diff --git a/stepmania/src/GameState.cpp b/stepmania/src/GameState.cpp
index cad69aa8bb..6e4657ef37 100644
--- a/stepmania/src/GameState.cpp
+++ b/stepmania/src/GameState.cpp
@@ -34,10 +34,12 @@
 #include "LightsManager.h"
 #include "RageFile.h"
 #include "Bookkeeper.h"
-#include <ctime>
 #include "MemoryCardManager.h"
 #include "StageStats.h"
 #include "GameConstantsAndTypes.h"
+#include "StepMania.h"
+
+#include <ctime>
 
 #define DEFAULT_MODIFIERS THEME->GetMetric( "Common","DefaultModifiers" )
 
@@ -71,6 +73,35 @@ GameState::~GameState()
 		delete m_pCharacters[i];
 }
 
+void GameState::ApplyCmdline()
+{
+	int i;
+
+	/* This is in order of dependency: we need to join players before we can set
+	 * the style, and we need to set the style before we can select steps. */
+	CString sPlayer;
+	for( i = 0; GetCommandlineArgument( "player", &sPlayer, i ); ++i )
+	{
+		int pn = atoi( sPlayer )-1;
+		if( !IsAnInt( sPlayer ) || pn < 0 || pn >= NUM_PLAYERS )
+			RageException::Throw( "Invalid argument \"--player=%s\"", sPlayer.c_str() );
+
+		this->JoinPlayer( (PlayerNumber) pn );
+	}
+
+	CString sMode;
+	for( i = 0; GetCommandlineArgument( "mode", &sMode, i ); ++i )
+	{
+		ModeChoice m;
+		m.Load( 0, sMode );
+		CString why;
+		if( !m.IsPlayable(&why) )
+			RageException::Throw( "Can't apply mode \"%s\": %s", sMode.c_str(), why.c_str() );
+
+		m.ApplyToAllPlayers();
+	}
+}
+
 void GameState::Reset()
 {
 	if( !m_timeGameStarted.IsZero() && g_vPlayedStageStats.size() )	// we were in the middle of a game and played at least one song
@@ -168,6 +199,19 @@ void GameState::Reset()
 	MEMCARDMAN->LockCards( false );
 
 	LIGHTSMAN->SetLightsMode( LIGHTSMODE_ATTRACT );
+
+	ApplyCmdline();
+}
+
+void GameState::JoinPlayer( PlayerNumber pn )
+{
+	this->m_bSideIsJoined[pn] = true;
+	if( this->m_MasterPlayerNumber == PLAYER_INVALID )
+		this->m_MasterPlayerNumber = pn;
+
+	// if first player to join, set start time
+	if( this->GetNumSidesJoined() == 1 )
+		this->BeginGame();
 }
 
 void GameState::BeginGame()
@@ -1153,7 +1197,10 @@ void GameState::AdjustFailType()
 	/* Find the easiest difficulty notes selected by either player. */
 	Difficulty dc = DIFFICULTY_INVALID;
 	FOREACH_HumanPlayer( p )
+	{
+		ASSERT( this->m_pCurNotes[p] );
 		dc = min(dc, this->m_pCurNotes[p]->GetDifficulty());
+	}
 
 	/* Reset the fail type to the default. */
 	SongOptions so;
diff --git a/stepmania/src/GameState.h b/stepmania/src/GameState.h
index 937e4dbd21..a1ede1fba4 100644
--- a/stepmania/src/GameState.h
+++ b/stepmania/src/GameState.h
@@ -39,7 +39,9 @@ public:
 	GameState();
 	~GameState();
 	void Reset();
+	void ApplyCmdline(); // called by Reset
 	void BeginGame();	// called when first player joins
+	void JoinPlayer( PlayerNumber pn );
 	void PlayersFinalized();	// called after a style is chosen, which means the number of players is finalized
 	void EndGame();	// called on ScreenGameOver, ScreenMusicScroll, ScreenCredits
 	void SaveCurrentSettingsToProfile( PlayerNumber pn ); // called at the beginning of each stage
diff --git a/stepmania/src/Screen.cpp b/stepmania/src/Screen.cpp
index b96ac508e0..61e92c83c8 100644
--- a/stepmania/src/Screen.cpp
+++ b/stepmania/src/Screen.cpp
@@ -193,14 +193,7 @@ bool Screen::JoinInput( const DeviceInput& DeviceI, const InputEventType type, c
 			GAMESTATE->m_iCoins -= iCoinsToCharge;
 
 		SCREENMAN->PlayStartSound();
-
-		GAMESTATE->m_bSideIsJoined[MenuI.player] = true;
-		if( GAMESTATE->m_MasterPlayerNumber == PLAYER_INVALID )
-			GAMESTATE->m_MasterPlayerNumber = MenuI.player;
-
-		// if first player to join, set start time
-		if( GAMESTATE->GetNumSidesJoined() == 1 )
-			GAMESTATE->BeginGame();
+		GAMESTATE->JoinPlayer( MenuI.player );
 
 		PROFILEMAN->LoadFirstAvailableProfile( MenuI.player, true );	// fast load
 		SCREENMAN->RefreshCreditsMessages();