Rules/Submission Guidelines

[DossarLX ODI]

*Updated 03/03/2022 - gold stinger*

Rules/Submission Guidelines

DESCRIPTION
Here you will find everything you need to know about submitting files to be considered for the game. Please be sure to read through each section and make sure you understand prior to submitting. Everything is broken down into sections so you can easily find what you’re looking for. If for any reason this thread does not answer your question please do not hesitate to reach out to Dossar or myself (psychoangel691) with any questions. We can be reached via DM here on FFR or on Discord.

WHAT IS A BATCH?

FlashFlashRevolution is a 4 key game compiled of simfiles (also known just as files or maps) created by users and approved by a team of judges for release into game. A batch is simply a collection of these files over a period of time that is submitted to us for consideration. Regular batches run for a two month period at which time users may submit any files that fit within the rules for review. We will also on occasion have special batches that may run for a shorter period of time and will have specific requirements attached to them. You can find all the current batches here

SUBMISSION RULES

For every Regular Batch Period and Special Batch a Simfile Artist has a submission cap of 5 files unless otherwise noted. Users that are not part of the Simfile Artist group have a submission cap of 2 files. If the user exceeds the submission cap, the excess submissions will be prohibited from review. Users that continuously provide improper submissions, attempt to abuse the batch system, or be disrespectful to others will have their cap reduced at the discretion of the Game Management Staff.

Judges have the right to automatically reject a file with a 0 rating if the file does not match the minimum requirements, as it is an improper submission. A proper submission at minimum consists of:

• A folder in the format <songname> (<username>). An example is Magical 8bit Tour (jimerax). This folder must contain the two files specified in the next list item below:
• It must have one .sm file with one difficulty. If your .sm file has multiple difficulties, your submission will receive a rating of 0/10.
• It must have one .mp3 file with at least a bit rate of 128kbps, stereo. If the sound quality is poor we may request a better mp3.
• Have a SM file that properly identifies the song artist and the song name. Be sure that you do not have extra text in your song name that does not belong, this includes the subtitle field. If it’s not in the title of the song, do not include it in the song name. Please also be sure to include your FFR username in the credit section.
• If your song title uses something other than alphanumeric characters you must provide a transliteration of that title. The engine currently cannot handle anything outside of alphanumeric. So for example, if you have a Japanese title you will need to get the transliteration for that title.
--- We have seen an increasing number of submissions whose .sm files are not supplying the necessary metadata (song name/song artist) for a completed submission. Please keep in mind that Unknown Artist is not an acceptable song artist, nor is a title like 64842_newgrounds_infern for the song title of a submission. Please make sure that you appropriately fill in the fields of your SM file to the best of your abilities. Incomplete metadata for your submission will result in a [0/10] rating. If the information is present but is not certain to be correct, staff will use their best judgment to ensure that the song titles and artist fields are proper.

The points above are the bare minimum requirements. In addition to the points above, a proper submission also satisfies the points listed below.

• The song artist must be created in the .sm file. If we see "Unknown Artist", we may request you to give us the song artist so we can also check for valid permission.
• If you only use a part of the mp3 for stepping, cut unstepped parts of the mp3. This will reduce the size of the level. For instance, don't use the full 4 minute mp3 of a song if you only step the first 2 minutes.
• An incomplete submission will be automatically rejected. This means that the file has large portions of empty space either at the beginning, ending, or in between the file. If there are noticeably long empty spots when the song is running with noticeable elements for no justifiable reason, it will be classified as an incomplete submission. When submitting a file to FFR you are agreeing for it to be judged “as is” so please do not submit works in progress.
• Do not include graphics or cdtitles in the submission.
• Again, multiple difficulties are NOT allowed. If you want to submit multiple difficulties for one song, submit them as separate files.
• Holds, Mines, Rolls, and Attacks are NOT allowed. If any of these are found in your submission it will receive a rating of 0/10.
• Stops are not allowed. You can use any (4th to 192nd) notes and BPM changes, but stops make DDReam unusable.
• A judge can set a 'Fixes Required' status to a file if the audio quality is harsh or poor, even if the chart itself is accepted. If no fixes are applied on the Stepartist's end in regards to said 'Fixes Required', then it may be rejected. In addition, the GM Team has the right to lower the volume if it is deemed necessary.
• Upon a file submission, the Stepartist agrees that the file can be judged as is. Regular batches are open for two months, please only submit once you are satisfied with what you're submitting. You should not be making updates until a judge has looked over your file and left notes.

*Please note that once a file is accepted it will be queued for release. If you intend on making any changes please make them within two weeks of acceptance. If you need more time for fixes please request it by contacting the batch manager.*

PERMISSION GUIDELINES

• Simfile judgment and game management teams are not expected to have every single artist that we have permission for memorized off of the top of their head. It is imperative that all submissions adhere to permissions as listed as in the Permissions List and Information v8 thread. Be sure to check conditions for content that you are submitting for inclusion into the game.

• Users are now expected to indicate the source of their permissions in the comment section of their submission. Users can cite the Permissions List and Information v8 thread as proof. Submissions that adhere to limited permissions should list the contingencies behind the permission for the purpose of verification by Game Management. If permission is granted by an artist/group and not accounted for in this thread, users are expected to cite their reasoning behind why the permission is valid (example: Creative Commons Licenses), and, whenever applicable, are expected to post screenshots as proof.

• If you submit content that is not covered by permissions listed in the aforementioned thread, but have a screenshot that includes correspondence between you and the artist in question, supply the screenshot inside of your simfile. This way, we can verify that a permission in question does in fact exist.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Be wary of sites whose permissions are occasionally implied. An important example: Newgrounds, a site whose permissions used to be a fully covered blanket due to its Terms of Service, which included a clause stating that all content uploaded to the site could be used non-commercially with credit, has since changed its ToS to accommodate for their various revenue sharing programs. As a result, some users who have submitted newer content have stipulated that there are no granted permissions of use -- therefore, this content cannot be used on FFR.

Usage of these songs typically falls under what are known as Creative Common Licenses.

Some websites that are responsible for holding content from large numbers of artists will have their permissions defined on the given page.

Note that it is your responsibility as the Stepartist to indicate what license is used on the site if you are relying on a Creative Commons License for a file submission.

JUDGES

Judges are users who review file submissions in a set and assign it a rating/status.

