Goldenwind
July 3rd, 2007, 09:05 AM
How to Grow Your Own Arrow Garden
New Video Tutorial! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gYfL1PuOg8g
Introduction
Making a stepfile
What you need
Choosing a song
"Where do my files go?"
How '.sm' files work
Stepmania navigation
"Jack Syndrome"
Submission
How to submit your file
The approval process
Extras
Preparing your song for ITG
Introduction
Like soap to acne, this is a step-by-step guide to clear up your oily woes in regards to making a stepfile, and submiting it to FFR!
Oh, 'n by the way? Don't let the length of this guide scare you. I try to explain everything in full, such that newer users can use step-by-step instructions. For an experienced simfile author, the setup could be done in less than a minute.
(Note: A "stepfile" or "simfile" is the technical term for a song bound with steps, used for this, and other similar games.)
Important concepts are highlighted in red (Ironic, no?)
Making a Stepfile
What you need
The basis of a song is the steps ('dwi' or 'sm' format) and the music ('oog' or 'mp3' format).
Optional things you can add in are a banner ('png' format) and background ('png' images, 'avi' movies). To make a song work on SM, ITG, or for FFR submission, you won't need any images, just the steps and music.
Choosing a song
To step a song for FFR, you must have permission to use that song. If you don't have permission (And proof or evidence of it), your file will be rejected for legal reasons.
To get permission for a song, contact the person or organization who own the song, and ask them nicely if you may use their work in FFR.
Some artists have given the FFR community permission to use plenty of their songs already, so this could save you the trouble of asking! To browse these songs, click here (http://www.flashflashrevolution.com/vbz/showthread.php?t=68438).
When choosing a song, pay attention to the rhythm, and consider how it might look if it had a stepfile attached to it. There are plenty of really, really good songs out there that would make crappy stepfiles. Make sure this is what you really want!
Also, if you are making this for FFR, due to technicalities, there needs to be 2 (or more) seconds of silence at the beginning of your music file. If there isn't, use an audio editor like to put two seconds in there. One such program is SoundForge (http://www.sonycreativesoftware.com/products/soundforgefamily.asp).
"Where do my files go?"
Quick answer: "..\Stepmania\Songs\Song Folder\", but since this seems to be a common misunderstanding, I'll lay it out simply.
Similar to FFR, there is a game out there called Stepmania. It's like a hybrid of DDR and ITG, however comes with no songs. You need to put the songs in yourself! Lucky for you, however, Stepmania has a built-in tool to aid you in writing steps!
You can download Stepmania for free by clicking here (http://www.stepmania.com/wiki/Downloads).
So, where are your files supposed to go?
Visit your Stepmania folder. In here are a bunch of things that will take hours to explain. Ignore them, and go to your Songs folder.
You are now in "..\Stepmania\Songs". Whether or not this folder is empty, create a new folder. Name it whatever you like.
Go into the folder you just made. You are now in "..\Stepmania\Songs\New Folder\". Make another folder in here, and name the folder the same name as your song. If your song is "Artist - Song.mp3", then name your folder "Song".
IMPORTANT: If you are preparing this song for submission to FFR, you must also include your FFR username in the song's foldername.
If your song is "Artist - Song.mp3" and your username is "Hello", the folder should be named exactly "Song (Hello)".
The first folder you made is a category, or grouping. For example, on the ITG2 machines, it has two categories, or "folders", that contain their songs... namely, "ITG" and "ITG2". It's simply a way to sort your songs.
Inside of your category folder, you put your songs. Each song needs to be in its own folder. It is in this folder that you put your files (sm, mp3, etc).
So, as a quick recap, it should look like this:
Stepmania
Songs
Category
Your Song's Name
Put your mp3 file in the "Song (Username)" folder.
How '.sm' files work
There are two ways you can make your steps. One is using a DWI file, and the other is using an SM file. Both work just as well, however DWI is complicated like hell, so we'll be working with SM (Which, if you're curious, is short for 'Stepmania').
In your "Song (Username)" folder, make a new Text (.txt) file. Name it the same as your song's name, "Song.txt" or whatnot. Now the fun part: Rename "Song.txt" to "Song.sm".
