Hi. Randomly found this map and like the song, and I'm in the modding mood, so here's a free mod. Hope this helps.
00:11:594 (1) – For sliders like this one where the singer is very relaxed, try silencing the sliderslide by using a blank hitsound like this one:
http://puu.sh/qwGCD/b52f232c3c.wav00:23:423 (1,2,3,4,1,2,1,2,3,4,1,2,3,1,2,3,4,5,6,1,2,3,4,5,6,1,2,1,2,1,2,3,4) – The spacing is pretty small here. I very much agree this is not a high energy section, but right now, the spacing is so low, it rivals at being as low energy as 00:05:855 (1) - . So I think for pacing reasons, you should try to increase the base DS of the map here, and/or add emphasize a few more notes with jump.
00:24:548 (4) – Talk to me about this rhythm since I think what you're doing now isn't as nice as my suggestion. Here is what I would use for this section:
http://puu.sh/qwGRN/f21a245ad2.jpg00:29:423 (1) – This is a strong note. Have you considered increasing the distance into this object?
00:32:048 (2,1) – Be careful of how you transition from one pattern to the next. The angle into the (1) slider doesn't feel as continuous as it could be, so try doing something like this
http://puu.sh/qwI45/943c3bc128.jpg. This will smooth out your patterns, which improves your design, which imo will make it easier for you to get ranked.
00:54:548 (4,1) – Again, consider not having such sharp transitions and instead go for stuff like
http://puu.sh/qwJ0W/2773b9abec.jpg. That's not to say that this technique can't be used, it just doesn't feel right in these instances when there's not much to emphasize with this technique.
00:33:173 (3,4,1,2) – There's a lot of things I want to talk about here:
- 00:33:173 (3,1) – This overlerp doesn't look great and imo presents a design issue with the map. Additionally, (1)'s curvature doesn't match (3)'s curvature, which again doesn't make it look great. There's also an overlap on 00:32:798 (2,1) – which doesn't look great.
- 00:33:735 (1,2) – This stack is a bit annoying imo because the slider hides it too much to the point where it's not visible (especially on Hidden).
- This one is a lot more subjective, but I feel strongly about it. Observe that the previous combos starting at 00:29:798 (2,3,4,5,6,1,2,1,2,1,2,3,4) - had mostly counterclockwise flow. In the same way you use spacing to emphasize the note at 00:33:735 (1) - , you should also consider directional changes you could add to emphasize certain notes.
- In conclusion, all of these things makes me want to change the 00:33:735 (1) – slider, so try something like this http://puu.sh/qwIkr/72c6e3ddf3.jpg . The problem with this is that there is not much room to work with, so the suggestion at 00:29:048 (6,1) – about increasing the distance could help to give this pattern more room.
00:38:233 (6,1) – What's the intention behind stacking these? Test out spacing these objects to emphasize the downbeat. One thing you can do is nerf the spacing at 00:38:046 (5,6) - to provide a little break if you feel that's necessary, so at the very least test out something like this:
http://puu.sh/qwSpL/f0150d8a0d.jpg00:47:423 (1) – I'm actually okay with this long pause, but I can see some people being upset that the note at 00:47:798 – isn't mapped. You could make this a 1/1 slider instead which hits the beat and keeps the map kind of calm. Again, I'm personally fine with either way, but I want to point this out for future reference.
00:50:423 (1,2,3,4) – I have a neat design suggestion, but it's a little complicated. I'd like to be able to talk to you and share screens over skype or discord or any video software of the sort, so talk to me when you have time.
--notes: (2) is flexible, (3,4) should be symmetrical, blanket (1,3) and (1,4), (1,2,3) should be triangle/structure.
Edit:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mHdhjecWYTc01:00:537 (2,3) – I'd like to see this DS be increased since 1.2x is kind of small for what you're doing. However, you've got a lot of structural elements that aren't that flexible, so I can't exactly see an easy way to make this work. Pay attention to this while testing and see if you can find something that might work.
