Double-Stepping

Not all patterns are built to allow a player to easily execute them by alternating feet. Sometimes, a pattern will suggest that the player should turn completely away from the screen. While some step-artists create this intent to quickly turn the player back toward the game screen soon after execution, other design intents will simply like to break the player's foot alternation for the sake of difficulty (or some other artistic factor). Generally speaking, this will require a double-step. Take a look at the following sequence:

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In this pattern as the player alternates their feet between the left and right, it begins fairly straight-forward. Soon, the right foot goes to hit the down arrow. If the player continues to alternate feet here, then the left foot would crossover with a lateral-transfer to the right arrow; a fairly common pattern. However, the next arrow would require the player to turn completely away from the game screen and essentially switch arrows and feet; making the right foot hit the left arrow and later the left foot hitting the right arrow. This is not an optimal body position for the player in order to continue reading the screen. It would seem that the intent of the step-artist is for the player to double-step.

When does the player double-step?

When it comes to double-stepping, the general execution occurs between the arrows where the body's yaw would turn past 90 degrees in either direction; entering a limited viewfield range. In other words, while the player is reading the down arrow from the game screen and hitting it with the right foot, the player is calculating that the next right arrow will place them in a state that makes them rotate very far away from the game screen, essentially rotating the yaw farther than 90 degrees. It is at this point in which the player makes the decision that it would be easier to read the game screen by keeping the body rotation between these two orientation extremes and inside the standard viewfield range. To do this, the player will break an alternating foot execution and move the right foot from the down arrow to the right arrow. In terms of designing, this should be the method a step-artist imagines how and when a player will execute a double-step.

The difficulty in double-stepping

In terms of difficulty, let's compare the two decisions. Certainly, without accounting for the arrows after the down arrow, a lateral transfer would be the least physically demanding option since we are continuing to alternate feet. The distance the left foot moves from the left arrow to the right arrow is roughly two panelLengths, while the right foot awaits the next move. However, when we include the next set of arrows, the body's yaw places the player into a position where it's uncomfortable to read the game screen and therefore raises the difficulty significantly.

In the double-step scenario, the left foot does not move and the right foot moves from the right arrow, to the down arrow and then immediately to the right arrow again. The distance that the right foot travels back and forth in motion is farther than a lateral-transfer. Having two transitions increases this distance in comparison to the one lateral-transfer from before. Additionally, the player's momentum is sacrificed as the right foot was acclimated to alternating with the left foot. However, this double-step is with the purpose to allow the player to continue reading the game screen and in turn continue playing the chart. A much more important factor than simply continuing to alternating feet so to keep constant momentum and minimize traveling distance. In this example we see the hierarchy of the stage rules; that the necessity to read the game screen is considered more valuable than alternating feet. We also see how the body's yaw plays as an important factor in determining how much a player is in danger of not being able to continue.