I've been recommended o2jam converts mapped by Glenn Joseph, those seem to be good quality so far Except SV changes are done with redlines and I can't see notes under all those horizontal lines x_x I guess I should disable those for converts..

Yeah, the way o2jam's song format works, there's no way to properly use inherited sections. You'd have to figure out how to tell the difference between a speed change that's for effect, and one that's a legitimate speed change in the song. I'm not sure why the lines would be hiding the notes though, I actually prefer the use of uninherited sections because osu tells you the BPM range, most common BPM, and you get visual cues based on measure lines when you play the song, so you always know there are speed changes, and can read them easier when playing (assuming the measure lines don't cover your notes).

Glad you're enjoying GJ's maps. Rubythespamer/Apenix, yumel the lightbringer and FF Ken Yu all have some maps at lower levels as well (and are all pretty good quality), though I think they all have fewer low level difficulties then GJ has. Kuliner also has good low level diffs (on the ones I have ed, his easy diffs range from level 5 to level 13, and normals 15 to 24)

It's hard to play like that x_x And in motion there's several copies of each line because I can't afford a 180Hz screen

And I'm not *that* bad, I play level 20-25 now

hm I've always liked how the converts did that with the beat lines for purpose of sightreading SVs. And very few ETs play on anything higher than 60hz, shouldn't come as a problem (though getting would certainly be a good thing haha)

The lines definitely help me sightread SVs. And doubled lines aren't that bad. I get "ghost" notes at high scroll speeds, which are harder to read.

For the names "Runningman" and "Trilling Stairs", why not use the names "Trees" or "Ladders"

I picked up both when I used to play Guitar Hero more often than not.

A ladder is exactly what the trilling stairs is portrayed as, and can work both ascending and descending.
A tree is typically a three note stair (I.E. 1 2 3 2 1 2 3 2 1), but I feel like either that name would fit better than running man.

Anyways, great guide. I read this at school when I had free time and I now know what I should work on exactly.

I don't understand why this isn't sticked yet... It's pretty much essential reading for anyone willing to take up this mode. It's much more important than videos of someone playing.

Agreed. this really should be stickied.

This helped me find maps, +1 for sticky. Plus the patterns section is wonderful.

Thanks for the positive ! I'm just glad to be of help ^^

New section added -> Fine-tuning mania to suite your hit-timings

I encourage everyone to give what ever they may have in hopes to improve this guide for everyone o/

always play in 7K. then the lower keys will come at you naturally.

I've been an o2jam player for a while, and stopped for about a year or two. despite never playing 4K 5K 6K, I can "read" them just fine.

My problem is there's little available ranked maps meant for Mania. and they're not physically as tiring as its STD counterpart. I've lost some chunks of skills due to this.

What about 8k? 9k? 12k?? 16k???? D:

jubeat D: ??? ARCADE GAME D: !?!??!

Thanks for the timing part Drace, I'll see how mine turns out when playing on my mech (I could do it with my lappy's kb but it randomly lags when ing keys...).

I must be a freak of nature. I can notice offsets that are off by a few ms (like 2-3ms off) with an unstable rate that's almost always above 200 <_<

I've been playing rhythm games for like... since I'm... 12? 11? I'm almost 20 now. Left O2jam after starting for almost a year, and then somewhere at 16 I think I started playing BMIIDX (Actually LR2 but just the same thing). In Double Mode. On a keyboard. Gosh it was hard. I never knew it could actually be done. Nowadays I play both games, more inclined on BMIIDX since it just feels like a more challenging game (16keys ftw).

Thing is that I constantly felt as if I'm reaching my own skill cap, and there's not much room for improvement, months of playing, maybe almost a year, and I'm still at the same place as before, I improve in only some songs, but there are just some patterns that won't cut it for me. It could possibly come from me not having an expanded list of songs that I was able to play with LR2 because there's not much songs for that game anymore. I haven't even seen anyone who would play it like I do since I first started. But then who knows, I just started out playing osu! again because of the mania mode, see how it works when I try out all the cool stuff. P*light is awesome btw.

Now I have to say that your body condition actually plays a huge role in performance, well at least for me. There are some times that I just felt like my fingers aren't going as I wanted them to, but then there are some times, where everything.... just goes so smoothly. I could play a lot of songs and pull off strings of melodies I never knew I could. My laptop does lag out a few times making me break combos, but that doesn't happen so often, I just wait it out and retry so it's kind of fine.


