1. Introduction
Lunatic Rave 2 (LR2) is more widely well known as a beatmania IIDX simulator, however, the dev of LR2 stated that it was not meant to be a BEMANI emulator. It should be considered a beatmania IIDX clone rather a simulator or emulator to be fully enjoyed. To quote the manual, it says:
This software is free.
This software is not BEMANI emulator.
Do not play any IIDX song.
Do not make/upload/use IIDX skins.
Do not redistribute this software without our permission.
Do not use this software for any commercial purpose.
Support will not be provided for non-Japanese OS users.
With the amount of original content, and through the amazing Japanese community, LR2 has basically became its own game with rich original content and music. Unfortunately, it's a mess to get into and difficult to get starting, so newer players often download IIDX BMS and don't get to experience LR2 at its fullest, and how it should be played. This guide aims to help people set up LR2 to play the original overwhelming amount of content and set it up for the best experience.
The gameplay mostly focuses on 7keys + a scratch lane (so 8k) and 14k + two scratches (doubles mode) but has other key modes as well, such as 5key+scratch, 5key doubles (10k) and 9k (pop'n style). The game has a difficult entry barrier, but don't let this discourage you! Yes! You can play with a keyboard. Check out this skilled player here AAAing a ★20 on both keyboard and controller. http://youtu.be/FcIQlq-FMOY
1.1 TL;DR guide
You should definitely get the song pack which I recommended. Ignore BMS event sets such as BOF.
You will need GLAssist. If you only care about Insane BMS (発狂BMS), then you can just use the built in jukebox2 folder. 発狂BMS charts are only for those who are proficient with IIDX 12s. GLAssist is absolutely necessary if you cannot do Insanes or want to play 14K (normal) or 9K.
Familiarize yourself with some of LR2's difficulty scales.
Dan courses are nice to keep track of progression and it's something to aim for. Not necessary but highly recommended.
It's not needed to know how to navigate LR2's website but it's important for account recovery purposes.
Stairway is just a nice way of looking at all your clear lamps and scores on a single page. You automatically get a profile by playing a certain amount of songs.
2. Setting up LR2
http://www.lr2.sakura.ne.jp/index2.html
If you don't know which version, it is this one.
http://www.lr2.sakura.ne.jp/LR2_100201.zip
RUN THIS GAME IN JAPANESE LOCALE
RUN THIS GAME IN JAPANESE LOCALE
RUN THIS GAME IN JAPANESE LOCALE
RUN THIS GAME IN JAPANESE LOCALE
Can I use AppLocale?
- NO
RUN THIS GAME IN JAPANESE LOCALE
Google is your friend if you don't know how to switch locales.
2.1 Creating an account and running LR2 for the first time
When opening LR2.exe for the first time, you are prompted to log in or to create an account. To create an account, the ID will be your username and this will also your DJ name, which you can later change. HOWEVER, your username will remain the same even though you have changed your DJ name. (To read more about this, go to navigating LR2 website page)
Put in a password and remember it. I don't think you can change your password. Your LR2 internet ranking account won't be created until you play a song with online enabled.
After creating an account for the first time and logging in, you will get a set up window before launching the game. It looks like this.
The first thing I want you to do is change the LR2's setup menu to English. The picture above shows you how.
2.2 For RETURNING USERS or LOGGING IN NEW/more players on the same PC
If you're returning on a new LR2 setup... Check the LR2IR box, insert your LR2ID, NOT YOUR USERNAME. Insert your ID and password. For ID, that is your username (your first DJ name). Hit OK then WAIT A FEW SECONDS for the score database to download, then another box will pop up, hit OK again. A third box will tell you how many scores it successfully downloaded from the db. Hit OK again. After successfully logging in, if the login prompt is still up for you, you need to kill it manually through task manager.
For logging in new players or creating an account when there is one existing...
Click "New player" on LR2's main set up tab then follow the above instructions.
