StepCon 2023

[ositzxz369]

Re: StepCon 2023

1 was solid, though not as crazy with the minijacks/wubs like some of the other entries. 2 had some sussy three-16ths jacks (need to see in AV if justified). 3 had some nasty 32nd bursts. 4 had one nasty 32nd triplet burst and some of the ascents were stepped as descents, but I did like the different wubs having different colors. 5 was tamer than 1; not very crazy; easiest entry of the bunch.

[gold stinger]

Re: StepCon 2023

YouTube previews are up!

[xXOpkillerXx]

Re: StepCon 2023

Got some Very brief notes for the submissions. Went through each chart about 3 times at least to not be too biased by the order they're presented.

1:
This chart is pretty tame and has good execution throughout. Bit of an odd spike with the hands and polys at the end given how easy the drops (breakcore and dubstep) were, making the latter much less memorable. Could've had more originality, like patterning or color theory; as is nothing really stands out much.

2:
Cool approach with the higher difficulty. The patterning and difficulty curve are sound for most sections locally, but as a whole it's a bit hard to justify; there are bursty/minijack-y sections where the music isnt at its peak intensity yet those sections are the hardest to play. Also while the color trills are neat, the poly they create with the 8ths and 4ths are a bit jank. Pretty fun dubstep-y drop though that was one of the more enjoyable versions of that section.

3:
Pretty clean overall. There could have been more abstraction than 24ths and 16ths in the dubstep part to really make it pop, because it's probably the most underwhelming section of the chart. Handstream at the end is a bit of a difficulty bump too and the layering could be toned down just a bit (or would be fine if the dubstep part was harder), but at least it's relatively friendly patterning.

4:
This one hits a sweet spot in terms of difficulty management; the js/hs, breakcore and dubstep all have their own interesting approach without being underwhelming or too spiky. The color theory in the first half (white notes) is a bit hard to follow because it's not distinct enough of a sound with everything going on in that section. The handstream layering is also a bit weird in the second half because there are hands going to sounds much softer than others.

5:
Easiest approach, pretty friendly to play. A couple of sections lack pattern diversity and are mostly just rolls and/or split rolls. The handstream at the end is a bit too hard for the rest of the chart though.


Overall, I think all submissions are pretty strong and enjoyable to play. There isn't any specific chart that nails everything, nor is there a chart that messes up lots of sections. For the most part it was often a tradeoff between which section was charted "better" imo; some had better breakcore, some had better dubstep, and some had better js/hs. I can see this finale getting diverse votes for sure. I picked one in particular which I believe would be the most memorable and wouldn't require many structural fixes to get ingame. Congrats to everyone for submitting a chart, y'all did well. Good luck!

[gold stinger]

Re: StepCon 2023

This is going to be a very interesting round imo because my 2 cents is that everyone at least did one thing in their file that stood out extremely well amongst everyone else whom submitted. Like for example, 'number 4' has imo the best representation of the dubstep section, 'number 1' has the best representation of the breakcore section, and 'number 5' has the best intro sections. Just to list a few examples. I also liked the white-note color theory jumps in the intro from one submission but I forget if it's one of the ones that I listed.

The absolute perfect file to me would be a melting pot of all 5 and their best qualities.

[WirryWoo]

Re: StepCon 2023

This is going to be a very interesting round imo because my 2 cents is that everyone at least did one thing in their file that stood out extremely well amongst everyone else whom submitted. Like for example, 'number 4' has imo the best representation of the dubstep section, 'number 1' has the best representation of the breakcore section, and 'number 5' has the best intro sections. Just to list a few examples. I also liked the white-note color theory jumps in the intro from one submission but I forget if it's one of the ones that I listed.

The absolute perfect file to me would be a melting pot of all 5 and their best qualities.

So funny because I was actually thinking about this the other day. If community and winners agree, can the file be released as a “collab” between “first place ties”? A lot of the submitted charts have their own respective qualities and it would be a shame to miss out on some of them haha.

[ositzxz369]

Re: StepCon 2023

So funny because I was actually thinking about this the other day. If community and winners agree, can the file be released as a “collab” between “first place ties”? A lot of the submitted charts have their own respective qualities and it would be a shame to miss out on some of them haha.

FFR All-Stars

[gold stinger]

Re: StepCon 2023

So funny because I was actually thinking about this the other day. If community and winners agree, can the file be released as a “collab” between “first place ties”? A lot of the submitted charts have their own respective qualities and it would be a shame to miss out on some of them haha.

People are free to submit their runner-up files as a v2 and have done so and been accepted in the past, but I'm not necessarily up for changing rules of the event last minute since it may come across as unfair to certain public voters or participants.

[gold stinger]

Re: StepCon 2023

Just a quick subtle reminder that there is a little over 24 hours before public voting for the finals closes and the winners are announced!

Please make sure to get your votes in before the deadline! Every vote matters and can drastically change who wins.

https://forms.gle/ZdzdLEGd8YDdLbwR6

[gold stinger]

Re: StepCon 2023

The Second Public Voting Period has Ended!

Here's the results for the Final Round:


1st - basicdrummerman (4)
2nd - jh05013 (3)
3rd - WirryWoo (1)

Thank you so much to all of our finalists that participated and put their best foot forward to approach the file for this year's Finals! It is not easy to overcome a song that might not be advantageous for you and still provide quality that a majority likes. I will be rewarding extra prizes and rewards from the Final StepOff shortly to those that have earned them, and updating badges to reflect the Final StepOff results. As well as reaching out to those that qualify for an 'extra' token reward. I sincerely hope to be able to continue this event next year! But with that, it will draw this year's StepCon to a close. Thank you again as well to everyone that participated in the first round, and those that voted for their favorites throughout StepCon!

On a very specific note to basicdrummerman, similarly to the previous round, you will have 1 week to submit any fixes needed for your file, and then it will take another week to move the file through the batch process for difficulty rating before it ultimately sees a release in the Songs of the Week of November 25th. And, congratulations on the win!

Participants and voters are now open & free to talk about which file is theirs in-order on the StepCon 2023 engine (if they prefer), and talk about which specific songs they voted for (again, if they prefer).

[jh05013]

Re: StepCon 2023

I will take gigadelic. Thanks for the stepcon and congratulations to drummer!

[basicdrummerman]

Re: StepCon 2023

i will do gigadelic as well. and thanks jh, im actually stunned, was a blast!

[Lights]

Re: StepCon 2023

did drummer win yet?

[gold stinger]

Re: StepCon 2023

did drummer win yet?

yes, yes they did win.