Moonlit wrote:

From ANZ Mapping Discord

Gave it a few plays, and there are a few things many things i can give feedback on yay feedback

General

You have a good grasp of flow; the map flows comfortably throughout. However, it sticks to a few specific patterns too much and as a result is very repetitive in terms of movement and object placement. Having the map be coherent in similar sections is useful to map the map feel like a singular, complete idea but overdoing it is boring.
This pattern: 02:58:115 (1,2,3,4,5) - stood out to me so much because it stood out from the rest of the map in terms of patterning and flow. It also fits the song so well. Try to find more opportunities to implement different ideas in the different sections of a map, to give each section its own style that fits the music while also the map as a whole.
yeah im still working a lot on actual patterns, its hard because in my head itm more rhythm focused so im gonna over look a lot, but im glad you liked the pattern

Rhythm

Rhythm choice in this map was oversimplified, especially considering the difficulty. i know i have that problem but i just map what i hear, and what i hear is what i wanna play, rhythm choice is a big thing i focus on, i know how to pick rhythm and map coherently as more "generic" type/style maps are but thats boring to me and when playing i find a lot of maps uninteresting, and yeah i know i should do rhythm whats based for a good map but imo a good map follows what i personally hear, and thats gonna vary from person to person so my rhythm choice is not gonna make sense to a lot of people, ive worked hard on this so people will understand but im just ranting now LOL hope everyone understand why my map has a lot of "weird" rhythm choices

The rampaging drums at 00:11:165 (7,8,9) - are strangely not mapped, yet you map most of the other 1/4 streams in the song. If you are going to map a rhythm like this in some of the song, try to be consistent throughout the map. If some streams are randomly absent, while others are long spaced streams, it can difficult to predict the patterns as a player.
00:16:415 (3,4,5) - you ignore it here too yeah as above i map what i hear, as much as i love streams it doesnt follow what i hear in my head o.o

00:13:865 (3) - ,
00:18:665 (1,2) - These two sound like 1/2 beat should be present instead of a slider and nothing respectively. i did it for emphesis and at the time made sense, will fix
01:30:665 (3) - at least you were consistent, but it should still be changed imo. This slider is on a very different rhythm than the other sliders around it really? i dont see it

01:28:865 (10) - Make it a beat long slider? (red tick to red tick)
01:31:265 (1) - ^ and all the others. 01:33:665 (1) - you do it here for example and it works owo yes i like that better

01:38:465 (11) - Maybe shorten by 1/2 beat, and add a circle or 1/2 slider after? Ending on the significant vocal here doesnt make sense when the shorter slider would still fit the drums and the vocals here. kinda weird spot, i had it end on vocal so it doesnt blend into the next part, because to me all i can hear is the guitar, its kinda "breating room" idk its a transition that makes sense to me (but maybe only me) i can change if people hate it
01:39:215 (1,2,3,4,5,6,7) - This rhythm is a bit strange because you skip a few notes and use some sliders but the section seems to be a whole lot of 1/2 in the music...instead you could use circles for the whole thing, and use the spacing/angles of these to depict what you think is most significant. Something like acute angles and or high distance for more important sounds. i had it like that for emphesis, it doesnt need to be like that i guess so i changed it a little, but the long slider imo needs to be emphasized so ill have a circle overlapping it still (its really just following guitar 100% here its honestly all i can hear so changing it too much wont make sense to me)

01:45:965 (2,3,4,1,2,3,4) - I was gonna talk about the patterning/spacing issues separately but this is weird in both rhythm and pattern
- 01:45:965 (2,3) - These are two kicks; basically they are identical sounds so it makes sense they are placed close together
-01:46:265 (4) - But then this is just a guitar sound; shouldn't it be placed differently? im just following guitar, imo what i did follows it perfectly, i completly understand how youd like it mapped but it goes against what i hear o.o
-01:46:565 (2,3) - as above these make sense to be close together, but are placed in a pattern with the snare 01:46:415 (1) -
Its very strange to play and i can't see why its mapped like that, with 01:47:165 (1,2,3,4,5,6) - being a much better fit to its own similar part just afterwards. i mapped drums here because it made sense yeah,

