Stepmania Nostalgia Pack Released! - Page 3

**hi19hi19** · 08-14-2011, 05:52 AM

Oh I was going to submit something to this, but I guess I forgot. I'll download it though.
Easy to make "nostalgic" files when you don't even know how to make "new age" files olol
Let me know if you do another pack!

**hi19hi19** · 08-14-2011, 09:17 AM

Reviews. Remember that everything here is subjectivemania, what I think is not what you will think and that's okay.

37 Dicks
Nolstalgia: 4/5 Perfect until you completely ruined it with a mine.
Fun: 5/5
Feeling like a badass right now because I FC'd it

Good file minus the mine.

Aurora
Nostalgia: 3/5 Pitch relevant freezes, you couldn't resist huh? Also a little too technical feeling, you know?
Fun: 4/5
AAA'd it up to the rolls which took me by surprise. Surprisingly fun even though it's not nostlagia-y enough for me

Background Theme II
Nostalgia: 5/5 Clearly bullshit jacks, randomass patterns, 1handed trills in the streams. Felt like an old Arch0wl file.
Fun: 3/5
I only played Oni. Was just about to complain about it being too easy then the 24ths hit. Have to wait too long through easy stuff for the fun part. Somewhat annoying patterns gives high nostalgia points but lower fun.

Broadbaned (8M Remix)
Nostalgia: 3/5 Perfect until the MINES Y U PUT MINES IN FIEL!?
Fun: 4/5
Really fun jumpstreams and cool rhythms, I liked the 1H trills too. Middle section was kind of boring but eh what are you going to do. Minus points for MINES and out of place hand at the end

Doku Gra The Animation ED
Nostalgia: 5/5 Perfect in the sense that it reminds me of all the boring files from 2006 I played once then deleted
Fun: 1/5
Didn't like the song at all, chart felt really bland. A bunch of extraordinary dumpy left hand patterns, bullshit jacks, and mostly just easy and boring. First fail of the pack.

Dream Layer
Nostalgia: 5/5 "Too complicated sounding, **** it put jumpstream"
Fun: 5/5
This is how you make a file! Loved the 1handed patterns in the middle, loved the jumpstream that really doesn't go to anything. Lots of fun, just the right length too. Only gripe is that it's not 10+ difficulty, every file used to be 10+ but this isnt enough to make it lose points

Enemy Storm
Nostalgia: 6/5 Are you NVLM_ZK?
Fun: 5/5
Only played Oni. AWESOME NVLM_ZK chart. Even got the song choice right! Bullshit jacks, bullshit everything, quads go here "because it kinda sounds loud" etc etc. So much fun.

Final Audition Episode 1
Nostalgia: 5/5 Good old stlye stream/8th jumps chart
Fun: 4/5
Really nothing wrong with this, but nothing amazingly remarkable. Kind of bland but not in a bad way. Just lacked that something special to make it 5/5

Flava For Rava
Nostalgia: 5/5 I remember some rap files like this.
Fun: 4/5
Obviously not perfectly synced but who cares. Not difficult enough for me personally but absolutely not a bad file. Just narrowly avoided being too long.

Form the Alliance
Nostalgia: 5/5 Polyrhythms usually means not nostalgic but this thankfully isn't overdone. Torn between 4/5 and 5/5 here but the extra gay CDtitle pushed me over the edge
Fun: 5/5
AWWWW look at the cute widdle baby Gigadelic

HOT STUFF
Nostalgia: 5/5 very "official DDR chart"-ish especially in the 8th note sections
Fun: 5/5
Excellent. Difficult pad chart/moderate keyboard file. I FC'd it index because only haters play spread :monkey:

HYPERION
Nostalgia: 4/5 Jumpstream chart. Jumps in jumpstream not on the downbeat is a little weird though
Fun: 4/5
Good file. Suffers from the same problem as Final Audition Episode 1. A very good chart, but just missing something that makes me want to play it over and over again

Less Than Three
Nostalgia: 2/5 Hands didn't do it for me at all. Weird holiday notes at the end.
Fun: 3/5
Only played Oni. Terrible jack and some dumpy patterns for the left hand. Dragged on too long without variation. Maybe Heavy is better but not really interested in playing again.

LOVE IS DREAMINESS
Nostalgia: 4/5 Strange holiday notes at the start. Very good streams though
Fun: 3/5
Overall not too bad, but didn't do it for me. Rolls were kind of weird (if you're going to make one part of the file harder than the rest like that, at least make it obvious what sound it's going to) Kinda doesn't follow the music enough for me either. IDK it's just weak

Macau Underground
Nostalgia: 0/5 Hands, holiday notes, techinical stepping in many places, AND ****ING MINES WHY DO YOU PUT MINES WHYYYY
Fun: 5/5
A good file but absolutely doesn't belong in this pack.

