BMSSCFZIVBWNOSLGTPSogmcc!: Schedule/Rules/Reviews Thread

Okay, since the other one was getting a bit long in the tooth, I've made a new one specifically for the second half of the contest. First up, the schedule!

CURRENT SCHEDULE OF OLYMPIC EVENTS 2008
July 2nd: Submission Deadline
July 3rd-July 14th: Simfile Play Weeks: 1 1/2 Weeks (play the simfiles, take notes, rate specifics, etc.)
July 11th-12th: Final Reviews and Ratings!

SIMFILE REVIEW SYSTEM
6/10 (600/1000) total for steps
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Simfiles in this contest have separate difficulty allocations, so this must mold to fit. If a simfile has Doubles ratings, split the various difficulty ratings in half. (for example, if a sim has both S-Light and D-Light, split the score from 200/1000 for one to 100/1000 for each.)

: 2 (200/1000) for each
/ : 1.5 (150/1000) for each
: 1.2 (120/1000) for each
or only: 6 (600/1000)

4/10 (400/1000) total for everything else
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Song Quality: 2 (200/1000)
Extras: 2 (200/1000)


Comes out to 1000/1000, or 10/10.


The 1000 system is for those that want to get specific about the ratings (i.e, an LSH simfile has a good Heavy but bad Standard, so 200/1000 for the Heavy but only about 50/1000 for Standard, which by putting to the 10 system are 2/10 and .5/10 respectively.)

Big ups to Oni-91and RoyBoyCF for suggesting/reminding me of this system based on the StepMix system.


Did I miss anything? I probably did, so please tell me what I forgot if I did XD

EDIT: I DID!

If it's not too much to ask, please post your review of a sim both in the comments of the the sim you're reviewing (so it co-incides with the Final Rating) and here (since it's a review thread, hehe). Thank you!

EDIT: Readmes was merged into Extras, please take note of this change.

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We have to turn in the final ratings before we finish playing?

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Quote: RoyBoyCF
We have to turn in the final ratings before we finish playing?

No, that's what the 1 1/2 weeks is for, so you can play all the sims, take notes, compile a review and then get the Final Rating based on your review. If anyone needs more time after the 1 1/2 weeks I'd be happy to give them some more time. =o

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Your step rating for Doubles is flawed. Simfiles rarely include Double Beginner, so by splitting the points, Beginner is worth more than the other difficulties.

So for a song with Beginner-Challenge Single and Light-Challenge Double, maybe you could make Light-Challenge each worth .7 on each mode and Beginner .4.

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There's another thing, it's based on Best-Mix, not StepMix. StepMix is play song on keyboard, asslick the 14-footers.

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Quote: Oni-91
There's another thing, it's based on Best-Mix, not StepMix. StepMix is play song on keyboard, asslick the 14-footers.

Ack, sorry! x3

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All my reviews will go here. Prepare for a very, very long post. I'm going in reverse order, because I'm that cool.

You Know Me - Renard feat. Colson
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STEPS:

Single Beginner (out of 15): Was great, until bar 49, when you broke one of the Ten Simfile Commandments: Thou shalt not put corner jumps in a Beginner chart. 14/15.
Single Light (out of 15): I'm liking. Felt a bit iffy when there was the forced freeze spin (really shouldn't be in a 4), but everything else more than made up for that. 14.5/15.
Single Standard (out of 15): Started off tame, then kicked into action at the end part (which felt like a slow part), weirdly. If all the 190 section had the spark of the ending, I'd give it full marks, but alas, it still gets a very respectable 14/15.
Single Heavy (out of 15): The slow part wasn't bad. There were two things I disliked in the fast part: one of the measures which had pretty weird jumps in the middle of (measure 12), and the use of 16ths in the fast section. Now, if they were on just two panels only, I might have liked it, but it was wholly different from the rest of the chart (which was pretty good, I might add), and just messed up the flow. With those in mind, I'm rating it 11.5/15.

