DJ Max Summary
From RemyWiki
Contents |
[edit] General Information
[edit] Menu Layout
The main menu has three selections:
- Portable - the primary game mode.
- OST - listen to the songs from the game.
- M/V Clips - watch the background movies from any song you've unlocked.
The game menu consists of:
- Rookie DJing / Easy Mode - Easy Sound For Novice - 4B arcade mode, 4 stages.
- Pro DJing / Normal Mode - Advanced Sound Design - 6B arcade mode, 4 stages.
- Master DJing / Hard Mode - Master Solution For DJ Mixing - 8B arcade mode, 4 stages. (Must be unlocked first)
- Club DJing / Expert Mode - Dynamic Sound Creation - "Repertory Play", also known as expert courses, consisting of 4 stages each. High scores are kept only on a mode basis.
- Free Style - Unlimited Mixing Stage - "Unlimited Play", the equivalent of Free Mode; you must select which button mode you wish to play before entering. High scores are kept for maximum combo in each button class.
- Gallery - DJMax Service Section - a gallery mode showing your DJ Class, 200 images, your "disc collection" (representing various distinctions), and 12 special movie clips. All media must be unlocked.
- Ranking Chart - Barometer Of Your DJing - high score charts.
- Option - Supports More Preference - allows you to change your options.
[edit] Song Charts
DJ Max has three main types of charts: 4-button, 6-button, and 8-button. These are often abbreviated as 4B/6B/8B. Within each button configuration, there are up to three difficulty charts - Normal, Hard, and MX (6B only).
[edit] How To Play
In DJ Max, like most Asian games, Circle means "Yes" and X means "No".
[edit] Selecting A Song
To choose a song, push left or right on the d-pad. To choose a different difficulty, press Up or Down on the control pad.
Song difficulties range from 1 to 13. This is indicated in the lower left of the song select screen. You cannot change button types (4B->6B, for instance) from the song select.
To change your modifiers, press Triangle. There are four main categories of modifiers: Speed, Fader, Key, and Chaos. The modifiers you can select depends on the gear you are using. More discussion of the modifiers is available on the Modifiers page.
To change your gear (the look and feel of the lanes) or noteskin (appearance of the notes), press L or R. Select which to change using the Up and Down buttons, using Left and Right to select your preferred option. Note that all gear and notes have to be unlocked. Press L or R again to return to the song selection.
[edit] Playing A Song
There are three kinds of notes you will face while playing DJ Max:
- Regular Notes fall from the top in a particular lane; press the respective button when they reach the beat bar near the bottom of the lane to sound the note.
- Hold Notes fall from the top in a particular lane and stretch for a particular distance; press and hold the button then the beginning reaches the beat bar near the bottom of the lane. Release the key precisely when the end of the Hold Note reaches the beat bar to end the note. This counts as one note for your combo count - failure to start or end a hold note properly, or letting go in the middle, will break your combo. The judgement for the note relies on both your initial press and your release.
- Spinner Notes are preceded by an icon indicating that you should be ready to rotate the analog stick. They are glowing and fill up the center two lanes; being spinning the analog stick the instant it touches the beat bar. Each partial revolution adds to your combo, so spinning fast will lead to a better combo.
If you are playing 4B, the lanes correspond to Left, Up, Triangle, and Circle, respectively.
If you are playing 6B, the lanes correspond to Left, Up, Right, Square, Triangle, and Circle.
If you are playing 8B, the lane configuration is exactly the same as 6B, with the addition of notes that span three lanes on the left or right side. These notes will be red and marked with an L or an R; press the appropriate trigger button to sound them.
You can pause mid-song by pressing Start. On the pause screen you can restart the song, drop back to the music select, or quit to the main menu. You can also adjust your Speed Modifier by pressing L or R. If you are playing 4B or 6B, you can change your speed modifier without pausing by pressing L or R during the song.
[edit] Play Judgement
Unlike most Bemani titles, DJ Max features two primary note judgements: "MAX" or "Break".
"MAX" indicates that you hit the note properly; it will be followed by a percentage. "MAX 100%" indicates you hit a note perfectly; percentages step down by 10s (90%, 80%, etc.) until you reach 1%. A MAX judgement will regain a little of your HP.
If you fail to hit a note within the appropriate window, or if you release a Hold Note incorrectly, you will receive a BREAK; this ends your combo and costs you a percentage of your HP.
Your HP meter appears on the side of the lanes; the amount of HP you have varies based on the gear you are using. If you lose all of your HP, you receive a Game Over and an admonishment that "U Need More Practice". If you reach the end of the song with any HP left intact, you have passed the song.
Note that combos only carries over from song to song in Freestyle Mode.
[edit] Post-Song Judgement
After the song is complete, you'll receive a number of statistics:
- MAX (upper left) - this indicates how many notes you received a MAX judgement on.
- BREAK - this indicates how many times you broke your combo with a BREAK judgement.
- COMBO - this indicates your maximum combo in the song. Note that if you are playing Free Mode, this may be more than the total notes in the song.
- Percent (not labeled) - this indicates your "accurated" rate for the song. This is presumably averaged across all the notes you hit. This number is used in figuring out your grade or accomplishments.
- Score - your points for the song. This is saved on a per-song basis for high scores.
- Grade - if you are playing an arcade mode, you will receive a letter grade for each song you play. These are not stored anywhere.
- Disc - if you are playing Freestyle Mode, you will receive a disc indicating your accomplishment on the song. Note that these are only given in Freestyle Mode; you will not earn them in arcade mode at all.
- MAX (lower right) - this is how many MAX Points you earned for the song. MAX Points are used for unlocks. (This can be affected by the note skin you use.)
