[stepmania 4] WELCOME TO THE FUTURE OF STEPMANIA THEMING

**AJ 187** · 10-10-2006, 07:10 PM

Code:

local t =
Def.ActorFrame {
	children = {
		LoadActor("white.png")() .. {
			OnCommand=cmd(x,SCREEN_CENTER_X;y,SCREEN_CENTER_Y;stretchto,SCREEN_LEFT,SCREEN_TOP,SCREEN_RIGHT,SCREEN_BOTTOM)
		},
		LoadActor("shadow (32bpp).png")() .. {
			OnCommand=cmd(x,SCREEN_CENTER_X;y,SCREEN_CENTER_Y;diffuse,0,0,0,1;addx,20;addy,6;linear,8;addx,-40)
		},
		LoadActor("stepmania (dither).png")() .. {
			File="stepmania (dither).png",
			OnCommand=cmd(x,SCREEN_CENTER_X;y,SCREEN_CENTER_Y),
		}
	}
}

return t

Hi this is Lua. All the BGAnimations are done in it now instead of XML.

:psyduck:

edit: no I don't know why t. (fending off that question before it starts)
edit to this edit: t is arbitrary, it can be anything.

edit 2: I actually don't know why I posted this, aside from this being a friendly notification of sorts.

edit 3: I will take this time to also upgrade progress on beat man THE THEME. It's on hold until SM4 becomes stable (read: first alpha release; right now we get to change the default theme from XML to Lua. This comes RIGHT AFTER Glenn finished up INI -> XML.) Whee.

edit 4: I didn't spearhead this effort so don't kill the messenger ok?

**laser123454321** · 10-10-2006, 07:30 PM

WHY?

Ok, so now all bganimations are in Lua?

We have to learn a language inorder to theme for sm 4.0?

Most of our designers wont like that too much.

**AJ 187** · 10-10-2006, 07:34 PM

The fun part is that it seems easy to do XML -> Lua. However since only three to six people or so have been theming for SM4... :x

TougaKiryuu · 10-10-2006, 09:52 PM

lol, wtg stepman team! now I hate you even more (except for AJ) and am even more glad I forked code

Takeru1412 · 10-16-2006, 01:20 AM

I guess that will give themers a lot more freedom (and headaches).

Will that be implemented on the next 'intermediate' release?

*menu left/right message command in music select screen is a must*

**AJ 187** · 10-16-2006, 10:39 AM

Yes it will be implemented on the next release. Also, I think it's changed a bit:

[00:56:55] CIA-9> Glenn Maynard * stepmania/Themes/default/Scripts/ActorDef.lua:
[00:56:55] CIA-9> Always use a real type with Def; don't say "Def.Layer". If you don't
[00:56:55] CIA-9> know the type you're using, you should be using LoadActor.

For that, we go to Themes\default\Graphics\ScreenWithMenuElements stage\default.lua:

Code:

return Def.ActorFrame {
	children = {
		LoadActor("life graph")(PLAYER_1) .. {
			InitCommand = cmd(x,SCREEN_LEFT+96;y,SCREEN_CENTER_Y+91),
		},
		LoadActor("life graph")(PLAYER_2) .. {
			InitCommand = cmd(x,SCREEN_LEFT-96;y,SCREEN_CENTER_Y+91),
		},
	}
}

So yeah, I like this better than Def.Layer.

Oh, and for completeness in understanding the code above, here's life graph.lua:

Code:

local Player = ...
assert( Player );

local t = Def.ActorFrame {
children = {
	Def.GraphDisplay {
		OnCommand=function(self)
			local Stats = STATSMAN:GetCurStageStats();
			self:LoadFromStats( Stats, Stats:GetPlayerStageStats(Player) )
		end,
		Texture = LoadActor("LifeGraph p1")() .. {
			InitCommand=cmd(ztest,1;diffusealpha,0),
			OnCommand=cmd(linear,0.5;diffusealpha,1),
			OffCommand=cmd(linear,0.5;diffusealpha,0),
		},
		Line = Def.GraphLine { InitCommand=cmd(hidden,1) },
		Body = Def.GraphBody { InitCommand=cmd(zwrite,1;blend,"BlendMode_NoEffect") },
		SongBoundary = Def.Actor { InitCommand=cmd(hidden,1) },
		Barely = Def.Actor { InitCommand=cmd(hidden,1) },
	}
}
}
return t

DrkShadowSonic · 10-17-2006, 11:19 AM

omg.. that just confuses the hell out of me...
dout now i'll ever come back to themeing.
but hey. if ppl are willing to use this new stuff, than awsome.
and if Takeru is right about more freedoms thats great.

