StepMania: system zero
zero point five four nine FINAL (v0.549)
_______________________________
______________________________/\______      
a skin for StepMania 3.9 final\ \____/\
created by AJ 187              \/___/\/
http://kki.ajworld.net/syszero/     \/
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 ____________                       
/readme file/\
\___________\/

Welcome to system zero - Season Evolution FINAL.

That's right. I'm done with this theme.

I've just gotten sick of working on it, and with that, I've decided
that the last update I do will be released in two versions:

* The normal version, which is true to the original
and
* The Stepmania-freecontent edition, which is supposedly the "default"
theme for SM 3.9 final.

For those of you who poked around in the metrics file last time, SECRET
MENU is now available with three available options.

In all the readmes so far, something like this appeared:

"<emphasis>I feel like theming is becoming an increasingly
competitive environment for no good reason at all.</emphasis>"
k//eternal on Bemanistyle, (Emphasis mine, quote cropped)

Reflecting on this CORRECTLY for once, a lot of people (including me)
seems to be getting into theming to create the next "OMG POPULAR EVERYONE
USES MY THEME".

What you really should be doing is theming for a different reason.
IMO, there probably aren't many people who could "top" themes such as
Techno Fiend 3, Trance Machina 5, Cyberia Style 2, or any of k//eternal's
themes. If this is what you're in it for, you're probably in it for the wrong
reasons.

If you're in it for yourself (i.e. KatzeANYTHING, BLUE PROJEKT), that's good.
I do this as well. The fact that other people like the theme is a happy coincidence.

Most importantly though,
THEMING IS ABOUT FUN.
If you're making a theme and lose interest, you're not having fun.
This is probably why I put all the crazy humor in there. It keeps it fun for me.
It may not be for you, but that's allright. I wasn't making this theme for you. :)

Also, if you lose interest, you might want to either start working on another theme
or look at other themes and see how they do things. If you want to grab something though,
ask permission first.

 ________________
/background info/\
\_______________\/

I've been working on this theme for the past year or so
(SM alpha 19/20, see changelog.txt), taking breaks every now
and then to work on my other (now dead) project, the DDR
Ultramix theme. The work that I've done there has been
assimilated into KatzeUltramix, so at least my work didn't go
to waste. :)

That said, system zero has been my personal theme for the
past year or so. Over that time, I've experimented, implemented,
and "innovated" with some things that weren't previously seen
in public themes. (Namely PaneDisplay. If you don't believe me,
check the ITG theme thread in the ITGFreak Simulation forums,
look for my post, and then look for my name in the credits.
I take no credit for figuring out what NumLevels does, that's
all Wellian's doing. I can't thank him enough for finding that
out.)

 ______
/specs/\
\_____\/

The following settings are recommended:

* Event Mode
 \ Not everything is fixed yet, sup Extra Stage transitions, etc.
* All Music instead of selecting a group.
 \ I mean, why limit yourself? This isn't a 4th mix theme.

 _____________
/inspirations/\
\____________\/

This theme's two main inspirations are as follows:

* Pump it Up
 \ I don't know why, but Pump feels a lot cleaner than DDR.
  Attributed "Inspirations":
   \ The song's BG on ScreenStage.
   \ Failure sound "HEY! WHY DON'T YOU JUST GET UP AND DANCE MAN" is
     lifted directly from Exceed.
     * This has been updated in 0.55 :D
   \ Probably some other stuff.

* In The Groove, ITG2
 \ Hey guys ITG is Stepmania 4.0/CVS with a fancy skin lol (I kid, I kid.)
  Attributed "Inspirations":
   \ PANEDISPLAY. First non-Roxor theme to have it implemented, sup
   \ Challenge (difficulty) -> Expert.
   \ The awards.
   \ Difficulty level (number) on the Gameplay screen.

Also on the list:

* DDR Ultramix
 \ XBOX RULZ!
  Attributed "Inspirations":
   \ The logo on ScreenDemonstration.
   \ Having song name/subtitle/artist on ScreenStage.

 _____________
/testimonials/\
\____________\/

"this is the best theme in the world right now to me" - xwidghet

"nice job on the theme. it's in my top 10 favorites!" - Keoi_Naga

"this has so far been my favorite theme" - boss matsumoto

"AJ you tart, way to make a theme for your own personal tastes and have it be good" - Char

"This theme is love." - Spiritsnare

"I'd like to say that this is an unbelievable theme. I've been using it, and every
time I play I notice cool new things I didn't even know SM could do." - Madmushroom989

 ________
/credits/\
\_______\/

I'd like to thank the following:

* die Katze88
 \ He's been my main beta tester and has given me a good amount
   of input on the theme. I've honored this by changing Nonstop
   to dieKatze88 mode, namely because the original picture of
   Devil Zukin was his old avatar. I've now placed said avatar
   on top of the picture. This mode is also slightly customized
   by him, and it will be customized even MORE in later versions
   of system zero.
 \ He's also let me use quite a bit of material from his themes
   in this. Like I mentioned, I used his old avatar, but I also
   used the _shared2 font from KatzeExtreme, along with other stuff
   that I happen to forget.
 \ Also, he's the one who pushed me to release the theme in the
   first place.

