Quickstart: your first preset

1. Find your preset directory (see Where preset files live). On Windows that is %APPDATA%\Ritmolux\presets. Both the standalone app and the foobar2000 plugin read this same folder — it is seeded with the curated set on first run.

2. Copy an existing preset as a starting point. swarm_drift.toml (a calm particle swarm) and fragment_whorl.toml (a slow warp field) are the friendliest bases:

   copy swarm_drift.toml   my_first.toml

3. Edit the bindings. Open my_first.toml and change an expression — for example make the beat kick harder:

   system = "swarm"
   name   = "My First"
   
   [params]
   force      = "1.2 + clamp(bass * 20, 0, 4)"
   spin       = "0.3 + clamp(mid * 6, 0, 1.2)"
   burst      = "beat * 9"          # was beat * 5 — a bigger blast on each beat
   hue        = "time * 0.02 + clamp(treb * 4, 0, 1)"
   brightness = "0.6 + clamp(bass * 6, 0, 0.8)"
   size       = "1.0 + beat * 0.6"

4. Save and watch. The standalone app polls the folder every ~150 ms and hot-reloads on any change (no restart). Press Space to cycle to your new preset, or Tab to pick it by name; the window title shows the active preset name and system. If the file has a typo, the app reports it and keeps the last good set — it never crashes on a bad preset.

   In the foobar2000 component the same loop is one click longer, because it has no watcher: right-click → Reload presets, then right-click → Preset ▸ and pick yours. A file with a typo is simply absent from that list.

That is the whole loop: copy, edit an expression, save, pick.

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