Want to earn some credits? PLAY SOLO

[choof]

staiain, kmay, tk_unreal, nekogon, lurker and gd have all donated credits because they are handsome as fuck

Hey guys, it's been a while since I've made this topic. Now that I've gotten back into StepMania after a significant hiatus, and taking into consideration that we're fresh out of a tournament, I think the timing is right for this.

Did you place relatively low in your division? Did you win your division and are now dreading the inevitable bump to the next division? Did you win D7?

psst guess what you should do
YOU SHOULD PLAY SOLO.


Why play solo? Well, here are two very solid reasons (imo, of course):
Solo presents a steeper difficulty curve, especially for 4k players, and there are a significant amount of extra patterns to be found.
Think of the pattern variation in a standard 4key file, whether you are playing on FFR or SM. Add two more columns, and the amount of patterns to be found, quite literally, increase exponentially.
Single note - {4, 6}
Doubles - {6, 15}
Triples - {4, 21}
Quads - {1, 15}
There are 21 different ways to see a standard "hand", and 15 different ways to see a "quad."

The main reason, though (imo again), is that solo is more fun. Plain and simple.

For those that have never played solo, setting it up is very simple. Go into your settings and change your key setup, or add a second key setup, to something like "qweiop."
q - left
w - upleft
e - down
i - up
o - upright
p - right

I personally have two key setups:
SD45 for singles (numpad)
QWE789 for solo (numpad).

Getting to solo differs from SM 3.9 to SM5. On SM3.9, you have to move your cursor from Singles to Solo when selecting a game style (iirc it will be between Singles and Doubles).
For SM5, you will simply be able to switch between solo and singles charts while selecting songs.

"But choof, I don't have any easy files!"
Oddly enough, according to Gundam-Dude's List of Major Simfile Packs, there are more beginner-friendly packs made specifically for solo than there are for singles (not counting pad packs).

Xiao's Beginner Pack 1
Xiao's Beginner Pack 2
Xiao's Beginner Pack 3
Patashu's Beginner Pack
Solo Monogatari I
Solo Monogatari II
Solo Rulz 2
Solo Japan Pack
Solo Japan Pack 2
BCMP 6 (note that this pack contains conversions from IIDX charts, so you will find different pattern usage here than you will in the other beginner packs linked here)

"But choof, I already have all of those packs!"

WELL, HEY. GUESS WHAT NERDS.
SOLO JAPAN RULZ 3 TEASER PACK

Gundam-Dude took some time out of his schedule to grab 13 files to get you hype for Solo Japan + Rulz 3. Some have been released, some are fairly old and rare, some are unreleased.
I will give double credits for scores posted on these files.

This spoiler contains a list of all the current solo packs/compilations (shoutouts to GD for making this list).
Packs with a blue star (★) contain several files with multiple charted difficulties for beginners and players that aren't quite as adept in skill.

Originally Posted by Gundam-Dude

Solo (6key)
More keys for harder gameplay and learning curve when 4key isn't enough.
This is one of the only sections I will allow the listing of simfile author compilation packs.

• • Solo Japan Pack 2(★)
• • Solo Japan Pack 1(★)
• • Solo Rulz Pack 2(★)
• • Solo Rulz Pack 1
• • Solo Monogatari 2(★)
• • Solo Monogatari 1(★)
• • Solord State Squad(★)
• • Bemani Conversion Megapack 6(★)
• • Bemani Conversion Megapack 5
• • Bemani Conversion Megapack 4
• • Bemani Conversion Megapack 3
• • Bemani Conversion Megapack 2
• • Bemani Conversion Megapack 1
• • BCMP AIDS
• • BeatmaniaIIDX 17 SIRIUS Megapack
• • People who havent made 6 key files
• • LongGone' Solo Files
• • (heidy) Solo Pack
• • Duplica Solo Mini Pack
• • 0's Solo File Dump
• • A Dump Solo Christmas Pack
• • Patashu Solo Beginner Pack(★)
• • Xiao Solo Beginner Pack 3(★)
• • Xiao Solo Beginner Pack 2(★)
• • Xiao Solo Beginner Pack 1(★)
• • ODI2 Solo Conversions
• • KBO Solo Files Part VII
• • KBO Solo Files Part VI
• • 30 Solo Sims
• • 79 Solo Fielz
• • 62 Solo Fielz
• • 98 Solo Files
• • 92 Solo Files

And to make this a little bit more interesting, from 12/7 to 12/31, I will be giving credits to people who post scores!

