Flash Flash Revolution (or FFR) is a music-based rhythm game that runs through Adobe Flash and an Internet browser, making it a fully-fledged online music title that requires no downloads or fees to play. Players can choose from well over 2,000 songs from a number of genres, produced by popular signed and independent artists. Each game level has a pattern of arrows which correlate to the current song being played. The pattern of arrows scrolls from the bottom of the play field (by default) and players must hit the arrows when they meet the stationary receptors located at the top of the play field.
With proper timing, players earn points and keep a performance meter filled and aim to not let the meter empty before the song ends. If a player allows the meter to completely empty, through missed key entries or pressing keys when no corresponding arrows are present, the game ends.
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How do I get started playing FFR?
Click the button labeled FFR the Game[1] at the top left of the screen to get started.
After the game loads, you will see the Main Menu.
The list on the left hand side of the engine is where you can select a genre of music. Click directly on a particular genre option to see the songs within that particular group, or choose all for a list of all content available for you to play. Please note if you are a new player, there will not be any playable songs in the Purchased, Secret, Token, or Skill Token genres yet.
When you open a genre, a grid of rectangles appear in the middle of the screen. You can scroll up and down by either using the scroll bar at the far right, or by using the scroll wheel on your mouse. Click the name of a song for more information (this appears at the right of the screen) and click it again or press play. As soon as it finishes loading, it will start - so be ready!
Starting the game
I started a song, what's all this stuff on the game play screen?
Screen shown during in-game play.
Refer to the picture on the right for a visual guide.
Song Progress Bar: This shows the player how far along the song is when playing. When the bar is completely filled from left to right, the file is over, and you will be taken to the results screen.
PA Counter: The Perfect Accuracy counter shows the player how much of each judgement they have hit so far throughout the file. This can be useful for live accuracy updates, in the event a player is trying to obtain a certain score.
Arrow Receptors: There are the stationary receptors the scrolling arrows go by. The player needs to hit these arrows against the receptors as accurately as possible to get the highest judgements.
Life Bar: This is an indication of how much remaining life a player has while playing a file. Hitting an arrow with any judgement will increase the bar, while getting a miss or boo will decrease it. If you let the bar drain completely, the game will end.
Scrolling Arrow: These are the actual arrows a player needs to hit.
Current Combo: This shows the player how high their combo currently is, and is also an indicator of certain score levels. You have an AAA (or perfect score) if the combo is colored gold, an FC (max possible combo without misses) if it's green, and blue if you do break combo.
Raw Score Total: This is where your raw score is displayed while you play the file. Raw score is your point values for all the judgements before combo is factored in (and has lower point values).
Total Notes: This simply displays the total arrows within the file you're playing.
How can I reduce lag or freezing, and what is a standalone?
You may find that the game is not running as optimal as it should while playing on your machine. Flash is a bit finicky, and this really can show itself when you are counting on smooth game play and accurate timing. If you are experiencing these sort of issues, there are a number of things you can do to improve your computer's performance. One of the biggest steps is ditching the browser altogether, and to start using a standalone instead. A standalone, or adobe flash player standalone, is a program which is strictly for the use of flash files without the baggage of any other application(s). Cutting out the browser aspect can optimize performance significantly, and makes playing FFR a bit more streamlined. For full details on standalones, where to get them, how to use them, and more tips on reducing lag, check this guide or this thread.
Where should I put my fingers when playing FFR?
The way in which you play FFR has a drastic effect on your ability to execute various patterns, and your overall rate of improvement. Typically, players of the game fall into these categories for style:
One-handed styles: Three or four fingers on one hand only, typically used with the arrow keys or numpad arrows. This style is generally one newer players pick up, as the arrow keys are the default inputs, which feels more natural for one-handed play. The usage of only a single hand makes progression far more difficult, especially on files with lots of jumps (2 arrows at once) and hands (3 arrows at once).
Two-handed styles
Spread: Four fingers, one on each key, typically the index and middle fingers of each hand, generally aligned to a more spread out key binding (like ASKL as opposed to arrow keys). The spread setup is the most common by a very vast margin for higher skilled users, due to the far easier improvement rate on most patterns, particularly jumpstream and handstream (a series of arrows with jumps / hands respectively in between single arrows). The only disadvantage of spread is increased difficulty with one handed trills (alternating arrows which would be hit with the same hand, either left and down, or up and right) but it is not crippling.
Index: Both index fingers covering all four inputs, typically the arrow keys. The index playstyle, when mastered, is extremely good at fast streams (a series of single arrows) and trills of all kinds. In these particular areas it can be more potent than spread play, however jumpstream and handstream not specifically designed with index in mind can cripple even the best index player's runs. Due to most of FFR's files not directly catering to an index playstyle, it will tremendously impact your overall progression level past entry level improvement.