01:02:412 (1) – Consider your distance with what you've been doing. 01:00:912 (3,4) – is small, (4,5) is large, (4,6) is small, so to go with the pattern (6,1) should be large, which also helps to emphasize the downbeat here, so consider increasing the spacing into (1).
01:05:037 (6,1) – This flow and spacing is a little extreme, creating an overall unpleasant transition between patterns. Really consider chaning/adjusting one or both of these to set up a more natural flow here.
01:09:162 (3,1) – This overlap does not look good. I'm guessing there wasn't much thought about this overlap, but you should avoid random overlaps like this by just nudging it over a little
01:10:287 (3,5) – Same thing
01:15:912 (1,4) – I don't want to mention it anymore, so please check your map and fix all stuff like this.
01:27:912 (1,2,3) – This isn't perfect symmetry. Move (2) to 340, 96, and tell me why that is the best position for this slider.
01:29:412 (1,2,3,4,1,2,3,4,1,2,3,4,1,2,3,4) – This is a lot of counterclockwise square flow. What does repeating this flow say about the music? Is it possible that using different flows can help emphasize certain downbeats or measures?
01:39:162 (4) – This note has some intensity on it, so I'd like to see a jump into this like:
http://puu.sh/qwX8u/45941b5f8a.jpg . Also goes with the next suggestion
01:39:912 - There's some energy here in the music that's missed out on in the map, I think you should find a way to fill in rhythm with this. I don't think you're fond of the vocals, so try just going with the synthesizer with a long slider like maybe:
http://puu.sh/qwXc3/29732856c0.jpg01:48:162 (3,4,1) – Consider moving this way for (4) instead:
http://puu.sh/qwWrb/a38c433373.jpg01:49:849 (5,6,1,2,3,4) – There's a lot of forced flows in these notes. Especially the (3) note. There's not much going on here in the music, and the rapid change in direction given the context doesn't really sit right with me. Try being a bit calmer and smoother here by doing something like:
http://puu.sh/qwY1R/d7943f4f6d.jpg . Also consider changing the hard drop off flow on 01:50:224 (6) – by stacking it on 01:50:787 (2) – 's slider end.
01:53:037 (6,1) – Move this so (1) stacks on (5):
http://puu.sh/qwS8Q/6170086ef6.jpg01:56:787 (3,1) – Okay, I realize I'm going to be a bit intrusive on your perspective with this suggestion. I can see exactly what you're going for by not having a note on 01:56:974 - , but I think you should consider a different rhythm/effect to achieve this goal. You see, having such a big pause here keeps me out of the rhythm of the music, so having something to fill the break feels like I'm more engaged with the music. So try having (3) be a ½ slider and make (1) be very close to the slider head to get the same kind of stopped motion by taking of the slider leniency like maybe:
http://puu.sh/qwYdz/408b7c4465.jpg02:07:849 (2) – You'll have more structure if you move this to 152,272 to be in line with 02:07:474 (2,1) -
02:09:162 – and 02:09:912 – it might be nicer to have circles on these strong notes rather than have a break, test it out.
02:21:912 (1,2,3,4,5,1) – Try adding a directional change on the first note of this combo by doing ctrl + H on all these notes:
http://puu.sh/qwWF4/ba2e3e2cb8.jpgWell this is a lot so far, so I'll let you digest this for now and edit this post when I finish the rest. Feel free to ask any questions in game, I'd be happy to help.
Edit: Part 2
00:16:963 (1,1) – Put these somewhere else like 256, 192 to give them a bit more emphasis
00:25:298 (2,1) – Some distances throughout the map are a little odd like this one, this could be a bit bigger to get the 1/1 rhythm across.
02:14:037 (5,6) – Consider not stacking these since the note at (6) is a little stronger/different 02:13:474 (3) - , which makes me want to use a different technique for a different sound in the music.
