Stepfile terms
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Stepfile terms
I've been seeing a lot of terms I don't recognize in people's review... just need a list of these terms or something like that please 
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emoticon they're usually being sarcastic
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When I write my judgings I'm going to have a mini glossary at the top for some terms people may not know. But here's a couple that I've seen used frequently so far, especially in the chat review #infinity and I did:
Double Steps/Double Taps: Not to be confused with "doubles" steps (two pads), this term is used to describe two consecutive arrows that force the player to use the same foot to hit each. For example, assume a player is standing normally on the pad, left foot on left arrow, right on right. The pattern RUDRU is going to cause the player to "double step" between the last two steps to prevent facing completely away from the screen.
Now, this is a hot button issue sometimes, because technically, a -lot- of DDR stepcharts have these types of steps (especially End of the Century), but many players find them highly uncomfortable and awkward. A general tip: Try to avoid double steps in 8th note streams, 4th note streams are much easier to perform a double step on. Of course, this could be debated for ages, but I'm just giving a definition here.
Unnecessary freezes - This is a term I use a lot for freezes so short that even if a player were to lift their foot up right away off the freeze, it would still register, meaning, it was pointless. Sometimes people like to include these if they go with the song, but many players find them unnecessary. This usually isn't a big deal, though, just something that gets pointed out sometimes.
Overstepped - A song that feels like it should be an easy chart that turns out to be very complicated and difficult, something that feels more difficult than it should be.
Understepped - A song that feels like it should be a difficult chart that turns out to be something much easier.
Karaoke steps - Steps that follow the vocals too much. Sometimes it's called for, as there's nothing else to follow, but generally a bad idea.
Crossovers/Pivots - Imagine a player standing normally again, right on right and left on left. RDLDR is a pattern that forces the player to turn to the side to step without double stepping, this is a crossover. This is seen a lot in songs such as Exotic Ethnic. These are good patterns to use, but obviously not in excess. I like to try and make my crossovers fit the song, though that's just a personal thing and it's kind of hard to explain. >_>
Step-jump patterns - a one arrow step immediately followed by a jump, usually only referred to in an 8th note stream. Step-jump patterns are fine in 4th note patterns (hence why it's not usually used like that) but in 8th note patterns, it's fine when used in small doses but not in excess. Try to use them sparingly-- some are good, too many is awkward.
Can't think of anything else at the moment, ask if you see anything else.
Any opinions I expressed here are my attempt to sum up the simfile community as a whole around here, each person has slightly varying opinions. So again, this is just for reference and a general idea.
Double Steps/Double Taps: Not to be confused with "doubles" steps (two pads), this term is used to describe two consecutive arrows that force the player to use the same foot to hit each. For example, assume a player is standing normally on the pad, left foot on left arrow, right on right. The pattern RUDRU is going to cause the player to "double step" between the last two steps to prevent facing completely away from the screen.
Now, this is a hot button issue sometimes, because technically, a -lot- of DDR stepcharts have these types of steps (especially End of the Century), but many players find them highly uncomfortable and awkward. A general tip: Try to avoid double steps in 8th note streams, 4th note streams are much easier to perform a double step on. Of course, this could be debated for ages, but I'm just giving a definition here.
Unnecessary freezes - This is a term I use a lot for freezes so short that even if a player were to lift their foot up right away off the freeze, it would still register, meaning, it was pointless. Sometimes people like to include these if they go with the song, but many players find them unnecessary. This usually isn't a big deal, though, just something that gets pointed out sometimes.
Overstepped - A song that feels like it should be an easy chart that turns out to be very complicated and difficult, something that feels more difficult than it should be.
Understepped - A song that feels like it should be a difficult chart that turns out to be something much easier.
Karaoke steps - Steps that follow the vocals too much. Sometimes it's called for, as there's nothing else to follow, but generally a bad idea.
