Chris Danford
1211 lines
58 KiB
HTML
1211 lines
58 KiB
HTML
<html>
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<meta http-equiv="Content-Language" content="en-us">
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<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=ISO-8859-1">
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<body>
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<h1><font size="2">StepMania 3.9</font></h1>
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<p><font size="2">©2001-2004, StepMania team, All rights reserved.<br>
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<a href="http://www.stepmania.com">http://www.stepmania.com</a></font></p>
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<p>
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<hr>
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<font size="2"><a name="Table of Contents">Table of Contents</a></font><hr>
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<font size="2">
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<br>
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<a href="#About StepMania">About StepMania</a><br>
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<a href="#Minimum Requirements">Minimum Requirements</a><br>
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<a href="#DirectX">DirectX</a>
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<br>
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<a href="#Installation">Installation</a>
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<br>
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<a href="#Controls">Controls</a><br>
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<a href="#How StepMania Loads Songs">How StepMania Loads Songs</a><br>
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<a href="#Connecting Dance Pads">Connecting Dance Pads</a>
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<br>
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<a href="#Compatibility Issues">Compatibility Issues</a><br>
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<a href="#FAQ / Troubleshooting">FAQ / Troubleshooting</a><br>
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<a href="#StepMania Packages - .smzip">StepMania Packages - .smzip</a><br>
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<a href="#Questions, Bugs, Suggestions, and Help">Questions, Bugs, Suggestions, and
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Help</a>
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<br>
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<a href="#The StepMania editor">The StepMania Editor</a><br>
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<a href="#The .SM file format">The .SM File Format</a><br>
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<a href="#Backgrounds">Backgrounds</a><br>
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<a href="#BGAnimations Format">BGAnimations Format</a><br>
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<a href="#The .CRS File Format">The .CRS File Format</a><br>
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<a href="#Extra Stages">Extra Stages</a><br>
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<a href="#Unlock System">Unlock System</a><br>
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<a href="#Creating an Announcer">Creating an Announcer</a><br>
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<a href="#Creating a Note Skin">Creating a Note Skin</a><br>
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<a href="#Creating a Theme">Creating a Theme</a><br>
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<a href="#Actor Commands">Actor Commands</a><br>
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<a href="#ScreenSelect">ScreenSelect</a><br>
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<a href="#How StepMania Loads Textures">How StepMania Loads Textures</a><br>
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<a href="#Building StepMania from CVS source">Building StepMania from CVS Source</a><br>
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<a href="#Thanks">Thanks</a><br>
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<br>
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See the file <a href="NEWS">NEWS</a> for version history.<br>
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See the file <a href="COPYING.txt">COPYING.txt</a> for license information.<br>
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<br>
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</font><a name="About StepMania"><font face="Courier New" size="2">
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<hr>
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</font><font size="2">About StepMania</font></a><font size="2"> (<a href="#Table of Contents">top</a>)</font><hr>
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<font size="2">
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<br>
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StepMania is capable of playing many game types. Currently, it supports games
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similar to Dance Dance Revolution, Pump It Up, EZ 2 Dancer, and Para Para
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Paradise. In the future, it will support games similar to BeatMania, Guitar
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Freaks, DrumMania, and more.<br>
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<br>
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The games played by StepMania are rhythm games. Notes scroll up from the bottom
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of the screen, and the player must hit the corresponding button on the
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controller in time to the. All games can be played using the keyboard, but the
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real fun comes when using specially designed controllers, like a dance pad or
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hand sensors.<br>
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<br>
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</font><a name="Minimum Requirements"><font face="Courier New" size="2">
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<hr>
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</font><font size="2">Minimum Requirements</font></a><font size="2"> (<a href="#Table of Contents">top</a>)</font><hr>
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<font size="2">
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<br>
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* Windows 98, Windows ME, Windows 2000, Windows XP, Linux, OS X<br>
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* Pentium II, Pentium III, Celeron, Athlon, or compatible processor, 266MHz
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minimum (400 MHz recommended)<br>
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* 64 MB of RAM<br>
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* Video card that supports High Color (16-bit color) and has 16MB video RAM<br>
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* Video card with OpenGL drivers<br>
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* DirectX 7.0 compatible sound card with drivers<br>
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<br>
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<br>
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</font><a name="DirectX"><font face="Courier New" size="2">
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<hr>
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</font><font size="2">DirectX</font></a><font size="2"> (<a href="#Table of Contents">top</a>)</font><hr>
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<font size="2">
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<br>
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DirectX 8.0 is required before installing StepMania. If DirectX 8.0 is not
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installed on your computer, the StepMania installer will display a warning and
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abort the installation.<br>
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<br>
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</font><a name="Installation"><font face="Courier New" size="2">
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<hr>
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</font><font size="2">Installation</font></a><font size="2"> (<a href="#Table of Contents">top</a>)</font><hr>
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<font size="2">
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<br>
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To install StepMania, download the file <!--XXX--> stepmania300.exe to a known
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location on your hard drive, then double-click the file icon to begin the
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installation. The installer may prompt you to remove an older version of the
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program if one is present. The default installation directory is 'C:\Program
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Files\StepMania'.<br>
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<br>
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</font><a name="Controls"><font face="Courier New" size="2">
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<hr>
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</font><font size="2">Controls</font></a><font size="2"> (<a href="#Table of Contents">top</a>)</font><hr>
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<font size="2">
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<br>
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Use the "Config Key/Joy" option from the Options Menu to configure your
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keyboard, dance pad, or other game controller. This menu allows you to map up
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to 2 keyboard/joystick buttons to each function in the game. The third column
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is the default key mapping, and cannot be changed. However, you can override a
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default keyboard key by simply assigning it to another function. The mappings
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for player 1 are on the left half of the screen, and the mapping for player 2
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are on right half.<br>
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<br>
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<br>
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The following is a list of special keys:<br>
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<br>
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Any time:<br>
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* F1 = insert coin<br>
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* F2 = reload metrics and textures<br>
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* Alt-Enter = toggle fullscreen<br>
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* PrintScreen = take screenshot (saves to program directory as
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"Screenshots\screenNNNN.bmp")<br>
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* Hold Tab = increase game speed by 4x (useful for moving through menus
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quickly)<br>
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* Hold Tilde (~) = decrease game speed by 1/4x<br>
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* Hold Tab and Tilde (~) = decrease game speed to 0x<br>
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<br>
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In menus:<br>
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* Arrow keys navigate menus<br>
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* Enter = Start<br>
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* Escape = Back<br>
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<br>
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In any attract screen:<br>
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* Left or Right = next attract screen<br>
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* F3 = toggle CoinMode<br>
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<br>
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In title menu:<br>
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* Escape = return to attract sequence<br>
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<br>
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In gameplay:<br>
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* F6 = toggle AutoSync mode<br>
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* F7 = toggle assist tick<br>
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* F8 = toggle AutoPlay<br>
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* F9 = decrease offset<br>
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* F10 = increase offset<br>
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* F11 = decrease BPM of current segment (hold ALT for small increments)<br>
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* F12 = increase BPM of current segment (hold ALT for small increments)<br>
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* Hold Escape = abort playing<br>
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<br>
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In editor:<br>
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* Escape = menu<br>
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* Up/Down = prev/next line<br>
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* Left/Right = change snap<br>
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* 1 through 0 = add/remove note<br>
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* Enter - Set selection begin marker<br>
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* Space - Set selection end marker<br>
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* P - Play back current selection (if no selection, play whole song)<br>
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* R - Record over current selection (if no selection, record whole song)<br>
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<br>
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In the music select screen:<br>
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* F9 = Toggle title translations<br>
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<br>
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</font><a name="How StepMania Loads Songs"><font face="Courier New" size="2">
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<hr>
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</font><font size="2">How StepMania Loads Songs</font></a><font size="2"> (<a href="#Table of Contents">top</a>)</font><hr>
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<font size="2">
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<br>
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All files for a specific song (data file, music file, banner, background) must
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reside in a single folder. This folder must have the following path:<br>
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<br>
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Songs/<group folder>/<song folder>/<br>
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<br>
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For example, the song Discow Moscow may consist of the following files:<br>
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<br>
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Songs/TournaMix 4/Discow Moscow/Discow Moscow.sm<br>
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Songs/TournaMix 4/Discow Moscow/Discow
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Moscow.ogg<br>
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Songs/TournaMix 4/Discow Moscow/Discow
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Moscow-banner.png<br>
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Songs/TournaMix 4/Discow Moscow/Discow
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Moscow.png<br>
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Songs/TournaMix 4/Discow Moscow/Discow
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Moscow-movie.avi<br>
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<br>
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StepMania supports the SM, DWI, BMS, and KSF song file formats. If the song
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file format is BMS or KSF, simply put all the KSF or BMS files into the song
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folder.<br>
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<br>
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If a song file does not specify a valid banner file, StepMania first looks for
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a graphic in the song folder that contains the word "banner". If that search
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fails, StepMania will guess which image is most appropriate.<br>
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<br>
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If a song file does not specify a valid background file, StepMania first looks
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for a graphic in the song folder that contains the words "bg" or "background".
