osu! News

osu! Public Release b1485

peppy — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 06:51:58 +0800

Picking up the pace again with another release~. I had only planned for bug-fixes in this one (and to release it many days ago) but ended up getting some other changes in as well! Performance improvements to song selection, smoother audio handling, and more. A huge thanks to the hard-working testing team for allowing so many bugs to be fixed this efficiently!

General:
(*) New beatmap processing screen design.
(*) Better song selection audio transitions.
(*) Improved song selection colour coding.

Gameplay:
(*) Spinner positioning fixes.

Full Changelog:

SPOILER (click to toggle)

(+) Threaded audio loading on song selection. Synchronised with background load.
(+) Spectator list fades out with scoreboard if set to hide during play mode.
(+) Show preview point on seekbar in editor.
(+) Allow chatting during beatmap processing.
(+) Added dialog to move all storyboard events in time.
(+) Added a disabled state for checkboxes to better display options.
(*) [major] Improvements to song selection colour mapping.
(*) [major] Fix spinners not being at centre of playfield.
(*) [major] Editor menu refresh.
(*) [major] Beatmap import screen improvements.
(*) [Editor] fixed i209 (Timeline zooming out when changing difficulties in the 'Timing' tab).
(*) Sprite operations performance optimisations (for random song selection).
(*) Slight fix for active group colouring.
(*) Minor threading bugs.
(*) Minor looping performance enhancements.
(*) Improvements to user online/offline notifications (addresses i239).
(*) Further fixes for i232 (hopefully the lats of).
(*) Fixed the multiplayer scoreboard showing the lowest scoring player as ??.
(*) Fixed skin select crash when no beatmaps are present.
(*) Fixed roulette not respecting ranked/unranked/unplayed filters.
(*) Fixed osu! not accepting full editor link format including hitobject reference.
(*) Fixed nullref crash in SpriteManager.
(*) Fixed names being clickable even after they have disappeared (when swapping to another tab with less chat buffer).
(*) Fixed menu "shake to activate" animation getting stuck in an endless loop.
(*) Fixed match setup UI alignment.
(*) Fixed main menu not changing colour correctly when shader is disabled.
(*) Fixed ingame beatmap listing causing large gaps between unselected and selected maps when the selected map consists of a large amount of difficulties.
(*) Fixed i247 (Spinner's hitburst is not centered).
(*) Fixed i244 (Auto-play spinning not centered).
(*) Fixed i242 (Skip button does not fade with cursor over it).
(*) Fixed i240 (Slider nodes placed between unexpected nodes).
(*) Fixed i238 (CursorExpand not respected with preferred skin).
(*) Fixed i237 (Top taiko bar shown over storyboard).
(*) Fixed i236 (Fail in tag trashes ready state).
(*) Fixed i235 (Random doesn't respect search query).
(*) Fixed i234 (Break shading disappears).
(*) Fixed i232 (editor time display includes UO).
(*) Fixed i229 ("Reset Search" does not reset text cursor).
(*) Fixed i226 (When changing difficulties, the saved grid size is not loaded).
(*) Fixed i223 (Top of "Open Difficulty..." box has vanished).
(*) Fixed i221 (osu! Jukebox "Jump to" box unintentionally switches songs).
(*) Fixed i220 (Taiko scroller gets incorrectly drawn after pausing.
(*) Fixed i220 (Taiko scroller gets incorrectly drawn after pausing.
(*) Fixed i217 (F9 Grammar issue "Paused [nickname] play [song name]").
(*) Fixed i214 (AltGr characters can not be typed).
(*) Fixed i207 (Sliders are out of place in the editor in OpenGL).
(*) Fixed i206 (hitcircleoverlay.png is grey tinted for sliders in OpenGL).
(*) Fixed i205 (Crash on entering Song Select).
(*) Fixed i203 (Multiplayer: last two positions shown as ??).
(*) Fixed i181 (/savelog always uses #osu as channel).
(*) Fixed i157 (Slider-end stacking oversight).
(*) Fixed i134 (Slider length snap incorrect for inherited sections with BPM multipliers).
(*) Fixed i118 (Widescreen flashlight issues).
(*) Fixed beatmap sets with many difficulties having uneven spacing on song select.
(*) Fixed a nullref in the tag ranking screen under some rare condition.
(*) Fixed Osu!direct crashing because cache loading of undownloaded sprite failed.
(*) Fixed Osu! animations not reversing under some conditions.
(*) Fixed #84 "ends in N days" is covered by the ranking's title.
(*) Fix textbox cursor misaligned on song selection screen.
(*) Fix search field not displaying correctly on song selection.
(*) Fix for subscription renewals from old dates not getting new date correctly.
(*) Fix for seeking in audio while paused not correctly accounting for UO.
(*) Fix for i243 (Song Selection Lag and coloring).
(*) Fix for i232 (more incorrect audio time values in editor).
(*) Extended chat search filter overrides "Friends Only" selection.
(*) Default selection to "back to menu" when hitting up at pause screen.
(*) Changes to installer build script such that it builds relative to project path.
(*) Changed order of current song metadata display at song select.
(*) Changed defaults for comment targets. Force selection of a target before commenting.
(*) Breaks which occur after the last object or before the first object are purged at save-time.
(*) Better error handling on background threads.
(*) Always uploads jpeg format screenshots (Shift-F12).
(*) Added "SuppressUnmanagedCodeSecurityAttribute" to native calls for performance boost.
(*) Add more detail to error reporting for ranking dialog.

