Path Notation

[eldersham]

As soon as the semester finishes I plan on starting up a spreadsheet for splits on vocals songs to start gathering data for maximum theoretical scores on songs. But before I do that I want to get a setup that's the most agreeable across the board, so I'll start with issue 1: how I'll notate the paths.

My personal goals for setting priority: I first and foremost want uniqueness, i.e. there should be 1 and only 1 'correct' notation for each song. The other big thing I'm hoping for is a notation setup that allows you to be able to describe exactly what will happen without seeing the chart first. Next most important is to make things as easy as possible / minimize confusion, and THEN maybe we worry about minimizing writing.

In this spirit I propose the following hierarchy for notation usage priority:

1) DOD
2) ESx / xRS / AB / AT
3) AI
4) #-BOD
5) #
6) #-skx

A few comments behind these choices: (AB vs AT) AB and AT should stay distinct as AB is a RB4-only feature.
(AI vs AB / AT) I was chastised for suggesting AI as a path that contained taps, and I can see the argument. When sitting on a break you can start to worry that you might have missed an activation, so it would be nice to always have the assurance that AB and AT will appear whenever relevant.
(#-BOD vs #) This is another one I could go either way on, but again, when 2/BOD is valid for an activation and it's listed as 2/ I'm sometimes worried that I missed something, so imo it would be nice to have the assurance that BOD is there even if it's the first available act.

I also propose the following modifications to definitions and / or notation:

sk#-#p-ES notation: I think it's better to include partial phrases in the second number. The only argument against this that I've heard is 'it's obvious the squeeze doesn't start there'. My counter is that you don't know that until after you've seen the chart, and it is simpler to think of the definition of this as:
"count # end of phrase lines, then begin ES"
rather than having to define it as a case statement

(a lot of these others i think would be good notations to have when doing something as a rivals challenge song vs spotlight song)

2/! notation: the definition of this is ambiguous, i'm thinking we could be a little more elaborate... perhaps something like:
2/!: "you might miss if you react to the window appearing rather than anticipating it"
2/!!: "spamming activation button does not have high success rate"
2/!!!: "near impossible"

AS notation: this is another ambiguous definition, maybe try something like:
AS: "easy but activating 2 waves early misses"
AS!: "not hard to miss but doable in limited tries"
AS!!: "near impossible"

RS notation addition:
RS!: "spamming activation button does not have high success rate"
RS!!: "near impossible"

Again, this would be specifically for a spreadsheet I would use (albeit we can certainly consider adopting this for SH posts). Thoughts?

[eldersham]

As soon as the semester finishes I plan on starting up a spreadsheet for splits on vocals songs to start gathering data for maximum theoretical scores on songs. But before I do that I want to get a setup that's the most agreeable across the board, so I'll start with issue 1: how I'll notate the paths.

My personal goals for setting priority: I first and foremost want uniqueness, i.e. there should be 1 and only 1 'correct' notation for each song. The other big thing I'm hoping for is a notation setup that allows you to be able to describe exactly what will happen without seeing the chart first. Next most important is to make things as easy as possible / minimize confusion, and THEN maybe we worry about minimizing writing.

In this spirit I propose the following hierarchy for notation usage priority:

1) DOD
2) ESx / xRS / AB / AT
3) AI
4) #-BOD
5) #
6) #-skx

A few comments behind these choices: (AB vs AT) AB and AT should stay distinct as AB is a RB4-only feature.
(AI vs AB / AT) I was chastised for suggesting AI as a path that contained taps, and I can see the argument. When sitting on a break you can start to worry that you might have missed an activation, so it would be nice to always have the assurance that AB and AT will appear whenever relevant.
(#-BOD vs #) This is another one I could go either way on, but again, when 2/BOD is valid for an activation and it's listed as 2/ I'm sometimes worried that I missed something, so imo it would be nice to have the assurance that BOD is there even if it's the first available act.

I also propose the following modifications to definitions and / or notation:

sk#-#p-ES notation: I think it's better to include partial phrases in the second number. The only argument against this that I've heard is 'it's obvious the squeeze doesn't start there'. My counter is that you don't know that until after you've seen the chart, and it is simpler to think of the definition of this as:
"count # end of phrase lines, then begin ES"
rather than having to define it as a case statement

(a lot of these others i think would be good notations to have when doing something as a rivals challenge song vs spotlight song)

2/! notation: the definition of this is ambiguous, i'm thinking we could be a little more elaborate... perhaps something like:
2/!: "you might miss if you react to the window appearing rather than anticipating it"
2/!!: "spamming activation button does not have high success rate"
2/!!!: "near impossible"

AS notation: this is another ambiguous definition, maybe try something like:
AS: "easy but activating 2 waves early misses"
AS!: "not hard to miss but doable in limited tries"
AS!!: "near impossible"

RS notation addition:
RS!: "spamming activation button does not have high success rate"
RS!!: "near impossible"

Again, this would be specifically for a spreadsheet I would use (albeit we can certainly consider adopting this for SH posts). Thoughts?

[elcanadiano]

I've been meaning to talk about this as well but my last week or two has been pretty busy.

I do agree that it would be nice to get a vox setup that we can collectively agree with. I would rather not, as a Rock Band vocalist, have to deal with a certain player notating something their own way or, say, guitar/bass notation which has no standardization.

I personally would be interested in what others think given eldersham and I have spoken privately about this issue. The only one that I don't agree with in his case is prioritizing BOD (4) over (5), in that I think that if an activation could be notated as 3/, or 3/BOD,, I would take 3/, only because in this case, the BOD IMO is extraneous information.

But again, I would like to hear what others think.

[elcanadiano]

I've been meaning to talk about this as well but my last week or two has been pretty busy.

I do agree that it would be nice to get a vox setup that we can collectively agree with. I would rather not, as a Rock Band vocalist, have to deal with a certain player notating something their own way or, say, guitar/bass notation which has no standardization.

I personally would be interested in what others think given eldersham and I have spoken privately about this issue. The only one that I don't agree with in his case is prioritizing BOD (4) over (5), in that I think that if an activation could be notated as 3/, or 3/BOD,, I would take 3/, only because in this case, the BOD IMO is extraneous information.

But again, I would like to hear what others think.

[Mob-Barley]

https://rbpv.online/

We have a discord as well where we discuss scores and new paths all the time for all instruments. (Discord link is on the website.)

Up to almost 2000 songs with vocal splits / detailed scoring.
Around 600 or so paths from completing all V/D/G/B paths in the entire game.
V/D are fully pathed.

I understand if you don't want to join or help out.
I just thought I might save you some time by offering what you wanted, already done / in progress.

[Mob-Barley]

https://rbpv.online/

We have a discord as well where we discuss scores and new paths all the time for all instruments. (Discord link is on the website.)

Up to almost 2000 songs with vocal splits / detailed scoring.
Around 600 or so paths from completing all V/D/G/B paths in the entire game.
V/D are fully pathed.

I understand if you don't want to join or help out.
I just thought I might save you some time by offering what you wanted, already done / in progress.