******************************************************************************************* ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- CREATING MODDED COURSES ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ******************************************************************************************* ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- INTRODUCTION ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- If you already know what a modded course is, skip down to the beginning of the tutorial. Although modded courses did originate in Dance Dance Revolution, it was In The Groove that perfected them. They play exactly like regular courses: you play several songs in a row with set difficulties, attempting to pass all of them and get a high score. The only difference is that during the songs, player modifications are activated at set times to make the song more difficult and to attempt to confuse the player. This means that at ten seconds into the song, dizzy could be activated. Five seconds later, the notes could vanish. Writing your own modded courses opens a whole new realm of creativity. I'm going to skip how to make the basic structure for the course and get right into adding the mods. For detailed instructions on how to make the course structure, open the README-FIRST file in your Stepmania folder and read "The .CRS File Format". ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- SETTING UP THE MODS ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- For each mod you want to apply, you need a #MODS:TIME=xx.xx:END=xx.xx:MODS=xxxxx: field. You can also use LEN in place of END. For this tutorial, I will use END. TIME= Is where you put the second at when the mod begins. This has to be displayed in seconds, not minutes. So, for 1:25.67, express it as 85:67. END= Is when the mod ends. LEN= Which can be used instead of END, is how long the mod will last. MODS= Is where you fill out all the details of the mod. Here's a list of available mods: SPEED: 0.5x, 1x, 2x, 3x, 5x, C200, C400 (or any other speed you want to use) BOOST: boost, brake, wave, expand, boomerang EFFECT: drunk, dizzy, mini, flip, tornado, tipsy APPEARANCE: hidden, sudden, stealth, blink, randomvanish TURN: mirror, left, right, shuffle, supershuffle INSERT: little, wide, big, quick, skippy, echo, stomp SCROLL: reverse, split, alternate, cross HOLDS: noholds, planted, twister, nojumps, nohands MINES: nomines, mines HIDE: dark, blind PERSPECTIVE: incoming, overhead, space, distant, hallway So if you want the arrows to switch to hidden at 65.23 and last until 73.76, it will look like this: #MODS:TIME=65.23:END=73.76:MODS=hidden: You can also activate more then one mod at once by separateing mods with commas: #MODS:TIME=65.23:END=73.76:MODS=hidden, boost, tipsy: You only have to use #MODS: once as your opening tag before your list. Your list will look like this: #MODS: TIME=00.00:END=90.00:MODS=blind: TIME=05.28:END=18.08:MODS= dark: TIME=06.89:END=18.08:MODS=hidden: TIME=19.62:END=43.67:MODS=beat: TIME=43.67:END=45.26:MODS=beat, boost: Always close your list with the #SONG: tag so Stepmania knows which song to play: #MODS: TIME=00.00:END=90.00:MODS=blind: TIME=05.28:END=18.08:MODS= dark: TIME=06.89:END=18.08:MODS=hidden: TIME=19.62:END=43.67:MODS=beat: TIME=43.67:END=45.26:MODS=beat, boost: #SONG:Mantis Simfiles/Mei:Medium:; ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- TWEAKING THE MODS ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Now for some detail on altering how Stepmania applies the mods to your song. You can adjust how quickly/slowly the mod is activated, or to what degree the mod is activated. Be default, all of the mods take about a second or two to transition into activation. For example, when you activate hidden, it takes a moment for the bottom half of the arrows to fade out, and then then remain insivible. However, how long it takes for the arrows to fade out can be modified. To do this, add an asterisk followed by a number, then followed by the mod: *0.5 dark. When this part is not included, the number is defaulted to 1. Therefore, 0.5 would be half of one, and the transition would take twice as long. If the number was a 2, it would be twice as fast. For long transitions, *0.1 or *0.2 usually do fine. For an immediate switch, with no transition, use *999. You should play around with the timing until you get the desired effect. The finished mod looks like this: TIME=5.28:END=18.08:MODS=*0.5 dark: To change the degree of the mod, type a percentage before the mod (and after the transition if you have one). This effects how strong the mod is. For example, 50% dizzy will make the arrows spin at half speed, and 200% will make them spin twice as fast. It will look like this: TIME=5.28:END=18.08:MODS=*0.5 50% dark: A mod will automatically end when the specified time is reached, although you can also cancel a mod at any time like so: TIME=18.08:END=18.18:MODS=no dark: Typing no before the mod will deactivate it if it is running. (This will not work for speed modifiers. If you want to deactivate mirror, left, right, shuffle, or supershuffle, type no turn.) Set the timeframe to be atleast 00.01 seconds. Your finished product should look like this: #MODS: TIME=00.00:END=90.00:MODS=blind: TIME=10.80:END=11.38:MODS=*2 -50% dizzy: TIME=11.38:END=20.23:MODS=*.2 150% dizzy: TIME=22.00:END=44.00:MODS=*.11 -50% centered: TIME=22.46:END=32.46:MODS=*.1 100% brake: TIME=32.46:END=33.25:MODS=50% brake: TIME=31.80:END=44.00:MODS=*.8 dark: TIME=34.00:END=43.50:MODS=*.1 no centered: TIME=34.00:END=43.50:MODS=sudden: TIME=42.00:END=61.00:MODS=*.15 175% hallway: TIME=56.00:END=61.00:MODS=*.29 0% hallway: TIME=43.00:END=50.00:MODS=*.2 200% boost: TIME=56.00:END=72.36:MODS=boost: TIME=61.80:END=72.36:MODS=*.5 500% dizzy: TIME=72.36:END=85.00:MODS=*9999 0% dizzy: TIME=72.36:END=85.00:MODS=*2 dark: TIME=72.36:END=83.00:MODS=*.1 100% brake: TIME=83:00:END=85.00:MODS=200% boost: #SONG:Mantis Simfiles/Mei:Medium:; ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- CLOSING COMMENTS ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I hope this tutorial was useful in helping you create a modded course. For some examples of modded courses in action, visit www.mantis-simfiles.com and go to the Courses section. If you have any other questions, feel free to contact me. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- CONTACT INFORMATION ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Website: www.mantis-simfiles.com E-Mail: mantis@mantis-simfiles.com MSN: hotaka@gmail.com D5R: www.teamd5r.vze.com © Aaron Ritchie 2006