Sound Off! What Questions Do You Want Asked at E3?
OK, so this time next week I’ll probably have had some hands on time with Rock Band 3… and any other projects Harmonix may be showing off. I’ll have a chance to chat with a bunch of the folks at Harmonix, so I wanted to see what questions you may have for them. I’m hoping a majority of them may be addressed at their presentation, but if there’s anything specific you want me to ask, feel free to add them in the comments below, and I’ll see if I can get some answers for you while I’m there.
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- Will there be the ability to save ‘playlists’? (Or even a way to mark ‘favorite tracks’?)
- Will they actually make lefty-flip work on the drums with Cymbals? (As a lefty drummer, I can’t use the add-on cymbals cause they don’t flip correctly and stay as right handed…)
Chucklestyle Reply:
June 9th, 2010 at 2:28 pm
Make that two people who want to know about better lefty support for drums.
For me, the biggest issue is whether the shaky arrow PS3 vocals glitch will be banished this time ’round. It’s more important than the usual setlist questions and interface complaints because it has a very direct and very negative impact on the gameplay itself.
All other things will be addressed in due time. At this point, I wouldn’t expect a lot of up-front answers to obvious questions like how the keyboard is going to be integrated.
- Is there any built-in backwards (forwards?) compatibility for harmonies in the DLC we’ve gotten so far? I would imagine they’ve been doing this since they first got a grip on the coding of harmonies for The Beatles: Rock Band, but I’d like to hear for sure.
Chucklestyle Reply:
June 9th, 2010 at 2:27 pm
Harmonies have reportedly been charted where applicable starting with the Hendrix album. I highly doubt they’ll backtrack through the catalog and re-chart any of the vocals for harmonies, even where desperately needed (see Alice in Chains) but oh well. Better late than never.
Toad3000 Reply:
June 9th, 2010 at 2:54 pm
Awesome, I hadn’t heard anything about that. It is depressing that it won’t apply to AiC though. On the bright side tho, with multiple mics plugged in, you can at least fake singing AiC properly.
-Will song(or at least some) be updated to include keyboards and harmonies?
-Will downloaded songs be split into catergories(like Lego, Green Day, AD/DC, etc)?
-Jukebox mode?
-Will the RBN process change so songs won’t be stuck in peer review limbo?
-Any more Coheed and Cambria on the way?
Many of these might be answered via Mr. Drake beforehand or during demos:
- Can we create set lists for full bands that include tracks that do not have a specific instrument? i.e. Play a set list that starts with an instrumental song (no vocals), followed by one with a full four (or 5 or 6?) man band, then a White Stripes song w/out bass.
- As Chenzo noted — savable set lists?
- New methods of sorting available songs, since the library is growing?
- Optimization of the RBN Music Store? (Seems very slow comparative to RB Music Store)
- How will harmonies + keyboard (and rhythm guitar possibly?) be integrated into RBN?
Drihscol Reply:
June 10th, 2010 at 8:40 am
Rbn for ps3/wii/unsupported countries?
Can’t there be an easier way to navigate the song selection process? E.g., enable sorting by “most played”, “most recently downloaded”, etc.
Can’t we generate random playlists, like in World Tour? And then specify difficulty of random songs, also like in World Tour?
Any questions about previously released tracks having Keys/harmonies added to them, whether it’s up to the band to do it, if the track will have to be bought again, and asking them how my hair looks would all be super.
Will we finally get Export on the Wii as per Activision and GH?
Zaphod42 Reply:
June 9th, 2010 at 8:59 pm
Yes, please do ask about this for us poor Wii-rockers! As my GH-instruments are apparently not compatible with RB1, importing RB1 songs into RB3 would finally give me a chance to play those awesome songs on it!
Will we get free songs again? And will we actually like the free songs?
For the love of god, ask about the Metallica tracks! Did they lose the rights once the band put out a GH game, or are they just on the back burner for legal/timing reasons? The last statement we had from anyone said that their plans hadn’t changed, and they DID have a track in RB2, and we did have those leaks that showed a Metallica full album coming out for Rock Band and Enter Sandman on RB:U (which obviously won’t happen now), but there’s still a lot of uncertainty.
