As explained on IRC, this mod will focus on the Imagine Breaker difficulties. Keep what I said in mind when going through it: this is going to be a very subjective look at your difficulties and should in no way be taken as the ultimate truth or whatever. Take what you want from this and twist it to fit your tastes, but you need to make sure you understand what I'm saying.
I will be giving examples of what I would personally do if I were to map this. Take this as what they are: examples. If you like them, feel free to adapt them to fit your idea of what you want this map to be, but ultimately, it is your map.
WARNING: this is going to be a massive mod. Take all the time you need to go through it.
Let's go with generic stuff first. You can apply most of what I'm going to say to all difficulties (including lower ones), but I'll be picking examples from the Imagine Breaker difficulty.
First of all, both difficulties are visually unappealing. Overlaps like 00:01:317 (4,2) - 00:01:645 (1,1) - 00:03:612 (3,4,1,2) - or fake stacks like 00:00:989 (3,3) - look terrible unless they're part of a pattern, which isn't the case here. Sliders look ok, but their curves are randomly distributed through the difficulty, often changing within the same combo, which makes them inconsistent and in turn looks bad. You need to tidy up the difficulty to make sure to either avoid overlaps or have perfect stacks. The ugliest thing ever is a slider overlapping another slider, but I haven't seen any in this difficulty, so that's good. Visuals are more important than people think.
In terms of rhythms, this isn't so bad, actually. The circle/slider distribution could be improved, but we're stepping into completely subjective things here, about how I personally pick rhythms and map. The one thing you need to know about is passive/active beats. Active beats are circles and the first end of sliders, which need to be clicked and are therefore "active", and passive beats are... the rest (slider repeats and ends). Active beats should always be used for important notes in the song or emphasized ones, as the lack of mechanical feedback from the key you're pressing goes against what your ears are telling you when playing such strong beats. Typically, white ticks are stronger than the others, but there can be exceptions. Listen to the song and try to figure out which beats are the most important. You can use sliderends for weaker beats and to fill in to complete a rhythm to avoid having a blank.
Map density (ie number of objects per second) should be even through the different parts of the song. Let's look at the song first and foremost. Here is how it is structured (use bookmarks to save these points, I will be referring to them later on):
- 00:00:334 - to 00:10:825 - instrumental intro
- 00:10:825 - to 00:16:071 - you chose to have a break at this part, which is the end of the introduction (kind of intro v2)
- 00:16:071 - 00:21:317 - this is some kind of bridge, let's refer to it as such
- 00:21:317 - to 00:31:809 - verse 1
- 00:31:809 - to 00:37:055 - transition towards a second verse
- 00:37:055 - to 00:50:170 - verse 2. Notice how it's split into two different parts, which your map already renders fairly well, at this point 00:42:301 - the part before it has abnormal drumline (which you decided to follow), then switches back to the regular one after it
- 00:50:170 - to 00:52:793 - bridge 2
- 00:52:793 - to 01:03:284 - chorus 1
- 01:03:284 - to 01:13:776 - chorus 2, which repeats chorus 1. You could restart the kiai at this point, stopping the previous one at 01:01:973 - or 01:02:793 - for example (I honestly prefer this spot)
- 01:13:776 - to 01:19:022 - bridge 3, there shouldn't be any kiai here
- 01:19:022 - to 01:29:350 - instrumental outro, which repeats the intro
That's the song structure. You'll notice that some parts are repeated (for example, the chorus is played twice, the intro and outro are the same). Ideally, repeated parts in the song should lead to similar (not copypasted!) parts in the map. The map should follow the song's structure. In terms of density, the map should follow the song's density and be consistent. For example, the density should be the same for both choruses (intro and outro are an exception, I'll talk about it later), and should be constant through a single section of the map. As an example, the density of your map changes at this point 00:26:563 (3) - for the first chorus and that's not good. Listening to the song, here's an idea of how I would handle density:
- intro: what you have now is good. Constant 1/2 to follow the song, but with sliders to avoid making it too stressful to play.
- bridge 1: what you have is good too.
- verse 1: Minus the sudden increase in density I pointed out, what you did is good. This should be roughly the same density as bridge 1. Mostly 1/2 with occasional 1/1s following the song.
