Preface

This article will cover how to start creating a playskin from scratch. Textures will be provided but the reader is encouraged to use their own and to experiment with their own ideas.

Barebones may imply minimal, but the reader will have a fully functioning playskin by the end of the article.

The following elements will be implemented:

  • Bombs
  • Guage/Lifebar
  • Hit Lighting
  • Judgements & Combo
  • Judgeline
  • Lasers
  • Noteskin

A preview of the skin can be located below:

Outlining

Firstly, create a folder inside of LR2Files\Theme\. We will call our skin Barebones, so we should create the folder LR2Files\Theme\barebones\.

📁LR2Files/
└── 📁Themes/
    └── 📁barebones/

Secondly we need to create a file inside of that folder with the .lr2skin extension. This extension is what LR2 looks for when searching the Themes directory. We will call ours barebones.lr2skin, though the name doesn’t have to match the directory name.

📁LR2Files/
└── 📁Themes/
    └── 📁barebones/
        └── 📝barebones.lr2skin

It is also a good idea to create directories for all of your customization options. Doing so allows you to much more easily manage each part of your skin.

📁LR2Files/
└── 📁Themes/
    └── 📁barebones/
        ├── 📁csv/
        ├── 📁img/
        │   ├── 📁bombs/
        │   ├── 📁guage/
        │   ├── 📁lasers/
        │   ├── 📁notes/
        │   ├── 📁judgeline/
        │   ├── 📁judgements/
        │   └── 📁lighting/
        └── 📝barebones.lr2skin

Creating the .lr2skin file

Inside of our .lr2skin file, we will use the #INFORMATION command to include some general metadata, as well as define options for customizing the skin.

barebones.lr2skin

//#INFORMATION	Type	Title		Author		Thumbnail (optional)
#INFORMATION,0,Barebones,Your Name

//#CUSTOMOPTION	Title	DST_OP	Label
#CUSTOMOPTION,Side,920,1P,2P
//#CUSTOMFILE	Title	path	default
#CUSTOMFILE,Note,LR2Files\Theme\barebones\img\notes\*.png,default

#ENDOFHEADER

#IF,920
#INCLUDE,LR2Files\Theme\barebones\csv\1p.csv

Additionally, it would be prudent to create the csv files and textures.

csv\1p.csv 

#IMAGE	LR2Files\Theme\barebones\img\notes\*.png	//0

//Measure Line (currently not defined to be anything, however lr2 will crash if this is not defined)
//1P index = 0 //2P index = 1
//SRC		(NULL)	gr	x	y	w	h	div_x	div_y	cycle	timer
#SRC_LINE	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	1	0	0
//DST		(NULL)	time	x	y	w	h	acc	a	r	g	b	blend	filter	angle	center	loop	timer	op1	op2	op3
#DST_LINE	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	255	255	255	255	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
#DST_LINE	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	255	255	255	255	0	0	0	0

img\notes\default.png

(Note textures from REMI-S AC)

Notes

Your file structure should look like this

📁LR2Files/
└── 📁Themes/
    └── 📁barebones/
        ├── 📁csv/
            ├── 📝1p.csv
        ├── 📁img/
        │   ├── 📁bombs/
        │   ├── 📁guage/
        │   ├── 📁lasers/
        │   ├── 📁notes/
        │   │   └── 🖼️default.png
        │   ├── 📁judgeline/
        │   ├── 📁judgements/
        │   └── 📁lighting/
        └── 📝barebones.lr2skin

Voila! our skin appears in the LR2 skin selector.\

Skin Selector

Getting Notes to Display

We’ll start by sourcing our normal notes.

csv\1p.csv 

[...]

//Notes										
//Normal Notes										
//SRC_NOTE	index	gr	x	y	w	h	div_x	div_y	cycle	timer
#SRC_NOTE	0	0	0	56	30	6	1	1	0	0
#SRC_NOTE	1	0	31	56	17	6	1	1	0	0
#SRC_NOTE	2	0	49	56	13	6	1	1	0	0
#SRC_NOTE	3	0	31	56	17	6	1	1	0	0
#SRC_NOTE	4	0	49	56	13	6	1	1	0	0
#SRC_NOTE	5	0	31	56	17	6	1	1	0	0
#SRC_NOTE	6	0	49	56	13	6	1	1	0	0
#SRC_NOTE	7	0	31	56	17	6	1	1	0	0

