Stepping Stones of StepMania 3 Released!

[Kraezymann]

Re: Stepping Stones of StepMania 3 Released!

GODDAMMIT.

I will reupload the pack in the morning, with OppIrish v2, the bg video for SURVIVOR and I guess a better sync for Mudkip and Little Too Close. I'll also make sure to copy/paste WTF right out of the email to make sure I didn't screw anything else up

Now I'm sad

[James May]

Re: Stepping Stones of StepMania 3 Released!

Odd...for the sync on Mudkip shouldn't have been affected because its still synced on my end o.o

[DigitalS3r4ph]

Re: Stepping Stones of StepMania 3 Released!

GODDAMMIT.

I will reupload the pack in the morning, with OppIrish v2, the bg video for SURVIVOR and I guess a better sync for Mudkip and Little Too Close. I'll also make sure to copy/paste WTF right out of the email to make sure I didn't screw anything else up

Now I'm sad

Thank god, lol. My file feels really off in the pack after playing it with the correct offset for so long. XD

[Kraezymann]

Re: Stepping Stones of StepMania 3 Released!

Reuploading pack now. Will update this post and OP when finished.

EDIT: New link is up

[Arntonach]

Re: Stepping Stones of StepMania 3 Released!

And cmods + no fakes fixes those problems... xD

Of coarse. :s

[YungDaVinci]

Re: Stepping Stones of StepMania 3 Released!

If something is missing it is entirely unintentional, so if there is, I apologize! I tried to make sure I went over everything three times before I released it, so I'd really hate to see something fall through the cracks

I was talking about the speed segments/scrolls. It's an SM5 thing where you can alter the scroll speed of the chart without having to actually code in tempo changes. It's cool if it's not in there, they make the chart borderline unreadable anyway :P

[Kraezymann]

Re: Stepping Stones of StepMania 3 Released!

I had no idea those existed! That's so cool!

Anyways I don't think I got rid of them... at least if I did, it was again, unintentional. The OP has been updated with a link to the updated pack, so hopefully it is still there. I did a direct copy/paste from your email, only changing the gfx to the ones I made.

The update should properly include your .sm for WTF, OppIrish new version, the bga for SURVIVOR and the sync edits to Mudkip and Little Too Close. Again, really sorry everyone! I'll make sure to go over everything a bit more thoroughly next time

[AutotelicBrown]

Re: Stepping Stones of StepMania 3 Released!

My overall impression of the pack is good so nice job man. Decided to make a review of the whole thing as well (have yet to check the updated stuff though).

Played everything in the highest difficulty unlesss otherwise noted, and with mines off (sorry, but I didn't fix my setup to make mines readable):

4 Walls - Not a big fan of song selection, but the chart does capture well what the song offers.

[SPECIAL]Luv Sick - Intro and the jumpstreamy parts were really sweet. Patterning on jacks in a lot of places are unnecessarily awkward and the part around 2 minutes in is pretty out of place difficulty wise (both for the file and for the pack). Could also use a cut.

[Special]phantasm - I quite like the song although it's not something I expect to listen when booting stepmania. Pretty minimal song with interesting rhythms and serene ambiance; chart captures it well and with interesting patterns. Would definitely play to practice accuracy.

A Baptist Church in Georgia - Another sweet song but pretty straightforward and less interesting to play than the previous one due to not much happening (not the charter's fault anyway). Would still play for the song though.

Butterfly Joe - Kudos for stepping ping pong OST. Not much to say other than it is nicely charted and that it's cool to have slower jumpstream files. Jacks caught me a bit off-guard but I feel its justified within the ending climax.

Byzantium - Would be satisfied by song choice alone but the chart lives to its greatness. Quite a journey, with the fun and diverse patterns along the song progression it didn't even feel like I played for almost 5 minutes. Also great job with sync, it really pays off in a song like this.


Cafe Terrace Polka - Great to see this song in a stepmania pack, it's a lot like what I would pick to step in many regards. Anyway, fun chart and in particular I liked the usage of split vs one hand trills where appropriate. Will definitely play again either for accuracy or simply chill.

Carry the Blessed Home - >Blind Gaurdian. Predictable song structure given the song, really drags on unless you really enjoy the tune by itself. Of note, that big transition in the middle feels less memorable to play than it should.

Chicken Head - Both the song and the chart overstay their welcome, especially beyond the 2 minute mark. Other than that a couple patterns don't feel quite right, but not really offensive.