01:57:815 (5,1,3) - What are these following? Either map a few long slow sliderarts that extend to almost the downbeat, or map several smaller rhythms in a consistent fashion. Also do the same for the previous chorus ( 00:41:015 (9) - ) theyre following guitars chords, i mapped it badly so ill fill it out how i should have, didnt seem a good idea to have it how i did so yeah changing
02:05:090 (2) - This isn't mapped to anything i can hear so i assume you put it in to make the stream flow. I would rather have it gone, but if you insist on the rhythm maybe just go with a 1/4 slider on 02:05:015 (1) - yeah you right,
00:42:215 (1) - Unnecessarily hard to read (basically impossible to read on first try). If you are sticking with slider art, replace this with literally anything else
o.o was fine when i asked others to play test, but yeah changing
02:36:440 (14) - Maybe add circle here? why? o.o its no different rhythm wise than the rest
02:41:915 (4) - Why is this a slider and not a circle? Using a slider here devalues the slider 02:42:815 (11) - ,which is designed for emphasis. Also there's no 1/4 rhythm here and you never use any patterning like this in the rest of the map. good point fixed
03:17:915 (4) - ^ changed to reflect guitar better
01:46:865 (4,5) - Should probably be a triple here. didnt add because i just didnt hear it when mapping but i like it so adding (yes my brain blocks out drums 90% of the time mapping is hard)

02:48:515 (2,3) - The second slider should be a circle right? After all it seems like you are following the bass guitar/drums, which end on that beat but not the offbeat that the current slider ends on. Maybe you are also following the other guitar? why not continue the rhythm with a note on 02:49:115 (1) - ? One or the other makes sense, but not the current rhythm. good points fixed

03:15:515 (6) - ending a repeat on the downbeat is usually a bad idea. The down beat is supposed to be a strong click and the end of a repeat slider is possibly the weakest object in the game. i dont hear a down beat? maybe im thinking about it wrong
03:16:340 (10) - Not mapped to anything, delete deleted

03:21:665 (1) - I would move this slider to start on the downbeat and have a circle take its original place. Fits the vocals better really? what i did seems to fit comfy for me atleast

03:42:215 (1,2) - everything between these: cant you just have a break here? I don't feel like the sliders really add to the map. i just like the soft guitar and wanted to add it in but i guess it doesnt really add anything

03:56:915 (1,2,3,4,5,6,1,2,3,4,5,6,1,2,3,4,5,6,7) - Why no stream here? Spaced streams seem to be a big part of this map, and doing a extended stream with increasing spacing could fit the theme of the map (and the literal music) better than generic jumps.
Remember that star rating isn't everything
AAAAAAAAA i knew id get called out for star rating, i mapped this listening to the guitar chugs (yes everythings guitar with me its just what i like) so i dont wanna change ;w; i can make the jumps less intense? fits imo but i can see if less "overmapped" jumps, but yeah as much as i love streams it doesnt fit how i hear the song (and i love spaced streams)

Patterning/Placements

For patterning I want to talk about the streams. I appreciate the spaced streams, but they aren't consistent nor spaced intuitively.
02:24:440 (1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13) - Take this for example. The snare roll is the first section, mapped with low spacing and the toms are mapped with high spacing. Having a different spacing between the two makes sense, but I disagree that the toms are more intense than the snares (intensity being signified by spacing). So the spacing should be the other way around. i wanted to build up to the slow slider which seemed fine but yeah good point fixed other way is better
00:59:240 (1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11) - ^ There may be other examples too yes fixed
02:05:165 (2,3,4,5,6,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8) - Spacing makes sense here, so its unclear if you are intentionally using unconventional spacing as above. yeah i was actually lol

Did you place all these streams by hand? some such as 04:10:115 (6,7,8,9) - are actually random distances between notes and very messy in shape. Instead you should use sliders to map out your curve or line, then convert the slider to stream (ctrl + F).
Also while im here, why does 04:10:115 (6,7,8,9) - have different spacing from 04:10:565 (1,2,3,4) - and 04:11:165 (2,3,4,5,6,7) - ? These are just the same drum roll. tbh i think i had a reason in my head at the time but fixed (maybe?)
Its going to take a lot of remapping but if you want this map to look tidy you need to go back and replace all those curved streams with converted sliders.

