FAQ - Frequently Asked Questions

[McKay]

Tips & tricks & infos

Why does this client exist, when we already have osu!?

Please read the full store page description (no, not the short one you see here):

http://store.steampowered.com/app/607260/McOsu/

Do I have to install osu!? How do I add beatmaps or skins (on Linux)?

No, you don't need an osu![osu.ppy.sh] installation (it is recommended though), see this guide:
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=880768265
WARNING: It is strongly recommended to use osu![osu.ppy.sh] for beatmap management, since it is a lot more convenient. As this is a practice client, the expected use case is having both clients installed and switching between them very regularly.

McOsu only supports osu!(stable)[osu.ppy.sh] databases, but not osu!(lazer) databases atm!

Only one key is working, Z or X is broken!

It registers a click even though I didn't press any buttons!

First, rebind your keys: Options > Input > Keyboard > "Left Click" and "Right Click".
Second, disable mouse buttons if you're using a tablet: Options > Input > Mouse > "Disable Mouse Buttons in Play Mode"

Touching the tablet with your pen counts as pressing the left mouse button (usually), but only 2 keys are allowed, therefore it will block the "Left Click" key on your keyboard if you don't have mouse buttons disabled.

Why is my tablet cursor stuck in a small rectangle on the top left?

Microsoft regularly breaks things in Windows 10, luckily it's easy to fix:

Options > Input > Tablet > "Windows Ink Workaround".

If that doesn't work, try "Ignore Sensitivity & Raw Input", which will work 100%, but you lose the ability to customize your tablet area in-game (which you should never do anyway, always use the Wacom Properties or tablet software to adjust the area).

Can I get banned in osu! for using this?

No. This is an offline practice client. No scores are submitted. No cheating is possible with this client.

How do I make the background darker while playing?

Options > Gameplay > General > "Background Dim".
100% = Fully black.

Where are the experimental mods?

While you are in the mod selection screen, move your cursor to the left edge of the screen.

Why are perfect hits, aka 300s, invisible?

Because they are a useless annoyance, and nobody uses them.
If you still want to have them, go to Options > Bullsh*t > Why > "Draw 300s".

How do I override beatmap values in smaller steps (e.g. 10.33, x1.25)?

Hold [ALT] while sliding any override slider to slide in 0.01 increments.

How can I quickly save/load/jump repeatedly to the same point in time?

How can I practice a specific section over and over again?

Options > Input > Keyboard > Keys - In-Game > "Quick Save"
Options > Input > Keyboard > Keys - In-Game > "Quick Load"

The default keys are [F6] for quicksave and [F7] for quickload, but you should probably rebind them to be able to quickly and easily reach them without moving your clicking hand.

You can also right-click on the scrubbing timeline to set the quick save point.

How can I scrub through a beatmap, or jump to any point in time?

Options > Input > Keyboard > Keys - In-Game > "Scrubbing (+ Click Drag!)"

The default key is [SHIFT]: As long as you keep holding it, you will see the scrubbing timeline where you can left-click anywhere to jump to that point in time.

If you right-click on the scrubbing timeline you will instead set the quick save point.

What do the lock buttons do for AR/OD override (+ speed multiplier)?

Increasing the beatmap speed also indirectly increases the Approach Rate and Overall Difficulty. You can lock these two values such that the game will always compensate to the configured value.

If you play an AR 9 beatmap with "Speed Multiplier" double the original value, you will see AR 11.

If you play an AR 9 beatmap with the AR override slider locked, and with "Speed Multiplier" double the original value, you will still see AR 9.

The Double Time and Half Time mods work like the "Speed Multiplier".

Locking the AR/OD is usually used for practicing specific values across multiple beatmaps and speeds, e.g. AR 10.3 training.

How do I use the third-person spectator camera in VR, like in your videos?

You have to set it up before putting on your HMD, mouse + keyboard is required.

1. Enable Options > Virtual Reality > Miscellaneous > "Spectator Camera (ALT + C)"
   
2. Enable Options > Virtual Reality > Miscellaneous > "Draw HMD to Window"
   
3. After having enabled both settings, press [ALT] + [C] to enter spectator camera control mode
   
4. Use your mouse to rotate the camera, and WASD to move around. You can hold [SHIFT] to go faster, or [CTRL] to go slower.
   
5. If you are happy with the orientation, press [ALT] + [C] again to exit spectator camera control mode.

Don't play while you are still controlling the camera, your mouse cursor will be stuck in the middle of the screen and annoy everyone.
The camera position and rotation is saved once you exit spectator camera control mode.

How can I move/position/rotate/resize the playfield in VR?

Press and hold the grip button of one controller to "grab" any virtual screen, while grabbed you can then move and rotate it.

Point both controllers at any screen, then press and hold the triggers on both controllers, then move them apart or together to resize the screen.

How do I open the developer console?

Press [SHIFT] + [F1].

• The console was inspired by the Source Engine (HL2, CS:GO, TF2, Portal, etc.), and works similarly if you are already familiar with customization in these games.
  
• Most commands only accept 1 or 0 (on/off), while others accept all integers (-5, 2, 3, 4, 123), or decimal values (-1.0, 10.33, 1.5), or even strings/text (hdhr, default, Guest).
  
• If you type a command without a value (just its name), then the current value (+ helptext) will be printed to the console overlay (top left of the screen).
  
• Use the [UP] / [DOWN] arrow keys to select autocomplete suggestions.
  
• All commands which are not configurable via the Options menu will reset on exit.
  
• To keep commands from resetting, add them to your /<Steam>/steamapps/common/McOsu/cfg/osu.cfg (or osuvr.cfg for VR mode).
  
• You can create custom cfg files and execute them via the 'exec' command.

Where is the default skin stored?

