2015 January/February Set 3 (Complete)

[psychoangel691]

Arcanum Guardian - LeaF
Breaka Railway - Tilde
Power Wisdom Courage - Powerglove
sniffing stardust on the dancefloor - Kola Kid
Tope Doge - Maxo

[klimtkiller]

when i made arcanum guardian i didn't know someone had already stepped it

[gold stinger]

rip klimtkiller

- This area with no notes is empty long enough for me to wonder what happened to the notes. There should be at least something for people to go off of, even if it's just filler, but 4 measures of empty isn't that good.
Also, the minijack threw me off when the notes did return. Maybe it would be worthwhile to change it to 4-24-4-4etc., instead of 4-44-4-4? Actually, I would probably suggest to rework the entire section and instead of it being a piano solo, maybe step bg music first and then layer the piano on top? Maybe?

- Most of the streaming for the file is very fine, and it works well given that this is a LeaF song and it's customary to these kinds of songs for stream to be all over the place, but some of the bursts can be awkward at times, such as a minitrill here, or a hiccup in the notes there that are brutal at 190 BPM.



- Got a bit confused as to what this jack went to when I first saw it, but after multiple plays I understand what it's going to now, it's just barely audible, but it's well enough to justify it.

- This section here hurts me, especially the 1st 32nd roll in that section.


Overall
uhh, Conditional? I wouldn't be alright with the song going into the game in its current form, but it isn't a trainwreck, it is definitely fixable & improvable. Also, there is already a copy of Arcanum Guardian in FFR right now, and I think the copy in-game right now is better, so this would be a vote for reject on that chord.

Not really any noticable flaws with the file at first. Makes heavy use of pitch relevance and introduces something pretty interesting, 32nd trills & streams that aren't too fast, but just the right speed for it to be worth the merit.

- Given how much pitch relevance is used in the song, it may be better if you copy the 1st & 2nd measures, and use those as your 3rd & 4th measures as well. A little repetition doesn't hurt if it sounds exactly the same.

- This pattern here is a bit awkward, but given what it sounds like, it's alright. I think I might have preferred a 323,121,1,4 pattern instead.


Overall
Would accept it, solid 8/10. Aint much to complain about in terms of layering, nor music. Everything appeared correctly stepped albiet a couple of personal choices I would have made myself if I was doing it.

Neato, another really long song, this time clocking in at 3800 notes. It's a Legend of Zelda metal rmx in case people don't know.
The chart imo flowed very well, as a large majority of the chart is stream transitioning between stream and jumptrill. While I feel like the jumptrilling has been kind of abused in the file as filler, the file overall was enjoyable for me.

- No noticable issues to the naked eye, except for some jumptrill abuse.

Overall
I would probably 7/10 it. It's not omg amazing, but it doesn't have any jarring issues with the file that would require it to be in conditional or reject.
I liked this pattern the most in particular, gave me a short flashback of the first Zelda song I played on FFR. ;')

Not gonna lie, chart doesn't have any real flaws, except for maybe that there's nothing that special in the file. It's more or less the same stuff for the first 10 measures of the song, with an exception for some 64th rolls 1/3rd the way through the file. There's no new curve ball or anything for the rest of the file. It's 16th js with some accenting, I guess to accompany the lyrical progression I guess?

I would give lowest possible acceptance rating to the song, but if others don't feel like having it in the game I wouldn't contest it. I don't think other players would be interested in sitting through & playing the song, except for the memes.

Again, no glaring issues with the file to the naked eye on my part.

Not sure what to say about 'sniffing stardust on the dance floor', other than wow, what a skill jump half way through the song. It's definitely out of my skill range. bleh, I can barely read it when it gets to that part.

[klimtkiller]

Originally Posted by gold stinger

rip klimtkiller

- This area with no notes is empty long enough for me to wonder what happened to the notes. There should be at least something for people to go off of, even if it's just filler, but 4 measures of empty isn't that good.
Also, the minijack threw me off when the notes did return. Maybe it would be worthwhile to change it to 4-24-4-4etc., instead of 4-44-4-4? Actually, I would probably suggest to rework the entire section and instead of it being a piano solo, maybe step bg music first and then layer the piano on top? Maybe?