Primary Judges:
• gold stinger
• visD
• Gradiant
• Pizza69
• Monkeyz
• storn42
• trumaestro
• ositzxz369
• WirryWoo

Backup Judges:
• DossarLX ODI


Backup judges are judges who don't regularly judge but will come in at times as needed, or under special circumstances.

TRACKING YOUR SUBMISSIONS

Over the years most tracking has been done within threads. However, we now have a new batch submission section located here where you can keep track of the status of your file. It will start with a status of "open" while in this state you are still able to update, once the files have been downloaded to prepare for judgment they will go to "unjudged" status and be locked from a further update until the reviewing process is complete. If your file is accepted or requires fixes, you will be able to re-submit right within that batch submission section.

REVIEWING PROCESS

*Thanks to updates in the batch submission system judges are assigned files right within the system and can leave their notes there. Once notes and a rating is assigned you will receive a site notification. You can then read the notes, comment back if necessary, and re-submit if your file meets the criteria to do so.

Files will be broken down into sets, the size will be determined by how many files have been submitted for that batch period. Once the set is created a judge will be assigned to those files. You'll be able to find these sets in the Active Sets subforum.

Once a set is completed it will be moved from the Active Sets subforum to the Completed Sets subforum. A set is completed when the Judge decides the status of all the files in a specific set. When this happens, the final results and primary judge notes will go to the corresponding thread for the set in the Completed Sets subforum.

A judge may pass a file in a set for any of the following reasons:
• Own file.
• Had stepped their own version of the file and can’t review someone else’s without feeling biased.
• Outside comfortable difficulty range.

If the original Judge for the set encounters any of the above three scenarios, a different Judge will be assigned to those specific files.

When both judges have independently finished their notes (for sets involving two judges):

Both judges compare their file ratings and 'Fixes Required' flags before posting.

-Discuss reasoning on any 'Fixes Required' flags. Try to come to a mutually agreeable conclusion on them. If both judges can’t agree on a conclusion, the file and Fixes Required reasonings are Direct Message'd to a third judge. (Ideally a Head/Senior Judge but can be any judge) The third judge will review Fixes Required reasonings and decide whether to apply the requirement.

-If the difference between both judge ratings on a file is 2 or more points, where one judge has given a reject rating, the file is Direct Message'd to a third judge (Ideally a Head/Senior Judge but can be any judge). The third judge will give a brief judgment, reviewing the differing opinions and deciding a course of action.

When these cases are resolved, notes are posted as usual. If applicable, the third judge's notes are included as well.

RATINGS AND STATUS

The ratings assigned to a file determine whether it goes into the Queue. The Queue is a collection of files that have achieved either an Accepted status and are ready for release. A file may also receive 'Fixes Required' status or rejection status.

• Rejected: 0 - 6.5
The file is not accepted and requires much more work before it can be considered for acceptance. This cannot be re-submitted during the same batch period. The simfile author will have to wait until the next batch and submit as a new submission.

• Change Recommended: 7 - 7.5
The file is accepted but the fixes recommended by the judges are highly recommended. The file at a minimum must receive feedback from the Stepartist in the form of reading/acknowledging the judge notes before acceptance.

• Accepted: 8 - 10
The file is accepted as is, although it is still encouraged to look over any notes and take into consideration changes that may improve the file.

The above ratings assume there are no 'Fixes Required' flags. The Fixes Required flag is indicated by a star after the rating (e.g. 8*). A file usually receives this if there is one egregious error that must be fixed but the rest of the file is acceptable.

In the event, there are two accepted files for the same song and they are of similar difficulty, we will determine if the structure is different enough to have a v1/v2 or "another" if not the file with the higher rating will go into the queue and the other will not.

After a file has been flagged for Fixes Required, a Stepartist has four weeks to resolve any remaining notes:

- 'Fixes Required' files whose required notes have not been addressed will be considered rejected past four weeks - even if the rating is above the passing threshold.

*For Accepted files, we ask that you try to get any fixes in within two weeks as it will be queued for release. If you need more time let us know so we can push it back in the queue.*

RATING APPEAL

Ratings that are 6 or above are eligible for a rating appeal if and only if they aren’t Accepted files. In the event that a Stepartist feels a review for a file is unfair, a civil response to the judge can be provided with the concerns through either a PM or discord. A file’s rating can only stay the same or be improved through this process.
• If there is disrespectful behavior from the Stepartist then the Judge has the right to reject the file.
• If there is disrespectful behavior from the Judge, the Stepartist has the right to request a different Judge.
• If after discussing with the Judge the Stepartist still feels a concern, the Stepartist can bring the review to a game manager to be reviewed by another judge. Details from the review in question must be provided with adequate explanations. No more than three Judges can be involved with a rating appeal.

SPECIAL BATCHES AND TRANSFER POLICY

Special batches run concurrently with the regular batch and have specific criteria. For files in the regular batch that meet submission criteria for the special batch, a Stepartist may request to transfer any qualifying files from the regular batch to the special batch up to that Stepartist’s submission cap. The transferred files do not count towards a Stepartist’s submission cap towards the special batch, although the transferred file still counts as a submission in the regular batch. An example is given below to illustrate this concept. The special batch must still be open for this transfer policy to be applicable.

Example:
- Stepartist has a submission cap of 5, and submits a file for July 2015. The Stepartist can submit four more files to July 2015.
- Stepartist feels like the file fits the 27-29 difficulty range, so the Stepartist makes a request to transfer the file from July 2015 to the Official Tournament Batch.
- The file is looked over for a rough difficulty estimate and if it does fit the difficulty range, it is moved to the Official Tournament Batch with an update stating it was a transfer from July 2015. The submission cap for the Stepartist in the Official Tournament Batch is still 5, although July 2015 the Stepartist can only have 4 more submissions.

Staff can go through regular batches to make all potential transfers to a special batch, ignoring a Stepartist's cap in the process. Afterward, Stepartists may no longer request transfers to that special batch, because all relevant transfers will have been made. In addition, if the staff member(s) find it necessary to also include files past the Stepartist's original submission cap, that may be done as well at the discretion of the staff running the special batch.

SIDE NOTES

Please keep in mind that the rules and submission guidelines presented in this thread may change over time, and the GM staff will make an effort to reduce the number of changes. It is recommended that users check this thread periodically for any changes, and front page posts will be created when these changes occur.

