Select.def is located in the Data folder by default.
The Select.def is a file that allows you to add more characters to your M.U.G.E.N engine, as well as stages, and set the flow of your Arcade and Team Arcade modes.
First a basic example of a Select.def file.
[Characters]
Kung Fu Man
Ryu
Kyo
Sol Badguy
[ExtraStages]
stages/mountain_side_temple.def
stages/suzaku_castle.def
stages/Iruka_86.def
stages/New_York.def
[Options]
arcade.maxmatches = 6,1,1,0,0,0,0,0,0,0
team.maxmatches = 4,1,1,0,0,0,0,0,0,0
First lets start from the top; The [Characters] Brakket.
The characters brackket is where you input the characters directory for there def file. The characters folder name should match the characters .def filename within the folder.
For Instance if have a folder Kung Fu Man but inside has a kfm.def , simple adding Kung Fu Man to your select will NOT work.
Chars
->Kung Fu Man
--> kfm.def
both should have the same name.
Chars
->Kung Fu Man
--> Kung Fu Man.def
Always check to make sure there the same name, and if not simple right click on the .def file and rename it to match the folder.
Some characters come with multiple .def files within them, One good example of this is Ryu by POTS.
Chars
->Ryu
-->Ryu.def
-->Normal.def
-->Evil.def
-->Master.def
Now why does ryu have more than 1? Because Ryu in this case has different modes with in him, which can be clearified by the name of the .def file. the DIFFERENCE between all of these files is added Ryu gives you the option to all 4 versions of Ryu. where as putting Normal, evil or master, only gives you that 1 option. IF you want to add a character with more than 1 .def this is how you do it.
[Characters]
Ryu/
Ryu/ means its going to look into the Ryu folder, IF you have more than 1 Ryu folder its going to look into the first one.
[Characters]
Ryu/Ryu.def
This allows for the 4 version ryu. Now if you just wanted the Evil and the Master version you could put
[Characters]
Ryu/Evil.def
Ryu/Master.def
Now you have 2 ryu's on your select screen that will be displayed as the same, but there gameplay would be different (at least as much as each version is)
Aside from the Characters inclusion into the game, You also have the option to set a character to a certain stage for instance a boss character would only be fought on his stage instead of someone elses. To do that you need to specify what stage the boss is gonna be on. Here is an example.
[Characters]
Kung Fu Man, random, order = 1
Suave Dude, stages/Boss_stage.def, order = 3
As you can see I set the stage for Suave Dude to the Boss_stage.def and I gave him a order of 3, which is explained at the bottom under [Options]. Kung Fu Man on the other hand has random assigned to him, which means that Kung Fu Man can be played on a random stage and is not forced to be on 1 stage.
Other options that you could use are "music" and "includestage" , Music is used if you want to have a certain song play when that character is being fought during arcade mode. Sorta like if you want Ryu's Theme song to play during a Ryu fight. Here is a example.
[Characters]
Ryu,stages/suzaku_temple.def, order=1, music =
now thats the general code for adding music to a character, NOW to locate the music by default mugen would look at the root (mugen folder itself) I STRONGLY recommend putting all your music in the sound folder.
you would use
sound/
to locate the sound folder, then the songs filename.
sound/mysong.mp3
Mugen Supports various music types, but its recommended you use Midi, MP3, or OGG. Midi and MP3 is more friendly towards Mugen.
Now to actually place that in the select file it should look like this
[Characters]
Ryu, stages/suzaku_castle.def, order=1, music=sound/mysong.mp3
IN MY PERSONAL EXPERIENCE THE MUSIC CODE HAS NEVER WORKED, SOME CLAIM IT DOES. I HAVE NEVER GOTTEN IT TO WORK.
Now on to the "includestage" code.
includestage = booleen
booleen means 1 or 0, true or false
If you want to give a boss character a stage, and you dont want no one else to play on it, or select it from the versus mode or training mode, includestage is the code for you. it works more or less how it looks, here is an example.
