2015-09-30 22:22:14 (edited by Sightless Kombat 2015-10-09 22:45:01)

Rock Band 4 is now released and available to the general public, on Xbox One and Playstation 4.  The following information is taken from an ealier post I wrote on the matter and will be updated as time goes on.

First and foremost, if you as for a code from EA for ROck Band 2 to Rock Band 3 export, it will still work (see the below posts)
I can also confirm a few things from watching a pre-release Harmonix stream, which unfortunately I do not believe has been archieved in one single place yet, in addition to my experience with the game.

Campaign, whilst playable to a degree, is not narrated/doesn't have sound effects from what I saw.

Voting during songs doesn't have to be done, you can wait until the end of a song to vote (sometimes you won't be able to vote during a song either so this makes sense.)

Crowds are different to previous games (I can't recall seeing a single recycled crowd thus far in the game's trailers or actual footage).

Quickplay mode is just one song at a time as before.  Shows mode is the equivalent of an endless setlist, where you choose songs as you go through.  There is no actual setlist option yet though.

I believe you can start a band whilst in the song list - other people just press start/green/buttons on their instrument/controller whilst the other person is in there and they can join.

I don't claim to be a full authority on this game, but post any RB4 questions and it might be possible to find an answer.

Also, the tutorials for freestyle solos are completely playable as they are all spoken.


Achievement help

For achievements that I've used DLC for or that I can remember what songs I've picekd, I'll try and list them here (this won't be an extensive list)
[dlc] To obtain gold stars on a song I played "My Own Eyes" by Weird Al on expert vocals.
[dlc]To get 4 overdrives as a vocalist in one song, I used Still Alive by Jonathan Coulton.

As before, keep posting questions and I'll see if I can find answers.

Regards,
Sightless Kombat.
***If you wish to refer to me in @replies, use Sightless***

2015-09-30 22:25:20

The song list sucks

Facts with Tom MacDonald, Adam Calhoun, and Dax
End racism
End division
Become united

2015-09-30 22:31:13

Agree. The game looks good, but almost all of it is new music.. and nothing all that exciting.

Discord: clemchowder633

2015-09-30 23:46:14

Hello,
I agree, but am still excited either way. I'm wondering if it might have something to do with Harmonix being a more independent developer now. I don't really think shows mode will work until you've got a lot of dlc under your belt once again otherwise you'll be stuck with the same songs. I'm wondering how the console entitlement thing is going to work. All we know about that is that it'll be possible to transfer dlc from the same console family to newer consoles, but I don't really know exactly how the process works yet, whether they'll just be available for download, whether it'll be a menu option within the store, it's definitely left me curious.

2015-10-01 00:34:49

Harmonix went to quite some effort to solicit accessibility input at a pretty early stage of development, whether the results will go as far as blind accessibility I don't know, but even so, pretty great to see a company doing that!

2015-10-01 03:10:20 (edited by Orin 2015-10-01 03:12:09)

I do like some of the setlist. Mainstream Kid is pretty good. For the record, it's not all new music. We get The Impression that I Get from the Mighty Mighty Bostones, which premiered in Rock Band 2.
Also, I'm glad I can play my old DLC. GH Live does seem cool, but it seemed the less playable of the two games, especially GH TV mode.

2015-10-01 04:42:54

What do they have going for accessibility that they didn't have before? Just curious, as I haven't honestly heard muc habout it. I probably won't get it until they enable me to get all my previous dlc.

Discord: clemchowder633

2015-10-01 12:14:49

eh. I wouldn't go as far as the setlist sucks. Gh live, on the other hand makes me puke a little in my mouth when I read the setlist. Also.... any game where you get to play light up the night you know it's going to be good.
I mean go listen

Every record has been destroyed or falsified, every book rewritten, every picture has been repainted, every statue and street building has been renamed, every date has been altered. And the process is continuing day by day and minute by minute. History has stopped. Nothing exists except an endless present in which the Party is always right.

2015-10-01 13:57:49 (edited by Sightless Kombat 2015-10-09 22:46:05)

@exodus
I believe I can outdo you with
this version of the above mentioned song

I mean the setlist is no Rock Band 1 or even 2, but it's still got a few gems and at least one song that'll be relatively good at parties.  That and the DLC thing is something they've been looking into since the beginning.  If you have the previous generation of your current console, so if you have an Xbox 360 version of RB 1/2/3/etc, and you have Xbox One RB4, you can get all your dlc with no problem as and when it becomes available.  If, like me, you've switched from PS3 to Xbox One, you'll have to start from scratch as far as we're aware.

@ianhamilton_
It's good to see they're working on accessibility but I'm not sure, like you, whether it'll come to anything for those with absolutely no sight.  We'll have to see.

