IIDX player interview #2 loluralimey AKA derek, djkciidx, dj hentai Options

[Buffalo]

The guy who coined the now dead meme HIMIKO FUCK THAT SHIT PABST BLUE RIBBON, bringing you gachimuchi videos, and known for yelling at noobs to jam harder, derek is another OG in the scene and I got him to say more than just jam harder. Enjoy the interview everyone!

Velius: How did you get started playing IIDX?

loluralimey: I used to play DDR back when like music games were like just starting off. then I played 5key then eventually our arcade got IIDX 4th style

Velius: wow so how long ago was this

loluralimey: maybe in 2001. not sure was around when ddr 4th mix was out
i havent been playing for that long though. i took like a three year break in between since our arcade (Hawaiian Brians) stopped upgrading

Velius: so what is it about IIDX that appealed to you

loluralimey: Well i guess i thought like 5 key beatmania was fun so i kinda just transferred over to IIDX and the music was good too.

Velius: even for 4th style? i think most people nowadays would have a hard time appreciating 4th style

loluralimey: lol i thought that mix had good songs... well for its time

Velius: yeah its got some good songs like minimalian if i remember right

loluralimey: yeah i was kinda like a kid so i just played the final countdown and like starmine all day . typical kid that goes and plays like the 5 same songs at the arcade

Velius: so back then, what inspired you to get good at the game? was there some competition back then? obviously this was before the days of VJA

loluralimey: yeah we did have competition i wasnt that good though back then. i was like at the bottom to be honest.

Velius: everyone has to start somewhere

loluralimey: yea but i guess score wise one day my friend said i got a AAA on yesterday im like AAA? whats that? then he played and showed me then i was like oh u get a tight picture gotta go for that shit now. then after that i kinda started to score. there was about 3 or 4 players that were good back then.this was about around the 6th style days.

in hawaii at least it was these guys Leviathan, Squib, Ryo, and Ernest.they were like the only people that could beat like R5 another and shit since that was the hardest song in 4th

Velius: but it had to be hard back then since you only had HS1 right?

loluralimey: yeah

Velius: nobody toweled anything back then right?

loluralimey: nope

Velius: wow so when was toweling discovered or rather when did you discover it

loluralimey: around 6th style dj trunks mentioned it to us one day and we tried it out. at that time though there was HS3 so it was better on slower songs

Velius: yeah i would imagine so you are mainly a AC player right? you never really practiced at home then right?

loluralimey: yeah

i did but that was an era of sticky keys and parents getting pissed

Velius: back when nobody knew about how to mod a KOC properly

loluralimey: yeah

Velius: yeah my parents got pissed so i moved my tv and shit to the basement.

one of the things I wanted to ask is that many IIDX players complain about even the smallest amount of lag yet you stuck through playing on a laggy setup at hawaiian brians. how did you manage this and did it affect your enjoyment of the game?

loluralimey: well u gotta play with what you have so i kinda just stuck it out the lag is pretty minimal though

Velius: loved the game enough to stick through?

loluralimey: yeah the biggest irk is though the ghosting. the monitor lag isnt really a problem since i can just adjust after maybe a few games

Velius: gotta read really slow then right?

loluralimey: yeah i stick to like certain speeds on our machines.

in japan when i played i was using like HS4 Sudden + on 170 bpm songs but the sudden plus wasnt like so i could read faster. i use sudden plus to make me like hit the keys more closer to the line. not to like read slower/faster. in that case i use it kinda differently but it helped alot and increased my scores by about 10-20%

Velius: what are your thoughts on the japanese iidx scene. like what did you notice when you were over there and did you meet any top players?

loluralimey: the japanese scene seemed like it was more casual then like serious

like the ratio of like good players to average players is actually quite low. maybe out of like all the players and arcades i visited i only saw 3-4 players that were good. most of the time its like random businessmen playing or students pretty much people that kinda just like stop by the arcade after work or school. pretty much people that kinda just like stop by the arcade after work or school, play a game and leave

Velius: that is pretty casual

loluralimey: yeah and i guess none of them use AS or 5key so thats one huge difference

Velius: i dont know anyone who does use AS or 5 key

loluralimey: idk if its just america but the arcade scene is like 99% AS/5key 1% being real players. then again that could just be hawaii since i never been to any arcade in the US with a iidx machine.

