[bmah]

CONTINUATION OF AUGUST 28, 2012 BATCH

[PASS] Files

If your submission was not reviewed with a numerical rating OR was given a [PASS] rating, then these judges will review it. All such files will end up here.


bmah

Cybertron / cedolad
rating: 5/10 [+?]
- 20.61s: ghost arrow according to percussions
- 35.95s,40.67s,101.35s,102.55s: the 32nd pattern here is pretty tight. You may want to consider changing it to reduce framer issues.
- 38.93s: no 64ths here; if you needed to emphasize that sound, it would come after the jump
- 49.53s: the 24ths here are completely excessive, going to a very minor sound modulation; if you still insist on using them, at least change the pattern around since the left-handed bias makes the transition from the 16ths awkward
- 50.21s,78.38s: again, unnecessary 24ths
- 51.98s,106.15s: avoid lengthy left-arrow jacks; awkward transitioning
- 55.67s: another awkward jack coming from a 32nd burst
- 71.27s: ghost 16th arrow
- 82.33s: why not add the bass drum alternating with the kicks here? Also yet another jack created unnecessarily from two jumps.
- 92.27s: IMO just focus on the melody and ignore the incoming hi-hat
- 107.70s: ugh, please reconsider everything here
- 113.87s: [14][14][14] jacks is a big no. The awkwardness of this particular jumpjack pattern comes from the fact that you're hitting two arrows separately with two hands, and they're the furthest arrows away from each other. This is why many players dislike the pattern (see Husigi Usagi Milk Tei).
- 116.44s: avoid making the 8th a jump to accomodate for the 48th burst
- Summary: Overall, the file was actually fun to play. However, there were far too many instances of bad patterns: a combination of residual jacks, fast bursts with jumps, strange 32nd patterns, and unnecessary 24ths. The most notable thing about these patterns is that they end up creating bad transitions from adjacent patterns. Place your patterns more strategically.

Dreamerz / rayword45
rating: 4/10 [+?]
- you tend to easily switch your stepping from one element to another very suddenly without justification. For example, at 8.08s, you suddenly start stepping the bass drums, along with some rather unconvential patterns (32nd patterns, lone 16th jacks).
- 9.48-15.88s: I'm not quite sure what many of these 16th arrows step to, but it's certainly not the main melody. Also, no 32nd at 12.63s, but a 32nd is missing at 15.73s.
- 20.63s: these random minijacks aren't very aesthetically pleasing. They seem rather out of place.
- 21.88s,etc.: 48th rolls is a bit much in contrast to the difficulty of the rest of the file. It may have been more appropriate if you layered more of the file to create a harder overall chart.
- 23.95s: not a 24th
- 23.88-25.08s: a good example of sudden switching from melody to percussion. See my first point above.
- 30.78s: ghost arrow
- 35.08-47.08s: want to emphasize here that you're stepping to a far more obscure sound; you should focus on stepping the main elements of the song instead
- Summary: Stay on track with your stepping by switching elements at a more appropriate time. The switching from melody to percussion can be confusing for players. Also, the pattern choices throughout the song could certainly be improved upon.

Extratone Pirates / t-rogdor
rating: 3/10 [?]
- the main problem I've found were the stream patterns, which were often awkward and unintuitive to the fingers; at 250 bpm, you definitely should emphasize the flow of 16th streams to increase its playability
- 16.45s,24.13s: 128th arrows to make hands/quads seem excessive
- 21.01s,36.49s,46.21s,etc.: try to avoid jumptrilling of the [13][24][13][24] pattern at this speed; use with discretion
- 48.13s,etc.: the 16th stream patterns throughout the song hardly flow and often appear to go in random directions with very little symmetry
- 57.31s,68.47s,etc.: also throughout the various 16th streams are hidden anchor patterns that are exceedingly difficult to execute (especially with jumpstream) at this speed
- 59.62s,etc.: some 32nd bursts are pretty tight with the adjacent 16th stream (e.g. in this example, the down arrows may cause problems); change these bursts to play more comfortably
- 80.77-95.65s: at this speed, a TRILL-heavy jumpstream just won't feel right. This is comparable (but significantly more difficult) to the ending stream of A Kidney Stone currently on FFR.
- Summary: The file can be greatly improved if you change the majority of the 16th patterns. Patterns matter a lot more when it comes to fast streaming.