2.3 LR2 Set up
MAIN TAB:
JUKEBOX1:
JUKEBOX2:
OPTION:
I recommend setting your minimum HI-SPEED to your FIX MAXBPM. You don't ever slow down a scroll speed for anything, so you don't want to accidentally decrease the scroll speed of a song.
For HI-SPEED Margin, I would also put in your FIX MAXBPM value. This is for songs with slowdowns that are in half bpm. You can easily snap back and forth to half and normal speed this way to easily do most bpm changing songs.
You can leave HI-SPEED MAX alone, or increase it if you have LR2HD.
PLAY OPTION:
SELECT: I left everything default. I disabled preview because it is known to cause crashes.
SYSTEM: I left everything default. I don't bother with WASAPI and ASIO because it makes the game more buggy in my experience. I've asked great players with amazing timing if they use it and they all said they use DirectSound.
Now you are ready to hit play and launch LR2 for the first time.
2.4 LR2HD
What is LR2HD?
LR2HD is a hack/mod of LR2 which allows 1280x720 (or higher) skins. Nothing more, nothing less. It offers the same features and has the same bugs found in normal LR2. The game is also connected to the same internet ranking and such.
Setting up LR2HD
Download it here.
https://mega.co.nz/#!E0MCkSIZ!IYTet1dsvTLvSsnFDH8hJROarXQvOwfZhgaZIb8QyQw
Go into your LR2beta3\LR2files\Config directory. Rename config.xml to config.xmh.
Drag and drop the downloaded contents into your LR2 folder. The same folder that has LR2.exe and LR2body.
Change your windowed resolution to 1280x720
- Change your base speed to match LR2SD.
Note
It's possible to have both LR2SD and LR2HD on the same set up. If you want to switch back to LR2SD, simply rename config.xmh to config.xml.
3. Where to get Songs and Skins
3.1 Songs:
Complete Packs
Highly recommended. The easiest way is to download this. It includes all of the difficulty tables songs and charts.
http://kenin.iptime.org/Insane_BMS.torrent The torrent is named Insane BMS but the torrent contents includes charts for all skill ranges
!! extract it under korean locale !!
Don't make it more of a headache than it already is when you don't follow this and your song tags are messed up, which leads to GLAssist not recognizing the songs or LR2 not loading them. Remember to switch to Japanese locale after you're finished extracting.
Complete PMS Project BETA 0.3
http://kenin.iptime.org/Complete%20PMS%20Project%20BETA%200.3.torrent
I haven't downloaded the contents of this torrent yet, but it probably has pms charts on the normal pms scale.
GENOSIDE -BMS StarterPackage-
Highly recommended for those who want to quickly try out the game to see if they like it.
http://nekokan.dyndns.info/~lobsak/genoside/
Single Songs ~ quick download links
If you're quickly looking to just download one song to add to your collection and the song link on the LR2IR page is down, you can look here.
http://blog.naver.com/pc2245/196699196
http://kenin.iptime.org/BMS_Library_List.html Read me says: "DO NOT DOWNLOAD ENTIRE FOLDERS AT ONCE" Seriously, don't. Just download the torrent instead.
https://mega.co.nz/#F!k812kTrb!O2rb6FYz8EWClFMD6Hq0kw This is my personal upload on a free mega account. Please do not bulk download from here. Insane charts ONLY.
https://onedrive.live.com/?cid=A9875A9A2CB76D0C&id=A9875A9A2CB76D0C!106 ★1~12 Insane pack - credit goes to Aqo
3.2 Skins:
LR2 Skins
http://www.kasacontent.com/single/skinlist/
Nearly everything you need for SD LR2 can be found here.
This blog post has more than one page, so make sure you go through all of them to see all the available skins.
OVER ACTiVE DX series:
Includes 9k and 5k skins
http://overactive.nobody.jp/bms_skin/index.html
RED BELT SKIN SERIES
http://www.geocities.jp/red_without_right_stick/rb.html
This is an original full package skin, comes with play, results, music select, etc. Supports widescreen. It comes with an installer, just point it to your LR2 folder.