Common issue: On some computers, the file extensions (Eg, '.txt') are hidden. This means that when you name your file Song.txt, it is *actually* Song.txt.txt, but the real extension (The second .txt) is hidden. When you rename it to .sm, really you're just changing the name to Song.sm.txt, which is still technically a txt file.
To fix this:
Control Panel --> Folder Options --> View --> Uncheck "Hide extensions for known file types"
Your computer will probably not know how to open this file. Right click on it, and go to "Open With --> Choose Program...". A list will appear in front of you. Check the "Always use this program" checkbox, and select "Notepad" from the list. Hit "Okay".
Notepad is now in front of you. Lovely, isn't it? A nice, white page. Consider it to be paper, and now you are to write your masterpiece! If that doesn't motivate you, go get chocolate or something.
Copy/paste the following into Notepad.
#TITLE:Song Name;
#SUBTITLE:;
#ARTIST:Artist's Name;
#TITLETRANSLIT:;
#SUBTITLETRANSLIT:;
#ARTISTTRANSLIT:;
#CREDIT:;
#BANNER:Banner.png;
#BACKGROUND:;
#LYRICSPATH:;
#CDTITLE:;
#MUSIC:Song.mp3;
#OFFSET:-0.000;
#SAMPLESTART:;
#SAMPLELENGTH:;
#SELECTABLE:YES;
#BPMS:0.000=150.000;
#STOPS:;
#BGCHANGES:;
In "TITLE", put the name of your song.
In "ARTIST", put the name of the artist of the song.
If you have a banner in '.png' format, put the file's name in "BANNER".
In "MUSIC", put the name of your mp3 file.
Save the file, and close Notepad.
Stepmania navigation
You are now ready to step your first notes!
Go back to the main Stepmania folder, and run "StepMania".
Using the arrow keys to navigate, and Enter to confirm, choose the "Edit/Sync Songs" option.
Using up/down to move your cursor, and left/right to change the option, set up your screen as follows:
Set "Group" to what you named your category folder.
Set "Song" to the name of your song.
Set "Difficulty" to whatever you like. Want these to be the Heavy (Hard) steps for your song? So be it. Whatever you like.
Keep "Action" on "Edit Existing".
As for "StepsType", chances are you want "dance-single". If your file is for FFR, use "dance-single". However, just to explain:
"dance-single" is typical DDR/ITG/FFR play.
"dance-double" is using both dance platforms at once (8 arrows).
"dance-couple" is similar to versus mode (Two players on the same song), however is designed such that you can give them different steps, while being on the same difficulty. This can be used for skits and such.
"dance-solo" is 6-panel play. Up, down, left, right, and the two upper diagonals.
You are now at the main screen, your workstation. Similar to a sheet of music, there are bars in front of you, set in 4/4 timing. Try hitting numbers 1-4. Arrows will appear at the top. This is how you place an arrow. To remove it, press the number again.
Hit the up and down keys. Your position will move to another line. Now try placing another arrow. It should be obvious now, how you can create a string of these arrows.
However, what about notes in other timing? 8th notes, 16th notes, or 12th notes? To do this, use the left and right arrows.
Other crucial keys:
ESC: Main Menu
Enter: Area Menu
1, 2, 3 or 4: Place a left, down, up, or right arrow (Or remove one already present).
Shift+1, 2, 3, or 4: Place a mine (Used in ITG and Stepmania. Not used in FFR).
Up/down: Move positions (PgUp and PgDn do the same, however one measure at a time)
Left/right: Change timings
For other shortcuts, press F1 (In Stepmania, not in your internet browser, silly!)
From here on in, the rest is up to you. My job here is to get you started. It's your job to write ;)
Here's generally what you should do:
1) Measure the BPM of your song. (This tells the game how fast the song is, therefore how fast to send the arrows).
- Find a free tool online that will measure BPMs for you
- Learn how to calculate BPMs by listening, or reading off of the song's digital wave graph
- Ask the song author
2) Measure the offset of your song. (Some songs have 1 second of silence in the beginning of the MP3... or maybe it's 2 seconds... or maybe 1.829 seconds... you need to measure how long it takes to get to the first beat!)
