Project Loved: Week of August 26th

Project Loved is back, this time with twice the amount of osu!standard maps. Check out our picks, and vote for the maps you want to see Loved!

Welcome back to Project Loved! Every two weeks, we pick out a few beatmaps from each game mode that will get their shot at making it into the Loved category. From the maps we selected, you can now vote whether or not you want them to be Loved! Click on each map's header image in this post to be taken to their voting threads.

Following -Kazu-'s recruitment onto the osu!taiko Loved captain team last week, Gezoda has decided to take his leave. He'll still be helping out with management of our Google sheets, but he won't be picking the maps anymore. Thanks for all of the work you've put into this project, Gezo!

Starting this week, there are also some changes in the amount of beatmaps we're nominating for Loved:

• osu! will have 10 per round, up from 5
• osu!mania will have 8 per round, up from 7

We want to increase the quantity for these modes in an effort to balance the submissions with taiko and catch. It's probably getting confusing to follow because we change this so often—sorry if that's the case!

Oh right, also:

• osu!taiko will have 0 maps per round

Yep, you read that right. At least for this round, osu!taiko is sending no maps toward the Loved section. If you haven't already heard, there's a poll about the state of the osu!taiko Loved section open on the forums in place of new maps this round. After looking over the voting results of previous osu!taiko nominees and some discussion in the #osu-loved channel of the osu!dev Discord server, we suspected that the osu!taiko Loved section may not be representing what the community would really love to see. That's why we're now asking for your direct feedback! Are you happy with the state of the osu!taiko Loved section? If not, what could we do differently? Let us know by posting in that thread, and please also fill out the provided form and vote in the thread's poll!

Lastly, our video this week is only showcasing the maps for osu!standard. We keep making the mistake of giving our poor producer _verto_ only a few days to crank out a video, when he's already busy with his own projects—so, unfortunately we aren't able to show off the maps for all modes this time.

In case you don't read the end of this post, be sure to submit suggestions for beatmaps to be added to Loved using the Google form! All of the nominated beatmaps are chosen from submissions on this form, which you can view in the corresponding Google sheet.

Alright, too much talking; not enough osu!. Let's get into those maps!

Navigation

• osu!
• osu!catch
• osu!mania

osu!

osu! Loved candidates were chosen by Toy!

ExileLord - Soulless 4 by Woey
written by Toy

Straight from the murky depths of the Clone Hero community, Woey has created a behemoth equal or even more brutal in difficulty to the original chart. Twelve minutes of agonizing non-stop 250 BPM patterns and streams pushing a blistering high 8* difficulty; there are no brakes on this hell train. A pass on this would cement you as a stamina machine. Now, with 130+ favorites to boot, this map will be one for the history books. Singletappers beware, indeed.

Unlike Pluto - Everything Black (feat. Mike Taylor) by CoolGuyRift
written by Toy

This catchy trap groove by Unlike Pluto has amassed 27 million views on YouTube and plenty more on Spotify as well. In similar fashion, CoolGuyRift's 300+ favorite mapset of the song has received a similar amount of recognition, especially for how easy it is for anyone of any skill level to enjoy a difficulty fit for them. Though the mapping isn't as polished as that of any experienced mapper, it fits the Loved section less-so in mapping quality and more-so in its striking popularity.

NayutalieN - Alien Alien (Nhato Remix) by Awlex
written by Toy

As this mapset kept being submitted to the Loved section, I had the pleasure of watching it grow from 30 favorites to the nearly 300+ favorite superset it is today. Though it's still unclear whether the favorites stem from the song or the mapping, such as in Everything Black from this week, it's clear that Awlex has a much stronger grasp of the editor, especially when comparing the (old) difficulties to the new ones. Try your hand at both, as it's interesting to watch a mapper grow!

Suzuki Konomi n' Kiba of Akiba - Watashi ga Motenai no wa Dou Kangaete mo Omaera ga Warui! by happy623, On_WanWan and TKS
written by DigitalHypno

A classic to many, this 2013 mapset by happy623 features a full spread of standard difficulties with a guest difficulty from On_WanWan and two taiko difficulties by TKS. Beginner osu! players can track their skill progression as they travel from the basic rhythms of the Easy difficulty to the fairly complex patterns found in the Extra difficulty. Even high-end players could have fun with this mapset with the addition of some difficulty increasing mods. Will you become one of the over 220 players to love this mapset?

Toby Fox - Your Best Nightmare by TheCoffeeLord
written by Toy

Undertale returns again this week (as if it's ever left) with The CoffeeLord's Your Best Nightmare, one of the most grueling tracks from toby fox's soundtrack. The map may at first glance have received its 150 favorites from being one of the first maps of this track, but the mapping itself is nothing to scoff at. Re-live one of the most terrifying fights from the game with this intense mapset.

