Queue/Batch Discussion Thread v2

[DossarLX ODI]

July/August was an exception because it landed between the period of two well-known holidays: Thanksgiving and Christmas. My goal was to have all judge notes in before January 1st, 2015; however that is not something I have control over.

Going to what hi19 said, judging isn't a "one file a day" activity if you're looking to give serious reviews. If I have an intensive task, I can't just say "spend one hour a day" because that doesn't give me enough thinking time to solve problems. When I was writing code to put some automation into the batch process, I spent 10 hours on a Saturday -- I knew what problems were arising and did everything while it was still on my mind. Same goes with judging, you can't just stop midway.

Two judges and I have submitted notes before New Year came, but again, that is not something I have control over. You can try stating to get new judges, but the human factor takes into account what personal lives these people have. I can't just irrationally yell at people to finish, that doesn't get stuff done.

Originally Posted by M0nkeyz

One of the biggest frustrations I have with being so behind in judging, is that I am looking at certain files I made a while ago. and some of them have some mistakes that can be easily fixed, yet I am looking at them locked down in a batch that's taking ages to be judged.

I mean if I had like 5 SAP, this wouldn't be too bad, but having 2 and still learning and testing certain things in DDreamstudio. It's kinda hard to get a file in and not get frustrated as a new stepper.

It may be a good idea for you to contact a stepartist to look over your file than wait for the batches. Silvuh and I are trying hard to get the batch back on track, but it needs to be done one step at a time. Impatience will only make everything worse.

[VisD]

I know how you feel, I was there not too long ago and the 2/batch thing meant that it took me like 4 or 5 batches to get my first file in the game. But after that, trust me, it'll start to snowball as you get more SAP and more importantly can consistently put out files that are closer to base. In the meantime, just hang in there and harass people for reviews/help in between batches so you actually improve on the downtime

[DossarLX ODI]

I have created a spreadsheet for the currently queued files in 2013-2014 in here. This spreadsheet also includes the length and notecount of the file. If you see a notecount, length, updated date etc. different from the version you want in game, please inform me or Silvuh.

[Xiz]

^ Requesting that goes in the OP

[Wayward Vagabond]

Originally Posted by M0nkeyz

One of the biggest frustrations I have with being so behind in judging, is that I am looking at certain files I made a while ago. and some of them have some mistakes that can be easily fixed, yet I am looking at them locked down in a batch that's taking ages to be judged.

I mean if I had like 5 SAP, this wouldn't be too bad, but having 2 and still learning and testing certain things in DDreamstudio. It's kinda hard to get a file in and not get frustrated as a new stepper.

Welcome to the real world

[DossarLX ODI]

Updated the first post so it's easier to navigate:
- The spreadsheet links for both SAP and Queued Files should be easy to access now.
- There are brief descriptions for each section of the first post in the Table Of Contents.
- Updated the Submission Rules section, some previous rules no longer apply now (such as requiring a .dwi file).
- Cleaned up some old links in the stepping guides section.

[Wayward Vagabond]

i totally dont remember what files ive sent and havent other than waves.

[DossarLX ODI]

A big thanks to Silvuh for adding in the September/October 2013 submissions as well. Stepartists should be able to see now what submissions they have sent up to this point.

[SKG_Scintill]

Didn't you get Game Genie?

Edit: nvm that was sent in November

[Xiz]

Originally Posted by DossarLX ODI

A big thanks to Silvuh for adding in the September/October 2013 submissions as well. Stepartists should be able to see now what submissions they have sent up to this point.

This seriously is one of my favorite things that has been updated with the batch.