Although each of these common styles have their advantages and disadvantages, there isn't much debate about which style will allow you to progress the easiest and fastest (spread). If you are looking to master this game, than it would probably be a good idea to start with spread right from the beginning, so you can completely skip the typical shift an intermediate player will go through to transition later. If you are unconcerned with mastery, or just wish to learn other styles for additional challenge, then by all means use another style. Fun is first and foremost, and if a different style feels better or you want to use it anyway, go for it!
How do I get a high score?
When aiming for the highest player performance possible, the biggest thing to focus on in FFR is your accuracy. As FFR uses raw scoring for its song rankings, the most effective way to score well is to hit each note as accurately as possible. In most cases, it will be far better for a player to get several misses and hit mostly perfects, than it would be to get no misses and throw rhythm to the curb by spamming keys.
If you clear a song with zero misses, the song has been cleared with what is known as a full combo (FC). If a song has been cleared with no Goods, Averages, Boos or Misses (all Perfects/Amazings), the song has been cleared with what is known as a AAA (perfect ranking). Registered users are able to keep track of how many songs they have full comboed and AAAed in their profile and level ranks listings.
For registered users, after a song is completed, the score will be compared to all users registered on the site, giving the player a site-wide ranking on that specific song. Achieving a AAA on the song will place the user at the song's number one ranking. Performance is also key in achieving requirements needed to earn the game's various skill tokens. Skilled players will find access to a wider range of files through being able to perform various tasks on specific songs.
When a player achieves extremely tough requirements on difficult songs, tier pointsCite error: Invalid <ref> tag; invalid names, e.g. too many are also accumulated. Tier points are strictly based on how well you can score on a specific set of files, as opposed to Skill Tokens, which can have requirements revolving around anti-skill. Anti-skill refers to performing specific tasks which do not necessarily mean playing to get the best possible score you can, and in some cases, intentionally doing far worse.
What is up with the files in the Legacy genre?
If you are someone who has played these sorts of games in the past, or is just a bit rhythmically inclined, you have probably noticed the Legacy genre is a little off. Aside from only having blue notes, the files themselves can be quite a bit off-sync. These files have been preserved in their original form, from back when stepping files was extremely difficult to pull off completely accurately (typically note by note in notepad, or with a keystroke recorder). They remain as a reminder of FFR's long history, and to show the evolution of stepping files. You may find other Legacy tier files from a few skill token unlocks, and a couple credit purchases.[2]
How do I keep track of files I most enjoy, or locate them again?
Setting up a queue.
With the extensive list of in-game songs, it can be quite overwhelming for newer users to retain info about exactly where all the songs that interest them are located. If you remember the name of a song, but forget which genre it is in, use the search tab to type in the name. After that, press search and it should be right there for you to play. If you only remember part of the name, only type in the bit you are certain is accurate, and you should be able to find the song you were looking for. If you wish to have a group of files you like in a set-list to play another time, you can set up a queue. Whenever you have selected a song (so you can view its info on the right hand side, not load and play it) you can click the queue button directly above play to add it to an unsaved group. Once you have all the songs you'd like added, you can review it in the queue tab.
Viewing the queue manager.
If you are satisfied with the grouping, you can click the save button, which will bring up a small text field to name your new queue. If you are satisfied with the name, press enter and head over to the manager.
From here you can do a number of things, like playing the group of files, renaming them, removing them entirely, or copying the queue for someone else to use. If you are getting a queue from another person, just copy what they sent you into the text field which appears when clicking the import button. Pressing enter will update the page and add the new group. This example queue would be imported with this info, for reference: {"name":"Test","items":[1705,1656]}
How do I find songs of a certain difficulty level or range?
Filtering by difficulty.
If you are having trouble locating songs which are a certain difficulty, the filter tab can be extremely useful. Input the lowest and highest difficulty you wish to see, or leave both numbers the same to see one in particular, and press the filter button. Easier difficulties are the lower numbers, and harder difficulties are higher. If you are just starting, this is a good way to quickly have a list of all the easier songs for you to play in one place, as opposed to being spread out in various genres.
How do I play multiplayer?
Registered users are able to compete in real-time online matches against other FFR members. Not only does the mode offer up some competition, but multiplayer standings are recorded per user via a displayed rating, which allows players to find an opponent of similar skill - the higher the multiplayer level, the better the user is in real-time competition.
To play a real-time multiplayer match:
Load up Flash Flash Revolution as normal, making sure you are logged in.
Click on the multiplayer tab.
Choose from one of the three lobbies, if no one is in the lobby you chose, disconnect and try a different one.
This will bring you to multiplayer lobby where a real-time user chat is featured in a special window, with the list of users in the lobby in the right, and the list of available game play rooms on the left. You can either click on the name of a multiplayer room to join an already-created room, or click on the "Create a Room" tab to create a room of your own for others to join.
Upon loading the FFR game page, players have a great number of interesting features implemented to enhance, personalize, and provide a unique gameplay experience.
