sm-ssc Beginner's Guide Written and edited by the spinal shark collective -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Table of Contents 1 Introduction 2 StepMania 2.1. Terms and Concepts 2.1.1 Notable StepMania Versions 2.1.2 StepMania Components 2.2 StepMania Configuration 2.2.1 Frequently Asked Questions that can be Solved by Changing the Configuration 2.3. Installing Content 2.3.1 Installing Song Files 2.3.2 Installing Noteskins/New Gametypes 2.3.3 Installing Themes 3. sm-ssc ================================================================================ Chapter 1: Introduction ================================================================================ Welcome to the sm-ssc Beginner's Guide. This guide is primarily meant for people who do not have any previous experience with StepMania, but also includes information on how sm-ssc differs from StepMania. If you already know what StepMania is, and the basics of adding things to an install, you can skip ahead to Chapter 3: sm-ssc. Otherwise, read on. ================================================================================ Chapter 2: StepMania ================================================================================ StepMania is an open-source rhythm game/engine, used by many projects, both commercial and free. It is the software from which sm-ssc is derived, and as a result, must be learned before using sm-ssc if you're not already familiar with how it works. Some of the things an average sm-ssc user is expected to know includes the meanings/"proper names" of certain things, as well as how to install content and configure the program to suit your playing style. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2.1: Terms and Concepts -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Like many other video games, StepMania has a rich lexicon of words which may confuse others. The most important of the terms has to do with versions of StepMania, as backwards compatibility is pretty much nonexistent between major versions. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2.1.1: Notable StepMania Versions -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Knowing the versions of StepMania is helpful, as it will help you deduce what you can and can not install. (Most songs are version-agnostic, though the background animations may not be. Themes, Noteskins, etc. are tied to specific versions.) * StepMania 3.9 StepMania 3.9 is currently considered the stable version of StepMania. It dates back to 2005, and is the version for which the bulk of content is produced. * StepMania 3.9 Plus/StepMania 3.9 Plus Redux 3.9 Plus/Redux is a fork of StepMania 3.9 that adds features from later StepMania versions (such as rolls), as well as new features. * StepMania 3.95/StepMania Online Generally, when people talk about this version, they refer to a CVS build of StepMania from around June-August 2006. It was not an officially supported build of StepMania. * OpenITG OpenITG is a fork of the StepMania CVS code from around the time In The Groove 2 was released. OpenITG's goal is to produce a replacement executable for ITG2 machines with enhanced features, though it can also be used at home as well. * StepMania 4.0 CVS This term is used to describe versions of StepMania 4 that appeared after "3.95" up until January 2008, when the last build that could be categorized as "CVS" was released. * StepMania 4.0 SVN/alpha The current development version of StepMania. This is the version that sm-ssc is forked off of. If you wish to port something to sm-ssc, it had better work for this version first, unless you like working hard to port the theme past various generations and default theme assumptions. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2.1.2: StepMania Components -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Despite the title, this is a bit more broader-reaching, as it covers terms that you may see in StepMania communities and online. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- * Courses Courses exist in many different forms, but in general, they take you through multiple songs without a break in-between. There are multiple types of courses: * Nonstop Courses Nonstop courses use the regular lifebar and typically have 4 songs per course, though this isn't always the case. It is the easiest of the course modes. * Oni/Challenge Courses The Oni/challenge courses are quite difficult, usually giving you 4 lives over multiple songs. If you get less than a Great, you lose a life. Once you lose all your lives, the game is over. * Survival Courses Survival courses go by time. Each step judgment is worth something on the timer, with most of the values being negative by default. If you run out of time before you complete the course, the game is over. * Endless Courses Endless courses are like the name suggests. They don't end until you fail or decide to quit. Like Nonstop courses, they have a normal lifebar as well. