Random Unknown Blog

DTX: Beto Vazquez Infinity - The Battle Of The Past

2010-10-16T14:29:00.004-03:00

Title: The Battle Of The Past
Artist: Beto Vazquez Infinity
Album: Beto Vazquez Infinity
Length: 4:22
Video: No
BPM: 140

Here is a little drum notefile of a song by Argentine metal band Beto Vazquez Infinity featuring Fabio Lione of Rhapsody's fame on vocals and Jörg Michael of Stratovarius on drums. Pretty generic power metal drumming, but the song is good =)
Includes only the song and the DTX file. No keysounds, no preview, not even images. Just the notes and the song.
Tested on DTXMania083.

Download (5.93 MB):
Beto Vazquez Infinity - The Battle Of The Past.7z @ MediaFire

Review: Xenogears

2010-05-08T16:28:00.054-03:00

SPOILER WARNING

The following text and images contain spoilers. While I don't think any of them are important enough to ruin the game experience, some people may want to avoid reading ahead. You have been warned.

Xenogears is a 1998 RPG by Square for the PS1. I just finished playing it, and although I don't have anything particularly interesting to say about it, I'll do it anyway. Because I just feel like I have to write here every once in a while. Or something really bad will happen(?).

Anyway...
The story of the Xenogears universe is very big. So much that, in fact, this game called "Xenogears" is just an episode out of 6. And the rest were never produced. It seems like Xenogears didn't attain the popularity needed for them, even after the massive success of Final Fantasy VII.

The version of the game that I played is called "Xenogears 2.0". It's a fan-made modification to the USA release which reverts most of the changes made during localization except for the translated script. I recommend it to anyone who can't play the original Japanese one directly.

The game starts with one of the best anime-style FMV I have seen in a PlayStation. Really cool visual style.

Animation studio Production I.G is responsible for the anime sequences in the game, which are good for the time, but short. And somewhat random.

♪ Freude, schöner Götterfunken, Tochter aus Elysium! ♪

The story of Xenogears is heavy in it's use of philosophical and religious themes, which is what I liked the most. In fact, the whole game serves as a critique to organized religion, especially the Christian one. For obvious censoring reasons, it's not so blatant, but it's there, and it's a central plot point.

Xenogears was ahead of it's time on it's treatment of modern social issues. I guess.

Graphics are so-so. It's your typical 3D world with 2D character sprites, but both are lacking the amount of detail found in similar games. Also, the framerate suffers a lot in some heavy scenes. There's a big city which drops to sub-15 FPS performance, which is hardly acceptable. However, all cities are reasonably big and well designed.

Naked girls in weird tubes. A recurring theme throughout the game.

The music, composed by 光田康典(Mitsuda Yasunori), is rather good. Not as good as Chrono Trigger or some of his later works, but still good.
I think the final battle theme was very good. Sadly, the final boss was so easily defeated that I didn't get to hear much of it.
Oh, yes. The difficulty is rather low, once you get used to when and how to upgrade your Gears. All you need is some money, which there are easy ways to make, so no big deal.

Crap! I shouldn't have done that sidequest! :'(
Note: This scene actually makes sense. Kind of.

I found gameplay to be repetitive and not very enjoyable overall. Definitely, the complex story is the most redeeming aspect of the game.
A lot of things, however, would have benefited greatly from more development.
Some characters seem specially shallow; so much that I totally forgot about them after completing the parts they were required for.

Miang seducing Elly.
Wait, what!?

In fact, the whole second disc pales in plot advancement and development in comparison to the first. It's like they used most of their resources in the first disc, so the second disc was left with a lot of incomplete content.

For most of the second disc, instead of going and doing things, you get a brief narration which advances many important plot points. Some very important battles and scenes are actually played, but some very very important ones get only some lines and that's it. It feels kinda cheap and unexciting.

Uuh... That sounds ... hard.

Overall I wouldn't say it's a bad game, but it could have been so much better that I can't say it's really good either.

The fact that you just skipped 4 previous episodes is revealed at the end of the game.
Also, note the only use of increased horizontal resolution for doing so. Great.

To whoever played, and liked it, I HIGHLY recommend reading Xenogears Perfect Works. It's a huge book containing lots of backstory, explanations, designs and more material that will make you cry about how little actually got into the game.

My favorite characters.
... Yeah, I know.

That's all!