Options Window: On the main game menu, in the top-right corner is a tab labeled "Options". By clicking on this tab, a new display window will open, giving players access to a number of gameplay options (options which disable score recording have been denoted in the images with a red dash).
Main Tab
Main tab on the options page.
Speed: Modifications that change the rate at which the arrows scroll during gameplay. The default setting is 1x, with an option to input your own speed. Obviously, by selecting 1.5x, the arrows' scroll rate is then 1.5 times faster than normal, 2x scrolls two times faster and so on. While having the arrows moving faster might not seem like an advantage at first, with a faster speed the arrows are also spaced out further, so the patterns still remain in sync with the music. This extra space allows most players to recognize patterns of close arrows better and usually improves performance. Experiment with the speed settings to find one that works best for you. Note that if you increase your speed settings it may take a few songs to get adjusted to a change. If you are performing around your general skill level with the change, it will generally help a player to keep it. It should also be noted that a player may increase their speed modifier several times throughout their career as they improve, and starting out at 1x is not necessarily a bad thing if it's all you can handle at first.
Global Offset: This setting will alter the delay at which arrows first come onto the screen when the song begins (in frames, based on 30 frames per second). You should not generally have to use this option, but if you have input lag on your computer or display, or some other trouble which affects sync, it can help you out. Positive numbers make the arrows come later, negative earlier.
Judge Offset: This setting will alter where in relation to the receptors the judgement windows begin and end (in frames, based on 30 frames per second). This setting doesn't affect sync, and as such should only be used if somehow things feel synced on your machine, but judgements aren't properly corresponding with accurate hits. If you are having this issue, below is a layout of the judgement window to determine how much of an offset you will need. The numbers represent what someone without the issue would hit if they changed their judge offset to them. If you are experiencing this at 0, multiply the numbers shown by -1, and use that as your new judge offset.
Good (3)
Good (2)
Perfect (1)
Amazing (0)
Perfect (-1)
Good (-2)
Average (-3)
Receptor Spacing: This setting determines the spacing (in pixels) the center of a given receptor is away from another receptor. 80 is the default, but you can reduce the number to bring the receptors closer, or larger to move them apart.
Game Volume: Controls whether sound plays or not; 0 is muted, 1 is active.
Framerate: Controls how many frames are used per second while playing a file (default 30). Choose a higher frame rate for a smoother scroll of the arrows. Changing the frame rate will not affect your global/judge offset sync, so don't worry about fiddling with those settings again after an FPS change.
Rate: Altering this setting will change the speed at which the song is played, either speeding it up, or slowing it down. You can play songs on a higher rate for a greater challenge, or on a lower rate to make it easier (or to understand certain patterns within a file). Rates accept decimals, and generally you'll play files within the 0.XX - 1.XX range.
Scroll direction: There are several options here, but essentially this option changes the way the arrows scroll towards the receptors, and where the receptors are actually located. If you're like most, the default up, or the down scroll options will be the most likely choices for you. However, if neither seem to feel right, the other options might be able to solve your problem.
Up: The default scrolling option (used automatically if a different scroll method is not selected). All of the arrows scroll from the bottom of the screen vertically toward the top.
Down: Selecting this option will make all arrows scroll from the top of the screen vertically toward the bottom.
Left: Selecting this option will make all arrows scroll from the right side of the screen horizontally toward the left.
Right: Selecting this option will make all arrows scroll from the left side of the screen horizontally toward the right.
Split: Selecting this option will make the left and right arrows scroll vertically toward the top, and the down and up arrows toward the bottom.
Split - Alt: Selecting this option will make the left and right arrows scroll vertically toward the bottom, and the down and up arrows toward the top.
Plus: Selecting this option will move the arrow receptors into a plus shaped formation, with each arrow scrolling from up, down, left, or right sections into the center.
Keys: This setting allows you to change which keys need to be pressed in order to hit the arrows. Be sure that the combination you choose can be pressed down all at once, otherwise you may not be able to hit hands or quads, which will be terrible for harder files. To check, press down all four keys at once and hold them down. If they all register and a single key goes into repeat mode, it is perfect. If only some of the keys register and a beeping noise is heard, do not use that setup.
Autofail: With all fields set to "0," auto failing is disabled. However, by entering values into the various rating fields, you can trigger the game to automatically fail the song once certain rating requirements are set. For example, a member shooting to earn a perfect score on a song can place a "1" in the good, average, boo and miss fields. Thus, if a player gets any other rating and fails to get a perfect score at any point in the song, they will automatically fail at that exact point in game play, regardless of the status of the performance meter. Players who are trying to obtain certain ranks, goals, or skill tokens are encouraged to use autofail.
Spectator Editor: This is an option to view and make changes to how multiplayer spectating will look. It allows you to move around all the elements on the screen and see what it will look like in real time. The blue line is for determining where screen cutting of arrows would begin if the option is active (it is not by default). Close will save changes, reset will revert all changes back to default.
