Stages [TUTORIAL]: How to make an Ikemen Go stage.

[OldGamer]

Here are the tools you need for the lesson.

• Paint.NET image editor
• Fighter Factory Studio 3.7
• Sprite Resources
• Nightly Build Ikemen Go Software
• ChatGPT for AI CREATIVITY
• Video Game Music Sound Resources
• VS Code for coding your stages
• Video tools converter for Ikemen Go

This is my first text guide on how to make an IkemenGo stage background.
Before you get started with this lesson, keep in mind that everything you're learning from this guide is from experiences. Most of the time, you're going to deal with trials and errors along the way.

WORD OF ADVICE: Don't post your problem or regathering issue in this topic.
For further issues, if you need help, go to our support section and post your help there.
If you have questions about this guide, please send me a private message.

Information for stage backgrounds.
1. Learn to read and understand the Stage00.def that is located in the Ikemen Go's stage folder.
2. Come up with an imagination and idea to create your stage background foundation.
3. You are coding your stage background from Fighter Factory Studios. 3.7 is best to use.

Basic Structure of a Stage​

A stage usually contains:

File Type	Purpose
.def	Main stage configuration
.sff	Sprite file containing graphics
.snd	Optional sound/music
.mp3 / .ogg	Background music

Example: mycity.def, mycity.sff, and mycity.mp3
A common HD stage size today is 1280x720 for Ikemen Go.

Step 2—Slice the background into layers.​

Instead of one huge image, we going to use layer images in PNG format


It's always good to create a split of the image into 4 pieces.
It is always best to have your images in PNG format.
Example:
1. sky.png

2. city.png

3. floor.png

4. fence.png

We call all 4 of these images, which are known to be sprites.
Why do we need 4 sprite images of the layer?
Because Ikemen GO moves layers at different speeds for parallax scrolling.
Example layers:

• Sky goes first
• Buildings goes second
• Floor or Ground goes 3rd
• Foreground fence objects go last.

Step 3—Import 4 sprites into Fighter Factory​

Let Open Fighter Factory Studio
The following basic steps we will be doing are as follows:

1. Create new Stage
2. Import sprites
3. Save as .sff

Get to know and understand how to use Fighter Factory Studio 3.7.
1. In Fighter Factory Studio you get to see these settings. Icons and tabs

2. Start by making a new project. Press the GREEN PLUS ICON BUTTON.
3. A new window will pop up, so choose the empty MugenNEXT box and hit okay.

4. Another window will pop up again, and this time choose stages and hit the finish button.

 

[OldGamer]

Step 4 — Create the Stage from Fighter Factory Studios
Welcome to Def Editor from the FFS

The .def file controls everything.
Let's get to know the setting for Fighter Factory Studio.
What does "DEF" stand for?
"Def" stands for "definition."

BEFORE WE GET INTO CODING.
We need to add the 4 sprites we created, and we need to add them into the Fighter Factory studio.
We included the sky, building, floor, and fence.
How to add first?
The sky goes first.
To add the sky, find the icon person picture box named "Sprites."

This will open the new section of the Fighter Factory. In this section you start to add the sky sprite background.
1. By adding the sky on the far left side of FFS, for short "Fighter Factory Studio," you see a few more icons.

Do you see the white box "PCX" icon?
That icon is where you select to add a new sprite.
Once you click the "PCX" icon, find the Sky Sprite, and another new window will open.

On this window you're only going to focus on one thing, and that's the GROUP and INDEX numbers.
Why do we worry about the group and index number boxes?
Because Ikemen Go needs to read the Sprite File Format, or, for short, the "SFF," in order to read the group and index number data.
SFF is THE SPRITE DATA that Ikemen GO needs to run for the software. All SFF work for characters, stages, system motifs, and life bars.
You can give any number YOU desire for the group and index; for example, we add GROUP 1 and INDEX 0 for the sky.
Once you add the numbers for GROUP 1 and INDEX 0, hit the Okay button.

Now that you know how to add the sprite and give the number for the group and index, take the time and add the rest of the sprite.
As follows:

• The Sky is Group 1, Index 0
• The Building is Group 1, Index 1
• The Floor is Group 1, Index 2
• The Fence is Group 1, Index 3

Here is the sprite in a zip file for you to see how I named the sprite with the group and index numbers to get the idea.
You can use these sprites to follow this guide.
AFTER ALL IS SAID AND DONE, GO TO THE SFF BLUE ICON AND SAVE YOUR STAGE DATA AS MUGEN 1.1 FOR IKEMEN GO.
BE SURE YOU SAVE YOUR WORK AS MUGEN 1.1 AND put your "stage name. SSF" IN THE IKEMEN GO'S STAGE FOLDER.

