MDS (Magic Dance System)

Current version: Alpha release 1 (19 October 2020)
Page last updated: 19/10/2020

NOTE (written on 09/06/2025): The developers of what is referred to on these pages as "StepMania 5.3" are no longer calling it by "StepMania" in any form, and links to their previous website no longer work. This theme will also likely not work on the latest version of "Project OutFox". As this is largely a personal theme made more or less to suit my own stepcharting workflow and not meant to match modern standards or expectations, I struggle to see a point in continuing to update it - especially when a certain theme that is massively popular across almost all builds of StepMania exists. Do I really want to reach a point of popularity where I'll be crucified for not meeting expectations?

MDS (Magic Dance System) is a theme for StepMania 5.1 and StepMania 5.3. Basically, here's the main things you need to know about it:

Still a work in progress! Several features are still missing, so if you're looking for a more full-fledged experience or if you're totally new to StepMania, this might not be for you right now. But if you're interested in trying something a little different, read on...
Colorful, customizable "pseudo 8-bit" design, with some chiptune(?) BGM to boot
Some per-profile options; precise millisecond offset display and screen filters that persist between sessions
Umm... DDR/ITG standards? What standards? (I tried to change how grades are calculated to be more modern-DDR-ish, but it was NOT AS PLANNED)
StepMania 5.3 is recommended as it has some features unavailable in prior versions
Okay, to be honest, I didn't exactly have a writeup ready, so here's some screenshots instead

Generally, everything within the scope of Event Mode (non-arcade style play) works well enough right now.
This was designed mainly in 16:9 1024x576; smaller resolutions may be difficult to read, and 4:3 aspect ratio in particular looks bad.
It hasn't been tested on any non-Windows operating systems, so if you use Linux or macOS, keep that in mind. (I particularly suspect other OSes might break the "mouse controls".)

Downloads