Hint: Negative offset will delay arrows, positive offset will make them come earlier
- Trial and error (F11 and F12 keys)
- Use AutoSync (There's a small blurb on this, available here (http://www.flashflashrevolution.com/vbz/showthread.php?t=10170))
3) Write your song.
Useful tips:
- Save (Main Menu) periodically. When you save, it will also create a DWI file. This is normal.
- To test your song, try "Play Whole Song" in the Main Menu
- To spread out the notes more, go to Main Menu --> Player Options, and set Speed to 2x, 3x, or higher
"Jack Syndrome"
FFR, as the name implies, is made in Macromedia Flash. The way the game was made, it runs at 30 frames per second. This means that every second that goes by, the game will be doing its daily duties 30 times. If you hit an arrow, it is in one of those 30 frames.
The first frame is at 0/30ths of a second (Or 0.000)
The second frame is at 1/30th of a second (Or 0.033~)
Etc.
A problem arises when using jacks (One note repeated over again, such as left, left, left, left, left, etc. For more on different pattern types, like jacks, click here (http://www.flashflashrevolution.com/vbz/showthread.php?t=37697)).
So what happens if we have a note that is sync'd to 0.027, and another sync'd to 0.036? FFR can only do things on one of these 30 frames, so it will round your notes to the nearest frame, meaning that the 0.027 and 0.036 will both round to 0.033 (Overlapping each other, also known as a 0-frame jack, since there are 0 frames between them, after rounding).
Because of this rounding, and the limitations of Flash, you will get credit for hitting one of the notes, however will miss the 2nd note.
If there are 1, 2, or 3 frames between them, you might be able to get a Perfect on one note, but no matter what you do, only a Good or Average on the next note. It all depends.
Basically, in general, you should keep away from jacks if you are submitting your file to FFR. Stepmania can handle jacks, FFR can't really.
However, depending on the speed of your jacks, some may be okay!
Give your jacks a diagnosis by clicking here (http://www.flashflashrevolution.com/vbz/showthread.php?t=70347)!
Submission
How to submit your file
Go to your category folder.
Right click on your song's folder, and either WinZip (http://www.winzip.com/prod_down.htm) it, or WinRar (http://www.rarlab.com/download.htm) it.
E-mail the Zip or Rar file to tasselfoot@gmail.com
BUT WAIT!
Don't send it yet! Did you check if things were done right?
- As you may have noticed, FFR files have no freeze arrows or mines. Don't put them in your file. Also, only one file in FFR has hands (Triplet/quads), and it was an April Fool's joke, made by staff. Don't put hands in your file either.
- Ensure you have 2 or more seconds of silence in the beginning of your music file
- Ensure you have no 0, 1, 2, or 3-frame jacks. There are exceptions which allow them, but as a general rule, jacks mean disqualification
- Ensure that your song's folder name is in the exact format of "Songname (YourUsername)"
- Ensure that your Zip or Rar file has a dwi file, as well as an mp3
- Ensure there is a folder in your Zip or Rar file (If you made the Zip or Rar file exactly how I said above, then you did it right)
- Ensure you have proven (Explain in the e-mail) that you have permission to use this song!
The approval process
In this thread (http://www.flashflashrevolution.com/vbz/showthread.php?t=58177), Tasselfoot posts on which stepfiles made it into the game, or were rejected. Please note, he may or may not update the list on the first page, so if you have files waiting to be "marked", always check the latest posts.
What happens is, Tasselfoot will play the file, and send it off to the two other judges.
Things to note:
- Don't hassle the Tassel. He puts up with much garbage in that thread.
- The approval process can take anywhere from a week, to six months, depending how lazy the judges are feeling. Feel free to poke and prod them, but not too often (See above note)
- If rejected, the judges will give brief commentary on how you could improve
Extras
Preparing your song for ITG
On upgraded ITG machines, you are able to play your own songs (and songs of others) on. All you need to do is put your songs on a USB key, and plug it in!
If made for ITG, your song can have as many hands, freezes, and mines as you wish. Just so ya know ;)
To play your song on ITG, do the following:
- Put in your credits and USB (Doesn't matter which order, as long as it's before you actually spend the credit)
Good luck!
