Lane Breakers

The name of the song, quite simple.

If the song has a featured artist, put it in the song title formatted like “Name of the Song (ft. Featured Artist)”. This will keep artist sorting consistent in-game.

The name of the main artist or band who performed the song.

If a band or artist have changed names since the song was released, its best to go with the most updated name in most cases (such as “Rhapsody of Fire” rather than “Rhapsody”, or “The Chicks” rather than “The Dixie Chicks”).

The checkbox saying “Master?” next to it will determine if the song appears as BY the original artist, or “Made Famous By”. The latter should only be used for karaoke-style soundalike covers (such as the Wavegroup covers in early Guitar Hero games).

The name of the album the song originally appeared on, if any. Be sure to use the same spelling as HMX/RBN if applicable.

If the song was never released on a proper album, uncheck the box next to this field.

Track number refers to what number of track the song is on the album, affecting which order songs from the same album will be sorted in-game.

The year the song was released. If its on an album, put the album release year rather than the single release year.

If the song you're charting is a re-record, check this box and write in the re-release year.

What genre the song will be listed as in-game. This affects sorting, as well as which animation pool the in-game characters will use on stage.

Sub genre is only used outside of the game for sorting purposes.

–> For more info, check out our ridiculously in-depth genre list here ←- (WIP)

Which languages are sung in-game. This is only used for metadata purposes outside of the game.

The name of the person or people who charted the song. Use online handles rather than real names.

More under-the-hood and online metadata that is worth putting into your customs when applicable:

• Karaoke - Check this if you have separate vocals audio in the custom
• Multitrack - Check this if you have separate audio for all instruments in the custom
• 2X - Check this if your custom has a 2x Pedal version on Drums (this checks itself automatically when importing a MIDI with a 2x Pedal chart in it)
• Convert - Check this if your chart is based on and uses assets from a different game, such as Guitar Hero
• Rhythm on Keys - Check this if you authored Rhythm Guitar to Keys
• Rhythm on Bass - Check this if you authored Rhythm Guitar to Bass
• CAT EMH - Check this if you used auto-generated reductions so people can avoid your custom
• Expert Only - Check this if you didn't chart any reductions so people can avoid your custom
• Encrypt - Check this to encrypt the audio, meaning its harder (though not impossible FYI) for people to rip it from your chart file

The title and description that will appear for your custom on the Xbox dashboard. Usually you want to leave the package title to default and put the name of the author(s) in the description box.

The picture that will show up next to the song in-game in the menus. Here are some of the recommended picture sources:

• Official DLC - If you chart a song from an album that is represented via a different song officially, rip the xbox_png from the official DLC and use it for your custom as well. This will keep the album art consistent between songs and looks more professional. (MORE INFO ABOUT THIS COMING LATER)
• Streaming - If charting something whose album is not represented officially, streaming services tend to have high resolution images available if you know how to get them. Try checking out the GeniusGraph Tools website, click on the “iTunes Artworks” tab and search there for official high quality albums
• From the artist - If a song is not on streaming, check of the artist has a Bandcamp, Soundcloud, official website, etc. that contains the art you want
• Wikis - If charting something related to a fandom, game or obscure media property, check if any fan wikis have the album art in good quality.
• Web search - The last resort for very rare releases. Check stuff like Google Images or Discogs and pray there exist high quality rips.

In most cases you want the art to be at least 512×512 pixels in size. In cases where no high quality album art exist (for example from hyper-obscure indie releases from the 60's), try and just find the best image possible.

In cases where no album art exists at all, such as pre-modern vinyl singles, using a good photo of the artist can be a good replacement for just having a blank album art box.