ZIv War Games 2011

What can I say? Thanks for a good start!

However, this week's simfiles weren't all that great for me. Only one got an 8/10:

+5 Run Devil Run (Japanese ver.) - 8.0/10 - Solid chart, even if audio is bad quality.
+4 KOI WA DOU MORO HADOU OK HOUTEISHIKI!! - 7.5/10 - It's a little crazy, and some odd turns were prevalent.
+3 Right Through Me - 7.5/10 - It felt like a real DDR License chart, which is better than it sounds.
+2 MIDNIGHT RUNNER - 7.0/10 - Props for the 16ths near the end, though the ending steps could have been extended.
+1 Morphogenetic Sorrow [Ambidex Edition] - 7.0/10 - 2 Problems: The beginning feels off-sync, and the jumps are awkward, even if cued properly.
The Look - 6.0/10 - Even if the chart picks up near the end, it feels awkward with the rest, and it misses a lot of step opportunities.
Kung Fu Fighting - 6.0/10 - This chart is too linear, and misses a lot of opportunities. Definitely not a true 8.
Bubbly Time - 5.0/10 - It would get a 7 if not for the offset error.
trezire de spirit - N/A - I can't judge a boss song on quality!

Totals
KOI WA DOU? MORO HADOU OK*HOUTEISHIKI!! (DMAxel) - 7
Changed The Way You Kiss Me (DDR Addict) - 5
Run Devil Run (Japanese ver.) (ziv348) - 5
PEACE BREAKER (Meseki) - 4
Right Through Me (hooky) - 3
trezire de spirit (Blinded_No_More) - 2
MIDNIGHT RUNNER (xRGTMx) - 2
Hypris (TaroNuke) - 1
Morphogenetic Sorrow [Ambidex Edition] (Maestro Grithok S) - 1

You missed my votes.
KOI WA DOU? MORO HADOU OK*HOUTEISHIKI!! (DMAxel) - 12
Changed The Way You Kiss Me (DDR Addict) - 9
Run Devil Run (Japanese ver.) (ziv348) - 5
Morphogenetic Sorrow [Ambidex Edition] (Maestro Grithok S) - 4
PEACE BREAKER (Meseki) - 4
Hypris (TaroNuke) - 3
Right Through Me (hooky) - 3
trezire de spirit (Blinded_No_More) - 2
MIDNIGHT RUNNER (xRGTMx) - 2
Silvia Drive (Chewi☆) - 1

Week 10:
+5 Morphogenetic Sorrow [Ambidex Edition]:
Wow, not the kind of chart I expected from you, Maestro. Great job! Anyone who makes stopping on the tail of a Freeze Arrow work well deserves a cookie. The only thing wrong with this simfile is that it's too damn short!

+4 Changed the Way You Kiss Me:
I thought it was a mistake when you marked the download as Keyboard. That's what I get for thinking. Even so... This is one of those times where unnecessary difficulty makes me smile and want more. And the Push/Relax flow of the chart made it enjoyable rather than stressful. Very good song choice, though the video file didn't play for me... Guess why.

+3 MIDNIGHT RUNNER:
Very energetic song and a chart to match. Little heavy on the Freeze Arrows but you made them work with each other very nicely.

+2 Silvia Drive:
Every arrow and pattern went off exactly where I expected them to. Though this chart feels stiff compared to what I'm used to from you.

+1 trezire de spirit:
There's a line for me where fun turns into work. Xepher on Challenge is hard, but it's fun. trezire de spirit is work. I think it's a great simfile, don't get me wrong. I can appreciate it for what it is even if I can't enjoy it. Most of what I see at this level is just arrow fodder. This has structure and variety. Good job.

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KOI WA DOU? MORO HADOU OK*HOUTEISHIKI!!:
Oh God, what just happened? I didn't like this as much I thought I would, but it's still very well done.

Bubbly Time:
Same as last week, pleasent song and chart. The music is quiet and the sync is a little off (which for some reason I didn't notice last time) but that doesn't stop it from being all around very good.

Run Devil Run (Japanese ver.):
You were right in using 12th notes, I just wish you had done something with them. You don't seem to realize where the audio cues are in the song, yet for brief moments the chart moves with them correctly only to fall back to the saime tired pattern as before. Even though the Challenge chart tries harder, there were a multitude of opportunities that were missed here.