March 2010 Monthly Chart

Cyclone — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 12:05:00 +0800

A new monthly ranking chart has been created. Congratulations to Lybydose, MittenMasterzz, and mikhe for being the winners of the February charts. This month we will be introducing a prize for the winners. Winners of the March chart will receive a one month supporter tag and profile badge.

Round 1 of the NewMAT: Results

Ephemeral — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 16:15:19 +0800

After extensive voting by members of both the BAT and the MAT, the results are finally in for who makes it into the MAT from the first ever round of applications..

And the new members of the MAT are (in no particular order):

DJPop, rust45, NoHItter, Breeze, MarioBros777, Sushi971, Real1, fartownik, Teara and VanMoNky!

I'd like to thank everybody who applied for their interest in the position, and for those who were not accepted this round - please feel free to apply again in the next round of applications, which should be in three weeks or so.

Email phishing alert

peppy — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 23:12:33 +0800

Hi guys. Just want to make a quick mention that it seems there is some impostor sending emails out to osu! account holders asking them for their username and password. Please know that I will never ask you for these details (nor send you any similar mail), so please do not respond. A sample of the email follows:

Quote:

From: peppy.osu@live.com
To:
Subject: Hello There!
Date: Wed, 24 Feb 2010 14:04:24 +0000

Dear Osu! User

In order to continue using account you must validate your account by
replying to this message
You must include your account information in this format:

Username: (your osu username)
E-Mail: (the email you registered your account to)
Password: (the password you used to log in to your osu account)

Our database will be formatted soon, due to some damage caused by some users. We will need to record our active users and add them to our database once again.

You must validate your account within 30 days or else your account will get disabled. Thank you for your co-operation

Best regards,
"Osu Account Managing Team"

chinese version
korean version

Please stay alert and be smart. Also, use this opportunity to make sure your password is strong enough - I'd recommend 8 characters+ with at least 2 numbers.

Edit: For those of you rolling your eyes at why I would make a big deal of this - it is my response to getting four people in the last two days saying their account was stolen. It seems they are sending mails out to those profiles with msn/yahoo addresses shared, for those wondering how they are getting addresses.

osu! Public Release b1460

peppy — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 03:21:04 +0800

A long time in the coming, partly due to my absence from my home country in January and a long list of bugs that I wanted to fix before releasing another build. In fact, this build has over 60 fixes for tracked bugs, as well as a lot of untracked ones. There are also a fair share of editor, multiplayer and interface improvements, which while most players won't notice due to the subtleness, should improve the overall osu! experience.

p.s. please check out and vote for the latest community voice poll!

Highlights:

2010-02-24 (b1458)
Online:
(+) Usernames are clickable in chat logs.
(+) Ability to select local colour for tag mode multiplayer games.
(*) Lobby filter options more compact. Searching for text overrides all filters.
(*) Scoreboard updates in multiplayer games are less frequent, and only occur after the first 10 seconds in.
(*) Extended chat search filter overrides "Friends Only" selection.

Gameplay:
(*) Many fixes and improvements to input handling.
(*) Mouse cursor hides during break/intro/outro time.
(*) ~30% first-load / 90% retry improvements on maps.

Editor:
(+) New expanded layout for seekbar.
(+) Ability to move all storyboard events by arbitrary time.
(+) Support for floating point frame delays in storyboard. More accurate animations in general.
(*) Reorganisation of windows menu system. Should make more sense now.

Misc:
(+) Full-screen toggle (alt-enter) works from song selection, options, lobby, special mode select etc.
(*) Song select interface improvements.
(*) osu!direct panel improvements.
(*) Extended user panels don't move as much. Huge performance improvements.
(*) Switching to and from test mode is around 95% faster for storyboarded maps.
(*) Respacing of all in-game dialog popups to allow use of Segoe UI on Vista/Win7.
(*) Many many bug fixes.

b1458 available at 2010-02-23 20:11
b1460 available at 2010-02-23 20:58 (contains bug-fixes).

Full Changelog:

SPOILER (click to toggle)

