Articles

OutFox Serenity & Tiny-Foxes Feb 2023 Update

Feb 21, 2023 Announcements, Community
OutFox Serenity

Heya!

We're happy to announce that OutFox Serenity Volume 2 Winter Update just released, the second winter update since volume 1, we thank every single contributor for making the project go this far and this big.

With the launch of this volume, OutFox Serenity will have a total of 560 charts available to play, go ahead and check the OutFox Serenity Page for more info!

A place to remember

With OutFox Serenity always growing, so is the number of artists for charts, graphics, and songs, OutFox Serenity was always about the contribution to the community and making your name.

Because of that, we have started working on something where people will be able to view information about all submissions you and others have made, when possible, we will also include your socials so more people can follow your work elsewhere.

We're not ready to share more details than that as the project just recently began, but rest assured that your contributions will be documented.

What now

As some of you might know, OutFox Serenity Volume 3 has already been in the works for quite some time given how it will have a different development period compared to how we have done it in the past, we're also very close to its reveal it is just a few days away.

With this announcement, a new category should be available, on OutFox Discord Server, for OutFox Serenity, with a better way to submit content, discuss rates/chart creation, and how find our spreadsheets. We have also updated our outfox serenity guidelines page with new rules and an easier way to register yourself/submit music.

Keep your attention on any of our socials so you don't lose the Volume 3 announcement!

Tiny-Foxes

Ready to see what updates our members have worked on? Let's see them!

New Projects

Peters-Noteskins (Tiny-Foxes Fork)

This is a fork of MegaSphere/Pete-Lawrence's StepMania noteskins repository. The focus of this fork is to focus on adding Project OutFox-optimized versions of its StepMania 5.x noteskins, namely by:
- Adjusting their code to adhere to its developers' best practices for Lua code style (i.e. removing use of cmd blocks, replacing semicolons with commas, etc.)
- Adjusting their code to support Project OutFox's Lua timing system (namely, recognizing judgements beyond W1, as well as using a different method to color the note explosion sprite in order to support judgement colors defined by themes)
- Adding sprites for OutFox-specific notes such as lift holds and mine holds.
OpenSMOpp

OpenSMO but updated...TO GO EVEN FURTHER BEYOND! ~ Jous

OutFox-Translation-Helper

Translation Helper for Project OutFox

This program compares a source and target language file, to check for missing keys.

ComboNumbers-by-MattMayuga

This repo hosts the data files for combo number graphics made by MattMayuga, with some of them here to accompany the respective judgefonts.

Project Updates

Virtua-Steps
- Updated Title Menu
- Updated Mode Select
RyutoSetsujin-Customizations
- Added "Virtua" Judgement
- Added "Full" Judgment
TF_Wheels
smtheme-soundwaves-community
- Updated to Match OutFox 4.18.1 LTS
Aozora-Alpha-Noteskins
- Winter Update Part 1
- Winter Update Part 2
kitsu-template
superuser-outfox
- Got a new release, Release v1.5.0!
NEW Theme colors! You can now choose between several (about 25 at the moment?) different color schemes! Highly requested by the community.

NEW Background brightness! Allows you to dim the image in the background.

NEW Theme provided judgments and toasties! I included a few to make the theme more theme-like.

NEW Judgment animation toggles! You can turn on or off animations on judgments if you find them distracting.

Fixed anomalies in Player Options when using only Player 2

Fixed course mode breaking in song wheel (still unstable in gameplay, work in progress)

Added higher-quality grade indicators in the evaluation screen

Various stability and bug fixes

JudgeFonts-by-MattMayuga
- Added the Extremal judgefont
- Add Pump version of Mishiro Stage
That's it for now, see you next time!
Project OutFox 0.4.18.1 released!

Oct 31, 2022 Releases
Happy Halloween! We've got a new release for you!

Project OutFox 0.4.18.x marks the beginning of the "long-term stable" (LTS) phase for the 0.4.x branch, meaning that we now consider this branch of Project OutFox to be stable, and no longer require the "Alpha" branding. All future feature development will target the alpha 0.5.x branch (also branded as "Alpha V"), but we will continue to support the 0.4.x branch with bug fixes and performance improvements until December 2023.

We will continue our monthly release schedule for 0.4.x until December 2022, after which it will move to a quarterly release schedule. This means there will be four more updates in 2023, with the last scheduled to be 0.4.24 in December 2023.

