piuGBA

piuGBA
General
Author	[r]labs
Type	Music
Version	1.10.0
License	MIT License
Last Updated	2024/05/09
Links
Download
Website
Source

piuGBA is a Pump It Up (PIU) emulator specifically designed for the Game Boy Advance (GBA). Created by [r]labs, this emulator allows you to experience the rhythm and excitement (StepMania SSC charts) of PIU on your GBA handheld device.

Features

• Full .ssc files support, including:
  • Normal, hold and fake notes.
  • BPM changes.
  • Scroll speed changes.
  • Stops/Delays and async-stops.
  • Warps and fast-BPM warps.
• Multiple game modes:.
  • Campaign: Play, unlock songs and defeat bosses.
  • Arcade: Play songs in any numerical difficulty level.
    • Single: 1 player, either Single (5-panel) or Double (10-panel) charts.
    • Multi VS: VS battles via Link Cable or Wireless Adapter.
    • Multi COOP: Double (10-panel) charts via Link Cable or Wireless Adapter.
  • Impossible: Faster songs with insane mods.
• Speed multipliers can be changed in-game.
• Mods support:.
  • Stage break: On, Off or SuddenDeath.
  • Pixelate: Mosaic effect.
  • Jump/Reduce: Moves game area.
  • Bounce: Makes the arrows bounce.
  • Color filter: Alters colors.
  • Speed hack: AutoVelocity, FixedVelocity or RandomSpeed.
  • Mirror and random steps.
  • Training mode: Rate, Fast-forward, Rewind.
  • AutoMod: Swaps mods randomly.
• Background videos "(uncompressed 240x160)" can be displayed using a flash cart.
• HQ audio "(uncompressed s8 PCM)" can be played using a flash cart.
• Two themes: "Classic" and "Modern".
• BGA DARK background with blink effect.
• Song selector with names, backgrounds and sound previews.
• Hardware integrations:.
  • Rumble.
  • I/O LED Sync.
  • SRAM LED Sync.
  • PS/2 input.
• Optimized to support ~70 songs per ROM file.

User guide

How does it work

A node.js script (the importer) converts a list of SSC/MP3/PNG files into binary files which the GBA can understand. For audio, it uses GSM audio files which are very small in size.

Charts are converted into a format created for this project called PIUS. Then everything is bundled in a GBFS file (a filesystem created by the GBA scene) and appended to the final ROM.

Read the wiki for more details and guide of how to build a ROM.

You can also join the official Discord server to find pre-built ROMs and user-created content.

Screenshots

Media

piuGBA - Impossible Mode w/ Rumble (Rodrigo Alfonso)

Compatibility

Tested and works on mGBA, VBA-M, and NO$GBA.

Changelog

v1.10.*

• New features:
  • The game can now play High-quality audio by reading uncompressed PCM files from the flash cart's SD card.
  • Added support for "EZ Flash Omega" flash carts when using Background videos and High-quality audio.
  • Added support for SD cards formatted in exFAT.
  • Added "Modern" theme.
  • Added "Rewind" functionality to "Training mode", useful to practice difficult parts.
  • Added Rumble options.
  • Added Global offset option.
• Graphical improvements:
  • Important sprite rework, supporting multiple themes.
  • Added scaling effect to in-game score.
  • Added scaling effect to Stage Break animation.
  • Added scaling effect to S grades.
• Misc. changes:
  • Improved handling of SELECT key to quit multiplayer sessions.
  • Adjusted fade time when confirming songs.
  • "Background blink" can now be disabled in multiplayer.
  • Multiplayer battles can now be tied.
• Build process updates:
  • Added OPUS and JPEG support to the importer.
• Bugfixes:
  • Fixed pending audio glitches (e.g. when navigating to the next page after confirming a song).

