Okay, so last time the thread regarding this got locked+nuked. However, I'd like to hope we can discuss it again now that the community is involved.

What I'm suggesting is allowing tick rate 0.5 again, or possibly tick rate 0 (or both). I think tick rate 0.5 should be added again because there was no reason to remove it, and as Alace proved in a previous post, it works better than anything else in some cases.

The main reasons I could find for removing it are

1. Making sliders optional.
2. Making drain rate very inconsistent.
3. Disrupting flow of a fast-paced beatmap.
4. Weird placement of ticks when they do appear.
5. Readability of speed changes.

I shall now demonstrate that these reasons are invalid.

1. Making sliders optional. And then, what happens with 1/1 sliders? Will tick rate 1 be disallowed because it makes these optional? What about removing tick rate 2 because it makes 1/2 sliders optional? Besides, even if a slider has no ticks, most players will hold it anyway, because if used properly that's what the song calls for (and because it's more effort to hit twice instead of hitting once and holding)
2. Making drain rate very inconsistent. how? The only thing I can think of is that there's no HP gain from hitting ticks, but this gain is so minor that it's practically negligible.
3. Disrupting flow of a fast-paced beatmap. This comes from your idea of map "flow", others have different ideas.
4. Weird placement of ticks when they do appear. Tick rate 0 could fix this, as mentioned earlier. Either way, if a tick sounds awkward with 0.5, it will likely sound even worse with 1 or more. Maybe not in your opinion, but definitely in other's opinions...
5. Readability of speed changes. We already know when reading speed changes, hardly anyone uses ticks, so this is hardly a reason...

Here are some other points I came across, that also are invalid:

Even if a minority of players read speed changes with ticks, having them there doesn't hurt the players who do not. It only helps out players that do. it hurts everyone else because it makes the map less enjoyable, and we already know that people who read ticks are the minority. Thus, it hurts more people than it helps.

My brother pays no attention to spacing and relies on approach circles. Some players are different. We try to make intuitive spacing a ranking guideline to help those players. then make not using tick rate 0.5 a guideline instead of flat-out removing it.

I speculate that these maps that 'work well with tick 0.5' can be split up into 2 categories:
1. Maps that would have worked just as well, possibly a touch better, with tick 1. as Alace proved this is not always the case
2. Maps that would have worked better with creative skinning rather than removing a gameplay element. having a different tick sound doesn't make any difference, some places just don't call for ticks and that's it. Skinning out ticks makes no sense, as then someone will be fooled because it looks like there is no tick, when there is...

I also believe that all such maps would have used tick 0 if it were provided, and that the majority of sliders in these maps have no ticks. adding tick rate 0 as suggested above would be no problem, then

@Alace: In the ocassions where tick 1 doesnt work because of a 1.5 long slider, tick 2 may work. Not trying to destroy your examples down, but you'll need something stronger than that =P nope. As Alace said, tick rate 2 is very loud for most songs and puts a bunch of ticks where they don't fit

Building on this slightly:
If you believe you need to use 0.5 ticks,
a) your BPM is too low; double it.
b) you are not a fan of the tick hitsound. find a replacement you like.
you are implying that there are absolutely no cases where tick rate 0.5 can be used properly, which is not only obviously wrong but your opinion. Changing the sound doesn't work because there are some places that don't call for a slider tick, period, regardless of what it is

Also one little tip: If you think tick rate 1 sounds bad so you need 0.5, try going *upwards* to 2 instead. In many cases it will be more even and sound better than 1. no, Alace proved it wasn't the case

No offense but it seems like this was removed based on your own personal opinions. That's no reason to deny something that the majority of the community would find useful in some cases.

let's see how far I can get before this gets nuked

let's see how far you can get before this gets nuked

Totally remove tick rate 0.5 is based on an assumption: All of the songs fits tick rate 1 or above, or say, 1/1 sounds good in all of the songs. But could you imagine, in a high BPM but an easy difficulty, would 1/1 be too busy for that? (as few of your notes would be 1/1). Also, in a low BPM calm song, would that cause too much extra sound?

I think it's too hard to be 100% sure that no songs fits 0.5, and there's already some examples there, they make sense to some mappers/modders. As it doesn't hurt anyone, it's not musically wrong either, why not just leave it?

Ticks are in this game for a reason. If they're TOO LOUD UGLY CRUSHING MAPPER SPIRIT, you have the option of using a different slider tick sound, softening or removing certain ticks that really get in the way, and a host of other options.