Izam · 10-17-2006, 02:08 PM

With every great advancement comes another greater headache to understand it. While I've never had the attention span to finish anything I worked on for Stepmania I am interested in seeing the full potential of this change (when someone finally takes the time to sit down and hammer out all the finer points).

DrkShadowSonic · 10-17-2006, 05:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Izam

I am interested in seeing the full potential of this change (when someone finally takes the time to sit down and hammer out all the finer points).

and when someone does that, they should take the time to write up a tutorial for other people to follow.
cuz even with the old themeing method, there was a tutorial on plasmadance and there was bganimation explanations and stuff like that on here.

i think someone should start workin on something like that when a stable sm4 comes out

**AJ 187** · 05-28-2007, 04:02 PM

bumping this because XML support has been removed as of 5/26/2007, making Lua de facto and de jure in SM4.

also all of the previous examples in this thread are outdated. Currently working on a guide for XML->Lua.

edit:

Quote:

Originally Posted by Takeru1412

*menu left/right message command in music select screen is a must*

I guess I now have the knowledge to answer this question.
MenuLeftP1MessageCommand (works for P2, MenuUp, MenuDown, MenuLeft, MenuRight as well)

edit2:
[21:55:53] Wolfman2000> Just played L9. It had a lot of the old style .ini and .xml transitions (mostly .ini). After accepting the errors of invalid class, the song went through smoothly.

They might work after all, who knows.

RenegadePrime · 05-28-2007, 09:05 PM

[rant] OH NO, NOT LUA! [/rant]

Oh well, this is one of the many reasons that Uncle Sam created the six-month deployment.

revenGmyass · 05-28-2007, 09:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DrkShadowSonic

omg.. that just confuses the hell out of me...

lol yeah, i was thinking the same thing, i guess its only because its new and we dont know much about it.

Akkaraju · 05-28-2007, 10:40 PM

Lua has been around since the early 90s... it's just now they've decided to use it as a new language for themes. It's not new at all =P

tweak_ · 05-29-2007, 06:10 AM

Honestly, its not that hard. If you can slightly understand the xml format, you can understand this.

For example, this xml:

Code:

<ActorFrame>
   <children>
      <Layer
         Type="AutoActor"
         File="@BG.png"
         OnCommand="x,SCREEN_CENTER_X;y,SCREEN_CENTER_Y;zoom,2;spin;EffectMagnitude,0,0,1;"
         />
</children>
</ActorFrame>

Becomes this in lua:

Code:

local t = Def.ActorFrame{
      LoadActor("BG.png") .. {
      OnCommand=cmd(x,SCREEN_CENTER_X;y,SCREEN_CENTER_Y;zoom,2;spin;effectmagnitude,0,0,1.5;);
      };
};
return t;

k⁄⁄eternal · 05-29-2007, 06:48 AM

Hah. Honest truth? We're all too "lazy" to learn LUA, regardless of how easy it may or may not be. In this case perhaps I should clarify the usage of lazy, though.

1. We have tons of other stuff to do. Schoolwork, jobs, whatever.

2. We aren't paid to work on these things.

3. We're tired of SM devs changing their minds about important points of SM4's direction every few builds. XML removed? Why is this necessary?

4. There still isn't enough of an improvement to justify the "upgrade". Inertia, simple principle.

5. Largely due to the above, we generally aren't motivated to do the whole LUA shit.

It's easy to dickwag about how your theme is totally on the bleeding edge of SM development, but honestly? Almost all themes for SM4 right now suck. They are ugly. I don't care if you implemented six amazing new features, if your theme looks like crap, it sucks.

I've said this before, but people have been and probably will still be too thick to get it. Theming is about aesthetics, not about your ability to implement all the latest bloat into your code. This should be obvious. For example, we like Photoshop because it expands our artistic possibilities, not simply because it's a fancy tool with a big feature list. If you make a painting the oldschool way, nobody's going to bitch about your lack of fancy hardware, at least not if your painting is good.

Another point which people just don't seem to get? This whole LUA deal isn't implemented for us. Projects like ITG (Pump PRO, anyone?), things that make (it make) money are driving SM development. This flexibility is more work than it's worth for the average themer who is putting spare time on the line, but when you have a commercial project, there's much more motive to burn time on these things.

Feel free to believe that SM4 gives your genitalia those few extra centimeters. It certainly isn't doing much for your theming, and isn't going to until SM development becomes geared more toward accessibility... and we all know that isn't happening.