LR2HD Skins
Endless Circulation Self Evolution
http://aoishoko.blog.fc2.com/ (@Aoi_psy)
HD themes in 1280x720. He also creates a few SD themes as well.
WMIX Wide-Play and Result Screen
These are wide play skins in HD. Includes 14K and single player g-battle mode.
https://onedrive.live.com/?cid=E92E2372413C5A12&id=E92E2372413C5A12%21387&authkey=%21AJDSk4VrErhklTk (@wisp_13)
LITONE
Full HD 1920x1080 skin - You must download their custom client which patches LR2 to 1920x1080
4. How to install Skins
For most skins:
Just simply drop the skin in LR2beta3\LR2files\Theme\
In some cases:
Some skins do not come with a folder created so you might need to create the (Skin Name) folder.
Some skins also come within a full package (or with a folder named LR2files) Just simply extract it where your \LR2beta3\ folder is located, overwriting everything.
Some skins come with an installer asking you where LR2 is located.
Some skins come with an extra subfolder just to include a readme, for most skins, it is Theme\skin name\skincontents. (Skin contents being the play, font, result, select, etc folders). Make sure your folder is structured this way.
This is how my skin folder looks like. ILAS is my music select, KCOOL skin is my play skin. LR2 is the default packaged skin, everyone should have this.
5. Navigating LR2's Internet Ranking website (LR2IR)
Homepage:
http://www.dream-pro.info/~lavalse/LR2IR/search.cgi
4.1. Your Profile
4.2. Song Ranking Page
6. Dan Courses, Clear Statuses, and Grading
Dan courses are a set 4 songs (3 if doubles mode) where a player must complete until the end. Also known as CLASS mode in IIDX. Each rank being more difficult than the last. The highest rank the player can achieve is considered his relative skill level. Randomize options are disabled for these courses. In LR2, you are allowed to select hard gauge. Once cleared, your rank will show on your profile page on the LR2IR.
In LR2 there are NORMAL dan courses and INSANE. ☆Normal goes from 1st DAN to 10th DAN. For ★insane, it brings you back to 1st DAN then 10th DAN again, but now there are two extra courses, also known as KAIDEN then Overjoy. The same applies to doubles mode, except for the Overjoy part.
6.1 Dan Course Download
Official Courses
SP / 7Keys
SP Normal☆ and Insane★ http://nekokan.dyndns.info/~lobsak/genoside/grade.html
DP / 14Keys
☆Normal☆ http://www.dream-pro.info/~lavalse/LR2IR/search.cgi?mode=downloadcourse&grade_level=3
★Insane★ http://www.dream-pro.info/~lavalse/LR2IR/search.cgi?mode=downloadcourse&grade_level=4
Other Special Courses
SP / 7Keys
▽Normal no.2▽ http://maki.lv9.org/glassist/No2NormalScale.lr2crs
◆Long Note◆ http://flowermaster.web.fc2.com/lrnanido/LNclass.html
PMS / 9Keys
●Insane PMS● http://stellawingroad.web.fc2.com/i/yabai4.htm
6.2 How to Install Courses
Extract the file out of the zip then drag and drop the course file into your LR2 Jukebox1. You will need the songs for the courses to start.
6.3 Clear Statuses:
In LR2 there are various clear status. They are ★FULL COMBO, FULL COMBO, HARD CLEAR, CLEAR, EASY CLEAR, FAIL.
FAIL = Failing a song using any gauge.
EASY CLEAR = Clearing a song using EASY gauge. You need 80% health at the end to pass, you start with 20%. It's a less strict version of GROOVE gauge.
CLEAR = Clearing a song with GROOVE gauge. Also known as normal gauge in IIDX. It has the same requirements as EASY gauge, but it is more strict on recovery.
HARD CLEAR = Clearing a song using SURVIVAL gauge. This is equivalent to IIDX's Hard gauge. You start at 100% gauge but instantly fail the song once it hits 0. The gauge is more strict than clear in both recovery and damage.
