Aperson's guide is pretty good, but I'm going to touch a bunch of other things that he does not. I made this because it felt like some of these things needed to be touched.
Only specific rule number one: Follow the ****ing music! If your file does not do this, then your simfile will be crappy. If you can't follow the music because it's too fast, then slow it down.
Another thing is don't use the "record in selection" command unless you know EXACTLY what you are going to do.
Suggestions:
Song choice:
Don't always pick the most popular emo song out there. If you want a good stepfile to come from a song with enough difficulty to be a keyboard file, then pick one with enough sounds to follow.
Choosing a song that sounds like crap is also not a very good thing to do. Most of the time that is. People aren't going to enjoy playing a crap song unless the steps are really fun to play (See: Reality).
If really good steps have already been made for a song, then don't make another set unless it's a completely different approach. Making another set of steps is okay, just don't do it too much. Nobody wants to play the same song too much. Even if it's a really good song. I would say two or three good stepcharts is enough for a song when they are near the same difficulty. Even then, try and find an original song.
Stepping Style:
This massively differs depending on the person, but there are some general things that you should know.
A good stepping style is one that follows the flow of a song. Halving the BPM at slow tempo parts is not necessary and really annoying when you have to use 32nds, but it is sometimes a good idea in order to follow the song.
Some people may not know how to make a song index friendly or not so I'm going to touch it a bit.
Making Index friendly steps makes it more enjoyable for index players, and it also makes it a lot easier to read.
Take the left and right arrows of a generic 16th stream. One side will have only 16th arrows (yellow) and the other side will not have any 16th arrows. Otherwise you cause a crossover. An exception though is if you touch the other side for just one arrow, but I have trouble doing that on index.
Make the arrows fun to play! How you can tell this is by playing it yourself. If you can play the steps over and over and not get bored, then you have a good file. Try comparing it to other files you like to play. If you still like your own file then it's a keeper.
For people who step songs for index players, know that doing 4242 (left two arrows) or 8686 (right two arrows) trills kill people who play spread because they must do them with one hand. Doing them is okay, just don't make the trill go on for very long.
Jacks:
Put jacks only where there are specific jack sounds. A jack is pounding the same arrow really fast. A jack sound, as you would imagine, is the same sound repeated really quickly.
Having a jack just before a double in a stream is okay to do because it makes it easier for indexers to do, but I personally don't like it when they are there because it makes it harder for every other style.
Doubles:
A double is either:
A sound louder than most other sounds, or two sounds at the same time if you are following both of them. Doubles can massively increase the difficulty of a song. Doubles are much harder to do for index players than anyone else, but that doesn't mean that you shouldn't use them. It depends on you how you want to use them.
Hands:
Mostly used by spread players. Use only if the song has a much louder sound, if you are following a double and another sound, or if you are following three sounds at once.
There's also the quad which you should only do if it's a really significant sound in the song.
Freezes:
If a sound holds, then make the arrow hold for as long as the sound holds. Doing other arrows while there is a hold is okay, but keep the arrows simple because it isn't very fun trying to move your fingers really fast while holding a button.
Freezes can also be used to signify something else such as a loud sound. A freeze that is too small to hold can actually be good if it flows with the music.
Putting the actual arrows in:
New people have trouble putting in arrows on beat and actually doing them properly.
People need to understand that making simfiles TAKES TIME! Tackle the song half a measure at a time or however much you can handle.
If you're following multiple sounds, a good simple way to do it is to initially follow only one sound and mark them with doubles/triples/quads/freezes, then go back and step the other sounds in. Make sure that all the arrows correspond to the sounds in the music. Use assist tick on 0.3 music rate if you need to.
Syncing:
Syncing is very very VERY important when making a stepfile. I would touch on this, but there are already other good guides for this.
One thing before you start: Analyze the songs that you enjoy playing a lot. Try and notice why playing the song is fun. You should start making sims if you can hear all the sounds that are being stepped, and if you can visualize steps in your head when you listen to a song.