Making sliders optional. And then, what happens with 1/1 sliders? Will tick rate 1 be disallowed because it makes these optional? What about removing tick rate 2 because it makes 1/2 sliders optional? Besides, even if a slider has no ticks, most players will hold it anyway, because if used properly that's what the song calls for (and because it's more effort to hit twice instead of hitting once and holding)

From a gameplay perspective, 0.5 tick rate is unacceptable since it makes most, if not all, sliders in a map "follow-optional". Using shorter duration sliders is a horrible point to prove, as each one literally halves the amount of time between ticks - the difference between 0.5 and 2 is literally 4 times as many ticks in the latter (OMG MATH), which leads to 0.5 having 25% blah blah

it removes ticks from most if not all sliders - 1/1 sliders are fine as-is.

Making drain rate very inconsistent. how? The only thing I can think of is that there's no HP gain from hitting ticks, but this gain is so minor that it's practically negligible.

Ticks count as hits in HP Drain calculation. They help balance out the slower areas such that you don't get silly drain sections.

Disrupting flow of a fast-paced beatmap. This comes from your idea of map "flow", others have different ideas.

i don't disagree with completely throwing out personal opinions, but that's kind of what this game is.

Weird placement of ticks when they do appear. Tick rate 0 could fix this, as mentioned earlier. Either way, if a tick sounds awkward with 0.5, it will likely sound even worse with 1 or more. Maybe not in your opinion, but definitely in other's opinions...

AAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA no.

Again, see the first point. more ticks doesn't make it sound worse, it often makes it sound more consistent. If you don't like the sound of those ticks, soften them or make them work - you're a mapper, right? You shouldn't flip a table because something doesn't sound right.

Readability of speed changes. We already know when reading speed changes, hardly anyone uses ticks, so this is hardly a reason...

You're right.


Also, Alace is hardly a guru with slider ticks. Just so you know. In fact, as an avid 0.5 user, maybe he's clearly not doing something right with them


EDIT: The only time i can see 0.5 tick rate ever being justified is when the map in question requires doubled bpm (read: 7/8, 13/8, awkward metronomes) or uses doubled BPM as a gimmick (see xi - .357 Magnum for an example)


EDIT#2: You guys all seem to be forgetting that every single one of these rules has exceptions that can be applied and argued for - If you think "0.5 tick rate is NOT AALLOWOOWOWOEEDEDEDED ARRRFGGGHHH *froth mouth*" is what is happening to you, man up. It's far better to argue something like this on a case-by-case basis than "It's not true 100% of the time so let it go for the other 99.5%!"

should replace bpm 1.0+ tick 0.5 by bpm 0.5 + tick 1.0

This is mentioned by peppy and the reason is code level problem.(if I remember correctly)
So as long as osu! use current language and library, we can't change this.

Why do people have so much of a problem with tick rates that are greater than the map's beat density? I use the same tick rate (Usually 2) across all of my difficulties and it sounds fine.

Tick 1 will always sound decent because ticks will sound fine matched up to beats, and if the song doesn't have a beat every white tick your bpm is too high. If tick 1 sounds awkward it's usually because it's too empty and should be upped to 2 or 3, and shouldn't be knee jerk dropped down to 0.5 :/

Either way, peppy's said no so this is highly unlikely to get changed.

From a gameplay perspective, 0.5 tick rate is unacceptable since it makes most, if not all, sliders in a map "follow-optional". Using shorter duration sliders is a horrible point to prove, as each one literally halves the amount of time between ticks - the difference between 0.5 and 2 is literally 4 times as many ticks in the latter (OMG MATH), which leads to 0.5 having 25% blah blah

it removes ticks from most if not all sliders - 1/1 sliders are fine as-is.

I already said it's way more awkward to hit once, let go, and hit again for the sole purpose of breaking a slider, so people will hold it regardless. Plus, people will want to hold if sliders are used properly.

i don't disagree with completely throwing out personal opinions, but that's kind of what this game is.

Except now, we have more opinions, and I claim that most of them will now want to keep tick rate 0.5.

AAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA no.

Again, see the first point. more ticks doesn't make it sound worse, it often makes it sound more consistent.

As I said some parts sound way too busy with ticks, because a tick just doesn't go there. There are many cases where having an increased tick rate puts a tick in a completely wrong position or makes everything sound just wrong.

If you don't like the sound of those ticks, soften them or make them work - you're a mapper, right? You shouldn't flip a table because something doesn't sound right.

It's quite hard impossible to make something sound right that is forced into your map with no basis from the song...