What's jackhammering anyway? Edit: Ah just read the Advanced section, I see. I'm probably around the Novice -> Advanced borderline. I thought you meant something as hammering your feet down according to the rhythm and play along. I do it a lot when I like the song, and a few times I'd stop playing just because my feet was so tired.

It's pretty common to hit these so called "skill walls". To me and many others improvements in the upper levels has been done in small bursts. Feels like you're capped out for a couple months then bam, magical day where you beat everything. Constant improvement for a couple days until you hit your next wall, rinse and repeat.

Personally, I don't like "sticking around" in areas I don't see much improvement. Like if there's a handful of songs I can't beat my top anymore on, time for new songs. If I can't clear anything harder than I already have, I'll go back to easier stuff and aim for full combos. When I can't full combo anything harder than I already have, I move on to the mid-range, trying to ace songs I have Bs on, trying to S songs I have A on. When I hit a wall in bms, I move on to LNs. I bounce around my whole "skill spectrum" and usually when I get back to where I started, there's enough improvement in me to push a little further.

An other good thing to have is motivation, simply saying you want to be better at times isn't enough to push yourself to sur your own abilities. I've seen people improve much faster when they set "achievable" goals one after the other; "Alright this week I'll S this bad boy...!!". Or two people of the same level range acting like rivals can really fuel up greatly fastened improvement.

All in all, just keep a positive attitude and play for fun. The wall you're facing is bound to crumble eventually!

Entozer wrote: 486d5j

TRUST. BELIEVE. SUCCEEDED

Omg Drace I'll try that.

Alright this week I'll S this bad boy...!!

yup

-Hazelnut wrote: 3n5h4p

Alright this week I'll S this bad boy...!!

me too! D:

Umm I have a question
Why can I only get 300 on the short notes, but not on the long notes?
I can almost never get 300 on them, usually 100 or 200, or worst, 50
Short notes:

Long notes:

I think I pressed the keys at the right time for the long one, but it turned out I didn't. I don't know when to press

You need to release them at the right time too ^^

What's the difference between normal 300 points and rainbow coloured 300 points? how do i get them?

Basically 300g/MAX/rainbow 300s gives slightly more points than normal 300 and increases the bonus score twice faster than normal 300s.
OD doesn't affect the timing needed to get a rainbow 300, meaning that no matter the OD you need the same accuracy to get one.

16ms ? Wow, i get way more pgreat in IIDX than 300g here.
Weird.

Nice table though, thanks for bringing it

is there a best way to set up keys

Linear,diagonally or something like that?

up to you, well...

iGod wrote: v2p5

is there a best way to set up keys

Linear,diagonally or something like that?

There is no best way of setting up keys. It's all preferences.

Even the most awkward of setups can workout in the end with a little work. Just use w/e you like ^^

So I am at a point where I am trying to power through a wall, and the way that I am doing that is by playing 10 songs that are almost unplayable, but not quite, with "no fail" on. I am seeing improvement, but there are still moments when I have no idea what is happening. Will this method work for improving or am I going about it the wrong way.

lolpoi wrote: 18e1m

So I am at a point where I am trying to power through a wall, and the way that I am doing that is by playing 10 songs that are almost unplayable, but not quite, with "no fail" on. I am seeing improvement, but there are still moments when I have no idea what is happening. Will this method work for improving or am I going about it the wrong way.

If by nearly unplayable you mean that you spam most of the time and have no idea what's going on, you will probably not learn much from it. If it means you can read the notes to a certain degree but not quite hit them at the right time/with good accuracy then it'll probably work.

I try to play maps that I high C or get low B:s on to improve.

What about songs that I get mid to high d on?

lolpoi wrote: 18e1m

What about songs that I get mid to high d on?

That probably means you're spamming like crazy and have no real idea what's going on, so I wouldn't play those songs.

Thanks for the help.

Play everything

-Try to SS songs you can FC
-Try to FC songs you can S
-Try to S songs you can A
-Try to A songs you can B
-Try to B songs you can C
-Try to C songs you can D

They'll all train diffrent aspects of skills and all of them will prove to be usefull in overall improvement.

