Puppet's Pop Pack [submissions open]

[gnr61]

This pack as of yet has no name, but that's okay

I attempted something like this before (in the stepmania shadows like a year ago) and gave up before it even kicked off, so I'm gonna try a community approach and see how the reception goes. This will not be a typical community stepmania pack in the sense of having 50 odd single-chart spread files recycling the same videogame music and their accompanying remixes over and over. Rather, the demographic is all players--the new and the old, the good and who_cares.

For starters, as you might have guessed by the thread title, the aim of the pack is to include only songs that you could call 'popular music'--specifically modern mainstream, though this is somewhat flexible (ie. truly iconic older hits like 'Thriller' would be acceptable). This should push you to get creative with your stepcharting, and you will probably have to abandon the traditional principles of layering and pitch relevancy to make particularly interesting files. At the same time, this should open the doors for brand new and developing stepartists to try their hand at charting with a more open, less technical approach.

In addition, EVERY file in the pack WILL have (at the bare minimum) three separate charts (I ain't fuckin around). Collaborations will likely be frequent, but more in the vein of someone helping someone else add a harder or easier chart as needed (as opposed to creating a separate but equally difficult chart that will never get played by anyone). Criterion for the different charts are as follows:

~All charts will be intended for spread-style play. 6/7key charts are optional but encouraged, though you all will have a lot on your plate already even without them. The methodology of the pack is to have a sense of standardization, so no extraneous index or pad charts will be included.

~I believe Patashu has a rather excellent guide to stepping easier charts, something a good many people aren't exactly accustomed to. Please check it out (via Keybeatonline.com) if you're having trouble, I don't want anyone stressing themselves out over the lower level charts.

~Beginner [Optional] - Accessible to the very least initiated of players, akin to the 'Easiest' difficulty on FFR; jumps and freezes are permissible but sparse.

~Easy - Highly basic, jumps and freezes can be more readily integrated, and even triples/quads if used with appropriate discretion. These charts should be the bread and butter of novice players.

~Standard - Intermediate difficulty, feel free to incorporate denser rhythms and more complicated jump patterns.

~Hard - For most people on this site this will be the chart to play and probably the first one you all will jump to start stepping. You know what to do with this.

~Expert [Optional] - An optional chart geared toward the hardcore demographic, it will be nice to have several of these in the pack by the end. Go nuts but keep it fun, there's something really entertaining about an extremely difficult file that breaks all technical rules but somehow still vaguely represents the music (ie. a number of nvlm files).



Tentative target for the pack is approximately twenty fully charted songs with passable graphics. If you would like to know if your song passes as sufficiently 'pop'/'mainstream', post it here and I will tell you! Yes, I am sole arbiter of this pack and I retain all veto power for both songs and stepfiles. It's simply more efficient that way. HOWEVER, it would be spectacular to have a couple people on hand who can a) provide graphics as necessary, nothing incredible, simply presentable is enough; b) playtest borderline charts periodically/provide additional input; or c) volunteer to pound out a handful of lower difficulties for non-fully charted but nonetheless accepted files. Please let me know here if you'd be willing to lend a hand for any of these (especially for 'c').

Regarding song length: it's true the majority of pop music resides in the 2:30 - 4:00 range, which makes many people uncomfortable (both stepartists and players, who tend to steer clear of Long songs for whatever reason). Furthermore, many of these songs tend to be pretty repetitive. Therefore cuts are optional, though not at all required. I'd prefer to keep most songs around 2:00 at the shortest.

SEND YOUR FILES TO my personal e-mail: basketcase1161@yahoo.com, tentative first deadline is August 25 since I'll be starting school around then.

I will judge any time I hit 3 or 4 submissions, and FEEL FREE to send me single charts for your song--if you're not confident of its acceptance it's better to test the waters before muscling through 3-5 charts. Come at me yall. Happy stepping~



~UNPAID LABOR~
Graphics:
Rebound
Cold Kitten
T-Force

Testing:

Charting:



~SUBMITTED FILES~


~ACCEPTED FILES~