[TheSheepQueen]

I’m not talking about customs in particular but as a whole. C3 has been going on for a while now, and so I thought the admins could use a little wholesomeness for that day even if they’re not all Americans. Please tell how C3 changed some stuff about your life, your gaming habits, and all that!

 

I myself am very grateful about what C3 did to my life. I really used to spend way too much time just binge watching videos. I also was a very casual Phase Shift player, after having played Guitar Hero ever since my neighbour invited me home that day in 2006 (Or was it 2007?). We played the first one, on the PS2 and it went like a snap in my brain. My earliest memory is being shit at Spanish Castle Magic and No One Knows, and I kept being shit on these tracks for a while, until 2007 (And this time I’m sure about that date) when my grandpa offered me (without me asking for anything in particular) Guitar Hero II. That’s when I started gaining more interest because I was getting better, and I started playing on medium. Then for World Tour and Warriors Of Rock I was playing on Hard. Then came Phase Shift, and I finally got into expert, but I lacked of new stuff to play, I wanted new songs that they couldn’t license, that’s when I saw the light.

 

One sweet day when I was in high school, I was at the library looking for Phase Shift custom songs. But I really just thought it was on the FoF forum and nowhere else. That’s when I used my brain for once and searched on Google for “phase shift customs download”. After a few minutes I come across a database and the first song I saw was Zombie by The Cranberries, it had just been released. My first thought was that it was cool it had full band and all difficulties so I could play with friends. So I got home and downloaded it all, then followed every release until the end. A bit before that end, I discovered the forums, so I created my account.

 

Flash forward to the holidays of 2015. Somehow I thought “I should do the same”, and in one afternoon, I authored the Lavender Town theme. There wasn’t a database thing yet so it was really just a forum post; you might also notice I kept the last sentence about posting more custom to this day.

Long story short, I had found a good hobby. I had already started collecting vinyl records but there was finally something I could do well with my hands (I was still shit at instruments). I used to be very distant but I managed to get along with so many people in here, and we hall managed to do great things (C3thon and C3X, the first one being the first thing I mention everytime I get to talk about my achievements in life). And so I was less alone, both in what concerned me and in what I was doing, I really just made friends and it has helped me keep up with life all while releasing TWO HUNDRED PLUS CUSTOMS, and to think I used to think I wouldn’t even be able to put out 100.

 

So I am thankful for C3 because it came at a time in my life I was starting to go downhill. I can’t say it’s bringing me up, it’s more complex than that, but it prevents me from going down even more. It has helped me to adult-up and it has given me a reason to carry on because before that: I thought no matter what I did, nobody would care, and more than 88K downloads and counting plus endless support from messages and people have proven me wrong.

 

Thank you C3, and thank you to all of the humans all over the world behind it.

 

EDIT: I had been authoring for FoF since 2010 but never released a single chart before C3!

[kueller]

Ah I like this, I’ll try to structure it similarly with the backstory and all.

 

It’s been almost a decade that I started authoring, back on FoF wanting to get my favorite songs in the game (guess which band). My friends at the time played the rhythm games so it was something I could share among them but also share to the world. I started on the most basic of programs doing guitar only and eventually learned how to fill in the rest, even learning a bit of Reaper before the RBN tools came out since a DAW was the most versatile. I like to think I got pretty good at it.

 

Thing is though, it was a rather solitary hobby. As my friends moved on I would author, release on FoF to a few thank yous, and then load the next song. This was fine, I still enjoyed the rush of people appreciating my work and I’d grown to like authoring more than playing. But still, there was no strong community there that I was part of. FoF was also dying out so even the little that was there was fading. The Radiohead project I was a part of died (some of those charts live on in the C3 database) and the contests and other community get-togethers were done.

 

On a random Twitch stream, about 3 years ago, I had a viewer (PopGoesRockBand) that happened to recognize my charts from FoF. He convinced me to join C3 which I didn’t even know about. I had known about Rock Band customs years ago but it either required a process to complex for me to try or used Audition mode that I could not get access to. Coming from that stone age the amount of documentation and tools was mind-blowing and to this day I am still impressed at how much the community here was able to authoring and playing customs so easy.

 

Still, I was kinda distant for a year. I was still in the cycle of author, share, get thanks, repeat. In late 2016 lacking a real internet home I started interacting more with the people here and that’s where the story really gets special. I found the remnants of the passion that I thought was lost with the rhythm games post-2010, and even more, people who were more immersed into authoring completeness than I was. What used to be a standard for the top was now a standard for the norm and I was all in for that. I was always hating myself though for missing out on official C3. The most was my FoF chart for Undisclosed Desires used as a basis.

 

Shortly after C3thon happened and there I really felt like I was a part of something here and I got to challenge myself more than I had in years for this hobby. Since then I’ve been participating in collabs, being part of large projects, offering my own software tools to try and join the ranks of Nemo’s, and turning my streams into C3 showcases. This isn’t some passionate internal drive I have, the environment fosters it.

