The Big FAQ

What do I need to run Unsigned?
You need a few things. The first is a compatible PC running windows XP or higher. You need at least 512mb of RAM (at least 947 Terrabytes if you are running Vista), at least 1.0 GHz processor. You need a graphics card capable of running Shader Model 2.0.
In terms of software you need THIS version of DirectX0.9c, the .NET 2.0 Framework SP1, and the XNA Framework.

Some Windows Vista users get an error when they try to install the .NET framework, saying it is already installed. This means you do not have to install it. Continue to the XNA Framework.

Many songs are available from our forums, but you will need to acquire the audio yourself. We suggest you buy the CD or buy it from a service such as Zune.

And if you want to download the source, or development tools, you need an SVN client like TortoiseSVN

My game crashes at the start! What can I do?

One of the major reasons this happens is because you did not install all of the software above! Most people think they have the latest DirectX and skip the above download. That version is special and will enable features not normally enabled that are required for Unsigned.

Another problem may be the .NET framework hates you. If this is the case, check out the guide pandawarchief wrote about purging previous .NET versions to get the new one working.

Finally, your graphics card may simply not be up to snuff. Look up the specs on your card. Does it have ShaderModel 2.0 or above? Eventually Unsigned will support a 2D version that goes down to SM1.1

If all that doesn't work, post the contents of the crash dialog box in the New Users section of the forum.

I still think my DirectX is good enough, how can I be sure?

If you download the version above, try to run it, and it says you have a newer version, then you are fine. Otherwise, let the installer run.

I have Windows Vista and DirectX10. I don't want to downgrade to 9.0c. What do I do?
DirectX10 (vista) and DirectX9.0c will run side-by-side. So install it anyway.

How do I use my Rock Band / Guitar Hero peripherals with Unsigned?
For Xbox360 controllers, make sure you have Microsoft's driver (32 bit) / (64 bit), plug em in to the USB on your computer, and play.
Unsigned does not, as of yet, support PS2/3/Wii instruments natively. You will need to use this guide.

Why is Unsigned so hard to use? Why can't I just install it and have the songs?
There are a few reasons for this:

Unsigned is not on it's "Final" release. This means you are all effectively Beta testers, not end-users[/*]
Unsigned is free. I do it in my spare time. I'd rather make it work better and look cooler than try to reverse engineer the dependencies[/*]
I am not paid to do this[/*]
It costs a lot of money to license real artists. So anyone that wants to donate to the "Licensing Metallica" fund, check our announcements section for the donations page.[/*]

How can I get more personalized help?
The best way is the Unsigned IRC channel: irc.efnet.pl #unsigned-game
The one thing we do ask is that you read relevant guides and the New Users Forum. If we help you for an hour and find out you didn't install the right software, prepare to be shunned.

Where can I get more info about Unsigned?
SourceForge Project Page
Project News RSS Feed
Lead Developer email: fortisvenaliter@unsigned-game.com
Developer Blog
Any of my IMs are also available. Please do not IM me unless it is really important.
And do not IM or PM me if it is a question regarding a problem in the game. Use the New Users forum.

When I add/update/remove files from Unsigned's songdata folder, the list/song doesn't change in-game! Why?
Are you using Vista? It seems to be an issue with running Vista and not running the program as an administrator. Right click on Unsigned.exe and click "Run as Administrator." That should fix the problem. I know its a pain, but I have no control on it.
To fix this problem more permanently, you can follow this method. Note that you will need to redo this every time you install/update Unsigned. And this must be done from an administrator account (but you will then be able to play from a non-administrator account). Right click the Unsigned.exe (in the folder, not a shortcut). Select Properties. Go to the Securities tab. Click the "Edit" button. Select the "Users" option in the top pane, then check off "enabled" for every item in the lower pane. Press "OK." Press "OK." It should work now.

My game runs really slow/laggy. How can I speed it up?
Open up the config.cfg file in the root Unsigned installed folder with notepad (or a similar text editor) and change the values. See below for each value.

