Audition Online

Audition Online
Developer(s)	T3 Entertainment
Publisher(s)	YD Online (Was called YeDang Online in the past)
Distributor(s)	Various
Platform(s)	Windows
Release date(s)	KOR 2004 NA April 2 2007 UK May 31 2007 EU June 25 2007
Genre(s)	Music video game and MMOG
Mode(s)	Multiplayer
Media/distribution	Download
System requirements (Season 2) Intel Pentium 4 1.4 GHz CPU, 512MB RAM, ~2GB Hard Disk space, 128MB GeForce 6600 GPU, DirectX 9.0c, 56kbit/s internet connection Windows 98/ME/2000/XP/Vista/7

Audition Online (Korean: 오디션 온라인), also known as X-BEAT in Japan, is a downloadable multiplayer online casual rhythm game produced by T3 Entertainment. It was originally released in South Korea in 2004, but it has been localized by various publishers around the world. Audition Online is free to play but it earns its revenue by selling virtual items such as clothes for the player's avatar. It currently has over 300 million players worldwide.^[1]

In South Korea, PSP (called Audition Portable) and cellphone versions were released on June 1, 2007 and June 4, 2007 respectively.

On June 12, 2008, Season 2 was first officially released in Korea. Currently, Korean Audition, China Audition, Thailand Audition, Indonesian Audition, AuditionSEA, AuditionEu, Vietnam Audition, Philippines Audition, North American Audition, Brazil Audition, X-BEAT have updated to Season 2. Audition Season 2 features a new interface, sound system, expressions, and many new features.

During fall 2008, Audition 2, the sequel, was discovered to be in the making. On April 28, 2010, closed beta will officially begin.

Popularity

Audition's popularity began in South Korean and global versions of the game. Due to hacking in the global server, Bugs Corporation discontinued the server. Noticing the increasing popularity of the game, T3 Entertainment and Yedang Online began localizing it in other regions including China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Philippines, North America, Thailand, Taiwan, South East Asia, Vietnam, Brazil, United Kingdom, and Remaining European Countries. The Asian and North American versions remain the most popular, with millions of members registered.

Available regions

Region	Official Name	Language	Countries	Local publishers	Registration Requirements
South Korea	오디션 Club Audition	Korean	South Korea	Bugs Corp. (2008) Yedang Online, and HanbitON	A Korean Social Security Number is required to play.
Japan	X-BEAT	Japanese	Japan	Hanbit Ubiquitous Entertainment Inc.	No registration requirements.
China	劲舞团	Simplified Chinese	China	9you.com	Chinese Identification Number is required.
Philippines	Dance Battle Audition Philippines	English	Philippines	IP E-Games Ventures, Inc.	No registration requirements.
South East Asia	AuditionSEA	English	Singapore Malaysia Thailand	AsiaSoft Online Pte, Ltd.	A National ID (Identification Card) of any country is required.
Thailand	Audition Online Dance Battle	Thai	Thailand	Asiasoft Corporation Co., Ltd.	Thailand identification number is required.
Vietnam	Nhịp điệu cuộc sống	Vietnamese	Vietnam	VTC - Game Online	No registration requirements as of 9/12/06.
Taiwan	勁舞團	Traditional Chinese	Taiwan	Insrea Game Center Corporation	Taiwanese Identification Number is required.
Hong Kong	勁舞團	Traditional Chinese	Hong Kong	9you.com and Gameone	Hong Kong Identity Card Number is required.
North America	Audition Online Dance Battle	English	United States Canada	Redbana US Corp. (previously NEXON America)	No registration requirements.
Latin America	Dance Mania Audition	Spanish	South America Mexico Central America	Axeso5	No registration requirements.
Indonesia	Audition AyoDance	Indonesian	Indonesia	PT Megaxus Infotech	No registration requirements.
Brazil	Audition Online Dance Battle	Brazilian Portuguese	Brazil	Hazit Online	No registration requirements.
Europe	Audition Europe	English German French Spanish Italian	All European Countries	Burda:ic GmbH (alaplaya)	No registration requirements.

Gameplay Features

A player is allowed to create a room or join a room. The 'DJ' (the player who creates the room) is given power to choose songs and settings for the room. The DJ also has the power to kick people out of the room and close the dance floor off however; this cannot be permanent. The song's BPM (beats per minute) usually will determine the song's difficulty and speed(with certain exceptions e.g. beat up mode).

