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Nov. 13th, 2008

::Last Weekly Post (The Rest Of The Info)::

So after completing season 3 of HOUSE, I decided to continue to work on my sm files.  Only problem is that I'm still in the hole and mustering up the energy to finish the MAIN two files in my WIP folder right now is alot harder than i anticipated.  Then again it still is 2008, so I'm basically just getting a head start.  Wether or not I should REALLY wait till January of 2009 to literally "force" myself of just find the energy to work on whatever i can now and THEN get myself organized by 2009 is the issue that I'm currently trying to decide about.  The other reason is because I've been giving my music a little more attention then my sm files.  Saturday and Monday I released my second and third albums "8Bit Rebirth" and "BMIIDX (The Make-Over)", marking them the final public songs I will be releasing this year untill next year when I will "ATTEMPT" to balance out my music making skillz and my sm file skillz (oh boy, next year is going to be so much fun [/sarcasm]).

On that note I get to the main point of this post... it will be the LAST weekly update.  In fact, i won't make another update untill January 1st, so for those of you that don't see me online i wish all of you a happy thanksgiving and a merry Christmahanukwanzakah (you like how I did that, lol?).  But yea, as soon as January 1st hits, the updates will happen monthly, and of course will have the demo videos like I promised.  Speaking of periods (lol gross), each month will focus on a "certain theme".  For example, February will focus on love songs (yes I'm expanding the genre list in my packs and exploring new territory).

Now for the last few things i wanna mention about the pack without giving away TOO much information.  First of all, some of you may remember that I made nonstop courses for my 2007 pack.  Well their coming back, only this time I'm actually going to attempt to script them... shocking I know, but I learned its pretty much the same as making a lyric file (except with mods and more typing and accuracy).  Although it would be cool if a few people would be willing to script a few for me.  Here's how it'll work: I figure that a month and a half should be PLENTY of time to finish the nonstop courses in time for the release date, so once November of 2009 hits, that's when I'll stop production of sm files, then I'll work on scripting courses and make whatever last minute tweaks i have to with the pack for final release once christmas of 2009 strolls around.

Then theirs the Challenge/ONI difficulty.  I "RARELY" evenr make a challenge chart for any of my sm files, and even if I do, I try not to go ridiculously overboard with them.  But I came up with a solution to the problem that will allow me to not hold back and make all styles of sm players happy at the same time.  The Challenge/ONI chart will act like an "EXTRA" chart, and won't be on every single sm file... just the ones I think should have it.  Plus, the Challenge/ONI chart is only exclusive to ONE play mode (Single/Double/Couple/Solo).  I'll give you two examples.  Doh-T has a challenge chart, but its only in Singles mode.  This chart is a specially made chart for KB (keyboard) play, like Boss Machine and Sphere and Quasar in those popular KB packs everyone whores out on SMO.  I will be making steps for BMIIDX songs too, and all of them will have a special Challenge/ONI chart.  The catch is, it'll only be for Doubles mode.  This chart will be an exact replica of the BMIIDX chart (the left arrow on the P1 side will be the turn table, and the rest of the arrows are the 7 keys), so for those of you that want a "stepmania-like BMIIDX", this is as close as it's gonna get.

So that's pretty much it.  The updates up to this point should give you enough information as what you should expect for the pack.  So on that note, see you next year!!!

Posted at 12:44 am | | Leave a comment | Add to Memories | Tell a Friend

Nov. 5th, 2008

::Explination Of Couples Charts + Minor Update::

I was hoping that i could find an already typed up guide that would give a brief description as to what couple charts are supposed to be like and how they are played, but since I couldn't I might as well tell you here... specially for all you new-skool players that have never touched a 1st-3rd mix machine (srsly your missing out, go buy DDR for PS1 if you don't believe me).

Couples is like versus mode with a twist.  Instead of going against an opponent, you actually have a partner, and instead of both players choosing different difficulties, your both set for one difficulty (although Stepmania is retarded and has it set for both players to choose their own difficulty like versus mode.  Maybe the programmers should fix that *hint hint*).  Both you and your partner alternate step patterns, meaning that if one side gets a hard part and the other side gets an easy part, they will both play the other person's pattern in another part of the song, and so on, and so on.  Basically it's like taking turns and the spotlight gets shined on each player for a brief moment.  Still don't know what I am talking about?  Then howabout a visual example.  I uploaded a vid of me in Couples mode (autoplay).


