AFK CON 2022 POP’N TOURNAMENT RULES (preliminary 9-16-22)

Where: AFK CON

Main Ballroom, The Embassy Suites Denver Central Park

4444 Havana Street Denver CO 80239

Judges:

• raven_gvda (Discord: @raven_gvda#9999)

• anko (Discord: @Strobe🔥Grill#5537)

When: Sunday, October 2 from 10:00 to 17:00 MDT (10 AM to 5 PM)

The tournament schedule may be found at the end of this document here.

Registration:

• You must purchase an AFK con pass to participate in the tournament. Passes can be purchased here.

• The entry fee for the tournament is $5.

• Advanced signup for the tournament can be done online here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSc1l5UGcGjfSp5shfQNbjv48HupdHx_GaDXg9uGei9KpNu2Lw/viewform.

• In addition, in-person signups will be allowed up to 30 minutes before the tournament begins at the judge’s table in the Main Ballroom.

• The tournament entry fee shall be paid onsite during check-in at the judge’s table.

• All entrants shall check-in onsite the day of the tournament, and check-in will end 15 minutes before qualifying begins (9:45 AM).

Tournament Structure:

The tournament will be divided into three stages: Qualifying, Waterfall Brackets, and Finals.

Qualifying

SUMMARY: Qualifying will consist of two pre-selected songs, and player scores will determine division placement for the main tournament. Entrants who do not participate in qualification will not be allowed to advance.

• Qualifying will be divided into two difficulty tiers: UPPER and LOWER

• Entrants may select which difficulty tier they wish to participate in.

• If fewer than 10 entrants check-in, qualifying will consist of a LOWER tier only.

• Two songs will be pre-selected for qualifying. UPPER and LOWER tiers will have different sets of songs.

• If fewer than 10 entrants check-in, qualifier songs will be the songs selected for the LOWER tier.

• Two songs for qualifying shall be played by each entrant for their selected difficulty tier.

• Entrants may choose which order they play the songs in.

• Entrants shall be permitted one minute of rest between songs.

• The rest period begins once the song is selected (i.e., in the OPTION SELECT menu).

• Judges will be responsible for navigating to songs and recording scores, and players will be asked to relinquish control of the cabinet during that time.

• Players will be placed in divisions based on the sum total of the two money scores they achieve from qualification.

• Clearing or failing a song has no impact on placement.

• All players in the UPPER tier will be placed in divisions higher than players in the LOWER tier, unless the total quantity of players causes a division to have less than 3 players.

• Scoring during qualification will only count toward placement into divisions.

Main Tournament

SUMMARY: The main tournament will consist of divisions nominally containing 3 players each, and the top player of each division shall advance to the next. Songs will be randomly selected from a 3 difficulty level range.

Players in each division will be expected to arrive at least 5 minutes before the time indicated in the schedule. The schedule may be found on the last page of this document here.

• Brackets will be Waterfall style with 3 players per division consisting of 2 from qualifying and 1 advancing from the previous division.

• More information on Waterfall Brackets may be found here: https://thesmashwriter.wordpress.com/2017/04/24/what-is-a-waterfall-bracket/

• The number of players per division may change depending on the number of entrants.

• Players in each division will play 2 randomly selected songs within a range of 3 difficulty levels.

• The lowest division will have a difficulty level range of 34-36, the next division will have a difficulty range of 37-39, etc.

• Songs with long pop-kun (aka hold notes) will not be permitted during brackets if profile card reading is disabled.

• The difficulty level cap will be 45-47.

• The difficulty level range for divisions may be arbitrarily changed by the judges depending on the skill range of entrants.

• A player may have the option of proposing a different difficulty level range for the division. For more information, see the "Favorable Competition Clause" below.

• Both songs selected per division shall be played sequentially for each player.

• The play order within each division shall be determined by the qualifier scores, with the highest scoring players playing first.

• If applicable, players that have advanced from the previous division will play last.

• Players may choose which order they play the songs in.

• Players shall be permitted one minute of rest between songs.

• The rest period begins once the song is selected (i.e., in the OPTION SELECT menu).

• Judges will be responsible for navigating to songs and recording scores, and players will be asked to relinquish control of the cabinet during that time.

• The top player of each division shall advance to the next division.

• Placement within a division will be based on the sum total of the two money scores they achieve.

