DJMAX Technika: Pop Mixing 2

Well, it must have been quite a long time since the last time I wrote a post on my blog. I've been so busy these days, doing assignments and attending neverending-torturing classes. Yes, now I don't really have much time for myself. I spend most of my time doing my assignments and attending discussion with my friends. But I finally have Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, three days of free time, so I have to use the three days to relax, find a great hideaway from daily activities that are torturing me, both physically and mentally.

And back to the topic, I think I have once posted this kind of topic, right? I have posted DJMAX Technika: Pop Mixing 1 several weeks ago and I bet this post would be the sequel from the similar post I've made before. Still talking about DJMAX, now it's already the 18th Maxpoint Shop Update in my country and all the songs have appeared to be available but the difficulties. I'm not going to talk about the new levels available at the Maxpoint Shop since mostly the new levels appeared as the 18th Update are obviously difficult (Yes, it takes probably two to three months for me to conquer HD level of "Out of CTRL". In other words, I'm a slow-learner), but I want to share my song selections for Pop Mixing (which can also be used as your course for Crew Race). In this post, I will include my selections, not only based on the theme or genre of the songs but also the characteristic of the song patterns included in the course. Here are my song selections for Pop Mixing, including my level preferences:

• Midnight Rockstar

This course consists of slow-rock songs (or slow-to-medium beat songs) with the range of level 6 to 8. The selection of the songs is based on the theme, Midnight Rockstar, so that's why the tempo are mostly slow. The arrangement of each song is also somewhat simple; distortion or over-driven voice does not really predominate the arrangement. It's not really hard for me actually to find the right songs for this course, since my reference is song with slow to medium tempo. It's up to you on how you will arrange these songs to the stages, but here are the three songs selected by me:

1. Brand New Days (MX level 7)

2. Raise Me Up (MX level 8)

3. Become Myself  (HD level 6)

• Disco Strings

The selection is based on the music arrangement. I note that some songs are seemingly cool to be played at discotheques or at your house-party. One characteristic that I observe is the element of the music arrangement (these three songs have strings section that refer to classic funky disco strings section arrangement). Let these upbeat house music enliven your party: 

1. Wanna Be Your LOVER (HD level 6)

2. Everything (MX level 8)

3. Fallin' in LUV (MX level 8)

• Screaming Soul

Well, I dunno why I am suddenly in such a depressed mood. Not really depressed actually, but just feeling unhappy. There's a voice inside of me, forcing me to scream all these craziness and depression out of me. And probably these songs would help me throw those shits away: 

1. Out of CTRL (HD level 9)

2. Burn It Down (MX level 7)

3. Rage of Demon (HD level 8)

• Deeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep

Yes, three electro-house songs to create such a deep ambiance. The range level for this course is between 6 to 7, so it won't be too hard to play. The main thing I chose these songs is because I just want to feel the ambiance.

1. The Rain Maker (HD level 6)

2. MASAI (Electro House Mix)

3. Desperado (Nu Skool Mix)

"Ghost" Invasion

I checked the crew race tracker several days ago and found out that "Ghost" had invaded the courses. Yes, an invasion of "Ghost" MX that I talked to myself "So I have to play "Ghost" MX again right after the previous course with "Ghost" MX in it. Is this serious?"

As I realized the release of "Ghost" MX, I assumed that some players would include the song in their courses. And inevitably, there were many.. Yes, there were so many players who included it in their courses. As the result, "Ghost" MX seems to peak the chart of "the most included" songs in crew race. Well, it doesn't only happen to "Ghost" MX. "Wanna Be Your LOVER" HD and "Supernova" NM seem to be in following rank of "Ghost" MX. There are some courses, consist of "Wanna Be Your LOVER", "Supernova", and "Ghost", in different orders (possibly there are nine orders of those three songs). But what happened to me is that I played two courses with those three songs, arranged in the same order (Wanna Be Your LOVER [HD], Supernova [NM], Ghost [MX]) as the screenshot I captured below:

Back to the topic. I think what probably makes "Ghost" MX so booming these days is that the maximum level of "Ghost" is newly released, or there are so many players who love this song. I even saw courses consists of three "Ghost" MX, which means that we played that song for three stages. And I don't know why but I see mostly players put "Ghost" on third stage when it comes with two other songs, even though some courses have it as first song or second song. So it seems like "Ghost" MX gains the popularity so fast these days, and if there's a chart of most-played songs on crew race, I think "Ghost" MX peaks the rank. ㅋㅋㅋ

DJMAX Technika: Pop Mixing Selection 1

When I play Technika, I mostly play in Pop Mixing mode which lets me freely choose songs I want to play in each stage. And well, there are so many songs you can choose in Pop Mixing, either the ones that are already available or the ones that should be bought from Maxpoint Shop. Furthermore, I can choose the difficulty of the songs by myself. When playing in Club Mixing mode or Crew Race mode, the difficulty (level) of the songs played depends on the disc set itself or someone who registered the course.

