Hey, thanks for the mod! I think a lot of your points were useful, and really helped to flesh out these diffs. I'll probably go thorough and fix up some things regarding the patterning being similar over the entire map, make some patterns different than others.Protastic101 wrote:
Well this is one hella nice song. Funny thing is I just finished modding another F-777 map. Anyways, I tend to focus in modding the lower difficulties, so I most likely won't get to SC or AIRBORNE as they're out of my modding comfort zone and I'm too lazy to do a full mod *am shameless kds farmer*
Also, yay! Another American mapper o/ \o
Column 1|2|3|4*plop*[General][NM]00:20:499 (20499|0) and 00:25:299 (25299|0) - I'd consider making notes like these 1/2 LNs because they're still part of the synth like 00:21:699 (21699|2,22899|3) so it helps to transition into the 1/2 short notes in the beginning of the next measure I guess? Makes sense, but I made them 1/1 LNs instead, just for consistency with the previous two siders
- You're most likely going to need a difficulty between SC and AIRBORNE because the difficulty gap is too high. Take for example this map https://osu.ppy.sh/b/624725 which was asked to make a 5* difficulty between the 4* and 6* one due to a large difficulty gap. The same will probably apply here. Might wanna hit up Exceed for that GD he offered you. https://osu.ppy.sh/b/421066&m=3 Whereas Aiae has a 2*+ difference between SHD and SC. But, my map isn't even close to that; SC is a 4.97* and AIRBORNE is 6.21*, making them only 1.2-ish stars apart. SC is essentially a 5* map, and because of that I think it should be fine.
- For SC, I'd suggest using a slightly lower OD, maybe ~8.7 due to note:LN ratio. I feel like 9 is just for maps with only ~100 LNs or so and rest is rice. Yeah, that's fair. Noted.
- Dear god, not OD 10 for AIRBORNE XD Anyways, similar to what I said above, you only see OD 10 used for maps with no LNs, and even then it's very rare. Take https://osu.ppy.sh/b/579709 for example. No LNs, still uses OD 9. https://osu.ppy.sh/b/1001677 too, 0 LNs, used OD 8.5 (though it's a bit easier). I'd recommend using OD 9.5 at the highest, more recommendable ~9.2 though. ehehe yeah, good idea. OD 10 might be a bit too much. I'll tone it down, then.
00:48:249 (48249|0) - Why not consider turning one of these notes into a 1/1 LN due to the strong synth on the downbeat of measures like this and 01:00:249 - 01:05:049 That's a good idea, fixed
01:06:249 (66249|0) - It'd feel a little more natural to end this at 01:06:549 which is when the bass synth stops playing and all you can hear are the fast 1/4 beeps for the LNs. I think leaving it how it is might be better, since the player doesn't need to worry about letting it go at the right point, they just hold until they press a different note. Also, the beeping that starts where you indicated isn't a clean stop, as it kind of extends the bass synth.
01:11:649 (71649|2) - It also feels a bit more natural to start this at 01:11:574 which encompasses the glissando into 01:11:649 Alright, sounds good.
01:26:199 (86199|0,86349|1) - Try control J here so that these two notes will be the opposite of 01:25:749 (85749|2,85899|3) similar to what you did at 01:26:949 Ok, but instead I'm going to switch the ones at 01:25:749 (85749|3,85899|2) - just because then I avoid a jack at 01:26:349 (86349|1,86649|0)
01:33:699 (93699|0) - Make this an LN like I said before just because it's part of the synths that you mapped with LNs. K
01:36:249 - Add an LN here and end at 01:37:149 so it's similar to the LNs like 01:30:099 (90099|2,91299|3) because it feels strange if you leave out the LN here since the player is accustomed to that kind of structure in this section by now. I would, but I feel like it's more important to emphasize the drums here, and doing both isn't the best idea for NM... so for now, I'm keeping it how it is
02:06:249 (126249|0,126549|0) - I'd try avoiding jacks now because imo, they don't look at nice unless the pitch is the same (pr), and they come as a surprise because most players at this level aren't used to seeing or playing jacks like this. Consider moving 02:06:549 (126549|0) to 4 then. Alright, that's fair. I'll change it
02:26:649 (146649|0) and 02:29:049 (149049|1) - and etc. Anyways, I'd consider making these LNs into short notes because then the LNs like 02:27:849 (147849|1) are much more accented due to the lack of LNs in the section. I can hear what you're talking about, sounds good.
