diff --git a/stepmania/src/IniFile.cpp b/stepmania/src/IniFile.cpp
index d0bb4eab8a..5a69d5835c 100644
--- a/stepmania/src/IniFile.cpp
+++ b/stepmania/src/IniFile.cpp
@@ -242,6 +242,152 @@ void IniFile::RenameKey(const CString &from, const CString &to)
 	keys.erase(from);
 }
 
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+bool IniFilePreserveOrder::ReadFile( const CString &sPath )
+{
+	m_sPath = sPath;
+	CHECKPOINT_M( ssprintf("Reading '%s'",m_sPath.c_str()) );
+
+	RageFile f;
+	if( !f.Open( m_sPath ) )
+	{
+		LOG->Trace( "Reading '%s' failed: %s", m_sPath.c_str(), f.GetError().c_str() );
+		m_sError = f.GetError();
+		return 0;
+	}
+
+	CString keyname;
+	while( 1 )
+	{
+		CString line;
+		switch( f.GetLine(line) )
+		{
+		case -1:
+			m_sError = f.GetError();
+			return false;
+		case 0:
+			return true; /* eof */
+		}
+
+		if( line.size() >= 3 &&
+			line[0] == '\xef' &&
+			line[1] == '\xbb' &&
+			line[2] == '\xbf'
+			)
+		{
+			/* Obnoxious NT marker for UTF-8.  Remove it. */
+			line.erase(0, 3);
+		}
+
+		if( line == "" )
+			continue;
+
+		if( line.substr(0, 2) == "//" || line.substr(0) == "#" )
+			continue; /* comment */
+
+		if( line[0] == '[' && line[line.GetLength()-1] == ']'  )
+		{
+			/* New section. */
+			keyname = line.substr(1, line.size()-2);
+		}
+		else //if a value
+		{
+			int iEqualIndex = line.Find("=");
+			if( iEqualIndex != -1 )
+			{
+				CString valuename = line.Left(iEqualIndex);
+				CString value = line.Right(line.GetLength()-valuename.GetLength()-1);
+				SetValue(keyname,valuename,value);
+			}
+		}
+	}
+}
+
+bool IniFilePreserveOrder::WriteFile( const CString &sPath )
+{
+	RageFile f;
+	if( !f.Open( sPath, RageFile::WRITE ) )
+	{
+		LOG->Trace( "Writing '%s' failed: %s", sPath.c_str(), f.GetError().c_str() );
+		m_sError = f.GetError();
+		return false;
+	}
+
+	for( keymap::const_iterator k = keys.begin(); k != keys.end(); ++k )
+	{
+		if (k->second.empty())
+			continue;
+
+		if( f.PutLine( ssprintf("[%s]", k->first.c_str()) ) == -1 )
+		{
+			m_sError = f.GetError();
+			return false;
+		}
+
+
+		for( key::const_iterator i = k->second.begin(); i != k->second.end(); ++i )
+			f.PutLine( ssprintf("%s=%s", i->first.c_str(), i->second.c_str()) );
+
+		if( f.PutLine( "" ) == -1 )
+		{
+			m_sError = f.GetError();
+			return false;
+		}
+	}
+	return true;
+}
+
+bool IniFilePreserveOrder::SetValue( const CString &keyname, const CString &valuename, const CString &value )
+{
+	int iIndexOfKey = -1;
+	for( unsigned i=0; i<keys.size(); i++ )
+	{
+		if( keys[i].first == keyname )
+		{
+			iIndexOfKey = i;
+			break;
+		}
+	}
+	if( iIndexOfKey == -1 )
+	{
+		iIndexOfKey = keys.size();
+		keys.resize( keys.size()+1 );
+		keys.back().first = keyname;
+	}
+
+	key &k = keys[iIndexOfKey].second;
+
+	int iIndexOfValue = -1;
+	for( unsigned i=0; i<k.size(); i++ )
+	{
+		if( k[i].first == valuename )
+		{
+			iIndexOfValue = i;
+			break;
+		}
+	}
+	if( iIndexOfValue == -1 )
+	{
+		iIndexOfValue = k.size();
+		k.resize( k.size()+1 );
+		k.back().first = valuename;
+	}
+
+	k[iIndexOfValue].second = value;
+
+	return true;
+}
+
+
+
 /*
  * (c) 2001-2004 Adam Clauss, Chris Danford
  *
diff --git a/stepmania/src/IniFile.h b/stepmania/src/IniFile.h
index bce3e353c5..d67223d281 100644
--- a/stepmania/src/IniFile.h
+++ b/stepmania/src/IniFile.h
@@ -18,6 +18,10 @@ public:
 	const_iterator begin() const { return keys.begin(); }
 	const_iterator end() const { return keys.end(); }
 
