ITG 1-2 Judging Thread

[BLueSS]

ITG Bracket 1-2 Judging Thread
- The scoring from this thread will determine which 3 songs move on to the next round.
- This thread will be locked sometime on Friday morning/afternoon so scores can be tallied to go with the release of Bracket 2. Get your reviews in before Friday.
- You must pick 1 review method, you can't mix them.
- The entire bracket must be reviewed.
- The list of songs in this bracket are below for reference:

Code: Select all

Brilliant 2U (AKBK Mix) - Valex
Hyadain no Joujou Yuujou - hajtos
Intelligent Life - Spork!
One Click Headshot - aurae
Setsugekka - NIQ9
The Day that The Earth Stalled - jammitch!

Thanks to Lisek (and will-i-am for ITG fixes), here are easy to use scoring templates

Option 1 - Complete Review

Code: Select all

[b][b][size=150]Song Title[/size][/b] __ / 25
[color=#0000FF]__ / 10 - Expert[/color]
[color=#FF0000]__ / 10 - Secondary Chart[/color]
[color=#BF8040]__ / 05 - Presentation[/color]
[color=#40BFFF]__ / +/- 01 - Tilt[/color]

Template Song 24 / 25
08 / 10 - Expert
Great fun chart but lacks something. It needs more 1/16th jackhammers.
10 / 10 - Secondary Chart
It's great, nothing to add.
05 / 05 - Presentation
The background is dazzling so much that I lost my eye-sight.
01 / 01 - Tilt
Nice video but I understand that some people may not like it.


Option 2 - Partial Review

Code: Select all

[b][size=150]Song Title[/size][/b] __ / 15
[color=#0000FF]__ / 10 - Expert[/color]
[color=#BF8040]__ / 05 - Presentation[/color]
[color=#40BFFF]__ / 01 - Tilt[/color]

example:
Bad Song 08 / 15
06 / 10 - Expert
Could be better. I thought that this was pad competition thought.
02 / 05 - Presentation
The background is ugly. Comic Sans is so 90's.
00 / 01 - Tilt
No tilt. Leave me alone.

Option 3 - Approval Vote

Code: Select all

[b][size=150]Song Title[/size][/b]

example:
Blue Sad Song
I cried. I cried a lot. It's nice.

Option 1: Complete Review (25 points/song)
- Heavy (10), secondary chart (10), presentation (5), and tilt (±1)
Option 2: Partial Review (15 points/song)
- Heavy (10), presentation (5), and tilt (±1)
Option 3: Approval Vote (5 points/song)
- Typical approval vote style; vote for as many songs as desired, each vote awards equal points (5)

[k//eternal]

approval vote:

Intelligent Life
One Click Headshot

[joe2]

approval vote:

Brilliant 2U (AKBK Mix)
Hyadain no Joujou Yuujou
Setsugekka

[rikame]

approval vote

Brilliant 2U (AKBK Mix)
Hyadain No Joujou Yuujou
Intelligent Life

[Lisek]

Brilliant 2U (AKBK Mix) 20.5 / 25
8.5 / 10 - Expert
Chart is fun for about ~80% of song. About last 30 seconds fell unnecessary. Chart would be much better without them. 1/32th triplets were pulled nicely. Didn't like that one part where 1/24ths weren't a drill. Overall good fun chart.
8.5 / 10 - Secondary Chart (Heavy)
There were some breaks of flow but overall it's good. Still, like expert chart feels like it's too long.
3.5 / 05 - Presentation
Smooth background. Banner looks like resized bg, it's ok but not appealing much. Song preview is meh, could be much better.
00 / 01 - Tilt
Nothing too outstanding. Just ok.

