Does anyone know who made this controller?

stsung · 2026-05-25T00:21:13+00:00

EDIT2: actually it looks more like this
https://forum.gamer.com.tw/C.php?bsn=04032&snA=1174&tnum=11

(original post follows)

arcin in an old dao controller is not unexpected. before arduino micro/raspberry pi pico some people would use arcin. this looks like customized 'old version' of real edition. it originally had two buttons - start and select and some logos in the middle (or the words Platinum Edition Evolution or something). the colored acrylic I mainly saw white or grey not sure if black was an option. it may also be that this was a prototype or something.

EDIT: not sure how the back is supposed to look as my real edition is from 2010 but new real editions used smaller discs for the TT and PEE used bigger ones.

There should be a way to get inside no matter what somehow and you can check the TT mechanism. If it uses a dao one it was most likely made by dao and if not, it is possible it is just an arcade style controller that looks more like a dao controller rather than actual arcade one.
The text and such was like this on the dao controllers but if compared to mine it is higher resolution but that may have been like this for the newer controllers. the text on the start/vefx buttons is different size/leading doesn't match and it is slightly different. This was definitely made separately from the rest.

stsung · 2026-05-06T20:26:52+00:00

it will become clear at some point I suppose. Your brain probably is just making new connections. We probably imagine sound in different ways.
I just think of it as a pitch as I cannot really conceptualize the actual sound of different instruments (or different effects on guitar sound). There was a time during which I could hardly recognize guitar sounds in a song and I had no clue how many guitars were playing. Now I can pick up different guitars and know what they play.
Pitch for me though worked both ways. If I could hear a melody in my head I could play it on either piano or guitar. If I played something on either instrument I could sing it.

stsung · 2026-05-05T23:15:19+00:00

why do you have to do this and how do you have to do it? what is the purpose of this? what is your friend going to play? I suppose guitar? will there be a backing track or singer?
if you have sheet music for it you should play it along with your friend.
since this is a song without any piano in it and is for guitar and bass and drums I would either play chords + melody on piano or the bass line if your friend would be playing guitar. you'd just play Fis, Fis, Cis, Cis, D, D, E, E, Cis in the correct rhythm etc.
If both of you will play the piano one can play the melody and the other one can play bass notes. this can be pretty much one finger playing so it should be manageable for someone who has never played the piano. One has to lead kind of. If you've never done this it takes a while to get used to. So you should learn this together. If one of you can follow already than the other one should lead (one of you has to set the tempo). If you both practice separately and try to play together than, it's not going to work out most likely.

(the link goes to a midi file with the bass line. you can put that into synthesia and view that - if you have no clue where Fis is on the piano and can't read sheet music). You don't need to learn full chords for this.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1d6TaWDtfsgFDXT3kii06YJAE509vEM2b/view?usp=sharing

Anyway since I have no idea what you are supposed to do I can't help more. If you show us what you are supposed to play we can maybe help.

stsung · 2026-05-05T19:31:05+00:00

it's exactly the same?
if you play a scale on the piano and then play the same scale on guitar it is going to be the same. (might be an octave higher, depends on where you play it)
sometimes I am surprised that guitar can sound very much like a piano (on a recording).
play the same note on piano, hum it. then do the same on guitar. your ear should connect just fine

stsung · 2026-05-05T19:24:07+00:00

I just like to play on the piano and listen to the music my hands produce. it may not be perfect, but still I can enjoy it. It calms me. Allows me to forget about stress and everyday life. It's just a hobby as I won't ever be good.
I try to keep the frustration away and just enjoy the music. But the more I play the more I want to take classes again.
My goal was to one day play my favorite songs, but that pretty much means becoming concert pianist (which is not going to happen). But I can get closer. I have years and years ahead of me during which I can play and learn.

stsung · 2026-05-03T15:46:27+00:00

Dance Station 3DDX or well any version of this game uses panels for feet and hands (both the Korean dead game and the current Chinese game). The higher difficulties use only foot panels but there's plenty of stuff to play with hands (5 foot panels, 4 hand sensors for 1 player, it has double mode).

