If you have any questions, please leave a message on Discord Transcendence#2000 or the forum below.
DDmythical Reform dan course was made over 5 years ago, but no new standard dan course has been created yet.
After deep consideration, I decided to lead a new project for dan course.
1. Problems of current dan systems
Currently, The two most popular Osu!mania dan course systems are shoegazer's osu!mania 4K Dan Course and DDmythical's Dan ~ REFORM ~ .
However, in the case of these dan courses, it is difficult to say that they follow the current trend.
1.1.Balance
First of all, no consistent difference in difficulty between the two adjacent dan courses is considered the biggest problem. In the case of Reform dan course, the difference in difficulty between Alpha and Beta and the difficulty between Delta and Epsilon is extremely different. Also, in the case of Shoegazer dan, the difference in difficulty between 8, 9, and 10 is not the same. This means that dan courses are set at uneven difficulty level, and this problem must be solved at future dans.
In addition, there's a balance problem in a particular course.Taking the Reform dan as an example, it may be questionable whether Mario Paint and Rose Quartz 1.3 can be in the same epsilon course. This can lead to the question of whether it is okay to consider two maps with different patterns as the same difficulty and put them in the same dan course. Furthermore, if Mario Paint is adopted as dan course map, the question arises whether its pattern can sufficiently represent the large classification pattern called "speed". Only a systematic statistical approach and many discussions will solve these problems.
Finally, the length of the break time between songs can also be a problem.In the case of Epsilon, only a short break of 5 seconds is allowed, even though maps of the highest difficulty level must be played consecutively. We should think about whether this is over-demanding stamina.
1.2. Copyright
Actually, it's a problem for Osu! itself. However, dan courses must find a way to be free from copyright issues. Because of those issues, dan courses cannot move forward officially, and sharing dan videos can also cause problems. Copyright issues include songs, backgrounds, fonts, and patterns issues. Almost all dan courses in Osu! are not free from this problem.
1.3. Old Dan Courses
Although it has been more than seven years since Shoegazer dans and five years since Reform dans were created, suitable future dan courses have not been created. There are many problems with this, but the biggest problem is that they do not reflect the current trend skills, especially manip and chordjack properly. They are definitely important skills in rhythm games nowadays, but it is difficult to think that Shoegazer dans and Reform dans can measure those skills well.
Moreover, since the same map has been used for a long time, mindblock problem is also critical. The Rose Quartz of Epsilon and Shoegazer 10 dan is the most extreme example.
Finally, as more and more people have cleared Epsilon dan, which is now called the highest level of difficulty, higher-level dan courses are required. This indicates that making new dans is essential.
Other problems also exist; there are problems such as a lack of accessibility because some dan courses are not officially uploaded to the official website. There are also problems such as a low possibility of preventing pausing and cheating.
2. Proposal to change dan course system
In this project, to eliminate the problems currently raised, I proposed a new system.
It is a method of making dan courses as mappack and putting multiple maps in it.
In the case of the above system, the dan course can solve the break time problem. Also, it can put all the skills needed for specific course into one map pack, enabling more accurate performance measurement.
In detail, it consists of the following picture:
As mentioned earlier, each course consists of one single mappack, which allows you to clear dan courses without playing all the maps at once.
Each tier has different number of maps, and a higher tier dans contain more maps. This is essential because higher level users need more diverse pattern skills.
However, if there are too many maps in one pack, it is too much to clear. Therefore, I proposed the additional clear conditions different from the normal dan courses.
There are two conditions for clearing dans:
In the case of easy clear, accuracy criteria is 95%. Also, you don't have to get all 95% of the mappacks; If you get 95% only a part of it (1/2~2/3), you will be easy cleared. However, there are additional conditions because there is a possibility that you can get dans by only picking certain patterns like "jack".
The condition is just like the picture above. You need to get over 95% in one or more of the maps in a particular column. This makes dan courses can measure all the patterns sufficiently. Easy clear is for the current trend, manip, and through this, I tried to open up the possibility of manip users.