It's far better to argue something like this on a case-by-case basis than "It's not true 100% of the time so let it go for the other 99.5%!"

guideline it then.

Rules apply 100% of the time, so if something is better not breaking a rule, the "rule" should be a guideline.

This is mentioned by peppy and the reason is code level problem.(if I remember correctly)
So as long as osu! use current language and library, we can't change this.

I thought the only reason tick rate 0.5 is now impossible was that peppy changed the minimum value... I don't think there was any glitch involved. If I'm wrong, please correct me

Why do people have so much of a problem with tick rates that are greater than the map's beat density?

because it makes it sound too busy and loud. Especially so if ticks are mapped to nothing in the song...

Tick 1 will always sound decent because ticks will sound fine matched up to beats, and if the song doesn't have a beat every white tick your bpm is too high. If tick 1 sounds awkward it's usually because it's too empty and should be upped to 2 or 3, and shouldn't be knee jerk dropped down to 0.5 :/

This is false. Sometimes, tick rate 1 will put ticks at awkward places on some sliders, that aren't there with tick rate 0.5. Also, for a softer song, tick rate 1 can sometimes sound too loud. Same for easier diffs on most maps.

Either way, peppy's said no so this is highly unlikely to get changed.

let's see how far I can get before this gets nuked

Tick rate 0.5 is pointless. It negates the point of having sliders, especially when 0.5 maps tend to use tiny sliders in the least imaginative fashion. If there are a lot of 0.5 maps with long sliders, then their mappers are morons. For Christ's sake, the tick rate should at least follow the beat. The ticks are there so that the slider can encompass more rhythmic elements and actually give the player a reason to follow the slider.

Also, I believe that ticks are helpful for determining slider velocity. Whether or not it's noticed consciously, a distance change between ticks is an obvious indicator that the slider velocity has changed.

In situations where ticks are too fast for the music, your BPM is double what it should be, so divide it by 2. Tick 1 not lining up with the music is a paradox.
In situations where you want no ticks at all, what you're looking for is tick 0, not 0.5. 0.5 is a workaround because there is no tick 0, and when a slider is longer than a 2/1, there's a really ugly, out-of-place tick I'm sure all you tick 0.5 users would rather do without. For tick 0 to work, the gameplay mechanics would need to be adjusted so that leaving sliders would break your combo. This deviates too much from the Ouendan formula, and leads to two different styles of gameplay which have no reason to be different.

1/1 and 1/2 sliders are so short that leaving them and coming back is impractical and involves MORE WORK than following them normally. This isn't the case for a 2/1 slider. It's already close to impossible to make a 1/1 or 1/2 slider have more than a basic line or slight curve/wave for its shape, all of which can be played by making a line.

Tick 2, or even 1, is enough to counter the HP drain, allowing your HP to rise slightly, rather than lower, during sliders. This creates a dichotomy where your HP rises slightly when hitting a slider correctly, but falls significantly when you're not. This is missing on long, tickless sliders. Again, a 1/1 or 1/2 slider would be too short for this to matter.

pieguy1372 wrote:

We already know when reading speed changes, hardly anyone uses ticks

According to NatsumeRin's troll poll, 58% of players read ticks at least sometimes. This is in spite of the extremely skewed phrasing of the poll and options. I also believe you're grossly overestimating how disruptive tick rate 1 is. (It's not.)

Reading ticks is quite irrelevant unless you're doing a bad job using speed changes. Using them well makes tick reading unnecessary. Using them poorly will force players either to memorize the speed changes or read the ticks. So basically, tick reading is only a factor if the map has bad speed changes anyway.

pieguy1372 wrote:

No offense but it seems like this was removed based on your own personal opinions.

He wrote the game. He could take it off the internet completely based on his personal opinions. People seem to forget that.
peppy added tick rate 2 because, back in the day, the BPM needed to be doubled to create 2x sections. This led to the equivalent of tick rate 2 being used in speedup sections. Tick 0.5 was to remedy this.

I think there must be a "No tick" option. Yeah, why not?
That awkward moment when you add a slow slider and it all goes smooth until that whild ugly TICK sound appears. You can't silence it completely because of 5% minimum hitsound volume. You can't replace it with a blank file either. Shit. I never really look at ticks when playing so I don't see how this can help me read the speed changes. It's not like there's enough time for that anyway since most time you're just sightreading it.

mm201 wrote:

pieguy1372 wrote:

We already know when reading speed changes, hardly anyone uses ticks

According to NatsumeRin's troll poll, 58% of players read ticks at least sometimes. This is in spite of the extremely skewed phrasing of the poll and options. I also believe you're grossly overestimating how disruptive tick rate 1 is. (It's not.)

what's the point to describe it like "more than a half players really use ticks".

