Rhythmic Mode
Make the ball play music: every bounce plays the song forward. Every control in the Rhythmic Mode Settings panel, explained.
What Rhythmic Mode Does
In Rhythmic mode a ball bounces inside a ring and the bounces play your song. The notes always play in the song's order, so the tune stays recognisable however the physics behave. This is the format behind the "ball plays a song" videos.
How the bounce and the music fit together depends on two things: the kind of track you pick, and the Music Sync switch.
Rhythmic is the default mode of a new project. Picking it is open on every plan. The Rhythmic Mode Settings panel in the Engine tab unlocks on Lite.
MIDI Files vs Songs
A MIDI file carries note data: which notes play and exactly when. With a MIDI (or one of the built-in tunes), the engine knows when the next note is due, so it can make the ball hit the wall right on that note.
A Song is a plain audio file, like an MP3. It has no note data, so the engine cannot know where the beats are. The ball keeps its own timing, and each bounce plays the next short slice of the song. For a Song, turn Music Sync off and let the ball bounce freely.
| Track type | What each bounce plays | Best Music Sync setting |
|---|---|---|
| Built-in tune or MIDI | The notes due up to the next bounce, at the song's real rhythm | On (bounces land on the beat) |
| Song (audio file) | The next slice of the song | Off (free bounce) |
Music Sync
Music Sync controls only the bounce timing, never which sound plays.
On: the engine steers the ball so every wall hit lands exactly when the next note is due. The song keeps its real tempo and the ball fits itself around it.
Off: the ball bounces with normal physics (gravity, bounciness, speed). The song still plays on every bounce, but the rhythm now follows the ball.
You will find the switch in two places, and they are the same setting: at the top of Rhythmic Mode Settings (Engine on the rail), and as the Music sync add-on under the mode picker in Basics.
Tip
- Several controls below only shape the beat-locked bounce. When Music Sync is off, or the track is a Song, they are hidden: Ball Movement Mode, Sync Offset and Min Bounce Distance.
Settings in Basics
In Basics, the Mode settings tab shows these Rhythmic controls. Each one is the same setting as its twin in the Engine panel below.
| Setting | What it does | Options / range | Default |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ball movement style | How the ball is steered to hit each note (Engine: Ball Movement Mode). | Size + speed, Speed only, Direction only, Curved path | Direction only |
| Playback speed | Song tempo multiplier. | 0.1x to 4x | 1x |
| Orbit size | How far out the ball's path reaches (Engine: Circle Size Multiplier). | 0.5 to 8 | 1 |
| Speed up over time | Makes the song and ball speed up as the clip runs (Engine: Acceleration Mode). | Never, With time, With bounces | Never |
| Keep ball speed independent | Keeps the ball's own speed steady when the song tempo changes (Engine: Decouple Ball Speed). | On / Off | On |
Active Track
Selected Song / MIDI is the track the ball plays. It is the same picker as the one in the Audio tab, so you can choose a built-in tune, one of your uploaded MIDI files, or one of your uploaded Songs. Picking a track here switches Music Sync on. If you picked a Song, switch Music Sync off afterwards (see above).
Tip
- Uploading and managing tracks is covered in the Audio guides.
Ball Movement Mode
Shown only while the bounce is beat-locked (Music Sync on, with a MIDI or built-in tune). The engine has to get the ball to the wall at an exact moment. These options choose what it is allowed to change to make that happen. Pick exactly one.
| Option | What changes | Looks like |
|---|---|---|
| Radius + Speed (Dynamic) | Both the size of the ring the ball bounces in and the ball speed. | The ring breathes in and out with the song. |
| Speed Only (Fixed Radius) | Only the ball speed; the ring size stays fixed. | Steady ring, the ball speeds up and slows down. |
| Direction Only (Fixed Speed) | Only the bounce direction; the speed stays fixed. Default. | Even speed, the angle of each bounce varies. |
| Curved Path (Fixed Radius) | The ball travels in arcs between wall hits. | Swooping curves instead of straight lines. |
Curved Path Settings
These two sliders appear only when Ball Movement Mode is Curved Path. Both are approximate: the beat timing and the ring size always win.
| Setting | What it does | Range | Default |
|---|---|---|---|
| Curve Intensity | How strongly each arc bends. An arc never bends past a half turn, so it cannot loop over itself. | 0.05 to 1 (step 0.05) | 0.3 |
| Curve Path Length | Roughly how far each arc travels before the next wall hit. 0 means automatic from the song timing. | 0 to 800 (step 10) | 0 (auto) |
Sync Controls
Timing controls for the song and the bounce.
