Introduction: PCtyx
PCtyx Start-Up
This is the menu you start with when starting PCtyx. The only thing you can do here is the Load button on the lower left, click on it.
You will be faced with a window like this:
Now on the right pane is my source for my Chart for Forest of Mist. The left side is unnecessary to mention.
PCtyx supports following formats to load: ogg, mp3, csv, cytus.txt, jpg, png.
Requirement
OGG and MP3 are music files. To even start your project, you need the music file.
Essential to know
csv is the format PCtyx uses to save your chart. When you save your project, PCtyx will create this file.
cytus.txt is the exported version of csv in the format that Cytoid can read. For some reason you need to have your text file have the suffix cytus.txt for it to be recognized by PCtyx. E.g. “[chartname].cytus.txt”. This is important if you export a chart from Cytunity or download chart text from somewhere.
Optional
jpeg and png are images. This is a requirement for Cytoid but not for PCtyx, so if you don’t have it yet, it’s fine. However, PCtyx can load them as background when you are working. Kinda nice because it makes your work place looks better than the same old white.
Starting your project
On the purpose for this tutorial, let’s just say you already have the music and image prepared. Select your music and image.Using my work as an example I chose these files:
Ignore the csv and cytus.txt, since I’ll assume you are starting brand new chart and thus do not have them yet.
Click Open.
When you’re done, you’ll see something similar like this:
If you want to continue your previous work, load the csv or cytus.txt as well.
PCtyx Modes
See that three buttons on the top left inside the blue square? It represents the mode you will enter when you press them.
There are 4 buttons:
This is File button. Pressing this will allow PCtyx to Load, Save, and Export your chart.
For this tutorial, if you press this button, we will enter what I dub as File Mode.
This is Scanline button. Pressing this will allow PCtyx to edit your scanline.
For this tutorial, if you press this button, we will enter what I dub as Scanline Mode.
This is Editor button. Pressing this will allow PCtyx to add, delete, and edit your notes.
For this tutorial, if you press this button, we will enter what I dub as Editing Mode.
This is Grid button. Pressing this will allow PCtyx to edit the number of Grids in your workplace.
For this tutorial, if you press this button, we will enter what I dub as Grid Mode.
See how the button changes every time you click on it? That’s because the button you press and thus enter the mode is replaced by the mode you exit out of. So don’t panic if the button suddenly disappears.
File Mode
You can enter File Mode by pressing File Button. This is also the default mode after loading your project.
This is File Mode as you realize with the missing File button on the top left.
On the lower left there is Load, Save, and Export.
Load button
Load button here works the same as Load project on start-up. If you want to start a new chart without closing PCtyx, load the music file and it will reset everything.
Save Button
Save button gives save dialogue window and will save your project as csv files.
Export button
Export button gives a dialogue window that will save your project in cytus.txt format and thus ready to be played in Cytoid.
Scanline Mode
This is Scanline Mode, as you can easily denote by the missing Scanline button on the top left.
BPM Button
BPM button, as you can easily guess, is the BPM of the music itself. It will affect the scanline speed so it matches the beat.
If you are wondering what scanline is...
See that going up and down horizontal line? That’s the scanline. Modifying the BPM value will affect that scanline’s movement speed.
One thing you need to know about PCtyx is that the value you enter there will be doubled for the scanner.
So for example, your music has BPM of 140.
If you enter 140 for the BPM, then PCtyx will use 280 BPM for the scanner.
This is important if, say, your music has 195 BPM and you want to chart at that speed and not 390 BPM. You will need to enter 97.5 BPM in PCtyx.
Scanline Shift button
This is scanline shift button (don't mistake this with Grid shift). The purpose of this button is to modify where the scanline starts. You will want to set it to a beat at the beginning of the first significant measure. Say you have a song that has a slower BPM building up to a constant one for the rest of the song; you will want to set it at the first measure of the constant BPM. PCtyx will set the shift to the smallest decimal possible, so don’t worry about making the decimal too big.
If you are unsure exactly where a note starts, use programs like Audacity to pinpoint exactly where the beat begins. You may have some leniency with earlier timings if you want to add page shift (more on this later), but if you plan to make cross-page drags, try to make it as exact as possible.
What’s a scanline rebound?
When the scanline goes up to down, or from down to up, that’s what we call a Rebound.
Grid Mode
Row Button
This button modifies the number of horizontal lines.
