================ Be-Pachi Music!! version 0.0641 ---------------- Thank you for downloading! Be-Pachi Music is an interactive Be-Music Source player... a music/rhythm game! [ 1] Features [ 2] System Requirements and Recommendations [ 3] Default Keyboard Layout [ 4] Play Modes [ 5] Be-Music Modifiers [ 6] Be-Pachi Score Multiplier [ 7] Be-Pachi Mode Power-Ups [ 8] Adding New BMS Songs [ 9] Known Bugs/Problems [10] To-Do List [11] Source Code? [12] Thanks! [13] Comments? Questions? Complaints? Suggestions? ============= [ 1] Features ------------- Supports an unlimited number of BMS songs Plays BMS songs containing any amount of notes and events All single-player #000xx BMS codes and modifiers are supported Supports up to 1295 unique key-sounds in a BMS (#WAV01 - #WAVZZ) Supports up to 1295 unique BG animation images in a BMS (#BMP01 - #BMPZZ) BMP and JPG image formats can be used in BGA images 5-key, 7-key and 9-key BMS/BME/BML formats supported Variable Hidden, Sudden, and High-Speed settings The first and only BMS player to feature a 3-D "into the screen" view Songs are rated on 8 different styles of difficulty 2 unique gameplay modes Several different customizable themes Parses even the most complex note patterns with 100% precision Scans all existing subfolders and folder-in-folders for BMS songs Many options, modifiers and power-ups to enhance game play External controller support Sound files can be in WAV, MP3, or OGG format Supports video BGA movies in AVI format ============================================ [ 2] System Requirements and Recommendations -------------------------------------------- Minimum system requirements: - Windows 9x or higher (2000/XP/etc) - DirectX7 (or higher) - 384 MB RAM - 450 MHz CPU - 25 MB free disk space Recommended to have: - 1 GB RAM (or more) - 900 MHz CPU (or faster) - 1 GB free disk space (The more, the better... Ample free space for expanding a BMS collection!) ============================ [ 3] Default Keyboard Layout ---------------------------- Z, S, X, D, C, F, V: The 'piano' keys used during game-play. Left or Right Shift: The 'turntable' scratch. SPACE BAR: The power-up activator, used in Be-Pachi mode. Also functions as the 'Select' button. ENTER: The 'Start' Button. Shows Modifier Menu on Music Select. Arrow Keys: Navigate the menu screens. If Hidden+ is selected on the Modifier menu, use 'Ins' and 'Del' keys to adjust where the notes will disappear. If Sudden+ is selected on the Modifier menu, use 'Home' and 'End' keys to adjust where the notes will appear. Variable Hi-Speed can be used at any time. The 'Page Up' and 'Page Down' keys adjust the speed of the falling notes. =============== [ 4] Play Modes --------------- Be-Music: The standard mode. press a key when the note reaches the line. If your timing is good, the groove meter will increase. If not, the meter will start to empty. When the meter reaches 'passing' level it will change color. If it's at least this full at the end of the song, you clear the song! Be-Pachi: Similar to Be-Music, but when a key is pressed when the note is on the line, little white orbs fly up the screen (in a pachinko game style). when the orbs fall back down to the red line, you regain some of the groove meter. Be-Pachi mode uses a survival meter. As long as the meter doesn't become completely empty, you will stage-clear the song. Be-Pachi mode also has optional power-ups. A new power-up is randomly chosen at the start of each new measure. Activate the power-up by pushing SPACE bar, or the SELECT button on a game controller. Power-ups may only be used if the groove meter is 100% full. Be-Yacht: This mode is based on the classic dice game called "Yacht". After playing a song (if the song was stage-cleared), the ending score can be used as the player's dice roll. The roll values are then used to create various combinations of numbers and gain points. ======================= [ 5] Be-Music Modifiers ----------------------- Right Side Scratch: Moves the scratch column to the right side of the note columns. By default, the scratch column appears on the left side. AutoScratch: All existing notes in the scratch column will be played automatically. AutoPlay: All notes in all columns will be played automatically. AutoPlay+: Allows the notes in specific columns to be auto-played. During song play, push and hold the Select button (or the keyboard key mapped to Select) to display the list of currently autoplayed columns. While continuing to hold the Select button, push the desired keys to toggle the auto-play for its column. 