Multiplayer Editor: Similar to Spectator Editor. This is an option to view and make changes to how multiplayer matches will look.
Editor: Similar to Spectator Editor. This is an option to view and make changes to how normal play will look.
Visual & Game Modifiers Tab
Visual and game modifiers tab of the options page.
Show Playlist Song Score Icons: When active, any songs in a queue will show a grade icon next to them like they normally would otherwise. If the setting is disabled, all songs will have no side icon, regardless of whether or not your best score qualifies for one.
Show PA count: This setting determines whether the results of the song you are playing will be shown live with updates (on the left hand side by default). If when you are playing this seems distracting, you can disable it.
Show ScreenCut: If this option is enabled, instead of the arrows appearing from the very bottom of the screen, they will first appear wherever the blue line in the editor was moved to. Screen cutting in the past was basically an archaic predecessor to speed modifiers, where people would decrease the reading area of the screen by placing something over it. This would reduce the total number of arrows seen at once, and could potentially improve performance on more complex patterns. Though it is no longer necessary, as some still use the method, it was cleaned up and added as an option to R^3. If you have not used screen cut before, generally speaking speed modifiers will help the average person to improve pattern recognition more.
Game Mods: Various modifications which generally affect how the song is played, generally rearranging the way the file is structured entirely. These options are mostly just for fun, and generally increase the difficulty of the file a bit. Hidden makes the arrows less and less visible as they approach the receptors, and Rotate spins the approaching arrows constantly when playing. More file altering mods would be Shuffle, which randomizes the arrow columns, Random, which randomizes the column for each note within a file, and Scramble, which works in a similar fashion to random, but will attempt to avoid creating jacks (arrows close together on the same column).
Game Visual Mods: These are settings which affect how certain things look while playing a song. Mirror allows for the file to be inversed, so left inputs are now right inputs, up ones are now down etc, as if you were actually playing it while looking through a mirror... minus the key setup change. Dark makes the arrow receptors a lot more transparent, so they blend in with the background more, No Background strips any file that has an image or video of it, Column Colors makes all the left / right arrows red, and the up / down arrows blue, regardless of whether they had different color values (or any at all), and Halved Noteskin makes coloured arrows appear as half their note value.
Noteskin: Here you can choose between a variety of different looks for the receptors, and the arrows you hit while playing various songs. Apart from just looking neat, for some the change to a different noteskin could help with reading or pattern recognition (for example, the Beatmania skin with its thin and simplistic design could be far easier for some people to make out patterns with).
Game & Text Colors Tab
Game and text colors tab on the options page.
Here you are able to modify the colors of the varying judge ratings, which show up every time you press a key during play. The color values are hexadecimal, so if you need help choosing a color, try a color picker.
Other Options Tab
Other options tab on the options page.
Isolation Start / Isolation Notes: This setting can be extremely useful for a player having trouble with a certain section of a file. If you are aware of around what note the troubling pattern(s) begin, that is the number you would plug into the isolation start section. If you know how long it lasts for, you can plug that into the isolation notes section, if not, you could just put in an absurd number like 1000 the first time around and fail out when the part you want to practice is over. You can then place in a more accurate number if you kept your combo through the section, or just have a general idea of how many notes it was.
Engine Playlist: This setting allows you to access a variety of custom engines which people have created. Custom engines mean custom content, which is otherwise unplayable songs which are not directly affiliated with FFR. Essentially to add an engine, you would click on the "add engine" button, and paste in the url for an alternate engine's R3.xml file. Such a url would look like this: www.example.com/r3.xml More information on custom engines, and a list of existing ones, can be found here.
Terminology
For more information about this section, you can visit the Terminology category.
What do Perfect!, Miss!, etc. mean?
These are accuracy judgements, which add or subtract from your score. Every key press during game play will yield a result:
Amazing (50 points): The arrow was hit on the exact frame it was supposed to. In terms of scoring it is no better than a perfect, but it is an aid for keeping on target. As you get more acquainted with timing, you'll be able to know you are hitting either too early or too late, if you start hitting a string of perfects with no amazings. Don't fret when you get perfects in general, but if you rarely see amazings, you may want to alter your global offset +/-1.
Perfect (50 points): An arrow was hit within a small window considered to be accurate. A score with no results worse than a perfect will give you the maximum score on a file (AAA).
Good (25 points): An arrow was hit slightly off its timing, a little inaccurate.
Average (5 points): An arrow was hit fairly early, a bit inaccurate.
Miss (-10 points): An arrow passed through the stationary marker at the top of the play field, a complete miss. A miss will result in losing points, and halting your combo bonus if you were currently at your max combo. A single miss can be devastating to a score depending on where you get it, and what the maximum combo could be (a full combo, or FC, no misses).
Boo (-5 points): Given when a player presses a directional key while an arrow is not at the stationary marker. A boo will result in a very mild score penalty, but it is extremely easy for them to stack up if you can't do a pattern within a file.
