Welp, might as well give this bracket something to talk about!
So, this is how I'll go by critiquing all the separate areas of the score criteria. I won't necessarily comment on all of the questions below, if not any at all, but those will be the general questions I will ask myself while playing through or judging each area in your file.
SCORE CRITERIA: All scores must be whole integers between 1-max
Hardest Chart - Was it fun? Did it make sense? Were there any awkward positioning/patterning? etc.
Second Hardest chart - Same as above.
Presentation - Are the graphics appealing? Are the fonts legible? If not, were the extras you included (steps, cd-title, videos, etc.) enough to bring up any lost points in this area?
Tilt - Would I play this again? Is there anything in this file that really sticks out that should be recognized.
--------------
Total - Final words.
Just as a side note, for the Presentation category, I'll most likely be giving points above 3 or around that point value. I believe everyone struggles with graphics from time to time and that a simfile's quality should not be soley based on the image that shows behind the main objective of the game - the arrows. That being said, I won't take absolute crap ms paint gfx with this generosity, and I'll note that, but if you have extras I'll try to give those a shot to raise your Presentation score a bit. If you already have a 5/5 for Presentation based on gfx alone, then great! I don't have to go through any of your extras, and I'll note that, unless I just say something like, "ZOMG GFX R 1337!", which you can probably safely assume I just needed to check out your pro photoshop skillz before moving on to the next area of grading your file. But if you need a little help, and say have a 3/5 for Presentation so far based on gfx alone, but the song nor the required stepcharts appeal much to me, then I probably won't even feel obligated to even give your extras a shot, because they most likely won't be any better than the material you were required to compete with.
Anywho, here we go!
ALL I DO IS WIN (REMIX) -
DJ Khaled feat. T-Pain, Diddy, Nicki Minaj, Rick Ross, Busta Rhymes, Fabolous, Jadakiss, Fat Joe, and Swizz Beatz (WTF?!)
Hardest Chart (
Expert) - 11/11
This chart is just awesome. When the crazy 32nd portion came in I honestly couldn't help myself from laughing. XD I was wondering how in the world you were going to make this chart 10 foot worthy, but then you did. The steps synchronized to Up, Down, Up, Down were tight, and the double-steps into the freezes with Up made perfect sense, yo. This chart foh my homes in the creyib, dawg.
Second Hardest Chart (
Hard) - 10/11
Really nice freeze usage. Everything here was pretty good, but I wish you could have added in an extra 32nd stream instead of the jump to 16th to 4th step that you did. That nigguh wasn't done with his verse yet! But yeah not as memorable as Expert but still really fun.
Presentation - 4/5
The banner is uh...LOL. Grats for fitting in all those artists names while still keeping everything legible. But, wtf seriously some of those guys don't even rap in the cut you made for the song. Where's Nicki? There's no way ITG would put a song with such a gigantic artist name like that in game. They'd probably shorten it to like, "DJ Khaled feat. T-Pain and Various Artists" or something lol, but I'm glad that you didn't do that! Video looks nice, but graphics could use some umph, regardless of the fact that there are 20 artist names to fit in it.
Tilt - 3/3
I used to hate this song, too! Well, maybe it's cuz I didn't hear the version where T-Pain "and Khaled do the remix" cuz then my hands would've gone UP....................AND THEY'D STAY THERE!
Total -
28/30ALL YOU DO IS WIN, WIN, WIN, NO MATTER WHAT
End of Distress -
MarchingHardest Chart (
Expert) - 10/11
Really creative stuff! The hands were very cool and I love, love, LOVE what you did with the mines that forced you to double-step. I've seen those before in other charts and they always seem to work wonders with a chart when used correctly. The steps during all the BPM gimmicks and slowdown were good. I'm kind of in a dilema, though. I honestly have no idea what you were getting with with the mines in the beginning. You're clearly supposed to double-step during those first few measures, but it's way too cramped to figure out what foot you're supposed to double-step with! I looked over the chart in Edit Mode and there IS a way to do that section without hitting the mines, but it's even confusing at that because you switch up the technique that was working so far after the first measure, because the player naturally puts their right foot on 2 and crosses over their left foot to hit 6 and 8 successfully. But then in the 2nd measure, you left a gap for two options to successfully complete the pattern. The way it seem you
intended the player to do was, on beat 5.500, to hit 6 with their right foot and 4 with their left foot and then keep their right foot planted on 6 in order for their left foot to hit 8, completing the double-step. However, when a player who's playing ITG sees a 486 pattern, naturally he is going to crossover to complete that pattern, which is unfortunately an option left wide open at this specific point in the song, because you can avoid all mines by eith keeping your right foot on 6,
or by performing a natural crossover and hitting 8 with your right foot instead of your left. At that point, the player cannot dodge the mine shortly following the Up arrow on beat 6.250 unless they hit 2 with their right foot while keeping their left foot on 6, forcing the player to fully be in a 180 degree position - back completely to the screen. Besides this puzzling fork in the road, terrific job with this chart.
