DarkeSword

Mega Man X: The Grand Maverick Remix Battle 2012 Presented by the OverClocked ReMix Forums Introduction The Grand Maverick Remix Battle is upon us! It's the fall season of the year 2X12, and Mavericks of all shapes and sizes, colors and creeds are converging at OCR to duke it out in a battle of musical supremacy! So begins OCR's second Grand Maverick Remix Battle! Current News Shieldner Sheldon and Sting Chameleon have called a truce and decided to share the title! Phonetic Hero and Theory of N have collaborated on a track together. It's available in the archival release of the GMRB2012 competition. Get it now! Collaborations with and contributions from outside artists are allowed, but the primary artist must be the actual competitor. Match-ups are live and in the brackets section. Remember to submit WAV files, not MP3s. Check the Releases section of this post for the latest remixes. Check the Voting and Results section of this post for voting rules and guidelines. A final note from your tournament organizer: The archival release is every entry re-encoded and retagged for metadata consistency. It also includes the badge graphics. I hope everyone enjoys listening to these tracks again. I think everyone did a really great job, and I'm sorry that the schedule got so out of whack (I blame Hurricane Sandy). People really brought their A-game (as they always do), and I'm really proud of everyone who participated, especially the folks who were initially unsure of their mixing abilities. Our next competition in the CapCompo Series will be this summer. We'll be doing another Wily Castle Remix Gauntlet, with a little bit of a twist that I don't want to give away. Some of you out there know what's going to be happening, so please don't tell anyone if you do. There's still a few months until then, so in the mean time make sure you check out the other competitions that are happening here on the forums. Releases The Grand Maverick Remix Battle 2012 Archive Release [205 MB] Brackets The X Bracket Match-ups Phonetic Hero - Shieldner Sheldon Eliminated Superior X - Rainy Turtloid Tuberz McGee - Wheel Gator AMT - Flame Stag Enigami - Vanishing Gungaroo Neblix - Crescent Grizzly Xarnax42 - Optic Sunflower wildfire - Boomer Kuwanger prophetik - Blizzard Buffalo chthonic - Magna Centipede urdailywater - Frost Walrus Jakesnke17 - Crystal Snail Cash and Change - Overdrive Ostrich BlackPanther - Blast Hornet Prophecy - Volt Catfish The Zero Bracket Match-ups Theory of N - Sting Chameleon Eliminated Yami - Magma Dragoon Zerothemaster - Infinity Mijinion Ectogemia - Bubble Crab Trism - Spike Rosered Amphibious - Slash Beast pixelwave - Armored Armadillo SilvernixSP - Crush Crawfish WillRock - Spark Mandrill Gario - Blaze Heatnix Metal Man - Flame Mammoth jnWake - Wire Sponge TheRexAsaurous - Storm Eagle ProjectSpam - Toxic Seahorse hakstok - Storm Owl Sir Nuts - Chill Penguin Badges X and Zero art are official artworks by Capcom. Nana art is fan art by Diana Da Costa. Voting and Results Voting takes place at the GMRB social group, here on the forums. Things to keep in mind when voting: Everyone is allowed (and encouraged) to vote. The most important thing to consider when voting is how well the remix incorporates and arranges both themes. Production and enjoyability should also be considered. You are required to vote in each battle taking place during the round. If you don't, none of your votes will be counted for that round. You are not required to vote in battles that have a competitor advancing by default (in the case of missed deadlines or resignation). Generally, a voting thread for these battles will not be made. You are required to make an actual decision between two competitors for each battle, meaning, you cannot declare a draw or a tie. This will be counted as not voting and your other votes for other battles will not be counted. You are allowed (and encouraged) to vote for your own entry when voting in your own remix battle. Do not post reviews in the voting thread. Compile your reviews for a round into a single