Fruit Mappers Monthly – April 2016

Fellow fruit catchers,

It is an honour to announce the first Fruit Mappers Monthly competition. The objective of this event is to encourage CtB mapping. By providing this new platform we hope to help aspiring mappers, and reward those with the skills and creativity that make a good map.

Each month a new theme will be announced, and you will be able to submit a beatmap for judging. The judges will then play and analyze the map in relation to the theme. The winner will receive whatever prize we can get together for that month. While the prizes may be small for now, I am hoping to receive some community support in the future.

Dates: April 1-30.
Winners announced by May 15.

April’s Theme:
8bit

Judges
jeubach
Badis
e0486
-itsy_v2-
Dyl-Byl

Prize Pool
Best Mapset
1- 3 months supporter [osu!tournaments]
2- 2 month supporter [osu!tournaments] + 1 month [itsy]
3- 1 month supporter [osu!tournaments] + 1 month [itsy]
Best Cup
1 month supporter [osu!tournaments]
Best Salad
1 month supporter [osu!tournaments]
Best Platter
1 month supporter [osu!tournaments]
Best Rain
1 month supporter [osu!tournaments] + 1 month [itsy]
Best Overdose
1 month supporter [osu!tournaments] + 1 month [itsy]

Rules
1- Map Length should be no less than 1:15 (TV Size), and no more than 7:30.
2- You must submit a mapset with the following difficulties: A Cup and/or a Salad, a Platter, a Rain and/or an Overdose.
3- You may submit more than the required difficulties. If you map both a cup and a salad, you may only choose one to be judged. And if you map a Rain and an overdose, you may only choose one to be judged.
4- ALL submitted difficulties must be SS’able.
5- No guest difficulties allowed.
6- No “NSFW” content allowed.
7- Maps must be submitted by the last day of the month.
8- Difficulty names for the submitted maps must be as follows: Cup, Salad, Platter, Rain, Overdose
9- Maps must follow the months theme whenever possible. This includes backgrounds, storyboards, songs, etc...
10- Points may be deducted (or map may be disqualified) if it does not follow the theme. Points may also be awarded if the theme is embodied in the mapset.
11- Rules may change throughout the competition to reflect any changes needed.

Scoring
1- Judges will score the each of the three categories (Cup/Salad, Platter, Rain/Overdose) on a 0-100 scale.
2- A final maps score will be the addition of all the judge’s scores from the three categories. This score will then be compared to all the other submissions to determine Best Mapset.
3- In the event of a tie, judges will cast a single vote each.
4- A minimum of 3 judges is required each competition, but the number may increase as long as it stays uneven.
5- A maps difficulty score will be the addition of all the judge’s scores from the specific difficulty. This score will then be compared to all the other submissions to determine Best "insert difficulty here".

Submissions
Once your map is ready for submission you must send a private message to Trent with "FMM Submission -Month-" on the headline. You must include the OSZ for the file made available preferably through a puush or drop box link.

Trent will remove the creators details from the files to make sure the judges will not know who mapped it. Then he will forward them to me and the rest of the judging team.

Sponsors
-itsy_v2- - 6 months of supporter

Sponsoring
If you would like to sponsor the event prize pool, please PM jeubach with “FMM – sponsorship” in the subject line. Include any details on what you may be able to provide for the contest. And which month you would like to sponsor.
If you choose to sponsor your name will also be posted in the forum thread unless you request to remain anonymous.

11/04/2016: I've received word from tournament staff that they will sponsor our tournament. I've added the new amounts in.

Count me in B)

8 bit <3

Edit: By the way, by "2- You may only submit a single map.", do you mean a single difficulty, or single mapset?

- Magic Bomb - wrote:

8 bit <3

Edit: By the way, by "2- You may only submit a single map.", do you mean a single difficulty, or single mapset?

Single difficulty. Thanks for the question I'll correct it.

There really should be an outside source that removes the names from submissions to ensure that this isn't rigged. Not saying that you would, but it's a competition with prizes so I'd like to be assured before I enter.

Next point is "you may only submit a single map". Of course, the judges are all high ranked players biased towards high diffs, and as far as I know, only 1 of them is a mapper. I think you should really consider having participants map a full, rankable spread (at least NHI) in order to participate. Otherwise, I can map a perfect cup, completely hitsounded and 100% rankable, and then submit it for judgement. Because 2/3 of the judges are players, there is obvious bias towards high diffs also.

Lastly: the submission rule. Many mappers, like myself, don't have room for pending slots, and I don't want that to remove my participation from this event. Not only that, but why should the judges be able to see who the mapper is? That calls for obvious mapper bias and even moreso since 2 players are involved in judging. Like I said above, I think maps should be submitted as an .osz and an outside source should remove the names. On a document, the outside source can attribute a letter to each mapper which is revealed AFTER ALL JUDGING.

Just my 2 cents since the last MBC went a bit south after a bit, but the ideas they had were still good. If things change a bit, I'll be sure to participate

Can me be judge?

You have really good points, but there's a lot of discussion that needs to happen for these issues to be fixed in their entirety.

Ascendance wrote:

There really should be an outside source that removes the names from submissions to ensure that this isn't rigged. Not saying that you would, but it's a competition with prizes so I'd like to be assured before I enter.

After consulting with several people, and looking back at other types of similar competitions. I agree, there is a potential bias towards/against certain mappers/players. However as I will discuss later, there's a certain aspect of it I'd like to look at before completely arranging for the maps to be submitted anonymously.

Next point is "you may only submit a single map". Of course, the judges are all high ranked players biased towards high diffs, and as far as I know, only 1 of them is a mapper. I think you should really consider having participants map a full, rankable spread (at least NHI) in order to participate. Otherwise, I can map a perfect cup, completely hitsounded and 100% rankable, and then submit it for judgement. Because 2/3 of the judges are players, there is obvious bias towards high diffs also.

