TC_Halogen - AMA

[21992]

do you have a dog? preferably the one in my picture XD. Does it play with Saphira ?

[TC_Halogen]

Originally Posted by Hateandhatred

What do you think of me? =)

You're really chill. I'd talk to you a lot more if our main medium of communication wasn't Facebook. I don't like hanging on Facebook for multiple reasons.

Originally Posted by T-Force

If you could pick -one- place to go travel, where is it.

For years, I've always wanted to see Venice, Italy. If my life gets really good and I'm able to advance myself and my career, that will be the first place I travel to leisurely. (And hey, on the way there, maybe I can meet Mollocephalus somehow.)

Originally Posted by moches

What is your best experience with this community?

It's tough to really give a great answer to this question. Back in 2009, I was really well regarded as an active FFR Multiplayer user. I didn't play much because I was on dial-up or a leeched connection, but I would hang in the lobby anywhere from 8 to 10 hours a day. I'd very frequently get messages like "whoa, you're still on here?" Some people at that time also thought I should have gotten some sort of MP moderator title back at that time too. I was treated nicely and I treated people nicely.

Originally Posted by SKG_Scintill

How has stepping style changed over the years? And what is your opinion on current steppage?

Also, do you have a mommy?

I've been stepping since early 05. I didn't release any files of any sort until around September of '05, back when most keyboard charts looked as light as your typical ITG chart (typical being 11+ difficulty). Around January of '07, my stepping style changed a little bit after playing quite a few Zaghurim/Bursurk_Lurk/Exige files, and I tried to mimic their style as best as I could (hell, I even used the Square Unique font that most of their files used to have).

Then, I started getting really active on FFR in the forums. I eventually ran into Carlos (who gave me confidence) and bmah (who tweaked my style a bit into something I really like) and had them give me advice on how to improve a bit. After Tageri got released, I received a ton of praise from the community (even some private messages saying that it was one of the best files on FFR now) and it boosted my confidence quite a bit. I kept charting to try and get a feel for how my charts should be.

When Dragon's Fury came around, I was proactively charting for the private custom tournaments, and I started figuring out how to pump out charts at a relatively fast pace to meet demands (or time constraints for any reason). Things started getting really easy to me and I was finally learning how to be a bit more experimental while still being relevant and having fun (see: Who You Thought Was Evidently Me on Dragons Fury, that was my first real attempt at being different).

Once FFR came back up and a batch was open, I was recommended to be a judge. This was awesome to see people realize that I had improved at a substantial rate.

Throughout the last eight years, my stepping skill and style has evolved. My initial style was very simplistic (just following the music and putting notes on their appropriate rhythms without a care), but I started learning how to layer, I started learning how to do "keysound layering" (direct layering - I call it keysound layering because keysounded games like IIDX/Pop'n usually layer as directly as possible on higher difficulties - p.s. I despise doing this now), and now I use accented layering (rather than trying to figure out how many sounds cohesively play at once, I just take prevalent instruments and accent sounds that don't occur frequently or are heavier than other notable sounds).

My current opinion on stepping? People are trying too hard to judge others on technicality ONLY. Not everyone has a gift or talent to be able to properly discern slightly different pitches, so it absolutely frustrates me to see people that had no intentions on using pitch relevancy on songs where it's not blatantly obvious. If you want to chart something, you should be able to do so without having to worry about how amazing it is in technical accuracy, because in four keys, you will never achieve technical perfection. I've made this argument before and no one was ever able to prove me wrong.

Yes, I do have a mommy; I don't like her very much.

Originally Posted by UserNameGoesHere

If you could pick one person to be a moderator who isn't currently a moderator, who would it be and why?

To me, a moderator should possess good social skills with the rest of the community, should be really level-headed and rational, and needs to be able to handle things properly without stirring up issues within the community and whoever else they work with.

If I had the chance to pick someone that would be a very suitable moderator, I'd have a lot of trouble choosing between two people...

The first person I wouldn't mind as a moderator is iironiic. He is a prolifically active player with overall rank 3, he's a simfile artist and simfile judge, has a great forum presence overall, and has been an active contributor for quite some time. He's also very intelligent and rational, and I feel like he's level-headed enough to make sure that things won't go out of hand.