As a history archive, the previous threads that described submission rules are listed below.
• Queue/Batch Discussion Thread v1
• Queue/Batch Discussion Thread v2
• Queue/Batch Discussion Thread v3

[XelNya]

I think a section on explaining the use of the BSE to create your submission on that + Submitting the simfiles to the e-mail is missing, just to make sure there is absolute step by step no questions process so we can just redirect anyone to it should the need be there.

Maybe it's just me tho?

[DossarLX ODI]

I've reassigned the 8 pending fixes files originally assigned to me and split them up according to the original judges and/or other judges that were suitable.

TC_Halogen
._Pulse
ElectroMashcore
Nest
Phantom Of The Opera
where is my balls

DarkZtar (DONE)
The star hill

gameboy42690 (DONE)
Dark World
Gym Training Montage
Six Acid Strings
Summer Colours Arch

DossarLX ODI
Kronos

[DossarLX ODI]

Psycho Soup from the September 7th update has been accepted with a minor note PM'd to the original stepartist, and gameboy42690 has also finished his assigned Pending Fixes. In summary:

Accepted
Psycho soup {Pogo} (M0nkeyz)
Dark World {GaMetal} (buta-san)
Gym Training Montage {Virt} (bmah)
Summer Colours Arch {Y.W.} (VisD)

Conditional Queue
Six Acid Strings {The Flashbulb} (DarkZtar)

gameboy42690's notes on the pending fixes can be seen in the spoiler below.

Dark World - Accepted, had some minor notes.
30.154: Missing 16th.
70.877: Missing 16th.
100.370: I get what you're going for here but the 8th jump feels very out of place when you don't step any 16ths for the other drum hits. Either change the jump into a single note or take out the last few 24ths and replace them with 16ths. (I think the latter makes more sense since the drums are pretty loud and drown out the guitar.)
119.563: This last 32nd is actually a ghost note.

Gym Training Montage - Accepted, had one minor note.
86.415: I'm a little confused, what is this jump going to? I understand 69.719 since the guitar and drum play at the same time, but here I can only hear one note.

Six Acid Strings - Not accepted, see notes.
75.191-76.091: A bit better than it was before, but still pretty uncomfortable to hit.
83.441-84.211: Still very uncomfortable to hit. I think the big issue here is that it's essentially starts off with [14][14][23][23][14][14], which is already pretty hard at 200 BPM. That in turn can also make the following jumptrill easy to screw up. Focusing less on jacking and 32nd trills would make this part more manageable.
85.091-85.541: There's a rather awkward transition between the two mini-trills, revise patterning.

Summer Colours Arch - Accepted, had one minor note.
13.386: I see one of the other judges suggested this should be stepped differently from 11.807, but personally I don't agree. The melody being played on the piano sounds identical to me. At the very least, 15.359 should be stepped different from 11.807

[DossarLX ODI]

There have been three updates to the Submission Rules detailed below:

Originally Posted by DossarLX ODI

Users who get a file accepted will not have the extended submission cap for stepartists (5) until the next open batch period. For example, let's say a file was accepted September 25th. A special batch opens on September 15th and the September/October regular batch is open. This user still has a submission cap for 2 for those batches, but in future special batches and from November/December onwards the user will have a submission cap of 5. Please remember that this cap can still be reduced at the discretion of the Game Management Staff.

Originally Posted by DossarLX ODI

In the event there are two accepted files for the same song and they are of similar difficulty, the file with the higher rating will be used and the lower rating file discarded. The discarded file will be moved over to the Disabled category on the Batch Search Engine. The user of the discarded file will receive the extended submission cap for the next open batch period if that discarded file happened to be the user's first accepted file, and said user will also get a stepfile reimbursement for a future batch if deemed appropriate by the Game Management Staff.

Originally Posted by DossarLX ODI

Please keep in mind that the rules and submission guidelines presented in this thread may change over time, and the GM staff will make an effort to reduce the number of changes. It is recommended that users check this thread periodically for any changes, and front page posts will be created when these changes occur.

[DossarLX ODI]

So I reviewed the fixes gameboy42690 sent for Kronos and accepted them.

On another note, the 2015 batches are now all complete with Gradiant's finishing of November/December 2015 Set 1. All the 2015 Regular Batch results have been combined into one thread, and from this point forward there will only be one thread per regular batch year that will contain the results of each 2-month period.

[TC_Halogen]

Two previous sections of resubmissions/pending fixes have been judged, and the notes can be found below, all of which were assigned to me. Stepartists with files in these groups have been notified via PM so they can see the current status of their submissions.

Summary of results:

Accepted
ElectroMashcore {Reizoko Cj} (gameboy42690) [9/10]
Pulse {YZYX} (GammaBlaster) [9/10]
Suit Up (feat. Southpaw Swagger) {Blue Stahli} (gameboy42690) [8.5/10]
Nest {Cardboard Box} (lurker) [8/10]
Starry Fate {TiS} (DarkZtar) [8/10]
where is my balls {LOLI RIPE} (YoshL) [8/10]

Conditional Queue/Pending Fixes
Phantom of the Opera {Lindsey Stirling} (VisD) [7.5/10] (see notes)
Nightfall (Original Mix) {Rogue} (XelNya) [7/10]

---

Nightfall (Original Mix) {Rogue}
Rating: 7/10

Check your jump placement throughout the file and just make sure that it’s entirely cleaned up and clear from start to finish. Some places to look:

• 65.127: should this be a jump? It seems like it should be compared to later sections. If not, remove the jumps that fall in this location for better layering clarity.
• 71.127: should also be a jump for the heavier synth as well
• 73.581: I’d personally move the up arrow to a right since it’s a different sound compared to what the mini-jacks are intended to accent.
• 77.809: move R to U to give that synth full attention
• 86.809: three down arrows is a pattern collision here because only two follow the synth, making this a [LUR] makes your accent stronger
• 92.740: not sure how this was missed before, but this jump should be moved to a 4th
• 95.263: same deal, move the R off to give your synth full attention!
• 97.308: missing jump?

You’re so close! Keep up the good work and this file will definitely get queue’d on the next pass.

