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Aesthetic HD Skin [osu! | mania] - Version 1.3.1

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Total Posts
359
Topic Starter
Redon



Version 1.3.1
Last updated on June 11th, 2014

Aesthetic aims to combine a minimalist approach of few distractions
with a clean yet colorful and visually appealing design.






When I started playing osu! a few months ago and decided to look around for some skins, I was both surprised and disappointed that a vast majority of those advertised as simple or minimalist didn't meet my idea of such a skin at all. Even now, I can count the number of really clean skins I've seen on one hand. When I started working on this, I knew none.

My goal was to create a skin for myself and those who are interested in using it. A tight skin optimized for playing that still manages to look pretty. No shadows, reflections or other effects that make the circles look fancier, just a plain and flat theme.

I've been working on this skin off and on during the last few months, adding on and improving step by step. Right now, it's pretty much complete for osu! standard mode, although there are a few things here and there that may need tweaking. I plan to expand this skin for all modes in the future, but I'd like to take my time to familiarize myself with the gameplay and come up with some ideas first.


If you decide to give this skin a try, thanks! I hope you enjoy it.

All feedback is welcome, I'm happy to find new ways to improve this skin.


Additional Information
Hitcircles



The Aesthetic skin provides three different hitcircles that users can choose from, depending on preference.
All hitcircles are designed to blend in seamlessly with slider borders.

Hit bursts

The hit bursts adapt the new default colour scheme to a flat look. When playing for scores and optimal performance, I see 300 hits as an unnecessary distraction, so they are disabled by default. If you prefer to play with these hit bursts, they are still included in the Extra folder.



osu!mania


Mod icons

For this skin, I attempted to create a new set of icons in simple shapes that remain recognizable even when viewed at a small size. In addition, the mod icons are divided into colour categories that allow them to be quickly recognized by their nature. Roughly speaking, red mods increase difficulty, green mods make a beatmap easier. Silver mods make reading a map harder and are required for silver S ranks, special mods are purple.



Combo bursts

This skin doesn't contain any combo bursts. The idea is to keep the design as neutral as possible, and I can't think of any way of putting combo bursts as they are to good use with that in mind. Feel free to add your favourite combo bursts from other skins, or create your own!


To do
  1. Taiko skin
  2. osu!mania skin
  3. CTB skin
  4. Replace section fail/pass sounds
  5. Replacement for Pause/Fail screen
  6. Increase hitsound volume, possibly rework some sounds
  7. Add bigger cursor alternative
  8. Improved followpoints
  9. Add transparent hitcircles
  10. Add cinema mod icon
  11. Ranking graph


Download Link: Aesthetic 1.3.1.osk (v1.3.1, 11. June 2014)

File size: 17.4 MB
Status: osu! standard and osu!mania complete


Installation

.osk - Quite simple, just download the .osk file and open it in osu!. If you already have an earlier version of the skin and want to update, make sure you delete the old version first. You can also rename the old skin folder instead.

.zip - Extract the Aesthetic folder using your file manager of choice and put it in the Skins folder at your osu! installation directory, typically at C:\Program Files\osu!\Skins

Changelog
Version 1.3
  1. Added mania skin, including keys and notes in 6 different colors and white.
  2. Various changes to support skin version 2.2 and the new beatmap panels:
  1. Adjusted menu-button-background and stars
  2. Fixed alignment of ranking letters on the new beatmap panel layout
  1. Added cursor smoke
  2. New hitcircleselect in the editor
  3. Small adjustment to the normal-hitnormal hitsound
  4. Added the updated menu buttons that should have been there last time
  5. Added a Target Practice mod icon
  6. Changed the mania Fade In mod icon
  7. Slight adjustment of the colour scheme of all hitbursts, mod icons and menu options
  8. Added a little glow to the approach circle to make it appear smoother
  9. Adjusted the hitlighting
  10. Probably more that I forgot about because it's been a while.

