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BeatFreeX: SM5 based IIDX fangame / BMS player

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Post #1 · Posted at 2015-10-14 12:48:31am 8.4 years ago

Offline Nix
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Reg. 2010-08-30


Last updated: 2016-03-08 10:31pm
Announcing BeatFreeX!

For the past few months (since March 2015) I've been working on a Beatmania-style game for StepMania 5. Originally conceived as a kind of "screw Konami, I'm making my own game!" response to the shutting down of Programmed World, it has since expanded its scope and shifted its focus towards:

* Proper BMS support in StepMania 5; an up-to-date, maintained, open-source, cross-platform BMS player
* A beginner-friendly and casual-friendly DJ simulator game, fun for everyone from newbies to experts
* A banging songlist of underground and amateur musicians to make sure no one can resist moving their feet while playing!

Currently BeatFreeX is in Open Beta. Give it a download and let me know what you think!

Like BeatFreeX on Facebook or get in touch if you're interested in getting involved!

Check out some of the music!

Have a look at the gameplay videos on MusicalArmageddon's YouTube channel!

And finally, visit the 90s style under construction website!

Post #2 · Posted at 2015-10-14 01:58:41am 8.4 years ago

Offline RGTM
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Oh, this is looking good so far!

I support this project.
ZIv Mod Squad: "shark jumpscare"
https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/926629361858273310/1176900767613997157/EC2E821F-8C1F-4894-9E77-59CB48D2FD35a.gif?ex=660d6fc0&is=65fafac0&hm=f09590db85453f3661ef757d7a859f3212a60fd34bdd378b61c3694fe904fd36&

Post #3 · Posted at 2015-10-14 05:58:54am 8.4 years ago

Offline midnightclubx
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^

Only suggestion I could give so far is to have an option for the video not interfering with the playing field/chart area.

Post #4 · Posted at 2015-10-14 09:24:21am 8.4 years ago

Offline Nix
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Quote: midnightclubx
Only suggestion I could give so far is to have an option for the video not interfering with the playing field/chart area.

Good idea, I must admit it was a little taxing even for me to concentrate with some of the backgrounds!

Post #5 · Posted at 2015-10-14 10:06:51am 8.4 years ago

Offline midnightclubx
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Quote: Nix
Quote: midnightclubx
Only suggestion I could give so far is to have an option for the video not interfering with the playing field/chart area.

Good idea, I must admit it was a little taxing even for me to concentrate with some of the backgrounds!

Another suggestion, though this is optional: have the banners scroll upwards akin to IIDX, or NeonFM, as well as being able to switch the difficulty without having to pick the song first; if it's already implemented, have an indicator to show the current difficulty and let them switch with a push of a button (like the Select button on the IIDX controllers, or in the case of the current interface, the up and down arrows on the keyboard.)

Lastly, if you're able to, I/we can give you some suggestions for some of the licensed music as well (only asking since Some Justice is on there.)

I wish you the best of luck; it has the potential for being an LR2-killer if it's very user-friendly while having the same customization as the IIDX CS games and so on.

Post #6 · Posted at 2015-10-14 10:20:15am 8.4 years ago

Offline Nix
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Reg. 2010-08-30

Quote: midnightclubx
Another suggestion, though this is optional: have the banners scroll upwards akin to IIDX, or NeonFM, as well as being able to switch the difficulty without having to pick the song first; if it's already implemented, have an indicator to show the current difficulty and let them switch with a push of a button (like the Select button on the IIDX controllers, or in the case of the current interface, the up and down arrows on the keyboard.)

I have been considering a vertical song wheel. Trouble is, due to the way Stepmania and the KOC handle turntable input, a turntable-controlled song wheel would be extremely touchy and pretty much unusable. I had the idea of using any black key to go up and any white key to go down though, and definitely want to give a vertical song wheel a go.

As for difficulty, I find it essential that selection of a song and selection of difficulty are performed in two seperate steps - selecting a difficulty isn't important at all until after you've picked what song you want.. DDR and IIDX don't make it nearly obvious enough to beginners that you have to pick the difficulty BEFORE you select a song (a good example of where I got my inspiration from is the interface to Dancing Stage EuroMix 1: if you see anyone play it at the arcade, it's immediately obvious what you have to do). All difficulties for each song are still visible on the song selection screen before you select a song, so there's no need to go into every song to see if there's the difficulty you want. I find it the best of both worlds.

