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| A FAQ for the online play of |
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| AMPLITUDE (FINAL) |
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| By Danreturns2100 |
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Copyright
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Amplitude and characters are copyright of Harmonix, and Sony Computer
Entertainment America. This FAQ is not endorsed by Sony or Harmonix,
and is completely legit and only allowed to appear on GameFaqs.
This FAQ was made by danreturns2100. He created this FAQ after months
of intense Amplitude sessions, and if you are to steal his work, you'd
be putting yourself in a awful position, such as lawful action. Please,
do not claim this FAQ as yours, edit this FAQ, or go as far as using
this FAQ on your site
Thank you
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FAQ History
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FAQ V0.01 - Basic FAQ.
FAQ V0.02 - Fixed the design, and changed some minor things, like the
power-ups. I removed Slo-Mo since you can not get it online. Spelling
errors are fixed, but I made some mistakes during the grammar tool, so
let me know if something needs to be fixed. Plus, added a whole new
section towards Remixing online.
FAQ V - Final - I'm done with this FAQ. Feel like I want to move on.
I'm fixing some errors on the FAQ that was told to me by a reader.
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Purpose
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The purpose of this FAQ is to help you out in the online world of
Amplitude. It'll show you the differences from the usual game to the
online version, and other things.
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Contents
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I .Basic Game know-how
A. Controls
B. Scoring
C. Rank
D. Game Modes
E. Difficulty Modes
F. Power-Ups
G. Line Types
H. Do's and Don'ts
II. Getting Situated
A. How Do I?
B. Ranking System
C. Badges
D. Repository
E. Lobbies
F. FreQs
G. Joining Games
III. Hosting a Game
A. How to Host
B. Getting People to Join
C. Keeping People Happy
D. Keeping the Game Friendly
E. Hosting with a Good Connection
IV. Remixing
V. Glitches and Problems
VI. Q & A
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1. BASICS - Stuff you HAVE to know
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The whole point of Amplitude is blasting notes that are laid across
lines pulled straight from a song. Using your beat blaster, your will
gather notes, and harness their energy to keep yourself moving along
the song. There are over 20 songs that you must beat across 4
difficulty modes. You may notice that every time you hit a line
correctly, that a part of the song begins to play. Getting all of the
song to play is almost required, and gains you points
Controls:
X = Power-Up
[] = Left note
/\ = Middle Note
O = Right note
R1 = Middle note
L1 = Left Note
L2 = Not Used
R2 = Right Note
D-Pad Left and Right = Move to the Left note/Right note
Analog Stick Tilted left and right = Move left /Right
Start = Pause
Select = Change View
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Scoring
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For every line, you'll get a multiplier. It takes good skill to keep
these multipliers running. Use everything you got to keep them running.
If you fail a line, you'll lose the multiplier.
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Rank
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After playing through a song, the person with the most points wins, or
the person that spelled Amplitude first wins. There are only 4 players
allowed in a game, therefore, there are only 4 ranks to get. In duel,
there is only one winner, and one loser.
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Game Modes
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Duel - Play the game in various ways, such as you lay down notes, and
your opponent must then match up to the beats
Game - Play a normal game, using one of the 26 songs from Amplitude (
Must be unlocked first)
Remix - You and up to 4 others REMIX a song together. Great fun.
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Difficulty Modes
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Mellow - For n00bs and newbs. If you didn't play Frequency ( The
prequel to Amplitude), then play and beat this mode first ( 23 Songs)
Normal - Try this if you are ready to start the fun ( 24 Songs)
Brutal - Practice for the real stuff ( 25 Songs)
Insane - Harder and more enhanced mode then Brutal ( 26 songs)
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Power-ups
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Power-Ups are gained through-out songs by hitting special notes. They
look different then the other notes, and sometimes, the color of the
line will be different from your average line.
Auto-Blaster - Fan Favorite. Destroys one line. Only use it when you
are too late and missed a line to regain your Multiplier. You can also
use it on the same line as your opponent.