04:23:049 (263049|3) - Since this is the same pitch as 04:22:749 (262749|2) , consider moving this to 2 to follow pitch relevancy okey
04:23:949 (263949|2,264249|0) - ^^
04:25:449 (265449|2,265449|1) - I'd suggest making this a {14} double instead since it avoids a jack with 04:25:149 (265149|1) and has a bit more of a final feel to it imo (kind of like you're encompassing all the notes in the song with that final chord). I like that alot, changed
[HD]00:31:449 (31449|0) - Remove this note. It belongs to the background synth and not the melody one like at 00:31:599 (31599|1,31749|2,31899|3) . To add to that, you didn't map the same sound at 00:32:049 which will be confusing because players won't know what instrument they should be listening out for and playing to. The thing about this note is, I can definitely hear a note here which is part of the notes 00:31:599 (31599|1,31749|2,31899|3) - It sounds like a 1-2-3-4 pattern, not just 3. So mapping this note makes sense to me, while mapping a note 00:32:049 doesn't because it's the synth, like you said.
00:52:374 (52374|1,52524|1) - I highly suggest moving these notes so that they're not jacked because the rhythm here is tricky since it's rare to play 2 notes 1/2 beat apart on a 1/4 tick. It'll be easier to read if they're in separate columns. Okiedoke
00:53:274 (53274|1) - I'd consider making the 1/4 LNs like this short notes in this difficulty because players at this level aren't the best at figuring out which LNs to treat as short notes and which ones they should hold down, and it's also very fast due to the BPM, which makes it even more difficult to read.
01:11:499 (71499|3) - This is a ghost note because the synth doesn't roll into 01:11:649 , it's more of a very short glissando that starts at 01:11:574 instead. Like the notes at 00:52:374 (52374|1,52524|1) I understand your point. Having the 1/4 LNs was a mistake in the first place, so good call.
02:06:099 - Consider adding a note here for the kick because you mapped to the synths and drums in this measure. If accepted, you could probably have the note at 2 and move 02:06:249 (126249|1) to 4. Hmmm, ok, I guess that works. I'd be worried about the 1/2 reverse shield on the LN beforehand, but I don't think it's that big of a deal. Changed
03:42:249 - I didn't mention it the last time these appeared, but I think that the 5 note bursts like 03:42:399 (222399|0,222474|1,222549|2,222624|3,222699|2) might be too difficult for this BPM and difficulty. I would stick to 3 note bursts instead, so like removing 03:42:624 (222624|3,222699|2) or 03:43:824 (223824|1,223899|2) to reduce the bursts to 3 notes long. It still makes sense for the music, and is slightly easier for players at this level who aren't used to 200 bpm streams. I feel like having it only be 3 notes long doesn't quite make sense for the music, because you stop playing a certain instrument but it continues to play in the background. I understand what you mean, though. So I think I'll end up making the bust more 'rolly', instead of having the 3,4,3 at 03:42:549 (222549|2,222624|3,222699|2) - I'll make it 3,4,1. That's just an example, I'll go through the rest of the bursty part and fix those up. But, having only 3 in a row might be a bit too little.
What I noticed about this difficulty is that it feels like an in between of HD and MX, since it utilizes some patterns mainly seen in MX (1/4 LNs, broken burst streams at high bpm, but light LN usage during calmer parts without a 1/1 beat to back it up, etc). Another thing is the kick-snare chord layering. Since kicks are normally weaker sounding than snares, they're layered with less notes, but in this difficulty, you treat them the same, which would be fine in MX, but in HD, I'm highly recommend differentiating between kick and snare. Example being 04:00:249 (240249|3,240249|1) which is a kick but uses two notes, and 04:00:549 (240549|2,240549|0) which is a snare that is louder than the previous sound, but utilizes the same amount of notes as the previous kick. My only issue with this is being able to differentiate between the simple synth/soft hats in the background, and the kicks and snares in the foreground. I'd rather not use hands to signify the kick&snare, but having the normal kick be the same as a soft hat feels cheap. So, I think for now how it is is fine, as the kicks are closer to the kick/snare than the soft hats, but if this issue does come up again in the future I might revise my ideas. Good input nonetheless, thanks.
