A primer on “not shit” dumping
THIS IS OF COURSE ALL ENTIRELY SUBJECTIVE AND MAYBE I JUST HAVE NO IDEA WHAT IM TALKING ABOUT
Why make dumps? As players get better at the game you approach a point where in order to create files at an appropriate difficulty level you end up essentially just charting noise. See, nero’s day in disneyland, m1dy, flashblurbs etc.
Dumps are essentially taking songs that you enjoy and creating a chart around it that retains a difficulty level not technically justified by the music but still fits the song, so that you can play music you want to listen to without being bored out of your mind.
Misconceptions in the definition of dumps- dumps are not taking a random song and placing random arrows in the stepfile and/or control +r recording you mashing your keys and calling it a day.
Dumping charts isn’t about not having any rules, it’s about creating your own rules and adhering to them. You can apply most rules of technical charting to dumping a file. Think of the essence of dumping as a spiritual expansion of the ideas and theories of traditional charting. The major point is you can do this in a way that conveys the essence of a song without adhering to strict technicality.
When charting a dump you are creating a file specifically for the gameplay value relative the song.
General tips:
Chart identity: You should have a general idea of what your chart is going to be and attempt to not stray too far from this, ie, dont make a huge 20 second mine dodge file in a 7 minute song that otherwise has no mines. Or have massive 24th freeze-stream patterns in a file that is 4 minutes of 16th streams.
Difficulty variation: You should have a coherent level of difficulty that you wish to deliver the file in, and avoid having wild spikes of difficulty in one direction or the other. This goes two ways and your fast/slow sections should be within ±50% of your average nps.
Patternization: Avoid entirely random “patterns”. Avoid patterns that cbrush easily or are habit forming. Avoid incessant copy pasta. 24th dense handstream is almost always a fucking terrible idea because of how trilly and non variable it gets. If you have a pattern or a structure that is very clearly linked to a specific section of a song that repeats, you can repeat the pattern.
Structure: Dumps should have a coherent structure and just like any normal technical chart; every note should exist for a reason. Just that reason might not necessarily be a musical note.
Hand Balance: unless you are specifically and intentionally biasing towards a single hand avoid long stretches of emptiness or cluttering on a single hand.
Playtesting: way more important than doing so for a technical file, because the entire basis of the file is how it feels to play. keep in mind different people are good at different patterns and find them more/less fun, which is why it is particularly important to have as large a group of dedicated playtesters as possible.
Intro: The intro of a song is used to set the pace for the rest of the file. It shouldn’t be super easy or hard relative to the rest of the file, and it should definitely not contain 15 seconds of silence and no notes.
