Advanced Simfile Creation Bible
Originally created in 2007(?) by Tsuka. Extremely basic by modern standards but interesting to look back on.
Original .rtf file is also archived by CosmoVibe on his site.
Do not share.
Basics
There are several primary things you need to keep in mind when you create a file:
1. Pick a song.
This is actually half the work of making a sim, and picking the right song to step can be a difficult task. If you want to create a simfile that many people will enjoy, and not just yourself, you will have to pick a song ideal for stepping. A song, will essentially give you the foundation in which you will plan and lay out your step chart. Beginner step artists, should also pick a song that averages at one single simple bpm. Generally, most songs under the EDM (Electronic Dance Music) category will have a single uniform bpm. Generally, songs that are piano, classical, or live/studio recorded, will have a wavering BPM and will be difficult to capture, so unless you're ready to do some heavy math work, or learn "ddrdreamstudio," I'd stray away from these types of songs if I were you until you've some major experience with the Stepmania Step Editor.
2. Sync your song.
Another vital part of the step chart. If your gap is off, and your bpm is just some random number, people will just instantly quit out of your file. There's no fun in playing a stepchart that doesn't follow or sync well with the music; You may as well play stepmania mute and just add your own soundtrack in the studio, lol. I'll get into how to sync in a bit.
3. Layout your step chart.
Basically put arrows down to sounds. Red notes are called 4ths, Blue are 8ths, Yellow are 16ths, Purple are 12ths, Pink are 24ths, and orange are 32nd notes. Most likely, if you're stepping an electronic song, your stepfile will consist of only red, blue, and yellow notes. Songs with swing (aka Jazzy sounding songs and songs that follow weird measures), generally have a lot of purple and pink notes, maybe even teal or green. Those are generally more fun to play as far as files go, but they're more complex to step as well.
Those are the basics.
Now that you've picked a song, let's create a file for it.
Creating the stepfile
Go into your stepmania folder, then go into songs. There, create a folder called "My Creations", or whatever you'd like. That is where you'll hold your created sims.
Now, create a folder within that folder, and name it whatever your simfile is going to be called. Idealy, you'd have it named the same thing as the song you're stepping. Put a copy of the mp3 of your song into that folder, and then create a notepad document.
Copy/Paste this into it
#TITLE:Your Title Here; #ARTIST:Artist of the music here; #BPM:BPM Here; #GAP:0; #SINGLE:MANIAC:Difficulty here: ;
and save it as, songname.dwi
It's important to put the .dwi extension because as a result, you've created a file that stepmania will recognize when you choose to go into the editor.
Pattern Theories To Go By and Stepchart Organization
Ultimately it is up to you to develope your own unique style, but here are some effective ways of attacking a song with usually always effective results.
Layering
A technique that involves stepping to an single instrument; a flute, synth, or piano for example, without any jumps or chords (Triplets or Quadruplets), up to a certain point to which you will go back to where you started, and step another instrument OVER the one you had just stepped, such as for example, any percussion, bass, and any secondary instruments that may be playing in the background. The technique takes some practice however it is easy to understand after several attempts. The only difficulty faced when using this technique usually is when you are trying to layer a song that has many instruments, or many 'layers.' It can be confusing to know which instrument to follow, and how to pursue following that said instrument especially if it is hard to hear at lower rates, which I will get to later in this tutorial. Also, this is subject to the sim-artist's judgement on how the layer technique should be applied to a stepchart. Some people are able to get a better handle on how fun a chart will be based on the patterns set down simply because they've more experience with layering and knowledge based on peer feedback. A layered file could be technical, but still be poorly executed.
Pitch Relevance
This technique has become widely popular to use in the recent months (As of this writing) because it allows the player to more effectively 'feel' like s/he is playing the song itself. It is a concept easy to understand but better judgement must be used when applying it to only 4 keys. The easiest and most simplest way to explain Pitch Relevance, is to tell someone to simply look at a piano. The left side carries the lowest and deepest sounding tones, while the right side carries the lightest most acute sounding tones. If you were to follow both this, and the layering technique, it would be ideal to have the main instrument (and others), be pitch relevant. All you must do, is use your better judgement when limiting a wide array of tones to only 4 keys so that it is most fun, and still correct. It still takes a bit of practice.
Left to Right Progression
An underlying and not-as-well-known way of making simfiles mostly adapted by Kil, this takes the idea of Pop n' Music, and applies it to Stepmania. The idea is to allow the file to start from the leftmost side, and progressively flow moreso to the right, then back to the left as it dies down. It is not enough to step something mostly this way however, and techniques such as layering must be applied to still make such a file interesting.
ClimaX Theory
As it sounds, you build a file up to it's peak as it nears it's end, and then allow it to die down. Using this technique can be considered contraversial as it is somewhat difficult to pull off without making the file a chore to play, but simartists such as IamMe has developed a handle on using Climax theory, and still have an effectively fun file. The idea is to start a file as you would, but then allow it to become a bit more difficult by adding in notes, through layering for example, as the song progresses and seems to reach its finale. This can only be applied well however to a song that allows such a thing to be accomplished. Many songs that were made for Beatmania and DDR tend to have opportunities that allow you to build a chart up using this technique.
Simfile Recommendations
Understanding how these simfiles were made will only serve to help you improve your own simfiles.
Simfile Artist - Simfile Name - Pack:
Aperson's Peaches En Regalia - Puritanical Penis Pack
Aperson's Transport - ODIPack
DJ_Ossa's Itsuka Ji Ga Nagare Te - SMGroove KBMP
GloVE's The Dance of Eternity - ODIPack
GloVE's Universal Mind - ODIPack
Hayden's Twenty Knives - Puritanical Penis Pack
Kil's Leading Cyber - KBMP 1.5
Kil's Thermosphere - Singles or PPP2
Macgravel & Tsuka's Goblinz - SMGroove KBMP2
Patashu's Visitor - SMGroove KBMP2
Vospi's We Met Dat Night - Keyboard Collaboration Pack 3
Yesssss' Blue Rose - SMGroove KBMP
Yesssss' Cruisin - SMGroove KBMP2
Zanthro's Dough-Nuts Town Map - Puritanical Penis Pack
Zanthro's Love Fighter - Keyboard Collaboration Pack 3