Z-I-v Simfile League (Year 1)

ZiV Simfile League Week 4 Feedback
*I generally looked at the one or two hardest charts (ignoring edits) to base my decisions.

Nezemarth vs FoRCeDNaTuRe

EVERY TIME I SEE YOU (Nezemarth)
- Imo should be a 13 due to patterning complexity
- Nice chart! I like the rhythms and gallops, while not 100% consistent, seem like they'd be enjoyable to play
- Good flow

perfect sunrise (FoRCeDNaTuRe)
- Pretty damn tough for a 13 with all the runs
- Confusing shock arrow usage that drops halfway through the song; typical DDR meta treats it like a center step but this strays from that
- Pretty good patterning, everything comes together well for both ESP and CSP

Very close decision, but my vote goes to EVERYTIME I SEE YOU; it was the overall cleaner chart with more appealing elements to me.

VanEden vs hooky

Store (VanEden)
- Pretty easy for a 13; I might compare it to 妄想感傷代償連盟 ESP 12 in DDR A20.
- Solid patterning and awareness to the song's different sounds as usual. Challenge feels really slick
- Sync feels early
- Similar thoughts on ESP

Love So Soft (hooky)
- Steps match lyrics and sounds in song very well
- I like the use of forced doublesteps
- Slowdown feels a little forced but works
- Pretty polished

Very tight margins here. I went with Store; I personally preferred it slightly more.

DigitalBasic vs vonafroa

Walk Thru Fire (DigitalBasic)
- Seems very easy for an 11
- I like the representation of 'walking through fire' with the mines
- Clean chart; rhythms, patterning and flow all work well. Nothing to complain about

It Makes You Forget (Itgehane) (vonafroa)
- m7 jump is an ambiguous entry, but since it can be footswitched if entered wrong not the biggest deal
- m26 unmarked footswitch/doublestep
- Creative and interesting patterning; rhythms are alright
- Difficulty curve is a little frontloaded, but works as the patterning changes
- Hard af for an 11

Although Walk Thru Fire was the more polished chart, my vote goes to It Makes You Forget as it is the more interesting and memorable one.

K-Step vs TonyAkita

I Want You (K-Step)
- Clean chart. Slowdowns make sense and the patterning is crispier than I've seen from your files in previous weeks
- Patterning is pretty good, straightforward stuff
- Rhythms fit the bill well; some tricky stuff but goes to the song.

Emmene-moi au Futur (TonyAkita)
- Weird difficulty spike around 1:30 during a calm section of the song. I understand the rhythms but it sticks out to me
- Great great chart otherwise; liking the attention to detail and pattern symmetry
- Difficulty curve a bit stagnant

It was a difficult choice, but I went with I Want You (K-Step).

Mr.Music vs Braeden47

Hoshikuzu no yoru hate (Mr.Music)
- Quite possibly my favorite chart you've put out this contest. Clean patterning and rhythms, good symmetry, unique sections that give the charts personality (crossovers and 16ths, Sakura Sunrise style stepjumps)
- m55 footswitch isn't immediately clear

I Wanna Be Rich (Braeden47)
- Awkward place to start the file
- Flow breaks sometimes, often out of jumps
- Good to use freezes to correspond to sounds in the song, but done inconsistently
- Abrupt cut
- Good rhythms

My vote went to Hoshikuzu no yoru hate; it was the overall more polished and well-made file.

HealingDMax300 vs ohaiimian

Rightfully (HealingDMax300)
- Charted really well, but I really wish you were able to make a higher difficulty file work. Some untapped potential for challenging and interesting rhythms like you've done before with Jade Runs here.
- Great rhythms and patterning, although asymmetric here and there

Gameoson vs djVERTICAl

Saiyajin (Gameoson)
- Overall very well made; patterning and rhythms both match song very well and show thought and care
- Repeated 16ths + jacks + jumps may be uncomfortable in practice; I have mixed thoughts on its use
- ESP was great, nothing to complain about

Ame To Okami (djVERTICAl)
- Both ESP and CSP are charted in a very enjoyable way; the constant twists, freezes, and stepjumps look fun but still feel light
- Feels more 'freely' charted than what Gameoson or VanEden might put out
- Rhythms work well. Jumps accent the patterning and the song equally well
- As I expressed on the thread, I think that CSP is more like a hard 15 and ESP more like a hard 14.

