ITG Freak - What is ITG?

'In the Groove,' or ITG for short, is a dance simulation game produced by Roxor Games, Inc. The concept of the game is simple: step on the panels when the corresponding arrow on the screen reaches the top bar. Every successful step will raise your lifebar, while every missed step will lower it. The object of the game is to 'pass' a song by never letting your lifebar empty. Songs, for the most part are unique in their stepping pattern, which gives room for personality of individual players to customize their play style based on what songs / steps they decide to play.

ITG is essentially a spin-off of the popular game craze originally created by Konami, 'Dance Dance Revolution' (more info available at Konami.com or DDR Freak). For those who are already familiar with the play style of Dance Dance Revolution, ITG is not very different.

In terms of gameplay, the two major additions introduced are Mines and Hands. Mines are red-centered circles which scroll along the same columns as arrows, and explode if you keep your foot on the corresponding panel as it passes through the targets, lowering your life a little bit. Hands make you use your hands (or feet, if they're big enough) to hit either 3 or 4 arrows simultaneously, as well as hit unused panels while holding two freeze arrows. Both of these new features can be disabled through the options screen, though it'll disqualify you from the high-score rankings.

Although everyone will make comparisons between the ITG and DDR, it's best to think of In the Groove as something entirely new. It takes the formula that DDR has perfected so well, and expands upon it in many ways; some small (BPM displayed on options screen), and some big (Hands, Mines). Below, you can find a chart comparing some of the more important features. If any of the terms used are unknown to you, please refer to the dictionary below.

Dictionary
The main purpose of this dictionary is to define terms that differ between DDR and ITG, or terms that are brand new. If you're looking for a word that belongs to dance games in general, we highly recommend checking out DDR Freak's dictionary. Special thanks to the helpful members of the ITG Freak forums for providing the terms and definitions.

Base Terminology
Mod	short for 'modifier'. Also known as a 'gameplay option' - one of any of over 50 selectable upon entering the options screen. Mods change the display and orientation of arrows during gameplay
Stacking	Choosing multiple mods on the same line
Target	The silver directionals at the top of the screen (default). Arrows pass onto these when it's time to step.
Tap	A single step
Jump	Two taps on the same beat
Hand	Any combination of holds and/or arrow hits which equals more than 2
Mine	Flashing disk in place of an arrow, you lose life if the mine is triggered when it reaches the targets
Hold	You don't let go of a hold step until the end of its tail has reached the target (DDR's "freeze")
Roll	One or more arrows that have to be hit at least once every 0.3 seconds. Judged the same as Holds.
Chain	A quick alternating pattern of jumps and taps. Each jump and tap in a chain is 'connected' by common arrows (for example, U+R, R, L+R, L, D+L, D)
Disqualified (DQ'd)	Ineligible to be entered on the High Score ranking list. Occurs upon picking certain mods under certain circumstances (for example, picking a C-Mod on a tempo-changing song.)
Edit	Custom made stepchart, requires USB card
FEC	Full excellent combo - completing a song with only fantastic and excellent grade steps
FFC	Full fantastic combo - completing a song with 100% fantastics
Blue Combo	minimum of 20% of a song's steps completed with 100% fantastics
Gold Combo	minumum of 20% of a song's steps completed with only fantastics+excellents
Song Combo	Number of maximum steps in a song, displayed on the bar underneath the grading scale on the results screen
Peak Combo	Number of hit steps increasing from song to song at the bottom of the grade sheet on the result screen

Speed Mod Terminology
"X" or Scroll Multiply	x1, x1.5, x2, x2.5, x3, x4, 5x, or x8 times the normal scroll speed of a song.
"C" or Scroll Constant	300, 400, or 500. Changes the scroll speed of the arrows to mimic a song at 1x with the appropriate BPM. Arrows will auto-adjust speed during tempo changes to keep a constant speed throughout the song

Perspective Terminology
Overhead	Default perspective of most bemani games. Arrows scroll with no angled distortion from the source to the targets.
Hallway	Default perspective of ITG. Arrows scroll from an outward perspective and steadily get larger as they reach the targets
Space	Arrows scroll from a close perspective and steadily get smaller as they reach the targets
Distant	Arrows appear "distant" and are skewed back away from the screen as they reach the targets
Incoming	Arrows appear as though they are "incoming" and are skewed forward toward the screen as they reach the targets

Noteskins
Cell	Single-body "solo" noteskin with a cel-shaded look
Metal	4-cell "solo" noteskin with a shiny metallic look
Flat	All arrows are quarter beat Metal notes
Robot	(only found in Battle Mode + Marathon courses) All arrows are desaturated Metal notes
Vivid	Metal noteskin, except that the arrows change color as they scroll up.

