Groove Coaster (iOS)

Unused Objects

Unused Songs#

SPACE INVADERS 2003#

tuneFile.pak, which contains graphical data for the menus and HUD elements, contains graphics for the song SPACE INVADERS 2003, by KEN ISHII VS FLARE, though no music data nor charts exist. The song would later appear in Groove Coaster Zero, as part of the Club Pack DLC.

artwork.png / img2.bin

artwork_big.png / img_big2.bin

INV2003_small.png / img13.bin

INV2003_big.png / img_big13.bin

Leftover Songlist Entries#

This package also contains a file labeled stage_param.dat, which contains metadata for each of the songs. In each of the game's versions, there's a specified number of entries, though the file goes further after the last one. This takes in consideration the first release of the game unless stated otherwise.

Jingle Bells　-Trance Mix- (overwritten)#

Immediately after when the file should end in v2.0.4 is the string 007, which appears to be a leftover from an entry for this song, as the used one ends with the identification string S007.

TEST#

Starting from 0xB9E is a test entry which borrows many metadata elements from Music Plot Type Zero.

GEKI#

At 0xC29 is an earlier entry for GEKI. The BPM display was not properly set up yet, and the BGM volume was increased to 70 in the final game.

Spring to mind#

At 0xCB2 is an earlier entry for Spring to mind. Its level and BPM parameters are not properly placed yet, and the BGM volume was increased to 70 in the final game. Another thing to note is that this and the next entry were swapped in the final listing.

Cardiac Rhythm#

From 0xDED is an earlier entry for Cardiac Rhythm. Its level and BPM parameters are not properly set up, and it uses the FIREWORKS skin instead of MOLECULE. The length value was also changed to 1:56 in the final game.

Eurythmics Trip#

At 0xEF3 is an earlier entry for Eurythmics Trip. Like the previous entries, the BPM and level parameters are not properly set up. Furthermore, the BGM volume was increased to 70 in the final game, where it also uses the FIREWORKS skin instead of MARBLE.

Fun-House#

Starting from 0x100 is an earlier entry for the song Fun-House. It's also the first entry present in v1.0.0 which is still present as of v2.0.4. The differences are that the title, level, and BPM parameters are not properly set up, with the former using the song's ID instead, the length parameter, which was increased to 1:56 in the final entry, and the BGM Volume, which was increased to 75.

SPACE INVADERS 2003#

Starting from 0x10F6 is an entry for the unused song SPACE INVADERS 2003. It seems to call the SFX file for the song You've Gatta Luv, indicating it had not been completed by the time the metadata file was created. Furthermore, its placement in the data (behind Good-bye my earth) indicates the song was meant to be downloadable content.

Good-bye my earth#

Starting from 0x121E is an entry for Good-bye my earth. Notable differences include the artist being miscredited to Hirokazu Koshio (a.k.a. COSIO) under his real name, instead of Shohei Tsuchiya, the song's level being listed as 2 instead of 8, and the BGM volume being decreased to 70 in the final game.

Space Invaders Infinity Gene Medley#

Starting from 0x12C2 is an entry for Space Invaders Infinity Gene Medley. Differences include the song's title being misspelled, which is retained in the unused localized title string in the used entry, the artist being miscredited to Shohei Tsuchiya instead of COSIO, the song's level being listed as 2 instead of 9, the length being listed as one second longer, and the BGM volume being increased to 65 in the final game.

3D Test#

Starting from 0x13AD is what appears to be a test entry. It uses Music Plot Type Zero‍ '​s BGM and SFX tracks, but the stage files it calls are unique, and are not found in the game's data.

Temporary#

Starting from 0x1452 is another test entry, labeled "Temporary". It also uses Music Plot Type Zero‍ '​s audio files, and all three difficulty slots use the same file, which also does not exist in the final data.

Unused Chart#

The song The Beginning uses two sets of chart files; one set contains the different visuals for each of the six versions, and the other contains the notes for each of the three difficulties, as noted below:

Curiously, the background effect files also contain chart data, with it being an earlier rendition of the song's HARD chart. A few sections are much denser than the final chart, and there are also no AD-LIBs. Furthermore, all HITs and HOLDs use the same decorative parameters for each type. Those effect files were not changed at all in future mobile games, and, as such, this early chart data also exists there.