Limiting yourself to a couple songs is a bad idea unless your goal is memorization.

And from my experiences, sticking in the same difficulty range results in slower and unstable improvements.

All in all, just play for fun with no real training mindset and it all happens naturally, mostly heh

As newbie, I think it's good to focus on rough reading for a while, forget about accuracy. Go for D/C/B.
Once you're a few months in though and can clear some of the MX/Insane/etc songs (~lvl 25-35 o2jam level), I would focus on A/S/FC/SS (od8+), in my personal experience once you get to a certain level you have to start reading more accurately instead of just figuring out the rough shape of the patterns. Anything lower leads for me to bad habits. This may be a bit different for everyone though.

Why doesn't the different keys mod work on some songs?

Like I will have the mod on 7k but the song will still be 4k

iGod wrote: v2p5

Why doesn't the different keys mod work on some songs?

Like I will have the mod on 7k but the song will still be 4k

It's just how the certain map is made. Some will allow n-key, some won't. Just depends. If you are playing an auto-convert, those will always be able to be n-key.

Only autoconverts can use key mods, mapped songs aren't compatible at all.

Thanks a lot for the guide. Fine-tuning section finally solved my month-long accuracy problems

where is the xK.ini file?

Go to the 'Skins' folder in the osu! root directory (e.g. 'Program Files\osu!') and enter the folder of the skin you're using. If xk.ini files aren't present, you'll need to make them. The wiki has a few notes on the files: https://osu-ppy-sh.jeuxcrack.net/wiki/Osu!mania#Skin

I would point you to my skin's files as an example, but I haven't updated it yet. If you have any osu!mania skins, you could check the syntax of the xk.ini files - or copy them over to your current skin and modify them how you like.


EDIT: this guide looks seriously in-depth! t/203554

Wow, that timing offset section made my life 159% better. Thank you so much for the tips, my accuracy isn't complete horse shit anymore.

Thanks a bunch for the guide

The only thing I've learned from this that I am still a beginner

Tried an ET song... Got a B,
I put no fail on just incase.

Does anyone know how I can work on improving my vertical reading? My fingers have the dexterity now to do well on level 15 sound voltex songs and even the MX/SC difficulties of Aiae. I've ed all of them, but I can't hold my streams together well. What's the best way to improve besides practicing those specific songs?

The reading methods, like I explained earlier, isn't something someone directly "practices". It's just the indirect outcome of improvement. It's merely an attempt to explain how we process pattern recognition during gameplay.

As for your issue, they're completely normal. It's just a certain lack of experience and really any sort of practice will be able to give you what you lack at this point. Just keep playing like you always were and come back to that song later and you'll do a little better on it eventually. Boring answer, I know, but it's how these games works haha.

I really think this was helpful to me, especially the thing that broke down something complex into several patterns occurring at the same time. I'll give it a shot later, but I think it'll still be hard to recognize several different patterns at once. I guess that just comes with practice and improvement.

I just started Mania from scratch around 45 days ago, and I just want to say that this thread and Entozer's songlist were a godsend. Just figured I'd say thanks to you guys, I can still only play the lvl.00 BMS and low lvl.20 O2Jam maps but it's something. Around rank ~9000 and I've had a blast so far. Only issue is I use no offset, should I start>?

If you have no noticeable audio offset and are already used to play with your current settings then most likely not.

Wait What?
1/32 jackhammers?
On 100 bpm that's the same as 800 bpm 1/4 singletapping, so around 3200 bpm
Are you sure about that?
Should'nt it be 1/4 or such?

Even 1/16 jacks are very uncommon but those can still be found in insanely stupid hard charts.

but... 1/16 on 100 bpm is the same as 1600 bpm

Yeah 1/16 happens with the purpose to make the player lose hp at that point, dunno why I put 1/32 though, anything 1/16 and above is pretty much for the same purpose. My bad~~

Thanks for pointing that out, must of been feeling sadistic when I typed it out heh

I'm currently using a standard laptop keyboard and I find that 7K is hard for me, I mean I can't improve as fast as when I practice 4K. Is that normal?
And I just ed a lot of o2jam conversions but I don't know which is good for practicing, can you guys recommend me some?
Thanks before

We've already talked a lot about how to practice in this thread. Personally, I suggest finding maps you like covering a range of difficulties based on your current skill. Don't limit yourself to songs you can only do well on.

