StepCon 2024

[devonin]

Re: StepCon 2024

Done and done.

[Lights]

Re: StepCon 2024

Vote 9, 8, 6

ty

[Zyxel]

Re: StepCon 2024

vowocal dumps #raw

[themastergrant]

Re: StepCon 2024

Here to try my hand at stepping!

[XelNya]

Re: StepCon 2024

4 out of 9 is a higher "would" rate than I expected to have if i'm honest

[gold stinger]

Re: StepCon 2024

I know that I put out the Song Preference form only 4 days ago, but there is now a week left to sign up for StepCon 2024!

I've gotten plenty of preferences from all of you this week, and I can definitely see where some songs missed the mark, some very loved, and others very divisive!
If you haven't already, consider filling out the Song Preference form, your choice may be a tiebreaker on whether a particular song is used or not.

Currently at 45 sign-ups so it is very likely we will see either 5 or 6 songs used, can always sign-up for StepCon 2024 if you haven't to maybe increase that number, but I've only got just a little over 30 Song Preferences submitted so get them in while you can!

[gold stinger]

Re: StepCon 2024

We've hit 50 sign-ups!

There will now be 6 songs this StepCon instead of 5.

Thank you to everyone that has taken the time to sign up and submit their song preferences! Hoping that everyone enjoys their placements a lot more this year.

[gold stinger]

Re: StepCon 2024

The First Stepping Period has Begun!

During this time, all participants will have received a Direct Message from me containing their Class, Song for Round 1, and their Pre-built .sm File to begin Charting, and links to all songs currently active in this round. For the public, that list is available below in the spoiler.

All participants will have until the end of Thursday, September 12th Server Time to complete their submissions and submit it to the StepCon 2024 Batch located here.

If you need the other song's files or folders / can't get them from whom you are trading with, please contact gold stinger either on the FFR Official Discord, or in DM's here.

PLEASE NOTE, that unlike the previous StepCon, there is NO CHANGING SONGS.

Class A: ICE x Sand Suna - Atohs

mikatheidiot
Snupeh
manicpies898
Setsuwa
Zeta64
E-B-E
XelNya
magnans
that.one.animatronic
Elite Ninja

Class B: Ardolf - Mantle In The Dark

WirryWoo
Laplace
Velocity
Themastergrant
TheTrueXfish
woker-X
gradiant
znow
evergreentries4k


Class C: potato-tan - Second Strike

https://soundcloud.com/potato-tan/vr...trike-original
Hakulyte
nobody_serenity
DSMLMD
Cuckson
cymx
Wind0ze
charsiaha official
m0nkeyz
catbug_


Class D: otoshi.b - Memories in the Blue

jacobvl39
axith
jh05013
Durvin
Black_Shield
hanatachi
kidboo377
s1rnight


Class E: Vizunave - EGG OBLITERATION MACHINE

xXOpkillerXx
RakuAvali
Tru
Zoobin4
Creosm
EppuJoloZ
Storn42
DarkZtar
kenchikki


Class F: chilldive - GET OVER IT !

Dash-
Devonin
Zyxel
Ultimate Mike7
IwasAsquidOnce
Lights
renaplatinak2
xxnewson1234xx
basicdrummerman

Best of luck to all those involved in StepCon 2024! Looking forward to some of the patterns and choices that go into these submissions, and may the best StepMan win!

[gold stinger]

Re: StepCon 2024

The First Public Voting Period has Begun!

During this time, all participants (including and especially people not participating in the event), can vote for songs submitted for Round 1 of StepCon 2024. No further submissions for the event will be accepted at this time. You can re-visit the Google Form link in the future to change your votes (until the end of the Public Voting period), and you can vote for multiple options across all Classes (Pick any & all that you like!).

You may fill out the form at https://forms.gle/pxTp5Bk8xP2TMA9w6 to submit your votes.

Please be advised, participants CANNOT vote for their own Class. Votes for that class will not count for said participants.

https://www.flashflashrevolution.com/batch_submission/engine/r3.stepcon2024.xml
If you navigate to your 'Options' in your FFR Engine, navigate to 'Miscellaneous' settings and click the drop-down for 'Engine Playlist', you should see this at the bottom of the list:



You will get this pop-up:



If you Copy the above XML URL and Paste it there, and click 'Add Engine', you should be able to view/play/observe songs from StepCon 2024. If you do not want to play the song, you may preview the song by right-clicking the song of choice in the song selection menu and selecting 'Play Chart Preview' in the right click menu.

