ODIPack3 Simfile Reviews

[Izzy]

I agree with the stone person.

[SKG_Scintill]

l2p

P.S: A'd Lockene

[StoneMcKnuckle]

Originally Posted by bmah

Try the easier difficulty for Howling. Tell me if it's any better or worse. I'm told by a lot of people that making easier difficulties along with harder ones makes the pack more accessible. If people complain about the harder difficulties and not play the easier ones, why am I bothering? :/

I just replayed Howling, heavy and standard this time. I never tried edit 'cause I'm assuming it's dumb garbage as that's usually what people reserve edit charts for.

I was probably a bit too harsh giving it a 5.5, though score ratings are somewhat arbitrary to begin with and you get a better idea of my opinion by reading what I wrote about it instead. while I feel that the heavy chart is overdone and I can't stand minijacks when they don't have a good reason to be there, the standard chart is also a little all over the place in the same way. It's far too easy in some places, while the difficulty spikes completely as you decide to incorporate crazy jumps and whatnot. You didn't do this in the start, I'm assuming to bring the difficulty down, so why incorporate it later on, bringing it more in line with the heavy chart?

The reason I never did easier difficulties for my files is because I always ended up doing the exact same thing you're doing in the standard chart. Seriously, charting lower difficulties intentionally is way harder than just letting your own style govern your charting, and trying to force the difficulty down against your "better" judgment usually makes for a worse simfile overall. However, like you said, it makes it more accessible to novice players so it's definitely not a bad thing, it's just... I'd like to play the chart the way the author intended it, and I'm guessing you intended heavy as the main chart.

I normally made the heavy chart my main chart and then did something dumb like adding jacks or jumpstream everywhere in the harder chart for the people who simply like the difficulty. I eventually stopped doing that 'cause everyone ended up playing the shittier oni chart simply 'cause it was harder. Higher difficulty doesn't necessarily make the chart more fun, and can easily bring down the quality even from a technical viewpoint as the chart gets too cluttered.

You have a lot more leeway with solo when it comes to going crazy with your chart, but it's really easy to crap on 4-key charts by getting too enthusiastic and it's a problem I see with lots of files in this pack, including my own during a couple of segments.

I think structuring a chart so it's not a flat difficulty curve from start to finish but rather allowing the song itself to naturally provide the difficulty curve is the way to go.

Again, I don't have a PhD in Stepmanism since there is no such thing. There's no real right or wrong here, so you should probably take my reviews with a grain of salt. They're probably all a point or two lower than what I'd give them back when I could play the game anyway.

edit: izzy lmfao "the stone person"? bitch im zagh why u so cold

[FissionMailed1]

Originally Posted by Shadow_God_10

Why Am I Here- ADORABLE PONY JOINS THE CIRCUS aannnnd falls to his death on the tightrope. Unfortunately you made this way harder than it should be, especially the dual solo portion which shouldn't have been jumps imo. other parts were very confusing such as the starting portion...what are the jumps going to? you should have let the snare command the jumps and let the synth/guitar take care of the rest. The end was awesome I can't lie it was beautifully done. 6/10

Wanted to address this review, because I don't think you understood why I stepped it the way I did.

The jump jacks in the solo were per Glove's suggestion, which I obliged. You got it exactly right, being a "dual solo". The extra emphasis doesn't really fit as single notes, so I opted to make it how it is now.

For the start of the file, the drums are the focal point of stepping. The snare and cymbal hits were made as jumps, while the toms are single notes. The guitar was layered on top of the tom drums, to create more layering. Finally, the hands are when there is a cymbal hit and snare at the same time.

[StoneMcKnuckle]

Originally Posted by FissionMailed1

The jump jacks in the solo were per Glove's suggestion, which I obliged. You got it exactly right, being a "dual solo".

The way I did that in Scarhand and Tigre Bianca is simply making every 8th note a jump. Simple and effective without derping down your chart with super weird difficulty spikes.

Originally Posted by MrPopadopalis25

i'm gonna give you a stone mcknuckle sandwich

if you took my advice and became a doctor you're welcome to punch since you'll be a rich healer. it works both ways

[Izzy]

Originally Posted by StoneMcKnuckle

edit: izzy lmfao "the stone person"? bitch im zagh why u so cold

I was unaware. Haven't seen you since smo.com died in 09.

[FissionMailed1]

Originally Posted by StoneMcKnuckle

The way I did that in Scarhand and Tigre Bianca is simply making every 8th note a jump.