| Setting | What it does | Range | Default |
|---|---|---|---|
| Playback Speed | Song tempo. With Decouple Ball Speed off, the ball speed follows it too. | 0.1x to 4x (step 0.1) | 1x |
| Sync Offset (ms) | Shifts the bounce earlier (negative) or later (positive) against the sound, to line up the hit you see with the note you hear. Beat-locked only. | -500 to +500 ms | 0 |
| Decouple Ball Speed | On: the ball keeps its own speed when Playback Speed or acceleration changes the tempo. Off: the ball speeds up with the song. | On / Off | On |
| Play Original Song | Plays the original MIDI as a backing track and silences the per-bounce notes so they do not double up. Not used in 3D modes. | On / Off | Off |
| Min Bounce Spacing (ms) | The shortest time between two bounces. Notes that come sooner still play on time, they just do not get a bounce of their own. Stops a busy song from making the ball frantic. | 0 to 1000 ms (step 10) | 0 (off) |
Physics & Path Constraints
Min Bounce Distance (0 to 400, default 100) is the shortest distance the ball must travel between two wall hits when the bounce is beat-locked. Raise it if the ball makes tiny hops along the wall on fast notes. It is shown only while Music Sync is on with a MIDI or built-in tune.
Ball speed limits are not in this panel. They live in the Physics tab under Ball (Min/Max Speed Limit), and they apply in every mode.
Visualizer Tuning
Controls that make a run build up over time, and the size of the ball's orbit.
| Setting | What it does | Range / options | Default |
|---|---|---|---|
| Acceleration Mode | When the tempo speeds up. TIME BASED speeds up every second, COLLISION BASED speeds up on every bounce. | NONE, TIME BASED, COLLISION BASED | NONE |
| Acceleration Rate | How much the tempo rises each second (time based) or each bounce (collision based). | 0 to 0.5 (step 0.001) | 0.01 |
| Acceleration Factor | Makes the rate itself grow over time, so the speed-up gets steeper toward the end. 0 keeps it steady. | 0 to 0.1 (step 0.001) | 0 |
| Circle Size Multiplier | Scales how far out the ball's bounce path reaches, relative to the arena. | 0.5 to 8 (step 0.1) | 1 |
Tip
- Acceleration speeds up the song tempo. If you only want the song faster, not the ball, keep Decouple Ball Speed on.
Break Lab: Breaking the Ball and the Ring
Break Lab appears in Rhythmic and Rhythmic Drawer. The ball and the outer ring are two separate things that can break, and each has its own trigger. You can also point one at the other: the ring can go the moment the ball breaks, and a ring break can shatter the ball.
Both use the same list of triggers:
| Trigger | When it fires | Needs |
|---|---|---|
| At Its Size Limit | When the ball reaches whichever limit it is heading for: maximum when growing, minimum when shrinking. Default for the ball. | Size growth |
| At Maximum Size | The moment the ball fills the ring. | Size growth |
| At Minimum Size | The moment the ball shrinks to its Minimum Ball Size. | A shrinking run (Timed Size Target, direction Shrink) |
| Once Bigger Than... | As soon as the ball radius passes Break At Ball Size (px). | Size growth |
| Once Smaller Than... | As soon as the ball radius drops under Break At Ball Size (px). | Size change |
| After A Time | After Break After (s), whatever the ball size. | Nothing |
| After N Bounces | After Break After (bounces) wall hits. | Nothing |
| Never | Nothing breaks it. | Nothing |
| When The Ball Breaks (ring only) | The ring goes at the same instant the ball shatters. Default for the ring. | Break The Ball on |
Tip
- If a size trigger can never fire (nothing changes the ball size), the panel shows a warning. Turn on Size Growth or Arena Resizing in the Physics tab under Movement & Growth, or pick After A Time / After N Bounces.
Break Lab: Ball Break Settings
Turn Break The Ball on (it is on by default) and the ball shatters into real pieces that fall under gravity, then the run restarts.
