*********************************************
* *
* Basic DWI Song & Stepfile Coding Tutorial *
* *
*********************************************
(Getting Started by Shuey )
By Shuey on
Updated last on 01-01-2003
Contact me at my primary email address jncshu@myexcel.com or my secondary email address johnnyshu@hotmail.com
My AIM screen name is Shuey187 and I am always on IRC channels and website forums as Shuey or Shuey187
This FAQ can always be found at one of 3 sites:
Shuey's- http://users.myexcel.com/jncshu
DDRUK- http://www.ddruk.com
DWIOnline- http://www.ddronline.net/dwi/home.php
This FAQ is the sole property of Shuey. Do not change it or alter it in any way.
--------------------------------------
I don't know about the rest of you, but the thought of making my own dwi files was a little intimidating when I first contimplated it so I wanted to write this basic tutorial to hopefully put some of you at ease and give you some help to get you on your way ;)
Obviously
the first thing you'll want to do is pick a song that you'd like to make a DWI
file for and make sure it's a song you won't mind hearing over and over again
because you will likely be hearing it a lot during the creation process. I
recommend using a song that has a bpm of 200 or less
(preferably 120-150 for a newbie) and a total time
length of about
I've heard mixed reviews of which software is best to calculate bpm for a song and I've tried a few, but my favorite is Mix Meister because it automatically calculates it for you and it is extremely accurate.
So far there's 3 ways to make a DWI file that I know of:
1. Use Notepad and just type (This is my preferred method)
2. Use BMS Creator (I've never used it personally)
3. XStep (I found it to be more trouble than it was worth)
When "coding" your DWI file (that's writing all the numbers in the sequences you choose while in notepad), you'll want to make sure your syntax is always correct or else your file will not work properly and/or DWI will not even start. "Syntax" is the way the coding is written, as well as how you write your shortcut file for testing. I'll talk more about that in a minute. I won't go into detail about the coding of your file because most of the info you need to get started is in the readme.txt file that is included with DWI when you download it. Also, I or someone else will be writing a more detailed tutorial in the future that will cover more. If done by me, it will most likely be called the same thing as this text file but "Advanced..."
Coding- One of the simplest things you can do when coding your file is to create blank "bars" of music with 0's. Eight zeros = one bar. I haven't come up with a "sure-fire" way yet of "syncing" the steps with the music by using the gap adjustment along with the number of zeros before the first step in the DWI file, but I can get it to work with a little bit of trial and error. Syncing the steps is making the steps go with the music and beats. A gap that is a negative number is not necessarily bad, but usually a correct gap will be the proper mix of zeros (blank bars) and gap number which results in a positive number. The only tip I can really even try to give in regards to getting your "gap" correct is this- while testing your song in test-mode, listen to the beats of the music...if the step on the screen falls in the guage before it's supposed to, then you can try increasing the gap to correct it (ex: change the number from 100 to 350). If the step on the screen falls in the gauge after it's supposed to, then try decreasing the gap (ex: lower the number from 350 to 100). I recommend starting with a gap of 100-1000 and atleast 1 to 1 & 1/2 blank bars (8-12 zeros) before your first actual step. You will have to play with the combination of gap number and the amount of zeros you have in your file in order to get the song to start in sync. You'll notice when testing your song, the arrows will be colored depending on what kind of arrow each is.....if your arrows all become one color or they never change in color, your file most likely has a coding error that needs to be fixed. Sometimes your file may still seem to work no problem, but if you want your file to be done completely correct, you will need to find where the coding error is.
One thing I highly recommend is to make a shortcut file on your desktop to the song you're working on and set the parameters to something like this (make the syntax of this string match your directory structure and proper file names):
C:\directory\directory\DWI2\DWI2.exe /test:.\Songs\Shuey's\Nash /style:SINGLE /level:MANIAC /p2 /startat:0.0
All the syntax has to correctly correspond to all the parameters needed to work properly...if it doesn't run right or won't run at all, continue trying to fix the string because it WILL run if done correctly. Once you have it working, open Notepad and the file that you're working on. Now you can leave your test mode file running on the one side of the screen and have your DWI file running in Notepad on the other side of the screen and you can continue editing and testing back and forth. This simplifies the process and saves time. While in test mode, F1 starts the song over at the beginning and F2 starts at the point in the song that you specified in the shortcut file on the desktop. Don't forget to check the Readmefile in DWI if you don't remember how to use test mode.
Lastly, don't get discouraged. Be patient, have fun, ask for help from others, and preview your work using the DWI previewer at http://www.ddronline.net/world/dwishow.php too cuz sometimes you'll see something in the step file image that you didn't notice while playing the file in DWI.
I hope this helps and don't forget to have fun! ;)
-Shuey-