PEACE BREAKER:
I have a headache now. When you have a song with that much energy and a video with that much... epilepsy, one expects the chart to match it. It did not. It was like the finale of a Michael Bay movie. Except instead of explosions and enough CG to make George Lucas think that the film was disingenuous, you're watching the main character get ready for work, go outside and wait for the bus, then take the but to a stop, transfer to the train, then get off and go up to his office and do some paperwork. I can only imagine that you play-tested this on 3x. The chart is good, the sync is good, but the duality of the file as a whole just hurts.

Ethan Lahde:
Excellent song choice and good chart structure. The BPM changes aren't very nessessary but they work. The caviat is that seemingly un-cued speed changes against a fleet of 16th notes is not a good idea. The only thing that made less sense was the mines. And the abrupt cut at the end didn't help.

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Hypris:
I liked it better when you were trying to make good charts.

Changed The Way You Kiss Me (DDR Addict) - 13
KOI WA DOU? MORO HADOU OK*HOUTEISHIKI!! (DMAxel) - 12
Morphogenetic Sorrow [Ambidex Edition] (Maestro Grithok S) - 9
MIDNIGHT RUNNER (xRGTMx) - 5
Run Devil Run (Japanese ver.) (ziv348) - 5
PEACE BREAKER (Meseki) - 4
Hypris (TaroNuke) - 3
Right Through Me (hooky) - 3
Silvia Drive (Chewi☆) - 3
trezire de spirit (Blinded_No_More) - 3

My Teammates (Holy crap there are more of us now):

Right Through Me:
Great song, great cut. The updated intro is a major improvement. It's not nearly as "interesting" as it was but it is very effective and the flow of the steps from beginning to end is perfect. Video still doesn't play without editing the .sm.

KUNG FU FIGHTING:
Same as before, there's no apparent style. However... The new Challenge is wonderful, it reminds me of the 4thMIX PLUS charts that Konami added to older songs. At least the first half of it does, after that the chart mysteriously drops two or three difficulty levels.

Thanks for the feedback, team. Especially you hooky.

Sorry, I got called in to work.

Team 9 year old Jap girls: 15
The AAA Team: 58
Team TaroNuke: 55
Team Ruud Gullit Sitting on a shed: 19

Also the final week is when we will be down to 2 teams. Also is the teams on the first post up to date?

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Also I can't vote until I get this, so....

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Does anyone want this week to be the final week?

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I wanted last week to be the final week.
I also want to know who is on what team, so I can vote and my file doesn't get DQd.

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Is there a week 11?

I also vote that the contest should end this week.

Perhaps it would have been less confusing if no one switched teams.

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I thought last week was the final week. That's what made xRGTMx's picture so much YES.


So, pretty much this.

Ten weeks is enough. Having no knowledge on who is on whose team just ruins the fun of the War Games.

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Then this week will be the last week to submit files.

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Is it too much to ask from the person who is running this fucking mess thing for an updated team roster?

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Screw it. EVERY MAN FOR HIMSELF. There. Problem solved.

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Squad leaders report in...

Team 9-year-old Japanese Girls standing by. (pending AAA's decision)
AeronPeryton
Cowtao
hooky

That "Football" Player resting on a Storage Hut
xRGTMx
ziv348
(sharibetsu)

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Bubbly Time / Fantastic Bubbly9 (Darkstorm091)
Great chart, but offsync.

Changed The Way You Kissed Me / Example (DDR Addict)
Nice freeze arrow errors. A suggestion I have: wait a while to start your steps. Also, this file starts out like a 9, then goes to a 7, then suddenly back to a 9.

Ethän lähde / G-Powered (Braeden47)
Nice cut. (not) This file at the start was meh, but it got better as it went along.

Hypris / Doin vs. Tempa T (TakaTDM Mix) (TaroNuke)
This is the best file this week. Not sure if it's just me, but the sync is a little off.

恋はどう?モロ◎波動OK☆方程式!! / あべにゅうぷろじぇくと feat.佐倉沙織 produced by ave,new (DMAxel)
This chart is amazing, I love it.