Class A: ICE x Sand Suna - Atohs

Class B: Ardolf - Mantle In The Dark

Class C: potato-tan - Second Strike

Class D: otoshi.b / Memories in the Blue

Class E: Vizunave - EGG OBLITERATION MACHINE

Class F: chilldive - GET OVER IT !

Everyone will have until the end of Thursday, September 19th 11:59PM SERVER TIME to complete voting and submit their forms at the above google link.

Furthermore, discussion is allowed in-thread during voting. But please do not deliberately attempt to sway votes/vote brigade particular submissions, and treat your fellow Stepauthors with respect. People of all skill levels participate within this event, and there is going to be good/bad matchups for people's skills and preferred genres. Keep it civil and respectful. There's also the #events channel in FFR's Official Discord for discussing the event as well!

[EppuJoloZ]

Re: StepCon 2024

Good luck everyone!

[Lights]

Re: StepCon 2024

I'll go first! My initial thoughts on the submissions.

Atohs 1 - hard file. i found some of the decision making to be a little questionable but its also got some nice ideas. not a whole ton to say here

Atohs 2 - I liked this one for the most part. the file is pretty reserved but the difficulty spike towards the end is kinda spooky and its also got some issues with consistency. pretty good overall tho

Atohs 3 - thats uh... spicy. kinda like one, its got some ideas that i can appreciate, but in this case the file is so hard that im kinda at a loss from there. you do get a nod for your usage of color, though the limited PR on it during the little guitar riffs falls kinda flat. overall the file seems relatively well constructed, but i cant comment on how this would really feel to play.

Atohs 4 - really common trend with these files doing some stuff well and kinda lacking in other areas. i think theres a lot to like about the overall approach here, but it has some undeniably mean patterning. that being said, it does enough things right that this will be getting my vote

Vote: Atohs 4

Mantle 1 - Right off the bat theres some layering consistency issues that jump out here. Wasn't a big fan of the dumped 16ths for the wubs, comes off as a little lazy- theres a lot more you could be doing here. The ending felt a little underwhelming overall. Is a respectable attempt, but it slightly misses the mark in a lot of places for me and that kinda adds up over the file.

Mantle 2 - Hand and Jump usage felt a bit off in terms of where emphasis was placed for portions of this file and it probably could have used a little more polishing. The Wubby section was handled really well in this file though, I quite like it. Kinda torn on where I land on this file, though I'd say overall its got a good thing going.

Mantle 3 - This file has some problem with the approach to layering and consistency. Wub section didnt really land for me- feels like emphasis was poorly placed and a lot of the (dumped?) streams ended up feeling more like ghost notes than genuine abstraction of the music, unless theres some really subtle backing rhythm im not hearing here.

Mantle 4 - Simpler approach to the song. Feels relativelty well put together. Doesn't really jump out to me in terms of doing anything particularly special, but does most things right. solid file overall

Mantle 5 - This has some problems. quite a lot of errors that would really need to be addressed that I'm guessing come from a place of inexperience. Nice use of color on the vocals though, I like where your head is at there.

Mantle 6 - Second favorite take on the wubby section so far. fairly solid execution on most of the file as a whole. This is good.

Mantle 7 - Like, I'm all for dumping wubs. But you're really drowning out the rest of the song with how overbearing the 24ths are in the first half. the dumped 16ths in the back half really make you lose a lot of impact of the drum fills and really steals the spotlight away from what made this section of the music cool. In a song like this, less is more when it comes to abstraction.

Vote: Mantle 6

Second Strike 1 - Now thats a bold approach. I respect it. But it does not work. this file has a lot of problems ranging from PR, layering, and consistency that can't really be overlooked. this file would need a considerable overhaul.

Second Strike 2 - Now thats a bold approach. For an entirely different reason than the last file. The shoehorned color theory in the back half of the file doesn't really add anything. the color gimmick would land a bit better if the file was cut imo. was a little disappointed to see the streamy part ignored in favor of the same old jumpstreamy patterning.