New Video Tutorial! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gYfL1PuOg8g
Introduction
Making a stepfile
What you need
Choosing a song
"Where do my files go?"
How '.sm' files work
Stepmania navigation
"Jack Syndrome"
Submission
How to submit your file
The approval process
Extras
Preparing your song for ITG
Introduction
Like soap to acne, this is a step-by-step guide to clear up your oily woes in regards to making a stepfile, and submiting it to FFR!
Oh, 'n by the way? Don't let the length of this guide scare you. I try to explain everything in full, such that newer users can use step-by-step instructions. For an experienced simfile author, the setup could be done in less than a minute.
(Note: A "stepfile" or "simfile" is the technical term for a song bound with steps, used for this, and other similar games.)
Important concepts are highlighted in red (Ironic, no?)
Making a Stepfile
What you need
The basis of a song is the steps ('dwi' or 'sm' format) and the music ('oog' or 'mp3' format).
Optional things you can add in are a banner ('png' format) and background ('png' images, 'avi' movies). To make a song work on SM, ITG, or for FFR submission, you won't need any images, just the steps and music.
Choosing a song
To step a song for FFR, you must have permission to use that song. If you don't have permission (And proof or evidence of it), your file will be rejected for legal reasons.
To get permission for a song, contact the person or organization who own the song, and ask them nicely if you may use their work in FFR.
Some artists have given the FFR community permission to use plenty of their songs already, so this could save you the trouble of asking! To browse these songs, click here (http://www.flashflashrevolution.com/vbz/showthread.php?t=68438).
When choosing a song, pay attention to the rhythm, and consider how it might look if it had a stepfile attached to it. There are plenty of really, really good songs out there that would make crappy stepfiles. Make sure this is what you really want!
Also, if you are making this for FFR, due to technicalities, there needs to be 2 (or more) seconds of silence at the beginning of your music file. If there isn't, use an audio editor like to put two seconds in there. One such program is SoundForge (http://www.sonycreativesoftware.com/products/soundforgefamily.asp).
"Where do my files go?"
Quick answer: "..\Stepmania\Songs\Song Folder\", but since this seems to be a common misunderstanding, I'll lay it out simply.
Similar to FFR, there is a game out there called Stepmania. It's like a hybrid of DDR and ITG, however comes with no songs. You need to put the songs in yourself! Lucky for you, however, Stepmania has a built-in tool to aid you in writing steps!
You can download Stepmania for free by clicking here (http://www.stepmania.com/wiki/Downloads).
So, where are your files supposed to go?
Visit your Stepmania folder. In here are a bunch of things that will take hours to explain. Ignore them, and go to your Songs folder.
You are now in "..\Stepmania\Songs". Whether or not this folder is empty, create a new folder. Name it whatever you like.
Go into the folder you just made. You are now in "..\Stepmania\Songs\New Folder\". Make another folder in here, and name the folder the same name as your song. If your song is "Artist - Song.mp3", then name your folder "Song".
IMPORTANT: If you are preparing this song for submission to FFR, you must also include your FFR username in the song's foldername.
If your song is "Artist - Song.mp3" and your username is "Hello", the folder should be named exactly "Song (Hello)".
The first folder you made is a category, or grouping. For example, on the ITG2 machines, it has two categories, or "folders", that contain their songs... namely, "ITG" and "ITG2". It's simply a way to sort your songs.
Inside of your category folder, you put your songs. Each song needs to be in its own folder. It is in this folder that you put your files (sm, mp3, etc).
So, as a quick recap, it should look like this:
Stepmania
Songs
Category
Your Song's Name
Put your mp3 file in the "Song (Username)" folder.
How '.sm' files work
There are two ways you can make your steps. One is using a DWI file, and the other is using an SM file. Both work just as well, however DWI is complicated like hell, so we'll be working with SM (Which, if you're curious, is short for 'Stepmania').
In your "Song (Username)" folder, make a new Text (.txt) file. Name it the same as your song's name, "Song.txt" or whatnot. Now the fun part: Rename "Song.txt" to "Song.sm".
