SOUND VOLTEX Information

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Summary

SOUND VOLTEX is one of the most recent series of BEMANI music games, and the first one to utilize the eAMUSEMENT Participation system.
Sound director of the SOUND VOLTEX series is Cody. DJ YOSHITAKA serves as the head producer.
Sota Fujimori provides all of the games' background musics.

What makes SOUND VOLTEX different from the other game series is that regular BEMANI artists (either KONAMI in-house or commissioned ones) aren't involved in the song list, with a few exceptions. It, instead, involves artists renowned in the doujin and beatmania simulation scene, plus licensed EXIT TUNES songs and Touhou Project arrangements. There are also remixes of original KONAMI songs.
While at first the song list mostly consisted of original songs or licenses involving VOCALOID, later in the life-cycle of the first game the artist selection greatly expanded thanks to what it is supposed to be the most important part of the series - the FLOOR section.

SOUND VOLTEX FLOOR refers to the group of competitions posted in its website where Japan-based artists can participate in, with a chance of their songs or remixes appearing in the games. Music contests have their own themes and rules, such as remixing a selection of an artist's songs or using synthesized vocals. There are also contests related to designing jackets for brand-new songs or to replace pre-existing ones in the game.
Thanks to the FLOOR contests (and also to the presence of Touhou arrangements), the game quickly gained a lot of success, prompting the production team to focus as much as possible on these in the future. Also, contest winners may have a way to get involved in SOUND VOLTEX itself or in other BEMANI games (most notably, 5 of the 7 beatnation RHYZE members debuted in BEMANI via SOUND VOLTEX FLOOR).

From April 16th, 2015 to May 15th, 2015, the first SOUND VOLTEX FLOOR contests (for original songs and appeal cards) exclusive to the rest of Asia were held. However, delays in communication between KONAMI, Korean distributor UNIANA and participating artists have resulted in the songs not being added to the game more than a year after it ended. Only as of May 27th, 2016, were all winning artists have been notified.

As seen in SOUND VOLTEX II -infinite infection-, new games of the series are released as huge online updates.

Unlike other BEMANI games, regular soundtracks aren't released for the SOUND VOLTEX series. The only official albums released so far are:

  • SOUND VOLTEX ULTIMATE TRACKS - 東方紅魔郷REMIX -, released on July 30th, 2014. It was also released early on May 11th, 2014 at the Reitaisai 11 doujin event. It contains all the songs from the Touhou Project Embodiment of Scarlet Devil Remix Contest.
  • SOUND VOLTEX ULTIMATE TRACKS -LEGEND OF KAC-, released on March 4th, 2015. It contains songs from the first two KONAMI Arcade Championship contests.
  • SOUND VOLTEX ULTIMATE TRACKS -FLOOR ANTHEM- EP.01, released on February 24th, 2016. It contains several FLOOR songs from SOUND VOLTEX BOOTH and SOUND VOLTEX II -infinite infection- voted by the community.
  • SOUND VOLTEX ULTIMATE TRACKS -東方妖々夢&輝針城REMIX-, to be released in Autumn 2016. It will contain all the songs from the Touhou Project Double Dealing Character and Perfect Cherry Blossom Remix contests.

Recently, SOUND VOLTEX's sound direction has been increasingly focusing on KONAMI original songs made by the most popular FLOOR winners. SOUND VOLTEX has also become the first BEMANI game to have licensed BMS songs (BEMANI Simulation files).

Gameplay

SOUND VOLTEX's gameplay is similar to other rhythm games like beatmania IIDX and GuitarFreaks/DrumMania. When a note reaches the line in time with the beat, you press the corresponding button.
The game interface has 4 SHORT BT note lanes, and 2 LONG FX note lanes that each occupy 2 SHORT note lanes. SHORT notes are white, while LONG notes are yellow/orange.
In addition to the standard SHORT and LONG buttons, SOUND VOLTEX also has 2 analog dials, one on each side. When a blue trail (left side) and/or a pink trail (right side) appears, you have to turn the respective dial(s) to "follow" the trail(s). These are known as ANALOG CHAINS.
The effects in the songs are game-related and are caused by LONG FX notes (distortion effects) and ANALOG CHAINS (woosh effects).

