Frequently Asked Questions
Getting Started
Q: How do I get Clone Hero?
Download from http://clonehero.net/download and go through the installation process. A video tutorial of the setup process is available here.
Q: What operating systems does the game support?
A: Windows, Mac, Linux, Android. The download page on the website should automatically detect your OS when you open it. If it doesn't, click "Can't find your operating system?"
Q: Where can I find the Clone Hero Discord server?
A: Here is the invite link.
Q: How can I keep up to date with Clone Hero outside of Discord and this Wiki?
A: There's now a news feed on our website! https://clonehero.net/news/
We also have a Twitter account: https://twitter.com/CloneHero
Q: I am using a PTB version / Old version of Clone Hero. How do I Update?
A: Please refer to our Updating Guide for specifics on how to bring your game to the latest version. Please note that the launcher has been discontinued and no longer works to keep your game up to date.
Q: How can I keep up to date with Clone Hero outside of Discord?
A: This Wiki will be updated alongside the game but we also have, and suggest following, our official Twitter account.
Q: When I go to pick a profile, all I see is "Test", why?
A: If you installed in portable mode, move the game to a more accessible folder, like the root of your C drive. If you didn't, check if you have OneDrive enabled, and disable it if you do. See the Installation Guide for more information.
Songs and Custom Content
Q: How do I add custom songs?
If your chart/song is archived, use a program like 7zip to extract the content. Once you have the files extracted, place them in your Songs folder. Each song/chart must be contained in it's own folder, best practice is to name the folder after the artist and song name.
In portable mode, the Songs folder is in the folder installation. In Typical mode, the Songs folder varies between operating systems:
Windows: %USERPROFILE%\Documents\Clone Hero\Songs
Mac and Linux: ~/Clone Hero/Songs
Android: Internal Storage > Clone Hero
Every time you add more songs, or get rid of some you already had, go to Settings and select Scan Songs.
Q: How do I install a custom background or highway?
A: Please refer to our Custom Content Guide for detailed instructions on adding highways and backgrounds.
Q: What resolution are backgrounds and highways?
A: The game accepts and automatically scales images of any resolution. However, backgrounds look the best when they match your screen's aspect ratio, and highways look the best at a 512x1024 resolution.
Q: How do I play _RB3CON (RB3) songs in Clone Hero?
A: You can convert those charts with C3 CON Tools (use the Phase Shift Converter) or Onyx. A video tutorial is available here.
Q: How do I remove the songs that come default with Clone Hero?
A: The default songs are located in the installation directory of the game in Clone Hero_Data\StreamingAssets\songs folder. These songs are sng format and cannot be edited manually, but you can delete them and rescan your songs using the method above to remove them from your song list.
Q: How do I fix my song's incorrect metadata? / How do I create a song.ini?
A: You can edit metadata by editing the song's song.ini. If the song has a notes.chart, don't modify the metadata inside it, otherwise you will cause problems when it comes to leaderboards and online play. You can copy a song.ini from another song and modify it, or follow our Song INI Guide.
Q: Why are my Phase Shift songs not working?
A: Update to the latest version of the game! Clone Hero can play Phase Shift songs just fine. If you are trying to play a Real Drums chart from PhaseShift, use this tool to convert it to a Pro Drums chart.
Instruments & Controls
Q: What controllers can I use with Clone Hero?
A: See our Guitars, Drums, Controllers section.
Q: What instrument tracks does the game have?
A: Lead Guitar, Rhythm Guitar, Guitar Co-op, Bass Guitar, 6 Fret Guitar/Bass (GH:L), 5-lane Keys and Drums/Pro Drums.
Q: Why does nothing work in the main menu?
A: You need to press Start and select a profile using Strum Up/Down and Green before you can navigate the menus. (Press Space to open the control mapper and view/customize your controls.)
For settings, you press Green to select the option, then use Strum Up/Down to change it, then use Green to confirm your selection. Using a keyboard, Green defaults to the A key.
Q: Why isn’t my Guitar Hero Live guitar connecting?/Why can’t I strum and hold down notes at the same time?
A: Not all Guitar Hero Live dongles work properly on PC without custom drivers. See this spreadsheet for more information about dongle compatibility with various operating systems.
Q: Why can't my controller control Player 2 when Player 1 is using a keyboard?
A: The first controller that's picked up by the game will always be assigned to the Player that also has access to the keyboard (Player 1). In the controls screen, remove the controller from Player 1 and then assign it to another one of the players that doesn't have a controller assigned.