Also if they don’t make a statement about it, please ask if there is any kind of possibility of past DLC being updated with keyboard charts through some kind of patch or some kind of fee.
Could you ask about the Pearl Jam Project? More specifically confirm that it is still coming along.
Thanks
~~Are those actors in the GD:RB intro video Christian and Gloria or St. Jimmy and Whatsername? It’s confusing because they aren’t the same people from the 21CB cover
~~Why are blue and orange buttons being added to easy and medium guitar?
~~Is there consideration for a voxtar mode, or if it’s been announced, could you please ask about how it will work visually, mechanically, etc?
Thanks
It’s interesting that most questions seem to focus on the actual gameplay aspect of the game, but few people actually care to ask about the things that give the game “color” and “flavor”. So is my question (a big one):
*) Will Rock Band 3 give us exciting Storytelling innovations? For example, RB2 has a career mode with random challenges, Lego Rock Band has special modes called the Power Challenges, which are insanely fun to play, and the new GH seems to have a cool story as well. I would like to see more such fun elements. Maybe we could DIRECT a videoclip, we could actually go into studio to record our album, we could crash into a party and play for free and some special animations would unlock. Iron Maiden once crashed and played in a wedding and everybody had a blast. We could help a heart-broken fella win her girlfriend back with a serenade. We could play at a big event such as Woodstock, taking turns with other bands via online play. Maybe even record our concerts, maybe plan the special effects, or even plan the changes of costumes.
The thing is, rock and roll is such an awesome and rich genre in terms of performance and theatrics that the options are nearly endless. Just watch KISS and Alice Cooper concerts and you’ll see what I mean. I could go on and on. And I’m sure other players could come up with their ideas as well, and those elements really add to the game and make it a lot of fun. So that’s my question: are they planning to improve on those Storytelling elements?
Try again with the Beatles (will we have DLC). After enough times they’re sure to give in
Yeah, I got questions:
1) Will there be some kind of option to differentiate cymbal notes from toms? I.e. if I have cymbal add ons, will notes intended to be played on the cymbals show up as HOPO notes or some other such setup?
2) See chenzo’s post above in regards to lefty drums
3) Mastodon? HORSE the band? The harmonies demand the former and the keyboard demands the latter. Jus’ sayin.
4) With all 4 instruments connected, how will microphones be handled? Do they just drop more score over the top or can vocal tracks be “assigned” to specific players/instruments?
I’m sure I’ll come up with more, I’m sure some of it will be answered next week, and I’m sure you’ve already got plenty of great questions to ask them.
A few things that I am dying to know:
-GD:RB originally had a worldwide release but the has now become Friday in Europe. Will RB3 have a worldwide release and will it stick to it?
-Will the Classic Rock / Country / Metal track packs ever be released in Europe? And are the codes included in each usable in Europe?
-Will the rumoured Japanese DLC song pack ever become reality?
Thanks!
RockBandAide Reply:
June 9th, 2010 at 4:58 pm
I can ask, but the genre track packs are all available as traditional DLC, so if you can get them that way. If they aren’t already available, I wouldn’t hold your breath, but you can still get the songs if you want… just a different delivery mechanism.
It’s still waaaay early for the J-Rock DLC recently talked about. I wouldn’t expect it as DLC in RB2… that’s probably a RB3 thing.
Andy Reply:
June 10th, 2010 at 9:32 pm
I have bought songs which feature on the metal and classic rock track pack but I have been holding back on the country track pack. The reason for this is that I know no country music but have found that it is fun to play on RB so I would like to be able to buy the country track pack to sample a bunch of different songs I would not usually buy.
And I had a thought related to the Japanese DLC. It would be cool if they released it along side RB3 and gave it away free in Japan and put it on the market place in US / EU similar to the European track pack with RB1.