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If that search fails, StepMania will guess which image is most appropriate.<br>
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<br>
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If a song file does not specify a valid CDTitle file, StepMania will look for a
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graphic in the song folder that contains the words "cdtitle". If that search
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fails, StepMania will guess which image is most appropriate.<br>
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<br>
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If there is exactly one movie in the song folder, StepMania will insert a
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background change to that movie at beat 0.<br>
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<br>
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</font><a name="Connecting Dance Pads"><font face="Courier New" size="2">
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<hr>
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</font><font size="2">Connecting Dance Pads</font></a><font size="2"> (<a href="#Table of Contents">top</a>)</font><hr>
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<font size="2">
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<br>
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There are several devices that allow you to connect PlayStation dance pads to
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your PC.<br>
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<br>
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* Not recommended: generic PlayStation->USB converter
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<br>
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<br>
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Using a generic PlayStation->USB converter is not recommended to play any
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dancing game on the PC. The vast majority of these converters are not capable
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of registering simultaneous presses of Left+Right or Up+Down. This restriction
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will cause the player to miss many notes where two buttons must be hit
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simultaneously.<br>
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<br>
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* Highly Recommended: specific brands of PlayStation->USB adaptor<br>
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<br>
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There is just one brand of PlayStation->USB adaptor that functions perfectly
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with StepMania. These adaptors are available for purchase through some
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importers (www.liksang.com). The adaptor is made by "Boom", and it small and
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black with a detachable USB cable. These adaptors cost about $15 and allow you
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to attach one dance pad per adaptor. The primary advantage of these adaptors is
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that they do not require special drivers and require no configuring.<br>
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<br>
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* Semi-Recommended: PlayStation->Parallel adaptor<br>
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<br>
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PlayStation->Parallel converters do not have the simultaneous button problem
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that USB converters do. The disadvantage of these adaptors is that home-made
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drivers are required to use these devices. These drivers are often finicky and
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incompatible with some sound cards. PlayStation->Parallel adaptors can be
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purchased from the StepMania web site or any importer.<br>
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<br>
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For Windows 98 and Windows Me users, the recommended driver is DirectPad Pro
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5.0 for Win9x. For Windows 2000 and Windows XP, the recommended drivers is
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NTPad XP 1.x or PSXPAD. For the latest versions of these drivers, visit <a href="http://www.aldostools.com/dpad.html">
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Aldo's Tools</a>.<br>
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<br>
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StepMania now natively supports USB Pump It Up pads.<br>
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<br>
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</font><a name="Compatibility Issues"><font face="Courier New" size="2">
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<hr>
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</font><font size="2">Compatibility Issues</font></a><font size="2"> (<a href="#Table of Contents">top</a>)</font><hr>
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<font size="2">
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<br>
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Some video card/driver combinations have visual errors when running StepMania.
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If you experience any visual errors, please visit your video card
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manufacturer's web site and download the latest Direct3D 8.1 drivers. Below is
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a list of known issues that are thought to be video card driver bugs:<br>
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<br>
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* <a name="Voodoo3">Voodoo 3</a><br>
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Blah<br>
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<br>
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* nVidia Geforce cards<br>
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Symptom: Extremely low framerates.<br>
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Fix: Ensure "Enable conformant OpenGL texture clamp behavior" is NOT CHECKED in
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advanced display settings.<br>
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<br>
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* S3 Savage family cards (e.g. Diamond Stealth)<br>
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Symptom: The right edge of some graphics appears "cut off".<br>
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Explanation: Drivers do not properly handle textures >= 512x512, resulting
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in cropped textures. Turn the texture detail option to 256 to force textures to
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a smaller size.<br>
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<br>
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* SiS cards
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<br>
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Symptom: Garbled fonts.<br>
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Explanation: Drivers have errors in handling texture coordinates. Only known
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solution is to upgrade drivers.<br>
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<br>
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* Any card older than two years<br>
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Symptom: Various graphical glitches.<br>
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Explanation: These problems are most often caused by buggy video card drivers
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bugs. Please upgrade to the latest drivers, which will hopefully fix the
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errors.<br>
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<br>
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</font><a name="FAQ / Troubleshooting"><font face="Courier New" size="2">
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<hr>
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</font><font size="2">FAQ / Troubleshooting</font></a><font size="2"> (<a href="#Table of Contents">top</a>)</font><hr>
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<font size="2">
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<br>
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* The error "Cannot find Dinput8.dll" appears when launching the game.<br>
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<br>
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You need to download DirectX 8.1. http://www.microsoft.com/directx<br>
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<br>
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* I'm looking to purchase a video card. What works well with StepMania?<br>
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<br>
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Just about any video card manufactured in the last year will run StepMania
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flawlessly at 60 frames per second. I recommend any card with an nVidia GeForce
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chip or an ATI Radeon chip.<br>
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<br>
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* How can I improve performance with my existing video card<br>
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<br>
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1. Install the latest drivers for your video card.<br>
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2. Press F5 in the game to toggle between high detail and low detail modes.<br>
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3. Tweak the Display Resolution and Texture Resolution setting in the
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Options->Graphic Options screen.<br>
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<br>
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* Will you tell me when the next version will be released?<br>
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<br>
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Nope, Sorry. It's gotten me in trouble before.<br>
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<br>
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* Why won't you tell me? I promise I won't tell anyone else.<br>
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<br>
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The reasons I won't tell is because: a) I don't know yet, and b) I don't want
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to make anyone angry if it takes longer than expected (it usually does).<br>
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<br>
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</font><a name="StepMania Packages - .smzip"><font face="Courier New" size="2">
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<hr>
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</font><font size="2">StepMania Packages - .smzip</font></a><font size="2"> (<a href="#Table of Contents">top</a>)</font><hr>
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<font size="2">
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<br>
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The StepMania package format was created to make the distribution of songs and
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other add-ons very easy. StepMania package files have the extension
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'.smzip' and can be installed by double-clicking the .smzip file.<br>
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<br>
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A StepMania package is 'installed' by extracting all files in the package to
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the StepMania program directory. This allows songs, courses, themes, and
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visualizations to all be installed by the Package Manager.<br>
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<br>
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The file format of an .smzip file is actually the PK-Zip standard. This
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means you can rename any .smzip file to have the extension '.zip', and then
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open the file in any compression application (e.g. WinZip, WinRAR).<br>
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<br>
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The StepMania Package Exporter (smpackage.exe) can create packages of your
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song, announcers, themes, or other add-ons. Simply launch the Package Exporter
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(Start Menu->Programs->StepMania->Package Exporter), click the items
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you would like to make into a package, then click the one of the Export
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buttons. "Export as One" will take all of the selected items and make one
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package that contains them all. "Export Individual" will create one separate
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package for each selected item in the list.<br>
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<br>
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</font><a name="Questions, Bugs, Suggestions, and Help"><font face="Courier New" size="2">
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<hr>
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|
</font><font size="2">Questions, Bugs, Suggestions, and Help</font></a><font size="2">
|
|
(<a href="#Table of Contents">top</a>)</font><hr>
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|
<font size="2">
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<br>
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|
If you have a question about or problem with StepMania, please first ask your
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question a StepMania message board. For a list of StepMania message boards, see
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the <a href="http://www.stepmania.com">web site</a>.<br>
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<br>
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If you have found a bug, please file a bug report into the SourceForge bug
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tracking
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system(http://sourceforge.net/tracker/?group_id=37892&atid=421366). This
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will allow the developers to track and fix bugs much more efficiently.<br>
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<br>
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* In a bug report, please specify your video card brand and model, and your OS
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version (Win98, WinXP, etc).<br>
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* PLEASE, PLEASE enter your e-mail address on the bug reports. In many cases,
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we need more information from the bug reporter.<br>
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<br>
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Please use <a href="http://sourceforge.net/tracker/?atid=421369&group_id=37892&func=browse">
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SourceForge's feature request system</a> to enter new feature requests.