Second Strike 3 - Now thats a bold approach. This time for not really doing the whole "layering" thing. cuz honestly who needs it, am i right? But if you're going to focus in on one thing at a time, you really gotta nail the representation of that thing. Not following the lead melody for most of the file didn't exactly leave a good impression with me and the PR kinda felt like it was an afterthought, if present at all in some parts of the file.

Second Strike 4 - Sensible approach to the song and it thankfully cuts the song. nothing further to say here, good file. this will be getting my vote.

Vote: Second Strike 4

Memories in the Blue 1 - I love this. Not really much to note here, I genuinely wouldn't change a thing. Spicy trills at the start tho.

Memories in the Blue 2 - Honestly, I like this too. It focuses in on whats important quite well for most of the file. the misrhythms on some of the bursts are kind of a knock against the file (If they are actually misrhythms, hard to really verify through a preview). You have a good thing going here overall though.

Memories in the Blue 3 - In contrast to the first two, this feels a lot less focused. the lack of hands emphasizing the more powerful parts of the music is unfortunate and the overall approach to layering kinda felt off sometimes- namely when it wasnt being used to place emphasis on that lead melody. excellent use of color in the mid section though. overall this is still a respectable entry, but it doesnt quite do it for me.

Vote: Memories in the Blue 1

EGG OBLITERATION MACHINE 1 - lol. nice color theory. honestly i think theres a good deal of merit to the approach here. some parts of this feel kinda similar to how i'd want approach it. Theres an underlying layer of jank here im worried about in some of the bursts and transitions that might wanna see some touching up, honestly i like it overall.

EGG OBLITERATION MACHINE 2 - I respect some of the ideas here but good lord this file packs some HEAT. Some of the file feels pretty overdumped, even relative to the intensity you're going for. im genuinely struggling to figure out what sort of angle youre taking on some of the dumpy streams here towards the middle in particular. overall its fairly well put together if we look past how heavy handed the approach to dumping is, but thats a pretty difficult thing to look past. I think you'll have better luck sending this into an OT batch tho.

EGG OBLITERATION MACHINE 3 - This is a very strong submission. does a great job focusing on what grabs attention, the approach to abstraction is overall pretty clean and does what the song wants with as much minimalism as you could really expect from a song like this. really pretty in its overall presentation.

EGG OBLITERATION MACHINE 4 - kinda reminds me of 1. some solid ideas, the approach to the abstraction generally works. It sometimes feels like the file is doing too much and things like the lead melody kinda fall into the background a bit too much. with some improvement in how this file chooses to focus on elements of the song, i could see this being on par with 1.

EGG OBLITERATION MACHINE 5 - this is another solid entry. the layering choices feel a little unintuitive to me sometimes. does a decent job with keying in on what the song wants. acts as a fairly nice middleground between something like 1 and 3 imo. respectable entry, i like it.

EGG OBLITERATION MACHINE 6 - this is so fuggin clean too. best use of color theory i've seen. a bit more literal in its approach than 3, but i'd consider this to be roughly on par with 3. this is really good imo.

EGG OBLITERATION MACHINE 7 - thems some spicy minijacks, honestly they kind work well with the level of intensity you're going for here. i've got some playfeel concerns with some of the chart, but this is overall pretty good. A lot of the ideas on the abstraction land pretty well and the emphasis feels well placed for most of the file.

Votes: 3, 5, 6

Will post these after voting is finished, since this is my group.

[xXOpkillerXx]

Re: StepCon 2024

I'll go second! My initial thoughts on the submissions.

1. Intense stuff here. I will assume that this person is either a relatively new stepartist or not yet used to higher difficulties. That being said, the chart matches the song's intensity really well and is a solid tech stam test at that level. There are quite a few concerns however regarding the layering, missing notes and pattern fluidity (see 48ths minitrills on one hand for example). Great attempt.

2. This chart is a bit puzzling; it's as if it isn't sure if it wants to be a 100+ difficulty or a 80. There are neat patterns that showcase the instruments' progression well. Again, I will have to assume this person is relatively new (at least to this level of difficulty). Some quantization errors here and there.

3. Wow. Ok. Sir (or Ma'am) this is a Wendys. No but seriously this is pretty damn difficult lol. I hate you a little bit for this because you're possibly proving me wrong that such a difficult chart cannot win in a stepcon. On a more serious note, the 24ths minijacks are a bit overkill given how dense of a section they're in already. There's polishing that needs to be done on this for sure but I wont go into details here. Impressive despite the technical issues.