Hyadain no Joujou Yuujou 06 / 25
02 / 10 - Heavy
Many rhythms are omitted. Chart is super simplified. Even thought this song is powerful, full of energy you made it into 'blah blah 1/8th stream'. It's boring. This doesn't feel like ITG chart at all. Maybe if you would put it in DDR section I would award a little more points.
03 / 10 - Secondary Chart (Standard)
Chart is unappealing. Too much of karaoke stepping in first part of song. Second was starting to get better but didn't help that much. It doesn't feel like a chart for intermediate players because it focuses on 1/8th offbeats too much.
01 / 05 - Presentation
No artist on background or banner. Wrong video ratio. Preview is ok but could be better. Song quality is ok.
00 / 01 - Tilt
Great song choice, pretty bad steps. Still, don't give up.

Intelligent Life 21.5 / 25
8.5 / 10 - Expert
There has been some ankwardly placed arrows that made me a little confused how to enter some streams. Overall it was really good.
09 / 10 - Secondary Chart (Hard)
Nice usage of jackhammers, I liked those. Nice mine placement as well. Beginning was a little boring but then a lot things has started to happen. I liked it.
3.5 / 05 - Presentation
Ok banner, ok background. Preview is good too. Just one question - why do you have name on banner written with uppers when the title on wheel is with lowers?
0.5 / 01 - Tilt
Very well done slow down part.

One Click Headshot 12 / 25
04 / 10 - Hard
Chart gets really repetitive, boring and tiring after a while. As an 11 should be expert.
06 / 10 - Secondary Chart (Standard)
Some ankward step placements occur but it's not big deal thought. This chart has still much much more variety than Hard. As an 8 it should be Hard.
02 / 05 - Presentation
Low quality song (or mp3), background is pretty simple and bland. Banner is nice thought. Preview is ok, but it is as boring as whole song.
00 / 01 - Tilt
Not much to tilt. Could be much better.

Setsugekka 18 / 25
09 / 10 - Expert
Wow. To be honest after the presentation I was thinking that it will be just a waste of my time. Still, it's really great chart. Only thing that I didn't like is that the steps start too fast. Give the player some beats to hear the song.
08 / 10 - Secondary Chart (Hard)
That chart would use some holds to simplify some of the sounds. Overall it's good but could be polished a little more.
01 / 05 - Presentation
Graphics are hideous. Wrong dimensions. Preview is pretty bad. Song quality is ok.
00 / 01 - Tilt
I'm confused. Such good charts and such bad graphic job... find maybe someone who likes to make graphics and team up with him? Such a waste.

The Day that The Earth Stalled 18.5 / 25
08 / 10 - Expert
Little too hard for 11 I think. 182 bpm combined with 1/16ths and with pretty complex arrow placement made it pretty hard. I would make harder some of the 'easy' parts and bump it onto 12. Still, much fun.
07 / 10 - Secondary Chart (Hard)
I didn't like the mine placement. It's 182 bpm, they are too close. It's too hard to not ignite them.
03 / 05 - Presentation
That banner is so big that I could put it as my new wallpaper, you went a little overboard :P After resizing it looks pretty bad. The fire background is a little too generic thought. Still overall good job. Good song quality and preview.
0.5 / 01 - Tilt
Fun song. Bumping up for great readme file.



1. [21.5] Intelligent Life - Spork!
2. [20.5] Brilliant 2U (AKBK Mix) - Valex
3. [18.5] The Day that The Earth Stalled - jammitch!
4. [18] Setsugekka - NIQ9
5. [12] One Click Headshot - aurae
6. [06] Hyadain no Joujou Yuujou - hajtos

[Telperion]

Brilliant 2U (AKBK Mix) 22.5 / 25
9.5 / 10 - Hardest Chart
Overall this definitely looks like a 12 to me (that won't affect my scoring though) Those 32nds are outrageous, lol, short rolls would have been fine. The jumps at b81 & b82 and b226 felt uncalled for. Good handling of the 24ths and rhythmic complexity vs. placement.
8.0 / 10 - Second Hardest Chart
The rhythms were decent, but the placement (especially in the first half) could have used a bit more variety. Too much LDURLUDR (or, as I like to call it, the Chain of Pain effect lol)
5.0 / 05 - Presentation
It's a remix of one of those old Naoki series DDR songs, of course it should have mecha graphics~ The graphics look good though.
0.0 / +/- 01 - Tilt