The second person I wouldn't mind as a moderator is subin. subin has very positive forum experience as well, and he seems to care a lot about making sure that people understand the site's workings (for those of you that don't remember, he made a few things that were worthy of forum stickies in the past). Like iironiic, he's also very intelligent and doesn't seem to have a negative attitude located anywhere on his person.

If either of them got moderator access, it would be a good day to me as long as they handled their power like I thought they would.

Originally Posted by subin

If you could be given the power to master any two pieces for piano, what would they be and why?

Chopin's Fantasie Impromptu - Op. 66, and Lizst's El Contrabandista

Originally Posted by Reincarnate

What is your favorite videogame outside of FFR/Stepmania/etc and why?

Crash Bandicoot. Bold for HUGE emphasis. I've spent so much time trying to perfect all of the earlier (earlier being up to The Wrath of Cortex) games. Some of the challenges I've tried putting myself to where finishing Crash Bandicoot 1 without a single death (SO hard), trying to finish Crash Bandicoot 2 without a single death (retardedly hard), trying to full platinum Crash Bandicoot 3 (I have only one more left ;_;), trying to fully complete Crash Team Racing without any restarts on races/bosses/challenges (I've made it more than halfway through!)... I could keep going for a while if I didn't have more to talk about.

Crash Bandicoot has been a huge part of my gaming life. When I first got hands on a PSX, Crash Bandicoot 2 was my first game ever. I was addicted to it, and it happened very quickly too. The game started getting too easy though, and I had heard from others that the first game was much harder to do. Let me tell you something, just hearing the name Sunset Vista and Slippery Climb makes long time Crash Bandicoot players cringe in place. It's a great game that requires precision like any platformer, but the music is great and the concept is just brilliant to me (I mean, come on -- spinning crates with fruit inside of them... occasionally using them to travel to where you need to go? It's nuts.)

Originally Posted by Pseudo Enigma

do you even lift?

how many hours do you play FFR/SM a day?

do -you- even lift? I would I could, but I'm usually watching Saphira throughout the day so it doesn't leave me much time for leaving the house.

Believe it or not, since the official tournament concluded, I haven't played all that much FFR. I had two days where I had roughly a two hour session, but it was out of leisure and wasn't anything really hard for me (63 to 80 on the new scale, just randoming files). I'm done with the competitive side of FFR; it was fun while it lasted, but I don't want to do it anymore.

Originally Posted by Hateandhatred

Lmfao

To add to my previous question, would you like to meet up?

I would like to meet up, but that plane trip will probably make me want to kill myself.

Originally Posted by 21992

do you have a dog? preferably the one in my picture XD. Does it play with Saphira ?

We don't have a dog in our apartment. Kayla's mom has a dog at her house and it is a bit skiddish, but Saphira does well with him.

[dragonmegaXX]

Do you miss Team Chaos

[Hateandhatred]

Originally Posted by TC_Halogen

You're really chill. I'd talk to you a lot more if our main medium of communication wasn't Facebook. I don't like hanging on Facebook for multiple reasons.

On what else then? =)

Originally Posted by TC_Halogen

I would like to meet up, but that plane trip will probably make me want to kill myself.

I'm thinking of cruising through the US next summer, so that could be something funny.

[jductape]

How did you get kicked out of school?

[dAnceguy117]

Originally Posted by TC_Halogen

Crash Bandicoot. Bold for HUGE emphasis. I've spent so much time trying to perfect all of the earlier (earlier being up to The Wrath of Cortex) games. Some of the challenges I've tried putting myself to where finishing Crash Bandicoot 1 without a single death (SO hard)

how many times have you made it to Road to Nowhere without dying? have you made it past that level? (falling planks and tricky perspective stumped me as a kid lol)

[Untimely Friction]

How bigs your left nut

[TC_Halogen]

Originally Posted by dragonmegaXX

Do you miss Team Chaos

Yes and no. It was a nice hangout, but it really didn't get anywhere.

Originally Posted by Hateandhatred

On what else then? =)

Do you have Skype?

Originally Posted by jductape

How did you get kicked out of school?