Score Doubler - Multiplies your overall points by 2. So if you hit a 6
note line, you'll get 12 points instead
Free-Style - Allows you to pass a great part of the song while mixing
it on a Beat-Board, blasting away with your own music. Can be used with
your multiplier for BIG scores. You only get 5 points for Mellow and
Normal when you use the Free-Style, and 10 when you use the Free-Style
on Brutal and Insane.
Crippler - Destroys a players power-up, and makes the whole line they
are currently on, and the lines for the next few minutes wavey and
unsteady.
Bumper - Knocks an enemy of the line they are currently playing. Great
way to steal points
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Line Types
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Vocals-The lead singers voice, or computerized voice. They're in Green
Drums - There are two of these in most songs. Mostly in patterns, since
drums and beat mostly carry the songs through. They're in Red
Bass - Slow most of the time, but on later songs, become action packed
and frantic. They're in Blue
Guitar - Name says it all. Give the song more speed, it seems to me.
Most of them are easy to land correctly. They're in orange
Synth - There are about two of these in select songs. They get massive
torwards the end though. They're in Yellow
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Dos and don'ts
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Do's:
- Use the shoulder buttons
- Use power-ups only when needed
- Go for the easy lines, then the hard ones
Don'ts:
X Use the Buttons
X Use power-ups like a crazy kid
X Don't wait to connect lines
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2. GETTING SITUATED - How to fit in
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NOTES: This game is compatible with both Broad-Band and Dial-Up. Broad
Band users will have a better connection, whilst you Dial-Up users (
Me) will have a hard time with Various glitches
http://db.gamefaqs.com/console/ps2/file/playstation2_online.txt
Go there to get yourself situated so you can play your games online.
Once connected, you must have a FreQ. Make sure you have on before you
click online from the Main Menu.
Once you are inside the online menu, load your FreQ, then click
connect. Wait for your internet to connect to the server, then, if done
correctly, you'll get a message about the Terms of Agreement. Accept if
you meet the requirements, then , if you are new, create a new account.
You'll need to have a FreQ though, so choose the one you want to make a
online profile, then log online.
Welcome !
If your new, and want to check something's out about online if you
aren't too sure, then click on NetPlay tips, and read them.
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How do I get myself situated online?
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Now that your online, you'll have to play 15 games before you become a
full fledged FreQ, and get a rank. Before you play 15 games, you'll be
ranked New.
After playing 15 games, you finally get your own rank ( Explained
later)
Take note, that you should be experienced before you go online, because
most people only play on the harder difficulties, like Insane and
Brutal.
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Ranking System
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Each player has a rank. Look next to their names, or under them on the
FreQ list, and you'll see their rank. If the number is lower, then
they're harder, if the number is higher, then they are easier.
To get a higher rank, make sure you play against people that are better
then you, and have a higher rank. Beat them, and your rank goes up, but
lose to them, then your rank goes down. Rarely, though, does your rank
go up for playing against harder people. I was playing a 50# player,
and I was 1000#. I played him, and lost, and my rank went up to 990#
Also, your rank can go up for improving overall. The ranking engine
will take notice if you happen to be better then someone higher then
you, and they'll automatically raise your rank.
Losing games, although, most of the time, no matter who your playing,
will go down.
When you first begin online, you'll have the rank of new, so for the
first 15 games you'll play, the rank system will take notice of your
skills, and apply that towards your rank.
Also, as more people begin to play online, the Ranking system will
become more thicker and harder to get a higher rank. There are a total
of over 3,000 people who play this game online
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Badges
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There are different badges you can get, depending on what difficulty
modes you've beaten. Look below for an example
None - Circle
Mellow - Crystal
Normal - Triangle
Brutal - 4 sided start
Insane - Star
Look next to a Freq.'s name to see what difficulty mode they've beaten.