Mahoroba
Nostalgia: 1/5 Hands didn't feel proper in this file at all. Streams were odd. And to cap it off you ruined anything else that might have been right with a mine
Fun: 3/5
Song is not my favorite, rhythms were okay but not amazingly fun. I did not like the stream patterns, but I did like the freeze arrow usage. Not my cup of tea but I can see other people maybe liking this.

MASTER MAID
Nostalgia: 5/5 Felt very "old obnoxiously long Sharpnel file" Holiday notes were okay in this case
Fun: 3/5
Couldn't really decide between 3/5 and 4/5 on fun. Song choice pushed it down for me, I've never been a fan of this type of loli Sharpnel song. Not nessecarily bad, but not my favorite. Also way too long

Neckbreaker
Nostalgia: 5/5
Fun: 4/5
Not much to say. Generic fun file, but a bit too generic to be worth playing over and over.

NIGHT FLIGHT TO TOKYO
Nostalgia: 3/5 Some holiday notes.
Fun: 4/5
Beginning was weak but it got better and better. Strange rhythms near the beginning. Felt inconsistently stepped (no idea if this is actually true or not, just how it felt) Hard to judge this one but it's okay.

Papaver Rhoeas
Nostalgia: 3/5 Hands are well used but not appropriate if you're going for nostalgia.
Fun: 4/5
First off, what is up with the 5 difficulty rating on this? Overall a decent file. Good (if not slightly too technical) freeze usage. BPM tricks were cute. The long silence was weird and it kinda just went on for too long.
The middle of the file felt understepped. There was a bunch of different 16th rhythms going on in the back that could have made for more variation and/or jumpstream, just 8th patterns was too simple. Also you could probably have stepped the drum rolls

PARANOiA EViL
Nostalgia: 5/5 Felt like an ITG edit from way long ago
Fun: 2/5
1 handed trills sucked for spread. Maybe decent on pad? The music was too loud. Overall the patterns were random and the jumps in the beginning were totally off... felt like an amaeteur file. Also, stepping MAX and PARANOiA songs stopped being interesting 5 years ago. They're terrible music, step something worth listening to.

Rawest Forest
Nostalgia: 5/5 Hard to say here. It felt about right though.
Fun: 3/5
Weird song. Song choice doesn't do it for me. The steps are correct but I can't get into it because of the song. This is just too far from my style. I'm sure there will be others who can enjoy it though; don't get me wrong it is a good file.

RESONATE 1794
Nostalgia: 4/5 Nothing specific, just too technical overall. Didn't bring me back to 2007 like some of the other files do.
Fun: 4/5
As much as I want to hate this file it's really fun. I don't like it on principle because the song is way too chill and trying to make a hard file out of a chill song usually leads to bullshit technicalmanias, but this file avoids that and is quite nice.

Reunion
Nostalgia: 3/5 Hands were used well but didn't feel right in this file as far as nostalgia goes. MINES FUUUUUUUUUU. Bad points offset by really oldschool stream patterns and great jumpstream.
Fun: 5/5
Barring the mines I loved this file. The 1handed trills were iffy but okay. Hands were used well, and I can't stress how fun the jumpstream patterns were. Good stuff.

Slider
Nostalgia: 5/5 The hands felt right for the difficulty. Holiday notes are appropriate here. It just worked.
Fun: 5/5
Only played Edit. Great jumpstream file. THIS is my style, I loved it. Extra love for being a nice length song.

Snowfall
Nostalgia: 4/5 A little technical with the minifreezes and stuff but it's okay.
Fun: 5/5
No complaints about the file. Song is a little weak but acceptable. The jumpstream alongside the long freezes was fun.

So Fabulous!!
Nostalgia: 4/5 Not quite there. Too much rhythmic variation. Stop trying so hard and just put jumpstream
Fun: 3/5
Only played Oni. Not hard enough for me personally but an okay file. Some of the rhythms were hard to follow/didn't make much sense to me based on the music but nothing glaringly WRONG, merely not what I expected

Solar Eclipse
Nostalgia: 5/5 Yep
Fun: 4/5
Another one too easy for me personally, but I still enjoyed it. Cute BPM tricks. Minijacks were 100% appropriate and well used. Fun patterns. My only complaint is that the ending was the weakest part, it just kind of fizzled out. Which is a shame because the rest of the file was soooo good.

Super Lovely
Nostalgia: 4/5 Not sure about the hands in this one. Didn't quite feel it
Fun: 5/5
Another great one. Jumpstream parts and the ending were excellent. The nonjumpstream parts were pretty weak but at least short.

Tinkerbot Boss Battle
Nostalgia: 2/5 It was perfect at the start but the first section of holiday notes really took me out of the moment. Then the mines at the end killed the moment entirely and proceeded beat its lifeless corpse with their mine-y-ness
Fun: 4/5
OMG SHANTAE! Great song. Very fun file aside from the mines and the light blue colored section. Minijacks were a nicely used touch. It did feel like it was a little sparse in places compared to the energy of the song, maybe more jumps?