post in this thread. Post the name of the remixer you're voting for in boldface text. Post only once in each voting thread. Everyone must adhere to the Competitions Code of Conduct. Submission All entries must be sent to me (DarkeSword) via PM on the forums. Please include the name of your bracket and the round number in the subject line of your PM. This year I will be encoding all MP3s myself, so please send me your submissions in WAV format. Do not send MP3s. File names must be in the following format: Remixer - Title (Remixer's Maverick vs. Opponent's Maverick).wav Example: DarkeSword - Snow Problem (Chill Penguin vs. Blizzard Buffalo).wav Please note that the Maverick names are two words (e.g. Chill Penguin, not Chillpenguin). Also note that versus is abbreviated with a period (e.g. Chill Penguin vs. Blizzard Buffalo, not Chill Penguin vs Blizzard Buffalo). Your artist name and mix title can be whatever capitalization you want but the Maverick names must be capitalized properly (e.g. Chill Penguin, not chill penguin). Properly formatted file names make it much easier for me to tag everything properly, which ensures good, consistent metadata on all the files that will be distributed to voters. You must adhere to this file name standard. If you don't, I will seriously consider disqualifying you, and I don't think anyone wants to be disqualified just because they couldn't name their file properly. In the past I have received really cryptic file names like gmrb2wip.wav and frost.wav, and that is unacceptable, especially now that the submission format is WAV. FAQ How does it work? You, the remixer, choose any Maverick from Mega Man X through Mega Man X8. Choose wisely, because this will be your Maverick throughout the entire tournament. Once all competitors choose their Mavericks, they'll be matched up with an opponent. When the round begins, remixers will have one week to write a "vs. remix;" that is to say, a remix featuring the themes of their own Maverick and their opponent's Maverick. When the round ends, a public voting period of one week will be conducted for each battle. The tournament will be single-elimination, with two brackets competing on alternating weeks to make things manageable. There will be an X Bracket and a Zero Bracket. All participating competitors and voters will adhere to the Competitions Code of Conduct. So do I just pick a Maverick? Is it first-come-first-served? I'll be doing a draft for Maverick selection. If you're planning on participating, please post a list of five Mavericks you're interested in claiming, in the order of preference. Once everyone posts their lists, I'll go through and assign everyone their first-pick, resolving any conflicts with a coin-toss and moving down the lists as necessary. You will only be assigned one Maverick for the competition. Keep in mind certain Mavericks shared themes, so they will be treated as the same theme for the draft. Mavericks that were chosen in previous competitions are allowed, but I encourage everyone to try someone new. When does it start? The draft/recruitment period will last two weeks or so, so tell your friends and get people to participate! I'm shooting for 16 remixers, but if we get 24 or 32 that'd be phenomenal. Once we have the minimum amount, I'll gauge how much more interest there is and go from there. I'm not a remixer but I want to take part somehow. What can I do to help? We need sigs and artwork and stuff, so if you're good with the Photoshops, that would be a big help. Please wait until I nail down the visual design for this competition before making anything though. I'd like things to be more visually consistent this time around. What about Mega Man/Legends/Battle Network/Zero/ZX? This tournament is limited to the X series. Can I pick Sigma/Doppler/Repliforce, etc? No. The competition is limited to the main 8 Mavericks chosen during stage select in each of the 8 main Mega Man X games. Command Mission themes are also ineligible. Isn't this all just your way of tricking people into making Mega Man remixes for you? Yes.