Ugh... I had a feeling this question would come up if I made a mention of it, and I promised that I would answer questions honestly, so here goes.

I was going to a pretty well known high school in Chicago (Lane Tech College Prep) and I was doing pretty well for a while. I had made a couple of really close female friends. One of my friends I had a few classes with, and we mutually agreed that we were only friends, because neither of us had a real affectionate interest in one another. However, she got a boyfriend that was incredibly paranoid. He was also a lot bigger than I was overall.

I used to be very playful with her, I used to tickle her, playfully pinch her to start hilarious mini-fights that we used to have fun doing, and hell, when she pissed me off, I would pick her up and carry her on my shoulders because she was a twig (and I was in much better shape, lol). But, her boyfriend thought that I was hitting on her, not realizing that we were friends way before he was ever in the picture.

I ran into her boyfriend more frequently during the second half of my day, during my fifth to eighth period classes, and he started approaching me about the situation. I kept trying to reassure him that there was absolutely nothing going on and that we had no interest in one another, but he kept approaching me around the same point of the day, with increased aggression as time went by because I refused to give up a really close friend.

School started getting a bit more stressful -- I was having issues with my parents and couldn't confide in them with anything because they were too busy and childish with their own relationship issues that they couldn't bother to help me when I needed it most.

The day that I got kicked out, I had a really volatile confrontation with my mom, with her telling me that my mind wasn't focusing on the right things (playing a lot of video games and occasionally neglecting classwork by procrastinating - I still did get it done, though), and I told her to back off because she wasn't helping by constantly getting into fights and other unnecessary drama. I went to school in a pretty upset mood, and I was very reclusive about it too. Most of my classmates/friends knew that I was upset, but I didn't bother talking to any of them. And then, for a reason that I still don't understand, I got approached by her goddamn boyfriend again. I had my locker half open because I was just dumping all of my books in there since I had absolutely no homework that day, and he was essentially talking to me behind it, waiting for me to shut it to confront him. I can't remember what was really said anymore, but he said something that really pissed me off and I pulled the locker door open as hard as I could and ran. I'm not sure how much of him I hit, but I know for a fact I at least caught his face, because he was on the floor in pain. These locker doors were somewhat heavier than your normal locker door, too. That day was pretty empty near my locker, because my locker was on the 4th floor and the only reason I was up there that late was because of concert band sectionals. I'm not quite sure why he was still here, though.

I never went back to Lane after that. My parents never knew about anything - I would take my bookbag with me, but I would go to the local bowling alley (which at the time was 24 hours), linger around the park, grab a bite to eat, play some ITG here or there... whatever. My dad then sent me a message saying that I screwed up and got expelled (for truancy). He was upset, but he seemed to let it go pretty quickly. My mom didn't, though. I put up with it for another seven and a half months before booking it to live with Kayla.

Originally Posted by dAnceguy117

how many times have you made it to Road to Nowhere without dying? have you made it past that level? (falling planks and tricky perspective stumped me as a kid lol)

I have made it past RtN a few times on my really good runs. However, I simply can't make it past Slippery Climb with that kind of pressure. The end of that level is such a pain.

Originally Posted by Untimely Friction

How bigs your left nut

next

[jductape]

wow, that's ****ed up. Sorry to hear about that. Hopefully you've at least grown in some way from that shitty situation.

[TC_Halogen]

Originally Posted by jductape

wow, that's ****ed up. Sorry to hear about that. Hopefully you've at least grown in some way from that shitty situation.

Well, things have definitely started to look a lot better. I got my GED in June (the test was pathetically easy), and I actually start my journey in getting a Bachelors for Computer Science (Information Systems) on October 17th!

[Hateandhatred]

Originally Posted by TC_Halogen

Do you have Skype? + words

I sure do, inb4 PM.

Interesting story about how you got kicked out, reminds me of a friend who went through something similar...

I actually did Crash 1 without dying, of course with the precious help of *HAMBURGER TUDU-TU*, dunno if it still counts... That game was a good part of my childhood, lmao.

[TC_Halogen]

Bumping my AMA because I'm interested in more questions.

[igotrhythm]

What Facebook games do you find yourself playing regularly, if any?

