Addy Mills's Site

Custom Song Tools

My Own

Here are guides and links to tools I have developed or are developing. My GitHub is linked at the top.

The guide below is for the old Python toolkit. Kept here for preservation:

Harmonix

There are the tools that can be used with Harmonix-style games.

  • GHTools – A collection of tools for Harmonix Guitar Hero games. Not all are used anymore, but they are good to have for historical purposes (except for Guitar Hero Explorer as I mention in my Building Clean Audio guide). The tools included are:
    • Apache – Apache is a tool to create ISO files from an IML file generated by CDVDgen. It can also be used to extract dual-layer ISO files. Both Apache 2 and Apache 3 are included, but they both do the same thing.
    • ArkTool by xorloser – A tool to explore and replace ARK files without extracting them. It supports on-the-fly encryption and decryption of files (and even song files up to a certain point).
    • CDVDgen – An official tool used by Sony to create Playstation 2 (PS2) master discs. It allows you to add files to a project and export to an IML file which can be processed by Apache and create an ISO you can burn to a disc or transfer to a PS2 hard drive.
    • Chart2Mid2Chart – A tool to convert between the chart format and a midi file. Useful if you’d like to create customs the old-fashioned way, or for converting old customs to a mid file.
    • FeedBack – The original tool to make custom charts. A full GUI program that allows you to tempo map and author songs. It exports files into a chart format, which combined with Chart2Mid2Chart, allows you to insert the file into the game. More modern methods are available these days, however.
    • Gh2MakerXBox – A GUI tool for making GH2 customs for the Xbox 360.
    • GH360 – Another GUI tool for making Xbox 360 customs
    • isoextract – A tool for extracting files from an Xbox 360 ISO file. Very useful as programs like 7zip or WinRAR cannot do this.
    • midishrink – A tool to shrink your MIDI files. Used for saving space, or for longer songs if a default MIDI file is too large.
    • MiloExplorer – A GUI program for viewing inside milo files. Milo files are a proprietary file format by Harmonix used for storing data other than audio, text, or scripts.
    • PSS Plex – A program to modify PSS video files.
    • RockAudio – Found inside the Rock Band PS2 (and Rocklib) folder, this tool allows you to create the best form of VGS audio file for your Guitar Hero customs.
    • wxPirs – A tool for allowing you view and extract Xbox 360 DLC files.
    • Various other tools – Check them out for a look into the 2007 customs scene.
  • Guitar Hero Explorer – The original way to make Guitar Hero and Guitar Hero II customs. Using this tool is not supported. Not by me, nor by anyone in MiloHax. This link solely exists for historical purposes (or if you want to try and build a custom the 2007 way)

Other Tools

Other tools exist that aren’t specifically built for customs, but provide a ton of utility:

  • Reaper – A Digital Audio Workstation (DAW) used for making MIDI files that can run inside the game. This is the tool that Harmonix has used since at least Rock Band 2 for creating songs. It being a DAW, it can also be used to manipulate and create audio for use in the game. I personally always use the latest version of the program, which can be found on the homepage. However, a subset of charters swear by version 4.22, despite being over 10 years old at this point. If you’re just getting started, give the older version a try, as it is the version that most comfortably supports Harmonix’s plugins for Reaper.