OLD NOTES: --- green for good changes, orange for questionable changes, red for further changes requested
[6/10] Nightfall (Original Mix) {Rogue} (XelNya)
- this file, coupled with this song, has serious potential for being your best file yet
- personally, I would drop the hi-hats from being followed; this is basically any and all of the ambiguous 8th notes that you have at like 6.356, 9.628, 10.719; this does two things: a.) it gets rid of any arbitrary notes after the big synths that happen every measure or two and b.) it gives your synth 100% attention in accenting in locations like 8.810 (the 8th feels out of place despite being correct, whereas 17.538 is a more proper execution) -- your changes work! There are a few changes you could make to improve relevance even more; some examples include moving the notes at 25.446/69.030 off of R and onto something else to give the synth full attention, adding an up arrow to your jump at 27.218, etc.
- watch your pattern choices and avoid pattern collisions that cause two instruments/samples to be represented by the same arrow: 27.356 has a jump that includes the right arrow off of a synth, but there were 7 notes on the synth on the right arrow before (see 34.992 for more effective and correct pattern usage) -- this in general seems to be improved noticeably
- 36.628 to 54.083: try to either keep the repeated taps either on one arrow or one hand until the higher, shorter synths come in; this way, you get clear separation and it feels more correct
- ^ in addition to that note, make sure that you cover all of the higher synths as mini-jacks as well, as they are the same note (38.538, 40.719, etc) -- seems to be ignored, but the improvement of the structure as a whole makes this alright to deal with, honestly. You could also afford to mirror the down arrow jacks halfway through the phrase to have better distribution.
- 59.810: jump placement is incorrect for a bit here; should be jumps on 60.083, 60.356, and 60.628
- 62.810 to end: pretty much repeating the same notes as before; look out for pattern collision and improve your structure so that there is maximum clarity
- 72.083: watch your jack placement; the bass does change pitch here and breaks into multiple pitches -- this pattern really needed to be split anyway, it's quite uncomfortable
- 82.992: jumps seeem a bit out of place
- 85.719/86.265/90.083: missing jumps
- 92.810: should be 32nds
- 97.310: move to up arrow
- this file will be really memorable for players of this demographic if it gets in (it's already that way now); fix it up and solidify that structure!

Suit Up (feat. Southpaw Swagger) {Blue Stahli}
Rating: 8.5/10

Structure was cleaned up a noticeable bit. File was previously CQ’d at 7/10, but is more than able to go in now.

OLD NOTES: --- green for good changes, orange for questionable changes, red for further changes requested
Suit Up (feat. Southpaw Swagger) {Blue Stahli} (gameboy42690)
Rating: [7/10]
- deliberately forceful structure that doesn't adhere to standard layering structure, but the accenting is point blank and very acceptable due to the style of music/reduced tempo, it feels right
- 24.800: missing guitar note, likely a single step
- 33.527: missing guitar note, also likely to be a single note
- 35.436: switch to a [13] for pitch relevance (and move the 1 to something else)
- 39.254: three 64ths into a 8th, rather than four 48ths
- 41.709: not liking these jumps; it's quite hard to hear what they're following and how they differentiate from the vocals on their own (the single taps, that is)
- 42.868: missing note for vocals
- 45.697: remove
- 46.663: I hear the first two notes, this one though...
- 48.936: these three jumps are strange with the guitar accents falling on
- 45.390: check your rhythm, should be a bit more than 16ths
- 45.697: remove this note
- 46.481: having a bit of trouble hearing what the 24ths are for here, or at least, the third note in the sequence; tough to discern
- 48.936: three jumps is a little strange with no vocals and the guitar accent falling on 49.072
- 49.481: 48ths
- 52.345: 64th blip in the vocal sampling here
- 82.072: move this over to the right arrow, listen carefully!
- 84.118: should be a 4-note 64th burst starting at 84.152
- 87.663: this feels a bit strange; care to clarify?
- 120.663: note doesn't really represent anything that is audible; the other four 64ths are fine
- 129.390: little flourish of guitar notes here
- despite the large amount of notes, many of these details are rather small and the file is understandable overall - there's a clear PR scheme and understandable sequence of anchoring in the jumps for the guitar, though some more jump clarity could be established, I think... not bad overall, though.

Starry Fate {TiS}
Rating: 8/10

Slightly improved. File was already accepted in the tournament batch, but a bit more was done to it to make it more confidently queue-worthy.


OLD NOTES: --- green for good changes, orange for questionable changes, red for further changes requested
- 3.015: with all kicks designated on the right arrow, it's clear to see that 3.744, 5.225, 6.707, (etc) do not belong since they are supposed to attach to the guitar/synth (hard to tell)
- 16.348: just an fyi - there are 5 notes, but it's actually a five note 48th burst that ends on the 8th (could get a little sloppy, 32nds are acceptable at normal rate imo); if you opt into keeping the 32nds, you should tack on jumps at the end of them for layering consistency
- 32.274: why's there no note here? a kick and a hi-hat both exist here, surely that covers the scope of what you're following
- 43.014: obviously an intentional choice to leave the jumps out, but why? 8th notes earlier on cover your percussion, so having a single jump for the vocals arbitrarily at the end of the synth lead is a bit strange
- 45.607: this jump's a bit unclear
- 53.292: there is a synth note here
- 61.440: remove
- 61.533: since these kicks are going to lead into a triple that adds as a mid-phrase accent (62.274), adding jumps makes the accent a bit more powerful
- 65.144: missing note?
- 68.292: ^
- 71.996: ^
- more, etc - look accordingly (still a few unresolved in the pitch-increased chorus, but not a huge deal)
- 135.792: some 24ths here for percussion, good little transition into the final part
- despite the numerous missing notes and a few added notes, file has a decent structure

ElectroMashcore {Reizoko Cj}
Rating: 9/10

85.560: hardly a big deal, but these jacks actually should be separated by two 12th notes (so, you should have notes on beat 390, 390.67 and then 391.50 and 392.17 (second note/fourth note on a 12th and 24th respectively). Might not be necessary to fix with how fast the song runs, honestly.

Not too sure about the judgment note at 91.00, I hear a note right there and the 8th makes sense with the switch in quantize, so I personally won’t harp on that one.

All other notes resolved. This is a really good file, by the way.

