# the GC Rocksmith thread



## blam

Thought I'd bring this little topic up.

has anyone here spent any time with this game?

I received it as a gift last week but have not put entirely too much time into it, but the time I've spent with it, I have to say I'm very impressed with its ability to read what you're playing.

it quickly showed me a few things:
1. I'm terrible at locating frets without looking.
2. I can't keep a beat. (I already knew this)
3. my sight reading could use some work - I require a lot of processing time between reading the note and translating it to the fretboard, even when it's laid out right in front of me.
4. I have weak bends.

the first "gig" i played was rolling stones satisfaction and black keys - next girl. 
I got an encore and when the solo for that song came up (i dont know what the song was), i failed miserbly and missed every note.

I'm currently working on RHCP Higher Ground, which is a really fun song to learn.


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## Guest

http://www.guitarscanada.com/open-mic-non-music-related/43001-rocksmith.html


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## blam

ha! my bad...


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## traynor_garnet

I just checked on amazon and this will be available for PC on Dec 13. Hmmm, this is really tempting but I would like more reviews and see if the latency is better or worse on the PC platform.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004S5PBM0/&ref=rocksmith_ubi

For some reason, however, it doesn't show up on Amazon Canada.


TG


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## LexxM3

And only 10 months late, Rocksmith for PC has finally arrived. Just received mine, woohoo! I can now finally thank my wife for her Xmas 2011 gift! No idea if or how well it works yet ...


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## The Kicker Of Elves

I have the PS3 version (bought it at launch) and am curious if the lag that a lot of people experienced in the console version has been eliminated or not...

Wouldn't buy it at full price, but someday when it ends up in a Steam sale I might grab it, if it is an improvement. Already have 2 of the cables so that'd save me a few bucks anyhow.


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## LexxM3

It appears to be on Steam already: http://store.steampowered.com/app/205190/. Will update with my experience as I get a chance -- I know lots of people are interested in the latency issue.


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## The Kicker Of Elves

Yeah, my post wasn't clear...knew it was on Steam, but it's $49.99, and I rarely buy games at full price unless they're really something I'm looking forward to. Especially when you see 75% sales on Steam (the Summer Sale is ridiculous...)


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## LexxM3

Ok, not a full review as I've only had about an hour with the game, but a few notes:


on a well configured machine (quad core AMD, 6GB RAM, high performance video card, built-in audio), on full quality settings, it often rails the CPUs to 100% 
the game doesn't behave very well with multiple monitors unless you configure the resolution to match the display monitor (i.e. in my case, higher than television HD resolution) 
in game play mode, you don't seem to notice the string-to-audio delay, but ... 
in freestyle mode, there is definitely a delay of at least a couple of hundred milliseconds; I have some "calibrated ear" experience with A/V delays and while not scientific or measured, it "feels" like maybe around 300-350ms or so (more than 200ms, I think, but definitely under 500ms) 
the automatic on-the-fly difficulty level adaptation is very cool -- it continuously stresses you (to a point, I guess), without overwhelming; very well done 
I find it very annoying that the fretboard changes perpective (i.e. floats, waffles) as you play; I tend to play very relative to current position, and the floating confuses that relative sense; wonder if it's intentional or just a bad design decision? 
haven't yet fully qualified, but I do already see that their claim that you'll be able to play their songs without the game when you reach game proficiency is quite likely justified 
first experience with Steam and it's a mess of a system; I purchased a significant $ amount of DLC and a) hasn't downloaded, b) can't find any "restart" or any other indication of what's going on, and c) support is not particularly responsive so far 

So, summary after an hour:

enjoying and will enjoy more of the game for sure 
string-to-audio delay still there, but doesn't appear that noticeable in game play 
Steam is buggy and their customer support kind of appears to suck


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## The Kicker Of Elves

I've used Steam for a long long time so I am kind of used to their idiosyncrasies by now, and you're probably stuck in the DMZ between Steam and the game publisher...

It varies from game to game, but right-click on the title in your Steam Library and see if there is a DLC option in that popup, or one in the Properties that has a list of your DLC. In some cases you can copy each DLC serial number to the clipboard and paste it when prompted in a game menu to unlock DLC content. I don't know how they do it in this particular game, but I seem to recall that's how it worked for the DLC for games like Mass Effect and Dragon Age.

It's probably accessible from within the game by hitting Shift-Tab.

This may not be helpful to you, but I wanted to get this post out in a hurry in the hopes that it does help you.


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## LexxM3

Sincere thanks for help Kicker, but:

Rocksmith does not appear on my list in the Library (it's retail and it is shown as such on my profile account, but it doesn't appear in the Library)
new bug: in full screen mode, I can't see my cursor; luckily I can see the cursor in windowed mode, so ...
Shift+Tab result shows a DLC item, but all you can do there is buy more stuff that won't be delivered

Ubi or Steam came back said it's fixed. Nope. Really crappy customer support in this domain.

