What I Learned in My First 2 Weeks of Charting

[Zyxel]

I would like to preface in this forum post that I am still unqualified to speak like an authority on the topic of charting, however, I'd like to share my experiences so far.

With that being said, these are a few key points I've adopted in the process of learning how to chart:

1) Approach songs objectively. Don't force an artificial difficulty onto a song because you want [x] skillgroup to experience it, rather, try to envision what would be "correct" and let the song express itself. It is also equally important to chart with intention, rather than slapping random notes on a section and calling it a day. Similar to this idea, always prioritize quality > quantity. I don't think that needs to be said though but there it is!

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2) Consistent patterns in the song should also generally be reflected in the chart. For example, it's quite off-putting when you chart a specific drum beat as 1 > 3 > 2 over the course of lets say 4 meters, then suddenly you change it to a random jump. It's not fun for the player and shows holes/inconsistencies in the chart. If you are to do anything otherwise, you need to have a good reason to justify doing so. (i.e if there is like a buildup or something and the next measure introduces claps layered with the kick, that might me a good enough justification to turn the jumps into hands or something, idk, random example)

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3) Generally, from my experience, for a chart to be fun it has to have "good flow". One way I try to develop "good flow" in a chart (except for the obvious things like proper sync/bpm/etc) is focusing on a specific subset of skill-sets and letting that be the driving factor of a given section. It's important to have skill-set variety, and this is where a lot of the expression comes in as a charter. "Do I want to chart this chord progression as a jumpstream or do chord jacks?" and going from there idk

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4) Feedback is OP. With my own eyes hands and experience, I'm pretty good at making BAD charts. I'm not yet able to develop a "good" chart by myself, but I can get the groundwork and foundation setup. From there, through the help of community feedback, the chart can be made SIGNIFICANTLY better. (or refer to ositzxz quote in my signature #real)

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5) This should go without saying, but don't kickstart your charting adventure trying to make a top-level D8 chart (rofl). Let's be real most of us are not there and don't have the experience or wisdom to develop something of that caliber without having been at the top OR having charted for a LONG time and knowing what does and doesn't belong. In addition, this difficulty range is especially scary because it dances on the line of what IS and ISN'T humanly possible yet; and that line shouldn't be written by some random d3 player who thought it'd be funny to make 250bpm 16th longjacks (not me i swear)

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6) Have fun! The whole point of charting (imo) is to make something you can personally enjoy. It's just a bonus if that translates to others also enjoying your charts. It's a form of self expression and can be incredibly rewarding when you put in the time to make something you think is cool.

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Bonus: Attempting to chart a good file can give you a serious sense of appreciation for good already-existing files that you might enjoy. (In my case I actually learned more about the game and it helped me improve as a player as well! I also learned a lot of the terminology that I hadn't known before. Cool! I'm also very excited to continue learning how to chart.)

I'm still a noob at making charts and I'm pretty sure they're all bad, but there is something incredibly therapeutic about sitting down and placing arrows on a nifty song. Its fun! Also I'm not the most articulate person in the world and kinda suck at explaining basic concepts in a way that doesn't take 50 paragraphs to so apologies for the long read. (Also I'm making a mini-pack! But that's for later :O)

[XelNya]

This is a cool read. Nice to see you dive into the abyss.

Best of luck with it~

[ToonE156]

this is a fucking amazing read

[Zyxel]

ty for the kind words!

something i forgot to mention is that i highly recommend anyone who plays or enjoys VSRGs to give charting a shot (i sort-of alluded to it in the bonus section but i promise it is worthwhile)

[Tru]

This is an interesting read, and you definitely seem to have developed some good basic charting instincts.

You kind of just popped in to the discord one day and started asking for tips on one of your files, which is great and seems to have worked out quite well. Have you seen/referred to any charting guides? And if so, which?

[Zyxel]

wait there are charting guides? i guess that makes sense but all ive worked with is just intuition + feedback in #simfiles

HOWEVER i do like to play hi19 files or ositzxz files to see how they approach specific "patterns" and use them as inspiration (especially Capoeria Sundance, absolutely PHENOMENAL chart). I would honestly constitute playing either of their charts as "guides" legit. I love skeletor and system doctor for inspiration, Prawnskunk also makes really good files that I've learned a lot from, Samurai is another stepauthor who I think has a strong fundamental understanding of how to make a chart fun and engaging, Elite Ninja has some really nice files too, Razor has some BANGER charts too (really like the monstercat 3 year mix, Kodomoraibu, and Devilz Staircase) as well as some other wonderfully skilled and talented stepartists that I haven't mentioned

as for the discord, thats pretty accurate lolol. Ive actually been lurking since the beginning of 2022 iirc but didnt make an actual account until a few weeks ago. (Mainly coming back because of my initial experience with FFR on my older brother's old account "bagbkaz" around 2005 when i was a tiny little man https://www.flashflashrevolution.com/profile/Bagbkaz/)

[XelNya]

This is likely not what Tru is referring to, but you might find it helpful. (Would add the feedback section is more Etterna catered, so your results will vary heavily there.)

[Tru]

Originally Posted by XelNya

This is likely not what Tru is referring to, but you might find it helpful. (Would add the feedback section is more Etterna catered, so your results will vary heavily there.)

Yes and no.
I wanted to know if Zyxel had used/seen any of these resources and if they had been useful because I find many of them aren't written/presented in a newbie friendly way. I'm sure there may be some newbies who would find eg. Cosmovibe's site useful, but that is far from universal.

I've long thought that all you really need to start charting is some game experience, AV, a small/quick guide on how to navigate AV, and a digitally-produced (constant BPM) song you like. The fact that Zyxel hadn't even known about these guides is a small amount of proof positive and also pretty impressive.

[Zyxel]

yo i didnt know resources like that existed, they look insanely useful

but my ADHD is so bad i can barely read the giant walls of text, i just keep re-reading the same first sentence then giving up rofl

HOWEVER give me like a couple months of grinding out the ins-and-outs of charting and I'd love to make a very beginner-friendly start to finish guide on charting. (I actually have experience in this sort of thing, I used to make luigi guides back when i used to played smash competitively and they'd be like 50 pages long)

luckily AV has been incredibly intuitive and systematic (except for the "make new chart" part, yuck) so the learning process has been incredibly seamless and is very easy to break apart

[MarioNintendo]

6) Have fun! The whole point of charting (imo) is to make something you can personally enjoy. It's just a bonus if that translates to others also enjoying your charts. It's a form of self expression and can be incredibly rewarding when you put in the time to make something you think is cool.

I think this hits the nail on the head perfectly. As long as you're having fun charting and are able to enjoy your own files, you'll never get tired of this hobby. I hope you'll get as much out of it as I did over my 11 years of charting.

Thanks for sharing your insights! Never stop learning!