osu!mapping: how to rank a map

bringing some clarity to perhaps one of the most confusing subjects for new mappers
lowdiff resources:
• osu!mapping: low diffi... (general lowdiffs)
• How to Make a Ranked o... (normals)
• How to Make a Ranked o... (hards)
• How to Make a Ranked o... (insanes)
hitsounding resources:
• osu! mapping Guide - H...
• osu!mapping: hitsounds
~~~
CREDITS
~~~
big thanks to the proofreading crew (Ralkinson, dedekind, NeonLights, Silverboxer, Surgis, uniform, Basensorex, Visionary, enri, olc, and Yumenexa) for making sure my script was ok
songs used (in order):
unknown/unused song from Wii Party
2 Mello - Mirror Temple (Mirror Magic Mix) (from "Celeste")
Star Shuttle (Station 2) (from "Wii Play: Motion")
Ryokuoushoku Shakai - Ladybug
AZALI & crow - MECHANICAL GOD
RefraQ & Vorso - Biomes
halca - Kokuhaku Bungee Jump
Ryo Nagamatsu - Coconut Mall (from "Mario Kart Wii")
Failure (from "Wii Fit"/"Wii Fit Plus")
Thundercat - Uh Uh
Christa Lee - Celestial Resort (Good Karma Mix) (from "Celeste")
Michael Cera Palin - Laughing Makes It Worse
map footage used (in order) (anything not listed is unsubmitted):
osu.ppy.sh/bea...
osu.ppy.sh/bea...
osu.ppy.sh/bea...
osu.ppy.sh/bea...
osu.ppy.sh/bea...
osu.ppy.sh/bea...
osu.ppy.sh/bea...
osu.ppy.sh/bea...

[@ryuusei_aika]

Thanks for the nice video & the quoting.
One thing I'd like to say is: if you're a new mapper and is aiming for ranked, getting confused by the BN rejection and/or not sure if your map would meet the ranking standard, you can ask BNs for _feedbacks_. Most of the BNs are on their position because they have the certified ability to help people improve their maps. Besides there are also a handful of BNs who're willing to help new mappers out. So IMO for new mappers, asking BNs for feedback is an efficient way to refine your maps, which make your chances of being accepted in the future higher (to some extent).

[@kataryn]

thanks for bringing that up! really good point

[@kukieplayzyt81]

What are BNs

[@hexlok2630]

@@kukieplayzyt81 it stands for Beatmap Nominators

[@Lukasek_Grubasek]

​@@kukieplayzyt81beatmap nominators. A group of people who individually decide whether a map will be ranked

[@kukieplayzyt81]

@@Lukasek_Grubasek i see ty!

[@Xadreco]

also, it's important to know that theres a huge difference between a rankable map and a good map

[@kataryn]

yeah, it's hard to fully explain all the little clarifications like that without losing a lot of conciseness - in this video i tried to imply it through saying "it's not an overwhelmingly high bar" at 0:53

[@Boring7279]

why loved maps exists

[@jent14]

wafer

[@makotheowl]

how to rank a map in 2 steps:
1 - Make a rankable map that fits the criteria
2 - Be friends with the BNs
3 (optional) - be a popular mapper with maps already ranked.
Very good video btw

[@vliz-org]

Absolutely

[@haruruhaha]

"bns read it, so you don't have to"
poor souls 😭😭

[@agegarret]

Short answer: if you dont have friends you do not rank maps.

[@Sam_Hue]

if you’re not overly nervous on the ranking part, you should be fine, if it gets rejected use it as experience :>

[@syre7608]

ty we needed this since pishi's videos are pushing on ancient

[@xykedelic8760]

Loved the video!! I think it's important to mention that the difference between a ranked and non-ranked map, isn't always quality tho, despite being true for most cases.

[@artrix909]

absolutely LOVE these videos WE NEED MORE EDUCATIONAL CONTENT FOR MAPPERS!

[@-NanoRIPE-op5cj]

8:43 lol its my mod. didnt expect my mod would be on ytb video

[@sokoasoko_]

incredibly high quality editing and well written video! good luck on future videos too

[@dragonz4477]

something very interesting that should be brought up is that much to peppy's chagrin, hitsounding your beatmap is technically no longer a requirement for your map to reach ranked in osu!mania. since it was difficult enough to get peppy to agree to this after a metric ton of arguments on the forums, it is still technically recommended that you hitsound your map though.
the whole reason it's like this now is because the vast majority of mania's high level players do not play with hitsounds. my effect volume is literally turned down to 0% when i play mania. 4key is the most popular key layout in mania, and its similar counterparts (ddr, ffr, etterna, quaver) have very minimal hitsounds, if any at all. because pcs can't run at light speed, there is a very minor disconnect between the feedback of pressing a key vs hearing the hitsound that makes switching between not using them and using them tricky.
peppy's reluctance to change this rule came from the fact that he did not base o!m off of these similar games, but off of bms, in which every chart has special hitsounds (keysounds if you want to be technical but that's an entirely different conversation) bc all of the songs were custom made for bms.
almost 2 years ago now in the forum thread that made this change finally happen, peppy said:
"Just my 2 cents without writing an essay: The reason I got hooked on osu! tatakae! ouendan! (and before that, DJ MAX and BMS simulators) was hitsounds. It's the main reason i made osu!. Say what you will ("this is not your game it's the community's game" / "no one's forced to play maps without hitsounds" etc. etc.), just felt I'd add that here."