A few notes... 1. Excuse the minor lags, for some reason my CamStudio decided to crap out on me after an hour of recording myself playing MungyoDance3, so I'm hoping this is just a minor error I can fix.  2. Some songs like this one will end a little later after the last step.  I'm experimenting with the #LASTBEAT tag.  3. All of the sm files will have a "black.png" pic as the background since all of my files will contain videos (which btw I'm re-compressing to make them a lower file size without making the quality all crappy).  Besides, the video came out even more laggy after i recorded the screen with the background video on.

MONTHLY UPDATES:
Like weekly updates only they happen monthly, and by that i mean on the last day of each month.  WIP updates will be a monthly thing now that way at least I can gove you guys more things to look foward too rather then little dinky updates.  The other part is "Demo Vids"... the other reason why I wanna fix my CamStudio.  Each moth (or two) I'll randomly select a sm file for all of you to preview the final version, so keep an eye out for that.

Other then that, I'm having a dry spell again (a.k.a lazy attack), so I'm hoping relaxing and watching the HOUSE dvd's that my sister has will cure the lazyness for a bit (its a REALLY good show, lol)

Posted at 11:27 am | | Leave a comment | Add to Memories | Tell a Friend

Oct. 29th, 2008

::New Face Of 2009 + Collab News::



Say hello to my new mascot.  Her name is Nikki The Neko Ninja, and she will be my new "CD Title" for all of my SM Files for the 2009 pack.  For those of you that don't already know, I have a thing for Nekomimis, so she's perfect for the pack :3  Once I get better at my drawing skills (computer-wise anyways), she'll be in different poses, lol.  The other reason why I'm using her is because Tiffany (my TSUTOPIAMUSH doll) is starring in a much bigger roll, and if you guessed "Is she going to be in your TUSTOPIAMUSH SM File again like she was in v1?", then you guessed correctly.  Likewise Sharon will be in the v2 version of TSUTOPIAMUSH 2, but she wont play a big part in the video like Tiffany will in v3 of TSUTOPIAMUSH.

In other news, I already have 2 good friends that decided to collab with me on a file each, which means that "This Is Your Night" is still not done... in fact i didnt even touch it, lol ^^;; The first collab was with DDRDAIKENKAI.  The file: Sexy Planet (From Nonstop Megamix).  It's my first "DDR Filler" but defenitely not my last, and of course the video from Extreme 2 is going to be included in this one as well as a specially made avi banner.  The second collab is with DMT.  The file: That Is Fair, which is labled under "ITG3 Supposed" (for obvious reasons).  For those of you that don't know, DMT is the same guy that worked on my cdtitles for the past 2 years, so you might recognize his once you see it.  For more info on DMT, check out his files on Bemanistyle under the name "Xo_Sandstorm_oX".  Now that you know about people collabing with me you're probably thinking "I wonder if I can collab with CMG also".  Well good news is that you CAN.  In fact I highly recommend it because once my 2009 pack is released, you can think of it as a way of advertising your steps so that other people can know who you are (cause you can bet your sweet ass I'll be whoring this pack in every single DDR/ITG/SM related site ever made).  It doesn't even matter if your a pad or kb artist cause I'll accept all kinds.  All you have to do is contact me via AIM, MSN, E-Mail (which is the same as my MSN address), or find me at Myspace/Newgorunds/DDRPlace, and let me know that you SERIOUSLY (and I emphasize on that because i hate it when people flake out) want to collab with me with a link to your RECENT creations.  Once I have viewed your stuff, I will let you know if you are ok or need some more work.

Current Completion
[Filler DDR] Sexy Planet (From Nonstop Megamix)

W.I.P.
[ITG3 Supposed] That Is Fair
[2009 Original] This Is Your Night

P.S. I've taken "Tonight Is The Night" and "Be My Lover" off the W.I.P. section because BarX told me that he found people to step for his 90's pack but the problem is that their "too busy"... whatever that means.  I'll keep you posted as to whether or not these two songs will be in the 2009 pack or not.