The other annoying thing about the whole thing is that it has a console user interface on a PC -- navigation around the game is non-intuitive when you're sitting in front of a keyboard and a mouse and they insist you use the keyboard equivalent of game pad buttons on the keyboard for navigation ... I am guessing this is a standard mixed pc/console game issue.


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## LexxM3

*Update:* Ok, I seem to have all my DLC. It's actually hard to tell whether they fixed something (there was a game update that appears to have been pushed out today -- <sarcarsm> and by the way, Steam, thanks of asking me whether you can use my bandwidth just willy nilly whenever you just feel like it </sarcasm>, sheesh) or I just didn't know where to look. The UI really is pretty bad, both in the game and in particular in Steam. Anyways, if someone suspects they didn't get their DLC, check in the SONGS list from the MAIN MENU in the game itself for a song you're sure is part of the DLC you bought: if it's there, you got it. The downloads appear to be quite silent: it won't be there and no indication that it ought to be, and suddenly it's there (still no alert or any other indication of download completion).

On the other hand, I am enjoying the game itself .


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## Clean Channel

Awesome, it's out for PC?! I've wanted to try this out ever since I hear about it. I'll be picking on up...


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## Clean Channel

Ugh, well, right after reading this thread I pre-ordered a copy from amazon.ca (the PC version). They estimated it would be delivered between Nov.3 and 16, and after that they sent me an email saying it wouldn't arrive until December sometime. Now I get this email:

_Hello from Amazon.ca.

We're sorry to report we won't be able to obtain the following item from your order:

 "Rocksmith"

Although we'd expected to be able to send this item to you, we've since found it's not available from any of our sources at this time. We realize this is disappointing news to receive, and we apologize for any inconvenience we've caused you.

We've cancelled this item from your order.

Your order is now closed.

Thanks for shopping at Amazon.ca - we hope to see you again soon!_

So I'm giving up on Amazon, and I checked out the Bestbuy.ca website. They say I can preorder it, and they anticipate they'll have their first copies available by December 31st! Man, why's it so hard to get this darn game! 

I admit, although I used to play games a lot as a teen back in the 90s, I haven't bought anything like this in years. Is this normal for games nowadays? Is there somewhere else I should be shopping for this thing?


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## Guest

I ordered mine (PC version) from Amazon.com for $60 on Black Friday. No word as to not getting it and they say it will be here middle of next week...


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## Clean Channel

CheopisIV said:


> I ordered mine (PC version) from Amazon.com for $60 on Black Friday. No word as to not getting it and they say it will be here middle of next week...


Hmm, good to know. I guess my best bet is to by from a US retailer and ship it up. Weird the Canadian stores can't get their act together.


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## The Kicker Of Elves

LexxM3's issues aside, and assuming there aren't any other reasons why you wouldn't want to use Steam, here's what *I* would do, personally:

RS on Steam, $29.99
RS "Tone Cable" at EBGames listed @ $29.99 (could probably find this cheaper in EB or another store, or maybe eBay?) I bought a second cable for my PS3 version and didn't pay $30, as I recall.

Again, some people would prefer to avoid Steam and digital delivery in general, so opinions and experiences vary. Me, I have something like 200 games in Steam and really haven't had any problems.

I don't have the PC version of RS, just the PS3 one.


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## Guest

Apparently you need to link it to Steam anyway, most likely for the DLC. I would have gone that route instead of hardcopy except you need the cable to interact with it; no other interface will work according to the info I could find. Buying the digital edition and tracking down a cable was the same price as the package deal.


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## Clean Channel

Yep, I think I'll go ahead and grab it from Steam and just pick up the cable separately. Normally I don't hesitate to download my software, it was just because of the cable that I decided to order it in the old-fashioned way.

Thanks again for all of the help!


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## stringer

I've had Rocksmith for the ps3 since its launch. I have used it for about 8 hours in total. Song selection really made me feel my age. I haven't heard of half the bands or the songs. I have downloaded some Santana, Creedence... you get the idea I'm sure. I had a problem with sound lag, but found that changing the output to the old fashioned RCA jacks took care of that. I'm still having trouble with the visual being out of sync, but there's a tool to adress that. I've learned a few licks here and there, but no complete songs. The game has a lot to it. Many scales to practice in an arcade manner etc... but for me there is some sort of cognitive disconnect, cuz when I put the game away and play what I was just practicing it's like I was never playing it.... I don't really remember it. I think it's because I'm too busy looking at the tab or whatever it is scrolling down the screen rather than listening to what I was playing. IMHO this game would suit a player that has some experience. There's a great feature that isolates segments of a song i.e. intro , verse , outro that you can slow to a crawl but the notes remain correct, not like trying to slow an lp down to hear what's going on. I also think its a decent alternative to playing with real human beings if you can't swing a jam session. I still find it easier to learn a new song by watching a vid on youtube or something like that.


