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Jul - Gaming - The Stepmania Intro/FAQ New poll - New thread - New reply
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DigitalBasic
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Posted on 06-12-08 02:01:29 AM (last edited by cpubasic13 at 11-22-08 12:22 PM) Link | Quote
Welcome to the Stepmania, Simfiles, & Music/Rhythm Games forum. Here is discussion about music and rhythm games as well as simfiles for Stepmania and whatever other simulators out there.

Of course, the main meat here is Stepmania and simfiles, scores, and whatever pertaining to it. This thread is about that.

What is Stepmania?
It is a rhythm game that can mimic other well-known music games that are out there, with the most popular modes being Dance (like Dance Dance Revolution or In The Groove) and Pump (Pump It Up). It can support other modes like Pop'n and IIDX, but they require noteskins.

The main site is http://www.stepmania.com. It has news about the latest SM builds, themes, packs, and videos from Stepmania-related things.

That takes care of the introduction. Let's start the FAQ then.

Q: Which version of Stepmania should I install?
A: Depends on what you want. The main, well known versions are:

3.9 - The stable release. Many things work with this and is great to start with.
3.95 - A precursor to SM4. Basically you want to use this if you want the ITG2 theme on it, but overall it isn't that good.
4 - The current official build. While still being worked on with a few kinks and such, the possibilities here are endless thanks to having LUA be the driving force of this. This, however, isn't stable, as it is constantly updated. You can get a great theme for this though and it'll be flawless until the stable build is released.

You can get them all through Stepmania's site except 3.95.

Q: How do I change how the interface/arrows look like?
A: Themes change how the interface looks. Depending on your version, there are a number of themes to choose from. Noteskins change how the arrows look.

Where to get themes varies. For 3.9 themes, you can get them here and it seems like it has 3.95 and 4 themes as well.
Also the themes section of the forums on Stepmania's site has more themes and noteskins available. Check those out once in a while.

There are other places to download them too. AJ 187 has a site with his own on there. Link with a bunch of stuff.

Recommended themes (my personal preferences, go ahead and try out other themes anyway):
3.9
-system zero
-CiberiaStyle 4
-minimalia
-Techno Fiend 3.1

(these can be found on Stepmaniathings, linked beforehand)

4
-the spinal shark collective presents dubaiOne
-SM: Strike!

If it isn't listed this is just a starting point. There are definitely a lot more.

Noteskins:
3.9
-Delta
-Note+ (works with 4.0 as well, requires BMS acct. to get)

4
-Delta

Again, more are available if you know where to look.

Q: Where are good places to download simfiles?
A: Lots. Stepmania's forums have some links there, but there are other places such as Bemanistyle that host simfiles. The quality ranges per user, so I can't gurantee greatness from every sim released.

There are also packs, which are a great way to build up your collection quickly. Some can be downloaded at this link. There are also other packs that sometimes release their sims with a build of Stepmania along with it (a great example being Mungyodance 3).

Recommended packs? It varies depending what you are looking for, really. Just try a few and go from there.

Outside of packs, a few of us here make simfiles, so you can probably check those out and find something you like. So far many of ours are on Bemanistyle.

For pad, check out the Albumix series, DDR Encore, Mungyodance 3 (get the entire build if possible for best experience), mintmania, ITG Rebirth, and whatever else says it is for pad. Chances are you will find a few packs worth keeping and a few you don't really care for.

As for keyboard, I have no idea. You should check the appropriate places.

Q: I have a question that isn't answered here!
A: This is a message board. I would hope you'd post more things that should go here or if you need help with something. I'm sure I forgot something...

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Posted on 06-20-08 08:40:00 PM Link | Quote
Are there any good tutorials for making simfiles? I'm making my first decent one and am wondering if there are any tips I should try and follow.

Also, should I really change from SM 3.9 to another version like 3.9+ or OpenITG?

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DigitalBasic
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Posted on 06-20-08 08:43:56 PM Link | Quote
1. There really isn't a need for a tutorial. Once you cut the song, find the BPM and offset, then put it in Stepmania, the rest is all up to you to make the steps. No real tips because pad and keyboard are completely different.
Only thing I recommend is for pad is to avoid double-stepping. Don't know what is the rage with keyboard sims.

2. Why not two? I have 5 installs: two 3.9, 4, 3.95, and OpenITG. It is really just trying them out and seeing if you like them or not.

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Posted on 06-20-08 09:09:23 PM Link | Quote
Originally posted by cpubasic13
1. There really isn't a need for a tutorial. Once you cut the song, find the BPM and offset, then put it in Stepmania, the rest is all up to you to make the steps. No real tips because pad and keyboard are completely different.
Only thing I recommend is for pad is to avoid double-stepping. Don't know what is the rage with keyboard sims.

2. Why not two? I have 5 installs: two 3.9, 4, 3.95, and OpenITG. It is really just trying them out and seeing if you like them or not.


Attaching to this:

on 1) Some people are that daft and some songs are harder to sync than others. There are some tutorials on BMS, but I haven't used them. I've almost considered making my own in text or in YT form but I haven't been arsed for the time.

If you've ever heard a song by Metallica, you'll know where I'm coming from on sync issues. Some of those songs can be a pain with subtle BPM changes with a linear BPM system that it uses and of which you have to define. Stepmania isn't smart enough to do that on it's own or else I'dve simmed a hell of a lot more songs and so would most people. Things like BPMAnalyzer are a good solid bet for getting an ESTIMATE on what the BPM is. It DOES NOT give you the BPM of every measure or anything but it gives you a decent average. Most of your standard songs that you know and can cut decently enough if it is necessary should be fine under this. OGGs are preferred.