Amazings, Perfects, Goods, and Averages add to your score and performance meter while Misses and Boos subtract from them. Amazings, Perfects, Goods and Averages also increase a player's current combo of successive hits by one. A Miss resets the combo counter to zero while a Boo does not affect the current combo.
What do the difficulties represent?
When you look at a song title inside a music genre, you will notice that there is a number that accompanies it. The difficulty of a song's arrow patterns are determined by a number of factors, mainly its speed and complexity. The songs are given a difficulty rating between 1-120, and these ratings fall within one of 13 difficulty groups. The following list details each difficulty and its range you will find in the game:
Easiest (1-3)
Beginner (4-6)
Very Easy (7-10)
Easy (11-17)
Standard (18-25)
Tricky (26-33)
Difficult (34-41)
Very Difficult (42-49)
Challenging (50-59)
Very Challenging (60-69)
Master (70-84)
Guru (85-99)
Brutal (100-120)
Note: difficulty titles are for reference only, and are not listed currently in R^3.
You may hear someone occasionally use a couple of terms from the old difficulty system FFR had, which was comprised of 13 levels and was less comprehensive. Nevertheless, you may come across people who still use the terms FMO/FGO (For Masters Only and For Gurus Only respectively). For Masters Only covers a range of files approximately from 66-78, and FGO covers a range from about 77-91.
Do the colors of the arrows have any meaning?
All arrow color variants.
If you play a song, you will notice that there are different colors of arrows, and that some appear far more often than others. The various colors actually signify the rhythmic value an arrow would have within a given measure of a file. Basically the higher the denomination, the more precise it is, and the smaller the interval is between the same type of arrow. Their values are as follows:
White notes generally represent a free rhythmic value. Sometimes arrow colors are chosen by step authors for aesthetics (such as within the song Counting Snow, where the entire chart has been stepped using white notes).
While it might sound like a foreign language at first, much like other dedicated video game communities, FFR carries a library of terminology unique to the site.
Full Combo (FC): A song is completed with the maximum combo possible (i.e. no misses).
AAA: Also known as a Full Perfect Combo (FPC), every single arrow in a song is successfully hit with a perfect/amazing rating; no goods, averages, misses, or boos.
Blackflag: Completing a song with all perfect ratings aside from one, single good. A perfectionist's worst enemy.
Flash Flash Revolution and its staff or members will not directly provide audio files of the music featured in the game, unless they are provided express permission and means to do so. However, a vast majority of the game's music artists feature downloadable works on their official Web sites. The song category features every available/disabled song in the game along with multiple links to the artist's web pages. You can also check the FFR Song List for direct access using FFR. By viewing a song's level stats, you can also stream the in-game audio file and listen to the music of a level any time you wish.
What are the other FFR Engines I see when on the game tab page?
When you play FFR, you probably noticed the other engine links, or perhaps even clicked on them to see what they were about. Essentially, these engines (Legacy, Velocity, R^2) are prior versions of the FFR experience, which have been kept around due to some older members becoming acclimated to them. These engines are no longer being supported for future updates (unless absolutely mandatory to keep them functional), so as a new player it is highly recommended for you to stick with R^3. The R^3 engine will be receiving (and already currently has) quite a few new and interesting features, as outlined in the options section of this FAQ.
How can I contribute to FFR?
With such a large community, we encourage our users to become involved with the very game they play. There are a few ways users can contribute to the game, each providing a useful service to others in the FFR community:
Musicians can provide FFR with the permission to use their music in the game. Artists may do so by simply making a post in the latest permission thread, and provide a link to where their music is hosted online. Every single song in Flash Flash Revolution is used with the permission and knowledge of the original author. Providing a permission does not in any way grant FFR ownership of the property, and when the song is added to the game, the artist is given front-page exposure.
Step file artists can use StepMania to create a DWI file for the use of adding a brand new level to FFR. Members can pick a song the site has permission to use, follow the rules and guidelines within Goldenwind's FFR file creation guide, or try their hand at the more comprehensive stepping tool DDReam Studio[3]. When the file is ready for submission, zip both the DWI and mp3 files in a StepMania ready song folder and e-mail the file to regularffrsubmissions@gmail.com, after which the file will be reviewed for quality assurance. For any questions or specific concerns on step file creation, visit the FFR simulator file forum, and the Batch Discussion Thread for additional details of how submitted files are handled / proper submission formatting. You should definitely read through the Batch Discussion Thread post before submitting your first file, to prevent confusion and potential auto-rejection.
If you find that file or music production is not your forte, you could also create an event for users to participate in. Most user run events are either small credit giveaways, or extensive user tournaments (which must be approved by staff). You should obtain a bit of credits (at least a few thousand) before hosting something small. If you choose to make a tournament, usually people will donate credits to the cause, but don't fully rely on this (the prize pools are often much larger too, upwards of 10k for individuals who place per division). Check the Events and Tournaments sections, so you can get a better idea of what you'd have to do to host something like this.
