Setting up Stepmania to look/feel like DDR Extreme

ddr-extreme.md

Setting up Stepmania to look/feel like DDR Extreme

The first time I played DDR was on a 6th Mix DDR MAX cabinet, but I spent most of my time with this massive custom LED wall screen that housed DDR Extreme. So when I got a foam pad for home, I wanted to replicate what felt most comfortable.

I'm sure it's not pixel perfect, and there are probably some arcade features/behaviours I'm missing, but this setup is close enough for me!

1. Download Beware's Stepmania Extreme build (direct)

If you don't mind using an older version of Stepmania, you're probably good to go and can ignore the rest!

If you'd like to use Stepmania 5, still get the files above, you'll need them for step 6.

1. Download and install Stepmania 5 (direct)
2. Download Inorizushi's DDR Extreme Theme download theme (direct)
3. Unzip theme to: C:\Games\StepMania 5\Themes\DDR-EXTREME-JP-SM5-master
4. Download xnintendox's Solo noteskin (direct)
5. Unzip noteskin to: C:\Games\StepMania 5\NoteSkins\dance\ddr_sn_solo
6. Grab the following folders from Beware's Stepmania Extreme build, and copy them into the respective folders:

• stepmania\Announcers\katzeextreme_beware -> C:\Games\StepMania 5\Announcers\katzeextreme_beware
• stepmania\CDTitles -> C:\Games\StepMania 5\CDTitles
• stepmania\RandomMovies -> C:\Games\StepMania 5\RandomMovies
• stepmania\Songs -> C:\Games\StepMania 5\Songs

Open Stepmania and updated the following options:

• Options > Display Options > Appearance Options > Theme = DDR Extreme (Native)
• Options > Display Options > Appearance Options > Announcer = katzeextreme_beware
• Options > Display Options > Appearance Options > Default Noteskin = ddr_sn_solo
• Options > Display Options > Appearance Options > Mode = Random Movies

That's it, you're good to go! I haven't played at an arcade in a long time, but this feels really damn close to what I remember :)

Troubleshooting

I found that playing with a headset everything was in sync right away, but when switching to speakers I needed to adjust the Stepmania global offset quite a bit.

I recommend disabling fail (Options > Advanced Options > Default Fail Type = Off), starting a song you're super familiar with, then pressing F6 twice when it starts (this will enable AutoSync Machine). Then, just play to the beat (ignore the timing of the arrows). If things are off just a bit, this will help sync things up by the end of the song.

If things are off a lot, you might need to restart the song and adjust the global offset (Shift+F11, Shift+F12) until the first steps are close to where they should be, then try AutoSync Machine again. Once you've finished the song, it'll ask if you want to save the changes globally. Hit yes, and you should be sorted.

There is also some worthwhile content in these folders of Beware's Extreme:
Characters (SM5 complained about missing a file here)
Courses (Have not tested; this is where the "oni mode" stuff lives I think)

If you want DDR-like timing windows, set these in your preferences.ini:

TimingWindowSecondsW1=0.016667 # Marvelous = 1 frame @ arcade machine FPS
TimingWindowSecondsW2=0.033333
TimingWindowSecondsW3=0.091667
TimingWindowSecondsW4=0.141667
TimingWindowSecondsW5=0.225000

Keep in mind that Beware's original version uses a forked/modified/recompiled Stepmania 3.9 source to micro-manage things like when what and when the announcer says, so there will be some differences. Still, this is a great option for getting a DDREX-like experience on SM5. Thanks for putting together the gist!