(+) osu!direct panel shows above extended chat.
(+) [major] Web: User Page system implemented for subscribers.
(+) [major] Added support for showing IME in-game (partial, but usable).
(+) Usernames are clickable in in-game chat (brings up user menu).
(+) Support for floating point frame delays in storyboard.
(+) Spectator list fades out with scoreboard if set to hide during play mode.
(+) Show preview point on seekbar in editor.
(+) Osz2 now checks for video data availability by passing a video-specific integrity test.
(+) Full-screen toggle (alt-enter) works from song selection, options, lobby, special mode select etc.
(+) Ctrl-Shift-L in editor reloads all sprites. Ctrl-L doesn't.
(+) Bancho sends "player skipped" messages back to osu!.
(+) Attempt to retrieve beatmapSetId from folder (helps combat duplicate maps).
(+) Added utility app for creating XNB textures without XNA game studio crap.
(+) Added tooltip to tag colour dropdown.
(+) Added ranking screen header back to TeamVS ranking.
(+) Added notification sound when beatmap upload completes.
(+) Added message notification of a problem when ranking fails (ban/inactive/password etc.)
(+) Added ffmpeg DLLs to build process.
(+) Added confirmation dialog when resetting current timing section from menu.
(+) Added a color combo dialog to choose a custom combo color in multiplayer tag mode.
(+) Added Bancho welcoming (where did this go?).
(+) Added AIMod menu item (File menu).
(+) Added 'source' to beatmap listing and info pages.
(*) osu! mode mouse cursor disappears while idle in breaks/intro/outro time.
(*) mapping contest and tournament stuff
(*) changed mirror url.
(*) [major] Improvements to readability of editor seekbar.
(*) [major] Huge sprite loading changes. Performance increases throughout.
(*) Usability changes to SongSetup dialog. Added warning about automatic saving on confirm.
(*) Updated main menu copyright to 2010.
(*) Unnecessary banchobot cast removal.
(*) Typo in BSS script.
(*) Testing new bancho server (use public for old).
(*) Storyboard load/sort order fixes.
(*) Stop disposing textures on osu! exit (slight performance gain).
(*) Special BSS upload permissions accounts can now make changes to song metadata.
(*) Song selection interface usability changes.
(*) Song selection fixes (randomness, selection colours, code cleanup).
(*) Slight change to subscription system to allow tournament winner prizes.
(*) Show IP address to those who are banned (useful for tracking ban queries).
(*) Send login credentials when doing osu!direct search.
(*) Scoreboard updates in multiplayer games are less frequent, and only occur after the first 10 seconds in.
(*) Revert "(*) Fixed i163 (Editor SB alignment)."
(*) Respacing of all in-game dialog popups to allow use of Segoe UI on Vista/Win7.
(*) Removed old debug code.
(*) Removed ctb not-ranked message.
(*) Refactor of multiplayer tag combo colour code changes.
(*) Reduce speed of seeking when dragging a selection on editor timeline.
(*) Reduce scoreboard update rate, and add initial delay.
(*) Project file updates. Pre/Post-build commands got lost some
(*) Project file updates. Error checking on exit (when saving osu!.db).
(*) Potential performance increase during drag operations in editor.
(*) Performance improvement for map thumbnails (avoid php invocation).
(*) Osz2 now skips hashing video data and missing video data no longer affects the file integrity test.
(*) Osu!p2p downloads are now user cancelable
(*) Osu!P2P now supports novideo and video osz2 formats to be interchangeable between peers.
(*) Optimalised osz2 to be 3 times faster than osz1 when exporting.
(*) Only tweet commits that affect the web side of things.
(*) Music controller not shown in osu!direct (looks ugly with overlap).
(*) More scoreboard alignment adjustments.
(*) More changes to scoreboard colours, plus fix for incorrect tag rank displays.
(*) Minor usability adjustments to Song Setup dialog.
(*) Minor storyboard editor alignment tweak.
(*) Minor looping performance enhancements.
(*) Minor improvement to slider curve calculation performance.
(*) Merge branch 'master' of github.com:peppy/osu
(*) Lobby text search bypasses other filters temporarily. Filter panel is more compact and prettier.
(*) Limit maximum userlist refreshes to one per second.
(*) Increased precision of editor drag selections (playfield).
(*) Imrpvements to spacing of elements at bottom of editor interface.
(*) Improvements to dynamic sprite loading code.
(*) Improve HP calculation performance on maps with large storyboards.
(*) Holy shit I pwned the editor-test mode transition some. and some more.
(*) Handle exceptions while processing folders (UnauthorizedException)
(*) HUGE storyboard load and display performance improvement (~6x).
(*) Get rid of crappy XNA timing code for forced vsync scenarios.
(*) Further login window layout fixes.
(*) Fized issue #181 (Savelog filename does not contain the appropriate channel).
(*) Fixed world map accepting clicks when it shouldn't.
(*) Fixed the multiplayer scoreboard showing the lowest scoring player as ??.
(*) Fixed tag coop mode not being exitable.
(*) Fixed storyboard load order bug when startTime == endTime for an event.
(*) Fixed spriteManagers not disposing display-order optimised sprites which are yet to be displayed.
(*) Fixed spinners spinning too fast.
(*) Fixed song resetting to previewpoint on song select screen.
(*) Fixed slight stutter when exiting lead-in time.
(*) Fixed sending PMs not appearing correctly in chat (first outgoing).
(*) Fixed ranking screen errors when user is banned or ranking response fails.
(*) Fixed random null crash when disposing temporary sprites.
(*) Fixed progress pie polygon not fading out during intro time.
(*) Fixed profile history stats/graphs that weren't displaying correctly.
(*) Fixed potential crash during play mode.
(*) Fixed post escaping problem.
(*) Fixed pause arrows being skinned by current beatmap skin.
(*) Fixed osu! taking too much priority while inactive.
(*) Fixed osu! login window appearing in wrong location when game does not have focus.
(*) Fixed occasional crash when attempting to open URL in fullscreen mode.
(*) Fixed nullref crash in SpriteManager.
(*) Fixed multipart slider calculation issue.
(*) Fixed mouse cursor disappearing during play time.
(*) Fixed mouse cursor disappearing during play time.
(*) Fixed minor typo on welcome email.
(*) Fixed minor typo on options dialog.
(*) Fixed match setup UI alignment.
(*) Fixed kiai triggering incorrectly in some editor test mode scenarios.
(*) Fixed jukebox playing from preview points.
(*) Fixed issue #164 (osu!direct is available when logged off).
(*) Fixed issue #148 (updater not getting correct working directory in some odd cases).
(*) Fixed i99 (Editor doesn't reset cursor when swapping modes).
(*) Fixed i89 (Changed way first additive storyboard event is drawn).
(*) Fixed i73 (Alt-# in chat fails in editor).
(*) Fixed i3 (Multiplayer Rank Display).
(*) Fixed i207 (Sliders are out of place in the editor in OpenGL).
(*) Fixed i206 (hitcircleoverlay.png is grey tinted for sliders in OpenGL).
(*) Fixed i205 (Crash on entering Song Select).
(*) Fixed i203 (Multiplayer: last two positions shown as ??).
(*) Fixed i201 (Playfield moved down).