F+ToG / ~Zeta~
rating: 6/10 [+.]
- 3.68s,73.79s: optionally you can step the 8th note sounds as well
- 11.90s,12.84s,250.34s,etc.: ghost arrows
- 12.84-22.19s,241.38-250.70s: I'm fairly sure many of the 8th arrows here are complete fillers that don't go to anything, so remove them. The sections that follow these areas do have 8ths going to guitar strumming however. Also, throughout the song, some of the jumps within these 8th streams are a bit sketchy, especially when it comes to highlighting emphasized/high notes on the guitar. Sometimes you put jumps to both the main melody and emphasized guitar strums simultaneously. You need to reduce that ambiguity.
- 40.98s: just one of many examples on ambiguous/ghost 4th or 8th arrows
- 61.95s: excellent PR streaming!
- 83.23-96.92s: a bit surprised at the sudden lack of layering; this part of the song doesn't give the impression of a guitar solo being highlighted, so I'd continue layering up to this point.
- 100.41s: perhaps change the pattern up a bit, since the right-handed bias is really showing
- 83.23-129.54s: a number of inaccuracies for the guitar, so review this section again (however, the PR is really nice)
- 138.86s,167.11s: similar to 3.68s but this time I feel you really shouldn't skip out on the 8ths since they're quite noticeable; in addition, these sections feel pretty empty
- 183.13s: yet another example of ambiguous arrrows
- 187.79-190.12s: reverse PR, but it plays fine
- 239.92-240.51s: check your steps on the drums again
- Summary: This file plays pretty well and it's fun. In regards to the stepping itself though, there are tons of errors and iffy spots littered throughout the file. It's one of those files that you'll have to investigate entirely in closer detail. I guess one of the main suggestions I can give though is to reduce the ambiguity of your jumps and 8th streams. All too often these long streams seem to homogeneously connect without reason or rhyme. On a side note, if you can cut this song, please do so.

Headless / 00Razor00
rating: 4/10 [+?]
- PR can be pretty bad throughout the song, especially noted during the piano-heavy sections (e.g. 3.06s,100.23s,etc.)
- the incomplete layering is very apparent in the piano sections. I strongly recommend layering these sections far more accurately to convey the feeling of playing a piano. For example, the piano's bass melody is completely ignored at 22.05-23.70s, with only a small afterthought at 23.70-23.97s. It just doesn't feel right, even if you're trying to control the layering to a minimum here.
- another problem with the piano sections is jumps that go to emphasized notes but in actuality feel really out of place. Once again, it wrecks the authenticity of playing a piano. A few examples: 27.14s,28.65-31.95s, In some cases, there are ghost or misplaced jumps too. A few examples: 31.40s,31.82s,39.39s,150.30s.
- in the breakcore sections, very fast bursts quickly get out of hand. Please simplify them. Some examples: 59.48s,69.94s,134.75s,139.78s.
- 64.98-66.08s: very obvious 16ths missing
- Summary: This file needs a lot of work. The three main things: step more accurately to the piano, work on the PR, and tone down the bursts.

Internal Cannon / condoct
rating: 8/10 [+]
- 6.47s: there are probably 16th drums here, but you could get away with it since they're sort of muddled
- 38.71s: could step instead to the drums which are more than just 8th notes
- 46.53-53.68s: the monotony of continuous 8th streams could be broken up by stepping with a focus to the guitar's melody; by doing so, there would be occasional breaks in the stream
- 53.87s,155.72s: missed 16th
- 73.14s: ghost note
- 96.89s: 16th/32nd to drums
- 100.86s,109.59s: misplaced 16th (should go a little further down)
- Summary: Just minor errors with a few 16ths. Everything else plays pretty well and is relatively straightforward.

J'ai Entendu Le Train / DossarLX ODI vs. j-rodd123
rating: 5/10 [+?]
- similar to Dossar's Diaspora file from the previous batch, this one yet again suffers from a ton of ambiguity due to trying to acknowledge several different elements of a song within a single stream with no additional layering. Quite often, you mix in the main melody with the running guitar melody in the background. It's perfectly ok to make slow streamy files with little jumps for newer players, but in this case, you really do need to pick and choose a specific element of the song to step and stick with it. E.g. 14.90-15.64s, basically everywhere throughout the file
- 29.15s,etc.: for the few existing jumps, why are they here anyways?
- 33.19s: was this lone 64th arrow a mistake?
- the other issue I see here is that a large portion of the file is a series of copy-paste patterns
- 85.44s: and in these cases, it's a bit unusual to see you stepping to more obscure sounds for this file
- PR is good though
- Summary: Reduce the ambiguity of your steps by choosing a single element of the song and stepping to it. Vary up the patterns too.


Overdrive / psychoangel691
rating: 7/10 [+.]
- interesting chart that has a lot to offer. Many of the minijacks could simply be 16th streams, but they still flow in a sensible manner and are very playable.
- 49.61s: the 32nd trill leading into a hand is a pretty stiff pattern, so I'd suggest either making the hand a jump, or change the 32nds around. Could be a noticeable combo breaker.
- 59.33s: the three-arrow jacks in a few places such as here are probably better off as either shorter jacks or individual 16ths.
- 69.47s: not a big issue, but the hand at the end of the 32nd pattern may be a bit uncomfortable to play
- 113.20s: nice PR!
- 140.67s: probably the meanest part of the chart. I'd suggest making the jumpjacks either single arrows, or jump patterns that aren't jacks. If necessary, it's ok to forego the single 32nd arrow. I do acknowledge though that the jumpjack pattern is easy to hit with a right-handed bias.
- Summary: Despite jacks being a staple to this file, the chart overall flowed pretty nicely and was certainly not boring. A few harsh parts however should be reconsidered.

