This document describes several frequently asked questions about
M.U.G.E.N. It applies to version 2001.04.14 of the
M.U.G.E.N environment. Please be sure to thoroughly read
readme.txt as well as this FAQ.
Copyright © 2001 Elecbyte. games@elecbyte.com http://www.elecbyte.com
Quick section menu:
.cfg, .def, etc. file, Windows tells me something about the Accessibility Wizard. Or it asks for an application. Or it asks for.... What do I do?
.sff. What's wrong?
data\mugen.cfg. Why not?
.act file?
.sff or .snd file?
.air, .cns, .cmd or .def file?
.air, .cns, .cmd, or .def file under Windows?
.cmd?
We cannot send any characters. Other than KFM, who is available from our web page, you must look elsewhere.
Unzip your character into a new directory under chars/. Note the name of
of the character's .def file.
Now open data/select.def. In the [Characters] group at the
top, add a line that looks like: mydir/player.def,
stages/stage.def. mydir should be the directory you placed
the character files in, and player.def should be the player's .def
file. stage.def should be the name of the player's stage. If you do
not specify a stage, it will be randomly chosen in the game. The comments
in select.def have additional information.
If your player's .def file name and directory name are the same (for
instance, the directory is kiwi/ and the .def file is
kiwi.def), then you can just enter kiwi instead of
kiwi/kiwi.def.
Like many of the other files, select.def is a text file. If you are
using Windows to open the file, choose a text editor such as Notepad
when prompted.
Open up data/system.def using a text editor, and look at the
[Select Info] group. Increase the value of rows and
columns to create more slots for additional characters.
You may need to adjust the pos parameter to place the newly-sized
boxes correctly on the screen. A value of 0,0 represents the upper-left
corner, and 319,239 is the lower-right.
For an example of how this works, download the motif "Big" from the developer's section on our web page.
Those "numbers and letters" are the debug information for a character.
Press Ctrl-D until it goes away or for a more permanent fix, open
data/mugen.cfg and in the [Debug] group, change
Debug = 1 to Debug = 0.
This can be done from the input configuration screen available under Options. Simply choose which player you want to use the joystick, then choose the appropriate joystick type for that player. The joystick should then be initialized and you can configure the buttons for it.
If your joystick isn't initialized properly, save your options and then
restart MUGEN. If that still doesn't work, then open up the
data/mugen.cfg and find the [Input] group. Change the setting
for P1.Joystick.type or P2.Joystick.type to the appropriate
number as indicated in the comments.
MUGEN does not support multiple gamepads. However, there are programs available on the web that will map gamepad buttons to keys on the keyboard. If you map the second gamepad to player 2's keys, then you can effectively use a pad for each player.
Please do not contact us about any key-mapping programs.
You need to build a converter to connect your joystick to the computer. MUGEN supports the DirectPad Pro converter; schematics are available at http://www.ziplabel.com. You do not need to download the DirectPad Pro drivers, although they are recommended for testing your converter. The converter connects to the parallel port, so you will need to disconnect your printer cable if you wish to use the pad.
The DirectPad Pro schematics specify a +5V power supply for the main controller electronics, and a +9V power supply for the shock motors. The standard voltages supplied by the Playstation for these purposes are, respectively, +3.5V and +7.6V. It is up to you to decide whether you wish to run at the higher voltages, or build an external power supply to provide the +3.5V and +7.6V inputs. An external power supply, though more inconvenient, may be able to supply more power, to controllers that require it, than the parallel port can. We have received no reports of damage to Playstation controllers from running at +5V/+9V, but that does not mean the possibility does not exist.
In any case, neither we nor the DirectPad Pro author can answer questions about the construction of a PSX converter. Please find a friend knowledgeable in electronics to help you if you have difficulties.
When your converter is completed and functioning, set the joystick type
to Auto in the Options screen. You can then configure your joystick buttons.
If your joystick is not autodetected properly, edit data/mugen.cfg
and set P1.Joystick.type or P2.Joystick.type, as appropriate,
to 22. You can then configure your joystick from the Options screen as normal.
Note that you can bind the Start button to any physical button on the PSX joystick, if you choose. The X button functions as a cancel button in most menus. This is not configurable.
MUGEN does not support analog input. The L3 and R3 switches are supported.
The only force feedback device currently supported is the Playstation
Dual Shock controller. Force feedback defaults to disabled. To enable
it, set ForceFeedback = 1 in the [Input] section.
You need a .def and an .sff in the stages/
directory. stages/stage0.def has some comments on how to make a
background.
