I'm a newb with only bout' half year experience and is currently playing 3.5 star maps.
I get in the habit of spamming when I play harder maps just out of my reach.
Should I play with SD on about 2.5 stars to erase my bad spamming habits and add accuracy?

Well spamming is never good. You don't need to use sudden death though.

Only if you're wanting to improve acc on a song and don't want to miss the last note and lose pp.

Sometimes I can get a good combo on a map I don't need to fully fc for pp anyway, and SD can ruin a play like that. Playing with SD is fine on maps you know you can easily full combo, and want to full combo.

Not really that much point in SD for mania considering good practice involves learning new patterns which involves missing. Missing a few notes doesn't affect pp all that much unlike standard.

P P B O I Z
Usage of SD is your personal preference, I like to use it on charts I feel like they're FC'able for me. When you're going only for FCs it can really help you concentrate.

On the other hand I absolutely hate replying stuff so I never use SD. All SD would do is make me angry.

Like -Kamikaze- said, it's your choice. It's not going to make you a better player, but it might help you FC something if you feel like replaying it until you get the FC.

I hate misses near the end of a map, I'd rather have sudden death on and fail rather than give into the pressure and think 'it's ok if I miss now because I'll still get pp'.

Since mania doesn't use combo based scoring, a miss near the end barely impacts your score at all (meaning it barely affects your pp at all). Unlike standard, mania's scoring system means that it's actually worthwhile to play songs you can only A or B, because they can sometimes be worth as much or more than scores on songs you can S or FC. SD isn't going to make much difference in the PP you get for something either. Even an SS on something easy isn't worth much compared to a passing B on something much harder in mania.

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Osumania has problems. As a whole, the scoring system has quite a few flaws, none of which are likely ever going away.

However, I should point out that high acc plays ARE worth much more than spammy A clears. On the same song. The fact that Bs are in my top scores is because those maps are worth substantially more PP than other maps. Take a look at something like this score from my top scores list: . If you check the top scores on that song using the PP script you can see that the maximum PP this song is worth is roughly 135pp: . Considering the song is only 3.72 stars, that's still not a half bad PP earning.

Compare that with the 3 Bs in my top scores:
Smooooch (5.19 stars):

IN2k6 Insane (5.49 stars):

and Tokohana (5.48):


All worth considerably more, because they're a LOT harder to do well on. A high accuracy score on something easy should rightfully not be worth a lot, because it's easy to achieve. Even passing something like IN2k6 Insane is an accomplishment. Remember, that song is still 5.49 stars. In the grand scheme of things, passing a 5 star song is quite difficult. It may not seem that way because you (like myself) have put in the time to get to that point, but for any casual player looking to pick this game up, that's quite an accomplishment, and should rightfully overshadow something like SSing a 2 star map. If scoring and/or PP was skewed to the point where SS on an easy map is worth as much as or more than a B on something like IN2k6 Insane, where would be a whole lot more wrong with the system than there is now. As it stands the system actually rewards players for passing songs that are hard for them, rather than promoting playing songs well within your comfort zone because that's the only thing you can SS.

Mania's score mechanics are broken as hell, and star rating has issues (like undervaluing LNs/overvaluing big chords) but the actual PP system itself is fairly solid.

Er sorry to interrupt, but how should I improve my reading pattern skills? I don't seem to improve when I play 3.5 maps and I only get about a low B

dennischan wrote:

Er sorry to interrupt, but how should I improve my reading pattern skills? I don't seem to improve when I play 3.5 maps and I only get about a low B

There are a few options.
1. Try to find which patterns you have the most trouble with and find maps that feature those patterns to practice
2. Try to play as many different kinds of patterns as possible
3. Try to play a lot of maps that are just above your usual stuff.

Focused practice (option 1) will have faster results on specific patterns, but won't help you improve as an overall player as much.
Unfocused practice (option 2) will have slower results at first, but will make you a better all around player faster than option 1.

Option 3 is a bit different. It's probably the most difficult option to stick with, but it has some benefits. By picking songs that feel a bit 'too hard' you expose yourself to more advanced patterns than you are used to playing. By comparison, everything you are used to playing will feel easier. At your skill level, many of the patterns you see are basically simplified versions of slightly harder patterns. If you can learn to play the harder patterns, the easier ones will suddenly seem like nothing at all.

Another benefit of this option is that it extends your 'comfort zone'. I am perfectly comfortable pushing myself to play 8 star songs, even though I have no chance of passing them. I no longer panic when the difficulty of a song becomes too hard for my fingers to manage, or the patterns are too dense to read. I just keep trying to hit them as best I can.

If you choose option 3, my suggestion would be to try to find as many maps that you can barely pass, and play those far more often than you normally would. Of course, the most important thing is to have fun. If you're not having fun, there's no reason to play.

I'm just like you xD

Don't want to bump a dead topic, but I got much better when I started playing songs on Hard Rock with Random. HR Random forces you to hit almost every note to not fail, while random helps with reading skills. Keep in mind you may not be able to play songs you would usually get an A on but you learn very quickly IMO. Also practice patterns for real, like think about what a chord stair looks like without a keyboard, practice moving the individual fingers without any others. Good Luck, I was where you were a few months ago!