FULL COMBO = Finishing a song with full combo. You can play on any gauge (except P-ATTACK) as long as you get a full combo.
★FULL COMBO = Obtained by ONLY using the P-ATTACK option. With this option on, you instantly fail when you get a GOOD, BAD, or POOR. Your health also goes down if you get normal greats.
6.4 Grading:
88.89% and above = AAA
77.78% ~ 88.88% = AA
66.67% ~ 77.77% = A
55.56% ~ 66.66% = B
44.44% ~ 55.55% = C
33.33% ~ 44.44% = D
22.22% ~ 33.33% = E
22.22% ~ 0% = F
Your profile page will always record your highest clear status and score even if you got them in different attempts. For example, you AAAed a song on normal gauge but previously had it AAed on hard gauge. The game will count it as an AAA hard clear.
7. Difficulty Scales and Tables
What are Difficulty Scales?
Difficulty Scales are the different difficulty level ranges you see in many rhythm games such as IIDX's 1 to 12, pop'n music's 1-50, and REFLEC BEAT's 1 to 10+. In a community driven rhythm game based strongly on another, difficulty scaling inaccuracies in song tags are inevitable. Since vertical scrolling rhythm games has different skill sets the player must learn, such as scratches, jacks, and long notes, with the different charting styles, it's impossible to group everything into one scale accurately. That is why we have scales such as ☆,★,◆, and ◎.
Most players will estimate the level of their song usually using ☆ and ★ since they are easily the most recognizable scale.
What are Difficulty Tables?
Difficulty Tables are sets songs a community or person grouped up together for people to easily play and to compare scores. Songs are usually organized and generated through a custom folder which the player could then easily go for folder clear lamps just like AC IIDX. Just because a song is ★4 doesn't mean it will be in the ★Insane table. ★Insane songs are added through community voting.
Note The URL links attached with the description of the tables are the home page and formal website of the difficulty table. If you're looking for the URL to add for GLAssist, look here: http://bmsnormal2.syuriken.jp/bms_dtimporter.html
7.1 Stairway Scales:
These scales are supported by GLAssist and has stairway ranking profile pages. Most people play these songs, especially the Insane since it is LR2's official scale.
通常難易度 ☆ = Normal scale. Ranges from level 1 to 12. Think of it as the IIDX rating system.
GENOCIDE Survival ★ = Insane scale. It uses the same exact songs as the scale above but scales them under Survival (HARD) gauge.
Overjoy ★★ = Overjoy scale. ★★1 is roughly ★21.
LN難易度 ◆ = LN scale. Ranges from ◆1 ~ ◆26. ◆1 is around level 8 in the normal scale.
7.2 Other Scales (GLAssist supported):
These scales are not supported by Stairway but works with GLAssist.
People don't really play these scales besides obviously Normal DP and Insane DP (but even so, DP players are rare...). If you're looking for more content or a break from Insane grinding, these tables will give you plenty of more consistent quality charts to play with.
SP / 7keys
Special Scales
LN表外難易度 ◇Outside LN. Basically LongNote no.2 scale.
あんさの通常難易度 Å = Ansa's normal scale. Å1 is ☆1. Ranges from Å1 ~ Å17. Å13~17 ranges from being ★1 to ★15.
準発狂難易度 ▲ = Quasi-Insane. ▲1 is about ☆11. Ranges from ▲1 ~ ▲5. ▲5 is about ★1.
カスタム通常難易度表 c☆ = Custom Normal. Level ☆9 ~ ☆12. A dump of normal charts that aren't on Normal or Normal2.
カスタム発狂難易度表 c★ = Custom Insane. Level ★1 ~ ★24. A dump of insane charts that aren't on Insane or Insane2.
Notecharter Tables
swa倉庫 す = Swa's scale. LR2 notecharter. This scale only has his charts made by him. Ranges from す0 ~ す5
morio難易度表 Ψ = morio's scale. LR2 notecharter known for [morither] series.
jakko難易度表 ★ = jakko's scale. LR2 notecharter that chart's Insane stuff.