KUNG FU FIGHTING / BUS☆STOP featuring CARL DOUGLAS (Cowtao)
This chart is very nice, better than the official chart. Good job.

MIDNIGHT RUNNER / PENDULUM (xRGTMx)
Didn't care for the chart, liked the BPM slowdown.

Morphogenetic Sorrow (Ambidex Edition) / Shinji Hosoe (Maestro Grithok S)
999. Very nice file except I hate how it ends.

PEACE BREAKER / OMNIPOTENX (Meseki)
Steps take too long to start. Nice file, be sure to check your freeze arrows.

Right Through Me / Maruja Retana (hooky)
This file is amazing, nice job.

Run Devil Run (Japanese ver.) / 少女時代 (ziv348)
Your graphics don't match the songwheel. Your audio is LQ. I like the chart.

THE LOOK / ROXETTE (AeronPeryton)
Steps take too long to start. Awesome chart, though.

trezire de spirit / 倉持武志 (Blinded_No_More)
Nice chart. Feels like a 10 to me.

Votes:
恋はどう?モロ◎波動OK☆方程式!! (DMAxel) - +5
Right Through Me (hooky) - +4
THE LOOK (AeronPeryton) - +3
KUNG FU FIGHTING (Cowtao) - +2
trezire de spirit (Blinded_No_More) - +1

Total Votes:
KOI WA DOU? MORO HADOU OK*HOUTEISHIKI!! (DMAxel) - 17
Changed The Way You Kiss Me (DDR Addict) - 13
Morphogenetic Sorrow [Ambidex Edition] (Maestro Grithok S) - 9
Right Through Me (hooky) - 7
MIDNIGHT RUNNER (xRGTMx) - 5
Run Devil Run (Japanese ver.) (ziv348) - 5
PEACE BREAKER (Meseki) - 4
trezire de spirit (Blinded_No_More) - 4
Hypris (TaroNuke) - 3
Silvia Drive (Chewi☆) - 3
THE LOOK (AeronPeryton) - 3
KUNG FU FIGHTING (Cowtao) - 2


Tonight Tonight / Hot Chelle Rae
BPM: 100
1 2 4 7

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I did not realize that this was the last week to submit files (so we're having a week 11). I may or may not submit something, since I'm running low on easier choices.

Especially since I'm not starting today, as I spent around five hours on reviews:


Bubbly Time: Nice chart with no problems as far as I could tell. Rather fun, but for some reason, it doesn't stand out too much (not that it's always good to stand out too much).

Changed the Way You Kiss Me: Quite good most of the time, but there are significant difficulty fluctuations that aren't really justified by the music. There's also a double-step somewhere shortly before the section with the long freezes, which is not good at all in a section of that kind of difficulty.

Ethan Lahde: The start and end of the cut could use some work; it didn't start exactly on a beat, and, more importantly, it should have faded out instead of just cutting off. Unknown display BPM was not necessary for this either, as that'd normally be used for more complex or notable gimmicks than a simple half-speed gimmick. As for the chart, you need to watch for double-steps, as there's quite a few in this chart. Also, the two longer 16th trills (such as the one near the end) were a little out of place in a chart of this difficulty (the five arrow long ones were fine though).

HYPRIS: Both the and charts were awesome. A weird mashup, but it allowed for more stepping potential that you used well. The spins in the slowdowns in both charts were well done, especially since it was obvious that the spins were intentional (even more so due to the slowdown). Also, the short freeze up-down jump in the successfully tricked me into thinking there was a stop there on my first play.

KOI WA DOU MORO HADOU OK HOUTEISHIKI!!: Really good chart, and nice control on the difficulty. Normally one may be tempted to put crossovers throughout this kind of chart, but you only put about two, and only one (at the end) involved 8ths, which was good, since this kind of song shouldn't have a chart that difficult.

Kung Fu Fighting: Okay charts, not too interesting. I never played the DDR chart, so I don't know how much better it is. There are a few minor double-steps in both the and charts, but some of them could be intentional.

MIDNIGHT RUNNER: Great use of crossovers and jumps. Also, the difficulty is well-balanced throughout the chart, becoming slightly harder in the end to keep it from seeming repetitive.

