Hi. Here from Christams Queue. Hope this finds you well!
[Ding Dong!]
01:03:731 (2,1) – This flow was pretty uncomfortable, and I didn't feel anything in the music that warranted this level of discomfort. It contrasts pretty strongly with 01:03:017 (1,2) – and I don't get why.
02:39:445 (2,1) - ^ same thing for the mirror
01:10:874 (3,4) – This overlap is going for a different aesthetic than the equal visual spacing at 01:10:159 (1,2,3) - , so something looked out of place. Stacking (4) on (1)'s end would be one way of keeping a cohesive aesthetic.
01:15:517 (4,2) – ^ Same thing, though it's possible I just don't like overlaps that much. I feel like shooting for something like this is more in line with your other aesthetics:
http://puu.sh/ygXIx/05955ef8eb.jpg01:24:088 (4,5) – This can sometimes be confusing as reading it as 1/3 rhythm instead of 2/3 rhythm, but maybe this isn't an issue, I'm not the target audience anyway.
01:30:398 (2,3,4) – What are your thoughts on turning this into two circles instead of a slider each? I'll talk about my thoughts more later.
03:06:112 (2,3,4) -
04:10:398 (2,3,4) -
02:20:159 (1,2) – This symmetry looks a tiny bit off. Rotate this by 5 or 6 degrees clockwise and the y-values will line up, but the x-values won't (I'm doing ctrl + G twice to make the slider ends snap to their actual co-oridnates). Try to get them symmetrical there and then rotate them back into your blanket.
02:48:731 (1,2,1,2) – The overlapping (2) sliders had really cool flow
02:55:874 (1,3) – compare to 02:58:731 (1,3) - . Why is one stacked and the other not? Overall I like the stack one more so I want you to change 03:05:517 (5,2) – and 03:12:302 (3,1) - , but if you're going for a new aesthetic, okay, that seems fine, this isn't an issue. But I don't understand why some are and some aren't, so the contrast between them only felt distracting as opposed to embellishing something in the song.
03:38:255 (4,5,6,1,3,4,6,1) – See the pacing discussion for more, but why did you choose to stack these?
03:44:564 (1,1) – the low recovery time made me really have to try hard and focus which raised my level of stress (I don't want to say intensity or engagement because those have too positive of connotations). Do you feel like the music is very strong here to warrant that? I don't see it that way. Consider ending the spinner earlier (I feel like it doesn't have to snap to a specific beat).
04:01:945 (2,3) – These don't overlap that strongly. There is such a minor overlap that it looks pretty different from overlaps like 04:03:017 (1,3) – in an ugly way. Try embracing that overlap a little more, even if it only gets as far as what you did at 04:11:588 (1,2) -
When I first played this difficulty, I felt like this was not a mapping style for me. I like jumps more than I like streams, so seeing 00:25:874 (1,2,3,1,2,3,1) – made me a nervous but okay to keep playing, and then 00:36:112 (2,1,2,3,1,2,3,1,2,3,1) – made me quit. It's not that I hate spaced streams, but they are very challenging, especially when I have to change the flow in the opposite direction mid-stream. So what I'm getting at is that most of the map was easy except for spots like 01:19:088 (1,2,3,1,2,3,1,2,3) - . This felt like a huge difficulty spike and the only barrier to entry for someone like me who is sort of “getting there” when it comes to spaced streams. It makes me want to say “well I'm not the target audience, so who cares, I'll go play something else,” which may very well be true. But what about the people who finds this pattern a good level of engagement? In my mind, these players will be very skilled at spaced streams. Will they find a satisfactory level of engagement at 01:30:398 (2,3,4) – or 03:38:255 (4,5,6,1,3,4,6,1) – which to me sound like strong parts of the song? And what about parts like 02:55:874 (1,2,3,4,5,1,2,3) – that have exciting vocals on the chorus? If I were only listening to the song instead of playing osu, I would say these were parts that felt particularly strong or interesting. Again, that might put me out of the target audience if I like these tracks but the map doesn't, but is it possible to make these parts feel special if the bar is set as high as 02:54:803 (1,2,3,1,2,3,1,2,3) - ? Does 02:54:803 (1,2,3,1,2,3,1,2,3) - even feel like a strong part of the song to deserve so much intensity?
I'm out of time. Good luck!