On that note, Monsoon is not playable on RB2 in Europe because it was not exportable but in the US, it was DLC so it is playable. Isn’t it a bit unfair to deny the Europeans a song that was specifically released for them?
Are they considering collapsible categories? So if you sort by genre, you have collapsed tabs labeled “Metal” and “Classic Rock” that you can open when you wish to choose a song from that category. Like a “tree” or “folder” method.
I think that would make things easier.
Also, I want to be able to practice vocal sections of course…
Other than that, I’m completely satisfied with Rock Band 2 at the moment.
Just one question:
Can I sleep until E3? I’m wayy too hyped for any new Rock Band 3 news.
Would Harmonix consider offering “forwards-compatible” harmony data into existing songs for a fee? Something like a one-time $50 charge to upgrade past DLC and RB1/2 songs into harmony-compatible ones? If this were in the process of being done, I could imagine it taking quite a while to complete while working on other projects, so to add to that question, would it be possible to update forwards-compatible harmony data in chunks or packs?
Also, it would be good to know if they plan on overhauling the Rockband.com website. As great as it is, it has a lot of issues (Rendertron has been broken for 3 months and I still can’t re-link my gamertag to my rb.com account) that would make for a great new site upon RB3′s arrival.
Past that, uh… Will there be more customizable character creation options in RB3? RB2′s were quite substantial, but little issues like the limited facial options and no full-body or neck paint/tattoo skins were a little irritating when trying to create some creatures. Nothing really huge, but it’d be nice to know that they’ve planned for that.
1. Can you please ask again about the Beatles DLC. Maybe there’s been an update since last time.
2. Will cymbals every be charted to the drums (not required, just as a different looking gem like the Hammer-ons)?
3. Is HMX doing anything with Project Natal and Rock Band?
4.Will RB3 have more band customization (ex: we decide the number of players in the band on-screen, having voxtar characters, etc.)
5. When are we getting more of The Strokes in Rock Band?
(You probably won’t get an answer so you actually probably don’t have to ask this question)
Refer to Lee Newson’s number four, about band customization. Thats something that I can see being really cool. I’m tired of seeing my poor vocalist standing around when I’m rockin’ some tunes, 3 piece please!
With GD:RB now finally released, are they already working on another Band-focused game? Which one?
1. Will there be a mode similar to the Guitar Hero series’ “Party Play” in Rock Band 3?
2. If yes, will that mode, by default have “No Fail” turned on automatically for any difficulty picked?
3. (Sort of similar question, sorry) Will Rock Band 3 have a on/off switch for “No Fail Mode” and be able to work in higher difficulties than easy (like the way RB2′s “No Fail Mode” works)?
4. Will all 5 controllers be able to work at the same time for the Xbox 360 version, or will one controller have to “sit out”?
5. Will you be able to change your own difficulty in the pause menu?
6. Will you be able to skip/navigate through your playlist in the pause menu?
7. Will there ever be any kind of cymbal charting (like HOPOs are charted on the guitar)?
8. Will Mad Catz be including any new hardware features to their line of drums, guitars, bass guitars, and/or microphones?
9. Will the Rock Band 2 export require a unique code to do?
10. Will any DLC released after Rock Band 3′s launch still be compatible with Rock Band 1, 2, and (if “Family Friendly”) Lego RB?
11. Will Rock Band 3 have similar sound effects, note highway, etc. as TB:RB and GD:RB?
12. Will there ever be a resource to let us know what bands are more than likely never going to be on the Rock Band Platform so we can stop requesting them?
13. Are they ever going to increase the average of DLC songs we get each week to more than 10?
Will Guitar Hero Drumkit be supported in Pro Mode?
Zaphod42 Reply:
June 10th, 2010 at 8:02 pm
… and how about reverse compatibility? Will I be able to use the RB 3 Pro Drums in GH games? (I’d love to retire my GH:WT drums and replace them with this!)
How about the new guitar peripherals with strings? Can I use them to play RB2? GH?
