- Osu!
Infobox VG
title = Osu!
developer = peppy
released =September 16 ,2007
genre = Music|modes =Single player
platforms =Microsoft Windows
requirements ="
* 1 GHz or above CPU
* Minimum 256 MB of RAM
* Video card that supports DirectX 9
* DirectX 9 or higher
input =Pointing device
modes = Singleplayer, Multiplayer"Osu!" is a rhythm video game for
Microsoft Windows , based on theNintendo DS titles "Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan " and "Elite Beat Agents ". The game can be downloaded for free at the game's official site.Gameplay
The game 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 theNintendo 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/she misses any of the above, the combo is reset back to 0.A hit circle is a circle with a number on it. There is an outer circle that closes in on the hit circle, and when it aligns with the outer edges of the hit circle, the player clicks it. He gets 300, 100 or 50 points, depending on the timing he/she has, multiplied with his current combo.
Sliders consist of a hit circle, an end circle, and a path connecting these circles. When the player clicks the hit circle, a ball appears, rolling along the path from the hit circle to the end circle, and they must keep the mouse button held down as he follows the ball with his cursor all the way to the end circle. There are tiny circles along the slider path, called Slider Ticks, which increase the player's combo as well.
Spinners are large circles filling up most of the screen. The player must click and hold the spinner , while spinning the cursor in circles around it. For each individual spin, 100 points are gained. A set of bars in the background gradually light up, one by one, as the player spins, and when they have managed to light all the bars, he/she clears the spinner. For each subsequent spin they make, they get 1000 bonus points.
Beatmaps
The game uses player designed "beatmaps", which are the files containing the actual gameplay-data, created using an in-game editor, which allows the user to pick any song they like and create beats for it. Beatmaps for specific songs can then be shared through an in-game uploader directly linked to the main site. Moderators then modify and give comments to beatmaps. After the moderators are happy with the beatmap, they approve it for ranking. Statistics for each quality approved beatmap, known as "ranked" beatmaps, are maintained on the "Osu!" website. Scores for each ranked beatmap are totaled to determine a player's ranked score, which determines a player's ranking in the community.
Since June 11, 1,462 beatmaps have been created, out of which 430 have become ranked status.
Multiplayer
As of Tuesday June 3rd, multiplayer was added to the public release (b335). Multiplayer consists of a central lobby displaying available rooms, and current online players. You may also create a room with the "New Game" button. A game is started when all players in the room are labeled as "Ready" and the host clicks start. The Multiplayer game is made up of the normal components as a Single Player osu! game, but with the in-game scoreboard displaying the current rankings of the players in the room.
Community
As of September 9th 2008, there are 37,585 registered forum users, with a total of over 3.5 million ranked plays. (The most updated figure can be found on the top right of the osu! website)Fact|date=September 2008
External links
* [http://osu.ppy.sh/ Official site]
* [http://osu.ppy.sh/index.php?p=changelog Changelog]Articles about Osu!
* [http://photos-c.ak.facebook.com/photos-ak-sf2p/v169/147/57/743032585/n743032585_565658_6490.jpgGames for Windows, December 2007]
* [http://pc.joystiq.com/2007/10/18/free-pc-ouendan-eba-emulator-hits-public-beta/ Joystiq]
* [http://www.bemanistyle.com/index.php?news_id=483 Bemanistyle]
* [http://osu.en.softonic.com/ Softonic]
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