東方楽踊脇 Touhou Gouyoukyou (Touhou Pad Pack Rebirth; now accepting)

[TrickMasterMint]

Introducing Touhou Gouyoukyou, my answer to the Touhou Pad Pack II. Originally started as a part of the mintmania series, Touhou Gouyoukyou will be a high-quality Stepmania pack consisting entirely of Touhou songs: originals, rearranges, and remixes. This will be a community pack, and I encourage the lot of you simfile-authoring Touhou fans to get in on the action. And in case you're wondering, the kanji mean "music", "dance", and "armpit".

Rules and Regulations:

Guidelines are important, so here are the set of rules that must be abode by in order for your simfile to be eligible for the pack.

1. Your chosen song must be between 1:35-2:10 and must be in .ogg format.

Please do not whine about the exclusion of long versions or marathons from the pack. This will ensure that your stepfile will be compatible with ITG2 r23. If possible, try to keep your song below the 2:00 mark. More often than not, cutting of the original mp3 will be required. You can either do this yourself with programs like Audacity or Acid Pro, or you can ask one of the Touhou Gouyoukyou pack leaders to cut it for you. We'll be glad to help.

2. Stepcharts must include all difficults from Beginner/Novice to Heavy/Hard. Oni/Expert charts are optional.

This will ensure that players of all skill levels can enjoy any given file in the pack.

3. No stepchart can exceed a difficulty of 12 on the ITG rating scale.

In my honest opinion, when stepfiles start to go beyond the rating difficult of 12, they lose much of their technical difficulty and become artificially difficult. Many simfile authors have shown themselves to be capable of creating technically hard 13+s, but many more, those who make up the majority of the general Stepmania population, have shown that they are incapable. To prevent any future issues, charts cannot exceed the 12 rating unless given the full consent of the pack leaders.

4. Graphics in a .png format are required. The banner must be at 512x160, and the background must be a multiple of 640x480. CD titles are not required.

Banners at 512x160 ensure full (and the best) compatibility in both Stepmania and ITG2. Regardless of the banner size in ITG2, the most widely accepted size for a stepfile banner is a multiple of 256x80, as shown with the stepfile banner for every official DDR song. Therefore, that is the measurement we will use. A CD title is not required with your simfile; however, if one is not included, a generic "Touhou Pack" title will be used. If, for any reason, you do not like your graphics or are not capable of "good" graphic editing, or if you cannot provide a CD title but wish to have a CD title made for you, the Touhou Gouyoukyou pack leaders are ready to assist. Just ask us.

Let's review:

1. Your chosen song must be between 1:35-2:10 and must be in .ogg format.
2. Stepcharts must include all difficults from Beginner/Novice to Heavy/Hard. Oni/Expert charts are optional.
3. No stepchart can exceed a difficult of 12 on the ITG rating scale.
4. Graphics in a .png format are required. The banner must be at 512x160, and the background must be a multiple of 640x480. CD titles are not required.

Simple enough, yes?

Judging:

The Touhou Gouyoukyou pack leaders will be critiquing all files submitted to the pack. Aspects such as sync, flow, style, and technique will be analyzed beneath a microscope. Generally, we're not OMG SUPER STRICT about these aspects, but if the file, for any reason, has glaring flaws or ridiculous artificial difficulty, it will be rejected. However, do not lose hope. Any rejected file will include suggestions on what to fix and how to make certain parts better. We want to help people become better simfile producers in the process, so we will help you in any way we can to make your simfile suitable for submission.

Submission:

Post in the thread, and let us know what you wish to submit, so we don't end up having a conflict of song choices. Song choices are on a first-come, first-served basis, so if you want to do a song, you'd best reserve it ASAP.

Sending in the file can be handled in one of two ways:
1) Upload it to a host of your choosing and PM the link to your simfile to me.
2) E-mail the simfile to me at xelamint [at] gmail [dot] com with the subject line "Touhou Simfile Submission".

Via whatever medium you decide upon, please include the name you wish to be indentified as, as well as the name of the song and the artist. As soon as we receive your simfile, it will be tested as soon as possible. Please be patient in waiting for approval.

If you have any further questions regarding the pack, please do not hesitate to ask. Contact information for the pack leaders will be provided soon. The goal is at least 26 simfiles, so let's make it happen!

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