Questions for stepartists

[XxMidigamixX]

Originally Posted by Wayward Vagabond

who has influenced your stepping style and why?

if you just started stepping who do you look up to?

for the vet stepartists

would you say you have your own style?

how much has your stepping/style evolved since you started?

1.) I'm not too sure yet. I just got into the stepping scene recently and well I'm not sure where or who is infliencing me.

2.) Kil, Kommisar, gd, Carlos, moches, Necros and AlexDest.

3.) Yes I do haha. I can say that my style definitely reveals itself in "My Friend Mudkip" from ODMix2, whereas in "Pair of Aces" that was me trying to see how a file comes out while drunk hehe.

4.) For sure. Comparing Pair of Aces to now with files like El Chavo del Ocho and For FFR v2, I see myself improving in how I step my files. I'm now starting to step more classical peices to improve pitch relevancy and sync along with other VG projects that I am working on, mainly from both Paler Mario and Arc Rise Fantasia OSTs.

[dAnceguy117]

just read everyone's postz. I luv all of your simfiles <3

who has influenced your stepping style and why?
good lord... so many people. I'll name some names in rough chronological order.

BMR - A and V. not much else to say.
Arch0wl - one of the first to make "tru" keyboard files
Reach - made me realize that files should be, first and foremost, fun
Toph - straightforward, accurate files. maybe the most consistent influence throughout my steppin' history.
Zagh, KCIII era - I feel like he kinda took Toph's approach "2 da next level."
Ducky, yessssss, Glove - put a new focus on precise layering
[complete gap where 2007-2010 should be]
scylaax, rog, gundam, kommi, moches, ****ing lots of people - I've been soaking in a ton of new ways to express sounds. been enjoying the hell out of it, too. you guys rule.

would you say you have your own style?
no idea, honestly. I didn't start playing spread until '09, so pattern choices in most of my files might be kinda unusual. I've never made a really conscious effort to break the mold, but I haven't tried to mimic anyone, either.

how much has your stepping/style evolved since you started?
haha, I could break my style down into 5-10 different eras, but I'll spare you all. started out focusing on indexable stream. gradually started incorporating bursts, jumpstream, holds, hands, note-to-sound layering. I plan to focus more on spread-based flow. I also look forward to incorporating modern visual techniques. the biggest novelty in my upcoming simfiles will probably be the song choice, though... U WILL ALL C...

[dore]

Early on, my stepping style was a mix of "what can I get away with with FFR's engine (avmiss era)?", "what do people find fun?", and "how difficult should this section be in relation to the song, etc?". So my biggest influence would basically be expectations of file s and how I wanted to explore those generic ideas. I think that led to some fun easier files but couldn't really create good harder stuff.

My style has evolved a lot from there. I made a few VS files that were extremely important to my development that have never been released: Dance Like You're Selling Nails which really explored some layering ideas and PR stuff that I've used throughout most of my later files; also the original version of ERB which didn't have the burst walls and stuff but uses similar PR techniques that I've used in most of my harder stuff ever since.

But basically my style now is to base my patterns on technicality and comfort. But I like to use uncomfortable patterns to accentuate certain sounds rather than only using more notes to accentuate things. I like to use ideas within a pattern instead of traditional layering to get the idea of multiple things across without necessarily layering both things. I don't really care if people who try to score well on my charts like them; instead, I focus on making the experience replicate the music irrespective of scoring play and make the music the focus of the chart. I think that opens me up to dislike from vocal critics, but I don't really care because I like to play every single one of my files stepped in this style and so I assume someone else will as well.

EDIT oh hey this isn't in an FFR subforum lol oh well

[kommisar]

no1 will forget your smgroove community revival pack files dore

[Wayward Vagabond]

Sweet some older faces answering these questions. Awesome

[hi19hi19]

Originally Posted by Choofers

I enjoy stepping something challenging (and not just hard from a player standpoint, I mean hard from a simfile artist standpoint as well).

These two songs were recently recommended to me by various people:

If you want challenging to step...

On one hand Venetian Snares and Aphex Twin aren't exactly groundbreaking artist choices (lmao) but the songs are pretty interesting.
Both have sections that have no semblance of a consistent BPM, for starters... could also do the Bell Orchestre cover of Bucephalus Bouncing Ball, it's a little more consistent but still awesome.
Maybe we should collab or something (jk I never follow through on collabs because I'm a space cadet)

[Tidus810]

Originally Posted by hi19hi19

(jk I never follow through on collabs because I'm a space cadet)

ohi der. :P

[SKG_Scintill]

Lol I've tried to step Bucephalus Bouncing Ball like 5 times

[EzExZeRo7497]

Haven't really released or sent any files to a pack or anything but I do make files... so why not.

Who has influenced your stepping style and why?
A lot of people I guess. My style is something along the lines of "less technicality and more on consistent difficulty via layering", so I'd say people like IcyWorld or Metzger are my main influences (Not because it's mostly jumpstream, but they tend to layer a lot to make files difficult). I get influenced by Toph or Zaghurim because of consistent and straightforward difficulty.

If you just started stepping who do you look up to?
A lot as well. hi19hi19, Kommisar, Gundam-Dude, leonid, Wayward Vagabond (wc), DossarLX, just to name off my head.

[hi19hi19]

Originally Posted by SKG_Scintill

Lol I've tried to step Bucephalus Bouncing Ball like 5 times

Ya it's a doozy

[moches]

who has influenced your stepping style and why?
a lotta people. from 2006 to 2007, I was figuratively in a cave when it came to Stepmania: no contact w/the community at large. the first project I ever sent a file to was Keyboard Ultimix, where SulferDragon and Kommisar were judging (and Ben Speirs, hehu. hi, Ben!). only 2 files out of 20 got in, but I got a lotta feedback from both judges that gave me a pointer towards the basics of stepping, and over the period of working with that project, my files began to develop a structure of their own...

both Sulfer and Kommisar were the first two people in the community that I ever looked up to...and still look up to today.