Common issue: On some computers, the file extensions (Eg, '.txt') are hidden. This means that when you name your file Song.txt, it is *actually* Song.txt.txt, but the real extension (The second .txt) is hidden. When you rename it to .sm, really you're just changing the name to Song.sm.txt, which is still technically a txt file.
To fix this:
Control Panel --> Folder Options --> View --> Uncheck "Hide extensions for known file types"
Your computer will probably not know how to open this file. Right click on it, and go to "Open With --> Choose Program...". A list will appear in front of you. Check the "Always use this program" checkbox, and select "Notepad" from the list. Hit "Okay".
Notepad is now in front of you. Lovely, isn't it? A nice, white page. Consider it to be paper, and now you are to write your masterpiece! If that doesn't motivate you, go get chocolate or something.
Copy/paste the following into Notepad.
#TITLE:Song Name;
#SUBTITLE:;
#ARTIST:Artist's Name;
#TITLETRANSLIT:;
#SUBTITLETRANSLIT:;
#ARTISTTRANSLIT:;
#CREDIT:;
#BANNER:Banner.png;
#BACKGROUND:;
#LYRICSPATH:;
#CDTITLE:;
#MUSIC:Song.mp3;
#OFFSET:-0.000;
#SAMPLESTART:;
#SAMPLELENGTH:;
#SELECTABLE:YES;
#BPMS:0.000=150.000;
#STOPS:;
#BGCHANGES:;
In "TITLE", put the name of your song.
In "ARTIST", put the name of the artist of the song.
If you have a banner in '.png' format, put the file's name in "BANNER".
In "MUSIC", put the name of your mp3 file.
Save the file, and close Notepad.
Stepmania navigation
You are now ready to step your first notes!
Go back to the main Stepmania folder, and run "StepMania".
Using the arrow keys to navigate, and Enter to confirm, choose the "Edit/Sync Songs" option.
Using up/down to move your cursor, and left/right to change the option, set up your screen as follows:
Set "Group" to what you named your category folder.
Set "Song" to the name of your song.
Set "Difficulty" to whatever you like. Want these to be the Heavy (Hard) steps for your song? So be it. Whatever you like.
Keep "Action" on "Edit Existing".
As for "StepsType", chances are you want "dance-single". If your file is for FFR, use "dance-single". However, just to explain:
"dance-single" is typical DDR/ITG/FFR play.
"dance-double" is using both dance platforms at once (8 arrows).
"dance-couple" is similar to versus mode (Two players on the same song), however is designed such that you can give them different steps, while being on the same difficulty. This can be used for skits and such.
"dance-solo" is 6-panel play. Up, down, left, right, and the two upper diagonals.
You are now at the main screen, your workstation. Similar to a sheet of music, there are bars in front of you, set in 4/4 timing. Try hitting numbers 1-4. Arrows will appear at the top. This is how you place an arrow. To remove it, press the number again.
Hit the up and down keys. Your position will move to another line. Now try placing another arrow. It should be obvious now, how you can create a string of these arrows.
However, what about notes in other timing? 8th notes, 16th notes, or 12th notes? To do this, use the left and right arrows.
Other crucial keys:
ESC: Main Menu
Enter: Area Menu
1, 2, 3 or 4: Place a left, down, up, or right arrow (Or remove one already present).
Shift+1, 2, 3, or 4: Place a mine (Used in ITG and Stepmania. Not used in FFR).
Up/down: Move positions (PgUp and PgDn do the same, however one measure at a time)
Left/right: Change timings
For other shortcuts, press F1 (In Stepmania, not in your internet browser, silly!)
From here on in, the rest is up to you. My job here is to get you started. It's your job to write ;)
Here's generally what you should do:
1) Measure the BPM of your song. (This tells the game how fast the song is, therefore how fast to send the arrows).
- Find a free tool online that will measure BPMs for you
- Learn how to calculate BPMs by listening, or reading off of the song's digital wave graph
- Ask the song author
2) Measure the offset of your song. (Some songs have 1 second of silence in the beginning of the MP3... or maybe it's 2 seconds... or maybe 1.829 seconds... you need to measure how long it takes to get to the first beat!)
