The DDR Research Master Thread - UPDATED 2023-04-15 - Minor Addition - SOME DDR GB1 Memory Addresses

https://tcrf.net/Dance_Dance_Revolution_Extreme_(PlayStation_2,_USA)

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More or less those. Only issue is to figure where and how the graphics are loaded and dealt with and the values and addresses in the game's memory.

Hey guys,
life had become REALLY busy the last couple of years - only just bow really getting back into reverse engineering DDR titles. Just posting to say "I am not giving up on this, the project(s) of REing DDR are not dead."

Someone has been posting some videos of removed difficulties or some modifications to the game

its worth checking out
https://www.youtube.com/@starshipenterprises

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While we're here, has anyone tried to reverse engineer how the lifebar works in various DDR versions? I fiddled around with 3rdMIX (PS1) for a bit but it seems to be more complex than I expected (and non-linear?).

There's videos about it in YouTube but basically it's tied to your max combo and time in song. To the point where in some situations you can end up gaining life on a good or even a boo in some games. The lower your max combo is the more lenient the lifebar is, it's genuinely really strange but some of the console mission modes actively make you use this to clear some stages

Necroing this for good measure...

I've been looking for a way to extract the BG Script of the CS songs and it was mentioned here years ago... and I completely missed that >_<

(hope you're still around)
How the heck did you find (and extract) the scripts from CS games? O.o
I mean, WHERE are they stored? I've only been able to find stepcharts because the SSQ files are very noticeable )they're all inside a single .bin file)
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On other note, I certainly haven't been able to make Let's Get Away (Full Version) playable on Extreme.
Tried converting a .sm with just the Expert chart, with the same result.

EDIT: I'm gradually getting more convinced that Extreme has a length limit, either hardcoded or just accidental (numeric overflow).
Tried converting a 3:27 song and it works, while Let's Get Away (Full Version) is 4:04 and doesn't work.

Been a long while, but it SEEMED at least with 7thMIX CS that there is a bin file immediately following the one with SSQ data that has similar sequence files - maybe those are BG scripts? I will not make a sure bet of it though since it has been a while.

Side note: Am I being stupid, or does it seem like (at least for SSQ in CS mixes) the body of each sq_standard SSQ chunk has its data ... de-interlaced for a lack of better words? Like, for instance, the chunks containing each difficulty's stepdata has all the timings first, and then all the panel/player values following, as opposed to having them (each timing and panel/player value) paired together like the closest data structures that I could find for that would suggest is how they ought to be stored?

I could be, well, being a little dopey, sleep deprivation is a bitch that recurs in my life.

(I have not abandoned researching and reverse engineering DDR; just a very busy few months, between moving,. helping my folks settle in and downscale, multiple relatives dying, a hell of an emotional roller coaster.)

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So using Saxxonpike's LZ77 decompression tool I copied over and decompressed files in the filedata chunk that immediately follows the one containing SSQ data - not sure still if it is BG script info (part of me is, but I have increasingly become less sure of myself lately for some reason), it most certainly uses the sq_-prefixed data structures (like sq_standard and sq_header)!

IMO this absolutely helpes prove that "ssq" (and whatever you will call BG movie scripts) is more a subtype - and that the supertype is merely "sq" or "sequence?" - makes sense given that the main types associated with stepdata and with the data I just looked at are named sq_standard and sq_header (and there are other types relating to sequences that are all prefixed by the "sq_" prefix - sq_footstep_header, sq_indicator, etc).

Insecurity aside, each file in this chunk all have a singular sq_standard chunk in them - which IMO makes perfect sense for a single BG video script.

I'm not sure what you're referring to, but in the SSQ, each chart chunk is separate from each others.

Someone on Discord gave me many years ago a little SSQ analysis tool, that outputs the information in a very neat view.
For example, for "bagg.ssq" (Bag) straight from Extreme AC:

You'll notice there's a BG Script chunk. (Also, If I'm mot mistaken, the "Unknown data" is the lights script chunk)

And now "maxp." (Max Period), straight from Extreme CS JP:

No BG Scrjpt chunk.


You'll also notice that the charts are arranged in a different way...
- In Bag there's all the Basic, then all the Standard, then all the Expert and finally Beginner
- In Max Period there's all the Single charts and then all the Double ones.

That's just because the chunks are in that order, nothing more.

[Open the images in a new window/tab to see the actual size]

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About the location of the scripts in PS2 games, I'm not sure that the file (extracted from filedata.bin) next to the one containing the stepcharts is the one with the scripts.

For example, in Party Collection the file that has the SSQs is "437.bin"
The 438th file is small 8 KB file
And the PREVIOUS one (436.bin) contains TCB files (graphisc), specifically the song banners.

🤔