A PC port of beatmania APPEND 5thMIX for the PlayStation, rebuilt from its source code. At start-up it
also imports the songs of GOTTAMIX 2, the first beatmania, its YEBISU MIX append disc and
Best Hits from your own disc images, and draws them in 5thMIX's style.
Where do the other mixes go?
Put the disc images (.bin) in the othermixes folder next to beat5th.exe.
Without them the game runs with the 5thMIX songs only.
Keys
F1 options · F2 buttons · F3 effects (FX) ·
F9 diagnostics · F11 or Alt+Enter fullscreen.
Song select folders
With this many songs the list is split into folders: ALL SONGS, 5THMIX, GOTTAMIX 2, BEATMANIA, YEBISU MIX,
BEST HITS and LEVEL 1-7 (empty ones are skipped). Hold EFFECT (SELECT) and turn the turntable, or press
Q / E on the keyboard. The folder name and its song count sit above the song list,
RANDOM picks from the current folder, and the game remembers the folder until you quit.
How do I move my profile to another PC?
Copy memcard\, options.ini and scores.txt. options.ini holds
your install id, and the site uses that id to recognise you.
Scores and uploads
How do I get on the leaderboards?
Set your Player name in F1 → General, play, then upload scores.txt (it is
next to beat5th.exe) on the Scores page. Upload as often
as you like: only better scores replace what is stored, and an older file never lowers a best.
Why was a line of my file rejected?
The game signs every line. A line that was edited by hand, or that holds numbers the game cannot produce
(for example EX ≠ 2×PG + GR, or more judgments than notes), is rejected. The game itself drops edited
lines too, and keeps a copy of the file as scores.txt.bak.
I changed my player name. Does the site follow?
Yes, from your next upload. You are identified by your install id, not by your name, so your scores stay yours.
What counts as a play?
Every mode except TRAINING and the attract demo. Scores are not saved for a side that had autoplay on at
any moment of the song, and autoplay builds of the game never save scores.
What does A-SCR mean?
The best was played with the game option AUTO TURNTABLE (AutoScratch). It still counts, and the badge
shows it in the rankings, on song select and in the F1 song panel.
EX score, grades and lamps
EX = 2 × JUST GREAT + GREAT, and the maximum is 2 × notes. The grade is your share of that
maximum: AAA ≥ 8/9, AA ≥ 7/9, A ≥ 6/9, B ≥ 5/9, C ≥ 4/9, D ≥ 3/9, E ≥ 2/9.
Lamps are FAILED, CLEAR and FULL COMBO (max combo = every note). In EXPERT the game shows no normal score, so
only EX is stored.
SP and DP?
SP is the 1-player chart. DP is the 2-player chart that 5thMIX uses when both sides play together (not BATTLE).
How timing works
Every key press is measured against the note it is closest to, in frames of the note clock
(59.94 per second, about 16.7 ms each): 0 means the note was on the judge line, a negative number means
early and a positive number means late. A table of six limits then turns that number into a judgment:
JUST GREAT is the centre of the GREAT window: 1 to 2 frames after the note. 5thMIX sits its centre
slightly late on purpose (the source calls it "leaning back").
Too early (left of the BAD window): the press doesn't touch the note at all. It plays its keysound and
the note stays, so you can still hit it.
Too late (right of the BAD window): POOR, and the note is gone. Notes nobody hits are POOR as well.
The windows aren't symmetric. Most charts allow more lateness for GOOD and less earliness.
Does every song have its own timing (like IIDX)?
Yes, and that is one way 5thMIX differs from IIDX. Modern IIDX uses the same windows for every chart.
PlayStation beatmania instead stores the judge table inside each chart: six "set judge range" events at the
start of the chart that replace the game's defaults. That makes it more like a BMS #RANK, decided
per song by its designer.
The site sorts those tables into four judge tiers, and every chart shows its tier.
The first beatmania and YEBISU MIX
Their charts only give the late half of the table; the early limits are left at −1. In 5thMIX's
engine that leaves no early window at all, so every slightly early press was ignored and the note went on to
become a POOR. Continuum Mix fills the early side the same way GOTTAMIX 2 and Best Hits did when they remade
those songs ("Do you love me?", "La Bossanova de Fabienne", "OVERDOSER"): the late limits are mirrored around
the JUST GREAT centre.
Judge tiers: Loose / Normal / Tight / Extreme
Konami's early charts fall into four classic groups. Every chart page shows its tier, worked out from the
chart's own key windows.
Loose 甘判定
Wide GREAT (usually 6 frames or more) and wide GOOD. Typical for slow or tricky songs and specials: Prince on a Star,
PARANOIA MAX, Wonderland.
Normal 標準判定
The 5thMIX standard: about 4-5 frames of GREAT (67-83 ms) and a long BAD tail. Most 5thMIX charts.
Tight 辛判定
Little room around the GREAT: short GOOD and BAD windows, so a small slip is already a BAD or a POOR.
Man Machine Plays Jazz.
Extreme 超辛判定
GREAT collapses completely: it is no wider than the two JUST GREAT frames, so anything not dead on is a
GOOD. Do you love me?, La Bossanova de Fabienne, OVERDOSER - common in the first beatmania.
Charts per tier
Mix
Loose
Normal
Tight
Extreme
5thMIX
41
144
3
0
GOTTAMIX 2
36
34
10
4
beatmania
12
4
6
16
YEBISU MIX
0
4
6
8
Best Hits
12
13
12
9
Extreme = GREAT window of 2 frames or less. Otherwise the tier comes from a leniency score of
GREAT frames + half the GOOD frames + a quarter of the BAD frames: 16 or more is Loose, 10.5 or less is Tight,
anything between is Normal. The tier is for the keys in NORMAL mode. The turntable and EASY are more
lenient, and EXPERT is stricter, by the same amount on every chart.
EASY / EXPERT and the turntable
The chart's table is the starting point. The mode then changes it:
NORMAL: keys as written. The turntable is 2 frames more lenient at every limit.
EASY: every limit 2 frames wider (turntable 3).
EXPERT: GOOD is halved on both sides, and the cut part becomes BAD. GREAT stays the same.
Offset, FAST / SLOW and 120 FPS
Notes feel early or late
In F1 → General, set the Offset (in seconds), or turn on Auto adjust offset. After a
song with 30 or more hits in the GOOD range, it moves the offset by three quarters of your average error.
FAST / SLOW
With Timing info on, every hit that is not a JUST GREAT shows FAST or SLOW under the judgment. The F1
timing panel shows your last and average error in milliseconds.
Does 120 FPS change the timing?
No. Judgments come from the note clock, which always runs at 59.94 per second. 120 FPS only draws the notes
moving more smoothly between those ticks.
Is the music the clock?
Yes. The note clock follows the music you actually hear, so the chart and the song can't drift apart during
a long song.