If you are decent with designing, you could always dive into creating profiles for other users. Due to the amount of customization people have with their profiles, people who are adept with image editing software, and creativity, can really make something outstanding. For a detailed understanding on profile layout, and how to make a profile properly, check this thread.
Finally, you can take a look at the most recent front page posts to see if you can help the community in any other way.
How are users ranked on FFR?
FFR Rank: Your FFR Rank is determined by a global comparison of your skill rating with all other players who have one. Your skill rating is a unique value determined by your best performances on any files in game (based on difficulty). If any of these performances are not AAA's, their rating will be converted into their estimated AAA equivalent. A maximum rating for a given file is its difficulty value multiplied by 100, and every non perfect judgement in a player's performance deducts from this value.
You can view a detailed list of your best performances here, and the rank leaderboardshere.
Average Rank: Your average rank is the actual average of your performance on all non token levels. This is found by adding your rank totals for all files together, and then dividing them by the number of files there is. New songs are being added into the game all the time, which means in order to keep your rank as low as possible, you will have to be fairly active.
You can see a more detailed comparison of FFR ranks here. If you are within the top 1000 players, you will be able to find yourself when you navigate to the proper rank range.
Token Average Rank: Your token average rank is similar to your level rank, except it is an average of only token songs. New tokens are added on occasion, but are far less frequent than public releases (which typically occur weekly). Your token average rank has no effect on your FFR rank (as seen on the top 1000 players section or on the level ranks page).
Your token level ranks can be found here. Your precise token average rank will be shown at the very bottom.
You can also view other player's token level ranks. This process is similar to how you would view your own token ranks, except on another person's profile.
Tier Points: Your tier points are determined by your ability to play certain difficult files. The better you are at the game, the more requirements, and by extension tier points, you will be able to accumulate. You can find your tier point stats page here. Do not be surprised if you can't even obtain a single tier point for quite some time while playing, as you will have to be proficient at 60+ files to start attacking this form of ranking.
After you gather up a few tier points, you can check your standings against other players. Here is a list of the top tier point scorers.
Regional Ranking: The regional ranks is just a distribution of the top 10 players of each region placed accordingly to their average rank. The regional leaderboard consists of the top 10 average ranking users in each region. You can find the regional leaderboard here.
FFR Grandtotal Rank: Your FFR grandtotal rank is solely based on your total score (or GTS), which is accumulated through playing songs in the game. The more you play, the more GTS you will gain, and the lower your overall rank will become. After scoring several billion points, you can track how close you are to the next rank by checking out the top 1000 grand total scores page.
All Time Top Daily Grand Total Score: Like your overall ranking, this is based purely on your GTS, but it's constrained to a 24 hour server time window. If you are crazy enough to attempt it, you could potentially earn a spot on this leaderboard located on the daily stats page, as well as two GTS obtainable tokens. At 500 million points in a day, Dendrite v2 will in unlocked, and at a full on billion Vertex Beta vrofl is yours. However, if you want a spot on that leaderboard, as of October 2015, you'll need score higher than 1,121,159,200 points to push out the lowest member. Even a highly skilled player with loads of stamina can take near an entire day to score over a billion points, as it's truly an insane task to try (let alone pull off). Best of luck to you if you are willing to give it a shot.
There are also other statistics which are kept on the daily stats page you can compete with others on, but they will be reset after the day is over. You can always take a screenshot of a good day however.
Multiplayer Levels: On October 5 2015, Multiplayer levels were replaced with Levels to provide a more accurate match-making system. However, if you have partook in the multiplayer experience before 2015, you might remember that players used to have numbers by their names. These numbers were a person's multiplayer level, which will increase as they win matches, and decrease as they lose them. When you get a high enough level (and are active at least once a month playing others) you could see your level among the other top active players here.
For more details on multiplayer in general, this thread can help.
What are credits?
Credits are a sort of in-game "currency" used in FFR. They are obtained in correlation with a registered player's overall score, however, a player can not earn more than 120 credits per song in standard play. Users can also increase their credit count by participating in official FFR events, user hosted events, the Gambling Hall[4], or just by having them transferred from another user. Your credit count can be as high as 2,147,483,647 (2^31-1), which for practical purposes is basically infinite. So don't worry about hitting a credit ceiling or maxing out.
Currently, credits can be used in one of two ways:
From the main menu (or from the FFR Shop[5] page), players can purchase additional songs for play in Flash Flash Revolution. There are many songs which, when purchased, deduct from your current credit tally. This places that particular song permanently into the Purchased genre.
Your current credit tally also adds additional songs to the Secret genre of the song wheel. Remember, the song availability depends on your current tally, so if a wager, purchase, or transfer puts your tally below the indicated number, you will lose that song until you can build the necessary amount of credits back up.
The Secret Song list and requirements can be found in this thread.
The shop page[5] allows you to transfer any amount of credits you may have to another registered member on FFR. This will of course deduct them from your own account once the transfer is complete.
