Music Gaming Accomplishments

[Spectere]

I was fortunate enough to go back into O2Jam at almost the same level as I came out at (I can't really say what that level is, because the difficulty ratings are so all over the place in that game). Getting it to work in the first place was a hell of a feat! DirectDraw and Aero have never really gotten along all that well, and considering Aero is basically forced on Windows 8...well...

Fortunately, the Wine DDraw library (which is basically a wrapper that converts it to OpenGL calls) works phenomenally.

I haven't played around with a IIDX sim in a while. I had a IIDX sim a while ago (might have been LR2...I don't remember) that I pretty much used exclusively to play keysounded originals like K8107/P8107, among others. I'm going to have to get into that again.

On another note! DAO!

Here's a picture: 622183383544631296[/tweet]]

Fap fap fap. pic.twitter.com/aeDtwc31YF

— Ian Burgmyer (@Spectere) July 17, 2015

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And a crappy video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CEsRt9r2x1w (RISLIM -Remix- [7K] one handed clear, with autoscratch. On a side note, it's amazing how nice cell phone camera videos look nowadays!)

After I got used to the controller I was able to almost finish clearing every 7K chart in 6th style. I cleared everything except for this fucking motherfucker from hell: 622238647710957569[/tweet]]

Behold! The only 7K in 6th style that I can't pass. pic.twitter.com/BJNiqHF9ih

— Ian Burgmyer (@Spectere) July 18, 2015

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I've noticed a pretty major difference in scores even before I adapted to the differences between the CS and AC turntable spacing. On charts that I've played as recently as last night I've been getting Ex scores upwards of 60 points higher than before. There's also much less finger strain since the Sanwas don't bottom out nearly as hard as the US KOC button boards do (I was using a hybrid controller: JP KOC base [which has a much better turntable] with the US KOC keypad [which I never liked, but my JP keypad broke a while ago, and I certainly can't argue with the reliability of the newer design]).

That being said, I've been playing so damn long today (pretty much straight from 7PM to 12AM) that I was able to watch my scores take a dive as I grew more and more tired, haha. Case in point: normally I can comfortably AA Hellscaper -Last Escape Remix- [7H], but by the end of the night I was only able to score a B on it. I figured that was a good time to quit.

[Bobbias]

Rofl AA to B, yeah that's probably a good time to stop.

Man that controller looks nice. I still have my old US KOC, but I haven't actually played any IIDX in ages. People keep telling me I should play lr2, but I don't really feel like taking all the time to get that set up, and then figure out how the hell to adapt to 7k+1. I mean, I could just autoscratch, but then my scores would be all pointless anyway since autoscratch.

I just can't see a good enough reason to, especially since technically I could convert any BMS chart into osu!mania anyway.

[Spectere]

On the accomplishments front: I managed to pass The Earth Light [7K], Starmine [7K], and MAX 300 [L7] one-handed today. I have no idea why Konami bumped MAX 300 up to an 8, but hey, I'll take it.

Rofl AA to B, yeah that's probably a good time to stop.

That was after something like 6 hours of play (!!!) so yeah, definitely!

Man that controller looks nice. I still have my old US KOC, but I haven't actually played any IIDX in ages. People keep telling me I should play lr2, but I don't really feel like taking all the time to get that set up, and then figure out how the hell to adapt to 7k+1. I mean, I could just autoscratch, but then my scores would be all pointless anyway since autoscratch.

I just can't see a good enough reason to, especially since technically I could convert any BMS chart into osu!mania anyway.

I've been thinking about getting back into sims since the DAO supports USB natively.

How much effort does it take to convert BMS to osu!mania, and how strict is the timing on osu!mania? I could certainly understand and tolerate it if it's a bit looser, but I don't want it to be goatse wide or anything like that (and I'd rather not go through the hassle of finding and setting up LR2 if possible).

[Bobbias]

Osu allows the mapper (charter) to control the timing windows and HP drain (has arbitrary settings ranging from 0 to 10 in 0.1 increments).

Here's a chart (all values are +-X ms):


One main difference between osu and other VSRGs is that you only break combo on misses. Even 50's will continue our combo. Of course, combo only counts for a small part of your overall score, but it CAN make a difference and cause a worse score to actually have higher points.

As for converting, there's a built in bms import option, but i have no idea how well it actually works. Alternately, Agka has been writing his own VSRG called Raindrop which has the ability to convert between formats including BMS and osu. It can also convert from ojn/ojm, but not to, because fuck those godawful formats (and there's a BMS to ojn/ojm converter, so no need to duplicate that).

[Spectere]

The combo break system is kind of a dealbreaker for me, unfortunately, which is a shame because the "normal" window is acceptably close to where it needs to be, at least as far as 300g and 300 are concerned (Just Greats and Greats are 2 frames and 5 frames, NTSC, compared to 2 frames and 8 frames on o!m). With the o!m combo system I'm pretty sure I'd be able to pass a lot of IIDX 11s and maybe even some 12s (since it doesn't seem like you're punished for mashing). Considering I'm only able to do 9s and 10s in the actual game, that's a bit of a jump. Looks like I'll probably just be setting up LR2.

