Dafydd
07-28-2007, 08:49 AM
Ok - I've got most of this sorted out, but before I can actually launch the competition in the proper forum, I need all the rules and regulations set up and decided on, and I need you to help me with this. What would be the best way to handle submissions, the voting process and so on?
WTF?
I think it's time for a new kind of ReMix Competition here at OCR - one that deals with RetroMixing rather than ReMixing. Similarly to in PRC, all participants will be assigned the one and same song to ReMix, but unlike in PRC, participants will not attempt to modernize the source tune and reinterpret it into "their own", as suggested by the OCR submission standards. Instead, the competition is about making an adaption of the source tune into an NSF - a cover, if you will. Participants will not ask themselves "what would this song have sounded like had it been made today?" but rather "what would this song have sounded like had it been part of a NES game soundtrack?" Whoever makes the best and most accurate, and most pleasant-sounding adaption wins, and will also get to pick the song to be RetroMixed next. Care could also be taken to make the NSF sound like other game soundtracks made by the same company - I remember someone posted a chiptune a while back in which a song from the NES Duck Tales soundtracks had been remade to sound like a Konami game, which was very interesting to listen to.
The winner will be elected by means of a voting process.
DISCLAIMER: Making NSFs is easy - and free. Anyone can make an NSF. Making good NSFs is hard. Hence the fun in participating in and having this competition.
There's already a competition just like this.
OSHI -
Seriously though, what? Where? If one's already out there, close this thread and nevermind.
What's the deadline? Which song is next up for RetroMixation?
The competition won't be launched until the rules and practical issues have been resolved.
Example RetroMix NSFs
Here are two adaptions of mine:
Starfox - Corneria (http://8-bit.ngst.nu/test/starfox.nsf) (poor adaption) - original SPC (http://8-bit.ngst.nu/test/starfox.spc)
Super Mario World - Map 2: Overworld (http://8-bit.ngst.nu/test/smwow.nsf) (better) - original SPC (http://8-bit.ngst.nu/test/smwow.spc)
Why NSFs?
Because I like them and I've just learned how to make them. If you want a similar competition but with GYM's, SPC's, mods or GBS's instead of NSFs, or if you want one where you remix non-game music into chiptunes, I'm not stopping you - go right ahead.
What's the point?
I need an excuse to waste my time making NSFs instead of something worthwhile. Besides, I know there's a number of people around here who make chiptunes for fun, so I figured they might be interested. Hopefully, there will be others as well - after all, who hasn't dreamed of making their own NES music?
What songs can be RetroMixed?
Obviously, any song that plays in a NES or GameBoy game will not be eligible. Most songs from any other consoles are eligible, excepting monophonic PC speaker tunes and other overly simplistic game music. Most anything from any fourth-generation console or newer is probably good to go, including PC AdLib music, mod/xm music, CD soundtracks and so on. The winner will most likely be familiar enough with the limitations of the NSF format not to pick source music that is musically dependent on more than 3 melodic parts, i.e. that relies on complex chords rather than melody and rhythm. That said, while I'd love to hear the Mega Man X soundtrack as an NSF, a lot of difficult choices need to made when considering which of the 6 or 7 melodic parts are to be left out in any given part of the most the songs in it. Only a few of the songs in the soundtrack could successfully be adapted into NSFs without losing too much of the original musical content. Songs like the SMW OW theme above are ideal in that they only contain 3 musical parts and a percussion line, which is exactly what the NSFs are capable of, save for the DMC channel, which is normally used for drums. Most songs in the SMW soundtrack would probably make good NSF tunes, simply because of their oligophony.
What the competition should be called
Like the other competitions here at OCR, this one needs a fancy name and a flashy, easy to remember and easy to pronounce acronym. Ideally, either the name or the acronym (or, preferrably, both) should be a pun on OverClocked ReMix or OCR, respectively. ORC succeeded admirably in the latter aspect, OLR in both. Suggestions:
the Monobyte RetroMix Competition (MRC)
the People's 8-bit Competition (P8C)
the UnderClocked ReMix Competition (UCRC)
the Chiptune Cover RetroMix Competition (CCRC)or variations and combinations thereof. You know what I'm getting at - now come up with better suggestions, because I know they're out there. Personally, I like the word "Monobyte" as an alternative for 8-bit.
Hosting previous competitions, source tunes and winning submissions
I'm working on a website for the competition. The source tune for the current competition could be hosted here, as well as all submissions for all competitions (NSFs are tiny), as well an image from the source game, edited into NES-styled graphics. The website is located at http://8-bit.ngst.nu/ . The site header will be replaced once a name for the competition has been decided.
Submissions
I guess the best thing would be if everyone just e-mailed all their submissions. The problem is that whoever checks the inbox won't be able to participate in the competition, or he'll be able to "cheat", taking too much influence from the other submissions. Since I'd like to participate myself, at least sometimes, I'd need someone to help me here.
Voting Process
I don't know how this should be set up and regulated, but would appreciate it if someone who has experience in this field could suggest ways to do this. Personally, I'd prefer a simple forum poll, but since they don't seem to be included with VBulletin, or they're disabled by the administrators, this doesn't seem to be an option. I do like the idea of having the competition run until a set deadline after which the voting process kicks in, and once a winner has been elected, the next competition starts, similarly to PRC.
How do I make NSFs?
You need one of the following programs: (more suggestions?)
FAMITRACKER (http://famitracker.shoodot.net/) - Comes with a good help file and is capable of pretty much anything the NSFs are, save for using special expansion chips such as the Konami VRC6.
