Writing a Good Review

[trg007]

Don't want to make the thread about me, though. Is there some more detail that you could share with the general populace about the playtesting guide from the Creators site?

They haven't made it publicly available yet, but the guide contains very detailed sections for each instrument and for general things like venue/animations. Using vocals as an example:

* Are all note tubes the same pitch as what the vocalist is singing?
* Do note tubes last the correct length?
* Is each note tube tied to a single syllable?
* Are all non-pitched lyrics authored as talkies? Is it possible to hit them and get an "awesome" rating?
* Are all lyrics spelled correctly?
* Do all of the lyrics match up to what the singer is singing?
* Are there any hyphens appearing in places they shouldn't?
* Does each phrase begin with a capital letter?
* Are all of the phrases a reasonable length? Do all of the lyrics of each phrase fit on the screen in the static HUD?
* Are all overdrive phrases in the song usable?
* Is the vocalist animating properly?
* If applicable, do the percussive sections of the song make sense in the context of the song? Are the phrases an acceptable length?

And then it has a detailed paragraph for each item on that list, but looking at the list you can get an idea of what you're looking for if you're testing a vocal part. All of this is stuff you'd be looking at in-game (no Reaper required) and some of it you can even check outside of the game (lyrics are displayed on each song's page on the site). One limitation of Audition Mode is that you can't "rewind" or "skip back" so if you need to hear/look at something again, you have to restart the song. Hopefully they'll update it at some point to add that feature.

If you have any specific questions, especially re: vocals (my pride and joy ) feel free to shoot me a PM.

[Xenigma]

For every instrument you have checklists to look through for common and uncommon charting and programming errors, they detail difficulty-specific issues from expert down to easy, and even non-difficulty specific things to look for, such as big rock endings and timing of the guitar solo. There's also a checklist for non-instrument review, as well as a guide to reviewing song setup, animation, ability to achieve gold stars, and difficulty tiering. The advanced playtesting guide walks you through the process and what to fill out in forms and whatnot (being specific!).

Sounds like quite a bit of work! Is this all part of peer review, or are all these considerations made before hand? Is each play-tester/reviewer expected to check all parts across all difficulties? I'd assume yes, but I'd have to believe different people are better at finding issues with certain parts/difficulties than others, and the required criteria seem awfully specific.

Reading the (partial?) list of Vocal checks certainly suggests how meticulous the process is. I'd love to read in more detail about both Vocals and Guitar charting (in large part to understand how to chart specific difficulties and how/why certain charting is done on Expert), but I suppose I'll have to wait for the guide to be made public first.

[trg007]

Sounds like quite a bit of work! Is this all part of peer review, or are all these considerations made before hand? Is each play-tester/reviewer expected to check all parts across all difficulties? I'd assume yes, but I'd have to believe different people are better at finding issues with certain parts/difficulties than others, and the required criteria seem awfully specific.

Of course you don't have to look at every part. You certainly can if you want and have the time, but if there is a particular instrument you're best at, there's no problem with just looking at that instrument.

All of this stuff is intended for Playtest; however, if a song is in Peer Review and you find a problem with it, it's still important (more so, actually) to point it out so the author can fix it if needed.

[Knucklesdude]

Yeah... get used to trg being a super deity in terms of vocal reviewing. It's like watching posthumous Billy Mays infomercials. Insanity.

[SHPhr34k]

Example of trg's epic vocal reviewing. He noticed a semitone difference in a pitch on a note that was 12ms in length.... in Audition Mode. The man is a vocal reviewing machine.

Reviewing is time consuming if you do it properly (take the time people! it's worth it in the end!). The beta community has been amazingly helpful on all fronts, and I hope it will continue that way once the doors are open. Most of us are becoming rather knowledgeable individually, but we know who to turn to for specific opinions and questions at this point.

If/when you become able to partake in the review process, your best idea at first is to take a look at a review by one of the higher 'ranked' reviewers (forum ranks given out manually by HMX to those that are extremely helpful) in the community, and compare it to the song and version in question in Audition Mode. It's a huge learning curve all around. Ask, ask and ask some more!

[JPSChampagne]

Wow. I don't think I could even detect something that was only a semitone off... especially not something that fast. I thought I had a pretty good ear, having taken years of vocal music in school, but wow. That's pretty hardcore! I'll be sure to send a PM your way later on today, trg. That kind of detail makes me think.