Getting Started with Modding Synthesia

Collaborate with other modders to make Synthesia the way you want it.
Always the latest versions: [ colors.xml | ui.xml ]
Read the Getting Started topic to learn how important it is to MERGE YOUR CHANGES every time you download a new dev preview.
wacher
Posts: 30

Post by wacher »

I would like to modify UI layout but the unaltered, just downloaded ui.xml seems unusable.
1)
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2)
When I modified the file according to error message, Synthesia just crashed.
I wanna add a large space between |< >| and +/-, i think (and experience) that there are too close if you use touch device.
Nicholas
Posts: 13135

Post by Nicholas »

Ah, sorry! You were the "lucky" first person to find the bug in some of the newer work in my build automation. I was making it a little easier to package things up for checking crash reports and it turns out the new script moves the files someplace else now before trying to upload them (from the location they are no longer in).

The actually-latest versions are up in the pink box now. You were missing quite a few more changes than just that numeric label; that automatic upload has been broken for three previews now!

Regarding your mod, head down to around line 895 (in the updated version of ui.xml) and you should be able to sprinkle a few of these around every other line or so:

Code: Select all

<ui type="spacer" size="20, 10" />
Out of curiosity, do you use Synthesia on Android? As a compromise for smaller-screened devices there, we scale things down a bit. I agree that it's hard to tap things accurately there. I'm hoping we'll get a chance to tackle small-screen support a little better along with the portrait orientation feature coming in a couple previews after 10.5 goes out the door.
wacher
Posts: 30

Post by wacher »

Hi Nicholas,

Thank you for your help.
I use Synthesia on Windows10 with 19" touch monitor.
This is a desktop config with multiple monitor, one of the monitors is a touchscreen, this one is installed above my piano and I don't use mouse and keyboard for playing with Synthesia.
Your suggested spacer is excellent, it does exactly what I want, thx!
Nicholas
Posts: 13135

Post by Nicholas »

Another solution in the case of a desktop/touchscreen situation is to increase the window scale a bit:
  1. Hold your Shift key while launching Synthesia.
  2. Find the "Graphics.ScaleOverride".
  3. Type "1.5" in the box (without the quotes).
That will make everything uniformly larger, which often makes it easier to tap things. If that's not enough, "2.0" makes things very large with nice, crisp graphics.

(While you're in there, you may want to enable "System.TouchscreenMode" to drop the dark gray when using the virtual piano.)
Piraya
Posts: 3

Post by Piraya »

Hi Nicolas,

Is it possible to modify the language files on android/Chromebook? If so how? :)
Nicholas
Posts: 13135

Post by Nicholas »

I can't think of an easy way to do this without a jailbroken Android device (which we never recommend). Sorry.

I've been imagining a feature for our mobile platforms that would let you backup or restore the whole data folder at once (just so there was a way to access those files). Once that's in there, the modding features would be available.
Bobeta
Posts: 2

Post by Bobeta »

Hello! I know nothing about modding but want to know if my wish is even possible.

I play Synthesia on a Windows tablet connected to my digital piano.

I play via falling notes and use the English Note Names to help inform my play. The problem is that the text that reads out all the sharps/flats it too small. It’s led to me associating F# with “the left-most thin bar” instead of F#.

All I’d want to do is make the label on the black keys larger so I can see them better. I don’t need to change the bars themselves. It would probably look janky and the text will bleed into other keys but whatever.

If it is possible please explain how I can go about it. I’ll likely have a programmer friend help me.
Nicholas
Posts: 13135

Post by Nicholas »

Try this:
  1. Hold your Shift key while launching the app, which should open the configuration window.
  2. Choose the "Keyboard.LabelBonusSize" option from the drop-down menu.
  3. Adjust the value to something larger like 16.
That should be it. Once you close the configuration window and start Synthesia normally, the labels should appear larger. Feel free to tinker with the number to find something that suits you best.

(For Synthesia 10.9, I'm right in the middle of reworking the labels a bit and was thinking of exposing this setting right inside the app as a label-size slider. Your post pushes me farther in the direction of making this easier for everyone to reach.)
Bobeta
Posts: 2

Post by Bobeta »

Lol it looks silly cause the white keys get even bigger but I think this will help a lot!


Thank you for your game btw. I’m actually using it entirely to teach myself piano. I have ADHD and this application allows me to do something I wouldn’t be able to otherwise. It’s a beautiful thing you’ve made. I have a lot of overall feedback on ways I think this game could serve as a better learn tool if you ever wish to chat.

Oh big one! I’d like to be able to do letter notes that is just the sheet music note itself. So like middle C would instead be labeled with a block with the note on it. That would make it much easier to use the game to learn notes, if only in a vaccum.
Nicholas
Posts: 13135

Post by Nicholas »

Bobeta wrote: 04-27-22 12:03 amI’d like to be able to do letter notes that is just the sheet music note itself. So like middle C would instead be labeled with a block with the note on it.
I'm afraid I didn't quite follow this. Is this a change you wanted to make in the sheet music? Or in the falling note blocks?

Are you talking about this style of notation?
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tiptoptoad
Posts: 2

Post by tiptoptoad »

Hi there, I'm hoping someone can help me out with changing the background colour of the playback window.

I'd like the falling notes to be on a completely black background, with no vertical octave/F-key lines showing either.

I'm running synthesia version 10.8.5686, on windows 10.

I've tried adding the color.xml file to AppData\Roaming\Synthesia but even without making any edits to the color.xml, synthesia will crash when I press 'play and watch'.

I get the error message:

'Color 'buttonSegment' not found. (Be sure to merge any changes.. etc)


Any help would be appreciated, many thanks!
Bavi_H
Posts: 116

Post by Bavi_H »

tiptoptoad wrote: 09-13-22 3:06 amI'm running synthesia version 10.8.5686, on windows 10. [...] I've tried adding the color.xml file [...] I get the error message: [...] 'Color 'buttonSegment' not found.
It looks like the colors.xml in the pink box at the top of this Modding Synthesia section of the forum is for the development preview version of Synthesia.

For the official release version you are using, you can extract the default colors.xml file using 7-Zip or a resource editor:

Use 7-Zip to open Synthesia.exe as an archive (or use a resource editor to open Synthesia.exe), then go into the SETTINGS folder and extract the SETTINGS_COLORS item. Rename the extracted file as "colors.xml".
tiptoptoad
Posts: 2

Post by tiptoptoad »

Thanks a lot, that's worked perfectly :)
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