news
25 Sep 2018
Project Loved: One Year / Week of September 23rd
Project Loved: One Year / Week of September 23rd
Project Loved is celebrating its first birthday today! Like always, we have a wide selection of beatmaps up for vote this week; don't forget to show them some love!
"Introducing the Loved Captain's Pick"—remember this announcement? Can you believe that it was made an entire year ago? Project Loved is celebrating its first birthday under the "Captain's Pick" system, and we're approaching two years since the Loved category was brought to life.
Loved has had some huge success in bringing leaderboards and recognition to the beatmaps that stand out to the community, and it's all been possible thanks to the people who've helped out. So, before we get into the meat of this week's post, I want to thank everyone that's been a part of this project:
- Toy, for taking action to revive the Loved category and manage Project Loved all this time
- _underjoy, -[ ix Ishida xi ]-, -Kazu-, aitor98, Ascendance, Backfire, Deif, DigitalHypno, Gezoda, Halogen-, iceOC, JBHyperion, Kaifin, Kamikaze, Nwolf, nyanmi-1828, Pope Gadget, Sartan, Shoegazer, Spectator, stupud man, tasuke912, Tenshichan, TheToaphster, Toy and Zak, for picking maps every round and writing the descriptions on each listing
- _verto_ and BeasttrollMC, for making awesome videos to promote Project Loved and Loved maps
- Me (clayton), for writing all of these posts :^)
- Joehu, MegaApple_Pi, Repflez, Shiro and TPGPL, for regularly reveiwing the news posts on GitHub before they go live
- All of you, for casting your votes in the Project Loved forum!
All of these people contribute or have contributed in the past to Project Loved, so make sure to thank them if you enjoy what we do!
This round, we've got some new people helping out. Along with our new osu!taiko captains mentioned last round (nyanmi-1828 and -[ ix Ishida xi ]-), we also have a new osu!mania captain: stupud man (nice)!
The 90% threshold for osu!standard that we tried last round seemed to work out pretty well, so we'll be keeping it around.
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.
And lastly before we get into the maps, _verto_ made a nice video showcasing the osu!standard candidates this week, so check it out!
Navigation
osu!
osu! Loved candidates were chosen by Toy and DigitalHypno! This week, all osu! beatmap descriptions were written by DigitalHypno.
Have you been looking for your next favorite high-BPM Camellia map to play over and over? Well, look no further! This crazy map of GHOST by JeZag will certainly meet your criteria. In its five minutes of drain time, the map fills itself with some of the craziest high-BPM technical sections you may have ever seen. Demanding jumps, streams, bursts, and even a 1/3 section all sitting at 220 BPM for your enjoyment. Not only the BPM is high, though: the map itself has over 250 favorites, and that number is sure to increase with time.
Son Tung M-TP - Noi Nay Co Anh by Asaiga et al.
It's not common to find Vietnamese pop music on osu!, but here we have a beautiful candidate mapset by Asaiga et al. The swaying chorus sections of the song are captured nicely with appropriately flowy jump patterns, and the staccato-style verses are complemented by more snappy ones. Overall, the map does an amazing job of capturing the already amazing song, and it seems like I'm not the only one who thinks this way: with over 220 favorites, this mapset is surely a true candidate for the Loved section.
OwataP - Turkish March - Owata \(^o^)/ by Erza
So, you think you're good at spaced streams? Why not give Erza's mapset of Turkish March a try? With over 200 favorites, the set is definitely a player favorite. We have two different versions of the map, each with two different variants at 180 BPM and 200 BPM. If you're just looking for some long flowy streams to practice your stream-aim coordination, head on over to the Normal Mode difficulties. If you're one for follow points in your spaced streams, the Impossible Mode difficulties might be your favorite order on the menu.
sssShawnnnn - Pizza Rolls by Nozhomi, Okoratu, Satilast and Nofool
More mashups! A throwback to 2014, this mapset by Nozhomi et al. was originally going for ranked but was eventually deemed unrankable. However, the map has accumulated over 190 favorites and has not been forgotten. This mashup song of various EDM tracks is brought to you by a full mapset spread and one taiko difficulty to top it off. Will you be the one to help carry on this map's legacy into the Loved category?
