2nd Official FFR StepCon!

[dashoe93]

Re: 2nd Official FFR StepCon!

Can I be a judge. I'm good at judging things. Promise.

All in all, there were issues, but it went. I don't really have much to say on it though, but just a cent: People can do horrible on the first rounds. Just think of elimination tournaments. They can suck as long as they don't get eliminated. I do agree there was a large lack of activity, but not much you can do about that. Sure does take quite a bit of time to complete a file if you're competing with real life situations.

Also I'm serious about the judge thing.

EDIT: also no notes for me I'm good. I know what I did wrong. Yeah.

[TC_Halogen]

Re: 2nd Official FFR StepCon!

I'll release the notes that I did, although the file listings were different than the engine (they might be in order of appearance, I'm not sure). If you check the images showing your place in the given round, they might be tagged...

Lovely City + Wheelpower & Go

Lovely City

Lovely City (A1) – 6/10
- the white note usage is quite messy throughout the file because there’s no cohesion – if a special sound effect happens to land on a particular spot, you could clean up the layering tremendously by adding cohesion rather than leaving things separated [-1]
- 32.745: questionable; why does the layering drop so harshly (or, why does the layering structure change?) when the piano is still pretty active? [-0.5]
- triple usage is consistent with the “hey!” but it’s hardly warranting compared to other instruments being played
- wondering why PR is so sketchy on repeated sounds throughout the song (why are there 3-note repeats instead of 5-note repetitions?) [-1]
- 67.745: forgot about the “hey!” there (not that I agree with this structure in the first place).
- 127.745: given that other areas use claps as single taps, why is there so much aggression here? not only is it inconsistent, but given the structure of the song and how this is a breakdown, this is really heavy compared to the next section [-0.5]
- another problem that you see in this file is that the difficulty waivers a LOT (sometimes quite violently, look at 74.411 which is maybe standard-like, compared to the C/VC like section immediately before this); there are plenty of things that could be followed to solidify this with one difficulty [-1]
- there is some structure, but the file never really seems to decide how it wants to approach the song

Lovely City (A2) – 5/10
- visibly interesting pattern placement; not the most pitch-relevant in some cases, but the most visually recognized [+0.5]
- various instances of added/extra 16ths; the necessity to accent background percussion is acceptable if trying to maintain a higher difficulty, but be sure that you do it properly [-1]
- some off-color notes are placed a bit strangely or incompletely (27.541/31.534/42.215 + 42.882 but not 43.541?, etc) [-1]
- 18.208: not feeling that [-0.5]
- 31.541: stream has no purpose here; that sound you’re following plays in the background for the entire time [-0.5]
- 33.208/43.875: missing jump for synth; kinda breaks PR a bit [-0.5]
- 54.708/60.041: this could have been represented with different taps; not only is it not the same in terms of pitch, but the percussion differs here! [-0.5]
- 72.875 to 74.208: split-handed jumptrill + jack at the end = massive difficulty spike [-1]
- 95.541 to end: some sounds inconsistently accented [-0.5]
- like A1, has a somewhat recognizable structure, but there are many inconsistencies/improper accents

Lovely City (A5) – 7/10
- PR is lacking in many areas, something that should be paid attention to when a good majority of the melody is at a reasonably slow pace [-1.5]
- lots of other sounds effects can definitely be added without spoiling the difficulty too much [-1]
- missing jump for vocal at 32.078 [-0.5]
- 74.412 to 95.412: it took me two playthroughs to realize why the patterning was so strange here; patterns are actually constrained so that the “hey!” lands on the same note without adding any jumps, that’s kinda cute [+0.5]
- 95.745 to 106.078: same as the previous note, this is actually a really interesting structure here [+0.5]
- 106.078 to 127.412: meh… nothing wrong, just boring. [-1]
- easier file, eh? it’s surprisingly well structured; could use a bit more work on the detail


Lovely City (A14) – 6/10
- not a fan of the separation between the white notes/4th notes; if you have an effect, just color the whole thing rather than adding artificial difficulty through separated frames [-1]
- 56.822/62.489: coloring is kinda cute, but again – it’s unnecessary here; there’s nothing else to accent around this to require this to stand out over something else, it’s just… right there. [-1]
- 74.489: REALLY bad cut here [-1.5]
- 95.822: ignoring the claps here is strange given that you use them to build your chart up a bit [-0.5]
- that cut is a shame, christ. This chart was actually quite respectable, but the cut is the most jarring thing ever.

Lovely City (A15) – 8/10
- 27.988 to 47.822: the repeating taps outside of the main melody just feel wrong; they might be following the bass but they certainly feel like a ridiculous contrast to the more notably repeating synth [-2]
- 53.988 to 63.988: not a fan of the triple usage in some instances – with an easier file, the cymbal crashes feel fine, but the others, not so much. [-0.5]
- 63.988 to 74.655: really interesting patterning [+0.5]
- this is a nicely executed, low-to-mid difficulty file.

Lovely City (A18) – 5/10
- it’s just really hard to digest this chart
- the color usage seems unnecessary, but the execution is done clean so I won’t hit for that
- 26.820: mini-jacks don’t work here; the tonality of each snare hit is different
- the chart feels way overcharted in structure; the jumpstreams/streams follow something so barely prominent and it just feels way overdone – additionally, the streams occasionally have awkward cutoff points and just feel abrupt/incomplete [-5]
- however, despite that point, there are some noticeable bits of relevancy to the melody, like the 5-note repetitions occurring in the jumpstream without added layering [+0.5]
- various misrhythms near the end; if you’re going to use aggressive charting methods with fast taps, try your best to get the rhythms correct [-0.5]
- some attention seems to be paid to the file, but there certainly could be more done to make the file interesting; the color usage was a good touch – it surprises me that someone who executed the colored notes with those kinds of subbeats would produce that as a final result.

