Rock Band: The Next Great Franchise - Page 12

I created a band with my sis and we've started the BWT, it's pretty sweet. I've been averaging 98% on drums on easy, I think I'm ready for the next step. The noise the drums make is very loud and I can't crank my stereo since my parents are staying with me for thanksgiving, but I can see that they can be easily washed out.

I prefer the GH3 guitar note arrangements as the RB one's are easier but I'm starting to come around on the RB guitar. I'm still asking Santa to release a patch to allow the les paul to work with RB.

Is it rendering wrong for you guys? I get black bars around the edge of the screen. My tv is a samsung 4665 (1080p lcd) through hdmi. It doesnt do this on my friends 360 hooked to a sxrd.

Look in the options menu under calibration. There is a setting to use 'overscan'. turn it on.

Yeah i had a small black bar on the bottom of the screen, problem with setting it for overscan is that it basically zooms the image in, so in my case, doing it made me miss a bit on 3 sides of the screen to compensate for just the bottom of it. Not a good trade off in my case so i left it off.

Whoa, thanks guys!

Anyone else getting a big lag in the drum solo/fill sections? Everything else is synced up perfectly....the regular notes all play without any lag, whatsoever. I can be playing with a 100%, but every time I get to a drum fill section, the sound of the drums are about a half beat off, after I hit them. Drives me mental...in fact it's so bad I just let the fill sections go by without even playing in them. Yes, I've done the calibration thing a hundred times, and no matter what the setting, the lag is always there.

Speaking of the lag, I'm not sure why, but every time I do the calibration, I'll get widely different numbers each time, too. Sometimes +10ms, sometimes -120ms. I've got a couple settings now that feel right for everyone...when you watch the musicians on the screen, the singer sings in perfect time, and the drummer's beats are also right in time to the music. So I have no idea why the drum fill sections are always waaay off.

I'm surprised there's not more talk about Rock Band in this forum. Was the hype that far overblown? It worries me a little because I get the feeling that the GH3 guitar compatibility issue will never be fixed. What a dumb move by Sony on this one. Why they didn't go the 360 route and impose peripheral standards on game developers is just dumb. That the GH3 XBOX 360 Gibsons work just fine in Rock Band is very frustrating. I can clearly see how the game developers would want to have their own periferals....they make more money that way...but we're only talking about 5 coloured buttons here! Oh, and a strum bar....talk about complex programming!

As for Rock Band, gameplay-wise, I'm still trying to figure out the calibration. The drum fills in the improvise sections are still waaaay off for me. Last night, again I tried recalibrating about 10 times, and there's always a slight delay in the fill sections....which totally screws up my rhythm. I just barely got through "Green Grass and High Tides" (on medium) because there are so many drum fill breaks in between those crazier sections, and the lag totally throws off my timing.

The lag calibration tool isn't very accurate for me. The first step, where you have to position the little icon exactly where the beat hits it isn't very precise. There's about a 20 ms zone where the beat can seem to hit. Step 2 in the process is equally imprecise. Every time I do it, I get a VERY different setting. (like I say, anywhere from +10 to -120.) I can usually always find a setting that PERFECT for the written music....but nothing ever gets the improvised section to play in time for me. I've resorted to hitting the cymbal through these parts as it just kinda rings out, without messing up the rhythm too bad. Fortunately, the rest of the game plays perfectly. Although, I do find that the strat isn't as accurate in faster picking parts of songs, like the Gibson is in GH3.

hey guys..How is the sound quality of the songs in this game?

I absolutely hate the the RB guitar. It looks nice, but that about it. Its much harder to use than the GH guitar imo. I hate the way the strummer feels.

Maybe because there isn't much money in selling guitar peripherals compared to the game itself and licensed downloadable content...?

I have a pretty decent sound system, so I don't think it's that. Mine is a weird lag issue, I think. Everything except the drum ad lib/fill section are perfect. The guitar part is dead on, as is the regular drum notes. It's just when I get to the ad lib parts that the delay kicks in. I hit a tom tom, and the sound comes out about a quarter beat after. Throws me completely off the beat....but then once the fill part is over, the rhythm goes right back in time.

As for the GH3 guitar issue, did Harmonix ever say the guitar would be compatible? I know that many different gaming web-sites were saying the guitar would work, but where did they get their information from? This could be a legal issue, and maybe a legitimate reason why we could get a refund on GH3...as the only reason I bought it was because I was under the impression the guitar would work in Rock Band.

the packing states that it is compatible with most guitar controllers. HMX's statement on the matter is that they developed a open controller platform that anyone can use. they never state what controller it will work with specifically other than the official fender stratocaster controller. The truth is RO did make the les pual propietary for the ps3. they would have done the same on the 360 if they didn't have to make their controller uniform to MS's standards

Been playing for 3 days now and crap there are some difficult songs on there. Ive never played a guitar hero game, so this is my first stab at music gaming. I am geting killed on Aerosmiths "Train Kept a Rollin" and Metallica's "Enter Sandman" on medium difficulty. Most other songs I can hit at 90% or better on medium. In practice session the best I got on "Train..." was 82%.