Hyadain no Joujou Yuujou 16.0 / 25
7.0 / 10 - Hardest Chart
Would have made a better second-hardest chart, for sure. Doesn't feel at all like an ITG chart (yeah I know, there's mines in the beginning, you still aren't convincing me)
5.0 / 10 - Second Hardest Chart
Would have made a better third-hardest chart, for sure. Unbalanced - the last half has virtually nothing but quarter notes and is just boring without any off beats or breaks.
4.0 / 05 - Presentation
The BPM slowdown was warranted but could have been handled a bit better (slow down a few measures earlier at the echoed syllables?) The steps should have started a measure later. Graphics are okay but nothing mind-blowing.
0.0 / +/- 01 - Tilt
Once upon a time, I, too, wrote an ITG-style chart (an 11 block) for Hyadain no Joujou Yuujou. It's influencing my judgment as little as possible, but I'm still seeing too many ways you could have worked a bit more complexity and rhythmic accuracy into the charts. A better DDR entry than ITG, all around.


Intelligent Life 22.0 / 25
8.5 / 10 - Hardest Chart
Good balance of rhythms and using patterns to accent repetition. Nice footswitches too~ The mines in measures 21-22 are a bit disorderly. I keep reading a doublestep at beat 114 that I believe originates by using the wrong (but more natural) foot after the b106 jump; same for b134.5 and b158.5.
7.5 / 10 - Second Hardest Chart
I hear what the hands in the first half are accenting but it's a really light sound that probably doesn't call for them. The crossovers around measure 49 and the rhythms starting around measure 57 feel out of place and I'd rather see them simplified a bit.
5.0 / 05 - Presentation
Slick graphics! And full doubles as well as full singles? I can get behind that.
+1.0 / +/- 01 - Tilt
The double charts are not bad at all, and I see some thought was put into them to differentiate them from singles. You get some tilt for that.
Also, called this as being the DDR Encore team entry based on the song choice alone lol


One Click Headshot 24.0 / 25
9.5 / 10 - Hardest Chart
Okay, so jacks are usually really annoying, but this is a case where the song can support them, and you handled them in an appropriate and challenging manner. It's not a chart I would play just for fun, but I enjoyed it a lot anyway and it makes for a good technical exercise. Some left-facing tendencies, but you've definitely improved in this regard.
9.0 / 10 - Second Hardest Chart
Also a lot of fun. The crossovers that began at beat 68 were a bit unexpected, but I actually liked them better doublestepping them haha. The last triplet (b169) robably would have made a nice roll instead.
5.0 / 05 - Presentation
Solid graphics and good sync/cut. Would have liked to see the Hard and Medium charts in the Expert and Hard slots, as per ITG traditions, but that's a nitpick.
+0.5 / +/- 01 - Tilt
Overall very impressed with this file.


Setsugekka 23.0 / 25
10.0 / 10 - Hardest Chart
Near-perfect. This really looks a lot like how I would have written it. Nice attention to the step intensity as the song progressed. The offbeat 16ths in the beginning could use more variety, and a little mine art over the unstepped instruments would go a long way in the end.
9.0 / 10 - Second Hardest Chart
Also very good, but didn't blow me away as much as the SX. Surprised you didn't take any of the opportunities for crossovers.
3.0 / 05 - Presentation
The graphics are awful haha (and they don't even match!) Everything else is okay - music sample, sync, presence of full diffs.
+1.0 / +/- 01 - Tilt
A tilt point because I actually got to pad this and it is just as excellent as I had hoped. If only those graphics... :<


