Wednesday, September 16, 2009

Guitar Hero Anime: Season 4

Season 4 began about a month ago when I first uploaded Coco's chart for Nikuman's "God Knows (Metal)". Delays in season 4 video releases are due to the lack of space I have on my external hard drive to record new footage (each video is about 7-10GB each). A new 1.5TB hard drive is coming in soon, so once that gets here I'll start filming my new Season 4 material.

A host of new features to the videos have been added to the Season 4 videos, and there are also some new charts on the way.
  • Updated branding. A higher-resolution image of Azusa holding her guitar with Guitar Hero buttons on it is now being used, one of her looking directly at her guitar.
  • Updated opening animation. The opening album art animation has been updated to animate in a new way. It features the album art, title, album, artist, and source of each song, accompanied by fitting background music unique to each song.
  • Bot Performance. A bot performance has been added to the end of each video, where a bot performs the song flawlessly, with no background animations, with no score, no rock meter, and no star power. Additionally, instead of the usual on-screen HUD, the album art, song info, and Guitar Hero Anime branding appear. In this part of the video, the volume of guitar track is elevated, so that people can compare the notes to the music better.
  • Better live performances. I've found ways to improve the performance of the game while it's recording, including upgrading certain parts of my computer hardware. I should now have less of a computer performance issue, which will now allow me to more efficiently play my charts during recording sessions.
  • A real bow! I recently obtained a real violin, and with that, a real bow, so my Violin Hero concept performances will be re-shot with a real violin bow instead of the makeshift one that I was previously using.
Here are the new charts to come out of Season 4 so far.
  • 01. "God Knows (Metal)"
    Nikuman
    The Fandom of Haruhi Suzumiya
    The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya
    ( Charter: CoCo | Status: Final )

    Already released.

  • 01. "Super Driver"
    Aya Hirano
    Suzumiya Haruhi OP 2 'Super Driver' Single
    Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuutsu
    ( Charter: Takeru, CoCo | Status: Beta )

    OH MY BOY! This is a hilarious song thanks to the Engrish scattered all over the place. I SAY I SAY MY HEAVEN!

  • 01. "Cagayake! GIRLS (5-man Version)"
    Aki Toyosaki, Yōko Hikasa, Satomi Satō, Minako Kotobuki, Ayana Taketatsu
    Sakura High Light Music Official Band Compilation
    K-On!
    ( Charter: Takeru, CoCo | Status: RC )

    This is the full version of the song from the second opening of K-On! that adds a second guitar part, Azusa's, to the mix. Aside from a host of improvements since the Season 3 version of the chart, it isn't significantly different aside from the third guitar, which I decided not to chart very much because 1. it's not very interesting since most of her guitar work is just accenting Yui's usual rhythm parts, 2. it's kinda quiet and drowned out by Yui's guitar parts. I did chart two parts of it though, once in the second verse and once during the bridge, since she gets her own solo along with the other four. This chart will most likely replace the 4-man version of the song, though I will keep them separate during development just in case.

  • 01. "Fuwa Fuwa Time (4-man, Mio Version)"
    Yōko Hikasa, Aki Toyosaki
    K-On! 'Fuwa Fuwa Time' Insert Single
    K-On!
    ( Charter: Takeru | Status: Beta )

    Ah God-sama, please grant me some miracle time just once! When I finally get that chance to release this chart, then afterwards... we'll just have to see. Fuwa fuwa time! Yeah, the lyrics make absolutely no sense to me either, but it's a fun song. This is the four-man version sung by Mio. No, it's not the one with Yui's ROFLtacular raspy background vocals; she sings normally here.

  • 04. "Fuwa Fuwa Time (5-man, Yui Version)"
    Aki Toyosaki, Yōko Hikasa
    K-On! Gekichuka Mini Album 'Houkago Tea Time'
    K-On!
    ( Charter: Takeru | Status: Planned )

    This is the version of the song with Yui singing lead vocals instead, and it includes Azusa's guitar parts in the mix. I'm releasing it as a separate chart and video, because some people like Mio's voice better (like me). Man, this is a lot of work... ahh, that's enough! Sleep, sleep, sleep!!

  • 23. "Gattai nante Kusokurae!"
    qadtbep (composed by Taku Iwasaki)
    Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann OST (Disc 2)
    Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann
    ( Charter: Takeru | Status: RC )

    I actually charted this like a millennium ago and never released it. So here you go!

  • 28. "Theme IV" (Violin)
    Composed by Toshihiko Sahashi
    Gunslinger Girl OST
    Gunslinger Girl
    ( Charter: Takeru | Status: RC )

    I charted this in order to experiment with using my real bow instead of my makeshift one. Plus, it's a pretty intense piece that really shows off the Violin Hero concept.
That's about it for Season 4 news. Keep an eye on my YouTube channel for the actual videos in the near future.

The official Guitar Hero Anime blog...

...has so little purpose I don't even know why I made it.

Oh, that's right. I needed to make it so that I can tell everyone who's following the Guitar Hero Anime project to know that lately I haven't been paying attention to the project very much since classes started about three weeks ago, and other real-life mumbo jumbo like that that's been going on. Coco's still doing stuff for it in her spare time though, so if there are any major updates like the last few, they'll usually be her responsibility.

Anyways, I'm gonna get around to posting some info concerning Season 4* in a few minutes. Stay tuned!

[*Yes, there are seasons. Season 1 started back when I first began doing charts, back when the project didn't have a name and back when I was just messing around. Season 2 was when I began recording my videos in HD, started charting in earnest, and began isolating the guitar track from the rest of the music. Season 3 was when Coco joined the team, I branded the project "Guitar Hero Anime", and I began spreading the word about the project through forum posts.]