 

That’s what’s really special, and what I leave the best for last. I’ve actually met friends here, from this hobby that used to be my own quiet work. I’ve been across the world to meet one even. They inspire me to do more and try more with this little video game approaching a decade in age. It’s not an exaggeration to say I’ve changed for the better because of them. I feel welcome here. And I don’t regret one bit of the sleep I’ve lost as a result of it all.

 

So yeah, thank you C3. And thank you Sheep for this thread. I’ll cutoff here. I could go on for pages.

[yaniv297]

My post will be very undramatic compared to previous replies, but I’ll do it anyway haha

 

Well, if we’re talking about the world outside my head, it mostly annoys my brother that I now spend much more time playing Rock Band (because I have much more songs now!) rather than playing FIFA with him. He tried to play with me but he’s pretty bad… he does enjoy the Arcade Fire songs I did though! They’re his favorite band.

 

As for positives, it improved my hearing and musical analysis skills (mostly harmonies, I look for those everywhere now). As a guitar player in a band myself, it’s been fascinating to take a closer look at other bands and their relationships, the way the songs are built and instruments interact. I’ve always kind of analysed it in my head anyway, but now there’s a real outlet and end product to this analysis. I discovered some great music here, and dug deeper into music I already loved. Also, despite being pretty small, the community here is really awesome and the level of dedication and quality standard here is really impressive. So thanks!

 

Also, I was fairly embarrassed to tell my GF about my RB/authoring habit, but she actually thought it was pretty cool and didn’t find it strange at all. So that was a really nice moment of ‘oh my god you’re a total keeper’ for me. To have a partner supportive/appreciative and non-judgmental of your weird geeky habits is great.

[chaosjaye]

rockband 3 started me and my daughter spending alot more time playing rockband…even as she grew to a teen and parents and teens start drifting some time wise together. rb3 died out we would play once a month or so…then i found here. even though shes now 19 and off too collage every visit she comes home i have to save all the new songs i took from here so she can go through em and add them to our setlist. so C3 kept us talking…singing being around each other . my daughter is a huge kpop fan…but last week while visitng she went and put on a rockband 2 setlist of those crappy free songs ya got …we always made her sing cause we hated em.

So while the video game songs…the memes songs..the asian songs arnt my thing..they highly are all hers. and for that i thank you all. oh ps…her fav customs are always sheeps …as well as her avatar:)

[Dangus]

I love how this site and regular Rock Band have helped me open my mind to different kinds of music. I’m grateful for the experiences (playing with family and friends), the openness (accepting differences either through the music itself or the artist themselves), and the love of the community. This site has truly showed me music I’d had never even found on my own. And for that I am grateful.

[Nintendo113]

Rhythm games like GH/RB have widened my music library by tenfold. There’s so many songs I would’ve never discovered if it weren’t for them. Never mind the countless hours I’ve spent with friends and family playing these games and having a good time.

 

I’m thankful for the entire C3 community for being so awesome and just still being around after all these years. It’s incredible being able to just search for something, download it, and you’re good to go. It’s been a Godsend finding a ton of my favorite tracks that haven’t been featured in RB yet and being able to finally play them.

 

I’m thankful to everyone who’s made customs and that they’re still making them after all these years. Thank you guys.

 

I want to get into making customs myself, but I’m not sure how to start.

[imported_doa]

I don’t really have much of a story to tell – I was very late in discovering RB mostly because my wife and I had our kids around that time and we didn’t really know much about it. Then one year we saw a Guitar Hero? arcade machine at a kids birthday party and both played a song together. We look at each other and my wife said, we have to get this! That was my new mission and I bought a 360 from Amazon and a used full band kit on ebay for about $200 a few Christmas’ ago. We’ve played regularly since then to varying degrees and enjoyed many game nights with friends rocking out! One of my fondest memories is my two girls sat on the sofa with a mic each screaming / shouting along to Painkiller a year or so ago … Also my eldest always plays that INXS song on expert keys and gets 100% lol she loves getting 100% on expert ” src=”/wp-content/uploads/invision_emoticons/default_SA_smile.gif” />

 

I am grateful that my Rock Band game nights are more fun because there are customs to play, for the songs that would otherwise not be charted, and for the reductions that allow mediocre players like me and my friends to enjoy more Rock Band. I am also grateful for how helpful you guys are in helping people like me learn how to do this stuff ” src=”/wp-content/uploads/invision_emoticons/default_SA_smile.gif” /> I am also really grateful for the tools which help authors and the documentation – everything would be a lot harder without this. And for the servers and forums that host everything and help to keep us together ” src=”/wp-content/uploads/invision_emoticons/default_SA_smile.gif” /> I’ve also discovered new songs and bands which is great too ” src=”/wp-content/uploads/invision_emoticons/default_SA_smile.gif” />

 

I still remember the day that I discovered what a custom was and this community – how did I not know about this sooner! And quickly discovered a load of great songs!

 

C3 gave me a great new hobby that allows me to enjoy music that I love in a new way, and to meet plenty of cool people too on the forums etc ” src=”/wp-content/uploads/invision_emoticons/default_SA_smile.gif” />

 

Thank you all for your dedication, time, commitment and passion. You Rock!