Regards,
Sightless Kombat.
***If you wish to refer to me in @replies, use Sightless***

2015-10-01 14:57:25

Well, hopefully the accessibility comes to something at least. I remember back when I was browsing the rock band forums there was a lot of interest in making it more friendly to blind players. But apparently from what I've read, free style drum fills have been taken out to be replaced by preset ones... I wonder if those are preset fills we will have to hit based on the performance track? If so, then it actually takes it down a slightly... since blind drum players will have a harder time activating overdrive. lol And I guess I shouldn't say the setlist sucks, especially because I don't know every single one of the songs. But rock band 2 will always have the best setlist, imo. Does anyone know how DLC transfers will work? I have a ps3 with all my dlc on it from all three games, but only have the disc for rock band 3. Will I still have access to stuff? I hope so... because I don't want to have to fork over another 300 bucks or so to get all the songs that I had before! hahaha.

Discord: clemchowder633

2015-10-01 15:00:31

Hello,
I like the guitar part on Light Up The Night. A song that definitely seems varied so to speak, is Dream Theater's Metropolis Part 1, I don't know if it's the full nine minute version or not, but there's a lot of guitar, bass stuff going on.
Light up The Night has quite a cool guitar part, looking forward to that.
The one though, that I'm seriously looking forward to has to be Start A Band, which just, well, fits. I don't really get many country songs but this one really made me very excited once I listened to the lyrics and harmonies. The intro's kind of weird but once the drums come in it's really epic.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9F_FN4ygjTo

2015-10-01 15:08:43

@assault_Freak
You should be fine as you have a PS4, there should be no issues.  You should just be able to download the individual songs (no batch downloads as the consoles don't support them).

I believe freestyle drum fills are still available, as are classic guitar solos.  They'll just be an option as far as I'm aware (it might be possible to toggle those mid song, it's doable for guitar at least).

The only thing we can do is wait I guess.

Regards,
Sightless Kombat.
***If you wish to refer to me in @replies, use Sightless***

2015-10-01 17:23:20

That depends on what you mean by batch downloads. I've downloaded multiple things on both my ps4 and ps3 at the same time, including my entire rock band library when I had to restore my ps3 at one point. Unless you're talking about specifically rock band dlc? In any event, I'm looking forward to this game... a new rock band game has been way overdue! haha.

Discord: clemchowder633

2015-10-01 17:34:39

Hello,
I think the ps4 can install multiple thigns at once but the xbox one can't, from what I've read, so we'll have to wait and see. Maybe the way entitlement works might not allow for batching though.

2015-10-02 11:09:48

the game does a library refresh every time you boot it up or it did in 3. The way harmonix have been talking, your purchase history gets checked for compatible DLC and it gets pulled down by the game. The exports are meant to be working on launch day, as is a chunk of store DLC. If your moving up from ps3 to 4 your ok. It's the ones who jumped ship like myself  that are screwed. Rock band 2, lego and greenday are all unexportable now because licensing. Harmonix already said they are going to do basically bugger all for those people who jumped system (Probably a large chunk of their player base). That's a lot of good songs that we never get to play again. If you have jumped console, you can still pick up the rb1 export key and get the tracks from the first game that way but the rest? not happening.

Every record has been destroyed or falsified, every book rewritten, every picture has been repainted, every statue and street building has been renamed, every date has been altered. And the process is continuing day by day and minute by minute. History has stopped. Nothing exists except an endless present in which the Party is always right.

2015-10-02 12:48:54

That might be incorrect, as I have a code from EA that should, theoretically give me the RB2 songlist as export.  I discovered a post of a forum saying about the EA reps still giving out codes if you knew where/how to ask.

I'll see if I can get lego and greenday codes as they should still be available, then it's just finding 360 copies of the game that's the hard part really.

I agree Harmonix have really turned heel on those players who jumped system, to use a wrestling term.  Their stance on DLC isn't great, but the good thing is it's not their fault - they'd been trying to get everything "right" since the beginning.  I'd blame Sony myself, as they continued to pretty much turn their backs on those not in the US, who continued to receive content as per usual.  Microsoft seem relatively willing to work with developers etc but Sony are always very opaque when it comes to their technology and their dealings with other companies in these kinds of circumstances.
Ok Rant of sorts over for the moment.

On a lighter note, crowd clapping is still in, though you'd have to tweak the levels to hear it.  Crowd vocals are also in, though I probably already mentioned that as well.

Regards,
Sightless Kombat.
***If you wish to refer to me in @replies, use Sightless***

2015-10-02 14:04:49

Saw a post on the harmonix forums a couple of minutes ago dated October first from a guy saying that he had got a working code from EA. I think I will pick up 2 and 3 for the ps3 on the cheap if possible and give it a shot

Every record has been destroyed or falsified, every book rewritten, every picture has been repainted, every statue and street building has been renamed, every date has been altered. And the process is continuing day by day and minute by minute. History has stopped. Nothing exists except an endless present in which the Party is always right.

