Difficulty
2021-06-13
interesting take in the discussion of https://osu.ppy.sh/beatmapsets/1263883#osu/2894007
instead of thinking in terms of playability an alternative is thinking in terms of "(fair) level design" and "difficulty control"
difficulty control is particularly important in custom (tournament) mapping since you can't have significant increases in difficulty etc
some older maps have parts that are significantly harder than the rest of the map since the mappers and BATs didn't consider it an issue at the time
an example of difficulty control as a mapping technique would be significantly increasing difficulty for song emphasis
an example of a map that lacks difficulty control would be one that has unintended difficulty elements that make the map harder to play (whether that problem stems from rhythm, pacing, or something else)
the big black is probably a good example of a map that lacks difficulty control since it focuses heavily on traditional structure patterns
I believe drastic changes in difficulty can be used as a mapping technique and it's part of what makes some players prefer older maps over newer ones (which are usually "more streamlined")
https://osu.ppy.sh/beatmapsets/1263883/discussion/-/reviews insane write-up by yaspo, more detailed than anything I've ever written here about the circle-clicking game called OSU!, probably
found this picture from yaspo, which I think is relevant
also "The general playerbase is large enough that audiences will naturally form around maps that a lot of players can play" which explains why simple maps and old maps with easy parts are so popular
also applies to mapping contests since it's harder for the judge to judge your map if they can't play it (or if they can play it, don't find it enjoyable)
when a map has leaderboards then parts that might suck mapping-wise are seen as a challenge playing-wise
which is part of the reason I believe why older maps with awkward patterns are so popular with players willing to invest the time to fc those patterns
when a map is easier you can get away with more parts that suck since most of the playerbase can play your map
when a map is harder not everyone can play your map so the idea is to make sure that those that can enjoy it
