Autotelic Jacks - GFX Request and Submissions

[AutotelicBrown]

As the name might suggest (aside from the AJ initialism), I'm working on a pack centered on jack files made by yours truly. The name might also suggest no one really needs to play the pack, but leave that aside for now! Planned release on next march 23rd Soon(tm). Check the submissions section to see more details on what kind of files to expect and the GFX request section to check my current song list.

The main reason I made this thread is for the GFX request part. I can make some myself but there are a lot of talented individuals around here that could make a much better work than me. That would also help alleviate my workload with this pack.

The submission part is more of an extra if you think you can contribute to my vision. The pack will be released regardless of guest charts with a predefined minimum of 10 files.

Details for each of those things are listed in the following two sections.

GFX request:

-Background and banner resolution for the gfx sets are 1280x720 and 512x160, respectively, including pack banner for the latter;

-Each song will have a description of constraints for the gfx (e.g. include character associated with it);

-All banners must include song name + artist unless otherwise noticed;

-I expect gfx of at least decent quality. For some concrete reference, I'm fine with some recent stuff like hi19 packs, BOAT and VGMP4;

-I reserve the right to reject any submitted gfx. I'll do my best to provide feedback to any serious submission but I'm no artist, so expect some vague comments!

SHK - Log-in, set by Shikari

BN:

BG:

Feel free to ignore the original Pump it Up gfx for this, but the gfx should either suggest a virtual world or something 'digital'.

MasamiT (まさみティー) - Toraburu kuroneko manbiki (トラブル黒猫漫遊記), set by auxy

BN:

BG:

Banner must have song name in japanese only and must show 'Toho Bossa Nova' as a subtitle of sorts as an easier way to identify the file, and for artist name either japanese or english is fine. Must include the character Chen from touhou. GFX should reflect the playful nature of the song (note that its title could be roughly translated to 'the troublesome black cat adventures' or something along those lines).

pocotan - Fly with Me (nnn Remix), set by c@s (ilikecatsalotihatedogs#4990 on discord)

BN:

BG:

Try to reflect some oppressive or at least not human friendly environment or visuals. There is also a sense of adventure in this song and others from the album (although this cut doesn't represent that so well). You can take a hint from the original album art too (anime girls optional).

Cyber Rain-Force - Pluto (冥王の星), set by Pixl

BN:

BG:

Banner must include both the english and japanese title. Theme of Star Breaker from 100% Orange Juice, so she must be included in the gfx.

Foilverb - Restriction Nightmare, set by c@s (ilikecatsalotihatedogs#4990 on discord)

BN:

BG:

GFX should be serene in tone and follow the old video game music aesthetic of the song (e.g. using pixel art).

IRON ATTACK! feat. ABSOLUTE AREA - kobura (コブラ), set by c@s (ilikecatsalotihatedogs#4990 on discord)

BN:

BG:

Note that I already released this file on skwid 7 but it has meme gfx there. Banner must include both japanese and romaji song name. I want this to feel space-y, which is theme of the album and the impression that I get listening to the song.

Paekjaesung (Grand Chase OST) - TrackC, set by Spenner

BN:

BG:

Banner must use "Grand Chase OST" instead of the composer name. This song was originally used for the first few bosses from the game Grand Chase - Gorgos, Partusay and Elena/Kamiki - so I want either Gorgos or Elena/Kamiki in the gfx. It's also preferred that the gfx shows the character Elesis too and bonus points if it is in its first or third classes (due to my personal relation with the game).

DiGiTAL WiNG - DON'T STOP, set by Arntonach

BN:

BG:

GFX must include the character Yuyuko from touhou and give the dance hall/rave idea or at least not suggest traditional dancing as various Yuyuko pictures do.

DJ CHUCKY - Abyss Of The Darkness, set by , set by Arntonach

BN:

BG:

Oh boy. Being schranz and all, you should definitely depict the aggressiveness of the song. Considering the meme factor of this song and chart, some over the top dark and edgy gfx would be fine too.

Ensiferum - Battle Song, set by Coolboyrulez0

BN:

BG:

Unleash your inner viking.

36 - Indigo, set by Coolboyrulez0

BN:

BG:

This should follow the style of 36's abstract art covers.

Pack banner, set by Coolboyrulez0

BN:

Nothing fancy, just "Autotelic Jacks" written in elegant typography with a pleasant and discreet background. Bonus points if you make something that can easily fit a modification of color scheme + text for my future "Autotelic [insert theme]" releases. Note that I'll edit this thread with the banner after it is done.

aran - Taranis, set by Coolboyrulez0

BN:

BG:

Focus on reflecting the mellow melody of the song while still keeping in mind the intensity (e.g. in the choice of dominant colors). Also thanks to lurker for sharing this song and being cool with me stepping it.

Eptic - Brainstorm, set by Kraezymann

BN:

BG:

No specific requirements, I'll leave you the job of brainstorming ideas for this one.

QUIL - Gympie Gympe, set by Kraezymann

BN:

BG:

No specific requirements but gfx leaning on minimalism is preferred.