01:07:940 (5,6,7,8,9) - not sure why spacing is higher than next notes when drums are same
01:08:615 (1) - almost offscreen
02:25:415 (1) - ^ fix
02:41:915 (4,5,6,7) - Visually hard to read as a player. People are used to seeing 1/4 sliders as just circles, so there's no need to strictly follow the slidertail with subsequent patterns. You can just move the triple or the slider to fix that. Actually refer to my point above when fixing this changed

03:06:365 (5,6,7,8,9) - This stacking pattern is incredibly confusing to read. I can see why you placed the notes that way but the gap in rhythm actually makes this harder than having constant 1/2. Would recommend replacing 03:06:365 (5) - with a 1/2 slider to fit the vocal i did it for emphasis but i like your idea better

03:13:115 (1,2,3,4) - Difficult to read and would fit better as circles (each 1/2 beat is repeated over and over) this is fine o.o if people have trouble reading i can change but makes sense to me D;

04:40:565 (3,4,5,6) - I don't think this should be the largest spaced stream of the map...it detracts from the final stream just afterwards, which should be one the most intense
youre right LOL idk what i was thinking

Combos

Combos in this map are slightly off in places. Combos are designed to cut up the map into the individual patterns, and should be tied to the rhythm and shape of the patterns used. NC should denote major changes such as chords, rhythm etc.
Also its good to aim for combos to be around the same length throughout the map (to keep relative drain rate consistent).
A very useful rule of thumb is to NC every downbeat (or on the 1/2 beat before the downbeat in some cases, like you did here: 00:21:665 (1) - ) i try but im not good xd

00:48:890 (1) - Avoid NC on blue ticks; the music isn't changing its core ideas on blue ticks here, and it almost never does in ANY song. i just did to shorten combo D:

00:50:015 (1) - remove NC, and move the NC back to 00:49:415 (8) - . This would make 00:49:415 (8,1,2) - a sort of "grouping" - a combo, as they are grouped in the music.much better :^)

00:52:415 (1) - No NC, move to 00:52:865 (4) - as explained above
00:57:065 (1,5) - ^
01:02:015 (1,4) - ^
01:04:265 (1,5) - ^ You get the idea. Just listen in the song and you will hear the progression. Disregard your object placement while NC'ing because it's based on the music (and your patterns should be based on that but that's a tangent)

01:09:365 (1) - No need to NC here
01:26:915 (1) - ^
01:27:815 (1) - ^

01:38:465 (11) - NC, no NC 01:39:215 (1) - etc fix fix fix fix

Overlaps

This map utilises overlaps quite often. Unfortunately they are very inconsistent and give the impression of being used randomly or even resulting from carelessness.
02:35:915 (12,13) -
00:31:115 (13,1) -
00:34:115 (1,2,3,2) -
00:36:965 (3,5) - and more

This kind of overlapping is only really seen in beginner mappers for a reason...it's not aesthetically pleasing and gives the map a lazy or rushed quality. Instead try to take notes from other mappers who utilise overlaps, like Kyshiro or even Lesjuh (old mapper) to get an idea of visually appealing overlaps.
Overlaps are actually not that common in modern mapping anymore and i struggled to find relevant examples so your best bet is to look at older stuff. It's unpopular for a reason though so maybe you don't want to get too attached to it (Personally i love overlaps done well).yeah i never use to focus on blankets or overlaps, ive been trying to fit them in more so im gonna be really bad at making it look good

I know its a hefty chunk of text, but i hope it helped. Feel free to message me anywhere and i'll clarify or help with further questions.

Regardless of what happens with this map, good luck with future projects. Mapping is a constant learning experience for everyone and everyone has to start somewhere. You have some good ideas - all they need is some refining. Keep at it! always map for fun and never rank :^) but yeah my maps will always be weird, and you helpt a lot, and thanks a lot for writing such a big mod you spent a really long time on it so i appreciate your helping a lot