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Famicompo Pico returns on 2017 June 15!

Posted: Sun Jun 04, 2017 4:19 pm
by retrodpc
Hundreds of entries.
4 categories.
2 languages.
1 compo.

After much anticipation and delay, Famicompo is finally back!

Famicompo is a Famicom/NES music competition that has gone through various incarnations, with many historic entries and participants. You, too, can become a part of NES music history!

Due to the sudden unexpected timing, Famicompo Pico 3 will last for two months! FCP 3 starts on the 15th of June and ends on the 7th of August before midnight UTC.

The four categories are original, cover, freestyle original and freestyle cover.

Original and cover entries must be submitted in NSF format. All expansions are permitted.

Freestyle entries must be submitted in MP3. The 2A03 must be noticable in the song. Simulation and signal processing are allowed.

Winning entrants in the originals category under 64KB (2A03-only) will be put on a special FCP3 cartridge playable on any NES, or a Famicom with an adapter. One cart will be awarded to the winner of each category! More details will be available by August 1st!

Come join us on #fcpico3 on EsperNet IRC or on our Discord server for more info, and visit us on our website at http://famitracker.org/fcp3/!

We'll see you there!

Re: Famicompo Pico returns on 2017 June 15!

Posted: Mon Jun 05, 2017 3:14 am
by zzo38
Why MP3? There are much better codecs, such as Opus.

I like the Famicompo though (with NSF) so I am glad it can return!

Re: Famicompo Pico returns on 2017 June 15!

Posted: Mon Jun 05, 2017 8:54 am
by tepples
retrodpc wrote:Come join us on #fcpico3 on EsperNet IRC or on our Discord server for more info
Through that server I learned 0CC FamiTracker is better than vanilla FamiTracker in all cases save one.
zzo38 wrote:Why MP3? There are much better codecs
Because MP3's patent recently expired, and "better codecs" that aren't still patented won't play on an iPod touch, iPhone, or iPad. Opus doesn't play, Vorbis doesn't play, and FLAC doesn't play. As far as I'm aware, the <audio> element in Apple WebKit plays MP3, M4A, and Apple Lossless. That's it.

Also Edge plays Opus but not Vorbis. Go figure.

Re: Famicompo Pico returns on 2017 June 15!

Posted: Mon Jun 05, 2017 6:23 pm
by Rahsennor
tepples wrote:Because MP3's patent recently expired, and "better codecs" that aren't still patented won't play on an iPod touch, iPhone, or iPad. Opus doesn't play, Vorbis doesn't play, and FLAC doesn't play. As far as I'm aware, the <audio> element in Apple WebKit plays MP3, M4A, and Apple Lossless. That's it.
Oh for heaven's sake... MP3 needs to die already. Opus blows it right out of the water at a quarter of the bitrate.

Re: Famicompo Pico returns on 2017 June 15!

Posted: Mon Jun 05, 2017 7:42 pm
by tepples
What happens when a user of Safari (or any other browser wrapping Apple WebKit) follows a link to an audio file encoded with Opus?

Re: Famicompo Pico returns on 2017 June 15!

Posted: Mon Jun 05, 2017 8:05 pm
by rainwarrior
I don't get why anybody is talking about Opus? Everyone knows and uses MP3s and they do the job well. Whether Opus provides a minor improvement to the quality vs size ratio is unimportant.

Re: Famicompo Pico returns on 2017 June 15!

Posted: Mon Jun 05, 2017 8:23 pm
by Rahsennor
rainwarrior wrote:I don't get why anybody is talking about Opus? Everyone knows and uses MP3s and they do the job well. Whether Opus provides a minor improvement to the quality vs size ratio is unimportant.
Because we disagree with the parts I highlighted. I would take 64 kbps Opus over 320 kbps MP3 any day.

Re: Famicompo Pico returns on 2017 June 15!

Posted: Mon Jun 05, 2017 8:52 pm
by rainwarrior
Rahsennor wrote:Because we disagree with the parts I highlighted. I would take 64 kbps Opus over 320 kbps MP3 any day.
I may disagree that the quality : size ratio is that much better, but even if I accepted your premise that it's 5x smaller, I'd still be of the opinion that MP3s are a much more practical compromise. Size isn't the most important thing, and confusing 99.9% of your users with a file format they haven't heard of is just not a good idea.

Re: Famicompo Pico returns on 2017 June 15!

Posted: Mon Jun 05, 2017 8:56 pm
by Drew Sebastino
I love how you people are acting like MP3 sounds like total shit. I can barely tell the difference between it and uncompressed audio, if I can at all.
rainwarrior wrote:
Rahsennor wrote:Because we disagree with the parts I highlighted. I would take 64 kbps Opus over 320 kbps MP3 any day.
I may disagree that the quality : size ratio is that much better, but even if I accepted your premise that it's 5x smaller, I'd still be of the opinion that MP3s are a much more practical compromise. Size isn't the most important thing, and confusing 99.9% of your users with a file format they haven't heard of is just not a good idea.
Exactly. I've never of Opus once before this.

Re: Famicompo Pico returns on 2017 June 15!

Posted: Mon Jun 05, 2017 9:08 pm
by Rahsennor
If you haven't heard of Opus, that's probably because it's relatively new. If you care about that kind of stuff, go check it out; if MP3 sounds fine to you then we'll just have to agree to disagree. Lossy compression is always going to be a subjective issue.

Re: Famicompo Pico returns on 2017 June 15!

Posted: Mon Jun 05, 2017 9:41 pm
by rainwarrior
I think Opus is cool, I just don't think this competition is the right place to promote it.

Re: Famicompo Pico returns on 2017 June 15!

Posted: Mon Jun 05, 2017 10:43 pm
by Gilbert
I think it depends on who are the target listeners and what kinds of devices those people may use.
As you already put it:
Rahsennor wrote:that's probably because it's relatively new.
This is an already good enough reason for using MP3 over Opus. MP3 is simply more accessible and nearly all devices nowadays would support, such as playing from a USB stick inserted into a cheap/old Hi-fi and into one's digital TV set, and (obviously) MP3 players. Newer formats may not be supported and these devices may not even have an option to have their firmware upgraded (either not upgradeable or that there is no longer any new upgrades).

If the files are supposed to be listened by say, someone behind a PC, then Opus is an okay choice.

Re: Famicompo Pico returns on 2017 June 15!

Posted: Mon Jun 05, 2017 11:47 pm
by Sumez
wow, you guys are really making a deal out of this.

I'm pretty certain no one really gave a thought about the mp3 codec for submissions, it's just the default that most people know and uses. If it bothers, just use a higher bitrate. It's a music competition, not a compression competition :P

Re: Famicompo Pico returns on 2017 June 15!

Posted: Tue Jun 06, 2017 8:33 am
by B00daW
Funny how almost everyone is off-topic; instead of considering the technical details of their potential entries.

Re: Famicompo Pico returns on 2017 June 15!

Posted: Tue Jun 06, 2017 8:54 am
by tepples
From rules:
[DARK CREDO] After posting, keep traces of you making the song concealed until results are posted. We encourage you not to advertise publicly that you made so-and-so song, especially in a manner that shouts "OH HAY I MADE ENTRY NO. XX". This rule will be more strictly enforced this year.
Is it also off-topic to discuss the intent and practicality of the "[DARK CREDO]" rule requiring keeping the composer's identity secret? Use a less common engine in the NSF, particularly one you developed, and someone might be able to identify you as composer of a particular NSF by identifying your engine.