v1.9.*

• New features:
  • The game can now display Background videos by reading them from the flash cart's SD card! (EverDrive exclusive feature).
  • Added PS/2 keyboard support via Link Port.
  • Added Rumble support via Link Port, for cartridges without Rumble.
  • Added a FixedVelocity speed hack that ignores mid-game multiplier changes. Grade saving is disabled while this mod is active.
  • Added more post-game content after completing challenges.
• Optimizations:
  • Rearranged game loop for better usage of VDraw time.
  • Moved lots of functions to IWRAM.
  • Added optional EWRAM overclock.
  • Removed unused features from gba-sprite-engine.
• Graphical improvements.
  • You can now move the instructor's body when pressing keys in the Controls screen.
  • Manually improved Home screen and Selection screen color conversion.
• Misc. changes:
  • Challenge mode now uses FixedVelocity.
  • Rumble is now enabled by default.
  • The Settings screen now shows the trigger buttons and teaches users how to enter the Admin menu.
  • The NIGHT color filter was replaced with a new ETHEREAL filter, which looks nicer.
  • Pixelate = FIXED will now use one less mosaic level so the life bar content is readable.
  • The A+B+START+SELECT combo is now ignored in multiplayer sessions (except for cancelling the song) to prevent involuntary disconnects.
  • The Link Cable multiplayer has now a slightly higher timeout to handle the case where one console has background videos and the other doesn't.
• Build process updates:
  • Added a --fast option to the importer to use async I/O (~2x faster).
  • Adding global offset support.
  • Added configuration options to the portable song importer.
  • The importer now forces the expected node version.
  • Improved build error messages.
• Bugfixes:
  • Reduced life bar's blink speed to once every 2 frames to make it more visible on some GBA displays.
  • Fixed occasional audio clicks during multiplayer sessions by enabling nested interrupts for VBlank.
  • Fixed occasional audio glitches during screen transitions.
  • (v1.9.1) Improved SD card reading error messages.
  • (v1.9.1) Fixed a glitch where Rumble would remain enabled after failing a song on a new beat.

v1.8.*

• New features:
  • Added a new challenge mode when completing the campaign mode.
  • Arcade modes now store Dance Grades by index instead of by level. This allows saving different scores for charts that have the same numeric level (e.g. s19-a, s19-b).
• Misc. changes:
  • Stage Break = DEATH will now display the life bar at minimum level and ignore BADs in the judgement phase.
  • Now the game remembers the page/song when switching between campaign and the challenge (e.g. impossible) modes.
  • Bubbles in the Home Screen will 'regenerate' when leaving a submenu.
  • Removed pixel blinking effect from the Home Screen.
• Optimizations.
  • Now charts use static EWRAM to prevent crashes due to allocation failures.
  • Updated gba-link-connection to v6.0.3, which fixes potential autopairing issues (e.g. two couples trying to create two separate sessions via Wireless Adapter).
• Bugfixes:
  • Fixed a small memory leak after playing a song.
  • Fixed a bug with the random number generator that was causing the last value of a range to be ignored.
  • Fixed a glitch where the user could enter the "Audio lag" option and navigate to the previous/next option during the transition.
  • (v1.8.1) Added small fixes and adjustments to the new challenge mode.
  • (v1.8.2) The Wireless Adapter is now put in low consumption mode when not in use.
  • (v1.8.3) General system stability improvements to enhance the user's experience.
  • (v1.8.3) Fixed Rate = +1 mod in Impossible mode (v1.8.0 regression).
  • (v1.8.3) Fixed 'mark as defective' combo being enabled during challenge mode.
  • (v1.8.3) The challenge mode now displays the current song.
  • (v1.8.3) If the Arcade library matches the selected difficulty level of the Campaign mode (most common case), the game now remembers the selected song when switching between modes.
  • (v1.8.3) The importer is now provided as a portable Windows executable.
  • (v1.8.4) Huh. all this time prefetch was disabled. Well, free performance boost.
  • (v1.8.4) The sprite limit was increased from 50 to 90.
  • (v1.8.4) The Bounce mod now uses a slightly less aggressive curve.
  • (v1.8.4) Fixed an importer bug which could cause subindexes to appear in situations where they shouldn't (e.g. deleting level-99 charts via offsets.pofs).