Lovely City (A21) – 6.5/10
- more color usage; I’m all for it, but I don’t like that the color scheme seems to change constantly in what you’re accenting [-0.5]
- 3.995/9.328/(etc): these separations are strange to me given the fact that the percussion does continue to fill that same spot in other places yet they’re not accounted for [-0.5]
- 27.245: minor continuity issue here; you have the 5 repeating notes for the synth, but this right arrows stands out as slightly erroneous because what you are soon to follow doesn’t coincide with what’s being followed on this particular note
- 53.078 to 63.412: you certainly have a good ear to notice that the quiet bell plays at a slightly unscaled interval; using an arpeggiated pattern like 4212… or 4313… works really nicely here [+0.5]
- 74.412 to 95.421: weakest part of the file; it feels convoluted because of the constant switching in jump representation between the actual melody and just the snare itself; definitely not a fan [-2]
- 95.745 to 106.078: colored notes are a bit messy here because they’re not cohesively attached to other steps [-0.5]
- last repetition of the chorus felt a bit over aggressive [-0.5]
- has a respectable structure, but there’s a bit of confusion in precedence near the middle; color usage was a bit over the top for me personally

Lovely City (A22) – 2/10
- half-tempo was quite ambitious; not the most correct thing to do; unfortunately, it pushed your offset off quite a bit [-1]
- various rhythms aren’t placed properly throughout the entire file [-5]
- layering practically does not exist; PR exists but at an absolute bare minimum [-2]
- file needs substantial work

Lovely City (A26) – 7.5/10
- lots of pattern collisions that force isolated mini-jacks for no real reason [-1]
- a few rhythms could be changed to be better reflective of accents (52.706 and more glaringly, 101.873) [-0.5]
- a few notes are missing for accommodation of certain elements of the song included in the chart [-0.5]
- another easier/middle level file! This one is reasonably executed – it’s nothing special but it certainly gets the job done in my opinion.

Lovely City (A27) – 4/10
- subjectivemanias, but this cut really has no progression compared to the song; it starts with a bang and just does not feel right at all [-2]
- holy christ this chart is so overlayered [-3]
- patterning is really messy overall; many many many accidental repeated taps as a by-product of charting extremely heavily [-1]
- chart is on sync and for the most part, does attempt to follow the song; however, it has absolutely 0 restraint and it doesn’t work well, despite the occasional instances of attention to detail.

Lovely City (A29) – 1/10
- incorrect rhythms that don’t follow the song in any way [-9][/color]

Wheelpower & Go

Wheelpower & Go (B3) – 4/10
- 3.449 to 14.218: with there being some jumps that have guitar + percussion coinciding, some of the jumps going specifically to the melody look a bit strange [-0.5]
- 15.756 / (etc incl. ending): jack to trill is a bit strange here – all 8 synth notes are the same so there should be some sort of pattern continuity that ensures the player knows they are following the synth the entire time and not potentially something else – as an example, two sets of four jacks or four sets of two would have been good here [-1]
- 19.025 (etc): be careful with your jack placement [-0.5]
- 15.756 to 28.064/41.910 to 54.218: these areas are extremely light, which is a bit strange given that the ending actually accommodates for the bass kick; light deviations between sections is perfectly acceptable, but acknowledging a really prominent element at the end when it could have been done in the beginning to level out the difficulty is a bit of an issue [-1]
- 28.449 to 39.987: while the jump usage is consistent/structured and seems to attempt to address the tonality of the vocalist, it can be improved a slightly [-0.5]
- additionally for the previous section: your triple usage isn’t consistently accenting the instrument in question (29.602, 31.141, 32.679 are good, but why is it missing at 28.064/38.833?) [-0.5]
- guitar solo accuracy needs noticeable work [-2]
- missing note at 134.025, quite glaring
- a valiant effort to create a reasonably structured file; it doesn’t quite deliver, but it’s certainly not a bad attempt – there are some instances of patterning that indicate some effort in detail

Wheelpower & Go (B4) – 5/10
- very risky choice not attacking the solo when leaving that part of the song in; with that said, I don’t like it, but I don’t hate it either
- 18.856 to 29.433: relevance to the guitar can be a bit better here; a good strategy would have been to listen to all of the common pitches and lay them out accordingly – if you did, you would have ended up repeating a structure similar to how the right arrows sit on 18.856/19.240/19.817, (etc) [-0.5]
- 31.163/37.317/(etc): not a fan of this patterning; trills could have been a bit more effective for following the synth [-1]
- 32.317/(etc): these kinds of bursts are a little messy because there are lightly forced mini-jacks; it feels like you might be indirectly trying to follow the PR of the melody still, but it’s possible to do so without the straining patterns [-0.5]
- 42.702/(etc): given the overall difficulty thus far, this burst is quite nasty [-0.5]
- 43.471 to 55.779: respectable PR for vocals; does a good job keeping patterns differentiated while maintain detail [+0.5]
- 81.933: almost a cardinal rule in simfiling: when the solo is going on, don’t interrupt it; there are times where you can do it, but if you are going to, don’t interrupt it with something as jarring as this given that a.) the guitar is actually moving VERY fast at this point and b.) you are killing playability this way – solo rhythms aren’t quite perfect for the mid-section but this boost really hurt you [-2]
- 94.240: ok not gonna lie I think that’s kinda cute [+0.5]
- 113.471/118.856: your vocals break relevance here; why? [-0.5]
- 125.010: missed the mark on the rhythms here at the end; also, you have to find the middle ground between playability and representation if you feel like the guitar is going this fast: ask yourself – is it feasible for the player to be doing 32nd note bursts/16th+24th polys/48th bursts at this speed if the guitar is shredding beyond the point of recognition? [-1]

Wheelpower & Go (B6) – 5/10
- respectable attempt at syncing intro guitar solo; however, your chart feels quite a bit fast in some spots here [-0.5]
- 29.914/30.683/32.414/(etc): accidental mini-jacks add artificial rigidity to your file, and there are plenty of them dispersed throughout the file [-1.5]
- 43.472/(etc): vocal relevance is not quite there for me [-1]
- I can see that a lot of effort was put into the guitar solos – one of the biggest issues you have with this part of the file is that if you listen closely, you’re accenting a ton of pitch-bending; it’s tough to discern for sure – some parts of the solo are near impossible to blast through because of how tight the notes are coupled with the patterning with regards to pitch (here, and here for two examples). [-1]
- 125.010 to 137.318: there’s waaaaaaaaaay too many notes in here; even if this is correct, this is where as a player you have to consider level of playability and what’s audible in the song; 32nd notes at 165 is extremely fast and inaccessible to a rather small crowd [-1]
- ending is more of the same of the beginning with accidental mini-jacks and the works, hence the two point deduction overall
- another valiant effort; structure certainly exists but the chart goes too far over the top and actually begins to stray away from being reasonably playable