 

[OldGamer]

Step 5—How to code inside the DEF File​

Here is text information that teaches you to understand the code command setting for the stage background.
[BG x]
type = ? ("Normal"/"Parallax") (def: "normal")
spriteno = ?, ? Sprite group and number: groupno, imgno (req'd)
start = ?, ? Starting location (integer) (def: 0, 0)
delta = ?, ? Change in location per camera unit moved (float) (def: 1,1)
trans = ? Transparency settings: "none"/"add"/"add1"/"sub"/"addalpha" (def: "none")
alpha = ?, ? (only for trans=addalpha) Source, dest alpha (def: 256,0)
mask = ? Masking (int): 0 - off, 1 - on (def: 0)
velocity = ?, ? Velocity: x, y (float): speed background moves (def: 0, 0)
tile = ?, ? Tiling: xtile, ytile (int): 0 - off, 1 - infinite,

FOR MORE FEATURE OF IKEMEN GO
It can be found located here

INFO OF THE STAGE AND CREATOR NAME, ETC.
[Info]
name = "Stage name"; name of the stage.
displayname = "Empty stage"; Name to display
versiondate = 1.0; Version date of stage (MM, DD, YYYY or X.XX)
ikemenversion = 1.0; Version of stage works on (X.XX)
author = "Your name"; Stage author name

Camera starting position: Usually 0 for both
[Camera]
startx = 0
starty = 0


BOUNDHIGH AND BOUNDLEFT SETTINGS
Left and right bound of camera
You may want to fiddle a bit with these values to make sure the background doesn't move too far or too little
bound left = -150
boundright = 150

BOUNDHIGH AND BOUNDLOW
High and low bound of camera
High is a negative number. Make it more negative if you want the camera to be able to move higher.
Low should usually be 0. If omitted, defaults to -25 and 0, respectively.
boundhigh = -22
boundlow = 0

VERTICAL FOLLOW SETTINGS
This is how much the camera will move vertically towards the highest player. Valid values are from 0 to 1. A value of 0 will mean
The camera does not move up at all. A value of 1 will make the camera follow the highest player.
Typically .2 for normal-sized backgrounds. You may need to pull this value up for taller backgrounds.
vertical follow = .2

FLOOR TENSION SETTINGS
The minimum vertical distance the highest player has to be from the floor before the camera starts to move up to follow him. For extremely tall stages, a floor tension of about 20-30 coupled with a
A vertical follow of 0.8 allows the camera to follow the action.
floortension = 0

TENSION SETTINGS
Horizontal distance the player is from the edge before the camera starts to move left or right. Typically 50 or 60.
tension = 60

OVERDRAWHIGH AND OVERDRAWLOW
Number of pixels beyond the top and bottom of the screen that may
"Overdraw" specifies how much can be seen during an overdrawn period.
Pixels will also be used when the screen aspect is taller than the stage aspect.
overdrawhigh = 0
overdraw = 0

CUTHIGH AND CUTLOW
Number of pixels into the top and bottom of the screen that may be
cut from drawing when the screen aspect is shorter than the stage
aspect. These parameters suggest a guideline, and the actual
The number of pixels cut depends on the difference in aspect.
cut height = 35
cutlow = 25

ZOFFSET SETTINGS
In Ikemen GO and M.U.G.E.N., zoffset controls where the ground level is on the screen.
It tells the engine:
This is the Y position where the characters’ feet should stand.

[StageInfo]
zoffset = 200
autoturn = 1; leave this at 1. It makes the players face each other
resetBG = 1; Set the following to 1 to have the background be reset between rounds.
localcoord = 640, 480; width and height of the local coordinate space of the stage.

Horizontal and vertical scaling factors for drawing.
xscale = 1
yscale = 1

[BGDef]
spr = mycity.sff This IS the path location of your stages's SFF
debugbg = 0
HERE IS WHERE YOU ADD THESE CODE SETTINGS.
YOU NEED TO TEXT IN THE DEF INSIDE, FFS.

[BG sky] This is the trigger. Setting command of the stage.
type = normal this is the static image of the sprite set as Normal
spriteno = 1.0 this is the GROUP Number and Index number that read on the SSF
start = 0,0 This is the position Y,X. How you want to move the sprites
delta = .2,1 THIS movement of the stage
mask = 1 This is to make the transparent color background not show when it's set to 1
Always have this set to mask = 1 all the time

[BG building]
type = normal
spriteno = 1.1
start = 0, 0
delta = 0.5, 0.5
mask = 1

[BG floor]
type = normal
spriteno = 1.2
start = 0, 0
delta = 1.1
mask = 1

[BG fence left]
type = normal
spriteno = 1.3
start = 0, 0
delta = 1.1
mask = 1

[BG fence Right]
type = normal
spriteno = 1.4
start = 0, 0
delta = 1.1
mask = 1

​

 

[OldGamer]

Understanding Delta (Very Important)​

Delta controls parallax movement.
Examples:

Delta	Effect
0.2,0.2	Far background
0.5,0.5	Mid-layer
1,1	Normal movement
1.5,1	Foreground faster than camera

Step 6 — Add Music​

All your music sounds for your stages need to be put in the sound folder for Ikemen Go.
Inside DEF:
[Music]
bgmusic = sound/mycity. mp3; this command is the path where the background music is located.
bgmvolume = 100. This controls how high a volume you want your music set.

Because Ikemen GO is MUGEN-compatible, almost all MUGEN stage tutorials still work.

Easiest Beginner Method​

If you’re just starting:

1. Download a simple MUGEN stage
2. Open it in Fighter Factory
3. Study the DEF structure
4. Replace the graphics with your own
5. Test repeatedly

That’s honestly the fastest way to learn the system.