v1.7.*

• New features:
  • Menu controls.
  • Menus can now be navigated using two key layouts: GBA style (new), and PIU style.
  • GBA style feels more natural, as it's how most GBA games work (navigate with arrows and confirm with A).
  • The default layout was changed to GBA style, but it can be changed using the Admin menu.
  • Single-player Arcade mode.
  • Double charts can now be selected directly using the level change buttons.
  • Added AutoVelocity, under the Speed hacks mod (replaces Random speeds). AutoVelocity ignores the multiplier and sets a regular scroll BPM for all songs.
  • Added Color filter mod (replaces Decolorize), with 16 different filters to alter game's background and sprites.
  • Added Bounce mod, which makes the arrows (and/or its receptors) bounce.
  • Added AutoMod mod, which randomly combines all mods every 1~4 beats.
  • Modified LINEAR and MICRO variants of Jump/Reduce mods to move the game area rhythmically.
  • Consecutive charts with the same numeric level now have a subindex to differentiate them.
  • Enabled mods are now highlighted to easily identify which ones are in use.
  • Added a warning to let users know when the current mods won't let them save their Dance Grades.
  • Multiplayer Arcade mode.
  • VS mode now makes the winner's life bar bounce during gameplay to enhance competitiveness.
  • Now players don't have to set the difficulty level after each song; the game remembers.
  • Impossible mode.
  • It now uses the AutoMod/INSANE, +1 rate, and mirror steps mods.
  • Admin menu.
  • offsets.
  • Added a menu to set up custom offsets for each song/level. This feature is useful if you're playing a non-tested song pack and encounter an out-of-sync song. Now, you can add +/- 8ms offsets, which will be recorded in the save file and applied when playing.
• Engine fixes.
  • This build fixes ~32768 corner cases related to chart reading, increasing overall compatibility (specially with gimmick charts).
  • Added mid-note BPM changes support. This fixes a lot of out-of-sync charts.
  • Important ASYNC_STOP (aka setting #SCROLLS to 0) rewrite. This fixes multiple bugs where ASYNC_STOPs caused the chart to end up completely out of sync, with a broken metronome, or with infinite holds.
  • BPM changes and arrow predictions are now executed even if the chart has stopped.
  • The importer now ensures that every HOLD_START will have a subsequent HOLD_END. Now most of the start events have their duration pre-assigned, so no chart should show broken holds again.
  • Events inside WARP sections are no longer ignored by the importer, as they are important for gimmick charts. Instead, these are ignored during the judgement phase, to avoid unfair MISSes.
  • Unsupported #SCROLLS segments are now emulated as regular speed changes. It doesn't have the same effect, but it works better than ignoring them. This fixes songs with a broken multiplier.
  • MISSes are now judged by timing instead of by their Y coordinate. This is important when using low multiplier / speed values.
  • Using a lower FAST_BPM_WARP constant also fixed some songs.
  • Fixed a corner case with fake segments events which caused some fake notes to appear as regular notes.
  • Removed frame skip in chart reading code, which fixes some glitches in gimmick charts.
  • Fixed a corner case where a Scroll BPM change could be ignored until the player manually adjusts the multiplier.
  • Equivalent keys (like RIGHT and B for CENTER) now trigger new keypress events even when the other key is already pressed. This makes single-note trills easier.
  • Precision of hold arrow judging was adjusted.
  • The default scroll BPM change speed was adjusted (100 => 150) and a lower arrow speed limit was set (1px/frame).
• Engine improvements:
  • Added co-op chart support: pump-couple and pump-routine.
  • SSC parsing is now more robust, ignoring comments and finding charts using #NOTEDATA:; tags.
  • Unsupported S, V and H events are now individually ignored instead of ignoring the whole chart.
  • Unsupported negative #SPEEDS are now individually ignored instead of ignoring the whole chart.
• Optimizations:
  • Optimized IWRAM code, making everything faster and preventing slowdowns in complex charts.
  • Reduced memory access and CPU usage during gameplay.
  • Updated gba-link-connection to v6.
  • Significantly reduced latency in multiplayer sessions (both wired and wireless).
  • Significantly reduced CPU consumption in multiplayer sessions.
  • Reduced base ROM size by removing dead gba-sprite-engine code.
  • Reduced final ROM size by optimizing space in the PIUS format.
• Misc. changes:
  • Pressing L and R in menus now lets the player change the option in any direction.
  • You can now exit any menu using either START or SELECT.
  • Finishing the game now takes user to the updated Home screen.
  • Rumble is now disabled during fast-forward (Training Mode).
  • SUDDEN_DEATH was renamed to DEATH.
  • The FAST Background blink mode was removed.
  • The keys tutorial was moved from song 1 to song 0.
  • Holding START before entering a multiplayer mode will now set the communication mode to Wireless Host.
  • Wireless multiplayer will now use a slightly higher timeout value.
  • Library autoscroll can now be used in multiplayer.
  • Added save file validation code.
• Build process updates:
  • Support for double/multiplayer chart offsets, subindex, and delete keyword in offset.pofs files.
  • The importer can now automatically add BOSS levels when creating Campaign builds.
  • Fixed some errors with the parsing of chart vs global properties.
  • Fixed an error that caused complexity to be zero if the charts didn't have a #LASTSECONDHINT.
  • Using a Campaign build with an Arcade library will now show a proper error when running the ROM (instead of crashing).
  • Reusing romid.u32 while changing the song count will now throw a proper error instead of building an incorrect ROM file.
  • Fixed make package silently failing when the output ROM file was in use.
  • All errors thrown by the importer now have more details.
• Graphical improvements.
  • Song screen.
    • Fake HOLD_FILL notes now look fake (dedicated sprite).
  • Home screen.
    • Increased demo chart complexity when some of the campaign modes are completed.
  • Multiplayer/Connecting screen.
    • Added a 'transmitting' animated icon.
  • Selection screen.
    • DOUBLE mode now has its own color palette, to easily identify what type of charts we're seeing.
    • Added 'transmitting' animated icons. On the host side, it will show two 'sending' icons over the lights. On the client side, a 'receiving' icon at the corner.
  • Dance Grade screen.
    • Updated winner message in VS multiplayer mode for clarity.
• Bugfixes:
  • Fixed a random DMA lockup on hardware.
  • Fixed a glitch where changing the multiplier before the first SET_TEMPO event would cause the Scroll BPM to be set to 0, making initial arrows appear from nowhere.
  • Fixed a glitch where correctly judged arrows would pass through receptors when using the Reduce mod.
  • Fixed a glitch during transitions where the Selection screen could show garbage for one frame.
  • Fixed a bug where I/O SD blink time was tied to the value of the -now deprecated- Background blink speed setting.
  • Fixed a bug related to numeric level synchronization (again) in multiplayer sessions.
  • Fixed a bug where SRAM LED blink/ON HIT was also blinking with other player's arrows.
  • Fixed a bug where other player's WARPs were causing the local screen to blink using the pixel effect.
  • Fixed a bug where multiplier changes were not synchronized correctly in multiplayer sessions.
  • Fixed a bug where pixel blinks in level selection were not synchronized correctly during multiplayer sessions.
  • Fixed a bug where using fast-forward in training mode would cause a subsequent multiplier change to be ignored.
  • (v1.7.1) Fixed a bug in the importer which caused a few songs (with redundant #WARPS and #BPMS.=1000000) to warp twice.
  • (v1.7.1) Fixed a glitch where the life bar could blink at max level when returning from negative to positive value.
  • (v1.7.1) Fixed a glitch where the controls screen was animating one of the center buttons at double speed.
  • (v1.7.1) Adjusted the orientation of the R button sprite, which previously had its corner pointing to the left.
  • (v1.7.1) Adjusted the contrast of the center idle sprite, which appeared too bright on some consoles compared to other sprites.