- Most of the streaming for the file is very fine, and it works well given that this is a LeaF song and it's customary to these kinds of songs for stream to be all over the place, but some of the bursts can be awkward at times, such as a minitrill here, or a hiccup in the notes there that are brutal at 190 BPM.



- Got a bit confused as to what this jack went to when I first saw it, but after multiple plays I understand what it's going to now, it's just barely audible, but it's well enough to justify it.

- This section here hurts me, especially the 1st 32nd roll in that section.


Overall
uhh, Conditional? I wouldn't be alright with the song going into the game in its current form, but it isn't a trainwreck, it is definitely fixable & improvable. Also, there is already a copy of Arcanum Guardian in FFR right now, and I think the copy in-game right now is better, so this would be a vote for reject on that chord.

Not really any noticable flaws with the file at first. Makes heavy use of pitch relevance and introduces something pretty interesting, 32nd trills & streams that aren't too fast, but just the right speed for it to be worth the merit.

- Given how much pitch relevance is used in the song, it may be better if you copy the 1st & 2nd measures, and use those as your 3rd & 4th measures as well. A little repetition doesn't hurt if it sounds exactly the same.

- This pattern here is a bit awkward, but given what it sounds like, it's alright. I think I might have preferred a 323,121,1,4 pattern instead.


Overall
Would accept it, solid 8/10. Aint much to complain about in terms of layering, nor music. Everything appeared correctly stepped albiet a couple of personal choices I would have made myself if I was doing it.

Neato, another really long song, this time clocking in at 3800 notes. It's a Legend of Zelda metal rmx in case people don't know.
The chart imo flowed very well, as a large majority of the chart is stream transitioning between stream and jumptrill. While I feel like the jumptrilling has been kind of abused in the file as filler, the file overall was enjoyable for me.

- No noticable issues to the naked eye, except for some jumptrill abuse.

Overall
I would probably 7/10 it. It's not omg amazing, but it doesn't have any jarring issues with the file that would require it to be in conditional or reject.
I liked this pattern the most in particular, gave me a short flashback of the first Zelda song I played on FFR. ;')

Not gonna lie, chart doesn't have any real flaws, except for maybe that there's nothing that special in the file. It's more or less the same stuff for the first 10 measures of the song, with an exception for some 64th rolls 1/3rd the way through the file. There's no new curve ball or anything for the rest of the file. It's 16th js with some accenting, I guess to accompany the lyrical progression I guess?

I would give lowest possible acceptance rating to the song, but if others don't feel like having it in the game I wouldn't contest it. I don't think other players would be interested in sitting through & playing the song, except for the memes.

Again, no glaring issues with the file to the naked eye on my part.

Not sure what to say about 'sniffing stardust on the dance floor', other than wow, what a skill jump half way through the song. It's definitely out of my skill range. bleh, I can barely read it when it gets to that part.

that's really strange. when i made the file, it was complete with no long silence. i don't know what happened with that. btw i remember a flaw where i stepped the trills then changed it to piano when i should've carried on stepping trills. even if it was complete, arcanum guardian is already in ffr, and my version isn't much different.

[HeZe]

5.5/10 - not pass

IMO not harder enough than the one in FFR to make a v2. Also there are many a bit dodgy patterns which I won't approve, such as:
- M33-M34 entire section
- That burst before the trill at M75
Won't start analysing it furthermore because I can't see this passing.

Diff 80

6/10 - A CLOSE TO A PASS

- In many places there are extra 32nds. It might be that they actually are there but the background sound is just so quiet that it is hard to hear.
- M6 trillburst seems a bit too much
- M6-M14 there seem to be jumps where there shouldn't
- That burst at M17.5 is too dense.
- M27-M32 this patterning feels awkward to hit to me.
-After M34 the steps are perfect.