Edit the .def file for the stage, and go to [Music]. For
bgmusic, put in the name of the .midi, .mod (also
.s3m) or .mp3 file. For example, if you have
music.mp3 in the sound/ directory, the line should read:
bgmusic = sound/music.mp3
Or if the file is on another drive, the line should read:
bgmusic = d:/music/mp3/music.mp3
Open data/system.def with a text editor, and look under
[Music]. Add the filename of the .mp3, .midi or
.mod file to the appropriate lines.
You'll need to build your own fight.snd and common.snd and
place it in a subdirectory under data/. You will need to copy
data/system.def into that subdirectory, and edit it if
necessary. To run with your new system.def, you will need to use
the -r switch at the command line. For example, if you put the
new files in data/mymotif, then type:
mugen -r mymotif
to use your new motif. See readme.txt for more on custom
motifs.
You'll need to create your own fightfx.sff and fightfx.air
in a subdirectory under data/. See the previous question about
how to use your custom motifs.
All the files we use are under the data/ directory. If you would
like to use your own, you will need to make a copy those files in a
subdirectory under data/, and edit the necessary files. For
example, you will need to edit system.def to customize the title
screen, and supply the the work files we used to make the default motif
is available on our web page.
See readme.txt for more on custom motifs.
The AI implementation is incomplete. For now, engine bug fixes and improvements are the priority.
MUGEN documentation may be found in the docs/ folder or in
readme.txt. Some areas which are not fully documented are
addressed in the comments included in configuration and sample files.
This is under development.
No, it doesn't.
In the sense of your rights of usage and redistribution, MUGEN is not free. The license agreement in readme.txt indicates the restrictions that you agree to observe by using the software.
In the monetary sense, the stock MUGEN distribution on our website is made available at no cost to the general public. Authorized redistributors of MUGEN may charge for their distributions if they so choose. Unauthorized distribution is a criminal act and falls outside the realm of this discussion.
Your version of MUGEN is expired. Please download the latest version of MUGEN from http://mugen.elecbyte.com.
You can't sell MUGEN betas or redistribute them without our permission. What you do with the characters and files you make is your decision, but any distribution of them (whether for profit or not) cannot include the MUGEN environment itself without our approval. See the license agreement in readme.txt.
No, not yet. We would like to get more engine development done before considering ports to other OSes. A Macintosh version is extremely unlikely.
No.
The source for MUGEN is not available for public download. The file formats
for .sff, .snd and .fnt are
published on our website.
.cfg, .def, etc. file, Windows tells me something about the Accessibility Wizard. Or it asks for an application. Or it asks for.... What do I do?MUGEN's configuration files are all normal text files. They can be
opened using any text editor. If the .cfg, .def or other
extensions are not associated with a text editor on your system, such as
Notepad, then you will not be able to open them by double-clicking. You
must open them from within the text editor itself. Because each system
is different, we cannot offer any more advice on the subject. Please
consult a reference on the operation of Windows or DOS if you are having
difficulties.
Most likely your video card is not fully VESA compliant. Try obtaining a VESA driver (See Changing Video Modes, for more information). Please do not contact us for help regarding VESA drivers.
You need VESA drivers to run MUGEN. It's recommended you run in VESA2, since that is usually faster for 16-bit colour. Check readme.txt for more info on tweaking your graphics settings. The default setting for MUGEN is 320x240 in 16-bit color, using VESA2 in linear mode. Older video cards may need to use banked mode, so be sure to check. Some VESA drivers such as Scitech Display Doctor may need linear mode manually enabled. Please do not contact us for help regarding VESA drivers.
Edit data/mugen.cfg, and look under [Video]. Set
stretch to 1. This will run slower though, so it's recommended
you find a VESA driver that gives you 320x240x16bit.
MUGEN supports SB16 and compatibles. If you have a sound card that has
Sound Blaster emulation, but does not work with MUGEN, you can try
setting the IRQ to 7 or lower. High IRQs may cause problems. Also, you
might want make sure your BLASTER settings are correct. To see
that, type set at the command prompt. You might see a line
BLASTER=A220 I5 D1 H7 P330 T6
This is address 220, IRQ 5, DMA 1, High DMA7. You can ignore the other two settings. If this is incorrect, try changing it by typing
SET BLASTER=A??? I? D? H?
where the ?'s are replaced with the correct values.
That character is made for an earlier version of MUGEN and is outdated. Old characters will NEVER be supported. Refer to incompt2.txt for conversion instructions.