v1.6.*

• Graphical improvements:
  • Added black outline to sprites.
  • Added bounce animation on note hit.
  • Added a SLOW background blink mode.
• Bugfixes:
  • Decolorize mod now also mutates life bars.
  • Fixed arrow holders blinking one frame late.
  • (v1.6.1) Fixed small glitch where fake taps were displaying the wrong tile.

v1.5.*

• New features:
  • Wireless Adapter support.
  • Wireless adapter support.
• Bugfixes:
  • Now multiplayer scores will always be in sync after a game (fixed Link Connection's packet loss).
  • Fixed errors where individual difficulty levels could get out of sync in multiplayer sessions.
  • Fixed glitch when confirming a song selection while crossing a page.
  • Fixed admin menu key combo handling.
• (v1.5.1) Fixed random crash in wireless multiplayer sessions due to audio DMA conflicts with serial IRQs.
• (v1.5.1) Fixed wireless multiplayer slowdowns by moving time-critical code to IWRAM.
• (v1.5.2) Fixed graphical glitch when the initial multiplier is set to 6x.
• (v1.5.3) Fixed invalid memory read that affects SRAM LED Blink, but might cause other crashes.
• (v1.5.3) Fixed vsync method (changed in v1.5.0) for better battery life.

v1.4

New features:

• Hardware integrations.
  • Rumble.
  • I/O SD Blink.
  • SRAM LED Blink.
• Arcade improvements.
  • Added Double charts support inside Single player mode.
  • Added mark as deffective option for broken charts.
  • Added Reduce Mod variant: MICRO.
  • Added save file reset options.

Impossible mode changes:

• Removed decolorize.
• Added reduce=micro.

Engine improvements:

• Added fake notes support through the {1|v|1|0} SSC syntax.

Graphical improvements:

• Improved screen transitions.
• Now the selection screen background looks cleaner (less dithering below the lights).

Bugfixes:

• Fixed random crash due to invalid read after winning a song.
• Fixed random crash due to a memory leak during screen transitions.
• Fixed metronome. It was sometimes blinking on weak beats.
• Now the random is more random.
• Now "random steps" is more humanly usable, since it tries to avoid repeated notes.

Release notes.

Credits

Open-source projects involved:

• wgroeneveld/gba-sprite-engine: Dec 18, 2019
  • Forked at: afska/gba-sprite-engine
• pinobatch/gsmplayer-gba: Feb 9, 2020
• AntonioND/libugba: May 20, 2022
• afska/gba-link-connection: v6.0.3
• afska/gba-flashcartio: v1.0.5
• FatFS: R0.15

External links

• GitHub - https://github.com/rodri042/piugba
• Discord - https://discord.com/invite/JE33cc2