/<Steam>/steamapps/common/McOsu/materials/default/
/<Steam>/steamapps/common/McOsu/materials/defaultvr/

Can I use the default skin in osu!?

Yes. Just copy the entire "default" folder into your osu! Skins folder.

Can I use Steam Workshop skins in osu!?

Yes. Just copy the entire subfolder with the name of your desired workshop skin ID from within /<Steam>/steamapps/workshop/content/607260/
Afterwards, rename the copied folder to something meaningful.

Where is the user settings configuration file stored?

/<Steam>/steamapps/common/McOsu/cfg/osu.cfg
/<Steam>/steamapps/common/McOsu/cfg/osuvr.cfg
/<Steam>/steamapps/common/McOsu/cfg/osuvrplayarea.cfg
/<Steam>/steamapps/common/McOsu/cfg/vrspectatorcamera.cfg

How can I add custom screen resolutions?

/<Steam>/steamapps/common/McOsu/cfg/customres.cfg

I added a beatmap in osu!. Why does it not show up here?

osu! writes new beatmaps to the database only once you close it.
Quit osu!, and then either restart or press [F5] while you are in the songbrowser.
Note that only beatmaps which have osu!standard difficulties will show up, as other gamemodes (osu!mania, osu!taiko, osu!catch) are not supported.

How can I have separate custom folders for Skins and Songs?

My beatmaps are on a separate drive/hdd/ssd vs the game?

This is indirectly supported due to official osu! also having a customizable BeatmapDirectory parameter[osu.ppy.sh] in its config file.
If this parameter exist, then the game will use it.
Otherwise, the default /Songs/ subfolder is used (appended to your configured osu!folder).

You can still use this parameter even if you don't have an official osu! installation:

1. Your skins are here (i.e. each skin has its own subfolder in there): C:/OsuStuff1/Skins/
   
2. Your beatmaps are here (i.e. each beatmap has its own subfolder in there): D:/OsuStuff2/
   
3. Set your osu!folder to the parent folder of where your Skins folder is, e.g. C:/OsuStuff1/
   
4. Notice how skins are now working, but beatmaps not yet of course.
   
5. Add a new text file to your osu!folder, with this specific filename/extension:
   osu!.<SystemUsername>.cfg
   (replace <SystemUsername> with the username of the user account of your operating system)
   e.g. osu!.McKay.cfg, with the following content:
   BeatmapDirectory = D:/OsuStuff2/

Annoying "OpenVR runtime is not installed!"

How can I start the game without the VR stuff?

How can I completely disable Steam/Discord rich presence integration?

1. Right click on the game in your library > Properties > Local Files > Browse Local Files.
2. Create a shortcut to McEngine.exe.
3. Copy the shortcut to anywhere you like.
4. Right click on the shortcut > Properties, and add the following string to the end of the Target without the quotes (note the space): " -novr"
5. While disabling Options > Online > Integration > "Rich Presence" does fully stop rich presence updates, the game process will still connect to the (running) services. To completely disable the engine components, use these: " -nodiscord" and " -nosteam" respectively.

Why is my skin broken? Double circles/numbers, overlapping?

1. Download & install notepad++
2. Go into the folder where your skin files are stored
3. Open the skin.ini file from your skin in notepad++
4. In notepad++, click on Encoding > "Encode in UTF-8"
5. Save

Why? Because Windows UCS-2 character encoding is not supported, meaning that the game can't read your UCS-2 encoded skin.ini file, which contains the offset values about how certain skin elements should be drawn.

Why am I getting random lag/stutter/judder while streaming w/ OBS?

How can I increase fps/framerate/performance?

Try disabling the Steam Overlay for this game specifically: Right click on the game in your library > Properties > untick "Enable the Steam Overlay while in-game".

Why? Because the Steam Overlay injects itself into the game process, and does whatever it wants to do (outside of the control of the game). The less things you have running, the lower the chance for random lag.

As a last resort brute force option, enable Options > Graphics > Renderer > "High Priority".

Why is VSync forced (but disabled in-game), limited to 60 fps on Linux?

Make sure that your graphics driver is not forcing VSync (Nvidia Control Panel, AMD Crimson, etc.).

Try running the game with vblank_mode=0 (using custom launch arguments):
Right click on the game in your library > Properties > "Set Launch Options" >

vblank_mode=0 %command%

Try running the game with vblank_mode=0 (from a terminal):
You must cd into the game directory first though, otherwise it will not work:

cd /<Steam>/steamapps/common/McOsu/
env vblank_mode=0 './McEngine'

Usually the Steam directory is located at /home/<Username>/.steam/steam/

How can I change the tablet area with xsetwacom on Linux?

Here is a handy graphical user interface for xsetwacom made by TheGuy2112: https://github.com/TheGuy2112/WacomUtility

I have a problem/bug/crash/freeze/hang, what can I do myself?

On Windows, the game ships with two executables.
If you encounter a problem, start the debug exe:
/<Steam>/steamapps/common/McOsu/McEngine_Debug.exe

It has an extra window which shows a log of what is happening. Copy the text inside the log window and upload it somewhere to make it easier for me to fix the problem. Do not use the debug exe for regular playing, because it is slower.

On Linux, the same can be achieved by manually starting the game via a terminal. You must cd into the game directory first though, otherwise it will not work:

cd /<Steam>/steamapps/common/McOsu/
./McEngine

Another option is switching to the cutting-edge beta by right-clicking the game in your library and going to Properties > Betas. This build always contains the latest hotfixes (which are still in testing).

If nothing seems to be working, then start from scratch: Uninstall the game via Steam, then navigate to /<Steam>/steamapps/common/McOsu/ and delete every remaining folder/file (especially your cfgs). After that, install it again.

Where is the source code, since it is open source?

https://github.com/McKay42/McOsu