Toad3000 Reply:
June 16th, 2010 at 7:45 am
No, this has already been addressed, Harmonix said the drum layout was too different, so the GH drums would not be usable for pro mode. The RB3 “Pro Drums” are just the RB2 kit with better cymbals. So I don’t think anything official has been said on that, but they should be compatible with the GH series.
I will occasionally play with family but i have a hard time playing at the easy speed. Will each instrument lane have their own speed based on their difficulty?
Some items that haven’t been confirmed (or I missed them).
1) RBN compatibility, especially with regards to pro mode, can bands resubmit and then have them included in a subsequent rb3 special download (ala GH5 for GH4 DLC)
2) How will lefty flip and pro mode interact? Specifically the frets close to the bridge where the stock gets in the way of the wrist. It’s been indicated that pro mode will utilize those frets, does this mean Pro mode (or at least certain songs) is not for left handed people? My fingers would also be crossing the fret sensors from the other side, does this impact things.
3) Any options for real guitar interfacing. see prior, lefty production run just might be too small, solution, buy a real guitar and use it, can I?
4) Pro Bass, nonexistent? (Could just use four of the 6 strings on the new instruments)
5) What’s this guitar/drum groove thing I see in the videos? Multipliers to 6 also? Something else? Is there something similar for vocals?
5) Is there a Pro keyboard mode that doesn’t scroll (solo or no other highways, ie when there’s the space available)
6) Pro Keyboard mode with more notes? It looks like it’s just been played on low difficulties/easier songs as the note count is really low. Can we see a video of how it plays on an intense song? Holds on left hand with trills on right? Or is it stuck with only one button per color section active at once and does it have GH’s extended sustains where other notes can be played during?
7) Lefty flip with Pro Keyboard, it’s MIDI, so it’s not like a custom piano is needed, is it possible? (It is symmetrical) Is it possible easier than a MIDI translation box that flips the signals? (That also wouldn’t flip the highway)
Areas where GH appears to still have better features, what’s the response. In casual play at a party, with what I know now, I’ll be putting in the GH6 disc. This will advertise that product to my friends. What’s the response? Note: I’m going to buy both GH6 and RB3, the question is, when friends are over, why should I stick in the RB3 disc? GH6 has a big enough music library (around 300 songs with just various disc exports) that RB3′s biggest feature doesn’t trump the issues below.
1) Nonstandard instrument mixes. We generally each have a preferred instrument and that means that some people just don’t play with each other in RB2, but we can in GH5, so we do.
2) Different scrolling speeds. I know, people sick up, an option at least? Playing Expert (and Pro likely) is significantly more difficult if it’s scrolling at Easy/Medium speeds. My other option is to never play live with my friends (it’s less boring/frustrating than playing on a lower difficulty/needing rescues on Expert)
2b) Per player Breakneck speed options, similar to above, I play Expert with it on, my friends are generally Medium with it off. Multiple levels would be nice too (allows an easier learning curve progression from Hyperspeed 0 to Hyperspeed x than off to on), but the big win is from different toggles.
It’s gotten at the point that for party play, I consider GH DLC a better buy than RB DLC. I’ve been holding back on RB DLC lately, and am debating starting to purchase DLC for GH. I don’t yet see reasons that this will be changing, and I likely will start buying GH6 DLC for party play soon if it’s not changed (buy songs I like for RB, songs the group likes for GH, rather than buying all for RB, borderline songs I might even buy on GH just so I can introduce them to my friends easier).
Is there any chance that MIDI box will allow us to use our own guitars? Are we going to be locked into using a Rock Band 3 guitar/bass stringed instrument or will we eventually be able to utilize our own?
Will the keyboard work with the tracks that have piano in GD:RB if you export GD:RD to RB3?
Will we finally be able to have multiple vox players in game for harmonies over XBL?
DJ-MAT Reply:
June 13th, 2010 at 5:54 pm
Harmonix said in Rock Band forums that NO
I’m sure these have been brought up before, but I am very curious about them, so I’ll weigh in with my vote
When will we start seeing Pro/keyboard-compatible DLC? Day and date of RB3, before, or after?