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Also, please discuss feature ideas on the <a href="http://www.ddrmaniax.net/ddrmaniax/boards/index.php?act=SF&f=17">
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StepMania message board</a> or the <a href="mailto:stepmania-devs@sourceforge.net">
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StepMania developers list</a>. <br>
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<br>
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If you would like to help with development of StepMania, please send an email
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to the <a href="mailto:stepmania-devs@sourceforge.net">StepMania developers list</a>
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or to <a href="mailto:cdanford@u.washington.edu">Chris</a>.<br>
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<br>
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|
</font><a name="The StepMania editor"><font face="Courier New" size="2">
|
|
<hr>
|
|
</font><font size="2">The StepMania editor</font></a><font size="2"> (<a href="#Table of Contents">top</a>)</font><hr>
|
|
<font size="2">
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<br>
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The StepMania editor allows you to edit, record, synchronize, and play back
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note patterns. When you choose 'Save', your song will be saved in both the .SM
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format and the DWI format for use in Dance With Intensity. If you save a song
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that was originally in the BMS or KSF format, the old files will be appended
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with ".old", and a new .SM file will be written with your new song data.<br>
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<br>
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Following are a few basic commands that you will find useful in learning to use
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the editor:<br>
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<br>
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* Escape = menu<br>
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* Up/Down = prev/next line<br>
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* Left/Right = change snap<br>
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* 1 through 0 = add/remove note<br>
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* Enter - Set selection begin marker<br>
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* Space - Set selection end marker<br>
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* P - Play back current selection (if no selection, play whole song)<br>
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* R - Record over current selection (if no selection, record whole song)<br>
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<br>
|
|
</font><a name="The .SM file format"><font face="Courier New" size="2">
|
|
<hr>
|
|
</font><font size="2">The .SM file format</font></a><font size="2"> (<a href="#Table of Contents">top</a>)</font><hr>
|
|
<font size="2">
|
|
<br>
|
|
The .SM song file format was created to be one file format that supports all
|
|
game types that StepMania can play (dance, pump, beat, guitar, etc). The syntax
|
|
of a .SM is similar to .DWI and .KSF except that some tags are different.<br>
|
|
<br>
|
|
Note that StepMania can load images in PNG, GIF, PJG, and BMP formats, and can
|
|
load sounds in OGG, MP3, and WAV formats.<br>
|
|
<br>
|
|
Any text field in an SM file can contain UTF-8 characters.<br>
|
|
<br>
|
|
#TITLE:...; - The "main title" of the song.<br>
|
|
#SUBTITLE:...; - This text will appear underneath the main title of the song on
|
|
the Select Music screen. e.g. "~Dirty Mix~" or "(remix)".<br>
|
|
#ARTIST:...; - The artist of the song.<br>
|
|
#TITLETRANSLIT:...; - Transliteration of song's main title.<br>
|
|
#SUBTITLETRANSLIT:...; - Transliteration of song's subtitle.<br>
|
|
#ARTISTTRANSLIT:...; - Transliteration of the artist's name.<br>
|
|
#CREDIT:...; - Give yourself some credit here for creating a wonderful song.<br>
|
|
#BANNER:...; - The file name of the banner image. e.g. "b4u-banner.png". This
|
|
image must reside in the song folder.<br>
|
|
#BACKGROUND:...; - The file name of the background image. e.g. "b4u-bg.png".
|
|
This image must reside in the song folder.<br>
|
|
#CDTITLE:...; - The file name of the spinning CD logo. e.g. "b4u-cdtitle.png".
|
|
This image must reside in the song folder.<br>
|
|
#MUSIC:...; - The file name of the music file. e.g. "b4u.mp3". This image must
|
|
reside in the song folder.<br>
|
|
#OFFSET:...; - The time in seconds at which beat 0 occurs in the music. This is
|
|
specified as a floating point value. e.g. "2.34".<br>
|
|
#SAMPLESTART:...; - The time in seconds to start the music sample that plays on
|
|
the Select Music screen. This is specified as a floating point value. e.g.
|
|
"32.34".<br>
|
|
#SAMPLELENGTH:...; - The time in seconds let the sample music play after
|
|
starting. This is specified as a floating point value. e.g. "16.00". Note that
|
|
in the last 1 second of playing the music will fade out.<br>
|
|
#SELECTABLE:...; - If "NO", the song can not be selected manually and can only
|
|
be played as part of a course. If "ROULETTE", the song can can also be selected
|
|
via roulette. The default value is "YES".<br>
|
|
#BPMS:...; - A value of the format "beat= bpm". Indicates that at 'beat', the
|
|
speed of the arrows will change to "bpm". Both of these values are specified as
|
|
floating point values. You must specifiy a BPM value for beat 0. Multiple BPMs
|
|
can be given by separating them with commas. e.g."0=160,120=80".<br>
|
|
#STOPS:...; - A value of the format "beat= sec". Indicates that at 'beat', the
|
|
motion of the arrows should stop for "sec" seconds. Both of these values are
|
|
specified as floating point values. Multiple stops can be given by separating
|
|
them with commas. e.g."60=2.23,80=1.12".<br>
|
|
#BGCHANGE:...; - A value of the format "beat= bg name". Indicates that at
|
|
'beat', the background should begin playing a new background named 'bg name'.
|
|
'beat' is a fractional value value and 'bg name' is a string. Different bg
|
|
changes are separated by commas. e.g."60=falling,80=flower". When
|
|
StepMania looks for a backgound, it searches in this order:<br>
|
|
</font>
|
|
<ol>
|
|
<li>
|
|
<font size="2">Looks for a movie with file name = "bg name" in the song folder. You
|
|
must include the file extension in "bg name". e.g.
|
|
"60=falling.avi,80=flower.mpg".</font>
|
|
<li>
|
|
<font size="2">Looks for a BGAnimation folder with the name "bg name" in the song
|
|
folder.</font>
|
|
<li>
|
|
<font size="2">Looks for a movie with file name "bg name" in the RandomMovies
|
|
folder. You must include the file extension in "bg name". e.g.