Unpredictable
Nostalgia: 2/5 Didn't bring me back mostly because this type of song was considered nearly impossible to sync back then.
Fun: 5/5
Probably the most technically impressive song in here IMO. The varied rhythms were loads of fun. Plus I like the song. One gripe I have is that the difficulty is too varied- the 24ths are crazy hard compared to the rest, and the 16th jumpstream is markedly harder than just 16th stream that makes up the rest of the file.

Wi-Ex-Doc-Va
Nostalgia: 3/5 Really? You just HAD to put mines in didn't you. It was straight up 5/5 until then too, but talk about killing the moment
Fun: 5/5
Only played Oni. First of all, what the hell kind of name is that for a song? 0_o The patterns were a ton of fun in this song. Great jumpstream at the end. Cure BPM tricks, maybe a bit overused though. Nothing too major to complain about.

~Ending 2~
Nostalgia: 2/5 Too technical. Minifreeze abuse, way too much pitch relevance and copypasta going on. The quad was merely icing upon the cake of non-sentimentality
Fun: 4/5
lol 1 difficulty. Forgot to change that? Ending was totally unnessecary and boring. Everything else was a 5/5 fun, but the ending... why.

Closing remarks:
Firstly, whoever made the graphics for most of these files is really good, props. (some obvious exceptions to this, looking at you MASTER MAID)
In general, this pack is a good reminder that the SM community should stop jacking off to files with mines and hands. It's possible to make great files without them.
Out of all of these files I really felt ONE file used mines correctly. Every other file with mines would have been better without them.
Specific things that stood out to me were that Kommisar is too good at stepping for a "Nostalgia" pack. And whoever Hawke is, you have a new fan. Keep making jumpstream files, you're really good at it!

I'm off to go play Enemy Storm a dozen more times <3

p.s. mines suck

**LongGone** · 08-14-2011, 09:43 AM

What are holiday notes lol

**hi19hi19** · 08-14-2011, 10:17 AM

Anything that's crazy colored arrows i.e. 24ths, 32nds or faster

Usually meant when you are using these notes to get specific sync on something that doesn't fall on the beat- using 24ths because the song has an obvious 24th drum roll there isn't as much of a problem, using 24th notes to sync to vocals or some crap like that is holiday colored notes :P

**i love you** · 08-14-2011, 12:04 PM

Oh my god, thank you so much hi19 for taking the time to review the pack. You really gave me some thoughts of what I should do differently for my next pack. It is a honor for a old school player like yourself review this pack!

PS: Some people called me crazy when I said that Enemy Storm was the best file in the pack just because of the fact that it was a bit "dumpy". I am glad that someone like you was able to see that hehe!

EDIT: Oh and another thing, you think you (hi19) could give me some type of guideline to follow if I were to make a pack like this again or things that I should add/change up in my current guidelines? It would definitely help me out big time lol

TheNoSoMan · 08-14-2011, 01:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hi19hi19

Background Theme II
Nostalgia: 5/5 Clearly bullshit jacks, randomass patterns, 1handed trills in the streams. Felt like an old Arch0wl file.
Fun: 3/5
I only played Oni. Was just about to complain about it being too easy then the 24ths hit.

Heavy was supposed to be the original chart, but then I realized that it was too easy and added some lazy bullshit to it like longer minijacks and 24ths and that became Oni. Besides, the chart was supposed to be indexed.

**hi19hi19** · 08-14-2011, 01:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MrPopadopalis25

;__;

(ps heavy is my chart while oni is kommi's...two very different charts)

I had a feeling it was something like this.
Well I have a sec now so I'll play heavy-
Nostalgia: 4/5 You know what I have to say about the mines at this point, but everything else was old-school as it comes. I still take exception to the holiday notes at the end too but oh well
Fun: 4/5
Good file. Like the stream patterns, like the jump patterns too. Not exactly pitch relevant but pattern relevant, which was something people always kinda tried to do. Obviously I'm going to complain about the mines in terms of nostalgia factor, though I have to say I didn't mind them as much in this chart as others.

TBH the song made me want to die inside, even the best chart can't keep hearing the same chorus 16 times over interesting.

Quote:

Originally Posted by i love you

Oh my god, thank you so much hi19 for taking the time to review the pack. You really gave me some thoughts of what I should do differently for my next pack. It is a honor for a old school player like yourself review this pack!

I go back to late 2005, which is about right as far as keyboard files go, but I really never did pad charts or indexing so that's why my comments to those ends are a little less precise.
And, anytime

It's fun to review files, at least when I'm in the mood for it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by i love you

PS: Some people called me crazy when I said that Enemy Storm was the best file in the pack just because of the fact that it was a bit "dumpy". I am glad that someone like you was able to see that hehe!

