Over two years… Part 2

I am aware that the community has guides on how to downgrade the game, but currently I can’t be bothered.

(previously on Vouiv-review)

It turns out that my ultimatum was off the mark and that I was looking in the wrong place. Besides, the whole purpose of the 1.34.4 beta was for the base game developers to streamline their version release process, not to mention 1.35.0 dropped within a week of my latest blog post, so I don’t envision any more of the latest versions to have mods anytime soon.
(…Well, that’s what I thought earlier this month, but apparently 1.35.0 has Mapping Extensions now. I haven’t tried it myself, just pointing it out.)

Cutting to the chase, I did mention BeatSaver back then and, while I’ve known since nearly the beginning that the modding group has a wiki, it did not occur to me that I could just check the “PC Modding” page and find the link to BSManager. Not that digging through the Steam guides was in vain; rather, it gave me the insight to copy my CustomLevels (and CustomWIPLevels) folders from the Steam version of the Beat Saber_Data folder to a freshly downloaded counterpart of version 1.29.1,* as well as the UserData folder in the parent directory. Now, I am able to boot up Quest Link, bring up my PC’s primary monitor, and use BSManager to launch 1.29.1 in Oculus Mode. With a fixed rate of 10 Mbps through AirLink, I find that it’s playable enough…at least to keep on notice when I’m in the mood to play a map that requires extensions, upvote a map that I really like, or playtest whatever custom levels I have in the works. (Otherwise, the latest version on Steam performs significantly better, especially since tweaking the AirLink bitrate inspired me to lower the SteamVR refresh rate from 90 Hz to 72. Another thing to note about playing in Steam Link is that the A and X buttons can be used to pause the game while the usual pause button has delay as a result of prioritizing the Steam menu; I like it better this way now, but it took some conditioning to restrain my right thumb from accidentally pressing the A button.) “Fury of the Storm” by DragonForce is one map that requires extensions; I don’t know if this has been the case for previous versions, but unmodded 1.35.0 won’t load any of its notes or obstacles (as in the “Mr. Invisible” case I mentioned before). Also, I haven’t noticed much of a difference between having and lacking Noodle Extensions (please excuse my improper terminology before), so…well, they’re there if I want to try them out. (I gave it a test run with Centipede on max difficulty, but I scare too easily to get past the intro.) What’s annoying about switching Steam versions is having to re-accept the EULA and privacy policy every time, especially since the former requires waiting 5 seconds on 1.29.1. This brings me to a gripe that I have about Steam Link and AirLink alike: When the headset loses connection, the game does not pause; it just keeps on running, thoroughly disregarding the possibility of an ongoing level attempt. At least Steam Link has the decency to stay active while it’s disconnected, whereas AirLink just ejects the player to the main menu without a word. Worse, the one time the latter has happened to me, the game shifted the floor level up to my neck for whatever reason, in a way that I could not rectify without exiting the game and relaunching it.

*While 1.34.2 is the version when I got into using mods, I felt like taking up BSManager on its recommendation…and I couldn’t go back; I tried running 1.34.2 in Oculus Mode, and it came up with a non-VR window as opposed to the intended behavior of launching as a Quest Link app (like how I used to do SteamVR before Steam Link). Also note that BSManager requires ownership of the game on Steam or Meta, and I have not tried the latter.

Speaking of DragonForce, I did in fact pass the “Ring of Fire” cover before realizing the existence of BSManager, and earlier on the same day [as that pass] I managed to FC “Run Devil Run.”

Also, thanks to modded 1.29.1, I got screenshot proof of the passes I got on modded 1.34.2: Acid Rain, Forbidden Girl Plus A, Silvera, and Wheel of Time. I also passed “Megitsune” by BABYMETAL…sometime between the former two, if memory serves.

(Side note: I don’t know how I was unable to find “Dance with Silence” before; I recently searched again and found it easily.)

