Z-I-v Freestyle Showcase 2020

Presenting a new simfile contest that celebrates the art that is DDR freestyling, and aims to truly test your chart-making skills across multiple difficulties!
TL;DR this is sorta like Technical/Stamina Showcase, but with DDR-style charts instead of ITG-style charts, and a modified ruleset.

OVERVIEW
There will be two rounds in this contest, with participants submitting up to two simfiles each round. After each submission deadline, the judges will review all of the submitted files, and the results will be announced the following week. After the first round, a 50% cutoff will be implemented, meaning that only participants with the highest-scoring files can participate in the second round. At the end of the contest, the participant with the two highest-scoring simfiles wins.

THIS YEAR'S JUDGES: ledgam3r1279, darkanine, tamtamino, Telperion

CONTEST RULES
1. There will be two rounds in this contest, with each participant submitting up to two simfiles per round. The submission period for each round will be three weeks long; this should give everyone enough time to work on their files.
2. The judges will then have one week to review the files, announce the results, and provide comments for each chart. Results may be announced earlier or later than scheduled depending on the number of entries.
3. After the results for round 1 are announced, the round score for each participant will be equal to the score of their highest-performing simfile (i.e. the lower-scoring simfile is dropped). Then, participants in the top half of scores from their best files will be eligible to participate in round 2.
4. After the conclusion of round 2, the participant with the highest combined score from their two highest-scoring simfiles across both rounds wins.

SIMFILE RULES
1. You must provide at least 3 singles charts in the - difficulty slots, with and being optional but recommended (doubles and other charts are also allowed, but will not be judged at this time).
2. Charts must be rated on the X-Scale (out of 20).
3. Songs must be at least 1:00 and less than 2:30 in length (e.g. no "long versions" allowed).
4. Pad charts for this contest only, no keyboard charts.
5. Automatically generated steps are not allowed.
6. No rolls, hands, fakes, scrolls, or other gimmicks not found in DDR. Mines are allowed, but only in the form of shock arrows in the chart.
7. Split timing is allowed.
8. New simfiles only. You can't re-release a simfile you've already published (i.e. made publicly available for download).
9. Files must be uploaded within the submission period.
10. Files must be uploaded to the simfile contest category, using "Round 1" or "Round 2" as the section name when appropriate.
(Failure to comply to the above rules by the deadline will result in the file being disqualified.)
11. Graphics/BG videos are not required but recommended. If you do not have graphics, someone else can make some on request or a placeholder will be provided for you.

SCORING CRITERIA
1. For each file, all included singles charts will be rated on a scale of 0 to 10 (whole numbers only for the sake of simplicity), and the overall score for each file will be determined by a weighted average of all charts in the file. The weights for each difficulty are given as follows:
= 2 (if stepped)
= 3
= 3
= 4
= 4 (if stepped)
Then, the average of all the scores from each judge will determine the final score for each file.
2. At the end of round 1, participants will be ranked based on the score of their highest-performing simfile to determine eligibility for round 2. Any ties between participants will be broken by the overall score of the second simfile they submitted (if any). If any ties still exist around the cutoff area, all affected participants will be allowed to participate in round 2.
3. At the end of round 2, participants will be ranked based on the combined score of their two highest-performing simfiles, regardless of which round the two files were submitted in (so both eligible files could be from a single round), and the participant with the most points will win the contest. If there is a tie, the third highest-scoring simfile from each participant will determine a winner, followed by the fourth highest if needed.

DEADLINES
The deadline for submitting files will be MONDAYS at 6AM PST / 9AM EST / 2PM UTC / 11PM JST. The results of each round will be announced around this time too if everything goes well.

SIGN-UPS
Sign-ups are open until the end of the round 1 submission period. You can sign up by posting in this thread or sending me a PM saying you want to participate.

