Upgrading to lazer 4r4x46

osu!(lazer) is the next major update to the game. It is the culmination of several years of work behind the scenes to painstakingly reimplement the game. 3w4c1d

The eventual goal is that this version will be released as an update which will completely supersede the existing stable version of the game, but there's still some work to be done before that is feasible. At the end of the day, the players will dictate when this happens and we will continue to the previous release until s have migrated across.

"lazer" is a codename and will eventually be dropped as it becomes the primary release of the game. The rest of this document will refer to osu!(lazer) as "lazer" and osu!(stable) as "stable" for simplicity.

Feature comparison 5yn1v

For a list of differences regarding game mechanics, see Gameplay differences in osu!(lazer)

The following is a comprehensive list of the current state of lazer in comparison to stable. Note that this is a moving target — the end goal is to implement all the features that players care about over time.

Compatibility and performance 624637

UI and skinning 2p704h

Interface 2k1ex

Gameplay 59431

Online systems 5b4g3n

Editor 5h5t2y

Switching to lazer 6o364o

So you've decided you want to give lazer a shot? Great!

You can find it for here. In the near future, you will be able to switch to lazer from stable (from the Release stream setting).

FAQ 2j5zx

Migration w421e

Is stable going away? Am I going to be forced to switch? 2c1t1j

Stable will continue to be maintained as long as s are using it. At very least, it will be maintained for several years.

Can I import all my data from stable to lazer? 402s5z

Currently, beatmaps, skins, scores, replays and collections can be imported into lazer. Of note, settings are not yet imported so you will need to set them up from scratch.

If I import my beatmaps to lazer, will it use double the disk space? 482hh

If you have both lazer and stable on the same drive, hard links are used to avoid using extra disk space.

In all other cases, importing beatmaps will use double the disk space.

If I delete lazer will it break my stable install? 633z5s

No.

If I delete stable will it break content in lazer that was imported from stable? 5x6t2q

No.

If I install lazer, will I be able to return to stable? w5b5x

Yes, lazer always installs alongside stable. Unless you choose to delete one or the other, both will be accessible.

Can I import data from lazer to stable? j2o2o

No. This will not be ed.

That said, individual scores and beatmaps can be exported from lazer and manually imported into stable for now.

Gameplay and scoring 2a4348

If I set a score on lazer, will it show on my profile? d2z4j

Yes, but it won't show in "best performance" with "lazer mode" turned off on the website.

It additionally not show in "first place ranks" regardless for now.

If I set a score on lazer, will it give performance points? 2zz25

Yes.

Does lazer use ScoreV2? 56y43

It uses a scoring system based on it with some adjustments.

I prefer the classic scoring display, where scores get really big. 34q3

You can actually change the Score display mode setting to Classic to get back the explosive style of scoring game-wide! It won't be a perfect match, but will give you the same feel of classic scoring and be applied everywhere you'd expect it to be.

Global score leaderboards will also use classic scoring.

If I set a score on lazer, will it remain forever? 3o1l2t

While we will try to preserve as many scores as possible, we offer no guarantee that scores will remain indefinitely. At any point we may choose to wipe a subset of scores in order to preserve game balance, such as when exploits or foul play are discovered.

Will scores set on stable show in lazer? o6s

Yes.

Will scores set in lazer show in stable? 2y3t5z

Not at the moment.

Will all mods be ranked? 2z4b5x

Scores of all mod combinations appear on leaderboards.

However, only the following mods will award performance points for now:

• Difficulty reduction

  • Easy
  • No Fail
  • Half Time (only 0.75x, configuring Adjust pitch is allowed)
  • Daycore (only 0.75x)
• Difficulty Increase

  • Hard Rock (not for osu!mania)
  • Sudden Death (Configuring Restart on fail is allowed)
  • Perfect (Configuring Restart on fail is allowed)
  • Hidden
  • Nightcore (only 1.5x)
  • Double Time (only 1.5x, configuring Adjust pitch is allowed)
  • Flashlight
  • Blinds
  • Accuracy Challenge
• Conversion (osu!mania only)

  • Mirror
  • Four Keys
  • Five Keys
  • Six Keys
  • Seven Keys
  • Eight Keys
  • Nine Keys
• Fun

  • Muted
  • No Scope
• Automation (osu! only)

  • Spun out
• System

  • Touch Device

Only the default configuration of customisation options is eligible for performance points, unless otherwise noted above.

I don't like the new gameplay mechanics. Can I restore the old gameplay mechanics like on stable? 348n

Please try applying the "Classic" mod, which will restore much of the old behaviour that you are used to. Also make sure to check the settings offered by the Classic mod, as it will let you further customise your experience and also understand what changes are being applied (as they are all listed there).