What do the values in Unsigned's config.cfg actually do?
3dbkground: Values[0,1]: 0=black screen, 1=3d background
WaveDetail: Values[1-10]: describes the detail of held notes, turn down if you get lag during them
Resolution: Values[any valid screen resolution]: the resolution of the window
FullScreen: Values[true,false]: whether or not the game runs in full screen
TexrDetail: Values[0,1]: the detail of the textures/rendertargets. Turn down if you dont have much video memory
HalfRender: Values[true,false]: if true, will render the background half the normal resolution, significantly increasing performance
IGGUIStyle (In-Game Graphical User Interface Style): Values[rockband, unsigned]
IGUIHasFPS: Values[true, false]: Whether or not to display the Frames per Second at the bottom right of the screen
IGUIHScale: Values[decimal number, 0-2]: How big the in game interface is, horizontally. Most people shouldn't have to touch this. It is really only for TVs since they have a "no draw zone" around the borders. But Computer Moniters don't have this.
IGUIVScale: Values[decimal number, 0-2]: How big the in game interface is, vertically. See above.

Some of my songs have "INV-" in front of them and I can't play them. Why?
This means there is a problem with the song. "INV" stands for "invalid." Usually it just means it was compiled with the wrong version of chart2unsigned, or is an old version. Check the author's thread to see if they have updated it. Unsigned supports files compatible all the way down to Version 1.1.0

Some of my songs have their name in red and I can't play them. Why?
This means the song has not been charted for one of the instruments chosen. Choose another instrument or another song.

Some of my songs have "DNE-" in front of them on my custom playlist and I can't play them. Why?
This means the song "Does Not Exist". Remember that in songlist.txt you need to put the file name, not the song name. So, for "Don't Stop Believing", which is named "dontstop.uns", you would put "dontstop" in songlist.txt

What is "SongData"?
The term "SongData" refers to the note charts that charters release for Unsigned. Without these people, you would just hear music, and have no notes to play. SongData refers to the 5 file types for these: GBA, GBG, GBD, GBV, GBB. These files go into the "songdata" folder when you want to play them. In the latest version, these five files have been compressed into one UNS file.

What are all these file formats?
OGG: It is the natural audio file for Unsigned. It's full title is "Ogg Vorbis Audio" and more info can be found here. To add audio, you usually need to get the audio in CD format (buy the CD) or in MP3 format (buy it from iTunes or similar) and convert it with Audacity, a free audio editing program.
CHART: A Chart file is a form of Songdata that is not supported natively by Unsigned. It is an intermediate "Charting" format that is mainly used by the charting program Feedback. To use chart files in Unsigned, they must first be run through our utility chart2unsigned to generate a UNS file.
UNS: Uns files are the default songdata format for Unsigned. They should be put in the Songdata folder.
GB*: Gb* files have the extensions GBA, GBG, GBB, GBD, GBV, or GBE. These are the old format of Unsigned songdata. While the newer ones do still work in the current version, the UNS files are preferable.
EXE: Exe files are the default windows application files. Double click the Unsigned.exe file to play the game.
XNB: Xnb files are the content files generated by XNA, which is the framework Unsigned is built on

How do I install songs to play in the game?
You put the songdata files (GBA,GBG,GBD,GBV, and GBB, or UNS) in the Unsigned\songdata folder. You put the audio "Ogg" files in the Unsigned\audio folder.

When I try to play my song, it says Audio Not Found, but I put the audio in the audio folder! What's up?
Make sure the audio is in Ogg Vorbis format (.OGG). Also, the audio must have the same filename as the songdata. So if the songdata is called "Master_of_Puppets.uns" call the ogg "Master_of_Puppets.ogg". And make sure you put the audio in Unsigned\Audio, not Unsigned\Songdata

The game popped up a bunch of gibberish in a dialog box and then crashed! What do I do?
The good news is, that isn't gibberish to me. Screenshot it (Ctrl-PrtScr), save it (Windows Paint works), and attach it in a new thread in the New Users section. We'll see what we can do for you.

When I get to the song screen, the song list is blank and if I push anything it crashes! Why?
Unsigned does not come with any songs installed. Read above.[/list]

	Author	Topic: The Big FAQ (Read 2264 times)
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