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- * Event Mode Typically used during events, this disables the concept of stages and lets you play songs until you decide to stop. It is quite useful in Home Mode, and this guide recommends you enable it. * Gametypes Gametypes are the different game modes StepMania can play. They generally change things like number of default receptors, number of judgments, and more. Gametypes are directly related to noteskins and unrelated to the different play modes (Normal, Nonstop, Challenge, and so on). Examples of gametypes include "dance", "pump", "beat", "techno", and so on. * NoteSkins NoteSkins are the appearance of the notes. Most noteskins are bound to certain gametypes, though some noteskins are easily adapted for other gametypes. * Pack/packs A pack is a group of songs for StepMania. The term originated from the community of StepMania keyboard creators, and can be seen prominently in certain release names, such as Community Keyboard Mega Pack (CKMP). When used as a single word question, e.g. "packs?", it is a request for what packs you have installed. * Songs StepMania songs contain a few files, but mainly the steps (.sm, .dwi, .ksf, .bms, among many other formats) and song file itself (.mp3, .ogg, .wav). In order to get the most out of StepMania, you'll need to know all about songs and how to install them. * Themes Themes are skins for StepMania. They change the look and feel, and in post-3.9 versions, can also change elements of gameplay (scoring, grading) as well. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2.2: StepMania Configuration or "How to use the Options Menu" -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Learning how to properly configure StepMania can save you headaches. Most themes will have the Options menu in plain sight on the Title Menu. From there, it depends on which version of StepMania you have, as the options menus were re-shuffled around for the StepMania 4 alphas. The typical StepMania 3.9 Options Menu: * Appearance Options * Background Options * Bookkeeping * Center Image * Coin Options * Config Key/Joy Mappings * Input Options * Gameplay Options * Graphic Options * Machine Options * Sound Options * Profile Options * Other Options * Reload Songs/Courses * Test Input The StepMania 4.0 alpha 4 Options Menu: * Config Key/Joy Mappings * Test Input * Appearance Options * Graphics/Sound Options * Advanced Options * Network Options * Profiles * Reload Songs/Courses sm-ssc changes this up again, making the "Options" item on the Title Menu go to System Direction (mostly-used options), leaving the normal options menu to the Scroll Lock key. Blame Midiman. :) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2.2.1: Frequently Asked Questions that can be Solved by Changing the Configuration -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- With that in mind, it's time to answer some questions using this knowledge. Q: How do I disable the menu timer? A: Where you go depends on the version of StepMania you use. [3.9] Machine Options [4.0 alphas] Advanced Options It will be the first option on each. Q: How do I play forever, without game overs? A: Turn on Event Mode. Where you go depends on the version of StepMania you use. [3.9] Coin Options [4.0 alphas] Advanced Options, a bit down the page. Q: What the heck is this thing that says "Toasty" and how do I get rid of it? A: It's a reference to Mortal Kombat 2, where Dan Forden would pop out from the side of the screen randomly after an uppercut. In order to get a Toasty in StepMania, one must get a 250 combo without any Greats. The number 250 is a reference to how many VS games of MK2 you had to play before you could play Pong. As for turning it off, turn Easter Eggs off. It appears in different locations between StepMania versions: [3.9] Gameplay Options [4.0 alphas] Advanced Options, a bit down the page. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2.3: Installing Content -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This is the most important section you will read, as all the time that you spend not playing with StepMania will be adding/removing things to it. Well, not completely, as you have other things to do. Before we touch on the specifics, there are a few skills you should learn. * Mac Users of StepMania 4.0 Most of the game content is packaged in a file called StepMania.smzip. This has the pros of not cluttering things up, but the con is that people don't know where to put things. Wherever you have StepMania installed, make the following folders: * Songs * Themes * Noteskins (and the various gametype folders, which are optional. You need at least one non-lights gametype in order to play.) * Noteskins/dance * Noteskins/pump * Noteskins/para * Noteskins/techno * Noteskins/beat * Noteskins/popn * Noteskins/ez2 * Announcers (but at this point, no SM4 announcers have been released) * Packages (optional, but recommended) and then you can follow the rest of this guide. * Not on Windows and want to deal with .smzip files? There are multiple ways to deal this. 1) Put the SMZip file in the Packages folder. 