The Day That the Earth Stalled 18.0 / 25
6.0 / 10 - Hardest Chart
I liked the first quarter of the chart or so; it fit very well with the music and made a lot of sense. Then the jumps started to really get out of hand, and the streams developed a mind of their own, and by the end of the SX I had played a confusing 12 block. The mines in the end are too close to the arrows to reliably not be triggered.
8.0 / 10 - Second Hardest Chart
A lot easier to follow. I'm personally not against the mine-forced doublesteps in those quantities, but most people don't seem to like those. Again, the mines at the end are too close to the arrows.
4.0 / 05 - Presentation
Graphics are very nice. The sync drifts very early though (I believe the song's actually a flat 182 BPM?)
0.0 / +/- 01 - Tilt


In summary:
One Click Headshot 24.0 / 25
Setsugekka 23.0 / 25
Brilliant 2U (AKBK Mix) 22.5 / 25
Intelligent Life 22.0 / 25
The Day That the Earth Stalled 18.0 / 25
Hyadain no Joujou Yuujou 16.0 / 25

[Hainaut]

Brilliant 2u (AKBK Mix):

Hard – 7.5/10
Are figure-8 movements the only type of patterns that you’re willing to implement in your placement? It’s a shame, because your notation is so solid otherwise, but due to your mostly repetitive placement, this stepchart loses a lot of its edge and becomes sort of stale. Unlike your DDR entry, Teknopathic, there aren’t any nice crossovers to break up the figure-8’s and add more depth to these steps. This chart is actually still pretty good as a whole, but it would have been significantly better if it had more varied placement.

Expert – 6.25/10
Like so many of your other charts, there’s too much across-the-pad movement here, and it causes this to feel like the same thing the whole time. Although most of your rhythms are technically accurate, this stepchart lacks development because there aren’t enough breaks. Also, I think you’re pushing it with the 24th drills because the steps are dense enough as is, and at 162 bpm especially, they’re way more of an irritation than they are fun.

Presentation – 5/5
I really like your graphics. Sync and sound quality are good.

Tilt – 0/1

Final Score: 18.75/25

Hyadain No Joujou Yuujou:

Medium – 8/10
These steps flow excellently, but as most of the syncopation comes from karaoke, I think you could’ve made the placement a little quirkier in order to make each phrase stand out more, as this chart blends together without a whole lot of exciting areas.

Hard – 9.5/10
I have to admit that I didn’t think you could do a whole lot with an anime theme like this, but you really proved me wrong here! This is rock solid from start to finish, with lots of energy to fit the track and perfect movement. There’s even a bit of creativity in the middle, including the long stream that switches between ignoring the left and right arrows, depending on which vocalist is present; as well as an appropriately used break. Even though this is still maybe not the most creative stepchart ever, due to the limitations presented by the song, it’s nonetheless quite excellent!

Presentation – 4.5/5
Minor penalty for not including the artist name on the banner. I know it’s technically in the song title as well, but that doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be on its own as well. Graphics are otherwise a little dull, but the inclusion of a bg video compensates for that.

Tilt – 0/1

Final Score: 22/25

Intelligent Life:

Hard – 9.75/10
The intro gets repetitive with all of those the 3-note 8th streams that begin on the downbeat, and I think you should’ve followed the synth a little bit more (though not completely) instead. After that section though, this chart is downright amazing. Your placement is spot-on perfect, and each phrase is handled creatively and effectively. I love your use of hand plants especially.

Expert – 8/10
The overall structure and vision of this stepchart is excellent, and for the most part, the steps are executed quite effectively. However, I am highly critical of some of the forced doublesteps, especially the ones within the streams of 16ths (measure 31 is a big no-no). It’s nice to try and grab the player’s attention to their footing, but I just find the transitions awkward and overdone in areas such as measures 41-42 for example. Also, I don’t really like the 32nd-note drills. They stick out like a sore thumb, as they aren’t really the theme of the stepchart as they are in Euphoria for instance.

Presentation – 4.5/5
Sound quality is a little muffled; otherwise this is not bad.

