ZIv War Games 2011

I hate to break bad news, but I'm on vacation and will not be back until Monday and when I get back I have a ton of school work to do. There's no way I will get to view the songs by Wednesday.

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Telperion's Left Field Song Choice™ strikes again!

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Ok I am here and its time for the reviews, now let me say I am very proud on all of you guys. I am so glad I decided to stay and do this contest. You guys have brought up very good content and a few music videos to the mix but enough with the Chit-Chat its time to Review! (Note I am not going to review all of the songs, just the ones that seemed the most interesting to me)

ChaiN DestructioN (siilento's solid remix): I really like this song, nothing else to add except it is a very VERY good song with a good chart, some of the freezes weren't necessary though.

Gemini: This is the best song I have heard in awhile, its an explosion of Techno in your ear. I could get used to this song, oh and the chart is great though it needs just a tinny bit more....Variety. I am good with UP RIGHT DOWN, UP LEFT DOWN, LEFT DOWN UP, but add some more into it, like UP DOWN UP, UP LEFT UP, a little more Crossovers, or ect. I would be begging for this to land on Konami's list of songs to add but chances are, they are not going to add it.

Nornir: Oh man, my anime side is going to hate me for this. Its a good song, like the music video but its offsync kinda and it kills off some of the chart in the song. Speaking of that, some parts of the chart I didn't like. If this song had a sync up a buffed up some of the missteps in the song it would have definitely gotten my vote. Unfortunately it didn't but hey no-ones perfect at syncing or anything really. Don't feel down, I bet you can do better next week.

Radio Hardcore: This is a great song with my vote for the best pattern this week. It reminds me of Am-3p's long stream and it works perfectly on this song. Plus the slowdowns were on kee to. I like and I hope you do more songs in the future

Timepiece phase II: Its a good song and all, good chart but not quite good enough. It was kinda a bit too jumpy but the end jumps were fitted perfectly for the song. Good song and all but lay off the jumps a bit and try again. Keep trying.

Ruti'n: My god, Tele knows how to make a song. This has great syncing, a fun chart, and an amazing simfile overall. No complaints here.

Toy's 2 minutes war: You are on lucky bastard Taro. This song, Carnival, and Timepiece were all competed in my head to get a vote for me and this song managed to get my vote. Its fun, has that Taro feel to it every time he creates a simfile and has a few minor problems but that doesn't mean a patch or re-edit won't fix. It kinda has that kidish cartoony feel to it when you hear it. Good job on the sim bro.

SigSig: Too much jump spam, but comparing this to what your previous file was, it had a major improvement. Just lay of the jumps and the 8th streams.

The Black Night: This seems fitted to be a boss. Good song some parts of the chart were kinda meh, and it is offsync a bit.

Now For the Voting!
Again, this was REALLY hard because you guys brought great content to the table.
+5 Ruti'n
+4 Radio Hardcore
+3 Gemini
+2 Chain Destruction
+1 Toy's 2 minutes war

Ok, I am awake now, time for the results!
RYOUSHI NO UMI NO LINDWORM - 18 (DMAxel)
Ruti'n - 18 (Telperion)
Timepiece Phase II - 15 (Blinded_No_More)
ChaiN De/structioN (siilento's solid remix) - 14 (Meseki)
Gemini - 11 (Pandemonium X)
Carnival no shuudai ni yoru ningyou no tame no ibitsu na kyousoukyoku - 8 (Darkstorm091)
SA.YO.NA.RA SUPER STAR - 8 (Tyma)
Not Myself Tonight - 6 (Pie-kun)
Love Magic - 6 (Oni-91)
THE BLACK KNIGHT - 4 (eataninja)
Radio Hardcore - 4 (Braeden47)
Intensive Care Unit - 3 (DJ OMiY)
Toy's 2 minutes war - 3 (TaroNuke)
Call My Name - 2 (ziv348)

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REVIEWS! YAY!