Velius: i would hear stories about how japanese school girls would come play popn after school

loluralimey: yeah female iidx players werent too uncommon also i remember seeing at least 1

Velius: were the female IIDX players good...no fuck that, thats irrelevant
were they hot?

loluralimey: some of them were. others were your typical fujoshi (female otaku).

Velius: so can you speak japanese? or do you just know terms?

loluralimey: nope dont really know terms either

Velius: i didnt know what a fujoshi is till now. Prior to playing IIDX, did you have any musical experience
?
loluralimey: only elementary school recorder and like 1 month of ukulele
that didnt go to well

Velius: lmao 1 month of ukelele. did you try learning an instrument after some time playing IIDX?

loluralimey: nah. i got no musical talent

oh yeah i forgot to mention about top players in japan. the only player i saw was dj DO who was the top scratcher player i think at the time. he held the world records on pretty much all the scratch songs

i had a friend who saw tanmen but i wasnt there

Velius: did you guys talk with any of the japanese or did you not feel comfortable with the language barrier?

loluralimey: nah i didnt bother talking cause i know i cant speak it well enough

plus theres a weird thing in japanese arcades where like people like being left alone if u like talk to someone then like they think u wanna fight or something well for fighting games at least idk about music games

Velius: an unspoken rule then

loluralimey: yeah

Velius: so you are currently not actively playing IIDX why is that

loluralimey: ive been focusing on fighting games more like SF4 and Blazblue. another reason would be is that our arcade doesnt upgrade.

Velius: you dont want to hack the HDD?

loluralimey: we did but like we cant playcharge note songs etc
so its like were just stuck in the past

Velius: speaking of which what are your thoughts on charge notes and BSS

loluralimey: i thought they were pretty stupid probably because i never played with it before but when i played sirius i did horrible.
i remember dying on like 10-11 with charges lol

Velius: do you still hold those thoughts

loluralimey: well im sure if i kept playing id get used to it but at that time i just got upset cause id be doing good on like a expert couse.

Velius: but its not something youre dyin for

loluralimey: yeah then i run into a song with charge notes get like a AA then there went my score

Velius: so what would be the one thing that would bring you out of retirement even if its only temporarily

loluralimey: if a new arcade opened up with an updated machine or maybe if CS came out on PS3 or something

Velius: not too concerned with competition being revived? like you wouldnt mind being the only guy playing even if everyone else quit

loluralimey: well the one thing i thought was a big part of IIDX was the community was more fun when everyone got together but like when like your the only one left who plays it. its just not as fun

Velius: yeah i agree. its unfortunate that the scene outside of asia is so dependent on a new CS release

loluralimey: yeah too bad they couldent bring IIDX arcade cabs to the US
at least they tried though

Velius: could you describe your playstyle?

loluralimey: lol its kinda hard to describe. its kinda unorthodox but i guess the closest style out of the top players would be dolce. he kinda just hits things with what ever. like i try to figure out all the ways i can hit a certain pattern and like make sure im in a good position to hit the next pattern coming down. depending on the song though. if its like constant streams of like 3 and 4 chords, then i stick to 1 finger per key.

Velius: both thumbs?

loluralimey: yeah

Velius: so 1048 style or totoro style?

loluralimey: i think 1048 uses left hand to cover 5 keys
but its left cover 4 right cover 3. key 5 i alternate whichever has a better way of hitting it

Velius: ah so you're one of the few players that can actively switch on the fly. is there anything you wouldve liked to add to that playstyle or do you think its fine the way it is

loluralimey: well i wish i could hit 13/24 patterns or 14/23 patterns better thats probably my biggest weakness by far

Velius: ah yes. i remember in a dolce interview he said it was his strongest point

loluralimey: thats probably the best thing to have to be honest lol cause most ugly randoms consist of that or the 14/23 pattern aka the butterfly pattern.

