Proposal: Introduce Cover Mod to osu!catch

[twMisc]

Proposal: Introduce Cover Mod to osu!catch

I would like to propose adding the Cover mod from osu!mania to osu!catch. In osu!catch, some players frequently use custom elements (specifically the scorebar-bg element) to cover up certain parts of the playfield to lower the burden of reading. There are tools available to generate these custom elements, such as https://vincsctb.github.io/lanecover-generator. Additionally, some players even physically cover their screens with towels to achieve the same effect.

This is primarily used as a workaround for reading Low-AR maps. By covering the top of the playfield, players artificially reduce their reaction time window, making it easier for them to read the map.

Normal Gameplay	Gamplay with lanecover skin

Currently, I have a working branch that adds the Cover mod to osu!catch, which can be found at https://github.com/twMisc/osu/tree/catch-cover-mod. However, I would like to gather the team’s and community’s thoughts on this first, as the use of such skin elements (usually referred to as lanecovers) currently exists in an awkward grey area. While many players in the osu!catch community accept lane covers as a valid tool to improve readability, achieving this effect still fundamentally relies on unofficial workarounds. In competitive tournaments, players feel that they are “forced” to use it to keep up with the competition. You can find some discussions here: https://osu.ppy.sh/community/forums/topics/1682895.

The current usage of custom elements and physical covers creates a few issues:

• Players who know about these methods have an immediate visual advantage over players who are trying to read low-AR maps natively.
• Because these methods cannot be detected by the game, it is very hard for tournament organizers to regulate their use.
• The game cannot separate scores achieved with or without the use of these methods, which can lead to unfair comparisons between players.

I think by introducing an official Cover mod we can make this feature universally accessible without requiring skinning knowledge, provide feature parity with osu!mania, and allow the game to officially track and regulate its usage.

Here are videos demonstrating my implementation of the Cover mod in osu!catch:

top_argon.mp4

botton_argon.mp4

I would like to hear the team’s and community’s thoughts on this proposal, and whether they think it would be a good addition to the game. If there is enough support for this idea, I would like to submit a pull request with the implementation for review.

[Tenexxt]

I'd say adding this as a mod would be a good idea, nothing wrong with accessible accesibility settings, especially if people already achieve simillar effects on purpose using skins. Not sure how mod multipliers would be handled with this but I think keeping it at a 1.0x would be fine atleast for now. Would be very happy to see this in game <3

[twMisc]

Thanks for the kind comment. I agree that keeping the mod multiplier at 1.0x is fine. As you mentioned, it functions best as an accessibility setting, especially since players already use custom skins to achieve this anyway.

Fundamentally, I think this situation arose because catch sits in a weird middle ground between standard (where altering AR is restricted) and mania (where modifying scroll speed and covering the screen is natively supported and encouraged).

Since we can never stop players from putting a towel over their monitor, building this directly into the client seems like the healthiest path forward for the game. By the way, since there aren't many other discussions going on, I might just submit a PR when I get time and see how the review goes.

[twMisc]

#37716