    Update 1
  11. New Pause/Fail screen
  12. Fixed typo on osu!mania hitbursts
  13. Cursor-smoke redone to fix the nasty edges in SD, and reduced in size
  14. Added osu! and osu!mania mode icons
  15. Moved default and score fonts to a separate folder, and added a black score font set
  16. Small adjustments to default and score fonts, scorebar, small ranking letters and key overlay
Version 1.2
  1. New small ranking icons
  2. Adjusted shading of default and ring hitcircles from being too bright and flat to a pastel look.
  3. New color palette
  4. New font choices to fit the recent osu! redesign: Updated mod icons, hitbursts, score and default numbers and more.
  5. Changed "Spun Out" mod icon
  6. Adjusted pause and fail screen
  7. Added menu snow
Version 1.1
  1. New and improved hitsounds for normal and soft set
  2. Added alternative big cursor, slight change to default cursor
  3. Improved followpoints - quicker fade
  4. Added missing spinner-rpm.png
  5. Added purple to default combo color palette
Version 1.0
  1. Added icon for Cinema mod
  2. Added two alternative transparent hitcircles
  3. Added ranking graph (An amazing rectangle!)
  4. Adjusted transparency of reverse arrow
  5. Centered pause and fail screen options
  6. Added HD preview video
Old Downloads
Aesthetic 1.3.zip (v1.3, 5. June 2014)
Aesthetic 1.2.zip (v1.2.1, 27. March 2014)
Aesthetic 1.1.zip
Aesthetic_1.0.osk (v1.0, 7. March 2014)
Aesthetic.osk (v0.9, 28. February 2014)
darkmiz
cool skin, I like it
Uruoki
I don't usually post on the forums, however the skin caught my eye. It is really well done. Just played a map, and it is really easy to play with. Took me a few seconds to get use to since it was a bit more busy than skins I use. The design of each element matched really well. The only thing I didn't like was the pause screen. The pause in the background was too much of a distraction for me and didn't seem to fit. Since you said that standard is pretty much complete, I would suggest an optional hitcircle with a transparent middle like this. Also suggest a background for ranking graph.
Noobsicle
very nice skin, i love the lifebar :)
Kyokkuraga
Just tested it and already lovin' it, I'm just kinda used to the Default one but this one is really smooth to play with :D
XMornIngStarX
Hi, I really like this skin especially for the default numbers as it is easy to read. ^^ Hope to see more skins from you in the future. ^^
Trializ
Very nice and smooth skin, the cursor and numbers are really awesome, and I like those little hints like "press space to skip" :)
Elzapatoverde
Oh man, this is neat. I really like the cursor and the ranking panel.
Rio-
This skin looks neat... gonna download It for sure ^^
[ Stellar ]
wow.
I have to say, skin is cleaner than most skins i have ever seen.
Great job! :>
Kodehawa_old
Just awesome.
Pannari
This skin is /extremely/ beautiful. The only thing is that the hitsounds could be a bit louder, and this would be perfect.
Aka
just ♥
daredakke
This looks really slick, I'll make sure to try it out.
Topic Starter
Redon
Thanks to everyone for the nice words and feedback!

The first update is here. It may be a small one, but there's some new hitcircles to test, let me know which one you like best!
Some of the issues you addressed aren't fixed yet, which I will hopefully take care of soon.

Download Link: Aesthetic_1.0.osk
File size: 16.44 MB



Changelog
Version 1.0
  1. Added icon for Cinema mod
  2. Added two alternative transparent hitcircles
  3. Added ranking graph (An amazing rectangle!)
  4. Adjusted transparency of reverse arrow
  5. Centered pause and fail screen options

Uruoki wrote:

I don't usually post on the forums, however the skin caught my eye. It is really well done. Just played a map, and it is really easy to play with. Took me a few seconds to get use to since it was a bit more busy than skins I use. The design of each element matched really well. The only thing I didn't like was the pause screen. The pause in the background was too much of a distraction for me and didn't seem to fit. Since you said that standard is pretty much complete, I would suggest an optional hitcircle with a transparent middle like this. Also suggest a background for ranking graph.
Thanks! That means a lot. Seeing that you created a skin in much the same spirit and how well it was received was a good motivation to finish this one. :)
I tested your hitcircle idea for a while and I ended up liking it a lot. I included it along with a completely transparent hitcircle in this update, so it should appeal to more players with different preferences. I also put finding a possible replacement for the pause screen on my to do list. Can you elaborate on how exactly it feels distracting or unfitting? Thanks a lot for the suggestions!