(*) Fixed i199 (Only a slider's control points should have priority over the seekbar).
(*) Fixed i198 (Trigger loops not playing).
(*) Fixed i196 (Slider placement goes wrong when left-clicking last point).
(*) Fixed i194 (Offset wizard auto-download of tutorial endless loop).
(*) Fixed i192 (Chat hover highlight delays tab switching).
(*) Fixed i189 (Fullscreen editor/test mode).
(*) Fixed i187 (Test Mode: Autoplay behaviour unchangeable during ending spinner).
(*) Fixed i186 (Test mode crashing).
(*) Fixed i185 (Changing playback speed in editor affects song select).
(*) Fixed i184 (Editor crash on corrupted map).
(*) Fixed i183 (storyboard transformations in incorrect time order cause sprites to not load).
(*) Fixed i179 (Background dissappear as soon as you play a beatmap).
(*) Fixed i169 (Extracting maps is very slow on thumbdrives).
(*) Fixed i168 (AIMod doesn't reset when changing difficulty).
(*) Fixed i166 (Passing old score puts you at #41)
(*) Fixed i165 (linear slider algorithm bug).
(*) Fixed i163 (Editor SB alignment).
(*) Fixed i162 (1/4 second delay when selecting on the timeline)
(*) Fixed i160 (HP bar doesn't redraw itself when windowed osu! is moved around).
(*) Fixed i158 (Audio lead-in causing two skip buttons at map's start).
(*) Fixed i157 (Slider-end stacking oversight).
(*) Fixed i156 (Slider's apperance is mangled if rendered partially offscreen).
(*) Fixed i154 ("Start game!" when you aren't host).
(*) Fixed i153 (/me behaviour wierd).
(*) Fixed i149 (Search query becomes "type to begin!").
(*) Fixed i147 (Grid snap set in the menu but not actually set).
(*) Fixed i146 (Caret does not wrap in some input fields).
(*) Fixed i142 (fail-background not scaled).
(*) Fixed i140 (Recently added beatmaps don't appear in the "Jump to..." jukebox search).
(*) Fixed i139 (Other spectators (0) displayed).
(*) Fixed i138 (osu!direct treats osu! forum links incorrectly).
(*) Fixed i137 (Overlapping text in Edit's song select).
(*) Fixed i134 (Slider length snap incorrect for inherited sections with BPM multipliers).
(*) Fixed i133 (Auto in Test mode misses or 50/100's 1/4 streams).
(*) Fixed i132 (SBE layer toggles and sprite list inconsistent).
(*) Fixed i128 (Delete key deletes character AND map) - shift-delete works to delete maps now.
(*) Fixed i127 (Skin preview out-of-sync with VBR mp3s).
(*) Fixed i126 (hitcircleoverlay.png uses additive blending for sliders in OpenGL).
(*) Fixed i123 (Lead-in Time text labels misaligned).
(*) Fixed i121 (Taiko play field off-centre again).
(*) Fixed i120 (World Map markers misaligned in the editor).
(*) Fixed i119 (Widescreen + fullscreen in lobby).
(*) Fixed i118 (Widescreen flashlight issues).
(*) Fixed i117 (Skins causing incorrect combo colors).
(*) Fixed i116 (Slider recalculation becoming null object reference).
(*) Fixed i110 (Priority does not lower when a modal dialog is up).
(*) Fixed i105 (Song preview doesn't change when two maps have the same mp3 filename).
(*) Fixed hard crash when Tahoma is not installed on system (warns user actively).
(*) Fixed fullscreen toggling while refreshing song select (F5) in edit mode.
(*) Fixed fullscreen toggling not working at all.
(*) Fixed editor dirty state not set when adding/changing background.
(*) Fixed dispose error with bg files that are also included in SB code.
(*) Fixed disable mouse buttons option not disabling tablet clicks.
(*) Fixed changelog page not displaying correctly.
(*) Fixed beatmap import code not working at all.
(*) Fixed alignment of main menu notice.
(*) Fixed a possible threading crash in SpriteManager.
(*) Fixed a null refference when trying to change the music if no beatmap is available.
(*) Fixed a hard crash when trying to play a taiko-specific beatmaps that has corrupt/missing audio.
(*) Fixed Osu!direct crashing because cache loading of undownloaded sprite failed.
(*) Fixed Osu! animations not reversing under some conditions.
(*) Fixed FastEditor flag causing saves to not be triggered.
(*) Fixed Bancho connection problem for some users.
(*) Fixed BSS form oops.
(*) Fix unnecessary text showing on ranking panels in Tag Coop
(*) Fix text field cursor visible on song select.
(*) Fix storyboard loops not loading correctly.
(*) Fix rare crash with new animation frame sync algorithm.
(*) Fix private changes showing up on changelog page.
(*) Fix match not completing when failing in TagTeam.
(*) Fix loss of white selection position on song select after searching.
(*) Fix location of scoreboards on Tag/Vs ranking screens.
(*) Fix links getting stuck after clicking user links.
(*) Fix i144 (Date wrong in results after spectating).
(*) Fix i107 (SB: frameDelay not correctly utilized).
(*) Fix for frameDelay being slightly off in storyboard scripting.
(*) Fix for frameDelay being slightly off in storyboard scripting.
(*) Fix for chat name colours being incorrect after highlight + tab switch.
(*) Fix flags enum being read incorrectly.
(*) Fix file move operations not working across drives.
(*) Fix bancho exploit with certain usernames.
(*) Fix another random freeze when activating IME (alt-shift).
(*) Fix #3 for i59 ("This is the latest ranked copy" showing after editing map).
(*) Fix #2 for i58 (Star Difficulty Rating disappears afting deleting timing sections).
(*) Fix #2 for i34 (Right-click menus show default skin).
(*) Fix #2 for i28 ([Editor] Slider does not have priority over seekbar).
(*) Fix #2 for i18 (Disable mouse buttons in autopilot doesn't work).
(*) Fix #2 for i142 (fail-background not scaled/displaying).
(*) Fix #2 for i12 (In game user avatar not updated when relogging/changing users)
(*) Fixed #84 "ends in N days" is covered by the ranking's title.
(*) Final fix for old osu version animation speeds.
(*) Extended chat search filter overrides "Friends Only" selection.
(*) Ensure mouse is visible at least three seconds before gameplay starts.
(*) Disabled custom font overriding (screws with kerning?).
(*) Constants rename, version bump, and changelog.txt deprecation.
(*) Clicking retry on ranking screen making ranking dialog appear instantly.
(*) Changelog loads previous pages on request. Style changes also.
(*) Changed send buffer for Bancho (was way too small).
(*) Changed score display to fixed-width to offset i191 (Scores >=100m off-screen).
(*) Changed mode-specific setting to drop-down menu in Song Setup.
(*) Changed import of noVideo maps to offset i159.
(*) Changed colour scheme for tag scoreboard entries.
(*) Changed behaviour of confirmation before exit - defaults to false but still triggers when necessary.
(*) Changed accuracy display to use fixed-width spacing.
(*) Change mouse clicks in taiko mode to only press one button rather than both.
(*) Bump up beatmap version.
(*) Another fucking alignment fix.
(*) Animation fix (Should have been committed earlier...).
(*) Always uploads jpeg format screenshots (Shift-F12).
(*) Added some misc files to git's ignore list.
(*) Added "SuppressUnmanagedCodeSecurityAttribute" to native calls for performance boost.
(*) AIMod no longer seeks to 0ms when selecting an error that has no specific time set.
(*) Default selection to "back to menu" when hitting up at pause screen.
(*) Changed order of current song metadata display at song select.
(!) SpriteManager code cleanup.