For hard clear, accuracy criteria is 98%, and all map packs must exceed 98%. Hard clear is configured to be a way to consider both judgment and skills.
Furthermore, all maps will use featured artists' songs to minimize copyright issues, and we are considering adding "live play" to the clear condition only for the top few single courses to prevent cheating.
In the future, the dan course name system will also be revised.
3. Staff and Schedule
Staffs required for this project are as follows:
Project administrator: whole project management
Discord manager: Discord chat, channel management
Translator: Translating and distributing important announcements and instructions
Background designer: Manage the background and other designs.
Notion, spreadsheet manager: Manage notions and spreadsheets
Website Engineer: Development and management of websites
The above six roles can be applicated in the form below:
https://forms.gle/GZFwsKHPmNvmy5L8A
In addition, there are mappers who make dan course maps, test players who test maps, and members who give advices and suggestions. You can participate as these roles by entering the discord channel below:
https://discord.gg/WeBykt9zKz
The overall schedule and goals are as follows (as of UTC +00:00):
January 17th ~: Recruiting staff, making notes and spreadsheets
January 17th to February 15th: Discussion about dan system
February 1st to February 28th: Song selection
March 1st ~: Map creation, map testing, website programming
~2023 MWC: End of all map tests
~2023: Loved submission
Additionally, if possible in the future, I will establish new dans for other patterns (hybrid, sv, acc, vibro),
A site that analyzes one's skills in detail by pattern and suggests the best map,
and mapping AI.
If you are interested, please feel free to contact me.
4. Additional
Perhaps this is almost the last project I can do in Osu!. Thankfully, I've received a lot of your help, so I hope this project will be a little more helpful for Osu! community.
Application form (excluding mapper and test player): https://forms.gle/GZFwsKHPmNvmy5L8A
Discord: https://discord.gg/WeBykt9zKz
Project Summary Document: https://drive.google.com/file/d/15XVMwSXdTvkeRFU7uxDOx47LtmYlLo-O/view?usp=share_link
Translation: https://four-biology-8b5.notion.site/Translation-dd6039df700642688344f6e44c21c18e
Discord: https://discord.gg/WeBykt9zKz
Project Summary Document: https://drive.google.com/file/d/15XVMwSXdTvkeRFU7uxDOx47LtmYlLo-O/view?usp=share_link
Translation: https://four-biology-8b5.notion.site/Translation-dd6039df700642688344f6e44c21c18e
DDmythical Reform dan course was made over 5 years ago, but no new standard dan course has been created yet.
After deep consideration, I decided to lead a new project for dan course.
Project: Re-standardization
1. Problems of current dan systems
Currently, The two most popular Osu!mania dan course systems are shoegazer's osu!mania 4K Dan Course and DDmythical's Dan ~ REFORM ~ .
However, in the case of these dan courses, it is difficult to say that they follow the current trend.
1.1.Balance
First of all, no consistent difference in difficulty between the two adjacent dan courses is considered the biggest problem. In the case of Reform dan course, the difference in difficulty between Alpha and Beta and the difficulty between Delta and Epsilon is extremely different. Also, in the case of Shoegazer dan, the difference in difficulty between 8, 9, and 10 is not the same. This means that dan courses are set at uneven difficulty level, and this problem must be solved at future dans.
In addition, there's a balance problem in a particular course.Taking the Reform dan as an example, it may be questionable whether Mario Paint and Rose Quartz 1.3 can be in the same epsilon course. This can lead to the question of whether it is okay to consider two maps with different patterns as the same difficulty and put them in the same dan course. Furthermore, if Mario Paint is adopted as dan course map, the question arises whether its pattern can sufficiently represent the large classification pattern called "speed". Only a systematic statistical approach and many discussions will solve these problems.
Finally, the length of the break time between songs can also be a problem.In the case of Epsilon, only a short break of 5 seconds is allowed, even though maps of the highest difficulty level must be played consecutively. We should think about whether this is over-demanding stamina.