Pannari wrote:

This skin is /extremely/ beautiful. The only thing is that the hitsounds could be a bit louder, and this would be perfect.
You might be right - I put this on my list too, so I'll have a look the hitsounds and see which need a bit of a boost and/or improvement. Thank you again!

Noobsicle wrote:

very nice skin, i love the lifebar :)
Might be my favourite part, too. :)
Sentient_DELETED
nice skin!
Topic Starter
Redon
I took some time today to upload a HD preview video that shows off gameplay with the three different hitcircles and some ingame screens.

It should help viewers get a quick impression of the skin in action. I hope you enjoy!

LuigiHann
I haven't tried out this skin but I have to say I really like your mod icons!
Toroguythingymajig
wow this skin looks extremely good.
Choclodous
Damn it's so nice.
Magnolia
finally people are realizing playability is better then cute and kawaii shit
Sunlyx
Outstanding.
Uruoki

Redon wrote:

Can you elaborate on how exactly it feels distracting or unfitting? Thanks a lot for the suggestions!
If you are playing and you pause in the middle of the song, you may have 4 things overlap.

Hitcircles, the "PAUSE" in the background, the "| |" also in the background and the "Continue", "Retry" and "Back to Menu" options.

To me, four things overlapping is too busy for me.

Hope that clear things up.

Also, if you did make the transparent hitcircles, make sure you made the reverse arrow to match it.

Keep up the good job.
P i k u

HandHeldPillow wrote:

finally people are realizing playability is better then cute and kawaii shit
totally agree! This is the best skin I've ever seen!
Goooood job~
Quest
Hi there. Thanks for such a wonderful skin. I was searching for one for ages and so I came upon this.
I feel as if osu just got so much easier. Thanks! c:
Joe Joe-
A very nicely done simple and clean skin. Wonderful job.

Also, this just my opinion,the sounds don't quite have the sort of power to it hit sound, if you get what I mean.

&how about adding a baby blue color? To kinda add to the pastel coloring.
Drazzible
Nice skin ! Approaching perfection :°
Uruoki
Just to let you know, the OSK file packs a folder inside a folder. So you have to drag the folder out and replace it. http://a.pomf.se/fixwxu.png
Topic Starter
Redon
Thank you for the compliments and feedback! Here's another little update. It includes reworked hitsounds, which I hope are more audible and provide better feedback while playing.

There is a new large cursor alternative, as requested by Piku201. I tried to make it feel a bit like the default cursor, I hope it worked out. If you have any suggestions, let me know.

As a third thing, I added an animated followpoint based on Uruoki's concept in Luminance. It's essentially the same line followpoint, but animated to fade out quickly, which gives it a nice visual effect of moving from circle to circle, and reduces the amount of lines that clutter the playfield. Personally, I found that followpoint amazing from the first moment - it helped me with jumps, and I now find the lines a lot less distracting than they were before.

I hope that everything works fine, if you find any issues or have some suggestions, let me know.

Download Link: Aesthetic.osk (v1.1, 10. March 2014)
(Zip archive: Aesthetic_1.1.zip)

File size: 16.93 MB
Status: Osu! standard complete


If you've downloaded the skin already and want to update, make sure you delete the old version first.

Changelog
Version 1.1
  1. New and improved hitsounds for normal and soft set
  2. Added alternative big cursor, slight change to default cursor
  3. Improved followpoints - quicker fade
  4. Added missing spinner-rpm.png
  5. Added purple to default combo color palette

Uruoki wrote:

If you are playing and you pause in the middle of the song, you may have 4 things overlap.
Hitcircles, the "PAUSE" in the background, the "| |" also in the background and the "Continue", "Retry" and "Back to Menu" options.
To me, four things overlapping is too busy for me.
Hope that clear things up.

Also, if you did make the transparent hitcircles, make sure you made the reverse arrow to match it.