Amatsuki - Chiisana Koi no Uta by Frost
Many of you may know Logic Agent's ranked mapset of this song, but if you've ever wanted a version harder than the top difficulty, look no further. In 2016, Frost submitted this mid-7 star version of Amatsuki's Chiisana Koi no Uta. The map itself is filled with engaging jump patterns, but doesn't fail to mix in some streams every now and then. If you're a fan of jumpy maps, or even just a fan of the song, feel free to join the 200+ players who have already favorited this map!
YUC'e - Sunset Tea Cup by Rumia-, [ -Scarlet- ] and Matsubara Kanon
Everyone's favorite YUC'e has yet another cute and catchy tune making its way across the Project Loved voting stage! This full mapset of Sunset Tea Cup, hosted by Rumia- and featuring guest difficulties by walaowey (now known as Matsubara Kanon) and [ -Scarlet- ], has gathered over 180 favorites since its submission just over a year ago. Despite its highest difficulty peaking at around only 5.3 stars, don't be fooled—the technical rhythm provided by the song yields some very unconventional, engaging and fun patterns. As the mapset makes its appearance on stage, will you throw flowers or tomatoes?
If you're a fan of hardcore Camellia tracks, you're sure to love ANOMALY. If you're also a fan of hardcore maps of hardcore Camellia tracks, you're also sure to love Akali's map of ANOMALY. This nearly 7-star map contains everything crazy you'd expect from a song like this: dense stream sections, high-speed sliders, and high-BPM finger control sections, all topped off at a length of 4:20. With over 170 favorites, this banger of a map is sure to be seen as a gem by many.
Rolling Contact - Technical Master by Naidaaka
Anyone craving some cut streams? If you raised your hand, be sure to check out Naidaaka's map of a song fittingly named Technical Master. At over 7 stars, this sub-two minute map certainly succeeded in fitting as many crazy spaced and cut streams as possible in a way that's fun to play. Whether you're looking to refine your skills or just looking for a challenge, be sure to give this map a try! It just might be your next favorite.
Imperial Circus Dead Decadence - Shinbatsu o Tadori-Kyou-Kotsu ni Itaru by Kite
I'm sure many of you recognize this artist from popular ranked mapsets of Uta and Yomi yori Kikoyu, but have you ever wished for something even faster than those two? If Yomi yori's 220 BPM isn't enough, how about 230? No? Not even 240!? Alright, if you insist! Here we have Kite's insane 8-star map of the song "Shinbatsu o Tadori-Kyou-Kotsu ni Itaru", clocking in at an insane 250 BPM, just for you. Long deathstream sections followed by a few suspenseful aim-centered sections followed by even more long deathstream sections. If my words can't convey the intensity of this map, I'm sure the map itself can do it easily—take a look for yourself! Who knows, maybe you'll join the 150+ people who have already deemed this map as one of their favorites.
kors k - Insane Techniques (Extended) by RLC and fanzhen0019
Some of you may know the other ranked mapsets of this song, but I'd say you're missing out if you haven't given this version a try as well. In 2014, RLC and fanzhen0019 came together to collab the extended version of this up-beat banger of a track by kors k. The comparison of their mapping styles in this collab is quite interesting, and overall makes for a very engaging map. Over 110 players have favorited this map so far, and if you're one for five minutes of disconnected streams and variable slider velocities, you just might be the next one!
osu!taiko
osu!taiko Loved candidates were chosen by Backfire, -[ ix Ishida xi ]-, -Kazu-, iceOC and nyanmi-1828! This week, all osu!taiko beatmap descriptions were written by Backfire.
Agnete Kjolsrud - Get Jinxed by Hanjamon et al.
Coming from an era in osu!taiko where the ranking procedure was pretty tight and strict, we have a rather infamous song and a very popular set, Get Jinxed! Ranked at one time for a very, very short amount of time, it was then vetoed and left to the grave by now retired mapper Hanjamon, so we wanted to give it another chance! Considering the nature of the song and the popularity of the standard set, we think a lot of newcomers will enjoy this set and get to experience one of the most fun osu!taiko mapsets we have to offer!
