1. Nightmare (6.32 stars, 2763 notes)

Flow Issues

Flow is basically inertia. It is the "path of least resistance". The flow you used here is not ideal because it is unnatural. Try and rework this particular pattern so that a better flow can be achieved, because good flow makes for less awkward, jerky, and unpredictable movements.



From this image you see what is "good flow". The flow of the pattern is outlined in black. The arrow shows where the flow would "lead" the player to go if there were no other objects. Having an angle of change is always good. This flow is smooth because the motion is natural. Angles change a bit, but you are heading in a direction that your flow is suggesting.

Lets look at something less ideal:



Here, Flow from 1 > 2 looks good! The Blue arrows show the range of possible locations that 3 could be located that would create "good flow". But instead, 3 is located in the far bottom-left of the screen. This flow isn't good because the direction of the patterns before slider 3 don't suggest such a drastic left-ward movement.

Spacing Issue

A spacing issue simply means that your spacing is not reflective of the time gap in between objects. Please alter the spacing so that visually, players are able to recognize which objects are 1/2 spaced and which ones are 1/1 spaced. Lets look at some examples if you are unsure!



As you see, visually, this pattern seems straight-forward. Everything looks evenly spaced visually. But wait! 3>4 is not actually 1/2 spaced in timeline, it's 1/1. But because the pattern is arranged like this, players are very likely to click 4 too early, causing them to miss. This is generally confusing to players, and is a spacing issue. You can remedy this by increasing the spacing between 3>4 to make it more obvious to players that there is a 1/1 gap instead of a normal 1/2 gap.

Something like this would work! Now it's obvious that there is more time in between 3 and 4.

Emphasis Issue

Emphasis Issue falls into two categories: - Emphasis (Less Emphasis), meaning you are over emphasizing a sound, or + Emphasis (More Emphasis), in which case you could add more emphasis!

- Emphasis: // Less EmphasisEmphasis basically means associating a louder and/or more noticeable sound in the music with some sort of additional difficulty. This is most commonly seen through increased spacing. The emphasis you have here doesn't fit well because you are creating a large jump onto a note that isn't very strong in the music. You are effectively emphasizing something that isn't actually there in the music. You can fix this by simply reducing the spacing between these two objects so that the objects that deserve emphasis can be better appreciated.

+ Emphasis // More EmphasisEmphasis basically means associating a louder and/or more noticeable sound in the music with some sort of additional difficulty. This is most commonly seen through increased spacing. The pattern you have here could use more emphasis because the beat highlighted is very noticeable in the music! Increase the spacing here because more emphasis on this note will fit the song better!.

Note that Emphasis can be created through flowbreaks too! This is most commonly seen with circle > slider patterns as you can see below. 2>3 definitely doesn't flow well, but this is an intentional flowbreak! Flowbreaks can create emphasis because just like jumps, the unnatural, jerky motion of a flow-break is another way to make a pattern more difficult, and therefore more noticeable to the player.

NC (New Combo) Pattern Issues

This is a general issue. Once you've mastered how to do NC's, you'll know them for life!
NC's should be placed on the downbeat because that is the start of a new measure in a song. Lets look at the timeline: The large white ticks are the downbeats. Always try to have a New combo there. For easier difficulties, you may choose to NC every second downbeat, but make sure your pattern is consistent! If you NC every downbeat, don't randomly switch to every two downbeats. Only do so if the music shifts (for example, during a calm section or a slow-down).



Essentially, you want every downbeat to be the beginning of a New Combo, as such:



Another reason to NC may be because you are using a different slider-velocity. NC'ing the slider gives the player a better visual cue that the slider may be faster, or slower, and because of your NC, they will have more time to prepare.