|
|
"60=falling.avi,80=flower.mpg".</font>
|
|
<li>
|
|
<font size="2">Looks for a BGAnimation with file name "bg name" in the BGAnimations
|
|
folder.</font>
|
|
<li>
|
|
<font size="2">Looks for a Visualization with the file name "bg name" in the
|
|
Visualizations folder. For example, if you have a song B4U and special
|
|
B4U-specific BGAnimations called "robot" and "electric". First, move the robot
|
|
and electric BGAnimation folders into the B4U song folder (e.g. "Songs\4th
|
|
Mix\B4U\robot" and "Songs\4th Mix\B4U\electric"). Then, using the editor,
|
|
insert a new background change at each point in the song where you to switch to
|
|
a new BGAnimation.</font></li>
|
|
</ol>
|
|
<font size="2">
|
|
<br>
|
|
Each pattern of notes has the same basic format:<br>
|
|
<br>
|
|
#NOTES:<NotesType>:<Description>:<DifficultyClass>:<DifficultyMeter>:<RadarValues>:<NoteData>;<br>
|
|
<br>
|
|
NotesType: Must be one of the currently supported types in StepMania:
|
|
"dance-single", "dance-double", "dance-couple", "dance-solo", "pump-single",
|
|
"pump-double", "pump-couple", "ez2-single", "ez2-double", "ez2-real",
|
|
"para-single"<br>
|
|
<br>
|
|
Description: This will be displayed on the gameplay screen. This can be any
|
|
text, but is most commonly:<br>
|
|
"Beginner", "Basic", "Another", "Trick", "Standard", "SSR", "Maniac", "Heavy",
|
|
"Challenge", "SManaic"<br>
|
|
<br>
|
|
DifficultyClass: This value must be "beginner", "easy", "medium", "hard", or
|
|
"challenge". These values correspond the levels of difficulty on the Select
|
|
Difficulty screen.<br>
|
|
<br>
|
|
DifficultyMeter: The difficulty of these notes as a bar rating. The value must
|
|
be an integer between 1 and 10.<br>
|
|
<br>
|
|
NoteData: This value requires a longer explanation.<br>
|
|
<br>
|
|
Each note is represented by a character:<br>
|
|
<br>
|
|
0 = no note here<br>
|
|
1 = a regular "tap note"<br>
|
|
2 = beginning of a "hold note"<br>
|
|
3 = end of a "hold note"<br>
|
|
a-z,A-z = tap notes reserved for game types that have sounds associated with
|
|
notes<br>
|
|
<br>
|
|
Notes that are hit at the same time are grouped into rows. For example, if the
|
|
NotesType is "dance-single", the row "1001" would specify that both the Left
|
|
and Right and Down panels should be hit at the same time.<br>
|
|
<br>
|
|
The number of notes per row (also called the number of 'columns') depends on
|
|
the "NotesType.<br>
|
|
<br>
|
|
dance-single = 4 notes/row (Left,Down,Up,Right)<br>
|
|
dance-double = 8 notes/row<br>
|
|
dance-couple = 8 notes/row<br>
|
|
dance-solo = 6 notes/row<br>
|
|
pump-single = 5 notes/row<br>
|
|
pump-double = 10 notes/row<br>
|
|
pump-couple = 10 notes/row<br>
|
|
ez2-single = 5 notes/row<br>
|
|
ez2-double = 10 notes/row<br>
|
|
ez2-real = 7 notes/row<br>
|
|
para-single = 5 notes/row<br>
|
|
<br>
|
|
<br>
|
|
Note rows are grouped into measures. The number of note rows you specify in a
|
|
measure will determine the time value of each note. For example, if there are 4
|
|
note rows in a measure, each note will be treated as a quarter note. If there
|
|
are 8 notes rows in a measure, each note will be treated as a eighth note. If
|
|
there are 12 notes rows in a measure, each note will be treated as a triplet
|
|
(1/12th) note. Measures are separated by a comma.<br>
|
|
<br>
|
|
Example:<br>
|
|
<br>
|
|
// measure 1<br>
|
|
2010<br>
|
|
0000<br>
|
|
0100<br>
|
|
0000<br>
|
|
: // measure 2<br>
|
|
0001<br>
|
|
0100<br>
|
|
0001<br>
|
|
0000<br>
|
|
3010<br>
|
|
0000<br>
|
|
0000<br>
|
|
0000<br>
|
|
;<br>
|
|
<br>
|
|
</font><a name="Backgrounds"><font face="Courier New" size="2">
|
|
<hr>
|
|
</font><font size="2">Backgrounds</font></a><font size="2"> (<a href="#Table of Contents">top</a>)</font><hr>
|
|
<font size="2">
|
|
<br>
|
|
StepMania supports three different modes of backgrounds. The default background
|
|
mode can be set in the Graphic Options menu.<br>
|
|
<br>
|
|
BGAnimations - Sprite animations similar to DDR 1st-5th Mix. There must be
|
|
BGAnimation folders present in the BGAnimations directory, or else no
|
|
background will be played. See the section called "BGAnimations Format" in this
|
|
document for more information on the BGAnimations format. BGAnimations will
|
|
perform better than the other background modes on slower computers.<br>
|
|
<br>
|
|
Random Movies - The background will cycle randomly over any avi or mpg files in
|
|
the "RandomMovies" folder in the StepMania program directory.<br>
|
|
<br>
|
|
Visualizations - A random avi or mpg file will be chosen from the
|
|
"Visualizations" folder in the StepMania program directory. This movie file
|
|
will be played and blended over top of the song's background graphic.<br>
|
|
<br>
|
|
Many video AVIs will require the DivX codec for playback. If you haven't yet
|
|
downloaded DivX, you can get it from www.divx.com. Playing movies as the
|
|
background is very processor intensive, and may cause choppiness on slower
|
|
computers.<br>
|
|
<br>
|
|
Sample animations, visualizations, and random movies can be found at <a href="http://www.stepmania.com">
|
|
www.stepmania.com</a>.<br>
|
|
<br>
|
|
</font><a name="BGAnimations Format"><font face="Courier New" size="2">
|
|
<hr>
|
|
</font><font size="2">BGAnimations Format</font></a><font size="2"> (<a href="#Table of Contents">top</a>)</font><hr>
|
|
<font size="2">
|
|
<br>
|
|
The BGAnimations folder in the StepMania program directory may contain several
|
|
BGAnimation folders.<br>
|
|
<br>
|
|
\BGAnimations\<anim folder>\<layer files><br>
|
|
<br>
|
|
<anim folder> is the name of the animation.<br>
|
|
<br>
|
|
<layer files> are one or more graphics files that will be used as layers
|
|
in the animation. Each sprite represents exactly one layer. Multiple layers can
|
|
be specified by having multiple <layer files>. Layer files can be PNG,
|
|
AVI, or MPEG files.<br>
|
|
<br>
|
|
For example, a BGAnimation named "flower" may include the files:<br>
|
|
<br>
|
|
BGAnimations\flower\1 TileScrollUp.png<br>
|
|
BGAnimations\flower\2 StartOnRandomFrame ParticlesFloatDown 1x2.png<br>
|
|
BGAnimations\flower\3 TileScrollLeft CycleColor 2x2.png<br>
|
|
<br>
|
|
The layers of a BGAnimation are drawn from bottom in the order in which the
|
|
layer graphics files appear alphanumerically. A layer file name will often
|
|
begin with a number to control the order in which they are drawn.<br>
|
|
<br>
|
|
Different "effects" are specified for each layer by adding tokens to the file
|
|
name. Here are an explanation of the currently supported tokens:<br>
|
|
<br>
|
|
UseSongBg - Use the song's background file instead of this graphics file. Since
|
|
this graphics file is merely a placeholder, you might want to make this graphic
|
|
a 1x1 graphic to save disk space.<br>
|
|
<br>
|
|
Add - use additive blending instead of normal blending.<br>
|
|
<br>
|
|
CycleColor - cycle the color of the layer over the colors of the rainbow<br>
|
|
<br>
|
|
CycleAlpha - cycle the alpha channel of the layer over type<br>
|
|
<br>
|
|
StartOnRandomFrame - Start the animation on a random frame. This is mainly
|
|
useful for Tile or Particle effects.