4. Cool chart overall. This is a bit similar to #2 in terms of difficulty balance; there are spikes that are quite far off the rest of the chart despite the song being intense in many places. There are nice choices of patterns to accent the song such as the triplet 16ths jacks and the colored bursts later on.

Notes: This group had quite the task, as this song has a Lot going on. Kudos to everyone who submitted because very few would feel comfortable charting at that difficulty. That being said, there's definitely a fair amount of space for improvement in terms of consistency and balance especially. Keep up the good work guys.

1. Really solid. This chart is very friendly and intuitive, and most patterns are coherent with a great balance in difficulty relative to the song's intensity. It takes an approach that imo is a bit too safe in the first half using just regular 16ths js for sections around 400-800 combo.

2. This chart has a pretty good sense of what interesting elements the song has to showcase, and represents them well. Most of it is quite friendly, although some of the spikiness might not be ideal. Couple of objective layering mistakes but nothing too major. Good stuff.

3. Now this one I feel has a lovely focus on playability and pattern flow. It's quite tame in general, although those 24ths spikes are too hard for this chart. One concern I have is that at times the layering focuses on song elements that are very background-like, sacrificing the representation of the more prominent instruments. Cute stuff.

4. Ohh this is pretty polished. I would say the first half is very strong; the only more notable thing I'd note there is the 24ths triplet roll, that's a bit awkward to play at that speed because it doesn't jumptrill as easily as the 32nds rolls. The second half however is a bit tricky, because the song's intensity increases a significant amount, yet the charting doesn't reflect it too much due to the layering decisions made. Overall great chart.

5. I will assume this is a less experienced stepartist. There is a great balance of difficulty and nothing egregiously spiky which is nice. The concerns to note here are primarily about mistakes in quantization (using 16ths where the song is playing 12ths and viceversa), and layering consistency in the jumps usage. Aside from that the song's intensity was followed nicely and patterns are fun.

6. Hmmm, now this one is definitely really well put together and feels polished, however some things jump out imo. For example, while the wubs in the first half are pretty nice and friendly, they're most definitely the hardest part of that whole half, but in the song they're quite minor elements relative to the loud drums and its various rhythms and intensities for example. Bit of quantization issues in the second half too. Overall though, this is nicely done.

7. This chart gives me a strong impression of someone who has their style of charting and wanted to apply it to the song. The general intensity of the chart is up there and feels nice given how hard the song goes. There are notable concerns regarding the accuracy of the notes (missing/ghosts) and quantizations, which I feel come from this person not being used to chart a song with that many varied rhythms and prominent elements. Solid attempt.

Notes: One funny thing that clearly stands out is this group's struggle with the quantizations of the 12ths vs the 8ths in the second half. That being said, the overall quality is good and the competition is not easy there. I have a relatively solid idea of which chart(s) I will vote for.

1. Will assume a newer stepartist here. Now hear me out, this chart's pros are also its cons. The 32nds in this are really friendly and flow well, which is nice to have at that speed. However, those same 32nds are very inconsistent in how they're used, which affects the overall coherence of the chart. One way to address that is to have clear motifs and stick to those tightly unless there's a very intuitive song element to highlight that should take priority. Nice attempt.

2. Hmm. I'll say it right away, the color theory doesn't help this chart. That being said, the layering and motifs here are super clear and straight to the point, which is great. The ending position makes for a really weird cut. Mixed bag, strong charting and strange (imo) decisions.

3. This has a super fun easy layering, which is a great approach to this song given the repetitions. That being said, the PR is quite all over the place which makes many 16ths feel a bit arbitrary despite the fun rhythms. While it's always fun to hit notes at the correct rhythm in a way that feels friendly on the hands, there needs to be some motifs that tie everything together and highlight the song's notable elements and progressions. Good low difficulty attempt there.

4. Again, the color theory here is not needed. It's more confusing than it helps the chart. That aside, this chart has very clean sections that give a unique representation to each part of the song. There are neat accents and the general patterning is friendly yet a bit challenging. Really fun chart good job.

