Knowing that there are several different mania skin types (ex: orbs, arrows, bars), what are the individual benefits or downsides of each?
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Best Skin Type?: Pros and Cons
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bar pros: compact, takes less space up from the playing field
bar cons: a bit small and needs some degree of precision, usually has no individual receptors (though some skin do offer individual receptors)
orb pros: easier to see
orb cons: takes a lot more space on the playing field
^ this is pretty much also applicable to diamonds, arrows and any other note shapes that arent flat
bar cons: a bit small and needs some degree of precision, usually has no individual receptors (though some skin do offer individual receptors)
orb pros: easier to see
orb cons: takes a lot more space on the playing field
^ this is pretty much also applicable to diamonds, arrows and any other note shapes that arent flat
Tall fat skins = easier to read at high scroll speeds but can ghost really badly and creates a lot of visual clutter (this includes arrows, circles, large bar skins, etc)
Thin bar skins = less visibile clutter and effective for lower scroll speeds. Makes reading dense and complex patterns slightly more manageable. Also tend to be good for LNs
Thin bar skins = less visibile clutter and effective for lower scroll speeds. Makes reading dense and complex patterns slightly more manageable. Also tend to be good for LNs
bar pros: allows to better side-to-side visual judgement of note spacing
bar cons: ghosting/duplication of notes on low hz screens and high scroll speeds - dense enough long jacks might be infinitely harder to read due to the ghosting
bar cons: ghosting/duplication of notes on low hz screens and high scroll speeds - dense enough long jacks might be infinitely harder to read due to the ghosting
I think I read something about bar skins allowing negative reading... whatever the hell that is? Was a complete noob when I read that so I don't think I remembered it properly but it has something to do with reading where notes aren't in order to read extremely dense patterns. In hindsight this sounds like reading LN inverses but instead for vibro (so vibro walls but with missing notes)
Ah, yes, I've seen that concept mentioned a little bit with regards to stepmania and arrow skins. I would say that bars are actually worse for 'negative reading' for dense non-LN patterns. 'Negative reading' works best with something that is roughly as tall as it is wide.
Another consideration for bars is that some bar skins are pretty chunky, while others can be quite small. For example, my skin has column widths of about 28, whereas I've seen other bar skins with much taller bars and much wider columns. This greatly affects how the skin feels to read, even though they are both technically bar skins.
Ultimately, the choice of skin is up to the individual player.
Another consideration for bars is that some bar skins are pretty chunky, while others can be quite small. For example, my skin has column widths of about 28, whereas I've seen other bar skins with much taller bars and much wider columns. This greatly affects how the skin feels to read, even though they are both technically bar skins.
Ultimately, the choice of skin is up to the individual player.
coakira
I started playing 4k with arrows as they seemed easier to read, but as I improved and patterns started becoming more dense, I tried bars and after a day I was able to actually hit patterns I couldn't read with arrows. It's just preference IMO.
Never tried anything else than bars for 7k, I think it's pointless because other games (lr2, o2jam) don't have these kinds of skins and osu alone is not really enough for becoming good at 7k.
Never tried anything else than bars for 7k, I think it's pointless because other games (lr2, o2jam) don't have these kinds of skins and osu alone is not really enough for becoming good at 7k.