|
|
<br>
|
|
<br>
|
|
DontAnimate - Stay on the first frame of this animation. This is only useful
|
|
for layers with multiple frames.<br>
|
|
<br>
|
|
(stretch effects) - These scretch the graphic across the extire screen.<br>
|
|
ScretchScrollLeft,<br>
|
|
StretchScrollRight,<br>
|
|
StretchScrollUp,<br>
|
|
StretchScrollDown,<br>
|
|
- Scroll the layer in a direction<br>
|
|
<br>
|
|
StretchWater,<br>
|
|
StretchBubble,<br>
|
|
StretchTwist,<br>
|
|
StretchSpin,<br>
|
|
- Deform the background sprite with an effect. Only stretch spin is currently
|
|
implemented.<br>
|
|
<br>
|
|
(particle effects) - Use the graphic to make individual particles on the
|
|
screen.<br>
|
|
ParticlesSpiralOut,<br>
|
|
ParticlesSpiralIn,<br>
|
|
- Spiral particles away from/toward the center of the screen.<br>
|
|
<br>
|
|
ParticlesFloatUp,<br>
|
|
ParticlesFloatDown,<br>
|
|
ParticlesFloatLeft,<br>
|
|
ParticlesFloatRight,<br>
|
|
- Scroll the particles across the screen.<br>
|
|
ParticlesBounce,<br>
|
|
- Particles start traveling in random directions and bounce when they hit the
|
|
edge of the screen.<br>
|
|
<br>
|
|
(tile effects) - Tile the graphics across the screen, forming a grid of
|
|
graphics.<br>
|
|
TileStill,<br>
|
|
TileScrollLeft,<br>
|
|
TileScrollRight,<br>
|
|
TileScrollUp,<br>
|
|
TileScrollDown,<br>
|
|
- Scroll the tiles<br>
|
|
<br>
|
|
TileFlipX,<br>
|
|
TileFlipY,<br>
|
|
- Flip the tiles along the X or Y axis.<br>
|
|
<br>
|
|
TilePulse,<br>
|
|
- Tiles zoom in and out.<br>
|
|
<br>
|
|
</font><a name="The .CRS File Format"><font face="Courier New" size="2">
|
|
<hr>
|
|
</font><font size="2">The .CRS File Format</font></a><font size="2"> (<a href="#Table of Contents">top</a>)</font><hr>
|
|
<font size="2">
|
|
<br>
|
|
CRS files define the courses used in the Nonstop, Oni, and Endless modes.
|
|
All CRS files must reside in the "Courses" folder in the StepMania program
|
|
folder. These rules determine which of the three modes a course will
|
|
appear in:<br>
|
|
<br>
|
|
Nonstop: Will appear if there is no #LIVES tag and #REPEAT is OFF.<br>
|
|
Oni (Challenge): Will appear if there is a #LIVES tag and #REPEAT is OFF.<br>
|
|
Endless: Will appear if #REPEAT is ON.<br>
|
|
<br>
|
|
#COURSE:...; - name of the course<br>
|
|
#LIVES:<0..10>; - An integer between 0 and 10. This line is optional.<br>
|
|
#REPEAT:<YES|NO>; - start over after last stage?<br>
|
|
#SONG: - can use any one of the following formats:<br>
|
|
<br>
|
|
A fixed song:<br>
|
|
#SONG:<group folder>/<song
|
|
folder>:<difficulty>:<modifiers>;<br>
|
|
example: #SONG:Nicolai
|
|
Rimsky-Korsakov/Flight of the Bumblebee:BASIC;<br>
|
|
example: #SONG:Oldies/Jump Jive and
|
|
Wail:MANIAC:sudden,shuffle,reverse;<br>
|
|
A random song:<br>
|
|
|
|
#SONG:*:(<difficulty>|<meter range>):<modifiers>;<br>
|
|
example: #SONG:*:MANIAC;<br>
|
|
example: #SONG:*:8..10:1.5x,reverse;<br>
|
|
A random song within a group:<br>
|
|
#SONG:<group
|
|
folder>/*:(<difficulty>|<meter range>):<modifiers>;<br>
|
|
example: #SONG:Classical/*:3..6;<br>
|
|
example:
|
|
#SONG:Techno/*:MANIAC:1.5x,reverse;<br>
|
|
A players best song:<br>
|
|
|
|
#SONG:BEST<number>:(<difficulty>|<meter
|
|
range>):<modifiers>;<br>
|
|
example: #SONG:BEST1:TRICK;<br>
|
|
example:
|
|
#SONG:BEST4:MANIAC:1.5x,reverse;<br>
|
|
A players worst song:<br>
|
|
|
|
#SONG:WORST<number>:(<difficulty>|<meter
|
|
range>):<modifiers>;<br>
|
|
example: #SONG:WORST4:MANIAC;<br>
|
|
example:
|
|
#SONG:WORST1:TRICK:1.5x,reverse,drunk;<br>
|
|
<br>
|
|
Descriptions:<br>
|
|
group folder - The name of the folder that contains the song folder. (e.g.
|
|
"Techno")<br>
|
|
song folder - the name of the folder that contains files for the song. (e.g.
|
|
"Flight of the Bumblebee")<br>
|
|
difficulty - Can be one of the following: BEGINNER, EASY, MEDIUM, HARD,
|
|
CHALLENGE.<br>
|
|
meter range - A value in the format "x..y" where x is the lowest meter allowed
|
|
and y is the highest meter allowed. For example, the string "7..9" would
|
|
choose only from songs with a meter of 7, 8, or 9.<br>
|
|
modifiers - A comma separated series of modifier strings. This value may
|
|
be left blank. Any string you see on the Player Options screen is a
|
|
modifier string. Some examples are:<br>
|
|
<ul>
|
|
0.5x, 0.75x, 1.5x, 2.0x, 3.0x, 4.0x, 5.0x, 8.0x<br>
|
|
boost, wave, drunk, dizzy, space, mini<br>
|
|
hidden, sudden, stealth, blink<br>
|
|
mirror, left, right, shuffle, supershuffle<br>
|
|
little, reverse, note, flat, plain<br>
|
|
noholds, nofreeze, dark<br>
|
|
0.7xmusic, 0.8xmusic, 0.9xmusic, 1.0xmusic, 1.1xmusic,
|
|
<br>
|
|
1.2xmusic, 1.3xmusic, 1.4xmusic, 1.5xmusic<br>
|
|
</ul>
|
|
</font><a name="Extra Stages"><font face="Courier New" size="2">
|
|
<hr>
|
|
</font><font size="2">Extra Stages</font></a><font size="2"> (<a href="#Table of Contents">top</a>)</font><hr>
|
|
<font size="2">
|
|
<br>
|
|
You can manually specify extra stages for each song group by creating .CRS
|
|
files called "extra1.crs" and "extra2.crs" and placing them in the song group
|
|
folder (e.g. Songs\Vib Ribbon\extra1.crs). When it comes time to play an extra
|
|
stage the first song in the .crs file will be used. Don't forget to specify
|
|
modifiers - see the "CRS File Format" section of this document for more
|
|
information. If a CRS file is not found or is invalid, appropriate song, notes,
|
|
and modifiers will be chosen.<br>
|
|
<br>
|
|
Don't forget: extra stage CRS files belong in the song group folder (e.g.
