The Ultimate Simfile FAQ

[VBaalberith]

I'm still confused -_-;

I know my gap. For my particular song, the first beat is at 18.84 seconds...

uhh... What now? I can delete the first 18.84 seconds from the file, but that would mean deleting the intro of the song. I don't wanna do that.

Putting the gap into the .dwi file through Notepad didn't work. What exactly do I do? ;_;

[Ramengan]

Originally Posted by VBaalberith

I'm still confused -_-;

I know my gap. For my particular song, the first beat is at 18.84 seconds...

uhh... What now? I can delete the first 18.84 seconds from the file, but that would mean deleting the intro of the song. I don't wanna do that.

Putting the gap into the .dwi file through Notepad didn't work. What exactly do I do? ;_;

In a dwi, gap is in milliseconds, and is negative. For example, if the first beat is .512 seconds into the song, the offset in a .dwi file is -512. Just convert your gap to milliseconds and change the sign to put it in .dwi format. In this case, 18.84s = -18840 for dwi.

Alternatively, you could use the .sm format when starting your file (also via Notepad, but has different names for tags) and make the gap/offset tag in seconds. (.512, 18.84, etc.)

[chidori!]

how do i make a mid/midi type file to mp3 or ogg

[shadowraikiri]

you cant? idk irdk sorry.=(

[douna]

How exactly do you open up a song file in stepmania? I edited it in Audacity already, and exported it as an OGG to the Songs folder in Stepmania folder. I am just confused as how to open it in SM. Please help me, this is my first song!

thanks, douna

[chidori!]

go to stepmainia tools and pagage exporter and select song and find it from their then open step mania you should have that song easy WELL WRONG



its easy but will you read this

[Dugray]

What is the name of the song playing in this video and who's the artist? http://youtube.com/watch?v=OZUiJ9jMoLM

And where do you find the sim for it?

[Ramengan]

Originally Posted by Dugray

What is the name of the song playing in this video and who's the artist? http://youtube.com/watch?v=OZUiJ9jMoLM

And where do you find the sim for it?

That doesn't belong in this thread.


btw maybe it's "Megaman Perfect" just a random guess ya kno.

[VBaalberith]

K I have a pretty original problem.

I made a simfile, the BPM was 150.01, but since on stepmania the BPM changes by .02's I had to make the BPM 300.02. So I wrote the file at 300.02 bpm, then I selected the whole thing and did Compress 2x. There, it's 150.01. Now at the very end of the song, there's a BPM change back to 300.02. This happens with most simfiles I make, so I just manually bring it down with F7, until it matches the BPM of the song and therefore no BPM change. Right? Well with this song I'm doing, I'm going from 300.02, to 150.01... Since it changes by .02's, it's going from 150.02 to 150.00... it won't stop on .01... now there's an unnecessary BPM change that I CAN'T get rid of... I tried editing the DWI file in Notepad and when I go back to the song in Stepmania the BPM change is STILL there... Wtf do I do? I can't upload the song if it has a BPM change...

[bluguerrilla]

When you changed it in the dwi did you delete the sm file and reload all your songs in SM? Otherwise nothing you change there will show up, I think.

Edit: Can't you hold down alt to do fine tweaking?

[Ramengan]

Originally Posted by bluguerrilla

Edit: Can't you hold down alt to do fine tweaking?

Yes. Holding down ALT lets you fine-tweak BPM changes (F7/F8), stops (F9/F10), and gap (F11/F12).

And yes, remember to always go into game options and reload songs after making changes outside the editor.

[VBaalberith]

Oh wow, I didn't know the Alt thing, thanx

[BEN.(SPEIRS) 7.5]

A lot of you still seem to be confused about the gap, so here is a little simpler guide to what to do:

Originally Posted by Me

The gap is what makes the simfile on-sync. This little figure tells where the steps should start on the editor. Without it, the whole song would be off-beat. But how do you calculate it? Read on...

1) Get the song you want and place it in any program that let's you cut down songs (I recommend WavePad).

2) Now play your cut until you reach the point where you would want the steps to start on SM. Normally this would come after an introduction.

3) Pause the song on this EXACT part of the song. There should be a figure somewhere telling you exactly how many seconds you are on. Write it down.

4) Go into SM and go to the editor mode. Find your song and go into it. There are now 2 ways to cinfigure the gap:

A. Go into the folder of your song and double click the .sm file.There should be a line called '#OFFSET:'. Input the number you recorded here, decimals and all.

B. On the SM editor push (or hold) either F11 or F12 until the figure at the bottom of the screen turns to what you want it to be. F12 obviously makes the figure go up, F11 down.