Alongside the switch to LTS status, there's also a few major new features in 0.4.18:

New mode: bongo!

bongo is Project OutFox's 18th game type, based on a console game first released in 2003. It has gameplay similar to taiko mode, except using a pair of bongos instead of a taiko drum, also incorporating a microphone input for clap notes.

This mode supports the same chart formats we use for taiko, so existing TJA and OSU charts can automatically be parsed and converted to bongo charts as well. Just keep in mind that existing charts may not have been authored with this gameplay style in mind, and some holds and effects do break sync, but we will be fixing these issues in time as part of our ongoing work on `taiko. It will also receive a dedicated theme in a later release.

We have designed this mode in collaboration with OpenTaiko, so that charts made using the new TJA letter types in the charting format will be cross-compatible moving forward.

32-bit ARM legacy build

We have added a 32-bit ARM legacy Linux build, which is designed for 32-bit boards manufactured around the 2010s (2010-2016), often with a Tegra chip, with the ARM Cortex-based processors of the time. As with our other legacy builds, it is compiled using an older glibc from the Ubuntu 14.04 era. The photo above is from community member Chriswak, showing the game running on a Jetson TK1, a Nvidia Tegra development board.

The extreme minimum requirement is a Linux distro with a glibc version of 2.19-2.21. To confirm your CXXABI and GLIBCXX versions, run the following commands;
```
strings /usr/lib/arm-linux-gnueabihf/libstdc++.so.6 | grep GLIBCXX
strings /usr/lib/arm-linux-gnueabihf/libstdc++.so.6 | grep CXXABI
```
If your list does not show GLIBCXX_3.4.22 and CXXABI_1.3.11, you will need to update your system to GCC 7.0 (which is still supported even on these old distros) with the following commands (add sudo or run under a root shell);
```
apt-get update -y 
apt-get install software-properties-common -y 
add-apt-repository ppa:ubuntu-toolchain-r/test -y 
apt-get update -y 
apt-get install gcc-7 g++-7 -y 
update-alternatives --install /usr/bin/gcc gcc /usr/bin/gcc-7 60 --slave /usr/bin/g++ g++ /usr/bin/g++-7 
update-alternatives --config gcc
```
New PandaLog system

This month we also added a new logging system which will greatly help with any debugging needs that you have. There are now separate main, theme, crashlogs now, and these have varying levels of detail, depending on need. If you happen to have a crash or need to debug a theme or Lua script, this is now much easier to do.

You can adjust the detail of the logs by setting the LogLevel preference in Save/Preferences.ini to a number between 1 and 5, with 0 giving full detail, and 5 giving the least detail.

As we no longer follow the SM logging system, we have added a dummy info.txt to maintain compatibility with GrooveStats Launcher.

New FFMPEG system

This release also sees some changes to the FFMPEG builds used in OutFox. We had discovered there is a memory leak bug in the upstream code; while it doesn't really affect many of the video players out there generally, the code we use to acquire and display video data is based on the functions that are bugged in newer versions, so folks using banners or video backgrounds would end up with crashing and freezes due to this.

We have reverted back to a much older 'bug free' build of 4.x for the time being until it is fixed upstream. If you get any quirks or errors on videos, do let us know; we tried a lot of different formats and videos commonly used, but we didn't cover everything!

Linux joystick preference

This build adds a support option for those folks on some builds which have had evdev issues with the newer kernels (5.1 and newer) making pads not show up.

By default OutFox uses the event system, as this is recommended by distros like Ubuntu and Debian but with recent updates these can miss seeing pads and controllers.

The new preference UseLinuxJS (Use Linux JoyStick) sets /js* by default, so folks can access the controllers correctly. If you want the older behaviour, take a moment to set this to 0 in your preference.ini file in the /save folder. We will keep an eye on this for now, and if you get access denied errors, ensure your user is in the input group using a terminal:
```
sudo usermod -a -G input USERNAME
```
where USERNAME is your current user (type whoami) to see what this is in a terminal. Let us know if you have any issues, and pop into the Discord server if you need any help!

pump hold fixes

This month we have been working with the players and developers of the Infinitesimal theme for pump with fixing the hold situation in the simulation of this mode. With a lot of revisions and testing, we can happily report that the holds are operating properly now, and we are grateful to those that gave their time helping us perfect it!

Always on Top mode

We have added a new AlwaysOnTop preference, as some streamers have reported that their capture methods have issues with the game unless it is always on top. This preference.