Official osu! Beatmapping Contest #2!

LuigiHann — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 12:41:45 +0800

You asked for it, and now it's here! A new beatmapping contest has begun, just choose one of these songs and map away! Read on for more information about the rules and the songs.

Official Beatmapping Contest #2

The Rules:

There are three songs to choose from. You can map more than one, or all three, if you want.
Whichever song you choose, you must submit a set of three difficulties for the song. You can make your difficulties however you like, but the difficulty spread will be judged, so try to make them all balanced and fun.
Timing is provided for each song, but you are welcome to adjust it if you feel the need. If you change the timing, please make a note of it in the comments when submitting. You must, however, use the given mp3.
The maps must adhere, more or less, to normal ranking standards. But don't be afraid to be inventive.
You may choose a preferred skin, but only from skins available in the updater. Skin choice will not be judged, though.
No storyboarding in this contest. We'll save that for a separate contest. SB events in the osu will be deleted.
Standard-mode maps only, no taiko-only or CtB-only difficulties for this contest. Feel free to label "Taikosu" maps (playable in standard but designed with taiko in mind) if that's part of your design, though.
Do not post your map or publicly share it before the contest ends. You can send it privately to your personal friends if you'd like, I can't do anything about that, but do not ask any BAT or GMT members to look at it.

The Songs:

Showing Heart "Dance of the Cornered Rat"
Download pre-timed .osz here
Artist: Masashi Hamauzu
Source: Sigma Harmonics
Genre: Video Game (Instrumental)
YouTube Preview
The Impression That I Get
Download pre-timed .osz here
Artist: The Mighty Mighty Bosstones
Source: None
Genre: Rock (English)
YouTube Preview
The Real Folk Blues
Download pre-timed .osz here
Artist: Yoko Kanno
Source: Cowboy Bebop
Genre: Anime (Japanese)
YouTube Preview

The Submission Process:

Once you have finished mapping, you can submit your entry at http://osu.ppy.sh/p/contest. Do not upload it through osu!
Make sure you are logged into your account on the website as you enter. Your submission is anonymous to the judges, but tied to your username by the website. Please do not write your name in the comments (Your username will be automatically removed from the "Creator" field, so don't worry about that one).
The submission form allows you to submit exactly 3 .osu files. If you don't have 3 of them, your entry will not be accepted.
You may not submit any other files (sorry, no custom graphics or sounds for this contest)
You may update your submissions at any time until the deadline. Simply resubmit an entry to the same song category, and it will automatically override your previous entry.
While you are welcome to discuss the mapping process in chat or forum, do not publicly say anything that indicates when you are submitting your entry, either before, during, or after submission.