Stealing "Borrowing" DMAxel's style of commenting since it's really convenient and easy to read

Always Smiling:
I'm already interested in this song just from the song preview
+ The song itself was really enjoyable and the steps flowed nicely
- While normally more steps is better, I almost wish that this song were less streamy. I understand where the streams go, but the song itself doesn't really feel like a streamy song, if you understand me.

Call My Name:
+ I liked the Challenge more than the Heavy. Might have been step placements, or the streaminess might have been more fun for me.
- Ending went offsync

**Carnival no Blah Blah Blah
+ Beautiful. This song is perfect in every way.
- Nothing. As noted above this song is perfect.

**ChaiN De/structioN
+ The song and steps work really great together.
- As I noted when we discussed this file, a few of the doublesteps after the freezes where a little weird.

Gemini
+ The song and steps work really great together. I also like the fact that you didn't overdo it with the jumps in the offbeat sections.
- Nothing. I didn't notice any problems with the steps.

I'm in Love Again -Y&Co. EURO MIX-
Usually I like Y&Co., but this? Pass.
+ The streams were really enjoyable.
- Watch some of your patterns. In a few places you misjudged note placement and ended up with a few notes beings a 16th early or late.

Intensive Care Unit
+ The Heavy chart was a lot of fun to play and very well made. I really liked the flow of the Heavy chart.
- I actually would prefer this not having a Challenge chart, since the challenge chart feels like it's being hard just to be hard.

Love Magic
Don't really like the song :/
+ True to word you captured that 3rd Mix vibe.
- The chart felt kind of repetitive.

LOVE THIS FEELIN'
+ I really enjoyed your use of stream in this song. It flowed nicely and made the song fun to play.
- I felt like there was a lot of spins in the song, which I don't get along with. Might have just been me though.

Nornir
+ This chart was really unique. I can't really think of anything to say other than that though. Sorry :/
- Just a little offsync. Also didn't like the sudden 16th note drill in the song.

Not Myself Tonight
+ The steps were really fun and flowy. I liked it, and probably wouldn't mind if say a friend picked this song or something.
- For someone like me, the BG video was REALLY distracting, I kept missing notes because of events in the background.

Radio Hardcore
Why hello there new group to look into...
+ Really liked the streaminess. Reminded me of Cartoon Heroes for some reason.
- Limit your use of slowdowns like this. The slowdowns don't really work with the song.
Minor thing: Watch your fadeouts. The song just kind of ends with little warning.

Ruti'n
+ Chaotic, fun, and doesn't get carried away by the song itself.
- Um... I don't like the song?

RYOUSHI NO UMI NO LINDWORM
Funny thing is I was going to step this song one week. Oh well.
+ True to what you said it reminds me of MAX 300.
- It's DMAxel. IT's hard to find things wrong with your charts, and that trend keeps up with this song. Good job.

SA.YO.NA.RA SUPER STAR
+ I was pleased to see you took out the stops, as those felt kind of weird to me.
- The more I play this the more I think that if this were in DDR, BEMANI would cut out the ending, and have it end at the fake ending, because the ending as it stands now kind of throws people for a loop.

**SigSig
+ MUCH better than last week's simfile.
- There's still a number of double steps in your songs. You're getting better.

THE BLACK NIGHT
+ The steps are fun.
- Those stops... I get them, and they work, but this reminds me of Music is the Rhythm, a good song plagued by stops that ruin the flow.

Timepeice Phase II
+ Good flow
- I wanted to like this song, and the jumpiness of the song works, but the song gets killed by the second half of the song. It felt too jumpy after the first half of the song.

Toy's 2 minute war
Sorry Taro, but gimmicks will only get you so far.
+ The steps and flow worked well, and I really enjoyed the step patterns you use.
- Did you know that those 2 freezes at the end after the screen effect still have to be hit? I didn't, and it ended my full combo. Bad Taro.

Winterbliss
+ I really liked the beginning of this song.
- The first half was great, but when the 16th notes started to show up I couldn't beleive it.