And talking about the songs themselves, there are some themes that I can fetch from each songs. Let me give an example: when playing "Heartbeat Part 2", I feel like I'm listening to one of my favorite childhood songs. The song is kind of cute, funny, and kiddie. I don't know if you guys think what I think, but I personally can say that "Heartbeat Part 2" has a cute, kiddie-theme.

I thought about the songs which have similar theme, so I decided to make my own selections for Pop Mixing mode. This is like making a Crew Race course, since we're not able to create our own custom Club Mixing set. But I hope someday there would be an allowance to create custom Club Mixing set. I think it would be fun to let people play the sets we created.

So here are some pop mixing selections I created, based on its theme:

The Epic Story

Is it a tragedy? Or just a dramatic sad-ending romantic story? This epic-theme set boasts dramatic viola melody in "Oblivion", hasty movement of violin in "Propose, Wolf, Flower Part 2" which represents the tension of the tragedy, and powerful arrangement of "Colours of Sorrow".

Preferred level:

• Oblivion [MX - 8]
• Propose, Wolf, Flower Part 2 [HD - 7]
• Colours of Sorrow [MX - 8]

Classical Insanity 

We can find some classical music on DJMAX. This set offers you favorite classical pieces such as Tchaikovsky's romantic waltz "Swan Lake", Saint-Saëns' mysterious "Danse Macabre", and Franz Liszt "La Campanella". And of course, the songs will give you a surprising insanity!

Preferred level:

• Black Swan [HD - 8]
• La Campanella [HD - 7]
• D2 [NM - 8]

Mafia House 

Are you in a pursuit of precious gems? Are you in runaway of police? These songs will make you feel like you're a mafia boss!

Preferred level:

• Enemy Storm [HD - 6]
• The Guilty [MX - 7]
• Showdown [HD - 7]

Last Friday Night 

Do you remember how wonderful it was at the club on last Friday night? You don't need to wait until the next Friday to feel the HEAT of the club, since you can feel the BEAT of the club here in DJMAX. Let's start from "The Rain Maker" that will give you a deep ambiance of Epic Trance. Then you can continue dancing to the melody of "Airwave". And at last, feel the heat and the speed of "Right Back" while giving your best moves on the dance floor.

Preferred level:

• The Rain Maker [HD - 6]
• Airwave [HD - 9]
• Right Back [HD - 7]

And Finally... Technika 3 Platinum Card

I cannot determine how long I've been addicted to this game, DJMAX Technika. At the first time, I was not really interested in DJMAX. I saw it for the first time at Game Master in Paris van Java. I was very, very addicted to Pump It Up and it was the first version of DJMAX Technika. Else, it spent more credit from your swipecard so-called Power Card. I remember the credit deducted for the first DJMAX Technika was IDR 6,250. So I could only play DJMAX once if I deposit IDR 10,000 to my swipecard. I didn't think to pay that much for one-credit play so I didn't play the game.

One day, DJMAX Technika 2 was released and for the first time I played DJMAX Technika 2, I found it quite difficult to play. I remember I lost the game at the very beginning of the song. It made me feel trolled anyway. Later, I played it again from the easiest mode called Star Mix. Star Mix is similar to Pump It Up's Compact Mode, where the options and song level provided are simpler and easier. After feeling good at playing Star Mix, I tried to play songs in Pop Mix, where the difficulties vastly varied.

I started being addicted when I finally succeed playing songs from Maximum level. I still played DJMAX even though I didn't have the Platinum Card. Platinum Card offers you special advantages such as songs, DJ title, and so on. To play some certain songs, well I had to borrow my friend's Platinum Card. I found it a bit bothering because I couldn't play some certain songs without using the Platinum Card. When I finally decided to buy Technika 2 Platinum Card, a friend of mine suggested me to buying the Technika 3 Platinum Card, instead of the Technika 2. She told me that Pentavision would release Technika 3 as soon as possible.

I've waited Technika 3 for so long until one day I saw Technika 3 at TimeZone. There was a long queue that I was sure I couldn't play. So I just bought the card and waited until other video arcades would have at least one Technika 3. And yeah! Finally Game Master introduced Technika 3 and I was so lucky because there was no one playing Technika 3 when I arrived at Game Master in Cihampelas Walk. So let's say that I was one of the first players of Technika 3 at Game Master in CiWalk. 

Thanks God, I finally got my own Platinum Card...

Happy Baby

Kelihatannya saya punya mainan baru, selain CityVille dan The Sims Social di Facebook. Berhubung kelihatannya kehidupan kuliah akan mendapat jauh lebih banyak tekanan dari 8 penjuru mata angin, saya rasa dengan kehadiran game-game Facebook ini akan menjadi (bukan sekedar) hiburan belaka.

Dulu, saya sempat main Baby Adopter. Aplikasi ini mengajak kita buat mengurus bayi kecil yang pada awalnya pada nggak punya rambut (benar-benar bayi!) \(´▽`)/ dan setiap hari kita harus kontrol bayi kita dengan kasih makanan, minuman, sampai imunisasi. Tapi setelah lama, saya jadi jarang main Baby Adopter lagi. Terutama setelah dapetin mainan baru ini, Happy Baby.