What about the single notes though? They are under emphasizing the harmony of the 16th notes. I just don't understand why you would want to put that much emphasis on just the 4th and 8th notes but not the 16th notes. That seems really inconsistent. I can understand why you would want to do this for flow, but I don't see the problem with having a difficulty spike (that really isn't that bad IMO).

[stargroup100]

the doubles already emphasize a certain "thickness" to the melody. when it is followed quickly with a single note, the brain hasn't let go of the strong emphasis associated to the previous note and associates the double melody with the single note. even though it's not totally perfect, the increase in note density is enough to register association of the double melody in most cases.

zagh's tigre bianca is a beautiful example of how this works

also difficulty spiking in itself isn't a technical problem, but if you want your chart to be more accessible it becomes an important issue

[StoneMcKnuckle]

yeah what stargroup said. the only time that solution doesn't work is when you're already spamming 8th note jumpstream which you should pretty much never be doing ever regardless of what anyone tells you rofl

[FissionMailed1]

Originally Posted by stargroup100

the increase in note density is enough to register association of the double melody in most cases.

Fair point. Sacrificing a bit of intensity, but not all of it to aid in playability. Still learning as a stepper, but I'll remember this, thanks.

What about making minijacks after the doubles? I'd prefer to not make it straight double stream, to avoid making it too easy.

I used the term "double" instead of "jump", weeeee!

[stargroup100]

depends on the music lol

[Wayward Vagabond]

yeah depends entirely on the music for the last one

[dascookieman]

regarding why am i here, eeh lol those jumpjacks are supereasy and emphasize the sounds perfectly, just making the 8th jumps would make it really really easy and wouldn't be that memorable at all, 16th jumps is also more consistent with rest of the file's difficulty and it course represents the music best since it's a unison solo.

this pack is obv for more advanced players and you should get back into playing more before playing it. i absolutely do not think the pack should've been easier and toned down, it's on a perfect level and is supposed to cater to today's active players and have longevity, look at the scores thread in the scoreboard. most people really like the pack.

but i'm sure zagh actually realizes this and that his reviews after having played for 2 days for the first time in 5 years isn't going to be fair but trollin da forums is fun :moogy reviews:

[stargroup100]

there's more than one way to skin a cat

[SKG_Scintill]

Thread derailed
gg

[Dj_Ossa]

Originally Posted by stargroup100

there's more than one way to skin a cat

what

[moches]

playing 100+ files in three days is taking a serious toll on my mental health

apocynthion drive - file crashed on me for w/e reason lol. solid from what I played, though! I thought it'd be too hard for me but the patterns are quality
bit howl - neat! not usually a fan of dev/null stuff, but this has a lot of variety. the quieter parts are overdone, though...there needs to be a reprieve from all of the intensity in this
blue rose - 9.9999/10. a few minor gripes with polyrhythms/overintense bursts, but otherwise masterful
bspower explosion - played Heavy because shit my hands are tired. simple chart but plenty to enjoy. i really like the main chorus. i do wish the polyrhythms were a bit cleaner (for that matter, a lot of the patterns)
child protective services theme - played Heavy. it's a little repetitive (and has way too many freezes), but it's straightforward and provides a nice MA challenge. great patterns.
cirnoRTHL - a little too high-octane for me but I can't deny it's well-made
clash - just giving this file another shoutout because fuck it's good
cyberstorm - much well-crafted than I expected. even if it's too hard for me to enjoy, props for that. those bursts are still ass, though
dishevel - how to make a hard file 101. innovative and tricky patterns, great balance between playability and difficulty. nicely done.
do it this way - maybe i'm just tired or maybe it really is the file, but this just exhausted me. it's a really nice song, but the steps are sooo flourishy that they barely have any room to breathe. i still enjoyed it to some degree, just not as much as i had anticipated.
fatal tragedy - freeze usage is really messy in some parts, and the layers of the song don't always blend well together. that said, you handle the song's difficult sections with grace and the pattern choice is strong throughout. not a personal favorite, but a very sturdy file nonetheless.
ge4ce v2 - way too hard for me to enjoy, refraining from judgment
haereticus - really really dumpy, but to be fair so is the song. honestly, I did not enjoy this at all.
jack-the-ripper - song offers plenty to express, and the steps capture the tension of the rhythms and the dissonance in the melody very well. if there's one thing I wish, it's that the freezes/mines had been expressed with some more elegance...the file can get a bit too crowded at times. nonetheless, this is my favorite file from Yosh in this pack.
lockene - failed out. i'm not good enough to enjoy this. why are these so many of these ridiculously hard files in this pack, though?
rip roar power - i failed but i still kind of...enjoyed it? whoa. gave a much needed jolt of energy to the system
st. alphonso's pancake breakfast - this is a really great file, man. super groovy, great song, clean but challenging steps
bridgeport run - really intense file but it's clear you put a lot of thought into this and the steps always match the song well. beautiful song, too.
time out (piano solo) - um YES
unconnected - usually files like these aren't my cup of tea but i ended up rather enjoying this. good patterns.
waltz of the big dogs - really really hard but I still enjoyed it. really nice job bringing out all of the different layers to the piano. ending is absurdly hard but the climax works
we are high speed - another mi40 file : D not as classic as some of your other work in this pack but still very very enjoyable. flows beautifully, i can tell a lot of thought went into these patterns. you really might be one of my favorite stepartists at this point
why am i here - you are knocking it out of the park with your files this go around, Fission. this was phenomenal. snare hits layered in during guitar solos can get very messy (and did in this case), and there were a few mild inconsistencies with the percussive minifreezes, but otherwise this was flawlessly executed. i'm really excited to see where you go from here.
zen - Mr. BOB! this is pretty great, really brutal file with some tricky patterns. maybe a bit too few jumps to justify all of those hands but that's more of the song than anything else, great to see you back.