5 Key: Hides and auto-plays all notes in columns 6 and 7. Random: Randomizes the columns in which notes appear, of all columns except the scratch column. Random+: Randomizes the columns in which notes appear, of all columns including the scratch column. S.Random: Super Random. Randomizes each note's column location individually, except for scratch column notes. S.Random+: Randomizes each note's column location individually, including scratch column notes. H.Random: The same as Super Random, but this tries to prevent notes from being consecutively placed in the same column. This can be combined with S.Random+ to optionally include the scratch column notes in the randomizing. Mirror: Horizontally flips a song's note pattern. For example, all notes in column 7 will be moved to column 1, and column 1's notes are moved to column 7. Mirror+: Vertically flips a song's note pattern. Notes originally appearing at the end of a song will instead appear at the beginning, and so on. Hidden: (Not yet implemented) Hides all notes that enter the lower half of the play area. Hidden+: Allows a variable-size Hidden effect. Using the defined keys, the size of the 'Hidden' area can be modified. Sudden: (Not yet implemented) Hides all notes until they reach the vertical center of the play area. Sudden+: Allows a variable-size Sudden effect. Using the defined keys, the size of the 'Sudden' area can be modified. Hi-Speed: Modifies the velocity of the falling notes. The amount added to the fall speed is actually 0.5 plus the listed amount, so choosing '1.0x' will multiply the fall speed by 1.5x (for example). Constant Speed: Sets the acceleration of the falling notes to a specific speed. All tempo changes in a song will be ignored. The speed setting of this modifier can be combined with the Hi-Speed multiplier to allow for more, even faster constant speed settings. Easy: Reduces the amount taken away from the groove meter after a bad/poor played note, and increases the amount added to the meter after a well-played note. Easy+: The groove meter starts at 500%, and maxes out at 999%, instead of the usual 100%. ------------------------------ [ 6] Be-Pachi Score Multiplier ------------------------------ When all notes in a measure are successfully played, the amount of notes is multiplied by the current multiplier. The result is then added to your score, and the amount of notes is added to the multiplier. 20 notes in a measure * Multiplier of 25 = 500 point bonus! And the 20 notes add to the multiplier... Now it's x45! If a note is missed, or played too soon or too late, the score multiplier is reset back to 1, and all other unplayed notes in that lane will explode! Each piece of exploded note shrapnel that lands will reduce the groove meter by a small amount. ---------------------------- [ 7] Be-Pachi Mode Power-Ups ---------------------------- Score+2500: Adds 2500 points to your score. Score+5000: Adds 5000 points to your score. Multi +5: Adds 5 to the score multiplier, to a maximum of 9999. Multi +10: Adds 10 to the score multiplier, to a maximum of 9999. Fast: Increases the scroll speed of the notes by a small amount, but the song's tempo is not affected. Multiple Fast power-ups can be used to increase the effect. 1500 points for using this power-up, as well as increasing the amount of points each power orb is worth. Slow: Reduces the scroll speed of the notes by a small amount, but the song's tempo will not be affected. Multiple Slow power-ups can be used to increase the effect. 1500 points for using this power-up, as well as increasing the amount of points each power orb is worth. Lo Gravity: The power orbs and exploded notes won't land as quickly. Multiple Lo Gravity power-ups can be used to increase the effect. 1500 points for using this power-up. Hi Gravity: Power orbs and exploded notes will land much faster now! Multiple Hi Gravity power-ups can be used to increase the effect. 1500 points for using this power-up. Super Lo-G: Gives the power orbs and exploded notes a rocket boost! Can be combined with Lo Gravity or Hi Gravity for various effects. 1500 points for using this power-up. Hidden: A small portion at the bottom of the screen is covered up, preventing the notes from appearing once they reach the blue 'hidden' line. Multiple Hidden power-ups can be used to increase the effect. 1500 points for using this power-up, as well as increasing the amount of points each power orb is worth. Sudden: A small portion at the top of the screen is covered up, preventing the notes from appearing until they get past the blue 'sudden' line. Multiple Sudden power-ups can be used to increase the effect. 1500 points for using this power-up, as well as increasing the amount of points each power orb is worth. 2x Power: Each note played will release twice the amount of power orbs, resulting in a faster-filling groove meter. But... if a note is missed, twice the exploded note shrapnel will appear! Multiple 2x Power power-ups can be used to increase the effect, up to eight times. 1500 points for using this power-up. Insanity: Changes the white orb graphics to cause confusion. Multiple Insanity power-ups can be used to further increase the chaos, and your score. 