SOUND VOLTEX II -infinite infection- introduced the following gameplay mechanics:

  • SHORT note lanes can now have hold notes, known as LONG BT notes.
  • LONG note lanes can now have short notes, known as CHIP FX notes.
  • The HARD-gauge style EXCESSIVE RATE is added. Drop to 0% and the stage fails immediately.
  • The INFINITE BLASTER unlock system/folder is added. This folder is only available if the BLASTER ENERGY gauge is at 100%. It unlocks most INFINITE and GRAVITY charts. Using the EXCESSIVE RATE gauge charges the BLASTER GAUGE by 6.67% a stage (15 plays will fill it).

SOUND VOLTEX III GRAVITY WARS added even more mechanics:

  • Any combination of the BT and FX notes is now possible.
  • ANALOG CHAINS may start from anywhere and go in any direction, and also extend beyond the chart lane.
  • New charts may include zooming and moving of the chart lane.
  • Colors of the ANALOG CHAINS can now be changed. Two new colors are also available: yellow and green.
  • Hi-SPEED values can be tuned to an exact BPM value. They can also be stored for easy Hi-SPEED changing.
  • EARLY/LATE indicators for NEARs can be shown in-game. They have 4 possible positions: LOWER, STANDARD (default), UPPER, and UPPER+.
  • Timing can be adjusted to be earlier or later by pressing 3 or 9 on the keypad, respectively. Values range from -8 to +8.
  • The ALTERNATIVE RATE SYSTEM (ARS) is added. This gauge starts with and EXCEESSIVE RATE gauge, but when depleted (a TRACK CRASH normally), it will be switched to a EFFECTIVE RATE, at a level as if it were active. It is only available in GENERATOR START.

In order to clear a song, your EFFECTIVE RATE must be 70% or higher (for all other gauges, never let the rate drop to zero). This does not affect charts rated Level 7 or below, however, as you will automatically be saved.

Modes

Initially, SOUND VOLTEX BOOTH only had two modes: ONLINE and FRIEND. SOUND VOLTEX II -infinite infection- added SKILL ANALYZER mode, and split all its modes to credit and PASELI/premium sub-modes when KONAMI further integrated PASELI into all its eAUMSEMENT games. SOUND VOLTEX III GRAVITY WARS, upon the launch of its SOUND VOLTEX GENERATOR -REAL MODEL-, added new GENERATOR-exclusive modes.

The game currently has the following modes:

ONLINE (normal single player mode)
  • LIGHT START
Up to 3 stages. Normal gameplay; the game is over when a song is failed. Song level selection is limited by the player's current Skill Level in SKILL ANALYZER.
  • STANDARD START
At least 2 stages, up to 3. Same as LIGHT START, but offers a save for one stage, and has no level limit. The BLASTER ENERGY gauge also increases by an additional 1.33% per stage.
  • BLASTER START
2 stages guaranteed. Accesses only the INFINITE BLASTER folder without having to fill the BLASTER ENERGY gauge.
  • GENERATOR LIGHT START
Up to 3 stages. Same as LIGHT START, and prints one Genesis Card. Only on machines with a GENERATOR.
  • GENERATOR START
3 stages guaranteed. Same as STANDARD START. ARS is available, and prints 1-5 Genesis card(s). Only on machines with a GENRATOR.
FRIEND (local matching, 2-4 players)
  • LIGHT START
  • STANDARD START
  • GENERATOR LIGHT START
  • GENERATOR START
SKILL ANALYZER (single player ranked mode)

SKILL ANALYZER offers various 3-stage courses, not limited to rank classification ones.

  • LIGHT START
  • STANDARD START
BLASTER ENERGY gauge increases by 3.33% per stage played.

Difficulty

SOUND VOLTEX has three main difficulties: NOVICE, ADVANCED and EXHAUST.
SOUND VOLTEX II -infinite infection- introduced a fourth difficulty: INFINITE; subsequently, SOUND VOLTEX III GRAVITY WARS introduced an equivalent difficulty called GRAVITY. These difficulties are very similar to the CHALLENGE one of DanceDanceRevolution and the MASTER one of GuitarFreaks & DrumMania, and are usually added to older songs. These charts often use the new gimmicks introduced in their respective games.

Difficulty ranges from 1 (the easiest) to 16 (the hardest).

