Simfile creation Tutorial

[shana]

how do i add my own icon to the simfile? i put it in the folder, and its not showing up =(

[Hiryuu]

Originally Posted by shana

how do i add my own icon to the simfile? i put it in the folder, and its not showing up =(

In your .SM or .DWI file that you are creating, open it with Notepad.

You should see a line like this:

#CDTITLE:;

Between the colon and semi-colon, put the path of your title's icon there (i.e. title.png). Keep them relatively small in width and height and have a transparency effect of about 70-80% (Photoshop) for decent effect.

[shana]

ah.... thank you very much!

edit: what happens if i made the simfile already? can i still post this in my simfile?

[Hiryuu]

If you've posted your simfile on this site, you CAN overwrite the ZIP file that you have sent by two methods:

1) You can overwrite the file by using EDIT from your profile and BROWSE for your new file and upload it as the new one. You can also change the description in your simfile which says something around the lines of 'EDIT: Fixed user title.'

2) You can delete the old file and re-upload the new one. :P

[shana]

no i meant, i made the simfile, but i couldn't get the icon on it, what am i suppose to do now?

[Hiryuu]

Originally Posted by shana

no i meant, i made the simfile, but i couldn't get the icon on it, what am i suppose to do now?

Hmm...

I think you're trying to say that you've edited the file already made but when you go to play it in StepMania the icon doesn't show up on the banner whereas a NEW sim would?

Have you tried reloading all songs/courses in the Options or going to the song in question in the editor and directly exiting out? That'll fix the problem. SM's slow on the uptake for updating itself unless done manually sometimes.

[shana]

yeah, reloaded like 6 to 7 times ... T_T

[Tsuki-chan]

Lifts. And Attack Mines. @___@ Need....tutorials...BADLY.

[Hiryuu]

Originally Posted by shana

yeah, reloaded like 6 to 7 times ... T_T

Only thing I can think is that you have only one of the two files fixed for the CDTITLE line. You need both fixed for that or one deleted.

You have a way of sending up the SM file or at least the first few lines before NOTES in a post?

[shana]

i created the simfile on stepmania itself w/o doing the notepad thing...

[Hiryuu]

Originally Posted by shana

i created the simfile on stepmania itself w/o doing the notepad thing...

Okay.

If that's the case and you -have not yet edited- either the .SM or .DWI in Notepad (in the directory that you have the file), you need to do so to add or modify the #CDTITLE: line to either one or both of them. If you haven't done this, usually StepMania isn't smart enough to put two and two together to know what CDTITLE you have for any given simfile; it just treats it as another file or graphic that could just be a background for all it knows.

I'll give you an idea what the file should look like in the .SM file with one I've done recently:

#TITLE:R-Shitei;
#SUBTITLE:;
#ARTIST:Aikawa Nanase;
#TITLETRANSLIT:;
#SUBTITLETRANSLIT:;
#ARTISTTRANSLIT:;
#CREDIT:;
#BANNER:rshitei.png;
#BACKGROUND:rshitei-bg.png;
#LYRICSPATH:;
#CDTITLE:!hiryuu.png;
#MUSIC:rshitei.mp3;
#OFFSET:-0.024;
#SAMPLESTART:1.210;
#SAMPLELENGTH:24.824;
#SELECTABLE:YES;
#BPMS:0.000=192.080;
#STOPS:;
#BGCHANGES:;

And another example for .DWI:

#TITLE:Awake [Castlevania - Circle of the Moon];
#ARTIST:Sota Tojima, Hiroshi Mitsuoka;
#FILE:awake.ogg;
#BPM:100.000;
#GAP:20;
#SAMPLESTART:0.020;
#SAMPLELENGTH:16.500;
#CDTITLE:!hiryuu.png;
#CHANGEBPM:64.000=139.100;

As you can see in the example, I have mine named to !hiryuu.png in my directory. This is true with all of the files I've released since about mid-2005.

All that really matters right now is that you have that '#CDTITLE:name of file here;' line in place. After that, save the .SM file, open StepMania and reload the courses. It should come up after that as long as the CDTITLE filename matches the one in your folder.

[shana]

ah, i get it now, lol... i didnt think i could open the .sm file in notepad until you said so... lol... thanks!

[Touhou_DJ]

Ok, hopefully this hasn't been asked already...

I need to know if there's a program I can use to trim the length of my song. It's a pretty long one, and I'm only stepping about half of it, so I wan't to trim the end to make my zip file smaller.

Does anyone know of such a program? Thanks.

[Hiryuu]

Originally Posted by Touhou_DJ

Ok, hopefully this hasn't been asked already...

I need to know if there's a program I can use to trim the length of my song. It's a pretty long one, and I'm only stepping about half of it, so I wan't to trim the end to make my zip file smaller.

Does anyone know of such a program? Thanks.

Probably has been asked.

If you're doing something like that, you may as well use something like Goldwave or Audacity to do the job for you. Actually, most MP3 editing software will just about do it but those are two popular choices. Anything you're not using in your simfile you can trim easily with either of these tools.

A preferred method when doing cuts is to take where you stop and fade the song for five to ten seconds instead of having it die abruptly. If you can find a place to cut it where you don't have to necessarily fade it, that's fine too but just as long as it sounds natural. Just an aesthetically pleasing choice, if nothing else.

[Touhou_DJ]

Originally Posted by Hiryuu

Probably has been asked.

If you're doing something like that, you may as well use something like Goldwave or Audacity to do the job for you. Actually, most MP3 editing software will just about do it but those are two popular choices. Anything you're not using in your simfile you can trim easily with either of these tools.

A preferred method when doing cuts is to take where you stop and fade the song for five to ten seconds instead of having it die abruptly. If you can find a place to cut it where you don't have to necessarily fade it, that's fine too but just as long as it sounds natural. Just an aesthetically pleasing choice, if nothing else.

Thanks for your response. I downloaded goldwave and it seems to have done the job.