Hint: Negative offset will delay arrows, positive offset will make them come earlier
- Trial and error (F11 and F12 keys)
- Use AutoSync (There's a small blurb on this, available here (http://www.flashflashrevolution.com/vbz/showthread.php?t=10170))
3) Write your song.
Useful tips:
- Save (Main Menu) periodically. When you save, it will also create a DWI file. This is normal.
- To test your song, try "Play Whole Song" in the Main Menu
- To spread out the notes more, go to Main Menu --> Player Options, and set Speed to 2x, 3x, or higher
"Jack Syndrome"
FFR, as the name implies, is made in Macromedia Flash. The way the game was made, it runs at 30 frames per second. This means that every second that goes by, the game will be doing its daily duties 30 times. If you hit an arrow, it is in one of those 30 frames.
The first frame is at 0/30ths of a second (Or 0.000)
The second frame is at 1/30th of a second (Or 0.033~)
Etc.
A problem arises when using jacks (One note repeated over again, such as left, left, left, left, left, etc. For more on different pattern types, like jacks, click here (http://www.flashflashrevolution.com/vbz/showthread.php?t=37697)).
So what happens if we have a note that is sync'd to 0.027, and another sync'd to 0.036? FFR can only do things on one of these 30 frames, so it will round your notes to the nearest frame, meaning that the 0.027 and 0.036 will both round to 0.033 (Overlapping each other, also known as a 0-frame jack, since there are 0 frames between them, after rounding).
Because of this rounding, and the limitations of Flash, you will get credit for hitting one of the notes, however will miss the 2nd note.
If there are 1, 2, or 3 frames between them, you might be able to get a Perfect on one note, but no matter what you do, only a Good or Average on the next note. It all depends.
Basically, in general, you should keep away from jacks if you are submitting your file to FFR. Stepmania can handle jacks, FFR can't really.
However, depending on the speed of your jacks, some may be okay!
Give your jacks a diagnosis by clicking here (http://www.flashflashrevolution.com/vbz/showthread.php?t=70347)!
Submission
How to submit your file
Go to your category folder.
Right click on your song's folder, and either WinZip (http://www.winzip.com/prod_down.htm) it, or WinRar (http://www.rarlab.com/download.htm) it.
E-mail the Zip or Rar file to tasselfoot@gmail.com
BUT WAIT!
Don't send it yet! Did you check if things were done right?
- As you may have noticed, FFR files have no freeze arrows or mines. Don't put them in your file. Also, only one file in FFR has hands (Triplet/quads), and it was an April Fool's joke, made by staff. Don't put hands in your file either.
- Ensure you have 2 or more seconds of silence in the beginning of your music file
- Ensure you have no 0, 1, 2, or 3-frame jacks. There are exceptions which allow them, but as a general rule, jacks mean disqualification
- Ensure that your song's folder name is in the exact format of "Songname (YourUsername)"
- Ensure that your Zip or Rar file has a dwi file, as well as an mp3
- Ensure there is a folder in your Zip or Rar file (If you made the Zip or Rar file exactly how I said above, then you did it right)
- Ensure you have proven (Explain in the e-mail) that you have permission to use this song!
The approval process
In this thread (http://www.flashflashrevolution.com/vbz/showthread.php?t=58177), Tasselfoot posts on which stepfiles made it into the game, or were rejected. Please note, he may or may not update the list on the first page, so if you have files waiting to be "marked", always check the latest posts.
What happens is, Tasselfoot will play the file, and send it off to the two other judges.
Things to note:
- Don't hassle the Tassel. He puts up with much garbage in that thread.
- The approval process can take anywhere from a week, to six months, depending how lazy the judges are feeling. Feel free to poke and prod them, but not too often (See above note)
- If rejected, the judges will give brief commentary on how you could improve
Extras
Preparing your song for ITG
On upgraded ITG machines, you are able to play your own songs (and songs of others) on. All you need to do is put your songs on a USB key, and plug it in!
If made for ITG, your song can have as many hands, freezes, and mines as you wish. Just so ya know ;)
To play your song on ITG, do the following:
- Put in your credits and USB (Doesn't matter which order, as long as it's before you actually spend the credit)
Good luck!