I AM QUITE FAMILIAR WITH CONCRETE MAN SO I WILL VOTE ON THIS MIX Very groovy beat. I really dig all the syncopation going on. Really great expansion of the melody. Soundscape has just the right amount of reverb, really gives the piece a big, cavernous sound, especially near the end. Love it! YES

Not a fan of the buzzy synths, but this arrangement is a really great take on the cheesy source tune. Nice variation throughout the piece. Transitions are good, really nice breakdowns, great energy. YES

Alright here's the thing. The biggest (and basically only) issue for me with this submission is that it's a 10 and a half minute medley of songs from MM2. Your arrangements are conservative but expansive enough, and the performance and production is killer, but overall, the piece isn't cohesive. My suggestion to you would be to split this up into a couple of mixes. Your Air Man, Bubble Man, Crash Man, and Wily sections could all stand by themselves as individual pieces and I feel like this would work out better in the long run. Right now the only thing the medley says to me is "HEY REMEMBER THAT GAME MEGAMAN 2? HERE ARE SOME SONGS FROM IT!" The novelty of hearing a bunch of songs from a video game has long worn off for me, IMO; I'd rather hear some strong, cohesive individual pieces. NO, resub as many mixes

I must be the only one not hearing the rhythm issues here. I mean it sounds loose rhythmically, but I feel like that's really part of the charm. The arrangement and sound design in this piece is fantastic, IMO. I really love that big string sound and those really expansive pads. Gorgeous. Reminds me a bit of Enigma at points. YES

I too laughed. WHEN YOU GET CAUGHT BETWEEN THE WORLD AND NEW YORK CIIIIIIITY~Really rocks out a lot. Violin gets kind of fakey/thin but it's serviceable until around 2:40 when it gets lost in the rhythm guitars. :\ Xylophone/mallet percussion around 1:48 is a really weird choice for a rock tune; makes the whole thing sound plinky. I agree with other crits Js have made about strings and part-writing issues. I did like the vox sample though. Needs a little work. NO

Really creative arrangement. I'm a sucker for irregular and compound time signatures. A great way of expanding a pretty basic source tune. I don't think the supposed production issues are really a dealbreaker like the other judges do; sounds great to me. YES

Really nice atmosphere; very cool and clear, low-key but still some energy. Nice variation throughout the piece. I like the piano the most, but those panned synths around 2:45 are pretty sweet. I like it! YES

Weird note choices at :55. Bell is kind of piercing. The soundscape has a really "fakey" feel to it. Those pan-flutes are not a great sample. It works though; good arrangement. Nice energy. I think it's fine. YES

Done done done.

Are you sure you want the underscore? Spaces are allowed in usernames.

Yes, it is.

Done and done.

Dawn is my favorite track from Einhander (after Thermosphere). I've listened to it at least a million times. I agree with Deia and Andrew; this needs a lot more personalization. It sounds more like an extended mix of the game track than a remix with your own ideas added. I could see this in an Einhander remake; it's that similar. Try to personalize a bit more; be more daring with your sound design and choices. This kind of meticulous re-creation of the source indicates a lot of talent on your part, but it's not quite what we're looking for on OC ReMix. NO, resub

There's a really wicked energy in this piece that I dig. Chip stuff is solid with the right amount of effects. Great treatment of the source; I agree with halc, the chorus is hot. Non-chip synths are really hot too. Solid stuff, Doctor. YES

Pretty conservative but very organic feel. My first thought when this mix started was "wow, great percussion." The sparseness of the soundscape feels appropriate here. Very intimate sound, great performances all around. Extremely tight playing and fantastic interplay between the parts. Incredible. YES

Sticking with the NO voters here. Sweet effects and production, but I think the source needs to be more prominent. Not much else to say. NO, resub

caaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaake

Well that's not what I'm saying. What I'm saying is that when you're voting, use the criteria that the competition lays out. Example: in the versus style tournaments, one of the biggest criteria is, "How well does this piece incorporate BOTH themes?" An entry can have good arrangement, production, instrumentation, etc., but really only use one of the themes. That's important to consider when voting. Also a competition can be set up when the PRIMARY criteria is just arrangement. Maybe it's an arrangement competition and the runner doesn't care as much about production. Voters should respect that and tailor their votes accordingly. I mean, look, the criteria could very well just be, "Pick the song you like the most." In that case, genre preferences are just fine. How else would you pick what you like the most? That rule is not really about eliminating genre-bias, but making sure that voters understand and take into account what the competition is really about.

I think you shouldn't make assumptions about SE's intentions. Outrage isn't really going to accomplish anything.