Now, I am not gonna lie. There is a very small, but intentional, bias towards harder diffs. You can judge me however much you want for it. But as a reasonable member of the community I did my homework. And if there's anything I've learned from all of the stupid statistics I've been running over the last couple days its that there is a really big and considerable gap towards high level play. And it is only getting bigger. We are 3 months into 2016 and the last 6 star song was released in October of 2015.

img footnote: I'm missing specific diff in here, there is a total of 485 ranked diffs but only 484 appear. I'm still hunting for it but it's statistically meaningless at this point.

The contest is not to see who makes the next Nervous Apocalypse diff. It's not even to see who maps the next 6 star. But it is made to encourage people to make (rankable) maps that are made creatively and technically challenging for specifically the part of the community that is seeing a lack of maps being published.

Why not map a full rank spread? because it adds workload. And unfortunately while contestants might get prizes, our judges sure as hell arent getting paid for their work atm. It comes out of the kindness of my/their heart(s). And while I don't expect a buttonne of submissions, I'd rather be safe than sorry. Plus it adds a lot more issues, do we make them map a full spread and only judge a single song? Should we judge all charts? If so, how do we weight all of the charts together? Again, it gets too complicated.

Lastly: the submission rule. Many mappers, like myself, don't have room for pending slots, and I don't want that to remove my participation from this event. Not only that, but why should the judges be able to see who the mapper is? That calls for obvious mapper bias and even moreso since 2 players are involved in judging. Like I said above, I think maps should be submitted as an .osz and an outside source should remove the names. On a document, the outside source can attribute a letter to each mapper which is revealed AFTER ALL JUDGING.

Again you bring the point about remaining anonymous, and it's very valid. You also mention the max number of submissions. That is something I had totally overlooked. And while from my perspective it wouldnt matter as much, I can see how other people might care more. However, I am very conflicted towards this since it also goes against the core value of the contest I was trying to make.

"To encourage a growth in the beatmap submissions for CtB"

Let's put it this way. While it may give the contestants and judges the ability to remain unbiased. It also means that 90% of the participating maps will never see the light of a beatmap submission. Once you enter the contest, if you lose you'll feel discouraged and forget about the map you made. Maybe you might try again next month. But in that same train of thought you will forget about that map you made. You'll leave it behind and untouched. The public will never get to see your work.
"You could post them all afterwards inside a forum thread." We could, but only the people who see the forum thread will have access to these songs. Rather than the entire playerbase via osu!direct. Remember, not everyone checks the forums on a day to day basis.



I'm not trying to fight you out of your opinions. They are very valid, and so are mine. I'd like to hear your responses, and maybe the ones of some of the contestants or general public. It's clear that neither of us has a 100% fix for these issues at the moment, but our ability to adapt will judge how succesful this event becomes.

Thank you for taking the time to read this,
-Steve

Dyl-Byl wrote:

Can me be judge?

The short answer is maybe.


The long answer is: I realize despite your rank you have experience and qualifications that would make you a good judge. But I also have to look at the current balancing of the contest. Like Ascendance mentioned above there's a small bias against higher difficulties. On top of that I need to have an uneven number of judges.

Count it as a submitted application rather than a plain "no". If I find someone else to be a 5th judge, and if I can figure out wether you'd be a good fit for the aimed skill group(s) then I'll shoot you a PM.

Count me In plz

Support!! Interesting :'3

@jeubach feel free to pm me if you need any more assistance in things or opinions - I'd like to discuss it a bit more

what 8 bits means? lol



???????

If you still need a judge, you may let me join.

As to maintain / increase the fairness in judging the maps, maybe there should be different columns for the score, since the scale of 0-100 can be subjective (and every judges may have different ruler to measure the score), you may try something like this, as an example:

Patterns (out of 25) - Are the patterns (jumps, streams, dashing rhythm) creative? Are they placed in gimmick?
Flow (out of 25) - Are the patterns running well during gameplay? Are there be timed dashing parts / uncomfortable hyperdashes / movements?
Versatility (out of 25) - Apart from the patterns, are there some usages new and creating an upbeat nature, for instance: slider velocity changes, timeline ticks, hitsounds? Are the mappers able to develop new mapping styles for different maps?
Suitability (out of 25) - Are the patterns suitable to the song at the particular moments, such as adding wobbling sliders / provoking streams to exaggerate the exhilarating moments; weak and soft beats to emphasize the slow parts?

Total Score (out of 100) - The sum of all 4 columns' scores.

In addition, you may need to add more details regarding to the mapping contest, such as 'can judges join the contest at some time' or similar stuff.

Anyways looking forward to this contest, good luck with it!

Just to keep this thread updated. I have gotten in contact with Ascendance and some changes will occur in terms of submission and judging.

You may continue with your mapping if you have already started. The most recent changes will be edited into the thread as soon as some final decisions are made.

-Sh1n1- wrote:

what 8 bits means? lol



???????

@Sh1n1 it is up to you to interpret the theme. The judges may deduct points if its not related to the theme. They may also increase your score the more your chart embodies the theme.

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=8-bit Here's a good definition of what is 8bit.

ugh, will be better if you choose a song to map, I lose motivation~~ anyways, Good Luck with this project :3

I like the idea and April's theme but the submission should be annonymous.

Not really interrested into the prizes I may participate for the fun if I have the time to.

Updated to show most recent changes in rules. Changes to submissions incoming.
Yes there will be anonymous submissions.

Added -itsy_v2- as a sponsor. But due to changes in the prize pool and categories his prizes wont be listed in it until further notice.

Are GDs allowed?

Dyl-Byl wrote:

Are GDs allowed?

Good question. No. I'll ammend the rules.