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## LexxM3

Rocksmith 2014 is out, with PC version out from the start this time. I've bought it as well as the $10 original disc songs conversion, everything worked as expected, including all my bought DLC.

This version is way better. The UI is definitely not perfect, but much improved. I am still exploring all the new functions, there is a lot of new stuff, mostly in practice and jamming domains. Session mode is weird and kind a cool.

Semi-fixed is latency. On most game starts, latency is way lower than in original game, almost or actually imperceptible. But on some starts, latency is back -- need to exit and restart. I don't think Ubi have dev staff that understand hardware interfacing.

Not fixed is my full screen lack of mouse pointer, but still works in windowed mode.

New bug appears to be random crackling from the guitar interface. It sounds almost like a static pickup on a badly grounded amp or guitar, but that guitar is perfect everywhere else and it doesn't do it in the old game over same interface and computer ... another indication of Ubi lack of hardware interfacing experience.

It's a big game, lots of HDD storage required, somewhere around 8GB after all the conversions, plus old DLC. 

Summary: well worth it if you like the first one, and probably now finally worth it if you were uncertain about the first.


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## Solaceguitars

I just heard about this last night. I'm probably going to pick it up this week. The session mode looks to be the most interesting. Very cool idea!


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## Clean Channel

I picked it up about a week ago...

I think the session mode is a great idea, and could be a lot of fun. *However, they really should be showing the chords being played by the band during session mode!* I'm dumbfounded that having the chord progression show on screen isn't an option. On the more advanced settings the changes can get quite complex, be somewhat unpredictable, and move rather quickly, so having a chart to follow would make much more sense. Instead they expect you to look at their colored tab highlighting the relevant scale degrees (which still doesn't include note names, which IMO would still be much better than the current method, which is just colored tabs).

You can try to decipher the chords being played using your ear, or trying to read the little colored boxes, but just having the chord progression showing would make much MUCH more sense, and in the end would be a far better learning tool. I also think it would help the user (in time) begin to connect the sounds of various progressions with the actual chords they entail.

If not that, I wish they at least had the option of showing the note names of the recommended scale degrees, as I would find that much faster the respond to then that color-coded tabs that they use.

My fingers are crossed that they realize what an incredible oversight this is, and do some kind of update to fix it.


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## Solaceguitars

Well I've been playing it now for two days... I had to run an external audio out to stereo to deal with the latency that occurred through HDMI to TV. 
Very fun game. I agree with clean channel, the session mode should have chord changes, and perhaps invert the visual reference for the strings for those of us used to tab. 
I liked learning the songs during gameplay more than I thought i would. Originaly I just purchased this for it's session mode
My biggest fallback right now is that the strings are all colour coded, this is cool - but I imagine the strings as having different colours associated with the open notes and WOW it messes me up. 

I would suggest that others try it if they have a chance, quite impressive software!


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## Clean Channel

Solaceguitars said:


> ...and perhaps invert the visual reference for the strings for those of us used to tab.


Just a heads up: in the general options you can change the perspective to make it the same as tab. Well worth doing, makes it MUCH easier to follow! I really think they should have made the default the same as standard tab, as we now risk having a whole generation of guitarists who will be writing everything upside-down.


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## manupulated

Got the 2014 for a while on xbox 360 , i love that game, probably why i'm getting better too !


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## Guest

Anyone know if you can play this on a Mac without their little cable? Just using an existing audio interface like my Duet?


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## traynor_garnet

Does this this also apply to the older version? I gave up because the standard perspective is useless.






Clean Channel said:


> Just a heads up: in the general options you can change the perspective to make it the same as tab. Well worth doing, makes it MUCH easier to follow! I really think they should have made the default the same as standard tab, as we now risk having a whole generation of guitarists who will be writing everything upside-down.


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## jayoldschool

Yes, you can flip it on the original version. It's in the options menu. I've played that day since I got it.


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## Clean Channel

Jayoldschool is right on, the perspective can be flipped on both the original and the 2014 versions.


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## LexxM3

Clean Channel said:


> *However, they really should be showing the chords being played by the band during session mode!*


It appears they kind of do, see someone's attempt to explain: http://steamcommunity.com/app/221680/discussions/0/810939351226042221/#c810939351470992722


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## Clean Channel

LexxM3 said:


> It appears they kind of do, see someone's attempt to explain: http://steamcommunity.com/app/221680/discussions/0/810939351226042221/#c810939351470992722


Terrible. Give me the frickin' chord name, not a bunch of nonsense, color-coded tabs.