Votes:
+5 Gemini
+4 Ruti'n
+3 RYOUSHI NO UMI NO LINDWORM
+2 Intensive Care Unit
+1 Love Magic

+0 SA.YO.NA.RA SUPER STAR ( Why I no can vote for you too T_T)

Ruti'n - 23 (Telperion)
RYOUSHI NO UMI NO LINDWORM - 21 (DMAxel)
Gemini - 16 (Pandemonium X)
Timepiece Phase II - 15 (Blinded_No_More)
ChaiN De/structioN (siilento's solid remix) - 14 (Meseki)
Carnival no shuudai ni yoru ningyou no tame no ibitsu na kyousoukyoku - 8 (Darkstorm091)
SA.YO.NA.RA SUPER STAR - 8 (Tyma)
Not Myself Tonight - 6 (Pie-kun)
Love Magic - 7 (Oni-91)
Intensive Care Unit - 5 (DJ OMiY)
THE BLACK KNIGHT - 4 (eataninja)
Radio Hardcore - 4 (Braeden47)
Toy's 2 minutes war - 3 (TaroNuke)
Call My Name - 2 (ziv348)

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Had a feeling this was going to be the general reaction at some point...

Um, yes?



A very "DDR" styled file for this week.

1
4
6
8

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If Telperion hits it from the left field, I have a right to hit it from the outfield... (You have your rights and your tastes. I do too.)


Fairy Tail Main Theme / Yasuharu Takanashi (BPM: 110)
SP: 1 / 2 / 5 / 8 / 9

Updated my spreadsheet as well.

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Realize though that if the stops weren't there, the chart would make no sense, as in, it would still be scrolling while there's nothing or little to anything going on. Plus, as Taro told me, by the second or third time you play the chart you start to anticipate the stops because you know where they are. I can't reasonably understand you guys to learn the chart though, so I can understand your criticism. My chart for this week is much more direct.

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Sorry, I really should have made it more clear, but the time I got to your song I was getting tired of doing reviews. What I meant was that it isn't exactly clear that you are supposed to hit the last 2 notes in your song, which can lead to frustration due to dropped combos.
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Simfile Time!
EDIT: My SM Derped, the file will be back once I fix everything. This is what happens when I try new things >_>

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woo reviews!!

Always Smiling: It's a nice song, albeit a little too LQ for my tastes (and I'm very lax about song quality!). The steps are a bit repetitive.

Call My Name: You're doing yourself a disadvantage with that Challenge chart. The Heavy is very good, and I'm afraid less people will play it with the 9' there too. My only complaint on the Heavy chart is that two or three of the 16ths aren't in the music at all.

Rhapsody for Carnival Dolls: You sure can pick them when it comes to BPMs That said, this chart is really well laid-out, and the placement is excellent.

ChaiN De/structioN (siilento's solid remix): Your treatment of breaks always surprises me. I wouldn't have been able to make a reasonable chart for this rated less than a 10', but here's your eight-footer and it fits perfectly. Well done.

Gemini: A true-life DDR-style treatment of a cool track that will probably never be in DDR. I approve.

I'm In Love Again -Y&Co. EURO MIX-: Well...you literally just picked my least favorite BEMANI song ever Ctrl+R is fine and all, but make sure you go back through after the first run and clean up the rhythms. Half the 16ths are actually 8ths.

Intensive Care Unit: wow, Renard, haha. The 10' was pretty streamy, but it was one of those charts where you KNOW it's going to be streamy, so no problem. The 8' is such a 9', but the rhythms make it a nice complement to the 10'.

Love Magic: I can't turn off the nostalgia oh my god and this song wasn't even in DDR to begin with D: But yeah, this chart is spot-on with intensity.

LOVE THIS FEELIN': A DDR restep is always risky business, because you're competing with an existing, well-known chart. I didn't feel like yours brought much new to the table (and it was filled with doublesteps to boot).

Nornir: I like this song a lot better than SHOUJO IN. Your charts are just generally psychotic, but this one is a lot easier to follow.

