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Feedback for first map

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jayxi
I was really interested in trying mapping so I created a map, but I don't know how to get feedback to it or even if this is the right place to ask for some.
Here is the map. I would be greatful if I were to get all my mistakes pointed out (if I repeat the same mistake over and over, i will get what you mean so dont waste any time) and dont try not to discourage me because I really want to improve my mapping skills.
https://osu.ppy.sh/beatmapsets/1016362#osu/2127137

Thank you for you feedback.
dqsh

jayxi wrote:

I was really interested in trying mapping so I created a map, but I don't know how to get feedback to it or even if this is the right place to ask for some.


This forum is for Mapping Techniques, but we can still mod your map if you want. Click on the Discussion button on the map page and most of us will point out issues there.

Good luck on your first map

Edit: Here is a link to the modding queues for future use
Endaris
Given the specific nature of the map I think it is the correct choice to ask for the potential in such songs in general instead of seeking out modding queues especially given that many people like to skip the timing part and don't bother with anything that isn't single bpm in the first place and won't be able to help you if you applied in their queue.
Either way, the question would have been better in General Questions.

I will discuss the matter a bit as it is always a bit difficult to decide and depends on the specific song in question so you get an impression what you may want to look out for, how it can end up etc. I have a similarly problematic taste in music when it comes to mapping so I have been through this by experience.

There are 3 specific attributes in songs that tend to be problematic when it comes to timing:
1. They have no drumline
2. They are slow
(3. They are recorded live, not in studio)

We will ignore (3) a bit as that is mainly an issue for rather old recordings when staying in time wasn't as much of a priority as it is nowadays.

Overall it boils down to one problem and that is imperfection of the musicians. The slower a song is, the more difficult it is to keep a perfect tempo and if timed with a single timing section, the notes will fall mostly on but partially also closely around the offset.
What I want you to do for an impression is to go to the Timing tab in your map, set replay speed to 25% in the bottom left and hold Ctrl during playback (this will double the amount of metronome ticks).
I think you will very quickly notice that your timing is indeed not accurate, e.g. the tick at 00:32:939 - already being early for the lute (or whatever it is)

One thing you generally want to note regarding timing is that you always want to go for the instruments and preferably drums as these are most consistent in keeping time. As an extension of that, you should assume that the vocalist is always the least accurate with their timing unless it's a vocaloid song so you should never time the vocalist.
In this specific song you should stick to the lute as a result.

So with concluding what you should look out for when attempting to time such songs in the first place, back to the question whether this can be mapped or not:
The answer is clearly yes, but it can be very tedious to time. You already did some offset resets to get back in time and in fact you'd need to listen more closely and with lower playback rate and go from the song to start to end slowly and repeatedly to make sure that every sound is accurately snapped to a tick. As a rough estimate you could probably get away here with about 100-150 timing points which is actually not so bad. When I first tried to time an acoustic fingerstyle guitar song I was at 400 timing points around 75% through and eventually abandoned it because it made my ears bleed (not literally).
Other songs of a similar genre might have a way more straightforward timing than this specific song though, depending on their instrumentalisation, speed and studio recording.

Just for an impression of other slow/weirdly timed songs:
https://osu.ppy.sh/beatmapsets/21310#osu/74401
Straightforward to time, not too far off genrewise I think but really, just having the drums makes this trivial here

https://osu.ppy.sh/beatmapsets/168161#osu/410249
Different in genre but you have a reoccuring soft rattle like sound that keeps the timing which makes this again - trivial!

https://osu.ppy.sh/beatmapsets/36313#osu/117349
This has no drums but the background instrumental is generally a lot more dense with the piano compared to the lute in your song which makes it a lot more steady timingwise and in the end trivial

https://osu.ppy.sh/beatmapsets/912844#osu/1906932
It has drums and several instruments but it is a live recording, the drums don't keep time and overall it is horrendous to time.

https://osu.ppy.sh/beatmapsets/65994#osu/203906
The most commonly known example in osu! of a song that does not even try to keep time in the first place. There are more ranked maps with timings like this but they're rare as timing is nowhere near as fun as mapping.

https://osu.ppy.sh/beatmapsets/92795#osu/383474
A song I love very much but suffers from the same issues as the song in your map. While the 50bpm and the first offset are technically correct, there are frequently guitar sounds that stray audibly from the timing and would require additional handling that was not done here.

https://osu.ppy.sh/beatmapsets/299538#osu/671988
The acoustic guitar song I mentioned earlier. This was the first thing I tried to map but the timing eventually burned me out. It is arguably way worse than your song as there a lot more freestyle deviation in tempo for the sake of expression as it is a solo performance. More instruments generally tend to make the tempo more steady as all instruments need to sync through changes in tempo which is generally difficult to achieve and thus sparingly used in bigger ensembles.

https://osu.ppy.sh/beatmapsets/195888#osu/464644 This is roughly how it may look if you actually end up fixing your timing for deviations. This song does have significantly less sounds than your song so it gets away with a mere 31 timing sections.

tl;dr: Overall as a conclusion:
Yes, this type of song is mappable.
It depends on the specific song in question whether the timing needs a lot of work or not.
Generally speaking the more instruments are present, the better, if there is any kind of percussion that's great. These are no guarantees but good indicators. Don't trust the vocalist's timing.
My advice would be trying to find a song that is similar but has an easier timing. Based on the criteria I named above, you should be able to do an educated preselection of songs that have a potentially easier timing and then check whether it is in fact easy or not.
For a correct approach on timing this and similar songs reference the video on variable bpm in this guide on timing if you haven't watched it yet. To determine whether a song is problematic or not, try to time it as single bpm first (using the single bpm guide in there) and then listen to it once on normal speed and then on 25% with Ctrl held.

There are other general issues with your mapping/hitsounding I could address but this post took kinda look to type. For more general feedback you're usually better off asking for a testplay and a general impression in #modhelp ingame instead of referring to modding queues.
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