Asriel - Kegare Naki Yume by Settia
written by DigitalHypno

You may recognize the mapper, Settia, from their other loved mapsets. If you appreciate the difficulty and mapping style of Settia's other maps, you'll love this one—along with the 200+ people who already have this mapset favorited! The mapset has two different difficulties, each at an exceptionally high star rating, even claimed by Settia to be the "hardest map [they've] ever made". Both versions feature straining jump and stream patterns at a consistent 223 BPM. If you're looking for a challenge, give the lower difficulty a try. If you're looking for a real challenge, give the higher difficulty a try.

yuikonnu - Yume Chizu (Speed Up Ver.) by Shunao
written by DigitalHypno

More love for aim players! Shunao's sped-up version of the catchy yuikonnu song Yume Chizu has attracted over 250 favorites, and for good reason. It's an engaging jump map with patterns that get harder as the map progresses. At 220 BPM, it's also a good map to test one's higher BPM NoMod (or HardRock?) skills. Beware the last kiai section—don't drop your combo!

KASAI HARCORES - TRIPLE PLAY by Chickensio
written by Toy

After the smashing success of Worminators' Cycle Hit, Chickensio has delivered another banger from the J-Core power trio. In a similar style,TRIPLE PLAY is a fundamentally solid map with some interesting patterning ideas that make it an absolute joy to play. Over 200+ people have also found a similar joy in smashing a score out of the park, and I guarantee this map is a home run.

Sheet Music Boss - RUSH B by FrostiDrinks
written by Toy

Despite its seemingly meme background, RUSH B by FrostiDrinks is no joke. This slow burn piano piece features over 70 timing points starting from 60 BPM, slowly speeding up to a smoking 200 BPM finale and a very dissonant B slider. The song originates from a Russian meme that was then later made into a black midi song centered around the B note on the keyboard. The song has some history, and the map does not disappoint in delivering the same thundering power the song exudes.

LADYBABY - Nippon Manju by YellowManul, riffy, Lama Poluna and skeuddy
written by Toy

What do you get when you combine two cute Japanese singers and an Australian former wrestler and death metal vocalist? The answer is LADYBABY. YellowManul has taken the bizarre music group's most famous track and turned it on its head in Nippon Manju, a song that welcomes you to the only possible place that could confidently combine these polarizing sounds and create a catchy tune. Seriously, where else will you see a large grown man tie their long hair into ponytails and parade down the streets in a maid costume and angrily yell into a camera on a selfie stick? A solid 170+ favorites says right here in osu!

osu!catch

osu!catch Loved candidates were chosen by Zak, Ascendance, Sartan and Tenshichan! This week, all osu!catch beatmap descriptions were written by Sartan.

Araki - Snow Drive (01.23) by Minato Yukina

Whereas Snow Drive was quite a popular map in past days, it has not had anybody bat an eye as of recently—hence its revival here in the Loved voting! The map is quite typically Minato Yukina styled, containing mostly consistent jumping patterns to accompany the song appropriately, with here and there a stream pattern thrown into the mix. It is a map suited to be played by most high-end players, but it is not an easy task to accomplish a full combo, mostly due to map length and general difficulty (it not being too extreme, but not something you would call easy either). Will you be the driving force moving this map into the Loved section?

penoreri - Preserved Valkyria by rew0825

As of fairly recently, rew0825 has gained a bit of popularity thanks to ranking some of his latest mapsets. That doesn't mean, however, that there are no hidden gems in his older works, with Preserved Valkyria being the perfect example. This map was used in the HardRock bracket for the osu!catch World Cup 2017, but after that initial spike in popularity, nobody really shed the light of day on it again. This map contains some great buildup patterns, fun left-rights and challenging yet not overdone streams, and overall it makes for a very consistent and solid map. Next to all that it is quite an accessible map too, it not being quite the hardest that we see in the Loved section, which makes it playable to quite a large chunk of the playerbase. You can also very well spice things up on this particular map with either HardRock or Hidden, as its pick for the World Cup would suggest.

osu!mania

osu!mania Loved candidates were chosen by Kamikaze, _underjoy, aitor98, Pope Gadget and TheToaphster!

Sharkey & Arkitech - Quadraphinix by Xay
written by Pope Gadget

Oh boy, even more Stepmania classics are going up for the loved vote! Quadraphinix is the go-to map for handstream enthusiasts for its adrenaline rush style and comfortability on rates, which the set comes with in .1 increments. This is one of Xayphon's earlier works, so the patterning is perhaps not as intricate as his more recent charts, but along with the song, simple is certainly most effective here.

maras k - play time!! by ExVeemon
written by _underjoy

ExVeemon (also known as MasterSonic10) was one of pioneers of unconventional 4K mapping, and play time!! by maras k is one of his signature mapsets, whose SC diff appeared in the osu!mania 4K World Cup 2016 quarter-finals map pool.

