No, this is not a joke. It's been over five years but I got there. Pack six, baby!
The theme of this pack is "files that were finished 8+ years ago that really should have been released sometime before now." Many of the files in this pack are oldies but goodies, but I had to throw in a few exceptions to also keep the pack feeling fresh. So really there is no theme at all, I guess. Oh well.
Big thanks go to AJ for his guest file, which sits at the top in alphabetical order and makes the pack look better than it actually is. Also thanks to Nathan for our two collabs, and Luis for his guest file that he has patiently waited five years for me to release. Meanwhile I don't think blu and dag12 even remember making our three-way collab... but I did, so shoutouts to them too haha
Finally, a huge thanks to everyone who made graphics - given it's been over five years, I forget everyone (and forgot to keep a list) but just know I am super appreciative of everyone who contributes graphics. Special thanks goes to Kraezymann for putting up with even more gfx requests than most.
Files are essentially rated according to the MSD algorithm, with only a few manual changes. The ratings are definitely not perfect so be warned, there will be some curveballs.
Act V - The Battle at Mammoth Mountain - An ancient file from the Dragon's Fury engine, and AJ's special contribution to this pack. 150bpm four-note jacks and 300bpm stream bursts are the main features, but also tons of technical color note work, soloing, time signature changes, the works. An incredible file when it was first stepped and it still holds up today. I'm honored to have it at the top of alphabetical order in my pack where it can sit and make the pack look better than it is at first glance :)
Apple - Some jazzy K-pop. An easy technical file with some very pretty piano parts... watch for the trills!
Battle on the Big Bridge - Another ancient file that I stepped back in 2008. Everyone hated the 135bpm chordjacks because they were too hard so it got shelved; it was definitely a little bit ahead of its time. Quite acceptable patterning these days, though.
Bochka Bass Kolbaser - Very high NPS dumpfile to a classic gopnik bop. Features an extremely high quality quadwall, I really channeled my inner NVLM_ZK on this one. One of my earlier dumps so not quite as fluid as I would like, but should still be fun.
Bring the Rain - This was intended for the epic trailer music round of my Delicious Tournament, but it wound up not being used. A very cool file with lots of fun polyrhythm sections.
Champion (Freeverse) - A late 2000s collab that never saw the light of day because all three people who stepped it quit FFR at roughly the same time. This was dicksync'd before DDReam was even a thought, so it probably would have been pretty impressive if it was released back then. Still a fun easier file! Shoutouts to the version Carlos stepped for FFR - as far as I know he made it completely independent of the three of us, and his file also slaps.
Chopin Ragtime - A chart that was used in a Dragon's Fury Tournament. Fun little swing piano file... watch for the trills!
Clash on the Big Bridge - An updated version of my FFR file. I kept it as similar to the FFR chart as possible, but fixed some layering and pitch relevancy issues and added some holds where appropriate. Oh, and I addressed the atrocious sync of the FFR version. One of the stipulations of the FFR permission was no cuts which is why you get the full four minutes complete with the extended intro. But the song is an absolute classic, so I don't mind the length...
collapse feat. mippai - When J-NERATION 3 came out in 2015 the YouTube algorithm was quick to recommend it to me. I heard this song and opened the editor immediately. Absolute banger song and my file wound up being tons of fun on rates.
Dancando No Paraiso - Hiromi Uehara is kinda awesome, no? I stepped this many years ago and deluded myself into thinking I would step all 7+ minutes of the song... years later common sense won out and I cut it to just over a minute and a half long. This makes for a much more digestible - if not as epic - little piano file.
Diamante Spectrasplosion - Untitled Etterna Pack re-release. Everything is the same as in that pack, but I did fix the displaybpm: on cmod this file is just 150bpm, and all the BPM changes are just artifacts of having to account for the weird time signature changes. As usual for my collabs with Nathan he did like 80% of the work and it's very generous of him to still call this a collab.
Doppelganger - Very similar to the FFR file, but I made a few minor fixes and added a bunch of holds in tasteful places. One of the LeaF-est LeaF songs out there, in my opinion.
DRAGONLADY - I only added holds to this one, it's identical to the FFR file if you play with holds off. Get those split jumpjack practice sessions in!
Elusive Reaches - I still can't believe FFR has blanket permission for Ensiferum and as of writing this, this is the only song from that band in the game. Missed potential, for sure. This file is just 200bpm layered percussion and vocals, a handful of 16th streams, and a tricky solo section.
endless maze - A file I stepped shortly after making {Rose} and then submitted, several times, to FFR. It was rejected each time and... okay, I realize it would have been very cancerous with avmisses, but after avmisses were fixed I don't get why it couldn't be accepted. It did wind up being used in a Dragon's Fury tournament, and as I gave up getting it into FFR 14 years ago, here it is to enjoy on Stepmania.
ENDYMION (long edit) - Finally in the sea of positively prehistoric files that makes up most of this pack, here's one I stepped only a few weeks ago! I intended this to go in FFR but apparently I can't read permission terms, so instead I'm releasing it on Stepmania. One of the best files I've ever made. Please play this.
Energizer - This file started life because I thought doing a [12] and [34] based jumpstream to the main melody would be cool. It was, so then I finished the rest of the file. Yes, I know this song is overstepped as hell, but it's still an absolute banger.
