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.osu File Format Guide?

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Total Posts
6
akrolsmir
606 posts
Joined November 2010
Topic Starter
akrolsmir
Is there a tutorial someplace for understanding the different parts of the .osu file? I've done a few searches and checked a lot of stickies, but didn't see anything.

It seems like one would be useful for helping beginner mappers understand what to do with code that modders put into their posts.

Thanks!
blissfulyoshi
osu! Alumni
4,755 posts
Joined July 2008
blissfulyoshi
I do not know of any guides that explain the .osu file, but from what I have seen, there is usually very little need for a guide because most of it is very self-explanatory (at least for me, I guess this might not apply for everyone)

Here is a quick rundown just in case

[General] = Map settings that affect some miscellaneous things about your map (mostly what happens when you are not playing)
[Editor] = Stuff you set in editor that does not affect the gameplay of the map, but will show how the map is displayed on another's computer
[Metadata] = Metadata for your song
[Difficulty] = Map settings to decide how your map plays (playability wise)
[Events] = Sets up background/storyboard (read storyboard subforum for help here)
[TimingPoints] = The timing points for your song (inherited and uninherited)
[Colours] = The color of the combos in your map
[HitObjects] = The location of circles, sliders, and spinners in your map

Assuming a modder is not posting storyboarding code, the modder is usually posting code for TimingPoints (for songs with really complex timings) and codes for sliders in case people have complex slider shapes.

If you have any specific questions about the code, I will be more than happy to answer them. Just post them here.
akrolsmir
606 posts
Joined November 2010
Topic Starter
akrolsmir
Thanks for the quick and helpful reply, blissfulyoshi!

I posted this wondering what some of the numbers under [HitObjects] meant- I know first two are position, and the one after that is time, but then what? (I think one is to show new combos and one is hitsounds, and one more of unknown purpose?) And sliders are pretty incomprehensible for me.

But moreover, I think that there should be a tutorial. Being a very experienced person, blissfulyoshi, I'm sure you know your way around the .osu format like the back of your hand, but newbies might find it confusing, even intimidating. Something like Ekaru's guide for modding and for getting a map modded would be useful for newcomers.

Actually, I'd be interested in compiling and maintaining such a guide, if people agree one would be helpful. I might have to clear up a few details first (like the above one for hitobjects).

Thanks again, blissfulyoshi and anyone who wants to weigh in on the situation!
blissfulyoshi
osu! Alumni
4,755 posts
Joined July 2008
blissfulyoshi
I guess it wasn't as intuitive as I said it was earlier. Most people don't bother learning how to edit the circles and sliders through the notepad because everything can be done ingame (to my knowledge, I might be missing some things)

circle:
x-coordinate, y-coordinate, time, combo, hitsound, coordinates
-combo
1 = maintain same combo color, 5 = next combo color, further numbers are for combo hacks (when the following combo color is not the one expected in the order)

slider:
x-coordinate, y-coordinate, time, combo, hitsound (of track), type of slider|coordinates, how many repeats, length of slider, hitsound of start, hitsound of end

spinner:
x-coordinate, y-coordinate, time, combo, hitsound, coordinates, length

I hope this helps. On another note, these things tend to be irrelvent to modding because as I was saying earlier, you can probably do all of this ingame.
Unic
8 posts
Joined October 2012
Unic
Hi all!

I'm writing osu-like game in java and I would like to use native osu maps for import.
Can I find info about technical details of "osu" file format somewhere?

Thank you!
blissfulyoshi
osu! Alumni
4,755 posts
Joined July 2008
blissfulyoshi
Unic, as far as I know, Peppy does not give out that info anymore. To be honest, all information in the .osu can be easily figured out with the exception of the slider equation, so you really don't need any complex documentation.
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