As for your speed at improving, don't worry so much about it. 7k takes longer to adjust to for most people, especially since it's quite common for people to have experience at some other 4k game, and less common for them to have had experience on a 7k game.

And don't worry about playing on a laptop keyboard. Many players like myself play on laptops and do just fine.

yes as long as key rollover isnt an issue with your laptop keyboard there is nothing to be worried about with it

About the sync stuff, could you explain it taking into the full range of acc. error?

Like i don't get what you're saying if you don't explain it without saying how much late ms you had in that hypotetical case.

I'm trying it right now, and i vary from -25 ~ +28 to -10 ~ +18 in the last song i played...

Edit: with this i mean like, it's like i should start pointing out in a notepad those and the average them both - and + and see the difference so if i see a consistento trend to press later like in mine, i should modify the bar position like you said in the post?

Like I said in the section, you should only consider plays that had "very" low unstable values. A low unstable value means you were mostly constant in your hits and your +/- values are more definitive about you're own required offsets

On the other hand a high unstable value means you weren't constant in your hits and in turn your +/- values aren't really definitive enough to warrant an offset change. What I mean is, playing a song where you literally hit all over the place trying to find that 300g sweet-spot will in-turn give you +/- values that are "all over the place".

Your results seem pretty normal, you don't seem to need offset.

Personally I consider below 200 unstable good enough to tell me if there's an offset issue with a map.

When practicing songs that are "too hard" for you, would you recommend playing with Half-Time or NF? I feel NF isn't helping as much since I end up just trying to spam when there's too many notes, but Half-Time is also kind of meh at times.

Normally you should just play easier maps since using half-time is essentially also creating an easier map. The only difference is half-time is much more boring.

BUT if it's a map where the pattern type is one you've never encountered before, using half time is a good way to initiate yourself to said pattern. (Note that density, speed and superposition are not patterns. They're just harder variations of a pattern.)

What if it's a problem with density?

Rather than the speed being the problem (except on jackhammers), as I try to break the 4star barrier, I find myself not being able to keep up with the 3-4 chords or the 2-3 alternating streams during LN's, etc.

You're making the map less dense with half time so you're not getting anywhere any faster.

But really any sort of training yields improvement in the end, just keep at it and make sure you're having fun ^^

Thanks for this guide will follow all of them :33 I'm newb.

I have two choices for a keyboard. I have a laptop keyboard and a cheap rubber dome. I can't really tell which is better. Which should I use?
Another problem I have is my reading on 7k. I always feel like I'm just mashing keys.

Kinac wrote: 151e4k

I have two choices for a keyboard. I have a laptop keyboard and a cheap rubber dome. I can't really tell which is better. Which should I use?
Another problem I have is my reading on 7k. I always feel like I'm just mashing keys.

Between those two, if your laptop keyboard doesn't have ghosting issues then I would recommend it because it has shorter bottom out distance than rubber dome. In my case, I feel my stamina drained quickly when I play with rubberdome or even mech keyboards I don't know why:/

And about 7K reading, I can't really answer bcs I still suck at it D: . But maybe if you want to improve single note reading, try bms conversions. Or if you want to improve LN reading play more LN maps, tbh I found LN maps are good for finger independence because one time you have to press something when the other fingers are pressing other pattern beside it (layering).

Kinac wrote: 151e4k

I have two choices for a keyboard. I have a laptop keyboard and a cheap rubber dome. I can't really tell which is better. Which should I use?
Another problem I have is my reading on 7k. I always feel like I'm just mashing keys.

For your reading, did you know you can adjust the scroll speed by pressing F3 and F4?

In regards to the keyboard, If you've found a setup you can press the key combinations you want, I would just use whichever is more comfortable. If you have any concern about wearing it out then just use the rubber dome.

aside from ghosting just ensure that key roll over is at least 7 for 7k preferably more if you plan to increase key count to 10 or more if they implement it in the future

Thanks for you guide
>> Helpful

I don't really know where I would score. I can do everything in the Beginner section, but then I can only do half of the Novice section. (trills you can kiss my butt >:c) But either way, what do you do if the tips of your fingers start to hurt? It's mainly my left middle finger (I specialize in 4k and 7k) and it's been like that for at least a week. Also, your eyes? I'd like to play at higher speeds, but my eyes start to hurt and I can't blink. Do you get used to this, or is it like.. something you learn? Please help >~< ALSO ALSO! Last thing: How do you get a better accuracy on a song with a ton of streams?

inb4 play more, which is really all there is to say with this kind of game. :c

Shintsuka wrote: 36u1r

what do you do if the tips of your fingers start to hurt? It's mainly my left middle finger (I specialize in 4k and 7k) and it's been like that for at least a week.

