How to create named section/solo markers in EOF

[raynebc]

Known glitches regarding section markers (in FoFiX 3.030b2):
1. Practice mode's section selection screen doesn't display a section marker if a chart has only one section marker. It must have at least two section markers for the section list to display correctly.


I didn't see anybody elaborating what to do to create section markers in a program other than Feedback so I tinkered around a bit and was able to verify that EOF can create working section markers in EOF by adding text events.

Starting from sections in Practice Mode has been fixed so that the timestamps are correct. If FoF starts at the wrong part of the song when you practice a specific section of the song, update to a newer version (preferably FoFiX).

To start, get EOF here (latest version is 1.61):
viewtopic.php?f=11&t=32725

To create a section marker in EOF, select the desired beat marker, open the Beat menu, select Events and click Add. The text event should be:

section YOUR SECTION NAME HERE

The section name can have spaces and some/all punctuation/arithmetic characters. Best to stick with common characters only (don't get fancy with the ASCII codes) as I haven't tried anything bizarre to try to break it.

Note: Solos created with text events or section markers will trigger a solo for both Guitar and Lead Guitar. They cannot trigger solos for other instruments. You can use EOF to create "MIDI" style solo sections for any instrument track, provided that your chart has at least two star power phrases defined (which you can also do in EOF). FoFiX requires two SP phrases to be defined, otherwise it will use Guitar Hero style detection where the solo phrase is detected as star power instead. If you want to define solos for instruments either than guitar and lead guitar, this is your best bet. In EOF, making a MIDI style solo is as easy as selecting the first note in the solo, seeking to the last note you want to be in the solo, hold control and click the last note. The first and last note will both be selected at once. At this point, open the Note menu, open the Solos submenu and select "Mark." EOF will now render a blue background in the editor window to signify the existence of the solo section. If you want to remove notes from the start or end of the solo, or add more, reselect the first and last notes you want to be in the solo using CTRL and click and then use the "Remark" feature in Note>Solos. To remove one or more solo phrases, select any notes in one or more existing phrases and use Note>Solos>Remove. Creating the SP phrases required for FoFiX to detect MIDI style solos is the exact same process, except once you select the notes you want to mark the start and end of the Star Power phrase, use Note>Star Power>Mark.

If your song does not use section markers, you can start a solo section by creating a text event at the desired starting beat containing "solo_on" (without quotes). The solo will end when a beat with the "solo_off" (without quotes) text event is reached.

However, it has been documented that if you create section markers like this in a chart, you will have to create the markers for solo events differently, as "solo_on" events won't be handled. So if you use section markers, your solo needs to be defined with a section marker as well. Among other possible event names for solos, the following ones are known to work:

section gtr_solo_#
section guitar solo #
(generally anything else with the word "solo" in it)

Where the # is optional in each case and can be used to differentiate between multiple solos. If you use an underscore in the section name, FoF displays it as a space instead of underscore. Some section names like "gtr_solo_x" are handled specially by FoF and will display as "Guitar Solo x". FoF documentation does point out that if you define a solo with a section marker, the solo will end at the next section marker that doesn't contain the solo's name. For example:

...[section gtr_solo_a]...[section Bridge]...

The solo will end immediately when the bridge section starts. If the solo doesn't end exactly at the start of another section, you can end the solo by creating a "fake" section like so:

..[section gtr_solo_a]...[section end_sol_a]..[section Bridge]...

This is a limitation in FoF at present, and unfortunately that means it will show up in the list of sections in the practice mode and will scroll across the screen during playback as a section marker. HOWEVER, contrary to what FoF documentation implies, I have observed that the solo will not be ended if the next section name has the word "solo" in it (as of MFH-Alarian Mod 2.900), so you have to call it something else as something like "section solo_end" will not end it.

Anybody with other observations and information please post here so we can maintain a useful repository for those of us who don't want to resort to using Feedback to define sections.

[tyros]

Nice tutorial, I was trying to get those section markers to work too, but with no success so far. This clarifies many things, gotta try it, thanks!

[raynebc]

The latest hot fix of MFH-Alarian Mod seems to indicate that the "section bass solo" event will now trigger a bass solo. If anybody can verify this, it will be added to the first post. We'll keep our fingers crossed for "section drum solo" event capability in the future.

[shbk52]

Ill try to see if that works :;): BTW thanks for helping me!

[raynebc]

Unfortunately, "section bass solo" doesn't work... I updated the first post with some limitations of the Practice Mode section selection menu.

[SketchMan3]

Would something like "section Hot Solo!" to end a solo work, or do I have to use an underscore?

[raynebc]

If it contains the string "solo" at all, I don't think it will end the solo.

[Frizkie]

Mine doesn't seem to be working. I've tried both the section solo triggers and the actual solo_on and solo_off notations.

[raynebc]

solo on and solo off work unless your chart has section markers. If it has section markers, you have to use the solo section markers. If it's not working, it's either your chart or FoF. Which version of FoF are you using?

[Frizkie]

I got it working. I tried it again. IDK, thanks for helping, though. Although, none of you would know, but I'm trying to get it to work on Guitar Zero 2 but it's not reading the midi right. I can't get solos, and a lot of my sustain notes aren't showing up. Doesn't matter though, I'll figure it out. THANKS!

[raynebc]

The actual console game is extremely strict about how everything works, you might want to look into ScoreHero if you want to make "customs" (ie. custom charts to use in the actual Guitar Hero game, using a hack to get the game to play it).

[Frizkie]

The actual console game is extremely strict about how everything works, you might want to look into ScoreHero if you want to make "customs" (ie. custom charts to use in the actual Guitar Hero game, using a hack to get the game to play it).

guitar ZERO two not guitar HERO two.

google is your best friend

[raynebc]

This goes to show what happens when I speed read pun names when I'm drowsy.

[raynebc]

Updated the known issue list in the first post. Timestamps display correctly, but charts with only one section don't have their section listed in practice mode.

[raynebc]

Updated various pieces of information in the first post.