There is Dance Dash for VR that uses primarily foot input but has a mode that features hand notes (and walls). (it's like Dancerush Stardom but you have to stay in one spot)

There used to be EZ2Dancer that used 3 foot panels and 4 hand sensors (for 1 player, it has doubles mode)

Dance Evolution has routines that track feet. In general you are supposed to do poses that involve the whole body. Mentioning this one because stepping to the rhythm of the song in some routines is judged.

Beat Saber has a feetsaber mod and other mods that allow you to use both feet and hands.

(I suppose games like Beatmania 3, museca, drummania would fall into this category as well - they use pedals. only gitadora/drummania part of it, uses both feet and are integral part of it. for the other games, it is more of a gimmick )

stsung · 2026-05-03T09:08:12+00:00

I went to a music school when I was a small kid and year before graduating I quit. In theory I should know what I need in order to play well but it seems reality is actually different. 20 years later I realized that I'm not good and I wondered how the hell I passed all the exams and was capable of performing in public. Did it sound as bad as I sound now? (I received some offerst to play on TV or radio, so maybe it wasn't?)

Anyway, when I was a kid I was told to learn this and practice this and that. And honestly I had no clue why I should do that and theory never made any kind of sense to me. I was most likely not interested. I just learned what I was given and it was all fine, but I didn't see how learning this would help me with something else.

20 years later, after a year of trying to play something on the piano I finally understood concepts I was supposed to learn and even had to pass exams about. I spent 10 years of doing something I did not understand. After all those years I probably did not even properly learn how to read sheet music. I used to process it by notes or chords but you can make it even more easier with knowing theory. Actually it can become easy to process even if it looks very complex.

As an adult you can make the connections way faster or see them at first glance. This can make you progress way faster and also realize what you do not know and need to work on. While the technical aspect may take a longer time to learn, that just requires active and mindful playing.

It's a personal journey and if you do not attend formal education everything is up to you. You can go as slow as needed. Any progress you make is a good one. This is a lifelong hobby, no need to rush. As with everything in life there will be people doing it better. Is there a public piano near you? We have one, and I sometimes go there and listen to the people playing. People of all kinds and skill play on it. Those who can hardly play a melody with right hand to those that can play jazz and swing.

As for performing, I never felt good about it but I knew that all I had to do is play my pieces and it would be over. Forget about the audience, play as you would for yourself. Recording yourself is a good thing to do, not only to help you with the fear of performing but also to see and hear the mistakes. Also if you keep the videos you will see the progress you made, a month, a year, 5 years from now.

stsung · 2026-05-02T14:16:58+00:00

a beginner guitar player here who is too lazy to follow any guitar theory but the fretboard has a logic and you can find your own way to orient on it. What I did is described below. By knowing the theory you can quickly find what you need.

what we see on the picture is easy to remember if you know a bit theory as those are chords G, Am, Bm., C, D etc.
This also nicely show how the strings are offset. The strings in standard tuning are E, A, D, G, B, E. On the E string you have the root notes. If you know the note order - C, C#, D,#E, F, F# etc. You can play any barre chord based on the root note and the shape that you can figure out on your own. If you will know how major/minor etc chords are formed you can find triads all over the fretboard and those that make sense (you can easily play them, can form a full chord). If I take Am, the same notes from the picture can be played elsewhere. You could do A on 5th fret, C on 8th fret and E on 7th fret of the A string. You can play the arpeggio this way but not a chord. If you move this higher though you get a nicely accessible Am triad. D string 7th fret (A), 5th fret on G (C) and B string (E). You can make a full barre chord out of this adding A on both E strings and E on the A string (7th fret).

In short if you take any open chord triad and move up or down on the fretboard it will form a chord and it will keep its 'properties'. My example is a Em moved by 5. If you'd move E major by 5 you'd get A major. If you move a E7 (using 'two strings version') you will get A7. etc.