Chart Data

Unused Note Graphics#

Within skin.pak are the graphics used for the skins used by each of the songs, as well as notes and other overlays. Within common, which has graphics for the latter two aspects, there are two unused notes which resemble the crab and squid enemies from Space Invaders. The crab is another leftover from the scrapped song SPACE INVADERS 2003, though it would later appear in Groove Coaster Zero. The squid, however, is not known to appear in any songs.

Unused Items#

GROOVE+#

There is code for an unused "GROOVE+" item, which would increase the default GROOVE meter by 30 percentage points. It can, in theory, be hacked in, as is possible in Groove Coaster 2 Original Style.

Item Leftovers#

item.dat, found within tuneFile.pak, like stage_param.dat, also contains additional entries beyond what is specified in its header.

Furthermore, the item icon graphics, located in img4.bin and img_big.bin, also within tuneFile.pak, contain two icons that don't seem to be used at all.

Small	Large	Notes
		A set of lines forming a square. This could have been associated with LEVEL BOOST.
		A set of three converging lines, seemingly associated with GROOVE+. This icon would later be used for FLICK CHANGE in Groove Coaster 2 Original Style.

Unused Text#

sysmes.dat#

The game's text repositories (sysmes.dat, sysmes_en.dat, sysmes_fr.dat, and sysmes_it.dat) contain many unused strings. In the files meant for the localizations, they're all left untranslated.

Localization Note#

At the start of each of these repositories is a string denoting which language is used.

Unused Avatar Effects#

There is string data for three unused avatar effects. Two of these effects would increase the timing windows of the GREAT and COOL judgements, respectively, whereas in the final game, there is only an effect that increases the window of the GOOD judgement, used by the CRAB avatar. The other unused effect would enable the display of "arrange points", which appears to be an earlier name for ad-lib notes, in which case this effect would have been made redundant by the VISIBLE item.

Other#

Skin Entries#

Also within tuneFile.pak is skin.dat, which contains metadata for the gameplay skins and background effects. Like stage_param.dat and item.dat, there are entries from earlier versions of the file beyond the number that is specified by it, a few of which have since been partially overwritten. Notably, some of these entries list earlier, longer descriptions for the skins, as listed below:

Localized Title Strings#

stage_param.dat contains additional title parameters which go unseen. It appears to have been meant for localized text, as is the case in Groove Coaster 2 Original Style. For the most part, they're the same as what it seen, with the different entries being listed below:

Uncompiled Shaders#

At the root of the game's content folder are two uncompiled shader files, labeled Shader.fsh and Shader.vsh. Their contents are as follows:

//
//  Shader.fsh
//  tune
//
//  Created by Mobile on 11/02/23.
//  Copyright 2011 __MyCompanyName__. All rights reserved.
//

varying lowp vec4 colorVarying;

void main()
{
    gl_FragColor = colorVarying;
}

//
//  Shader.vsh
//  tune
//
//  Created by Mobile on 11/02/23.
//  Copyright 2011 __MyCompanyName__. All rights reserved.
//

attribute vec4 position;
attribute vec4 color;

varying vec4 colorVarying;

uniform float translate;

void main()
{
    gl_Position = position;
    gl_Position.y += sin(translate) / 2.0;

    colorVarying = color;
}

Revisional Differences#

Several updates were released throughout the game's lifespan.

v1.0.0 (July 27, 2011)#

The original release.

v1.1.0 (October 3, 2011)#

• Three new songs were added:
  • Base game
    • Just no friend / Shohei Tsuchiya
      (unlockable by clearing Eurythmics Trip)
    • Protocol Signal Generation / COSIO
      (unlockable by clearing Just no friend)
  • Downloadable content
    • Hello 31337 / Ogura Hisayoshi Onga Seisakusho
• The songs Breach of faith and Not get wish received new music tracks with vocals.

• The arrangement of several notes in the NORMAL chart of Revenge of Arkanoid was changed:

:* An AD-LIB note was removed from beat 2.5 of measure 2:

v1.0.0	v1.1.0 onwards

:* An AD-LIB note was added to beat 1.5 of measure 7:

v1.0.0	v1.1.0 onwards

:* Two HIT-2 notes, as well as an AD-LIB, were removed from measures 12/13 and 16/17. Likewise, a few HIT notes were converted to AD-LIBs at measures 14/15 and 18/19.

:* An AD-LIB note was removed from beat 0.5 of measures 20 and 24. Furthermore, the BEAT notes at measures 21 and 23 were converted to standard HITs, and one at beat 1.5 of the former measure was removed as well. Curiously, the length parameters of the former BEAT notes remain in the data.