Notes: This group has a relatively high variance of stepartist experience I believe, which makes for interesting comparisons. This song poses a challenge that's a bit further from the other groups' songs in the sense that it doesn't have a ton of rhythm changes and clear unique elements. That requires the motifs to be a bit more clear and consistent to maintain coherence throughout. I know which chart(s) I'm voting for here.

1. Really fun chart, pretty smooth patterns overall and intuitive. Some 32nds flams felt missing. The double 4-notes 32nds trills is a bit overkill given the rest of the chart, could've omitted the 4th note of each of those to make 32nds triplets without sacrificing the motif or difficulty increase.

2. Interesting; this one has very friendly sections where #1 had the spiky 32nds, but trades that for spiky 48ths on the piano rolls. This felt a little more balanced and varied, but those 48ths aren't my cup of tea.

3. This chart played it a bit more safe. It flows nicely and doesn't spike as much. However it's not quite as memorable. Few missed drums here and there in the layering. The slow section color theory was nice.

Notes: Very solid submissions for this group, it's not an easy choice for me personally so good job y'all. There's most likely gonna be a fair bit of preference based voting on this one, although there are a few objective things to pick on in each chart. Again, well done.

1. Pretty interesting stuff in this one. There's a bit of a conflict in difficulty balance between some sections to a point where it makes too much of the chart trivial relative to the hard parts; the song doesn't warrant that much of a discrepancy. That aside, everything is pretty coherent and the intentions are clear on the abstractions. Solid charting.

2. Cute easy chart. While there are slight inconsistencies here and there in the 8ths usage, the general approach of an easy difficulty was executed quite well. The midsection piano roll spike is definitely egregious, but in terms of spikes that's about it. Although the motifs are well done, the more intense wubby midsection does lack a bit of oomph in terms of representation, making it feel a bit underwhelming even at that difficulty range. Really neat chart.

3. This chart is super techy with really fun abstractions. I honestly do feel like the minijacks transitions weren't the ideal choice there as some of them are essentially minijacks into a jump on the respective hand, which is significantly trickier than when the first note is the jump. That spikes the abstractions a fair bit and would need some smoothing out. Not too sure about the 2-notes 16ths minijacks in the wubby sections but they do keep rhythm. Pretty solid and feels polished.

4. Well, this is something. You probably think "what kind of something is it", but it's just it. Seriously though, really clean patterns, interesting abstractions (albeit a bit spiky of a midsection, but nothing egregious), careful PR. Maybe not a big fan of using the same color theory for the whistle and the other sound in the following section, that blends weirdly. Not much else to say about this. Impressive.

5. Hmmm, unsure what to think about the cuts here. Musically, they seem to hinder the progression of the song a bit too much for the time gained. The chart itself is pretty nice and has some cool patterning in the wubby section. Bit of inconsistencies in the flams usage in the first part and the patterning there isn't the most friendly. All in all a good chart.

6. Here again the cuts (and fade out) might not be ideal/necessary. The abstractions in the midsection were nice, but felt a bit too streamy given the swingy nature of the song there (some matched that rhythm properly). The intro whistles are definitely a more unique approach here, although they're not Too spiky, just a bit unexpected. A fun and challenging chart.

Notes: This group has some really nice takes here and there on various parts of the song. This is one of those cases imo where a frankenchart would be lovely, taking the best parts of each submission. I don't have a strong idea of which chart(s) I'm voting for here, but I have contenders to double check.

[Dash-]

Re: StepCon 2024

Alrighty, here's my thoughts on the submissions. Keep in mind I have little experience as a charter, but it was fun playing through everyone's files ^^

1: somewhat spicy, maybe too spicy on those 16th jacks near the very end
cool dumped 12ths in the middle
it seems okay overall

2: feel like this one's going a little too overboard at times? considering most of it is straightforward jumpstream
i'm also not a fan of the 32nd trills being the first indicator of the difficulty of the file, it's a bit jarring
also, i've only noticed now how the song does those bursts represented by the 48ths in this file, i would bet that'd be the most annoying part of the song to work around while charting and i guess this file represents that struggle well

3: this is a lot to take in, but i loved the color theory present right off the bat
only thing i would really poke at is the ending 24ths' patterning where it changes while the song does not

4: by far the one with the most interesting patterns in isolation (those 3 note 16ths... epic...)

