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Automatic Timeline Scrolling [Editor]

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This is a feature request. Feature requests can be voted up by supporters.
Current Priority: +60
Topic Starter
D33d
When I began to map, I found it very strange that I had to scroll every time I placed an object. After all, a MIDI sequencer moves to the next timing point after placing a note and a text editor moves to the next space after typing a character. Believe it or not, this behaviour made it somewhat unintuitive to attempt one's first map--I've explained mapping to a few people and, just as I was confused, they were also confused as to why an object would disappear after placing another one. After taking a lot of time to explain that they had to scroll after placing every object, people wondered why note placement had to be so cumbersome. I wondered that as well.

Obviously, the scrolling would depend on the beat divisor, so when set to 1/2, it'd scroll to the next 1/2 and 1/4 would do the same. As well as making mapping more intuitive for beginners, this would make mapping a lot more fluid. Instead of click, scroll, click, scroll, scroll some more, fumble the scrolling and scroll back, click, scroll, click, scroll; one would only need to keep clicking for patterns of the same note duration. I think that this would be even more useful for sliders, as one wouldn't have to scroll nearly as much when taking long sliders into account. The slider would be placed and then the timeline would move past the slider.

Basically, taking the manual scrolling out of mapping would more or less halve the number of actions required, which would surely make the process a lot more comfortable for people--not to mention, more accessible for newbies. Please tell me if what I'm saying makes sense, because I think that this would improve mapping in a way which is subtle, yet profound in its effect.
peppy
Never even thought of this. Sounds great.
[Luanny]
This is a great idea even tho I would be confused at first.
I'm already really used to the actual editor.
I'd like to see this implemented, it's different but makes more sense.
_dog
gg D33d
Jinxy
The feature I never knew I wanted

Had this problem when I made my very first map, too.
Rei Hakurei
include this in taiko-livemapping, but not mania-livemapping;
so that could be better :D


EDIT: live mapping does separately though orz,
i don't remember how ddr does when an arrow given to the chart, maybe to like that on mania ?
Maiz94
Is this will occur only on standard mode?
Topic Starter
D33d

ishimaru94 wrote:

Is this will occur only on standard mode?
It could apply to all modes if desired. Hell, Mania mapping bears a slight resemblance to MIDI sequencing, so autoscrolling would probably make the most sense with that.

I think that the biggest benefit of this would be that newbies don't place two objects and ask, "Why do my notes keep disappearing?" After that, it'd just make mapping a lot smoother.
peppy
The number keys should really be rebound to change snap divisor though. Unless they already are using some key combination..
RLC
This seems like a really useful feature--would there be a toggle though? There could be times (such as revising previous parts of a beatmap) where this feature may become a bit of a hindrance.
Topic Starter
D33d

peppy wrote:

The number keys should really be rebound to change snap divisor though. Unless they already are using some key combination..
Numbers 1 through 4 choose the selection tool and hitobjects and I actually use those a lot. Not sure about other people, but they're pretty useful assignments. Personally, I have no problem with ctrl+scrolling.

Since this wouldn't be a game-changing feature like the improved arc algorithm, I see no reason as to why this couldn't be toggled off. It'd just make placement a fair bit more intuitive and fluid, so it'd probably be much more useful when on by default.
peppy
ctrl-numbers or something. there's no point in removing the need to scroll to seek if you still need to scroll to time.
Dizco_old
I support this feature as a toggle. Often i will relisten to the same set of beats to decide where to place notes, in these cases this could become an annoyance.
Kitsunemimi
I think this is a good idea, but it could get annoying with sliders, because that's probably one case where people wouldn't immediately scroll to the end of the slider upon placing the ending anchor point. I'm talking about blanket sliders of course, or sliders that flow with a stream/pattern.

I don't know about you, but I don't just make perfect sliders by clicking three times (especially not with the old sliders). I will usually make a rough, and very crappy approximation of the slider I want to place, then very carefully manipulate it the way I want. If the editor immediately scrolled to the end of the slider, almost all of the notes prior to the slider will most often be gone, and their approach circles will most definitely have closed in.

Like, this idea sounds really good and intuitive, and it could be just me, but I think I'd prefer it without it scrolling automatically whenever I place a note. It may be weird to new mappers, and perhaps only a few people will agree with me, but I'm so used to scrolling after placing notes that it happens pretty much automatically. It's never occurred to me as a problem, and changing it now could make mapping kind of wonky. I suppose I could take a little time and get used to it (I do scroll after placing pretty much all notes...), but the sliders would be a problem. Yes, they do result in the most scrolling, but it would be even more annoying if I had to scroll back to line things up for a blanket slider.
Topic Starter
D33d
Sliders would be a variable issue, since a lot of mappers seem to place their sliders and go. When it comes to making longer sliders or sliders which blanket more distant objects, it's six and two threes because there'll usually be a lot of back-and-forth scrolling anyway. At least, that's what happens with me. Even then, slider blankets are an advanced technique and experienced mappers wouldn't have much trouble with scrolling back from a sliderend. I see this as a fairly healthy middleground between being intuitive for newbies and being more fluent for old-timers, with a mere handful of small compromises for the latter. If the benefits outweigh the compromises, then a bit of additional scrolling would be negligible.

Of course, having it as an opt-out toggle would make life easier for newbies, while giving some freedom to those who become more familiar with the editor. In terms of keybinds, ctrl+1234 control the grid size, which tends to be altered a lot for me. Dunno how often others change it, but it'd probably be better to use an extra/different modifier. Personally, I'd have no problem with ctrl+scrolling to change the divisor, since it'd be used less frequently and my hand's already on the mouse.
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