5) Place a few notes near the first few measures and hit F4. Play your sim. If it sounds on-sync, well done! If not...

6) Sometimes you are a couple of millseconds off. Tinker around with F11 and F12 (trial and error) until you get a nice sounding sync.


And that's it! Hope it helps, and for your first few tries you can always email your tries to me and I'll tell you if they're correct My email is benspeirs@hotmail.co.uk!

[TheHarlequinGirl]

I've been working on a simfile for about a week now. I started by placing a .sm notepad into the folder with the bpm, artist name, etc. and then put the graphics and mp3 into the folder. I then went into Stepmania and edited the song and when I completed the steps, I saved them. It said saved as SM/DWI file. I played the song a few times and then put it into a ZIP folder and uploaded it to here. I checked back a few minutes later and it said "NO SM/DWI" So I went back and looked in the original song folder and there isn't a DWI in there. The SM file is unchanged, it still says the same things I put into it. So, I open Stepmania and my song still has all of the steps in it and everything is there. I have went back in and hit save at least a dozen times with each time saying that it was saved. I looked in every other Stepmania folder to see if it was in there but it isn't. Someone PLEASE HELP ME.

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[Ramengan]

That's a really odd problem. It's like your steps are stuck in Stepmania's cache or something. You may have to reinstall Stepmania, or... I don't know. That is baffling. Something tells me if you reload songs/courses, that'll erase your steps.

Are you running it on Windows Vista, by any chance?

[TheHarlequinGirl]

Yes, I am running Vista actually. Do you think that might have something to do with it?

I transferred the song over to Stepmania 4.0 and it didn't even show up in there with the steps. It's really odd because I've made at least a dozen simfiles and this has never happened before.

[Juggalo_rider151]

can u teach me how to make a level or sim game or what ever. i want to try to make a level for ffr and i dont ave the knowledge to do it idk wut 2 do

[Ramengan]

Originally Posted by TheHarlequinGirl

Yes, I am running Vista actually. Do you think that might have something to do with it?

I transferred the song over to Stepmania 4.0 and it didn't even show up in there with the steps. It's really odd because I've made at least a dozen simfiles and this has never happened before.

Vista doesn't like Stepmania. Quite a few people have been having issues with it. This may or may not be related to that. I have Vista, but nothing has happened (yet).

Originally Posted by Juggalo_rider151

can u teach me how to make a level or sim game or what ever. i want to try to make a level for ffr and i dont ave the knowledge to do it idk wut 2 do

Try reading this FAQ, then.

EDIT: This, too.
http://www.flashflashrevolution.com/...ad.php?t=48587

[4_teddybears]

Originally Posted by TheHarlequinGirl

....I completed the steps, I saved them. It said saved as SM/DWI file. I played the song a few times and then put it into a ZIP folder and uploaded it to here. I checked back a few minutes later and it said "NO SM/DWI" So I went back and looked in the original song folder and there isn't a DWI in there. The SM file is unchanged, it still says the same things I put into it. So, I open Stepmania and my song still has all of the steps in it and everything is there. I have went back in and hit save at least a dozen times with each time saying that it was saved. I looked in every other Stepmania folder to see if it was in there but it isn't. Someone PLEASE HELP ME.

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I have had a 2 problems which sound similar to yours. After editing or downloading files into the stepmania folder. I am too running it on vista.

Problem 1: After editing a .sm folder and saving it, the new save does not show up in stepmania.
Solution: For some reason the changes wont show up the first time you open stepmania. It probably is using the .old file. Simply close stepmania and open it again.

Problem 2: After downloading or moving a file or package into stepmania>songs, the file is not visible when I go to that location, although it is visible when attempting to import or download another file to stepmania>songs.

Solution: There is a file in your home file(the file named with your username) called AppData. Go to start>*username*>AppData>Local>VirtualStore>Program Files>Stepmania>songs. Thats where the file will be.

Move it to your desired location in Vista(c)>Program Files>Stepmania>Songs if you like.


Hope this helps

EDIT:Ha! look at me posting in a thread which hasn't been posted in for 8 months. Well... it might help someone else with the same problem.

[4_teddybears]

I have a few questions. Maybe someone can help.

Questions:
1-Is there a way to increase the speed of your song, or is that only done by BPM?
I would not like to have the arrows going so slowly. Sure I can increase the speed before playing in Stepmania, to 2x, 3x, 4, 8x...etc, but once the song is uploaded, it will be ridiculously slow and crammed together.
If not I will have to multiply the real bpm by 4 and space the arrows out myself. Is that the wrong thing to do?

2-Is there a program that will give a breakdown of the BPM in each part of the song?
The program mix meister tells me that the song has 101.5 BMP, but it is obviously an average.