Posted at 12:17 am | | Leave a comment | Add to Memories | Tell a Friend

Oct. 23rd, 2008

::CMG (UTOPIA) 2007 Pack Re-Uploaded::

So yea I figured out a way to host my pack without having to re-upload it every once in a while (cause FileFront is gay like that).  I exported the pack as a SMZIP and ziped them up again so that when I uploaded them to my mediafire account, it would recognize the file.  The pack is split into 4 parts.

Part01 (2006 Revisions & DDR Edits)
http://www.mediafire.com/?egj1e3n5yfn

Part02 (2007 New Originals)
http://www.mediafire.com/?xk2dbdejfmq

Part03 (RM2X 1st Mix & ITG)
http://www.mediafire.com/?jqzw1f3zico

Part04 (RM2X PARANOiA)
http://www.mediafire.com/?c40djmqmtmb

The best part is that you don't have to download every single one if you want.  If there are specific files you only want, you can just download one part.  Also exporting SMZIP packages will be my new way of distributing my files, so expect alot of them once my 2009 pack is complete.

Posted at 11:24 am | | Leave a comment | Add to Memories | Tell a Friend

Oct. 22nd, 2008

::Step Artist Bio + Updates::

Before I get to the updates, I just wanna tell a little bit about myself, so for any of the new people that aren't familiar with my stuff, you can learn about it here.

I first got stepmania in 2005, which was 2 years after I got my first DDR game (DDRMAX).  Since I took a liking to the game, and was at the point of my addiction to it that I wanted to make my own charts (since I practiced on edit mode), I figured I could see what I could come up with as far as original material was concerned.  I even remember the very first song I made steps for.  It was Dust Man's Theme (Arranged) from Megaman 4.  I already knew how to edit audio files, so that part was a breeze.  My dream was to become a really good step artist and keep the fun factor that (at the time) DDR had.  But I didnt want to release it publicly untill I was sure of myself that I was ready.  Months passed, and i still tinkered with a few more songs and charts.  Alot of drama and bullshit was going on in my life at the time so I rarely had any chance to be focused on them.  Then i heard about Stepmania having their first StepMix contest.  I immediately jumped at the chance and submitted Blue Fever.  The file got so many hits that people were uploading videos of them playing it on youtube.  That's when I knew I had a talent for this, and even though I did not win the contest, it was more of a learning experience for me.  And ever since that year, I have made countless of SM Files, few of which are hosted by other people.  Aside from my stepmix submissions, I made 4 packs in 2006 (CMG's Firsts, The Second Coming, The Third Chapter, & The Fourth Semester), which marked my appearance as being a recognized Step Artist among the other popular ones.  Then a year later, I made one huge pack for 2007, which set the record for being the biggest SM File pack evenr made.  2008 was supposed to be even bigger for me, however, certain events that were taking place on certain communities forced me to take a break and lay low for a bit, which didnt last very long because the response i kept getting from people that wanted me back was overwhelming, so here i am now, still making SM Files for my TRUE fans, and curious newcomers.  My style of stepping has always been "original", and by that I mean that I treat my SM Files as if i were to treat a drawing.  It can't be just a copy of someone elses style, although my goal is to create something that is a mix of DDR and ITG combined.  Like art, it has to represent yourself... every piece of art work has it's own personality and expression, and thats exactly what i incorperate to my step charts.  I only wish that everyone else would see it the way i do, but alas... it is a generation where 90% of the players seek to find "the most difficult stepchart ever", using cheap gimmics, and making it out to be a serious competitive business.  meanwhile the other 10% (including myself) that strive on having a good time rather then making a name are the ones that get ridiculed for our believes.  BUT, thats another story for another time.  Simply put, that when you play my sm files, whether on pad or KB (keyboard), you will experience something "unique" about them that will keep you coming for more.  If you want something fresh, approved for all skill levels, and that is fun, then my files are for you.