PREVIOUS NOTES: green for good changes, orange for questionable changes, red for further changes requested
[9*/10] ElectroMashcore {Reizoko Cj} (gameboy42690)
- wow this was really fucking cool
- quite a good deal less difficult than the difficulty min for this batch though, but looks like we'll judge it anyways
- honestly nothing extraneous to add, I enjoyed this very much as is
- 14.23: There isn’t anything particularly bad about this, but I noticed the up jack after I got to the [14] jump.
- 55.16: This part is a short 16th run, there aren’t any 12ths.
- 75.41, 75.62: Missing 16th triplets after the jumpstream run.
- 85.75, 86.07: The vocal samples here are loud enough that they could be stepped.
- 91.00: This 8th is actually a ghost note. With the current syncing, the note should’ve been on the 64th after (91.05).
- 92.01: There should have either been a 3-note 16th jack here or a 16th triplet. One of the instruments goes to three different pitches, and the other has the same pitch so the minijack on 92.12 needs revision.
- 92.76: Why was this 8th left out?
- 97.86: Same issue as 91.00, the 8th note should really be stepped on the 64th after with the current syncing.
- Putting all the different colorings aside, I wanted to make sure the above points were addressed. This file has a solid foundation.

Nest {Cardboard Box}
Rating: 8/10

Rigid patterning for sure, but I’d say that the most glaring section forcing the conditional queue has been straightened out; the triples in that barrage of 12th notes at 333 BPM were (sadly) removed (I don’t share the same opinion about having to knock the difficulty down there, but ey, gotta do my job. <3). Patterning seems cleaned up a touch compared to the notes outside of the 12th note section, but I think there’s enough rigidity to keep this file interesting and super-playable for scoring.

PREVIOUS NOTES: green for good changes, orange for questionable changes, red for further changes requested
[7*/10] Nest {Cardboard Box} (lurker)
- this file's really fucking fun for the most part
- the 24th trills starting and ending on jumps are massive bootraps, I'd consider changing them to split rolls instead...but they're still doable, so fuck it I guess they're alright with me but lets see what Dossar says
- On the note of 24th trills, 20.03 is an example of how the trills should be stepped. The chiptune bursts don’t end on the 4th after, they end before. So having any 4-note 12th jacks here is wrong to begin with.
- What this file suffers from is a “layer everything” mindset. I can see the hands staying for the 222 BPM sections as this file does provide a nice opportunity for dense 16th jumpstreaming at a reasonably fast speed, although this density continuing at the 333 BPM 12th section causes a tremendous spike.
- 75.83: No hands in this section yet there were hands back in 32.63
- despite the rest of the file still being quite difficult, that middle section (78.197 - 96.197) is a MASSIVE spike and results in a pretty frustrating difficulty curve for scoring (I'm failing to SDG the file due to that section alone while AAA'ing everything else quite comfortably)
- if the rest of the file's difficulty was on par or closer to the difficulty reflected at this section, it wouldn't be a problem, but the equivalent of 250bpm 16th semi-dense handstreaming with bursts is a fuckton harder than everything else present
- I know you probably don't want to but I think you'd have to water down that section in order for this to be queued, since the rest of the file can't really be beefed up
- the 16th burst patterning here should be cleaned up a lot, many patterns (including a good handful of one hand minitrills) are forcing 8th minijacks that are ramping up the difficulty astronomically
- I'd also stick to strictly jumpstream, the hands are overkill
- For a summary of the above, removing the hands in the section from 78.197 - 96.197 would smooth out the difficulty curve for this file. It would provide for a good opportunity to contain semi-dense 250 BPM jumpstreaming as well. Note that with the current hands, they ALWAYS force an 8th minijack and an anchor so removing the hands also allows more flexibility. 84.77 is an example of how hands limit patterning here, and mixing 16ths with 12ths one handed at this speed doesn’t play well at all.
- 87.89: Snaking pattern here with the hands is a WWE-type difficulty spike that is influenced from overlayering instead of polyrhythms
- 88.84: Hidden up-arrow jack, very choppy to play here
- 91.13: Hidden up-arrow jack ending in a 16th triplet. Yuck.
- still really fun though, I hope you're able to smoothen out the difficulty curve in a way that you're happy with because I'd love to see this in FFR
- In general the hidden minijacks resulting from the overlayering issue in the 333 BPM 12th section results in very choppy patterning that needs to be revised. Overall this file’s layout looks alright, although it needs to be cleaned up to not spike up the difficulty unfairly in one section. The patterning could also be a bit better in the 222 BPM 16th sections, although that’s not as severe. Please consider more careful placement of the hands.

Phantom of the Opera {Lindsey Stirling}
Rating: 7.5*/10

I was the only judge to reject this last time, so I’ll just work off of my notes since they’re likely what were targeted the most. It’s been quite a bit since this was submitted, so I will say this:

PR in the opening doesn’t look half bad, I’m not sure if it was changed or not, but if it wasn’t, then I was likely being a bit too harsh, because it’s visible and reasonably effective.
Jumps were limited to snares in the opening section, and it really makes your structure very clear, so that’s a big deal.
49.605: your intent in making things accurate is great - however, with the difficulty of your file overall kept in mind, that jack is extremely tight and we’ll want that removed. Sending this to conditional queue to get this fixed up. Might as well take care of anything else you’d like in here.
51.441: A few more violin notes to accent here if you want to make a nice accent coming into this section; gives you a little burst into a cymbal crash.
57.536: missing violin note for ya, so flip that [14][23][14] into a [13][24][13] and create a nice little descending blip to catch it!
70.209: didn’t say this in my previous notes before but I’ll tell you here: this part’s great \o/
128.797 to 135.002: so, in my previous notes, I mentioned not being fond of the structure but never went into detail why, apologies about that -- here’s my mindset on it: when you contrast this section, which utilizes jacks for what seems like the bass, it’s not quite as clear as to what you’re accenting compared to the next section, which very explicitly has loud and repeated notes for the melody. This also differs a bit from the section at the end of the song with the eight note long 8th note repetition, as this section actually has a few other elements going for it: the violin is modulated upward, and there’s also a lower guitar that has prominent accents. It seems somewhat clear that you’re having issues balancing the structure looking at 131.906/132.489 - two clearly different notes in pitch but using the same jump, etc.
Overall, this chart looks acceptable; simply take care of that extremely tight mini-jack (or have one of us make the change since it’s a single step change) and you’ll be good to go.

