Untitled StepMania Pack submissions

[Coolboyrulez0]

maybe

[SKG_Scintill]

sent a Zappa

[Wafles]

Originally Posted by ilikexd

its natural and everybody is hesitant to change stuff on a creative piece of work that they have put time into. but everyone makes mistakes too and sometimes you just have to change stuff, even the best can benefit from a different point of view. hopefully you can understand.

Of course I can understand and take criticism. I'm perfectly happy to address any errors I overlooked but when it comes down to more subjective things like stepping style I think I would be very hesitant.

I have an idea for a file I think but it is going to take some time to step well. Hopefully it turns out good

[Wayward Vagabond]

Originally Posted by SKG_Scintill

sent a Zappa

Hey remember those files you sent me a really long time ago to collab on you with? Did you finish any of them? If not I'll get those done and yeh

[ilikexd]

Originally Posted by Wafles

Of course I can understand and take criticism. I'm perfectly happy to address any errors I overlooked but when it comes down to more subjective things like stepping style I think I would be very hesitant.

I have an idea for a file I think but it is going to take some time to step well. Hopefully it turns out good

That's fine. Different people have different styles of stepping and like to do different things. Ultimately it's your simfile and if the changes asked for and criticisms received don't mesh with your vision then you shouldn't have to change it, but we are looking for specific things in submissions to this pack. The hope is that reviews can help you improve your simfile and fix errors even within the context of your own ideas.

For example, I posted several points about AlexDest's file that I thought should/could be fixed, and he disagreed with some of what I said. After talking about it further on skype he did defend some things, but agreed about others. Some stuff is more of suggestions and a bit of personal opinion, and if you disagree with what Fission or I say, then post about it explaining. "CONDITIONAL" doesn't mean mandatory change everything, but it means you should probably change some things and look over everything.

I just wanted to address that here since I know some people get a bit turned off in the face of criticism.

[SKG_Scintill]

Originally Posted by Wayward Vagabond

Hey remember those files you sent me a really long time ago to collab on you with?

no

Originally Posted by Wayward Vagabond

Did you finish any of them?

no

Originally Posted by Wayward Vagabond

If not I'll get those done and yeh

yeh

[Fission]

Journey Into Sound (wv & CosmoVibe) - ACCEPTED
- song choice is really cool and lends itself well to some interesting patterns
- looks like there is some missing notes in what sounds like 3 bursts that you have stepped as 2 notes. consider looking at this again? it's not super noticeable, just thought i would point it out.

[Fission]

Battle Of BRS (XelNya) - REJECTED
- the problem with a song choice like this is that it's really difficult to make a file that isn't arbitrarily varied (if that makes sense?)
- there is quite a few ghost notes (e.g. overstepped 32nd bursts), listen on a lower rate
- a lot of the mini holds are unnecessary and emphasize guitar notes just fine as layering
- it's not inherently a terrible file, it's just not what i'm looking for

[Fission]

Bright Sound (Dry Lagoon) (moches) - REJECTED
- there is quite a few gallops that are incorrectly stepped, look at these again
- your file goes out of sync later (is this due to subbeats?)
- it's reaaalllly colorful and it doesn't need to be. some color is fine for accenting but not this much.
- what you are accenting and not is really inconsistent too. some notes are 96ths but other notes on the same sound are 16ths.

[Fission]

Destination Relapse (moches) - REJECTED
- it's a well made file and it's decent for scoring on, but that's basically all it offers.
- it doesn't have anything that makes it stand out from other files like this. it's just lots of broken jumpstream with some long jumpstream thrown in.

[Fission]

last review for now. i'll review revisions later.

Cock/Ver10 (Valor) - ACCEPTED
- this file is really awesome. on the surface, it's just generic breaks but the structure does a really good job at accenting all of the subtle nuances in the song.
- it's not that bad, but i'd like it if you shorten some of the holds so they don't end 192nd before the next note

[kommisar]

couldn't you just add them all in one post lol

[TC_Halogen]

Originally Posted by kommisar

couldn't you just add them all in one post lol

He is doing that.

[ScylaX]

Originally Posted by Fission

Destination Relapse (moches) - REJECTED
- it's a well made file and it's decent for scoring on, but that's basically all it offers.

*takes a few steps back*
Well I guess I'll wait for another project to come up.

[Fission]

can you elaborate on what exactly is wrong with this review? there is so many files like this already.

[TC_Halogen]

First off, if this pack has standards like ODI3 (as mentioned on the OP), it's pretty easy to see why the file wasn't accepted.