あぼ。関連BMSリスト ABO's scale. ABO is a BMS artist and note charter.
.WAS難易度表 . = .WAS Difficulty Table. Mostly LN stuff, o2jam-style
■ - BAECON scale. LR2 note charter and only includes charts made by him. ■0 is roughly ★1
Other
オマージュBMS難易度表 ∽ = Homemage BMS scale by KASAKON. Ranges from ~1 to ~13. ~1 is equivalent to ☆1. These are IIDX parody songs.
DP / 14keys
δ難易度表 δ = DP normal scale. Ranges from δ1 ~ δ12. Same as IIDX 1 to 12 scale.
発狂DPBMSごった煮難易度表 ★ = Insane DP 2.
DP皿難易度表 ◎ - DP insane scratch scale.
PMS / 9keys
通常PMS難易度表 Lv = Normal PMS scale.
発狂PMS表外案内所 ・ = Insane 2 PMS scale.
発狂PMS表外案内所隔離枠 ・？, ・◆, ・～ = Insane PMS another scale. Mostly gimmick BPM changing charts and long note stuff.
準発狂PMS難易度表 ○ = Quasi Insane PMS scale.
酸素PMS難易度表 o = Oxygen PMS scale. Similar to Normal PMS scale(?)
西ヶ蜂難易度表 ∞ = Nishikehachi PMS scale.
G2R PMS難易度表 Lv = G2R2014 PMS Difficulty Table. G2R2014 songs charted to 9K
7.3 Other Scales:
These scales are not supported by GLAssist and don't have stairway ranking pages.
☆☆ - Overjoy Another Dimension. Overjoy+ charts
◆◆ - LN Overjoy - Used to be supported by Stairway, but was removed.
8. GLAssist
Download GLAssist here: http://bmsnormal2.syuriken.jp/bms_dtimporter.html
What is GLAssist?
The main feature of GLAssist is the ability to create custom level folders of the different scales and difficulty tables which you read above by reading your LR2 song.db. It also has other neat features such as direct rival score comparison, play log and stats, converting bms song to an audio format, and ripping BMS videos. It is in Japanese, but also open source. If you are able to translate it into different langauges, please contact the developer! If you only care about Insane BMS (発狂BMS), then you can just use the built in jukebox2 folder. 発狂BMS charts are only for those who are proficient with IIDX 12s. It is absolutely necessary if you cannot do Insanes.
8.1 Installing GLAssist
RUN THIS PROGRAM IN JAPANESE LOCALE
You will need Java Runtime Environment. Download it here if you don't have it already.
Once you have that, download GLAssist and extract it anywhere. The best place is probably inside your LR2 directory where LR2.exe is at. Running GLAssist for the first time will ask you to direct to where your LR2.exe and LR2body is located. Simple and straight forward.
8.2 How to Add and Create a Pre-existing Table (Custom Folder Creation):
First you must make sure you are on JAPANESE LOCALE
1)
Optional but recommended:
Follow these folder settings:
This is so you can obtain extra features such as random select, DJ LEVEL, and CLEAR folders. Your level folders will also have the symbol near the level and will look like [LEVEL ★2] or [LEVEL ☆2] for example.
2)
Click the + button. Enter the URL of the difficulty table you want to add. They can be found here http://bmsnormal2.syuriken.jp/bms_dtimporter.html The difficulty names are in Japanese but you can identify each table by referring to the Difficulty Scales and Tables section.
Difficulty Table Recommendations
You can add the URLs I'm referring to directly:
For players who are new to the game and cannot do IIDX 12s
通常難易度 ☆ = Normal scale.
第2通常難易度 ▽ = Normal no.2 scale.
For players who are experienced with the game and can do IIDX 12s
発狂難易度 ★ = Insane scale
GENOCIDE Survival ★ = Insane scale. It uses the same exact songs as the scale above but scales them under Survival (HARD) gauge.
発狂第2難易度 ▼ = Insane no.2 scale.