Wheelpower & Go (B7) – 6.5/10
- 24ths don’t sync up perfectly to the intro guitar; I understand minimizing colors but you should have a few speedier bursts here to accommodate for when it does get faster [-1]
- 16.357: this note is a bit extraneous; doesn’t quite follow the guitar
- 31.164 to 43.472/138.857 to 151.164: jump placement in these sections is quite inconsistent – there really should be little to no deviation in the structure [-1]
- 43.472 to 56.933: vocal relevance is alright, not quite perfect in my eyes [-0.5]
- mid-section guitar solos need work rhythmically, but unlike other solos, they are reasonably playable and at least make an attempt to be a bit interesting with patter choices while not being overly brutal [-1.5]
- 125.010: not rhythmically accurate at all, but this was a clever workaround and I appreciate that you wanted to put more attention to the guitar solo as opposed to the ‘tutti’ (composition terminology, etc). [+0.5]
- this was a pretty good attempt, and the file does have some pretty memorable moments that are reasonably playable – had th.is person exercised a bit more care in the guitar solos and nailing their rhythms a bit more closely, this could have been quite a clean and well-balanced file.

Wheelpower & Go (B8) – 8/10
- 22.972/24.511/29.126: questionable note placement for guitar relevance, albeit the guitar doing tremolos there certainly makes it tough to tell what the base note is
- sets of 4 jacks are acceptable for relevance, but the patterning is VERY uncomfortable in general [-1]
- 46.646/48.185/49.723: personally I feel like these triples accent something generally trivial given that you’re putting so much emphasis on the jacks; additionally, there are a bunch of 32nd bursts that force mini-jacks because of this [-2]
- the middle guitar solo is great. The ending guitar riffs are absolutely fantastic. [+1]
- had this file removed the accenting on triples and cleaned up some pattern placement, it would have been a home-run for me. Very well structured, and the guitar solos are near-perfect.

Wheelpower & Go (B10) – 8/10
- opening guitar solo is decent, some slight rhythmic correction can be applied and patterns can definitely be smoothed out a bit [-0.5]
- 18.860 to 29.629: nice job actually finding a way to structure the guitar + percussion while actually accommodating the bass with the subtle repeated taps [+0.5]
- 31.167 to 43.475/138.860 to 150.398: jump placement is consistently executed consistently, but it feels weird being that the synth line is so active and there are arguably a few notes that could be considered missing [-1]
- 43.475 to 55.398/110.013 to 125.013: vocal representation seems partially correct, but it doesn’t look right visually in some cases, which is somewhat strange to me given how you took on 97.706 to 109.629 [-0.5]
- 79.629 to 83.375: another victim of pitch bending/not-strummed notes causing massive difficulty spikes in the solo – however, unlike most people, your patterns are quite reasonable and have relevance too so it’s not nearly as bad [-0.5]
- 97.321 to 109.629: this is acceptable in terms of structure on its own, but given the rest of the file, it provides no separation from the more filling chorus [-0.5]
- second guitar solo is quite good; an interesting contrast from the submission that switches between rigid transitions into 16ths and smooth transitions into 24ths – the solo here is repeating 24th note patterns and they’re all generally smooth [+0.5]
- I generally favor this as a player over the other file that got a similarly good ranking; it feels a bit smoother and less forced – however, the structure for this one is slightly weaker than the other 8/10 submission

Wheelpower & Go (B12) – 5.5/10
- minijacks are an interesting execution for this and I agree with alternating sets of two being an acceptable structure, but there are some one-handed 32nd trills that need to be removed [-1]
- 26.201/107.739: why are these separated from the rest of the trill? very rigid patterning… [-0.5]
- middle guitar solo isn’t bad, but there are a few spots that could have more accurate rhythms/PR [-1]
- 66.970: very jarring and abrupt cut in my opinion [-2]
- chart does a good job using repeating patterns to capture the changing arpeggios
- attempts to have a structure, but there are absolutely obnoxious spikes – file just doesn’t feel comfortable to play either

Wheelpower & Go (B16) – 4/10
- quite a few extra notes in the opening guitar solo; some notes don’t quite line up properly either [-0.5]
- 12.704 to 16.166: the repeating patterning was a good idea, but if you look at the pattern a bit more openly as a whole, it looks like you’re trying to accent things every 8th note as opposed to structuring a 4321-2143 scale because if you repeat it, a player is going to more notably perceive it as 43[2121][4343][2121] as opposed to the intended (4321)(2143)(4321)(2143) [-0.5]
- 27.512: repeating tap?
- 42.704: …not a great idea there; not only is the jump-trill ill-conceived, it’s also not even the right length (should be 8 notes) [-0.5]
- first chorus has… alright relevance to the vocals; there are a few questionable jump placements but it’s not terrible; things like 47.896 (with the descending jump placements on the 8ths) are good
- 61.743: jump shouldn’t be there
- 68.858: absolutely not; 32nd trills here are a bad idea at 165 BPM, making it a jump-trill is an even worse idea, and making said jump-trill split-handed is just the icing on the cake [-3]
- guitar solo was a respectable attempt, although like a few others, there are slightly too many notes because you tried accenting some unpicked/pitch-bent notes; it’s not incorrect but it is an absolutely massive spike that needs to be avoided [-0.5]
- 97.700 to 121.931: having the singing with little to elements have the same jump accenting as the actual chorus is strange – there should be at least a little deviation in the layering structure [-0.5]
- 125.008: I… kinda like this; the reason why I like it is because a.) the staircase pattern appropriately accentuates the arpeggios here and b.) the color changes accent the actual key changes of the arpeggio – separately, these would look strange on their own, but together they kinda work [+0.5]
- 150.392: see 42.704 [-0.5]
- ridiculous overuse of sub-beats throughout the file that could be avoided [-0.5]
- mmm… those spikes were really bad…