1: straightforward, nice, very chill, although *maybe* a little underwhelming in the first half of the last chorus at around 1000 notes? i get the progression that goes on to the second half but it really felt like the chart suddenly toned down a notch just to accommodate for that and it's a bit weird

2: this is what i conceive to be a difficulty spike
^what the hell was i smoking? did i mean the last 12th jacks? or the 16th ones before before the chorus? this is fine

3: definitively the most abstract rhythmic choices went into this one it seems

4: also feeling like the chorus is underrepresented compared to some bits in the middle but it could just be me

5: it is kind of funny to step the background birds chirping lel
somewhat feel like there were some sections that were just, purely there for filler purposes and it didn't sit well w me

6: pretty cool! definitively the one with the most appealing pattern/rhythm choices and is probably my favorite

7: seeing as this is the only dump in the pool for this song it brought another vision into the mix

this one needed a cut, desperately

1: this is.. as freestyle as one can get before people get scared
(no scorepost, i forgot)

2: woa why my notes blu
generally had a good time, strong structure

3: its simplicity ends up hurting potential for more sounds being represented, which is a weird choice considering the usage of 32nds to a veeeery faint sound in the song

4: VERY nice, all i can say

1: no objections. like, i have nothing to say as this is just good

2: also good, it feels like the style is more loose with the patterning
(no scorepost, i forgot)

3: also good!! and this one feels more rigid than the others
(no scorepost, i forgot)

1: The Egg-Jack Pattern
i honestly think this is a mess at first glance density-wise according to the intensity of the song never trust the first scores of your session, folks
looking in preview it's pretty fine

2: absolutely too much for me, this is really up there in the high-level dump chart department which i don't comprehend a whole lot
liked the colors in the intro, at least
seeing it in preview There Are A Lot Of Dumped Wubs and alongside the rest of the chart makes for very odd, almost monotonous density

3: THE TRUE egg pattern
very well paced, good ideas, nice execution of them.. wait did the yoshi hatching sound get stepped!? this is my favorite so far
(no scorepost, i forgot)

4: it played relatively okay, the first minijacks were a good indicator of the difficulty of the rest of the chart
as an avid Flam Hater i do dislike the 32nd flams at around 1030 notes -- not (just) because i suck at them but because their variation doesn't reflect any other type of variation in the song itself
(no scorepost, i forgot)

5: wonderfully structured, but i feel like that's the biggest and almost only thing that the chart achieved

6: The MINI-Egg Pattern
pretty good, pretty good, don't think i have a lot to say as the patterning wasn't anything jawdropping but it is fine
(no scorepost, i forgot)

7: i think i like this. it's fairly rigid in ways that compliment the song

Not posting stuff for GET OVER IT! (yet? maybe at the end of the voting period)

[M0nkeyz]

Re: StepCon 2024

Let me preface this by saying I'm not judging the files as a judge per se, I'm just giving out my opinion on these files as a player, there will be personal bias.

Atohs:
What an absolutely insane song this is, I think it lends itself to higher level charts and alot of entries were far above my skill level, I played them all, but I watched the replay of them quite a few times and mainly looked at structural consistency.

Atohs 1: Chart captures the energy of the song quite well, I don't entirely agree with the way the song is layered/structured and some of the transitions are quite weak as a result. There were also quite a few notes missing at the start. Definitely think this chart needs some polish.

Atohs 2: I'm almost certain on who this is, the way traditional rolls are being avoided is too noticeable lol and as a result there are some really nasty patterns in this, I don't like the overly long anchors, I think the second half is significantly better than the first half.

Atohs 3: This seems overstepped, I like some of the ideas in this, the white notes at the start to highlight the guitar are quite a nice touch. This feels overlayered though, the quiet piano at the start being stepped as jumps for example doesn't really carry the essence of the song much, there is also an overabundance of jacks everywhere that don't really feel accurate to me.

Atohs 4: Cleanest entry on the list, chart is a bit trill-y, but all in all this is pretty similar to how I would've stepped it, some of the 32nd bursts are a bit spiky though.

Mantle in the Dark:
Great song, I think this song is so good in fact that pretty much all the charts here were really fun to play, I think alot of them did suffer from inconsistencies though.