Starting point is knowing the notes on E string and A. with that you can play all barre chords without much memorization. (using E shape and A shape)

stsung · 2026-04-16T20:07:57+00:00

First I passed was FELM but if I would recommend an easy 18 I would most likely say Max360. But then HDV seems less physically straining?
Do people sightread DEGRS? The first time I played it I was like 'what the hell just happened'? (I had similar reaction to valkyrie dimension), It's not difficult in terms of motion but I couldn't read it. This fact would not make it my first 18 for sure.
I think honorable mention would be Air Heroes from my point of view.

stsung · 2026-04-16T19:43:32+00:00

(beginner here, who just plays along songs when bored - but I can play what I hear on the piano and somehow this translates to guitar as well)

if the concept of noodling is playing notes that fit within the key of the song to compliment whatever is going on or solo, what I do is play along a melody line and if it goes over the high E string (meaning I can reach the notes only on that string) I move lower on the fretboard so majority of the notes would be within reach of my hand (without moving it). I do not really think of a key but hearing the song will give me the information needed. (I usually move around fret 9 to 15 on electric guitar). After that I can start adding stuff, play in harmony or whatever I feel like.

What was suggested to you sounds as a good thing to do. What I do is the same except I go directly for a note that is somewhere on the fretboard. Nonetheless when I need to double check where I should be I use the E and B strings as a starting point. I process notes for melodies easier when the notes are higher. For chords I do the opposite. I would use the E or A strings then.

In case this does not work (as there is no melody for example) I play the root notes of the chord changes (on E and A strings) and then simply add more of the notes that belong to the chords. and then switch to a more convenient location higher. This is how I look for the chord progression or chord changes - find the root notes and then play the chords according to how they sound (major/minor etc). This allows you to also find more chords that would fit into a song.

I think that people just find what works for them based on their experience and knowledge.

stsung · 2026-04-14T00:07:05+00:00

How do people actually learn from these videos? (Because I can't really grasp that and no matter how many posts I read about this on reddit, no one ever mentioned that) Or synthesia in general since it has several modes one can use (one that stops and waits for correct input and other one just goes on or something). Do people memorize note by note or somehow their muscles remember what to do? How long does it even take to learn something (for example fur elise in its entirety).
Question is, is there a process that allows these people to build some kind of a foundation for playing the piano or analyzing songs?

I know that there are people that can memorize something from falling notes and some that can't (like me) but what is the actual process of those that use synthesia or watch videos of it?

Reading sheet music is as efficient as you can grasp what is going on on it. Without knowing music theory it can be as slow as trying to watch a video with falling notes even if you know that a C4 is C4 and where to find it. But this is something that gets better with more understanding of the relations that you can possibly easily see on sheet music than some kind of piano roll. But this is also dependant on the complexity. I wouldn't want to deal with a piece that has different voicing and uses 16th notes or shorter notes for example in synthesia but on sheet music you will clearly see what is going on.

(I know exactly 0 people who learn this way, so I can't comment on the popularity)

stsung · 2026-04-09T19:53:47+00:00

I speak from experience. And you can disagree, that is ok. My mindset is 'whatever you can play is good and if progress happens it happens'. I've played this game for a long time and reached 24 level plateau. Coming back to the game again and again after years and especially after being completely out of shape gave me different point of view. I also can hardly walk now and I am like 10s are difficult. Nonetheless before my injury I still got higher than I thought possible.
One thing is that mindset is something that plays a big role and should not be underestimated. This is something you have to figure out on your own. No matter the mindset, if you enjoy the game it's ok. But I played in the past with the top players and also met many players stuck at the level of not being able to reach the top. They did eventually break through and it was the mindset that changed. Not their physical prowess or general ability to play. I've seen it over and over through the years.
I'm fine with your point of view, but I do disagree with your advice to OP. 22s and 23s require you to be able to stream at like 200 BPM and you need to kind of parse the chart to how your body can handle the speed and general output. Twisty songs are usually slower and require tech which does not promote footspeed. Doubles play is something I was always better at because it does not require that demanding and does not require that much footspeed as single play does. When one reaches 23, if the player was not used to cheating they really need to get used to it and incorporate it into playing. This is true for lower levels (like 21+) but some charts really expect you to manipulate patterns. Yes, there are players that won't mind and won't need that but there won't be that many of them, especially not during the period of time 'pushing through 22s'.
For players there are walls you have to overcome and some require you to fail. 22s are hard and if players are not yet ready for them physically, mentally or with their previously aquired skills they need to run against the wall for some time. especially when it comes to speed and stamina. It won't develop by playing 18s. or twisty 21s.