Diff 78-79

8/10 PASS

This song has very little to comment about the details. Overall a very flowy chart. While playing, I felt like it would have needed a lot of color notes to replace the 4ths and 8ths, but it didn't really make any effect to the flow so let it be like that. Besides I guess it's hard to cope with the constantly changing BPM.
- M32-M48 I think that you could step this chainish pattern a bit heavier.

Diff 77

9/10 - PASS

This stepchart rocks! I can't tell if there are any mistakes in the steps, but YES IT DID FLOW! Very enjoyable patterns and plenty of challenges to tackle for many.

Diff 87-88

8/10 - PASS

Technically it is great. I only think that there are a bit too many jumps, but it didn't really bother me so I won't say anything more about that.

Diff 57-59

[M0nkeyz]

arcanum guardian | 7/10

M18 felt empty, you prolly omitted the sounds there on purpose, but because the other parts of the chart were so dense this really stood out. It really isn't a bad chart though the file flowed well and I didn't find too many mistakes. I personally didn't like the overuse of hands though, but thats my personal opinion.

Breaka Railway | 6.5/10

Really fun file to play, the problem in my opinion is that you artificially tried to make it harder by adding those 32nd thrills. Also there are a lot of hidden mini jacks that are awkward to hit for me. This file could use some cleaning, then it could definitely be passable.

Power wisdom courage | 7/10

Not a bad chart at all, it flows well, however even though alot of work has gone into this file, the patterns feel kinda dull. there is alot of [1] [23] [4] and [12] [34] [12]
basically alot of easy thrills that feel like filler to me. This file took alot of work however, and it seems reasonably well synced.

Sniffing stardust on the dancefloor | 7/10

Wow, that was hard. I feel the file flowed really well, the patterns were fun to hit and alot of the rolls felt they could be jumpthrilled which is good imo. I personally really didn't hear the difference between the triples and the jumps used in the file, especially in the beginning.

Tope Doge | 6/10

the use of color notes felt really random at times. in the beginning you hardly use any even though there are alot of very loud sounds in there, that could really be accentuated with a 192nd for example. The use of jumps also felt really inconsistent. At one time you would jump a sound, and literally 2 seconds later you use singles for the exact same sound(around 600 combo). I also felt the file was overstepped, could have been a really nice quirky low level file.

[MarioNintendo]

Arcanum Guardian: 7/10 Accept
File is AGRESSIVE... That's all I have.

Breaka railway: 7.5/10 Accept
These trills are impossible for my key setup :P I had fun, I was entertained!

Power Wisdom Courage: 6/10 light accept
Some jumpstreams felt really bland or overdone, but not really relevant to the song itself. That, and a few PR mistakes aside (the 8th jacks in the link to the past hyrule castle part should NOT be jacks), the stepchart was both solid and fun most of the time. The song lasts for what it feels like forever, but it's varied enough I guess.

sniffing stardust on the dancefloor: 7.5/10 accept
Way above my skill level (so this review doesn't mean much), but the song felt fair (for a high difficulty file). Consistent stuff

Tope Doge: 8/10 accept
2014 memes! You did not expect this file to be released in 2016, didn't you...?

[DossarLX ODI]

DarkZtar will be taking the primary judge task for January/February 2015 Set 3.

[DossarLX ODI]

DarkZtar finished the primary judge task for January 2015 Set 3. The notes can be seen below; this thread is being moved over to Completed Sets and the results/notes will be updated in the January/February 2015 thread.