gaize what's with all of the hard files why do you want to kill me D:

by the way I only have ten files left so finishing this today or tomorrow whatever don't matter

[stargroup100]

Originally Posted by stargroup100

there's more than one way to skin a cat

THERE IS MORE THAN ONE APPROPRIATE CHOICE OF A SET OF PATTERNS OF NOTES WHICH FOLLOWS THE MUSIC

am i clear

[shenjoku]

I can't play like 80% of these songs and I doubt anyone cares what I think since I'm kind of a nobody but here you go! :P

In The Name of God - Holy hell this song is FUN. I haven't played this since DukAmok's chart way back when I still played ITG and I rather like this rendition. The cut is really nice. It has a good intro/outro and doesn't just dump you in the middle of the insanity, which I rather like.

Howling [Medium]- I've only seriously played Medium since that's the only one I can really do. Really solid chart. Simple yet enjoyable. Been using this one as a warmup :P

I'll forget you, you'll never forget me [Medium]- I'm a little biased on this one since I used to play the BMS of this song ALL THE DAMN TIME. The IIDX chart was amazing and I think this one definitely does the song justice. I really like how you used freezes where all the scratches are and that you ended the chart at the same time the original BMS does.

I'm On Crack - I still laugh every time I hear this song XD Sadly the song doesn't really lend much to a good SM chart so I think this came out kind of boring. I've only played it once and don't really feel like I want to play it again.

Altered Scale [Hard]- wtf long title O.o This song is very...unique to say the least. I thinks it's rather interesting that you managed to get every single note to be purple (12ths?) and the use of other colors to emphasize certain parts was a nice touch. I've been playing this one quite a lot, really enjoyable

Laveran no Shokutaku [Hard] - Without a doubt this is one of my absolute favorite songs. The song is not only awesome to listen to but even more fun to play. Not much to say here other then I fucking love this one <3

Orbital - Originally I played this with cmods and haven't gotten to xmod it yet so this is going off of that: AWESOME. I could listen to this song all day and the chart is super fun too. There's quite an overabundance of jacks but they fit the song really well so I think it's fine for this one, unlike other stuff I've seen that has jacks all over the place for stupid shit :P I think I've played this song the most next to Laveran.

Reefer Man [Hard] - I must say I would have never thought about making this song into a chart but holy hell am I glad someone did! I've always loved this song and it lends rather well to an SM chart that is super fun to just bounce with while playing it. Some parts are kind of empty, which I noticed were filled in the expert chart but it gets way too nuts for me to really enjoy it (so many jumps x.x).

Sane to More [Hard] - I've never heard of Circus Maximus before this pack and I rather like them. That said, this one is pretty damn fun. Really difficult for me but fun enough to make me want to get better at it, so that's always good :P

Sports! [Hard] - Extremely fun to play. Not much else to say :P SPORTS!

Toki - I want to like this song but the ending gets really dense and I can't read it very well so it's hard to say if it's any good =/ Maybe when I stop sucking I'll let you know lol.

Tzuicha-cha [Medium] - This is one of the stranger songs in the pack but I rather like it. It's simple but really enjoyable.

Everything else I either can't play because it's too fucking hard or I haven't gotten to yet...because it's too fucking hard XD But that's good! Means there's stuff to work towards. Overall this is definitely one of the most enjoyable packs I've played through

[EzExZeRo7497]

@Dynamo: It's EzExZeRo7497 >:[

Also change the rating for me in Apocynthion Drive from 7.5 to 8.5, I enjoy it way more than I should lmao