SUBTOTAL: 54%

OTHERS:
Song Quality (out of 20): Good length, etc. I'd have made the samplestart where the faster part is, and also, the end part feels twice the speed it should be. So, it's getting a 19/20.
Readme (out of 10): Everything's there. Nicely done. 10/10.
Extras (out of 10): Egypt! Cats! Other stuff! I must say I like the graphics work...except for the text effects. They're a little on the monochrome side.

Either change the effect, or decrease the stroke, so it's less noticeable. The latter way means you can increase the text size, too. 8/10.

SUBTOTAL: 37%

TOTAL: 91%

Wicked Plastic - JAKAZiD
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STEPS:

Single Beginner (out of 12): Serves its purpose well. 12/12.
Single Light (out of 12): Nothing wrong stepwise, but the song is too manic for the chart. You could have removed the 4th triplets and turned into a Beginner chart. 10/12.
Single Standard (out of 12): OK, the steps were good, but I thought that these really should have been the Light steps. It's a bit of a bummer that you didn't make the steps a 6 or 7, because the song is too manic for an easy Standard chart. 10/12.
Single Heavy (out of 12): One of the things that irked me a little was the use of tiny freezes. They don't really provide a purpose other than to clutter up the screen...anyway, the crossovers you put in made the steps a lot of fun, which is no mean feat considering the pattern repetition. 11.5/12.
Single Challenge (out of 12): That was a good workout! Got nothing against the challenging part, but the end part felt tacked on - it felt like a completely different chart. So, I'm gonna give it a 10/12.

SUBTOTAL: 53.5%

OTHERS:
Song Quality (out of 20): Can't fault you. 20/20.
Readme (out of 10): Description of each chart, song info, copyrights, nicely done. 10/10.
Extras (out of 10): Oh yes. Loving the GFX. My only gripe is that the title is too small on the background, so it gets a 9.5/10.

SUBTOTAL: 39.5%

TOTAL: 93%

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Readmes. Pfft.

Readmes was merged into Extras, please take note of this change.

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I gotta question...

Who exactly are the judges?

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Anyone can judge.

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Try not asking me to judge, I'm horrible at it!... Well, usually.

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You don't have to judge if you don't want to. Nobody's forcing ya.

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Thursday or Friday we'll have a winner.

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You're right. And nobody's participating.

I'm still curious as to how the final ratings can be in before judging is done.

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Depending on if we get any more reviews in or not there may be a short extension for other reviews (mine included, life's been riding on me lately so I haven't been able to review much). x3

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They don't have to be long descriptions like Oni did. You can just list the rating with notes beside it if you want.

I've played all the songs, now I just need to write the reviews.

EDIT: Here are the first few. I'm going in a sort of random order.

evergreen
Steps:
B: Works well, but I would tone it down just a little for Beginner. 1.2/1.5
L: There's no reason Light has to be all quarter notes, right? 1.3/1.5
S: Not bad, although the sixteenths made it a bit hard for a 6. 1/1.5
H: Good steps. I'll say 1.2/1.5
Total: 4.7/6

Other:
Song Quality: Perfect. 2/2
Extras: N/A, so I can't give you any points.
Total: 2/4
SUBTOTAL: 6.7/10

Waluigi Pinball
Steps:
B: ITG Novice is a bad role model for simfile makers, but at least there's a pattern there. .6/1.2
L: Similar to Beginner. .6/1.2
S: I don't care what you say, that's not a 5. .4/1.2
H: Pretty good, I don't know if I'd say perfect. .9/1.2
C: Similar to Heavy. .9/1.2
Total: 3.4/6

Other:
Song Quality: Perfect. 2/2
Extras: Graphics are good, Readme is well written. 2/2
Total: 4/4
SUBTOTAL: 7.4/10

Leave Britney Alone (Trance Remix)
Steps: Eh, not what I would call an 8. Mostly simple streams mixed in with jumps and sixteenths that disrupt the flow. 3.9/6
Song Quality: Not quite perfect. 1.8/2
Extras: Graphics work, but the words should have been larger in the background. Readme included necessary info, but felt a little dry. Overall, 1.4/2
SUBTOTAL: 7.1/10