There is also a hidden part which you get from beating Cosmaut Zero (
Hidden Song), and it's a Halo for your FreQ. Look at a player's FreQ to
see if they have one.
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Repository
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Made a remix, and you'd like to share it with the world. You can play
remixes in a game by selecting customs from the artist list, but you
can also upload them to Harmonix, and if they like it, they'll upload
it on the Repository
NOTE: This service is no longer avaible
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Lobbies
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Select Lobbies from the list to see what lobbies people are playing in.
There is a number by the name. Each lobby can hold up to 32 players.
The number shows how many players there are. You can make your own
lobby by pressing square and bringing it up, but if no one plays in
that lobby, then it gets deleted.
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FreQs
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Select FreQs from the list, and you'll see a list of everyone playing
online. There is a picture of that FreQ, their rank, and their internet
connection.
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Joining Games
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To join a game, select Games, and look at the list of the games being
played. You can see what song they're playing, the difficulty, and the
connection type, as well as their game type. There will also be a
number to tell you how many are in the game. Each game can hold 4
players.
If a game is full, then the game will be gray, or, if the game is in
session, then it'll be gray also. If it's a remix, then it'll be blue.
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3. HOSTING - The know how to hosting
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To host a game, select create, then choose your options.
~ Difficulty - How hard is the game going to be? Mellow, Normal,
Brutal, or Insane?
~ Game Type - Going to Duel, or play a normal game? Why don'tcha get
along and play in Remix!
~ Song - What Song will it be? You can choose your own Remix if you
select Custom
~ Players - How many do you want to play against
~ Power-Ups - You want to use Power-Ups?
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Getting people to join
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You can advertise the game on the front page. If you have a key-board,
or, if you can find it on the auto key-board by pressing O, you can use
a hot-key that says " Come Join my Game! I'm hosting!".
Plus, make sure you don't over do it. Sometimes, it's better to type it
out, or actually know everybody in the room
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Keeping people Happy
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Take requests on what songs and such they want to play. Also, after a
game, say GG, or GL before a game ( Stands for Good Game and Good Luck)
Plus, play most songs from the original game, and not remixes. People
may begin to think your cheating.
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Keep the game friendly
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If someone is being a complete jerk , boot them to keep everyone clean.
Also, don't get mad and boot someone just because they beat you. If
they brag, ask them to stop please. If they refuse, boot them, and if
the word n00b is mentioned towards anyone, boot them, right then and
there.
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Host with Good Connection
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Only host if your connection rate is high. If you seem to be lagging,
then do not host. People may begin to lag more then you yourself will
be.
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4. REMIX - Remixing with friends!
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Remixing is an option you can choose from when you host a game. It's
where you go off with 4 friends, and remix chosen songs, just like
offline. But, you can't slow the song down or anything such as that
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Tools
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These tools can be selected with the right analog stick. When you reach
the one you want to utilize, just press R3.
Delay - Makes an echo noise
Stutter - Makes the line go on and off
Chorus - Makes the song hella louder
Boot - Boots a player off the game. Only use if they are cheating ( see
below)
You can use them all at once, on any song, but only on the lines you
have began to produce
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Remixing
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Remixing is done by pushing the buttons when you want to make music.
Each of the three buttons play a different sound, and you can choose
each and every line. Vocals can not be re-created, but you can put on a
effect tool.
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Cheating
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WARNING:
THIS SECTION IS NOT TO BE USED AS CHEAT'S
I THOUGHT OVER AND OVER WETHER TO INCLUDE THIS
THIS IS TO WARN YOU, NOT ENCOURAGE YOU TO USE CHEAT'S
People usually cheat by hitting all the lines at the beginning of the
song, therefore, their the ones to make those lines. If you see this,
don't forget, you have a boot tool on your remix bar that you can use.
But if you can't put and your in someone else's game, then leave. Your
better then them, and shouldn't be playing with germ scum.
