Re: 3 beat meter examples - requesting feedback

brewster · Post by **brewster** » Fri Jan 31, 2014 6:06 am

sbew wrote:how do you envision the ideal meter for CH?

I think a horizontal (or vertical like in CH:Corruption) beat meter is ideal. However instead of the beat indicators having a graphical look of "wave" bars associated with the sound of the beat, I'd want graphical indicators akin to "dance dance revolution". They could have the traditional *stroke* icon (up and down), a *up* and *down* icon, a *just the head* icon, and maybe a *rub balls* icon.

This would give it more of a game feel. Especially if the icons were obvious and stylish. For "double times" and "ultra times" the entire meter could glow red and have a "boss fight" feel to it (hard to describe).

Basically, a lot more production could be put into the beat meter, just like video games have. Unfortunately I lack the knowledge and skill in AE.

book_guy · Post by **book_guy** » Fri Jan 31, 2014 6:28 am

Number two is the only one that makes any sense to me. And even that one I can't quite follow. The zig-zaggy red and pink lines inside the dick icon? What do they mean? And it's just going too quickly to mimic. You'd have to practice like eleven times before you knew which direction to stroke. I guess that does make it more like a "Guitar Hero" than just the old "pump now!" indication, so in that sense it's an improvement or at least an elaboration. But isn't there some way to make it less detailed and less designed, and more self-evident and more clear?

Weabols · Post by **Weabols** » Fri Jan 31, 2014 6:56 am

targitai · Post by **targitai** » Fri Jan 31, 2014 8:04 am

I vote for #2. Good idea. You can set only up-/downstrokes for teasing etc.

Eriol · Post by **Eriol** » Fri Jan 31, 2014 9:26 am

Option 2.
Placement suggestion: same height, but ~30% of the screen on the left side.
Arrow suggestion: little shorter but wider. You can use some fade on it as well. However this wave-flashing looks good, but I think it's just to much distraction. I suggest completely filled arrow flashes.

Looking forward for the whole product btw. :)

Waido · Post by **Waido** » Fri Jan 31, 2014 2:41 pm

put the indicator in the middle. if its on the left you cant focus on the action ;D

tommyfilth · Post by **tommyfilth** » Sat Feb 01, 2014 2:39 am

Waido wrote:put the indicator in the middle. if its on the left you cant focus on the action ;D

Agreed.

And to be honest, all that extra stuff onscreen is distracting. I like beat meters/indicators to be minimal, just enough to get the info across. Let me forget about them, except as a means of keeping pace. If some graphic is slapped on the screen, it's going to make me like the video less, and be less likely to watch it again.

Maybe that's just me, though.

Spuzzboy · Post by **Spuzzboy** » Sat Feb 01, 2014 10:56 pm

Hi!

Spuzzboy here, and although I've been lurking for a long time, this is my first post on Milovana! I really liked this effort and felt it was time for me to give my feedack.

I think this idea is great, but I noticed something here that I also noticed on some of the Playing CockHero videos... I stroke in the opposite direction! Perhaps it's because I am a drummer, but I always go down on the down beat. In other words, when your meter indicates Up, I'm stroking down and vice versa. To me that makes much more sense.

Some thoughts:

1) I had previously been experimenting with making different beat meters, and one that I thought had potential used a miniature hand job video to indicate stroke direction. Basically I found some good hand job vids, cropped them down to just the stroking, and then found a good section that could be seamlessly looped. Your first example reminded me of this.

2) It would be cool to use the sine wave amplitude and position to indicate where to stroke. For example, a full wave means full strokes; a smaller wave above the line would mean just stroke the head; a smaller wave below the line would mean stroke the base. This would be good for some high-speed head stroking or deep stroking that doesn't touch the head, etc.

3) I don't care for the dots in the 4th example. One of the things about the typical sine wave is that you can see what's coming in advance and not have to concentrate fully on the indicator. We lose that with the dots flying in just prior to the stroke.

All that said, it's great to see this innovation in progress. Keep up the good work. Looking forward to the results.

-Spuzz-

p.s. - on a personal note, i don't particularly care for gaping or colon roses, but the following girl in one of your earlier examples (3?) was pretty hot!

xeenith · Post by **xeenith** » Sun Feb 02, 2014 2:25 pm

a basic beat-meter is plenty enough for me, but it's easier to prepare for beat changes when the cursor is a little on the left of the screen, not quite all the way like your examples 1 a 2, but something like 1/3 or 1/4 from the border of the screen.
There are some CH that do that and I liked it. after all once the beat has passed the cursor, we don't care for it, and are only looking for what's following...

Nipps · Post by **Nipps** » Sun Feb 02, 2014 4:52 pm

Mfw start

Mfw end

OnT: I like beatmeter 1 and 2, since its a new style up and down instead of up + down per beat I like to see the beats in before hand, makes it easier. Didn't get nr 4 at all.