Will we see any re-releases of existing songs, originally released on-disc or as DLC, updated for Pro/keyboard compatability?
Could you ask a question relating to RockBand 3 on the DS?
DeadlyStingNYC: Any confirmation that we’ll be getting a useful Vocals practice mode (a la Beatles) in RB3? Just asking because it wasn’t mentioned
- Will we be able to import our scores from RB2 to RB3?
- And with that: I love the game’s editor for clothes and logos and It would be a great add for the game to include a kind of online shop, like Forza Motorsport 3 has, where users could share or sell (with ingame money gained on career mode) their logos for t-shirts, makeup designs, looks for their charachters (for example, a character who seems to Axl Rose or Freddie Mercury)… Now we know that playlists will be saved and shared, Will it be the same with our logos and desings on Rock Band 3?
With a shop like that Tour Mode would be awesome. If you are not gonna do that virtual shop for the community, at least, let us save our designs and logos as independent files to put them on any of our characters without have to do them again starting from zero.
- How will be the drum fills sounds? Will they have the same boring sound from RB1 or RB2, or will the game extract each pad sound from its original song that we are playing in that moment?
- With all the new additions to the songs, piano and PRO modes, will be the songs more expensive than now? Will we see less DLC songs announced each week because of this additions?
- It’s known that grpups like U2 aren’t interested on appear on musical games where they can look a little cartoonish, as on RB2, for example. These groups want realistic characters. With the graphical upgrade to the game (RB3 looks awesome), what are the plans now with groups dedicated games? No more games? Will be the new plans to do DLC megapacks (20 or more songs) with downloable characters from that group? I remember that Jimi Hendrix could be a playable character on RB3, maybe downloable with his songs. Are these the new plans, to do RB3 the only platform for all the future songs and artists?
I’m sure I’m not the only one. Bass? Is there a Bass Pro Mode? I don’t care if I have to use the guitar controller for it, but will there even be mode, or will bassists just be playing the same old 5color highway while everyone else is using pro?
GurnKiller Reply:
June 14th, 2010 at 4:03 pm
Yes there is. It’s been confirmed many times in interview videos.
RockBandAide Reply:
June 14th, 2010 at 4:59 pm
GurnKiller’s right.
Will any tracks not be importable from Rock Band 2? Will we have the option to choose which ones to import into RB3?
Please ask about the recent band specific poll Harmonix posted on its website. Which bands came out on top? Has Harmonix started negotiating with any artists as a result of the poll?
I’ll second (or third or whatever) the question about Beatles DLC. Are we getting any more? Specifically, are we getting Revolver?
- Can you please get a definitve answer about charting double bass or high-hat pedal? so far the info has been confusing.
- Is there an option to change the fixed scrollspeed of all the tracks and let the highway run faster for expert players when playing with easy players.
Thank you RBA
Deal with instruments in UK? Will we get new instruments? Will we get RB2 instruments? Will we get anything or will hmx keep being meanies?
-Ben
1080p?
Will vocal settings (sensitivity, mic volume, track volume) be the same as RB2 i.e. will I still be able to use a high-gain mic and be able to avoid serious distortion?
Random weird question: Can the keyboard/new guitars output midi at the same time as playing the game? (Could be a lot of fun to turn down the volume on the keyboard track in game and play the songs through one of my own synths)
Also, when using the peripherals as midi instruments — do the control parts on the instrument do anything for midi? Would be great if they can be used to change the midi channel or instrument part.
I’m also curious about guitar parts that use non-standard tuning. Do they chart it as if the guitar is always in whatever tuning the part is in? That could really cause some confusion with the real guitar peripheral.
Please see when they started charting harmonies/Keyboards in DLC or if that has started already. I see above where Chucklestyle says it started with the Hendrix album but I haven’t heard any actual answer on this by a Harmonix rep. THanks!
Will we still be able to use 3 mics on non-harmony songs?