[TC_Halogen]

Changelog (Difficulties 84-99)

Extratone Pirates (Drunk Optimus Remix), (92 => 91)

This one is tough to call. For a 92, it has a very simplistic structure, but sustaining a 16th note jumpstream that actually alternates accenting points 1/4 of the way through and gets interrupted by a 32nd wall is definitely FSO-material on its own. The fact that it's 16 measures at 250 BPM makes it under 15 seconds, though. The patterns are a bit rigid and occasionally force some 8th jacks, but it's not too bad. Both difficulties actually work quite well for me.

Serious Shit, (91 => 90)

I don't agree with this drop at all. Serious Shit might have a somewhat simple structure, but it is beyond unrelenting. Look at this NPS graph:



At a glance, it appears that roughly 40% of the chart runs at an average of over 21 NPS, which is absolutely unheard of even in the lower 90 range. At 230 BPM, having to contend with streams and jumps every 8th note (or worse on occasion) is rough for just about anyone. If the difficulty is dictated by AAA potential, note how there's only 25 full combo scores in the top 200 (9 of which are mashed), and 4 AAAs within that. By association, you have to be able to full combo to AAA, and if only 25 people have obtained only a full combo, that's a problem. This file should be a 91 at the absolute minimum in my opinion, both by objective and statistical reasoning.

Slashmaid (instrumental), Diff: (89 => 90)

I'm having trouble coming up with an opinion for this either way, only because I'm uncertain of what the tempo is. I know that the ending is well into the higher 200s -- feels like 270/280 BPM; that 8th jumping is pretty dense and tough to sustain without dropping boos. The first half of the file is pretty easy to snag bad habits, but the process of building bad habits is something that can't really be objectively measured.

Stinger, Diff: (90 => 89)

Definitely agree with this one. I have a little bit of weighting in full combo difficulty when it comes to ratings, and Stinger is quite a bit easier to full combo than the other 90s. It's actually got double digit AAAs at this moment. It's really fluent up until the ending, and a good majority of the bursts are manipulable, not that you would need to if you could AAA.

Music (For Kirby), Diff: (87 => 88)

I can't really give my opinion on this without bias. Of course I personally want this up to 88 given the speed of the jacks at the end, but justifying the 88 rating is somewhat difficult given the rest of the file is pretty tame. I can see this being 87 or 88.

Firstaidvision, Diff: (88 => 87)

I haven't given this an actual assessment/playthrough, so I have no opinion here.

grind2, Diff: (88 => 87)

I agree 100% with this being dropped. This file is definitely a cocksucker, but the difficulty is heavily concentrated in small areas, making the AAA difficulty relatively low compared to other 88s.

Fanteucpx[zv, Diff: (87 => 86)

24th note streams that are not immediately recognizable as manipulable, 250 BPM with respectable layering, and even in the short term, rather stamina draining? I don't think this should be dropped.

Our Journey and Epilogue., Diff: (87 => 86)

Absolutely not: the 16th note BPM equivalent of the stream at the end is faster than Extratone Pirates (170 BPM 24ths -> 255 BPM 16ths) and runs almost as long (only 2.5 seconds shorter). Additionally, the occasional three or four note 12th jumps with 24ths in between them is of course the equivalent of 8th note jumps with 16ths in the middle at 255 BPM. This file shouldn't be going down for any reason; if anything, it should be considered for going up in difficulty.

Go Beyond!! -Jazzy mix-, Diff: (86 => 85)

Indifferent. 86 works for difficulty being assessed with length and technicality, 85 works when considering that the file is reasonably consistent in structure and is easy to pick up on.

Zombie Sunset, Diff: (86 => 85)

Technical, but no extended streaming or extremely difficult bursts to get through. It's an all around consistency test, and the only thing that causes problems is the very end with the 24th roll; that's about it.

12 Bar Bloops, Diff: (84 => 85)

I don't agree with this, but I also don't strongly disagree with it. I don't have objective reasons for picking one or the other; subjectively, the burst patterns feel relatively easy and the file as a whole is tame aside from the occasional spikes/awkward patterning.

Storm Raid Battle, Diff: (84 => 85)

ffs thank god. The consecutive jumps that force a mini-jack that occur over and over again are very uncomfortable and easy to get boos/averages on. Additionally, the file as a whole just feels really rigid.

White Walls, Part 1, Diff: (84 => 85)

Didn't agree with this file going up to 84, and I definitely don't agree with it being an 85. It's long, but I can't really think of any component of this file that merits such a high rating. I was still fine with this file being 82-83... <_<

Breakbeat Acid, (85 => 84)

Absolutely. The layering on this file is super light and 250 with mostly single taps is really tame. I personally can see this file lower than 84, but baby steps.

Hero Reconsidering, (85 => 84)

Strongly disagree, especially when comparing right after Breakbeat Acid. This file has straining repeated taps, short bursts of actual jumpstreams, short walls; no way should this be an 84 if Breakbeat Acid is 84 as well. If this is 84, Breakbeat Acid should go down another point.

Milky Blue, Diff: (85 => 84)

The 32nd note streams are 294 BPM 16ths, and jumptrilling isn't a foolproof technique for this song given that it's only 147 BPM 32nds. I understand it's got 16 AAAs, but I just can't see this as 84, personally... =/

A Kidney Stone, Diff: (84 => 83)

Same deal as Milky Blue... inflated AAA count, but some of those players are inactive now and can't contribute to newer songs, making them seem lower. 210 BPM jumpstream for a reasonable part of the song is pretty tough, and intertwining with bursts and occasional polyrhythms is pretty tough too. The color structure of the file could be argued, but some people find less colors easier to read and others don't, so... *shrug*

Saddest RMX, Diff: (84 => 83)

This one is a bit more interesting to me, because I can actually objectively see this as an 83 myself. However, the statistics don't support it very well given that the song has 18 AAAs (one of which is an alt, another of which is questionable). Structurally, the only difficult thing in the file is the second half and the forcing of one-handed trilling and split-handed bursts.