Greetings,

In an effort to recognize some wonderful tunes under HVSC's VARIOUS directory, two years ago a project named "Best Of VARIOUS" (BOV) was launched. (See http://www.dhp.com/~shark/BOV) The results of the project have been received with enough positive responses that we shall continue. And now, with HVSC 5.2 recently released and the ending of 2002, we are ready to begin BOV 2002.

Before going into BOV 2002 details, we want to clarify a misconception about BOV. Unlike the HVSC Top 100 SID list which was computed based on number of votes _AND_ ranked position, BOV only factors in the number of votes. Since our voters do not rank tunes (due to the large amount of time it would require of voters), we have only half of the equation.

Therefore, BOV project ranks all of its listed SIDs as equals. When one SID has received more votes than another doesn't mean that we are indicating that it ranks above other BOV SIDs. Assuming number of votes solely determines a SIDs ranking would be like assuming that the number one grossing theatrical movie is going to win the Oscar for Motion Picture of the Year. This, of course, is seldom the case.

Below you'll find a general description of the project in FAQ form. If any of you have questions or concerns, please feel free to contact me at SHARK@DHP.C0M. We look forward to hearing from all the BOV 2002 participants.

Long live the SID...

The Shark

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IN GENERAL, HOW DOES THE BOV PROCESS WORK?
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To decide on which VARIOUS tunes are the "best", a two phased process is used: (1) nominating VARIOUS SIDs and then later (2) voting on all the nominated SIDs. IMPORTANT: One does not have to nominate SIDs in order to be eligible for the voting phase. Undoubtedly, going through VARIOUS requires some time. For those who do not have time to nominate SIDs, you are free to skip the nomination phase and participate in the voting phase only.

For a VARIOUS SID to make it into BOV, the SID must receive a vote from 50% or more of the voters. For example, if there are 10 voters, a nominated SID must receive 5 or more votes in order to make it into BOV.

Once a VARIOUS SID becomes "Best of VARIOUS", it stays for life (unless the tune moves above VARIOUS). This is similar to how "Hall of Fame" (in the music/sports world) voting operates. So each year BOV is adding to the results from all previous years.

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HOW DO I NOMINATE SIDS?
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The easiest way to nominate SIDs is to use SIDPlay2-Win's playlist feature -- a very simply task thankfully. All you have to do is use the GUI-based SID selector to select the desired SID and add it to a playlist. The SIDs you add to your new playlist become your nominations.

For non-SIDPlay-Win users, you still can participate by submitting a free form text file instead. The file must list one nomination per line that shows the following:

-> Full path of the SID relative to HVSC
-> Sub-tune # if more than one sub-tune exists (Note, we default to sub-tune #1 if no number is present.)

Here's an example showing the format we expect if you don't use SIDPlay2-Win:

/VARIOUS/A-F/Daf/Batroszyce.sid
/VARIOUS/S-Z/Shogoon/Orbits.sid #9

(Above, tune #1 from Batrozyce is selected by default, and tune #9 is explicitly selected for Orbits.)

The SIDPlay-Win format and the format noted above are the only two we will support.

For an example of a SIDPlay2-Win playlist, please check out the BOV web site for the past BOV playlists.

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ARE THERE ANY RESTRICTIONS WITH THE NOMINATIONS?
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(Note, nomination is not the same as voting! Voting will start shortly after the nominations.)

+ You will have from now until February 09, 2003 (approx. one month) to send in your nominations.
+ Only VARIOUS SIDs in HVSC 5.2 are eligible for BOV.
+ BOV 2002 is not restricted to SIDs made in 2002. Any SID in VARIOUS from any year is eligible.
+ Your nomination playlist can include no more than 50 SIDs. Less than 50 is acceptable.
+ You are free to nominate any VARIOUS SID you wish. Covers, short tunes, etc. are all acceptable.
+ Make sure to indicate which sub-tune you are nominating if there is more than one sub-tune.
+ The order of your nominations has no significance, and can be in any order you wish. Again, there are no rankings in BOV.
+ Although you can nominate tunes from BOV 2000-2001, they are already in BOV so this wouldn't really make sense.
(Note, if you nominate a tune already in BOV, our scripts will filter them out.)
+ Composers are allowed to nominate their own tunes, but please try not to go overboard.
+ Suspicious playlists will be rejected. Suspicious examples would be playlist involved in acts of collusion, playlists that attempt to unfairly skew the results, or an overly bias playlist.

The tunes you nominate should be what _you_ feel are the best -- not what everyone else believes. As a general recommendation, if you enjoy listening to a SID multiple times, then usually it is nomination material.