Second Hardest Chart (
Hard) - 9/11
Oh, 573 combos....KONAMI WILL SU-*shot* Once again, very creative chart. The freezes were kinda strange at first, but then I listened more closely to the music and the seemed to fit perfectly. I was really waiting for one of these freeze heavy, foot placement difficult sections to show up somewhere in this competition and I'm glad I finally found one! The BPM gimmick section was kind of all over the place for me. Since you obviously didn't want to follow the voice stutters to the fullest this time around to decrease the difficulty, it left some empty spots that maybe wouldn't need to be filled in if you hadn't filled in other awkward empty areas that didn't really follow anything. In other words, the 16th usage during those portions weren't the best. However, near the end when they came back it was a lot better.
Presentation - 5/5
Graphics look really nice. They fit ITG's abstract artistic style really well. Weird how you hid a lone 8th note on the right side within all that hot mess. Doesn't really fit the style, but it's hardly noticable and I may have just diagnosed myself with ADD.
Tilt - 3/3
I would totally play this again. The song is pretty sweet and the steps overall are very well-made. That being said, technical errors are HUGE in ITG. If you are at any point stuck in a situation where the only way out of hitting a mine is to face completely backwards from the machine, then there is something wrong with the chart.
Total -
27/30Other than the issue mentioned above, great stuff here and another fairly foreign song choice to ITG that just works well.
Hakurei Jinja Hakurei Reitai Festival -
IOSYSHardest Chart (
Expert) - 10/11
Really good job with following the music very closely. The 16ths and 24ths were all used smartly and added something to the chart. Foot placement was pretty good, too. The 8th stream with all the mines got kinda boring, and the end with the mines was kind of annoying to do, but as a whole this is a bunch of fun to play, which is surprising cuz I didn't expect much coming out of an IOSYS file since uh IOSYS files can get pretty generic.
Second Hardest Chart (
Hard) - 9/11
Also a good chart here, and good job for rating this a 7 footer. I don't know why but after those 8th jumps in the beginning I thought you might've rated this an 8 instead.
Anywho, nothing really seemed out of place. Everything went through smoothly, and I thought the section with just 4th notes and spins was actually really cool. I just didn't like how it got really repetitive during the chorus. It was just the same patterns rhythmically with different foot placement. Could have used a little more variation.
Presentation - 5/5
Graphics definitely match the anime style very well. The text looks nice for both artist and title. Video is kinda grainy, though. Also, why did it end so short of the music? There was still like, 10 seconds left or something but the video already stopped. Strange... Oh well, good package.
Tilt - 2/3
I probably wouldn't play this that often because I don't like this type of music, but I've got to tell you the steps were a real good shock! I did NOT expect this type of quality coming out of a file like this. [/bias] haha but yeah good work.
Total -
26/30This bracket is all about interesting song choices, and so far, they've all managed to work! Congrats on taking your part in it!
Night of Knights -
COOL&CREATEHardest Chart (
Expert) - 8/11
Okay, this chart was pretty enjoyable for the first like, 3 choruses that went by, but then after that it just seemed to go oooon, and oooooooon, and oooooooooooon. AND IT GOES OOON AND OOON AND OOOOON! Yeaaah, I throw my hands up in the air sometime, sayin'--oh sorry, got carried away. Nothing didn't follow the music, which is usually good, but when you follow the music with the same patterns for THAT long, then it's not such a good thing. This isn't really your fault, and there wasn't really another clear way to step this, but rather this repetitiveness is the song's fault, and I'll talk more about that later. Anyway, some awkward double-stepping during the less intense parts but not a bad chart as a whole.
