Songs of the Week (August 24, 2013)

[popsicle_3000]

i like your comments hi.

[mi40]

1 32 32 1 32 32

[Choofers]

I really want to see your take on kyuin

[qqwref]

Originally Posted by bmah

Actually there is [128ths]

Not in DWI or SM files (so, by extension, not in FFR) - everything is quantized into 192nds. If you try to step 128ths or 20ths or whatever, the program will just snap them to the nearest 192nd as soon as you load it up.

Anyway, about the difficulty spike, I AAA'd it too, but it still bothers me because I know if the same exact thing was in a harder file I'd be stuck with one or two misses, and that really sucks on a combo scoring game.

[Fission]

Originally Posted by MrPopadopalis25

I'm gonna be stepping MOSAIC.WAV songs until the day I die and possibly afterwords as well.

ew

[mi40]

kavvaii songes

[T-Force]

Originally Posted by hi19hi19

(was that a Game Grumps sample at the end? lol).

While that would be friggin' awesome (and even more so seeing as I'm a Grump fan), it is not. The song was made in like 2006 or 2007. I found out about it around that time period so it sliiiiiiiiiiightly precedes the Grumps.

[XelNya]

Originally Posted by hi19hi19

Pretty lame week overall. Despite being one of my least favorite types of music, Sagano Rakuyou Emaki was a standout for how well-made the file was. Definitely the favorite of the week.


Alice's Garden
PR errors everywhere in the grace notes. Grace notes should follow the direction the tone is being rolled. Also some more minor PR errors in the melody, such as a repeating jump near the middle where the tone actually goes up. In a file this simplistic literally all there is to do is get the PR absolutely perfect; that it is incorrect is a problem.
Not sure about the arrow colors: either the white arrows were for color theory and went to absolutely nothing, or the BPM was wrong. Use small BPM changes to avoid this. Either way the arrows were the wrong color and that was annoying.
Overall just your typical technically weak file that got in because it's easy. Judges please be more harsh with this level of file in the future.

Note: As far as stylistically, I've said this before and I've said it again: easy files should have a consistent beat and give new users something to follow to practice reading and rhythm. This overabundance of ambient, color-fucced gracenote fests are bad for the game and push away potential new players. I would actually prefer being the most harsh with easy files, as it's the experienced players who know they will have to wade through some bad files to get to ones that make sense. New players shouldn't be thrust into the world of ~dumpy artfiles~ without at least the chance to understand the core of the game first. It's why we moved Synthlight files to Legacy and it's why we should hold files like this to an incredibly high standard before accepting.

Sagano Rakuyou Emaki
Interesting layering scheme, PR and the white arrow color theory followed nicely and was used where appropriate.
I applaud your restraint in not stepping the trills. The difficulty flows really well as a result.
Despite not being a fan of the music, I happily concede that this is a really well done file and an excellent addition to FFR for those who do like this genre.

Suit Up
Started out really fun. The half BPM sections made sense to me. As noted, the green color theory arrows were frequently a frame off. Use BPM changes to fix this next time (if you want an example, check my Silence file from my Tournament Pack. It's a huge pain in the ass to do correctly.)
The trill was definitely a huge difficulty spike but whatever, sometimes you need a dumb difficulty spike to give an otherwise bland file some character. It's a tradeoff.
The quarter BPM section was a little excessively hard to read. Got pretty repetitive after that, to be honest.
Overall just a really repetitive song pick, then you put some gimmicks and difficulty spikes in to give it replay value.
On one hand it's not that bad technically, cool song, fun to play and all that, so I guess it's fine. On the other hand though it was a pretty weak song choice from a steppability perspective and that's why people are raging, I think.

XTC Hill Zone Act 24.7
Super generic file. Lots of little background rhythms that could have been utilized to give some variety that weren't, especially in the beginning. Not saying what was stepped was wrong, just that there were some missed options to spice it up.
Most steppers have made a file with lol16ths and jumps to the bass drum, glad to see the tradition lives on. (DESTINYYY)
Overall nothing hugely wrong with it, nothing majorly recommending it. Cool Sonic nostalgia from the sound effects. 24ths and the color notes to Big were fun little interludes (was that a Game Grumps sample at the end? lol). JS patterns were solid.
Like there's not too much overtly wrong with the file except for the fact that I'm a jaded old stepman and have seen all this before so yeah. Good stuff, I suppose.

Originally Posted by Choofers

I had this marked down as a 3.5 until I had to pass, due to it already being accepted. I don't get why it received the scores that it did rofl, the pattern usage is blatantly incorrect, grace notes make absolutely no sense, it's super boring, and yet the highest it got was an 8.5.

Judges need to be harsher, otherwise we get shit files that people don't like in-game.

Originally Posted by hi19hi19

Hey Choof you gotta be politically correct, it's not "people don't like this file" because I realize one person likes the file.