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WHY AM I ALLOWED TO NOMINATE ONLY 50 SIDS?
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VARIOUS contains over 15,000 SID tunes (including sub-tunes). We want the nomination process to filter through this large number and present a high quality sub-set. This smaller set of tunes will be easier for the voters to digest as they spend time evaluating the tunes.

Since not every nomination playlist will be identical, the odds are high that combination of all nomination playlists will have over 500 hundred (if not more) SIDs to vote on. In addition, we are taking last year's almost-made-it SIDs and automatically nominating them for BOV 2002. You can find this playlist (BOV_2001_Almost-Made-Its.spl) at the BOV web site in case you want ensure you don't overlap any of the tunes (thus maximizing the amount in own nomination list).

And two things to keep in mind: (1) although you can only nominate 50 SIDs, there is no set limit on the number of SIDs you vote for and (2) BOV is done every year, so tunes that don't get nominated this year will have another chance next year.

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IS THERE AN EASY WAY FOR ME TO TELL WHICH TUNES ARE ALREADY IN BOV?
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One good way to search previous BOV results is to open up the file Combo_BOV_2000-2001.spl in a text editor that has a search feature. Then you can search for the song name or musician in the file.

Ideally, it would be nice if the SID emulator GUI would read the BOV playlists and visually show the BOV tunes. I believe the Mac version of SIDPlay2 has this feature.

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HOW DOES THE VOTING WORK?
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We take all the nomination playlists and merge them into one master nomination playlist. Voters will download the playlist and evaluate the tunes in this list. If a voter doesn't think a tune in the master nomination playlist is BOV quality, the voter will eliminate the tune from the playlist (with SIDPlay2-Win, this is all done with through GUI). Once the master nomination playlist is trimmed to your liking, this becomes your vote playlist. The voter sends the trimmed playlist to SHARK@DHP.C0M before the deadline, and we'll count the number of times we see each tune on the vote playlists. If a SID appears on 50% or more of the vote playlists, then the SID will become part of BOV.

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ARE THERE ANY VOTING RESTRICTIONS?
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+ All vote playlist must be received by March XX, 2003 (to be determined).
+ You are free to vote for as many SIDs as you like as long as all the tunes you vote for are in the master nomination playlist.
+ Composers are allowed to vote on their own tunes, but please try not to go overboard.
+ Vote playlists that attempt to unfairly skew the results or have any hint of deceit to them will be thrown out.
Understand that the voting is done at the sub-tune level. So voting for the first sub-tune of a SID does not mean you enjoy all the sub-tunes of the SID file.

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HOW DO I DECIDE WHICH TUNES ARE THE BEST?
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Ultimately, the answer comes down to what you feel are the best tunes. However, we do have a few tips:

+ A "best" tune should stand the test of time. You should be able to listen to the tune multiple times and not grow bored of or annoyed by it.

+ Please listen to each nomination for at least one minute. Sometimes tunes start off strangely but then evolves into something wonderful.

+ Spread your VARIOUS listening out over multiple days. If you try to cram too much listening in at a time, you'll overdose on VARIOUS.

+ If you are running low on time, just do the best you can with the time you have. A partial nomination/vote list would be better than nothing.

+ Check out the previous BOV results for an idea of the quality level expected for a BOV tune.

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WILL YOU REMIND ME BEFORE IMPORTANT DEADLINES ARRIVE?
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Yes. Send an email to SHARK@DHP.C0M indicating which of the two phases (NOMINATIONS and/or VOTING) you'll be participating in. You'll then receive a reminder before each major deadline approaches. In addition, you'll be sure to receive any emails about rule clarifications and such.

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SUMMARIZING THE ENTIRE PROCESS
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1. Download and check out the default playlist that includes last year's almost-made-its
2. Everyone nominates tunes they want to vote on by sending us the tunes in a playlist or in a formatted list
3. A script creates a master playlist that merges everyone's' nominations plus BOV 2001's almost-made-its
4. Download the master nomination playlist (these are the tunes that everyone will vote on)
5. Eliminate from the master playlist the tunes that you don't think are the best
6. Send the trimmed playlist (i.e., the votes) back to us
7. A script tallies the votes
8. SIDs receiving 50% or more of the votes get entered into BOV
9. A new playlist, called BOV 2002, with all the winning SIDs is created
10. People listen to the playlist and are happy. :)

January 05: BOV 2002 officially begins (Step #1)
February 08: The deadline for nominations (Step #2)
February XX: The master nomination playlist sent out (Step #4)
March YY: The deadline for the voting (Step #6)
March ZZ: The results are released.