Mantle in the Dark 1: File seemed decently well made, but the structure felt really overlayered, it kinda detracted alot from the experience for me. It felt like I was playing a dump file that didn't really capture the intensity of the song much.

Mantle in the Dark 2: Really fun file, I think it's a bit spiky and it would definitely need a few touchups before being acceptable for FFR, but I think this file shows alot of potential and definitely has a coherent structure. Second half is way harder than the first tho lol.

Mantle in the Dark 3: Easier approach to the song, I'm not sure if there's something wrong with the file or if you uploaded the wrong version, but alot of the jumps seem misplaced? It seemed like a decent file, but I didn't really get to play the intended version it felt like.

Mantle in the Dark 4: Almost incomprehensible structure in this one, there are parts that felt understepped and there are parts that felt grossly overstepped. It's quite unique gameplay wise, but I think this needs alot of polish in alot of areas, the intensity of the song wasn't captured very well imo.

Mantle in the Dark 5: File suffers from noticeable misrhythms, I think the use of jumps is a bit hard to follow, definitely needs alot of polish. The staircase pattern in the middle was fun tho .

Mantle in the Dark 6: I kinda feel ambivalent about this one, on the one hand it has a nice structure, it's easy to follow what the notes are going to and it's definitely the cleanest entry thus far, but on the other hand it seems to have noticeable missing notes and it kinda fails to capture the music in its execution, the ideas are easy to follow, but as an example there's this speed up into a snare roll where you go from 24ths into 32nds that just doesn't feel right to play, it's hard to explain why but I feel this just needed a bit more polish and iteration and it would've been a great file.

Mantle in the Dark 7: Dump approach doesn't really work for me here, the wubs are too soft and quiet for the 24ths to actually feel accurate. Rest of the file also seems overlayered.

Memories in the Blue:
Another very cool song, man the picks this year have been absolute bangers, the charts were also pretty cool, all 3 had a very different approach.

Memories in the Blue 1: That was really fun, I noticed some missing grace notes and missing notes in general, but the overall structure made sense, the patterns were unique and well layered and I could generally follow what you were doing. I want to open this up in an editor to better scrutinize certain areas, but on the surface this seems really solid.

Memories in the Blue 2: Really FUN, this would never be accepted into FFR in its current state, it lacks structure and some of the bursts/dump sections felt a little off at times, but man, this was fun to play. I'd hate to judge this file though, don't think it's that suitable for FFR.

Memories in the Blue 3: File felt a bit too jump heavy for my taste, the file is pretty good, but it suffers from a pretty bland structure, humdrum jumps. I liked the white notes though, they gave the file some unique flavor.

EGG OBLITERATION MACHINE:
This song is ridiculous lol, another absolute banger, I'm kinda sad that most people took a dump approach, would've liked to see some other ways to tackle this song, I wasn't the biggest fan of this group, but I think that's due to personal bias, take my opinion with a grain of salt.

EGG OBLITERATION MACHINE 1: The non-dumped parts were good, but the dumped parts felt too continuous and not very accurate.

EGG OBLITERATION MACHINE 2: Don't know if I can give a fair opinion on this, watching it from the replay it looked decent. It captured the song well in alot of ways, but it's so over the top dumpy that it probably won't be my personal favorite.

EGG OBLITERATION MACHINE 3: Some parts in this were FANTASTIC, but some parts in this were very hard to follow, especially in jump structure. I really liked the quad sections and the different colors towards the end, but I think this file needs some polish, certain parts really didn't feel right to me.

EGG OBLITERATION MACHINE 4: Bit incoherent, didn't really follow the music, felt overlayered and too continuous/streamy.

EGG OBLITERATION MACHINE 5: Very similar to the previous file, a wall of notes and jumps that didn't really go to the music all too well, felt like a slightly more polished version of the previous entry.

EGG OBLITERATION MACHINE 6: File kinda lost me halfway through, this was alot cleaner in structure, but I feel it was missing quite a few notes and some of the bursts felt inaccurate. Definitely the cleanest entry so far, but this needs polish as well.

EGG OBLITERATION MACHINE 7: Very anchor-y, very dumpy, pretty much all the things I don't like. The non-dumped parts also felt incomplete, you missed a couple of grace notes at the start for example.

