Cirque du Huayra is a pack by Zaia. It is a “rolling release” pack, which means that it receives new content on an ongoing basis.
It is specifically a pack of restepped charts only (simfiles first made by other people that I later stepped and released myself).
It is named after the Pagani Huayra, and is themed after the Japanese manga Made in Abyss.
| Pack Director | Zaia |
| Stepartists | Zaia |
| BPM | 185-260 |
| Songcount | 16 |
| Blocks | 14-24 |
| Type | Stream |
| Format | Singles |
| Release Date | Apr 18, 2018 (last updated Nov 03, 2024) |
¶ Structure
This pack differs from the others in that it has no fixed structure other than that every simfile has at least one chart, and that all charts are classified as stream charts. Some simfiles may have lowers, and difficulty levels span a broad range.
The main commonality of this pack is that every simfile in it had previously been stepped before; not necessarily by someone else, but I could have restepped my own older charts and placed them here too.
¶ Development
The concept for a pack that would become Cirque du Huayra has existed since time immemorial for me, since my career was built off of resteps. All of my packs had featured resteps of some kind, so a pack that was exclusively resteps was not a significant leap further.
The first reference to the name “Huayra” goes back to late 2014, and a conscious effort to restep charts that would go into the pack known as “Cirque du Huayra” would have started in early 2015 with Havoc Impact and No More Faking.
The project became more serious when the Stamina Showcase 2 stream simfile competition was announced in April 2018. I took a two-month stepping break after the Jan 03 releases of Cirque du Enzo, Rebuild of Sharpnel and Cirque du Jackhummer, and then came back for two weeks to start work on Saitama's Ultimate Weapon, and then went on break again. I needed to do some stepping to get myself back into stepping mode properly. I elected to step some Cranked Pastry songs to undergo this training, since it was quite early in Stamina Showcase 2 that I decided I would be submitted a dark psytrance song (KOKOBLOKO - Life burst (Liquid E.T. Remix)).
After Stamina Showcase 2 ended, the project continued, and the other simfiles in the pack filtered into existence in ones and twos every now and then. The development has slowed to a virtual standstill since 2020 because I've been focusing on original stream content (as well as tech).
¶ Artistic Influences and Chart Design
The style that dominates this pack was established by the Cirque du Enzo simfile for Longinus, which at the time was my best chart. I wanted to take these new leveled-up skills and apply them to other songs; particularly dark psytrance songs, which were the most challenging genre of music to step. Longinus was relatively “easy” to step because it had a dynamic foreground melody and plenty of layers to work with - contrasted with dark psytrance which had no distinct foreground layer and consisted mainly of monotonous rolling bass interspersed with sound effects that simulated a melody. It would be a real test of skills and mettle.
All six of the Cranked Pastry resteps were done over the course of ten days. Something very notable to me was the significant increase in “stepping stamina” that I now had. I was reminded of how challenging and gruelling each song had been, and how physically enervated I felt after finishing just a single chart. But now, I stepped five in a row and felt “nothing”.
One curious rhetoric choice was the reduced use of UXU and DXD patterns (UU/DDs or “vertical steppiness” in the modern vernacular). This was in the early stages of pattern minmaxing, which was the purposeful discrimination between pattern use to appeal to certain playstyles. UU/DDs were my enemy #1 during this period and was making an active effort to use them as little as possible. Doing this helped place an artificial restriction on my patterning and forced me to optimize what I was using, and it resulted in better clarification of patterning, particularly of UU/DD use (they would have a greater impact whenever they were used).
¶ Graphics
The pack's theme is the manga Made in Abyss, and specifically a notable character from it named Bondrewd. There isn't any particular artistic reason I chose it for this pack's theme - I'm sure there could be drawn inferences that relate to Huayra's concept, but none were taken into consideration when I picked this theme. It looked cool, and Made in Abyss was one of my favorite new things, so that got to be the pick. The other candidate for a concept was Houseki no Kuni, which had also received a recent anime adaptation over the preceding year.