Ive tried Hard difficulty on some easy songs like "Say It Aint So" and "Creep" but 5 fret buttons is too much for me ATM.

Drumming is fun. Still on easy difficulty, but am learning The drums are a better build quality then I imagined.

This game is badass and worth every dollar.

I'm obviously search-challenged, because the question I have *must* have been asked before, but I can't find it doing searches. Is there any way to get the RB songs onto a portable device like an iPod, so I can listen to them while I'm driving? I don't know a lot of these songs, and this would help me become more familiar with them.

If the answer is Yes, and it's obvious but I'm an idiot, feel free to flame me -- as long as you tell me how also.

Thanks.

I've had the game since launch, and for the most part I'm really happy with it. The drumming is great, the singing is pretty good, and the guitar is mostly good (though I'll get to that issue in a moment). The song selection is pretty diverse, and there are some cool inclusions there. There's some nice DLC at launch, too (the Metallica and Police packs in particular). Character customization is done well, and the crowd singalongs are a nice touch. I haven't tried the online play yet, but the local multiplayer is rock solid and always a good time.

Now for the bad stuff. The game is 720p-only, which is a bummer. There's no reason why a game like this shouldn't be full 1080. I'm also having some minor issues with the guitar that may become major issues as I crank up the difficulty. I've noticed that whenever I have a section with a really fast succession of notes, constant downstrumming always makes me flub even though I'm hitting the notes in time. If there's a group of only 2 or 3 notes, alternate strumming seems to work pretty well, but I'll inevitably flub notes if the string is longer than that. This is especially obvious playing "Blackened" on Hard, where I know the song backward and forward but still seem to flub that triplet of green notes and some of the following notes even though I know I'm hitting them in time with the music. And this is coming from someone who 5-stars songs on Expert on GH1 & 2 without breaking much of a sweat.

Yes, I've attempted several lag calibrations, manual and otherwise, but they all yield different results and only seem to make the problem worse. Going back to 0/0 lag compensation seems to work the best on my rear projection CRT.

I've been spending most of my time with the drums, so I haven't really branched out into the higher difficulties on the guitar yet. I'll just keep my fingers crossed and hope that they botched the timing on that one particular song and everything else will work OK.

Overall I can't really complain about the game too much -- it's a hell of a lot of fun despite its drawbacks. As long as the guitar mode doesn't completely fall apart on Hard and Expert, I'll be a very happy owner of Rock Band.

- Jer

Up until last night I had the same problem as you with long strings of notes. I'd be strumming exactly in time to the music and still miss every 5th note or so. Very irritating. Got fed up with that, so I went in and did about 20 different calibration tests! Like I keep saying, no matter how accurately I think I'm strumming in time to the metronome in that test, I always get such varied lag times. Anyway, the last time I was going to do it....I guess I got lucky. Went back into my "test song" and nailed every note! Now everything feels pretty effortless with hitting long strings of things. I think you've really just got to find that sweet spot...and it may only be one setting....and not just close to the right setting. The drum fills are still lagging for me, though. No setting is able to fix those.

Give the calibration a few more tries. You might just get lucky, too.

Are you guys having any problems with broken guitars or drums?

Broken kick pedal
After only a few hours...very flimsy plastic!
But the game is VERY fun!
Online is a blast!

I have now played Rock Band for three days on the PS3, and here are my thoughts on the game:

BACKGROUND - I have played GH1, GH2 and GH Rocks the 80s on the PS2 and I am currently playing GHIII on the PS3. I finished GH1 on Expert, and I am down to 1-2 songs on GH2 and GH80 on Expert, and I am currently working through Expert on GHIII. My wife has played all four games, and finished GH1, GH2 and GH80 on Hard and is currently working through Hard on GHIII.