[Razor]

sendin for jan/feb:

Gangsters - Virtual Riot
Zion - Savant
Spectrum (Foxsky remix) - Zedd, Matthew Koma
Disco the Ground - Sampling Disaster -SAKI-

[Wayward Vagabond]

sent
https://soundcloud.com/drunk-optimus...timus-dj-vasil
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uemIOtSvJDo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GG01_AxjMps#t=157

[hi19hi19]

Hey guys, full disclosure:
I'm responsible for the second wave of July/August notes being late.
I thought I sent my notes in before my vacation, but they apparently never sent or even showed up in the drafts box of my email.
I was just left awkwardly on vacation able to play and post here using my laptop, but not get the notes.
I've been away from home until like, 10 minutes ago, so everyone was just waiting on me to return to the computer that actually had the notes.

Everything is sent now, so things should be posted sometime soon. Sorry for the delays

[hi19hi19]

Looking through my notes again, the ratings are generally rather low. I gave out just three 8 or higher ratings- one of them to a Middie file!

There's a few topics that I repeatedly mention, so I want to clarify them.

- Tip for using hands: a jump immediately before/after a hand that shares both its arrows with those in the hand will feel like it should go to the same sound and share same pitch as the hand. You can differentiate the hands from the jumps by making sure the jump includes the arrow that is missing from the hand.
For example, [34][234] vs [14][234] are extremely different in how they feel.


- A very common rookie DDReam mistake is simply stepping every spike on the waveform. Especially in vocals, it can be really misleading.
Certain sounds are very noisy, such as "s" at the end of a word, and as such create big spikes on the waveform. But these sounds are not actually syllables in the word so you shouldn't put an arrow to them. Need to be very careful of that.


- If there are very obvious hard patterns in the file, pay special attention to their consistency and finger distribution.
For example, if there's a prominent section of minijacks, take note of what you are doing with them. Are they switching from hand to hand? (11332244) Then elsewhere in the file where that sound shows up, the patterns should be similar (33224411 or 44223311) A pattern like 33441122 will feel very different.
That kind of thing.


- When making jumpstream over pitch relevant 16ths, don't just put the 16ths down, layer the stuff into them, and move on. You have to LOOK afterwards at the patterns to see if you for example have any mile-long anchors or unwanted one-handed trills, and you will often find that it is appropriate to sacrifice PR for the sake of not having dumb patterns.


- I have gave out a lot of 5 and 5.5 ratings to files that were technically correct but basically just giant piles of copy/paste. When I mention these files needing structured variation I am talking about consistently applied changes.
In the biggest sense, let's say you have a chorus that repeats 4 times.
You step it once with the "A" steps. Copy/pasting it four times- AAAA- is boring as hell. If you make a second set of steps "B" that is also technically correct, but different from A, then use a setup like AABB or ABAB, the file gets MUCH more interesting to play without losing any technical accuracy.
In the smaller sense, the same holds true for patterns.
If you have a triplet pattern that repeats 242 242 242 242 many times, a structured way to vary it might be 242 313 242 313. This would be an ABAB setup using mirror for the B steps. Much more interesting this way, and also doesn't have an 8-note down anchor!

[Wayward Vagabond]

stepping is poetry

[ilikexd]

stepping is persuasive writing

[Silvuh]

So, yeah, um, stuff.



Accepted files. Resubmission privileges for these files will expire on February 14th, 23:59:59. Get them in in the next three days and they can be a part of the September/October batch. I'll actually be sending out a Resubmission PM this time. Wahoo. (EDIT: Or not, because three of the four have posted in this thread already, so I just sent a message to Xiz. But yeah. Judging for the September/October batch will start on the 18th. Three days.)

The SAP list will be updated shortly has been updated.

[bmah]

My guess as to why people copy and paste a lot (other than for lack of effort) is because people preach the "consistency" quality too literally and/or too much. Files with consistency have usually been praised because they usually play predictably, therefore not ruining a player's score and that often makes a happy player. But let's stop becoming obsessive with shaving off every change in difficulty and instead bring out consistency along with variation.

[VisD]

looks like no one enjoys 36 up arrows in a row

[XelNya]

Originally Posted by hi19hi19

one of them to a Middie file!

Cue the apocalypse.

Also: nice to see Champion's Horizon did well. I'm looking forward to playing that one a lot.