The Deadline:

The contest will end on Sunday, March 21, 2010 at 11:59 PM (UTC time)
That is roughly 31 days from the time of this posting. A countdown clock can be viewed here.
After March 21 is over, the submission form will be disabled and no further entries will be accepted.

The Prizes:

There will be three winners chosen, one for each of the three songs.
Each winner can choose either an osu! notebook*, or a 6-month supporter tag.
Each winner will also get a custom forum title, and a shiny profile badge.
*The osu! notebook can be substituted for any one osu! goodies item of lesser or much lesser value

The Judges:

Cyclone
StarrodKirby86
Ephemeral
osuplayer111
CheeseWarlock
Kharl
Tapdancingmetroid

Each judge has written a blurb about how they will be judging, and what kind of maps they like:

SPOILER (click to toggle)

Cyclone wrote:

I guess if I *had* to list my judging criteria, it would basically include things I normally look for/notice when I mod/play. First off, it would obviously have to be 100% rankable in every way. If you use jumps, spinners, or any pattern at all, make sure it flows well with the music. Good hitsound usage is a must. Aesthetics help. Shouldn't be too repetitive/copy-pasted. I look for more, but Luigi's making us keep it short. Good luck mappers!

Starrodkirby86 wrote:

My No.1 priority would be having a map that poses itself as fun. Being able to play the vast majority of maps on osu! well gives me a player's perspective on what I deem as fun or just plain horrible. I welcome new or interesting techniques, as long as they're used nicely and appropriately.

Ephemeral wrote:

As a player, I am heavy on a map's aesthetics and gameplay - I work on the assumption that what looks good, generally plays good. As a mid-ranker in terms of player skill, I sit within a skill void where most Hard difficulties are too easy and most Insane are too hard. Maps with even difficulty spread are rare gems indeed - and something I greatly cherish.

osuplayer111 wrote:

Personally, If I have to judge a map, I wanna see some cool things on it. Like some slider-art, some cool spacing and new types of patterns. I wanna see a modern map! It's the type of maps I like more, and if the song follows with the jumps and streams used on the map too, it really makes sense.

CheeseWarlock wrote:

I love music, and in maps I look for what I call "musical flow". I don't want to just play a series of hit objects along to the BPM; I want to completely follow the music, to "conduct" the song in the mapping. Pay attention to how hit objects feel; I think slider ends and repeats play "lighter" compared to slider starts and hitcircles. If a section of a song repeats, I like to see some kind of repetition- don't be afraid to copy and paste sometimes!

Kharl wrote:

I look for beatmaps that not only flow well with the song, but also manage to capture the "feel" of the song and express it properly. It must exhibit appropriate uses of sliders, spinners, hit sounds, and mapping techniques. Creativity is welcomed, but not at a cost of playability and beat placement readability. Good spread of difficulty is also my main focus and I expect quality in all three difficulties. Your map should be fun to play by anyone, novices and veterans alike.

Tapdancingmetroid wrote:

The main thing I'll probably be looking for is creativity. While you could just follow the rhythm of the lyrics or something for the entire song, I'll likely rate it higher if you use interesting and different rhythms. Also, don't abuse various things such as Kiai, spinners, and clap hitsounds. If an element doesn't work well in a song, don't use it. Finally, try to make each difficulty fun to play.

And that's it! Good luck to all mappers, and let me know if you have any questions!

osu! Japan Tournament Results

peppy — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 23:31:19 +0800

The recently run Japan Tournament has come to an end. Many thanks to miccoliasms for running this 26 team 2 vs 2 tournament so smoothly. The tournament ran over around 5 hours split over two days, using a unique progression chart which gives one losing team a second chance on the second day's lineup. Following is miccoliasms' writeup of the event, and my translation.

Osu! Japan Tournament Winter　結果発表 (Results)

優勝 (1st Place)：　SuRcYyy　(Su-Chan & MeRcYyy)
準優勝(2nd Place)：　さてぃす☆ふぁくしょん　(Ozouni & gatineet)
3位(3rd)：　ちーむお見合い　(ponsaku & Colored)
4位(4th)：　Demomans!!!!!!!!!!!!!!　(jinRo & azuki)

となりました。
優勝されたSuRcYyyの方々おめでとうございます！
Congratulations to the two members of SuRcYyy on your victory!
SuRcYyyの二人には賞品のOJT勝者の証とSubscription権3ヶ月分がpeppyさんより送られました。
As a prize, the two winning players received an OJT badge on their profile, and a 3 month osu! subscription.