In situations where ticks are too fast for the music, your BPM is double what it should be, so divide it by 2. Tick 1 not lining up with the music is a paradox.

So, the music can't have any pauses at all, or not even a general "slow" feeling? This principle is entirely a case-by-case basis and you can't apply it to all songs and maps.

In situations where you want no ticks at all, what you're looking for is tick 0, not 0.5. 0.5 is a workaround because there is no tick 0, and when a slider is longer than a 2/1, there's a really ugly, out-of-place tick I'm sure all you tick 0.5 users would rather do without. For tick 0 to work, the gameplay mechanics would need to be adjusted so that leaving sliders would break your combo. This deviates too much from the Ouendan formula, and leads to two different styles of gameplay which have no reason to be different.

Perhaps it could be so that your HP drain goes down a lot faster if you don't hold the slider (but only with tick rate 0), so it would be like missing

This isn't the case for a 2/1 slider

For me at least it's easier to hold a 2/1 slider than to hit twice.

I also believe you're grossly overestimating how disruptive tick rate 1 is. (It's not.)

so what, you're saying that having a tick is never out of place, ever? There are many cases where tick rate 1 is indeed disruptive and/or puts a tick where one doesn't fit... You just can't say that in all 100% of cases, tick rate 1 will work.

According to NatsumeRin's troll poll, 58% of players read ticks at least sometimes.

Take away the "seldom" category and it's 27%, and I think especially after the next point we can agree that those cases are when speed changes aren't used right...

Reading ticks is quite irrelevant unless you're doing a bad job using speed changes. Using them well makes tick reading unnecessary. Using them poorly will force players either to memorize the speed changes or read the ticks. So basically, tick reading is only a factor if the map has bad speed changes anyway.

the modding system should catch these cases so they don't exist, then. I agree that people should never need to use ticks to read speed changes though.

peppy added tick rate 2 because, back in the day, the BPM needed to be doubled to create 2x sections. This led to the equivalent of tick rate 2 being used in speedup sections. Tick 0.5 was to remedy this.

So tick rate 2 was added for that purpose also, and look how widespread it is now. If we remove tick rate 0.5 purely because it's a workaround that is now obsolete, we might as well do the same for tick rate 2. Tick rate 2 might be used a lot, but I claim that 0.5 also has uses, and thus isn't "just" a workaround.

Can you start providing examples of where you think 0.5 works, and why? I'm sure you have some good points, but they seem to be often based on existing maps (some parts, many cases, etc.), and dropping some names might help. I can see why you would think tick rate 2 might be a bit excessive, but I'm sure that tick 1 will almost always sound better than 0.5, since it is essentially putting a sound where the metronome would be, which is indicative of the timing.

Also, if you find ticks ugly, you're either using an atrocious skin or are scared of tiny circles, and in the latter case, playing osu! isn't a good idea. The default skin's is harmless if the ticks are consistent enough.

NotShinta wrote:

Can you start providing examples of where you think 0.5 works, and why?

can you read my post by few months ago in the tick rate thread XD

EDIT:i think this thread is pointless, because the coders already decide to remove tick 0.5 (even we already showed some samples)
so just let it go and focus on other questionable issues

NotShinta wrote:

Can you start providing examples of where you think 0.5 works, and why? I'm sure you have some good points, but they seem to be often based on existing maps (some parts, many cases, etc.), and dropping some names might help. I can see why you would think tick rate 2 might be a bit excessive, but I'm sure that tick 1 will almost always sound better than 0.5, since it is essentially putting a sound where the metronome would be, which is indicative of the timing.

Also, if you find ticks ugly, you're either using an atrocious skin or are scared of tiny circles, and in the latter case, playing osu! isn't a good idea. The default skin's is harmless if the ticks are consistent enough.

It really depends on the song. I won't bother go finding examples because I know there must exist songs that contains sections which the strong beats of instrument (or vocal) do not land on the metronome.

OK, there are two workarounds here:
1. use slider but with no ticks (similar to Natteke said, a tick sound will just sound awkward in some occasion, and you can't deny that)
2. use circles instead

The reason why slider is preferred can be due to several reasons.
For example attempting to make an easier difficulty by replacing harder rhythm with slider.