As a major note, newly added songs (except for original songs) have the NOVICE chart always available by default. The other difficulty charts, most of the time, must be bought from the SDVX Station or unlocked through MISSION.

Scoring

All notes are judged as CRITICAL (perfect), NEAR (good), or ERROR (miss). The maximum score in each stage or TRACK is 10,000,000 (10 million).
A chart can be rated from D (lowest) to AAA (highest).
If a player hits all notes (i.e. a full combo), it is an ULTIMATE CHAIN (UC). If he/she hits all notes with a CRITICAL rating, it is a PERFECT (formerly PERFECT ULTIMATE CHAIN, or PUC).

Fulfiling specific play conditions, like achieving an ULTIMATE CHAIN or an AA rank, can be requirements for buying certain charts for songs.

SDVX Station

SDVX Station is the section of the game where you can buy in-game items using Blocks or Packets. You gain Blocks and Packets by playing the game. Blocks (Blc) are used to purchase song charts, while Packets (Pc) are used to purchase Appeal Cards.

Since NOVICE charts are always unlocked, you will only buy ADVANCED, EXHAUST and INFINITE ones. In SOUND VOLTEX BOOTH, you could buy single charts; in the sequel, you can choose to buy only the ADVANCED chart for a song, or all of them (except INFINITE) at once. Another difference between the two games is the absence of RANK requirements in SOUND VOLTEX II -infinite infection-.

Besides purchase costs, often there will be conditions that need to be fulfilled. These can range from clearing a certain number of songs to getting ULTIMATE CHAINS.

A list of purchasable charts can be found here:

Note that when playing new game versions, older charts must still be bought if you haven't done so before, similar to how locked songs in jubeat and REFLEC BEAT remain locked.

RANK System

IMPORTANT NOTE: The following section is obsolete due to the RANK system being removed in SOUND VOLTEX II -infinite infection-.

The purpose of the RANK System in SOUND VOLTEX BOOTH is to limit what song charts players can buy from the SDVX Station. There are 20 ranks in total, and you can raise them by accumulating Rank Points (RP). To accumulate RP you need to play songs and clear songs (getting ULTIMATE CHAINS or PERFECT ULTIMATE CHAINS makes the process faster). Once you gain a new Rank, you need to accumulate a new amount of RP for the next one.

The RANKS are:

  1. Nameless Grass (0 RP)
  2. Young Bud (30 RP)
  3. Tree Leaf (70 RP)
  4. Verdure (80 RP)
  5. Cherry-blossom (80 RP)
  6. Water Lily (150 RP)
  7. Chinese Bellflower (250 RP)
  8. Setsugekka (250 RP)
  9. Small Drizzle (250 RP)
  10. Fog Drizzle (400 RP)
  11. Murasame (500 RP)
  12. Drizzle (600 RP)
  13. Iridescent Clouds (550 RP)
  14. Purple Clouds (550 RP)
  15. Gyoun (550 RP)
  16. Kong Cloud (550 RP)
  17. Blue Sky (350 RP)
  18. Sky (350 RP)
  19. Absolute Sky (400 RP)
  20. Void (500 RP)

Trivia

  • A game size re-arrangement of the system BGM of SOUND VOLTEX BOOTH, titled VOLTEXES, appears in REFLEC BEAT limelight. Similarly for SOUND VOLTEX II -infinite infection-, its system BGM, titled VOLTEXES II, appears in REFLEC BEAT groovin'!!.
  • The BGM of SOUND VOLTEX III GRAVITY WARS, titled VOLTEX III, was played at the EXIT TUNES DANCE PARTY ～beatnation RHYZE music council～ by Sota Fujimori during his Expander act.
    • It was later added to SOUND VOLTEX III GRAVITY WARS as VOLTEXES III, although it is credited to his real name instead.
  • SOUND VOLTEX II -infinite infection- is the first full BEMANI game to be released as an online update.
  • SOUND VOLTEX II -infinite infection- is the first BEMANI game to have a location test in a doujin-related event (Reitaisai 10).
  • The SOUND VOLTEX series had no removals until SOUND VOLTEX III GRAVITY WARS, with サイバーサンダーサイダー being removed on June 1st, 2016, due to its expired license.

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