What is the best way to rack up credits?
As a newer player, you may find that credits are pretty tough to come by, and several requirements for credit related unlocks seem almost impossible. Although you will be able to get significantly more credits as you improve, the easiest way to get yourself some major moolah is through participation in various FFR Events[6]. Events either created by users, or event staff generally will give winners quite a bounty, and sometimes even a participation prize for all entrants. If you do find your skill is improving, participating in a user run[7] or official tournament (listed on the front page when one is active) can land you tons of credits. Numbers can range from a few thousand to a few hundred thousand credits depending on the donations and how well you do in your division.
What is a division, and how do I know which one I'm in?
A division, in terms of FFR, is a certain level of skill a player is believed to possess at playing the game. Currently, there are seven division levels, which have a set of guidelines to be considered a member of that division. These may change slightly over time, and there are specific songs and other factors which are exceptions to this rule. For a rough idea of what division you are in, without being officially placed in a tournament, here is a general guide (requirements are 'and / or'):
Division 1 - Novice
All those who have not developed the consistency and reading speed for Division 2
Up to and including single digit goods on mid/high 20's
All FFR Tokens, including FFR Skill Tokens, unlock levels within FFR that users do not have access to by default. Normal FFR tokens are found throughout the site and within significant pages on and around FFR. Discussion regarding the whereabouts of the normal tokens is expressly forbidden on the site.
All the posts that pertain to the normal Tokens can be found here as these usually contain the needed hints. Also additional info can be found here.
What are FFR Skill Tokens?
All FFR Tokens, including FFR Skill Tokens, unlock levels within FFR that users do not have access to by default. Skill tokens are awarded for successfully accomplishing certain tasks within FFR the Game. Some of these are quite simple, while others are extremely difficult. It should also be noted that performing your best on a song will not always yield a skill token, and sometimes the requirements dictate you'll have to do far worse. This won't generally diminish the difficulty of a token, in most cases it greatly increases it.
More information regarding FFR Skill Tokens can be found here.
What's the deal with Event Tokens?
You may have noticed that some tokens do not have a requirement which is listed, but rather merely say they are an Event Token. Every once and a while, FFR will host events or spontaneous contests, which may have these tokens as prizes for doing well. Keep an eye out for new hosted contests by event staff over at the events forum. You can also pick them up by placing very highly (top 3 in divisions 1-6, or participating as a division 7 player), though this would be be severely more difficult than a general event for a newer player.
What's the Deal With Token #18?
Token #18, acquired to unlock the file Vertex BETA vrofl, is a rare token that can't just simply be found and added to your collection. Users have to earn this coveted token by being a top-place finisher (8th place or better) within any skill division of an officially-sanctioned Flash Flash Revolution tournament. The step file was created for a one-day release on April 1, 2007, and hasn't been made publically available since that day.
Vertex Beta vROFL can also be acquired by obtaining 1 billion points within a single day, or by accumulating 50 billion points total at any point during your FFR career.
FFR Community
What exactly are the rules for FFR?
In case you aren't an avid forum user, or perhaps overlooked the announcement sections when browsing, the site rules are located here. If you break these rules, it can result in infractions, which may give you points. If you receive too many of these points, you will be banned for a certain period of time, depending on the severity and number of the incidents.
I registered, why can't I do anything on the forums yet?
If you wanted to get involved with the community the moment you registered, you probably realized you cannot post or make any new threads just yet. Due to the large amount of spambots that plague forums, certain limitations are placed on all accounts when they are created. You must be a member for at least 24 hours, and also have a positive grand total score on FFR the game. If somehow this limitation doesn't lift after these requirements have been met, contact an administrator to have it fixed (like PrawnSkunk[8]).
Can I ever change my username, use an alternate account, or merge account stats?
The username you choose when you register to FFR is permanent, and as such can never be altered. The only way you can have a different username is if you create a new account. This new account will not be able to obtain the majority of stats from your prior account (such as forum posts, post count, grand total score, and song stats). As this is the case, you should be cautious when crafting your username. You won't want to regret it later!
If you so choose however, you are allowed as a user to have alternate accounts, provided you aren't breaking any rules with them. Just note that if you plan on playing FFR on your alternate account(s), those stats will forever be separate from your main account. Generally these sorts of accounts are made to keep track of playing with different styles (like a main account for spread play, and an alt for one handed play).
If you happen to have a special user title (such as veteran, simfile artist, music artist, etc), you may be able to transfer it over to a alternate account by requesting it in this thread
What are custom user titles, and how can I make one?
On the forums, you may have seen many users with various things under their names. Of course these aren't actual site given titles, but instead are custom user titles. If you are an FFR Veteran, FFR Music Producer, or an FFR Simfile Author, you will be given the ability to modify your user title to something else here. Otherwise your user title will be limited to the ones available to you from the group memberships page.