UltraStar: Little Non - 愛情◎エデュケイション

2010-02-23T16:09:00.013-03:00

Title: 愛情◎エデュケイション
Artist: Little Non
Language: Japanese
Length: 3:47 / 1:32 (TV Edit)
Video: Yes (TV Edit)
BPM: 180

This is the ending to the first こどものじかん OVA 『やすみじかん「～あなたがわたしにくれたもの～」』. It's a very upbeat, spirit-lifting song. I know everyone loves 「ハナマル☆センセイション」, the ending to the first anime season by the same band, so this other song got totally left aside, even by me. But one day I suddenly felt it: this one is so much better! I love 「ハナマル☆センセイション」 too, but this one has a special energy about it. Yeah, just the kind of energy that makes one want to sing like crazy! So, after playing it on 'repeat' for about 2 days I decided to do this... and finished it in about 2 hours IIRC xD
After that I started downloading the DVDs to add the TV version and it's video as background. It took some time, but here it is. I did a 10-pass(!) 450 kbps x264 'placebo' encode with some extra tunings. Given the bitrate, the quality is excellent. I think nobody would be disappointed (it's a BGA after all, you're supposed to be playing the song, not searching for artifacts! :P).
Three versions are included: original, karaoke and TV edit. Audio is aoTuV q6 as always. The TV version was lossy ATSC A/52 @ 448 kbps, and it sounds a lot worse than the album version. Source was like that, it's not a problem with the encoding.
Tested on Performous 0.6. Still no support for more than one note per character or ruby characters.
I might do a drum notefile in the future if Performous or some other singing soft supports some format resembling a drum set. I would also love to see a guitar notefile, but I don't feel confident enough to do one... *wink* *wink* xD

Download (14.6 MB):
Little Non - 愛情◎エデュケイション.7z @ Badongo
Little Non - 愛情◎エデュケイション.7z @ DepositFiles
Little Non - 愛情◎エデュケイション.7z @ MediaFire
Little Non - 愛情◎エデュケイション.7z @ Megaupload
Little Non - 愛情◎エデュケイション.7z @ Sharebee
Little Non - 愛情◎エデュケイション.7z @ zSHARE

Updated 2010-12-01:

Separate vocals track for real karaoke support. [KARAOKE] version removed.
Re-encoded video with latest x264 (r1804). Container format changed to MKV.
All notefiles now use the same background image.
Updated TXT tags.
Changed TXT EOL to Unix format.
Changed audio file extension to .ogg.

UltraStar: KOTOKO - agony

2009-11-29T00:47:00.022-03:00

Title: agony
Artist: KOTOKO
Language: Japanese
Length: 4:20 / 1:40 (TV Edit)
Video: Yes (TV Edit)
BPM: 132

Yeah, another UltraStar song... I finally decided to upload this one. The truth is that I did this right after finishing 初音ミクの消失, but I wanted to make a video for the full version of the song... and that failed, so I let it to rot in some corner of my hard drive until now... ^_^U
This is the ending to 神無月の巫女, the best ~~yuri~~ romance anime ever, combined with the worst of the mecha genre. Yeah, talk about weird, I know... But its theme songs are AMAZING. The opening, this ending, and an insert song too, all are great songs, all of them sung by KOTOKO. She has a very good vocal range and tends to use a lot of layered vocal harmonies in her songs. Don't worry, however, this particular song is not specially hard.
I find this song highly emotional. It may be because it reminds me of a tragic love story, or maybe just because her voice puts a lot of emotion into it. I hope somebody enjoys this song as much as I do and can sing it with all their heart ^^ (← see, it's the songs' fault, making me write something so corny >_<)

Download (17.4 MB):
KOTOKO - agony.7z @ Badongo
KOTOKO - agony.7z @ DepositFiles
KOTOKO - agony.7z @ MediaFire
KOTOKO - agony.7z @ Megaupload
KOTOKO - agony.7z @ Sharebee
KOTOKO - agony.7z @ zSHARE

Updated 2010-12-03:

Separate vocals track for real karaoke support. [KARAOKE] version removed.
Re-ripped and re-encoded all audio files with latest libVorbis (v1.3.2).
Re-ripped and re-encoded video with latest x264 (r1804). Container format changed to MKV. Also, it's interleaved, just like the source DVD. Deinterleaving should be performed on playback if requiered.
Re-synced all notefiles.
Updated TXT tags.
Changed TXT EOL to Unix format.