Keep up the good job.
I suppose I can see where you're coming from, though I don't consider it as much of a problem as long as the menu options stand out. I'm afraid I can't come up with a satisfying alternative at the moment so I'll keep the current screens until that changes. I did think of the reverse arrow, thank you for the tip. :)

Uruoki wrote:

Just to let you know, the OSK file packs a folder inside a folder. So you have to drag the folder out and replace it. http://a.pomf.se/fixwxu.png
Ah, that's inconvenient... I wonder where exactly the problem lies. At first, I thought it might be because I renamed .osk file, though I when I did the same thing again it worked fine. I got the impression that osu starts acting up like that when you leave an unopened .osk or .zip file in the Skin folder? Anyway, this time I uploaded the update the same way as the original upload. It's probably a good idea to remove the old skin beforehand. Thanks for bringing it to my attention!

Joe Joe-kun wrote:

A very nicely done simple and clean skin. Wonderful job.

Also, this just my opinion,the sounds don't quite have the sort of power to it hit sound, if you get what I mean.

&how about adding a baby blue color? To kinda add to the pastel coloring.
Thanks! I do hope I get what you mean. The main hitsounds were intentionally chosen to be 'clicky' with the idea of providing precise audible feedback. I agree though that they didn't do that as well as they could, so I changed up the hitsounds a little bit for this update - Although they're still roughly the same, there should be more of a punch to the hitnormals in the normal and soft sound set. If everything went well, they should also be a bit louder. Let me know whether it was an improvement!

If what you meant was that they don't resemble a drum-like soundset like the osu default, I hope you understand why that's not the case. I suppose I could consider adding an alternative set of sound samples that's less clicky and resembles the original sounds more.

The color idea is interesting! However, I wasn't too happy with the result when I gave it a try ingame - perhaps it's because a baby blue color is a bigger step from the current range of colors, which are just 50° apart each? I honestly thought that going the other way in the color spectrum fit really well, so I decided to go with an additional hue of purple. I realized afterwards that I had kind of set that one up for me already with the color scheme of the song selection menu buttons!
I think I will experiment with different combo color palettes, and maybe provide some alternatives in a future update. Thanks for the feedback!
Piine
This is the most sexiest sleekish skin I have ever seen. Props to you @Redon
P.S. Any. rough draft on how CTB. going to be?
XinCrin
This skin is really awesome . I'm using it right now *-*
Don
Hey! I really love your skin, thanks for making it.

Is there a possibility that you can skin the keys (input-keybackground and input-keyoverlay iirc) if possible? They're missing and they're pretty handy when you're streaming or make videos.

Also, the "UNRANKED" text (I can't recall its exact name, is clipping with the scorebar-ki as in [img=osu.ppy.sh/ss/1405879]this image[/img]. My proposed fix is to make a small empty space above the image so the position is lower.

Anyways, I switched to your skin, from one I made myself. Thanks for making it, and I hope to see your newer work, and hopefully I've given useful feedback!
Joe Joe-

Redon wrote:

Thanks! I do hope I get what you mean. The main hitsounds were intentionally chosen to be 'clicky' with the idea of providing precise audible feedback. I agree though that they didn't do that as well as they could, so I changed up the hitsounds a little bit for this update - Although they're still roughly the same, there should be more of a punch to the hitnormals in the normal and soft sound set. If everything went well, they should also be a bit louder. Let me know whether it was an improvement!

If what you meant was that they don't resemble a drum-like soundset like the osu default, I hope you understand why that's not the case. I suppose I could consider adding an alternative set of sound samples that's less clicky and resembles the original sounds more.

The color idea is interesting! However, I wasn't too happy with the result when I gave it a try ingame - perhaps it's because a baby blue color is a bigger step from the current range of colors, which are just 50° apart each? I honestly thought that going the other way in the color spectrum fit really well, so I decided to go with an additional hue of purple. I realized afterwards that I had kind of set that one up for me already with the color scheme of the song selection menu buttons!
I think I will experiment with different combo color palettes, and maybe provide some alternatives in a future update. Thanks for the feedback!
Yes, I was talking about your hit sounds, not the default, sorry for not being clear, also I've tried out the 1.1v and Ahhh nice to see a improvement on the sounds.

Still feels a bit quiet, but that's probably just me, anywho nice job!