[Characters]
Kung Fu Man.def, stages/mountain_side_temple.def, order = 1 , includestage = 1
the code above basically says kung fu man will fight ONLY on the mountain_side_temple.def stage, and his stage IS selectable because it is included.
Now that you've learned Stage Assignment, Music Assignment, and Inclusion codes I'll explain Order.
Order basically sets the character to a rank, the ranks are from 1 ~ 10. 1 being the lowest 10 being the highest. Depending on how you set the [Options] part of the select.def changes how you should use your numbers
When I explain the [Options] part i'll explain much more about order =.
Here is an example of a very very Simple select.def that works.
[Characters]
Kung Fu Man
Ken
Terry
Ky
And here is an example of a more complicated one.
[Characters]
Kung Fu Man, Random, Order = 1
Ken, Random, Order = 1
Terry, stages/italy_96.def, Order = 2, includestage = 0
Ky, stages/Holy_Orders.def, Order = 3, music=sound/boss.mp3, includestage = 0
of course you can mix these 2 simple and complicated.
[Characters]
Kung Fu Man
Ken, Random, Order = 1
Terry
Ky, stages/Holy_Orders.def, Order = 3, music=sound/boss.mp3, includestage = 0
########################################################################
Now to add stages are rather simple as they are not as complicated as a character.
under the [Extrastages] Brackket, simple put
[Extrastages]
stages/
to locate the folder, then the stage's name.def
[Extrastages]
stages/mystage.def
As far as I know, ALL stages work unless they are from before the year 2000. (Any Stage made in 1999 used less strings and compression of the sff file, that its unreadable in mugen for some reason, however a program like MCM or Fighter Factory or ZCharCad can still open it, to view)
VERY IMPORTANT NOTE!
If you are assigning a stage to a character as I showed you above, DO NOT list the stage under [Extrastages] as it will appear as a duplicate in the stage selection during the game.
########################################################################
Now to finally explain Order ='s and these [Options]
[Options]
arcade.maxmatches = 6,1,1,0,0,0,0,0,0,0
team.maxmatches = 4,1,1,0,0,0,0,0,0,0
arcade.maxmatches, basically sets the flow of your arcade mode.
the way its currently set by default
arcade.maxmatches = 6,1,1,0,0,0,0,0,0,0
you will have
6 order = 1 matchs
1 order = 2 match
1 order = 3 match
0 order = 4 matchs
0 order = 5 matchs
0 order = 6 matchs
0 order = 7 matchs
0 order = 8 matchs
0 order = 9 matchs
0 order = 10 matchs
If you set a character to Order=4, and your maxmatches numbers has 0, in the 4th slot, then you will NOT fight this character in arcade mode. But will still be selectable.
The same rules apply to team.maxmatches, Just keep in mind since its 2 on 2, using the same values as arcade may result in a what looks like a longer game.
Here is another example of a arcade.maxmatches flow chart, and how the [Characters] select portion is used to accomidate it.
[Options]
arcade.maxmatches = 2,2,1,1,1,2,1,0,0,0
you will have
2 order = 1 matchs
2 order = 2 match
1 order = 3 match
1 order = 4 matchs
1 order = 5 matchs
2 order = 6 matchs
1 order = 7 matchs
0 order = 8 matchs
0 order = 9 matchs
0 order = 10 matchs
and this is how it will look on your [Characters] portion. THIS IS AN EXAMPLE.
[Characters]
Kung Fu Man, Random, Order = 1
Ryu, Random, Order = 1
Ken, Random, Order = 2
Terry, Random, Order = 2
SF2 Car Bonus , stages/car_bonus.def, Order = 3
Akuma, stages/Goukis_stage.def, Order = 4
Geese, stages/Geeses_stage.def, Order = 5
Rugal, Random, Order = 6
Bison, Random, Order = 6
Sagat, Random, Order = 6
Dragonclaw, stages/Dragonclaws_stage.def , Order = 7
so you would fight 4 regular matches, have 1 bonus stage, fight 4 (out of 5) mid bosses, and 1 final boss.
You do not have to put them in order like i have displayed here, it was merely for example sake.
Well thats It. If you have any questions PLEASE post it below.
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