Please tell me if you find an error or a link is broken and I will try to fix it right away! ^^

究極な無音

2009-08-23T18:42:00.010-03:00

John Cageの「4′33″」が下手に演奏できるとは知らなかった。
それは、これを見るまで：

【ニコニコ動画】【☆ニコオケ☆】03.みんなで4:33を演奏してみた【VirtualConcert】

今私はこの曲を演奏するホントの方法を知っています。

ところで、それが好きであるならば、完全なVirtualConcertの動画を見なければなりません。ニコオケの改善はすごいです、そして、KohMeiさんのアレンジは本当にうまいです。
いつかまた、しもさんのニコニコメドレーを演奏するといいな～(^_^)　（できれば、25分の「ニコニコ動画物語.wav」……なんちゃって！）

Recent things bars

2009-08-07T19:25:00.006-03:00

Tras mucho laburo para algo que se ve tan sencillo, a la derecha del blog pueden verse 3 nuevos items.

El primero es un Flash embedido de Last.fm, que se refreshea constantemente con lo que estoy escuchando. Al principio no me convenció como no encaja perfectamente con el layout, pero le saque un par de botones al pedo que tenía y vi que no queda taaan mal. Esta muy copado como se actualiza todo el tiempo y la info a cada track que pone...
Si algún día ando con muchísimas ganas de programar puede que lo cambie... hoy ya no. xD
EDIT: ahí agregue abajo de todas un "test" para que se vean las tracks en el mismo estilo que todo lo demás... pierde mucha interactividad, pero pega más con el estilo del blog :P

El segundo es un feed de RSS de MyAnimeList. Se actualiza automáticamente cada vez que se refreshea la página.
Esto fue muy difícil de hacer, porque no se puede lograr con client-side JavaScripting, que es todo lo que puedo poner en esas barritas del costado u_u
Así que tuve que encontrar un servicio que lea y convierta el RSS a algo que pueda usar. Feed2JS me ofrece ese servicio.
Estoy casi 100% conforme con como quedó, excepto porque quiero un indicador temporal en cada entry. Preferiblemente uno que se exprese en "hace cuanto tiempo", y eso no lo puede hacer.
Quizás algún día vea si se puede mejorar... no es tan malo, porque haciendo click en "More..." lleva a una página 100 veces más detallada con los tiempos de cada episodio individual, así que la info esta a un click de distancia para el que la quiera :P

El tercero es una simple lista estática de los últimos juegos que jugué, imitando el estilo del item anterior. No juego a tantos juegos como para que haga falta otra cosa, no creo gastarme de actualizarla a mano cada tanto :P
Acá también me gustarían fechas, y podría hacerlo, pero ya tuve suficiente por hoy xD Si voy a hacerlo lo quiero en el formato de "hace cuanto" y para eso tengo que agarrar JS, y no hay NADA de ganas xD
El link de "More..." lleva a mi lista de visual novels en VNDB. No es lo único que juego, pero es mejor que nada :P
Mmm... se me acaba de ocurrir que puedo hacer una lista colapsada completa ahí con JS...
HMMMMMMMM......... otro día.- xD

Si alguien tiene alguna sugerencia copada al respecto, comments please! ^^
Nada más por ahora...
Un pequeño adelanto de próximas posts: Kanon y F/sn... se merecen una, pero por eso mismo tengo que tener ganas de escribir algo xD

The cake is a lie

2009-07-14T01:17:00.000-03:00

So, I played Portal.
Took about 3 hours.
3 very, highly enjoyable hours.
And believe me, I'm not an FPS guy...
I just read some comments and though I could try it.
And it got me. From the beginning to the end.

It may be a very short game, but it's very good nonetheless.
It has good humor, and it's not at all about fast reflexes and gun shots.
It's very easy too, but that doesn't makes it bad either.

I would recommend it, even to people who says they don't like FPS.

Sound - 8/10
There's not much sound at all other than GLaDOS' voice and some soft ambient music. But both are great and well executed, fitting perfectly at all moments. The ending theme is a very nice bonus, and it's pretty good and funny too.