Stack/Blanket Issues

1. 00:24:855 (4,5,6) - Sliders would work better here. This qualifies as a spacing issue because players won't know how much space is in between these circles and will have to rely purely on AR (which isn't a good thing).
2. 00:22:013 (1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13) - You are quite inconsistent in mapping these drums. Sometimes you map to streams, other tiems 1/4 sliders, other times just long sliders.
3. 00:42:855 (3,4,1) - Spacing Issue
4. 01:01:329 (3) - Slider-end Rhythm Issue. See how the slider-end is mapped to a downbeat? You should shorten the slider a bit and map that downbeat to a circle/slider applies to 01:05:118 (3) - too.
5. 01:09:618 (2) - 01:10:724 (3) - These just sound overmapped to me.
6. 01:15:224 (7,8,9,10) - Spacing issue.
7. 01:25:487 (1) - Nowadays this is unrankable because the slider path overlaps itself.
8. 01:31:171 (12,1,2) - Spacign Issue.
9. 01:37:329 (4,5,1) - Spacing.
10. 01:46:329 (1,2,3,4) - Spacing.
11. 01:54:855 (1,2) - This breaks your flow really hard. Check Flow Issues.
12. 01:59:513 (4,5,1) - Spacing issue here too. It's hard to anticipate such a large jump.
13. 02:11:434 (2,3,4) - Flow Issues.
14. 02:18:539 (3,4,1) - Spacing.

monstrata wrote:

MOD

[Marathon]

1. 00:24:855 (4,5,6) - Sliders would work better here. This qualifies as a spacing issue because players won't know how much space is in between these circles and will have to rely purely on AR (which isn't a good thing). Didnt quite get what you meant here but i think my adjustment is somewhat better.
2. 00:22:013 (1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13) - You are quite inconsistent in mapping these drums. Sometimes you map to streams, other tiems 1/4 sliders, other times just long sliders.
3. 00:42:855 (3,4,1) - Spacing Issue
4. 01:01:329 (3) - Slider-end Rhythm Issue. See how the slider-end is mapped to a downbeat? You should shorten the slider a bit and map that downbeat to a circle/slider applies to 01:05:118 (3) - too.
5. 01:09:618 (2) - 01:10:724 (3) - These just sound overmapped to me. I see what you mean. A reason why i overmap some sections like this is because im a drummer - and i tend to map what i think the drum lines SHOULD be as oppose to what they are, will try and find another way to do this.
6. 01:15:224 (7,8,9,10) - Spacing issue.
7. 01:25:487 (1) - Nowadays this is unrankable because the slider path overlaps itself.
8. 01:31:171 (12,1,2) - Spacign Issue.
9. 01:37:329 (4,5,1) - Spacing.
10. 01:46:329 (1,2,3,4) - Spacing.
11. 01:54:855 (1,2) - This breaks your flow really hard. Check Flow Issues.
12. 01:59:513 (4,5,1) - Spacing issue here too. It's hard to anticipate such a large jump.
13. 02:11:434 (2,3,4) - Flow Issues.
14. 02:18:539 (3,4,1) - Spacing.
    adjusted everything you listed

Alright. So I think you're kinda getting the idea, and i'm just really repeating myself. Go over the map for Spacing issues because they make your map a lot easier to read and understand. Another thing to consider is Flow. Your flow could definitely be better at places. Check what i've written above in the spoiler boxes i think they might be helpful in better explaining some of these issues xD. Also, try and strive for more patterns in your map! Try asking yourself "why is this circle here, and why is this slider this shaped?" Always try to have some kind of reasoning behind your note placement.

Good luck!

Thanks man, really appreciate the mod. Ive made adjustments to all the parts you outlined above and i think im starting to see what you mean by flow and good spacing etc - but im still not sure if my adjustments are good enough. But ill keep working on the map and try and make a lot better ^^.

shadow_neko wrote:

Hi M4M! so this song isnt exactly my cup of tea but since u alrdy modded my map before i accepted or denied ur M4M request i felt obligated to mod back so...
but the mod probably wont be as good i guess

