thing I did was take the normal soft DDR pad and I built a hard stage for it; A square of plywood with cardboard padding on both sides. I then staples the edges of the DDR mat to it. Honestly, it worked REALLY damn well, too. A much better improvement over the standard pads. The first "good" pad I bought was the Red Octane Ignition pad. They don't make those anymore, but I know there's a lot of similar ones out there. I think ZIV might be one of the better places to go to inquire about good home pads.

I'm rambling, so let me wrap this up. Check out this thread for homebuilt designs. If you can build your own, I strongly suggest 8ftmetalhead's design as it is VERY close to the Cobalt Flux's design and is easier to make than most. Also, the simple design will keep problems/maintenance to a minimum.
http://zenius-i-vanisher.com/v5.2/viewthread.php?threadid=3350

Gonna go over there today and check it out.

ok brt at 4 or 5 or whenever my boo

Shout outs to whoever fixed/rotated the sensors. Got about 30p 2g on CSFIL in a course. Thanks for facilitating the scene, GK.

Thank you! My skill level isn't that great . . . I can pass most songs on Light but with Standard it really depends on the song. I guess that's partly why I wanted a home setup, I could practice without having to worry about losing my 50 cents on a hard song! What soft pads could I get nowadays that are decent? I really like your "stage" idea with the soft pad, that's what I was thinking of doing with one once my skill level got high enough.

That's great to hear that the sensors at GK are working better, maybe I'll have to stop by this weekend or something.

So I'm not hijacking this thread even more; please visit here for my response:
http://www.pnwbemani.net/bemani-discussion/home-built-pads/msg29748/#msg29748

I'm going at 4 today. Hope to see others there.

I want to stop by again soon but I caught that dumb flu that's been going around. Maybe I'll feel OK by this weekend...

going brt 1hr? i guess i'll go sat night too and hope for good pads

yeah, pads are definitely getting worse again... hopefully new sensors happen someday soon or this place (and ddr) is once again... dead i'll be there saturday afternoon; the noise is just too much to handle once the dj's start playing and you can't hear ddr AT ALL. i think i'll play until the dj's start spinning saturday

lol every day it's "this place sucks" "THE PADS ARE GOOD AGAIN" "pads suck again"

w/e I'll be there Saturday

it's true though. if the pads were a perfect 10 like my face then it would be an Experience

Was GK really in a place smaller than it currently is a few years ago?  I can't imagine GK being any smaller.  It's almost kind of obnoxious to shove your way past other people to get to the few games that you want to play.

unfortunately this machine now has an lcd screen and all of the problems that go with that. good luck playing for score.

Were they seriously too cheap to replace it with a new monitor?  Man, GK is such a shitty arcade.  I wish they weren't fueled by so much hipster pinball money

Sad to hear the monitor has been swapped. I'd still like to check it out. I haven't been since the rearrangement of it all.

I got so hype when I read all the posts in this thread thinking people would be there on Saturday but then realized they are all from January and I'm surprised I missed it then.

I've got a friend working there right now who can fix up the pads for us so that might be slightly helpful.

Any who if anyone wants to meet up this Saturday I'd be down.


I've got a cab set up at home (in Gresham) running SuperNova and OITG and need more people to play it. So if you don't scare me away at GK you'll most likely get an invite in the future.

andy i wish i could come over and play 16s with you

Going to be at GK today at noon. Come play with me.

this weekend is my first weekend living in hilsboro and i think im gonna go stomp arrows at gk on saturday, anyone want to join or go somewhere else that i dont know about? lol

I could maybe try and meet up but it would be early, I have to work graveyard so I'm not going to tire myself out before work. I'll post again if I end up going.

we just got into idaho so we might not be around tommorow till 4 or 5, well figure something out though for sure