osu! Mapping Olympiad #2: osu!taiko

As osu!'s iteration of the Mapping Olympiad is wrapping up, it is time to bring another mode into the spotlight: osu!taiko! For the second contest in this series, we bring you an opportunity to become osu!taiko's first ever Mapping Olympian and also claim the title of Elite Mapper!

It has certainly been a while since osu!taiko's had an official mapping contest, so we are excited to be bringing this contest to everyone, complete with prizes and an opportunity to win the coveted Elite Mapper title!

Just to reiterate, the goal of the osu! Mapping Olympiad is to provide mapping contests to all game modes on a regular basis. If you are not a taiko mapper, stay on the lookout for more opportunities to come – there will be a wide variety of contest formats in the future, from traditional full spreads to rapid-fire speedmapping and everything in between.

Song

To start off your Olympiad journey as a drum master, we have chosen a song by featured artist Loki/Thaehan!

Bwa !, an upbeat electronic track, is filled to the brim with colorful synthesizer melodies and a variety of rhythmic patterns. Its chiptune style allows for a wide range of creative interpretations, so we are excited to see the sets you create out of this song!

Rules

• This contest is for the osu!taiko gamemode only.
• Each entry must follow the Ranking Criteria. Failure to adhere to the Ranking Criteria may result in penalties ranging from point deduction to total disqualification, depending on severity.
• The size of the beatmap submission must not exceed 15MB.
• Storyboards will not be considered during the judging process.
• Custom hitsounds may be used.
• The submission must be a full spread of 3 to 5 difficulties.
• Collaboration on entries is not permitted.
• Maps submitted to the contest must not be uploaded with the beatmap submission system (BSS) until the contest is concluded and the winners are announced.

Judging Criteria

All entries will be judged by the following criteria:

• Flow and Structure (10pts): How well are the difficulties internally designed? Do they play comfortably and cohesively?
• Relevance (10pts): How well does the technical execution of the map fit the song in terms of rhythm, emphasis, and intensity?
• Difficulty Spread (10pts): Is the difficulty progression well executed? Are gameplay elements introduced throughout the spread in a reasonable manner?
• Creativity (10pts): How well does the submission stand out using creative, fitting elements?
• Judge impression (10pts): What do judges think about the submission as a whole?

We are looking for capable judges! If you are interested, please make a post in the Judge Call Thread or send a message to hikikochan. Please be aware that we can only accept people who have the resources (knowledge, time, reliability) to properly judge the entries.

Prizes

After the entries are judged and the results are finalized, the top three entries will receive the following prizes:

• 1st place: 3 months of osu!supporter, 6 Olympiad Points (Results in 'Mapping Olympian' Badge), Elite Mapper title
• 2nd place: 2 months of osu!supporter, 4 Olympiad Points
• 3rd place: 1 month of osu!supporter, 2 Olympiad Points

For Olympiad contests, we will be using a point system to award the 'Mapping Olympian' badge. This means that top placing results across multiple contests will grant you the opportunity to be awarded a badge even if you do not win a particular contest. Every 6 points earned will grant you a badge level, with incrementation on the badge for each level achieved. The expected baseline for points rewards will be 6, 4, and 2 for the top 3 entries respectively, but the specific rewards will vary per contest based on expected effort and challenge for the participants.

You will have 21 days from the date of this post to submit your entries. Download the pre-timed .osz here.

All rules and important information, as well as a submission deadline countdown, are available at the contest page — refer to it if you need any further clarification. In any case, we would love to see what you can do, so give us all you have got. Good luck, and have fun!

—Gabe, hikikochan