[@Sam_Hue]

BMS hit-sounding is a lot of pain, as it has to be manually done with a separate charting program. Not only that, it’s done in a particularly inefficient manner where each individual hitnormal has a small audio file associated with it. It’s very tedious work :>

[@xenai.]

Yeah, I noticed that many mania maps I download have constant hitsounds. Sometimes, it's a custom one, but they often are a quiet, soft hitsound.

[@skolodojko3582]

regarding 2:55 its totally fine to skip a difficulty IF it isnt needed for the spread, for example: a spread with only normal and insane diffs on a song thats at least 4:15 long

[@xenai.]

There was a touhou map ranked like last month, a 2 star normal diff and a 5 star insane diff.
I thought it was some 2010 map at first because of the spread

[@espiionosu]

im in the video!!!! holy shit!!!!!

[@Laydau]

wtf!!! (go to sleep)

[@FiXsy_]

amazing vid! explains the ranking process pretty well!

[@Zennan]

she just keeps winning

[@yangming2themusicguy561]

omg hi zennan

[@fae567]

that's insane
I'm not interested in making a map but I did wonder what the differences are between maps and this was very insightful

[@CommandoBlack123]

Even if you make a map that satisfies the ranking criteria it will not get ranked. You could be the best mapper in the world but if you don't have nepotism on your side you will be overlooked.

[@吳林均]

real situation

[@UtibaOfficial]

Good video! Definitely will help me getting a ranked map!

[@seazeiscool]

really high quality video, enjoyed watching it
btw you really should increase the quality of your recordings, its pretty pixelated on small text

[@kataryn]

i'm well aware - it's actually fine in the preview, it's just a rendering issue (trying to figure out how to turn off de-interlacing which is annoying because i use a really old version of premiere)

[@Sam_Hue]

The most important aspect about ranking maps is to not be afraid of asking the BNs for feedbacks, lots of people tends to bail on the second part :>

[@kataryn]

true!

[@ThirtyZ]

The editing quality on this video is amazing, I don't understand how you have only 600 subs, and you just earned a new one :D

[@webber400]

Thanks for educating me, this seems hard but i will try my best. Now I know what to do so thanks again!

[@Phatt]

Wtf banger video alert ‼️🔥

[@alienfortytwo]

great video
what I've learned is that I won't ever be attempting to do this because it sounds like a nightmare

[@Stryfe52]

Thank you so much for this video

[@hevilmateold]

didn't know about diffs spread criteria, thanks

[@donut7799]

4:47 getoutofmyheadgetoutofmyheadgetoutofmyhead

[@momothx1]

me watching this even though i have already ranked maps already

[@haruruhaha]

literally planning to rank my first map this year ><
timing couldn't be more fortuitous
thank you!

[@sahilmehta-2004]

Such a high quality video. Hope to see more stuff like this!

[@AfkCrewGaming]

Yo thanks for the advice I’m planning on getting a map I’m working on get ranked this really helped

[@kataryn]

glad to hear it! good luck

[@noeliartt]

this is a really nice video! i hope you continue to make more!

[@UtibaOfficial]

It’s been 4 months since my last comment here, and I can say I have officially gotten a ranked beatmap! :D

[@kataryn]

woah congrats!!

[@frnono]

bruh, this is what I cannot do. Literally

[@cobicu]

good vid, informative, i like

[@shinejnn2]

Man thanks for detail explaining! I always wonder how ranked really done

[@SanzuRiver]

She's made another banger

[@Welkinthewolf]

I mapped a lot between 2015-2020 and would end up spending a month or more just making a 4* or higher difficulty. After that, I just dreaded the thought of making boring lower difficulties with my slow mapping speed.

[@kataryn]

i struggle with the same thing, it's so hard to map efficiently lol

[@MarkSchwaeber]

Very informative video! Thanks man :)

[@lurumic]

I hope i can find 2 lovely individuals now

[@boden0_]

the roland ahh 169 out of nowhere killed me

[@adoornob6212]

keep making these pls

[@vraxo8953]

good stuff man

[@floatingup]

i watched this so many times

[@Justxrice]

Clicked to see what it took to make one, after seeing that picky ass BN i’d rather not waste ANY of my time doing it

[@jiysea]

finally a video to rank my maps

[@insecure_tiger]

We love mapping vids

[@ryoukaip]

for me, as a player, not a mapper, i'll just make map for fun and that's it

[@sadfeelings727]

great video!