Raindrop looks pretty neat. Thanks for the link!

[Bobbias]

In osu!mania I've passed I think 3 7k IIDX overjoy converts (with HP drain set to 7, which is about the lowest acceptable HP setting for o!m charts.)

Honestly, I'm not bothered much by that issue much. Sure, I can pass them, but when you pass something with like 200-300 misses and low accuracy you know you've got a long way to improve. I tend to just focus on improving the numbers on anything I play.

Also, I think this takes the cake for one of the most lolwhat things I've seen in a while. 12 stars in osu (mind you, osu's star rating system totally underrates holds, and has some issues), and peaks at 66 nps:

EDIT:

wat

EDIT2: Recorded a liveplay video. Meh score, but whatever:

EDIT3:

Warmen - Beyond Abilities, this time recorded in 60fps (but not 60fps on yt because resolution too low for HD).

Ugh, I should be able to AA that without trouble :<

[Spectere]

I think my deal is that I've played IIDX so much that a huge change like that would throw me off. Obviously no simulator is going to "count" as far as scores are concerned (at the very least it'll only be comparable to the same simulator running the same settings), but I'd rather it be as close as possible to the real thing.

I'm not knocking o!m for this. I understand that it was designed to more or less be its own thing.

[Bobbias]

Yeah, I get what you mean.

Honestly, I stuck around o!m because I was a member of the community there and not just a lurker. I've only switched back to sm because o!m wasn't really as fun any more. 7k charts are becoming rarer, and that's where the fun is for me. So I figured if I was going to play 4k instead I might as well switch back to SM and try to push my skills in there since I wasn't getting anywhere playing o!m 4k. Plus, I'm stuck playing with FL mod in o!m and trying to learn to play nomod would be as bad as learning a new game anyway.

[Spectere]

Accomplishments: I'm getting to the point where I can consistently pass most 5s in IIDX, left handed. At this rate I'm going to be decent at doubles (and somewhat more ambidextrous!) before I know it.

I also signed up for yet another SSS account, because two just wasn't enough (IAN. is my two-handed account, IAN.L is my one-handed left hand account, IAN.R is my one-handed right hand account).

Honestly, I stuck around o!m because I was a member of the community there and not just a lurker. I've only switched back to sm because o!m wasn't really as fun any more. 7k charts are becoming rarer, and that's where the fun is for me. So I figured if I was going to play 4k instead I might as well switch back to SM and try to push my skills in there since I wasn't getting anywhere playing o!m 4k. Plus, I'm stuck playing with FL mod in o!m and trying to learn to play nomod would be as bad as learning a new game anyway.

Is the StepMania keyboard community still active nowadays? I know there are still people developing pad charts here and there, but I've been out of the loop in the keyboard scene for so long that I wouldn't even know where to begin again.

[Bobbias]

FFR's still around. Arch0wl still posts there. Kraezymann does too, and he's even recently begun streaming some SM. Staiain is still the fastest SM player alive. It's definitely not as active as it used to be though.

[Spectere]

Oh shit, I completely forgot about FFR. Damn.

It's kind of hard to believe how much time has passed. I joined a0.com back in 2003. I was 18. Now I'm 30. Fuck.

Speaking of Arch0wl, here's a fun fact: I am now in possession of one of his old IIDX controllers.

[Bobbias]

haha nice. Yeah, I can't believe it's been so long.

Also, third video uploaded:

[Spectere]

I passed A [7K] again for the first time in a while. Man, that felt good.

[Spectere]

I passed Abyss -The Heavens Remix- [7K] for the first time earlier. I'm starting to pass new shit! Weird!

I don't know if it was just a thing with my last play session, but my reading speed suddenly increased. Normally I read, say, 155bpm at HS4.5. All of a sudden that felt dead slow and I had to push it to HS5.0. It felt weird as hell.

Additionally, my focus has improved drastically over the last few play sessions, to the point where I stay focused on a particular part of the screen (the specific part of the screen depends on the scroll speed; my view drifts toward the bottom on slower songs and toward the top for faster ones). It's kind of a cool feeling.

Finally, my ambidex training has been proceeding nicely, with my left hand quickly becoming more capable (now that's something I don't type out everyday).  While it's certainly got a ways to go before it comes anywhere near my dominant hand in terms of dexterity, I've grown a lot more comfortable with crossing past the center of the controller with my left hand--something I've only done very rarely. Xenon [7K] is a great practice chart for that, and I think I can greatly improve my pitiful score on that chart if I continue to practice.

Maybe taking a few years' break was a good thing. It didn't take me very long to get back to my old skill level and stamina, and I've already shattered several of my previous records without breaking a sweat. I'm getting more and more confident that I'll eventually be able to clear an 11 if I keep working on it.

[Bobbias]

That's awesome. In my case I'm still shittier at SM than I was at o!m. I'm gonna guess if I do actually reach my o!m skill level in SM it's gonna take a few months or so :<