[Contesting this Disqualification]
Yea . Sorry to everyone who lost their pp playing this map xPP. I know my Magi diff was a pp goldmine. Sucks to have a 7th day dq... Lets hope this contest is successful because man, these reasons were honestly not well thought out... I'm not a great hit-sounder, but even I can't agree with the hit-sound dq, let alone the other ones .monstrata wrote:
Addressing the first point: "- The dark blue combo colour blends with the BG, which makes the hitobjects in that part unreadable. "
First of all, calling the combo color "unreadable" is a complete overstatement. The combo color complements the background very well, And does not blend with the background. The main concern here is the area on the top/left of the screen where the dark-blue is most prominent. Here are some pictures. These were all taken with background dim set to 0%.
http://puu.sh/itSm7.jpg This first image shows a circle which is very much readable.
http://puu.sh/itSpU.jpg This one shows a slider, also very much readable.
http://puu.sh/itSCu.jpg Lastly, here is the approach circle for 00:08:323 (4) - on the Normal difficulty, which is right in the middle of all the dark-blue color. The approach circle is clear and visible.
Additionally, the dark blue in the background is gradient towards the top and also contains yellow and white colors around it for contrast. The background is not a single color but a mixture of many, so I find it very difficult to believe that this combo color is "unreadable".
Regarding: "- AR9 in Insane does not fit in the spread and feels forced. . High AR breaks the spread and makes hitobjects hard and unpleasant to read."
AR9 definitely fits the spread. Please consider that Hard is AR 8 and Magi (Extra) is AR 9.2. The AR fits the spread very well. Magi uses a slightly higher AR because I used an extensive amount of 1/2 circle jump patterns within the difficulty. Having less objects on the screen makes it cleaner and also fits the difficulty of an Extra. Hard uses AR 8 because while there is 1/2 rhythm, jumps are very minimal. AR 8 complements the BPM of the map.
Additionally, AR9 does not feel forced at all. Actually, it is very much necessary. The Disqualification post seems to imply that AR9 is too high, which I have to disagree with. The BPM is 189 which is on the high end of most anime tv-size maps. Furthermore, I employ a lot of 1/2 jump rhythm in Insane so reducing the AR would create more note density on the screen for players. On Insane places like 00:44:514 (1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,1,2,3,4,5) - and 01:22:609 (1,2,3,4,5,6,1,2,3,4,5,6,7) -
really need AR9 to be played well. Because of my extensive use of not just 1/2 rhythm, but 1/2 jump patterns, the AR complements the difficulty and does not feel forced.
Regarding "- The soft hitclaps you used in Insane and Magi from 00:11:497 to 00:30:545 - do not suit this song in an appropriate way as these hittsound have no support in the song. The same happens in Normal and Hard from 00:21:656 to 00:30:545 We'd like you to find another solution, by adjusting the hitsounds."
The soft-hitclaps provide consistent feedback for players during this calmer section of the song. I decided it was fine not to use soft-hitclaps on Easy because the note density was low enough that players could still receive adequate hit-sound feedback from playing the objects. On Normal I decided to have the first part of the intro omit the hit-claps and instead begin placing them after: 00:21:656 - to create a build up effect. Much of this song is about build up, especially after 00:31:815 - and onward until the Kiai at 00:52:132 - .
The use of soft-hitclaps work well with the music in creating a consistent rhythm for players. Without them, Insane and Magi definitely would not have enough hit-sound feedback for players to maintain rhythm. As captin1 mentioned. : "the claps are mildly additive, but they still fit well with the song and help give a better sense of timing during it." This is especially noticeable in Magi because even though SV is lowered, object density only drops slightly.
On Magi, 00:25:942 (1,2,3,4,5,1) - and 00:23:243 (2,3,4,5,6,1) - and 00:12:767 (1,2,3,4,5,6) - Are just examples of places where 1/2 rhythm and consecutive 1/2 circle jumps are still very much apparent even though the section is slower due to the 0.75x SV.
On Insane, places like 00:18:323 (2,3,4,1,2,3,1,2,3,4,1) - also contain a lot of 1/2 rhythm. Because of areas like this, the claps are necessary to support the rhythm and give adequate feedback. Hitsounding only these areas would also create inconsistencies that contribute to a sense of disjointedness.
Regarding "other solutions", I strongly believe this is the best solution. Simply omitting as I mentioned earlier, would contribute to a severe loss in player feedback. Other solutions, as I have been suggested, included using soft-whistles in place of the claps. However, I am already using soft-whistles so a different hitsound would be conducive to better feedback variety throughout this section. Additionally, I don't see how the claps reduce the quality of the hitsounding in this section. Soft-claps fit well with a calm section of the song, and their recurrence every 2nd/4th tick (except in specific rhythms like 00:24:196 (1,2,3,4,5,6,7) - on Magi) fit my rhythm choice.
I don't believe this disqualification was justified, and I hope my arguments were logical and reasonable. Thanks for your time!