Cyllage City - Unexpected but cool to see a chart for this. Not much to say, really brief and well executed file.

Glitch Nerds - Sorry for not providing my review in a timely manner Kraezymann! Added my in depth review rest because I did have a closer look on ddream before. tl;dr: Nice song and some really cool stuff happening here but some of its problems make it not as great as it could be.

Intro up to 14.385: I find it really strange that you did not pr that main sound like you do for the rest of the chart. The layering of the sound that first happens in 1.313 is pretty inconsistent like ignoring it in 2.599/2.706/2.813 and the three notes on 3 from 6.242 to 7.099 don't really go to anything. It's strange to not have a note on 12.670 but include 13.099.

Build up from 14.385 to 28.099: This section felt really nice, especially its ending. The 32nd in 20.974 is mistimed (it's the same as 7.206) and it barely feels like you were following that sound in the first place due to the layering right before including unrelated notes in the same column.

Long freeze: It's long!

41.813 to 55.527 - This section felt pretty off due to how the main motif is stepped. Layering suggests you are following the main 32nd based melody and the big synth every two beats, otherwise it would be a straight stream with the notes every 4th included. Following that interpretation, the big synth as a single note get drown out in the middle of everything happening and hurts the representation of the melody single note rest as the whole thing turns into a cohesive single note stream while playing. Added to that, the patterning feels more restricted than what you'd do in twice the speed, and barely represents what's happening in the song (things like 44.277 and 44.492 getting proper pr as the same note could help a lot already). Also, the transition in and out the deviations off the main motif feel way too sudden and could've been smoothed out by patterning or layering (46.742 is particularly bad). I see no reason for patterning on 54.456 being different than 13.313 and the ending of the song.

Build up from 55.527 to 69.242 - Another good build up, ignored 16ths in the ending gets me a bit but it makes sense in this context.

69.242 to 96.242 - Really good section, just some minor notes. Considering how tight is the sound you follow as minijacks in the rest of the song, 73.313 and 90.456 are too minor to warrant the same accent (and they get further drown out by the preceding 32nds). Not sure what the three note jacks in 81.777 and 82.635 are supposed to go to, but it's probably not proeminent enough to warrant the micro spike.

96.242 to 110.385 - Way too empty as it is, song still keeps much of the intensity of the previous section with the synths burning hot but the chart decides to take the backseat, at least difficulty wise. Following the main melody synth only in its 32nds also feels pretty arbitrary.

110.385 to 124.099 - Similar to 69.242 in a sense, another good section.

124.099 to 136.099 - Contrasting to 41.813, this section is actually the best and a pretty strong finish to the chart. My only qualm is with the patterning of the 32nd bursts, having a trill but not starting it on the 8th is misleading, having the 16th precede the hand making the minijack is unnecessarily awkward and the chart in no way acknowledges that the second one is not quite like the others.

Outro - see intro.

All in all, what really hurts the chart are the sections 41.813 to 55.527 and 96.242 to 110.385. Still pretty interesting to see as an easy chart for this, contrasting to how I would envision something considerably harder for the song.

Gokusaishiki - Following the drums marking a generic rhythm with generic patterns for 90% of the chart isn't really fun, it feels like added filler around the bursts that make the meat of the chart. Patterning on the bursts could use some work as well (on both edit and oni difficulties).

Highscore - Found the song boring but the chart is all right. The anchors are cool to play and it might be fun on rates.

Hiroari Shoots a Strange Bird ~ Till When - A few cool sections but kinda underwhelming as a whole, a touch up on the patterns could make this a lot funner.

Hua Sui Yue - Had a good chuckle playing edit. Regarding the oni chart, I feel like the layering of piano chords (or more like the bass notes) hurts a bit feeling the melody while playing. Still a sweet song and chart anyway. It's not really that long but I would've probably cut around 1:40.

Kyuusei Argyoi - The 32nd bursts could use a better sync: in the intro there are two notes that are way off even considering that you tried to quantize over 32nds, and the second one the first few notes doesn't feel right as a straight stream. Starting off with a difficulty spike of non-trivial rhythm is also annoying. Rest of the chart took a pretty conventional approach but it works well in this case.

Logic Agent - Song choice doesn't help much but the chart flows really well, just a bit repetitive for its lenght.

Mega V(Volt) - Straightforward and fun to play. Heavy layering takes a bit from feeling the song but I find the song unremarkable anyway so I guess it's better like this. Should work well as a jack file on rates.