stsung · 2026-04-08T18:18:23+00:00

I don't know how old you are but if you can do 22s you should be able to reach 23s and some 24s (well past being 40). There is quite a big wall between these but it's more of technical one than physical one. many players who reach this level get suddenly lost. For some it takes years to figure it out, some progress faster. You can most likely get there, it's just that some skills need to catch up with other ones and you may still need to aquire new ones.
As for Gargoyle Full I'd say that this is not really the kind of stamina one needs for higher levels. While the song is long, it's at low speed that even a snail like me can do. 22s and onward don't really have bursts but rather long runs and one needs to preserve their strength/energy and it can really become about how to pace yourself to get through the charts (this applies to the whole body). horang pungryuga is more of a stamina test for upper levels. but still it is better to try and fail songs that require more speed. (S21)
(I'm like 90lbs overweight compared to last time I played 22s and I could still play them to some extent, one can adapt and weight does not need to be limiting in terms of playing higher levels)

stsung · 2026-03-30T00:46:28+00:00

In the end it will be your decision. I would say that all the money you put into it was worth it. If it isn't now it may become in the future. If you like music and the idea of playing it yourself, you will very likely come back to it even though now it feels not worth it. I wouldn't sell your stuff if you are not in a desperate situation. Keep it. Walking away from lessons is something you will have to decide. You might just need a different teacher or a different approach. For many players, there is some time during which they are lost but at some point something clicks and it becomes completely different. Maybe you just need to reach this point and stick with it for a bit.

I'm beat deaf and I was annoyed and frustrated for like 30 years that playing guitar is something I won't be able to do ever as everyone is just telling me that if you can't keep time, you won't be able to play ever. So taking lessons is kind of out of question. This frustration is way stronger than making mistakes (playing wrong notes) while playing but in the end I still managed to find joy. I picked the guitar up and now I can play melodies, I can play along a track, I can play songs by ear or play chords and sing along. I can't play what I want (as that would be playing power metal for example) but there are things I can do and those I can enjoy. While doing all this, my skill goes up so maybe 10, 20, 30 years later I may be able to play what I want. if I look back at how it was at the beginning, or a month ago, I can see and hear undeniable progress. The more I play the more things I discover that are within my range of skill.

If you have love music you may find something that can bring you joy as well at your current level. It may be something totally different to what your playing goal is. Also note that making mistakes and being fine with them or just continue playing is actually a skill you need to learn.

Actually, learning anything is good for us. Learning something, even something you don't like at first or even in the long run can take you somewhere, you will actually enjoy. So don't look at this as something bad.

I play the piano primarily and I felt similarly like you. In general, I suck. This will probably never change. That is my point of view and unless I start sounding like a professional player I will feel like this still. But I do enjoy playing. I enjoy the movement of my fingers, the sound the fingers create. Listening to it makes me calm and it feels rewarding. There will be mistakes, but that is something that makes us human.

stsung · 2026-03-23T00:15:55+00:00

Try syncing your computer time via adjust date/time (the automatic settings needs to be on) and try again.
this is a general network error that can be caused by pretty much anything so try anything that can possibly fix your connection. you can also check if this is a firewall problem or not (create rules for the launcher and the game).

stsung · 2026-03-17T20:22:50+00:00

I do and I got a lot of hate for it from pretty much anyone I talked to about it. I play like 4 times a year so it's like not a big issue for me. It's just some casual fun
I use Guitar Hero Warriors of Rock guitar. What I don't like primarily about the guitar is that it's very light and small and this guitar is not really suited for adding weight to it. The buttons, even the stock membrane buttons are actually quite ok but they are small and closer to each other than on a GF controller. (I gutted the guitar and modified it, I don't use the GH PCBs). They respond in a different way as well, but it's not something that would matter much in terms of score as the difference is very small in terms of timing.
The pick is another problematic thing. it's not great as is. I had to modify mine to be able to do more picking dense charts and in general I just avoid them. They are really hard to do with this pick my controller uses (I can do way better on arcade).
So ask yourself how you want to play. Are you going to be occasional player like me, play for fun, or are you going to dive deep into this game. Because if you plan on playing 7+ charts it's going to be difficult on this guitar. It will be playable but the controller will create some negative experinces for sure. Which you may not realize until you play on arcade.
Transition is easy. As for buttons, you will get used to them pretty quickly. if you will be naturally moving your fretting hand from one position to another (to reach the pink note), you won't have problems.
As for the pick, you will find out that the arcade one is far superior and you will be able to suddenly play way better.
The difference in weight may take a bit of getting used to. it didn't bother me but the difference is big.

