Deathangelx13x EP Pack

[deathangelx13x]

That's right folks, it's been completed. It contains 10 brand new simfiles. 5 Simfiles that I've finished over the week and the other 5 are 5 never released simfiles that I finished before my hiatus from simfile making. http://www64.zippyshare.com/v/86628447/file.html
That's the link to the pack, download and enjoy smashing at your keyboards! There is also a text document in the file itself that I would like for you all to read as well! Enjoy!!!

[Mollocephalus]

it's cool that you made a pack exclusively on your own, but post more info! Song info, difficulties, et cetera

[deathangelx13x]

Thanks Mollocephalus Future news of construction of simfiles will be on my profile so look on it ever so often here and there for updates and that goes for everyone as well!

[Mollocephalus]

Yeah, i'm just saying not everyone will be checking your profile, so when you make a thread be as exhaustive as possible. You can also still edit first post with the necessary info

[deathangelx13x]

That's what I was doing while I was making the pack and updating people on how far away I was from completing it but someone told me (I think a Moderator) told me to post updates like that on my profile and not in threads.

[XelNya]

Some quick comments for you I guess. I did not play these charts, but I did look them over in DDReam. I apologize if this is really blunt, but I do this in only good intentions.

Vertex: Your sync is wrong. Also it's usually not normal to begin on an 8th note. Also this chart's been done to death. Looks kinda fun if it was synced right. (I think your BPM is correct, you just need to correct the offset and it'd be pretty solid.)

Vemodets: Again wrongly synced. Are you trying to make an Index pack? Looks like a lot of fun on Index possibly, but on spread this would get boring quite quickly.

Stellar: Poor sync. Poor structure. In the beginning, there's a guitar you ignore why? The bass kicks are jumps why? Like if you wanted an easier chart there's better ways to do it for this. If you're trying to keep it doable on Index what you're trying makes sense, but then fails as soon as you add in other drums and sometimes the guitar. This chart is just admittedly all over the place. (Note: there's not even an offset here. I applaud you getting the note to at least align, but it's still quite wrong.)

Controls: BPM is wrong. 19+ seconds before the beginning of a chart is unheard of these days. Hold usage is awful. If you're gonna use them at least use them consistantly. I'm not as picky about the length as most others, but wow.

Blood Fetish: Cut the intro out. No one cares for that crap. Use a higher quality MP3. Jump usage is all over the place. Patterning is weird given the song. You seem to want to be aggressive but you're being needlessly passive. I want you to go download a Nuclear Blast pack, find a metal song stepped by IcyWorld, and study it. That'd probably give you a good lesson how this would look normally.

Kill Tomorrow: Oh gimmicks! I love well done gimmicks. Yours add a nice touch to the file that I do like. Sadly the way you go about them isn't that great. You should have the holds persist through the stops. You also have options to use Jump Stream and ignore them for some reason?

TLDR: Lots of other stuff to touch, but we're gonna keep it short. I applaud your attempt to keep a diversity of songs. Techno to prog metal, to super heavy metal, it's quite nice to see a diverse pool even when you stick to mostly a main genre threshold.

Sadly, your charts suffer from poor sync, poor patterning, and a lack of consistency when you do actually layer something. Sometimes you just outright do it wrong. You need to realize a 0.000 offset in simcharting almost if never happens. You have a good deal of potential, please just learn to sync charts. It will help your quality immensely.

Again sorry if this is too blunt, or even rude. I'm quite horrible at this. I didn't go into specifics because I personally think you need to focus on the basics (Sync + Basic Layering) before anything advanced.

[deathangelx13x]

Thanks for the blunt criticism XelNya...I'll try better next time. Also I haven't made simfiles in over 3 years so I'm rusty as well.

[hi19hi19]

Checked out one of the four that Middie didn't get to.
I"ll try to provide a little bit more... constructive review, especially with regards to how to sync better.

Mechanize-
Offsync. The correct gap is 5.423. The correct BPM is 192.
As Middie said, your gap will basically never be 0.000 so you need to do a little work to get it synced correctly.
Take a look at your song in a program that allows you to view the waveform, such as Audacity (which is free, and is also really useful for cutting songs). This lets you get the exact gap. For BPM, use an online BPM timer that lets you tap a key for a period of time and then gives you a resulting speed. Often times you will get something like 192.329 BPM and for a studio-mastered song such as this one, you can guess that they chose the nearest whole number as the BPM.

Alternatively, use DDReam to step, as it includes both of these functions and more as part of the program (you knew I was going to say this :P)

The song is actually very high in potential for being a good file. Static BPM, decent rhythmic variety, lots of layers of sound to work with. Good choice.
Your stream patterns tend to have hidden runningmen in them. This leads them to be much more difficult than they look.
Hold notes seem a little inconsistent in their usage. Try to pick a specific sound or sounds you use them for, and remain consistent with it throughout the song. For example, something like guitar bends are great for holds, but make sure to use a hold on each one.
In your 16th note bursts around 140 seconds into the song, you have minijacks. They make this section significantly more difficult than the rest of the chart. This would be fine (in fact, minijacks can be quite fun) except that the sound being stepped here appears elsewhere in the song and you used much easier patterns there. This lack of consistency makes the minijacks and their associated difficulty spike stand out like a sore thumb.