|
|
"Songs/Vib Ribbon/"), not in "Courses".<br>
|
|
<br>
|
|
</font><font face="Courier New" size="2">
|
|
<hr>
|
|
</font><font size="2"><a name="Unlock System">Unlock System </a>(<a href="#Table of Contents">top</a>)
|
|
</font>
|
|
<hr>
|
|
<font size="2">Unlocks allow songs and courses to be hidden until certain
|
|
conditions have been met. Conditions are:<p>
|
|
Dance points (DP)<br>
|
|
Require a minimum number of dance points. A Perfect is worth 2 points, a Great
|
|
is worth 1 point.<p>
|
|
Arcade points (AP)<br>
|
|
Clearing a song is worth 1 point. An AAA or greater is worth 10 points instead.<p>
|
|
Song points (SP)<br>
|
|
A "D" grade is worth 1 point, "C" is worth 2, AA is worth 5, AAAA is worth 20.<p>
|
|
Stages Cleared (SC)<br>
|
|
Require a minimum number of cleared stages.<p>
|
|
Roulette (RO)<br>
|
|
Locked until landed on (not necessarily passed) in roulette. Each entry to be
|
|
locked via roulette must have its own seed; if multiple songs have the same
|
|
seed and one of them is landed on, all are unlocked.<p>
|
|
Toasties (!!)<br>
|
|
Songs are locked until a certain number of Toasties appear on screen.<p>
|
|
Unlocks are defined in the file unlocks.dat inside of the Data folder. If
|
|
multiple conditions are given, the song is unlocked when any one is met. Songs
|
|
are specified in the same format as course entries.<p>
|
|
Examples:<p>
|
|
#UNLOCK:Duke Of Earl:AP=10;<br>
|
|
The song (or course) "Duke Of Earl" requires 10 arcade points to be played.<p>
|
|
#UNLOCK:Yakety Yak:RO=3;<br>
|
|
"Yakety Yak" is in roulette slot 3.<p>
|
|
#UNLOCK:BananaBoat:CS=30,RO=3;<br>
|
|
"Banana Boat" is locked until either 30 stages are cleared, or until landed on
|
|
in roulette.<p>
|
|
#UNLOCK:My Course:CS=50;<p>
|
|
Course "My Course" is locked until 50 stages are cleared.<p>
|
|
</font>
|
|
<p>
|
|
<a name="Creating an Announcer"><font face="Courier New" size="2">
|
|
<hr>
|
|
</font><font size="2">Creating an Announcer</font></a><font size="2"> (<a href="#Table of Contents">top</a>)</font><hr>
|
|
<font size="2">
|
|
<br>
|
|
Announcers folders must reside in the "Announcers" folder inside the StepMania
|
|
program directory (e.g. "Announcers\James Earl Jones\"). An announcer folder
|
|
contains several more folders - one for each announcer "trigger". Add as many
|
|
.WAV, .MP3, or .OGG sounds as you want to the trigger folder. When StepMania
|
|
wants to play a sound for that trigger, it will play a random sound file from
|
|
your trigger folder.<br>
|
|
<br>
|
|
Sound files in a trigger folder can have any name you want. It's recommended
|
|
that you name the sound files according to what is being said (e.g. "everybodys
|
|
waiting for you.mp3"). If there are 0 sound files in a trigger folder, or the
|
|
trigger folder is missing, then no sound will be played for that trigger.<br>
|
|
<br>
|
|
For a complete list of announcer trigger names, see the example announcer packs
|
|
that are available at <a href="http://www.stepmania.com">www.stepmania.com</a>.<br>
|
|
<br>
|
|
</font><a name="Creating a Note Skin"><font face="Courier New" size="2">
|
|
<hr>
|
|
</font><font size="2">Creating a Note Skin</font></a><font size="2"> (<a href="#Table of Contents">top</a>)</font><hr>
|
|
<font size="2">
|
|
<br>
|
|
Note skins allow you to customize the way notes appear. Note skins must reside
|
|
in the folder "NoteSkins\<Game Name>\<Note Skin Name>". Note skins
|
|
are specific to a particular game (dance, pump, etc). In the note skin folder,
|
|
you must implement the folling files for each note:<br>
|
|
<br>
|
|
<NoteName> receptor (3x1).png<br>
|
|
<NoteName> tap note (NxN).png<br>
|
|
<NoteName> tap explosion bright.png<br>
|
|
<NoteName> tap explosion bright.png<br>
|
|
<NoteName> hold explosion.png<br>
|
|
<NoteName> down hold topcap active.png.png<br>
|
|
<NoteName> down hold topcap inactive.png.png<br>
|
|
<NoteName> down hold head active.png.png<br>
|
|
<NoteName> down hold head inactive.png.png<br>
|
|
<NoteName> down hold body active.png.png<br>
|
|
<NoteName> down hold body inactive.png.png<br>
|
|
<NoteName> down hold tail active.png.png<br>
|
|
<NoteName> down hold tail inactive.png.png<br>
|
|
<NoteName> down hold bottomcap active.png.png<br>
|
|
<NoteName> down hold bottomcap inactive.png.png<br>
|
|
<NoteName> tap.colors<br>
|
|
<br>
|
|
"<NoteName>" must be the name of the note (e.g. "left", "upright",
|
|
"snare"). Look at the example note skins included with StepMania for a
|
|
complete list for each game.<br>
|
|
<br>
|
|
Most of the note skin elements can use any number of frames. For example, the
|
|
element "tap exposion bright" could have 4 frames (2x2), 2 frames (1x2), or
|
|
just a single frame. The exception to this rule is "receptor", which must have
|
|
3 frames.<br>
|
|
<br>
|
|
For more information on about textures with multiple frames, see the section
|
|
"How StepMania Loads Textures" in this document.<br>
|
|
<br>
|
|
</font><a name="Creating a Theme"><font face="Courier New" size="2">
|
|
<hr>
|
|
</font><font size="2">Creating a Theme</font></a><font size="2"> (<a href="#Table of Contents">top</a>)</font><hr>
|
|
<font size="2">
|
|
<br>
|
|
All themes must reside in the Themes folder below the StepMania program
|
|
directory. Inside a theme folder, you will all or only a few of the items
|
|
below:<br>
|
|
<br>
|
|
Themes\<ThemeName>\BGAnimations\<br>
|
|
Themes\<ThemeName>\Fonts\<br>
|
|
Themes\<ThemeName>\Graphics\<br>
|
|
Themes\<ThemeName>\Numbers\<br>
|
|
Themes\<ThemeName>\Sounds\<br>
|
|
Themes\<ThemeName>\metrics.ini<br>
|
|
<br>
|
|
The 5 possible folders in a theme hold "theme elements". A theme element is
|
|
simply a little piece of the theme that can be changed. Each of the 5 folders
|
|
contains different types of information as explained below:<br>
|
|
<br>
|
|
BGAnimations: This folder contains BGAnimation elements for the different
|
|
screens. Since all backgrounds for all the menus in the game are generated
|
|
using BGAnimations, any screen in the game can have an animating background.
|
|
Also, BGAnimations can contain movie layers. For more information about
|
|
BGAnimations, see the section "BGAnimations Format" in this document.<br>
|
|
<br>
|
|
Fonts: This folder contains graphics and font width data used by the font
|
|
system. Font graphics and width files are generated using the program "Bitmap
|
|
Font Builder", which is <a href="http://www.lmnopc.com/bitmapfontbuilder/">available
|
|
at their site</a>. To export a font for use in StepMania:<br>
|
|
- In Bitmap Font Builder, choose Character Set->Full ASCII. StepMania can
|
|
only load 16x16 character sheets.<br>
|
|
- In Bitmap Font Builder, click File->Save 32bit TGA. Save the file some
|
|
place that is easy to access.<br>
|
|
- Open Photoshop and load the TGA file. Click the chanel "Alpha 1", then load
|
|
this channel as a selection.<br>
|
|
- Click back to the Layers tab and create a new layer.<br>
|
|
- Choose Edit->Fill, and fill the selection with white.<br>
|
|
- Delete the layer named "Background". You should now see a mostly transparent
|
|
background with faint hints of white text.<br>
|
|
- Click File->Save For Web. Choose the Format "PNG-24" and Save.<br>
|
|
- Rename the PNG file you just saved to "<YourFontName> 16x16.png". (the
|
|
"16x16" means that the graphic contains 16 * 16 frames worth of characters.<br>
|
|
- Back in Bitmap Font Builder, click File->Save Font Widths (INI Format).