Anything that you think should be added/changed/taken out, please say so.
Only specific rule number one: Follow the ****ing music! If your file does not do this, then your simfile will be crappy. If you can't follow the music because it's too fast, then slow it down.
Another thing is don't use the "record in selection" command unless you know EXACTLY what you are going to do.
Suggestions:
Song choice:
Don't always pick the most popular emo song out there. If you want a good stepfile to come from a song with enough difficulty to be a keyboard file, then pick one with enough sounds to follow.
Choosing a song that sounds like crap is also not a very good thing to do. Most of the time that is. People aren't going to enjoy playing a crap song unless the steps are really fun to play (See: Reality).
If really good steps have already been made for a song, then don't make another set unless it's a completely different approach. Making another set of steps is okay, just don't do it too much. Nobody wants to play the same song too much. Even if it's a really good song. I would say two or three good stepcharts is enough for a song when they are near the same difficulty. Even then, try and find an original song.
Stepping Style:
This massively differs depending on the person, but there are some general things that you should know.
A good stepping style is one that follows the flow of a song. Halving the BPM at slow tempo parts is not necessary and really annoying when you have to use 32nds, but it is sometimes a good idea in order to follow the song.
Some people may not know how to make a song index friendly or not so I'm going to touch it a bit.
Making Index friendly steps makes it more enjoyable for index players, and it also makes it a lot easier to read.
Take the left and right arrows of a generic 16th stream. One side will have only 16th arrows (yellow) and the other side will not have any 16th arrows. Otherwise you cause a crossover. An exception though is if you touch the other side for just one arrow, but I have trouble doing that on index.
Make the arrows fun to play! How you can tell this is by playing it yourself. If you can play the steps over and over and not get bored, then you have a good file. Try comparing it to other files you like to play. If you still like your own file then it's a keeper.
For people who step songs for index players, know that doing 4242 (left two arrows) or 8686 (right two arrows) trills kill people who play spread because they must do them with one hand. Doing them is okay, just don't make the trill go on for very long.
Jacks:
Put jacks only where there are specific jack sounds. A jack is pounding the same arrow really fast. A jack sound, as you would imagine, is the same sound repeated really quickly.
Having a jack just before a double in a stream is okay to do because it makes it easier for indexers to do, but I personally don't like it when they are there because it makes it harder for every other style.
Doubles:
A double is either:
A sound louder than most other sounds, or two sounds at the same time if you are following both of them. Doubles can massively increase the difficulty of a song. Doubles are much harder to do for index players than anyone else, but that doesn't mean that you shouldn't use them. It depends on you how you want to use them.
Hands:
Mostly used by spread players. Use only if the song has a much louder sound, if you are following a double and another sound, or if you are following three sounds at once.
There's also the quad which you should only do if it's a really significant sound in the song.
Freezes:
If a sound holds, then make the arrow hold for as long as the sound holds. Doing other arrows while there is a hold is okay, but keep the arrows simple because it isn't very fun trying to move your fingers really fast while holding a button.
Freezes can also be used to signify something else such as a loud sound. A freeze that is too small to hold can actually be good if it flows with the music.
Putting the actual arrows in:
New people have trouble putting in arrows on beat and actually doing them properly.
People need to understand that making simfiles TAKES TIME! Tackle the song half a measure at a time or however much you can handle.
If you're following multiple sounds, a good simple way to do it is to initially follow only one sound and mark them with doubles/triples/quads/freezes, then go back and step the other sounds in. Make sure that all the arrows correspond to the sounds in the music. Use assist tick on 0.3 music rate if you need to.
Syncing:
Syncing is very very VERY important when making a stepfile. I would touch on this, but there are already other good guides for this.
One thing before you start: Analyze the songs that you enjoy playing a lot. Try and notice why playing the song is fun. You should start making sims if you can hear all the sounds that are being stepped, and if you can visualize steps in your head when you listen to a song.
Anything that you think should be added/changed/taken out, please say so.
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