MOD

MARATHON

00:22:013 (1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13) - stream pattern can improve? Changed
00:31:487 (5) - awkward shape slider Altered
00:33:382 (1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,1) - stream pattern fixed
00:35:908 - unmapped stream beats?? changed
00:44:987 (4) - why space???? i made it like this to accent the snares directly after but ive changed it so that the spacing isnt retarded now
01:08:434 (1,2,3,4,5,6,1,2,3,4,5) - this segment has some really misleading distancing i have changed it a little bit so thats less confusing but the same general pattern still exists
01:12:934 (2,3,4,1) - why this weird unequal distancing? not very visually appealing fixed!
01:26:434 (1) - delete nc? ok
01:26:750 (2) - nc so as to indicate the one beat spacing ok!
01:40:960 (1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11) - awkward flow and pattern made much less awkward
01:44:908 (8,9) - maybe blanketing this under 01:44:118 (3) would make it less awkward looking agreed
01:46:329 (1) - delete nc changed
01:51:066 (1) - ^ ^
01:53:276 (7,8,1) - why equally spaced when break in between different??? altered slightly
01:55:487 (2) - start further away from prev slider so that ppl wont mistake it as a continuous beat changed
01:57:697 (1) - why??? unchanged as this is accenting the lyric and is still perfectly playable to me
02:16:013 (1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9) - this is unreadable i really liked it but changed
02:38:908 (4) - quite hard to read moved to tail
02:47:908 (4) - slider shape altered slightly
02:48:855 (7) - slider shape changed
02:53:908 (1,2,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,1,2,3,4,5,1,2,3,4,5,6) - distancing here also very haphazard changed a bit
03:00:697 (4) - shorten to red tick and add streams after? nice
03:01:803 (6) - can be improved by making left and right side equally long nice catch
03:22:960 (1) - i would map the two more guitar(?) sounds before spinning i was thinking about that to! changed (and yes its guitar)
03:27:066 (2,3,4,5) - misleading spacing changed but theres still the extra space to emphasis the drum on 03:27:697 (5)
03:30:539 (1,2,3) - ^ changed
03:46:487 (1,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13) - start is quite compressed and awkward shape. plus the kick slider at start can be better placed remapped the stream
03:52:013 (2) - blanket under 9th hitcircle? k
03:57:382 (2,3,4,5,6,7,8,1,2,3,4) - pattern altered very slightly (i like the pattern)
04:05:908 (1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8) - ppl usually map this closer together but idk this shud be ok changed as it was very hard with HR
04:08:197 (6) - place this such that it forms a curve?? k
04:15:382 (2) - bad flow towards next few hits changed
04:25:329 (6) - place this somewhere else pls :( done tho lol
04:26:750 (5) - start nc k
04:26:987 (1) - delete nc k
04:32:039 (3) - hard to see this beat
04:32:355 (5,6) - overlapping makes this hard to read too i think these 2 are fine but if someone else points it out ill probably just change it
04:38:829 (4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14) - stream pattern altered very slightly
04:41:592 (2) - pls dont place this here moved to head
04:45:224 (4) - the large distance is misleading no change
05:21:066 (1) - ctrl + G? nice
BTW- the stream in this entire kiai segment seem very chaotic so do improve on them, i wont point them out ill look into a better way to represent the music but for now ill leave it as is Ok now ive basically remapped the later half of the entire kiai time and although it isnt perfect yet, it is much better! (and it jumped like 0.3 stars oops)
05:22:329 (8) - if theres no beat between the slider and 05:22:171 (7) , dont place them equally distanced as prev taps it wasnt = but ive added more distance
(imma just skim thru from here on coz its basically the same problem u have to fix throughout the whole map just pinpoint them out yourself)
06:15:491 - maybe the silent and calm part from here on can lower the volume of hitsounding to bring out the tranquility of this segment nice
06:55:177 (5) - this slider is weird looking and awkward to draw. changed so its simpler
07:24:387 (2,3) - ctrl g k
07:44:914 (2,3,4,5,6,7) - this overlap is hard to read changed
07:52:335 (2) - nc maybe
07:52:809 (4) - ^ they were before then i changed it - so now its changed back xd
07:56:282 (2) - unintentional overlap?? damn didnt even notice that
07:57:387 (6,7,8,9,1) - why not make this a curve?? made a curve
08:00:861 (5,6,7,8,9) - pls change fine
08:07:177 (8) - weird shape and also dont flow well from prev tap changed
08:07:966 (9) - try to space this equally between the two adjacent sliders changed
08:22:651 (1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11) - when the 1/2 beat spacing is smaller than the 1/4 beat spacing... pls change changed
08:30:861 (1,2,3,4,5) - maybe move this entire section upwards such that slider not touching the prev hit circle. this also aids in flow changed
08:34:177 (2) - try not to overlap with prev slider done
08:35:361 (7) - bad flow from prev tapwas hard to think of a really good position but its better now
08:46:019 (1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,1) - weird stream shape changed
08:51:545 - i can hear a few streams from here on that are unmapped you arent deaf
08:55:493 (7) - slider shape(and so i realised u clone the first part for the hind segment. wouldnt recommend lazy mapping but i guess its still rankable just doesnt give players a new thing to play) was copied coz i liked the way it was but i changed the first one so i changed this one 2
08:57:940 (8,9,10,11,12,1) - this tail flows awkward fixed
09:08:124 (2,3,4,5) - pls dont join to avoid confusion changed
10:04:007 (1,2,3) - they are the same break apart but the distance is worlds apart fixed spacing
10:06:533 (1,2,3,4) - distance prob k
10:11:270 (1,2,3,4) - ok super misleading lol pls dont be lazy and find a way t space them in a non confusing manner rather than just stack i understand where you are coming from - but i actually like the way this plays (even if it is super lazy) and i dont find it confusing at all. I think actually stacking it here is the literal best way to represent the music - ive tried jumps and sliders and even tho stacking it is the simplest - i think it is the best so i am really against changing this one
10:24:217 (7) - not sure if this is very readable agreed changed
10:51:057 (1) - pls just stream dont spin the stream beat is super prominent yea ok but i like the spinner T-T

