How to set up a simfile using StepMania editor

[Sudden2]

Note: This can be used for FFR Simfile Submission OR For for FFR Submission.
Also note that this procedure may be different for some people, this is just how I see many people do this, so this guide is reccommend for people with current XP computers that have MusicMatch and hopefully notepad.

This is for how to make .SM files, which convert .KSF and .DWI files and auto saves a file of .KSF (.OLD) and a .DWI file.

This guide's purpose is only for how to set up your file so it will actually work in StepMania. This guide will NOT cover A) How to find the BPM B) How to find the gap and C) How to sync a stepfile. (For how to find those, see http://www.flashflashrevolution.com/...wtopic&t=12565 aka the Ultimate Simfile FAQ, which is a sticky on this forum.)

The first thing to do when you make a simfile is to choose a song. Any song is fine as long as you want to do it. (I've found its really annoying when you do a song you dont like, it gets boring and the stepfile sucks.)

Next go in to your StepMania CVS folder and open "Songs." Then either make a new folder or use one of them already there. (Its easier to make a folder for navigation )

After you are in the folder you chose, Right click and go to new > folder.

Type in the name of the song for that folder.

After you name the folder, you can A) Move mp3 files that you already have into the folder (skip this step, if this is so) or B) Pop in the CD that the song is on and open up MusicMatch if you have it, or Windows Media Player, (if you know how to convert .wma into .mp3.) (NOTE! if you do not have MusicMatch, I suggest you get it becuase I dont know if Winamp or other music players have this option... sorry.)

FOR MUSICMATCH (reccomended v8.2, for most Microsoft XP computers, MusicMatch comes with the computer) : Put the CD in the drive and start it up with MusicMatch. Click on the "Rip From CD" selection and select the name of the album. Lets say the Album is called "Grr" and the song you want to use in your stepfile is called "Bob." Go through the list and click off the checks that are next to the other tracks except for "Bob." (Or whatever your song is. There is a song called Bob believe it or not. ((Weird Al, har har))) Then click on the big red button "Start recording track." Then be paitent while it loads to the library. (NOTE: Make sure in the OPTIONS selection ((Below the tracks of the song)) that the recording format is set for MP3. (Or .OGG or .WAV because StepMania also reads these song formats, I reccomend MP3 though.) Ok, after it finishes downloading to the library, click on "My Library" and find your song, now, Right Click on your song and click on "Open File Location." A new screen will pop up, showing the location with the song, copy+paste that into your song file name. (The file in the songs folder, inside of the root song folder.)

FOR WINDOWS MEDIA PLAYER: Go get MusicMatch.

Ok, now open up NOTEPAD. (usu. in Start > Program Files > Accessories > Notepad) and type in the following (dont put in the stuff in the brackets (([ and ])):

#TITLE:Bob; [the title of the song, this will appear in the players wheel]
#SUBTITLE:; [the subtitle of the song, like who made the steps or whatever]
#ARTIST:Weird Al; [the artist of the song]
#TITLETRANSLIT:; [the translation of the title (if foreign language)]
#SUBTITLETRANSLIT:; [the translation of the subtitle (if foreign language)]
#ARTISTTRANSLIT:; [the translation of the Artist (if foreign language)]
#CREDIT:; [give yourself credit for this simfile]
#BANNER:Bob-banner.png; [this is the logo that people can recognize your song by. This is very important, see the bottom of this section for further explanation]*
#BACKGROUND:Bob-bg.png; [(above)]
#LYRICSPATH:; [the lyrics of the song]
#CDTITLE:BobCdtitle.png; [CD title, aka spinning logo near banner]
#MUSIC:Bob.mp3; [this is the EXACT name of the song in the file (case counts)
#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".]
#SAMPLESTART:1.960; [the point in which the start of the music will begin in the selection wheel]
#SAMPLELENGTH:12.000; [length of the sample]
#SELECTABLE:YES; [if YES, the file will be selected for Event mode and Stage Mode only.]
#BPMS:90.000; [include the "S" becuse you might have more than one BPM aka BPM change. The BPM changes are auto recorded when you use the editor, so be familiar with the editor.]
#STOPS:; [or "Pauses" these are auto updated when you use editor.]
#BGCHANGES:; [background changes during the song, not usually used.]

*When you put this in there, the what you name it is extremely important. If you use PhotoShop for the image, you have to save the file as a photoshop file first, so put it in a separate file (aka besides the one you have been saving stuff in for the simfile.) Then save it in the simfile folder as .png (or .gif, .pjg, or .bmp) When you do this, the BG or Banner will be saved as "Bob-<bg, banner or Cdtitle> copy.png" not "Bob-<bg, banner or cdtitle>.png" so when you type the name into the #BANNER, #BACKGROUND, or #CDTITLE, make sure that the file name is correct, this goes for mp3 files as well.

After you have finished that, click on save as and type in the name e.g. Bob.sm, then in the "Save as Type" box, select "all files" and click save.

After this, start up StepMania and your file should be there! After that you just create the levels and have fun.

Sending you completed Simfile to FFR should be easy. All you do is send you simfile folder to a .zip folder and send it in!

If any people that use this method that already know how to do this, that see a problem with this guide, please point it out.

Note: This is how I set up my simfiles. I just find this method the most simple and less confusing. If this isnt how you learned to set up simfiles, then ignore this post. Some people have different methods. I just wanted to tell people the most simple in my opinion how to make simfiles. In my mind everyone should have a fair shot at doing this and decide if they want to do simfiles or not. Thanks.

-Sudden2