The basic game is played by pressing the arrows displayed on the screen (with the exception of red Chance arrows, which the player must do the opposite of) and pressing spacebar or the control key on every 4th beat of the song. The more accurately the spacebar or control key is pressed, the higher the score, "PERFECT" being the best, "GREAT" and "COOL" still counted as good enough, "BAD" you will get very little score, and for "MISS" as the worst one, no score. If you get a "MISS" you will not get the chance to play for the next move. The player currently with the most points during the game will have their character in front and the most visible part of the stage.

A special move during most gameplay modes is the "Finish Move", can be said the hardest move. If a person does not miss the move before it, they have the option to do the "Finish Move". Finish moves issue a lot of points and can often be the key to success.

When a player does 2 or more PERFECTs consecutively, he will get bonus points for doing so. These PERFECT combos (or "Perfect chains") enable players to interfere with the opposition. A blue circle indicates that you made a PERFECT in your move, and acts as a shield. When a player performs a PERFECT X1 (or perfect X2 in some cases) they will make either the player ahead or behind them receive a yellow circle. While under the yellow circle, points will not be given if that person does not achieve a PERFECT (in a finish move it reduces a percentage rather than the whole move). In addition, players can increase their points by playing 'chance'. This can be activated by pressing the delete key or the . key on the number pad whereby red keys appear and players have to press in the opposite direction of the red keys. At the end of the dance battle, the person with the most points is the winner. Each player will receive experience points and Den/BEATS according to what position they finished in.

If a single/group game (not including NPC, One-Two Party and Beat Up modes) is full, while also having the music set to random, a random event (also called a mission) will occur. This is where bonuses are given if you accomplish a certain challenge. Examples are not getting a specific beat judgment (e.g. no COOLs or no BADs), getting perfect combos (e.g. PERFECT X3), or getting a standing (e.g. getting number 1). The music can be random, random(new), or random from any range of tempos.

Chance levels (not available in all versions)
There are chance levels from 1 till 6. With the addition of Chance levels, the DJ can now set a standard number of red (opposite keys) arrows a player will face when they use the chance mode. The choices range from 0 to 6. Alternatively, the DJ can select the free chance mode which will allow players to cycle through the levels at their leisure, or random level chance where a random amount of red chance keys appear per move (ranging from 1 to 6). The more red steps a player clears, the more points they will score. The ability to choose your own level of difficulty adds a new level of strategy and can greatly stratify scores between weak and strong players. In addition, whether or not players are using chance and their current chance level are displayed next to player scores during the game. There is also a random chance option, which gives you a random amount of keys with chance on a turn. When random chance is on, it gives no indication on the sidebar or on the screen which keys will be chance in the next turn or currently.

New chance system (not available in all versions)
Korean Audition has expanded the original Chance system with three new Chance Modes for normal room. These are: Double chance (Certain notes double, up to 6, display as Yellow notes), Bomb Chance (Bombs appear between notes, players are not allowed to make mistake as one wrong press will cause the bombs to explode, resulting instant miss) and Perfect chance (Scoring Perfect will reduce notes in the move, up to 3). Dynamic Chance is also available to every mode instead of only Crazy-9 like before

Insane system (not available in all versions)
This feature will add another Judgment, the Insane Perfect. The Insane Perfect gives approximately 3x higher score than Perfect and it'll give you a Score bonus. The score bonus depends on the judgment "blocked" after each insane perfect. Once the Insane is activated, the score bonus will set to +50%, but you will be blocked to achieve BAD judgment anymore, thus you'll miss. After getting a judgment higher that BAD except Insane Perfect, the score bonus is will set to +100%, but this time, you can't achieve COOL judgment too anymore, and after that, +200% score bonus in exchange of GREAT judgment, this will be the time that you'll need to have Perfect/Insane Perfect or you'll miss automatically. Misses gained from Insane's fault will still be counted but you'll be able to dance instantly after the miss, unlike regular miss that you'll have to wait 1 move bar to dance again. If you missed because of Insane in the Finish move, you'll won't miss it but there's no score. The key to success in Insane Mode is to keep your Insane Time as long as possible: Passing block-requirement with lowest result will advance to the next block-requirement, but if you can hit Insane Perfect, it stays back (Say, when the block-requirement is BAD, you hit Great and it advances to COOL, but if you hit Insane Perfect, the next one will still be BAD). There is also a bug from some servers that allow players to enter Insane Mode if they just ignore the key note and time their Space to hit Insane Perfect Point (Which resulting in MISS, but it still activate Insane Mode). Insane System is also known as "The Killer of Old Replays", which rendered all older replays saved before Insane Update corrupted. Older replays can still be viewed, but the players won't dance and always score Insane Perfect without hitting any notes (Even though the final score board still displays real result from that match). This bug has never been fixed, and players unaware of it have to accept that they lost all old replays, unless they record videos for them first.

