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Common Issues

Performance Issues

There are some common performance issues that have different workarounds and solutions.

Laptops with Nvidia GPUs

Some laptops with Nvidia GPUs can have performance issues with a hardware feature called Nvidia Optimus. Typically on these laptops your framerate may be limited to around 300-500fps. The only known way to resolve this is by connecting the laptop to an external display, which usually bypasses Optimus and connects directly to the Nvidia GPU.

Intel Integrated Graphics

Integrated graphics are not particularly powerful. Devices with integrated graphics can usually run the game fine, but you’ll be limited to lower framerates such as 60 or 120 FPS. The best solution to increase framerates here is to reduce the game resolution to something like 720p.

Other

There are a number of settings you can tweak to try and get better performance out of the game, including renderer, particles, and Star Power effects.

Custom Content

Custom highways and backgrounds can be named whatever you want, but they must be placed in their respective folders in the Custom folder. You must press Scan Custom Images in Settings > Gameplay in-game after adding anything.

Song doesn’t show up

If a song doesn’t show up after scanning songs, most likely it was scanned as a bad song. CH will create a badsongs.txt file if it detects any bad songs, which specifies why the song could not be loaded and also contains other warnings directed towards charters.

Common causes for bad songs include:

  • Missing or misnamed files, it must contain at least the following:
    • an audio file (typically song.ogg or guitar.ogg)
    • a chart file (notes.mid or notes.chart)
    • a song.ini that contains the song metadata
  • Broken or corrupt files
  • Missing song/artist name in the song.ini

Song metadata is mixed up or broken

If you ever find that your songs have had all their metadata scrambled around, or are otherwise having issues involving song scanning or metadata, try deleting your song cache from the external data folder and then rescanning songs.

“Couldn’t load that song!” / Stuck on a black screen after selecting a song

If your songs are in a different location from when you scanned them in, the game won’t be able to load them until you rescan your songs in Settings > General.

Song is out of sync

If a song doesn't start on time (meaning the notes aren't synced to the music), you may need to set an offset for the song. Most songs won't require an offset (make sure you calibrate your audio/video lag correctly in the settings menu), but if they do, you can set their offset in the pause menu in Song Options.

Song ends early

If a song ends early, either the audio is named wrong/missing, or the chart has a stray end event that shouldn’t be there. You can fix the latter case by pausing and going to Song Options, then disabling End Events.

No notes show up

If no notes are showing up but the game is otherwise still working correctly (the highway is scrolling, music is playing), then you're probably playing a chart that doesn't have any instruments charted for the controller type you’re using.

Image/video doesn’t show up

If an image isn’t showing up, or a video isn't playing, it may be a format CH doesn’t support.

An image must be one of the following formats:

  • .png
  • .jpg/.jpeg

A video must be one of the following formats:

  • Windows: .mp4 (x264-encoded), .avi, .webm (VP8-encoded), .ogv, .mpeg. x265/HEVC-encoded .mp4 works if you have the HEVC codecs installed.
  • Mac: .mp4 (x264- or x265-encoded), .avi, .webm (VP8-encoded), .ogv, .mpeg.
  • Linux: .webm (VP8), .ogv.

Note that .mp4 can have problems, so .webm is recommended. See this pastebin for details.

Controllers

Controller not registering

If you are unable to assign/map your controller, it’s possible that your controller doesn’t work with your OS.


On Windows, press Win + R and type in joy.cpl, then press enter. Your controller should be listed. If it is, double click it to test all of the inputs. If your controller is not listed, then it won’t work without either drivers or maintenance (such as replacing a bad cable).


On Mac or Linux, or if joy.cpl is being difficult on Windows, use the Gamepad Tester website to check your inputs.

On Linux, you can also use the jstest command in a terminal.


On Windows, if your controller or keyboard doesn’t work after mapping buttons, you may need to clear the mappings from the system registry.

  1. Press Windows key + R and type in regedit
  2. Navigate to Computer\HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\srylain Inc.
  3. Right click on the Clone Hero folder and press delete.
  4. Run Clone Hero again, map your controls, and everything should be good to go.

Do NOT touch anything else in the registry, or else you WILL screw up your computer!

Game Settings

Volume

If the volume settings don't appear to be working, make sure you are setting the correct volume settings for the audio tracks that the song has. For example, if a song only has a song.ogg audio file, the instrument volumes won't do anything, while the Song volume will.

Missing Menu Text on Windows

If the menu text is missing when you start up the game, or if your songs aren’t scanning, you’ve likely installed Clone Hero to a location that has improper file permissions (such as Program Files or Downloads), and you’ll need to move it somewhere else that doesn’t require special permissions (such as C:\Games).

Questions, Comments, Additional Support

Have any questions or feedback? Feel free to ask in the Clone Hero discord server!

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