Scroll Terminology
Reverse	Targets are at the bottom of the screen and arrows scroll from top to bottom
Split	The L / D targets are at the top of the screen; the U / R targets are at the bottom of the screen, arrows scroll in according directions
Alternate	The L / U targets are at the top of the screen; the D / R targets are at the bottom of the screen, arrows scroll in according directions
Cross	The L / R targets are at the top of the screen; the U / D targets are at the bottom of the screen, arrows scroll in according directions
Centered	Targets are in the middle of the screen regardless of other scrolls are chosen, arrows scroll dependant on other scroll mods chosen

Acceleration Terminology
Accel	Arrows steadily get faster as they reach the targets (DDR's "boost")
Decel	Arrows steadily get slower as they reach the targets (DDR's "brake")
Wave	Arrows slow down and speed up at fixed points on their way up the screen
Expand	Stretches and compresses the arrows' spacing in a rhythmic manner, as if the speed modifier were increasing and decreasing (DDR's "fuwa-fuwa")
Boomerang	Arrows appear and scroll opposite from the default targets' orientation, then slow down and change direction before reaching the targets again

Effect Terminology
Drift	The targets sway from side to side and arrows scroll in a zig-zag pattern as they reach the targets
Dizzy	The arrows rotate as they scroll up
Mini	The arrows and targets are 60% their normal size and spacing
Flip	Default arrow orientation changes from LDUR to RUDL. On Double, the arrows are also coming up on the opposite side they must be hit on.
Tornado	The arrows take a helix-like path and leave their columns completely as they reach the targets
Float	The targets sway up and down and arrows scroll at varying individual speeds as they reach the targets
Bumpy	(only found in Battle Mode + Marathon courses) The arrows appear to "bounce" toward and away from the screen, as if they were progressing over very bumpy terrain
Beat	(only found in Battle Mode + Marathon courses) The arrows, as well as the guide arrows, pulse sideways in rhythm with the beat of the music

Fade Terminology
Fade In	Arrows appear from about 50% of their distance to the targets (DDR's "Sudden")
Fade Out	Arrows vanish at about 50% of their distance to the targets (DDR's "Hidden")
Blink	Arrows "blink" visibility on and off as they scroll towards the targets (WARNING: not recommended for players with epilepsy)
Invisible	Arrows are completely invisible as they scroll towards the targets (DDR's "stealth")

Handicap Terminology
No Mines	Removes mines from a stepchart
No Holds	Removes Hold tails from a stepchart
No Jumps	Changes a stepchart so that no more than 1 arrow is to be hit at once
No Stretch Jumps	On Double, converts jumps that do not involve a middle arrow into a 1L+2R jump.
No Rolls	Converts rolls into holds that fall on beat.
No Hands	Changes a stepchart so that no more than 2 arrows are to be hit at once
Simple	Removes any steps which do not fall directly on the beat (DDR's "little")

Turn Terminology
Mirror	Mirrors a stepchart (L changes to R, U changes to D, and likewise etc.), Not to be confused with Flip, the targets do not change orientation at all, merely placement of arrows in the chart itself.
Right	Turns all arrows in a stepchart one arrow to the right (Ex, L would be D, D would be U, U would be R, R would be L)
Left	Turns all arrows in a stepchart one arrow to the left (see example above)
Random	Equivalent to DDR's "shuffle"
Blender	Each arrow is individually re-assigned a new placement at random

Insert Tap Terminology
Stream	Places 8th notes between 4th notes that dont already have 8th notes between them
Quick	Places a 16th step between every 4th and 8th note (triplets) that don't have any other notes between them
Skippy	Turns a 4th beat arrow into a 16th gallop where no 8th beat arrow preceeds it
Wide	Makes U+R and D+L jumps where an according arrow is available
Echo	Echoes step patterns in blank spaces
Stomp	All non-hold steps become jumps

Insert "Other" Terminology
Twister	Adds many freezes to a stepchart, creating hands out of regular steps
Planted	33% Twister
Floored	66% Twister
Add Mines	Adds mines to a stepchart (and sometimes replaces arrows with mines)

Hide Terminology
Hide Targets	The targets are not shown (DDR's "Dark")
Hide Judgement	The judgement (Fantastic, Excellent, Great...) is not shown
Hide Background	The background is black. No images or videos are shown

Special Mod Combinations
F2R	Fade in, Flat, Random
C3PO	C300, Planted, Overhead
R2D2	Reverse, Random, Drift, Dizzy