Not Myself Tonight: The patterning is really good. The 16th-laden rhythms work well together with the jumps oh my god did that guy just get to second base?! *breaks combo*

Radio Hardcore: Look, I can tell when you have a long stream to start with and then you take out steps...it introduces doublesteps (I'm being hard on you mostly because you're improving a lot and you're ITG-sympathetic, don't take it personally)

Ruti'n: Wow, who made a sim out of THIS song? Is that even English? How many drugs are they on? Wait...morphine, caffeine...protein?...

Lindworm Sea Quantum: This is pretty fast. But it's fun. We already talked about this chart though

SA.YO.NA.RA. SUPER STAR: Hahahahaha, what a song choice. This sim benefited greatly from its music video.

SigSig: wtf, your sync on this is razor-sharp. I almost had a SDP on it on index. The patterns feel almost random, but the rhythms are very clear (except for the gallops). A major improvement over last week.

The Black Knight: I tried to step this at one point and failed pretty miserably. It seems you've done what I could not~ I don't really agree with your stop usage, but they're predictable. A couple...spins? I'm not sure what was going on in the beginning.

Timepiece phase II: This is a really, really good sim. You should compare this to stuff you made six months ago, you'll get such a warm fuzzy feeling.

Toy's 2 minutes war: Lots of fun, energetic patterns. No gimmicks though -5

Winterbliss: It's got that Leading Cyber feeling in the end, and it's really streamy in the beginning. So, a solid early-DDR-style file.



My votes: (and it was even harder this week than last, you guys are making some seriously good sims!)

+5: Toy's 2 minutes war
+4: Love Magic
+3: ChaiN De/structioN (siilento's solid remix)
+2: Carnival no blah blah blah
+1: Nornir

Really wanted to give points to: Not Myself Tonight, Call My Name, Radio Hardcore

Ruti'n - 23 (Telperion)
RYOUSHI NO UMI NO LINDWORM - 21 (DMAxel)
ChaiN De/structioN (siilento's solid remix) - 17 (Meseki)
Gemini - 16 (Pandemonium X)
Timepiece Phase II - 15 (Blinded_No_More)
Love Magic - 11 (Oni-91)
Carnival no shuudai ni yoru ningyou no tame no ibitsu na kyousoukyoku - 10 (Darkstorm091)
SA.YO.NA.RA SUPER STAR - 8 (Tyma)
Toy's 2 minutes war - 8 (TaroNuke)
Not Myself Tonight - 6 (Pie-kun)
Intensive Care Unit - 5 (DJ OMiY)
THE BLACK KNIGHT - 4 (eataninja)
Radio Hardcore - 4 (Braeden47)
Call My Name - 2 (ziv348)
Nornir - 1 (Azn_punk_07)

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They were supposed to be doublestepped. You know you made your file too complex when you have to keep explaining yourself

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Uploaded for reals this time.
Now it has the stops and slowdowns in there that it was supposed to have the first time.
Silly SM 5, why you so complicated?


[Artbreaks] Laplace / sakuzyo / 140
4 / 6 / 8

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5 pts. Toy's 2 Minute War
4 pts. Intensive Care Unit
3 pts. Carnival of whatever
2 pts. Call My Name
1 pt. Radio Hardcore

Honorable mentions: Love Magic, ChaiN DestructioN, Not Myself Tonight


Ruti'n - 23 (Telperion)
RYOUSHI NO UMI NO LINDWORM - 21 (DMAxel)
ChaiN De/structioN (siilento's solid remix) - 17 (Meseki)
Gemini - 16 (Pandemonium X)
Timepiece Phase II - 15 (Blinded_No_More)
Carnival no shuudai ni yoru ningyou no tame no ibitsu na kyousoukyoku - 13 (Darkstorm091)
Toy's 2 minutes war - 13 (TaroNuke)
Love Magic - 11 (Oni-91)
Intensive Care Unit - 9 (DJ OMiY)
SA.YO.NA.RA SUPER STAR - 8 (Tyma)
Not Myself Tonight - 6 (Pie-kun)
THE BLACK KNIGHT - 4 (eataninja)
Radio Hardcore - 5 (Braeden47)
Call My Name - 4 (ziv348)
Nornir - 1 (Azn_punk_07)

Sorry I didn't do reviews this time or last time. If anyone wants a summary of their file, let me know.