The problem is we are trying to appeal to more than just one person when you put something up for public consumption on a site with thousands of active members.

Originally Posted by Choofers

still a bad file

Why don't you like my charts...

Originally Posted by KiI14

rofl Alice's Garden so bad

Who are you again?

[EzExZeRo7497]

Alice's Garden: Music choice aside (definitely one of Benn's top works), I didn't really find this enjoyable. I'd say that the excessive grace notes definitely ruined it for me, I expected something similar to say, Steel for Pappa due to how serene the track is. Other than that though, I was a little disappointed overall. Wouldn't say that it's bad, but it's definitely not my taste at all.
XTC Hill Zone Act 24.7: Was rather generic, but the patterning makes up for it. Cool file duder.
Sagano Rakuyou Emaki: 32nd minitrills might be a little too excessive, but I like the file overall, haha. Totally didn't expect MOSAIC.WAV to make that song though, wow.
Suit Up: Good song choice, difficulty spike might be a bit too much but I found it pretty okay overall.

[dAnceguy117]

Alice's Garden:
I couldn't agree more with hi19's second paragraph.

Originally Posted by XelNya

I agree with this however it's a mellow chart, but the graces do make it harder to hit if you're a newer player looking at it.

That's precisely the issue. New players who choose to play a chart with a difficulty rating of 14 shouldn't have to worry about 64th intervals or anything of the sort. Many of those grace notes have 12/21/34/43 patterns, which makes them even trickier to hit.


Sagano Rakuyou Emaki:
Wonderful.


Suit Up:
The jumps to the guitar sounds give the layering scheme sort of a freeform feel. Smart move. I don't think this chart would be as fun with more strict layering.

I don't have any problem with the BPM cuts to change the colors, and I don't think the trill is out of line considering the difficulty of the rest of the file. If anything, maybe the quick rolls in the second half of the file could have been toned down.


XTC Hill Zone Act 24.7:
The 24th rolls going to the sonic-getting-hit noise seem kinda sketchy haha. The jumpstream sections flow nicely.

[Choofers]

Originally Posted by XelNya

Why don't you like my charts...

I like your good charts. I don't like your bad charts.

Who are you again?

he's jurs

[ilikexd]

Originally Posted by XelNya

Why don't you like my charts...

the point of stepping very easy stuff is to appeal to beginners and give them something that they can do (so ive been told), not something higher level players can do but get bored doing so.

when i was a beginner i played with one hand and it was all about single notes on common intervals (4th, 8th, 16th, 12th) and the occasional jump. excess of jumps and color notes and pretty much any hands/grace notes in easy charts is pretty bad. <- apparently this isn't a well-known thing.

just because the guitar is being strummed on 2 strings doesnt mean you are obliged to insert a bunch of grace notes and jumps.

[SKG_Scintill]

Bodies In The House Next Door by The Flashbulb, dif 14
Alice's Garden by The Flashbulb, dif 14

hmmmmm...

[rCaliberGX]

Originally Posted by SKG_Scintill

Bodies In The House Next Door by The Flashbulb, dif 14
Alice's Garden by The Flashbulb, dif 14

hmmmmm...

I sent Forbidden Tracks lol

Too bad it's not a 14

[mi40]

Originally Posted by SKG_Scintill

Bodies In The House Next Door by The Flashbulb, dif 14
Alice's Garden by The Flashbulb, dif 14

hmmmmm...

ey at least mine has guitar strums in it

[XelNya]

I actually played all the charts this week, so commentary.

Alice's Garden
Musician: The Flashbulb
Step Artist: XelNya
Song Genre: Classical
Difficulty: 14
Song Length: 1:49

You're all just haters.

Also, should be a 16+ at minimum. You can't cheat those graces if they where fixed properly.

Own chart though, so not really gonna comment on it.

Sagano Rakuyou Emaki
Musician: MOSAIC.WAV
Step Artist: kjwkjw
Song Genre: Dance 2
Difficulty: 54
Song Length: 1:55

Easily the best chart this week. Props kjwkjw. After the past few weeks, this chart was a nice breath of fresh air.

Suit Up
Musician: Blue Stahli
Step Artist: DarkZtar
Song Genre: Rock
Difficulty: 51
Song Length: 2:18

Little wonky for me, but not that bad. That trill was sort of troll though.

XTC Hill Zone Act 24.7
Musician: DistantJ
Step Artist: T-Force
Song Genre: Arcade
Difficulty: 65
Song Length: 2:42

The JS is awkward as heck, chart feels offsync, and it goes on for like a minute too long still.

[_Fluttershy_]

I liked XTC Hill Zone, thought it was an awesome file, maybe a little bit too high for a 65, could be a 62-63, but still an awesome file! Rest were cool aswell.