Rarity Attempts 400 Dresses (LOOMING MIX) / megamon88
rating: 7/10 [+.]
- 6.31s,14.58s,62.50s: the piano plays a chord in these parts, and it just feels better with a jump here
- for the speedy parts of the song, it's great that you've made just about all of the patterns pretty manageable (e.g. jumptrilling) at 250 bpm
- 33.13s,etc.: I've noticed that on 32nd rolls, you tend to follow it with 16ths of the same pattern, which in actuality is more awkward to hit than you might think. The same thing happens in 404th of July. Try placing the 16ths in a different pattern.
- 36.49s,etc.: just want to point out that the jump patterns here are quite anchored
- 103.69-119.05s: in the middle of this section, you start adding 16ths that seem to go to quiter sounds, ignoring the main synths. Since you're not layering this section a lot, just stick with the dominant sounds.
- 122.89-153.13s: you can do better than copy-pasting the entire first quarter of the song. For instance, I've noticed you used a ton of jumps of adjacent arrows, namely [12], [23], or [34]. Surely you can make the second round of 250 bpm a bit different?
- Summary: It's quite player-friendly for the speed that half of the song plays at. In addition to a few pattern issues, please vary up the last quarter of the song.

Skeletones / Brilliant Dynamite Neon
rating: 5/10 [+?]
- this file was actually very fun to play, but as the song progressed, the harder parts certainly bogged down its playability for FFR
- 67.71s: this pattern is not great to hit because of the repeating up arrow. Avoid anchoring patterns in fast bursts. Some other instances of anchor patterns creating awkward situations: 101.50s,101.90s,105.16s,172.33s,etc.
- 80.75s: 24ths going to residual sounds do not need to be stepped
- 94.41s,108.91s: repeating [14][14][14] jumpjacks are very difficult to hit (due to coordinating fingers from both hands to hit fast). Try a different pattern (and perhaps avoid jacks) altogether.
- 107.66s: left-hand jacks can be used but are not preferable, solely due to the fact that the majority of players are right-handed.
- 131.91s: these sort of jumpjacks however are more doable to hit due to their arrow placements. However, you should consider other patterns if they occur more than four times in a row.
- 193.41s: nasty 48th pattern. When bursts become this fast, try a relatively simple pattern such as rolls.
- 198.58s: transitioning from right arrow jacks to a 48th burst is awkward. Change the jacks for a better transition.
- Summary: There were a ton of interesting things going on in this file, but some parts were a bit too unreasonable. If you address these sections, then I have no doubt the file can be very awesome.

Ten Seconds Flat / chez-the-guy
rating: 8/10 [+]
- 34.63s: weird (inconsistent) 8th note placements compared to the following patterns
- a few places have inconsistencies in jumps. For example, an 8th jump at 48.92s, and no jumps on the drums at 49.98s,50.16s.
- some players won't like the 12th note jacks, but they're actually placed pretty well (right-handed jacks - up or right arrows). The exception would be at 69.33s, 74.51s, and 77.80s: the wub sounds appear to be alternating in this case, so try a different pattern.
- 64.45s: I think it's better to focus on the wub sounds and drums, so to reduce the ambiguity of what you're stepping, don't worry about stepping to the hi-hats
- 81.57s: beware of anchor patterns, such as the repeating up arrows here (they're not that bad to play at this speed though)
- 84.16s: the anchor down arrows created by this 24th pattern is a bit more awkward however
- 100.98s: holy cow that shriek
- 106.63s: minor PR issue with repeating arrow
- Summary: Despite a number of things I would've done differently, this file was very fun to play. Try to reduce the anchor patterns though. Also, good job on stepping a song you've created yourself!

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Resubmissions:

THE LITTLE MERMAID / hi19hi19
rating: 7/10 [+.]
- undoubtedly this song will have a strong love-hate relationship for anyone who plays it
- I certainly recognize that you're experimenting with a very different way of stepping; there's little I can criticize on the technicalities, especially with a simple song structure
- only thing I didn't like were the 16th and 12th note hands in the beginning; not that it wasn't playable, but they seem to be overaccentuated for that part of the song
- 41.31s: should be 16ths, not 24ths, so change the bpms here
- song is noticeably short
- Summary: This jump-heavy file is very different from other stepfiles, but to be fair, you will either like it or hate it. And perhaps get a good chuckle, too.


kommisar

Extratone Pirates [6/10]
-the streams themselves are very well managed, but some of the jumpstream sections are a little messy.
-The flam notes could be taken out. they seem a little excessive at this speed.
-I think you did the best with what you had.