Microphone function (Korean Audition)
There are designated servers that allow players to interact within the game using a microphone. Settings are available for the player to set whether he/she wants to be muted or adjust the volume.

Auto-Repairing client (Korean Audition)
To help foreign players dealing with client damaging, accidentally or deliberately, Korean Audition has offered Auto-Repairing Client, which is upgraded from the old Data Fixing feature introduced in Season 2. Whenever a new patch arrives and is completed, a repairing client will come up. The Auto - Repairing Client button is not on the patcher anymore.

Second Password (PIN) (Not available to all versions)
Due to HTTP login system in Korean Audition, there is now a second password (PIN code) in-game to help protecting players' account. Upon starting the game, players will have to enter a 6-digital PIN code using on-screen keypad. If a player did not create PIN code, the same keypad will appear prompting him/her to set up PIN code.

Server-side exclusives
Different Audition Online servers around the world have their own unique features added-in for gameplay modification and visual enhancements:

• Korea, Indonesia, China and Vietnam - Lyrics, Commercial Stages
• Korea, China - In-game text fonts
• Vietnam - Playing Time Limitation System
• America - EXP x3 and BEATS x3 cards

Updates
Because the Korean Audition is developed by a Korean company, it is updated more often and is the first to see new features. The server currently has more features, like cellphones, exclusive events, or micro function - some are unique and not available in any other servers like the Commercial Stage Basic House and Lafesta Audition Guinness Event. The bonus options were designed due to high demand. However, the gameplay features (dance moves, songs, modes, etc.) are regularly added based on updates. Depending on the update rate as well as the size of the update, different versions will have different number of gameplay features.

Window Mode (Not available in Chinese Classic)
Originally, Audition did not support window mode to prevent hacking tools and bugs that could crash the game. However, this feature was highly requested by Audition players and many tried third-party programs to force the game into window mode. When Season 2 was released, it also featured an official window mode. Hack prevention programs and functions are also implemented to prevent hacking tools from being used.

Ctrl + Tab (not available in all version)
Previously belonged to Korean Audition only, this feature is now slowly available on popular servers. During any time while playing or viewing Replay, players can hit CTRL + TAB to hide everything off the screen, so there is only characters dancing on the stage. This makes snapshot, dance route demonstrations, chroma keying... much easier and nicer to make - however, some servers don't hide all stuffs when using CTRL + TAB. For example, HK Audition still has song name, time and time bar on screen and Vietnam Audition still displays Global Announcement. Newer Game Modes like The Fiery Concert and Space Pang Pang also don't support CTRL + TAB.

Real-Time Song Download function (Korean Audition)
As of the patch on January 8, 2009, Korean Audition now uses a new method for players to receive the song files. Songs are no longer included in patches and the songs that come with the installation has been reduced. The songs are now downloaded from the server when you play the song. Once a song is automatically downloaded, it will not be downloaded again. An exception is the newly released Guitar Mode, which requires two separate TBMs per song. One is the original music and the other is a guitar solo beat. The songs' notes are linked with these TBMs, so whenever a song gets updated, players will need to redownload the two TBMs again. Also due to being integrated all songs into an AMP file, this feature became big problem with players using unstable connections. This is because once a downloaded song became corrupted somehow, you can never play it, and since the game doesn't have option to force song redownload, the only way to fix broken song is deleting music.amp, meaning you will have to wipe out all working songs to just fix some broken songs.

New Macro System (Not available in Chinese Classic)
The macro system was altered to make it simple to change even for new players. The player now has the option of manually editing the file from the macro.txt document in their Audition game folder or simply by going into the messenger options and changing it through there. The new macro system also allows players to save their macros to the server's database and allow them to use them on another computer.

New Emoticons System (Not available in Chinese Classic)
One of the best thing for chit-chat, the Emoticons System, has been updated in Audition Season 2. The players can now select various Emoticons to enter with chat text, by either hitting CTRL + E and pick the Emoticon manually, or use short-cut text-to-emoticon conversion (I.E ;kiss, ;win...) The text-to-emoticon conversion also affected room name and players' name, so new players can enter prefix with his/her IGN in order to display as Emoticon in Lobby / Ranking Board User List. Players can also buy new Emoticons Set at Fashion Mall for more personalize exposing, but these sets are not sold for infinite time usage. There is also Motion System that's available separately from Emoticon System, which requires players to buy each icon from the mall and then use the "M" button to choose and express that icon. The motion icon will display above character's head.