Gatchaman Song
Steps:
Light: Not quite as ideal. I would have done a few things differently, especially the jumps. 1.4/2
Standard: Wait, did I write these steps? XD Anyway, 1.7/2
Heavy: Same idea as Standard. 1.7/2
Total: 4.8/6

Other:
Song Quality: Perfect. 2/2
Extras: .lrc file is good, graphics are good, and I have to say the readme was rather entertaining.
Total: 4/4

SUBTOTAL: 8.8/10

POODLE
Steps:
Light: Alright, although you could have used some more rests. 1.4/2
Standard: Good steps. 1.6/2
Heavy: Great steps (Oni, there's nothing wrong with short freezes if they're used appropriately. A few where an ordinary step or jump just isn't enough emphasis is good, but all over the place, they're a waste). 1.7/2
Total: 4.7/6

Other:
Song Quality: Nothing wrong with the quality, but you should have previewed the chorus, IMO. 1.8/2
Extras: Everything's good here. 2/2
Total: 3.8/4

SUBTOTAL: 8.5/10

Tsubame
Steps:
Beginner: You could have done so much more, even for Beginner. I'm not sure you can justify that use of eighth notes. .2/1.2
Light: The difficulty wavers a lot here, not much flow going on. .6/1.2
Standard: Good steps, but may be on the 6 side. .9/1.2
Heavy: A bit generic, sorta like Challenge. .7/1.2
Challenge: What you have is alright, but when I think Asaki, I think plenty of chaos. It doesn't have to be an insane 9 like Konoko. Hell, it doesn't even need to be a 9. So, I'll give you .8/1.2
Total: 3.2/6

Other:
Song Quality: Perfect. 2/2
Extras: Readme is good, graphics are good. 2/2
Total: 4/4

SUBTOTAL: 7.2/10

Cutie Pie (CD Version)
Steps: Note that the song is offsync, which detracts from these scores.
Beginner: Alright, maybe a bit much in some parts. .9/1.5
Light: Alright, but on the heavy side. 4 footer and pseudo-triplets don't go together well. .7/1.5
Standard: Liked the steps, but it was offsync, so I'll say 1/1.5
Heavy: Similar idea. 1/1.5
Total: 3.6/6

Other:
Song Quality: Kind of loud. 1.5/2
Extras: Everything's satisfactory. 2/2
Total: 3.5/4

SUBTOTAL: 7.1/10

Votum stellarum -Oni style-
Steps: Whenever I hear this song, I think sixteenth notes, and you answered that well. The only problem I noticed was the jump streams, which were filler steps that didn't go with anything. Overall, 4.5/6
Song Quality: Nothing wrong here. 2/2
Extras: Liked the graphics. Readme was also nice. 2/2
SUBTOTAL: 8.5/10

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Sorry, I'm running late on reviews, too....I'll do my best to catch up, though.

In alphabetical order.....

Be My Lover - LA BOUCHE

~STEPS~
S-Beginner: Cool, the steps vaguely follow the lyrics. I like that. These steps accomplish exactly what they set out to do, so that's worth the full 6/6.
S-Light: These look just fine to me. 6/6.
S-Standard: I'm not fond of throwing pseudo-triplets into a four-footer, personally. The steps seem solid aside from that, though. 5/6 [Edit: And yes, I suddenly realize my hypocrisy here....since CUTIE PIE does the same thing on Light. Oh well.]
S-Heavy: A nice, early DDR-style stepchart. The mildly chaotic bits actually feel at home here. If there's one complaint I could make, it's that this chart is ever-so-slightly on the repetitive side, though that doesn't detract from my enjoyment much. 5/6.
S-Challenge: I'm impressed. This stepchart is, in my eyes, a LOT of fun and, unlike the Heavy chart, it avoids becoming too repetitive by changing things up from time to time, so I feel that it deserves 6/6.
D-Beginner: Every bit as adequate as the S-Beginner steps. 6/6.
D-Light: These steps, while solid, seem a bit too tricky for two-footerdom in a few spots. 'Course, I'm not an experienced doubles player, so I can't guarantee that I actually know what the heck I'm talking about. 5/6.
D-Standard: Probably more appropriate than the singles steps, actually. 5.5/6.
D-Heavy: From what I can tell, the extra four panels help keep this from getting stale like the single steps did, so....I think it's worthy of a 6/6.
D-Challenge: Solid steps, though I don't find them quite as interesting as the single steps for some reason. 5.5/6.