Wheelpower & Go (B17) – 5.5/10
- 2.462 to 12.654: jumps are used for the melody exclusively, but there are instances where the jumps land on melody + something else and others where they are the melody on its own [-0.5]
- 23.807: this gap is a glaring one because effectively leaving it in makes a number of other notes feel inconsistent to the melody; if it was filled, then a player could assume that the 8th notes just fill in where the melody doesn’t play [-0.5]
- 27.077 to 39.192: not really liking the structure of the vocals here; lots of unnecessary repeated taps and there’s nothing really distinguishing the tone of the vocalist [-0.5]
- solo could use better pitch relevance, but the number of notes in there feels about right [-1]
- interesting cut… not quite as jarring because of a cross-fade and it cuts at a break in the first solo, so while it’s not the best position for a cut, it is executed relatively well
- 61.312 to 73.235: doesn’t really separate itself from the more filling chorus areas [-0.5]
- 73.619 to 85.158: see 27.077 to 39.192 [-0.5]
- 88.619 to 94.773: mini-trills are not the best conceived idea here – yes, they do one-beat long arpeggios, but the issue here is that the 4th and 8th notes are clearly different notes: one of the submissions utilized pitch-relevant 16th runningmen here and I generally agree with that concept for a less intense file [-0.5]
- back half of the second guitar solo could use a bit more accuracy in rhythms/structure [-0.5]
- a bit lacking in details, but the structure is acceptably done; as a whole it could generally be improved

Wheelpower & Go (B18) – 5/10
- opening guitar solo isn’t very well structured; differentiating between speeds is one thing but when you switch in and out from too slow to appropriate to too slow in areas where it’s not merited… [-1]
- 31.164/57.318/138.856/145.010: this jump not being chained to the rest of the trill is a bit distracting to me given that the synth does play on the 4th note [-0.5]
- 31.164 to 43.471/57.318 to 69.625: jump usage is strange [-0.5]
- burst usage for a good majority of the file is weak – there are nine 32nd bursts to the synths that force mini-jacks [-1]
- 80.683: interruption in the guitar solo? [-0.5]
- 83.471 to 95.010: various guitar notes missing as a result of only using 16ths here [-0.5]
- 97.318 to 109.625: the vocals really aren’t separating themselves from a regular chorus here – yeah, the percussion is not playing so it’s not a running stream, but why is everything jumps here? just because there’s a coincidence of the quiet synth and the vocals doesn’t mean all jumps are necessary [-0.5]
- 127.702: strange pattern switch in guitar solo, and it’s a bit more jarring coming out of an already split-heavy pattern; it’s a shame because the rest of the guitar solo, while a bit rigid, was executed reasonably well [-0.5]
- patterning in this file needs work; the first and second sections of guitar solos are pretty weak, although the third one is respectable; representation of the euro-beat like melodies could be better

Wheelpower & Go (B19) – 8/10
- 31.244 to 43.552/57.398 to 69.706: solid structure, but I can’t help but notice that pitch relevance on the 8th note jumps wavers a bit [-0.5]
- the two vocal sections combined with everything else could be a bit better in visual relevance; it’s not quite clear if the vocalist’s tonality is being represented [-1]
- second guitar solo does a generally good job following rhythmic specifics, but doesn’t seem to lay off of the pitch-bends/unpicked notes which produces an extreme difficulty spike [-1]
- final guitar solo is excellent [+0.5]
- really solid file!

Wheelpower & Go (B20) – 3/10
- rhythms on the first solo are ok at best; patterning could be a bit more correct with regards to pitch [-0.5]
- mini-jacks are alright, but some of them are created as a by-product of triple usage, which I feel is overaccented; additionally, they don’t seem to be used consistently given the general usage of the repeated notes in the song [-2]
- lyric areas could use a bit more relevance to PR [-1]
- 54.241: I understand the purpose behind it, but it’s not a good idea because you’re essentially giving something less prominent a lot more accenting power than it needs [-0.5]
- guitar solo starts off somewhat weak with rhythms but absolutely tanks when going to a 32nd stream; it is extremely fast, but you have to account for overall playability as well when considering this chart [-2]
- 97.318 to 109.626: literally no distinction between the main chorus and this bridge [-0.5]
- last solo is pretty bland with no highlighting in the accented notes/no highlighting the repeating arpeggios [-0.5]
- structure is below par overall; mini-jack usage causes pattern collision and the triples make this worse – the guitar solo absolutely kills this chart, though

Wheelpower & Go (B24) – 4.5/10
- intro solo is not well charted rhythmically [-0.5]
- 18.927 to 29.504: very overcharted [-0.5]
- 31.235 to 42.773/112.773 to 124.984: jump placement feels a bit strange; some jumps aren’t quite accenting the melody and whatnot – patterns are also quite uncomfortable and bursts occasionally force mini-jacks [-2]
- 54.311/94.311/109.696: understand it, but you’re giving comparatively weak accents a bit more power designating these as triples [-1.5]
- cutting the middle solo out in entirety? hmmm… at least the cut is clean… [-0.5]
- 105.850: some notes not quite synced up with 16ths here [-0.5]
- structure isn’t very sound to me; second guitar solo is cut out in entirety and the first one isn’t very accurate rhythmically – the first half of the final solo is decent with pattern repetition but it needs work overall

Wheelpower & Go (B26) – 2.5/10
- 18.087: missing bass note kinda kills continuity there
- 18.856 to 29.433: accenting is inconsistent; jump placement isn’t clear [-1]
- inconsistent jump usage, bursts are one-handed trills occasionally, no consistency/coherency in structure, missing notes on occasion and mis-rhythms exist as well [-2]
- 83.471 to 95.010: after beginning the section not accenting the guitar, accenting it here feels strange; regardless of this, your rhythms aren’t quite correct here [-1]
- 106.548: added jumps? [-0.5]
- 121.933: at 29.625, you accent with a jump on the 4ths, but here you use straight jumps? They also end in mini-jacks which doesn’t help the cause [-1]
- 125.010: the runningmen are pitch relevant here; they might not be correct in rhythm but they accent the 4th/8th notes well [+0.5]
- 132.318: right around here though, the speed should get a bit quicker in your chart to accommodate for the faster riffs [-0.5]
- 138.356 to end: poor structure all around [-2]

Wheelpower & Go (B29) – 1/10
- 6.549: not correct, and hardly enjoyable/playable [-2]
- 31.164 to 42.510/57.318 to 69.625/: what do these jumps go to? They’re not placed very cleanly… also, the trill-bursts are unreasonable given that there are a number of one-handed trills [-2]
- second guitar solo is REALLY poor with regards to both accuracy and playability [-2]
- the third guitar solo is simply unplayable [-3]
- structure is weak, but the main reason for the deductions is simply because the chart is not sensible.