My Friend Mudkip - Sweet for the most part, but the spikes of longer trills and fast one hand trills feel pretty out of place considering how easy the rest is. The long ending after the hard part drags a lot too and could use a cut.

Nannou - Nice song selection and chart fits it well.

Nibelung Valesti - Another song that I'd be happy just for the fact that it has been stepped. Pretty straightforward cornstream file; simple, fun to play and flows well. The minijacks and anchors also give a really nice touch and the lenght feels just right. Will definitely play on rates.

Onna Kotoba no Soushitsu - Not a big fan of the song but it works pretty well for a chart. Just felt the middle of the minijack section that starts at around 30s felt a bit too empty, other than that I couldn't ask for anything better, really good chart.

OppIrish - haven't played the updated version yet, will edit later

Panda - One hand trills would've been awesome if everything else was remotely as hard to hit, split trills would work much better difficulty wise. Other than that the chart was actually cool even considering I don't like the song at all.

Pistolero - The last minute feels unnecessary but the progression until then feels pretty good and justifies its lenght. For the intended audience of easy files this looks like a great marathon and past me would love to have this chart to play.

Precious Heart(Theme of Sakura) - Easy file is simply great. Medium is also pretty good but I feel the ending was too similar to the earlier parts and lacked impact. Hard gets a bit boring as the sax melody gets drown in the heavier layering and even though the solos were fun, the added total lenght makes it too long.

Riddle Solving Step - First thing I said for Cafe Terrace Polka is valid for this too. It feels pretty repetitive to play after the break as the patterns remain more or less the same. Fits the song but unfun moving of fingers.

Silhoette of My Mind - Freeze usage gives a lot of life to the chart. Layering in general is on spot and neatly patterned. My only problem is that I don't like the song all that much.

Sonata V - Weird track + chart. Not really much to say, chart fits the song and doesn't overstay its welcome.

Sting Chameleon Uses Bubble Crab's Very Essence as a Bathroom Product - Really nice song choice (aside from its title). Really good work in general for an easy file, and second half in particular was ace befitting the track in itself. Will definitely play this again for accuracy.

Supersquatting - Solid file overall. The first in each set of 32nd triplets could use an additional note or something to accent the fact they don't cut off early like the others. Patterning in the 24th streams didn't feel very good. And on a positive note, ending jumpstream patterns felt particularly good.

SURVIVOR - Really cute chart, feels pretty good to play. I know it happens in the song but the little 32nds feel kinda random at like two points. Sorry to hear about the video thing, have to check that later.

The Deep Striker - My issue with the chart is the same I have with the song, second half doesn't add enough to the table to justify its existence. That being said the first half was generally good and the very ending was nice as well.

The End of the Journey - More tofu. This works pretty well, nothing specific to add.

The Entertainer - Nothing really wrong with this but playing strictly 8ths for the entire song at this speed is quite boring. It's funner on rates though.

The Game is Over - Trying to ignore the fact this is NSYNC for a moment, not much happens in the song and chart to justify spending over a minute playing this, same thing over and over again. Chart isn't terrible otherwise but I should note that those minijacks are pretty dumb.

Up and Down - Song selection doesn't do the chart any favours. It's all right given what you had to work with, just a bit too long and generally repetitive.

Verrucktheit - Streams are fun but stepmania freeze mechanics simply don't make all the freeze sections interesting to play and they are a major part of the chart.

Walk With Me - Had a problem with sound not working in this, will edit after I fix.

Waxie's Dargle - lmao song choice. Not much to say, it was a brief and ok file.

We Like Springs - First minute had a cool ominous atmosphere but from then it kinda loses it. Fakes are questionable and the difficulty structure off.

WTF (Where They From) - Like Panda, the chart was actually cool considering I don't like the song at all, but they layering is inconsistent and feels pretty off when ignoring some proeminent sounds. Particularly egregious towards the ending from the section where you start ignoring the strong 12ths and suddenly get back to them. The 12ths following the vocal right after don't feel good with the rest going on as well. Some parts could use some stricter syncing.

[Kraezymann]

Re: Stepping Stones of StepMania 3 Released!

So if Izzy could get a mirror up asap that'd be great because I've had to replace the link a few more times due to some songs denying permission.

Newest one is up, let me know if there are any more issues dl'ing

[CaptainAhab]

Re: Stepping Stones of StepMania 3 Released!

Hey just wanted to say thank you so much for putting these beginner/intermediate packs together; as someone who doesn't get to play very regularly, these Stepping Stones are a godsend. Love 'em.