I don't really know, I've never had the tip of my figers hurting before, if anything it was mostly my arms' muscles or my wrist. Do have sensitive fingers ? In any case I generally stop playing when it's starting to hurt.

Shintsuka wrote: 36u1r

Also, your eyes? I'd like to play at higher speeds, but my eyes start to hurt and I can't blink. Do you get used to this, or is it like.. something you learn? Please help >~< ALSO ALSO! Last thing: How do you get a better accuracy on a song with a ton of streams?

It's just something that comes by itself. You should try to increase your speed by 1 every once in a while when you're facing more and more dense maps and that's about it. Getting used to the new speed doesn't take too long. It also depends on the map's style. i.e : I usually set 26 for stream-heavy maps, or mostly made of simple notes (BMS), and 25 or 24 for maps with more LNs. I've never had my eyes hurting specifically due to higher scrolling speed though.

dont push to play at higher scroll speeds, scroll speed is made so that you can adjust it when you eventually are able to read faster, improving acc just comes with time you will get more consistent you can bore yourself by playing really easy maps to work on it a bit too

Thank you guys for the tips! I'll be sure to slowly work my way up instead of just rushing into it!

And apparently the finger thing is something I'll get used to over time. It's like playing a string instrument (orchestra/guitar) and you get like blisters on your fingers or something.

If you get blisters on your fingers from playing mania, you're doing something wrong.

Bobbias wrote: 7q4g

If you get blisters on your fingers from playing mania, you're doing something wrong.

Oh, no I'm not getting blisters on my fingers, but the tips of them hurt really bad.

Shintsuka wrote: 36u1r

Bobbias wrote: 7q4g

If you get blisters on your fingers from playing mania, you're doing something wrong.

Oh, no I'm not getting blisters on my fingers, but the tips of them hurt really bad.

Relaxing your hands will help you play better too, you shouldn't be having to hit/press the keys so hard that your fingers are hurting.

I can understand if you're tensing your arms up while playing though, I do that 75% of the time.

Why is someone like PyaKura giving advice?

Right why would I not give advice ?

Everyone's eligible to give advice, sometime what you need is from where you least expect it ^^

umm...i think all player need is practice :3/

thanks

I'm back in this thread to say

I JUST DON'T GET IT!

Is this really it for me? currently 2k pp for me and I've been playing lately but I don't feel like I made something noteworthy.

I hope you're not using PP as your way of measuring progress. You can gain PP quickly when you start out, but once you've gotten enough good scores that you've filled out your top scores list, it becomes extremely difficult to get more PP without actually improving at the game.

Guy above me is correct. I'm staring to improve in LNs significantly but it wouldn't make much of an effect in pp count. This showing that pp isn't the most effective way of scaling one's skill.
Improving in vsrgs is a person to person based thing (this is my opinion and I have observed this in many people). I've been playing 7k for like 2 years but I can say that I'm better than an online friend that i know who played for 4 years (actively). Talent does something but don't give up! practice is still very improtant.
I'm pretty sure you know this high diff + good accuracy = more pp
What made the difference between me and my online friend os that i jump between multiple vsrgs. O2jam and now o!m gave me basic LN practice and accuracy. FtB helped me with SVs, awkward patterns, and dexerity + strength. Jumping bewtween game could help if you can't find solutions to your weakness in this game.

no no no nothing like that.

pp aside, I personally don't feel I'm improving. At best I'd get something like 10k difference in score (which is little) and sometimes a -50k to -80k diff.

Oh, THAT issue. I know someone who has the same problem as you do. I'm not really sure on how that gets resolved. But I suggest taking pattern specific maps (BMS, Multi-layer, LN, Jackhammers). That might do the trick.
That's what I usually do to further improve. Also know your top weakness and improve in that.