[Atruejedi]

Not too mushy, but, indeed, for the past few years, for personal reasons, I had way too much time on my hands. This community allowed me to channel that pent-up energy into something constructive. While the opposite is now true and I have too little free time, I still dedicate plenty of those hours to publishing customs. It’s fulfilling, and for that, I’m thankful.

 

Plus, this place gives me a platform to spew my music snobbery and post random links.

 

Now, to eat turkey, drink wine, and play video games. Cheers!

[Dandysqueak]

My story isn’t that interesting, but it may be to some people, so sit back and relax! (It’s a long one, too: be prepared!)

 

Everything started around 2007/2008, I was about 8 years old when I first discovered a copy of Guitar Hero: World Tour at my aunt’s house. Piquing my curiosity, I wanted to play it with them, and got my first taste of rhythm games that would become an integral part of my life much later on. One of my first memories was playing Pat Benatar’s Heartbreaker on, of all things, guitar, but I wasn’t very good at it at all. I switched to drums, and I seemed to have a knack for it. I absolutely loved my first playthrough, and in subsequent visits I also played The Beatles: Rock Band, which made me love and appreciate The Beatles so much more than I used to (before then, I was the type of kid who thought Paul McCartney was Jesse McCartney’s grandpa or something, LOL), turning them into one of my all-time favorite bands. It also got me interested in playing real drums, which I’ll also go into in a second.

 

All the rhythm game playing eventually culminated into more-so a love for Rock Band, mainly because the Rock Band games I wanted to get at the time (RB2 and Lego Rock Band) had a really cool career mode that I don’t really remember if GH had or not. Either way, this proved to be the right decision for me later on. Christmas of 2012 is when I got basically my rhythm game dream: Lego Rock Band, The Beatles: Rock Band, the AC/DC Live pack, and RB2, coming with a microphone, a Fender guitar (which I still have!) and a standard kit. I still remember singing along with my family to Spirit in the Sky by Norman Greenbaum and tapping away on drums to Drive My Car with my sister providing vocals that morning.

 

I played RB2 for a couple of years, eventually working my way up to Expert Drums (first song I played on Expert was Float On by Modest Mouse) and basically blowing everybody else who played on Medium or whatever out of the water. I eventually got RB3 too, and I still remember rocking out with my older brother at 1 AM to the career mode in that game, most notably on Saturday Night’s Alright for Fighting by Elton John.

 

“All right, now all of that is well and good, but what’s this got to do with C3?” Glad you asked! Around September of 2016, I was bored on YouTube, and found out about a streamer calling himself iKylex360a, a Rock Band player who was very, very good at drums, garnering many first-evers and FCs on his channel. He also mentioned in the description of each video that he had a Twitch channel where he did many of these FCs live, and I decided to take a look. I myself was getting into Twitch at the time, and was interested in watching more and more people. You can see me in the chat in a couple of his videos, including the one that’s most popular on his channel, an FC of Through the Fire and Flames on Pro Brutal Drums in RB4. Anyway, when he wasn’t going for FCs, Kyle played either on-disc songs, DLC, or, a completely new challenger, custom songs. When I asked him about custom songs (specifically drum customs), he recommended another streamer to me, by the name of Calibration_God (now known as BirdmanExe on Twitch), another ridiculously good drummer. He played viewer-made custom songs on his stream, and I had to figure out how to do them myself so I could have him play songs by another one of my all-time favorite bands, Walk the Moon.

 

In my search on how to walk the customs moon, I discovered C3, and signed up on March 12th, 2017. I followed the tutorials, and made my first drum-only customs, all by Walk the Moon. My first customs were, to say the least… very bad. They were either broken, overcharted, or simply weren’t quality. Not to mention I didn’t bother tempo mapping (a thing I now don’t understand why I didn’t do before), so a lot of them were out of sync as well. I also didn’t have a customs-ready machine to playtest them on yet, so I just had to cross my fingers they would work out as I intended. The day came when I sent in my customs to Calibration_God, and… they were all out of sync, not to mention on stream for everybody to look at. Compared to all the rest of the customs that were sent in that stream, I was the laughingstock of the whole stream. But that didn’t bring me down, because I got better and better behind the scenes. But before I made a true comeback, I needed to wipe my tracks: I eventually deleted my first charts, simply because I felt self-conscious and guilty that I created such garbage. I made a promise to myself at the start of 2018 that I would publish my first completely solo full-band custom, where I did everything myself. As it turns out, I’d fulfill my wish.

 

Fast forward to June 2018, and the announcement for C3 Generations drops, with many authors taking part, including me. It was a daunting task to create four fully finished songs pretty much by myself (with help from some friends), but I eventually made it. Since then, I’ve set my sights on reworking my old Walk the Moon project, and eventually creating and charting my own music.

 

In summary, I’m extremely thankful for C3 (and Rock Band in general) for being a major part of my life. Without them, I wouldn’t know where I’d be. I wouldn’t have the music taste I do now; I wouldn’t be drumming like I have been for six years, and I certainly wouldn’t be making my own music that could very well be my career if I try hard. And all this from a visit to my aunt’s house.

 

Thank you, C3. Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

[Author]

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