In order to receive credits, your scores must be posted in this thread. This will make it much easier for me to count up credits, and it will make for some competition, I think.


For each score posted before the turn of the new year, you will get 2,500 credits up to a maximum of 50,000. Notable scores will get a bit extra, and it won't go towards your credit cap. Donations would be accepted, and anything I don't use will be sent back to the donator!

If you enjoy solo, try making files for it! New solo files are always welcome. Helpful info on making solo files can be found in this thread (stargroup #1 bufang).

Lastly, do not feel bad if your scores don't look the best!
I know this sounds cliche, but we were all beginners at some point. Especially when it comes to solo.

K GO

[Gundam-Dude]

[EtienneSM]

Originally Posted by choof

Did you win D7?

You're trying to get me to play again, aren't you?

I'll try to get back into it, coach.

[Wineandbread]

Rise to the solord challenge folks

[choof]

Originally Posted by EtienneSM

You're trying to get me to play again, aren't you?

I'll try to get back into it, coach.

[kmay]

i loved this last time. i'll send you 50k and probably dumb some scores in tomorrow

[Wayward Vagabond]

But I'm bad at solo!

[j-rodd123]

throw another solo tourney sometime!!! but good thread

[Cerise79]

time to go solo

[ShadowDueler97]

So solo is basically 6k? I wanna try it out

[.Gazelle.]

[LotarrMotarr]

Cool, I'll definitely be giving this a go when finals are over. I've been trying to learn LR2 and O!m 7k so this should fit in nicely.

[dell2150]

YES I LOVE THIS. I also see that NekoGon is viewing this and that hopefully means some scores are coming, and if they are, they will be legen...

Since my elimination from the tournament, Tim Allen got me to try 7k on osu!mania, and then I went back to playing solo and it seemed like 6k was much much easier in comparison. Now that I can actually read patterns and hands etc, IT IS SO MUCH FUN. Honestly it's an incredible feeling to me when I'm playing and I can read patterns in a relaxed way and then move to harder stuff and be challenged. I definitely urge everyone to try solo if you haven't, and if you have and think you suck at it, keep trying because it's worth it. Such an amazing gameplay type I think.

...wait for it...

I'm not sure if I'll be posting many scores, and I'd love to donate but I think before I donate to anything I should focus on having enough for all the secret songs here and eventually (maybe) max out my level ranks. However I will definitely be playing solo, as I've got 3 people to join SMO recently and hopefully will get them to try solo too 8) nice thread choofie.

DARY.

[.Gazelle.]

lmfao im still ass at solo

[ggsnipes]

how to not hit mines 101 pls

[dell2150]

Welp so I decided to go through and sightread each of the files in the new teaser pack you linked in the OP, so here goes nothing

First, four un-related solo scores that I'm somewhat proud of and feel like posting (that are not sightread)

And now, my sight read scores for Solo Japan & Rulz Pack 3 TEASER pack thing.

Berserkr


Cemetery


Cosmic Fantastic Lovesong - kicked my butt


Curus


Destined Marionette


DRIFTING AWAY


Kuusou Rumba

Jk. I tried oni first, and was like NOP. Then I went down to medium, and I personally felt like it was still so overstepped that I couldn't even force myself to play it because I didn't find it in the slightest bit fun. I'm sure it will be great to play when I am better, but I really dislike attempting to play things that I don't even have the slightest bit of chance with, so I couldn't find it fun. Hopefully one day I'll be able to play it and appreciate the file more.

Magnolia


Power Supply - probably enjoyed this file the most out of them, I had a lot of fun playing it


Rainbow After Snow


Raven Down


The Clear Blue Sky - I felt like the ending (well, like 75% through) was a little bit overlayered, otherwise I would've had a very nice sightread AAA but alas I'm just not comfortable enough with 6-key yet to do the hands/quads constantly.

Thanks for the fun, kept me entertained for the night and I look forward to playing these more and getting a better feel for them.

[rCaliberGX]

lol magnolia (sightread)


edit: another

[Staiain]

you didn't even credit me for donating those 100k

;_;

[Jimmymi]

Solo is so goddamn hard

[ggsnipes]

only file I managed to pass on sightread and 2nd try rip