Z-I-v Summer Contest 2015 [Back to school, kiddies, the contest is over.]

It works for me, although TBH I clicked on "Save to my Dropbox" instead because my Internet connection is slow at the moment.

Well, I'm finally back in this contest for a theme where I'm able to release this. I might have a second file this week too if I can finish that in time.

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Well good job me for wasting time playing melee and ddr so that I couldn't get around to finishing my file for speed changes >.>

Might as well just remove me at this point, I haven't been able to get around to finishing files on time and I doubt I'd be able to in later weeks. Good luck to the rest of you guys though.

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Vote post updated with reviews. Reviews near the bottom tend to be longer.

YES! is a joke chart! I just wish I pull something like I did with Tweet Tweet but with more effort.

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-> try facing the same way from b138 and holding that direction (the steps after doesn't make you pivot)
-> i thought it's some serious thing but then it's actually 4ths lol i mean do you crossover 4ths? just wondering
-> same thing with . usually the recent DDR charts does the same thing as this. it's pretty :< worthy that AWAKE CSP violates this lol

in case you guys do a neutral jump (UD or LR), the note after that really should follow the direction you were facing before the jump. that wouldn't be an ambiguous note, imo. don't do this



now i wonder if people are going to complain about this

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and : That's a neat piece of info, thanks! I'll remember that on my next reviews, if any.
: Yeah, do you do a crossover on those or not? If so, it kinda works out, but then you have U-D-L-U-D-L with the right foot on the first U, so... three-arrow spin?

i just placed those 4ths on as-is, since i thought people wouldn't bother doing 4th note crossovers on pad.
i put in X-scale ratings in parentheses to sort of make it clearer what to expect.

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The start is literally only ambiguous if you are playing on like 5x and can't see the 2 arrows directly after it that face you forward. It's literally an 8th away... There are no backsteps where you mentioned - instead try spinning with the jumps as mentioned in the original post:
UD jumps are completely legal and have been used in literally DOZENS if not hundreds of official charts in DDR as well as ITG. They are not inconsistant - it goes with the Trumpet Blast like every other one (examples B16, 32, 36, 37, 48, 64, 80, 89, 91, 96, 106.5, 110.5, 116, 118, 120, 121, 132, 133, 134, 140, 141, 142, 148, 149, 150, 156, 158, 191, 239, 241, 243, 244, and 255). I used jumps everytime, and you have no issues with the LR jump+ ambiguous U/Ds, but it's bad when it's an UD jump with a L/R after? M168-184 is another case where it's REALLY not ambiguous unless you are reading way too fast to notice the next arrow. I'm not using tough crossovers are ridiculous patterns that require you to think... Oh, and there are definitely no footswitches intended, though you can definitely do some without screwing your orientation up.
B 231 is set up with that single 4th after the freeze on the right panel at B230. Imagine using that foot for the first arrow since the freeze extends past it already to give you the hint. I thought everything through, not just random spatterings of random.

That being said - I REALLY hate the term ambiguous. To me it screams "I cannot read patterns unless they are obvious and straightforward." If you don't have to play a song more than once to get a perfect score, then it's not fun and is lacking in creativity in my opinion. Adding patterns like footswitches, spins, crossovers, jacks - they all add to the chart. Ambiguous steps have literally been in DDR since day one. I have heard the term used for years, and the argument always comes down to "I wasn't 100% expecting that next arrow so it's bad".
P.S. - thanks for the review. Sorry if this seemed hostile at all, it's not meant to be ^.^

Sorry that the reply took so long. I was trying to make (something-that-I-hope-to-God-is-) a thorough reply at 1, 2-ish in the morning with a crappy Internet connection outta town.
Oh man. I was a total snob, wasn't I?

I'm... sorry. I guess that I was overly excited about posting reviews after so long of not doing it, so as a result I might have been overly technical about a lot of things and neglecting a lot others. My mind was like "I've done a review where I put individual scores and it didn't do badly, and even back then I was a bit snobbish to put everything out of 100, so why not do that again with simplified 1-10 scoring?". I thought about your start and that other section I labelled as AS and went too strict.

"Try spinning while jumping."
I read that, but I didn't remember that. That made so much sense. Goddammit, I feel horrible now. I'd wanted to put this higher on my list since it's so good, but didn't because I totally misjudged. Yes, that's also why I thought of footswitches.

"I used jumps everytime, and you have no issues with the LR jump+ ambiguous U/Ds, but it's bad when it's an UD jump with a L/R after?"
Wait... I had problems the other way around, actually. On the b168~b184 thing, I didn't know the general guide for the foot to use before and after unchained LR and UD jumps because I didn't know it was a thing. Silverhawke told me that just recently.
...but then, when I look at it again, b170.5 violates that. b182.5 doesn't. Probably that's why I said they're inconsistent, although in a different way.

About the freeze that end in b230.5... I did see that freeze, but I didn't see that as a cue since it doesn't reach the next note. I guess I'm just dumb for jumping to conclusion too quick.

"To me it screams 'I cannot read patterns unless they are obvious and straightforward. If you don't have to play a song more than once to get a perfect score, then it's not fun and is lacking in creativity in my opinion.'"
Wow, that hit me hard. Since, like, this is the base of my judging in all of the files. I've been judging thinking that patterns should be straightforward, and as long as the things that spice up the chart ("footswitches, spins, crossovers, jacks") work out, I'll be even happier and will think that "This is fun!".