Hi everyone. In the past couple of years, competitions have gotten kind of a shot in the arm here at OCR. With the advent of the tournament style competitions like GRMRB and WCRG, more and more people are taking part as remixers and voters. Because competitions obviously get people really fired up, there have been some issues having to do with fairness and sportsmanship that I and other competition organizers feel need to be addressed. I want to lay out a couple of basic guidelines that people should be following when participating in our competitions and tournaments as runners, competitors, or voters. Competitors As competitors, we should always remember that while winning is awesome, our competitions are more about making great music, improving as an artist, and to a certain extent, helping each other improve as well. To that end, here are some guidelines and rules to follow: Don’t fixate on voting patterns and behaviors. If people aren’t voting for your entry, that’s their decision. Don’t criticize voters because you disagree with how they are voting. It’s not your job to make sure people are voting “the right way.” Don’t campaign for votes or instigate vote-stacking/ballot-stuffing. Your entry to a competition should be all you need to garner votes. Don’t use your social media accounts to tell people to vote for you, and don’t contact people in private to make a case for your entry. On the flip side, do encourage people to visit OCR, listen to entries, and make their own decisions about the entries they want to vote for. Don’t badmouth or belittle your opponents. Good-natured ribbing and light trash talk can be a fun part of any competition, but avoid making snide remarks and acting indignant when things don’t go your way. This includes making comments about whether or not a remixer is posted to OCR or not. Competitions are for people of all skill levels. Respect the decisions of the competition runners. When you sign up for a competition, you’re agreeing to abide by the rules the runner lays out. It’s okay to bring up issues if you think they’re affecting fairness, but the runner always makes the final call. If there’s a really serious issue with how a competition is being run, we can look at it and take appropriate steps to rectify the situation. Voters Most competitions on OCR use some kind of voting system to determine winners, so they end up depending on a lot of people to vote. Voters also have a couple of things they need to keep in mind when participating. Follow the voting guidelines laid out by the competition runner. Most competitions will tell you what to consider when making your vote (things like arrangement value, production, etc.). As a voter, you should try to adhere to that, rather than just picking what you like for your own personal reasons (e.g. “I like rock music better than techno so I’m picking this one”). Don’t campaign for votes on a contestant’s behalf. Make your own vote and encourage people to visit OCR and make their own decisions. Runners If you want to run a competition, here are a few guidelines to follow: Have a clear, unique concept. This can be anything from focusing on a game series, requiring collaborations, combining source tunes, or doing original music. Competitions cannot, however, be thinly veiled requests, so avoid doing things like “make me a couple of remixes from this game, and I’ll choose the best one.” Stick to your concept. For example, if you’re doing a collaboration competition, you shouldn’t allow solo remixes just because a person couldn’t find a partner. If you’re doing a Mega Man tournament, you shouldn’t allow Castlevania remixes just because you like music from that series. You created a concept that people are buying into; don’t throw that away. Think hard about your format. Some competitions work better as weekly or monthly events, whereas others work better as tournaments or longer events; tournaments generally require a lot more commitment from people too. Don’t over-complicate things. Especially with tournaments, there’s a real danger of trying too hard to make things really elaborate. Keep things straightforward. Have a clear schedule, but be flexible. Weekly competitions are easier to manage, but longer tournaments can get crazy. Competitions are more fun when people are able to participate, so try to be accommodating. Generally speaking, don’t restrict anyone from entering your competition; competitions should be open to all people of any skill level. Restriction should only occur in cases where a person has repeatedly violated the Code of Conduct. For competitions that use voting, be clear to voters about the criteria you want them to use when evaluating entries. Minimize drama. Competitions are for fun, not for people to get angry with each other. If you see people behaving in an unsportsmanlike way or violating the Code of Conduct, call them out and put an end to it. If you need help keeping people in line, ask a moderator to step in. Most importantly: be fair, but firm. If you have an issue (deadline extension, suspicion of vote-stacking, etc.), get the people affected involved. Consider all sides of the issue before making a decision; if you’re having trouble, catch me on Discordand I can help you.

Editorial generally keeps a tight rein on what writers can and cannot redefine in comic books. Batman in particular has been following a pretty consistent line of development for a couple of years now.

Because it's Nolan's version of the Lazarus Pit. Nolan's Batman universe doesn't contain any elements of the supernatural (like Ra's constant resurrections), so he takes the concept of the Lazarus Pit, which has always been associated with Ra's al Ghul, and spins it into something more real. The movie never calls it the Lazarus Pit, but when you have a knowledge of Batman lore, it makes perfect sense.