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## Solaceguitars

iaresee said:


> Anyone know if you can play this on a Mac without their little cable? Just using an existing audio interface like my Duet?


unfortunately, the latency is too high without the cable that comes with the game... I saw a whole bunch of workarounds from fellows smarter than myself that made lowering the latency with an audio interface so complicated that I would spend 15min beforehand changing audio menus on the computer . I was interested in finding out how the cable is made, so I could solider a second one together without paying $50+


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## LexxM3

Clean Channel said:


> Terrible. Give me the frickin' chord name, not a bunch of nonsense, color-coded tabs.


I agree, but I don't know if my post deserves a Dislike/Thumbs Down for that -- not my fault Ubisoft is incompetent ;-).


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## Guest

Solaceguitars said:


> unfortunately, the latency is too high without the cable that comes with the game... I saw a whole bunch of workarounds from fellows smarter than myself that made lowering the latency with an audio interface so complicated that I would spend 15min beforehand changing audio menus on the computer . I was interested in finding out how the cable is made, so I could solider a second one together without paying $50+


Cool. Thanks. I don't mind buying the cable. It just means I'd have to go to a store or wait for a delivery. I was thinking I'd buy the download version of the program and get started.


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## godzy

Got the new version for Christmas & played for about an hour last night. Almost threw the controller through the tv durimg set-up; during initial tuning it kept going back to the calibration screen but I eventually got past it.... I'm a novice player and chose the rhythm guitar path. The new version seems much better than the original with much more actual instruction. Just be sure to invert the strings like op's mention above or the game will drive you crazy.


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## Jim DaddyO

I just got it for Christmas. It took hours to install and chokes my old laptop, so, although it is installed, I have not been able to play it yet. Going to try it on the desktop.


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## Mavryk

stringer said:


> I've had Rocksmith for the ps3 since its launch. I have used it for about 8 hours in total. Song selection really made me feel my age. I haven't heard of half the bands or the songs. I have downloaded some Santana, Creedence... you get the idea I'm sure. I had a problem with sound lag, but found that changing the output to the old fashioned RCA jacks took care of that. I'm still having trouble with the visual being out of sync, but there's a tool to adress that. I've learned a few licks here and there, but no complete songs. The game has a lot to it. Many scales to practice in an arcade manner etc... but for me there is some sort of cognitive disconnect, cuz when I put the game away and play what I was just practicing it's like I was never playing it.... I don't really remember it. I think it's because I'm too busy looking at the tab or whatever it is scrolling down the screen rather than listening to what I was playing. IMHO this game would suit a player that has some experience. There's a great feature that isolates segments of a song i.e. intro , verse , outro that you can slow to a crawl but the notes remain correct, not like trying to slow an lp down to hear what's going on. I also think its a decent alternative to playing with real human beings if you can't swing a jam session. I still find it easier to learn a new song by watching a vid on youtube or something like that.


This pretty much sums it up for me as well. My guitar experience is almost non-exsistant and I found that if I get so far into a riff or a song, then put it away for a while, when I get back to it I'm lost. It doesn't matter if I practice the riff on my own or completely stop practicing it. The results are the same. For me this is a real turn off. You need to stick with it or not at all.
I really like the way it teaches you to tune the guitar and how to play without looking at the frets though. I think my real beef with the game is the guitar that came with it. Seems so damn small to me. I know I can add new guitars to the game at any time, but the Les Paul Jr is what I'm stuck with until my skill level can warrant the purchase of a new guitar.


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## Jim DaddyO

Won't run on my desktop either. It is 2.5GHz but running XP and only on board video. Time to look at upgrading the computer I guess.


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## zdogma

I wouldn't bother. Its kind of lame, not worth upgrading the computer for.

I have the 2014, and its good for a laugh, but not really useful for learning. I wish it would just show me the full song, with proper chords and riffs and let me play along, as it works now it takes about 10 times as long as just sitting down with the CD and hashing it out by ear. And don't even get me started about the timing. If I play along looking at the screen my accuracy is horrible (65% or less) if I completely ignore the screen and play what I'm hearing it goes way up, typically 90%+.


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## jayoldschool

If yours is a PS3 version, I'll take it!


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## zdogma

jayoldschool said:


> If yours is a PS3 version, I'll take it!


Hehe, no PC/MAC.


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## Mavryk

I have the same issue with the timing. There's way too much delay on it. Even going through the tuning stage, I needed to pluck the string about a dozen times for it to register. It's for the PS3, wonder if I can trade it in without the guitar, my kids like to play it.


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## theroan

I have the PS3 version. I didn't find it to be in accurate but I do think that the wait time between songs is brutally long. I spent more time waiting to play than actually playing. Even for the same song you're just waiting and waiting and waiting to get moving.

I just couldn't be bothered.


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