Another thing about Fury of the Storm: It took me only three attempts on modded 1.29.1 to pass, prior to which I had never reached the second verse. In my first two attempts, that one slew of trills just before the last minute of the song (not quite the end of the solo) was the big show-stopper, especially considering my arms would always get weary as early as the first chorus and reach zombie status before the big guitar solo. (“Zombie status” as in so worn out that I start questioning how I’m still moving my arms, which also happened halfway through my first pass of Flying Whales.) But…well, somehow I got it.

(Right after this pass, I did a victory lap of the Noukin OP and choked right before the final “Waho waho”.)

One week after the fact, I got another pass that I had been going for in tandem, following a run that died to a major lag spike.

It didn’t wanna break me down, so the Wi-Fi did instead. The deciding run was wild; I maintained my combo throughout the entire Magic Mamaliga sounding instrumentation near the middle (It’s mostly like RLR gallops like in Curtains), and then I did the Joetastic map of the Machine Doll ED for a victory lap, which in itself held a wild outcome: 304 combo, -3, SS rank.

In case it wasn’t obvious, I do custom maps on maximum difficulty. The only exceptions I’ve ever made were for Steam achievements and maps that I once found inconvenient to play, whether in terms of passing or extension requirements. Even as the spider ED and Valley of the Vale remain on the chopping block (no pun intended), they are far from the only two that I aim to pass one day.

• “NIGHTMARE † CITY”, “Looking for the Edge of Ground (feat. Hatsune Miku)”, and “POLYBIUS GB SPEEDRUN” by Camellia – Quite an assortment from one artist, and who other than the one responsible for Spin Eternally and the only official freebie track pack? They are listed in what I find to be ascending order of difficulty, although I’m not sure about Polybius because I haven’t played it as much.
• “Organ Farmer” by King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard – One of the only two currently mapped songs by this band, the other (“Big Fig Wasp”) being the easier one, albeit with some nasty doubles near the end. As for this one, the main source of difficulty is how fast the notes fly; otherwise, it’s like Unlimited Power but with slews of triplets and sixteenths. The farthest I’ve gotten is to the part in the preview.
• “The Intense Voice of Hatsune Miku” by Storyteller – The sets of three bounces at the start of the triplet vocals are the first hurdle, and I still can’t quite keep up with the awkward mapping of the sixteenths.
• “Ending Medley ~ Ultimate Exquisite Rampage” by cosMo@BousouP – As much as it peeves me that the Disappearance part has sixteenths even though everything fast about it (including the double bass drumming) is triplets, there is a part of me that can get behind this as a long-term goal.
• “Save Me” by Avenged Sevenfold – A whopping 10-minute song, and it’s hard enough just to get to the second bridge, let alone as far as halfway through the guitar solo. Passing the whole thing…we’ll see. (Note that “Nightmare” off the same album is easier than this and (not off the same album) Afterlife.)
• “Through the Fire and Flames” by DragonForce – A logical follow-up for Fury of the Storm, which first was for the Ring of Fire cover. Having fewer notes than Fury might make it seem easier, but just by having gotten past the first chorus, I have found that this map is not above bounces in its sixteenths. (And the drums-oriented mapping is fiercer.)
• “RAISE MY SWORD” by Galneryus – I’ve gotten to the key change before the outro, but I didn’t have the stamina to maintain my rhythm. That was the one time I had reached the first chorus, whereas I more commonly can’t even get past the first verse. (Part of what I meant by “technical prowess” before is swing control, that is reining in rapid swings in parts that require it. That’s what gave me the idea of establishing Victims of Contingency as a previous milestone.)
• “Panic Attack” by Dream Theater – It’s hard enough to get to the second verse, let alone the first “helpless hysteria” part. This map has some stinky doubles.
• “Jordan” by Buckethead – This is not happening any time soon. At full speed, I cannot keep up with the part that’s called “Solo B” in GH2.
• “The Relic” by Rings of Saturn – Very long-term. I’ve come close to passing the intro, but that’s just it.