2) Rename the file to have an extension of .zip and extract in the root StepMania folder. 3) Pass the smzip's filename to StepMania on the command line/terminal. Dragging and dropping the .smzip may or may not work; we have not tested it. Also, this may or may not exist in your version of StepMania. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2.3.1: Installing Song Files -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Song files are distributed in many ways. The concept of packs was explained above, in which multiple songs are included in one archive. For .smzip files, the section "Not on Windows and want to deal with .smzip files?" details all possible ways of installing .smzip files, but the most common ways are as follows: 1) For operating systems with a filetype handler (Windows), you can double click on the .smzip file and the StepMania tools will handle it. 2) Putting the .smzip file in the Packages folder, where it will be automatically read by StepMania. If it's not a .smzip file, you'll have to do some detective work. Open up the song archive and see how the files are laid out. The easiest single song installs will have a folder structure similar to this: Group Name\ Song Name\ song file.sm song file.ogg/mp3 song file-bg.png song file-bn.png With a setup like this, you can just extract it to the Songs folder with directory structure intact. Sometimes, simfile authors don't package their file with a group name, leaving you with a file structure like this: Song Name\ song file.sm song file.ogg/mp3 song file-bg.png song file-bn.png You will need to extract this into a song group folder that exists already. An uncommon setup will only include the song files, without any folders at all. These need to be put into the {Group Name}\{Song Name}\ folder in order to work. For packs, you follow the same logic. If there are multiple song folders, but no group folder, you will have to make a group folder. (Flightmix 4 is an example of a pack that exhibits this behavior.) Overall, the setup should look something like this: StepMania\ Songs\ Song Group 1\ Song Group 2\ Song Group 3\ Song Group 4\ Example Song\ Example Song.sm Example Song.mp3/ogg Example Song-bn.png Example Song-bg.png -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2.3.2: Installing Noteskins/New Gametypes -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NoteSkins change the appearance of the arrows. They are also linked with getting other gametypes supported in StepMania. The noteskin installation process looks something like this: StepMania\ NoteSkins\ (gametype)\ (noteskin for gametype)\ default\ (gametype2)\ default\ "gametype"/"gametype2" etc. can be any one of the following: dance (typically 4 panels) pump (typically 5 panels) para (5 receptors) techno (4, 5, and 8 panel modes) beat (5 and 7 key modes with a turntable on each) popn (5 and 9 line modes) kb7 (6 or 7 keys depending on when you try to use it) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2.3.3: Installing Themes -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Depending on if the theme is packaged in a SMZip or not, you have a few options. If it is in a .smzip, you can put it in the Packages directory: StepMania/ Packages/ MyTheme.smzip and StepMania will automatically read it. On Windows, you can double click on the .smzip file to install it in your user packages directory. THIS IS NOT RECOMMENDED BECAUSE IT CAUSES CONFUSION. Since .smzip files are really .zip files, you could also extract them in the StepMania root folder. If the themer has not packaged the theme in a .smzip, then you have to look inside the archive to see how the directory layout looks. 1) Themes folder If it has a themes folder when you open it up, extract in the StepMania root folder, like you would a .smzip file. 2) Theme name as a folder This one will have to be extracted in the Themes directory. You will get a new folder with the files. 3) A bunch of folders + metrics.ini The themer was lazy; you're going to have to make a folder in the Themes directory and extract the theme in there. When in doubt, read any documentation that comes with the theme for proper installation instructions. ================================================================================ Chapter 3: sm-ssc ================================================================================ sm-ssc is a fork of the current StepMania codebase. It is focused on adding features for theming, but also tries to make the process of dealing with StepMania a little easier.