[6/10] Arcanum Guardian {LeaF} (klimtkiller)
-4.859 these notes to the echos aren’t really necessary, the sound is negligible compared to the crashes.
-9.892 missing jump
-10.207 crash here that isn’t acknowledged at all.
-18.734 should be a single note to indicate the absence of the synth melody.
-24.102 pointed out in the public forum notes, this measure really shouldn’t be empty. The focus on the synth that comes later is good, but there is plenty of stuff going on here.
-25.523 should be a 3 note jack (missing the first note)
-29.312 PR for the 4ths and 8ths in this pattern are backwards.
-31.286 missing 16th
-32.470 this note should be the same as the previous note (same pitch)
-41.628 missing 16th
-49.102 having the 24ths end on a 24th feels really awkward. The ending of the piano gliss is pretty blurred but i’d recommend ending the 24ths on either the 4th of this measure or the 8th after it.
-59.312 missing jump
-70.682 long anchor here that you should break up (happens earlier too)
-similar recommendations when you have repeated stuff (intro, transition after the intro)
-103.838 would recommend you keep following the changing pitch with the trill instead of switching to the piano when it comes in, the synth feels more prominent.
-115.048 if you’re gonna keep this as a hand, really should make all the other instances of crashes in the streams hands as well (if they aren’t surrounded by other 16th jumps etc)
-115.364 should be a hand
Not bad honestly, but difficulty is really similar to the one in game.

[7/10] Breaka Railway {Tilde} (PrawnSkunk)
-12.755 you had a 16th jack at 10.711 going to the background synth that should be present here as well.
-20.811 seems like a pretty conscious decision to leave out these 16ths but adding them in would make the file more interesting.
-32.234 the focus on this section is entirely melody, but you have sporadic instances of stepping the background synth when the melody isnt present, make it consistent by either dropping the background synth notes completely or filling them in everywhere else and layering the whole section.
-44.378 this jump feels very out of place considering you havent layered any of the 32nd streams when similar sounds are present, suddenly having a jump after the hardest spike of notes feels very jarring.
-49.669 again the jumps feel weird cause you’re suddenly layering the background synth (on top of being forced to drop several of the jumps in order to leave room for the melody 32nds)
-62.294 these instances should technically be jacks, would make this section more interesting. (consider adding jacks to other instances of the background synth)
-63.376 again where you want to up the layering but im assuming you left out the jump on the 16th to avoid a large difficulty spike. Normally certain generalizations to avoid difficulty spikes is ok, but when you only have 3 jumps you’re working with and you get forced into leaving out 1 of them the idea feels very incomplete. Either put the 16th in and force players to deal with the difficulty spike, or go with the generalization that leave out the 32nds in favor of highlighting the increase in layering. Also happens at 64.338, etc.
-67.164 i don’t hear this 32nd
-68.787 layering in this whole section is inconsistent. You seem to be accenting a certain sound here, but when it is present at 70.711, 73.115, 73.365, you don’t emphasize it.
The layering generalizations/inconsistencies are what hurt this file the most. Otherwise this is a pretty nice broken stream oriented chiptune file.

[4/10] Power Wisdom Courage {Powerglove} (FFR Pro 21)
Had to reprocess the mp3 to get a stable bitrate, my timings might vary slightly from yours
-10.129 this whole trill isn’t the correct rhythm
-15.790 should be 2 32nds leading into this hand
-28.594 should be a hand
-43.864 should be a hand
-51.000 instances like this lead me to recommend that you save hands for instances of guitar/drum + crash rather than using them for all the crashes (even the ones without anything else accompanying them). The hands to the solo crashes feel a bit much in comparison.
-54.480 missing 32nd gallop
-57.219 missing 32nd
-64.639 should be a jumptrill to the hand
-69.169 ^same thing
-70.139 also should be a jumptrill
-79.583 stop using the 2 note 8th chains when the guitar is absent, the 2 note chains work well to indicate the guitar but when they continue when the guitar is absent they feel arbitrary and makes the patterning appear lazy.
-89.999 ^same thing
-95.199 pr here noticeably off since the 3 jumps you have here essentially imply 1-2-1 pitch variation
-100.385 ^same thing
-105.678 this 16th should be a single note
-106.320 this 16th should also be a single note, and the 16th after the 8th should be a jump
-110.781 same layering consistency as before, should be a jumptrill here
-115.981 ^same thing
-121.344 repeated note for 2 distinct pitches
-124.443 ^same thing, but this instances feels even weirder since its a 3 note repetition (and all 3 things represented aren’t similar; 2 different pitches, drum hit)
-125.025 and then you have instances where 8th jacks would be appropriate for the guitar, but you don’t have 8th jacks here
-lots of copy pasta in this file in general with the same errors
-135.097 the melody is not straight 8ths
-141.859 alright at this point the copy pasta is getting ridiculous. It’s one thing when it’s used to deliberately highlight select music repetition, but when it’s used to this extent in a file, it really limits the pattern variation you have because the players just feels like they’re playing the same stuff over and over again, not to mention all the errors in previous sections exist in the copy/pasted sections.
-160.056 this synth is much faster than 12ths
-163.153 ^same thing
-319.396 jumps to the melody here are off
-333.906 16th should be a jump
-334.390 several missing jumps here
-340.777 missing jump on the 4th
-341.261 missing jump on the 16th
Alright this song is almost 6 minutes, 6 minutes of lots of copy/paste which means lots of consistent errors and limited pattern variety. It also makes the file a lot more boring than it needs to be. The number of misrhythms and layering inconsistencies means the file warrants a pretty thorough revision before its acceptable.