PREVIOUS NOTES: green for good changes, orange for questionable changes, red for further changes requested
[6/10] [Resubmission] Phantom of the Opera {Lindsey Stirling} (VisD)
- as much as I'd like improved pitch relevancy in the opening before the chorus melody, it's understandable to generalize because it would produce really poor patterning otherwise
- patterning could be a bit better improved for PR purposes in the chorus from 26.849 to 39.240; a few jumps seem strange given that the snare is the prominent layering point
- accent the snare flams for a little more differentiation from the rest of the structure (see: 63.243, there are others)
- detail on some of the violin rhythms could be a bit better, though it's a little hard to tell because the song sounds like it drifts against the assist tick a little bit (seems improved, but there are a few notes kinda peppered about through the chart that are a touch off, but not the biggest of deals w/ frame timing)
- not a fan of the structure, but I do understand how it works; make the overall chart's sync a bit better and take another listen at some of the finer violin rhythms and make sure they are correct; various minor misrhythms/missing notes exist throughout the chart for the melody [28.147 (not quite even intervals between 2nd/3rd note there), 65.307, 74.175 (violin starts around 74.151, and at a slightly fast interval), 103.998, etc] (still a bit unsure about the ending)
- a few jumps seem strange since you elect to follow the snare for most of the chart (34.597, 37.692, 56.278, etc? - be less ambiguous with your choices)
- still needs a little more work, I think.

Pulse {YZYX}
Rating: 9/10

Not required, but I’m certainly interested in picking your brain: what are your thoughts for putting colored accents on notes like 69.410/69.674, 71.518/71.782, etc?

Nearly all of the notes seem to have been addressed, nicely done.

PREVIOUS NOTES: green for good changes, orange for questionable changes, red for further changes requested
[8*/10] ._Pulse {YZYX} (GammaBlaster)
- minijack at 3.383s kinda irks me, change the stream patterning beforehand if you want to keep the hands
- I literally laughed out loud when I got to that minijack because that 16th is actually a ghost note.
- 6.51: This shouldn’t be forming a 12th minijack
- 4.36, 7.25: Missing notes (4.36 was not resolved, but I don’t hear anything here anyway.)
- 4.75: This isn’t a fullblown 8th handjack
- 9.56: This 16th goes to a synth run that was ignored. Please include that 16th run starting at 8.97
- 25.57: This section needs to be looked at again in terms of the jump placement. There was the right idea in a few spots that the buzzes were 3/16ths apart, although some of these jumps don’t make sense (and I assume they were meant to layer the buzzes but were misplaced). For example, 25.96 this 8th jump should have been on the 16th before for the buzz. There is of course the powerful kick as well that lands every two 4th notes, although the other jumps need to be addressed. (This is an exceptionally difficult note to resolve, because there are some buzzes that fall 1/16 before triples, and fixing those triples would break your overall structure. I personally find this part of the chart to be a bit too abstract compared to the song; it’s not immediately clear as to what the jumps are following in some cases, but I do see the point.)
- 33.60: Overkill with quads. This is arguably just jumps.
- 37.43: Buzz missing a jump again, the misplaced jumps repeat.
- 46.65: Oh man this is like a longer extension of Adventures of Lolo’s 24th triplet jump things. (du, du-du, du-du-du-du, du-du, du-du-du-du, du-du, du-du-du-du, du-du, du-du-du-du)
- 59.16, 63.38, 65.49: Change this 32nd burst so it doesn’t create the 3-note 8th jack; the pitch changes.
- 67.46: It may be a good idea to include this 4th as it is the start of the 16th run after (it has a hold period in between). (I actually agree with this note, I’m glad you made that change.)
- 69.31: While this handstream is passable, the 7-note 8th jacks are really ugly when it comes to playing them. (mmmmmmm, this handstream <33333)
- 87.29: Missing jump
- 92.37: The 8th jack should start as it’s where the bass kick starts.
- 105.28: Missing jump (not entirely sure what’s hinted at here; in fact, I don’t even like this being three 16th notes, I hear two clear 8th note jumps)
- 107.52: These hands make no sense. It would be better to step the 16th run starting on 105.67 (and keep in mind spots like 108.04 don’t actually have 16th triplets for the bass kick) (aha, I know why the triples are here, and that’s really clever usage, but almost no one is going to hear that additional layer of sound; if you’re gonna do that, you’d be better off adding triples to all of the subsequent 8th notes as well, but considering that others are not comprehending the structure, you might be better off just using jumps instead -- nice little attempt, though :P)
- 113.31: There are a LOT of up notes starting in this section. Please distribute the patterns a little more evenly so there aren’t so many anchors based on the up arrow.
- 127.02: Ending should be kept to jumps.
- wow this is a lot beefier than the SM chart (incredibly high nps despite having lots of 'break' sections)
- Yes, close to 18 TPS average.
- nice meme gamma, I think it's great

[DossarLX ODI]

Keeping the above 8 Pending Fix reviews in mind (6 Accepted and 2 moved back to Conditional Queue), there are currently 10 Pending Fixes that await to be reviewed. I've split them up based on the original judge.

bmah:
- Agartha (March 2015)
- Creamy Sky (March 2015)
- WonderWing (March 2015)

DossarLX ODI:
- AirTrip-SF#2- (November 2014)
- Exothermic (Overheat Remix) (November 2014)

TC_Halogen:
- Polis Ruin (OT Batch)
- Six Acid Strings (Hard Songs Batch)
- Your Lies (OT Batch)

gameboy42690
- PWRPFF RAVES (November 2014)
- Yellow Smile (November 2014)

[VisD]

ok, thanks for the feedback Halogen. Since it was offered, could I just ask someone to help me change the first arrow in that minijack to a 1 (instead of 2)? Honestly, I don't think it's that bad - it's only 220bpm-ish, which converts to a 2 framer yes, but people only need to hit one of them and it's easy to prepare in advance to hit it tbh.

But if it's absolutely necessary, yeah, just move the first arrow. It's time to move that file out of fiffer limbo and I really don't want to look at it again for a long time lol

[DossarLX ODI]

The seven July/August 2016 sets are now up on the public engine. In addition I've trimmed the public engine of the 2015 files, so only the 2016 files are on there now. The genres look like this currently:

Originally Posted by DossarLX ODI

Current Regular Batch Orderings:
• Genre 1 (Dance) - January 2016
• Genre 2 (Dance 2) - July 2016

Note that currently there is a 5 offset bias on the July 2016 files. This should be resolved sometime soon, so in the meantime please keep that offset bias in mind for July 2016.