Originally Posted by XelNya

Again sorry if this is too blunt, or even rude. I'm quite horrible at this.

Saying "sorry for being rude" is not an invitation to go and be rude anyway.
Try not being a dick when you review something, for starters.
Once you get that down, I heard people really like constructive criticism more than just being told their stuff is crap.
Don't just shoot something down, give potential solutions too.

[deathangelx13x]

Thanks hi19hi19 for the criticism. I was expecting some sort of it coming back from a 3 year hiatus. I'll work on these simfiles and try to give them another round in the future using the method's that have been giving to me.

[hi19hi19]

Waiting for OGN to start so I also had a look at Fifty Ton War Machine.

Correct gap is 0.258.
This song doesn't seem to use programmed drums, so you're dealing with a fluctuating BPM. Somewhere around 175 is correct for a while into the song, but then they start to drift slower, down to around 172ish, then they get faster again.
Very difficult song to sync properly, but you can get a decent guess with 175 if you really want to step this particular song.
However, using a static 175 will cause parts that are 0.1 seconds off, which will be noticeable.

Similar criticisms to Mechanize when it comes to the actual steps. If you're just getting back into stepping, I'd advise mostly to work on being internally consistent within a file.
Pattern usage and all that will come as you experiment and play your own files, it's something I could write a lot more about... but in the end, that's a lot more of a style thing that you can develop on your own with time.
However, training yourself to be consistent about giving similar sounds similar steps is what really makes your work feel flawless when you pull it off.


p.s. it's a bit silly to have the "unreleased" tag in the title of your file, when it's clearly been released now :P
just a minor nitpick haha

[foxfire667]

Originally Posted by Mollocephalus

post more info! Song info, difficulties, et cetera

That should help people see what is in the pack who view the thread.

Also the pack is now mirrored: DAx13x EP Pack

[deathangelx13x]

Thanks for the detailed pack layout foxfire667 as well as mirroring the pack too!

Originally Posted by foxfire667

That should help people see what is in the pack who view the thread.

Also the pack is now mirrored: DAx13x EP Pack

[foxfire667]

Originally Posted by deathangelx13x

Thanks for the detailed pack layout foxfire667 as well as mirroring the pack too!

Of course, glad it was of use to you!

If you update the pack for any reason, I'll make the change as soon as possible once I'm notified. I know you've been on hiatus so you probably aren't aware, but all SM pack content that can be located is archived here. Helps keep things from disappearing from the Internet after a few months.

[deathangelx13x]

Thanks for the help and yeah me having a content information was something that I completely forgot to do for the pack, but I'll keep the link you gave me as a resource down the road.

[tasted]

wow, someone actually took the time to put dimmu and putrid in the same pack, you sir have earned a download! a light-hearted review will come too as i can see you already gotten the big fat reviews!

I have spoken!

[tasted]

It's time for a fast opinion!

Black metal - Dimmu Borgir

Made 20 seconds - too hard for me. The chart of that size is necessary to a song like that.

Blood Fetish

Made it all the way to the snaredrum-only-part! Surprised? You should be. Had some fun parts, and keep the intro! The intro was the best thing in the simfile!

Pink Floyd Cover

You do have likeable intro's! This one also got me going, but then the doubledrum-chart appeared and crushed my hands, almost as much as the hiroshima-bomb! I need to practice..

Fifty ton war machine YES! I did make this one! All THE WAY! But I was saved from the regain-charts as i call them. And this song had some regain-charts so I could manage to rest when possible! This is of course only appreciated by beginners, but hey! There are 7 BILLION beginners in the world waiting for regain-charts!

Corrosion - Ministry Got 20-30 seconds on it, couldn't motivate me more. Practicing is power!

Kill Tomorrow Here you have lots of experiments. Stops, holds.. mm.. holds.. the cream of stepmania, bpm-changes and a Great bpm-change in the end, that's more like it! With a little polishing this could be a very fun chart.

Mechanize Came to the refrain, happy with that. A little too much stepping for my tasted..

Stellar Master Elite Had a war with this song and eventually a got defeated. Too hard for me and seems to not include any regain-parts..

Vemodets Arkitektur Whoa! A songtitle in my mother tongue! This better be good.. or else! Well, I got 15 seconds. The chart seems better than Stellar, maybe a little too fast. But keep it up with the non-english titles!

Vertex Beta Whoa! This I recognize! But from where? Probably listed on FFR. I had fun with it for a while, but then from nowhere! A massive amount of notes struck me! And I was defeated faster than the Polish Army in WW2! I'll probably do auto-play and see if I would find this amusing.


Pack was not for beginners, but I will continue my search for beginner-packs made 2013 or later!


Verdict: 5/10

[deathangelx13x]

Thanks tasted. I've been told that some of the files are off to a degree though so I have work to do on them. Yes the pack itself isn't for beginners but I do plan on changing that down the road when I work on these and make them better, that and have other difficulties for them as well. I also do plan on working on more simfiles down the road as well. But it's nice to see that me and you have the same taste in music if you mentioned Dimmu and Putrid Pile. But thanks for the download and review.