We've Loved tarolabo maps from Nyan before, but none quite like this. When this released way back in 2014 (and got re-uploaded in 2017), it was a thrilling version of a song we in osu!taiko were already pretty familiar with. There are two other maps of Miko, one by glalucard and one by Firce777, made even further back in 2011 and 2012, so this song was already really familiar to the game. However, this map is special. With incredibly non-dated usage of 1/6, very accurate timing and just an overall atmosphere of the "Final Boss", we think Nyan's Miko deserves a place in Loved's history.
hanacco - Uchiage Hanabi, Doko kara Mirunen w by HEKUSODASU, Shallty and KitajimaYN
A new-comer to Loved, HEKUSODASU, has been really excited to hopefully get a Loved map eventually. Well, he's finally getting his wish with this brilliant mapset of a remix of the extremely popular J-pop song, Uchiage Hanabi. You may be familiar with this song, which has garnered maps by Monstrata, Ascendance and tasuke912. He has brought a supporting cast of KitajimaYN and Shallty (previously known as "soloist"), who are very strong and prominent mappers in the Japanese scene. Their maps are all extremely fun and densely-packed madness, so we encourage you to check them all out!
dj TAKA - Colors -sasakure.UK Futurelogic Remix- by bananannian
Our redemption pick for this week, Colors only barely missed out getting Loved in our seventh round, by just 1%. We have been requested a few more times to give this another chance, and so we decided now would be a good time! Here's our original description of the map:
A beautiful song and a beautiful set, Colors has a lot of charm to it. The moody song, paired with the chaotic design of the top diff makes this set pop out as something truly unique to play and feast your eyes on. 1/6 so exotic, it'll make even the best players squirm. Don't fret however, bananannian has provided you with a full spread so even the lower ranked players get to have fun with this one.
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.
Chroma - Sayonara Planet Wars by Badis
For the first time in quite a while, Badis makes his return to the Loved voting with his well-renowned version of Sayonara Planet Wars, personally one of my favourite maps of his. Sayonara manifests in the form of a difficult stream-heavy map with some very tight-knit jumps that can very easily break your combo. Quite a lot of speed is required to play this map properly, let alone catcher precision. It does pay off well though, as this is an amazingly fun map. After all, Sayonara has been one of the most used maps in multiplayer around 2016, and tons of people have tried their best to have a good run in solo as well. After all, this map had an unofficial leaderboard already which was maintenanced by Badis himself. Will you help out in making this leaderboard the real deal now?
Nico Nico Douga - Kake nukeru Nico Nico Douga by ZHSteven et al.
I greet thy low-AR Hidden mod experts, your time has come! ZHsteven's Kake nukeru Nico Nico Douga has for a long time been one of the hardest hidden map challenges in osu!catch due to its AR only being 8 and its length being over 8 freaking minutes, and it still continues to be exactly that hard of a challenge until this day. The map is fairly old, which means there are a dozen of inconvenient spacings to be found. It doesn't really go too heavy on streaming or jumping sections; it's more like a jack-of-all-trades type of ordeal. To be fair though, this is quite an accessible map for people who will try it without any mods turned on, which its star rating would indeed suggest. The real challenge lies within its new form with any difficulty-increasing mod turned on. It does however also mean that the replayability on this map is very good; you will be able to play this tons to try and further improve your score. Anyway, enough talking, you've got eight long minutes ahead of you trying this map. Enjoy, but do come back to vote!
osu!mania
osu!mania Loved candidates were chosen by Kamikaze, _underjoy, aitor98, Pope Gadget, stupud man and TheToaphster!
DJ Sharpnel - Lolit Speed by IcyWorld
written by TheToaphster
Back yet again is our favorite stepmania stamina man, IcyWorld, this time with his rendition of Lolit Speed bringing more of the intense, stamina-draining, never-ending jumpstreams and handstreams that would be expected from someone so well-known for this type of charting. Nearly seven full minutes of dense 230 BPM jumpstreams coupled with a section in the latter half throwing seven jumptrills each lasting upwards of five seconds, this map is surely to throw the stamina of many for a whirl.
Keeping it simple and dense is a common staple of IcyWorld's, and it's a style of his that has given him an insane amount of attention and interest from the player base. Lolit Speed is one of his charts that fits nicely alongside his collection, especially when comparing it to some of his other Loved maps, like Ultra Beatdown Supreme. As such, we feel Lolit Speed would make a nice addition to the loved section.
Dev/Null - Rave 7 by hi19hi19
written by _underjoy
Many Stepmania players will enjoy this pick! hi19hi19's Rave 7 by Dev/Null is a rather evil mapset, catering mainly towards speed players. There are three difficulties, and each one is on a completely different level than the others, making this mapset good for almost any decent player. The main difference is the first half of the song, which contains either 1/4, 1/6 or even 1/8 200 BPM streams, depending on difficulty chosen. The second half is rather technical, with interesting jumpstream patterning that becomes heavily distorted by the chaotic nature of the song. Rave 7 has been around for quite some time, and we would like to finally nominate it to Loved category!