For ETs:
Overjoy ★★ = Overjoy scale.
3)
Choose each table you want to create a custom folder through the dropdown list. You must click the create folder button each time for each table. Once you have this set up, you don't need to repeat any other steps when you want to update your table.
Note:GLAssist must recognize the songs you have for it to appear in the custom folder. Because of this reason, you should load all your songs in LR2 first. Everytime you add songs and want GLAssist to read them, it needs to be loaded into LR2 first. If the song says NO PLAY, then GLAssist recognize the song and will create a folder with that song in it. When sorting your table by status and you have songs that you have played but are grouped with the NO SONG songs, it probably means you're missing it. (Probably played it at some point then deleted it...)
4)
The folder by default will be located here. The same place where you installed GLAssist.
Add that custom folder to your JUKEBOX1 tab. Start LR2 and enjoy.
8.3 How to Create Your Own Difficulty Table:
~ coming soon ~
8.4 GLAssist menus guide
8.5 GLAssist settings guide
The columns settings are extra info when looking at stats in the table. This isn't important and doesn't affect anything in game. I would at least recommend disabling EXTRA unless you play EXTRA mode. I'm not sure what the stuff are in the red box. They may have an effect in tags in game.
These options actually affect in game stuff. I personally use CLEAR, DJ LEVEL, MISS COUNT, RANDOM SELECT, and ABCD. SOFT LANDING is bpm changing songs, BPM should be obvious.
GLAssist HI-SPEED assist tool. I don't really use this, but some may find it useful.
9. Stairway
Stairway homepage:
http://stairway.sakura.ne.jp/bms/
Stairway's main purpose is a nice way to look at all your scores and clear lamps on a single page for certain scales. This way, you don't have to search up individual songs on LR2's main website to see what clear status or score you have on it. Stairway only updates once every week on a Sunday, so if you cleared a new song or got a new score, you need to wait until Sunday for your page to update.
As of 01/19/2015, there are 8 stairways. They are ★Insane, ★★Overjoy, ◆LongNote, ☆Normal, ▽Normal 2, ▼Insane 2, ●Insane PMS, and ♪mn.
To get a Stairway profile page for each scale do the following:
★Insane: 125 songs played.
★★Overjoy: 1 song cleared. Failing doesn't count.
◆LongNote: 30 songs played.
☆Normal: 50 songs played.
▽Normal 2: 100 songs played.
▼Insane 2: 50 songs played.
●Insane PMS: 50 songs played.
♪mn: Secret
To find your stairway page:
Click on a stairway scale -> then click PlayerList.
You will get a huge list of players with stairway pages. Just ctrl+F your name and you will find your page.
Your page:
My personal page can be found here: http://stairway.sakura.ne.jp/bms/LunaticRave2/?contents=player&page=66471
Breakdown of Each Tab:
Music Data:
Shows detailed stats of each song. Straight forward stuff. One thing to note that if the song is colored Purple, that means it has been PFCed by at least one person, gold meaning it has been full combo'ed... etc. It follows the same clear color code guide in your stairway page.
Ranking Data:
Top Player (EX) - Awarded 1 point for holding a first place spot.
Top Player 1st,2nd,3rd Player - Awarded 1 point if holding top 3 on a song.
Top Player (FC) - Awarded 1 point for full comboing a song.
Player List:
Self explanatory. Players that completed stairway missions to have a stairway page.
Player Estimation:
Easy comparison on top 500 players based on skill (timing) and clear (less bp and full combos) The numbers on the column represent the song level, and the number below that shows how many songs are in that level/folder.
Grade:
Nice visual way to see how many (1st,2nd,3rd,4th)+(5th,6th,7th,8th)+(9th,10th)+Kaiden+Overjoy players are there. It's worth noting that not all the players listed here have a Stairway profile page. There are also detailed clear status for each course such as, number of players, average ex, success (includes normal clear+hard clear), and failed.
FAQ:
Japanese FAQ if you can read it.
revision by auuric— ソースを見る