---

Unpause the Heat

D1 – 5/10
- intro bursts don’t quite follow the “level-up” sound; syncopating is always an appropriate thing to do, but the timing needs to be correct [-0.5]
- 18.154: proper PR is not a bad thing, but having a long repeating jack for repeating pitch is a bit jarring; additionally, you break PR for the first note because of the ascending 64th triplets (you could easily resolve this by not using jacks, but trills instead) [-0.5]
- 22.737: this note is quite faded and reduces the accenting power of the note at 22.654 which accommodates for the next melody
- 23.487 to 34.154: jump usage is slightly inconsistent, particularly on the cymbals
- 42.154: this is quite strange; many of these notes don’t exist or are just barely audible, and it’s a bit strange to see 42.654, 42.987, and 43.321 not being jumps given the hard percussion accents (additionally: what are the jumps at 42.154/42.821 following?) [-0.5]
- 46.654/50.654/51.987/53.321/(etc): ^ [-0.5]
- 51.987: in all technicality, this should be a grace note too
- 73.987/81.987: no reason for these mini-jacks given that you have been actively accenting percussion throughout the whole song – given that these both come before a triple, they feel incredibly forced
- 77.321: this is also quite unnecessary, given that 82.654 does not contain a mini-jack but also has that three note ascension with two snares [-0.5]
- 90.154 to 100.821: see 23.487 to 34.154 [-0.5]
- 105.321: strange jump sequencing here; why is 105.487 not a jump? why is 105.737 a jump? percussion coincides appropriately on both of these, and both instances play a chord with melodies in it too [-0.5]
- 108.362: missing 32nd for grace note in melody
- 110.654: this feels a touch overstepped as a split-handed jumptrill given the volume
- 114.654: missing note for melody
- 133.737: missing note for hi-hat
- 140.071: mini-jack is unnecessary given that there are a bunch of bass-drum repeats just like this one [-0.5]
- 146.321: if you’re going to have this mini-jack for the subtle melody, you need to add them at 148.987, 151.654, 154.321, (etc) [-0.5]
- 156.821: massive difficulty spike and honestly, not the most fitting for the song [-0.5]
- file has a respectable structure in some areas, but occasionally convoluted in others; rhythmic accommodation leaves something to be desired as there are some (imo) key notes missing or steps added for nothing

D3 – 9/10
- 6.018: with the interval clearly being different at the start, quantizing to straight 8ths is strange – one color could have been acceptable as a sound effect, but two implies that there’s a specific rhythm[-0.5]
- 27.164/(etc many times): with the grace note leading out of a triple, it might be better to briefly accommodate for the crash cymbal as a jump and then have the last tap bring things together
- 36.497: starting this runningmen sequence on the down arrow is the most optimal given that the pitch does actually change at 37.497 (and actually causes a minor PR break at 37.664) [-0.5]
- 48.664: color issue here – your desired sound effect is orange, but the next note holding the synth quantity is also orange [-0.5]
- but… the color usage in that area overall is quite nice aside from that error [+0.5]
- this file is excellent!

D5 – 1/10
- 7.527 to 18.027: while this follows the rhythm of the song for the most part, the structure doesn’t really fit the song well; patterns seem to just shift randomly [-1]
- 18.027 to 22.027: jumps on 4ths? [-0.5]
- 23.360 to 44.963: various issues; inconsistent structure, misrhythms, strange changes in layering, poor PR – there are many incorrect things here [-2]
- 56.693: remove jump
- 59.360: not really appropriate as a trill given that there is a descending melody [-0.5]
- 60.693: noticeable sound, but misrepresented rhythm [-0.5]
- 65.360: ^, plus jumps for some reason? [-0.5]
- 66.027 to 87.360: inconsistent jump usage (only captures parts of the melody while others are jumps?), misrhythms (big culprit a little after 76.360), ghost notes (83.027), at a glance [-1]
- 89.360 to 111.360: see 23.360 to 44.963 [-2]
- 114.027 to 134.027: jacks for relevance are a good thing sometimes, but this is not executed well; players aren’t going to enjoy hitting 16th notes at 90 BPM for 8 measures – it’s very jagged and not well-conceived given the rest of the file as you are essentially putting the hardest part of the song in a rather calm/mellow section [-1]
- at this point, I have already allocated nine points of deductions – I will not continue.

D6 – 5/10
- opening is a bit strange given that it is clearly two notes, yet your RDRL implies three notes
- the first burst to the “level up” sound is not synced appropriately and in fact, is quite overcharted [-0.5]
- 13.237: missing note for that pop sound you accent earlier
- 14.153/(etc): slide timing isn’t quite right; because it’s 32nds (and not something tighter), it’s actually extremely rigid and defeats the purpose of a slide in the first place [-0.5]
- 17.486/(etc): the 64th should come before the 4ths/8ths, not after [-0.5]
- 18.153: a long repeating jack for repeating pitch isn’t very fun, despite being correct
- 25.319/27.318/28.818/(much etc): not a single one of the 64th grace notes in your chart are correct; all of the chorus areas are 32nds, and the bridges like 17.486 should be three 64ths coming before the 4th note [-0.5]
- 30.651/35.984/41.317/(etc): missing jumps for cymbal crashes, which you have in various areas of your chart [-0.5]
- 47.487/47.987/(49.070)/49.820: various missing jumps or (missing taps altogether) for bass drum [-0.5]
- 52.820: burst doesn’t fit for this particular sound
- 60.819: rhythm is incorrect for the sound, and given that you actually took the time to hand sync this in the intro to be colored, it’s strange to see the rhythm incorrect here, especially given that 65.506 is respectably accurate [-0.5]
- 84.486: jump placement is really strange here [-0.5]
- VERY jarring cut that could have been reasonable (albeit short) with an fade out given that the particular sound actually fades in the song [-1]
- structure is noticeably incorrect in some places, yet structurally sound in others; details in the chart aren’t always well conceived

