Z-I-v Battle Royale 2022 (Thanks for playing!)

February is upon us, and we’ve got a hell of a contest for you guys!

Welcome to Z-I-v Battle Royale 2022: Back From the Dead! This year, we’ll be taking a new spin on things to shake it up a bit! As usual, let’s start with the overview.

OVERVIEW
Each week, you will upload one file. The following week, everyone will rate the files. Unlike last year, there will be three cutoffs. Four phases, seven rounds. One after the first two weeks, one after the next two weeks, and one after an additional two weeks. In each cutoff (except the final one, more on that later), half of the players will be sent to the Graveyard (which will be explained in its own section). Around 34% of the participants will be left to participate in the final round, some with a bonus advantage for consistent performance. After this final round, the results will be revealed, and the first place winner will select themes with the winner of last year's SC in Summer Contest 2022! Again, be sure to read the whole introduction, as I will explain the new gimmick in as much detail as I can.

CONTEST RULES
1. If you enter a file for a round, you are required to vote for the files that round. If you fail to vote, you will receive no points for your file.
2. No voting for your own file.
3. You may enter only one file per round.
4. Files must be uploaded by the specified deadline.
5. When uploading a file for a round, put the round number (ex. Round 4) under "Section."
6. When uploading a file for a round while in the Graveyard (to be explained further down), put the round number plus Graveyard (ex. Round 4 Graveyard) under “Section.”
7. In the case of a tie at one of the cutoffs, all tied players will advance to the next round in their specific group.

SIMFILE RULES
1. Only one chart is required for a file. Only singles charts are required.
2. The DDR X-Scale will be used to rate files for this contest (1-20).
3. If you submit a simfile with the hardest chart being a 16 or higher, it MUST have a lower that is a 15 or below.
4. Songs must be arcade length (under 2:30).
5. Files must be pad files, no keyboard charts.
6. No auto-generated steps.
7. You must submit new files for this contest, no previously-released files.
8. You must submit a file that has not previously been criticized. If in doubt, ask me or forced.
9. Submitted files must not be critiqued until voting week begins. This is so no one gains any unfair advantage.
10. Graphics are not required, but they are recommended. In the case that you can't make graphics and don't have someone to make them for you, placeholder graphics are provided.

VOTING
During each voting period, players will rate all files featured in that round from 1-10 (excluding their own file, of course). Ratings must be whole numbers, no decimal ratings. All votes will be sent to FoRCeDNaTuRe via PM.

SCORING
At the end of each round of voting, each file will have a final average score (rounded to two decimal places), which is the average of every rating given to that file plus the average of the ratings that simfile author gave to the other files. The points given to each participant each round will be the average score their file received multiplied by 100. The points accumulated at the end of each phase will be used to determine who gets eliminated at each cutoff.

For example, if my file got an average score of 7.41 at the end of a round, I would get a total of 741 points for that round.

DEADLINE
Submission deadline for both files and votes will be every SUNDAY at 5:00 pm UTC (17:00 UTC).

SCHEDULE
Phase 1:
February 20 - February 27: Round 1 Submissions
February 27 - March 6: Round 1 Voting, Round 2 Submissions
March 6 - March 13: Round 2 Voting
-Cutoff 1-

Phase 2:
March 13 - March 20: Round 3 Submissions
March 20 - March 27: Round 3 Voting, Round 4 Submissions
March 27 - April 3: Round 4 Voting
-Cutoff 2-

Phase 3:
April 3 - April 10: Round 5 Submissions
April 10 - April 17: Round 5 Voting, Round 6 Submissions
April 17 - April 24: Round 6 Voting
-Cutoff 3-

Final Round:
April 24 - May 1: Final Round Submissions
May 1 - May 8: Final Round Voting
May 8: Final Results

NEW: GRAVEYARD
When you fall below the cutoff this time around, you may find that there’s still hope for you after all. Introducing the Graveyard, a brand new second chance for victory!

Unlike previous Battle Royales, where you had one chance and that’s all, you are given an extra shot if you happen to fall on the chopping block. That way, the battle stays engaging for longer!

So, how do the phases work now that the Graveyard is introduced? It is a touch more complicated than Battle Royales of old, so I will explain it all here, complete with a visual aid.

PHASE PROGRESSION GRAPHS:


IN CUTOFF 1….
In the first cutoff, the top 50% of the participants will continue in the Living group, and the bottom 50% will now be moved to the Graveyard instead of being eliminated immediately.

Let’s use a running example. Let’s say 30 participants join BR2022. After the first cutoff (assuming no ties happen), 15 people will move on in the Living group, and 15 people will fall into the Graveyard.

IN CUTOFF 2….
In the second cutoff, the top 50% in the Living group will remain in the Living group, and the bottom 50% of the Living group will fall to the Graveyard. For those already in the Graveyard, the top 25% will continue in the Graveyard, and the bottom 75% will then be eliminated.

So, back to our example, 8 people in the Living group will remain in the Living group, while 7 will drop to the Graveyard. 4 people already in the Graveyard will continue in the Graveyard, while the other 11 will be eliminated. So, at this point, 8 people are in the Living group, 11 people are in the Graveyard, and 11 people are eliminated.

IN CUTOFF 3….
In the third cutoff, which leads to the final round, all people in the Living group get to move on to the final round regardless of performance. However, there’s a catch. The top 50% of the Living group enter the final round with a +40 point advantage. This is so those who stayed at the top throughout the whole contest get a reward for their hard work. Meanwhile, on the Graveyard side of things, the top 25% of the Graveyard will move on to the final round, without the point advantage, of course. The bottom 75% will once again be eliminated.

Returning to our example, all 8 people in the Living group move on to the final round, with the top 4 people getting a +40 point advantage. Of the 11 people in the Graveyard, 3 people move on to the final round, and 8 people are eliminated. So, in this example, the final round will consist of 11 people, 4 of which will have a +40 point advantage.

SO? HOW WILL VOTING WORK WITH THE GRAVEYARD?
While the new Graveyard will essentially split the participants into two groups, the voting will continue as if all participants were still in one group. All participants will vote for all files in the round (aside from their own) regardless of if they are Living files or Graveyard files. This is to ensure all files get equal attention. Do remember, though, that Graveyard files for Phase 2 rounds and onwards should include “Graveyard” in their section. So, for example, Living files for Round 3 will be in the “Round 3” section, and Graveyard files for Round 3 will be in the “Round 3 Graveyard” section. The ZIPs for each round will still contain all files for both groups. This section separation is mostly to make it easier for us to track which files are Graveyard files.

Apologies if that was a bit much to take in at once! Submissions will open February 20th!

If you want in the contest or have any questions, simply let me know in the thread or PM me.

With that all said, let the battle commence once more!


EDIT: If you didn't know, we have a Z-I-v Contest Discord! Join here! https://discord.gg/fkPhwc2amg

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Battle Royale: Prepare to Die Edition.

Oh yeah... I'm in.

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Obviously I'm in

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IN.

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LET'S GO

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Some rules were tweaked. Do take some time to look back over the SIMFILE RULES section of the Intro.

Also, you all are now added.

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In.

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Z-I-v Sound Team “Karl with a K” is in.

Oh, what new music will be spawned from this?

HmmmmmmmmmmMMMMMMMMMM

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i will participate uwu

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I'm in. 20177

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I'm in, looking forward to it! -DJEmbrace

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Ok I'll join

You're all in

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Ooh it's that time of the year again.

Sign me up.

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I'll sign up.

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