[MX]00:29:049 - The chords here become a little confusing to read due to the fast 1/2 jacks like 00:29:349 (29349|2,29499|2) or 00:29:949 (29949|2,30099|2) . My suggestion is instead of using double stairs like at 00:30:399 , you just use a mini chord trill like so or at 00:31:449 I like the idea of these mini jump trills, it makes it easier to play/read and also differentiates this diff from SC. Thanks!
00:45:849 - This trill is kind of difficult to execute properly, due to both the bpm of this song and the fact that the trills are split into 2's, when most people would count in 4's. My suggestion is to change this to a stair pattern or roll like so or I understand the thought behind this, but having it as stairs would push it further towards HD which isn't where I want it to be - it should be its own diff, and I think the trills right now help it do so. Maybe I'll break them up into two trills each part, but stairs are probably out of the question
00:48:999 - You know the chord layering I mentioned in HD? I would highly suggest lowering it for this difficult to 1 note = kick, 2 notes = snare because you're just now introducing a higher chord layer when that should have been done in a lower difficulty without the 1/4 bursts around the notes to help players ease into this difficulty. <- makes no sense, wtf am I writing. What I mean is in this diff, you should use singles = kick, doubles = snare so that it's easier to read the bursts surrounding the notes. Then, you can introduce the 1/4 bursts with doubles and triples. It's a good point, but like I said in HD, if the kick becomes only one note then it just becomes part of the burst around it. So, having both kicks and kick/snares stand out from the bursty part, I think, adds more structure to the song.
01:07:899 (67899|0,68049|0) - I understand that the reason why you have these anchors is for the synth in the background, but the anchors make this section far too difficult to read the bursts properly. I highly recommend you forego the pitch relevancy here and instead move this to another column like 2 to relieve some of the stress on the left middle finger. Y'know, that's a great idea. It helps a ton with readability, thanks!
01:27:849 - Where did the bursts go? This section of the music is the exact same as 00:48:249 except instead of the 1/4 synths, it's replaced by 1/4 hihats or shakers (whatever instrument that is). It feels strange since the intensity of the music at 01:27:849 feels about equal to the one at 00:48:249 . So, back in a previous mod I ended up removing those burst patterns, and keeping only the ones you mention below. This was because the synth now goes back to the melody, and the hihats in the background are fairly difficult to hear here; whereas before, the synth that caused the bursts was very up front and evident.
01:31:899 (91899|2,91974|3,92049|2,92124|3) - Going off the above, remove these notes if you aren't going to map the rest of the 1/4 bursts in this section. These notes, however, have a stronger beat than the hihats in the rest of the section, and so I think they should be mapped. Trust me, I'd like to have the burst go for the whole time, but that's what SC and AIRBORNE are for. In MX it should just be for a short while, I think.
01:41:499 (101499|1,101574|0,101649|1,101724|0) - Gaben, stahp Gaben? :v
02:25:449 - Consistency, if you're going to map the 1/4 shakers here, you should map them in the last section I mentioned, otherwise the player won't be expecting the bursts since they'll have concluded you ignore those sounds in this difficulty. Well, now it's about relativity, since here the hihats are much easier to hear with the music much quieter, whereas before they were too quiet in the overall noise of the song. I could change this later, if it becomes an issue, but for now I think it's best how it is.
Basically, everything past here is just a copy paste of the beginning, so whatever I said here applies there too. Okey
One thing I notice about this map is that it's repetitive in that it reuses the same set of notes in the same columns over and over, which isn't a bad thing, except it looks like you copy pasted parts from the beginning into the end without switching up the note distribution which leads to some boring and repetitive game play. Consider switching some of the note placements around.
And don't worry about mapping these three diffs only, any help I can get is greatly appreciated.