D8 – 5/10
- interesting to cut out the first few samples; makes you stand out in that regard
- pitch relevance in the intro could be better [-0.5]
- 18.513 to 39.513: this is a rather large stretch of area where the jump usage is not really clear; there are a lot of ambiguous jumps, some snares are not labeled as jumps when there are either coincidences between melody; additionally many grace notes are charted as 64ths when they should not be both here and later on in the song as well [-1]
- 42.180: this is very sloppy; if you wanted to put so much emphasis on accenting an instrument that happens to coincide with another, just color them cohesively [-0.5]
- 45.347/46.347: missing white notes (see: 39.854/41.187) [-0.5]
- 49.430: missing jump or note for bass drum; why are these triples here? [-0.5]
- 61.180 to 82.513: up to 77.180, the jump usage is very clear but it’s not structured well with regards to pitch; after that point, some jumps disappear for whatever reason [-1]
- about 90% same as first pass of the melody rhythmically/structurally, just turned left in direction, so all errors apply [-1]
- structure isn’t clear in some sections, rhythms aren’t completely correct, and color theory could be executed better

D10 – 2/10
- pitch relevance needs work for the entire chart; even if the chorus is heavily layered and tough to see in terms from PR, there most certainly shouldn’t be tons of repeating 8th notes [-2]
- 23.488 to 44.488: jump usage does not accent things clearly – additionally, there are numerous patterns that chain/connect 8th notes for no reason [-2]
- 27.988: not clear why this is done [-0.5]
- 44.488: extremely jarring cut [-2]
- 47.879: missing jump from a clear melody [-0.5]
- your chart stops abruptly [-1]

D11 – 3/10
- pitch relevance needs work in the intro [-0.5]
- 20.821: the bass keeps playing here, so this loss of steps is quite abrupt [-0.5]
- 23.487 to 44.821: there are many extra taps in here; your chart structure appears a bit more convoluted than it should be because of jumps explicitly for the melody which is quite active – even then, some jumps are missing to the melody, and the start of the phrase actually adds three jumps for percussion as filler [-2]
- 66.321 to 87.487: ^ [-2]
- extremely abrupt cut [-2]

D12 – 6/10
- clever song cut
- jump usage in both chorus areas feels a bit strange [-1]
- 38.030: feels a bit sloppy with jumps instead of the three 64ths instead [-0.5]
- 38.697: repeated taps are correct with PR, but it’s a bit jarring overall [-0.5]
- 49.363 to 65.363: I feel like jump placement could be generally improved for better pitch relevance; it is possible that there is pitch relevance in single taps, but the layering in this area is generally heavy so it’s hard to discern [-0.5]
- 113.362 to 123.695: feels like there’s a few too many jumps here [-0.5]
- 124.029 to 138.695: jumpstream is a bit overdone – there are prominent accents in the percussion that could be utilized as triplets here, and you’re not accenting the chip in the background as 24ths either, so… [-1]
- this chart doesn’t feel half bad to me, but the jump usage feels a touch aggressive compared to what it should be – rhythms for the most part are correct and the representation in pitch isn’t too bad compared to other submissions

D13 – 5.5/10
- overall for the entire chart, I feel like the jump usage could be executed a bit better; the bass kicks are not very prominent so having jumps for them makes the chart feel quite a bit heavier than it should be [-2]
- PR is ok, but there are some noticeable areas where it can be improved; there are numerous 8th note collisions/repeated taps that look strange coupled with the fact that the melody itself has repeated notes at other points [-0.5]
- not quite the cleanest song cut at 63.725s [-0.5]
- 74.717: this pattern implies that something special is going on to merit a repetition, and indeed it does; however, the interval of the chip (which is what I assume you’re following here) isn’t a constant repetition, as the first beat of every measure starts with the highest note, and the fourth beat of every measure is also that same high note, so your interval should be repeating there [-0.5]
- 78.717 to 101.217: direct copy-paste from first chorus, which is incredibly lazy given that you are following sounds that don’t necessarily have a tonal quality [-1]
- file feels a bit heavier than it should; also, the person who charted it did a lazy job directly copy pasting from the first chorus to the second one given that there was plenty of potential to provide differentiation while still providing respectable pitch relevance/structure

D14 – 3.5/10
- 24ths in intro for the “level-up” sound don’t quite work [-0.5]
- pitch relevance could be reworked for a good majority of the file; there are instances of respectable PR few and far between [-1.5]
- there should be no 64th grace notes anywhere in the chorus; they’re all 32nds [-1]
- many jumps missing for various things (see: 29.206/33.873/37.873/38.540/(many more in the next section etc) [-1]
- 18.206: using jacks is proper for PR, but it’s not very fluent/fun to play [-0.5]
- 27.706: jumps? [-0.5]
- 70.373: mini-jack isn’t appropriate for pitch here
- honestly, because this file takes a very simplistic approach and uses primarily prominent percussion/melodic elements, a large majority of it is 8th notes and it feels quite draggy despite being only 1:48 – this isn’t a difficulty issue with it being too easy, but rather an inherent structural issue that doesn’t provide enough differentiation between sections [-1.5]

D15 – 6/10
- 17.961: little cosmetic issue with the 3/32nd jack; this could have been avoided had the 32nd been a D instead of U
- 27.128/38.711/42.461/43.128: missing jumps for claps; there are various instances in this part of the song of each thing being accented, both with and without multiple coinciding sounds, and I see no reason to have them omitted here [-0.5]
- 36.628: PR could be improved here
- 44.806: you accented this at 49.490, why not here? [-0.5]
- 50.138 to 60.805/to 68.805: this layering scheme is interesting and I can comprehend that jumps for snares only occur along with the melody, but it seems to break after 60.805 and honestly, I don’t like the structure because it appears inconsistent at first glance due to some prominent percussion elements not having jumps sometimes when they have jumps other times [-1]
- 73.306: clever attempt at a cut, but it’s quite clear that it’s a chop so I’ve gotta hit you for it slightly despite a pretty decent musical execution; in addition, your chart gets offset to a yellow note which is incorrect sync (this could have been disastrous but you alleviated it relatively quickly) [-1]
- 83.467: your sync gets a bit later here [-0.5]
- 94.134 to 104.801: not a bad attempt, but most players aren’t going to hear the faded notes enough to recognize the pitch relevance; you could have done better simply maintaining the RUDLRUDL patterns, changing when necessary rather than adding a bunch of 16th notes that are a bit harder to hear [-0.5]
- acceptable song termination, you definitely picked a good sample to call it quits on
- respectable chart, but some various things could be improved overall