Minor flow oddities in CSP:
- m34 freeze into the next jump resolves somewhat oddly and isn't very intuitive, unless it's meant to be performed as a spin
- m48 footswitch into jump isn't immediately apparent, although this isn't that much of a problem
- m96 doublestep

My vote went to Ame To Okami. Both charts were very well-made, and the caliber is really high, but I would personally enjoy playing Ame To Okami more in practice.

Week 5 feedback (or notes. I’m not much of a wordsmith here.)

Nezemarth vs forcednature

Nezemarth – EVERYTIME I SEE YOU
- Yeah… I don’t think the heavy chart’s a 12. It’s around a 13 range.
- I feel like after the chorus finishes, the steps could’ve gone more to the instrumental, especially with the plucky synths being prominent.
+ Apart from that, I like how the chart plays out.

forcednature – perfect sunrise
+ Very much prefer the heavy chart than the challenge chart. While I understand why the challenge chart exists, the mine placements in the song made it a bit confusing for me to play along to the song.
+ Really dig how the guitars were charted in heavy.
- The holds in challenge were a little unnecessary considering most of the chart doesn’t really step much to the vocals.
- Hard chart felt a bit undercharted, but I’m not going to complain too much about it if the charter intends for it to a 10, which I think fits for the steps in there.

FINAL VERDICT: A bit of a tough choice here. It has to go to perfect sunrise. I found the steps to be more enjoyable and there are some aspects of the simfile that I like.

VanEden vs hooky

VanEden – Store
+ Loved both the heavy and challenge charts. Both are distinct from each other and follows different aspects of the song.
+ I like how the pre-chorus before the final chorus acts as a breather in preparation for the finale.
+ Really solid patterning. No complaints here.

hooky – Love So Soft
+ Solid file here.
+ Slowdown fits the song.
- Could’ve stepped to the vocals a bit more in the beginning.

FINAL VERDICT: Both files are good, but I have to give my vote for Store. It's basically a DDR license done right.

talkion vs Pandy X

talkion – You are the Miserable (Laur Remix)
+ Normally I wouldn’t be a fan for these types of charts where the steps just go ballistic in its patterning and the amount of feet positions you have to keep in mind, but honestly, the heavy chart is well stepped.
+ Really liked how the light and standard charts played out. Would honestly go play those charts again on an actual pad.
+ Heavy, while not my cup of tea, certainly is stepped with the intentions of emulating modern DDR charts, so I can’t fault that.
+ The jumps in both Heavy and Standard are very enjoyable, especially in the first half. It fits with the energy of the song.

DigitalBasic vs vonafroa

DigitalBasic – Walk Thru Fire
. Perhaps a little bit easier for an 11. Felt more like a 10 to me.
+ Loved the distinct sections between the vocals/instrumentals that were stepped. (e.g. during the pre-chorus, it goes along to the vocals. After the chorus, it goes to the instrumental)
+ The visual of mines as a representation of ‘walking through fire’ adds a nice flavour to the chart.

vonafroa – It Makes You Forget
+ Definitely an improvement after playing through your previous simfiles.
+ I like how you stepped the spoken word parts instead of just leaving them out. Gives it something unique to the file.
- Some areas of the chart are riddled with doublesteps
- Sometimes it feels like what is being stepped doesn’t flow as well as it should (during the chorus, I feel is the most prominent)

FINAL VERDICT: It goes to Walk Thru Fire, though I do find aspects of It Makes You Forget admirable. Maybe with a few improvements this would get a vote from me.