Quote: midnightclubx
Lastly, if you're able to, I/we can give you some suggestions for some of the licensed music as well (only asking since Some Justice is on there.)

All the "real" songs on the song list were rebuilt from remix competition stems, tracker modules, or something similar. Some Justice is an interesting case in that it's composed almost entirely of samples, stabs and breakbeats, most of which I already had in my sample library!
What do you mean by "suggestions"? Do you mean what music to have, or how to stop the record label suits from getting on my case?

Post #7 · Posted at 2015-10-14 02:24:05pm 8.4 years ago

Offline Lord Toon
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Post #8 · Posted at 2015-10-14 05:08:40pm 8.4 years ago

Offline luis_tatsuya
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Quote: midnightclubx
LR2-killer

I've waited a long time for this... CHALLENGE ACCEPTED

Post #9 · Posted at 2015-10-14 05:28:49pm 8.4 years ago

Offline Th3_Ov3rHell_3XoduZ
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Wow, im not a fan of IIDX or BeatMania, but it looks very impressive and I always support any kind of shared/full creations made in SM5... This looks good so far, keep going!
Quote: Released Themes for SM5 Beta 3
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Post #10 · Posted at 2015-10-14 05:36:22pm 8.4 years ago

Offline Dreamland200
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"choons"
I might give into consideration to do something for this game.

I did two keysounded BMS files for Lunatic Rave 2 but i never released them in public.

In all seriousness, this looks promising! Can't wait.
~Now known as tykoneko~
http://i.imgur.com/zjST8gm.png

Post #11 · Posted at 2015-10-14 05:53:21pm 8.4 years ago

Offline Densetsu.EXE
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Reg. 2011-06-03

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New IIDX-inspired game (I imagine this will be like plugout but for 7key)? Definitely in. The interface and the fact that it's SM5-based really draw me in and I'm interested to see where it goes.

Might consider making up tracks specifically for this game, so what kind of genres/moods are you going for here? I imagine there's a lot of sample-based stuff and breakbeats considering what I heard in the preview video.
https://i.imgur.com/1zjrrWb.png
Download here (mp3, 320kbps): (continuous mix) | (separate tracks)

Post #12 · Posted at 2015-10-14 06:14:35pm 8.4 years ago

Offline Nix
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Quote: Densetsu.EXE
Might consider making up tracks specifically for this game, so what kind of genres/moods are you going for here? I imagine there's a lot of sample-based stuff and breakbeats considering what I heard in the preview video.

Awesome! I'll send you a PM, but I'll say it here too: I'm mainly about underground and fledgeling genres spanning from the 90s to today. Jungle, rave, bassline, dubstep, future hiphop/bass/garage, nu jazz, broken beat, and all the rest! If you need inspiration, I highly recommend you check out the song list of Beatmania 6th Mix; it's been heavily inspirational for me in building up the song list for this game.

Post #13 · Posted at 2015-10-14 09:10:57pm 8.4 years ago

Offline Dreamland200
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"choons"
Quick question: How long do you want these tracks to be? I'd imagine around 1:30 and 2:30 I suppose?
~Now known as tykoneko~
http://i.imgur.com/zjST8gm.png

Post #14 · Posted at 2015-10-14 09:44:13pm 8.4 years ago

Offline Nix
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Last updated: 2015-10-14 09:44pm
Quote: Dreamland200
Quick question: How long do you want these tracks to be? I'd imagine around 1:30 and 2:30 I suppose?

Yep, that would be perfect!

Post #15 · Posted at 2015-10-14 10:06:25pm 8.4 years ago

Offline TikalFan9000
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Will there be a level editor?

Post #16 · Posted at 2015-10-14 10:39:34pm 8.4 years ago

Offline Nix
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Quote: TikalFan9000
Will there be a level editor?

StepMania 5 has a built-in editor but it's really no good for editing BMS files (the file format BeatFreaX uses). You can edit those with an external editor such as BMSE or iBMSC.

