Which simulator is best for you? Why?

I use StepMania 0.39.

StepMania 3.9 all the way. very stable stepchart editor

StepMania 5 for playing, StepMania 3.9 for stepcharting

off topic: for IIDX I still prefer LR2beta because it's customizable

---

Actually, that's very on-topic. I'd be very interested to hear what people use for IIDX simulation too because it's been about eight years for me.

I only can say some words for IIDX simulator:

Lunatic Rave 2 beta 3:
probably the most used IIDX simulator to date. it is very much customizable and there's also Internet Ranking system. Although the IR system has a limitation (no keysound longer than 1 minute or your song won't be added in the IR), but the IR system is quite secure and very cool (it has rival system too! ). so it's quite an easy-to-use IIDX simulator. the only minus point is it's heavy, crashes pretty much, have some issue in codecs if you don't set it right, and it only supports Free Gameplay.

DDR (Delight Delight Reduplication):
an old DDR simulator but also support IIDX. very much less customizable than LR2 but it's so much lightweighted than LR2. not easy to use actually. I don't use this for more than 8 years so no more words.

Nanashi (or whatever it reads, I forget it):
the other good IIDX simulator, but it's Japanese-only (unlike LR2) so it's not easy to use unless you're japanese.

charabeatHDX:
a new IIDX simulator. very much beta so you can only choose Free Mode and only can set speed via gameplay (very much like tricoro minus Floating Hi-Speed system)

old Lunatic Rave:
pretty hard to find this. less customizable than LR2, but works similar. and it focuses more on Standard Gameplay (like IIDX in general) rather than Free Gameplay like LR2.

that's all that I can say. I only use LR2 now and use the others for trying purpose so I can't talk much about the others.

---

SM5 for Gameplay (with CS7 theme)

SM3.9 for editing (with CS6 theme)

For DDR simulation, I usually stick to SM3.9+Redux. It's got most of the features I want plus lots of noteskins, themes and whatnot to customize it with. I'll probably switch to SM5 eventually when there are more addons available.

For IIDX simulation, I stick with LR2. Though to be honest, I didn't know there were that many other simulators. The only one I knew of other than Lunatic Rave was BePachiMusic, which I didn't quite like. LR2 is hard to beat when there are so many customization options plus various other options to fool around with. Only downside is that memory leak that I heard about.

---

SM-SSC: Gameplay (using fallback-SM5 + DDR X2/X3)
SM 3.9 (Redux): stability (using DDR 3rdMIX-X and DDR X3) (SM5 is chrashing (access violation))

---

i use stepmania 5 because 3..9 would never work for me
for taiko i use osu or taikojiro

---

I really want to like SM 5. They're implementing a lot of cool stuffs on it, and the editor changes, as forementioned, is a godsend. It's cool to have a jacket-supporting theme too, but it lags really heavy on my setup, loads a long long time, and totally crashes my DDR PwrMix category on Extra Stage, seeing as it's all Marathons. It also destroys my autogen courses associated with it, too.

I use 3.9b still, along with the Techno Fiend theme, because it's cool and gets me good performance on my admittedly behind-the-times computer. Although some little part of me wishes somebody would come along with a 3.9 jacket theme...

DWI is hella fun, and I backed it all the way. I got THE BEST performance out of that engine, and I was unaware it was still available (last time or two I tried to download from dwi.clawsandpaws.com failed outright). Plus, I loved that you could configure Extra1 and Extra2.crs to allow MULTIPLE CHOICE EXTRA/ENCORE STAGES!! ;) Like, if you made a list of stages on Extra1.crs, you could pick your choice between them all and they'd all be valid for OMES qualification. Sad thing is, it was lacking on themes. :/

I always liked the multiple banners/jackets themes, but it's like SM ignored the cache files for the inactive selections for some reason...

---

That's because sm-ssc (you know, the build the channel was all about to begin with) became SM5. When you explain problems with a previous version of the game in the channel, of course they are going to tell you to get SM5. It just seems like common sense. After all, chances are those problems have been addressed already in SM5.

I use solely SM5 for everything. Editing, playing, etc. It is stable and does all that I need. I haven't had problems with it since I've been using it (and I've been using it since it was a beta build of sm-ssc). The editor changes I don't like I have already brought up, but considering it is still in alpha it is still pretty good (it even converts delays from a .ssc to a proper stop in the .sm). I do a combination of DDR/ITG and PIU simfiles, so switching between the two modes really helps.

Only time I use another build is OpenITG, and that is mostly to play WinDEU's courses.

I use oITG and SM5, more the former for making courses and simfiles but SM5 has some good themes to play with.

---

I am really wondering why most people use 3.9 for chart editing. Is it less buggy, or other reasons?

---

Stepmania 3.9's editor is less buggy/confusing to get to work right.

For editing, I use Stepmania 3.9+ Redux, but only because I haven't had a reason to use Stepmania 5. I made (and distributed) two KB7 simfiles in sm-ssc without any problem though.

For playing, I mostly use Stepmania 5, because of the features available (especially with the waiei theme).

---

In my case, I use battery when I specify Extra/Encore Extra Stages.

---

Okay, yeah. Waiei theme makes a WORLD of difference for SM5.a3!! o.o

It still wrecks my PwrMix Extra Stage, but at least the courses are fixed, now. Sweet!

---

For playing I use SM5 with Waiei for the jacket support and now the EX folder concept and other little features, although the song select is still laggy.

LR2 beta 3 for my IIDX simfile needs because it strikes a nice balance between features and performance.

I've found that making a lap around the tracklist, or leaving "Roulette/Random" going a little while takes care of that lag, by queuing up all the cache data. It's not preloaded, so if you're going into a section of the tracklist where it has to load, it'll lag during loading long enough to make duplicate inputs (3 lefts or rights, usually), which results in more loading - but once the cache is loaded, input returns to normal.

---

for DDR and the like: SM 3.9+ (i don't make simfiles)

for IIDX: LR2, mainly because i can't find any other working simulators. sadly the sound on LR2 desyncs every 10~15 seconds, but then again my audio driver is shit.

---

Stepmania 3.9

I do not like SM5 because while editing song stepchart with SM5 are come out in .ssc type. Besides, .sm type are playable in SM5 too.

Now, I am converting the SM5 default theme into SM3.9 type beside i make my project.

---