AJ Kelly
379 lines
16 KiB
Plaintext
379 lines
16 KiB
Plaintext
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. |