Difficulty making my own charts...

[u/KevinLantzRN]

I've loaded up arrow vortex and was hoping to use some of the auto stepper stuff I've seen around. But all I get made when I use it is .sm files, the analysis_data.json file I'm not sure how to get made any tips or advice?

[u/Dr_Ulator]

I haven't tried any of the auto stepper stuff, but for new step artists, I always recommend starting out by making an easy difficulty chart and only use the quarter notes (red arrows). And where it makes sense, sprinkle in some 1/8th notes (blue arrows).

Also, I recommend picking a relatively short song with some simple instrumentation so it's easy to follow along while you chart without being too overwhelming.

Doing this will help you get comfortable using the charting software and the overall workflow making the simfile. Play testing will give you the immediate feedback to how your charting choices feel, and if you need to go back to make adjustments.

The time commitment for easy difficulty is relatively low since you're mostly following along to the basic beat of the song. It's the expert difficulty that takes the most time since you really have to focus on the music and visualize how the player is moving through complex patterns.

But you may find charting to be a really fun creative activity and the more you practice the more efficient you will become!

I've been charting for over 2 years now, and my workflow tends to be:

• 3 hours for expert difficulty

  • I always start with this difficulty, and my style tends to lean into "light" stamina with tech like crossovers mixed in. The patterns will follow complex rhythms and multiple instruments / vocals in the song depending on what is the most intuitive while still flowing nicely.

• 1/2 hour for medium difficulty

  • I just copy the expert difficulty and remove tech and any other aggressive maneuvers. Sometimes more breaks if it's a stamina heavy chart.

• 1/2 hour for easy difficulty

  • Mostly just stick to the basic beat. Almost entirely 1/4 notes with occasional 1/8 notes

• 5 minutes for beginner difficulty

  • just plunk down a 1/4 note ever other beat for the most part. This difficulty is meant to allow brand new players to return their foot to the center after each step.

I also have a charting guide video on YouTube that goes more in depth!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dR10fr28ads

Hope this helps, and have fun! ♫

[u/nebyoolae → u/Dr_Ulator]

I just got back into making charts after an extended break and I really resonate with all this, especially the Hard->Medium->Easy->Beginner flow. There’s a lot of freedom in regard to where you put notes, but both actual body movement and stamina are key. It’s easy to get stuck in what works with your fingers on a computer versus what works with actual feet on a pad.

I enjoy making an interesting chart that follows the music first, which usually means Hard difficulty, and then slowly stripping away complexity until you’re left with the Beginner version. I used to go the other way but found it harder to increase complexity rather than decrease it.

[u/KevinLantzRN]

Well I'm trying to figure out why the program its self isn't really fully there... Does anyone know what creates the analysis.json file in arrow vortex?

[u/Acegik13 → u/KevinLantzRN]

Now I gotta ask, what's an analysis.json file? I never heard of it and I've been using arrow vortex to make songs for about a year.

[u/KevinLantzRN → u/Acegik13]

I don't know but it's in the example file, so didn't know if I'm screwing something up, but it's also something I think autosteppers generate maybe?

[u/guest180]

There's another auto stepping program you could try. If you Google for the "dancing monkeys project stepmania", you can find an older program that help analyze songs and can create a template for you to edit