Difficulty aside, I would also like to vouch for the Molgera battle theme (from Zelda: Wind Waker) as one of my favorite maps and “Witch Doctor” by Cartoons as a fun FitBeat map. That’s all the go-backs I have regarding mods. As for the Quest-native copy that I’ve been keeping vanilla, I got a few more FCs since my last report…and I suspect that I forgot to add Lift Off and Heavy Weight to the Expert Faster counter (I know for sure I have the former; I got it in my latest Setlist Shuffle), which would make it 33 or 34.

• This Ain’t a Scene, It’s an Arms Race – Easy scoop. FOB 3/8
• Ghosts ‘n’ Stuff One-Saber – This took way more attempts than it had any right to. Just when I realized where I missed on my sightread was the fourth chain note in the second verse, the second bridge started screwing me over out of nowhere…but hey, at least I didn’t choke after that. Electronic One-Saber 2/2
• Burning Sands (!) – My favorite song in the game, which I’ve long considered the “holy grail” in terms of FCs I had left. Strangely enough, much like in the case of Legend, I was going for The Sweet Escape when I decided, “I’m not in a very ‘hit note’ mood…or am I? I’ll let Bernie Sanders be the judge of that.” Moreover, I was previously never able to maintain a combo past the transition out of the first drop, let alone in either of the two previous sessions. Then it just freaking happened, first try of the day, prior to my Fury of the Storm pass. Non-DLC 26/50 (screenshot below)
• Born to Be Wild – It was only a matter of time.
• The Sweet Escape – Another way overdue one. That second verse was a real bother to the end.
• I Was Made for Lovin’ You – All I had to do was learn beyond the second chorus. Rock 3/8
• Don’t Cha – This came out of freaking nowhere. I started the session with Sugar and branched out to other DLC including Freestyler, The Rockafeller Skank, Party Rock Anthem, and Rollin’. Then, despite not having played this song much, I got it on my first try. Interscope 3/7; DLC 15
• FOB One-Saber 2/2 in one fell swoop – I was merely going for SS on all the DLC songs, having managed Free Bird and DNA earlier in the week, and only just started taking care of the One-Saber side of things. I Don’t Care just happened to be one of the songs I only had a single S on (along with DNA and The Pretender), so I gave it an attempt and simply got it. (Granted, it was after a standard run where I missed in the third chorus due to a brain fart.) Then, My Songs Know… happened straight-up back-to-back. DLC One-Saber total: 5

I also managed to pass Ghost on Expert+ for 46/50. This makes me want to pass every X+ song, but when my arms get too sore as a result, I’ll instead go for 22 DLC FCs out of the 44 songs I have, perhaps alongside the One-Saber SSs I have left. (Based on my latest three FCs, it’s been working for me so far.)

Another thing I want to mention that there’s more to the Quest 3 than I said before. It has a softer rumble by default than the Quest 2 does, but not in Steam Link or Quest Link; thus, the more I play custom songs, the more disoriented I get when playing vanilla, particularly when cutting through chain notes. Given that the overhead strap support beam was what pushed me to transition from Quest 2 to Quest 3, another thing to note is that that of the new headset doesn’t look any more durable, but I’m hoping that the easier-to-adjust strap will help it last longer. Regardless, the Quest 3 certainly has moments of briefly flashing white before the system startup animation and producing sharp blip noises amid scene transitions in Beat Saber. (One might guess that the latter is related to the volume level, but that too is lower by default on Quest 3.) It also has a slight gap at the underside, but on the bright side, this facilitates using my phone to verify which songs to play during a Setlist Shuffle. Speaking of bright sides, non-grayscale Passthrough is a minor convenience in the event that I want to do a thing or two on my PC (e.g., (un)locking it or bringing up any pertinent applications such as Steam) while I still have my headset on.

Lastly, I suspect that I owe an explanation of why I haven’t gotten around to uploading any videos despite having hinted at the possibility. Here’s the thing:

• If I want to make videos, they would have to be picture-in-picture.
• I’ve been bouncing between rental homes at least twice a year for the past 5 years or so.
• I’m not confident in my current body shape or skill level.

Given the above factors, I do not currently feel comfortable with the practice. It will take some time and possibly other things before I resolve enough to consider it for good.

À la prochaine! (Until next time!)