overall i feel that stream jump and slider patterns can be improved quite a bit but beat placement is generally ok coz u dont overmap but undermapping can pose a problem too.Also, u need to take note of distancing and make it such that its most of the time intuitive for players as much as possible. Another thing, start ncs mostly on white tick At least your jumps were at times fun and well placed! But well its your first beatmap and u will definitely improve over time. good luck! and thanks for modding my map

Spiral527 wrote:

From my queue sorry it took so long

General

Green combo color seems out of place, maybe a light blue instead?

okie

Nightmare

00:15:382 (1) - I would recommend against having this much overlap by two circles fixed
00:22:013 (1) - this whole stream is a little ugly and the spacing fluctuates a bit, try to make one slider this shape then ctrl+f on it ok
00:43:803 (1) - ^ (okay maybe do this with most of your streams) ^
00:24:855 (4,5) - probably make at least these two the same slider just rotated i thought they were woops
00:31:487 (5) - using a larger grid you should try to make the start and end of this slider have the same direction i think its right now
00:35:276 (7,1) - this connection being so close looks like it reads as if you play it faster moved further out
00:37:171 (1,2) - too much overlap changed
01:01:329 (3) - doesn't lead from previous circle very well k
01:05:118 (3) - ^ ^
01:26:276 (4) - the space after this should be more emphasized than the space before k
01:27:224 (6) - ^ (just as well the spacing around this one is awkwardly close) k
01:28:171 (6) - ^ (^) k
01:37:329 (4) - add more points to the curved part so it's smoother its better now i think
01:51:066 (3) - rotate this around selection center 25 degrees anti-clockwise yay
01:57:066 (1,1) - no need to excessively NC like this restructered nc pattern
05:12:697 (1) - ^ they were in sync with the guitar but ok changed
05:17:750 (1) - ^ ^
02:14:197 (8,9,10) - this spacing is confusing since it's a 1/4 stream at the same spacing as the previous 1/2 its fixed
02:24:224 (1) - remove NC oops
02:47:908 (4) - curve this up more at the end to blanket the circle a little better its a tad better now ty
03:18:224 (3,5) - add NC yea
04:05:908 (1) - this first one should be in line with the rest it is tho?
04:25:487 (1) - remove NC yup
05:37:803 (1) - ^ ^
06:06:698 (1,2) - why do these two have such a difference in curving? not sure.. fixed
07:00:861 (7) - try to add more points to each curved part (especially the first) to curve it better done
07:41:914 (5,6,7) - don't have these overlap like this i thought it was ok but fixed
08:07:809 (2,3) - this connection flows weirdly to be just off a straight line but note curved either i think its better now
08:18:545 (1,2,3,4,5) - this is extremely difficult to read, even if that's what you're going for consider changing it its better (but i need to fix it more)
08:30:704 (6) - move this down just a little to lead into next slider better k
08:35:282 (7,8) - while this kind of connection is fine, it's not used anywhere else in this map so it seems out of place i think its still fine tho
08:46:966 (1) - remove NC k
08:48:861 to about 09:02:440 - for what is copied here from a previous section, the same comments apply ok
09:53:586 (3,4) - if you want to stack the previous two, these should be stacked as well i thought they were oops
10:06:533 (1,2,3) - confusing since it's the same spacing for a very different time interval ill leave this is as for now
10:20:270 (4,5,1,2) - ^ (same idea but this time a stack) ^

I'd say it is an incredible map for your first one, better than like... my first 5 or so maps.