Debug/Data!

This section contains anything tech-based for Hopscotch Mix: From installation, editing, patches for previous versions, etc. (More to be added)

Hopscotch Mix simfiles contain the basics:

Before uploading I cleaned up the file folders, removing unnecessary files (old thumbs, dwi, sfl) and added proper punctuation to filenames when applicable. Don't worry, some easter eggs still remain...

Hopscotch Mix downloadable content is written in C++, Assembly, and Lua programming languages and initially designed for use with StepMania: A cross-platform open-source rhythm game engine. Most songs were created using the stepmania 3.9 engine and work just fine with any version before and stepmania 3.95. However some songs have had issues with stepmania 4.0 and after due in part to the "negative bpm" trick featured in some songs. This has caused the game to crash.

I've currently been using Project OutFox (being developed by Team Rizu) as a step editor and re-syncing tool. Their focus with code & graphic modernization on the original StepMania engine have been nothing but spectacular and opens the door for better & easier reverse engineering. I have very high hopes for their development team as they've been very consistant with updates and downloadable builds.

For OutFox releases and changelog, check 'em out on GitHub.

StepMania Installation

For those of you brand new to SM, here's a quick reference guide.

Minimum requirements for StepMania 3.9 (and variants):

  1. Windows 98/2000/XP/Vista/7/8/10, Linux, OS X 10.4-10.6
  2. 266MHz minimum (400 MHz or Multi-core recommended)
  3. 64 MB of RAM
  4. Video card with support for 16-bit color, 16MB video RAM and OpenGL or Direct3D 8 drivers
  5. DirectX 8.0 or later (Windows only)
  6. Sound card

Download StepMania 3.9 and variants here at SourceForge.

Minimum requirements for StepMania 5:

  1. Windows 7+ (Vista and up users: read the installer!); Linux; Mac OS X 10.6+
  2. 512 MB of RAM (1 GB recommended)
  3. 700MHz minimum (Multi-core recommended)
  4. Video card with support for 16-bit color, 128MB video RAM and OpenGL 2.1 or higher.
  5. DirectX 9.0 or later (Windows only)
  6. Sound card

Unsupported systems since 5.0.12: Windows XP and Vista. For the latest info, check out StepMania on GitHub.

Stepfile Installation

This applies to any song packs: Locate the .zip file, unzip, copy and paste the files to the Songs folder in the StepMania program directory. The song packs will contain subfolders for each song.

Example directory (Windows): C:\Program Files (x86)\StepMania\Songs

Individual songs cannot be added directly to the Songs folder. You'll have to create a new folder and add the individual songs to said folder before adding to Songs. The program only looks for subfolders within a main folder in the Songs directory.

For troubleshooting, check out StepMania's FAQ section.

.sm Stepfile Sample and Manual Edits

With any release of StepMania, there will always be a simple step editor within the application...and that's totally fine. BUT if you were looking to do some crazy stuff, like changing BPM values quickly rather than using the editor, openly modding your files are a faster and more efficient way of getting things done! All's you'll needs is a decent text editor Refer to the Linksssssssss 


         #TITLE:Milk Jug; Song title
         #SUBTITLE: (Rotten to the Core Mix); Song subtitle (when applicable)
         #ARTIST:Doctor Curtis Riggs; Song artist
         #TITLETRANSLIT:; Song title translation (when applicable)
         #SUBTITLETRANSLIT:; Song subtitle translation (when applicable)
         #ARTISTTRANSLIT:; Song artist translation (when applicable)
         #GENRE:Trip Hop; Style of music
         #CREDIT:Jim Jones; Stepfile creator credit
         #BANNER:Milk Jug.png; Banner image file
         #BACKGROUND:Milk Jug- bg.png; Background image file (-bg extension)
         #LYRICSPATH:Milk Jug.lrc; Add lyrics with a .lrc file
         #CDTITLE:DRRmax.png; Custom song/pack icon
         #MUSIC:Milk Jug.ogg; Song file (.ogg, .mp3, .wav)
         #OFFSET:0.040; Tempo offset when syncronizing step charts
         #SAMPLESTART:52.040; Sample music start
         #SAMPLELENGTH:12.000; Sample music duration
         #SELECTABLE:YES; Default is "yes". Only applicable when "unlocking" songs
         #DISPLAYBPM: 150.000; "Displays" song's BPM/tempo.
         #BPMS:0.000=150.000,36.000=699.994,48.000=175.000; BPM changes in song
         #STOPS:; Displays values of stops (or BPM pauses)
         #BGCHANGES:; Displays values of background animation changes

Tips & Tricks

You have to manually type #DISPLAYBPM:; in the .sm header. Type an actual asterix in the number field to generate a randomizer value: #DISPLAYBPM:*;

.lrc files. Wanna add lyric subtitles to your stepchart? Easy! Create a text document and save as .lrc in your individual song's folder. Note: You will have to manually time the lyrics for this feature to work properly.


     [COLOUR]0xffffff Hex colour value (add 0x (#) prior to the 6-decimal value)
     [0:32.250]Add lyrics here for the duaration
     [0:41.900]Relax, don't do it
     [0:44.500]When you want to suck it, chew it
     [0:47.800]Relax, don't do it
     [0:50.050]When you want to come
     [0:55.000]Keep the last time input blank to signify the lyrics ended