NERD TRACKER II (http://nesdev.parodius.com/nt2/) - DOS.
WTF?
I think it's time for a new kind of ReMix Competition here at OCR - one that deals with RetroMixing rather than ReMixing. Similarly to in PRC, all participants will be assigned the one and same song to ReMix, but unlike in PRC, participants will not attempt to modernize the source tune and reinterpret it into "their own", as suggested by the OCR submission standards. Instead, the competition is about making an adaption of the source tune into an NSF - a cover, if you will. Participants will not ask themselves "what would this song have sounded like had it been made today?" but rather "what would this song have sounded like had it been part of a NES game soundtrack?" Whoever makes the best and most accurate, and most pleasant-sounding adaption wins, and will also get to pick the song to be RetroMixed next. Care could also be taken to make the NSF sound like other game soundtracks made by the same company - I remember someone posted a chiptune a while back in which a song from the NES Duck Tales soundtracks had been remade to sound like a Konami game, which was very interesting to listen to.
The winner will be elected by means of a voting process.
DISCLAIMER: Making NSFs is easy - and free. Anyone can make an NSF. Making good NSFs is hard. Hence the fun in participating in and having this competition.
There's already a competition just like this.
OSHI -
Seriously though, what? Where? If one's already out there, close this thread and nevermind.
What's the deadline? Which song is next up for RetroMixation?
The competition won't be launched until the rules and practical issues have been resolved.
Example RetroMix NSFs
Here are two adaptions of mine:
Starfox - Corneria (http://8-bit.ngst.nu/test/starfox.nsf) (poor adaption) - original SPC (http://8-bit.ngst.nu/test/starfox.spc)
Super Mario World - Map 2: Overworld (http://8-bit.ngst.nu/test/smwow.nsf) (better) - original SPC (http://8-bit.ngst.nu/test/smwow.spc)
Why NSFs?
Because I like them and I've just learned how to make them. If you want a similar competition but with GYM's, SPC's, mods or GBS's instead of NSFs, or if you want one where you remix non-game music into chiptunes, I'm not stopping you - go right ahead.
What's the point?
I need an excuse to waste my time making NSFs instead of something worthwhile. Besides, I know there's a number of people around here who make chiptunes for fun, so I figured they might be interested. Hopefully, there will be others as well - after all, who hasn't dreamed of making their own NES music?
What songs can be RetroMixed?
Obviously, any song that plays in a NES or GameBoy game will not be eligible. Most songs from any other consoles are eligible, excepting monophonic PC speaker tunes and other overly simplistic game music. Most anything from any fourth-generation console or newer is probably good to go, including PC AdLib music, mod/xm music, CD soundtracks and so on. The winner will most likely be familiar enough with the limitations of the NSF format not to pick source music that is musically dependent on more than 3 melodic parts, i.e. that relies on complex chords rather than melody and rhythm. That said, while I'd love to hear the Mega Man X soundtrack as an NSF, a lot of difficult choices need to made when considering which of the 6 or 7 melodic parts are to be left out in any given part of the most the songs in it. Only a few of the songs in the soundtrack could successfully be adapted into NSFs without losing too much of the original musical content. Songs like the SMW OW theme above are ideal in that they only contain 3 musical parts and a percussion line, which is exactly what the NSFs are capable of, save for the DMC channel, which is normally used for drums. Most songs in the SMW soundtrack would probably make good NSF tunes, simply because of their oligophony.
What the competition should be called
Like the other competitions here at OCR, this one needs a fancy name and a flashy, easy to remember and easy to pronounce acronym. Ideally, either the name or the acronym (or, preferrably, both) should be a pun on OverClocked ReMix or OCR, respectively. ORC succeeded admirably in the latter aspect, OLR in both. Suggestions:
the Monobyte RetroMix Competition (MRC)
the People's 8-bit Competition (P8C)
the UnderClocked ReMix Competition (UCRC)
the Chiptune Cover RetroMix Competition (CCRC)or variations and combinations thereof. You know what I'm getting at - now come up with better suggestions, because I know they're out there. Personally, I like the word "Monobyte" as an alternative for 8-bit.
Hosting previous competitions, source tunes and winning submissions
I'm working on a website for the competition. The source tune for the current competition could be hosted here, as well as all submissions for all competitions (NSFs are tiny), as well an image from the source game, edited into NES-styled graphics. The website is located at http://8-bit.ngst.nu/ . The site header will be replaced once a name for the competition has been decided.
Submissions
I guess the best thing would be if everyone just e-mailed all their submissions. The problem is that whoever checks the inbox won't be able to participate in the competition, or he'll be able to "cheat", taking too much influence from the other submissions. Since I'd like to participate myself, at least sometimes, I'd need someone to help me here.
Voting Process
I don't know how this should be set up and regulated, but would appreciate it if someone who has experience in this field could suggest ways to do this. Personally, I'd prefer a simple forum poll, but since they don't seem to be included with VBulletin, or they're disabled by the administrators, this doesn't seem to be an option. I do like the idea of having the competition run until a set deadline after which the voting process kicks in, and once a winner has been elected, the next competition starts, similarly to PRC.
How do I make NSFs?
You need one of the following programs: (more suggestions?)
FAMITRACKER (http://famitracker.shoodot.net/) - Comes with a good help file and is capable of pretty much anything the NSFs are, save for using special expansion chips such as the Konami VRC6.
NERD TRACKER II (http://nesdev.parodius.com/nt2/) - DOS.