Yeah, I've been playing for over a decade, and I'm very slow at improving, so I'm very well aware of how frustrating the feeling of not improving is. I've had times where I make literally NO progress in 6+ months at a time.

Amefurashi is right, the best thing to do when you feel like you're not getting any better is to identify what your weaknesses are and try to find maps that have those patterns. Interestingly enough though, when doorknob and davteezy ed their BMS converts, I spent a month playing almost nothing but them, and my LN skills improved (as well as my BMS skills).

osu!mania noob here, I just started and when I play odd numbered key songs, hitting the spacebar/gold note feels awkward. Should the keys be rebinded to feel better, or do I just have to get used to hitting the space bar for the gold note? Thanks

kikiotsuka wrote: 6s4o3m

osu!mania noob here, I just started and when I play odd numbered key songs, hitting the spacebar/gold note feels awkward. Should the keys be rebinded to feel better, or do I just have to get used to hitting the space bar for the gold note? Thanks

Most players stick with the space bar, but there are some players who use different key binds. Space bar is always the hardest key, even for really good players. Don't worry about it too much.

Bobbias wrote: 7q4g

kikiotsuka wrote: 6s4o3m

osu!mania noob here, I just started and when I play odd numbered key songs, hitting the spacebar/gold note feels awkward. Should the keys be rebinded to feel better, or do I just have to get used to hitting the space bar for the gold note? Thanks

Most players stick with the space bar, but there are some players who use different key binds. Space bar is always the hardest key, even for really good players. Don't worry about it too much.

Hmm...I have a slightly different opinion.

After a month or so the spacebar becomes a lot more natural and easier to play, as if it was one of your normal fingers. (For me at least, but I don't have much experience to judge off). I always find myself now having more troubles with my ring fingers than the spacebar.
It might be dependent on the person, who knows.

But yeah, definitely stick with the spacebar. You will get used to it and it will feel a lot less awkward to play with practice.

actually space bar is awkward at first. but time later you'll realize ring fingers are harder to train. thumb is more used than ring fingers in any day, everyday.

6k to 7k transition took me roughly 2 months

It's hard at first but trust me, 7k using space w/ thumbs (left or right) will become fun.

Unless you plan to 8k soon i guess you have to learn using your pinkies but I don't 8k so this wouldn't be reliable advice.

Starry- wrote: d5v5v

Hmm...I have a slightly different opinion.

After a month or so the spacebar becomes a lot more natural and easier to play, as if it was one of your normal fingers. (For me at least, but I don't have much experience to judge off). I always find myself now having more troubles with my ring fingers than the spacebar.
It might be dependent on the person, who knows.

But yeah, definitely stick with the spacebar. You will get used to it and it will feel a lot less awkward to play with practice.

It becomes far more natural, but I'd rather jackhammers on ANY other key, even ring fingers, than space bar.

And my weakest fingers are my indexes haha, to each their own ^^

Drace wrote: 3b4w52

And my weakest fingers are my indexes haha, to each their own ^^

o.o how. I could easily understand ring fingers, or even middle fingers to some degree, but indexes?

Hey, I just read through this whole thread to see if anybody asked the same thing I was gonna ask, but I didn't seem to find anything like that, just the opposite.

Basically, this happened to me four or five times during my osu career (I play mania for about nine months now). In this rare instance, I get into these...states of mind and ability that I can beat songs that are MUCH harder than my usual skill cap and I get crazily better scores on my high scores if I play all my favorite songs when I get into that state.
Like, an example when I first had that...at that time my skill cap was that HD difficulty of Megistune 4k, and I couldn't even play MX diff without failing, but that one time where I got into the state, i FCed high scores on so many songs and got an A score on the Megistune MX difficulty I couldn't usually even !!!

On one side, I feel bad when I get into these states, because I literally rape al much high scores and the next day when that "state" ends, I'm back to my old skillcap and I feel like I don't deserve those newly obtained high scores

I should also mention that I was NOT under the influence of any drugs while in the states, they come completely random (same sleeping pattern, lifestyle, everything's the same)
Can anybody relate to this? I feel frustrated because of this because I play so well when it happens..and when it ends I'm just back to being at my usual skillcap..

It also happens to me sometimes, don't worry ^,^