|
|
Save this in the same directory where you saved the PNG. Rename the exported
|
|
INI file to "<YourFontName> 16x16.ini" where the first part of the file
|
|
name matches the PNG you exported.<br>
|
|
- Done! The PNG and the INI file are your new font. Move them into your theme's
|
|
Fonts folder.<br>
|
|
<br>
|
|
StepMania will also look for the following optional lines in a font INI file:<br>
|
|
CapitalsOnly=<0|1>: If 1, then StepMania will use the capital letter
|
|
frames in place of the lower case letter frames. If not specified, StepMania
|
|
will use 0 for this value.<br>
|
|
DrawExtraPixelsLeft=<0..32>: If letters of your font are being chopped
|
|
off on the left size, try increasing this value. If not specified, StepMania
|
|
will use 0 for this value.<br>
|
|
DrawExtraPixelsRight=<0..32>: If letters of your font are being chopped
|
|
off on the right size, try increasing this value. If not specified, StepMania
|
|
will use 0 for this value.<br>
|
|
AddToAllWidths=<0..32>: If specified, this value will be added to the
|
|
width of every character in the font. Increase this value if the width of all
|
|
characters changes uniformly; for example, if you add a border to each
|
|
character.<br>
|
|
AdvanceExtraPixels=<0..32>: The value in this line determines the amount
|
|
of space to advance between each character. This is usually small, as most
|
|
fonts include spacing between characters in the body of the character. Increase
|
|
this value to increase character spacing in your font. If not specified,
|
|
StepMania will use 1 for this value.<br>
|
|
ScaleAllWidthsBy=<0.0...2.0>: The width of every character in the font be
|
|
multipled by this value. If not specified, StepMania will use 1 for this value.<br>
|
|
LineSpacing=<0..64>: This controls the spacing in pixels between lines of
|
|
text. This value is only used in text items that have multiple lines. If not
|
|
specified, StepMania will use the height of the frames in your texture (which
|
|
is 32 pixels for 512x512 graphics).<br>
|
|
Top=<0..63>: This indicates the top of a typical capital letter, from the
|
|
top of the frame. If not specified, this will be derived from LineSpacing.<br>
|
|
Baseline=<0..63>: This indicates the baseline of the font, from the top
|
|
of the frame. If not specified, the baseline is derived from LineSpacing.<br>
|
|
<br>
|
|
Graphics: This folder contains graphics used in all of the screens. These
|
|
graphics are the meat and potatoes of a theme. These graphics can be of any
|
|
dimension. For example, your theme could have a "title menu logo dance.png"
|
|
graphic that is 640x480 - which would take up the whole screen!<br>
|
|
<br>
|
|
Numbers: This folder contains graphics used to render numbers. Every graphic in
|
|
this folder must be 5 frames by 3 frames (5x3) and follow the standard layout
|
|
(see the Numbers graphics in the theme named "default" for examples).<br>
|
|
<br>
|
|
Sounds: This folder contains sounds. Sounds may be in OGG, MP3, or WAV format.<br>
|
|
<br>
|
|
metrics.ini: A metric is simply values that can alter the appearance of the
|
|
game. metrics.ini is a large list of values that will allow you to alter things
|
|
like the position of elements in the menus, and the order of menu screens.
|
|
There is no documentation or explaination of these values other than the value
|
|
name. Because the theme "default" implements all possible theme elements and
|
|
metrics, the metrics file "Themes\default\metrics.ini" contains a complete list
|
|
of all possible metrics. DO NOT EDIT the file "Themes\default\metrics.ini".
|
|
Instead, create a blank file "metrics.ini" in your theme folder, and override
|
|
only those values you want to customize for your theme using default's
|
|
metrics.ini to see what values are possible.<br>
|
|
<br>
|
|
<br>
|
|
When StepMania looks to load a theme element from one of these folders, it will
|
|
first look in the folder of the currently selected theme. If the element is not
|
|
found in this folder, StepMania then look for the theme element in the theme
|
|
folder called "default". The theme "default" is a base theme and guaranteed
|
|
that a theme is usable even if it is missing elements.
|
|
<br>
|
|
<br>
|
|
This "fallback" system has other advantages too. User-created themes can
|
|
override as many or as few theme elements as the author pleases. For example,
|
|
you could create a theme called "MySuperTheme" which does nothing more than
|
|
override the title menu logo. Here's how you would create this theme:<br>
|
|
<br>
|
|
- Create a new folder in "Themes" called "MySuperTheme"<br>
|
|
- Open the MyStepMania folder. Create a folder inside called "Graphics".<br>
|
|
- Copy the file "Themes\default\Graphics\title menu logo dance.png" into your
|
|
Graphics folder "Themes\MySuperTheme\Graphics".
|
|
<br>
|
|
- Edit your new title menu graphic to be whatever you want.<br>
|
|
- Start StepMania, go to Appearance Options, and change your theme to
|
|
"MySuperTheme".<br>
|
|
<br>
|
|
</font><a name="Actor Commands"><font face="Courier New" size="2">
|
|
<hr>
|
|
</font><font size="2">Actor Commands</font></a><font size="2"> (<a href="#Table of Contents">top</a>)</font>
|
|
<hr>
|
|
<p>
|
|
<font size="2">
|
|
<br>
|
|
In the old paradigm, you would define the position of an Actor with two
|
|
different metrics - one for the X position, and one for the Y. For example:<br>
|
|
ObjectX=100<br>
|
|
ObjectY=220<br>
|
|
<br>
|
|
This system is being replaced by more powerful "commands strings". A command
|
|
string can set positions, colors, effects, and also script animations over
|
|
time. Positioning an Actor with command string would look like this:<br>
|
|
ObjectOnCommand=x,100;y,220<br>
|
|
<br>
|
|
A command string contains one or more commands separated by semicolons. This
|
|
command string contains two commands: "x,100" and "y,220". A command is made up
|
|
of a command name and a list of parameters. The command name and any parameters
|
|
are separated by commas. In the example above, both the commands "x" and "y"
|
|
both take exactly one parameter. Other commands like "diffuse" take 4
|
|
parameters (R, G, B, and A). For example, the command "diffuse,1,0,1,1" would
|
|
turn an Actor's color to opaque purple.<br>
|
|
<br>
|
|
Typically, the metrics file will have two commands per Actor - the "OnCommand"
|
|
(which is where you command an Actor to tween onto the screen), and the
|
|
"OffCommand" (for tweening the Actor off the screen).<br>
|
|
<br>
|
|
Below is a list of actor commands and their C++ equivalents. I'll have an
|
|
explanation of animations and more examples in the full documentation.<br>
|
|
<br>
|
|
<br>
|
|
sleep BeginTweening( fParam(0), TWEEN_LINEAR );<br>
|
|
linear BeginTweening( fParam(0), TWEEN_LINEAR );<br>
|
|
accelerate BeginTweening( fParam(0), TWEEN_ACCELERATE );<br>
|
|
decelerate BeginTweening( fParam(0), TWEEN_DECELERATE );<br>
|
|
bouncebegin BeginTweening( fParam(0), TWEEN_BOUNCE_BEGIN );<br>
|
|
bounceend BeginTweening( fParam(0), TWEEN_BOUNCE_END );<br>
|
|
spring BeginTweening( fParam(0), TWEEN_SPRING );<br>
|
|
stoptweening { StopTweening(); BeginTweening( 0.0001f, TWEEN_LINEAR ); }<br>
|
|
x SetX( fParam(0) );<br>
|
|
y SetY( fParam(0) );<br>
|
|
xoffset SetX( GetX()+fParam(0) );<br>
|
|
yoffset SetY( GetY()+fParam(0) );<br>
|
|
zoom SetZoom( fParam(0) );<br>
|
|
zoomx SetZoomY( fParam(0) );<br>
|
|
zoomy SetZoomY( fParam(0) );<br>
|
|
diffuse SetDiffuse( RageColor(fParam(0),fParam(1),fParam(2),fParam(3)) );<br>
|
|
glow SetGlow( RageColor(fParam(0),fParam(1),fParam(2),fParam(3)) );<br>
|
|
rotationx SetRotationX( fParam(0) );<br>
|
|
rotationy SetRotationY( fParam(0) );<br>
|
|
rotationz SetRotationZ( fParam(0) );<br>
|
|
shadowlength SetShadowLength( fParam(0) );<br>
|
|
horizalign SetHorizAlign( sParam(0) );<br>
|
|
vertalign SetVertAlign( sParam(0) );<br>
|
|
diffuseblink SetEffectDiffuseBlink();<br>
|
|
diffuseshift SetEffectDiffuseShift();<br>
|
|
glowblink SetEffectGlowBlink();<br>
|
|
glowshift SetEffectGlowShift();<br>
|
|
wag SetEffectWag();<br>
|
|
bounce SetEffectBounce();<br>
|
|
bob SetEffectBob();<br>
|
|
spin SetEffectSpin();<br>
|
|
vibrate SetEffectVibrate();<br>
|
|
stopeffect SetEffectNone();<br>
|
|
effectcolor1 SetEffectColor1(
|
|
RageColor(fParam(0),fParam(1),fParam(2),fParam(3)) );<br>
|
|
effectcolor2 SetEffectColor2(
|
|
RageColor(fParam(0),fParam(1),fParam(2),fParam(3)) );<br>
|
|
effectperiod SetEffectPeriod( fParam(0) );<br>
|
|
effectmagnitude SetEffectMagnitude( RageVector3(fParam(0),fParam(1),fParam(2))
|
|
);<br>
|
|
additiveblend EnableAdditiveBlend( iParam(0)!=0 );<br>
|
|
<br>
|
|
<br>
|
|
</font></p>
|
|
<a name="ScreenSelect"><font face="Courier New" size="2">
|
|
<hr>
|
|
</font><font size="2">ScreenSelect</font></a><font size="2"> (<a href="#Table of Contents">top</a>)</font>
|
|
<hr>
|
|
<p>
|
|
<font size="2">
|
|
<br>
|
|
ScreenSelect is a type of screen that presents the user with a list of choices.