~MISCELLANY~
Song Quality: This song sounds like it would've been right at home in an early DDR mix, which fits these steps perfectly. I can't think of a single thing to complain about here. 20/20.
Extras: Oooh, vaguely generic but well-synched background animation! Fits the DDR-iness of the other elements perfectly, as do the rather nice graphics as well. The readme isn't detailed as some, but it certainly gets the job done. 20/20.

TOTAL: 96/100

Break The Ice (Jason Nevins Rock Remix) - Britney Spears

~STEPS~
S-Beginner: Having a step right after a stop like that seems just a tad too tricky for a Beginner chart, methinks. That's the only problem I can find here, though. 5/6.
S-Light: Sort of hard by contemporary three-footer standards, if you ask me. 5/6.
S-Standard: While they're solid, I can't help but feel they're a bit on the repetitive side. Doesn't make it a bad stepchart, really....doesn't make it interesting, either. 5/6.
S-Heavy: I think these are terrific, for seven-footer steps, anyway. I like how it doesn't stick to any particular pattern for too long, which helps keep things fresh. The gallops definitely help spice things up. 6/6.
S-Challenge: Wow....that ending run on the guitar is pretty damn tough. And on the other end of the spectrum, that series of quarter-note freezes in the middle is rather boring, and though I can't think of anything else you could've done with that part, it does bring about definite balance issues here. It's just too weird to go from that, into a sixteenth-note death run. 4.5/6.
D-Beginner: Still weird having a step that close to a stop in a one-footer, if you ask me. 5/6.
D-Light: A few difficulty problems, like the singles chart. Good steps other than that, though. 5/6.
D-Standard: A bit more interesting than the singles steps (and I wish I could find a way to review these doubles charts that didn't involve constant comparisons to the singles ones), so I'll up the grade to 5.5/6.
D-Heavy: Seems just a wee bit too hard for a six-footer, in my opinion. Still, they're terrific steps, from what I can tell. 5.5/6.
D-Challenge: It's a bit much for an eight, plus it has the same balance issues as the S-Challenge steps. 4.5/6.

~MISCELLANY~
Song Quality: It's a decent song, as far as Britney Spears songs go, anyway. Like "And Then We Kiss (Junkie XL Mix)" from SN2, I give full credit for its tolerability to the remixer. The cut's mostly decent, though there's a noticable lull in the middle that does make for boring stepcharting. 18/20.
Miscellany: Again, I'm impressed. Everything that really needs to be here is here, and more. Love the graphics, too. 20/20.

TOTAL: 89/100

Capital G - Nine Inch Nails

~STEPS~
S-Beginner: A two-footer on Basic, for a sub-180 BPM song? I was kinda unsure about that at first, but it seems about on-par with HP's two-footer beginner charts, so I suppose it's okay. It's repetitive in spots (especially with the repeated taps on certain arrows near the end), but then again, it's Beginner, so I can't fault it too much for that. But I can fault it a little! So I'll give it 13/15.
s-Light: For such a simple chart, it flows with the song really well. I can't find anything glaringly wrong with it, so it gets a 15/15.
S-Standard: Not that hard for a five-footer, but I suppose the use of twelfth notes warrants such a rating. I'm gonna give it 13/15, because it feels like something's missing here.
S-Heavy: I'm just dorky enough to appreciate including a few hands on the "hands and knees" part. And I've come to adore songs with a swing rhythm, for some reason. Though, some of the parts where you've streamed up more than two twelfths in a row feel sort of arbitrary, especially the jumpy bit at the end, as if they only exist to jack the difficulty up a bit, because the song itself doesn't seem that manic, to me anyway. Still, I think it's a fun chart, so it gets a still-thoroughly-respectable 12/15.