Tilt: 0/1

Final Score: 22.25/25

One Click Headshot:

Medium – 9.5/10
The repetitive dubstep phrase that goes on for the second half of the song has some great notation variety that develops quite appropriately. I have mostly no complaints about this, except that the break section before the dubstep part drops is a little understepped, as the light use of notes goes on a little longer than I’d like. As a whole though, you did a great job with this!

Hard – 7/10
Perhaps one of the initial problems with this is that the song itself doesn’t offer much variety throughout, but although at first I quite liked the repetitive use of consecutive taps 16th taps, I ultimately became quite frustrated with and tired of it as the song progressed. Odd note patterns that require more attention to foot than usual are great in small doses, but if used in overabundance as in here, they quickly wear on your foot and just become an irritating nuisance by the end. You should’ve occasionally tried something else instead in order to break things up. Medium just does a much better job of appropriately experimenting with different note patterns in a coherent, well-developed fashion.

Presentation – 5/5
Graphics for this are superb, although the text alignment is clearly more formatted for a DDR interface rather than an ITG one (like almost everything else in the ITG division so far, apparently).

Tilt - 0/1

Final Score: 21.5/25

Setsugekka:

Hard – 9/10
As a whole, this is just what an ITG-style Hard stepchart should be. Your placement and flow here is impeccable, and the phrases are well-measured and logically structured. The one addition that would have made this perfect would be to include a few crossovers, since this chart faces forward quite a bit, and a little more sideways movement would break it up nicely.

Expert – 10/10
This is marvelous. It exploits the song’s intricate synthlines to the fullest, distinguishes each phrase appropriately so that it doesn’t become repetitive, and has just the right amount of movement so that it all comes together. This is exactly the type of Expert stepchart that I could imagine countless ITG players practicing for a double-star, triple-star, quadruple-star, or whatever else seems like a good target for their current playing level.

Presentation – 4/5
Graphics aren’t any less generic than they are for Flip Flap, but at least the songwheel sample begins with the downbeat.

Tilt – 1/1
If you would learn how to design better graphics, or at least have someone else with more experience do the artwork for you, this would be fantastic on just about all fronts. This is so well done and ITG-like as far as steps go, that I think it deserves an extra point to place it near the top.

Final Score: 24/25

The Day that the Earth Stalled:

Hard – 9/10
Looks like you wanted to present quite a challenge here, as this would easily pass as an ITG-style expert chart on its own. Those frequent doublesteps sure add an extra level of difficulty to an already draining set. Structuring and placement is just as solid as ever here, but I thought your use of mines was a little too condensed in certain parts, to the point where I found it annoying. Also, there were a few instances of using a freeze arrow in the middle of an 8th stream, which I found somewhat awkward. Still a good effort, though.

Expert – 5/10
I’m not sure if you realize how difficult this stepchart actually is, since you rated it only an 11, but I clearly found it to be at least a hard 12, if not even a borderline 13. Even though it starts off easily enough, from the verse on, it turns into a neverending nightmare of step-jumps and moving 16th streams with hardly any breaks, all at a blazing 182 bpm. I honestly felt like I was playing an easy keyboard chart. Most of your 16th streams don’t even follow anything very audible. This may not be the longest cut, but seriously, this is the type of challenge you have to deal with in Summer ~Speedy Mix~ on expert, but at least in that song, the use of 16ths runs was more appropriate. I guess your placement and structure is solid as usual here, but the difficulty is so forced and overburdening that I just don’t enjoy it that much.

Presentation – 5/5
Graphics are very nice, and the sound quality is much better than it is for Totalimmoral in the DDR bracket.

