The MUGEN ARCHIVE FAQ

What's the best MUGEN version?

It really depends what you're looking for. Each installment has pros and cons.
There are three major MUGEN installments : WinMUGEN (early access), MUGEN 1.0 (stable) and MUGEN 1.1 (beta).

WinMUGEN is the early access windows port of MUGEN. It has a large content base because it was around for a decade. It's still a very popular build in Japan and many Japanese content creators still develop specifically for this build. It has a few downsides though. First it can be unstable and crash randomly, especially with memory-heavy content. Secondly, it is limited to standard definition (up to 480p). And finally, it can't run newer creations developed specifically for MUGEN 1.0 or higher.

MUGEN 1.0 is the first stable installment of MUGEN. It doesn't crash randomly and supports many new features, including high definition graphics. It can run most content created for WinMUGEN, not always flawlessly though. This may be the preferred build for competition and for computers which have no GPU acceleration. However it can't run creations developed specifically for the MUGEN 1.1 installment.

MUGEN 1.1 is the latest installment of MUGEN, it is still on beta stage at this time, although it is considered stable enough. It can run most content created for WinMUGEN & MUGEN 1.0, not always flawlessly though. This build introduced modern and advanced features, such as dynamic zoom and true color graphics. This is the preferred build for high end graphics and pure fun, as long as your computer is powerful enough.

IKEMEN Plus is not an official MUGEN version, but rather an open-source MUGEN clone that adds a noticeable new feature : netplay. It is derived from IKEMEN by SUEHIRO. Compared to the original branch, "Plus" is faster and more user-friendly.

How do I install new characters?

1. Tool assisted method
If you don't like editing text files, you may want to try VSelect, a friendly user interface to add characters to your MUGEN roster. Note that it should support any screenpack as long as you select the proper motif.

2. Classic method
You will need to extract them from whatever kind of zip they are in and then, cut the character's folder and paste in the MUGEN folder named "chars". Then, in the MUGEN data folder, you need to open the select.def file with a text editor.

In the select.def file, you will find Kung Fu Man. He will look like this :
KFM, stages/kfm.def

To add the character you just downloaded you would put down that character's name, here is an example.
KFM, stages/kfm.def
Ryu,

That's it, just save the file and your new character should be there when you run MUGEN. This method should work most of the time but may fail with some improperly packaged characters, please check this thread to debug any issue you may encounter

How do I add stages and how do I assign a stage to a character?

Well just like the character you download extract, but instead of leaving the stage in the folder like you do with the character files, you just paste the stages .def and .sff file right into the stages folder.

Then open select.def and scroll down until you see where it says "extra stages". After this line input the stage as follows.
stages/ryustage.def

Now that stage will come up randomly when playing arcade. Buy you also want to know how to assign it to a character. Well it just like this:
KFM, stages/kfm.def
Ryu, stages/ryustage.def

Now when you fight ryu you will fight him at the ryustage.

How do I assign a music to a stage?

You can indeed assign any music to any stage. To do this open the stage's definition file (*.def) in your text editor and search for the following line :
bgmusic =

Simply type the relative path to the music file from your MUGEN folder.

For example, if your MUGEN folder path is C:/games/mugen/ and your music file path is C:/games/mugen/sound/music.mp3 then you would add the music like this :
bgmusic = sound/music.mp3

Another example, if your MUGEN folder path is C:/games/mugen/ and your music file path is C:/games/mugen/stages/music.mp3 then you would add the music like this :
bgmusic = stages/music.mp3

How do I set the order of the characters I fight?

Video tutorial (if you don't like reading) : [MUGEN tutorial] How to set up the arcade order properly

Plain text tutorial :
At the bottom of the select.def file you will see something like this :
arcade.maxmatches = 1,1,1,0,0,0,0,0,0,0

There should be two of these, one for arcade and another one for team arcade.
As you can see there are 10 numbers and you can assign 10 different orders (or tiers) to your characters.
The current setting above is for three matches that follow the order 1, 2, and then 3 and the game is over.

Now let's say you want to fight all your characters randomly then one boss type character at the end. Let's also say you have 10 characters. You can set that like this :
arcade.maxmatches = 9,1,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0

This would cause you to fight randomly 9 characters which have the attribute order=1 and fight 1 boss type character which has the attribute order=2 then the game would be over.

Now you will need to add the order attributes to the characters and this is how :
KFM, stages/kfm.def, order=1
Ryu, stages/ryustage.def, order=2

In the above setting, this would cause KFM to be among the nine characters you fight at order=1 and Ryu to be your boss type character.

Note that you can set the order attribute all the way up to 10 which is the limit.
If no value is assigned, the character will automatically be assigned an order value of 1.

Note also that the order is the second character attribute after the stage, so it needs to be preceded by two comas.
So the following setting is incorrect and will not work properly because one coma is missing :
Ryu, order=2
This is the correct syntax :
Ryu, , order=2
or
Ryu, stages/ryustage.def, order=2

There is also a special attribute order=0 which will cause a character to be banned from the arcade encounters. For example :
BannedChar, , order=0

How do I get my joystick to work?

Start MUGEN, go to options and configure your joysticks.
The configuration is not saved automatically, so save manually if needed.

What is a screenpack?

A screenpack (also called motif) is basically a skin, a custom set of graphics and sounds that define the look and feel of your MUGEN. Among the screens that can be modified : intro, title screen, character select, vs announcer, etc...

One of its most interesting features is the customized select screen, which can expand the number of slots available in your roster to dozens, hundreds or even thousands.

MUGEN comes with a default screenpack but you can install one of the many available on the internet.

How do I install a screenpack?

You can refer to this tutorial by Matmut : how to install a new screenpack for MUGEN
If that sounds too complicated, feel free to use our popular pre-installed MUGEN Fighting Jam screenpack !

I am having trouble with configuring my mugen. Where do I need to post to get my questions answered?

The Configuration Help board is where you should post to get your questions on how to configure MUGEN answered.

I am interested in MUGEN development and creation. Where can I find some tips to get me started?

There are tutorials in a folder called "docs" within your mugen folder. Check out the tutorials to get some basic character creation tips. Be sure to check the files called air.html, cns.html, sctrls.html and trigger.html to learn the basics of mugen creation. There is a four part tutorial that shows how to make a basic character.
You can also find additional tutorials and resources on our Development Tutorials and Resources directory.

I am having a few problems with MUGEN creation. Where should I go to find a solution to my problem?

They say the solution usually exists within the problem domain. Alternatively, you can check out the Development Help board and ask a question there, but endeavor to solve problems on your own.