Morphogenetic Sorrow [Ambidex Edition]: Good, fun chart, though it seems that songs from this game can't be charted consistently(or at least this and Quarternary Game are like that), not that it makes it that bad. I did like the stops and jump-step section, though I'm not sure how they're objectively viewed.

Right Through Me: Okay chart, though it doesn't seem good on the first try. Personally, I didn't really like the footswitches/double-steps before the sets of two long left and right freezes, but I do realize it's intentional (or seems to be, considering that playing normally results in facing backwards every time).

Run Devil Run (Japanese ver.): Nice, fun charts overall. The 24ths in the chart don't seem to be going to anything though, which seems to be a reoccuring issue in many of your higher level charts.

Silvia Drive: Good chart, though I don't like it too much. I found the gallops a little weird, but I think the main reason I don't like the chart too much may be bias from taking so many tries to clear the DP Hyper in IIDX, especially since that's the only chart I really played of the song.

The Look: Decent chart, as you did a good job avoiding double-steps despite all of the crossovers and even spins. However, stepping exclusively to the lyrics, especially when there's so many breaks in them, is not a good idea. Also, the difficulty in the end was much harder than the rest of the song, which is something you should probably be careful of doing (not that it's bad to have it somewhat harder).

trezire de spirit: Really good chart. The candle patterns were nice, along with the stepjumps at the end of many of the streams. The right to down-left jump toward the end was a little mean, but then again, boss songs are supposed to be mean.

** HYPRIS **
+5 trezire de spirit
+4 KOI WA DOU MORO HADOU OK HOUTEISHIKI!!
+3 MIDNIGHT RUNNER
** Morphogenetic Sorrow [Ambidex Edition] **
+2 Run Devil Run (Japanese ver.)
+1 Bubbly Time
** Changed the Way You Kiss Me
** Right Through Me
** Silvia Drive **
** Ethan Lahde **
** The Look
** Kung Fu Fighting

Totals:
KOI WA DOU? MORO HADOU OK*HOUTEISHIKI!! (DMAxel) - 21
Changed The Way You Kiss Me (DDR Addict) - 13
Morphogenetic Sorrow [Ambidex Edition] (Maestro Grithok S) - 9
trezire de spirit (Blinded_No_More) - 9
MIDNIGHT RUNNER (xRGTMx) - 8
Right Through Me (hooky) - 7
Run Devil Run (Japanese ver.) (ziv348) - 7
PEACE BREAKER (Meseki) - 4
Hypris (TaroNuke) - 3
Silvia Drive (Chewi☆) - 3
THE LOOK (AeronPeryton) - 3
KUNG FU FIGHTING (Cowtao) - 2
Bubbly Time (Darkstorm091) - 1

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If this wasn't the last week, this is how my submission would of looked...

I didn't want to go out with a joke of sorts, so I'll release this one later. Here's my real submission.

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[+5] - Run Devil Run (Japanese ver.)
[+4] - KOI WA DOU MORO HADOU OK HOUTEISHIKI!!
[+3] - Changed the Way You Kiss Me
[+2] - MIDNIGHT RUNNER
[+1] - trezire de spirit

KOI WA DOU? MORO HADOU OK*HOUTEISHIKI!! (DMAxel) - 25
Changed The Way You Kiss Me (DDR Addict) - 16
Run Devil Run (Japanese ver.) (ziv348) - 12
MIDNIGHT RUNNER (xRGTMx) - 10
trezire de spirit (Blinded_No_More) - 10
Morphogenetic Sorrow [Ambidex Edition] (Maestro Grithok S) - 9
Right Through Me (hooky) - 7
PEACE BREAKER (Meseki) - 4
Hypris (TaroNuke) - 3
Silvia Drive (Chewi☆) - 3
THE LOOK (AeronPeryton) - 3
KUNG FU FIGHTING (Cowtao) - 2
Bubbly Time (Darkstorm091) - 1


[HYMNAL] Bedroom Hymns / Florence + The Machine
2 || 4 || 6 || 7
3 || 6 || 9 || 11

Well, it's been real. And it's been nice. But it hasn't been real nice.

♥

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