Graphics - 7/10
The game runs in the Source engine, which has previously proved it's great graphic capabilities with games such as Half-Life 2. Maps have a rather simple and clean design, as opposed to what you would find in HL2. There's nothing that really stands out anywhere. As it was probably intended, this design fits really well with the atmosphere of the game.
Of special note may be the refractions on water and some metallic objects, which are nice, and shiny and all.
And portal rendering is really cool too. Shoot two portals at parallel walls and watch most computers die at the infinite recursion! xD

Story - 9/10
Simple, fun, and captivating. Not much backstory is told, but it's also totally unneeded. The characters are what makes the game progress really well. Specially the Weighted Companion Cube. That's the best character I have seen in a FPS ever.-

Overall - 8/10
Just play it already! At worst, you'll lose just an hour of your life! ;)
(Not including the time you lost reading this crappy try at a review xD)

UltraStar: cosMo＠暴走P - 初音ミクの消失

2009-07-13T18:30:00.020-03:00

Title: 初音ミクの消失
Artist: cosMo＠暴走P
Language: Japanese
Length: 2:22 (Project DIVA Edit)
Video: Yes
BPM: 240 (360)

This is my first UltraStar song in a very long time, and it's a very hard one! It's my favorite 初音ミクオリジナル曲 by far, and it happens to be a very fast song with very fast lyrics (eighth note triplets at 240 BPM. yep, and it's not impossible to sing).
Copying the notes was not too difficult, as I have the individual vocal track and the voice is synthetic. The problem I had was that the UltraStar format does not support tuplets, so I ended up writing a program to multiply the BPM of the file to make all the required notes fit. It took some time, but I expect it to be very useful for other songs too. Editing ゆずよもぎ's PV to keep it in sync with the song was a lot harder, and I only needed to make such a simple edit ○|￣|＿
I had actually done the full version of the song at first, but decided that it has too many non-singable parts and opted to do this version instead. I think it's better for playing this way.

Download (15.6 MB):
cosMo＠暴走P - 初音ミクの消失-DEAD END-.7z @ Badongo
cosMo＠暴走P - 初音ミクの消失-DEAD END-.7z @ DepositFiles
cosMo＠暴走P - 初音ミクの消失-DEAD END-.7z @ MediaFire
cosMo＠暴走P - 初音ミクの消失-DEAD END-.7z @ Megaupload
cosMo＠暴走P - 初音ミクの消失-DEAD END-.7z @ Sharebee.com
cosMo＠暴走P - 初音ミクの消失-DEAD END-.7z @ zSHARE

PS: The song was tested working 100% ONLY in Performous. The original UltraStar claims to support UTF-8, but I couldn't get this to work. It will probably work if re-encoded, but other features, such as the video, may not display correctly as of the current version.
PPS: Please request more download links if the ones available do not work. Also, feel free to post mirrors to these files wherever you want.

Updated 2009-07-15:

Improved 初音ミク -Project DIVA- PV cut and sync.
Improved overall compatibility with all singing games.

Updated 2009-09-21:

Switched to Unicode interlinear annotation characters for all ruby text. Although currently no singing game I know renders them correctly this will be my standard until actual ruby support is implemented.
Fixed 4th line text (was missing a character).
Changed "Extra Files" to "[KARAOKE]". It now contains all the referenced files, making it a standalone package (however, it is still recommended for use together with the "standard" version).
Improved ZIP file compatibility.

Updated 2009-11-28:

Improved audio quality (aoTuVb5.7 q6).
Replay Gained audio data.
Changed audio file extension to .oga.
Removed individual "[KARAOKE]" package. All the files are included in an unique archive now.

Updated 2009-12-01:

Changed archive to 7z format. Standard Unicode file name support should ensure proper decompression across all platforms now.

Updated 2010-11-25:

Re-ripped audio from 初音ミク -Project DIVA-. Higher quality.
Separate vocals track for real karaoke support. [KARAOKE] version removed.
New cover image.
Changed song title. Updated TXT tags.
Changed TXT EOL to Unix format.
Changed audio file extension to .ogg.

I did it.

2009-07-13T18:22:00.001-03:00

Tener un blog es algo que, desde hace mucho tiempo, quería experimentar alguna vez en mi vida... y acá está xD
Pero a diferencia de como siempre lo imagine, me voy a ocupar muy poco de él xD
Por ahora solo lo voy a usar como un espacio para postear cosas random que tenga ganas de publicar en algún lugar... es rápido y sencillo, justo lo que necesitaba :)