Everyone knows that moches can step, but if you've heard Destination Relapse as a song, I'm sure you could realize that the song doesn't present a lot of really good deviation for charting; it's just a really aggressive song with some very even synthetic riffs. I've seen the chart before, there's nothing wrong with it at all and I really enjoy it, but Fission is expecting different for his pack -- he's allowed to choose what he wants and doesn't want, haha. (A good comparison: GLoVE rejected my Anger of Yuyu file for ODI3 with absolutely no criticisms at all, and complimented the file structure overall, but merely rejected it because there were a number of files that were like it already in the pack because I submitted late.)

[Fission]

i feel as if i must ask: is there something that people are missing in the OP? i thought i made it very clear that this is a selective pack looking for really unique files. i don't want to discourage people from sending files, but i'm still going to be really strict.

[ScylaX]

(please don't take the whole italic part as an argument, I'm just telling you what my tastes are and what universally conditionates my approach)

To my mind, a sim being "well made" and "good for scoring" (implied : "it's fun!") doesn't deserve to be rejected from a pack, except if it's very VERY generic (like, displaying a very very limited "stepping-paradigm" : simple patterns, simple use of notes, like it was back then for Keyboard Collaboration), especially for a pack that aims for a certain number of files (ergo : not a minipack).
As long as it's sufficiently complex, as long as there's a decent idiosyncrasy poured into the file and that - at the same time - the said file is genuinely fun to play (decent/balanced difficulty for the player, melts well with the music etc, aka gives an enjoyable experience AKA thinks about what makes a file boring to know what not to do, this is my main goal as a simartist), I consider the file to be "unrejectable".

To me, playing a game like Stepmania implies that the fun factor is prior to the aesthetical or technical factor (for instance). The technicality or aesthetic of a file may exist only to vary the "fun" one may experience while playing it! Promoting "uniqueness" or "creativity" over anything else just isn't my cup of tea. The file may be classic, as long as it isn't deadly simplistic, it has a place in my heart.


Now, you said you want unique files and I'm absolutely not opposed to that project, you lead the packs you want, you work for the result you're aiming for, there's totally no problems with that, my post wasn't a critique of what you wanted (aka a pack of "unique files") nor of your conception of what a "unique file" was. I'm not trying to refutate it. I don't want to force my personal sensibilities over whatever floats your boat. It would be diametrically silly.

What I meant in my post is : this isn't what I play Stepmania for.
I don't make my files to be "unique", I make my files to be "fun" and "impactful" (~~feel the notes~~) and I work exclusively toward that goal. My sensibility over pure fun is miles ahead my sensibility over pure uniqueness and creativity. I'll just wait for a pack in which my files will be more adequate, in which the expectations of the [judges/main judge] will correspond more to what I'm working for (I mean your goal is very specific, so a pack that doesn't have "specific expectations" like that will obviously suits me more).
If I eventually sent a file on which you'll criticize some aspects that aren't quite related to what makes it "fun" in my head, I will have the feeling to work on something for which I don't have particular... confidence, something that loses me quite a bit ; eventually, it will make my file unique, but it may probably contradicts my expectations of a "fun file", and I may find myself frustrated to not have got feedbacks that may improve the "funniness" of what I made. See what I mean?
I'm not usually picky, because usually packs I contributed to didn't have the ambition you have, so it was rather freestyle hahaha

So there's nothing wrong in your review! It just made me realize your goal is clearly not something I'm comfortable with, and contributing would just make me feel out of place.

ps: I thought "ODI3 standards" meant something else, I didn't followed the activity of that pack a lot so I just assumed this wasn't much different from other packs, just a higher quality standard, but nothing radical. Apologies for that misunderstanding.
ps2 : now that it's all written down I guess I could have simplified my thought a lot but.................

[ilikexd]

Of course fun is the ultimate goal. The problem is that pure jumpstream files have been done thousands of times and don't really offer anything new. So in a sense, it's not that fun to play a file that's really similar to so many others. The file was well-stepped and a pretty good jumpstream file, but it's just specifically not what we're looking for. I hope you're not discouraged to send your files.

[ilikexd]

Final Battle vs. Satan (Kommisar) - REJECTED

this is just too repetitive, perhaps it could be better with a cut. also the offset is significantly early. there are a few missing grace notes (see 18.5s, 23s, 39.7s, etc)

Fuse Gymnast (Kommisar) - ACCEPTED
13s - this part is pretty empty, i think you can use more holds to the sustained notes
52s - missing a 32nd note after this triplet

really chaotic and challenging, very well done

Taiyou Iwaku Moeyo chaos (Kommmisar) - ACCEPTED

97.34s - this 32nd gallop is a bit early, and there is a missing note after it
99.6s - these 64ths are all early, they can be shifted down to 16ths

both charts are nice and i'm happy to see a file of this difficulty

He's a Mental Giant (Kommisar) - ACCEPTED

this is absolutely fantastic! good rap/hip-hop files are hard to come by and this is just amazing. halving the BPM was a great effect for when the bg cuts.