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To all who said my Always Smiling music was LQ... I just used the file that I got from the site; it wasn't a self-rip. So, unless something got lost in translation with the re-uploading, it was just a blip in the original file.

On a totally different note, I'm sorry that I haven't been able to give any reviews at all--these past two weeks have been pretty busy for me (hence the prompt file in the first week), so I wasn't able to take the time out to type up comprehensive reviews. Though starting next week (this week? I'll be reviewing Week 3's files...), I'll be able to.
Butyes, votes!

[+5] - Gemini
[+4] - Carnival no shuadsohgoawehjtoaijsdoan.
[+3] - Ruti'n
[+2] - SA.YO.NA.RA SUPER STAR
[+1] - THE BLACK KNIGHT

Ruti'n - 26 (Telperion)
Gemini - 21 (Pandemonium X)
RYOUSHI NO UMI NO LINDWORM - 21 (DMAxel)
Carnival no shuudai ni yoru ningyou no tame no ibitsu na kyousoukyoku - 17 (Darkstorm091)
ChaiN De/structioN (siilento's solid remix) - 17 (Meseki)
Timepiece Phase II - 15 (Blinded_No_More)
Toy's 2 minutes war - 13 (TaroNuke)
Love Magic - 11 (Oni-91)
SA.YO.NA.RA SUPER STAR - 10 (Tyma)
Intensive Care Unit - 9 (DJ OMiY)
Not Myself Tonight - 6 (Pie-kun)
THE BLACK KNIGHT - 5 (eataninja)
Radio Hardcore - 5 (Braeden47)
Call My Name - 4 (ziv348)
Nornir - 1 (Azn_punk_07)

Also --

[LATIN ROCK] Smooth (feat. Rob Thomas) / SANTANA
2 || 5 || 7
3 || 7 || 9

I've been trying to step Smooth for years and I've failed repeatedly. LOOKING FORWARD TO THIS.

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4 5 7 6



EDIT: This SHOULD be fixed

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♥♥♥♥♥

However, downloading it gives me a file with and only, rated 8 and 6 respectively.

If you make a nice Double/Expert I will vote this week just to give you five points.

Stepmania 5 didn't save my Basic and Difficult charts.

What.

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[BOOGIE POP] BOOGIE TRAIN '03 / MIKI FUJIMOTO
2 3 5 7 -

My votes for Week 2:
+5 Not Myself Tonight
+4 THE BLACK KNIGHT
+3 Toy's 2 minutes war
+2 Call My Name
+1 CARNIVAL NO SHUUDAI NI YORU NINGYOU NO TAME NO IBITSU NA KYOUSOUKYOKU

Runner-ups: Always Smiling, ChaiN DestructioN (siilento's solid remix), Intensive Care Unit, Love Magic.

Ruti'n - 26 (Telperion)
Gemini - 21 (Pandemonium X)
RYOUSHI NO UMI NO LINDWORM - 21 (DMAxel)
Carnival no shuudai ni yoru ningyou no tame no ibitsu na kyousoukyoku - 18 (Darkstorm091)
ChaiN De/structioN (siilento's solid remix) - 17 (Meseki)
Toy's 2 minutes war - 16 (TaroNuke)
Timepiece Phase II - 15 (Blinded_No_More)
Love Magic - 11 (Oni-91)
Not Myself Tonight - 11 (Pie-kun)
SA.YO.NA.RA SUPER STAR - 10 (Tyma)
Intensive Care Unit - 9 (DJ OMiY)
THE BLACK KNIGHT - 9 (eataninja)
Call My Name - 6 (ziv348)
Radio Hardcore - 5 (Braeden47)
Nornir - 1 (Azn_punk_07)

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The file SHOULD be fixed. *crosses fingers*

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