Thanks to Zui and SHRMP0 on the Project OutFox Discord for making the suggestion known to us, and for our streamer friends for enjoying the game on different platforms.

New AllowRotation Preference

This preference was backported from alpha 0.5 as some of our users have requested support for rotational options. This preference is off by default, and allows rotation for portrait screens where the resolution/display is rotated, mainly for vertical orientations

StepLastSeconds changes

For songs which have multiple chart files in the folder, like pump, be-mu, po-mu, kbx via .osu, etc, there is a slight bug in the way the game sends the 'length' data to the theme/engine that counts stages at the moment. This is a long upstream bug and we are working on a fix in Alpha V, and will backport it when it is ready.

The issue is, if some charts are different lengths, they will show correctly in screen game-play, but only display the LONGEST length in the music wheel, or 'ScreenSelectMusic' as it's known internally. Fixing this bug will also benefit other modes so it is something we want to work on.

Updated Windows installer

Last but not least, we've also given the Windows installer an update. We did some internal changes to how we generate and localize it, and gave it a fresh coat of paint. A Brazilian Portuguese localization has also been added.

Downloads

This is just a recap of the major, user-facing features and technical changes in this release. You can read the full changelog on the 0.4.18 page on outfox.wiki.

As always, be sure to report any bugs you encounter on either our issue tracker or Discord. Be sure to provide us with as much information as you can whenever you report an issue. We won't be able to fix bugs that aren't reported to us.

Download 0.4.18.1
OutFox Serenity Volume 2 Winter Update

Oct 15, 2022
Get ready, the time for winter update has come with gifts for serenity, time to check the next songs out!

Songs

Halcyon

Summer Overload

Relaxation Piece of Conclusion

Serenity Volume 2 Winter Update Status Spreadsheet

As usual, you can make others aware of what you're working on by using our spreadsheets, leave a comment and our team will write it down when possible:
- Volume 2 Winter Update Spreadsheet
- Volume 2 Spreadsheet
Schedule

Mission Date (DD/MM)
Open Submissions 18/10/2022
Testing Weeks 18/01/2023
Testing Weeks End 31/01/2023

Contributing

Here are the ways you can contribute to this volume:

Join our Discord Server

We have a Serenity-focused discord server where you can interact with the serenity team and other members of the community who are also contributing.
1. Click here to join. (or copy the invite code: mNcFU67mK7)
2. After reading the rules channel, grab simfile templates inside the #simfile-templates channel, those will help with your development as they already have any required metadata such as bpm changes/author info/keysounds..etc. (It is important to note that you're not allowed to change the main chart header if you want to apply bpm changes/attack it should only take place in your chart)
3. Submit your chart using the #chart-submission channel.
If you want to contribute with graphics, use the #graphic-submissions channel, and make sure to read our graphics guidelines here.

It's important to note that OutFox Serenity Volume 2 will be the last time we use the serenity exclusive discord server to accept submissions/tell where people should go, after submissions are closed we will switch back to the main Project OutFox Server.

Open a Pull Request to our OutFox Serenity Repository

If you know how to use Github, you can open a pull request to our repository, click here to open.

Make sure you're targeting the right branch when making a pull request.

Take your time and have fun making part of OutFox Serenity!
October 2022 updates: PAX, TwitchCon, Serenity, and more

Oct 07, 2022 Dev Notes

We would like to present a little roundup of some of the things going on in the world of Project OutFox!

PAX West 2022 and TwitchCon

After its previous appearance at PAX East earlier this year, the Intel Gaming booth and its Project OutFox setup returned for PAX West over the Labor Day long weekend! We would like to once again thank Intel and everyone else involved for choosing to use Project OutFox, and everyone who stopped by to give it a spin.

Intel Gaming will also be at TwitchCon in San Diego this weekend (7-9 October 2022), so be sure to drop by and check it out! Use the hashtag #ProjectOutFox to share your photos/videos on social media; we would love to see them!

Project OutFox 0.4 LTS

Our first long-term stable (LTS) build of Project OutFox will be the upcoming 0.4.18; there were a few final things that were unfinished in 0.4.17, so we decided to pull it when we spotted that there were issues. We have been working hard on fixing those bugs so the LTS build is actually stable, and will announce a public release date when it's ready.