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5. GLITCHES - Problems we all hate
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Scoring - Sometimes, when you go up to hit a line, you won't get a
score. There is no good way to fix this
Power-Ups - Sometimes, Power-ups disappear. All you can do to fix this,
is to remove power-ups from your game
Multipliers - Sometimes, you won't get credit for multipliers. There is
no way to fix this
Free-Style - Sometimes, when you go into Free-Style mode, you won't get
any credit or points. You can only fix this by not having any Power-Ups
in your game
Skipping - Sometimes, a player will come up and steal your line! There
is no way to fix this, but it's most likely lag
Disappearing lines - Sometimes, with BB, you'll play with someone who
hosts who has a lower connection then you. You'll lag because of them,
and you'll suffer, as you'll see lines disappear, and sometimes, you'll
fly straight out of the world! There is nothing you can do to fix this,
besides just not play with them.
Cheaters - One big problem, are wussie scum who suck at games, and have
to resort to cheat codes. You'll know someone is cheating if your last
disappear when the touch them, every single time they touch your line,
they appear in front of your, or they repeatedly use a free-styler. If
you see this, then leave. You were going to lose anyways, and warn
people about this players. I'll keep a listing of cheaters here
CHEATER LIST -
Sunderland
King Dope or Dope
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6. Q & A - Stuff I've been asked
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Recently, I've just asked on the Amplitude boards about some errors and
mistakes I've made. Please read.
"And I'd really like it if you'd give me some feed back on it too"
Well, since you asked...
"You must reach the end of the song without losing all of your
Energy Bar."
I don't think it's necessary to have this here, since it's an Online
FAQ. There are no energy bars online. But that's just me being
nitpicky.
"For every note, there is 1 point. So, if you hit a 6 note line, then
you score 6 points. 13 notes = 13 points. See?"
Completely wrong. If that were true, why is a phrase with 32 notes
worth 29 points?
"Insane - Harder and more enhanced mode then Brutal ( 24 songs)"
Probably just a typo, but there's 26 songs.
"Auto-Blaster - Fan Favorite. Destroys one line. Only use it when you
are too late and missed a line to regain your Multiplier"
Ehrm, what about using it on other people to ruin their streaks?
"You only get 5 points for Mellow and
Normal when you use the Free-Style, and 10 when you use the Free-Style
on Brutal and Insane."
Wrong again. It's 3 on mellow, 5 on normal, 7 on brutal, and 10 on
insane. You also didn't mention that these scores are per bar, not
phrase.
"Now that your online, you'll have to play 15 games before you become a
full fledged FreQ, and get a rank. Before you play 15 games, you'll be
ranked New."
It depends on the number of opponents you have played, not games. You
didn't even get the number right; it's 16.
"Also, your rank can go up for improving overall. The ranking engine
will take notice if you happen to be better then someone higher then
you, and they'll automatically raise your rank."
Not exactly. What it does is periodically raise you up above people
that haven't played in a while in an attempt to stop some of the
rankcheating.
"Losing games, although, most of the time, no matter who your playing,
will go down. And, quitting games doesn't just make your rank go lower,
it totally , dramatically, lowers your rank."
Quitting games has the same effect as losing games. It may just look
different because the ranks haven't updated yet. (What the game does is
lower your rank when you start a game, and then it raises it back up
once the game is completed.)
Crap... the bell just rang. I'll finish this later.
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CONTACTING ME
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Want to contact me? Read onwards!
On MSN Messenger -
[email protected]
Through Mail -
[email protected]
Through Message Boards - Post " PAGING: DANBOY!" and I'll come check it
out, although I pretty much left that board.
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SPECIAL THANKS
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Mom and Dad, for getting me the game
Myself, for liking this game
Harmonix, for making the game
Everyone at the Amplitude boards
And everyone on Amplitude for helping me out! Cheers to Opticon and
Edward, my bestest pals online!
GO TO www.freq.com NOW!