1500 points for using this power-up, as well as doubling the current value of the multiplier. Autoplay: Take a break! A line of sparkling blue stars will appear at the red line and slowly move up. All notes that these stars touch will be automatically played by the CPU at their proper time. This power-up costs nothing to use, but like all above power-ups, the groove meter must be 100% full. Meter +25%: Adds 25% to the groove meter, up to a maximum of 100%. This power-up may be used even if the groove meter is not full. Vanish: This instantly clears the current measure of all notes, and each note will release power-up orbs. Also, any red orbs will turn into white power-up orbs. Vanish power-ups can be used multiple times in a measure. This power-up may be used even if the groove meter is not fullm but it costs 50% of the existing groove meter to use! Vanish 2: Instantly clears the screen of all existing orbs. Each orb that is removed will increase the multiplier by 1. Vanish 2 is free to use, but it can only be used immediately after using the original Vanish power-up. Cancel: Removes most of the currently existing power-up effects. Fast, Slow, Lo-G, Hi-G, Super Lo-G, Hidden, Sudden, 2x Power, and Insanity effects will be nullified. This power-up may be used even if the groove meter is not full, but it costs 50% of the existing groove meter to use! ------------------------- [ 8] Adding New BMS Songs ------------------------- BPM will scan unlimited sub-folders deep in the 'Songs' folder, or a folder that is specified in the BPM_CFG.TXT file, for songs. As long as the song is in a folder or sub-folder there, BPM will find it. Examples ======== c:\bpm\bpm.exe - Simulator's .exe c:\bpm\song.bms No! - BMS song in the main folder. BPM will not detect it. c:\bpm\Songs\1.bms No! - BMS in the Songs folder, but BPM won't find it. Put it in its own folder (see below) c:\bpm\Songs\Let's_Party\1.bms Yes! - BMS song 1 folder deep. BPM will detect and load it. c:\bpm\Songs\Originals\Let's_Party\1.bms Yes! - BMS found more than 1 folder deep. BPM will detect and load it also. c:\bpm\Songs\YeahMania\1stMix\yeah\1p.bms Yes! - Organized your folders by game or artist? BPM will load those too! After the desired BMS songs have been extracted to a proper location, the song cache within BPM will need to be updated so the song can be accessed. BPM will automatically do this at start-up by default, however if the 'automatic cache update' option is disabled, click the 'Update Now' button in BPMConfig to update. ------------------------ [ 9] Known Bugs/Problems ------------------------ - Only single-play BMS songs will be detected and loaded. - 2-player BMS will be ignored until a later version. - WAV files with extra file info added to the end of the file are played with zero volume (To be fixed when I re-implement the WAV loading procedure). ----------------- [10] "To-Do" List ----------------- - Fix bugs! - Add in Double/2 player support - GIF/PNG image BGA support? - Add multiple 'base' song folder choices in configuration file - High Score screen, Demo sequence, tutorial - ADPCM and other WAV compression support (possibly through use of BASS.DLL) - More, more more... ----------------- [11] Source Code? ----------------- As of version 0.05, BPM's source code is freely available for download. Currently the source will compile only on PC's running Borland Delphi 7 (with DelphiX extensions installed), however I'm considering a port to FreePascal to allow for cross-platform compilation. The source code can be found here: http://x-raise.cjb.net/bpm.html ------------ [12] Thanks! ------------ People who have helped me with Be-Pachi Music development, in one way or another. THANK YOU to the following... Apple - File hosting, Interface advice, Offered to compile and maintain a Linux port of BPM! pillowfight - File hosting, Helped get BPM known! twin - Provided skin graphics! DJ-Neo - Game play and mechanics advice! BLueSS - Found bugs, good advice and more! outphasen - Offered hosting space for the sim and more! Megaman Z - Found plenty of bugs and created a modification to the BMDX skin! KKyuubi - Created the self-extract installer for several versions of BPM! SaxxonPike - For cache system help, much more, and creating KeyMania - A fantastic source of ideas and information! Kitaru - Plenty info on getting the non-keysound BMS playing correctly! shinnohara - Created incredible-looking themes, showing what can be accomplished with BPM's theme system! Surge - Also helped to create new themes! Also, thanks to: Everyone who offers their support of BPM Everyone who downloads BPM Everyone whose names I need to add to the above list ...and you for reading this readme! So... Enjoy! - Ultra Violette -------------------------------------------------- [13] Comments? Questions? Complaints? Suggestions? -------------------------------------------------- So tell me! I've got to know! WWW: http://x-raise.cjb.net/bpm.html E-Mail: uvbms@aim.com AIM: UVBMS