Stepmania questions.?

Question

First, when I download it and load it, how do I load songs on?

Is there an editor that allows me to put songs on and edit the arrows?

Is there a program that auto places arrows?

Can I use my Dance Pad from my PS2 with the usb inverter I have?

What are the sound quality? Midi or MP3?

Where can I get premade good quality, custom music?

Answer 1

Well, once downloaded via SM.com (actually, it's StepMania.com), there will be no songs.

To access the in-game edit mode, make SM active, then press start, then select Edit Mode (on the default SMMAX theme, it will say Edi/Sync Songs).

But, you must first upload a song.

Via the Tools and Package Exporter of SM, find a song, say...Shimmy from System of a Down.

Select "Create Song", then locate the song. Then select open.

Now, access edit mode, and you need to set the BPM, beat zero offset, etc. You may need a BPM counter.

Dancing Monkeys AutoGenerates steps, but it takes a while.

Now, you can use a PS2 dance pad via PS2/USB adapter.

You must use an OGG file (default of ITGs), MP3s (default of DDRs), or WAVs (not as much).

Now, you can download songs from StepMania.com, FFR Sims, DDRPlace, myspace.com/cmgutopia (he's famous), BemaniStyle, and more.

On FFR, I'm solopro, and I made a few simfiles.

Good luck and have fun with StepMania.

Answer 2

In order to get songs into StepMania, you simply open up your "Program Files" folder on your HD. Inside you should find a folder titled "StepMania" and inside this, another folder titled "Songs" This is where you will drag your songfiles to.

As far as adding steps to your own music, in the Start Menu under StepMania there should be an option for "StepMania Tools and Package Exporter". Start that up and hit "Create Song". This will allow you to import an MP3 into the game. Then, start StepMania and choose the Edit / Synch Songs option. From here you can edit your song!

StepMania files are not MIDI, they are MP3s. Keep in mind that official DDR music is copyrighted and is illegal to download. But you're asking for custom music, and there are several places for it. First, you can check out StepMania.com where they have a few custom SimFiles (this is what the songs are called - this is because they include a song and a step chart). In addition to the actual StepMania.com site, bemanistyle is an excellent source of SimFiles and StepMania.

Finally, your pad may or may not work just fine. There have been known issues where a converter will only register one arrow at a time - thus effictively eliminating your ability to do doubles. However, there may be no problems at all. If you do find yourself getting pretty serious, RedOctane (redoctane.com) has some quality pads that come with USB hookups. I swear by my RedOctane Ignition 3.0 Pad!

Good luck with StepMania, and dance on!