Answering D33d, a slider can mean much more to a mapper because it creates a "holding" sensation. For slow maps, yes, mapper can increase tick rate so that the player is forced to follow the slider. But for harder maps where etna sliders are abundant (perhaps also high BPM), the point of having sliders isn't really "follow the slider" but rather "swipe" the slider.

pieguy1372 wrote:

Perhaps it could be so that your HP drain goes down a lot faster if you don't hold the slider (but only with tick rate 0), so it would be like missing

How is this different from silenced ticks? (Which I approve of)

pieguy1372 wrote:

For me at least it's easier to hold a 2/1 slider than to hit twice.

Now that depends on the shape. Consider this:

With tick 0.5, you can just casually move your cursor from one cap to the other rather than going in a circle. What's the point of using a slider like this on a tick 0.5 map?

pieguy1372 wrote:

so what, you're saying that having a tick is never out of place, ever? There are many cases where tick rate 1 is indeed disruptive and/or puts a tick where one doesn't fit... You just can't say that in all 100% of cases, tick rate 1 will work.

Yes I can. Read:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beat_%28music%29
If the music has a beat, it makes sense for a tick to land on it.

pieguy1372 wrote:

Take away the "seldom" category and it's 27%, and I think especially after the next point we can agree that those cases are when speed changes aren't used right...

The seldom category is important because it's representative of what actually makes sense. I would place myself in the seldom category. In a perfect world, ticks are read seldomly because the map offers enough other cues to make them irrelevant.

pieguy1372 wrote:

the modding system should catch these cases so they don't exist, then. I agree that people should never need to use ticks to read speed changes though.

This is exactly why I wrote those 3 rules limiting how speed changes can be used. I wrote them before tick 0.5 was banned in the hopes of targeting specifically unreadable sliders, which appear very frequently in tick 0.5 maps for some reason.

So tick rate 2 was added for that purpose also, and look how widespread it is now. If we remove tick rate 0.5 purely because it's a workaround that is now obsolete, we might as well do the same for tick rate 2. Tick rate 2 might be used a lot, but I claim that 0.5 also has uses, and thus isn't "just" a workaround.

No it wasn't. Tick rate 2 was added based on how sliders are used in Ouendan, which is the reference for this game's design. In Ouendan, ticks are timed according to the fastest consistent rhythm found in the music--that is, the highest possible setting which doesn't clash. This provides the most accurate judgement of sliders and carries the rhythm.

Alace wrote:

can you read my post by few months ago in the tick rate thread XD

Do you really want me to go through that post and find reasons for every map why tick 0.5 is incorrect? That would take hours.
Normally, it breaks down to one of a few reasons:
1. The mapper doesn't like the tick sound. Find a different one or make them silent. If you hate the sound in any map, you probably don't like this part of the Ouendan formula. Consider using a custom skin.
2. The mapper doesn't like the tick sound for this music. Same solution.
3. The music has lots of offbeats and syncopation. If this is the case, tick 2 is probably a better choice. If tick 2 clashes with the rhythms, try placing sliders more carefully, or otherwise learn to accept syncoticks. They're not so bad and can sound cute.
4. The map has some very long sliders which begin on offbeats. This tends to flow poorly anyway. Try beginning the slider on the following downbeat and placing a circle on that offbeat.

yongtw123 wrote:

etna sliders

Etna sliders are identical whether the tick rate is 0.5, 1, or 2. Lowering the tick rate because most of your sliders are 1/2 anyway is a bad reason, and only adds inconsistency when a >1/2 or >1/1 slider does appear.

Having 1/1 sliders without ticks can disrupt the flow in an otherwise 1/2 heavy map.

So are we allowed to add blank wav files to silence ticks?

I support it, but more opinions are needed. I will start a thread for this.

Edit: Forget the thread. The current draft of NewRules already allows this.

The end of a spinner (or even the entire spinner) the sliding sound of a slider, and the end of a slider can be silent, but only do it if it makes sense. Finally, you cannot silence both slider ticks and slider slides together.

Nice, then I have no objections.

Enphasis on "make sense" for isntance i once was making a mapset in which i required the use of 3/4 triplets, since the music holds and enphasizes those 3/4 triplets a slider would work out nicely, however, since for the most part the most constant instrument was going at 1/2 rythm i was using slider tick rate 2, and the 3/4 sliders had a repeat for the triplet, so it would create a tick very close to the repeat as soon as it reached 1/2, to counter this i silenced ONLY those ticks on those sliders so it wouldn't sound awkward.