[gameboy42690]

Two more files with pending fixes have been judged:

Accepted
Yellow Smile (8.5/10)

78.828, 79.001: I can hear a couple of 16ths here, but just barely. I don't think it's worth worrying over.
105.811: I'm on the fence about this 32nd burst due to the two book-ending jumps. I can hit it just fine but someone else might see it as kind of a jerk move.
- Other than those two minor things, everything's been fixed up nicely and reasonable justification was given to any notes that were ignored. Accepted.

Conditional Queue/Pending Fixes
PWRPFF RAVE (8*/10)

**3.163: If you had just wanted 16ths, fine I guess, but the single 32nd at 3.116 (as opposed to a full 32nd roll) feels pretty random and should be removed.
38.434: This anchor on the left arrow isn't really going to anything. Generally you're pretty good about avoiding unnecessary anchoring, and most of the anchoring that does happen in this file fits the song fine, it's just this one that's bugging the crap out of me.
**47.162, 47.889: Missing a few 16ths here.
**73.252: Missing 16th.
- Please address any notes marked with ** for acceptance.

[TC_Halogen]

Batch Rules/Submission Guidelines Addendum

Hello, everyone. There are a number of concerns from within the Game Management team that need to be addressed publicly for content creators that are submitting simfiles. This is being done with the intent to better streamline the submission and reviewing process for all parties -- users, judges, and the game management staff will all benefit with more explicit guidelines.

Before I continue, I will let it be known that the Game Management staff intends to enforce these rules from this point forward, and simfiling staff will aid in ensuring that these submission guidelines are followed. Users have not been exercising their due diligence in ensuring that their submissions are proper, and that in itself is a problem, as it creates additional work for staff and introduces the potential for various issues to occur.

RULES
It goes without saying that submission rules are rather detailed -- that being said, we expect all users to read them in detail. Questions are encouraged! Feel free to post in the Rules/Submissions Guidelines thread with any concerns and a member of the Game Management staff will do everything they can to assist you.

Users will always be submitting to public batches unless it is explicitly stated that there is a special batch going on. Special batches are typically announced in their own separate threads away from the designated monthly threads in the FFR Batch Forums, and are typically receive their own front page post as well.

The rules for these batches can be found in the first post of this thread.

We have repeatedly had issues with file fixes over the past few years, most notably paralleling the time when the Official Tournament events are going on. This causes a huge hassle in coordination, as the process for preparing these submissions is not a one person process. It is important to note that submission rules will now explicitly stipulate the following:

- Stepartists have a week to submit any relevant fixes to their files after the initial submission email; after that, no more fixes will be accepted and they will have to wait for the file submission to be judged.

- In addition, Judgment Staff has the right to deny changes made to files if the changes are sent less than a week before the file's release. If considered appropriate, changes sent for a file can be accepted with permission from a Game Manager if it happens to fall less than a week before the file's release.

- After a file has been either accepted or conditionally queued, a stepartist has eight weeks to resolve any remaining notes:

- Conditionally queued files whose required notes have not been addressed will be considered rejected past this eight week period - even if the rating is above the passing threshold.

- Accepted files whose notes have not been addressed after the eight week period will remain accepted; however, fixes sent past this eight week period will not applied.

- Any files whose status is conditionally queued prior to November 1st, 2016 will have eight weeks from November 1st to submit any fixes.

PROPER FILE SUBMISSIONS/PERMISSIONS

The Game Management team has outlined detailed specifications on a proper FFR submission. Please read them over to ensure that your file is following the guidelines, as simfile judges will now have additional flexibility in denying a file submission based off of certain parameters not being met.

A proper submission to FFR will now do the following:

- Follow this standardized submission format when submitting -- [Batch Name] Song Name (Stepartist Name[s]). Remember, unless announced as such, you are submitting to regularffrsubmissions@gmail.com.

- An example of a proper submission for the normal batch: [Sept/Oct 2016] Harmonia (TC_Halogen). If the file is being sent to a special batch, then this would be the format: [Official Tournament Batch] Undici (TC_Halogen & DossarLX ODI).

- Have a SM file that properly identifies the song artist and the song name.

- We have seen an increasing number of submissions whose .sm files are not supplying the necessary metadata (song name/song artist) for a completed submission. Please keep in mind that Unknown Artist is not an acceptable song artist, nor is a title like 64842_newgrounds_infern for the song title of a submission. Please make sure that you appropriately fill in the fields of your SM file to the best of your abilities. DDream Studio users: be wary of this - make sure you go to File -> Properties and file out the respective information! Incomplete metadata for your submission will result in a [0/10] rating. If the information is present but is not certain to be correct, staff will use their best judgment to ensure that the song titles and artist fields are proper.

- Have the conditions of your permission identified in your e-mail.

-Simfile judgment and game management teams are not expected to have every single artist that we have permission for memorized off of the top of their head. It is imperative that all submissions adhere to permissions as listed as in the Permissions List and Information v8 thread. Be sure to check conditions for content that you are submitting for inclusion into the game.

- Users are now expected to indicate the source of their permissions within their e-mail. Users can cite the Permissions List and Information v8 thread as proof. Submissions that adhere to limited permissions should list the contingencies behind the permission for the purpose of verification by Game Management. If permission is granted by an artist/group and not accounted for in this thread, users are expected to cite their reasoning behind why the permission is valid (example: Creative Commons Licenses), and, whenever applicable, are expected to post screenshots as proof.

- If you submit content that is not covered by permissions listed in the aforementioned thread, but have a screenshot that includes correspondence between you and the artist in question, supply the screenshot inside of your simfile. This way, we can verify that a permission in question does in fact exist.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Be wary of sites whose permissions are occasionally implied. An important example: Newgrounds, a site whose permissions used to be a fully covered blanket due to its Terms of Service, which included a clause stating that all content uploaded to the site could be used non-commercially with credit, has since changed its ToS to accommodate for their various revenue sharing programs. As a result, some users who have submitted newer content have stipulated that there are no granted permissions of use -- therefore, this content cannot be used on FFR.

Usage of these songs typically falls under what are known as Creative Common Licenses.

Some websites that are responsible for holding content from large numbers of artists will have their permissions defined on the given page. The terms of the permissions are indicated by the images (and their meanings). Visit the Creative Commons Licenses page for information about the permissions below.

Note that it is your responsibility as the stepartist to indicate what license is used on the site if you are relying on a Creative Commons License for a file submission.

All of these changes and additions will be merged into the main thread accordingly, highlighted with detail to indicate that they are in fact new rules/changes. As usual, feel free to ask any questions if you are uncertain about anything.

