When is a break "too long?"

Hitoshirenu Shourai

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Hitoshirenu Shourai 2009-11-17T20:49:23+00:00

I've made a lot of maps. I've also modded a lot of maps. But what most people don't know is that on one of my maps in the past, I had a 30 second break and had to break it up into smaller mapped sections to fill time. Was that the right thing, though? Let's see what the community has to say.

Personally, I think 15-20 seconds is the maximum for a break. Depends on the song, really. Sometimes you just get to a point when mapping where you put a break seems to "ruin" the map. Again, depends on the song.

Anyways, yeah. When do ya'll think a break is "too long?"

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0_o

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0_o 2009-11-17T21:12:57+00:00

Honestly, if a map has a 20 second section with little to map to then I would prefer it to be a break instead of boring filler. Most of the time I use that 20 seconds of break to do other stuff, so so long as the song calls for it long breaks really don't bother me at all.

anonymous_old

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anonymous_old 2009-11-17T21:16:55+00:00

It depends.

To me, if about 50% of the map is occupied by breaks, that's fine. Any more and it's not very acceptable.

So a 3 minute song may have 1:30 of breaks and I'd be fine with that.

Of course, I wouldn't want a 1:30 continuous break. I think there's a limit of around 30 seconds there. I think you should try to balance it with play sections, though.

A 3:1 gameplay:break ratio works well I think. Have gameplay for a minute followed by 20 second break. This depends on the song, of course.

UnMute

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UnMute 2009-11-17T21:38:32+00:00

It depends on the song in question. I can understand if the mapper had a hard time deciding what to map or not, but if the song is overly simple, that's something else.

I'm a patient guy, but I wanna play more than I wait. 20-25 is my max.

LuigiHann

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LuigiHann 2009-11-17T21:41:15+00:00

I think 20 seconds is about as high as you can go before it gets boring. I'd give more leeway if the map has a storyboard or at least a video, but I shouldn't be staring at a still image for more than 20 or so seconds.

If the song has such a long dead space, I'd vote for cutting the mp3 to eliminate it, personally.

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Derekku

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Derekku 2009-11-17T21:55:45+00:00

Pretty much what LH said. 20-25 is longer than enough imo.

@strager: I would say "I hope you're joking", but I know how lazy you are, so you probably love those breaks >.>

anonymous_old

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anonymous_old 2009-11-17T23:47:50+00:00

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mm201

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mm201 2009-11-18T00:12:52+00:00

8 bars--general rule.

Jinxy

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Jinxy 2009-11-18T02:30:06+00:00

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Jarby

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Jarby 2009-11-18T13:16:13+00:00

When it disrupts the flow of the map based on how the song is written. That's it, right?

anonymous_old

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anonymous_old 2009-11-18T22:15:34+00:00

JarJarJacob wrote:
When it disrupts the flow of the map based on how the song is written. That's it, right?

Exactry.

Like if you're half way through a chorus part and just stop mapping.

Fucking annoying.

Gabi

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Gabi 2009-11-18T22:58:58+00:00

if it can't be mapped, put a break. don't try to put free beats on something that is impossible to map. while im not a fan of long breaks, 20-30 seconds is max for me.

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Ephemeral

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Ephemeral 2009-11-19T00:33:42+00:00

15 seconds is generally considered (at least for me) the absolute upper limit regardless of how long the song is.

If there's portions of a song longer than 15 seconds where you are unable to map anything substantial, then the song probably isn't going to work well as a beatmap. I can't think of an objectively (that is, structurally) good map offhand that has breaks longer than 15s.

anonymous_old

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anonymous_old 2009-11-19T01:41:51+00:00

Tribute has a 25-second break, and it works well. It also has 10, 20, and 18 second breaks. That's a total of 73 seconds of breaks in a 3:36 (216 second) map. That's about a 1.96:2 map:break ratio.

If you don't like the breaks in Tribute then... You suck. =[

Hitoshirenu Shourai

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Hitoshirenu Shourai 2009-11-19T14:17:28+00:00

strager wrote:
Tribute has a 25-second break, and it works well. It also has 10, 20, and 18 second breaks. That's a total of 73 seconds of breaks in a 3:36 (216 second) map. That's about a 1.96:2 map:break ratio.

If you don't like the breaks in Tribute then... You suck. =[

In this instance, the breaks make sense. A lot of sense. Especially since the song is awesome. =3

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Jarby

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Jarby 2009-11-19T16:45:17+00:00

Guess it was alright here.

0_o

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0_o 2009-11-19T17:11:13+00:00

I don't know about you guys, but I didn't mind the 27 second break in In For The Kill either.

Doomsday

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Doomsday 2009-11-19T17:23:45+00:00

I don't mind long breaks so long as it makes sense to put a break there. Breaks over 30 seconds long are starting to push it though, but again, so long as it fits, im fine with it.

Kubu

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Kubu 2009-11-25T18:18:15+00:00

Lol... Imo breaks 5 sec + are annoying and too long...

Mystearica

Mystearica 2009-11-25T18:57:48+00:00

This is a matter of "fit" and personal preference.

As well, one could always choose to pause during a break, so length isn't really an issue unless they were the impatient kind who just want to rush through. I don't really see the point in these questions to be honest because people will have differing opinions and there isn't a "right or wrong" answer.

lukewarmholiday

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lukewarmholiday 2009-12-01T03:15:12+00:00

If you're going to do a 20 second or more break try to put at least some form of storyboard eyecandy.

awp

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awp 2009-12-01T06:54:51+00:00

lukewarmholiday wrote:
If you're going to do a 20 second or more break try to put at least some form of storyboard eyecandy.

Sometimes the music doesn't give you much of a choice how long to make the break (you could always map the start or end of the break to shorten it, though this defeats the feeling of unity) so often yeah your best bet is to focus instead on providing some kind of eye candy during the break.

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Wojjan

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Wojjan 2009-12-11T11:24:55+00:00

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xxsagarayuu

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xxsagarayuu 2009-12-12T11:52:38+00:00

uhm...I never thought of this question O__O
So I think it is just okie to me to wait =D

But depends on my mood too \(>//////<)

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JongTaem

Mashley

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Mashley 2009-12-12T13:52:33+00:00

0_o wrote:
I don't know about you guys, but I didn't mind the 27 second break in In For The Kill either.

Yeah, it's quite dependent on the song and how the break is played out. In for the Kill had that part that wasn't really mappable and of course the adorable storyboard. But putting a long break over, say, a mappable instrumental part is just annoying and pointless to the player. A break is too long when the player is bored and begins to question why the break is there.

Lilac

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Lilac 2009-12-12T23:02:18+00:00

I'd say you should able to skip a break. (lol, Feature Rquest.)

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Gens

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Gens 2009-12-12T23:48:53+00:00