個人賞 (Individual Awards)

MVP： MeRcYyy
SS賞 (SS Trophy)：　haru1210　平均99.882% (Avg. Accuracy)
敢闘賞 (Bravery Trophy)：　azuraer　平均コンボ数584.29 (Avg. Max Combo)

SS賞のharu1210さんと敢闘賞のazuraerさんには賞品のSubscription権1か月分がpeppyさんより送られました。
The winners of the individual awards received a 1 month osu! subscription.

大会後記 (Event Summary)

以下駄文です...
The following probably isn't well structured...

と、いうことで大会はなんとか無事終了したわけですが...
So it seems the tournament has come to an end.
まず最初に言いたいのは
参加してくれた皆さん、協力してくれた皆さん本当にありがとうございます！
Firstly, I would like to sincerely thank everyone who helped make this possible!

特に大きなトラブルがなく無事に大会が終了できたのも皆さんのおかげです。
It was only with your support that this event could run so smoothly.
本当に、本当にありがとうございます＞＜
Many, many thanks! ><

全てが全てうまくいっていたわけではないので
While there were no major problems, it wasn't as if everything went perfectly,
今回の大会の反省点を次回の糧にして次回はよりよい大会にしたいと思っています。
but I plan on reflecting on these areas and making the next tournament even better!
(ちなみに次回開催は5月頃を予定しています)
(while on the topic, the next one will likely be in May)

結果としてはSuRcYyyチームの優勝となりました。
Well, the results are up and the SuRcYyy team were victorious.
大会前に参加してくれたチームのリストを眺めながらどこが勝つかなーなんて予想をしていたんですが
SuRcYyyチームは優勝候補だとは思っていましたｗ
Whilst looking through the team listing before things started, I made my own opinions of who would win, and it turns out they were spot on.
他にもDemomans(知り合いとして期待していた)やHaruka(Rank的な意味で)なんかも優勝候補かなーなんて思ってたんですが
Apart from them, I was also anticipating some competition from Demomans (as they are friends I was hoping for their victory!) and Haruka (based on their rank), but
意外や意外、Harukaは敗者復活で負け、Demomansは4位でしたねぇ。
Haruka lose in the losing team revival round, and Demomans finished 4th - against expectations in both cases.
大会は本当何が起こるかわからなくて面白いですね！
But the unexpected nature of a tournament makes for half the fun, after all!
色々な発見ができました。今まで知らなかったプレイヤーさんも知れましたし。
It was great to meet and become aware of some new players that I hadn't known until now.

大会の中で一番印象に残ってるのはやっぱり決勝戦ですね。
The most memorable part of the tournament has to have been the final battle.
その中でも1曲目のSilver Dream。
In the first match (played on Silver Dream),
途中でSu-ChanさんがFailになってしまい相方のMeRcYyyさん一人になってしまったんですが
Su-Chan failed halfway through, and their partner MeRcYyy was left to fight for themselves...
その状況でMeRcYyyさんがFullComboをして一人勝ちを決めた本当に凄かった！
Even under these grave circumstances, MeRcYyy pulled off a Full Combo and won the match! It was amazing!
MVPに選出されたのは確実にそこが大きいですねｗ
This was actually a huge factor when deciding the MVP award of this competition :).

ここで決勝戦のおさらいをしておきますか。
Let's do a quick review of the final battle:

決勝戦(Final Battle)：さてぃす☆ふぁくしょん(Ozouni & gatineet) vs SuRcYyy(Su-Chan & MeRcYyy)

1st song Jun - Silver Dream[Expert]
SuRcYyy Win!!
2nd song Barbarian On The Groove feat.Kahina - Shinjitsu no Tsubasa[Insane]
さてぃす☆ふぁくしょん Win!!
3rd song hicalculator - Life is Game[tobe style]
SuRcYyy Win!!
4th song Beautiful Day - V3[yaya's Insane]
さてぃす☆ふぁくしょん Win!!
5th song Amane - Boozehound[ignore's Insane]
SuRcYyy Win!!

という結果だったわけですが、思惑通りに5曲目までもつれてくれるとは思いませんでしたｗ
Well those are the results, but I really didn't think it would come to the 5th match like I expected!
実はその前にやった3位決定戦も5曲目までもつれたんですよね。
Actually, before that, the battle for 3rd place was also 5 matches long.
1回戦から決勝までの課題曲の選曲基準というかお題として「差がつきやすそう」という題で選んだので
このような結果になってくれるなんて悩んで選曲したかいがありましたｗ
The beatmaps I chose from the start to the end of the tournament were chosen with the theme of "maps that allow for large differences in scores", so seeing these matches go for so long really made me happy I spent the time worrying over the choice of maps so carefully!

大会終了後には後夜祭としてスピナー王決定戦とマルチを2部屋たててやっていました！
After the tournament was over, we held a Spinner King competition and filled two multiplayer games for some late-night action!
スピナー王は断トツでkampfer77さんでしたｗペンタブ強すぎます！
The Spinner King was kampfer77. Tablets help so much here!

と、割と自己満足な大会後記になってしまいましたが
Well, I'm quite happy with my summary of the event,
これ以上書くと収集がつかなくなりそうなのでここら辺で失礼したいと思います…
but if I write any more than this I'll run out of things to say, so let's stop here.

