Helblinde PDTA is a stream pack by Zaia. It is a sequel to Helblinde 2016 and is a part of the Helblinde pack line. The alias Fractal Dreamers is a collaborative duo consisting of Helblinde and skymuted.
It is themed after the Japanese manga and anime Laid-Back Camp (2018).
| Pack Director | Zaia |
| Stepartists | Zaia, BasedHonk |
| BPM | 140-230 |
| Songcount | 20 (2 mixes) |
| Blocks | 10-19 (13-19 target) |
| Type | Stream |
| Format | Singles |
| Release Date | Jul 01, 2019 |
¶ Structure
IMPORTANT: Two versions of the pack exist:
- The ITG version: Has +0.009ms offsets applied, has 4:3 (800x600) resolution background art
- The “SM5” version: Has no changes to offsets applied, has 16:9 (1920x1080) resolution background art
- It is a misnomer to call it the “SM5 version" because StepMania 5 users still use ITG's mechanics. This would be called the “null offset” version in 2024
Helblinde PDTA contains four charts per simfile, with the exception of the 140 BPM song, Summer Lights, the Grief and Malice restep and the mix Allkore Riot Kontrol 07.
Most songs in the pack continue to occupy the 200 BPM slot, with a few deviations higher and lower.
I made two mixes for the pack:
- Faketal Dreamers - Songlist is all the Helblinde/Helblinde 2016 songs whose Expert charts were considered blatantly overrated. Title is a reference to “Fractal Dreamers”
- Monado
- Dream Dashers
- Yoshino's Boner
- Aura
- Helblykan - Songlist is all the preview-length songs featured in Cirque du Lykan (2014). Title is a reference to “Helblinde” and “Lykan”
- Disconnected
- Imagine Breaker
- Memoria Reborn
- Gateway To Psycho
- Grief & Malice
- A Reyvateil's Curse
- The songlist for ARK07:
- 1 You (stepped by Zaia)
- 2 Our Everlasting Dream (stepped by BasedHonk)
- 3 Dream Dashers (stepped by BasedHonk)
- 4 Putin's Boner (stepped by Zaia)
- 5 MEGA BONER (stepped by BasedHonk)
- 6 Imagine Breaker (stepped by Zaia)
- 7 Zelda's Boner (stepped by BasedHonk)
- 8 Finality (stepped by Zaia)
- 9 Kannazuki No Bullshit (stepped by BasedHonk)
- 10 The Story of Mob (stepped by Zaia)
- 11 Grief & Malice (stepped by BasedHonk)
- 12 The Solace of Oblivion (stepped by Zaia)
- 13 Resonance of Despair (stepped by BasedHonk)
- 14 Rewrite Nightmare (stepped by Zaia)
- 15 Monophobia (Insanity Verse) (stepped by Zaia)
¶ Development
Helblinde 3 was a project that I wasn't meant to develop. Sometime after the release of Helblinde 2016, I passed the project over to BasedHonk to give him a property with an in-built fanbase from which he could more easily cultivate his own stepping career, but this never eventuated. Early in 2019 I approached him to take it back for a Q2/Q3 release date. To honor his brief tenure as the director of the pack, his work was featured in the 45-minute mix Allkore Riot Kontrol 07.
Production went quickly and smoothly. Helblinde is a really easy artist to step, so there are few creative obstacles to overcome and his music has a high input:output ratio (it doesn't take a lot of work to get good charts out of the songs, due to how well they're produced).
On April 12, 2019 I post the banner on Simfile Showcase as a teaser. The planned release date was July 01.
In May, I organized which songs would be in Helblinde 3 and which would go into Helblinde 4. I had difficulty filling out an even 40 songs across two packs, so I put together four mixes, two for each pack, and four non-Helblinde songs that had been featured in ARK05, also two for each pack.