2008 was just me messing around in Stepmania but not making anything worth much, lol. my files then were almost purely geared towards technical value, mostly influenced by the big influence of elitism in the community that make me feel like I had to follow "THE RIGHT STYLE OF STEPPING" or sth. didnt get much help from anybody, either.

I did meet a duder named Puppet when I submitted for the second FFR Community Pack who provided some very unique criticism of my submissions. his files were...unlike anything I had ever played before. I honestly feel that he was the Kil of his era: he messed around with things that most people never even thought about and broke ~stepping conventions~ of the time in the process. to this day, he remains a huge presence in my files, particularly in my mine and jack usage.

at the same time, the Xoon community provided a great place for aspiring stepartists like myself to flourish under the tutelage of one Mr. Kommisar. what made the community special was the relative lack of elitism among the authority figures: everybody's work was valued. ppl seriously underestimate the good a friendly, open community does to a collaborative game like Stepmania, but Bluexoon was to me what I'm sure SMGroove might have been to other big stepartists of the past.

even better, this was where I met Gundam-Dude for the first time while working on Xoon Finale/the infamous Drama Packs/Xoon 4. we rose together throughout our respective careers, and to this day I value his files very much. like he said in his answer to this question, we definitely fed each other but took off in different directions.

to sum up:

SulferDragon
Kommisar
Puppet
Gundam-Dude

if you just started stepping who do you look up to?
n/a

for the vet stepartists
would you say you have your own style?
every stepartist develops his own style with enough releases and influence from other artists' work. mine is mostly unique in the artistic usage of mines: if you look at files like Programmed World, I was one of the first people to use them for detailwork instead of difficulty. the other big thing is COLOR THEOREMS, which I first used in Balloon Park and developed from there. I especially love the 48th teal notes. they're beautiful.

judging from the amount of time it takes for me to still finish a damn file, though, I still focus a lot more on pitch relevancy than I probably should. my files also tend to be much much easier than those of most prolific artists: who knows why, really. I guess I've never really found a need to make a file more diffiult to better express the song.

honestly, CROQEL is probably a comprehensive summary of everything that makes my stepping style unique. call me arrogant, but I don't think anybody could have stepped that song the way I did. or even thought of the concept, hehe.

how much has your stepping/style evolved since you started?
it evolves all the time and I wouldnt have it any other way.

[samurai7694]

kommisar - amazing stream patterns. some people say it doesn't flow well...and I beg to differ. I sort of had it in me since stepping day 1 except my files sucked, but I try to make my stream patterns very comfortable now (with little to no one hand patterns and somewhat index-friendly).

gundam dude - playing his files sort of made me use holds more when making files for stepmania (except my first few SM files released had too much holds) as well as color theory which Byron showed me how to do

patashu - in a strange way got me more open to left hand jacks (Grist, J'ai, and stepmania file Jig) and also told me about percussion layering when judging my GENTLEMAN file a long time ago, and noticing some ghost notes (guitar feedback/sounds in Grist dafuq) which I sometimes do to be honest.

bmah - layering which would sometimes work out well with patterns such as at 747 combo in Necropotence and most of the jump heavy sections in Rock Rock Rock. I LOVE files like these)

[ScylaX]

the artistic usage of mines:

How could I forget that. It's like I forgot I put mines in my files since the beginning rofl

[Wayward Vagabond]

Another question for all you stepartists

What kind of songs do you seem to find yourself stepping the most? Has the type of song changed over the years?

[Elite Ninja]

What kind of songs do you seem to find yourself stepping the most? Has the type of song changed over the years?

At first I started with simple techno songs. Then started stepping some DnB. And a few other genres here and there. Guess electronic music is the main kind I step though.

I just recently finished stepping this song which was a lot of fun:

[kommisar]

What kind of songs do you seem to find yourself stepping the most? Has the type of song changed over the years?


welllllllllllllllllll





























chiptunes.

Started off doing songs I listened to on a regular basis, but as I started stepping more "steppable" material, I delved into Bemani tracks, chiptunes, vgmetal and often some sort of electro genre variation.

[moches]

What kind of songs do you seem to find yourself stepping the most? Has the type of song changed over the years?

i never really cared, but most of my songs are constant bpm since I never learned how to sync :3 after Programmed World I got into stepping kors k songs, which eventually evolved into a lot of Bemani songs. Serenade/Phlogiston are two other artists that I have constantly stepped. usually if I step one song by an artist/genre and it feels good, I step more songs from that artist/genre

and recently I have stepped a lot of pop music, starting with a 2NE1 file back in FFR Autumn 2011 and leading up to a couplea other files. seems to fit my style well

so bottom line is...Serenade, kors k, Phlogiston, Bemani, chiptunes, and most recently pop

[AlexDest]

What kind of songs do you seem to find yourself stepping the most? Has the type of song changed over the years?

I'm up for any kind of challenge really, it offers me a wide variety of ideas.

But, I do enjoy stepping anything that has a rough and fast-paced mood to it. Breakcore, IDM, DnB, etc.

[SKG_Scintill]

What kind of songs do you seem to find yourself stepping the most? Has the type of song changed over the years?

I've tried plenty of genres, but rock with interesting rhythms/time signatures always take the cake. (I don't even like the music, just for stepping)

When I started I DID step everything, which I wasn't good at, even though I thought I was.

[xferrarix]

What kind of songs do you seem to find yourself stepping the most? Has the type of song changed over the years?

VGM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! and nop, every now and then i'll step a real song