Velius: ah thats what you call it. ill have to add that to my vocab

loluralimey: lol its a hawaii thing probably. best random you can get here is a slapping random and the worse random u can get here is a butterfly random

Velius: well slapping random i know haha
well anyway so back in your prime days, how many hours would you spend playing IIDX per day
dont be shy lol

loluralimey: alot maybe 6-8 at the arcade. not as much games though since there was a line

Velius: a line consists usually of how many people

loluralimey: 7-8 on a busy night sometimes more. i only could play friday nights at the time since i had no car. once awhile i would stop by in the day so it wasnt like really scheduled

Velius: and you didnt practice at home much either right

loluralimey: only times i practiced on CS was at my friends house aka Higa's Gym. it was knda weird though since AC and CS is different so id use like two different play styles and im really bad at certain things at CS

Velius: because you played on a koc right

loluralimey: yeah. i know for a fact i cant AAA mendes on CS, i get like a mid AA every time for some odd reason.

Velius: but you can at the arcade?

loluralimey: yeah

Velius: wow
so uh i have a feeling i already know the answer to this question but i will ask anyway
whats song have you played the most and whats your total play count if you were to estimate

loluralimey: probably mei from trying to hard clear it lol

Velius: have you done it?

loluralimey: yeah. on CS cause i got tired of spending money

Velius: hahaha i was about to say thats alot of money to blow.
AAAing Mei [a] is considered by many to be the pinnacle achievement and has yet to be done by the English speaking IIDX community. Do you believe someone will eventually do it?

loluralimey: if anyone schala lol i gave up on that while i was playing

Velius: whats your best on it

loluralimey: 86% or so maybe like 100 away from AAA AC score at least

Velius: you're so close but you gave up did you get burned out from playing it

loluralimey: nah its impossible on the machine here
that score i did in japan. maybe if we got a new mahine then id go for it

Velius: do you believe if you lived in japan you could possibly do it or got a new machine like that

loluralimey: probably if i played alot lol

Velius: ah right i remember i read tanmen's blog and he said his mei play count was over 700 for that particular style this isnt including cs and other ac styles

loluralimey: lol i dont think i reached that high. i think my play count on that total would be 500-600

Velius: ah i see this is not including restarts though right? unless you dont restart it often

loluralimey: didnt play it too much on CS. not as good on it on CS compared to AC

Velius: just one of those weird things like mendes?

loluralimey: yeah. fast streaming songs pretty much.

Velius: did you ever play the japanese bms ranked bms files? many of the top japanese players play bmses

loluralimey: yeah

Velius: whats the hardest bms youve cleared rating wise

loluralimey: hmm 14
theres aot of songs though that are like fkn hard and there like 12-13s which i dont understand. its like a pretty bad rating system lol

Velius: yeah i would have to agree. would you say playing those bmses helped you get better faster

loluralimey: yeah since its like alot harder so it makes like things in iidx alot easier

Velius: What are some of your most memorable milestones in IIDX?

loluralimey: hmm. first was probably clearing all the songs in AC Distorted since nageki was hard as shit back then

Velius: yeah i believe you were the first to do it in the us if im not mistaken

loluralimey: possibly lol maybe HC go beyond with that slapping random then probably HC all the AC songs then i guess when i could first AAA 12s

Velius: In a game like IIDX, getting extremely frustrated is only natural. Could you tell us a bit about the times you have been frustrated with playing IIDX and how you dealt with it?

loluralimey: Well for one that would be walls. im sure everyone hits them at a point

Velius: i was looking for the right word heh

loluralimey: trying to think of a wall
well i cant really think of a wall
i guess maybe my scores werent improving

Velius: yeah thats a good one

loluralimey: i took break, that was one thing for sure. kinda helps you refresh yourself from the game. second would be to experiment with other play styles like i would go play low speed sudden + for awhile then switch back.
i think more when i try to play like making sure im always in a position to hit these patterns perfectly

Velius: ah one of the things i hear is that iidx players dont like to think

loluralimey: i guess some people dont but i think alot when i play. some of the things i think about are like
-what type of random it is
-if its left/right heavy
then i position my self differently and know what to expect at certain parts. i guess listining to the key presses and song. it helps alot when you know what to expect so you dont have to hesitate