Anyone who thinks that chart is correct has no brain, anyone who thinks that chart is not fun has no heart.
/Putin

Quote:

Originally Posted by i love you

Oh and another thing, you think you (hi19) could give me some type of guideline to follow if I were to make a pack like this again or things that I should add/change up in my current guidelines? It would definitely help me out big time lol

As far as I'm concerned, my "era" of nostalgia is 2006-ish so I viewed the files through that lens. People are going to obviously have different views about this, not all of which are necessarily wrong.
Specific things I personally view as "new" trends are:
1. Definitely mines. Back when I started, no keyboard file had mines. Certainly not one of the hundreds I downloaded at the time off Bemanistyle or FFR. I don't even think Stepmania could handle mines at all until early 2005; ITG came out in August 2004. I couldn't find the changelog to see when mines were added to Stepmania but yeah. Definitely mines.
2. Hands/Quads. Hands were another thing, these also debuted with ITG in 2004 and before then it was pretty much 100% taboo to have 3 arrows pressed at once. There were (and still are) concerns about people's keyboards not being able to register 3 simultaneous presses. If you think about it, pretty much every well known non-BS file from 2006 time had no hands. To give you a sense of the prevailing attitudes toward hands, the first FFR file with hands wasn't added until early 2008 (thereabouts, too lazy to check exactly). BUT- there was a subsection of keyboard-only files that were pretty BS and spammed hands. This includes our old friend NVLM_ZK (Road of Death anyone?), as well as select other dumps that are currently escaping my mind. But I know I had a few files with hands in 2005, pretty much without exception they were absurdly hard dumps. Therefore, I generally associate hands in files of that era with dumpiness (Enemy Storm is a PERFECT example, it seriously looks like it came right out of NVLM_ZK's harddrive lol)
3. Holiday notes. People sucked at syncing back then, well, certainly compared to now. I think a good example is Quasar. The second section of stream in that song has NOTHING to do with the music- Arch probably listened to it for like 2 minutes and was like **** it, just putting stream. And a lot of people did that with rhythms that were too hard to figure out. This is why people were really impressed with files such as Toph's The a la Menthe. That was pretty much the first true holiday note file I can remember (there were others such as DTM's Passage D, but they were mostly IDM songs). The first file I had with real polyrhythms was probably Beyond the Earth (Toph again; he was way ahead of his time). Another example I can think of is Linus's My Spirit Will Go On guitar solo. The whole song is 200bpm, but the guitar solo is actually like 176.3 bpm or some crap like that. Of course Linus just left the solo at 200 and kinda put some holiday notes then just gave up and did whatever he wanted. People also were less inclined to step random sounds in the song "just for variety" or whatever. I could go on and on about this but that should give you an idea of what I associate with this time period.
4. Minifreezes. These days used to highlight sounds. Less of a issue to me, because I remember some files back then used this as well (I think Reach's Cynthia file, in the stream? or something like that?). But it is generally a newer thing, using freezes in this way. Generally any freeze shorter than say, an 8th note, where it's basically impossible to fail the freeze, is too short in my view. But this is definitely a more subjective thing.

So yeah. Basically, people are going to to have different memories based on what they consider nostalgic.
You can take 2 approaches: either be really strict about it ("Nostalgia files = 2005 or 2006 style only. No mines in keyboard charts, no hands unless it's kinda dumpy already") or you could just do what you did here and let people define it how they want. I really saw only one file I'd say absolutely has no business being in this pack as far as nostalgia goes, along with maybe 2 more I'm kinda skeptical about. But other than that I'd still say it was a success in that regard.
The only one I'd really be more harsh about is mines. I'd say at the very least if you're going to use them, use them in an ITG-ish way (Quad mines for silence, mines to enforce letting go of a hold note when a sound ends sharply, also mine spam to artificially make a file harder, which I personally hate but it was definitely a thing back then) instead of like, one ****ing tacky mine at the end of a file just because you can.

SasHiiiii · 08-14-2011, 02:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hi19hi19

Enemy Storm
Nostalgia: 6/5 Are you NVLM_ZK?
Fun: 5/5
Only played Oni. AWESOME NVLM_ZK chart. Even got the song choice right! Bullshit jacks, bullshit everything, quads go here "because it kinda sounds loud" etc etc. So much fun.

[...]

And whoever Hawke is, you have a new fan. Keep making jumpstream files, you're really good at it!

I'm off to go play Enemy Storm a dozen more times <3

Wow... I NEVER thought that people actually like Enemy Storm. You can't imagine how happy I am right now, haha. But yeah, I actually wanted to step something in a "NVLM_ZK way", so I searched for some songs by Croove and that's how it all started.

