We're happy to announce big and fresh news to our biggest community project, OutFox Serenity. Our team has been working very hard to make the future of Serenity even better and keep showcasing our community creativity, knowledge and skills, you'll not want to miss it.

Serenity Volume 2

The next major version of Serenity has finally come! As a reminder, since Volume 1 Winter Update all Serenity-related development has been moved to it's own dedicated Serenity server. For Volume 2, 10 new songs from a variety of genres have been chosen to reflect the even bigger number of game modes now available on OutFox compared to when Serenity was created. Here's the list:

Songs

chop chop

Support via Bandcamp. "chop chop" is also featured on RaoulWB's own game, Fech The Ferret, go check it out!

Sweeteners

Support via Bandcamp.

Beatucada

Into My Dream

Bounded Quietude

Phycietiia

Neutralize (PTB10 MIX)

CRUSH THE DEVIL (IN MY BRAIN)

Technological ≠ Emotional

B-Happy

Serenity Vol 2 Status Sheet

In order to facilitate organizing things and communication it's crucial to let other people know what you're working on. With this in mind, make of use this THIS SPREADSHEET to keep track of how development for Serenity Vol 2 is going. Also, be sure to first join our Serenity Discord Server to have a quick and directly channel to talk, share ideas and feedback with other members and quickly get the latest info first hand as soon as possible.

Serenity Playlist

To accommodate for songs that are not already publicly available on streaming platforms like YouTube, SoundCloud, Bandcamp, Deezer, etc. we decided to create our Serenity Playlist where you'll find the in-game cut of every song featured since Volume 1. There's links for full/extended versions, ways to support and artists' socials inside each video description for those interested. Check them out here:

Compatibility

Shortly after the Volume 1 launch we released a legacy version for use with older versions of StepMania 5, such as 5.0.12, 5.1 and some of its forks. We felt this was an important thing to do for our first launch, but after evaluating our analytics data it's clear not many people are interested in it. Moving forward, we have no plans to release more legacy packs that target those versions. One of Serenity's goals is to showcase and take advantage of OutFox's new features and gamemodes, including fixes and changes made to already existing modes. Naturally, to fully experience and enjoy it, it's always recommended to use the latest OutFox version available.

Unfortunately, retrofitting Serenity content to create legacy versions is not an easy task. It takes a considerable amount of time and effort to troubleshoot and validate everything. First, all content made for new modes and styles has to be outright removed. Then, we have to manually check all remaining charts for note types, gimmicks, etc that only work on OutFox (which may not behave correctly or cause crashes on 5.x) and figure out what's the best course of action: edit the charts to make them playable, possibly taking away what the original creators envisioned for it, or simply remove those?

That being said, those who may still want to play Serenity on legacy SM setups anyway at their discretion are free to fork our GitHub repository and do the required edits for their own personal use.

Chart & Graphics Development Cycle

Based on feedback and internal discussion, we also decided to give the community more time than ever before. With Serenity Volume 2, we're starting 27/03 till 16/07 with chart and graphics submissions, then we'll enter testing and QA phase from 17/07 to 31/07, resulting in around 123 days of development for our community to create charts.

After much planning, we believe this will work better for everyone involved as it alleviates the pressure of having very limited time to participate while also having to manage their own personal matters. We expect to release at least 2 Serenity packs per year, both with more than 100 days of development cycle time for charts and graphics, featuring at least 6 new songs on each pack, going up to 10 songs. Of course, this may be subject to changes based on how much submissions the community brings and other factors.

If you're interested in having your work being showcased, be it music/chart/graphic then come join our Serenity Discord Server.

Music Submissions

As we aim to make bigger and bigger Serenity packs, our search for more awesome music contributions from talented people also grows. If you make music or have any friends who create music and wish to be featured on future Serenity updates, please fill our online submission form, after reading our guidelines to make sure everything is cleared and safe for use.

Music submissions are always open. Regardless if a volume is currently in development or not, we're always checking our submissions backlog and curating possible candidates for use and will contact you if we think something is fit.