1.2. Copyright
Actually, it's a problem for Osu! itself. However, dan courses must find a way to be free from copyright issues. Because of those issues, dan courses cannot move forward officially, and sharing dan videos can also cause problems. Copyright issues include songs, backgrounds, fonts, and patterns issues. Almost all dan courses in Osu! are not free from this problem.
1.3. Old Dan Courses
Although it has been more than seven years since Shoegazer dans and five years since Reform dans were created, suitable future dan courses have not been created. There are many problems with this, but the biggest problem is that they do not reflect the current trend skills, especially manip and chordjack properly. They are definitely important skills in rhythm games nowadays, but it is difficult to think that Shoegazer dans and Reform dans can measure those skills well.
Moreover, since the same map has been used for a long time, mindblock problem is also critical. The Rose Quartz of Epsilon and Shoegazer 10 dan is the most extreme example.
Finally, as more and more people have cleared Epsilon dan, which is now called the highest level of difficulty, higher-level dan courses are required. This indicates that making new dans is essential.
Other problems also exist; there are problems such as a lack of accessibility because some dan courses are not officially uploaded to the official website. There are also problems such as a low possibility of preventing pausing and cheating.
2. Proposal to change dan course system
In this project, to eliminate the problems currently raised, I proposed a new system.
It is a method of making dan courses as mappack and putting multiple maps in it.
In the case of the above system, the dan course can solve the break time problem. Also, it can put all the skills needed for specific course into one map pack, enabling more accurate performance measurement.
In detail, it consists of the following picture:
As mentioned earlier, each course consists of one single mappack, which allows you to clear dan courses without playing all the maps at once.
Each tier has different number of maps, and a higher tier dans contain more maps. This is essential because higher level users need more diverse pattern skills.
However, if there are too many maps in one pack, it is too much to clear. Therefore, I proposed the additional clear conditions different from the normal dan courses.
There are two conditions for clearing dans:
In the case of easy clear, accuracy criteria is 95%. Also, you don't have to get all 95% of the mappacks; If you get 95% only a part of it (1/2~2/3), you will be easy cleared. However, there are additional conditions because there is a possibility that you can get dans by only picking certain patterns like "jack".
The condition is just like the picture above. You need to get over 95% in one or more of the maps in a particular column. This makes dan courses can measure all the patterns sufficiently. Easy clear is for the current trend, manip, and through this, I tried to open up the possibility of manip users.
For hard clear, accuracy criteria is 98%, and all map packs must exceed 98%. Hard clear is configured to be a way to consider both judgment and skills.
Furthermore, all maps will use featured artists' songs to minimize copyright issues, and we are considering adding "live play" to the clear condition only for the top few single courses to prevent cheating.
In the future, the dan course name system will also be revised.
3. Staff and Schedule
Staffs required for this project are as follows:
Project administrator: whole project management
Discord manager: Discord chat, channel management
Translator: Translating and distributing important announcements and instructions
Background designer: Manage the background and other designs.
Notion, spreadsheet manager: Manage notions and spreadsheets
Website Engineer: Development and management of websites
The above six roles can be applicated in the form below:
https://forms.gle/GZFwsKHPmNvmy5L8A
In addition, there are mappers who make dan course maps, test players who test maps, and members who give advices and suggestions. You can participate as these roles by entering the discord channel below:
https://discord.gg/WeBykt9zKz
The overall schedule and goals are as follows (as of UTC +00:00):
January 17th ~: Recruiting staff, making notes and spreadsheets
January 17th to February 15th: Discussion about dan system
February 1st to February 28th: Song selection
March 1st ~: Map creation, map testing, website programming
~2023 MWC: End of all map tests
~2023: Loved submission
Additionally, if possible in the future, I will establish new dans for other patterns (hybrid, sv, acc, vibro),
A site that analyzes one's skills in detail by pattern and suggests the best map,
and mapping AI.
If you are interested, please feel free to contact me.
4. Additional
Perhaps this is almost the last project I can do in Osu!. Thankfully, I've received a lot of your help, so I hope this project will be a little more helpful for Osu! community.