Tilt – 0/1

Final Score: 19/25

[Braeden47]

Brilliant2U 14 / 15
09 / 10 - Expert
I liked the use of jumps. I liked the 24th and 32nd notes. The rhythms were accurate.
05 / 05 - Presentation
Graphics are great, look like official DDR graphics. Also, full difficulties.
00 / 01 - Tilt

Hyadain no joujou Yuujou10 / 15
07 / 10 - Expert
Chart felt a little generic. I didn; care for the taps although I could tell what they went to. Some of the mines should have just been more steps. Nice break in the middle.
03/ 05 - Presentation
Typical anime song, anime graphics, no Expert chart in the ITG division.
00 / 01 - Tilt

Intelligent Life 11 / 15
07 / 10 - Expert
I didn't like the first footswitch although the others were interesting. The rhythms were fairly accurate but it was hard to tell what the steps went to halfway through. I liked the mine sections, but the last one should have been a 16th run going with the stream in the background.
04 / 05 - Presentation
Graphics are good but a little faded, also full difficulties.
00 / 01 - Tilt

One Click Headshot 05 / 15
03 / 10 - Expert
Too many jacks, some had the 32nd notes in them. The rhythms were good. Too many mines. Gimmicks fit the song. This should have been Expert.
03 / 05 - Presentation
Decend graphics, only one extra chart.
-01 / 01 - Tilt
Not my kind of music.

Setsugekka 07 / 15
06 / 10 - Expert
A decent chart. Somewhat understepped, but the main issue was a few double steps and the 16th note jump at the end.
01 / 05 - Presentation
Graphics? It's just the title on a blank background. A point for full difficulties.
00 / 01 - Tilt

The day that the Earth Stalled 09 / 15
05 / 10 - Expert
There were a lot of 16th going to nothing, and some jumps thown in randomly. Other than that it was a decent chart.
04 / 05 - Presentation
Decent graphics. Full difficulties.
00 / 01 - Tilt

[Yuke]

Approval Vote:

Brilliant 2U (AKBK Mix)
Those jumps on 'Jump!' were great :D I liked the file in general.

Hyadain no Joujou Yuujou
I liked the part with mines on sides, the chart itself was not bad overall. The song is great! :3

Intelligent Life
I really liked the steps! I enjoyed both Heavy and Expert. The song itself is... interesting, it has something about it... :D Graphics are bit disappointing though. On the whole, great job~

[Nusa]

Approval vote:

Intelligent Life
Setsugekka

[Greg]

Brilliant 2U
Setsugekka

[Aki]

Approval Vote:

The day the Earth Stalled
B2U AKBK Mix
Intelligent Life

[hellrazor]

Brilliant 2U (AKBK MIX) Using a popular DDR song is apparently okay for ITG and your steps were brilliant, one of the best of the ITG entries hands down.

//--------------------Some comments on the other files------------------

Hyadain no Joujou Yuujou - No challenge chart = no problem, plenty of ITG songs don't have a challenge chart. Song choice however is not reflective of ITG nor do I like it.

Intelligent Life - Pad test your charts, you forced unnecessary spins.

Setsugekka - The steps are fine, everything is just fine here but the song is over-stepped and the graphics leave much to be desired, choose something original.

One Click Headshot - I really like the song choice and the steps (but I haven't pad tested them for accuracy), I don't enjoy the gimmicks, this is an ITG style competition with the rules stating in the style of ITG 1+2. I don't enjoy the gimmicks and they are not in the style of ITG 1 or 2. Your ReadMe also FAILS.

The Day That the Earth Stalled - Way overstepped, jumps everywhere just to up the difficulty and I did not enjoy that. Also sounds like you got a song-cut error in the end where the steps became off-beat big time but I'm not positive and I don't feel like looking into that further. Song-cuts are inexcusable with a constant BPM song.

[Telperion]

N.B.: I tweaked my tilt points on Setsugekka and One Click Headshot tonight; will, I don't know how proactive you're being on point counts, but make sure you get those updates ;)

[will-i-am]

Sure thing. Thanks for the heads up! :)

I'm running through totals at the moment but at midnight tonight PST (GMT - 5:00) I will look over everything up to that time and make sure all scores are updated in my spreadsheet.