Osu! now has about 15177 beatmaps as of the writing of this. Isn't that grand? But to get to play all of these maps can be an ordeal. Thankfully Osu! has sophisticated song updating and features that makes jumping right into a song or head-to-head multiplayer a snap. However, the bandwidth costs are holding back the development of new features from this game we love, so we should seek to many efforts toward alleviating this.

Gentlemen, while Mediafire map packs are a wonderful way of remaining updated, official beatmap torrent packs are now in order.

Mediafire has its limitations. It is time consuming to go through the process of downloading each pack. To get them all in one sitting is an endevour that will have you at your computer the entire day. The use of third party programs is necessary then, and not everyone is comfortable with installing/becoming familiar with downloaders like Jdownloader. These programs are also a necessity for those with poor internet connections that "flicker" or drop at certain points. Periodic drops in connection cancel downloads which then must be restarted.

Torrents are currently the most reliable and widely used means of transmitting large volumes of files. They are perfect for distributing beatmaps for the player who wishes to have them all. An example I'd point to is http://ocremix.org/torrents/ (OC Remix) who uses torrents to save bandwidth. Once a certain number of beatmaps is reached, say 1500 is comparison, a torrent pack for that amount will be released, just as an example.

When I proposed this idea in the general chatroom, there was a bizarre amount of dissenting opinions whom were very strongly against adding in torrents. As a leading expert on nerd behavior, I can attest that repressed behavior and the need to lash out against new ideas is quite common, therefore I will dismiss it as such. But perhaps there are some disadvantages to listing official Osu! torrents? One would be that torrents need to be seeded. Yes, this is a hassle. Well, here is at least one person saying he'll be devoted to seeding, and surely other like-minded individuals will join in my efforts. Another is that torrents take some time to download. Yes, this is troublesome as well. Mediafire and the standard download are much more direct and to the point, offering instant gratification to the impatient, short attention spans that characterize the average Osu! player. Torrents then are not intended for this player.

I'd be interested in any other alternative viewpoints you may present, as I will enjoy demonstrating how they were likely founded with subpar intelligence, mmyes.

Thank you for your time, Gentlemen. I hope we can move forward with this together and bring new conveniences to multiplayer, and more bandwidth for beloved peppy and co.

Torrents don't seem like a bad idea, although someone would have to go through the trouble of seeding all the current packs (unless, of course, it was only implemented for future packs).

EDIT: Although another idea would be to link to the map packs that have the song you want in them without having to reach the individual download limit.

there is a beatmap torrent I just don't know where it is or how up to date it is

also there's a p2p torrent share thing planned which can actually operate on a per-beatmap basis so downloading individual beatmaps will be both quick and a low bandwidth alternative to direct downloads for the server on a diet

awp wrote:

there is a beatmap torrent I just don't know where it is or how up to date it is

It's on NyaaTorrents : http://www.nyaatorrents.org/?page=searc ... erm=Osu%21

The first one is decently up to date!(Not sure about the second one) It is a very large volume though that could benefit from being broken down into smaller volumes. Also, it isn't quite present on the official site, although that may be intended for reasons.

This is already kinda in place you're not Barack Obama.

There's a torrent of beatmap packs 1-174 in the beatmap pack thing. To get 175+, there's a sticked topic about it.

I see what you're saying, that you want to have large torrents for individual beatmaps, instead of having to download each pack, and I see what you're saying. I would have been able to download all of the packs I got from the torrent if there hadn't been those zip files along with the packs that que feod my hard drive, filling it up.

The only thing you're saying is that you want EVERY beatmap in there, not just ranked ones. I'd personally rather have a large torrent with all of the ranked maps, and get unranked maps individually, as most people really only want ranked maps ~.

I support this, but please stop being Barack Obama, you aren't proposing a new health care bill ;~;.

That's what I'm proposing. I'm not Barack Obama, but official beatmap torrents.

Preferebly not monstrous 18gig torrents, but perhaps 4.4gig volumes ( the size of a common DVD-R might settle well wiht the community). No rar files either, as those wouldn't very well be needed in torrents, and saves a step when extracting and installing, which takes some time to do one at a time.

Another point to make is that maybe there should be a presence of the mentioned torrent on http://osu.ppy.sh/p/packlist

Ranked vs all sort of makes things complicated. I agree they need to be separated. Still, there are some very well done unranked maps, and I personally play Osu! purely for enjoyment, though I'm not Barack Obama.

Depending on when and how the torrent share p2p program thats in the works hits, torrent packs might not even be neccessary at all!

awp wrote:

also there's a p2p torrent share thing planned which can actually operate on a per-beatmap basis so downloading individual beatmaps will be both quick and a low bandwidth alternative to direct downloads for the server on a diet

^

P2P is planned to be a part of osu! itself, so any osu! client can function as a seed (as well as dedicated seed boxes?). As mentioned, there is already a pack torrent which more advanced users can use.

Marking as denied.

strager wrote:

Marking as denied.

You're making a big mistake!

The current beatmap torrent is crudely put together, and already has problems as stated above by other users! The new torrent share feature sounds great, but we've yet to see if it will work effectively. Hear me out!

Will there be a feature to disable it during play? I imagine many users would.. One of the great features of Osu! is that it is a multiplayer game that is very light on an individual connection. Official torrent packs, packed well and conveniently, give a great option for users who want to download them all, play in multiplayer without worrying about slowing down the other players. In singleplayer, it gives ability for one to download all songs, then type keywords, explore and play a variety without needing to wait for downloads.

Will there be an ingame browser for this new feature? If not, then the new feature will save bandwidth, but won't really add the same convenience sought after. Furthermore, this new feature could develope into an exploitable security hole for players! The torrent pack must be renewed with some standards to give our users more options! T-this all needs to be considered!