zircon

Whatever happens to the vote here, this is a very cool piece and I would never guess that Jimmy arranged & performed it if I didn't already know. The source usage is certainly on the border but I would also point out that I don't think it makes sense to say "this second is source" "this one isn't" in situations where there are two blocks of source usage and a few seconds of original material connecting them. Yeah, an upwards arpeggio connecting two sections technically isn't source usage, but I simply wouldn't say it's original material in the same way a one-minute guitar solo over new chords is. However, my main problem with this is that it is somewhat meandering. The intro and ending are well-defined, but the rest of the arrangement sort of lacks shape. It's hard to describe thoroughly, but I disagree with Vinnie that all the original material connects things. I'm more in line with Vig's opinion, where it seems like a piece that just phases in and out of Mario. It doesn't have much direction. Again, doesn't mean it's a bad mix, but when you combine that with the tenuous interpretation factor, I'm inclined to go NO resub

I heard several WIPs of this one and I saw it develop with each one. I think the strength of the mix is really in the second half when things start seriously picking up. That's is partially because it's a lot easier to convey intensity with samples than it is to do anything subtle. I agree that the piano isn't amazing - it could use more sustains. I also agree that some of the articulations are not too realistic (IMO the woodwind legato or lack thereof, was a weak point.) However, I'd say the strength of the writing generally makes up for it. We've passed mixes less realistic than this. With regards to the synth, I had no problem with it. Composers like Hans Zimmer often just integrate one or two synths into a mix without going full-on electronic. YES

Congrats man!

He wasn't asking for djp to change it, he was asking the ReMixer to take into consideration this kind of thing and be more creative with titling. Come on, Larry, your reading is better than that.

IMO layering sine waves is not usually effective. It tends to sound muddy. You really need upper harmonics, mainly because the ear can extrapolate from harmonics the existence of a fundamental and actually reinforce it more. A computer, however, does not do this so low sines just clutter the mix. My favorite bass waveform is constructed using one or two pulse width modulation oscillators (pulses w/ LFO -> pulse width), filtered using a lowpass filter. Very phat.

Another amazing coincedence, the guy in the metadata of the PDF HAD a profile... but not anymore! Wow! Would you look at that.

HL2 episode 1, 2?

Wow, Patrick Stewart as the VO for the trailer. Very cool.

Because they don't have to give out free stuff to begin with. Yeah, it builds brand loyalty, but Valve was already making bank before TF2 free DLC and they would have made bank without it. Sort of like how Blizzard has released free updates to Diablo 2. They're definitely not getting a good ROI for updating a game that old, especially since so many people already have it, and the people that would care about the updates certainly already do. When people complain about devs who do nice things, it makes them NOT want to do those things again, because they don't have to anyway. And... what was HL 2 Episode 2...? Where were the people complaining about that? Oops, the complaint everyone had was that it took too long.

You should be grateful that you were treated better to begin with, and keep your mouth shut otherwise unless you're being treated WORSE than any other company. Here's a hint from a business owner; businesses don't like ungrateful consumers in this kind of situation. Valve is doing US a favor by giving us free things. Your ingratitude is not exactly making them WANT to keep doing that.

Yeah, but you're dodging my point. Those games were all priced at a premium when they came out and so were there sequels. My point is that this is simply standard operating procedure for the video game industry. MOST sequels are like this. They're not groundbreaking at all. Valve has spoiled all of us, because they're so much better than the norm, that when they actually just follow the standard (instead ofd going way above) people complain.

The difference is that to consumers it's confusing and irritating. Buy the wrong version and you might cut out features that you needed/wanted, or you might buy more than you need. Again, this already happened with Vista, so there's absolutely no reason to expect that the exact same thing isn't going to happen. It's annoying. They should have, at most, two versions: Home and Professional.

Wow, won't Microsoft ever learn? There's no reason to have so many versions of an OS. They got railed for it with Vista and it's going to happen again.