**i love you** · 08-14-2011, 02:19 PM

You did a great job HawkE :3

I told you I do not kid when I say that you make awesome files!

EDIT: Wow, thank you so much hi19 for your input on that. I think if I were to make something like this again, I will be more strict with mines and hand usage for sure. I really REALLY appreciate your input you have no idea! ^^

Also, I hope you will be able to submit to the second one as well rofl

**hi19hi19** · 08-14-2011, 03:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by i love you

EDIT: Wow, thank you so much hi19 for your input on that. I think if I were to make something like this again, I will be more strict with mines and hand usage for sure. I really REALLY appreciate your input you have no idea! ^^

Also, I hope you will be able to submit to the second one as well rofl

Well I'd like to be careful. More strict as in, when someone submits a file be like "well this file has hands which is off considering it's rather easy. I can't think of any old files that are like this. Are you sure you want to do this?"
As long as they can point out a few old files like the one they're submitting, who are we to argue?
If it fits *someone's* definition of nostalgic it's worth including, as long as they're ready for people like me to come along and be jerk saying it's not :P

And yeah I sort of forgot to submit a file. You should PM me or something when the next one starts! I'm too airheaded

Quote:

Originally Posted by SasHiiiii

I actually wanted to step something in a "NVLM_ZK way", so I searched for some songs by Croove and that's how it all started.

As far as I can recall, NVLM only stepped music from other rhythm games. DJMax, EZ2DJ, O2jam, Beatmania...

I've always wondered whether this was because the songs were good (right length, lots of energy and sounds to step), or simply because he could cheat and use someone else's BPM changes?

Hardest in all edit step! Fingers Wasted!!!!

**i love you** · 08-14-2011, 03:26 PM

I will definitely put in more thought into what you said when the time comes for a second pack hehe

TheNoSoMan · 08-14-2011, 04:08 PM

I hope another pack like this would attract more steppers. The rules in stepping these files are more relaxed than the other packs.

icontrolyourworld · 08-14-2011, 04:32 PM

Wow hi19 thank you so much for sharing guidelines on how old files can be done! This will be helpful especially seeing how my Love is Dreaminess violates a few of those guidelines

I can't wait to make more nostalgia mania files haha

Cherubi · 08-14-2011, 05:05 PM

Older files had mines too, at one point. Usually for difficulty rather than decoration though I figure.

Older files also had hands ._. I'm not quite sure I understand your review hi19

This pack had some pretty fun files though!

**hi19hi19** · 08-14-2011, 05:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cherubi

Older files had mines too, at one point. Usually for difficulty rather than decoration though I figure.

Older files also had hands ._. I'm not quite sure I understand your review hi19

Yeah, of course. That's why I'm trying to be careful when I say, it's not a RULE that it can't have hands, just that it was much less common than today. People were less accepting of hands and they were used in a different way than today, usually for especially loud or unusual sounds instead of the "well if 3 layers line up it's a hand" thing you get nowadays. So it's something to keep in mind. I don't want to make it sound like everything I say is fact.

But yeah about mines, the dinky little 1 mine for decoration at the end thing is definitely a no-go. Sorry, but I can't think of ANY file prior to say, 2008, that used a mine this way. If you're going to use mines, use them like you mean it.

In my review I noted all the places hands and mines felt right to me or wrong to me, but that's just my opinion. Subjectivemanias

**Reshiram** · 08-14-2011, 10:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hi19hi19

Rawest Forest
Nostalgia: 5/5 Hard to say here. It felt about right though.
Fun: 3/5
Weird song. Song choice doesn't do it for me. The steps are correct but I can't get into it because of the song. This is just too far from my style. I'm sure there will be others who can enjoy it though; don't get me wrong it is a good file.

Well, it's kind of a 'different' song, to be honest. The file's oriented toward a pad-style approach, and I think I may have been the only correct mine-user based on what you typed.

Quote:

Originally Posted by hi19hi19

Snowfall
Nostalgia: 4/5 A little technical with the minifreezes and stuff but it's okay.
Fun: 5/5
No complaints about the file. Song is a little weak but acceptable. The jumpstream alongside the long freezes was fun.

Eh, kinda put the minifreezes in there for a 'Cynthia' effect. Glad you enjoyed the JS within long freezes, though.