OVERALL - I have enjoyed this game, especially playing with others. I have created two bands - one with my wife and mother-in-law (who is just here for Thanksgiving) and another one with my wife. In the band with my mother-in-law, she sings and my wife and I alternate playing guitar and drums. In the band with my wife, she sings and I play guitar. Right now, we are learning to play the drums on Easy. I must say that after playing 15-20 times I do find that the bass drum pedal is the hardest part of playing the drums. For me personally, I will continue to work and learn how to play it. However, I do agree with those who say it may prevent a "novice" from enjoying the drums. I do wish there was a "party" mode - for friends who have never played - that did not require the bass pedal. In addition, I ready someone's advice and purchase a set of timpani malets at the local music store, and they make less noise when playing that the drum sticks. However, they don't make enough less noise to allow me to play when the wife and child are asleep, so that will limit me to playing the guitar late at night.

INSTRUMENTS - The drums are new and fun to play, and I will enjoy working on the rhythm and learning to play better. Although I will never be a drummer, I do understand better why some people say that if you can play RB drums on Expert then you could play real drums (where playing GH or RB on the guitar has almost nothing to do with playing a real guitar).

The microphone works just fine, and I have even sung a couple of songs myself and have enjoyed it. No problems here.

I would agree with those that have already stated the following - the look of the guitar and the colored buttons are superior to past GH versions of the guitar. However, the strum bar leaves a lot to be desired. I am concerned that it will be difficult to move up to Expert if I am not confident that when I play a note it will register on the strum and in the game.

PROBLEM - Like lots of people, I purchased GHIII on the PS3 in order to get the Les Paul guitar and use it for RB. To be frank, I have not had a chance to need four instuments yet, so this has not been a huge problem. However, if it worked with RB, I would definitely be playing the Les Paul for guitar and using the RB guitar for bass (when needed). I do feel that this has put a black eye on both Harmonix and Sony. Harmonix has "explained" why the Les Paul does not work, but they have not adequately explained why I can not use my old PS2 guitars (with an adapter) or why the Sixaxis does not work as a guitar. It is also another black mark for Sony, as we have another major release where things are great for those with the 360 and those of us with the PS3 are "screwed". Unfortunately, there has been string of these advantages for the 360. As someone who does not play enough to own two systems, I have stayed with Sony and now wish that I did not have these problems - which I would not have with the 360.

DOWNLOADED CONTENT - I have been really pleased with the DLC, and I have already downloaded the Police pack as well as several individual songs. I look forward to future releases and a variety of music.

Overall, I find Rock Band to be a much better experience with a group of people (2 or 3). Playing alone, I would give a slight advantage to GHIII at this time, although that could change if I had a better RB guitar or I could use the Les Paul on RB.

Again, these are just my thoughts...

The songs are available on their original albums and for download on iTunes, but the songs are not in a format you can use in the Rock Band game itself. The songs are split into separate tracks (vocals, bass, guitar, drums) to allow parts to be taken out when the player misses a note.

Sorry to harp on this, but before I dig around the back of my equipment to change around audio wires (I'm using optic right now), is anyone else experiencing an "unfixable" lag in the drum fill sections? As well, the mic has a slap echo effect on all the songs...meaning you sing a note, and the note hits a fraction after you sing it. Not sure if these things are happening with everyone.

Ok, so I've done a little digging, and apparently, my lag problem in the fill sections is pretty common. Or at least it is with people with larger lag settings. Found these quotes in the Rock Band Forum:

"If you have a 200ms audio delay on your system, that means your speakers wait 200ms to play audio."

"It makes since that the lag calibration wouldn't have any effect on the fill section. If your system has a 200ms audio delay...there is absolutely no way to compensate it, since it would require that the system send the audio signal for your fill section 200ms before you actually played it, and I'm fairly sure that no console can predict the future...yet."

Makes sense to me now. My lag is only 65, if I remember correctly, but it's still enough to completely throw my rhythm off in these fills sections. There was another suggestion in this thread that you set your TV to its native support signal. I had been up-converting to 1080i. Once setting things back to 720, the lag was easily cut in half. It's still there, but much more manageable. If you want to see for yourself what kind of lag you have in fill sections go to Black Hole Sun and ad lib in the opening free bars of the song. You get about a dozen bars to free-style anything you want, before the actual drum part starts.

Here's the link to this lag problem: http://community.rockband.com/vbforu...?t=8586&page=4

Thanks for the post. I have a terrible lag during the fill sections. It never dawned on me that it might be how I have my amp set up. I will try changing it today and see if it makes a difference.

Played with the wife last night. She HATES video games, and did NOT want to play, but I talked her into it. An hour later, she was hooked! We switched off between guitar and drums. I'm real new to the game, never played GH. She actually bettered my score on both the drums and the guitar! I'm absolutely thrilled about that, by the way, because it means she has real potential for this. Oh yeah, one other thing -- I'm a musician. I've been the lead singer in bands, and I play acoustic guitar, yet she beat me. This is a total blast!

Dan

rockband is 149.00 at sams club.....