So yes i do agree with silencing sliderticks as long as they make sense with the song, if they indeed do clash with the way the slider in question is mapped.

3/4 sliders usually sound okay with tick 2, seeing as the ticks all line up to the 1/2 beat, just as if it were a 3/2 slider.
2/3 sliders are where this comes in handy.

mm201 wrote:

3/4 sliders usually sound okay with tick 2, seeing as the ticks all line up to the 1/2 beat, just as if it were a 3/2 slider.
2/3 sliders are where this comes in handy.

Sounds like whenever these particular rhythms are encountered in the future there is always a formula for mapping them.

How is this different from silenced ticks? (Which I approve of)

I thought silenced ticks were unrankable...

Yes I can. Read:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beat_%28music%29
If the music has a beat, it makes sense for a tick to land on it.

>.< Not really, what if there's no emphasis on a certain "beat", but you still need a hold feeling? In that case a tick would be way out of place.

The seldom category is important because it's representative of what actually makes sense. I would place myself in the seldom category. In a perfect world, ticks are read seldomly because the map offers enough other cues to make them irrelevant.

No, in a perfect world, every speed change is read with no regard to ticks because the speed change fits the song well, so ticks would never need to be used.

This is exactly why I wrote those 3 rules limiting how speed changes can be used. I wrote them before tick 0.5 was banned in the hopes of targeting specifically unreadable sliders, which appear very frequently in tick 0.5 maps for some reason.

The problem with your rules is that they were way too strict and prevented too much, especially cases where the only cues were the feeling of the song and map (which is what speed changes should always fit, IMO at least). It seems you and others on staff consider those cases "unreadable", when actually they are very readable and play really well.

No it wasn't. Tick rate 2 was added based on how sliders are used in Ouendan, which is the reference for this game's design. In Ouendan, ticks are timed according to the fastest consistent rhythm found in the music--that is, the highest possible setting which doesn't clash. This provides the most accurate judgement of sliders and carries the rhythm.

Oh. Now that you mention it, I claim that some songs do not even carry a 1/1 rhythm at some points, hence why tick rate 0.5 would work in those parts even by your definition. Saying that a song has something at every 1/1 tick, or 1/2 tick, is a very strong statement to make.

3. The music has lots of offbeats and syncopation. If this is the case, tick 2 is probably a better choice. If tick 2 clashes with the rhythms, try placing sliders more carefully, or otherwise learn to accept syncoticks. They're not so bad and can sound cute.

If a tick clashes with the rhythm, it shouldn't be there. Also, the last sentence is the opposite of your 1 and 2, or someone liking the tick sound, so shouldn't that be banned under your reasoning?

4. The map has some very long sliders which begin on offbeats. This tends to flow poorly anyway. Try beginning the slider on the following downbeat and placing a circle on that offbeat.

What if the song has that rhythm? I have a map myself where this is the case and tick rate 0.5 sounded better than anything.

pieguy1372 wrote:

>.< Not really, what if there's no emphasis on a certain "beat", but you still need a hold feeling? In that case a tick would be way out of place.

That means there's no rhythm, so that moment is unmappable. Consider using a spinner, a break, or just a pause with the object placement.

pieguy1372 wrote:

No, in a perfect world, every speed change is read with no regard to ticks because the speed change fits the song well, so ticks would never need to be used.

That's basically what I said, only I'm more open to the possibility of patterns which aren't necessarily readable given the music, but still make sense in retrospect. These situations depend on tick reading or memorization, but shouldn't necessarily be outright banned.

pieguy1372 wrote:

The problem with your rules is that they were way too strict and prevented too much, especially cases where the only cues were the feeling of the song and map (which is what speed changes should always fit, IMO at least). It seems you and others on staff consider those cases "unreadable", when actually they are very readable and play really well.

If you'll read them carefully, they don't really ban much of anything. One of the options is if it follows a change in the musical texture, which includes everything of what you said.

pieguy1372 wrote:

Oh. Now that you mention it, I claim that some songs do not even carry a 1/1 rhythm at some points, hence why tick rate 0.5 would work in those parts even by your definition. Saying that a song has something at every 1/1 tick, or 1/2 tick, is a very strong statement to make.

Stating a song has a steady 1/2 rhythm is a bold statement to make. Some songs divide into thirds, others don't divide at all. Stating that a song has a steady 1/1 rhythm is a basic concept of music theory. If your song doesn't have a 1/1 rhythm to it, but only a 2/1 rhythm (which corresponds to tick 0.5) then your BPM is double what it should be. Divide your BPM by two, double your slider speed, and enjoy your "tick 0.5" that way.

pieguy1372 wrote:

If a tick clashes with the rhythm, it shouldn't be there. Also, the last sentence is the opposite of your 1 and 2, or someone liking the tick sound, so shouldn't that be banned under your reasoning?