今日参加してくれた方やここを見てくれている人は今日だけじゃなくこれからも
To everyone who participated in the tournament, and also those who have taken the time to read this far,
#japaneseやjapaneseのForumを盛り上げていってください！お願いします！
please don't leave it at this competition, but join #japanese and check out the Japanese sub-forum so we can make things more lively.

(peppynote: at all the foreigners reading this, either learn proper japanese or keep quiet please... i think half the reason for things being so quiet is the constant flow of english/chinese/korean people that join #japanese spurt horribly incoherent "japanese".)

最後に協力してくれた方々の名前をまとめて書いておこうと思います！よかったら次回も手伝ってね！
Finally, I would like to give credit to those who helped make this happen. Please help out next time as well if you can!

Special Thanks

ジャッジその他雑務 (Judges and Organisation)：taNa & yuyuyuko & azuki & ponsaku & taka1235 & Harder
称号作者 (Profile Image)：S i R i R u
トーナメント表作者 (Tournament Chart)：orioncomet
協賛 (Support)：peppy
and You ＜3(敬称略)

これから毎月マルチとか小さなことでもいいからイベント的なものを開いていけたらなぁと思っていたりします。
I have been thinking of running a smallish multiplayer event once a month.
詳細は全てここに書くので毎日見てね！
I'll keep you updated on this page so check it regularly!

あ、最後にもう1度...
Finally, I'd like to mention once more...
次回の開催は5月頃を予定しています！皆さん是非また参加してくださいね！
The next tournament will be held in May. Please participate again!
(次回はSuRcYyyを倒すべく私も参加予定ですXD)
(This time I will be joining in as as to try and take down SuRcYyy :D)
まとまりのない文章ですみませんがこれで失礼します！それでは！
Sorry for writing such an incoherent summary! Until next time!

Happy Chinese New Year!

Pasonia — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 00:18:40 +0800

Wishing all osu!ers a prosperous Chinese New Year! Roar like the Tiger and bring forth more awesome into osu!

祝大家新年快乐，万事如意，财运亨通，"触触"高升!

Competition: Designing challenge artwork!

peppy — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 17:19:22 +0800

With such a big community, it is kind of disappointing we don't have any team members that are good at artwork. I mean art that doesn't involve only vector shapes (which LuigiHann and I handle quite efficiently). Therefore I have decided to have a little competition to try and get some of you guys to help out, both in short-term and possibly a more permanent role on the time if you are reliable ;).

Some of you may already be familiar with the challenge system. Every 10 minutes or so, a new challenge is presented in chat, with the first user to complete the challenge winning. This will have its own scoreboard and it will be a very dynamic and competitive system if all works out.

The thing is, don't want to make it fully public until we have some nice artwork. I feel we need some witty, comical and colourful art for each challenge, so it can be displayed both on the website and quite possibly in-game on competing a challenge. At the moment I have a short list of challenges which have already been decided on, but quite a few more will proabably follow.

I am looking for a consistent design through the whole set of images, so unless you have the dedication and spare time to complete this project, please don't bother entering.

Here are the criteria:

Submit two images for two of the current challenges (see below). If you submit more, mark the two you want judged.
They should not include any text (you can sign them if you keep it very subtle).
They must have some kind of artwork involving the theme of the challenge.
A common theme joining them together would be very preferable (think pippi or similar!).
The images must be of dimensions 500x100 (template image follows).
They must be in 24-bit png format.
Please make it something more than simple vector shapes (or a collage of existing sprites)! I can do that myself :P.

The prize for the winner will be:

Getting your art used on a new ranking system!
Your choice of: a 1 year osu! subscription or osu! pin + osu! magnet set.

Note that you will have the role of designing future challenge graphics as well!! You can't run away.

Deadline for submissions is the 14th of March at UTC12:00. Judging will occur after this point, and a winner will be decided within a week after the deadline (though likely much sooner). Judging will be a combination of public vote and a final decision by myself and the osu! team.

Current Challenges:

Shoot for the S!: Get S or SS rank on challenge map.
Don't Miss!: Pass the map with no misses.
Just Pass!: Pass the map - no conditions.
Catch 'em all!: Pass the map on Catch the Beat mode.
Bash that drum!: Pass the map on Taiko mode.
Don't let it burst!: No combo bursts (<30 combo).
Drop 10!: Miss exactly 10 hits.
Lights Out!: Pass on flashlight.
Ghostbuster!: Pass on hidden.

Please post your submissions in a single post in this thread. Please avoid posting anything else unless you have questions. I'm looking forward to seeing the results!

Edit #1: Changed criteria for text inclusion in submissions.
Edit #2: Changed dimensions to 500x100px.
Edit #3: Extended deadline by two weeks.

Scheduled downtime [2010-02-05 UTC18:00-23:30]

peppy — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 11:33:15 +0800

The main osu! server (Bancho, web, downloads, score submission) briefly in around 14 hours for a memory upgrade. I am adding another 4gb of RAM as a buffer zone as we continue to grow in numbers. A big thank you to everyone who subscribes, as this is only made possible because of you guys.

For those wanting more technical details: the extra memory will allow me to remove two swap files (primary on SSD, secondary on HDD), move the non-binary and static binary components of the osu! website in place of the swap file, and increase memcache allowance.

In other news, I have managed to offset a bandwidth crisis with the help of Rena, strager and awp providing servers to be used as beatmap mirrors. Thanks to you guys.