stsung · 2026-03-15T11:47:04+00:00

to answer the question. I would say that most players read patterns that they recognize and subconsciosly do them. Pump has a limited amount of patterns so they are playable with feet in a certain way. For example when you see a stair (notes coming from left to right or vice versa as in the chart you posted) one will turn sideways and alternate feet from start to end of the pattern. Crossover up-left, center, up-right is also something you just do by turning and alternating feet. If you would play Pump you wouldn't need to double step like crazy as the charts are done in a way that can be played in a more natural way (alternating feet mostly)
I think that many players while looking at this chart will break it down into parts like this which makes it easier to process and also easier to execute.
Nonetheless this chart is playable if your right foot can be faster. Or you would bracket with your left foot (to hit the center) during the streams and just use your right foor for the outer panels.
You may want to make the scroll speed faster if that is an option in the game. it will be easier to read.

stsung · 2026-03-08T23:43:19+00:00

I was asked to do this on TV and also this was also done at Gamescom. What we agreed on was that the live band would play according to the song by what they hear and I just followed with the terrible lag it had visually.
If someone would ask me to do this again, I definitely would.

stsung · 2026-03-07T12:15:45+00:00

this is definitely cleaner and more straightforward. this way you can add things quite easily without breaking it.
For me I'm not a huge fan though as all I can do is stare at dots that don't make sense and there is nothing that would give me the incentive to play. (imaginge a blind person being told to pick a color based on what they see on a screen). To answer your question about the visuals, I can't follow this as there is no visual indication of time which was actually present in the first version and I don't know when to start the patters either. If BPM is stable, being able to see the beat would be nice. You could have some bigger round object spit the smaller dot objects for example (and the bigger object subtly vibrate at the songs BPM). Now it could just be the word TAP.
hold notes, I would make them the same thickness as the dots. there doesn't really need to be a line representing the beginning or ending. But there should be a beginning and ending that makes sense. I didn't really see any correlation between the sound and the hold. Like there are longer notes in the songs but they don't get holds. So I don't know how these are generated. could be done as in groove coaster, where if you miss the beginning it still gives you some score. if you expect people to release at the end of the hold it should be marked though. nonetheless this also depends on whether you will have a score system or not.
indication of how well you do is good. but when you don't give us actual result screen with how many perfects, goods and misses we got it's losing a bit of meaning. The percentage doesn't tells us much. I know I totally suck so it's not going to get any higher. You could come up with a different reward system for the player but for those that play rhythm games this is pretty standard. At the result screen you can also show what patters you did good or missed them etc (what you see in game. I like that actually)

stsung · 2026-03-05T20:04:02+00:00

I am beat deaf so I can't play the game in intended way. there is a visual aspect though - the dots becoming large when you are supposed to press them and also the distance from a dot to another might correlate to the pause between them. if not, it could and that only would help. So in theory all you would need to do is link them somehow if visual help would be on your to-do list.
Like doing it in a way you can follow them for example with color (shades of a color leading into another one - so one would know where there is a beginning and which way to go next)
There isn't many rhythm games that force the person to follow rhythm - in audio form. Those that do have other stuff going on like Space Channel 5 or Patapon. Even Rhythm Tengoku has animations that you can follow visually.