GET OVER IT!:
Definitely some beginner charters in this group, don't be discouraged by my notes, they're just my opinion. Banger song, again wasn't a huge fan of this group because the majority of the entries took a dump approach.

GET OVER IT! 1: Patterning didn't make alot of sense to me at the start and then the over the top dumping came in, meh, not my cup of tea.

GET OVER IT! 2: This file has charm, yeah it's good. I think you absolutely nailed certain parts of the file, but I do think it has a bit of an identity crisis, some parts felt really underlayered. I know you took an easier approach to the song, but it still felt like the song was imbalanced in terms of structure. In the beginning I was kinda begging for there to be more notes, I chalked it up to you trying to maintain an easier difficulty level, but then there were alot of harder parts towards the middle like that one-handed trill. I dno, I think this file could use a few brush-ups, but it's really really solid.

GET OVER IT! 3: Felt unnecessarily dumpy, the beginning was kind of a headscratcher too with the jacks. Structure was a bit all over the place.

GET OVER IT! 4: This file had a very clear structure, it felt like the person stepping this actually had a plan in mind when tackling this song. I'm not sure if I like the approach, but it has a very clear and consistent structure. I think the file needs some polish in certain areas, but it's the cleanest entry thus far.

GET OVER IT! 5: That was pretty fun, but the approach felt really random, like 4 different people stepped it lol. This file had some really fun patterns and I thought the beginning was actually really solid in terms of layering, but it kinda lost me towards the middle/end.

GET OVER IT! 6: Not sure I like the trills at the start, it also feels a bit incoherent in terms of structure and how it tries to capture the essence of the music.

[jh05013]

Re: StepCon 2024

This is an insane song to step; great job on finishing it. That said, I think the difficulty spike is too jarring for 3 of them, namely:

1 would've been low-mid 90s, if not for 1:40-1:56 which is near-impossible to follow at that level.

2 early on goes relatively empty a few times even though it's musically still intense, and then rampages during 1:40-1:56 and even more during 2:20-2:48.

4 is quite a strong entry, but 2:45-2:48 feels too much.

After playing 3 at 0.8x rate, I feel like this is the most balanced, though I'd also be glad with 4 winning as long as the ending is nerfed.

1 - Clean and intuitive chart. Not a fan of 16th dumps; In general, I think they are hard to stand out relatively to non-dump elements. The chordjack starting at 2:11 is a bit spiky.

2 - Clean and intuitive chart, no major issues. Maybe a bit spiky? But it matches the intensity well overall.

3 - Layering is confusing sometimes; it's hard to see what some of the jumps and 16ths are going for. I can still see some ideas here and there; it needs some work in general to really shine.

4 - Clean and intuitive chart again. Some of the layering and patterns are not my cup of tea, but I think they still work regardless.

5 - Nice easier approach. Has some glaring quantization errors, 16ths and 24ths not matching the music in some places for example, but the difficulty seems well-balanced.

6 - Wow, this is very similar to how I would chart it, especially the first half. Apart from small quantization issues during the climax it's kind of the chart that I envisioned.

7 - A bold approach. It's pretty fun actually. The climax is less intriguing than it could have been though, being 16th handstreams all the way while the actual melody is more dynamic.

1 - The chart is more simplistic than it needs to be. For example, while the idea of 32nd dumps are not bad by itself, they lack some characteristics in terms of how they are charted. Jump patterns are predominantly jumptrills despite the more complex melody.

2 - A sweet chart with fun patterns, though the color theory is lost on me, and the cut is abrupt.

3 - The 16th streams feel strange. It's not just that they don't follow PR; they somewhat feel disconnected to the music. Also, 24th and 32nd streams are too spiky.

4 - A great one. Intuitive layering, good pattern diversity, and an apt cut to not overstay its welcome. (nice quads too)

I'm probably biased towards this kind of song, but every submission was fantastic. I ended up voting for 4 of them and could imagine any one of 7 winning.

2 - Nice easier approach. May need some tweaking in terms of consistency and difficulty balance, but has a potential to be a solid under-stepped chart.

1, 3, 4, 5, 6 - There definitely was some talk about this song being dump charters' choice, but I didn't expect all but one to be dumps. Nice dumps out there anyway, and I think each submission has its merits, though 1 is too spiky. 3 was the most memorable one in the end, as its dumps are quite unique and direct about what they want to represent.