¶ Artistic Influences and Chart Design
There was no particular creative influence for this pack; if anything, its writing style pedigree is that of the preceding Helblinde packs, but with three years since the last one and a lot of changes to my style, it was difficult for the two to be any more similar than in name only. I intentionally wanted this pack to be unambitious compared to the few that had preceded it, and to take things down a notch in terms of size and scale.
I went for a natural approach with the charts. By this point, I had a lot of experience and only needed to listen to a song for a short while to know what type of patterning a given song “felt” like it would have. There was no need to experiment with a particular pattern or writing technique - I had all the ones I needed now, so the actual writing of this pack was just a matter of listening to the song and going with my instincts.
¶ Graphics
The theme is from Laid-Back Camp (Yuru Camp); specifically its 2018 anime adaptation. The image used is a screenshot from the season 1 ED. The editing is very simple - just like with the previous two packs, I used the “Angled Strokes” filter and sharpened the image a bit to help clarify the lines.
The title text is lifted from Deep Dark Fantasies (2015). None of the Helblinde pack banners contain the full title of the pack and only feature the Helblinde name.
Yuru Camp is comfy, just like how this pack is. It's familiar, friendly and has no surprises.
¶ Songlist
Helblinde PDTA contains 18 songs and 2 mixes.
| Song | Artist | BPM | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Allkore Riot Kontrol 07 (ARK07) | Helblinde | 170-230 | |
| Dreamer's Solitude | Helblinde | 170 | |
| Faketal Dreamers | Helblinde (Mixed by Zaia) | 190 | |
| Fata Morgana | Fractal Dreamers | 180 | |
| Grief and Malice (2019 Rebuild) | Helblinde | 200 | Restepped from Helblinde |
| Helblykan | Helblinde (Mixed by Zaia) | 210 | |
| Holding Out For A Hero | Helblinde | 200 | |
| Infinity Chasers | Fractal Dreamers | 200 | |
| Opera Prima (ARK05) | THE SICKEST SQUAD | 207 | Featured in ARK05 |
| Putin's Boner | Helblinde | 200 | |
| Saccharin Sweet Nightmare | Helblinde + Melancholia | 202 | |
| Scarlet Night | Fractal Dreamers | 175 | |
| Summer Lights | Helblinde | 140 | |
| Tender Kiss (ARK05) | Spy47 | 202 | Featured in ARK05 |
| The Battle For Everyone's Souls | Helblinde | 200 | |
| The Ultimate Challenge | Helblinde | 200 | |
| Timeless Journey | Helblinde | 200 | |
| Virulence | Fractal Dreamers | 200 | |
| Yoshino's Boner (2019 Rebuild) | Helblinde | 126-200 | Restepped from Helblinde 2016 Full version |
| Yui & I | Helblinde | 208 |
¶ Reception and Retrospect
The release date was intentionally chosen. It was in the middle of Stamina RPG 3, which meant that the attention of most players would be occupied with the event. I wanted to test the ability to release a pack in the middle of a high-engagement event like Stamina RPG and see how new pack drops could perform despite that handicap. That was the “experiment” that was being conducted with this pack.
As expected, it did not achieve good optics, even with the Helblinde pedigree attached to it. I don't believe the pack ever did pick up like its predecessors had, but the mixes gained a comparatively decent amount of playtime. Most of the exposure this pack received was through its use in ECS events.
I have a positive impression of Helblinde PDTA, although in retrospect I feel I could have filled out the songlist without needing to resort to music from other artists.
¶ Trivia
- It is the last pack to use my original Zaia cdtitle
- It is also the last pack to feature two different versions according to game client preferences. The practice is discontinued after this
- Allkore Riot Kontrol 07: The last song of the mix is Monophobia (Insanity Verse), which was one of the first songs stepped for the original Helblinde pack but was removed early in production. It is used in the mix nearly completely unaltered from its 2014 chart
- Dreamer's Solitude: This song was also rejected from inclusion in the original pack but was never stepped at the time
- There will be a Helblinde 4; it's mainly a matter of clearing out the outstanding projects. The songlist has already been locked in