Frequently Asked Questions
Answers to frequently asked questions can be found here.
Getting Started
Q: Where can Clone Hero be downloaded?
A: http://clonehero.net/download
Q: How do I install Clone Hero?
A: Here's a tutorial made by Acai that goes over the majority of the setup process on Windows.
Q: Why can't I do anything after starting the game?
A: You need to press Start and select a profile using Up/Down and Green before you can navigate the menus. This works the same way regardless of whether you're using a keyboard or a controller.
You can press space to view which keys are assigned to these buttons, and, optionally, reassign them yourself.
Q: How do I install custom songs?
A: Extract them into the Songs folder, then select Scan Songs at the top of the in-game settings.
The Song folder's location will depend on your OS and install type, but you can find it easily by selecting the Open Default Songs Folder button at the top of General settings.
Alternatively, you can set up your own folder by selecting Manage Song Paths in the same settings menu.
Every time you add more songs, or get rid of some you already had, go into the in-game Settings and select Scan Songs.
Q: How can I play online?
A: v1 of Clone Hero introduced pre-made public servers, which means all you have to do to play online is select Join Server in the online menu! Public servers can also be password-locked and configured just like custom ones, type \help in the in-game chat for more info.
If you still want to host your own server, follow this guide.
Q: Why is my game is showing three black and white notes instead of the usual Guitar Hero layout?
A: Press Start at the main menu and change the Controller setting to 5 Fret Guitar.
Q: The game registers that I'm pressing buttons but I'm unable to hit the notes. Is this a bug?
A: By default, Clone Hero functions like Guitar Hero, meaning certain notes need to be strummed with the up/down buttons you used to navigate the menus. See the How to Play page for a detailed overview of every note type.
If you don't want to strum, enable the All Taps modifier by selecting Change Modifiers after selecting a song.
If you're using a basic gamepad, you can enable Gamepad Mode in the profile menu instead.
Songs and Custom Content
Q: How do I install backgrounds and highways?
A: See the Custom Content page.
Q: How do I play _RB3CON (RB3) songs in Clone Hero?
A: You can convert them using the YARG/CH/PS converter within C3 Con Tools or a program called Onyx.⠀
Q: I downloaded a Guitar Hero 3 custom song and it contains the right files, but it doesn't work in Clone Hero. What do I do?
A: Some files need to be removed and/or renamed. See this pastebin for more info.
Q: My song has incorrect metadata, or the song.ini file is missing. What do I do?
A: You can edit metadata by editing a song's song.ini file with a text editor.
If the file is missing, you can copy a song.ini from another song and modify it, or follow this guide to create your own.
If the song has a notes.chart file, it likely already contains the metadata, and all you need to do is scan songs.
Q: How can I convert .sgh song packs from Guitar Hero 3?
A: Use a tool called GH3toCH to extract all songs out of a .sgh file and convert them to a format Clone Hero can read. A video tutorial is available here.
Instruments & Controls
Q: What controllers can I use in Clone Hero?
A: If your PC can read the controller's inputs, it will work. However, some controllers need custom programs or drivers to achieve that.
This section has all the information you should need in regards to first party Guitar Hero and Rock Band instruments.
A spreadsheet variant of the same information is available here.
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Q: What playable instrument tracks does Clone Hero have?
A: 5 Fret Guitar and its various track types, 6 Fret Guitar and its various track types, 4-lane Drums, and Pro Drums.
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Q: Can I use my electronic drum kit in Clone Hero?
A: Yes. See this page for a mapping guide.
Q: Why does my electronic drum kit not appear in the Input Device list? All I see is <None>.
A: <None> in the Input Device list within the MIDI settings simply means that no device has been selected. It does not mean your kit is unavailable.
When you see <None>, press the up/down arrows on your keyboard to scroll through available options, then press the key assigned to Green to confirm your selection.
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Q: Why can't I strum while holding a fret on my Guitar Hero Live guitar? / Why do the White 2 and 3 buttons not work?
A: Not all Guitar Hero Live dongles work properly on PC without custom drives and programs. See the this spreadsheet for more info.
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Q: Why can't I map the strum bar and the whammy bar separately on my PS2 guitar?
A: Default Windows controller drivers often assign them to the same axis. See this page for potential solutions.
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Q: Why is my guitar performing multiple actions after a single button press? / Why is my guitar controlling my desktop?
A: Both of these issues can be caused by Steam. Either exit Steam while playing the game, or disable the various support options within Steam's controller settings.
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Q: How can I use multiple controllers to play local multiplayer?
A: Press Space at the main menu and assign each controller to a separate player.
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Q: Why can't I press certain keys together while using a keyboard?
A: This is known as "keyboard ghosting", which is a hardware limitation that prevents multiple keystrokes being registered at the same time. The only solutions are remapping your controls in hopes that you can find a combination which registers correctly, or buying a keyboard with n-key rollover.
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Q: I mapped my keyboard to Player 2/3/4, but it still controls Player 1, why is that?
A: This is a limitation of the input engine, which cannot be fixed.
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Q: A guitar I bought functions like a keyboard. How do I use it in-game?
A: Map it in the Keyboard column of the controls menu. Due to the limitation mentioned above, you will only be able to use one of these guitars at a time.
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Q: Are there plans for vocals or any other instruments?
A: Clone Hero entered Long Term Support with the release of version 1.0.4080. Any new major features, such as new instruments, are not planned.
Miscellaneous⠀
Q: How do I cut out the highway when streaming the game?
A: If you're using OBS, all you need to do is check the Allow Transparency box while adding the game via Game Capture. If this isn't an option, you can find custom cutouts here, and a video tutorial for using them here.
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Q: I have a 144Hz monitor and my game is stuttering, what can I do?
A: Here are some things you can try:
- Disable Vsync and try setting the in-game framerate to a multiple of your monitor's refresh rate.
- Try a different graphics API option at the top of the video settings.
- Lower your monitor's refresh rate to 60hz while playing.
- If you're using multiple monitors, you can try matching their refresh rates, or disabling all but one of them.
Common Issues & Bugs
Q: Why can't I map the RT/LT or R2/L2 buttons on my controller?
A: This is a bug with the 1.0.4080 version of the game. See the this page for available options.
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Q: My profile menu is blank or filled with "Test" options, what can I do?
A: This is caused by insufficient permissions or a third party program, like OneDrive, messing with the default game directories. Try running the game as admin, and if that doesn't help, follow this guide.
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Q: Why can't I see the online servers?
A: Your game needs to be up to date. If it is, you can try adding the game's executable to the allowed program list within your firewall.
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Q: Why does my highway slow down and speed up?
A: This can be caused by various audio performance issues, but can most often be solved by disabling Whammy SFX in the game's audio settings.