The text uses inverted colors and this gives it the illusion of being the same color. The typeface used is the one used in the Inception (2010) film trailer #1.
The horizontal line that appears to separate the two lines of text on the background (it does not appear on the banner) is a Pagani Huayra stretched out to be very wide. I searched but couldn't locate the exact image of the Huayra I used for this
Between Jan 2016 and 2018, the concept for Huayra was the anime Inu × Boku SS, featuring my favorite character from the show, Karuta Roromiya.
¶ Songlist
Cirque du Huayra contains 16 songs as of Nov 03, 2024
| Song | Artist | BPM | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cheatreal | t+pazolite | 200 | Originally stepped in Oh Henry! Mad Stamina |
| Destinaton Talos | MetaHuman | 187 | Originally stepped in Cranked Pastry |
| Digital Messias | Parandroid | 190 | Originally stepped in Cranked Pastry |
| Granite | Pendulum | 174 | Added Nov 03, 2024 Originally stepped in Pendulum |
| H.A.R.D.C.O.R.E. | Mutante | 240 | Originally stepped in Jimmy Jawns 3 |
| Havoc Impact | Nexus | 185 | Originally stepped in Beast Aoreo BEAST! 2 |
| In my life, my mind | Jeroen Tel | 211.5 | Added Nov 03, 2024 Originally stepped in Oh Henry! Mad Stamina |
| No More Faking | Goreshit | 214 | Originally stepped in Jimmy Jawns 3 |
| Robot Brain Era | Gotalien | 200 | Technically it ranges from 95-236 bpm with 16th notes Originally stepped in Cranked Pastry |
| Shanti (Gotalien Mix) | Angry Luna vs. Gotalien | 198 | Technically it ranges from 198-250 bpm with 16th notes Originally stepped in Cranked Pastry |
| Silver Screen | MetaHuman | 190 | Originally stepped in Cranked Pastry |
| South Bank | Ceephax Acid Crew | 260 | Originally stepped in BangerZ |
| Speed of Link | Hyper-X | 240-260 | Originally stepped in Brule's Brute Breats |
| Stardust | Kopophobia | 250 | Originally stepped for East Coast Stamina 6, but would have released in Psychedelia 2 |
| Stars | Fele | 200 | Added Nov 03, 2024 Originally stepped in Cranked Pastry |
| Tripping Traffic | Setek | 199 | Originally stepped in Cranked Pastry |
¶ Reception and Retrospect
Cirque du Huayra released quietly and to a muted reception, and it wasn't marketed as a major pack in my simfilography. Its charts are mainly used when the songs are being featured in ECS events - the combination of familiar song with updated steps is a lucrative combination for use in the metagame. Generally, I haven't seen this pack see regular play outside of events.
At this stage of my career (late-2019 onwards), I wasn't really doing resteps anymore, like I had been in the first few years, and became focused on original content. That trend has continued, and its resulted in the pack gaining zero new charts in years. I would very much like to continue adding content to the pack, but this isn't the kind of pack I make a point of actively working on; its more a pack in the old style of what a pack used to be - a collection of singles that were bundled together after a stepartist had amassed enough of them.
There's actually been enough time now that I could restep Huayra's charts again and the charts would be noticeably different.
¶ Trivia
- A roadmap, made in October 2014, scheduled Huayra for a Q2 2015 release, which would have been possible if I'd used all of the resteps I'd been writing in 2015 (a lot of Veyron and Zonda resteps)
- A number of other familiar pack names can be seen in various forms of gestation
- Cirque du Beast's release date is listed incorrectly (May 2012)
- Cirque du Veyron's was November 2012
- In my life, my mind and Stars were stepped for courses in ECS 9.5
- The Huayra might be my favorite car of all the ones I've featured
- The Houseki no Kuni concept is absolutely going to be used in the future, especially as the manga ended in April 2024
- Its artwork is among the most gorgeous and creative in the medium