For the most part, the DDR tourney guide will suffice, but there are some suggestions to make your ITG tournament better.

Song Selection

The tournaments that have been going on have been discouraging the one player picks song, other picks difficulty. This is due to the extreme differences between some songs. (Example: Summer Hard is a 9, but on expert it's a 13!!!) One suggestion is to do a progressive difficulty levels, restricting difficulty depending on how deep you are in the tourney. For example:

1st Round - No song/difficulty harder than 9.
2nd Round - No song/difficulty harder than 10.
3rd Round - No song/difficulty harder than 11.
Finals - Any song/difficulty is fair game.

Scoring

In DDR, score attack is discouraged because of the fact that every step is not the same. In ITG, it uses a percentage to determine how well you do. Most ITG tournaments that have been run in the US use that percentage as their basis of scoring. The amount of percent is based on the following DP scoring system:

Fantastic = +5
Excellent = +4
Great = +2
Decent = 0
Way Off = -6
Miss = -12

For holds:
Yeah! = +5
Bad = -5

Mine hit = -6

In some tournaments, they use fantastic attack, and that is perfectly acceptable. I do suggest percentage, since it accounts for all step grades.

Mods

In The Groove introduces a whole set of mods. For most tournaments, I recommend only allowing speed mods. But do note, there is a new type of speed mod called a C-mod (C 300, C 150, etc.). These particular speed mods set a constant BPM throughout the entire song, and adjusts the scrolling accordingly. If the song has any tempo changes or stops, then this mod will disqualify for ranking, meaning the player will not be able to entire high scores. Some tournaments allow Cmods, unless it results in disqualification. Others do not allow Cmods at all, regardless of if it disqualifies a player or not. I leave that up to you, but please at least do not allow Cmods when it disqualifies a player.

As for the other mods:

Perspective: These mods simply change the way the arrows scroll. Most players will play with overhead, which makes the arrows scroll upward like DDR. I recommend players be allowed to pick their own perspective, to suit them.

Notes: These mods will change the way you see the notes. Most players will use metal or cell. (Cel for ITG 2) Again, players should be allowed to pick their own noteskins. There is no solo bug in here, unlike DDR, where if one player picked solo, it made the other player pick it as well.

Scroll: This changes how the arrows scroll. I don't see why players would want to pick this, other than if they are more comfortable reading reverse. Once again, I suggest let them use this individually as they please.

Acceleration: Let players select these as they want. Doesn't affect the stepchart.

Effect & Fade: Again, doesn't affect the stepchart, but I don't see why players will want to use these mods in a tourney.

Handicap: DO NOT ALLOW THESE. These mods remove notes, and will invalidate high scores. They make the songs easier to play. Most tourneys do not allow these, and I suggest prohibiting players from using them.

Turn: These mods DO change the stepchart. Only allow if both players are using them. For most tourneys, they aren't used.

Insert Steps: Don't allow any of these mods to be used.

Insert Other: Again, don't allow this. It changes the stepchart, and will disqualify from rankings.

Hide: The only option I wouldn't allow is hide background, which disqualifies from ranking, and can give a player an unfair advantage. Hide Targets is the same as the dark mod in DDR, where the stationary arrows don't appear. Hide judgment simply takes away the combo counter and step judgments out. (Fantastic, Excellent, Decent, etc.)

Difficulty: Just another place to choose your difficulty.

So to sum it all up, my recommendation is to allow speed mods, with the exception of Cmods. Some tourneys only allow those mods, and that's fine.

Well, that's all for now. If you have questions, E-mail me at lildrchris25 at gmail dot com or message me on AIM at Ch421600.

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