As for pad or keyboard sims, there's no true dictate. You can't please everyone with whatever you get out there but you can come damned close if you know what most sims have in them that you feel is good and that you want to emulate or make better. That's generally why I still rate sims from people from time to time and give them pointers so they know what -I- (as in just one person) think of it. At the same time, if it's really good, that also gives me ideas that I can use in later projects. I can only say 'go with what you know' just like the next person. Study some good sims from DDR, from the early years, for a good start. They aren't all perfect, but that's where I got some of my more solid starts.

on 2) I have two installs, not counting excess builds made for exclusives (see: MGD). I rarely go outside of using 3.9 because I am not a rolls fan and I don't course enough to care. 3.95 and above is pretty much the feature filled stuff and 3.95 is heavily used for Stepmania Online, but it's not necessarily stable either and it isn't necessarily the most common thing that people use (although, that trend turns more and more as the days progress).

Keep in mind that 3.9 has bugs in it to where things like rolls or lift notes or courses will malfunction, step improperly or will just plain crash StepMania if it gets to a spot in the sim that it doesn't recognize. That's why a lot of people shy away from that concept still unless they know it's going to be used for a more centered purpose (i.e. a dance machine).

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Posted on 06-20-08 09:53:00 PM Link | Quote
I'm curious... why are there 5 different versions of SM? Are all these people having trouble agreeing on things or... what?

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[Posted by NightKev]
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Posted on 06-20-08 09:54:08 PM (last edited by Komachi Onozuka at 06-20-08 06:54 PM) Link | Quote
Naw. They're just different version builds. The most current version is 4. I primarily use 3.9 Final still, since it still seems to be the most popular and stable.

Things like rolls and other such features started occuring in 3.95/4.

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Posted on 06-20-08 10:03:16 PM Link | Quote
So the "newest/most current" version is 4, and the others are just "older versions"?

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[Posted by NightKev]
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Posted on 06-20-08 10:04:05 PM Link | Quote
Anything before 3.9 Final can be considered old and unused.

3.9 Final is usually the one you want to grab to mess with the game itself.

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DigitalBasic
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Posted on 06-21-08 12:32:07 AM Link | Quote
Originally posted by Komachi Onozuka
3.9 Final is usually the one you want to grab to mess with the game itself.

4 is usually the one you want to grab to mess with the game itself. It runs by LUA, and everything can be done in it. New mods? Go ahead! New features? Make them!
3.9 is good to start to see if you like the game (the only reason I recommend that for the first time), but 4 is great since it offers so much more than 3.9. Live BPM reading in the song, plenty of resolutions for your own needs (widescreen and whatnot), and a whole lot more that hasn't been tapped into.

OpenITG is 3.95 except it uses ITG as the basis of it (noteskins and themes by default are ITG2 and everything is as true to the arcade as possible) and is made with arcade machines in mind to replace normal ITG2 builds (it is easier to maintain too, with customizable custom song length and support for just any SM sim).

3.9+ is 3.9 except it adds a lot of new features that are supported in 4.

Basically, 3.9 is the play-just-to-play build with not a whole lot to it (being great for first time players). 3.95 is useless, get OpenITG instead. 3.9+ can be a replacement for 3.95/OpenITG since it works with anything 3.9. 4 is great if you want new things constantly.

Again, play the builds before just judging them based on not being 3.9.

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Posted on 11-22-08 02:50:52 PM Link | Quote
I just started making songs with 3.9, and there's a song I want to make a step chart for, but I can't figure out how to change the time signature. Is there a way to change it from 4/4 to either 3/4 or anything similar, or will I have to use 12th notes?

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Posted on 11-22-08 03:07:41 PM Link | Quote
No, you have to use 12th notes. (That's why they're there, really.)

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DigitalBasic
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Posted on 11-22-08 03:25:20 PM Link | Quote
Updated the first post a tad. I need to work on it a bit more though such as how to make a simfile and maybe how to make a modded course.

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Posted on 04-25-09 10:44:28 PM Link | Quote
UPDATE:

Stepmania 4 Alpha 4

Go get this.





Looking at a simfile made in this it has new tags to mess with. Those are:

#GENRE:;
#MENUCOLOR:;
#NEWMETERSYSTEM:;
#LISTSORT:;
#ATTACKS:;

Attacks, eh? Oooooh boy.

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Posted on 05-21-09 07:28:21 PM Link | Quote
Those of you that are not happy with using StepMania as a means of editing your simfiles or if SM looks like it'd be a tool that'd be a bit cumbersome to use may want to take a look at DDReam. It's been getting quite a bit more work to it as of late and actually looks like it's coming along fairly well as an editor.

Helps that it has good PUMP support added to it now as well. Might want to check it out if you ever have interest in making your own sims.

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DigitalBasic
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Posted on 05-22-09 05:50:24 AM Link | Quote
Uh... SM4 Alpha 4 has support for fake arrows.

And apparently mission mode stuff but I don't know how that works or if that is a third party tool I don't know about.

This is good.

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Posted on 05-09-10 06:24:22 PM Link | Quote
Does anyone have any tips for making normal-difficulty pad charts? I try to, but they just aren't as fun for me to make as heavy and I lose all interest and drive to make them. :/

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Posted on 05-09-10 11:53:01 PM (last edited by Hiryuu at 05-09-10 08:53 PM) Link | Quote
I pretty much attack them as a scaled down Heavy. Standard being the basic beat with an attempt towards fun patterns (usually, moreso than Heavy, which focuses more on streams often times). Light being excessively basic, rarely (if ever) getting into 8th notes.
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