* DumpsterKeeper (of Desktop Arcade; http://www.desktoparcade.com/)
 \ Steve's been my other beta tester. Although he hasn't tested
   the theme much, he's been testing... other parts... of system
   zero. What that means, you'll have to find out later.
 \ He's letting me use a picture of a ghost inside of a gutted
   DDR 5th Mix machine that he made. It appears as the Oni Mode
   picture on ScreenSelectDifficulty, right next to dieKatze88 Mode.

* Shuey, nsr_neko, among others.
 \ They've given me support to release the theme.

* dude
 \ Made the 3D System Zero logo.

* The StepMania theming community as a whole.
 \ For inspiring me, while sadly at the same time making me afraid
   to release the theme because everything else looks so amazing.
 \ Also, for providing references and start points for themers.
   I remember way back when things were on DDRManiaX and more people
   posted stuff (Hideki, xatnys, djelyte back when he was doing
   Ultramix, DarkTemplar, Spig).

   Some of these people are back, and some aren't.
   I know djelyte is back as DxTcmix, and Hideki seems to still be
   working on themes.
   I've seen xat around DJMAX and #keysounds.
   Katze tells me DarkTemplar got bored of theming. :(
   Everyone else, dunno.

* The DDR community and DDR simulation community.
 \ Even though some of you guys are drama queens and others need to
   wave around their MASSIVE AAAA COCK LOL LOOK AT ME I CAN AAAA
   [whatever] ON 1.8XMUSIC, we probably wouldn't be anywhere without
   you.

   p.s. otaku speedvibe sucks stop fucking playing it

* The Dance With Intensity Team
 \ Yeah, I said it.
   I'm still really a DWI person at heart.
   It pains me to learn that DWI3 production is being slowed down/
   temporarily halted.
   Maybe I'll release a version of system zero for DWI later on.
 \ All in all, these are the people who really got the ball rolling
   when it came to English-language DDR simulation. As much as Icculus
   or whoever's coding pydance these days wants to yell at them for
   the DWI file format, he should be yelling at the Japanese people who
   made the original MSD format.
   Thank god for DWI, or else we would have been stuck with BMS, and
   we all know how much of a mindfuck THAT is.

* The StepMania Team
 \ Them too.
   I mean, this is what the theme is for, right?
   I'll congratulate them on finally passing DWI as "simulator of choice"
   in the community. I mainly attribute this to the reasons I use SM in
   the first place: theming and multiple game types.

   p.s. I'm going to combine these two, just you wait. (a few years after s2)

* Aaron In Japan
 \ I would like to thank you a total lot for being THE premiere place to
   go to talk about Bemani games without idiots coming in and screwing
   things up. And even when they do, the mods at the board turn crap into
   comedy platinum (see ahi se ven, BBH hijacks).

   Plus, you have the God of All Numbers, Taren. He makes a damn good stepfile
   every now and then, and when foormix comes out, if it comes out, I suggest
   you GET IT. Haha, GET IT?

* The Wire Network, #keymania, #keysounds
 \ Totally awesome people here, they helped me with a bit of the theme.
   Also, when I'm not working on the theme, I hang out there.

* Some person
 \ Um... Whoever made the sexy Emi/Yuni fanart that I use on Standard,
   I don't know who you are so I can't ask if I can use the pic.
   Please let me know who you are and if you're okay with me using this
   picture in my theme.

* AceJay
 \ For a VERY helpful set of comments on DDRFreak. This is how you should approach
   themers when asking about the theme + giving suggestions.

   Also, made me reveal details about one of the other themes I'm doing:
   PUMP IT UP.

* ESTi
 \ Best DJMAX artist. Ever.

* All the artists whose music I've used (alphabetical order):
 \ 3-burst
 \ Alice
 \ Guv
 \ KAiTOP
 \ Neal Hefti
 \ P.M. Dawn
 \ polygon prompt
 \ spin_deco (SPDC)
 \ spiritual vibes

* sxc.hu
 \ I've taken a bit of pictures from here for the headers.

Some of the borrowed things might be changed.
The Difficulty Graphics and Humor were well recieved at
Game Club, so they stay.

 ___________
/system two/\
\__________\/
lol rofl wtf soon maybe in like another year or two?
If this theme is any indication, it might be that long.
Maybe it'll be less. Most likely more though, since it's being made from scratch.

 ______________
/one last note/\
\_____________\/

With my themes, I try to innovate using something that no publically released theme
has ever used before. System Zero had two of these elements, the PaneDisplay and
the seasonal conditionals.

What should you expect in this regard from system two? The sky's the limit.

- AJ 187
11/03/2005