BEST-mix.net - DDR Simfile Tournament

y3v0n wrote:for small patterns within a chart i can understand, copy/pasting and suitably altering the steps helps cohesion and so you're not pulling patterns out of your butt

but whole charts, it doesn't translate well, and the patterns will inevitably feel like a diet coke version of whichever chart it was based on. the amount of time and effort going into removing steps and checking things like flow still work, one might as well just build one from scratch.

LOL diet coke, but you are correct.

A lot of modern ITG files use mines to mark things like stops and slowdowns as such. Using short freezes is a similar way is OK in my book, especially if it's the DDR bracket where mines aren't allowed

And copying/pasting and then dumbing down a chart is lazy, don't do that

BLueSS wrote:Halfway through k//'s file I noticed what the short freezes were for, and thought it was pretty creative (I don't recall seeing that technique before).

This ^ Definitely a solid way to mark them without using mines.

I'll get some apprval votes in by Friday, have class all week and need to concentrate on my projects and whatnot. Keep it classy!

Firstly I would like to thank for a lot of talk about Ghost of Stephen Foster - it means really a lot to me. I just wanted to answer some of the concerns about the file.

For Ghost it's the length and the simplicity of the steps (which you'll rarely hear me say!)

The simplicity of the heavy chart wouldn't be a big deal if it wasn't for the length.

Heavy has a more consistent rhythm but feels a tad bit toned down and with not enough movement considering the length. Expert on the other hand is a lot more varied but feels a bit overdone (those 16ths should be more simple), and has more rhythms breaks (the slowdown part comes to mind).

I appreciate the simplicity here, but not when coupled with the song cut, which was unnecessarily long. (Was it a technical challenge to get rid of the second verse?)

While this wasn't too repetitive, it still runs on too long.
With that said, I found the patterns and rhythms in this chart to be dull and uninspired, especially with a song that allowed for so much rhythmic complexity.

Here is original video - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7sxFyu_U2go . The main problem with this song was that it has variable bpm. It took me about week to sync it right (that's probably most time ever I has spend on syncing anything). As it was a last second entry I decided to not try my luck with cutting it but rather try to go with solid full song.

About the simplicity issue - I think that there are three main reasons behind this.
One - I have started playing and simming a lot in Pump it Up. I don't have as good feel on DDR charts as I had few years ago. The file also was not playtested on pad because I was away from home and was not able to get here in time to test.
Two - if I think about simming DDR (as in not ITG) I always try to have easy steps - ommiting some sounds, making some things better for beginner or intermediate players.
Three - I'm bored of charts which only contain crossovers and body turns. I understand that they are of course important but... all of the steps look the same. There is no variety you know.

Still, I'm really happy how it turned out and how good reviews I got. I hope that this file will be memorable to you all and will stand out from all of these j/k-pop one season 'super hits'.

-1 / 01 - Tilt
Extras: Full singles and Pump charts (!).
I feel like this song is going to coast on the strength of the video. Even with the extras, 10 is too high for this.

I'm awarding you "the worst reason to deduct tilt points" award. Be proud :D

Lisek wrote:all of these j/k-pop one season 'super hits'.

Whoa there! Gangnam Style aside, since that's a whole other thing, I like to think Bubble Pop! and Electric Shock stand out from the J-Pop entries in that they are more danceable and rhythmic. Not that there's a problem with the J-Pop stuff (I've been enjoying them), but just saying, even if one doesn't like the music, I think there's an inherent difference between the two genres.

I also don't know what "one season super-hits" means, so maybe I'm misinterpreting the comment.

I'm not talking about any particular song in this BEST-mix - more like about a genre in simfiling contests. How many contests had j-pop / k-pop songs? And how many had gypsy swing song? Unique songs get memorable and you don't get this feel that you have been already playing something like that.

Also most of the songs j/k-pop songs in the contests are dated same/previous year compared to the contest year (Electic Shock 2012 - 2012, Gangnam 2012 - 2012, Bubble Pop 2011 - 2012, Gee 2009 - 2009, Resonant Blue 2008 - 2008, Twinkle Snow 2007 - 2008). Most people tend to forget about those songs easily. New year comes, new hits also.

Still, I'm not saying that this is bad thing. People got used to those songs and are enjoying them - so why not provide more?

You're basically describing the entire point of pop music. And Ghost of Stephen Foster obviously stands out from the asian-pop here because 1) it's not asian and 2) it was made 12 years ago.

I don't think you should be relying so heavily on the originality of your song choice. Ghost of Stephen Foster is the talk of the town for now, just like Gangnam Style was, but look at what happened to that. It all comes down to which file is better in terms of steps, presentation, and overall replay value, which I do think your file has down for the most part (besides steps).

Lisek wrote:Most people tend to forget about those songs easily. New year comes, new hits also.

I think the same can be said for almost any genre. But I understand your point, which (I think) is that comparing Stephen Foster to -any- simfile makes that simfile seem generic, which is why it was such a great song choice.

(And if DDREvolved has another cheesemix, I plan to step a 10 year old J-Pop song, so who says they get forgotten? :D)

Lisek wrote:How many contests had j-pop / k-pop songs?

Every simfile contest. Usually coming from the same people as well if they have been around for a while.

That was his point, I believe.

if these simfile contests had more gypsy swing and less asian pop music the world would be a happier place

Lisek wrote:As it was a last second entry I decided to not try my luck with cutting it but rather try to go with solid full song.

I really appreciate the full song here and your week of synching (been there done that many times and you get better the more you do), you did a good job overall. I only wish I had heard this song first, I had been searching for a classic cartoon to turn into a simfile for years now and never found one with a good enough rhythm, this is just perfect in every way although TBH I'm curious at how an 'improved' step-chart would play.

Lisek wrote:I'm awarding you "the worst reason to deduct tilt points" award. Be proud :D

That's not really the reason, so much as a random comment that doesn't make sense to put anywhere else. When the numbers came out, your (admittedly excellent) presentation put you ahead of a file I liked better. So I used tilt to adjust it, as I think it's intended.

It just seems like this file is getting a lot of press for non-step-related things, and I found the stepchart mediocre and would rather see something else move on.

(I'm still pretty sure I won OSC 3 mostly by having a video, for what it's worth.)

My OSC3 entry (A Cantonese pop song) had a video and it didn't advance to the final round.

Lisek wrote:
Here is original video - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7sxFyu_U2go . The main problem with this song was that it has variable bpm. It took me about week to sync it right (that's probably most time ever I has spend on syncing anything). As it was a last second entry I decided to not try my luck with cutting it but rather try to go with solid full song.

About the simplicity issue - I think that there are three main reasons behind this.
One - I have started playing and simming a lot in Pump it Up. I don't have as good feel on DDR charts as I had few years ago. The file also was not playtested on pad because I was away from home and was not able to get here in time to test.
Two - if I think about simming DDR (as in not ITG) I always try to have easy steps - ommiting some sounds, making some things better for beginner or intermediate players.
Three - I'm bored of charts which only contain crossovers and body turns. I understand that they are of course important but... all of the steps look the same. There is no variety you know.

I actually quite agree with the way you handled it. Despite my tendency to crossovers, I'm also up for simple steps whenever it calls for it. The real problem here is the length that plays against that; it's extremely difficult to vary things up and yet mantain it simple. But at the same time I'm glad you kept the full song; it is plenty fun to listen to all of it :).
And props for the syncing; as I was doing an edit days ago (yes, I couldn't resist it yet when I had other things to do...), I could what a nightmare it had to be.