4x4beat - my in-progress jubeat simulator

[Jeff Paine]

YouTube - 4x4beat - jubeat simulator - beta gameplay

It's nearly finished, I just need to make an icon, and a few tweaks to the simfile format to allow for BPM changes that aren't whole numbers, and stops. The public release should be out in a few days.

Now, as a disclaimer, I've never played jubeat, so I'm going by YouTube videos and the jubeat website for information. I don't think there's any songs in the actual game with BPM changes or stops, but I'm including them anyways, just in case. The timing, grading, and scoring systems are likely way off from the actual game, but there's not a whole lot I can do about that (I can't find any information on that stuff)

The game is controlled with the 1-9, Q-R, A-F, and Z-V keys, which isn't an ideal solution but there really isn't a better one right now (Windows 7 will support multitouch so if that gets more widespread that would be a better solution)

Once the sim is finished, I wouldn't expect too many massive updates, unless the simfile format is updated. It's really meant more as a "starting block" so (hopefully) more talented and experienced programmers can take up the task of making a better sim.

The sim will come with one simfile (the shitty song in the video), and I'll put details about the file format on the sim's website once it's finished.

[Jeff Paine]

Final version released!

4x4beat

[kannazuki]

Ah, here's a question. In jubeat, it supports multibutton presses of 2+ keys. Is the sim capable of registering these if I were to make something like... I don't know, the SigSig chart from the game based on this: YouTube - SigSig , jubeat Training

[Meseki]

Why is this an installer? That makes it impossible to get on an account that doesn't have the priviliges to add fonts.

[Jeff Paine]

Originally Posted by kannazuki

Ah, here's a question. In jubeat, it supports multibutton presses of 2+ keys. Is the sim capable of registering these if I were to make something like... I don't know, the SigSig chart from the game based on this: YouTube - SigSig , jubeat Training

Unfortunately not, as far as I can tell it's a limitation of Windows/the keyboard buffer. You may be able to get around it using a gamepad and Joy2Key, I don't know.

You can press certain combinations of three buttons, but that's the best you can do.

edit: actually, it looks like it's a limitation of the keyboard (see Rollover (key) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia), so if one were to make their own jubeat controller and use Joy2Key or something similar, it should work. Or a high-end keyboard.

Originally Posted by Meseki

Why is this an installer? That makes it impossible to get on an account that doesn't have the priviliges to add fonts.

It's for the font at the results screen, plus it associates JBT files with 4x4beat so you can just double-click them to play them. I'll release a non-installer version later. edit: when I get home, I can't update the site from school
edit 2: k, a ZIP version has been uploaded

[Patashu]

There are certain combinations on the keyboard that register six keys: qweiop for instance, but that's not very helpful if you need a certain kind of configuration to work.

You could always train yourself to hit clusters as very quick 'slides' of two note groups, since those are always safe.

[Jeff Paine]

v1.0 r1 released!

This version introduces a few minor changes and bugfixes and adds the following mods:

Speed mods - x0.25, x0.5, x1, x2, x4

Flip, H-Flip, V-Flip, Clockwise (rotates notes clockwise), H-Clockwise (H-Flip then Clockwise), V-Clockwise, Counterclockwise, H-Counterclockwise, V-Counterclockwise, Random, S-Random, Samurai S-Random (those last three operate exactly how they do in IIDX)

New note styles - Bar-U, Bar-D, Bar-L, and Bar-R (instead of a box coming from the center, instead this note style will expand a bar in the direction you choose

Custom note images

You can choose to save your settings individually for songs. This will place two hidden files in the folder containing the JBT file. You can uncheck this option if you just want to temporarily change your settings, or if you don't want those files to be created.

[Meseki]

I found two quite notable glitches:
The song preview does not stop playing, even when the song is started (Which may have something to do with the Bad Image error that happens when I load a song and when I click play)

The modifiers (or at least speed modifier) will be default if you do not open the Modifiers menu (even if you have it set to remember the modifiers for that song)

[Jeff Paine]

oh fuck fuck fuck I can't believe I forgot to fix that second one, I'll fix it tomorrow have it uploaded tomorrow after I get home from school

I don't know about the first one because it works fine for me, I'll look into it though

edit: I lied, I decided to fix it tonight, r2 is available now and should fix both glitches (it definitely fixes the second one)

[warlock86]

Good job!

It would be great if it could run in full screen mode or at least resize the window.

I'm thinking of building a controller with some transparent switches sticked over a 14" TFT, so that feature could make it possible to fit the controller...

[Jeff Paine]

Well I finally have a little time and motivation to continue working on this, so I'll keep that in mind.

The sim was really designed more as a quick desktop game rather than a full-fledged recreation of the game (hence the file associations, so you can double-click a simfile for a quick round) but I'll consider implementing a fullscreen mode accessible from the command line, so someone can make a menu to select songs and such and then run 4x4beat from that menu. Something like that would be way beyond the current scope of the sim, though.

That mode definitely won't be in the next release, though. Planned features for the next release are key binding, gamepad and MIDI input, mouse input (for multitouch), default modifiers, and a switch to the FMOD library to play the music (which should load quicker and have less timing issues)

[naoki1998]

hey amaizing job kid =D!!!!! it looks very impressive...

keep going on it. =D!

[Jeff Paine]

v1.0 r3 finally released!

Changes:

• Key binding now supported
• Gamepad input now supported
• MIDI input now supported (this hasn't been tested much as the only MIDI device I have is a virtual one - if you plan on using a MIDI device with 4x4beat PLEASE test this out and report your results)
• Mouse input now supported (for touchscreen input - I have no touchscreen, so I haven't tested that at all. I especially want to hear from people using multitouch monitors to see if this will actually register two touches at a time)
• Default modifiers menu added
• New note style added - "Stealth" (notes are invisible, like the new mod in jubeat ripples)
• Shift-JIS encoded JBT files will now work properly (i.e. display Japanese characters correctly, load Japanese filenames correctly, etc)
• Sound API switched from Windows Media Player to FMOD Ex - this should go a LONG way to alleviate timing issues