New Dress Room System (Not available in all versions)
A mini wardrobe is now available in game room, allowing players to change their character's clothes without having to go to Fashion Mall. Instead, just click an Icon near ATV Icon and Clothes Wardrobe will open up. While picking new clothes, a small Dress Room shows up at the players' position and disappears after he/she made choice - new clothes are now changed! You can also change Accessories and Guitar inside the dressing room (Not available in all versions).

New Big Game System (Not available in all versions)
Upgrading from the old Big Game feature, now random events are viewable and limited to "Missions" like Story Mode. Not only Normal Dance, Big Game now applies to Beat-Up, One-Two Party and Beat-Rush and the players can press F10 to see Big Game Status Screen or display Big Game Condition if occurred during the match. However, some of the Big Game Conditions are way ridiculous and close to impossible to beat (i.e. 0 great, more Bads than Misses [Beat-Up]...). The Hidden missions will be unlocked after succeeding the requirement given (e.g. unlock story 1,3,7 and 9). Those Requirements are in patters like Page 1: X pattern, Sides pattern and Cross pattern. The hidden mission bar can be seen in the User info inside the room. Some of the prices in Missions are Fam Points, Dens/Beats, EXP and Bulletin Pts.

New Practice System (Not available in all versions)
Beside the old Practice Mode available only in Novice Channel for lv 1 - lv 5 players, Clubaudition now implemented a new Practice System for almost all modes. When players join a room and choose to "Watch", they are also given the notes / rhythm bars to practice pressing 'n' hitting. Their result won't be logged to replay, but they can earn up to 200 DEN / Beat for each practicing.

New Playlist + BGM Playlist (Not available in all versions)
Every Audition Players have their own Favorites Song Lists, and playing Random would be too boring if they want to pick their songs that way. So the Playlist is now available, allowing each players to save their own Favorites songs into a Mini Album, so they can choose it quickly (Up to 100 songs). Also, the old BGM Playlist has been upgraded: Players can now play, pause, stop, choose next/previous track, or jump to whatever songs in the list. The BGM song will also continue to play when players go to Shopping Mall or create/join room instead of changing to next track like the old BGM Playlist. Another welcomed feature is that Audition Players now have the option to make their own BGM Playlist - it works just like the official Playlist, but the songs are picked as players' favors, up to 30 songs. This update eliminates client-sided THDs for Lobby songs, so Private servers can no longer steal new songs from Official servers.

Fast room-making (Not available in all versions)
This feature is actually used to introduce new game modes rather than the old "New" sign when making room. Instead, player can click an icon at the Channel select screen, then the game will process to enter a channel, make the room for them to play in just a moment.

Master Ranking Record (Not available in all versions)
Considered to be the first online scoreboard in Audition, Master Ranking Record keeps track of players' result in The Fiery Concert mode as well as determining TFC players of the month. In order to compete in Master Ranking Record, player must join the Guitar Master channel (Vary depends on servers) and play with at least 2 other players in same room. Doing so will let Audition log their TFC result and sort their ranking on the scoreboard. Master Ranking Record resets each month, and top 3 players will randomly earn one of the nine prized Guitar (Mostly the Angel Guitar).

Matching card (Not available in all versions)
A.k.a Personal card or similar, this feature let players create their own "Personal card" with various options like Age, Nationality, Blood type, Hobbies, Favorite Dance mode... so that they can find friends based on matching information. After setting the card, players can then point the mouse to any channel to see a percentage of matching dancers (Boys, girls or both, user-define) in that channel. When in the room, players can press "Confirm matches" button and, if another player matches the player's card, a messenger saying "Matching" will display above their head. Players can also compare card with other players in room via right click menu.

Club Dance 3 Matching Card Feature (Korean Audition)
In Club Dance 3, in the start when you choose your couple, they'll be a card on the bottom of the avatar, there will be information containing on your Matching Card. If you didn't apply for a Matching Card, no information will be shown.

New Love Party (Not available in all versions)
There is a small upgrade for the Love Party mode recently - while making room, the boy has an option to write a letter for his girl using the Envelope icon, and it will be displayed upon successfully passed Love Party. In addition to the Ballroom outfit set reward, the couple can now earn three new items: Red Rose Basket, Red Love Wings or Red bouquet of Rose, depends on how many attempts they spend to pass the Love Party.

FAM
A fam is a function brought along with the Fam Office. It works very similarly to guilds in other games. In order to create a fam, the creator must meet the requirements of Lv. 21 or greater, and 1,000,000 DEN/Beats (not the same on all versions). The leader may then purchase a variety of Fam Office-based items including a home, clock, notice sign, and a forum ranging in price from 100,000 DEN/Beats to 2,000,000,000 DEN/Beats. If the leader wishes, he or she may add members to the fam that would then be permitted to donate DEN/Beats, and assist in earning Fam Points.