Skinning and UI 5k2d5o

Something is behaving differently to stable and I don't like it! 5n5m2x

Please run the setup wizard at the top of settings and go through the settings on the Behaviour screen. A lot of the common settings which have defaults changed are listed here. There's also a single button you can press to apply the old behaviours as a starting point for your lazer journey.

Will old skins eventually work in song select and results screens? 686l2a

We'll do our best to bring back as much of this as we can without blocking new functionality. This will come later on.

Can I use my skin cursor in the menus as well? 5v3m8

We will likely bring back for this in the future due to popular demand.

Performance 62224y

Why can't I run at unlimited FPS? 5h2g1d

Above a certain threshold there is no reason to run at higher frame rates. Lazer employs various new technologies to ensure the lowest latency is achievable without requiring high frame rates. This will continue to improve going forward as we still have a few improvements left to implement.

Lazer polls for input at 1,000 Hz regardless of FPS limiter, which is why the maximum limiter setting will also limit to 1,000 FPS.

If you are curious about how this affects input latency and test your own perception, please run the built-in "latency certifier" at the bottom of settings.

You can also read this technical document explaining the path we are taking along with rationale behind it.

If input is only polled at 1,000 Hz, what about my 8,000 Hz gaming mouse? 2d3824

The operating system will still poll at the higher rate, although benefits are proven to be negligible. Polling at such high rates can have unforeseen overheads, and we recommend limiting devices to 1,000 Hz for system stability.

Lazer performs worse than stable for me. What gives? 32636x

While on most modern hardware we see lazer outperform stable, there are always edge cases when each has a different hardware configuration. In our short-term roap, we are looking to DirectX (aka "compatibility mode" on stable) and Vulkan, which both have better driver than OpenGL across all hardware. Once this is implemented, performance on hardware like Intel integrated chipsets will improve greatly.

Providing 5xs2e

A feature that I depend on is missing! / Something has changed and I don't like it. / I have found a bug, what's the best way to report it? 284f17

There's a very high chance we are already aware of this and tracking it for future implementation! Please search the issue tracker and discussions page. If you can't find any matching threads, feel free to open a discussion.

Do note that we are already tracking over 1,000 issues of varying priorities, and it may take us some time to fix issues that only affect a small number of s.

Other 6lu6k

Why is it called "lazer"? 6f2y2f

What is sharper than cutting-edge?

Why is it taking so long to become the "main" release? 4u4pa

While osu! may seem like a simple game, there are hundreds on hundreds of features and systems that s have come to rely on. Depending on who you ask, lazer may have been in a fully playable state for years now, or it may be missing countless features.

Another area which has taken a huge amount of effort is historical preservation — making sure that beatmaps behave exactly as they should, including edge cases that weren't originally planned for. osu! is a vibrant ecosystem and s have taken liberty to extend the game far beyond its planned extents, and we are trying our best to embrace and this going forward.

Finally, unlike the last iteration, we are putting in the time and diligence to ensure the code base will serve us well into the future. We have done the groundwork to allow new features to come online at blazing speed going forward. This will include new UI components, new ways to skin the game, new multiplayer systems and let's not forget the ability to load and play all your existing beatmaps on completely new game modes (a.k.a. rulesets)!

What comes next? 663c2u

We have a huge backlog of -requested features and improvements that we will continue to push out at the speed of light. For those that have ed us recently and haven't experienced the momentum of osu! development, prepare to be in for a surprise.

How do I access my songs folder? 5a3o6y

There is no songs folder in lazer! This allows us to do cool things like not require pressing F5 at song select to refresh beatmaps (because beatmaps are always in a good state) and reduce the disk space used by beatmaps by 20–40%. You can read more about the way lazer stores files.

If you need to make changes to a beatmap, please use the editor. Going forward we will introduce a mode in the editor which makes a beatmap's folder temporarily accessible for external editing. This will allow you to use external tools on a beatmap during the creation process.

Now that "osu!direct" is available to all players, will ers have any new benefits? 1o4i15

Some filters in the beatmap listing are still er-only.

There are also some additional benefits already:

• ers can create playlists that last longer.
• ers can enable storyboards to play in the main menu.

We do intend to look into new benefits in the future, but our focus is currently on feature parity with stable so please use your er tag purchase as a way to... the game's development!

If I cheat on lazer will I be banned? 2h6l26

Yes.

If I find someone cheating on lazer how should I report them? 3i126b

The same way you usually would.

Where are the microtransactions? 2t2d5d

You're likely thinking of another game.

Notes 22z5