HAELEQUIN - Another old collab with Nathan, but this time I have to say I actually did like 50% of the work. Amazing. At the time this released I was super proud of this file... in hindsight it's a little janky. Still lots of fun though, even though the difficulty curve is much more weighted to the end of the file than I prefer nowadays.
Infernoplex (medium) - The classic FFR stream file, presented unchanged. I know this has a soft spot in the memories of many FFR players, so like {Rose} in my fifth pack, I felt I would be remiss to not include the original file in the Stepmania release.
Infernoplex (heavy) - What resulted from me stepping this song from scratch using modern charting sensibilities, but trying my best to keep to the original layering scheme. A much more technically proficient chart, surely, but does it have the same soul as 2007 hi19hi19 did? You be the judge!
Karate - Chibi djent [12] jacks. I accidentally kept this unreleased until it got giga nerfed in the MSD algorithm so now nobody can farm it. Sorry.
Kollegah the Boss Engine - A short dump 400bpm stream file I made on the request of Staiain, way back in a time when the best option out there for 400bpm stream practice was TV Static. Though I will say, is this song really that much better...
La Copa De La Vida - Minty 4 re-release. I actually originally stepped this for my sixth pack but I sent it to lofty because it fit really well in Minty 4, and now I am re-releasing it in the pack I originally stepped it for. 254bpm light handstream.
M.A.G.I.C Speed Ball - Minty 4 re-release. Same exact situation as Copa De La Vida. I will reiterate: I firmly believe these are the best two charts out there for this song despite how many files exist for it. Do note that the challenge chart is hilariously under-rated by the MSD system: "Yeah this is a 25" yeah I don't believe that.
Megalovania (Undertale) - Minty zFarts Pack 1 re-release. Just like the above files, this was also intended all along to go in this pack, but it was released without my permission in zFarts. Honestly not bothered at all that it was, but I figured it deserved a proper official release in my own pack. A pretty comfy and fun dump if you ignore all the parts that are dumb :)
MY DOG DONT GIVE FUCK ABOUT APOCALYPSE - The other guest submission in this pack, a mashcore by file samurai7694. Apologies to Luis for holding his file hostage for half a decade and not releasing it until now. File slaps though, except I don't think I've ever once hit all the 4-note jacks all in one run.
OWA Raged at Home Run Derby
OWA Raged at Kurorak for Making OWA Raged at Skeletor
OWA Raged in Vegas (Fuck Bees) - All three of these files are presented without changes as they are in FFR. Have a Enjoy!
Pistolero - Stepping Stones re-release. A very hype song with light layering befitting their original use in a beginner-focused pack. The challenge chart has some pretty fun color note rolls and minijack sections.
Quad Queens - Just like DRAGONLADY, this is identical to the FFR file if you play with holds off. As a note, I'm still very thankful to AJ for his suggestion on how to more lightly layer the final stream - he definitely saved this file from being incredibly bottom-heavy in difficulty curve.
Rengoku-Purgatorium- - Heavy is version 2 from FFR, and challenge is an even stupider version intended for a project with AJ that unfortunately seems to be cancelled. Did you know there's actually 12ths in the 32nd bursts in the Behold Jawten Victorious Chuck Norris section? Now you do!
Secret Robes - Man this Chuck Norris guy really gets around huh
Seif Al Din - Intended for the female-fronted symphonic metal round of my Delicious Tournament, but didn't get used due to difficulty curve reasons. Finally seeing the light of day now.
Shard (Combat) - Video Game Megapack 4 re-release. One of the files Staiain played at the infamous GDQ Stepmania demo. I actually stepped it on request for that purpose, and only submitted it to VGMP4 afterward because I thought it fit nicely there. Now it gets a home in one of my packs too.
The Marriage of Figaro - Another file released in Minty zFarts Pack 1 before I thought it was ripe. Challenge is actually slightly different from the version in that pack - I fixed a few errors, which also happened to make the file that much more cancerous in those areas. Besides that, it's still the trill and runningmen disaster that you know and love. Meanwhile heavy is an entirely new chart with no trills or runningmen at all... instead it's merely one of the most cursed 300bpm stream files to read in existence. Tradeoffs.
This Will Be The Day - A Dragon's Fury stepcon submission. Pretty proud of it still even though I realize the vocal parts are very inconsistent and it definitely deserved the middling score it got as a result. This file was actually one of my earliest experiments with using BPM changes to force color theory.
Thunderstorm - I remember that probably like 8 years or so ago I was trading files back and forth with Carlos (back when he went by who_cares) and we had a pretty good score rivalry going when it came to most files. But I absolutely could not touch his score on this file - he just absolutely demolished my best attempt every run. It was super frustrating! ...Yeah that's my main memory of this file. But the chart and song themselves are very cool and you should all give the file a try, no memes, nothing out of the ordinary here.
Valkyrie Dimension - FFR Community Pack Summer 2012 re-release. The ending of the highest difficulty chart is very extremely stupid and I am so sorry. We all make mistakes and that pattern is certainly one I made. Everything else in the file is still very fun though. Check out the BPM tricks if you are an xmod gamer.