ANYWHO, now that i got the boring stuff out of the way (lol), its time to talk about what you really came here to see.  First thing I HAVE to mention is that a friend of mine from DDRPlace, BarX, is holding a 90's Dance pack (PAD FILES ONLY), and of course I am involved in this.  Why?  Simple... I had planned to step 90's dance songs anyway for my 2009 pack, so what better way to kill two birds with one stone, then to help him out.  Two catches to this 90's pack of his though.  1. It's a "VS" pack, and for those of you that have played the KBMP 1.5 pack, you already know what I am talking about.  But for the rest of you that don't, basically a sm file artist picks a difficult they wanna make steps for, but every single difficult will act as if it was made for heavy/challenge.  As of right now, BarX picked light difficulty and already made two charts for "Be My Lover" and "Tonight Is The Night", both cool charts that keep you on your toes (BML is 10, TITN is 9).  I picked standard difficulty, and made a hard 9 chart for "This Is Your Night".  2. The songs are going to be long versions, which i questioned because eventually you start to run out of ideas which leads to really repetitive charts, but in Canada (where he lives) long versions seem to be the "in" thing.  However, my version of "This Is Your Night" for my 2009 pack will be edited for length, so you won't have to worry bout that.  For those of you that want more info bout the pack, check out the post on DDRPlace http://ddrplace.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=1577 which also includes a list of "allowed songs", so for those of you that are hesitant to find a song for it, you might wanna back up a bit.

Speaking of packs, Otaku's Dream is another target on my monitor, simply because their VGMix is almost at it's deadline (October 30th), and not only did i submit three files for it (Doh-T, Aftermath, & (Take Me To) The Next Level), but i also made a collab file with kirbykid1 (A.K.A. Captain Haruhi), making the video graphics and beginner + challenge stepcharts.  He did light - heavy.  Hopefully those files will make the O.K. list by the judges, and if they do, keep an eye out for it's release cause those three files (three because I'm not including the collab) is just a taste of things to come for my 2009 pack... specially Doh-T.  its the only song in the pack so far that has a challenge chart, and trust me... 14 footer with 800+ steps... all you spread players (and elitist pad players) better brace yourselves.

W.I.P. File(s) Of The Week:
[2009 Original] This Is Your Night
(MAYBE)[2009 Original] Tonight Is The Night
(MAYBE)[2009 Original] Be My Lover
***I say "MAYBE" on both because unless BarX can find more artists to step for the 90's pack, I'll be the one stepping every single standard difficulty***

Posted at 12:49 am | | Leave a comment | Add to Memories | Tell a Friend

Oct. 15th, 2008

::First Post, Breif Detail::

So it like dawned on me last night while trying to get some sleep.  Sometimes people make updated blogs like these to keep the fans aware of whats going on, so I figured I'd do the same thing with my SM File pack since I keep getting asked about if I'll be making anything new.

Here's the thing though... I found out something about myself, and it's that I HAAAAAAAATE being rushed to do shit.  2007 thats all everybody did and today people still do it, which annoys the fuck out of me, so please THINK before you type *glares at noobs*

Ok so here we go, a huge 2009 pack and already I'm in the process of working on it.  Why?  Because now that I make music, it's gonna be strenious to divide my time between that and SM File amking.  PLUS I got a new job and i start at 11 (which is why I'm up now typing this thing).  And before you ask, this blog is for SM FILES ONLY!!!  if you wanna know about my music, hit me up on my myspace (http://www.myspace.com/chrismgarciautopia), otherwise you'll know when I release another album when I make a new post everywhere in the forums.

This is the readme.txt file I typed up a while ago explaining the pack...
The 2009 pack is a project that i decided to start on back in 2008, months after i released my pre-mature 2008 pack [Jan-March].  However this pack has alot more then the 2007 pack.  Think of it as my ultimate upgrade.  You will notice alot of changes in this pack as far as my skills are concerned.  For one thing, Doubles/Couples/Solo modes all have charts for them, so the advanced players can now have just as much fun as the intermediate players.  Second, and more obvious, every sm file is animated graphic wise... avi banners and background movies.  The reason?  Well, theres actually 3.  First reason is that it makes the file more alive... makes it more appealing if you will.  Second reason is that I'm sick of people bitching about how "horrible" my graphic making skills are.  The final reason is because over the years Dance Dance Revolution has evolved into the same style as well ever since DDRExtreme 2/DDR Str!ke, so the 2009 pack aims to please the public the same way.