.sff. What's wrong?Most likely, you do not have enough memory to load the character. Most characters need at least 16 MB to run, but there are cases where even 32 MB is not enough, especially if the character has an unoptimized sound or sprite file.
Consult readme.txt for ways to reduce MUGEN's memory consumption.
MUGEN is in fact using virtual memory. However, you can't always solve lack of RAM problems by swapping data back and forth from the hard drive. For instance, swapping character graphics and sounds from the drive causes a considerable amount of "thrashing", making MUGEN run too slow for any level of acceptable gameplay. Further, swapping is automatic, meaning that we have no control what is actually swapped to disk.
See readme.txt for ways to reduce MUGEN's memory
consumption.
It is possible the character you are running is unoptimized. Having inefficiently-coded states, lots of constantly-checked states, or overuse of trigger expressions can cause slowdown. Unless you hear your hard drive cranking loudly whenever you are playing, you don't have a RAM problem.
data\mugen.cfg. Why not?MUGEN expects to find several configuration files within a subdirectory
called data. If this directory was not created when you unzipped
the MUGEN archive, you need to unzip again with directories.
MUGEN expects to find its fonts in a subdirectory called
fonts. If this directory was not created when you unzipped the
MUGEN archive, you need to unzip again with directories.
You need to run AirEditor in the same directory as MUGEN. It uses the MUGEN fonts.
First, make sure you have configured your joystick's buttons from the Options screen.
Some gamepads with more than 4 buttons are not properly supported in DOS. If you have a popular gamepad (eg. Sidewinder), install the latest Windows drivers for your gamepad and try running MUGEN in a DOS box under Windows. If it still doesn't work, sorry, there is nothing we can do about it.
The PSX pad code is at an early stage of development, and the process of
polling the controller is inherently imperfect. If you have problems,
use the DirectPad Pro controller calibration routine to see if your
converter has been properly constructed or not. You can also try
specifying values between 3 and 10 for the psxdelay parameter in
mugen.cfg. If that fails, please report the problem, along with
your processor speed and parallel port number.
.act file?You can do it one of several ways:
.act files from a 256 color
image.
.pal files from a PCX file.
.pal to .act converter from
the most recent PCXClean package (v1.5).
.sff or .snd file?You will need sprmaker and sndmaker. They are available in the MUGEN Tools package.
.air, .cns, .cmd or .def file?They are all text files, that you can edit with EDIT or Notepad, or the
like. .cns files can sometimes get too big for Notepad, however.
.air, .cns, .cmd, or .def file under Windows?When you double-click the files under Windows, you can select NotePad or another text editor to open the files. See Opening Files.
Sorry, we do not have plans to make any editors. You are welcome to write your own frontends and editors if you like. Our formats for .sff and .snd are published in the developer's section of our Mugen site.
It's not easy, but here's a brief outline to get started. Read up on the docs for more details.
.txt file for piping into
sprmaker.
.txt file for the .sff of his standing frames.
.sff using sprmaker.
.def file (or copy over and edit KFM's)
.air file (or copy over and edit KFM's)
.cns file (or copy over and edit KFM's)
.sff until the animation looks
right. Type MUGEN player player to test the character.
.sff, then add frames for animations in
the air. Add jumping, getting hit, etc.
Sorry, there isn't any. MUGEN is very flexible, but with that
flexibility comes work. You can try replacing sprites for KFM and
tweaking with his .air and .cns to get started though.
You need to set the color of that box to color 0 in his palette. Make sure your sprites are all 256 colors, with that same palette.
You need several things.
.sff file).
.air file).
.cmd file).
.cmd file).
.cns file).
See the respective documentation for details.
.cmd?You need to put state entry for a move (call it Move A) before all other
moves that have commands that are subsets of Move A. So if Move A has
command D, F, a then Move A has to be placed before any move that
has command a in the .cmd file.
You do not have all the required sprites as specified in spr.txt.
Make sure you've added all the required sprites with their specified
numbers, including the ones that have axes in the middle of the body, as
well as at the head. See spr.gif for an illustration of the
required sprites.
Except for the big portrait (9000,1), the answer is no. To see how to
use a different palette for the big portrait, download KFM's work files
and look at the .txt file for his .sff.
If you have a sound 11,0 (that's group 11, sound 0) in your character's
.snd file, it will automatically be played as the KO sound.
Take note of which states that character was in, and take a look at it
in his .cns file. The reason for the open file formats is so that you
can share techniques with other developers.