Key mode reference
4K
- Lv.1: Theoretically, this is the lowest difficulty. The chart at this level may have only scores of notes. This level is not used in usual, just reserve for novice tutorial.
- Lv.2 - Lv.6: Easy. Within this level, new players who never play rhythm games before could pass it and reach a good score after playing several times. The chart should have only a few notes that must be hit at same time, and no pattern that must be played with certain play technique. The length of charts is not long ( generally < 100 s ).
- Lv7 - Lv.10: Initiate. Within this level, initiate players can enjoy the game and reach a good score with proper play count. The chart may have multiple notes hit at same time, but no pattern that must be played with certain play technique.
- Lv11 - Lv.16: Standard. Within this level, the chart should be fully made following the rhythm, melody or lyrics . Players can reach a good score in a reasonable play count.
- Lv17 - Lv.22: Advanced. Within this level, the chart may have much more details and some hard patterns.
- Lv23 - Lv.33: Challenging. Within this level, the chart's creators may perform their thinking and understanding of music, and may have various type of patterns.
- Lv34 or Higher: Fierce. This level is reserved for the charts that are made for appreciation but not play.
Catch mode reference
1. Cup
o Easiest difficulty on catch, no streams, no overmapped stuff. Most of the time, there are single notes.
o It should be easy for new players to get full combo.
o Distance between notes are 1-3 grids most of time. Make sure players only need to move a small distance to catch the notes.
o Drop speed of 5=>. 5 is recommended
o Note count should be about the same as the salad difficulty.
o Level range for cup most of time is level 1-4.
2. Salad
o Don’t put dash notes in this difficulty
o It should be easily playable with one finger.
o Distance between notes most of time ranges from 1-4 grid distance so players feel at ease when playing.
o Drop speed of 5-6. 6 is recommended.
o No tricky patterns. Streams should be straightforward, except it has a reason.
o Its recommended to just cover one kind of sound in the song instead covering everything as it should be intended for rain or above instead. For example, you can cover vocals only or drums only. Note count should be more than cup, but not more than platter.
o Level range for Salad most of time is level 5-9.
3. Platter
o Platter could have dash note but only in extreme cases. What we mean of this case is you could use dash note sometimes, but not continuously.
o It should be still playable with one finger.
o Distance between notes most of time ranges from 2-6 grids as it's the middle difficulty on catch.
o Drop speed of 7-8. 8 is recommended.
o You can use some advanced patterns like curve streams, jump notes, single dash, etc.
o Note count should be more than salad, but not more than rain. It also means the difficulty should harder than salad but not the same as rain.
o Level range for platter most of the time is level 8-12.
4. Rain
o You can put dash notes in this difficulty.
o It could be playable with one finger, but harder rain should be more favorable towards multiple finger users.
o Distance between notes most of time is 2-8 grids.
o Drop speed of 8-10. 9 is recommended.
o You can put anything as long it's reasonable and makes sense.
o Note count should be more than platter, but not more than overdose.
o It's recommended to try every noticeable sound from the song at this point as rain is the same as insane difficulty. If rain is the highest difficulty in your mapset, you can even cover every existing sound. You can mix vocal and music, etc.
o Level range for rain most of the time is level 11-16.
5. Overdose
o Highest difficulty. If there's a difficulty harder than overdose then called it Special/Extra/Deluge.
o Should be truly hard to one finger at this point and even multiple finger users can struggle.
o You're free to use whatever grid distance.
o Drop speed of 10.
o You can put anything as long as it's reasonable. Do not overmap.
o Note count should be more than previous difficulties.
o Level range for overdose is level 15+