Song: Crimson King (track 1 from album Touched by the Crimson King)

Artist: Demons & Wizards (http://www.demons-wizards.com)

BPM: 190

Length: 1:51 (shortened from 5:48)

MP3: Purchased (CD), ripped, shortened by Skorpion9x using iTunes for ripping, and Audacity (http://audacity.sourceforge.net) for editing.

Steps: Skorpion9x (get more simfiles by me at http://www.bemanistyle.com/sims/author.php?id=164 and http://www.dwiforever.com/~skorpion9x/ [thanks to MazriM TaiM for that space])

Graphics: Skorpion9x. Image used is the cover artwork from the album. Editing done in Photoshop 7.

Other TMs I've entered: TM3 (Warmen - Beyond Abilities), TM4 (Warmen - Treasure Within), TM4+ ( Yozuca - Sakura Saku Mirai Koi Yume (Opening theme for D.C. ~da capo~))

Hello. I am Skorpion9x. I'm sure a lot of you know me already, but for those who don't, I will tell you a little about myself. I started making simfiles a few years ago. I hail from Stamford, Connecticut, USA. I am now 21 years old (damn, I'm getting old :( ), and have been playing DDR since about March of 2002. I started getting into simulation in about November of the same year.

My first works were pad simfiles, but as I got better, I started creating Keyboard simfiles, which are simfiles that are made to be fun for keyboard players, and are usually impossible to do on a pad. It was then that I started to become known in the DDR Simulation community. Although I was really into making keyboard sims, I still tried to cater to the pad players by releasing the occasional pad simfile, or making some pad steps to go with the keyboard steps. 

If you are familiar with my work, then you know that my favorite type of music is metal. A good percent of my sims are power metal from bands such as Rhapsody, Kamelot, and Stratovarius. This simfile is no exception. The band Demons & Wizards is a project by Hansi Kursh (vocals, Blind Guardian) and Jon Schaffer (guitars, Iced Earth). 

I first made the hardest steps for this simfile, as I do with all of my sims. I rated them as 11ft keyboard (my usual rating for keyboard steps). Then I went down the line, making the heavy, standard, and then light. After all that, I thought to myself "hmm... the challenge steps are really hard, even for me. I'd like to make some easier keyboard steps." So I bumped light, standard, and heavy all down one difficulty, and made new heavy steps. 

The beginner steps are difficulty of 4. They're mostly 4th notes, with the occasional 8th note. There are a few jumps, as well. 

The light steps are 8 feet (remember, these used to be standard). There are a bit of jumps, and also a bit of 8th notes, usually in groups of three. Not too hard overall, but 8 feet because there are a few step-jump 8th notes (like: 6402049).

The standard steps are 9 feet. There are a lot of gallops to the 16th note bass drum triples, and a long run of 8th notes during the chorus. 

The heavy steps are rated 12 feet. I said that I always rate my keyboard steps 11 earlier, but this is the exception. Containing lots of 16th notes, these steps can only be done on a pad by the best players. I think it is similar to an ITG song of difficulty 12 (maybe a bit harder?), so that's why I rated it as such. Don't try this on a pad unless you are an excellent player.

The challenge steps are rated 13, and should not be tried on a pad at all. In fact, I think it's impossible (watch someone pass it now, videos plz, lol). With all the jumps, these steps cater more towards spread players than index (which is what I am), and that is why I made the heavy steps. These are just too hard for me :(.

Enjoy, and please leave some comments whereever you got this (DDREI forum if you got it from TM6, or on Bemanistyle or whatever if you got it from somewhere else, as I will upload it to Bemanistyle after the TM6 is over).

My contact info:

Forums: Skorpion9x
AIM: x9NoiproX
Email: skorpion9x@gmail.com

Ignore this sentence. I am only adding it to make the file size of this readme file exactly 4kb - 4,096 bytes. I'm so cool!