In the meantime, if you're interested in testing release candidates and pre-release builds for Project OutFox, you can join the testing program via the #pick-a-role channel on our Discord server.

Serenity Volume II

Our Serenity Volume II song pack was released last month, and we would like to thank everyone who contributed, and everyone who has checked it out!

We have begun development on the "Winter update" for Volume II, just as we did with Volume I. We will have more details about its new songs very soon, so keep an eye out on Twitter and YouTube.

Project OutFox Alpha 0.5

Last but certainly not least, we have been hard at work on Project OutFox Alpha 0.5; right now we have been working on our new online system, the new default themes, and on making builds of the game that we can distribute via Steam.

We have a growing number of users on our Discord who have been testing Project OutFox on the Steam Deck. We want to make sure that everyone is getting the best experience with Project OutFox, no matter where and how you play.
Project OutFox 0.4.16 released!

Aug 01, 2022 Releases
We have released our next alpha build of Project OutFox, version 0.4.16! As we have begun testing of alpha builds based on the upcoming 0.5.x branch, we are shifting the 0.4.x branch to long-term support status. This means that future changes will be limited to bug and performance fixes, and all new feature development will target the 0.5.x branch.

Highlights

Performance
- We have pulled in updates to the Vorbis and SDL libraries, which provide us with a number of bug fixes and performance improvements.
- This is our first public release to include a 64-bit Windows build, which will be available alongside our existing 32-bit builds. 64-bit builds have improved performance, and improved stability on installations with larger song libraries.
- We have had a few reports about 'drift' on the Steam Deck, and we have done some testing as part of our development program for Alpha V and can confirm the game runs flawlessly in whichever mode you choose. We've had several users as well as our own deck in testing, and as we are well under way for our Steam launch this would be something that we and our testers would have noticed.
be-mu

In be-mu, we have stabilised the way keysounds are loaded, and have fixed hidden 'lanes' that the mode supported that were not played. The parsing system has also seen another update, moving away from the legacy SM5 method and now properly defining and enabling all the lanes.

StepMania could only mainly play a number of sounds related to the number of columns (lanes), and as the BMS reader was created for the historic "DDR in BMS" style charts, we had a lot of work to do to ensure proper expansion. These fixes enable the full keysound range, and properly displays and parses charts as it should.

In addition, we have added support for footpedal lanes on 5-key charts, which were popular in older simulators like nanasi. It heavily utilises channel 17, which some simulators double up as 'free scratch', but for ez2 fans, we wanted to keep it as close to what nanasi and others did back in the day.

po-mu

po-mu mode now also supports Player 1 11-19 channel modes, featured in nanasi and some other simulators from the early 2010s. This is sometimes known as "extended pomu". It can also play back the correct keysounds, including the player hidden, and any effect channels that can be used.

Charts which did not use all the lanes for their mode, (7k o2j inspired lanes without scratch are an example) would often also not show up correctly, or be shifted by an entire column, or just parsed incorrectly. This has been fixed in this release, so 5K / 7K / 10K / 14K (no scratch) charts now read correctly. Thanks to Daniel and our friends at the BMS international community for reporting this to us.

po-mu in BME files have also been given a proper update, and we have fixed the lane errors that were reported to us, thanks to those of you that took the time to point out our extended channels were wrong!

We are happy now that the po-mu parser and the extender parser support matches what we aimed for in this mode, so we will finalise the notesloader with #RANK and #TOTAL support in Alpha V, which has the new lifebar and gauge code. Keep an eye out for the update!

pump

Thanks to all of our pump mode players that have been so patient while we work on getting the mode fixed up and right for you, I can appreciate you have been waiting for a long time for some of these issues to be resolved. We have fixed a few of the remaining timing issues and we hope these solve the weird gimmick issues we had before.

Thanks to shrmp0 and SheepyChris for helping us with the layout adjustments and column placement changes that are present in the engine this build; we should not expect themers to fix issues the engine really should have in built. A healthy engine makes a lightweight and fast theme.

We will continue working on this mode into the end of the year, so we hope you'll enjoy the fixes as they come!

Downloads

This is just a recap of the major, user-facing features and technical changes. You can read the full changelog on the Alpha 4.16.0 page on outfox.wiki.

As always, be sure to report any bugs you encounter on either our issue tracker or Discord. Be sure to provide us with as much information as you can whenever you report an issue. We won't be able to fix bugs that aren't reported to us.

Download 0.4.16.0