Yunosuke (雄之助) - PaⅢ. SENSATION, set by Kraezymann

BN:

BG:

Banner artist name must include both japanese and romaji in the form "雄之助/Yunosuke". Note that Ⅲ is a single unicode character. Song is vocaloid including Miku, Rin and GUMI. Ideally I want all three in the gfx but only GUMI is fine as it might be hard to fit all three.

YUC'e (ゆーしえ) - Manatsu no Dramatic (真夏のドラマチック), set by Kraezymann

BN:

BG:

Banner must include romaji artist name (japanese optional), and both japanese and romaji song name. Some cute summer (TL note:夏 = summer) anime girl should work (see his soundcloud artwork for reference).

All done!

Submissions:

What is expected for charts here:
-This pack is geared towards good practice-oriented jack files. By jack files I mean the difficulty/challenge of the chart must come from any form of jack patterns excluding vibro. By practice-oriented I mean that charts shouldn't have too much downtime (i.e. parts irrelevant for its difficulty), the difficulty of the challenging parts is consistent without notable spikes (i.e. flat difficulty curve), the file should have a clear intent of what kind of jack pattern it stresses and it's totally fine to have repetitive charts given everything else is fine. By good I mean that the song selection fits what you are trying to do, it feels good to play (i.e. feels like you are really playing along the song) and that anything you put in the chart is musically warranted - including elements of 'dumping' which I'll touch on next.

-Regarding dumps: I strongly advise against dumps in the form of ghost intervals as jacks usually feel awful to play when not clearly associated to some sound, but it's fine to include a bit of it for filler/transition streams that do not constitute the actual jacking if it makes sense (e.g. goes to a softer or buzzing sustained sound).

-As a guideline, I prefer that you try your best to adhere to traditional charting of matching notes to prominent sounds and following pitch relevancy (in special, jacks for repeating sounds), but for the sake of building interesting charts difficulty-wise it's also fine to use more liberal layering schemes like associating a single sound to jump/hand/quad and having forced shorter jacks if the chart is dense enough.

-Regarding difficulty: Most of my files are geared closer to my own current skill level which translate to a spectrum of files that are challenging on 1.0x from higher D5 to lower D7 (based on FFR divisions). It's fine to step outside this range but keep in mind that easier files must be hard enough to be a jack file on 1.0x (rule of thumb would be at the very least 100bpm 16ths for longer jacks and 120bpm 16ths for not so long jacks) and make sense on rates (don't have sections that degenerate into unreasonable spikes on higher rates).

-Some examples of files that would fit nicely into the pack: Turbo (FFR), Punkture (FFR), Toccatina (hi19's 1), The Vital Vitriol (Skwid 7). Some example of files that get the idea but I'd review the execution and/or song selection: The Privateer EDIT (hsmp2), Sandstorm (hsmp1), I'm so drunk (DCP), Trance Party (Yolo Dumps), Imperishable Night 2006 (Yolo Dumps), various mizuki files, various golgo13/sensationer files, boku-boku beta (Alice final), two minute jack (hsmp4), Stone Cold (ATTangs dumpmix). This list is by no means exhaustive and I can send samples of my current charts for reference if requested.

-Extra difficulties are encouraged if they have something to add in terms of practice or accessibility. I might propose to add a new difficulty of my own to your file if I think it's appropriate. It's fine if you decline but do note I'll be less lenient in judging idiosyncrasies of your chart that aren't autotelic (tm) enough.

General information:
-As I mentioned before, this is more of an extra so I'll be extra rigid reviewing those.

-Only one pending file by stepartist (e.g. you can only submit a second file if your first one is accepted or pulled out).

-I'll review any file as in-depth as I think it has potential of becoming a good fit into the pack.

-Files will be rated as either Accepted, Conditional or Rejected. Accepted means you made it, Rejected means I don't have much hope for your file and Conditional is everything in between. Some Conditional files may be included in the gfx request section ahead of time if I have enough confidence it'll be worked out in time, you can consider those files in a 'weak accept' state.

-Send your file through any of those channels: PM on FFR forums, my email autotelicbrown[at]gmail[dot]com or PM on Discord (AutotelicBrown#6754). Feel free to contact me about anything else related to this pack too.

-Tentative deadline for submissions is until January 31st.

Sent reviews:

Note that those reviews may lack a bit of context because I also talked about some things directly with the submitters.
Accepted:
Brainstorm (Alamanar) [1]
chaser (Wh1teh) [1]
Manatsu no Dramatic (Klaius) [1]
Gympie Gympe (Tim) [1]
Hartmann Virus (Wh1teh)
Conditional:
AIIRO REACHER (James May) [1] (pulled by the author)
Rejected:
Break The Targets! (Cinnamoroll) [1]

I'm currently a bit constrained in terms of time and internet access, so expect more activity from me about this pack around mid december.
EDIT 23/12: Actively working on finishing my files and reviewing submissions!
EDIT 22/03: Only finishing touches remaining.

Thanks for your time, hope you have an enjoy when the pack is released!