The fam leader is given the ability to purchase a channel for gaining Fam Points (which determine the ranking of the fam). He or she may pay 100,000 DEN/Beats for 2 hours of channel time, 200,000 DEN/Beats for 4 hours, and 300,000 DEN/Beats for 6 hours. The amount of DEN/Beats and time may vary depending on the server. When creating a game in the purchased channel, any fam member will receive 1 Fam Point per person in the room, therefore a total of 6 per full room. A fam room is indicated by a green FAM icon beside the room name.

There are three classes/rankings in total: Fam Leader, indicated with a red title, Fam Mod/Secondary Owner, indicated with a blue title, and a regular member, indicated with a green title. Promotion can only be done by the fam leader.

Fam Battles are started when a leader creates a fam battle room and waits until 3 members out of two different fams enter the battle room. The team then challenges one another to a regular game, with rules set by the fam with the DJ member.

Family
The mini-section of FAM office, allowing dancers to create their own "family" with a maximum of 10 players, divided into 5 couples. There are two families with three ranks: Father / Mother, Son / Daughter and Grandson / Granddaughter - the 2nd-generation links the two families together. Family Studio is available for the Family to take pictures with every members have their specified position in the Studio.

Shopping Mall

Like many microtransaction-based online games, Audition features a shopping mall in which players can customize the look of their character. Players may choose from a variety of hairstyles, shirts, pants, shoes, faces, and miscellaneous items. The game uses an in-game currency called Den or Beats, depending on the version.

In addition to Den and Beats, players can use the Cash system by purchasing it through the publisher's website. Different forms of payment are used to obtain cash, including PayPal, M-Payment, and various prepaid cards. Cash can be used to purchase a wider variety of items from the mall, such as pets, DJ stands, guitars, emoticons, fonts, accessories, and far more clothing.

Couple shop is the special section in Audition Mall, allowing only dancers that have married to enter and both must be logged in the same channel. This shop sells special couple clothes and pets that are not available in normal shop, but only up to 30 days because couple might not last forever. In addition, new rings, love licenses and couple rooms are in stock here, though the couple might need proper couple level to purchase some items.

Game Mode

Audition has many game modes you should try out

Normal

• Choreography 4key, 8key and Expert (Mixed 4key and 8key)
• Crazy 4key, 8key, 9key (9key not available to Chinese Classic)
• Freestyle 4key, 8key
• Dynamic 4key,8key
• Space Pang! Pang! (Not available to Chinese Classic)
• Fashion Mode (Korean Audition)
• Battle Party
• Random Mode

Beat

• Beat Up 4key, 6key
• Team Beat Up 4key, 6key
• Beat Rush 4key, 8key, Heart and Random (Not available to Chinese Classic)
• Beat Up Battle Party
• Beat Rush Battle Party (Not available to Chinese Classic)

Couple

• Couple Mode
• Couple Mode 31 Hearts
• Club Dance I
• Club Dance II
• Club Dance III (Korean Audition)
• Wedding Mode (Exclusive to Couples, Need to buy a Wedding Ticket)

Team

• Choreography 4key, 8key
• Crazy 4key, 8key, 9key
• Freestyle 4key, 8key
• Union Battle Party
• BBoy Battle
• BBoy Battle S
• Night Club
• Boys & Girls

Other

• The Fiery Concert (Guitar Mode) (Not available to Chinese Classic)
• Story Mode
• One Two Party
• Rhythmholic

References

1. ^ [1] Europe's Audition site

External links

(English) AuditionSEA Site (Spanish) Audition Latino Site (English) Redbana US Audition Site (German) (English) (French) (Italian) (Spanish) (Turkish) Audition Europe Site (English) GoAudition {Closed} (English) Audition Philippines Site (Korean) Audition Korea Site (Korean) HanbitOn Audition Korea Site (Korean) Club Audition Hangame Site (Thai) Audition Thailand Site

(Japanese) Audition Japan Site (Website access can be accessed only in Japan) (Indonesian) Audition (AyoDance) Indonesia Site (Portuguese) Audition Brazil Site (Chinese) Audition China Site (Chinese) Audition China Classic Site (Chinese) Audition Hong Kong Site (Chinese) Audition Taiwan Site (Spanish) Audition Latin America Site (Vietnamese) Audition Vietnam Site (Khmer) Audition Cambodia Site