Most if not all songs have exceptions. What matters is that the 1/2 rhythm is stable.

Edit: I think you misunderstood. Allow me to rephrase that one:
If tick 2 clashes, so you opt for tick 1, you may experience "syncoticks" on sliders that begin on 1/2s. This is usually a sign that tick 2 is correct, but if it isn't, try to place objects more carefully. Tick 0.5 has syncoticks too! It even has them with sliders beginning on 1/1 offbeats, which almost always sounds awful. See my screenshot below.

pieguy1372 wrote:

What if the song has that rhythm? I have a map myself where this is the case and tick rate 0.5 sounded better than anything.

I don't see how this is preferable.
Please link me that map and I will look into a better solution.

That means there's no rhythm, so that moment is unmappable. Consider using a spinner, a break, or just a pause with the object placement.

Stating a song has a steady 1/2 rhythm is a bold statement to make. Some songs divide into thirds, others don't divide at all. Stating that a song has a steady 1/1 rhythm is a basic concept of music theory. If your song doesn't have a 1/1 rhythm to it, but only a 2/1 rhythm (which corresponds to tick 0.5) then your BPM is double what it should be. Divide your BPM by two, double your slider speed, and enjoy your "tick 0.5" that way.

I'm not sure exactly what songs you're considering, but there is a whole gray area in between having a lot of emphasis on a beat and having nothing there. Having no emphasis on a beat doesn't mean there's nothing there, there might be a slow vocal there, a sound coming from 1/1 or 1/2 before with no added emphasis, just a really slow, weak sound, or many other things. Tick rate 1 is too busy for those, but those parts would be mappable. Plus, having no emphasis on a beat doesn't mean that the rest of the song doesn't follow a 1/1, it means that one part in the song doesn't, so the faster BPM is still the right BPM.

Also, for easier diffs, as NatsumeRin said, tick rate 1 would sound too busy even if the song follows a 1/1.

That's basically what I said, only I'm more open to the possibility of patterns which aren't necessarily readable given the music, but still make sense in retrospect. These situations depend on tick reading or memorization, but shouldn't necessarily be outright banned.

It's not good practice IMO to force ticks just to "ensure" that everything is readable. Just because some maps would need ticks for speed changes doesn't mean that they should be forced on all the other maps, especially when it doesn't fit

Most if not all songs have exceptions. What matters is that the 1/2 rhythm is stable.

Edit: I think you misunderstood. Allow me to rephrase that one:
If tick 2 clashes, so you opt for tick 1, you may experience "syncoticks" on sliders that begin on 1/2s. This is usually a sign that tick 2 is correct, but if it isn't, try to place objects more carefully. Tick 0.5 has syncoticks too! It even has them with sliders beginning on 1/1 offbeats, which almost always sounds awful. See my screenshot below.

if tick 2 clashes, it sounds really bad because it's too busy and has ticks that fit to nothing. If tick 1 is used with a 3/2 slider and the tick it puts is out of place, then this is one case I mentioned where tick rate 0.5 sounds way better. If tick rate 1 puts an out of place tick, tick rate 2 will sound even worse because the whole rhythm it creates doesn't fit. >.<

If you're using such a long slider (like in that screenshot) that doesn't call for any ticks, then there's nothing to do besides dealing with the tick, but at least it sounds better than if you used tick rate 1 or higher...

What I mean is if there's an out of place tick even with tick rate 1, then tick rate 2 will sound even worse

Please link me that map and I will look into a better solution.

sorry, I misunderstood what you said, so it doesn't fit your example. However, my map had a slider that started on a 1/4 and lasted 5/4 so tick rate 1 put an out of place tick (though looking back on that, I think a 3/4 slider and another beat might have been better)

Personally, I like tick rate 0.5, it works really well in for me. I've been stuck with tick rate 1 for now, which is fine, but I honestly don't understand why tick rate 2 is supposed to sound like OMGEARGASMIC (joking, obviously) or something o_O I'm pretty sure I've played a couple of maps that have had 0.5 tick rate and I thought it fit perfectly

pieguy, even if the music doesn't specifically ephasize every whole beat, tick 1 will still always hit rythm and basically always sound nice. I really can't think of examples where tick 1 would be "too busy" if the BPM is correct. Because it hits the beats. Always. Ticks are not supposed to emphasize musical cues, they are mostly just keeping a stready rythm. Ticks should usually not fall on heavy beats since they are such minor elements, so them hitting "unemphasized" parts is only natural. It's a way of keeping the rythm going without overemphasizing every beat.
It's not even a loud sound or anything, so it really doesn't disrupt anything and if if you use sliders in really quiet parts with mostly vocals or something you can always silence the ticks.