Post #17 · Posted at 2015-10-14 10:49:02pm 8.4 years ago

Offline AxelWasHere
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"No."
This looks really good. Very good infact. I would get into this even though i never really played beat mania.
https://i.imgur.com/vnrpBDk.gif

Post #18 · Posted at 2015-10-14 11:00:28pm 8.4 years ago

Offline midnightclubx
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Reg. 2014-06-06

Quote: Nix


I have been considering a vertical song wheel. Trouble is, due to the way Stepmania and the KOC handle turntable input, a turntable-controlled song wheel would be extremely touchy and pretty much unusable. I had the idea of using any black key to go up and any white key to go down though, and definitely want to give a vertical song wheel a go.

As for difficulty, I find it essential that selection of a song and selection of difficulty are performed in two seperate steps - selecting a difficulty isn't important at all until after you've picked what song you want.. DDR and IIDX don't make it nearly obvious enough to beginners that you have to pick the difficulty BEFORE you select a song (a good example of where I got my inspiration from is the interface to Dancing Stage EuroMix 1: if you see anyone play it at the arcade, it's immediately obvious what you have to do). All difficulties for each song are still visible on the song selection screen before you select a song, so there's no need to go into every song to see if there's the difficulty you want. I find it the best of both worlds.

Well, I'm sure whoever will test the game with you (and know a lot more about Lua than I do), can help you out with how to fine-tune the turntable on the songwheel, and it would be very well worth it; a lot of people who have played IIDX before (myself included) are used to picking the songs/difficulties with the turntable and select/VEFX button, respectively. It would feel a bit odd using the white/black keys to navigate the songs, since they're normally the confirmation buttons to select the song. Then again, I've never played IIDX on Stepmania 5, so how the controllers react might be different compared to LR2 or similar.

I was also going to mention, the difficulty selection does remind me of how Euromix works; There's nothing wrong with it, and most players who don't know IIDX much won't really mind. That being said, changing the difficulty with the select button is completely optional, but I can't say I know how selecting the songs are going to work if you had to navigate the songs with the white/black keys; I can see using the Start button to select the song and difficulty, but like I mentioned earlier, it would feel weird for those who have played IIDX-type games before and are familiar with how those games work. ^^;






Quote: Nix
All the "real" songs on the song list were rebuilt from remix competition stems, tracker modules, or something similar. Some Justice is an interesting case in that it's composed almost entirely of samples, stabs and breakbeats, most of which I already had in my sample library!
What do you mean by "suggestions"? Do you mean what music to have, or how to stop the record label suits from getting on my case?

That's pretty impressive! I mean, it makes sense, considering that it's keysounded, but I find it awesome that you were able to recreate that song out of samples. I guess suggesting other licensed songs are out of the question then (I was going to suggest some other songs from around that era, like Temple of Dreams by Messiah, or Feel So Good by Hardsequencer, or Music Hypnotizes by 4Voice). Thanks for the info. Smile

Post #19 · Posted at 2015-10-15 06:52:33am 8.4 years ago

Offline Nix
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Last updated: 2015-10-15 06:52am
Quote: AxelWasHere
This looks really good. Very good infact. I would get into this even though i never really played beat mania.

Excellent! That's one thing I intended this game to be, I'm glad to hear it!

And midnightclubx, I do have a screen just before selecting a song that explains the controls for the menus. I might post a video some time soon showing why I can't use the turntable to select songs in StepMania 5 (I don't know how well it would work with a high-end controller such as a DAO, but it's pretty much unusable with a KOC + PS2 adapter).

Quote: Lord Toon
Me likey...Let me know if you want some help with Graphics and such: Logo, Interface UI, etc...//

Lord Toon, I am honoured! I'll shoot you a message with more info.

Post #20 · Posted at 2015-10-15 04:50:26pm 8.4 years ago

Offline AxelWasHere
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"No."

Last updated: 2015-10-15 04:53pm
The fact that we can achieve this in Stepmania is pretty amazing. I would love to Play test this, Even though i only have a keyboard and barely any knowledge of BeatMania.

Edit: I hope you dont mind my signature by the way.
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