It's the Little Things That Make Me Cry

[Xzyliac]

Okay I need to vent here.

What happened to my awesome "explode-y" notes? What'd they do? That was like the first thing I loved coming out of the E3 trailer/vids and now it's been replaced with the typical "break-y" notes. What the hell. That's one of those little things I'm going to miss. Really it was so cool because it gave this life to the note chart. Like a light show almost. It made it really fun to watch and marvel.

Anyone else feel this way about any feature of Rock Band. Not a big gripe but just something that kind of caught your eye and you really loved that they dumped (or even not dumped)?

[masterx1918]

im guessing that making the notes look like they blew up was too distracting

[Elnino]

What do you mean by break-y and explode-y notes? Anyway, I always used to think there would be a part in the song like the chorus that every band member had to sing. And there wasn't. It woulda made the game alot more realistic.

[Feigned]

I too will miss the flaming explod-y notes. :(

[Magnet]

The Suffragette City E3 trailer had the notes exploding/smoking up in a pretty cool fashion. Maybe they changed it because the explosions got too distracting during fast parts? In the expert guitar 9-song montage video from Game Informer, the way the notes kind of blow up into shrapnel is more subtle, but still cool looking. I hope they'll stick with that. I really like what they've done with the whammy visuals too. They've come along quite nicely.

The visual style of the very first WTTJ leaked video was a great starting point. I wonder why so much of it changed since then. It seemed a lot more exciting in that video with the gems and circular notes. Maybe they needed to change it to distance itself from GH, perhaps as a protective measure to make sure that they weren't infringing too much on the look of GH.

I've always lobbied for a choice between how the notes look on the screen - like say three or four HUD options to choose from for the look of the notes. Maybe they'll have something like that for the next RB. Seems a little late for this one unless it's already in there and we don't know about it yet (though I highly doubt that).

[Elnino]

Can someone please show me a video of the explode-y notes and another of the non exploding so I can compare? I never really noticed any exploding notes.

[agar_agar]

I actually like the look of the new glass-breaking-looking notes.

I found the fire-looking ones too distracting (especially for rolls on drums), plus they looked too much like the notes from Guitar Hero. I think that was probably a big reason it was changed too.

[Akaymay]

I must say, the "Puff of Smoke" one was MUCH MUCH cooler. But the glass-ish one is probably much less distracting. I mean, it's not like the smoke one would always be distracting, but if you glance at it, you'd see how cool it looked, and get distracted. I used to even with the mini-fires in the Guitar Hero games.

[Apples]

It's still better than the GH3 notes with their huge, distracting "flame thrower" effects that obstruct the notechart.

[IErrantVentureI]

Note Bam Comparison:

Rock Band 1st Build?:

<object width="425" height="350"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/Xd3E8zgqJM4"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/Xd3E8zgqJM4" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="350"></embed></object>

Rock Band E3:

<object width="425" height="350"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/_HUnRN92ja0"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/_HUnRN92ja0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="350"></embed></object>

Rock Band Newest/Final? Build:

<object width="425" height="350"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/Rv7P24sWWfc"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/Rv7P24sWWfc" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="350"></embed></object>

Guitar Hero 3 Final Build:

<object width="425" height="350"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/-gwT-LT3zPI"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/-gwT-LT3zPI" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="350"></embed></object>

:)

[icantwaitforrockband]

I much prefer the "final build" or "break-y" notes for gameplay, although the second vid with the smoke effect is pretty damn cool looking.

[Eman311]

Cry a river.

[Xzyliac]

The Welcome to the Jungle build sucks balls.

It looks like a GHII mod.

The worst by far was the one in the Fallout 3 issue of GI. I believe that build, not appearance, was before the Welcome to the Jungle demo.

Anywho the E3 build owns my heart and if HUDs aren't selectable on disc I hope we get some HUD/notechart skins in DLC (it'd be a nice little free perk).

[Tendoza]

I like the "break-y" ones because if you look close enough at the GI vid, there is almost like a mini sound wave that emulates from the bottom of the fretboard every time you hit a note. (Im colourblind, so I may be wrong)

[Xzyliac]

I like the "break-y" ones because if you look close enough at the GI vid, there is almost like a mini sound wave that emulates from the bottom of the fretboard every time you hit a note. (Im colourblind, so I may be wrong)

Looking for that is just as distracting as an explosion. :p

[FatWilma]

yeah, i gotta say i like the final build "break-y" notes as well. the smoke ones do look cool, but i think for the long-term, the break-y notes are the way to go.

[PsycoCheerio]

That's my favorite part (the little ripple) looks freaking awesome when you get to see it on a nice TV instead of net-vids...but I also love the E3 explosion effect...

[Schultzy]

The only gripe that I have for all of Rock Band is that the faces for the male characters look a little...weird. That's the only problem I have, as of now.

[IErrantVentureI]

Post a pic or something, I don't get what you mean.

[Jimmik]

wow Errant, good youtubing :P

I personally like the esplodey notes the best, the ones from the E3 Suffragette City build. I never noticed how much I liked those until now. And how much I didn't like GH3's, haha

[sa_nick]

Note Bam Comparison:

Rock Band 1st Build?:

<object width="425" height="350"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/Xd3E8zgqJM4"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/Xd3E8zgqJM4" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="350"></embed></object>


The 1 thing i liked about it was the drum symbols. If it was a cymbal there was a cymbal icon, is it was a tom it had a tom shaped icon and the snare was shaped the same as toms.

Would just be handy is theres gonna be midi drum kit support, plus you'd know the sound ur gonna make when u hit the pad.

[Maherj]

Damn I love watching that WttJ video...It gets me so pumped to play this thing

[vtjustinb]

Damn I love watching that WttJ video...It gets me so pumped to play this thing

If only they had put that song in RB. :P You're right though it gets me pumped up too.

Personally I like the animation in the most current build. I think from an interface design perspective the smoke was a neat (albeit cheesey) effect, but the current animation is less obtrusive and I think does a better job of relating the timing of the note to a correct hit.

[Larkspeed]

I have to say I prefere the break-y note more.

IMO the ones that explode make it difficult to see the next note during really fast passages.

I play by ear not looking at the actual note line but more the center of the screen so i see the pattern and just play it when it sounds right.

My wife on the other hand actualy looks at the line so with the next note obscured it would make it more difficult for her.