08-14-2011, 05:52 AM	#41
hi19hi19 lol happy Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: DESTINY Age: 33 Posts: 12,193	Re: Stepmania Nostalgia Pack Released! Oh I was going to submit something to this, but I guess I forgot. I'll download it though. Easy to make "nostalgic" files when you don't even know how to make "new age" files olol Let me know if you do another pack! __________________

08-14-2011, 09:17 AM	#42
hi19hi19 lol happy Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: DESTINY Age: 33 Posts: 12,193	Re: Stepmania Nostalgia Pack Released! Reviews. Remember that everything here is subjectivemania, what I think is not what you will think and that's okay. 37 Dicks Nolstalgia: 4/5 Perfect until you completely ruined it with a mine. Fun: 5/5 Feeling like a badass right now because I FC'd it Good file minus the mine. Aurora Nostalgia: 3/5 Pitch relevant freezes, you couldn't resist huh? Also a little too technical feeling, you know? Fun: 4/5 AAA'd it up to the rolls which took me by surprise. Surprisingly fun even though it's not nostlagia-y enough for me Background Theme II Nostalgia: 5/5 Clearly bullshit jacks, randomass patterns, 1handed trills in the streams. Felt like an old Arch0wl file. Fun: 3/5 I only played Oni. Was just about to complain about it being too easy then the 24ths hit. Have to wait too long through easy stuff for the fun part. Somewhat annoying patterns gives high nostalgia points but lower fun. Broadbaned (8M Remix) Nostalgia: 3/5 Perfect until the MINES Y U PUT MINES IN FIEL!? Fun: 4/5 Really fun jumpstreams and cool rhythms, I liked the 1H trills too. Middle section was kind of boring but eh what are you going to do. Minus points for MINES and out of place hand at the end Doku Gra The Animation ED Nostalgia: 5/5 Perfect in the sense that it reminds me of all the boring files from 2006 I played once then deleted Fun: 1/5 Didn't like the song at all, chart felt really bland. A bunch of extraordinary dumpy left hand patterns, bullshit jacks, and mostly just easy and boring. First fail of the pack. Dream Layer Nostalgia: 5/5 "Too complicated sounding, ** it put jumpstream" Fun: 5/5 This is how you make a file! Loved the 1handed patterns in the middle, loved the jumpstream that really doesn't go to anything. Lots of fun, just the right length too. Only gripe is that it's not 10+ difficulty, every file used to be 10+ but this isnt enough to make it lose points Enemy Storm Nostalgia: 6/5 Are you NVLM_ZK? Fun: 5/5 Only played Oni. AWESOME NVLM_ZK chart. Even got the song choice right! Bullshit jacks, bullshit everything, quads go here "because it kinda sounds loud" etc etc. So much fun. Final Audition Episode 1 Nostalgia: 5/5 Good old stlye stream/8th jumps chart Fun: 4/5 Really nothing wrong with this, but nothing amazingly remarkable. Kind of bland but not in a bad way. Just lacked that something special to make it 5/5 Flava For Rava Nostalgia: 5/5 I remember some rap files like this. Fun: 4/5 Obviously not perfectly synced but who cares. Not difficult enough for me personally but absolutely not a bad file. Just narrowly avoided being too long. Form the Alliance Nostalgia: 5/5 Polyrhythms usually means not nostalgic but this thankfully isn't overdone. Torn between 4/5 and 5/5 here but the extra gay CDtitle pushed me over the edge Fun: 5/5 AWWWW look at the cute widdle baby Gigadelic HOT STUFF Nostalgia: 5/5 very "official DDR chart"-ish especially in the 8th note sections Fun: 5/5 Excellent. Difficult pad chart/moderate keyboard file. I FC'd it index because only haters play spread :monkey: HYPERION Nostalgia: 4/5 Jumpstream chart. Jumps in jumpstream not on the downbeat is a little weird though Fun: 4/5 Good file. Suffers from the same problem as Final Audition Episode 1. A very good chart, but just missing something that makes me want to play it over and over again Less Than Three Nostalgia: 2/5 Hands didn't do it for me at all. Weird holiday notes at the end. Fun: 3/5 Only played Oni. Terrible jack and some dumpy patterns for the left hand. Dragged on too long without variation. Maybe Heavy is better but not really interested in playing again. LOVE IS DREAMINESS Nostalgia: 4/5 Strange holiday notes at the start. Very good streams though Fun: 3/5 Overall not too bad, but didn't do it for me. Rolls were kind of weird (if you're going to make one part of the file harder than the rest like that, at least make it obvious what sound it's going to) Kinda doesn't follow the music enough for me either. IDK it's just weak Macau Underground Nostalgia: 0/5 Hands, holiday notes, techinical stepping in many places, AND **ING MINES WHY DO YOU PUT MINES WHYYYY Fun: 5/5 A good file but absolutely doesn't belong in this pack. Mahoroba Nostalgia: 1/5 Hands didn't feel proper in this file at all. Streams were odd. And to cap it off you ruined anything else that might have been right with a mine Fun: 3/5 Song is not my favorite, rhythms were okay but not amazingly fun. I did not like the stream patterns, but I did like the freeze arrow usage. Not my cup of tea but I can see other people maybe liking this. MASTER MAID Nostalgia: 5/5 Felt very "old obnoxiously long Sharpnel file" Holiday notes were okay in this case Fun: 3/5 Couldn't really decide between 3/5 and 4/5 on fun. Song choice pushed it down for me, I've never been a fan of this type of loli Sharpnel song. Not nessecarily bad, but not my favorite. Also way too long Neckbreaker Nostalgia: 5/5 Fun: 4/5 Not much to say. Generic fun file, but a bit too generic to be worth playing over and over. NIGHT FLIGHT TO TOKYO Nostalgia: 3/5 Some holiday notes. Fun: 4/5 Beginning was weak but it got better and better. Strange rhythms near the beginning. Felt inconsistently stepped (no idea if this is actually true or not, just how it felt) Hard to judge this one but it's okay. Papaver Rhoeas