Kommisar - Southern Waters Assault 8bit by Gekido-
written by TheToaphster
We reintroduce Gekido- to the Loved nomination list with a "sequel" to his previous entry, Clockwork Rose, in the name of Southern Waters Assault, a very similarly designed chart focusing around rigid LN and jack patterns interweaved to give players' raw LN skill and stamina a major challenge. Despite being made before Clockwork Rose, I labeled it as a sequel due to it being generally considered a step above Clockword in terms of difficulty, and serving as an extra challenge for anyone who thought Clockwork was too easy. Being the chart that got Gekido- really noticed on the scene as a notable LN charter, as well as a chart with great skill-testing qualities and previous use in the osu!mania world cup, Southern Waters has plenty to offer to the Loved section.
Eskmo - Cloudlight by Ciel
written by _underjoy
One of the most popular SV charts of this year and a memorable qualifier for SOFT 3 mapped by none other than Ciel, Cloudlight is a map that is still f l o a t i n g a n d f l o a t i n g in minds of many players. It's mostly based on memorisation, however the catch is that some of the snaps (especially in the beginning) are irregular and thus deceptively tough to hit properly. Although OD5 compensates for that a bit, getting a high accuracy on this map is possible only with a lot of practice. The star section consists of f l o a t i n g teleports, which are nicely structured, are the true highlight of the map and the reason it has become so popular. Try this barely 2-starred map and vote for it in this week's thread!
Daisy x Daisy - Towa no Kizuna feat. Another Infinity by MoTeSolo
written by Kamikaze
Another map that we're featuring in this round of voting is a classic amongst O2Jam-oriented players. We're featuring a collaboration between the O2Jam charter, LCH, and MoTeSolo—a sped up version of Towa no Kizuna. This is a two-difficulty set with the lower difficulty catered towards more casual players with extended chordstreaming and not too intrusive LN patterning overall, although certainly a challenge for many. The higher difficulty, which is a collaboration between both of the charters, is a wild mix of streams and noodles in a pretty typical hardcore O2Jam style which many people came to love over the years. Combining that with a very iconic and fast paced song, it's truly a joyous chart to play if you're looking for some noodle slurping fun!
Ice - Parodia Sonatina -Grande- by Mentholzzz
written by aitor98
This map actually made it into Qualifiers last year, but unfortunately, it did not quite make it through... Nevertheless, it now has a chance to join the Loved section! Parodia Sonatina is a map made by Mentholzzz, and we can appreciate community approval given the amount of favourites this map has. Having two different keymodes (4K and 7K), this six-minute map contains a little bit of everything, such as chordstreams, minijacks, long note chodstreams, fast bursts, as well as a few distinguishable trills that will make us suffer a lot followed by a few SVs every here and there. These SVs might be a little bit tricky if you are sightreading them, but once you have encountered one, the other ones are basically made in the same way, so it should not be a big deal. Definitely looking forward to see this in loved.
orangentle / Yu_Asahina - HAELEQUINZ -the clown of 24stairs- by AncuL, Takane6 and Takamori37
written by _underjoy
Although it shares metadata with Fullerene's and Jinjin's ranked rendition of the song, HAELEQUINZ mapped by AncuL, with guest diffs from Takane6 and Takamori37, bears almost no resemblance to the map mentioned. This is in fact a different version of the song than the one you're probably used to. While the main melody remains indifferent and is mapped in a calm way, the harder sections are littered with doublestairs and chordstreams accompanied with rather nasty minijacks and bursts. They become a real challenge to hit especially during the ending, which is a climax of the neverending technical streams. This map is a neat challenge and definitely deserves the spot in Loved!
Risk Junk - quaver by Reba and Kawawa
written by aitor98
Here we have Reba again coming up with Quaver, along with two guest difficulties made by Kawawa. This map has been around the 7K community for quite a few years, and it is distinguished by its way of patterning, which makes it quite comfortable to play. Featuring a few simple two and three note chords here and there coming up at 182 BPM, followed by light staircases mixed with Long Notes. This is definitely one of the easiest sets of this 7K batch, and we have already seen Reba and Kawawa in the past few rounds as well, so we already know that we will not be disappointed.
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
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