Crossovers/Pivots - Imagine a player standing normally again, right on right and left on left. RDLDR is a pattern that forces the player to turn to the side to step without double stepping, this is a crossover. This is seen a lot in songs such as Exotic Ethnic. These are good patterns to use, but obviously not in excess. I like to try and make my crossovers fit the song, though that's just a personal thing and it's kind of hard to explain. >_>
Step-jump patterns - a one arrow step immediately followed by a jump, usually only referred to in an 8th note stream. Step-jump patterns are fine in 4th note patterns (hence why it's not usually used like that) but in 8th note patterns, it's fine when used in small doses but not in excess. Try to use them sparingly-- some are good, too many is awkward.
Can't think of anything else at the moment, ask if you see anything else.
Any opinions I expressed here are my attempt to sum up the simfile community as a whole around here, each person has slightly varying opinions. So again, this is just for reference and a general idea.
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Here's one I know I used:
Blue Arrow Syndrome (BAS): When the downbeat of the song falls on blue arrows (eighth notes), not red ones (quarter notes). Only applies to songs in normal time signatures because every downbeat should be on a red arrow in these cases (for example, holic has BAS but it's fine because it's in 7/8 time and there is no way to avoid BAS in this case).
The reason this is a problem is that the arrow frames at the top of the screen are supposed to flash in time to the beat, but if you have blue arrow syndrome, they flash halfway between the beats. Plus, if you use little (or whatever that mod is that removes all non-quarter notes, I'm not sure), it removes all the arrows on the downbeat, when those are supposed to be all that are remaining.
YAS (Yellow Arrow Syndrome) is basically the same thing, except with 16th notes instead of 8th notes. I'd say it's even more of a problem because yellow arrows are used less frequently than blue ones, so it just makes things seem even more off, and makes the chaos rating extremely inflated.
Blue Arrow Syndrome (BAS): When the downbeat of the song falls on blue arrows (eighth notes), not red ones (quarter notes). Only applies to songs in normal time signatures because every downbeat should be on a red arrow in these cases (for example, holic has BAS but it's fine because it's in 7/8 time and there is no way to avoid BAS in this case).
The reason this is a problem is that the arrow frames at the top of the screen are supposed to flash in time to the beat, but if you have blue arrow syndrome, they flash halfway between the beats. Plus, if you use little (or whatever that mod is that removes all non-quarter notes, I'm not sure), it removes all the arrows on the downbeat, when those are supposed to be all that are remaining.
YAS (Yellow Arrow Syndrome) is basically the same thing, except with 16th notes instead of 8th notes. I'd say it's even more of a problem because yellow arrows are used less frequently than blue ones, so it just makes things seem even more off, and makes the chaos rating extremely inflated.
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Here's some others. (I've been out of the loop for awhile, so I'm not sure what's "in" and "out" anymore, so I'm going by what I know.)
"Karaoke steps" are when the arrows go exactly with the lyrics or the main melody. When used properly, they can greatly enhance the quality of a file, but if the entire file consists of karaoke steps it usually shows a general lack of creativity on the author's part.
I'm not sure what the globally-accepted term for this is, but when the same arrow is repeated multiple times, usually in an 8th note stream, I call them "echo steps", after the ITG modifier which does the same thing.
As far as actual DDR examples of colored arrow syndrome, Fascination MAXX and Konoko no whatever-the-crap-that-song's-called are two of the biggest offenders (both from SuperNOVA, natch). FAXX is all purple notes during the final death run, and Konoko is off by a 16th note starting about halfway. Another good reason to avoid colored arrow syndrome is that it screws up the groove radar calculation (just look at Konoko's chaos rating).
"Karaoke steps" are when the arrows go exactly with the lyrics or the main melody. When used properly, they can greatly enhance the quality of a file, but if the entire file consists of karaoke steps it usually shows a general lack of creativity on the author's part.
I'm not sure what the globally-accepted term for this is, but when the same arrow is repeated multiple times, usually in an 8th note stream, I call them "echo steps", after the ITG modifier which does the same thing.
As far as actual DDR examples of colored arrow syndrome, Fascination MAXX and Konoko no whatever-the-crap-that-song's-called are two of the biggest offenders (both from SuperNOVA, natch). FAXX is all purple notes during the final death run, and Konoko is off by a 16th note starting about halfway. Another good reason to avoid colored arrow syndrome is that it screws up the groove radar calculation (just look at Konoko's chaos rating).
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