[@Ucitysm]

1:30 yoo i see my map in the video

[@underground2691]

5:42 honestly, my biggest problem is that i don’t have friends 😔

[@Nekathe]

6:41, “no avalon pilled maps”. D:

[@3dboi]

Its ranking time

[@pentacoilz8560]

Goat

[@willnewell9242]

question maps are mostly subjective so if you want it a certain weird style the mods might just not like it and ask for changes take delis for example his maps r weird and i saw a ton of modding sections where they suggest changes and hes like thats literally not the point of the map its supposed to be this way how do you go about that situation?

[@kataryn]

this is a great question and one of the biggest challenges with the ranking process! i think i mentioned in the video that you don't have to accept every mod you get if you don't agree with some of them, but sometimes people have bigger disagreements. usually the bns just won't accept the map if they take issue with it as a whole, but even then, maps sometimes get vetoed and can't get ranked without some pretty fundamental changes. subjectivity will always cause issues to some extent

[@visionary4040]

finally i can rank a map 🙏

[@visionary4040]

but nah fr good video 🔥

[@yangming2themusicguy561]

No you cant you suck

[@rafitosz]

i so like this video

[@Klevsify]

If it only would be that easy, I cant even find a modder that wants to tell me what to fix on my map 💀

[@crawdad5867]

she dont miss

[@th3on3c]

Cyndi on her content creator arc O_o

[@melleganol]

Sounds horrible that you need 2 of those "referees" to rank your map (╥﹏╥) nice video!!!

[@VictorianSnailGod]

I know what I’m going to do this week

[@jamesjan381]

great video :3

[@namescam]

great video

[@Nekomosh004]

amazing :3c

[@nanaih]

Amazing vid. If only the hitsounding process wasn't boring af...

[@airballer2004]

tbh to me hitsounding is fun as hell, it feels like they make the map come alive and i get super stoked hitsounding my maps

[@AnimadisticaOrKontinakaro]

As a person who maps exactly what the drums do, I bloody love hitsounding

[@nloadergd9193]

??? you swapped 2 and 3... ur supposed to get your mapped modded first and then push it for ranked...

[@nloadergd9193]

nvm i didnt watch the video all the way lol

[@technochroma6537]

when ranked

[@torriuu]

6:57 i agree 🤣

[@ducknorriss928]

4:09 I got jumpscared LOL

[@felixgg]

good video

[@OrdinarySonicfanMmKay]

Me watching this even tho i probably wont be able to rank a single map 😅

[@6pxg_dama]

This video is Vsauce quality

[@kataryn]

it's an honor to be compared to the goat

[@_izzeee]

banger

[@SolarFlare307]

Alternatively: be wafer!

[@cupidbleh]

Yk maybe i dont wanna try to get a ranked map

[@opalotic]

mania: LN go brrrrr

[@edgytextyes9175]

5 hypes is easy
1 bn is doable
2 bns is impossible
ranking is free

[@Lazuley_]

I dont think ranking is for me. I'm just gonna have fun mapping songs i like :D Im still gonna try to make my maps better though ofc

[@jkfjsfaugueyfhsdfjfafajjgu6769]

I want to make a 13 star now that people will pass in 2025 and pp farm in 2028

[@jkfjsfaugueyfhsdfjfafajjgu6769]

No. Fuck it 17 star map

[@sid6645]

Great video! Text is real crusty tho xdd

[@kataryn]

thank you! and yeah thankfully i found the setting in my video editing software last night that fixes that issue (it was a project setup thing that i had wrong) so future videos will be looking a lot better

[@AroundTheGlobeShort]

Idk know what to say about this system

[@marcosantoniomaximodasilva7075]

Celeste OST 😊

[@hotgayfurryfeet]

omg yes plz we need more mapping vids!!!

[@Nevertary]

3:15 I hate this anime
cool video tho

[@SlothSensei]

What skin are you using 4:12

[@kataryn]

it's just a rafis skin edit i made, it uses a bunch of different elements from various other skins i like - here's a download link drive.google.com/file/d/15M1tWajOUFz_-fAaolS6fePOE8hFH1SB/view?usp=sharing

[@powerplayer75]

holy shit ranking is not worth all of that. seems an impossible process if you dont want to be socially active with the community.

[@lawrencfgsdfg]

osu

[@xsie_xsie]

727th sub, im funny...............................

[@kataryn]

congratulations

[@BlastTheKidd]

i think all mappers so learn what things do in the editor before they start 🫣