Velius: yeah speaking of which
alot of cs players fall to the habit of restarting often when they see a bad random
do you think this is a bad habit to to fall into

loluralimey: yeah playing more patterns gives you more like thought on how to hit stuff i mean long as your hitting it, your just going to get better at hitting it cause theres no such thing as the "Perfect Random" being open for like more patterns gives you more ideas in my opinion

Velius: yeah cant play for the best score every time i agree. i would find that sometimes i would do better on a more varied random than just a straight slapping random some times even though on paper a slapping random is the "perfect random". its just not the way it goes every time

Velius: do you have any regrets playing IIDX?

loluralimey: No i guess the money spent? lol
probably coulda bought a car but no i like the game. i still enjoy it once in awhile

Velius: alright then thanks for letting me interview you

loluralimey: no problem

Additional notes:
-limey told me hawaii got a new sirius IIDX machine with a legit CRT a day or so after the interview but theres no unlocks.
-he later told me that when he saw multiple IIDX machines in an arcade, each machine would have a different setting like CRT models with either type A or type B timing or LCD models with type A or type B timing etc.

[linus]

yay we got new vocab. Butterfly random. Slapping random.

[One Niceass Indi...]

What the hell 4th Style is like the best OST overall haha
Good stuff. I've only been playing for a little more than 5 years and I'm not very good but if you wanna interview me I'd be down for it

[over there]

Cool, I like the part about playing on a laggy setup even though it sucks, I did the same thing at 8 on the break and the machine in VA (which was far better but still not perfect) before I left for Japan. Butterfly randoms is a good phrase, I like it better than slapping randoms since I rarely seem to get those haha. Also I started adjusting similarly to which side is note-heavy like limey says near the end, it came naturally after like 300 rounds of AC play.

I think once you get above a certain level it's no longer "play it and hope for a good random, otherwise restart and try again," but rather "think about how the random is going and what the chart could look like later on because of it, adapt accordingly and try to keep up with your best score."

[DanAdamKOF]

I'll bite, what's a slapping random?

[Madek]

I like reading these. Keep them going. :D

[linus]

Like this?
http://textage.cc/score/16/gobeyond.html?1...246315701234567

[Buffalo]

^yeah slapping randoms are randoms where you generally just alternate your hands and dont require much thought to read

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N8OY6XOQnpg&t=1m32s

heres another example

[DanAdamKOF]

Thanks

[Jadin]

yeah great interviewsss

[Trip Machina]

What the hell 4th Style is like the best OST overall haha

I agree, beatmaniaIIDX 4th style has some really good music despite its small songlist. The music makes up for the small list. Anyways, nice interview.

[Toph]

oh man I never realized butterfly random was a hawaii thing LOL

man... me and derek and the other hawaii guys probably talked about iidx in person more than like anyone

we got lingo on lingo LOL

[Gorrum]

slapping and butterfly random. awesome

[m335h73r]

56/47 rolls are fucking horrible :<

[Krelian]

I can manage 3 fast rolls of that no problem. Give me more and i'll get cramp. =P

[Sanasanasan]

Another good post, although I'm not really sure what PABST BLUE RIBBON is supposed to mean :S

[Buffalo]

pabst blue ribbon is a american beer brand

its a reference to this

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=snhiofL2Rh4

[One Niceass Indi...]

56/47 rolls are fucking horrible :<

http://textage.cc/score/13/_nageki.html?2A...213457601234567
COMPLETELY REASONABLE

iirc limey would just reply to threads with "FUCK THAT SHIT!!!" then schl added PBR or something even though that's dumb, but it makes certain anti-IIDX anime enthusiasts start their periods early, so whatever!!!

[kay0ss]

Enjoying these interviews, keep em comin <3

[Schala]

iirc limey would just reply to threads with "FUCK THAT SHIT!!!" then schl added PBR or something even though that's dumb, but it makes certain anti-IIDX anime enthusiasts start their periods early, so whatever!!!

no, limey coined the whole line (and linked to the blue velvet clip simultaneously) and then we spammed it on himiko youtube videos