Mr. Music vs Braeden

Mr. Music – Hoshikuzu no yoru hate
+ I dig it. Especially the standard chart as it would fit around my wheelhouse.
+ Much like what I said for tak’s file, I would normally dislike hard charts like this, but for some reason, I feel like I can understand where the stepper is coming from.
+ The patterns are clean. Has a good grasp of patterning whilst making them enjoyable.

Braeden – I Wanna Be Rich
. While the song does end abruptly, I feel like it at least fits with the simfile ending on a trumpet note. Though in the future, I think you should just fade out the ending so it feels like it doesn’t end suddenly.
- Kind of a weird place to start the chart a couple of seconds after the song just started. Feel like you could’ve start when the trumpets kicked in (at around m6).
- Inconsistent flows
+ Nice patterning, however.

FINAL VERDICT: It goes to Hoshikuzu no yoru hate. I surprisingly liked this and feels the most polished out the stepper’s previous files.

HealingDMax300 vs ohaiimian

HDM300 – Rightfully
. To be honest, while I get that originally you made a harder chart for this and decided against doing so, I would like to see how that one went. Even if I’m not a fan for those kind of charts.
+ I do like this, with that being said. It has great rhythms and the patterns feel just right, especially for songs like this.
+ I especially like how you did the slowdowns and speedups in the beginning of the song.

Gameoson vs dj VERTICAI

Gameoson – Saiyajin
+ Solid patterning and rhythms match the song.
- Well… apart from some of the areas containing repeated 16th notes, jacks and jumps In the challenge chart, cause oh dear I feel that wasn’t executed as well as it should have.

dj VERTICAI – Ame to Omari
+ Really liked the standard, heavy and challenge charts. Each of the three gives the song a different spin in terms of how the patterns and rhythms are laid out.
+ Really nice flow and mends well to the song, considering it’s fast paced.

FINAL VERDICT: Another hard choice to make here, but I decided to go with Ame to Omari. While I recognise that both of these simfiles were made with thought and care, I can see myself going back to dj VERTICAI’s simfile more as it has some aspects that I enjoy more than the other one.

It Makes You Forget [vonafroa] - 6
Braeden47
HealingDMax300
djVERTICAI
FoRCeDNaTuRe
Talkion
hooky

Walk Thru Fire [DigitalBasic] - 5
K-Step
TonyAkita
Gameoson
Nezemarth
VanEden

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Ame to Okami [djVERTICAI] - 3
K-Step
VanEden
talkion

Saiyajin [Gameoson] - 8
TonyAkita
Braeden47
HealingDMax300
DigitalBasic
Nezemarth
FoRCeDNaTuRe
Hooky
vonafroa
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(no submission) [ohaiimian]
Rightfully [HealingDMax300]

Emmene-moi au Futur [TonyAkita] - 6
Braeden47
HealingDMax300
VanEden
FoRCeDNaTuRe
Hooky
vonafroa

I Want You [K-Step] - 5
Gameoson
DigitalBasic
djVERTICAI
Nezemarth
talkion

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Hoshikuzu no yoru hate [Mr. Music] - 9 (did not vote)
K-Step
TonyAkita
Gameoson
HealingDMax300
DigitalBasic
djVERTICAI
VanEden
Talkion
Hooky
vonafroa

I Wanna Be Rich [Braeden47] - 2
Nezemarth
FoRCeDNaTuRe

---------------------

EVERY TIME I SEE YOU [Nezemarth] - 7
vonafroa
Gameoson
HealingDMax300
DigitalBasic
djVERTICAI
VanEden
talkion

perfect sunrise [FoRCeDNaTuRe] - 4
K-Step
TonyAkita
Braeden47
hooky
----------------------

(no submission) [Pandemonium X]
You Are The Miserable (Laur Remix) [talkion]

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Love So Soft [hooky] - 2
TonyAkita
HealingDMax300

Store [VanEden] - 8
vonafroa
K-Step
Gameoson
Braeden47
DigitalBasic
djVERTICAI
Nezemarth
Talkion

(no submission) [brunobg24]
(no submission) [SomethingRandom]