- transition: I'd go with a lower density than verse 1 here, with less 1/2 basically
- verse 2: what you did is awesome. Low density for the first part to transition from the transition (lol) and to stay consistent with verse 1, then much higher density on the second part when the drumline changes
- bridge 2: what you did is good
- chorus 1 and 2: I'd basically go with constant 1/2 here, focusing on vocals+drums and using sliderends to fill in the missing 1/2. I'll go over that later.
- bridge 3: same density as bridge 1
- outro: highest density in the map, what you have is awesome
Understand that density mostly refers to how much you have to
click because that's what impacts gameplay most, but pure audio matters here. 1/2 slider+circle like 00:29:678 (1,2) - doesn't have the same density as circle, 1/1 break, circle like 00:16:071 (1,2) - although they require the same amount of clicking. The first one is a bit denser.
In terms of patterns, your placement is fairly random (which contributes to making it visually unappealing and plays weird). I made you read my article about flow, so try to keep it in mind while placing your objects. What plays best is geometry, but that doesn't mean that everything in your map should be a square, a triangle or a pentagon, but everything should make visual sense. For example, 00:24:104 (1,2,3) - this curve doesn't seem to be following anything and plays weird, while 00:26:563 (3,4,5,1,2,3) - makes perfect visual sense (although it could be improved) and plays well. In terms of spacing, yours changes regularly without any appropriate reason, as seen on 00:07:547 (1,2,3) - or 00:18:038 (1,2,3,4,1,2,3) - . Spacing should reflect the song's emphasis (although that depends on your interpretation of the song). If there is no major change in emphasis, there shouldn't be any change in spacing. For instance, 00:21:973 (1,2,3,4,1,2,3) - is a bad pattern because its first part has very wide jumps (why not ?), but then goes for a much smaller kind of movement at 00:22:956 (1,2,3) - although the song's density, emphasis and pitch didn't change whatsoever.
Finally, comboing. This one is a bit of a touchy subject because it seems that no one agrees with anyone else on how comboing should be handled, but yours is inconsistent. It doesn't reflect any structure in your map while it should (whether it be basic structure like one new combo every second measure or something more advanced). I'd recommend to go for a simple comboing and to stick to it. Be wary of slider ends and repeats, as they easily ruin comboing. Putting down the structure of the map via bookmarks help, because you know that if a combo goes through one, there is something wrong with it !
Now let's go into specifics. This part is mostly based on what I would
personally do, so consider all these to be pure suggestions. You're free to refuse to apply any of these changes, or to take what you want from them and adapt them to your ideas. I'll only go through the Imagine Breaker difficulty and I'll split the mod following the song's structure as I pointed it out earlier:
IntroductionThe idea of using sliders to reduce the clicking density is good, but your sliders are fairly randomly distributed. If you listen to the song, you'll notice that you can group the guitar notes by three. You can use that to have a consistent slider placement. I don't think there should be any 1/4 at all during this section since the song itself doesn't have any, so here's what I suggest:
00:00:334 - from this point until 00:05:579 - use 1/2 sliders with a single repeat to follow the song
00:05:579 - After this point, you can make the density slightly higher by using one 1/2 slider and one circle. I would personally suggest to use the slider first then the circle because it makes more musical sense and plays better (offbeat sliders, ie sliders starting on a red tick, generally don't play well because they end on a strong beat, the white tick).
However, there is a recurring whistle kind of sound in the song, which you caught here 00:02:301 (3) - . It comes back every 7th white tick (you can count) in the song, and should absolutely be translated into the map. You can do that by using a 1/1 slider with a whistleslide and a whistle on its head (not its end) like the one I pointed out, but having that come back regularly even in your map is important because it's a strong point in the structure of the song.
Here is what the timeline would look like for the first part of the introduction if I were to map it (only two measures, then repeat the same exact timeline on the next two measures). I turned the repeat slider into circle+slider because there is a strong beat right before the 1/1 slider and I wanted it clicked. In terms of hitsounds, the 1/2 slider has simply a whistle on its head.
For the second part, after 00:05:579 - you can do the same, but replace the repeat slider with slider+circle.
It would lead to a timeline like this. Here again, I changed the rhythm pattern a bit for the recurring slider in order not to skip the strong beat.