This next part will explain the different types of files that are in this pack.  Every file is grouped into their own category (which you can see if you change your sort in the "Select Music" screen to "GENRE").

[2009 Original]
Basically all of my new material for this pack.  I've tried to be as diverse about song selection as I can.

[2008 Revision]
The 2008 pack was nothing more then an incomplete pack to begin with when I released it.  Not every song from that pack was revised for this pack.  I hand picked the ones i wanted to keep and just discarded the others.

[2007 Re-Done]
Yea some files from the 2007 pack I didnt like how they turned out so I did it again, lol.

[2006 Ressurection]
That's right, I'm still nit-picking at my old CMG 1-4 packs.  Expect MAJOR changes with these files, cause they will be nothing like they were in my n00b days

[ITG3 Supposed]
Songs that were "supposed" to be in ITG3 before Konami pulled the plug.  Since the ITG3 pack is more of a fan-made pack, I decided to re-step some of them, giving the steps my own touch.

[Fillers]
Q: What are fillers?
A: Fillers are files from both DDR and MGD (MungyoDance) that only had a Oni/Challenge/Expert chart.  For the 2009 pack they have been given complete beginner - heavy stepcharts.  The original challenge charts are NOT included.

[CoLD SToRAGE]
Q: Who is CoLD SToRAGE?
A: CoLD SToRAGE is an artist (now in his 40's) who made music for many video games.  This pack specifically deals with his "WipeOut" songs (NOT TO BE CONFUSED WITH THE SM FILE ARTIST "W1p3out"!!!  This is the reason why I didn't name this group "WipeOut").  WipeOut is a futuristic anti-gravity jet plane racing game that has many sequals to it.  The game has hit many consols.  It's latest appearance is for the PSP.

Q: Why is the Sega Soundtrack different from the Playstation soundtrack?
A: Honestly, it's anybody's guess.  All that is known is that Poison (the Saturn exclusive track) is in fact a song made by CoLD SToRAGE, even though the credits say "Rob Lord & Mark Bandola" made the song.  In fact, the Sega Saturn soundtrack is VERY HARD to find since the Playstation version was the more liked of the two due to the graphics being alot better then the Saturn version.  In fact, only way I could get the saturn soundtrack was by ripping it from the rom itself.

[Dark Legend]
Q: What is Dark Legend?
A: Dark Legend is a 2d fighting video game for the Sega Saturn made by Data East that is a combination of Capcom and SNK styles.  It was one of those games that was hidden in the shadows by other great games, but the soundtrack is pretty sweet.  If you ever get the chance, google it, so you can get a little more info about it.

[Super Bubble Pop]
Q: What is Super Bubble Pop?
A: Super Bubble Pop is a puzzle game with a twist.  You line up colored bubbles to make them pop and clear the board, while getting power-ups to help you along your way, and destroying the obsticles like boulders and statues that block you from popping the other bubbles.  This is another one of those "low ranked" games that didnt get alot of attention, even after a gameCube and X-Box version was released a few years after the PS1 release.  If you ever get the chance, google it, so you can get a little more info about it.

[CoLD SToRAGE, Dark Legend, & Super Bubble Pop have 10 songs in the group.  They are all edited by me, and all soundtracks have more songs then what's in this pack.  If you ever need the soundtracks to any of them, lemme know and I'll be more then happy to send you them.]

Pretty cool, right?  Well if I'm lucky, and have enough time, I might add MORE categories but for now, this stays the way it is.  And NO IM NOT TAKING ANY REQUESTS UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED!!!

Current Complete Status:
[Super Bubble Pop] (Take Me To) The Next Level
[Filler MGD] 1995 (Remix)
[Super Bubble Pop] Aftermath
[2009 Original] Dee Dee Doo Dee
[2008 Revision] Sky High Zone (From Sonic 2)

Current W.I.P. File: [CoLD SToRAGE] Doh-T

Posted at 09:41 am | | Leave a comment | Add to Memories | Tell a Friend

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