Hello here. I'm new to the whole Osu! thing, and I think the project is a spiffy idea. I've played EBA1 and have beaten all but the last few songs on Hard Rock. So please don't think it's just I lack all skill with rhythm games when I say the following.

The difficulty ratings for most of the beatmaps I've downloaded is way off. Easy songs with beatmaps like something you'd see on Sweatin', Hard with things that are so crazy I haven't yet seen them in EBA... I realize part of this might be me getting used to using a mouse and keyboard, but even just watching the beatmaps and not trying to play then, they are of a higher caliber than what most of them claim.

I realize that the game is geared mostly for people who have played and enjoy the EBA/Ouendan series, but for the few people who simply like rhythm games, the jacked up difficulty will likely be a big turnoff. "Not able to beat most songs on easy? Well, apparently this game just isn't for you..." I also realize that there is little if anything I can do to change this, short of making my own beatmaps and asking the creators of others to try and rate their maps against the games difficulty settings. So, I figure I'll ask first and then try making some maps later once storyboarding is out.

So, here is my question/suggestion/comment to all people involved with Osu!

When deciding on the difficulty for your beatmap, please take the difficulty of the original games into account.

This should help people who are just coming over from the games to better find a song in their difficulty range, as well as make the difficulty slightly more standardized, since it seems to jump all over for a given level.

Also, if a post like this has been posted before, and I simply missed it while looking through the forums, please point me in the direction of it so I can add my opinion to it ^^

This map has been deleted on the request of its creator. It is no longer available.

Could be a good idea to have this somewhere in the song setup dialog.

On the other hand, even if the name of the difficulty is off, the star system is fairly accurate (although definitely not perfect) in determining the difficulty. If you're having trouble, you can always try sorting beatmaps by difficulty, which lists some of the easier maps at the top.

edit: argh beat by saturos

Also just fyi storyboarding is already implemented, and a few maps have it.

There are also mods to make the game much easier (applies to all beatmaps) while you get used to it.

I believe the reason people make their maps more challenging than EBA and Ouendan's is that if everyone kept their difficulties relative to the iNiS games, once people's skills hit a certain level, they would just full-combo every song on their first try. Naturally, beatmappers are finding new ways to challenge players. A wise man once said,

The relationship between the Beatmapper and the Player is an interesting one; an ongoing war of wits and skills executed with both the most violent of aggressions and the purest of good intentions.

or something like that

Yeah. Bottom line, Osu is a harder game than EBA. But don't fret, there are plenty of easy songs here, and on top of that, plenty of modifiers to help you practice (none of which are present in the DS games). So while everyone (myself included) thinks "wow, this game is hard!" when they first start playing, you'll be surprised at how quickly you can improve, once you get used to the mouse controls.

As for difficulty names, I think it's all been said. They're set by the beatmappers, and they're usually relative to one another. Just like how "Survivor" on normal is probably harder than "Rock this Town" on hard, or something.

I have to say that this thread should go down in history. There has been so much positive advice that valience should feel very special . I'll just add one thing - we do aim to produce easy difficulty maps and ensure that ranked maps have multiple difficulty levels. There are some cases where this doesnt happen, which is due to:

a) We have mods to adjust harder difficulties down (ok this is a weak point that has already been made).
b) We made an exception for the map due to its awesomeness.
c) It was made during the initial period when we were a lot more lenient with ranking maps.
d) If you take a look at playcounts of easy/beginner maps, they are always much lower than the higher difficulties. I think it is a fair assumption therefore that we don't need as many of these difficulty maps. I believe our niche should be having Normal/Hard level difficulties for every ranked submission, though, as these are both played equally as much.

If you are having trouble with easy maps that are still too challenging, I suggest you search for Beginner difficulties. While there aren't many of these (maybe only a few?) they are meant for total beginners to the game.

We do have a tutorial coming which should hopefully help with this aspect as well.

awp: Where exactly did you get that quote?! lol

valiance: You're not alone. Players such as myself tend to steer away from maps marked Insane and whatnot (at least without NoFail on XP). I also stay away from Hard maps without Easy on! But trust me, I was a terrible player when I began playing. Now that I play more often, I've gotten a bit (Repeat: a bit) better at playing. It just takes practice and patience.

Gook Luck newcomer!!

OT:
majority (if not, all) ouendan/eba songs uses copy paste on their beatmaps.
i dont like em. therefore i dont use it. its boring. thats all.

RemmyX25 wrote:

awp: Where exactly did you get that quote?! lol

His mind heart.

awpEDIT: ho hum