Nostalgia: 3/5 Hands are well used but not appropriate if you're going for nostalgia. Fun: 4/5 First off, what is up with the 5 difficulty rating on this? Overall a decent file. Good (if not slightly too technical) freeze usage. BPM tricks were cute. The long silence was weird and it kinda just went on for too long. The middle of the file felt understepped. There was a bunch of different 16th rhythms going on in the back that could have made for more variation and/or jumpstream, just 8th patterns was too simple. Also you could probably have stepped the drum rolls PARANOiA EViL Nostalgia: 5/5 Felt like an ITG edit from way long ago Fun: 2/5 1 handed trills sucked for spread. Maybe decent on pad? The music was too loud. Overall the patterns were random and the jumps in the beginning were totally off... felt like an amaeteur file. Also, stepping MAX and PARANOiA songs stopped being interesting 5 years ago. They're terrible music, step something worth listening to. Rawest Forest Nostalgia: 5/5 Hard to say here. It felt about right though. Fun: 3/5 Weird song. Song choice doesn't do it for me. The steps are correct but I can't get into it because of the song. This is just too far from my style. I'm sure there will be others who can enjoy it though; don't get me wrong it is a good file. RESONATE 1794 Nostalgia: 4/5 Nothing specific, just too technical overall. Didn't bring me back to 2007 like some of the other files do. Fun: 4/5 As much as I want to hate this file it's really fun. I don't like it on principle because the song is way too chill and trying to make a hard file out of a chill song usually leads to bullshit technicalmanias, but this file avoids that and is quite nice. Reunion Nostalgia: 3/5 Hands were used well but didn't feel right in this file as far as nostalgia goes. MINES FUUUUUUUUUU. Bad points offset by really oldschool stream patterns and great jumpstream. Fun: 5/5 Barring the mines I loved this file. The 1handed trills were iffy but okay. Hands were used well, and I can't stress how fun the jumpstream patterns were. Good stuff. Slider Nostalgia: 5/5 The hands felt right for the difficulty. Holiday notes are appropriate here. It just worked. Fun: 5/5 Only played Edit. Great jumpstream file. THIS is my style, I loved it. Extra love for being a nice length song. Snowfall Nostalgia: 4/5 A little technical with the minifreezes and stuff but it's okay. Fun: 5/5 No complaints about the file. Song is a little weak but acceptable. The jumpstream alongside the long freezes was fun. So Fabulous!! Nostalgia: 4/5 Not quite there. Too much rhythmic variation. Stop trying so hard and just put jumpstream Fun: 3/5 Only played Oni. Not hard enough for me personally but an okay file. Some of the rhythms were hard to follow/didn't make much sense to me based on the music but nothing glaringly WRONG, merely not what I expected Solar Eclipse Nostalgia: 5/5 Yep Fun: 4/5 Another one too easy for me personally, but I still enjoyed it. Cute BPM tricks. Minijacks were 100% appropriate and well used. Fun patterns. My only complaint is that the ending was the weakest part, it just kind of fizzled out. Which is a shame because the rest of the file was soooo good. Super Lovely Nostalgia: 4/5 Not sure about the hands in this one. Didn't quite feel it Fun: 5/5 Another great one. Jumpstream parts and the ending were excellent. The nonjumpstream parts were pretty weak but at least short. Tinkerbot Boss Battle Nostalgia: 2/5 It was perfect at the start but the first section of holiday notes really took me out of the moment. Then the mines at the end killed the moment entirely and proceeded beat its lifeless corpse with their mine-y-ness Fun: 4/5 OMG SHANTAE! Great song. Very fun file aside from the mines and the light blue colored section. Minijacks were a nicely used touch. It did feel like it was a little sparse in places compared to the energy of the song, maybe more jumps? Unpredictable Nostalgia: 2/5 Didn't bring me back mostly because this type of song was considered nearly impossible to sync back then. Fun: 5/5 Probably the most technically impressive song in here IMO. The varied rhythms were loads of fun. Plus I like the song. One gripe I have is that the difficulty is too varied- the 24ths are crazy hard compared to the rest, and the 16th jumpstream is markedly harder than just 16th stream that makes up the rest of the file. Wi-Ex-Doc-Va Nostalgia: 3/5 Really? You just HAD to put mines in didn't you. It was straight up 5/5 until then too, but talk about killing the moment Fun: 5/5 Only played Oni. First of all, what the hell kind of name is that for a song? 0_o The patterns were a ton of fun in this song. Great jumpstream at the end. Cure BPM tricks, maybe a bit overused though. Nothing too major to complain about. ~Ending 2~ Nostalgia: 2/5 Too technical. Minifreeze abuse, way too much pitch relevance and copypasta going on. The quad was merely icing upon the cake of non-sentimentality Fun: 4/5 lol 1 difficulty. Forgot to change that? Ending was totally unnessecary and boring. Everything else was a 5/5 fun, but the ending... why. Closing remarks: Firstly, whoever made the graphics for most of these files is really good, props. (some obvious exceptions to this, looking at you MASTER MAID) In general, this pack is a good reminder that the SM community should stop jacking off to files with mines and hands. It's possible to make great files without them. Out of all of these files I really felt ONE file used mines correctly. Every other file with mines would have been better without them. Specific things that stood out to me were that Kommisar is too good at stepping for a "Nostalgia" pack. And whoever Hawke is, you have a new fan. Keep making jumpstream files, you're really good at it! I'm off to go play Enemy Storm a dozen more times <3 p.s. mines suck __________________