SCHEDULE
19 Oct: Round 1 Submissions Open
09 Nov: Round 1 Submissions Closed
23 Nov: Round 1 Results, Round 2 Submissions Open
14 Dec: Round 2 Submissions Closed
28 Dec: Round 2 Results


FAQ
Why this contest?
It has been a while since there has been a contest that is exclusively DDR-style (BEST-mix 5 in 2012, as far as I've heard), so I wanted to fix that. Plus, I wanted a contest where all difficulties actually matter, but not everyone plays or reviews all difficulties, so a judging format only makes sense to me in this case.

Why now?
I would have prepared/announced this contest sooner, but I had some important IRL stuff to take care of first before I could do that. I should be able to have more free time by the time the judging period finally rolls around, though.

WIll there be any monetary prizes as in Technical/Stamina Showcase?
No.

Will there be a doubles division for this contest in the future?
Perhaps, but for now, I'm limiting the contest to singles-only for this first iteration. I don't know how long it might take me to go through every chart, or if I will have enough time to do so. Plus, doubles charts are harder to judge, naturally.

What exactly are you looking for in a good submission?
As long as the above rules are followed, almost anything goes, really (it's in the name of the contest). You can make each difficulty as easy or as hard as you want. You can include as many crossovers, spins, etc. as you want--even doublesteps or steps that don't always go with the music--as long as I believe they are appropriate for whatever song you step. If you need any references, I think most official DDR charts (any mix) as well as many of my recent simfiles are good places to start. TL;DR the main question you should be asking yourself is: is this chart fun to play no-bar? This applies to all difficulties.

What makes you qualified to be judge?
I've been playing DDR since the early days (my first DDR game was the USA version released for the PSX), and so I have gained an appreciation for and can find fun in all types of DDR charts, both old and new. And, I've been making simfiles for long enough to be able to tell the difference between a fun or not fun chart, regardless of style or difficulty (and I think my contest performance over the past few years speak for themselves as well).

Can anyone else be a judge too?
In case you don't trust my opinion on your or anyone else's charts, I am willing to form a team of judges to help me run the contest as well (just ask). However, I will only accept people who actually play all difficulties on pad on a regular basis. If you're going to judge multiple difficulties, I think it only makes sense that you have at least some experience playing multiple difficulties as well.

Can judges participate in this contest too?
In case it wasn't obvious enough, no, I will not be participating in this contest myself. If anyone else decides to be a judge, I only ask that they not participate in the contest as well.


So yeah, fairly short contest, but running this sort of contest is uncharted territory for me, especially the judging part. I hope this will turn out well, but if not, . . . well, at least it will be a good learning experience to take into next year's contest or whatever contest I end up hosting next (if at all). Questions, feedback, sign-ups (as participant or judge), etc. are all welcome (although I might not be able to respond right away for the first week or so).

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Sounds very interesting, I'd like to participate!

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Missed these types of contests where in addition to being exclusively DDR-style, all difficulties are judged, encouraging participants to make at least 3 fun charts. Sign me up.

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Oh hey. Another DDR charting contest. Count me in.

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Ohoho? Another DDR contest? I'm interested. So, sign me in.

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I'm in! I'd like it if there weren't only one judge though, or even a team of judges. It's kind of an uncomfortable idea to me.

Also, why are graphics "highly recommended" when they aren't going to be used at all in the scoring criteria?

Most likely just me copying text from previous contests and forgetting to change a few things. Maybe I considered using graphics as a tiebreaker some time ago, but I quickly decided against it.


Personally, I'm a bit nervous myself that I'll be criticized for my opinions when the end of round 1 rolls around, but I'm willing to take the risk (at least this one time). Plus, if we went back to voting, then the contest would basically turn into a mini Battle Royale at that point.

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I'll join

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Also joining!

I'll try.

I'll also try.

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I'd like to join please

Sure, why not, I'm in

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Sure, why not?

I'll give it a shot.

Finally, something that focuses on pure DDR.

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Sure, what the heck, I'll give it a go.

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I'll join.

Seems like it'll be fun.
Plus, I'm a no-bar player, so it's right up my alley lol.

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I want to join, please

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Me too!

I don't know why i've been called, but sure.

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