Fruits is too goddamn easy (to FC, at least). Only maps with ridiculous spacing are ridiculous in difficulty and that honestly shouldn't be the case. So here's what I propose, the addition of a few game play elements that occur randomly based on the star difficulty of the map:
Mappers will also have the option to place these with a 'CtB special fruits' option in the editor. Special fruit beats will have a small grape icon in their top right graphic in the editor, but will appear normal in osu! play. Special fruits will only appear if the option is enabled, and they will only randomly appear if that option is enabled in it's stead.
All maps regardless of difficulty will possess at the bare minimum, two special fruit enabled combos if the option is enabled in the map.
Phase fruit
A rainbow-flashing random fruit which cannot be picked up unless the player is dashing. Also travels slower or faster than the current fruit stream, similar to taiko BPM changes which result in the lead up of notes. Only one fruit in a combo will be phased, normally the beginning note. Phase fruits will always be situated in large jumps from the main combo in order to assure dashing is used to hit them.
At 5.00 stars of difficulty, this fruit will occur at a 1/20 chance, lower end value increasing by 20 for every star of difficulty below it (1 star has a 1/100 chance)
Helix fruit
Harken to the name, the fruit moves in a helix-wave fashion while it glows and pulses to the BPM. These give marginally more points than ordinary fruits, but are also much harder as they require the user to predict their end location on the fly. If one fruit in a combo/stream of fruits is a helix fruit,the entire stream will be correlating helix fruit. Helix sliders operate on much larger curves than normal.
At 5.00 stars of difficulty, this fruit will occur at a 1/40 chance, lower end value increasing by 20 for every star of difficulty below it.
Chrono fruit
Aligns itself in a gentle floating motion at the top of the map, appearing completely out of sync with the other beats, before shaking momentarily then flying incredibly fast into it's rightful place in the upcoming section. Every second note of a combo will be affected if this is drawn. A quiet metronome tick will be heard when these fruits appear, and they will slowly pulse to the BPM with a grey/white/black glow for at least a second before they propel themselves into the map.
At 5.00 stars of difficulty, this fruit will occur at a 1/50 chance, with the lower end value increasing by 50 for every star of difficulty below it.
Cucumber
When picked up in a combo, the player will slide very slightly when coming out of dashes or moving at all in the direction they were moving, similar to a inertia effect. While under the influence of cucumber, the score multiplier will jump to 1.2x + combo. Enabled in the map via CtB special fruits and occurs on the first note of a designated combo and lasts for at least three combos therein. Cucumbers will be predisposed to be randomly placed at the faster parts of a song, but a maximum of two will occur in a map in this way.
Tomato
When picked up in a combo, ensuing slider tick fruit pieces will be much, much smaller. Score multiplier will jump to 1.05x + combo. Follows the same random placement rules as cucumber.
I can't think of any more viable ones. What do you guys think?
Mappers will also have the option to place these with a 'CtB special fruits' option in the editor. Special fruit beats will have a small grape icon in their top right graphic in the editor, but will appear normal in osu! play. Special fruits will only appear if the option is enabled, and they will only randomly appear if that option is enabled in it's stead.
All maps regardless of difficulty will possess at the bare minimum, two special fruit enabled combos if the option is enabled in the map.
Phase fruit
A rainbow-flashing random fruit which cannot be picked up unless the player is dashing. Also travels slower or faster than the current fruit stream, similar to taiko BPM changes which result in the lead up of notes. Only one fruit in a combo will be phased, normally the beginning note. Phase fruits will always be situated in large jumps from the main combo in order to assure dashing is used to hit them.
At 5.00 stars of difficulty, this fruit will occur at a 1/20 chance, lower end value increasing by 20 for every star of difficulty below it (1 star has a 1/100 chance)
Helix fruit
Harken to the name, the fruit moves in a helix-wave fashion while it glows and pulses to the BPM. These give marginally more points than ordinary fruits, but are also much harder as they require the user to predict their end location on the fly. If one fruit in a combo/stream of fruits is a helix fruit,the entire stream will be correlating helix fruit. Helix sliders operate on much larger curves than normal.
At 5.00 stars of difficulty, this fruit will occur at a 1/40 chance, lower end value increasing by 20 for every star of difficulty below it.
Chrono fruit
Aligns itself in a gentle floating motion at the top of the map, appearing completely out of sync with the other beats, before shaking momentarily then flying incredibly fast into it's rightful place in the upcoming section. Every second note of a combo will be affected if this is drawn. A quiet metronome tick will be heard when these fruits appear, and they will slowly pulse to the BPM with a grey/white/black glow for at least a second before they propel themselves into the map.
At 5.00 stars of difficulty, this fruit will occur at a 1/50 chance, with the lower end value increasing by 50 for every star of difficulty below it.
Cucumber
When picked up in a combo, the player will slide very slightly when coming out of dashes or moving at all in the direction they were moving, similar to a inertia effect. While under the influence of cucumber, the score multiplier will jump to 1.2x + combo. Enabled in the map via CtB special fruits and occurs on the first note of a designated combo and lasts for at least three combos therein. Cucumbers will be predisposed to be randomly placed at the faster parts of a song, but a maximum of two will occur in a map in this way.
Tomato
When picked up in a combo, ensuing slider tick fruit pieces will be much, much smaller. Score multiplier will jump to 1.05x + combo. Follows the same random placement rules as cucumber.
I can't think of any more viable ones. What do you guys think?