D17 – 5/10
- intro bursts right at the start of the song are not quite correct [-0.5]
- 48th slides/grace notes also aren’t quite right either; not even in the same notation [-0.5]
- being that a lot of the file is based off of using jumps to explicitly accent the melody, the pitch relevance needs some work in some sections [-0.5]
- 18.133: jacks are fine for PR but they’re not exactly fun to play either [-0.5]
- 20.800: bass keeps going here, so abruptly stopping feels strange [-0.5]
- 23.467 to 34.133/34.133 to 44.467: such a massive contrast in layering structure between these two sections; one specifically assigns jumps to the melody which makes it feel extremely heavy, the other backs off a bit from it because of the high number of grace notes – it feels awkward to play between these sections [-1]
- 69.667/75.300: these bursts are not very apparent [-0.5]
- 90.133 to 111.467: see 23.467 notes; apply different times to sections [-1]
- chart has a respectable structure but it is extremely heavy in instances where it really doesn’t need to be; there are various errors scattered throughout

D19 – 5/10
- intro bursts are not quite correct rhythmically [-0.5]
- this chart has noticeable (not perfectly correct, but decently attempted) PR and correct rhythms past the intro, but has literally no jumps and that absolutely kills it for me because nothing is really being accented aside from the occasional grace notes here or there [-2]
- 36.629: PR is respectable, but it breaks PR at 37.796 when it should break at 37.639; this also happens at 103.379 [-0.5]
- 39.129: this trill is quite glaring; the rhythm is right but the pattern used to represent what’s going on is definitely not (this also happens at 105.629) [-0.5]
- various notes that could be accented as graces are missing (25.296, 27.296, many more, etc) [-0.5]
- 44.796: same as the intro? This could have definitely been different while still maintaining relevance [-0.5]
- 83.762: glaring misrhythm [-0.5]
- person obviously has a grasp on pitch relevance and when to utilize grace notes in the chart, but there are still many missing; unfortunately to add on to that, there’s not a single jump in the chart… I understand trying to keep a file easy, but you can still accent certain things without bumping up the difficulty much if at all, and that file fails to do that; instead, we end up with a file that took the time to put in detail in pitch that unfortunately has no solid structure, which is a damn shame – it could have scored much higher with some layering over the top of the current structure.

[hi19hi19]

Re: 2nd Official FFR StepCon!

Also I might as well add
Xiz, PrawnSkunk, AJ, judges, everyone who worked on this competition.
Be mindful not to internalize the failings of the event as personal failings. I trust (and you should too) that everyone genuinely wanted the best for this tournament and its participants.
The key is to criticize the organizational issues that caused this result and not the people.

Stuff like clearly defining goals, making sure to have enough judges, better communication... that's what should be under consideration here.
It's easy to want to take personal blame or assign a scapegoat- "this was all my fault" "X person screwed Y task up" but you're not going to get anywhere unless you're being impartial and fair to the people involved.

*sigh* I hate making posts like that because it winds up being me having to play the bad guy in order for anything to get done. That's no good.
I really just want the site to grow and it's sad for me to see things so many things recently not meeting that goal.

[ilikexd]

Re: 2nd Official FFR StepCon!

I will disagree with hi19 for one thing, and that's the elimination structure -- the fact of the matter is that the competition had a large number of entrants (87, to be precise), and the cuts were done evenly based off of the number of people assigned to each rounds. This isn't unfair to do -- in fact, it would be more unfair to cut based off of the number of submitters if the group turnout is higher than another group; as an example, if 4/17 submit of one group submit and 16/17 submit in another, it wouldn't quite be fair to eliminate anyone in the first group if half are supposed to go on in both rounds, because half would be 8 and 8. This somewhat correlates with hi19's point about generally low file quality -- as a moderately to moderately-strict judge in batch judgments, I can very honestly say that I would not have accepted a large majority of the competition's files.

I agree with hi19 and disagree with this. There is no inherent reason for half of each group to necessarily advance. Competitors from all groups will just be reshuffled next round into new random groups; each group won't further subdivide. The only possible problem with this would be an extreme scenario such as only two or three submitting, and the scores being something like 8/8/7 or 8/7, where everyone performed adequately and doesn't deserve elimination. However, the inverse of this already happens when elimination cutoff counts those who do not submit: people with as low as 3 or 2 being able to advance when they deserve elimination while people with higher scores in other groups are eliminated.

And as a plus, with more eliminations per round, there is less labor involved in the latter rounds as group sizes quickly shrink, which ensures that judgements can be completed timelier, and with more detail to notes for each file which is more important when relative quality becomes more similar. Logically, there is no reason for there to be 3, 2, or 1/10s to get through the second round, and with the structure that was used, there was no strong sense of elevation of quality between the first and second round, which is what the process of elimination should produce. To put it bluntly, having also been a judge for the first two rounds myself, there was a negligible difference of quality between round 1 and 2 which invalidates the reasoning behind there even being rounds in the first place.

[hi19hi19]

Re: 2nd Official FFR StepCon!

I honestly think either structure would be acceptable if there was room for growth between rounds.

Part of the reason you saw no change in quality between rounds is because the people submitting had no idea what they did wrong or could have done better anyway, so continued to make the same mistakes.
That's an issue with feedback.

[MyNameIsNothing]

Re: 2nd Official FFR StepCon!

(they might be in order of appearance, I'm not sure).

That's how it was done. I appreciate the notes on my unpause the heat file, thanks for posting them.

[Gradiant]

Re: 2nd Official FFR StepCon!

Lovely City (A15) – 8/10
- 27.988 to 47.822: the repeating taps outside of the main melody just feel wrong; they might be following the bass but they certainly feel like a ridiculous contrast to the more notably repeating synth [-2]
- 53.988 to 63.988: not a fan of the triple usage in some instances – with an easier file, the cymbal crashes feel fine, but the others, not so much. [-0.5]
- 63.988 to 74.655: really interesting patterning [+0.5]
- this is a nicely executed, low-to-mid difficulty file.