Second Hardest Chart (
Hard) - 9/11
Okay, this chart is definitely a step above the Expert chart for a couple reasons. One, it plays through as smooth as ice, and two, there is variation within the chorus! This was much better because although you were still following the chorus the same way each time, you gradually increased the difficulty as the song went on so that the player wouldn't get so bored of the same thing over and over again, and I didn't! Still lacking anything really creative in it, but nonetheless a valiant effort at a rather difficult song to step variation-wise.
Presentation - 4/5
Hot banner. Background is kinda dull, though. I was expecting pretty much the same style as the banner on the background before playing this, but then it turned to a black and white background with less attractive text on it. How does that work? There are extra charts, but the main thing I want to touch up here is the song cut. It seems as if you cut the song right before it was getting into the really good stuff. That fade-out actually made me want to play whatever THAT was even more than what I had just played! You left out some really workable sections of the song in replacement of an extremely overly repetitive chorus. I'm assuming you just did a simple end cut and fade-out to make this song cut, but it just goes to show how you really should invest in learning how to actually cut sections of a song and paste them elsewhere to make a song cut even more unique.
Tilt - 1/3
I wouldn't really play this song again, because of its repetitiveness, but the charts weren't half bad. Maybe I'd come back once in a while just to see if I still like them?
Total -
22/30Good effort, but the file suffered from something I've already stated plenty of times. If there was more variation within both the song and the steps, this could have very well succeeded greatly.
PHOTOGENIC beatmaniaIIDX 9th Style CS -
L.E.D. feat.Maiko HorisawaHardest Chart (
Expert) - 9/11
You know, this was sorta like a breath of fresh air. Even though this was mostly just a constant 8th stream with 16th runs, it reminded me of the old first ITG days where the steps followed the music but were gimmicky at the same time. This reminded me a ton of Hands of Time and I think it genuinely worked for the best. This had it's moments were it was just dull, but I think there were plenty of moments were everything kicked in at the exact same point to create a climax so great that it felt good to even get that far within the song. When the 16ths really started to haul in and the song truely got into its moment,
that was awesome.
Second Hardest Chart (
Hard) - 8/11
Not as good as Expert, and the 16ths got a little out of hand at the end, but still a fun chart. It felt like it was going to be 8th stream-o-rama for a bit while the song was leading into the chorus, but once it got there, just like in the Expert chart, everything seemed to feel just right. There were some issues with double-stepping that didn't really fit much this time around. Nonetheless, nice job.
Presentation - 5/5
The graphics aren't the most sparkly, or the most artistic, or the most creative, but guess what? They work! The purple/blue dark color cheme totally matches the ambient feel of the song. Not to mention, the song is just terrific! Can't get enough of it.
Tilt - 3/3
Awesome song choice. I would definitely play this again. The charts weren't spectacular, but they both had their moments, and I'd like to think perfection isn't always the most persuading thing when it comes to truely enjoying a simfile.
Total -
25/30Supurbly fun overall, besides the face that the charts weren't the absolute best. Even so, I could definitely see myself playing this file over again well after this competition is over.
STANDINGS1.
ALL I DO IS WIN (REMIX) - 28/30
2.
End of Distress - Marching - 27/30
3.
Hakurei Jinja Hakurei Reitai Festival - 26/30
4.
PHOTOGENIC beatmaniaIIDX 9th Style CS - 25/30
5.
Night of Knights - 22/30
Honestly, a tremendously strong pack of files. It'll be sad to even see one of these not advance, because the files were merely 6 points away from each other at the most! Good luck to you all in this bracket, and if unfortunately you don't advance, just remember every file here had its separate strengths. Every file has something really good about it in my eyes, so you should all be proud just because of that.
Posted: Sun Aug 15, 2010 8:39 pm
I thought I fixed that but was in a rush yesterday. Thanks for the heads up Lisek!
A couple of stylistic things I wasn't a fan of, but not enough to really hurt it too much. Though, with this chart, I don't see a need for anything harder, tbh.