08-14-2011, 10:17 AM	#44
hi19hi19 lol happy Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: DESTINY Age: 33 Posts: 12,193	Re: Stepmania Nostalgia Pack Released! Anything that's crazy colored arrows i.e. 24ths, 32nds or faster Usually meant when you are using these notes to get specific sync on something that doesn't fall on the beat- using 24ths because the song has an obvious 24th drum roll there isn't as much of a problem, using 24th notes to sync to vocals or some crap like that is holiday colored notes :P __________________

08-14-2011, 12:04 PM	#45
i love you Live a wonderful life~ Join Date: Oct 2006 Posts: 7,313	Re: Stepmania Nostalgia Pack Released! Oh my god, thank you so much hi19 for taking the time to review the pack. You really gave me some thoughts of what I should do differently for my next pack. It is a honor for a old school player like yourself review this pack! PS: Some people called me crazy when I said that Enemy Storm was the best file in the pack just because of the fact that it was a bit "dumpy". I am glad that someone like you was able to see that hehe! EDIT: Oh and another thing, you think you (hi19) could give me some type of guideline to follow if I were to make a pack like this again or things that I should add/change up in my current guidelines? It would definitely help me out big time lol __________________ =============================== The idea that RDCP 3 may come out in the future is a fun thought to have~ =============================== Last edited by i love you; 08-14-2011 at 12:06 PM..

08-14-2011, 02:19 PM	#49
i love you Live a wonderful life~ Join Date: Oct 2006 Posts: 7,313	Re: Stepmania Nostalgia Pack Released! You did a great job HawkE :3 I told you I do not kid when I say that you make awesome files! EDIT: Wow, thank you so much hi19 for your input on that. I think if I were to make something like this again, I will be more strict with mines and hand usage for sure. I really REALLY appreciate your input you have no idea! ^^ Also, I hope you will be able to submit to the second one as well rofl __________________ =============================== The idea that RDCP 3 may come out in the future is a fun thought to have~ =============================== Last edited by i love you; 08-14-2011 at 02:38 PM..

08-14-2011, 03:26 PM	#51
i love you Live a wonderful life~ Join Date: Oct 2006 Posts: 7,313	Re: Stepmania Nostalgia Pack Released! I will definitely put in more thought into what you said when the time comes for a second pack hehe __________________ =============================== The idea that RDCP 3 may come out in the future is a fun thought to have~ ===============================

08-14-2011, 04:08 PM	#52
TheNoSoMan FFR Player Join Date: Feb 2009 Age: 29 Posts: 382	Re: Stepmania Nostalgia Pack Released! I hope another pack like this would attract more steppers. The rules in stepping these files are more relaxed than the other packs.

08-14-2011, 04:32 PM	#53
icontrolyourworld Enjoy life! Join Date: Oct 2007 Age: 31 Posts: 4,182	Re: Stepmania Nostalgia Pack Released! Wow hi19 thank you so much for sharing guidelines on how old files can be done! This will be helpful especially seeing how my Love is Dreaminess violates a few of those guidelines I can't wait to make more nostalgia mania files haha __________________ http://www.flashflashrevolution.com/...d.php?t=149106

08-14-2011, 05:05 PM	#54
Cherubi Banned Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: riviere-du-loup, Quebec Posts: 136	Re: Stepmania Nostalgia Pack Released! Older files had mines too, at one point. Usually for difficulty rather than decoration though I figure. Older files also had hands ._. I'm not quite sure I understand your review hi19 This pack had some pretty fun files though!

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