• The top 2 players of the final division shall proceed to finals.

• At the conclusion of the tournament, a player's overall placement in the tournament shall be determined by their cumulative score in the highest division reached, except for the two players that advanced to the finals.

• Clearing or failing a song has no impact on placement.

Finals

SUMMARY: The top two players from the main tournament will face-off in finals in an Arena-style matchup consisting of 2 songs, both players picking one song.

• Finals will be Arena style.

• The finalists consist of the top 2 players from the final division of the Main Tournament

• Each of the 2 finalists shall pick one song, and each of the 2 finalists shall play both selected songs.

• Finalists may pick a song of any difficulty.

• Player order will be based on scoring from the final division, with the highest placing occurring first.

• The 2nd player will pick the first song to be played by the 1st, and the 1st player will pick the second song.

• During the 1st player's turn, both players may select songs without relinquishing control of the cabinet to the judges.

• However, during score recording and the 2nd player’s turn, the judges will have control of the cabinet.

• The 2nd player can play the songs in either order.

• Players shall be permitted one minute of rest between songs.

• The rest period begins once the song is selected (i.e., in the gameplay options menu).

• The tournament winner will be determined by the sum total of the two money scores achieved.

• The player with a lower total score will place 2nd overall in the tournament.

• Clearing or failing a song has no impact on placement.

Gameplay:

• Players may use their personal account cards.

• If a player does not have a personal account card, they shall use the designated tournament profile card.

• During qualifying and divisions in the main tournament, judges will be responsible for navigating to songs and recording scores, and players will be asked to relinquish control of the cabinet during that time.

• Players may choose any song options / modifiers.

• MIRROR, RANDOM, and S-RANDOM modifiers are permitted, but not required.

• OJAMAs shall be permitted.

• Players may only attempt each song one time.

• Players will not be allowed to restart a song if gameplay options are set incorrectly.

• In the event that the player is unable to complete a song due to factors outside their control (i.e., software crash, power outage, excessive disturbance, emergency, etc.) the player may make an additional attempt.

• “Excessive disturbance” will be determined by tournament judges.

Other:

• Judges reserve the right to make exceptions to the rules at any time.

• If a player is suspected to be intentionally playing well below their skill level in order to gain more play time (i.e. sandbagging), judges reserve the right to disqualify that player.

• The tournament shall be played on the cabinet provided at AFK con.

• The tournament shall be played on one (1) pop'n music Animelo cabinet (Type A).

• The cabinet will run Pop'n Music Kaimei Riddles version (TBD).

• The cabinet will be connected to the Eagle scorekeeping network.

• The weight of the button setup is 100g switches and 100g springs.

Favorable Competition Clause

• In a division, if a player does not wish to play the songs randomly selected for a specific difficulty level range, they may propose a different difficulty level range for songs to be randomly drawn from.

• The above clause may be activated if and only if all of these conditions are met:

• After songs for a division are randomly picked

• All players of a division are present for the division

• No players in the division have began a credit for the division

• The proposal process is as follows:

• The proposal is started when the player acknowledges they want the difficulty level changed or refer to this clause.

• Before the proposal proceeds, the tournament judges will ensure all players of the division are present. The judges will NOT delay the tournament to locate missing players.

• Once all players of the division are located, the player who requested the proposal will propose the difficulty level range to change to.

• If applicable, the difficulty range must not be higher than the difficulty level cap for the main tournament.

• For the proposal to be accepted, all players in the division must agree (i.e. vote "yes") on the new difficulty range.

• If a player from the division does not show up to play without prior notification to the judges, this clause will be invalidated.

• If a proposal is accepted:

• Songs for the division will be drawn at random in the new difficulty range.

• The clause may not be activated again for the division after an accepted proposal.

• Proceeding divisions will be prompted by the judges with the option to activate this clause after songs are randomly selected.

• If a proposal is not accepted:

• Players in a division will continue with the songs selected.

• The clause may not be activated again for the division.

Tournament Schedule:

In-person signup: (10 AM - 10:30 AM?)

Check-in: (10 AM - 10:45 AM?)

Qualifying: 11 AM - (number of entrants x 10 mins + 10 mins)

Divisions:

• D(n): (number of entrants x 10 mins + 10 mins)

• D(n-1): etc.

Finals: (10 mins after end of D1?)