:* The BEAT notes at beats 2.5 and 3.5 of measures 24 and 26 were removed. Similarly to measures 21 and 23, the first BEAT note at measure 25 was also converted to a standard HIT, while the second one at measure 27 became an AD-LIB.

:* The BEAT note at measure 32 was converted to a standard HIT.

v1.0.0	v1.1.0 onwards

v2.0.0 (December 19, 2011)#

• Five new songs were added:
  • Base game
    • Fess up! / Shohei Tsuchiya
      (unlockable by clearing Protocol Signal Generation)
    • Thrash Beat / COSIO
      (unlockable by clearing Fess up!)
  • Downloadable content
    • Pi-Pi-Pi Music / THE APRILS
    • VISIONNERZ~Genshijin~ / OGR
    • Jingle Bells　-Trance Mix- / Remix by COSIO

v2.0.1 (January 27, 2012)#

• A scoring bug was fixed.
• The SCRATCH note hit detection was adjusted.
• The input detection of the HARD charts for the songs Neptune Diving, Fun-House, Cardiac Rhythm, Space Invaders Infinity Gene Medley, and VISIONNERZ~Genshijin~ was adjusted. Upon inspecting the chart data, the second and third timing window parameters in the metadata region were adjusted:

• The visuals of the song VISIONNERZ~Genshijin~ were adjusted towards the end.

v2.0.2 (August 21, 2012)#

• Minor bug fixes.

v2.0.3 (December 24, 2012)#

• Added compatibility for the iPhone 5 and fifth generation iPod touch devices.

v2.0.4 (July 1, 2015)#

• Minor bug fixes.

Unknown#

• At an unknown point, the quality of all audio files was increased from 22050 Hz to 44100 Hz.
• Some of the game's charts were updated at unknown points:

Play merrily#

• In all charts, the Y angle of the last camera position was changed from -20 to -15.
• A HOLD note at measure 35 beat 2 originally pulled the texture 12 (a small white flash) for its finishing effect, which was changed to 15 (a slightly orange flash).

Revenge of Arkanoid#

• The first timing window parameter was changed in the EASY and NORMAL charts:

• The groove line of the EASY and NORMAL charts was also adjusted, but these changes are extremely minimal.

Neptune Diving#

• In the beginning of all charts, the camera was adjusted so that the player icon is positioned below the title card.
• The groove line of all charts was adjusted, but these changes are extremely minimal.

Fun-House#

• The groove line of the HARD chart was adjusted, but these changes are extremely minimal.

Cardiac Rhythm#

• The groove line of the HARD chart was adjusted, but these changes are extremely minimal.

Spring to mind#

• In the HARD chart, the outro parameter, which marks the time in seconds when all on-screen objects should be hidden, was increased from 90 to 95.

Eurythmics Trip#

• Several HIT notes at measure 20 beats 0 and 1.5, measure 22 beats 1 and 3.5, and measure 23 beat 2.5 were changed to FLICKs. The parameters specific to this type of note, which define its angle and secondary effect, had already been placed.

Space Invaders Infinity Gene Medley#

• The groove line of the HARD chart was adjusted, but these changes are very minimal.

Chart Oddities#

A few of the game's charts have notes with parameters that don't match their type. The listings below exclude notes that use those parameters, but only in a specific difficulty.

Music Plot Type Zero#

Three HIT notes across all charts, placed at measure 19 beat 2, measure 25 beat 0, and measure 26 beat 0, have horizontal angle parameters. The latter two are set to 90, and the first one to 270.

Happy Smiling♪-More Happy Mix-#

All HIT notes except the first one across all charts have their vertical angle parameter set to 90, even though this type of note does not use it.

Eurythmics Trip#

In the NORMAL and HARD charts, the notes at measure 20 beat 2.5 and measure 21 beat 3.5 have their horizontal angle parameters set to 90, as well as their path distance to 1, even though the types of notes placed at those points in the respective charts (HIT notes in NORMAL, and HOLD notes in HARD) don't use them.

Just no friend#

Two HOLD notes across all charts, placed at measure 23 beat 0 and measure 59 beat 0, have horizontal angle parameters, set to 90 and 135 respectively, though this note type does not use it.

Fess up!#

Many regular HIT and HOLD notes across all charts, mainly in the ending section, have horizontal angle parameters.

Pi-Pi-Pi Music#

All HIT notes between measure 12 beat 0 and measure 15 beat 2 across all charts have their vertical angle parameter set to 90, even though this type of note does not use it.

References#