Now I know Innocent Starter is technically your final beatmap, but as this is my last normal difficulty I will be making for you, I figured I should write something here, even if it won't be as widely read here. Sadly, I don't consider this my best normal; far from it, in fact, but oh well. This one's a little on the harder side much like Innocent Starter's, but it has no stacks/streams and should be at least passable by newbies, even if they can't fc it right away.
I'll start with a little backstory I guess.
Shin Ai was started a few days ago but was put on hold when Mystearica decided to quit and put up Innocent Starter, so I hurried to produce a normal to have a complete map for that. I really wanted to finish Shin Ai though for people like the two posters above me. I know this map will probably never be ranked, which is unfortunate in itself, but knowing that there are people out there who can appreciate good quality maps, even if they aren't ranked, gave me the motivation to finish this map, as well as to give her 5 complete beatmap sets in pending so both experienced and new players alike can enjoy these maps that both of us poured our hearts into.
I'm not the world's greatest mapper, but in the 2 1/2 weeks that I have been mapping I've learned a lot, after mapping 8 normal/easy guest difficulties as well as 2 insanes, a hard, and half of a normal for my own map, and I'm grateful for these opportunities to hone my techniques and learn more about the mapping process. I really do enjoy making normals, I think my style is best suited for them and hers best suited for mapping hards/insanes. In the past week I think we managed to crank out 4 or 5 complete beatmap sets of decent/good quality (imo) between the two of us, which I think, at least, is pretty impressive for a pair of new mappers.
Yet now one is leaving, and one is staying; the partnership is dissolved. I almost feel like a part of me is leaving the game too, since I won't have any more normals to make, or a rival to compete against or catch up to, or someone to talk to any time of the day about osu!-related things. Nothing lasts forever though, and people and life moves on. This summer has been a lot of fun, and it's because of this game that I've been able to forge a great friendship and make many new friends. I doubt I'll be able to continue playing osu! as often since school starts next month but I will not quit. I do thoroughly enjoy osu! as a game, and I do plan to continue playing and mapping, but I will do so purely for myself and I will share the maps with my friends. If something somehow turns out really stellar then I might go through the arduous task of getting it ranked, but who knows.
...I really wanted to write something nice and short here but I always manage to turn things into fucking novels, so I'll just stop now.
And with all that said, the normal factory closes its doors for good.
Download:
Mizuki Nana - Shin Ai (Mystearica) [Normal].osu