Awesome, if none of the winners ended up picking a file for this song, I'll be making some minor adjustments and sending into a regular batch.

[TC_Halogen]

Re: 2nd Official FFR StepCon!

wanted to make one more post:

i'm going to assume accountability for everything that happened in this event for one reason, and one reason only:

Xiz and Prawn wanted this to be a simfile tournament that was held as a smaller event, but the issue that happened is that they proposed the winning simfiles being in game, which is something that steps out of the bounds of what they should reasonably handle since neither of them are simfile judges/Game Management.

When the event was being mentioned, it was mentioned in the text body as "FFR Stepcon: II", obviously playing homage to the original event. I personally had no problem with this, but being that it was being brought as an event that wasn't going to be official, I escalated it as such so that the prizes of having your file put directly in game and having two files queue'd wasn't so far out of the way.

The best decision that I could have done was simply said that the files could not be queue'd, and that the winning entry would not get into the game -- instead, this could have stood as a user tournament altogether. None of this would have happened as it is now.

[hi19hi19]

Re: 2nd Official FFR StepCon!

Jeez. So as this all dies down I'm gathering that I poked some kind of events team hornet's nest.

I would really like people to... simmer down... and remember that everyone involved had the best intentions, if not the best implementations.

So please nobody suicide or hate each other forever or anything. Thanks.

[dashoe93]

Re: 2nd Official FFR StepCon!

hi19hi19, can we be friends.

[MarioNintendo]

Re: 2nd Official FFR StepCon!

I'm happy that AJ gave me an 8 at Wheelpower and Go. Made me feel like I knew what I was doing, after all. In the end, I might've lost because some judges were not the best at their job. I'm fine with that.

The fact that we get simfile feedback helps us giving feedback to judges so that themselves get better at doing their jobs. And that's totally fine.

I "stepped" Palms Read 2 because I knew I had no chance of winning this tournament. I had quit the moment I saw the notes for round 2. I felt like none of my efforts were getting paid off. I was comparing my files to others, with my keen eye, and often thought "this should rank me between third and first place for sure". Not being narcissistic or subjective or anything, I really believed it. Over the first two rounds, it became quite apparent that my stepping style simply did not come across. I am curious to know what the issue was with it. Were the judges looking for technicality over fun? The opposite? I can't tell after all of this. I am confident in the fact that I am a great stepper and that, with maybe a different judge roster, I could have had real chances of winning. However, after all this turmoil, I am fine with the results as they are. I gave up, so no hard feelings for round 3. I just wish I'd give up for other reasons, though.

I wasn't doing this for the money in the first place, I was legitimately trying to get better at stepping. I put my soul in every one of my simfiles, which is no easy work. I play them over and over until my fingers know them by heart. They might not be perfect, by any means. I can find many mistakes in my first two serious submissions, since I kept on playing them even well after the rounds ended. I still feel they deserved better, but I can live with that.

I have to be honest, here. I love the people who organized this tournament and helped it become a reality. But I absolutely hated how it unfolded. That's not even because I had no idea of what was happening behind the scenes, or because the deadlines were not met (I always expect delays, really, FFR Queue taught me this). It was because I genuinely felt like I gave it my all and got nothing in return. Heh, maybe I should have judged for this tourney. Maybe in the end this is the result of my own choices. Irony. I'm not blaming anyone. Just a bit sad, is all.

So that 8/10 means a lot to me, AJ, and thank you for the solid review. I read what you wrote and I feel the exact same on all of those files. To you, I tip my hat. I could not have done it any better.

And I tip my hat to everyone else who made this happen as well, not just AJ. Hat tip all around. We as a community should learn from this event, because this did not happen in vain. In the end, I stepped two songs that I think should have seen the light of day, but never will. That's the only thing I'm sad about. The rest, truly, is fine with me.

[hi19hi19]

Re: 2nd Official FFR StepCon!

As well meaning as that post is, I encourage you not to pin any blame on the judges.
It's not easy being impartial, especially with so much on the line.

While I'm not Buddhist, I believe the Buddhist view of basic goodness is especially relevant here- nobody in this entire situation went into it with the explicit goal to hurt anyone else.
So you have to remember that these judgements were not born of malice but necessity- this is, after all, a competition, and you sign on to such things when you agree to compete.
It's fine to believe that the judges might not have agreed with your philosophy on what is valuable in a file (this is the origin of my complaint about the judging, by the way), but you can't hold them doing their best against them. Given the circumstances, every judge did what they thought was right.

The best attitude to have is to ignore attachment to what could have happened, and instead be proud of your own achievement and learn from the experience.

[MarioNintendo]

Re: 2nd Official FFR StepCon!

I don't blame anyone; truth be told, I don't even know who the other judges are lol. I simply said that because it seemed to be the thought floating around this thread (edit: that the judges were not the most qualified at judging). I don't have any problem revoking this idea, if that's how it came across.

I don't think the judges gave my file a lower a rating in order for them to win the prize. That thought is absurd, and in no way reflects my position. I simply mean that I at least felt reassured that AJ's reviews were in agreement with the way I felt over the files I played. For example, hi19, I completely disagreed with your reviews most of the time, and they made me uncomfortable, since I genuinely started questioning both my simfile tastes and my stepping abilities. So I just feel at peace now. No harm done. I regained confidence, and to me that's the most important thing.

Yeah, come to think of it, this tourney hurt my confidence in my stepping abilities as a whole, so I can't help but feel refreshed to see I wasn't so out of bounds with my files, at least in AJ's opinion (edit: which I have always deeply trusted).

[Wayward Vagabond]

Re: 2nd Official FFR StepCon!

I just hope the people who organized this will use it as a learning experience for next time. Stepcons are a neat idea that can potentially bring the best in steppers so its something I'd like to see continue

[PrawnSkunk]

Re: 2nd Official FFR StepCon!

This event was inspired by the drive to test something new. Had we had decided to challenge a bracket-style tournament, there is no knowing who might win, or how successful the outcome. We now know what does, and what doesn't work in an official stepcon. Although this event may end on a sour note, I would like to personally thank everyone in this tournament for participating! I hope everyone made a stepfile they are proud of. I will be organizing judge review distribution, so expect a little pink envelope complete with Hershey's kisses in your inbox tomorrow! xoxo