WTF is the difference between this and, say, Unreal Tournament 2003 to 2004? 2004 to UT 3? Quake 2 to Quake 3? Civilization 3 to Civilization 4? Most game sequels are only evolutionary improvements, keeping the same basic gameplay and shifting around content, adding a few new mechanics here and there. Hell, look at the first 6 Mega Man games.

They're NOT chucking it. The first L4D is still fun and playable. When Quake II came out, people still played Quake. And people continue to play Quake now (not that many, but hey.) Your L4D experience isn't somehow ruined by there being a new version.

Looks uncomfortable to use. The DS Lite is rather small for me too... why would I want to pay MORE, for a system with no UMD, a smaller screen, and an uncomfortable grip...?

Just because Valve had lots of DLC for Game X doesn't mean they can do it for Game Y. You have no idea what their structure or budgets are like. They have to pay all those programmers something. A likely hypothesis is that HL2 Ep3 isn't going to be out for awhile, but because they're still paying lots of programmers and artists to continue to release DLC for TF2 (which has more staying power) they need something to subsidize that expense... and a full L4D sequel would satisfy that requirement. Your logic really doesn't make any sense; Jimmy is right. People really need to feel less entitled. You should also remember that the target markets for L4D and TF2 are not the same, nor were they marketed the same way. I didn't see giant TF2 billboards, but I did see those for L4D, a game that appeals to a broader market. It's easier to learn, pick up and play. It's not as competitive a game as TF2 which appeals more to the Counter-Strike / professional gamer crowd.

Happy birthday Wes!!! Here's to a good upcoming year

Fei doesn't get his full Ultra off a crumple though, FYI, or if he does it has severely mitigated damage. His Ultra sucks. At least Vega can punish ANYONE jumping with his Ultra, as can Guile. Fei... nothing. Please don't defend him. I played him a lot and he's nerfed in every way possible. He could be so much better, but he isn't, for no good reason.

I've told this IRL at a few meetups, but I had a pretty awesome moment in Fallout 3. I had just begun the "Head of State" quest, where you talk to some escaped slaves that want to relocate to the Lincoln Memorial as a safe haven. The leader of the slaves is Hannibal Hamlin. So, as part of the quest, I go to the Memorial to talk to some slavers (the guys that hunt/own/trade the slaves) and then, having completed that, return to the slave hideout. For some reason, Hannibal isn't there. So, I wander around to the northwest when I see an Enclave ship (government soldiers) touch down and start firing in the distance. As I approach, I see it's Hannibal fighting them. Before I can even get close enough to join in, a huge series of nukes go off killing all the Enclave soldiers, Hannibal Hamlin (which makes me lose the quest instantly) AND this random traveling NPC called Crazy Wolfgang, as well as his pack-brahmin. My first thought was just "WTF?" so I went closer... it turns out the Enclave had touched down in a parking lot, and someone shot a missile into a car which caused a chain reaction, killing everything there. I looted all the items (including Hannibal) and then set off to get Wolfgang's stuff, but somehow I LOST KARMA for doing that despite the fact that I basically did nothing except walk into a warzone where everyone died at once. Just a random-ass series of events that was hilarious to watch.

I'm pretty sure Cammy can land her ultra off a standard FA or even after an opponent's jumpin. Fei sucks

I, for one, think the rotation doesn't have enough pacman.

True, a NO doesn't absolutely mean the artist needs more growing, but while it's not hard to find a few exceptions here and there, the majority of tracks we get are not hidden gems. They're not Shnabubula, and people shouldn't get the impression that we're getting a lot of gold that we throw out the window. As Larry will tell you, the MAJORITY case is that people that get NO'd (or form letter rejected) tend to be experienced. Not true 100% of the time, but it's not the exception to the rule. Generally speaking, in every case where a mix is really good but doesn't meet our standards, there is always a lot of controversy.

I have been wanting something like this for a long time. I'm on dozens of forums and EVERY ONE required a new login. It's just stupid. Facebook might be the closest thing to an OpenID system that is being widely-accepted... more and more sites are starting to accept Facebook logins.

I think you need a 360 to be a premium member of the Creators Club, since with that privilege level you can test games that are coded for 360.