[MinaciousGrace]

rules are tools for fools

or was it rules are fools for tools

or was it fool tools rule

aha it was fools rule tools

[DossarLX ODI]

I got to my October 23rd Assigned Pending Fixes today. Both files ended up accepted; the BSE is also updated with these results.

Accepted
AirTrip-SF#2- {TiS} (bmah)
Exothermic (Overhead Remix) {Virt remixed by Yamajet} (bmah)

AirTrip-SF#2- {TiS}
Updated Rating: [7.5/10]
- 108.29: While I'd prefer the 24th to start on the 4th, in this case the patterning in the polyrhythm might make the current pattern a better alternative.
- 115.28: I actually didn't catch the missing 8th note at 115.03 like you did. 115.28 was a missing 8th note to a minor element in comparison.

Exothermic (Overhead Remix) {Virt remixed by Yamajet}
Updated Rating: [8/10]
- 39.16: The 3/16th bass kick is on the left note here, yet the 8th bass kick at 39.41 isn't.
- 90.96: I'll need to make sure this pattern doesn't turn into something ugly in conversion.
- 99.88, 110.55, 111.88, 115.88: I would still say these 24th blips are significant enough to be stepped. They may not be as significant as the main elements of the song playing, although they're not barely audible to me.

[bmah]

Three files of the March-April 2015 batch, all from DarkZtar, have been reviewed for Pending Fixes. All of them major improvements - the conditional status for the two songs are merely very small areas that are overtly erroneous (marked in red), but nothing major now.

Accepted
WonderWing
updated rating: 8/10
- Summary: Seems pretty good now, nothing particularly notable to point out.

Conditional
Agartha
updated rating: 8.5*/10
- 18.72s: 8th jump
- 28.88s: burst still preferred, but if you want to keep it as 16ths (as it follows the piano), then probably best to just remove the 16th jump
- 31.18s: I have no idea why I did not point this out earlier, but this is a very clearly missing piano note
- 69.54s: this alternatively can be stepped as 16th jumps going to the melody + bass drums (as opposed to a hand as a cymbal crash). Actually, this is what you did in earlier instances, so I recommend following that trend.
- 93.14s,114.13s: gallop to piano ornament, as you've done with other instances.
- 93.77s,114.75s: I believe this is a 3-note ornament.
- Summary: Overall this is so much better and a very fun file. The only thing I'm really asking to change are the very few areas that I think are overt errors.

Creamy Sky
updated rating: 8*/10
- 66.04s: pretty sure there's a note here, just a quiet one.
- Summary: Thanks for fixing that drumroll section. I actually am fairly confident there's a note in the one area I highlighted above - check it out. After that you're good to go.

[DossarLX ODI]

I just updated with BSE with the September 2016 and current November 2016 submissions as specified in this post.

The BSE was also updated with bmah's pending fix results above.

There are 12 submissions for September/October 2016 listed below.

[DossarLX ODI]

The files on the public engine for July/August 2016 and September/October 2016 should now have the 5 offset bias issue resolved. Please inform of any file that still has an offset issue.

[DossarLX ODI]

Updated January 10th, 2017

Here is an update on the Conditional Queue files. Blue usernames indicate that I have received a response, and orange usernames mean that the user has responded back and brought up requests for applying changes to the files (this is a situation where the course of action is still being determined). Green songs mean an update was sent. If I missed anything, it is your responsibility to inform of when and where you sent the updates for a file. If after January 10th, 11:59 PM EST there are no pending fixes sent for the file, the file will be put into a rejected state as per the addendum to the submission rules.

DarkZtar
Blue Army V2
Crystalline White
Agartha
Creamy Sky (NOTE: needs another fix sent, previous pending fix was reviewed)
Glitchcraft
Starbound
Machines

DossarLX ODI
Horizon

hi19hi19
Breath After Breath
High-Priestess
entanglement
Blaze Heatnix
Oprah Shmup
Welcome to Planet Urf
DATA DRAIN
Dear My Sweetie
Japan Style Breakcore - 2

klimtkiller
sniffing stardust on the dancefloor
gorechestra

M0nkeyz
We won't be alone
My Catchy Lil Bassline [Nov 2, 2016 at 7:42 PM]
Pear

MarioNintendo
Drive of Unliving Things [Dec 11, 2016 at 8:34 PM]
PWRPFF RAVES [Dec 11, 2016 at 8:34 PM]
Space Threat

masterzatwork
Triumph

Pizza69
The Basement Community

PrawnSkunk
Breaka Railway
Tope Doge
i wanna fuck the moon
welc.moe

Scintill
Every Chance of Hope is Destroyed

Silvuh
[Resubmission] Zephyros
Spider Dance

VisD
[Resubmission] Phantom Of The Opera [Dec 12, 2016 at 2:53 AM]

Wayward Vagabond
I Like Trains (Remix)
Upside Down (Bassnectar & Terravita Remix)
Rivotril Isn't Working
Waves
Belly Dance (Consistently Drinkin' Remix) [Heavy]
Belly Dance (Consistently Drinkin' Remix) [Standard]
Lovely City

XelNya
Sis Puella Magica
La Tristesse Durera Toujours
[Resubmission] Nightfall (Original Mix)

Xiz
Problematic
Smoke Weed Everyday
[Resubmission] Miss Jackson
3 Year Anniversary Mix

YoshL
I'm Getting Serious!
Powerhaus

[DossarLX ODI]

Because of the holiday seasons, it is understandable that stepartists may be somewhere where they can't edit their charts or are occupied with some other activities. I will extend the deadline another two weeks (until January 10th, 11:59 PM EST), no more postponements on the current files after that. Please take this extension to enjoy the holiday season, and then get back to the files.

[DossarLX ODI]

I did a large Batch Search Engine Update today. In short, the November/December 2016 Regular Batch submission list is finalized, the January/February 2017 Regular Batch opened, and there were some Pending Fixes sent.

Any stepartists that still need to send Pending Fixes by the January 10th, 11:59 PM EST deadline for their CQ'd files have been PM'd with the list of files to address.*

*This deadline is only for the files that were judged before November 1st, 2016. For everything judged after that, there is an 8 week period. For example, Grid Compass had judgments released on 12/26/16 so the deadline for Pending Fixes on that file is February 20th, 11:59 PM EST.