osu!weekly #94

The ceremonial war drums are about to be sounded to signal the beginning of our annual osu!taiko World Cup! There are hints of some big changes coming soon, and our weekly publication is here to help you stay in the know. Read on to get educated!

Weekly news

While I still have your attention about big changes, let's get this one out of the way first. A new set of ranking criteria has made public and etched into stone! This marks the first set of collective achievements from the multi-mode ranking criteria council that looks to take an educated stance on improving our rules and guidelines based on the needs of the times and the community. If you want to take a look, head on over the wiki page where the new criteria are now live!

"But I want to make my own changes to the game!", you might exclaim. Well, ignoring the fact that the development of osu is now more or less completely open source, you can now also apply as a beatmap nominator for osu!taiko, osu!catch, and osu!mania. Applications close on the 7th of March, so head out there and be the change you want to see in the world!

If you're trying to get into mapping but don't know where to start, perhaps a little push from our loving mentors can help! That said, applications for a brand new cycle of the osu!mania mentorship program has taken off. Get ready to spread your wings by studying under an already established member of the community. If you aren't particularly interested in learning the ins and outs of spaghetti arranging, fret not. The osu!standard mentor cycles are also happening once every four months. We'll have an announcement for you when that is ready, so be sure to watch out for the news!

A new storyboard showcase has been uploaded, this time featuring yet another wonderful work from Exile-. Noma's Louder Machine is yet another adrenaline pumping track that questions the listener's preparedness as a part of its routine. A storyboard showcase is great and all, but it really doesn't replicate the feeling of playing this map with the storyboard on! If you're interested, check out the map here.

The date of our next public osu!dev meeting has been decided! If you want to have a sneak peak at the progress behind the scenes, drop by the stream on Saturday, March 4th, 14:00 UTC. I've been told we'll be discussing some particularly exciting things this time that may or may not be relevant to something already discussed in this issue, so don't miss out! For a record of what was discussed in previous meetings, take a look at the dev blog that is now effectively maintained by Ephemeral.

Scorewatch: February Week 4 (With Scorewatch Patrol)

Cookiezi has pulled off an amazing feat that he could not believe. He absolutely stomped Wagakki Band - Tengaku with an amazing 97.81% HD FC, giving him 663pp. Not only did he manage to set the very first FC on the map, he also smashed the 100,000,000 score barrier on that map, and distancing himself away from currently 2nd on the map HappyStick. What a monster of a play.

Does cYsmix feat. Emmy - Tear Rain ring a bell to any of you newcomers? Well, you had to download this map when you first started playing osu! of course. Recently, a 4 digit player named Jeby pulled off a huge HDHRDT FC with 95.43% and scoring 223pp. But, that score was sniped by Salieri by setting a huger HDHRDTSD FC with 96.30% and scoring 237pp. Bring back some nostalgia to your day by watching this replay.

_yu68 continues to dominate the osu!taiko scene with an amazing 99.64% DT FC on Camellia - Exit This Earth's Atomosphere, earning 694pp. What can we really add to this amazing play and amazing player? Take time out of your day to check it out!

Callionet nearly emerged with an FC senya - Tsuki ni Murakumo Hana ni Kaze (PV ver.) by setting a crazy HDDT 99.20% 1 miss play, earning exactly 566pp. Only 3 players have ever attempted this diffficulty with HDDT, and the nearest to Callionet is _Asriel, which makes this score pretty impressive. Check it out.

step mania, better known as Attang, recently set a what appeared to be an impossible Camellia - PLANET//SHAPER NC 95.03% play, giving him 1167pp. Never mind the pp though, this play is incredibly crazy, as the notes come in at 220.5BPM, and with the HP drain at 9.3, you would need to minimize your miss count in order to even pass this map. This is a mindblowing score for the osu!mania community and might be one for you too.

NOTABLE MENTIONS:

DanyL has been skyrocketing in ranks lately, setting a 95.54% HDDT play on *namirin - Koi no Hime Hime Pettanko and earning himself 579pp.

Saiya - Remote Control falls for another HDDT play, this time from CXu, surprisingly enough, getting 512pp from his 97.63% play.

Fantasy and Amlink pulled off significant DT plays on 8284 vs wa. - Adularescence, the former with a 99.53% 844pp FC play, the latter with a 99.25% 3 miss 706pp play.

But wait, we're forgetting something! The end of the month means solutions to last month's puzzle.

I'd have to say though, I'm thoroughly disappointed in a certain name missing from the word hunt. I mean, the other half is there, so it begs the question of whether or not kirby is developing a worrying trend of favoritism. In other news, I am on my way to kirby's house right now to give him a piece of my mind! If you have anything you'd like to see make the news next week, drop by the osu!dev discord or shoot us an email at news@ppy.sh. With that, I'll leave you to ponder the fate of our beloved riddler. Have fun everyone!

—Nyquill