KKI presents
beat man - THE THEME
created in 2006 for stepmania 4.0 cvs
meant for the beatmania gametype.

contents:
* designer introduction: artful dodger
* designer introduction: Mr.H
* support introduction: AJ 187
* theme introduction
* credits, thanks, etc.

====================

designer introduccion: artful dodger

beat man - THE THEME is a theme for
stepmania 4.0 CVS using the beatmania
gametype.

This is not a theme for the dance gametype.
if you want one of those, go ask k//eternal,
he's involved with three of them. This is for
real beatmania simulation.

that having been said, I personally think that
stepmania sucks for beatmania simulation, and
it will continue to suck as long as konami keeps
making IIDX for a PC-based architecture.

It's thanks to them that we had a base to work with
for this theme, by the way.

bm-TT is for the people who'd rather not use SSRMAX or Keymania.

That's all I have to say. - AD 2006

p.s. bring neon fm back

====================

designer introduccion: Mr.H

Hello there stepmania users! I am a relatively new
member of the theming world, but I have been studying
behind the scenes to see how things work.

For a long time I have wished to make beatmania theme,
but certain elements were not implemented in the correct
fashion for to make a theme.

With stepmania 4 this has all changed, some effects, such
as having a changing BPM during Gameplay Screen, are now
possible and therefore a beatmania theme can be made.

While I do not share the sentiments of ArtfulDodger on
SM's ability to simulate beatmania, I will implore people
to explore multiple options such as the nazobmplay, Keymania,
SSRMAX, and the Whistle in order to see which is best for you.

Of course if you own an IIDX arcade machine you have the best
option already. It is up to you to decide if not being able to
add custom songs is a + or -. Personally it is a - for me, as
the japanese bms community has provided me with many great songs.

Have a many fun playing with beat man THE THEME! - Mr.H

====================

support introduccion: AJ 187

So yeah, I think you guys may know me. I did DDR Ultramix, System
Zero, and the interim StepMania 4 theme, which, well, is System Zero again.

I will say that there is quite a demand for a good beatmania/IIDX style
theme for StepMania. This can be seen when you look at k//eternal's
IIDX-styled themes for DDR. I do have an opinion about these themes, but
in the interest of being neutral, I will keep my mouth shut about it.
Subwire has also asked me to do some beatmania elements for the default theme.
I've told him it's not a priority of mine. That doesn't mean I'm not gonna help
anyone who approached me about making an IIDX theme.

Some people may wonder who the hell these two people are. The Artful Dodger
was the one (along with Ready2Rokk) who made the third-party Neon FM noteskin
for StepMania. Mr.H is another friend of mine who I've made recently. He's been
showing me what he's learned with the StepMania engine, and he expressed his
interest in a IIDX theme for SM.
Artful Dodger's been looking for a project ever since the general demise of
Neon FM, and since he doesn't want to bother with DanceTraX (I'll leave it
up to him to explain why), this was the next thing.

For the record, I may or may not be making a Pop'n Music skin in the future.

====================

theme introduccion

So yes, this is the beatmania theme.
Right now it's very primitive, banking off of the default stepmania "beat" folder.

Sadly, in previous versions, there was a bit more to work with.
This theme will probably not be complete for a long time, so bear with us all as
we attempt to bring you a great bm/IIDX experience for StepMania.

====================

credits, thanks, etc.

Credits
-------

Coding: Mr.H, The Artful Dodger
Graphics: The Artful Dodger
Support: AJ 187

Thanks
------

SaxxonPike: for Keymania
Panda: reference works
#keysounds: BMS files of official games

Etc.
----

KKI Homepage : http://kki.ajworld.net/
If it's by members of KKI, you'll find it here.

beat man - THE THEME page : http://kki.ajworld.net/beatman/
The official site of beat man - THE THEME.

DDRManiaX Forums : http://www.ddrmaniax.net/forums/
It's the de facto place to go for SM theming discussion.

[readme by Artful Dodger and Mr.H; eof]