Future Plans
StepMania 5 Tournament Edition has a lot of goals to achieve before it can be considered "complete". Here are some of the things I have in mind for SM5TE:
Online Scoreboard
As mentioned in the readme. Ideally, there would be an online leaderboard viewable in both a web browser and in-game. This would require a song database consisting of various files that are known to be good/legit. While creating this database, we might as well use the chance to re-rate songs as well. The exact details of re-rating have not been finalized.
Replay Data
Yes, I've been saying this since 2008. I've been putting it on the back burner as other, easier projects come up. SM5TE, however, is the perfect time to bring this back to the front. Part of it (the output) is implemented already. The hard part is coding the playback. That's the reason why I haven't gotten further with it.
Rival Data
This is another one of those features I've been talking about for years. Much like Replay Data, SM5TE is the perfect place to bring this back. The emphasis in SM5TE is on scoring, might as well see if you can beat your friends. :)
New Controller Mapping System
The new controller mapping system works on the principle that there are two categories of buttons: Menu and Game. The Menu buttons operate on every screen, while the Game buttons only operate on ScreenGameplay (and related screens). This distinction would also allow for per-style mappings. No longer will you have to map QWOP for 4-panel and SDFJKL for 6-panel solo, for example.
New Profile Management System
I dislike the current setup for managing profiles. I'm not exactly sure why. Maybe it has to do with the use of MiniMenus. Maybe it's the fact that it's based off of an options screen. Whatever the reason, profile management could be a whole lot better than it already is.
New Online Mode
I've always complained about the current StepMania Online setup. The protocol was designed for an older version of StepMania and online development did not keep up with the main program's development. This results in an outdated protocol that makes a lot of (incorrect) assumptions, not to mention the client-side code being neglected.
The problem with trying to fix the online mode is that you would have to fix both the server AND the client. While there are many alternative servers out there, they do not fix the fundamental problems with online mode. The client interface is cumbersome (the user login interface, Control+Enter for Start, Up for Options when on SelMusic) and could stand to be revamped entirely.
The plan for StepMania 5 TE is to finally take the steps needed to bring the StepMania Online experience to the 21st century, by rewriting both server and client-related parts.
A friends list feature has been requested (and have been part of the plan since day 1). A number of other online features are being developed with the capabilities of StepMania 5 in mind, including an online scoreboard. However, all of this is subject to change.
Tournament Mode
It'd be pretty silly for something called "StepMania 5 Tournament Edition" to not have a Tournament Mode. I have previously discussed this with vyhd before, and while there are a number of things that could go wrong/not be implemented, the initial Tournament Mode will be pretty simple. You pick the number of players, set the rules, set up the brackets, and play.
High Score System
I am not ready to fully divulge the plans for this.
Previously Requested Features
There's been a number of other feature requests as well. Some of them are even requests that have been placed for normal StepMania 5! :)
Saving scores for different music rates
I'm not sure exactly what needs to be done for this, but I plan to do this. If it just means doing it on the online scoreboard, then it's no problem. If you want the records to show up on ScreenSelectMusic and the like, that might be a bit harder to do (but I'm willing to find out how).
Option to turn chord-cohesion off
The problem with this request is that I don't really understand how to implement it. Yes, it means not bundling every note into a single judgment, but StepMania's codebase does not make it obvious how to fix. This request is going to be on the back burner for a long time.
Merging of scores from the same simfile that are just in different packs.
While this sounds hard, it's merely a matter of checking song/step hashes. This process may be easier with database support (see next request).
Search option on song select screen
This is going to require at least two prerequisites:
- Better input (see New Controller Mapping System above)
- Database support (SQLite is planned)
Once those are in, song searching can be made possible.
Play files at Xrates online
Part of the reason I want to fix online mode is this. I am thinking it would have to force everyone to play on the same mode. Possibly limiting this to host only in the new system. (Options will be forced for others, see next request.)
Force options to other online players
This is another part of why I want to fix online mode. In the new system, only the host of the room would be able to do this.
Create Courses during the game
(Online players would not need the .crs file, just the songs referenced in it.)
This has been a request since 2009 for SM5 (back when it was still sm-ssc). I'm not sure how easy it'll be to implement, but I'd like to have it done to fulfill the earlier feature request.