Q: Why do my keyboard controls mapped to Player 2/3/4 not work?
A: This is an issue with the input plugin Clone Hero uses, and cannot be fixed.
Q: Why can't I press certain keys at the same time when using a keyboard?
A: If you're on keyboard and certain key combinations don't work, your keyboard has issues with "Key Rollover" or "Keyboard Ghosting" The only fixes are either rebinding keys in hopes you keyboard will register them, or buying an anti-ghosting keyboard. Learn more from this video.
Q: What are the ports on the side of my guitar?
No, that is not an Ethernet port on your GH guitar, it's an RJ14 port that was meant for a pedal that never got made.
It's possible to make your own pedal that can connect to that port, or alternatively you can get a USB pedal to plug into your PC like this one: https://amzn.to/2K8nSA3
Make sure to map your pedal as Select or Tilt Axis + in the control mapper (use the Keyboard column for USB pedals, and the Controller column if you made a DIY pedal)
Gameplay Features
Q: How do 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 don't see any servers listed, please make sure you are on the latest release.
For details on hosting your own server along please refer to our Online Multiplayer Guide.
Q: How do I enable Hyperspeed?
A: Press start to open your profile settings And change the Note Speed setting. Equivalent to Hyperspeed 5 in the Guitar Hero games would be around 12M and Hyperspeed 4 would be around 10.
Q: How do I use the streamer cutouts?
A: As of v1.0.4080, you don't have to. You can tick the "Allow Transparency" box while adding the game as a source within OBS, and the highway will be automatically cut out as long as you don't have a custom background in-game.
If you still want to, Download Inventor's cutouts and follow this tutorial made by Acai
Q: I have a 144Hz monitor, and my game is stuttering. Help?
A: Try disabling Vsync, turning down the refresh rate of your monitor to 120 or so, and then set the game's framerate to whatever you set your monitor's refresh rate to. That should help.
Q: How do I get a mod to work? (or) My game doesn’t work with mods installed, please help.
A: We can’t support or assist anyone who uses mods for the game. We don’t know what those mods do to the game files and can cause issues with the game. We don’t hate modders, but we cannot assist you if you have mods installed.
Q: What should I set my FPS limit / Poll Rate to in the gameplay settings?
Input detection is based heavily on the framerate that you achieve. Only one note/chord can be hit per frame, and inputs are only polled once per frame. If you are using an XInput (Xbox 360/One) device, the Poll Rate setting in Settings > Gameplay also matters, this controls how fast XInput devices will be polled by the input system (this does not bypass the framerate poll limit, however). You typically want both capped at a multiple of your refresh rate.
How to determine what you should set these to:
Enable the framerate counter and set your framerate to unlimited. Take note of what approximately you get, then find the highest multiple of your refresh rate that is below that number (or second highest multiple if you want more stable FPS). If you exceed 1000 FPS, cap your framerate at ~1000. Anything above that gives you diminishing returns in responsiveness and is usually a waste of resources.
As an example, if you get around 400 FPS uncapped, and you have a 60 Hz monitor, cap at either 360 or 300 FPS.
(Framerate limiting isn't perfect and your actual FPS likely won't match the FPS setting perfectly, this is to be expected.)
Chart Questions
Q: My badsongs.txt says the midi's are broken.
A: You can download Editor on Fire, import the midi file (F6) and then re-save the song. Do make sure after you fixed it, to go into the folder, and delete the extra midi files added to the folder that aren't just "notes.mid". The saving process will also add a few extra files, but all you really need is notes.chart, the song/guitar.ogg, song.ini file and album.png.
Q: Will SGH/TGH support be a thing?
A: No. SGH files are just containers for the PAK files that GH3 uses, and those files are encrypted.
Q: How can I convert songs from .sgh files?
A: Use a tool called GH3toCH made by Goulart. It can extract all your GH3 songs automatically making them usable for CH, but they will not have metadata other than artist and song name. Backup your DATA/PAK folder and follow the instructions in the program's readme.txt. There is also a video tutorial made by Acai.
Q: I imported a non-SGH custom song from Guitar Hero 3, why isn't it showing up?
A: You need to make sure that the .chart file is named notes.chart and that the audio is named song. You can also use multiple audio stems with a GH3 custom, just name them whatever that instrument is like guitar or vocals. Like with all other songs, don't forget to scan them in-game. A more in-depth tutorial is available here.