The music doesn't always keep a constant rhythm, though. Most songs have pauses in the rhythm where having a tick just wouldn't fit, but still something to map to

(And I thought silencing ticks was unrankable for no reason = =... Apparently it's not, but I don't understand why this is unrankable:

Finally, you cannot silence both slider ticks and slider slides together.

However, that's a whole new issue that I'd rather not discuss here)

Basically what Luna said. If the map dominantly follows 1/1 patterns, tick 1 has to make sense because ticks are weaker elements than circles. If there is any rhythm of any kind, there should be sliderticks to uphold it. If the concern is that ticks are too powerful, try lowering the volume or choosing a better sound.

The map I prepared that screenshot from normally uses tick 2. On music which uses tick 1, it's rare for a slider to belong on a red tick.

3/4 and 3/2 sliders having ticks inside them creating a hemiola pattern is a part of the game formula. It's supposed to happen.

pieguy1372, please be honest: Do you just not like ticks at all?

Edit: I retitled your thread. Tick 0.5 is dead and gone. 100% of all arguments in here are for "sliders with no ticks, period." Please continue discussion under this context.

Luna wrote:

pieguy, even if the music doesn't specifically ephasize every whole beat, tick 1 will still always hit rythm and basically always sound nice.

What if I don't think it sounds nice? Man, this is so subjective

Natteke wrote:

Luna wrote:

pieguy, even if the music doesn't specifically ephasize every whole beat, tick 1 will still always hit rythm and basically always sound nice.

What if I don't think it sounds nice? Man, this is so subjective

Then you silence the ticks. They still make musical sense, if you just dislike the tick hitsound that's no reason to remove ticks altogether.

Luna wrote:

Natteke wrote:

What if I don't think it sounds nice? Man, this is so subjective

Then you silence the ticks. They still make musical sense, if you just dislike the tick hitsound that's no reason to remove ticks altogether.

Some people say that is unrankable.

In fact, having 0.5 tick rate sometimes works better than 0 and 1 on easier diffs, because they have a slower pace. Removing ticks in those cases entirely would be kind of odd in cases where they still fit something, but where having 1 would be too fast

However, having just tick rate 0 would be fine especially when it got denied before.

pieguy1372, please be honest: Do you just not like ticks at all?

I'm fine with ticks, but I think they're misused most of the time. I made this thread because I figured that the community would be for keeping it so that it could be useful in some cases, and if you consider only normal users it's 5 for, 3 against currently (and I'm quite sure many more would find it to be useful, as well)

If the map dominantly follows 1/1 patterns, tick 1 has to make sense because ticks are weaker elements than circles.

If there is a part that does not follow 1/1, and is slower and softer than the rest of the song, it will seem out of place in that part.

Also I knew I had heard it was unrankable before. Apparently you can silence ticks as long as the rest of the slider isn't silenced, but as I said I would rather not discuss this here = =//

pieguy1372 wrote:

If the map dominantly follows 1/1 patterns, tick 1 has to make sense because ticks are weaker elements than circles.

If there is a part that does not follow 1/1, and is slower and softer than the rest of the song, it will seem out of place in that part.

Add an example here: imagine you're mapping a Easy/Normal for Evans, what would you do for the 3/4 part?

NatsumeRin wrote:

Add an example here: imagine you're mapping a Easy/Normal for Evans, what would you do for the 3/4 part?

Sakura Hana wrote:

Enphasis on "make sense" for isntance i once was making a mapset in which i required the use of 3/4 triplets, since the music holds and enphasizes those 3/4 triplets a slider would work out nicely, however, since for the most part the most constant instrument was going at 1/2 rythm i was using slider tick rate 2, and the 3/4 sliders had a repeat for the triplet, so it would create a tick very close to the repeat as soon as it reached 1/2, to counter this i silenced ONLY those ticks on those sliders so it wouldn't sound awkward.

So yes i do agree with silencing sliderticks as long as they make sense with the song, if they indeed do clash with the way the slider in question is mapped.

That's what i would do