At the end, 00:09:514 (5,6,1,2,3) - what you have here is really good, for the exception of 00:10:333 (2,3) - which skips a lot of strong beats and isn't optimal. I'd turn that into five 1/2 circles because all five beats are emphasized in the song.
Bridge 1What you have is pretty good. Only thing is it's inconsistent. You're using no sliders at first, then sliders, and even a 1/4 kick sliders which is completely out of place. Try to make it a bit more consistent. It's up to you how you want to distribute circle/slider. I would just move 00:17:219 (5) - this 1/2 earlier, or you'll be skipping a strong beat in the drum line. Also, note that the first two measures 00:16:071 (1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,1,2) - and I think they should be repeated in the map as well.
00:17:219 (5,6,7,8) - Do not use anti-jumps that way. Anti-jumps should be kept to highly contrasting low density point in an otherwise high density part of the song, but density here is constant and doesn't warrant such drastic change in spacing !
Verse 1Here again, the only thing I have to complain about is the sudden density increase at 00:26:563 (3) - which doesn't quite follow the song. Try to stick closer to the vocals and have a density similar to 00:21:317 (3,4,5,1,2,3,4,1,2,3,1,2,3,4,5,6,1,2) - .
Note: 00:23:612 (3) - this is an example of a badly placed slider that breaks the comboing o:
TransitionWhat you have is acceptable, although I wouldn't go with that kind of thing. You only need to work on placement for this one !
Verse 2The different densities between first and second part make how you mapped this really cool. I wouldn't change anything before 00:44:596 (1) - because it's really cool, except maybe to improve the patterns in the beginning and fix the comboing.
However, after 00:44:596 (1) - it becomes absurdly dense and it feels horrible. 00:44:596 (1,2,3,4,5,1,2,3,4,5,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9) - None of this 1/4 is actually following the song and shouldn't be there. Keep mapping the way you did at 00:42:301 (1) - because that would fit and play well. The streams here don't.
Also, replace this break 00:47:547 (9) - with a spinner that ends at 00:49:842 -
Bridge 200:51:481 - This is where a stream would have fit. It follows the song, marks the bridge in a very obvious and fun way, and leads awesomely into the chorus. I'd just use a compressed stream (with low spacing) because the spike of difficulty caused by a spaced stream wouldn't have a good effect on the diff's playability.
Chorus 1 and 2Good shit. Make sure that the rhythms you choose are consistent between the two parts of the chorus. Also, in terms of rhythm, I would suggest to follow the vocals more closely and use 1/2 sliders to keep the constant 1/2 rhythm going. For example:
00:54:104 (7,8,9,10,1) - turn into circle, slider, slider, slider
00:55:907 (13,14,15,16) - turn into two sliders
00:57:383 (2,3,4,5) - same
01:00:661 (6,1,3,4) - same
01:02:793 (3,4,1) - At this point, the music stops completely on (3). I'd argue that deleting (4) and stacking 01:03:284 (1) - with 01:02:793 (3) - would gives a much better hold effect that would complement the song nicely, especially if coupled with a kiai break as I suggested earlier.
01:03:284 - At this point, the chorus restarts (I called this chorus 2), so make sure to keep the rhythms consistent with what you did in chorus 1.
Bridge 301:13:776 (5,6,7,1,2,3) - this is perfect. You need to repeat this rhythm and pattern (make sure to make perfect triangles !) starting 01:15:088 - and this bridge will be perfect. I'd just extend 01:16:727 (1) - to the next white tick.
OutroAs I said in IRC, this is the best part of the map. I would reduce the spacing a bit because this high spacing will get really hard to play really quick, and it would be fairly frustrating. Also, move the pattern down so that its centre is the centre of the map, it will avoid having sliders hug the ceiling like 01:20:989 (6) - =P
01:24:104 (7,1) - Create the same hold effect I suggested in Chorus 2 ?
01:27:055 (1,2,3,1,2,3,4,1,2,3,1,2,3,4,5) - you really need to reduce the spacing on this, it's a lot more difficulty than anything else in the map and the spike in difficulty right at the end is going to make people mad
That should be it. I tried to be concise (kinda failed). Refer to my notice at the top - good luck !
(note to self: 2 hours, 14,822 characters, 2,552 words)