|
|
The choices shown on these screens can be Styles, Difficulties, PlayModes, or
|
|
any combination thereof. Each ScreenSelect screen has two metrics that define
|
|
what choices are shown (examples below). Currently, there are only two
|
|
different screens that support the ScreenSelect framework.<br>
|
|
- ScreenSelectMaxType1<br>
|
|
- ScreenSelectMaxType2<br>
|
|
- (more will be converted over in the next couple days)<br>
|
|
<br>
|
|
<br>
|
|
// Example 1: Show all Styles for the current game type the DDR MAX Select
|
|
Style template<br>
|
|
<br>
|
|
[ScreenSelectMaxType1]<br>
|
|
ChoicesType=0 // 0=styles, 1=difficulties, 2=modes, 3=games<br>
|
|
Choices=<br>
|
|
<br>
|
|
<br>
|
|
// Example 2: Show specific Difficulty and PlayMode choices using a DDR MAX
|
|
Select Difficulty template<br>
|
|
<br>
|
|
[ScreenSelectMaxType2]<br>
|
|
ChoicesType=1 // 0=styles, 1=difficulties, 2=modes, 3=games<br>
|
|
Choices=Beginner,Easy,Medium,Hard,Nonstop,Oni,Endless<br>
|
|
<br>
|
|
<br>
|
|
// Example 3: Show specific Style-PlayMode-Difficulty combinations using a DDR
|
|
MAX Select Style template<br>
|
|
<br>
|
|
ChoicesType=2 // 0=styles, 1=difficulties, 2=modes, 3=games<br>
|
|
Choices=versus-arcade-medium,couple-arcade-medium,double-arcade-medium,single-arcade-medium,single-battle-medium,double-battle-medium,couple-battle-medium,versus-battle-medium<br>
|
|
<br>
|
|
<br>
|
|
<br>
|
|
<br>
|
|
<br>
|
|
</font></p>
|
|
<a name="How StepMania Loads Textures"><font face="Courier New" size="2">
|
|
<hr>
|
|
</font><font size="2">How StepMania Loads Textures</font></a><font size="2"> (<a href="#Table of Contents">top</a>)</font><hr>
|
|
<font size="2">
|
|
<br>
|
|
* What are textures?<br>
|
|
<br>
|
|
"Texture" is simply another name for graphics file. The name "texture" is more
|
|
common when taking about 3D graphics. This document uses "texture" and
|
|
"graphic" interchangeably.<br>
|
|
<br>
|
|
<br>
|
|
* How to you specify that a texture has multiple frames (for animation)?<br>
|
|
<br>
|
|
Simply add the string "(NxN)". Immediately before the "." that separates the
|
|
main file name and the extension. For example, suppose there is a file called
|
|
"title menu logo.png" that you would like to turn into an animation. Now, you
|
|
create an graphic file with 9 frames of animation - 3 frames wide and 3 frames
|
|
high. Name this file, "title menu logo 3x3.png", and StepMania will play the
|
|
graphic as an animation with frames in the order left-to-right, top-to-bottom,
|
|
with 0.20 seconds separating each frame.<br>
|
|
<br>
|
|
<br>
|
|
* What are .sprite files?<br>
|
|
<br>
|
|
.sprite files are a way to have even more precise control over how your
|
|
graphics animate. Each sprite has multiple "states". For each state, you may
|
|
specify: 1) What frame of the graphic to show, and 2) how long to show this
|
|
state before moving to the next state.<br>
|
|
<br>
|
|
Let's look at an example .sprite file:<br>
|
|
<br>
|
|
[Sprite]<br>
|
|
Texture=dancer p1 1x3.png<br>
|
|
Frame0000=0<br>
|
|
Delay0000=0.05<br>
|
|
Frame0001=1<br>
|
|
Delay0001=0.05<br>
|
|
Frame0002=2<br>
|
|
Delay0002=0.05<br>
|
|
<br>
|
|
Texture is the name of the texture file to use. This must reside in the same
|
|
directory as the .sprite file. If your texture has multiple frames, be sure to
|
|
specify the dimensions in the file name using the convention described above.<br>
|
|
<br>
|
|
FrameNNNN is the index of the frame number to use for the first state of the
|
|
animation. Frame may range between 0 and (total number of frames - 1).
|
|
Frame indicies move left-to-right, top-to-bottom over the frames in an image.<br>
|
|
<br>
|
|
DelayNNNN is the time in seconds to show the state.<br>
|
|
<br>
|
|
<br>
|
|
* My graphics show ugly banding or look washed out. What can I do?<br>
|
|
<br>
|
|
Change your PNG images to use "palette mode" instead of "RGB mode". Paletted
|
|
images have three advantages:<br>
|
|
- StepMania can load paletted images with higher color precision than RGB
|
|
images.<br>
|
|
- paletted images use much less texture memory than RGB images.<br>
|
|
- paletted images often have a smaller file size than an equivalent RGB mode
|
|
image.<br>
|
|
<br>
|
|
However, paletted PNGs have a couple limitations:<br>
|
|
- they support you to only "on/off" alpha.<br>
|
|
- they support a maximum of 256 colors. This can make smooth gradients look
|
|
ugly.
|
|
<br>
|
|
<br>
|
|
Alternatively, inserting "dither" into filenames will instruct StepMania to
|
|
dither the image when loading.
|
|
<br>
|
|
<br>
|
|
* Why do the graphics look so blurry?<br>
|
|
<br>
|
|
Some 3D graphics cards (the Voodoo3 in particular) do not support textures
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greater in size than 256x256. If a texture is larger than the card's maximum
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texture size, the image will scaled down internally resulting in output that
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looks blurry.<br>
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<br>
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</font><a name="Building StepMania from CVS source"><font face="Courier New" size="2">
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<hr>
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</font><font size="2">Building StepMania from CVS source</font></a><font size="2">
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(<a href="#Table of Contents">top</a>)</font><hr>
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<font size="2">
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<br>
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See the instructions posted on our web site:
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http://www.stepmania.com/stepmania/mediawiki.php?title= DeveloperInstructions<br>
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<br>
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</font><a name="Thanks"><font face="Courier New" size="2">
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<hr>
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</font><font size="2">Thanks</font></a><font size="2"> (<a href="#Table of Contents">top</a>)</font><hr>
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<font size="2">
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<br>
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<!-- I think we should only put credits here that *must* be in the
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documentation (eg. pcre), and major credits; everyone else can
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go in the gameplay credits screen ... -glenn -->
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redcrusher (Michael Curry) for help on ez2 graphics<br>
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Dj Slash & Tony Thai for the caution graphic<br>
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<a href="http://www.ampcast.com/music/14706/artist.php">Kyle "KeeL" Ward</a> for
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his awesome menu music<br>
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Regular expression support provided by the PCRE library package, by Philip
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Hazel, and copyright the University of Cambridge, England.<br>
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<br>
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</font>
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<hr>
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<font size="2">End of document </font>
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<hr>
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<P></P>
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</body>
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</html>
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