+	typedef keymap::iterator iterator;
+	iterator begin() { return keys.begin(); }
+	iterator end() { return keys.end(); }
+
 private:
 	CString m_sPath;
 
@@ -61,6 +65,42 @@ public:
 	void RenameKey( const CString &from, const CString &to );
 };
 
+class IniFilePreserveOrder
+{
+public:
+	// all keys are of this type
+
+	typedef pair<CString, CString> key_value;
+	typedef vector<key_value> key;
+	typedef pair<CString, key> keymap_value;
+	typedef vector<keymap_value> keymap;
+
+	typedef keymap::const_iterator const_iterator;
+	const_iterator begin() const { return keys.begin(); }
+	const_iterator end() const { return keys.end(); }
+
+	typedef keymap::iterator iterator;
+	iterator begin() { return keys.begin(); }
+	iterator end() { return keys.end(); }
+
+private:
+	CString m_sPath;
+
+	keymap keys;
+
+	mutable CString m_sError;
+
+public:
+	/* Retrieve the filename of the last file loaded. */
+	CString GetPath() const { return m_sPath; }
+	const CString &GetError() const { return m_sError; }
+
+	bool ReadFile( const CString &sPath );
+	bool WriteFile( const CString &sPath );
+
+	bool SetValue( const CString &key, const CString &valuename, const CString &value );
+};
+
 #endif
 
 /*
diff --git a/stepmania/src/ThemeManager.cpp b/stepmania/src/ThemeManager.cpp
index 4fde5ff465..7106771cb6 100644
--- a/stepmania/src/ThemeManager.cpp
+++ b/stepmania/src/ThemeManager.cpp
@@ -174,6 +174,39 @@ void ThemeManager::LoadThemeRecursive( deque<Theme> &theme, const CString &sThem
 	if( !sThemeName.CompareNoCase(BASE_THEME_NAME) )
 		loaded_base = true;
 
+
+	// Uncomment to write "metrics.ini.new" that automatically converts absolute
+	// screen positions to use the SCREEN_* constants.
+#if 0
+	IniFilePreserveOrder ini;
+	ini.ReadFile( GetMetricsIniPath(sThemeName) );
+	for( IniFilePreserveOrder::iterator k = ini.begin(); k != ini.end(); k++ )
+	{
+		IniFilePreserveOrder::key &k2 = k->second;
+		for( IniFilePreserveOrder::key::iterator v = k2.begin(); v != k2.end(); v++ )
+		{
+			const CString &sName = v->first;
+			CString &sValue = v->second;
+
+			if( sValue.empty() )
+				continue;
+			if( !isdigit(sValue[0]) )
+				continue;
+			if( sName.Right(1) == "SpacingX" || sName.Right(1) == "SpacingY" )
+				continue;
+
+			int i = atoi( sValue );
+			if( sName.Right(1) == "X" )
+				sValue = "SCREEN_CENTER_X" + ssprintf("%+d", i-320);
+			if( sName.Right(1) == "Y" )
+				sValue = "SCREEN_CENTER_Y" + ssprintf("%+d", i-240);
+		}
+	}
+	ini.WriteFile( GetMetricsIniPath(sThemeName)+".new" );
+#endif
+
+
+
 	Theme t;
 	t.sThemeName = sThemeName;
 	t.iniMetrics.ReadFile( GetMetricsIniPath(sThemeName) );