[7/10] sniffing stardust on the dancefloor {Kola Kid} (klimtkiller)
-11.509 dont think these hands are warranted, the kicks aren’t particularly loud or abrasive.
-15.794 should be a hand
-28.937 layering in this section is a bit suspect, the sound on this 4th is the same as the 8th preceding it but you have a jump on the 8th and a single on the 4th. Similar sound is also on the 16th at 29.151 and 29.366 and they are both single notes.
-32.366, 41.794 also instances where single notes are used while jumps are used to highlight similar sounds in other areas.
I feel like theres a lot of layering inconsistency at this point. The layering seems to fluctuate in density intentionally because similar instances are treated the same so the inconsistencies are consistent (if that makes sense), but they still make the file feel a bit weird.
-57.794 jump here and the 8th after go to sounds that are previously emphasized with hands
Some of the 32nds transitions are pretty uncomfortable, 75.080 in particular
Ending feels really empty after how energetic the rest of the file was, especially since theres still other melodic synths playing.
I kinda get the approach to filter the layering to tailor to what the stepartist feels is important within a section, but I feel like the layering is almost too arbitrary in some instances and it makes the file feel inconsistent. Other than that the file plays pretty well, some of the 32nds could be smoothed out more but that isnt a big deal.

[7/10] Tope Doge {Maxo} (PrawnSkunk)
-15.916 missing 16th
-21.804 should be a jump on the 16th
-24.047 ^ same thing
There are other instances where its kinda ambiguous whether the repetition of some sounds you previously emphasized are loud enough to warrant additional jumps.
-26.430 you were following the background synth but abruptly stop here. Don’t really feel like this is a great place for a layering shift.
-35.682 missing jump
-37.645 missing jump here and the 8th after
Layering kind feels like it varies in density kinda randomly, some groups of measures have more accenting or layering in general when the music is essentially the same density.
-41.009 again dropping the background synth in favor of just following the vocals, the fact that the background synth is acknowledged again immediately after this measure just makes it feel all the more awkward and empty.
-49.000 gallops to follow the staggered scratches is good, but this pattern is very smooth and might confuse the player into thinking this is a burst staircase, recommend changing it.
-83.206 the bursts don’t really drop in volume enough to warrant a gap, i tried putting in offset straight 24ths and it felt much better so consider that.
-127.084 another measure that just feels empty considering how much is going on (esp considering the synths you were previously acknowledging)
-general notes: Glossing over a lot of the different call/response melodies as straight 16ths makes the file feel kinda bland in those places. Considering that you have some dense bursts means I feel you could beef up the layering in places to acknowledge certain melodies if you chose to. Double check the layering throughout the file in general, the layering changes keep the file interesting but I don’t feel like they’re done at comfortable times, most layering changes feel pretty random. Not a bad file by any means but I’d like to see the layering touched up before this gets put in game.