That's where my problem is, apparently. Thinking that a simfile is a one-time thing while in fact it should have a replay value and could uncover new wonders with different play styles. A bunch of "Oh, I didn't know that I could do it like this, it's amazing!" and stuff alike.

I guess that's one reason to post this in public: so that people can judge myself and I can improve, to see which ones need more attention and which ones don't. (I don't know if this thing in its full-blown scale is a good idea or not.) This has been a valuable lesson for me, so thank you so, so much for taking the time and energy to reply with loads of info and arguments, and sorry if you feel victimised in one way or another.

Next time, I'll just post reviews when I'm super confident. This proves that I still have a lot to learn and shouldn't just ramble mouthfuls of shit.
Wait… this is wrong. If anything, I should be more driven to post reviews so that I can track my progress.

One last thing: do you have a link for Trumpet Blast? Or did I misread and it's actually a term in ITG or something? It's almost 3am here, after all, so while I'm searching as hard as I can, I still couldn't find it and I'd love to see it in action.
The title of the thread needs an update, please and thank you. I hope I'm not wrong to inform this as well.

Vincentw, I have nothing but respect for you for taking the time to look over all the charts and for doing so much for the simfile competitions here on ZIv. I apologize if anything that I stated was a little harsh as well.

You aren't bad at all - I've seen reviews that clearly didn't belong with the chart assigned. You took the time to look through and at least set a standardized form of grading for yourself that you stuck to pretty well. Instead of just choosing where to split up your votes based on a single first impression or simply the music in question, you took the time to at least glance at the rest of the charts. That's the spirit of the competition right there.

"On the b168~b184 thing, I didn't know the general guide for the foot to use before and after unchained LR and UD jumps because I didn't know it was a thing. Silverhawke told me that just recently.
...but then, when I look at it again, b170.5 violates that. b182.5 doesn't. Probably that's why I said they're inconsistent, although in a different way."
I really don't think there is an actual standardized guide for what is "acceptable" for steps after jumps. I simply figure if you can't figure out how to position yourself based on the two/three arrows coming up after a jump then you probably need to work on pattern recognition or slow it down a little.
When it comes to M168-184, the first two jumps (first half) have you switch back to the foot you used previously, then the next two (second half) have you switch to the other foot. It was more of an attempt to make it seem less generic of a chart on my end than anything lol

"I guess that's one reason to post this in public: so that people can judge myself and I can improve, to see which ones need more attention and which ones don't. (I don't know if this thing in its full-blown scale is a good idea or not.) This has been a valuable lesson for me, so thank you so, so much for taking the time and energy to reply with loads of info and arguments, and sorry if you feel victimised in one way or another."
I love having communication in a simfile competition. We aren't all just here to win - I guarantee more people than just me came to grow their skills and to actually see people's opinions on their work - like a community. Always having people just vote for other files without giving a reason why can be very frustrating, especially for people who just want to get better at it. I personally have no issue defending reviews if they seem a little off, and I thank you heavily for not taking it too hard. And naah, I'm not really feeling victimized, you've never been unreasonable. Thanks for taking the time as well for responding. And I REALLY hope to see more reviews from EVERYONE, not just you in the future.

"One last thing: do you have a link for Trumpet Blast? Or did I misread and it's actually a term in ITG or something? It's almost 3am here, after all, so while I'm searching as hard as I can, I still couldn't find it and I'd love to see it in action."
Listen to the music and look at the mines. Everytime I placed a mine there is a trumpet (or something) blaring in the music. There are almost always jumps to go with it too. Not really a technical term lol, just an onomatopoeia.

First entry for this week
Thanks for your sweet votes last week, it made me feel so happy :3! (since I hadn't had any votes in any files until last week)

Votes coming soon, I've just donwloaded this week's pack so now it's time to check.

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really wanted to add the video, but i couldn't sync it at all. unsure if i'll add a 2nd file.

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vincentw, I would also like to thank you for taking the time to review my file. Change of Coast had been my first time stepping anything in over a year (and my third time overall), so I guess I still have a lot to keep in mind about patterning and stuff (and also about not rushing to get it the file done!). I'm glad you and mf brought it up though!
Still probably won't have time to get anything in this week, [un]fortunately.

On the subject of simfile reviews; I really do not have enough time to do in-depth reviews, otherwise I'd offer them. If you want a review, PM me and I'll try to get back to you with some advice for your files, but I can't guarantee anything.

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Even though I already stepped Electric "Sister" Bitch and gigadelic (m3rkAb4# R3m!x)
Hmm, maybe this theme is some kind of a reply for gigadelic lol
Well, I still have much in my stash so not a real problem.

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Wow, I did more effort in the video that I made for S!ck than the steps itself. I'll upload later when the interwebs get better.

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Kind of a random question, but does anyone remember if there was a thread somewhere on ZIv about stepping lower difficulties? I swear there was one somewhere because I remember using it when I started stepping - charts so I could avoid making them too hard. I ask because I'm working on my chart and I have a feeling that my file may be too hard. I wanted to double check with that thread to see if I made any "violations" lol.

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There's no such thread that I can think of, unfortunately.

Personally I don't think there's any limit to how hard any difficulty can be, what kinds of patterns are acceptable on lower difficulties, etc. If the song calls for hard charts, then make them hard. My only recommendation would be to try not to have huge jumps in difficulty from one chart to the next (like making a 3 and then making an 8).

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I remember that thread existing on ziv, don't know where though

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I vaguely remember something like this. If anywhere, I would look for a link in last year's Summer Contest thread. I remember someone posting it there.

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