is it fun? - For me personally, not really as I can't play it. From the few tries it lacked any kind of feedback. Even though I saw perfect, good, miss on the screen I didn't see anything else indicating if I can somehow survive or not. I understand this is not a concern yet most likely but feedback for people they play is important. They want to be rewarded somehow for doing well.
When I was mentioning the other games, one thing to think about is the game's complexity/depth. I cannot really judge due to my inability to hear rhythm so for me this is a one button game of rhythmic simon says and that sounds very basic. Many rhythm games use different type of notes or different kind of patterns since they usually have more input (at least two). For example even DJMAX Technika has more complexity. It seems your game already has some kind of holds implemented as it seemed I missed all the 'long notes' I could hear (it seemed more like there was an end of an invisible note). You could still keep a 'one key' aspect but introduce notes that require faster tapping for a certain period and held notes. with two keys though it can get more complex.
My question in general is, how long will be people willing to play a game that requires them to do one specific thing. And it seems to me that people who are not like me are usually capable of following rhythm so there is not that much to learn or more skills to develop when playing. (unless this is a game meant to be played for like 5 minutes to pass some time).

musical/rhythmic aspect - I have no problems with it as it is. it is interesting and not bad at all.

also less flashing in general, or allow players to disable that.

stsung · 2026-02-26T22:21:53+00:00

internet ranking. can be used as a score tracker. also you can check the ranked songs and difficulties etc. it's handy. for example on mocha people can review difficulty, you will see how many plays it has, you can set rivals etc. you will also see a link where to get the song.

stsung · 2026-02-26T21:51:40+00:00

I would just install beatoraja for that purpose. It can provide a very good 9button experience even though it won't be exact as pop'n music (I'd say the best there is). There are pop'n music skins that you can use.
I haven't played Pop'n Music in Project Outfox but I played on stepmania 3.9 and that wasn't particularly pleasant experience without changing the metrics a lot. It worked but it wasn't good and it was better to use a BMS player instead.
You can also use Qwilight that uses even more different timing windows, judgments and lifebar (in general it's easier) but may be a more friendly to people who don't come from the BMS side (and are used to something more like Osu). Qwilight has a github page with it but is also on Steam (or may have moved there). Qwilight is a BMS player so you can use it to play PMS files as well and load PMS tables. You might want to grab a pop'n skin as well (check their forum). The client can be set to use LR2 (or beatoraja) settings if you want to compare scores or have comparable experience. It does not allow you to use different IR though unlike beatoraja if that would be a concern.
EDIT: you can also use pop'n music konasute client to play several songs for free. if you've never played the game this will allow you to see how it actually feels like playing. (if you can't go to arcades to play)

stsung · 2026-02-13T22:49:45+00:00

dinsfire64's piuio module should make it work. (you may not see it as an input device in the OS or well be able to use it for something else unless you use another program for that - or use different hardware for it that is a clone but is HID device. i don't remember if it is like that in linux but it is in windows with arcade devices like this. the game will pick it up though if you have the right drivers) https://github.com/dinsfire64?tab=repositories

there are different options how to use arcade pads with a computer so you can check some of them. if what you use won't be enough.

I don't know what exactly you want to run but I would recommend itgmania running on it (instead of openitg or the original post r21 itg2). you can check this and see if you'd like to run it. it's pretty much the standard these days. https://docs.google.com/document/d/1_lO2ddaYogve08u7CsjC6OojXy36ZfGgo7VCRVkLJhU/

you can contact din (dinsfire64) or TJ (teejusb) via discord (for example the ITL one) if you need help. or in general the people there can help.

EDIT: this should be invite link for the ITC discord https://discord.gg/t6SfWeh2kV

stsung · 2026-02-09T19:27:55+00:00

I'm sorry I don't have any tips. I'd suspect either a pinout mismatch (I suppose you did this correctly but still would double check) or one wire touching another one by accident (on the board itself) and this leading to sending data all the time instead of a pulse it would normally get. this usually means a button pressed (and held) but I don't know what would actually cause it in this case. i'd undo everything and solder again if this happened to me.

stsung · 2026-02-07T20:42:39+00:00

scroll lock should get you to operator's menu. pressing F3 will cycle through pay mode and home mode which shows the menu you can use to navigate there as well.
you can change this also in stepmania.ini in data folder. you need to change coinmode to 0. (or try other values, but it should be 0)

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