Although this map is seemingly LN-oriented, the difficulty does not come from long notes alone. The usage of minijacks alongside LNs, characteristic of ExVeemon's style, can trip up a lot of players and ruin potential full combos. This LN+jack style was something extraordinary back in 2016 and although the meta has changed a lot since then, play time!! is still rather unique in the sea of long note maps. This is why we decided to shed some light on this popular mapset and nominate it for Loved section.

Ruby My Dear - 7C0 by Pope Gadget et al.
written by TheToaphster

7C0 is a chart that will please anyone who wants to really test all of the skills in their arsenal. This chart created by Pope Gadget, Halogen-, BilliumMoto, spoonguy, and Nivrad00 will take you for a five and a half minute ride that feels like it'll never end. With patterns from bursts and tech to quick bursts of LN and SV thrown throughout, there is plenty to enjoy about it, and this certainly hasn't gone unnoticed, having been used as a tiebreaker in SOFT2, osu!mania's biggest 1v1 4K tournament. This and its great value to all-rounders and as a general skill tester makes it a great fit for the loved section.

Gareth Coker - Fleeing Kuro by Halogen-
written by TheToaphster

For anyone who wants to give themselves a real challenge, we are nominating Halogen-'s chart for Fleeing Kuro, arguably be the hardest 4K chart to get a leaderboard in the game. The monster will throw extremely stamina draining streams with anchorous patterns that match the tone of the orchestral masterpiece extremely well, but the stamina killer from the beginning is not all that the player will be in for. The middle section contains four separate streams that crank the difficulty up to 11, getting more awkward to play with each iteration, and really testing your speed and ability to stay composed in the onslaught. This and the popularity it has seen as a result of the difficulty and testing value will be very welcome in the loved section.

MiddleIsland - Delrio by Remillion Cross et al.
written by Kamikaze

Next, we have a mapset that should be familiar to all the 7K veterans out there. It's Remillion Cross' Delrio, a mapset once featured in the osu!mania 7K World Cup back in 2016.

This mapset is a five difficulty set, with four 7K diffs featuring guest difficulties by Ryu Sei, Runamii and Jinjin, and a single 4K difficulty by nowsmart. It's a fairly wild piece, starting calm, but quickly going wild with pretty-typical-for-RC heavy stream and LN patterning, featuring loads of tough to hit bursts, polyrhythms and all around tricky patterning that can catch you off guard at any moment if you're not careful. As with most of RC's maps, it's a hard battle to even try to score well on it, and it's certainly a big challenge with a pretty wide set of difficulties. There's something for everyone to try!

This set's popularity does still retain to this day and as such I think it's a worthy candidate for the Loved category!

Hana - Sakura no Uta by Raediaufar
written by _underjoy

Sakura no Uta is as straightforward as a map can possibly be—it's all about LN chordstreams. It starts off relatively tame, with low density and simple patterning. The first chorus introduces longer notes and increased density. The second chorus is the climax of the song, throwing relentless dense chordstreams with harder patterning which last twice as long as the first ones. The key to success in this map is learning how to read, control and release short long notes properly without getting late judgments. Sakura no Uta is simple and efficient as a training, smooth chart, so we think it would be a great addition to Loved category.

osu!mania 7K Dan Course - LN Dan Phase I by Jinjin et al.
written by Kamikaze

For our next pick, we are coming back to Jinjin's 7K Dan Course project!

We had the Regular Dan Phase I moved to Loved back in May and now, after a lengthy wait, we're having Phase I of the Long Note variant join the set. This mapset is designed to test your skills on a variety of Long Note oriented charts with differing styles that can gauge your noodle slurping abilities. This set features four first courses with four songs each, which are good for people who are just getting to the Hard and Insane maps and need a goal. You can treat those dans as sort of a progress check.

With this set being the second instance of a very popular series of mapsets that have been frequently requested for this category, we're now giving it a shot!

Betwixt & Between - 12 little fragments of silence by Fullerene-
written by aitor98

It is quite interesting to see Fullerene- being featured in this loved batch with a 7K map instead of a 4K one! If I recall properly, 12 little fragments of justice started out as an experiment, but as you can see, its popularity is very notorious. Coming in at 220 BPM, this map features a good mix of fast-paced chordstreams, followed by tricky bursts and some sightreadable SVs. Even though this map is 5 minutes long, it does have a 15 second break, to rest our hands before the real challenge comes out. After such break, it starts with a really calm section, which will keep getting denser and denser, until it reaches its climax, where the density reaches its peak. Once we reach that point, 3 and 4 note chords will start to pop in, followed by deadly chordstreams that will likely leave you without any stamina left.

This map became really popular in mid-2015, and it is still being played by a good amount of people. Definitely something that deserves to be loved.

From everyone on the Project Loved team, we hope you enjoy this week's selection, and look forward to the next! The winning beatmaps will hit the Loved beatmap listing sometime next week and will be announced via @osugame on Twitter.

If you have any suggestions for beatmaps to be added to the Loved category, please submit them using the Google form! You can view the current submissions on the corresponding Google sheet.

—clayton