If you see a custom user title which has colors or other formatting, this is not an option for users to have. A custom user title with those attributes was granted to them through administrative means, generally from some sort of FFR event.
Signing out problems in FFR
This is sometimes seen with Internet Explorer (IE) users and is a cookie caching bug which we hear about from time to time. When you hit logout, you will come to a page that says:
"All cookies cleared!
Return to the page you were previously viewing
Go to forums index"
From this page, hit either Ctrl+R (refresh) or (Ctrl+F5). That should force a good refresh and when you go to the main page, you should see you are successfully logged out.
How do I delete / close my profile?
Within the profile settings page, there is box you can check that will close the profile, making it inactive and inaccessible to all other users (not even you will see your normal profile unless you reopen it).
Your profile settings can be found here when logged in. Please note that closing your profile does not delete your account, or remove anything that was on your profile before closing it.
Staff and User Titles
I need to contact a staff member, who are they?
Basically every member with staff power is listed on this page. Find whomever you need to contact by their position, and they will be happy to help you!
What is FFR Veteran and does it do anything?
If you have looked around on the FFR forums, or have checked out various user's profiles, you have probably come across the title FFR Veteran. This title is currently awarded to players who have been on the site for an extended period, and have obtained a decent amount of grand total score. This page describes in detail the requirement range for the unlock of veteran status, and has a calculator for finding precise data in your specific situation.
Being a veteran gives you several features, such as:
The amount of replays you can save jumps from 50 to 150
Certain songs can be played by veterans one week earlier.
You can change your user group to Veteran and have a bold blue name, as well as gaining an FFR Veteran title under your avatar. Your name also shows up blue in profile chat if you have it selected as your primary group.
The amount of PMs you can save jumps from 500 to 5,000.
Maximum size of a custom signature image upload (and 19.5kb restriction) is removed.
The five recipient personal message limit is removed.
What are the other titles given to users on FFR, and what do they mean?
In addition to FFR Veteran, there are plenty of other titles which users may have on the site. You may have seen a few of them already, and you may have been able to gather what some of them are for yourself. A user may be a member of multiple groups at once, which will all be displayed under the username of a given forum poster, and some titles also display on FFR Profiles. to see which groups you are currently able to select from, check out this page.
Here is a list of user groups and the respective color that can represent them (black if no color is added):
Administration
Site Administrator: Anyone brandishing this title or color is a staff member who has site-wide power, and generally help add new features or fix site issues. They also of course have all the powers of a moderator, so they may take action on forum issues as is necessary.
Managers
Game Manager: Someone with this title heads several tasks for FFR the Game, such as converting and uploading files for the community to play. A Game Manager can also be heavily involved with organizing FFR file batches, or coordinating large events (such as official tournaments).
Global Moderator: Users with this title are staff members who manage the forums, profiles and profile chat. They are the ones who enforce the global site rules, and help keep order.
Retired Staff: This title signifies that a user was at one time a staff member for FFR, with a significant influence on the community in some way, but are currently no longer holding this position. They do not hold any staff responsibilities, and as such should not be contacted for any help regarding site issues.
Moderators
Forum Moderator: Users with this title are staff members who exclusively moderate the FFR community forums, and help enforce site-wide rules.
Profile Moderator: A person who has this title is a staff member who manages over FFR profiles, ensuring they are not against the FFR sitewide rules.
Sectional Moderator: This usergroup encompasses all members of staff who only focus on a specific sub-forum(s). Local Moderators only hold the ability to moderate threads in their sectional area.
Community Staff
Developer: A member of staff with limited administrative access to develop site and/or game features, tools and resources.
Event Staff: A person with this title helps create and manage official FFR events. These events may contain prizes such as large sums of credits, or special event tokens.
FFR Simfile Judge: Users with this title are experienced in regards to stepping files, and have been chosen to review files submitted for FFR. They are the ones who do the batch reviews, and deem content worthy of entry.
FFR Difficulty Consultant: Anyone with this title is a person who playtests, and rates in terms of difficulty, files to be on FFR.
FFR Wiki Staff: Someone with this title is a cornerstone contributor for the Flash Flash Revolution wiki. They are responsible for the planning, implementing, and editing of the ever growing list of pages which document site events, contents, and mechanics.
Content Creators & Player Status
FFR Simfile Author: Anyone with this title has not only created a file for FFR, but has had it accepted by the FFR batch judges, and released in the game for public play.
FFR Music Producer: Someone with this title has given FFR permission to use their song(s) in game, and has officially had a song of theirs enter the roster. In order for a song to get in game, a stepfile artist must make a chart of it, which has to then be accepted by a series of FFR batch judges.
D7 Elite Keymasher: A member with this title has risen through the division ranks, and has been placed within the 7th division of an official FFR tournament. If a user has this title available to them, they are among the highest skilled players ever to grace FFR with their keysmashing.
FFR Veteran: Covered above in the "What is an FFR Veteran" section.