2015-10-02 14:20:13

@exodus
So you switched from Xbox to PS3? that's an unusual switch if I say so myself.

What console are you looking to get the game from?

Also, from what I understand you don't need 2's disc to get the songs from 2, all you need is the code.  Can't try mine yet as I don't have RB3 on 360 yet.

Regards,
Sightless Kombat.
***If you wish to refer to me in @replies, use Sightless***

2015-10-02 15:28:21

So all we need to do is get export codes for rock band 2 and 3? What about the first game, which actually requires songs to be pulled from the disc? And I'm not surprised that Sony is being idiotic about this whole thing if they are. Anyone who isn't in the US or Japan tends to get the shorter ends of the stick.

Discord: clemchowder633

2015-10-02 15:29:08 (edited by Exodus 2015-10-02 15:32:27)

played for years on the xbox 360, and when this generation of consoles dropped, I Opted for the ps4. I was totally sick of Microsoft and their habit of redesigning the UI every couple of years or so. You don't really get that on the ps3/4. Sure they add a bit in or remove a bit here or there, but they don't  totally redesign everything for shits and giggles. More importantly they never ever switched the background color of there menus to that eye searing white that you got on the 360. There were other reasons also, but I don't want to derail the topic. So in regards to export codes, I figured I would have to get a rock band 2 ps3 disk so that when I contacted them I could give them evidence.  Did you just contact them and say you needed a code without the game? If so that's great... saves me a fiver and a journey.
Edit:
assault_freak I think harmonix have prepared a DLC package of all the RB1 songs. Your purchase history is checked for the rb1 export key and when that's found, your able to grab that package. It sounds like it's going to be the most painless out of the lot to deal with.

Every record has been destroyed or falsified, every book rewritten, every picture has been repainted, every statue and street building has been renamed, every date has been altered. And the process is continuing day by day and minute by minute. History has stopped. Nothing exists except an endless present in which the Party is always right.

2015-10-02 16:44:37

Well, here's hoping. Guess we'l just have to wait til the game comes ut.

Discord: clemchowder633

2015-10-02 16:55:45

I explained my situation and tried to hammer home the point that I needed a code as I've switched but legitimately own all the games, and after a fair amount of back and forward with the representitive I got a code that, theoretically, should work.  whether it does, we'll have to see.

You're right about RB1 being painless, I bought a really cheap copy pre-owned and bought the license through that on my 360, worked near seemlessly.  The way you know all your songs are available is if they all show up in bonus vocal solo tour, at least for me that's how I guessed it'd worked.

I'll try and keep everyone informed when I find things out about exports, but I won't promise anything.

@exodus
That's one of the good things about not having any sight at all.  You don't have to put up with frustrating ui changes of colour and such.  In addition, the Kinect was designed to be built into the Xbox One from the ground up, even though it was removed in later alterations to the bundle configuration in stores.  That means the voice commands are easy to use, quick to respond and the facial sign in feature is also handy.  Moreover, the Xbox webstore is even more accessible now than before with the addition of the ability to make multiple purchases in one session.

Anyway, back to the matter at hand, I'm curious to see how different the new guitar is as well, considering they say it's quieter etc.

Regards,
Sightless Kombat.
***If you wish to refer to me in @replies, use Sightless***

2015-10-03 17:57:24

I know I've exported RB1, 2 and Green Day. I have Lego RB, but that code has probably expired.
How do I get in contact with these reps you speak of?
Not sure how to search my purchase history, I can't remember if I exported Lego.

2015-10-03 19:52:28 (edited by Sightless Kombat 2015-10-03 21:07:51)

if this Harmonix forum topic doesn't solve the problem, I@ll have a look around and see if I can find the other page, I'm sure there was another one.

This should give you enough information to get started with theoretically.

Also, on an unrelated note, if you want specific songs in Rock Band, you can suggest them for inclusion via the Harmonix song request form (please read the instructions carefully

Finally for now, I believe this particular thread deserves some input from gamers who will benefit from it.  I'm not saying go on there and scream at them about wanting all the menus to speak or things like that which they have relatively no control over.  As RB4 is "a platform", in which currently practice mode is not included (according to a fellow gamer who heard the news on a game stream as well as it being posted on the Harmonix forum), suggestions calling for its inclusion as well as the reintroduction of "traditional easy mode" with 3 buttons instead of the 5 buttons+chords thrown in could go along way if pushed for correctly and aimiably.

Regards,
Sightless Kombat.
***If you wish to refer to me in @replies, use Sightless***

2015-10-03 21:45:48

I definitely hope they'll include practice mode back in down the line. I'm wondering whether this update coming soon will address some of those issues, as November is when ease of access is supposed to hit xbox one it would be interesting if they do stuff to do with that.