And now to the coloring, I completely understand, the differentiation between colors may not seem right to you, I appreciate the consideration, and hmmm alternatives with different palettes does seem like a neat idea, would like to see that brought to light. Again really clean and neat skin, keep up the awesome job!
Topic Starter
Redon

Don wrote:

Hey! I really love your skin, thanks for making it.

Is there a possibility that you can skin the keys (input-keybackground and input-keyoverlay iirc) if possible? They're missing and they're pretty handy when you're streaming or make videos.

Also, the "UNRANKED" text (I can't recall its exact name, is clipping with the scorebar-ki as in [img=osu.ppy.sh/ss/1405879]this image[/img]. My proposed fix is to make a small empty space above the image so the position is lower.

Anyways, I switched to your skin, from one I made myself. Thanks for making it, and I hope to see your newer work, and hopefully I've given useful feedback!
I had actually skinned these key overlays already, but it seems like I forgot to include them in the folder I uploaded... my bad. Thanks for pointing it out, I wouldn't have noticed! I snuck them into the download just now. :)

You're also right about the 'Unranked' image, I hadn't even paid attention to that. It could be a bit prettier. I could just shift it down like you suggested, but it would have to get pretty far into the playfield without overlapping with the scrolling text. I have some other ideas for it, I'll have to see if they're possible.

Sulker wrote:

This is the most sexiest sleekish skin I have ever seen. Props to you @Redon
P.S. Any. rough draft on how CTB. going to be?
To be completely honest, there isn't, and I have no clue. I'm about as inexperienced as it gets when it comes to Catch the Beat - I can operate arrowkeys, and I recently discovered what the Shift key does. And unlike Taiko and mania, I can't seem to really understand the appeal of the mode, either.

Even so, I'm interested in creating a CTB part for this skin, but it's very difficult to tell what makes a CTB skin good without any experience with the mode. I would greatly appreciate any suggestions!

Joe Joe-kun wrote:

Yes, I was talking about your hit sounds, not the default, sorry for not being clear, also I've tried out the 1.1v and Ahhh nice to see a improvement on the sounds.

Still feels a bit quiet, but that's probably just me, anywho nice job!
Is it any particular sounds that should be louder or quieter compared to others, or just the sounds in general? If it's the latter, you could try lowering your music volume in the settings a little. :)

XinCrin wrote:

This skin is really awesome . I'm using it right now *-*
I'm glad to hear you like it!
Saturnalize
I can't download it for no reason. Any mirror link?

I can feel that it's tasty
Topic Starter
Redon

Saturnalize wrote:

I can't download it for no reason. Any mirror link?

I can feel that it's tasty
The links seem to work for me - can you try this one instead?

http://puu.sh/7svt9.osk
Neynt
This skin is absolutely beautiful. Thanks for making it, Redon!
Leeham
Awesome skin Redon, have been looking for a skin like this for a while!
Nostalgia
It's extremely detailed and everything is customly made. I truly love it.
You're good at what you do and I give you props for it. Thank you for sharing this skin.
Vexy
.
Foneza
I've been searching for this type of skin. Now I'm loving it~ Keep up the good work~ 8-)
Hineya
Love the skin! Great job ;)

Have you thought about adding menu snow? Just curious.
EineKrone
Fantastic job sir, I'm using this from now on :)
Fragmented
Seriously, when I fail the beatmap this voice will come out "YOU SUCK!" :cry: You should really change that :!:
XinCrin
I'm waiting for taiko skin .
Centribo
Love it, thanks for making this!
AstralPhnx
Love this skin to pieces! Really clean and simple but still looks awesome!
Karuta-_old_1
This is perhaps one of the most cohesive skins I've come across, I can't find anything out of place about it. Thank you for this.
Nathanael

Tuxdude143 wrote:

Love this skin to pieces! Really clean and simple but still looks awesome!
Same response. At skin creator, do you have any plans skinning the other modes?
BoredPotato
I love the skin you made, one of the best skins I've seen so far. :)
Also about the newest update, the files you posted doesn't seem to work on mine. Could you recheck the files again? (I've tried both the .osk and .zip twice. Still won't work.) Though this problem may just be happening on mine for some reason. I'll try again though.
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