Installation, Updating and Migration Guide

Detailed information on installing and updating the game to the latest version from PTB or other old versions.

Getting Started

Before you begin, please download the latest version for your operating system from the website https://clonehero.net.

Next, determine what version you currently have installed, as the steps to properly migrate may change depending on what version you are on and what Operating System you use. The easiest way to check the version is to open the game and look at the top right of your screen, the version will be listed there.

Note: The launcher has been discontinued and will no longer provide update support or notify if there's been a new version released. The launcher was discontinued with the 1.0 official release, so your use of the launcher necessarily implies that you are on a PTB (Public Test Branch) which was used during development of 1.0.

Installation

Windows

The Windows version of the game uses an installer that has 2 installation options, Typical and Portable installation, and this choice affects where the game will be installed to and where your custom content will be located.

Typical

Typical installation means that the game will be installed to C:\Program Files\Clone Hero and your Songs, Settings.ini, and Custom Content will be located in %USERPROFILE%\Documents\Clone Hero - to access these locations you can simply copy those paths directly into the file explorer navigation bar and press the ENTER key.

Do not move any of these folders, as they become hard-coded into the game during this installation process.

Portable

Portable install allows you to install your game wherever you choose. This is beneficial if you want to put Clone Hero on a removable drive or if you want to keep your custom content contained within the installation directory.

However you must not install the game into a "protected directory." Protected directories include C:\Program Files, C:\Program Files (x86), C:\Users\[Your User]\Downloads, and C:\Users\[Your User]\Documents. We recommend installing to a directory located on another drive or simply in a new folder at the root of your C:\ drive - C:\Clone Hero

If you install to any of the protected directories you game will not function right and you will need to move it.

With a portable install, scores are saved to the GameData folder within the game’s directory, and profiles, settings, and custom content are stored to the PlayerData folder.

Mac

Mac installation involves extracting the game app from the downloaded dmg into the folder you want it to reside in. his will automatically create the required files and folders for songs, custom backgrounds, and highways.

There is no special installation steps beyond this.

Linux

Extract the tar.xz file into a folder. On modern Linux distributions, you should just be able to open the archive and drag and drop the files to where you want them. Doing it this way should avoid needing to open the terminal at all.

If you must use the terminal, then the following commands will allow you to extract into the same folder that the tar.xz was downloaded to:

tar -xf ./clonehero-linux.tar.xz

Older versions of the game require you to adjust the app permissions to have execution rights. The Gnome file manager has the ability to set this by right-clicking on the file and opening its properties.

In the terminal this can by achieved by running the following command within the folder the game files have been extracted to:

chmod +x ./clonehero

Finally, make sure that you have any necessary ALSA extensions for your audio system installed (such as pulseaudio-alsa or pipewire-alsa).

Android

Android installation involves running the latest APK which will initiate the installation process. No further steps are needed.

Updating on Windows

PTB Versions and Launcher

The Windows version now uses an installer, and your Custom and Songs folders, as well as your profiles.ini and settings.ini file, must be moved to a new folder which depends on the install option.

BEFORE UNINSTALLING THE LAUNCHER ON WINDOWS, MAKE SURE YOU MOVE YOUR SONGS, CUSTOM FOLDER, AND SETTINGS OUT OF THE GAME'S FILES! If you do not you will lose them!

You may find the game files by pressing Win + R and typing in %APPDATA%\Clone Hero Launcher\gameFiles or copying the path into your File Explorer navigation bar and pressing the ENTER key.

Once you have located these folders and files in the Launcher, move them to the new custom content location according to where you installed the latest version to. Refer to the above installation section for information on where to move them depending on if you did a Typical or Portable installation.

Version 0.23 and Earlier

Versions 0.23 and earlier involved simply extracting the game data into the folder you wanted it to reside in. In that installation directory also included a Songs and Custom folder. These have now moved according to how you installed version 1.0.

Before removing your old version, move your songs and custom content to the new directory, see the above instructions on where the correct directory is, depending on if you installed using the Typical or Portable method.

Mac Upgrading

To upgrade on Mac, delete the Clone Hero app and extract the new version.

In version 1.0 the folder that holds your Songs, Custom content, and Settings.ini moved. Previously, these files were stored in ~/Library/Application Support/com.srylain.CloneHero and in version 1.0 they are now in ~/Clone Hero. You must move all songs, custom content, and your settings.ini to the new location to preserve your content.

The tilde ~ symbol means "Home Directory." You can reach this location either by using the menu toolbar and selecting Go > Home or by pressing Shift-Command-H

Linux Upgrading

To upgrade on Linux, delete the following files and folders from your existing game folder.

clonehero_Data
clonehero

Then extract the new files into the game folder.

In version 1.0 the folder that holds your Songs, Custom folder, and settings.ini moved. Previously, these files were stored in ~/.config/unity3d/srylain Inc_/Clone Hero and in version 1.0 they are now in ~/.clonehero. You must move all songs, custom content, and your settings.ini to the new location to preserve your content.

The .config and .clonehero folders will be hidden by default, you will need to enable hidden files and folders in your file manager. On Ubuntu Desktop, to see all hidden files in a folder, go to that folder and either press the menu button in the top-right corner of the window and select Show Hidden Files, or press Ctrl + H. In the terminal, you can view hidden files and folders using the ll alias command or using the full ls -alF command.

The tilde ~ symbol means "Home Directory." The Clone Hero directory can be expanded to /home/<your username>/.clonehero

Android Upgrading

To upgrade on Android, download and run the new .apk. If you get an error about package incompatibility, you will need to uninstall the old version and install the new one. Be sure to back up your scores, profiles, settings, etc. beforehand, or else you will lose them!

In version 1.0 the folder that holds your Songs, Custom folder, and settings.ini moved. Previously, these files were stored in ~/storage/emulated/0/Android/data/com.srylain.CloneHero/ and in version 1.0 they are now in Internal Storage > Clone Hero. You must move all songs, custom content, and your settings.ini to the new location to preserve your content.

If you are on Android 11 or later, you will have to use a PC to access the Android > Data folder as this folder became restricted and is inaccessible through your phone's file browser.