osu!

[KP-X]

So, does anyone here play it? For those that do not know what it is about:

osu! is primarily played using a mouse to click 'beats' displayed on-screen in time with the music. This is analogous to tapping the beats on the Nintendo DS screen with a stylus. At the top of the screen, a health bar is present, which is constantly drained. If the player hits or clears a beat, the health meter at the top of the screen fills slightly. If he misses a beat, a large part of the meter is drained, and if it gets completely empty, he fails the song. There are three types of beats in the game: Hit circles, sliders and spinners. Every time the player hits a hit circle or an end circle, touch a slider tick, or clear a spinner, the combo is raised by 1. If he misses any of the above, the combo is reset back to 0.

A video to ilustrate it:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8tLAa9n6RKc[/youtube]

I'm completely addicted to this game. My favorite beatmaps in it are Mami's Theme and Heaven from Persona 4.

 

[Nick Hunter]

I've been registered for a while, but didn't play online for stats until this spring when I got a good connection at last.
I'm pretty much a noob there. I'm doing fine on easy maps (with one or two S's), but worse on normal... and I think there's only one or two Hard maps I've beaten so far.
I hardly ever force a map either. Normally I play for fun, shuffling through the list and giving each random map a try. But recently I've been working on one map I can't beat, simply because I want to conquer this friggin' thing (it's Normal, but the meter drain rate is SCANDALOUS ).

I'm collecting all anime and video game maps, and I've discovered a bunch of good tracks through it. There's also a whole number of Yuki-related maps. And a lot of skins to use (I'm sticking to the PMMM one ).

Oh, and I'm nhSnork there.

 

[KP-X]

^Adding you as a friend.
I've played Northern Cross from Macross Frontier for quite some time and I STILL can't beat it in normal. It's so...chaotic!
I've improved quite a bit recently, but both my mouse and my mousepad aren't helping me.

 

[joel_jman]

am playing osu! but still not very good at it... in fact i can only finish very easy beatmaps

also am not very good with the use of the mouse since am used to using the touch pad

 

[Kerahna]

waah i played elite beat agents and osu tatakae ouendan on DS but i didnt know there is a computer version i would like to try but it sounds harder!

 

[Pontianak]

I'd also like to try it, but my computer freezes constantly. It looks fun, though.

 

[Nick Hunter]

^ if your computer meets the requirements, then maybe the problem is in the current version? It may be useful to keep trying with newer versions. And if the game does launch, freezing in game... Did you try changing the settings, like switching off most effects for a start?
As to mouses and mousepads, they can really be a problem. The descriptions state that a mouse is easier to play with than a stylus, but it's not very true for me. I've beaten the original OTO on Normal, and while I had to force later levels repeatedly (and the last one seemed true hell despite the fact that I'm quite familiar with the song... I don't even think I could beat that again anytime soon), it was easier to play with the stylus. You move your hand directly and don't depend on cursor sensitivity (which is adjustable, but can be hard to fit). I'll give it to the hardware that it makes spinners easier than on DS, but since I use a batteryless mouse powered via the pad itself... they prove to be harder for me than the DS ones instead.

But while it may sound harder, it's also more fun. There are no funny plot slideshows, but videos and effects can be used. Since it's a fan game, there are tons of fanmade content, and chances of finding your favourite song there are decent. You can make your own maps and skins, too. And it seems like you can request specific themes at the forum (skins, at least; I'm not sure about maps).

 

[joel_jman]

played the elite beat agents...
kinda like the comic and the gag
but am not very familiar with most of the songs...
only knows material girls and sk8er boi

 

[Nick Hunter]

I've gotten back down to it after a long break. Had a try at the map I've been sieging for a couple of months, and still no luck. But it's already breakin' a record in my play statistics:

25 plays - Haru - Summer Shadow (Instrumental) [Normal]

Darn, I'll crack it someday, just you wait...
Then again, with the practice I got in it, I beat a rather quirky (for my noob skills) today, in about 3 tries, when a while back it would have probably taken me dozens of tries. There's something to be said for practice value, sure.

Also, how do add friends there? I clicked "Become Friends" link, but got a page saying merely "no". Not as in "you can't add friends yet blah blah blah", but as in "no" in the top left corner of a completely blank page, as if it was the only part of HTML code present.

 

[Evanthom]

im playing osu too :)
my favorite beatmap is ring a bell by bonnie pink
and mami's theme is my favorite too

still level 17, because i often to play offline,,
but i can handle map with 4,5 star difficulty

oh.. i'm Evanthom too there

 

[Nick Hunter]

oh.. i'm Evanthom too there

found and added as a friend (this option finally works )

Oh, and congrats for unlocking 500 combo achievement. I think it's gonna take me a looooooooooooooooooooooooong while to do the same.

 

[Nick Hunter]

Set myself an avatar and also finally started getting some SS ranks. On easy maps, of course. [insert noob onion here]

I'm constantly reminded just how much the noob in me hates spinners. They've been giving me trouble most of the time, to the point that I'm currently stuck on one EASY map (of all things ) because of its spinners + HM drain better fitted for normal difficulties. And now, after sieging another Easy map, I'm one step from an SS rank and can't advance because of the map's single spinner that seems easy to complete and reacts with "perfect!" message everytime but somehow hits my accuracy rating nonetheless. It's not even ranked "nice" in the end, it's ranked POOR. I've watched the replays but I still can't figure out what's wrong with it...

 

[KP-X]

I'm terrible with spinners because my mouse is horrible. Seriously XD

 

[Nick Hunter]

My mouse is probably not so fitting either (I use a battery-less one that is powered from the pad itself, so it doesn't work away from it, limiting the circling range). But my MAIN problem with spinners, not counting the failed attempts to make proper circular movements at high speeds, is that after moving the mouse so frantically fast I lose track of the cursor. It's no big deal at the end of a section, but if there's a hit circle (or several of them) upcoming RIGHT AFTER the spinner, I'll be sure to miss it. In harder maps, I often skip the spinner in such cases and concentrate on the following pattern. It helps passing the map sometimes (one spinner miss is less painful than a whole consequence you miss while trying to reposition the cursor), but being passive there is near fatal when the HP drain rate's high enough.

Come to think of it, drain rate is another thing Nick the noob could bitch about for hours, since he'd very much rather prefer Normal/Hard maps to give a chance of simple passing with whatever rank. Whereas the drain rate sometimes demands you to play them flawlessly just to reach the end. Make a mistake and you'll have trouble recovering the meter.

And don't even get Nick the noob started on various "James difficulties" and Taiko modes (not the converted ones, but those made specifically and appearing in the Osu mode menu) which apparently require original Taiko drums - I don't see how it's possible to get by with keyboard and mouse in them.

Btw, what standards do you usually set for yourself at the current level? At this time, I usually aim at passing an Easy map with no lower than B rank and a Normal map with no lower than C (I'm happy with passing a Hard map at ANY rank so far ).