 Bedanya di Happy Baby yang bikin saya sebenernya lebih senang adalah, adanya backsong. Sebenernya backsong-nya sederhana tapi tetep asik. Lalu, si bayi bisa kita customize sesuai dengan keinginan kita, dari mulai wajah, rambut, warna kulit, sampe baju. Hal yang nggak bisa dilakukan di Baby Adopter, yang mana baju yang bisa dibeli ya default satu-satunya yang ada di shop itu aja (gak ada pilihan baju lain). Tapi kurangnya Happy Baby itu nggak ada suara bayi aslinya, gak kayak di Baby Adopter. Biasanya si bayi setelah kita kasih makan, suka keluar suara "Yee!" atau "Yeehaw!". Pilihan nurture di Baby Adopter cenderung lebih banyak, sementara di Happy Baby cuman ada lima. Tapi kedua-duanya ada batas waktunya untuk melakukan pilihan nurture yang sama.

Dari pilihan feed baby, makanan yang ditawarkan sama banyaknya antara Happy Baby sama Baby Adopter. Cuman kelemahan Baby Adopter itu, kalau nge-feed bayinya kita harus bayar pake koin. Tapi dengan nge-feed nanti tingkat hunger si bayi bisa meningkat, bahkan langsung sampe 100%. Di Baby Adopter, untuk feed baby itu gratis dan asiknya lagi justru earning poin. Di Happy Baby, pembayaran buat item bisa bayar pakai koin atau cash, sementara di Baby Adopter pembayaran buat item-item yang mau dibeli dapet dari poin yang kita earn dari nurturing atau feeding. Untuk health, kedua aplikasi sama-sama meminta kita bayar koin atau poin.

Di Happy Baby, kita bisa mengunjungi bayi-bayi punya temen-temen kita. Biasanya untuk neighboring, kita kirim request ke orang-orang untuk jadi Uncle, Aunt, Godmother atau Godfather #ngakak. Dan pilihan yang dikasih hampir sama, kecuali untuk customizing. Kita bisa ngerawat bayi punya paman atau bibi kita, semisal kasih makan (berbayar koin) atau nurturing (earning koin). Kalau semisal bayi punya temen kita jarang dirawat dan kita yang rawat, biasanya mereka suka bilang "I love you". Wah, rasanya seneng kalo anak kita yang bilang kayak gitu sama kita (insting ke-ayah-an-nya keluar).

Disini juga si bayi bisa ikutan kompetisi, semacam adu voting buat dapetin koin. Lalu ada juga diary dimana si bayi bisa curhat di sebuah buku harian. Ada juga fitur take photo yang fotonya bisa masuk ke album Facebook dan dijadiin profile picture. Fitur-fitur tersebut gak ada di Baby Adopter. Tapi dari segi mengasuh, Baby Adopter kayanya bener-bener merhatiin kelengkapan. Ketika kita udah punya bayi di Baby Adopter, kita udah dikasih kamar bayi yang furniturnya bisa dibeli pake poin, kamar mandi bayi, halaman belakang dan mainannya yang dibeli pake poin, imunisasi, ruang bermain bayi, sampai fitur merawat bersama. Untuk merawat bersama, jadi kita bisa buat semacam keluarga, dimana si A dan si B bisa ngerawat bayi yang sama, kayak ayah dan ibu. Buat yang couple, kayaknya fitur ini cocok juga buat simulasi rumah tangga ,)

Sebenernya saya main ini bukan buat simulasi rumah tangga atau persiapan menjadi ayah yang baik. Hanya saja, karakter chibi yang ditawarkan juga tingkat kesulitan yang cenderung gampang bikin saya nyaman maininnya. Ada yang tertarik?

My Favorite: Happy Island on Facebook

A friend invited me to play a game called 'Happy Island'. Usually, I ignored unwanted invitation requests (especially for useless stuffs), but dunno why I confirmed the invitation and started playing the game.

*My island, LOL still (level 8)

Now, still I play the game. Simply funny. Developed by Crowdstar, this game allows us to build and decorate our own island. Also, visiting our friends is allowed.

But nowadays, hardly to be online so I haven't played the game for several days. I just play it again and see nothing changes a lot but my buildings have earned coins to be collected. I just click on the buildings and earn my money.

*Island Shop, enables us to buy some attractions and decorations for our island

There are some ways to earn money :

*Visiting Sendy's island

• Visiting neighbors. Then, clean their trashes and click on the treasure chest. It will earn money, also gain the XP points
• Clicking on the building. The indicator will show when the building is ready to be earned. Click the bag coin to earn money (it only works in your own buildings, not someone's building)
• Cleaning your island. Trashes also spread around your island. Earn money by cleaning those trashes.
• Selling decoration. This also can help you earning money.

 *NEW on Happy Island! If you have reached level 15, secondary islands are available! The picture shown above is about visiting Idoey's island

Something new on Happy Island. Secondary islands can be achieved if you have reached certain levels. I'm still in level 8 so I cannot achieve secondary islands. Also, higher level you reach, more attractions and decorations you can buy.