02:26:224 (8,1) – The angle between these guys is really sharp and doesn't flow well. Consider something like this:
http://puu.sh/qys2B/c92ee4ef0a.jpg . The larger circle might be less aesthetic, but the slider movement follows directly the motion it takes to get there, which plays a lot nicer. Try doing something along these lines even if you have to move around some stuff. OH, like maybe stack the slider end on (7) like:
http://puu.sh/qys6R/ffa08f22f8.jpg02:31:099 (2,3,4) – This needs to be symmetrical with each slider. I'm gonna need a video to show you how, so if we can't do this in a skype or google hangout call, I could just post a video on youtube about it. -- Edit:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eWAWR6OYXsw03:44:789 (2,3,4) – This one is closer, but could still be more perfect
02:50:320 (6) – This ¼ note doesn't make sense to me. Try deleting it.
02:50:414 (1,3) – Again, overlaps like this are not ideal
03:05:414 (1) – Same as what I said at 01:29:412 (1,2,3,4,1,2,3,4,1,2,3,4,1,2,3,4) –
03:34:476 (1,2,3,4,5,6,7,1) – Ahhh, I'm getting a little lazy here with my mod. Look at the angles between all these notes. They seem to be arbitrary angles. This means you don't have strong structure here, so it looks …. not ideal. But I don't want to fix it cuz I'm getting lazy, so find me in game and I'll try talking about it there.
03:48:164 (2,3,4,1,2,3,4,1,2,3,4,1,2,1) – You seem to want to make this section super super weak, and I'm perfectly okay with that, but why not delete all this and make it a break if you feel that it should be this restful?
04:17:397 (1) – Consider going with the piano instead of the drum here since I think that works a little better with what you have before this.
04:26:022 (1,2,1) – This is a good example of where structure can help you out. Move 04:26:772 (1) – to 122, 202. This makes these three highlighted notes equidistant, which generally has a better design, and the 04:26:209 (2,1) – is parallel with the (3) slider
04:27:897 (3) – This note is super strong! Try adding a jump into this and similar like 04:28:459 (2) - , and maybe these should be the start of the NC's, though I don't really care about NC's.
04:39:334 (1,2) – Consider stacking these or make them very close to go with how calm the music is.
05:05:024 (5,6,1) – The angles these make don't look great to me. Try rotating (1) by selection center by ~45:
http://puu.sh/qyt0x/4a33a935ef.jpg05:13:086 – There's this drum track here and elsewhere that is kind of strong. Imo, the vocals are not the focus of this section (though you do a good job of highlighting them where appropriate), and the drum really stands out here. Try going with a rhythm like this for this section:
http://puu.sh/qyt7P/9f06704c31.jpgOkay, so I talked a fair amount of design improvements, some rhythm suggestions, a little about smoother transitions/flows, and a slight bit about emphasizing certain notes with more appropriate DS. I'd like to get more subjective and talk about your pacing. I know you understand it pretty well. You made the strong kiai sections strong with big spacing at 03:17:414 (1) - , and you made the calm sections really slow with slow SV's and small pacing, and there are times where I feel the difficulty/intensity of the map is just right compared to the intensity of the song. However, there are quite a few places I feel aren't paced well. Consider 03:38:414 (1,2,3,4,5,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8) - . This is the climax of the kiai section, and it has a strong emotional feeling in the music. However, when you compare it to patterns like 03:20:226 (1,2,3,4,5,1,2,3,4,1,2,3) – the pattern during the climax doesn't feel very strong at all. This makes this section not as fun as it could be. Pacing is pretty challenging because it requires you to compare every note of the song and every beat in your map with every other note and every other beat, but I do think you should consider what parts should be strong and exactly how strong they should be a bit more. The more experience you get, the easier it will be. If you have any specific instance you want to get my opinion on, I'd be happy to talk to you about it, but I'll let you come to me instead of pointing more out.
Anyway, great song, I'm glad you mapped it. There were some pretty cool flows that I thought were on point, but overall the map feels like it has a lot more potential, so try getting more mods before asking for BN's. Best of luck!
C 
.If you agreed, don't forget to re-put the HS