Annoted Notes

Similarly, we will define the our long notes.

csv\1p.csv 

//Long Note Tail										
#SRC_LN_END	0	0	0	80	30	13	1	1	0	0
#SRC_LN_END	1	0	31	80	17	13	1	1	0	0
#SRC_LN_END	2	0	49	80	13	13	1	1	0	0
#SRC_LN_END	3	0	31	80	17	13	1	1	0	0
#SRC_LN_END	4	0	49	80	13	13	1	1	0	0
#SRC_LN_END	5	0	31	80	17	13	1	1	0	0
#SRC_LN_END	6	0	49	80	13	13	1	1	0	0
#SRC_LN_END	7	0	31	80	17	13	1	1	0	0
										
//Long Note Body										
#SRC_LN_BODY	0	0	0	1	30	48	1	1	0	0
#SRC_LN_BODY	1	0	31	1	17	48	1	1	0	0
#SRC_LN_BODY	2	0	49	1	13	48	1	1	0	0
#SRC_LN_BODY	3	0	31	1	17	48	1	1	0	0
#SRC_LN_BODY	4	0	49	1	13	48	1	1	0	0
#SRC_LN_BODY	5	0	31	1	17	48	1	1	0	0
#SRC_LN_BODY	6	0	49	1	13	48	1	1	0	0
#SRC_LN_BODY	7	0	31	1	17	48	1	1	0	0
										
//Long Note Head										
#SRC_LN_START	0	0	0	94	30	13	1	1	0	0
#SRC_LN_START	1	0	31	94	17	13	1	1	0	0
#SRC_LN_START	2	0	49	94	13	13	1	1	0	0
#SRC_LN_START	3	0	31	94	17	13	1	1	0	0
#SRC_LN_START	4	0	49	94	13	13	1	1	0	0
#SRC_LN_START	5	0	31	94	17	13	1	1	0	0
#SRC_LN_START	6	0	49	94	13	13	1	1	0	0
#SRC_LN_START	7	0	31	94	17	13	1	1	0	0

Annoted Notes

We will do the same for mines.

csv\1p.csv 

//Mine										
#SRC_MINE	0	0	0	68	30	6	1	1	0	0
#SRC_MINE	1	0	31	68	17	6	1	1	0	0
#SRC_MINE	2	0	49	68	13	6	1	1	0	0
#SRC_MINE	3	0	31	68	17	6	1	1	0	0
#SRC_MINE	4	0	49	68	13	6	1	1	0	0
#SRC_MINE	5	0	31	68	17	6	1	1	0	0
#SRC_MINE	6	0	49	68	13	6	1	1	0	0
#SRC_MINE	7	0	31	68	17	6	1	1	0	0

And lastly we will repeat this all once more for autoscratch.

csv\1p.csv 

// Auto Scratch										
// Normal Notes										
//SRR_NOTES	index	gr	x	y	w	h	div_x	div_y	cycle	timer
#SRC_AUTO_NOTE	0	0	63	56	30	6	1	1	0	0
										
// Long Note Tail										
#SRC_AUTO_LN_END	0	0	63	80	30	13	1	1	0	0
										
//Long Note Body										
#SRC_AUTO_LN_BODY	0	0	63	1	30	48	1	1	0	0
										
//Long Note Head										
#SRC_AUTO_LN_START	0	0	63	94	30	13	1	1	0	0
										
//Mine										
#SRC_MINE	0	0	63	68	30	6	1	1	0	0

After that, we will go ahead and define the positions our notes are drawn at

// Note Positions																				
//DST_NOTE	index	time	x	y	w	h	acc	a	r	g	b	blend	filter	angle	center	loop	timer	op1	op2	op3
#DST_NOTE	0	0	100	400	30	6	0	255	255	255	255	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
#DST_NOTE	1	0	130	400	17	6	0	255	255	255	255	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
#DST_NOTE	2	0	147	400	13	6	0	255	255	255	255	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
#DST_NOTE	3	0	160	400	17	6	0	255	255	255	255	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
#DST_NOTE	4	0	177	400	13	6	0	255	255	255	255	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
#DST_NOTE	5	0	190	400	17	6	0	255	255	255	255	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
#DST_NOTE	6	0	207	400	13	6	0	255	255	255	255	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
#DST_NOTE	7	0	220	400	17	6	0	255	255	255	255	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

We now have notes drawn to the screen! Notes Drawn