Pitch Black (FFR Edit) [71 or 73]

[bballa48]

I am going to start with an analysis of the patterns followed by some statistics.

First 450 notes: nothing bad, just some rolls and relatively simple mini jacks

Midsection: Rolls leading into nasty framer filled polyrhythms:


~700 to ~900 Combo: Some tricky roll/mini jack transitions.
For example, there are two mini jacks leading into this.


This appears twice: a quick left/right mini jack with a tough transition leading up to it.


Then this gross spot: it is followed by another right mini jack that only increases the odds of dumping goods.



The rest of the song is nothing we haven't already seen.

Now we compare it to some other songs of similar difficulty:

Here is our subject:



This is in my opinion perhaps the best comparison: both files awkward, both released within 7 days of each other-- the only key difference is that Car Sax isn't a secret song: however, most good players have the secret songs.. right? However, Car Sax is a 74.



Here is another 71 released around the same time.



And a 73 with wayyyy more AAAs.



Here is a 73 that is a purchased song (somewhat similar to Secret)



And a non-tournament 71 with many more AAAs




Anyway, obviously the statistics can be skewed by a variety of factors, but I think we can agree that at the very least 13 AAAs is quite low for a 71. Thus, I propose we bump it to a 73 or so. (I could hear arguments for 72 or even 74, but I figure 73 is a good compromise.

[bmah]

Thread approved.

[iironiic]

Very good reasons and nice comparisons. +1

[hi19hi19]

This file wound up way more awkward and difficult than I thought it would be without chord cohesion and I've always wondered why it was rated so low.
Absolutely agree with it being bumped up.

[One Winged Angel]

Looked at the file again and guess it was just a blatant misrate on my part, woops. I'd be fine with a rating as high as 74 considering how difficult this chart is to AAA + how messy the scoreboard is atm. Nice catch.

[j-rodd123]

yea agree with all the posts. 73 or 74 for sure, def harder than car sax imo

[Elite Ninja]

I'd agree to a 74. I find it harder than some of the 74s.

[DossarLX ODI]

A lot of the problem arises from 2 frame minijacks.

As a general rule of thumb, if the song is at a BPM where 2 framers are possible but really don't represent it well, the 2 frame minijacks make it much worse. This file probably is only around 170, but 2 framers are 225 bpm and will most of the time be hit as 3 or 4 framers by players in reality.

Agree to the bump up.

[hi19hi19]

It's 179 bpm, but as Dossar said the jacks play much faster than that.

In general the right-handed jacks in this file don't feel the same on FFR as they do on SM :(

[stavie33]

This file is definitely a 73. I always thought it was weird at 71 but no one complained, I assumed maybe they found awkward rolls and annoying one hand color jack patterns easy.

@bballa, I actually feel Car Sax is a solid 75, the file is just gross and awful and eats good like no tomorrow. It also has horribly uncomfortable one handed pressure. But Pitch Black having less AAA's? Wow. But yeah I'm for PB at 73.

[igotrhythm]

I actually drew comparisons to Big Blue v1 while playing this (and got a remarkably similar 19-0-0-9 on it...I have one less boo on Big Blue). Lots of awkwardly placed 2-framers are interspersed with some tough roll sections when it's not luring you into a false sense of security with the mild anchored jumps.

This file reinforces the point that Nova Pulser and Gradeus made so long ago during the days of avmisses: 2-frame minijacks in ~180 bpm files are not fun. Throw in the 32nd sections that turn one hesitation into a metric shit-load of goods in the style of Vs Boss Battle, and you have a fairly demanding Master file.

Definitely not a 71, but I'm not exactly sure where it should be. Just...the sheer amount of bootraps along with minijack hell make me want to put this where Big Blue v1 is, at 75.

[stavie33]

Originally Posted by igotrhythm

I actually drew comparisons to Big Blue v1 while playing this (and got a remarkably similar 19-0-0-9 on it...I have one less boo on Big Blue). Lots of awkwardly placed 2-framers are interspersed with some tough roll sections when it's not luring you into a false sense of security with the mild anchored jumps.

This file reinforces the point that Nova Pulser and Gradeus made so long ago during the days of avmisses: 2-frame minijacks in ~180 bpm files are not fun. Throw in the 32nd sections that turn one hesitation into a metric shit-load of goods in the style of Vs Boss Battle, and you have a fairly demanding Master file.

Definitely not a 71, but I'm not exactly sure where it should be. Just...the sheer amount of bootraps along with minijack hell make me want to put this where Big Blue v1 is, at 75.

I can understand your points but this is nowhere near Big Blue v1. NOWHERE near it. IMO.

[j-rodd123]

actually im gonna change my vote to just a 74. seems solid at this difficulty lol

[bballa48]

Originally Posted by stavie33

I can understand your points but this is nowhere near Big Blue v1. NOWHERE near it. IMO.

Agree. Big Blue is a new level of control needed.

[NoPrivacy]

I mentioned this yesterday after i played it and only saw 13 AAA's compared to other similar, or higher ranked songs
"This needs a difficulty bump lmao"


Those right handed minijacks are aids. I was really lucky to AAA them. I'd put it as a 73 for sure.

[bballa48]

No Privacy, you inspired me to make the thread ;)

[NoPrivacy]

Haha, glad it was done. I was considering making it myself .. But wouldn't have been made as clearly outlined :P

[TC_Halogen]

I didn't get a chance to join the discussion/argument until it was over, but I'll make a contribution.

The polyrhythmic 12th/8th combination in the first screenshot really isn't too relevant in terms of difficulty, because you can just string it together like any other 32nd pattern and get away with it 99% of the time. The pattern is awkward, I will give it that.

The second half of the file is where the difficulty is really justified, and it's not because of the chart... it's because of the frame placement. Some jacks combined with terrible frame placement make for some tough AAA difficulty, but overall, the patterns aren't too terrible to someone who has an indifference in how things feel.

I'm willing to level with the 73 opinion, but no higher than that.

[j-rodd123]

then maybe car sax needs to be moved down to 73 lol

[TC_Halogen]

Originally Posted by j-rodd123

then maybe car sax needs to be moved down to 73 lol

Doesn't Car Sax force a ton of 16th/12th polyrhythms with jacks and other really rigid patterns? At least Pitch Black is smooth in the first half (or more) of the song, haha.