~MISCELLANY~
Song Quality: Heh. I wasn't aware I actually knew this song, until I started playing the simfile. Kind of a cool surprise, really. Can't find anything wrong here, so....20/20.
Extras: Very Ultramix 3-esque, in that the graphics look a lot like official album artwork. I had to check the readme to confirm that it actually wasn't. Speaking of which, the readme seems to have everything you'd need. The lyrics, in particular, are a nice addition. Can't find anything to fault here, either. 20/20.

TOTAL: 93/100

Cheeseburger - Sanxion7

~STEPS~
S-Beginner: I'm definitely not a fan. Plenty of single quarter-note steps into jumps, which I firmly believe shouldn't be present in a one-footer Beginner chart at this speed. Conversely, the rest of the chart is a bit too sparse, even for Beginner. 6/12.
S-Light: I think it's more of a four-footer, myself, if only because the steps are so constant here. 10/12.
S-Standard: There's a few oddities that kept me from really getting into this chart, like the speedup right in the middle of a stream, which I'm definitely not a fan of. 9/12.
S-Heavy: These steps are quite fun, really. Unlike the Standard chart, the tempo changes are telegraphed pretty well. My only legitimate complaints would be about an oddly placed jump at the end, and the fact that the long stream right after the speedup seems to come on a relatively calm part of the song. 10/12.
S-Challenge: I wanted sooo badly to like these steps - and there is a lot to love, but....I'm really not a fan of all the short freezes here. As far as I can tell, they're supposed to telegraph the mines, but in the end all it leads to is lots of unnecessary clutter, if you ask me. Freezes are pointless if they're too short to actually fail! The rest of the steps seem terribly messy, too, on subsequent playthroughs. 8/12.

~MISCELLANY~
Song Quality: Can't say that I'm particularly a fan of this song, but the quality seems to be just fine, and it lends itself well to simfiling, so 20/20.
Extras: The graphics could, uh....use a little work. Ignoring obvious quality issues (I'm gonna assume you used Paint), I do feel that the font doesn't really fit this song at all. Not much in the readme, either. 10/20.

TOTAL: 73/100

Dash Hopes - Renard

~STEPS~
S-Beginner: Steps that soon after pauses are completely UNCALLED for on Beginner. 6/12.
S-Light: I suppose they achieve exactly what they set out to do - namely, fill space on a keyboard song that's probably only meant to be played on higher difficulties. 9/12.
S-Standard: Surprisingly competent boss song Standard steps. It's a bit overrated, though; while it IS tough, like Pluto Relinquish Standard, it ain't a ten-footer. More of a nine, probably. 8/12.
S-Heavy: Twelve feet seems a little high of a rating for this....namely because, if it's a 12-footer, it should be just past the realm of my ability, yet I can pass this one. It's surprisingly bland, too. 6/12.
S-Challenge: They're definitely tough. I have to admit to being unable to pass this one, but from the looks of things....I guess I'll go with 9/12. They're solid for what they're meant to accomplish, I suppose.

~MISCELLANY~
Song Quality: Wow, a song that actually makes MAX 300 sound like MUSIC in comparison! The actual quality seems fine, though, and it's suited for the purpose you're using....16/20 seems appropriate, in this case.
Extras: Nothing at all. No readme....and though you apparently made graphics for it (albeit less-than-half-assed ones), they're not included in the ZIP file. 0/20.

TOTAL: 54/100

(On a side note....CUTIE PIE is off-sync? I hadn't noticed, personally. What's the problem? Offset too early, too late? Didn't nail the BPM exactly? I'm just wondering what to look for, exactly, so I can use this experience to improve and stuff...)

There was... an oni?

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Thanks for your "Gatchaman Song" review RoyBoyCF. I'm looking forward to the reviews of Love Me Do And Perseus too;).