This is rather important because if you are editing a song with ¾ beat, you will use 6 or 12 or 18 as the value. While using 4/4 beat, you will use 8 / 12 / 16.
Snap to grid is very useful, but there may be times when turning off snapping to play around with creative drag notes.
If you want to know if your music is whether it’s ¾ beat or 4/4 beat without any experience in music, try putting down some notes 8 grid. Then if it’s still off-sync despite putting the note on the nearest grid line and you are sure you are not wrong, then it uses ¾ beat and thus you need to change your Grid number to 12. Then make sure it’s right.
Columns button
This button modifies the vertical bar. I personally use 20 (the maximum amount possible), because I can make unique patterns with many grids.
BPM Button (Grid)
I personally never use this button. This works very much like the Column button, but using BPM instead of number of grid. You have to use ¾ of your BPM to set it for music with ¾ beat. Anything other than 0 will override the value of your Column button.
Shift (Grid)
It's very heavily advised to not put this value to 0.
Use something very small like 0.0001 to make prevent bugs. If you chart with changing BPM, this is pretty much mandatory
Editing Mode
This is Editing Mode, as denoted by the lack of Editor button on top left.
You will spend most of your charting time in this mode.
Testing Mode
Hotkey: Ctrl+P
This is the testing button. Pressing this will make PCtyx shows something like this:
More buttons! Great! They are very minor except for the two rightmost buttons.
Start Autoplay button
This starts autoplay. Self-explanatory.
Play Style Button
This button changes how the note appears when you test play them. This is a very minor and thus you only need to test them yourself to try them. Best keep it to Default because that’s how the notes will appear on Cytoid.
Sound Tick Button
This button will make PCtyx plays click sound when the hit bar hits the note. Turning it off will make it not play them. Keeping this on will be useful for checking if notes are in time, especially in combination with the slow play button. Turning this off for certain songs may make them sound better if you wish to make videos of your chart.
Slow Play Button
Plays the music and chart in 0.5x speed. Useful when you need very detailed charting.
Compose button
This button is firstly intended for charting by ear, but the purpose shifted to maintenance.
When the Compose button is off, when you play test you usually get screen like this:
But when composing mode is on: it will turn like this
There’s a vertical grid now. Under most circumstances, the page number and time are the only things you need in this mode.
During test play mode, you may accidentally press 1 or 2 key and place down notes. They won’t be applied to the chart unless you hit enter. This is an unwieldy method of charting, since notes will almost certainly be offsync, and is not recommended.
Stop Button
Shortcut: Esc
This button here is when you need to stop testing or cancel your test.
Now we return to Editing Mode.
Snap to Grid button
Shortcut: L
This is the button to make your notes snap to the grid lines. Almost always you want this button always on because snap to grid will make your chart very precise. You may want to turn this off for curves.
Middle Section
This is the Vertical Move button. Hotkey Keyboard 1.
The purpose of this button is to move the note upwards or downwards.
This is the Horizontal Move Button. Hotkey Keyboard 2.
The purpose of this button is to move the note sideways. This is the main way of bringing notes into the charting area; notes on the edges are ignored.
This is the Create Click Note button. Hotkey Keyboard 3.
The purpose of this button is to change the note type to tap notes. Clicking on tap notes in this mode returns them to the edges of the screen, where they will be removed upon refresh.
This is the Create Drag Head button. Hotkey Keyboard 4.
The purpose of this button is to change the note type to Drag Notes. Drag notes has special mentions on how to. Read on below to see how they work.
This is the Create Drag Chain button. Hotkey Keyboard 5.
Similar to the drag head. As with the drag heads, they require their own section.
This is the Create Hold note button. Hotkey Keyboard 6.
The purpose of this button is to change the note type to Hold notes. Hold notes have special mention on how to. Make sure to read them on
This is the Create Long Hold button. Hotkey Keyboard 7.
Similar to normal holds, but these act like the long holds seen in Cytus II. These will not export properly as of 131.02a, and will need special methods to properly exported into Cytoid supported format.
This is the Create Flick note. Hotkey Keyboard 8.
This button turns notes into flick notes, with the same mechanics as Cytus II. Like long holds, these currently do not export properly and will be ignored.
This is the Undo button. Hotkey Ctrl+Z.
This undos any changes performed to the page. Note that once you move to a new page or mode, changes will be saved and you will not be able to redo.