| Setting | What it does | Range / options | Default |
|---|---|---|---|
| Break The Ball | Master switch for the ball break. | On / Off | On |
| Break Trigger | What makes the ball break (see the trigger table). | See above | At Its Size Limit |
| Break After (s) | Shown for After A Time. | 1 to 600 s | 30 |
| Break After (bounces) | Shown for After N Bounces. | 1 to 2000 | 100 |
| Break At Ball Size (px) | Shown for Once Bigger / Smaller Than. | 1 to 800 px | 120 |
| Break Effect Style | How the ball comes apart. | None, Physics Shatter, Glass Shards, Crumble, Pop, Shatter, Particles, Explode (plus library presets when available) | Shatter |
| Break Burst Animation | The wave thrown outward at the moment of the break. | None, or any break animation | Explosion |
| Blast Size (%) | Size of the burst. | 0 to 200 % | 100 |
| Piece Count | How many pieces. Hidden when the style is None. | 2 to 100 | 20 |
| Piece Gravity | How fast pieces fall. Hidden when the style is None. | 0 to 2 (step 0.1) | 0.5 |
| Piece Mode Duration | How long pieces stay on screen, in ms. Hidden when the style is None. | 500 to 10000 ms | 4000 |
| Reset Delay (ms) | Pause after the break before the run restarts. | 500 to 10000 ms | 4000 |
| Sound Source | Built-In sound or one of your Custom uploads for the break. | Built-In, Custom | Built-In |
| MaxSize Sound Effect | The built-in break sound. It plays on every ball break, whatever the trigger. | Sound library | Explosion |
| MaxSize Custom Sound | Your uploaded break sound (when Sound Source is Custom). | Your sounds | None |
Break Lab: Outer Ring Break Settings
Turn Break The Outer Ring on to destroy the rhythmic ring once per run. After it breaks it stops drawing and stops bouncing the ball.
| Setting | What it does | Range / options | Default |
|---|---|---|---|
| Break The Outer Ring | Master switch for the ring break. | On / Off | Off |
| Break Trigger | What makes the ring break. Includes When The Ball Breaks. | See the trigger table | When The Ball Breaks |
| Ring Break Animation | The effect the ring breaks with. | None, or any break animation | Physics Shatter |
| Ring Break Sound | An extra sound for the ring break. Leave on None when the ball break sound already covers the moment. | None or sound library | None |
| What The Ball Does | Shatter: the ball breaks with the ring, using the Ball Break settings, even if its own trigger has not fired. Fly Out: the ball keeps its speed and flies out through the broken ring. | Shatter, Fly Out | Shatter |
| Restart Delay (ms) | Shown for Fly Out: time before the run restarts. | 500 to 15000 ms (step 100) | 4000 |
Tip
- If Break The Ball is off and the ring waits for When The Ball Breaks, neither ever breaks. The panel warns you; give the ring its own trigger.
Recommended Setups
Good starting points. Change one thing at a time from here.
| Goal | Settings |
|---|---|
| Clean "ball plays a song" | A MIDI or built-in tune, Music Sync on, Ball Movement Mode: Direction Only, Min Bounce Spacing 80 to 150 ms for busy songs, one ball. |
| Song that builds to a climax | Acceleration Mode: COLLISION BASED, Acceleration Rate 0.005 to 0.02, Decouple Ball Speed off so the ball speeds up with the song. |
| Swooping, graceful motion | Ball Movement Mode: Curved Path, Curve Intensity 0.3 to 0.5, Curve Path Length 0 (auto). |
| MP3 song clip | Pick the Song, then Music Sync off. Tune the bounce with gravity and bounciness in the Physics tab. |
| Grow and burst payoff | Turn on Size Growth (Physics tab), Break The Ball on with At Its Size Limit, Break The Outer Ring on with When The Ball Breaks, What The Ball Does: Fly Out. |
Common Problems
The fixes for the problems people hit most.
| Problem | Likely cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| The ball bounces frantically on a busy song | Every short note gets its own bounce. | Raise Min Bounce Spacing (ms) to 80 to 150. The notes still play; only the bounces thin out. Or raise Min Bounce Distance. |
| What I hear is slightly off from the hit I see | Audio output delay on your device. | Adjust Sync Offset (ms) in small steps, 10 to 30 ms at a time. |
| The song speeds away from the ball | Acceleration is on and Decouple Ball Speed is on. | Set Acceleration Mode to NONE, or turn Decouple Ball Speed off so the ball keeps up. |
| An MP3 song sounds choppy | A Song has no note data, so the beat-locked bounce cannot find the beats. | Turn Music Sync off. |
| The ball slides along the wall and nothing plays | Usually a MIDI filter (Audio tab) that keeps no notes, or a long silent stretch in the song. | Check MIDI filtering in the Audio tab, pick another track, or trim the silent intro. |
| Ball Movement Mode, Sync Offset or Min Bounce Distance are missing | They only work while the bounce is beat-locked. | Turn Music Sync on and pick a MIDI or built-in tune. |
| The ball never breaks | The break trigger is size based but nothing changes the ball size. | Turn on Size Growth, or switch the trigger to After A Time or After N Bounces. |
| The panel shows a lock | Rhythmic Mode Settings unlock on Lite. | Upgrade, or keep using the mode on its standard settings. |
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