[EzExZeRo7497]

Do you have any hobbies that you think no one on FFR would've expected you to have?

[TC_Halogen]

Originally Posted by igotrhythm

What Facebook games do you find yourself playing regularly, if any?

I play a lot of the games that are spin (or rip) offs of television game shows. Who Wants to be a Millionaire, Family Feud, The Price is Right, Deal or No Deal, Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader, etc.

Originally Posted by EzExZeRo7497

Do you have any hobbies that you think no one on FFR would've expected you to have?

I love to swim, and I also love to cycle. If I was a great runner, I'd more than likely be actively training to do a triathlon. Unfortunately, I can't run for long distances anymore.

[Hateandhatred]

Do you like to whore for retarded platinums?

What's your PSN?

Favorite simfile of yours?

"Newbie" of FFR you look up to the most (like, uprising member)

Do you spit or swallow

[TC_Halogen]

Originally Posted by Hateandhatred

Do you like to whore for retarded platinums?

If referring to CB, absolutely. I actually am looking to get a PS1 memory card again and Crash Bandicoot 3 so that I can go for full platinum + a few developer time sups. I was able to tie Orient Express' dev time on a PSP, which has a horrible d-pad/analog for CB.

Originally Posted by Hateandhatred

What's your PSN?

Don't have one, unfortunately.

Originally Posted by Hateandhatred

Favorite simfile of yours?

Hard to say. There are a lot of files that I really really like. Most of the files that I like are files that are very accent-heavy and have a great structure in addition to having great flow. Hellhounds on My Trail is definitely a favorite of mine; I also really like SOLROS (Vocal) because it has everything I would want to hear in a song combined with a really strong/heavy chart.

Originally Posted by Hateandhatred

"Newbie" of FFR you look up to the most (like, uprising member)

Honestly, I can't think of too many newbie newbies that I follow. I was very interested in Zekramcross for a long while, but his past involvement with Team Blaze made me uninterested in him and his behavior. In any event, he's really not a newbie anymore. I kinda wish Helixia and Frans813 would get a bit more involved in the community (not sure if those numbers are right), because I tend to see videos of them.

Do you spit or swallow

not sure what context this is, but I have a feeling, lol

[Hateandhatred]

Why did you nuke st scarhand on DF?

[Zapmeister]

You're playing poker with a tiger. You're holding Ac Ad and the flop is 4s 6s Qs. You notice that the tiger has started making loud growling noises like a bear, but seems focused on the game. It places a bet slightly higher than the minimum. Do you fold? call? raise? or run screaming?

What is your favourite halogen?

Why is water wet?

What is the 1 song you don't have an FC on?

[TC_Halogen]

Originally Posted by Hateandhatred

Why did you nuke st scarhand on DF?

It happened back during custom tournament #7; me, Kayla and hi19 were having a stupid argument and we removed his files. I should put some of those back at some point, lol.

Originally Posted by Zapmeister

You're playing poker with a tiger. You're holding Ac Ad and the flop is 4s 6s Qs. You notice that the tiger has started making loud growling noises like a bear, but seems focused on the game. It places a bet slightly higher than the minimum. Do you fold? call? raise? or run screaming?

I'd run screaming if I somehow ended up playing against a literal tiger.

In a normal situation, in late position, I'd put out a reasonable re-raise and potentially push to a four-barrel, depending on the way the player's style has been. If this player is normally a loose player, I'll let them know that I do have a wide range of their typical hands beat.

Originally Posted by Zapmeister

What is your favourite halogen?

*shrug* I only made the name because I was a fan of chemistry at the time and I needed something that was a decent name. I'll just say flourine (that's from memory, I could be wrong about that being one) because that's the first thing that came to mind.

Originally Posted by Zapmeister

Why is water wet?

No idea. I can only speculate. Saying that water is wet because it is a liquid doesn't explain why a liquid is wet, and water is a liquid so...

Originally Posted by Zapmeister

What is the 1 song you don't have an FC on?

Death Piano. However, I actually did FC the song. I lost my FC (137-77-0-127) from a long while back (at least two and a half years ago) to my non-FC (82-4-7-15) from a little less than a year ago.