This guide is aimed at mappers that are lost. The ones don't know where to go next in order to develop their mapping. I'm not going to be focusing on specific things like timing, hitsounding, mapping techniques etc. Guides for those have already been done and are far more informative than whatever I could put together. This guide is going to be focused on what you should do next and why you should be doing it. It'll also feature some advice from myself as an attempt to stop you from making an ass of yourself when you start out. So, let's begin.
That’s all for the moment. There’re are probably a few things I forgot to mention. If they come across my mind in the future then I’ll edit them into the post.
Read the guides
There is a Guide Compendium on this subforum that is full of useful guides on multiple different topics. At the very least I’d advise reading the “Preparation”, “Timing” and "Sliders" guides that are in the guidelines for mapping.
You might feel daunted with the amount of reading you have to do but trust me a few minutes spent reading a couple of guides will prevent you from making basic hiccups and save you from multiple wasted attempts at mapping a song.
Edit 07/10/2016: pishifat has multiple videos on mapping I'd also recommend checking them out
pishitube
This happened to me on the first map I tried to rank. Being the noob I was I didn’t use Distance Snap when I made the Easy and Normal difficulties and thus had to do them all over again... twice.
There is a Guide Compendium on this subforum that is full of useful guides on multiple different topics. At the very least I’d advise reading the “Preparation”, “Timing” and "Sliders" guides that are in the guidelines for mapping.
You might feel daunted with the amount of reading you have to do but trust me a few minutes spent reading a couple of guides will prevent you from making basic hiccups and save you from multiple wasted attempts at mapping a song.
Edit 07/10/2016: pishifat has multiple videos on mapping I'd also recommend checking them out
This happened to me on the first map I tried to rank. Being the noob I was I didn’t use Distance Snap when I made the Easy and Normal difficulties and thus had to do them all over again... twice.
Start modding
Moderating basically involves giving feedback to mappers about their creations. It involves pointing out flaws or giving the mapper suggestions to make the map better. The modding queues are a great place to find people who will mod your maps as well as a place to find maps to mod. When I say start modding I mean get mods for your maps and mod other people's maps as well.
Modding and mapping go kind of hand in hand, if you get better at one you will get better at the other. If you get better at mapping you have a better idea of what a good map should look like, hence it’ll be easier for you to point out flaws and give suggestions when modding.
Similarly if you get better at modding your map analysing skills get better as a result. You’ll be able to take this with you when you’re mapping. You’ll put down patterns and scrutinize your techniques at the same time. You’ll essentially start looking at your own maps and start thinking stuff like “Nope, that looks like shit” or “Ehh.. I’m kind of ignoring that really important drum there” and fix issues before you even start getting mods.
Open up a queue and start modding. When you begin I’d advise only doing Normal mods (NM) as you’ll probably only waste people's time by doing Mod for mod (M4M) because your mods won’t be of any substantial quality. (People usually start getting competent at modding when they have around 30~40 kds. You shouldn't mod with the intent of increasing your kudosu count however as your modding skills wont develop much if you do that.)
Also of course you shouldn’t forget to get others to mod what you’ve made as well. Just because you think it’s perfect doesn’t mean it is. Give feedback to modders about what suggestions you accepted, what was fixed and what was rejected.
Moderating basically involves giving feedback to mappers about their creations. It involves pointing out flaws or giving the mapper suggestions to make the map better. The modding queues are a great place to find people who will mod your maps as well as a place to find maps to mod. When I say start modding I mean get mods for your maps and mod other people's maps as well.
Modding and mapping go kind of hand in hand, if you get better at one you will get better at the other. If you get better at mapping you have a better idea of what a good map should look like, hence it’ll be easier for you to point out flaws and give suggestions when modding.
Similarly if you get better at modding your map analysing skills get better as a result. You’ll be able to take this with you when you’re mapping. You’ll put down patterns and scrutinize your techniques at the same time. You’ll essentially start looking at your own maps and start thinking stuff like “Nope, that looks like shit” or “Ehh.. I’m kind of ignoring that really important drum there” and fix issues before you even start getting mods.
Open up a queue and start modding. When you begin I’d advise only doing Normal mods (NM) as you’ll probably only waste people's time by doing Mod for mod (M4M) because your mods won’t be of any substantial quality. (People usually start getting competent at modding when they have around 30~40 kds. You shouldn't mod with the intent of increasing your kudosu count however as your modding skills wont develop much if you do that.)
Also of course you shouldn’t forget to get others to mod what you’ve made as well. Just because you think it’s perfect doesn’t mean it is. Give feedback to modders about what suggestions you accepted, what was fixed and what was rejected.
Look at ranked maps
Newly ranked maps are a great example to learn from. Don’t be afraid of opening them up in editor and copying the techniques you see. That’s the only way you can learn, copying. You shouldn't just copy techniques blindly however, instead use what you can understand. If there's something you like but don't understand then don't be shy about poking the mapper ingame and asking. Most of the time they'll be more than happy to explain if they're not busy. Don’t worry about being “unoriginal” worry about establishing a solid foundation of skills first, then you can worry about developing your style.
Newly ranked maps are a great example to learn from. Don’t be afraid of opening them up in editor and copying the techniques you see. That’s the only way you can learn, copying. You shouldn't just copy techniques blindly however, instead use what you can understand. If there's something you like but don't understand then don't be shy about poking the mapper ingame and asking. Most of the time they'll be more than happy to explain if they're not busy. Don’t worry about being “unoriginal” worry about establishing a solid foundation of skills first, then you can worry about developing your style.
Don’t be an obstacle
When you’re new and you just start modding/mapping everyone you encounter is going to be more experienced than you. To you they’ll all seem like gods. You’ll probably be accepting nearly 100% of mods to begin with thinking "Shit need to fix that, need to fix that", however as you start becoming more and more confident in your mapping you will start rejecting more and more suggestions from mods. It is important to take each suggestion into consideration but also be critical about it at the same time. Consider if the what the modder says is making sense or if what you have in the map is just fine.
I'm saying this because I've seen a few mappers (regrettably myself included) get a bit salty and defensive when their map gets criticized. Be mindful that that's what mods are meant to do. They are meant to offer you criticism to help you shape your map into the best possible map it can be. As a mapper the only thing you should be looking for in your mods are negatives not positives. If a mod is filled with positives it is not criticism it is praise.
When you’re new and you just start modding/mapping everyone you encounter is going to be more experienced than you. To you they’ll all seem like gods. You’ll probably be accepting nearly 100% of mods to begin with thinking "Shit need to fix that, need to fix that", however as you start becoming more and more confident in your mapping you will start rejecting more and more suggestions from mods. It is important to take each suggestion into consideration but also be critical about it at the same time. Consider if the what the modder says is making sense or if what you have in the map is just fine.
I'm saying this because I've seen a few mappers (regrettably myself included) get a bit salty and defensive when their map gets criticized. Be mindful that that's what mods are meant to do. They are meant to offer you criticism to help you shape your map into the best possible map it can be. As a mapper the only thing you should be looking for in your mods are negatives not positives. If a mod is filled with positives it is not criticism it is praise.
Map more
The best way to improve your mapping is to map more. Mapping is a very intuitive process. You can read all the guides you want and get all the tutoring you want but ultimately the best way to improve is to just map more.
If possible try to map different genres so you know how to tackle different rhythms. If you’re constantly making insanes and don’t know how to make easier diffs try learning. Try learning how to make easier diffs like hards and normals so you’re not always stalking the modding queues to ask someone for a guest difficulty.
However do not forget about getting feedback. If all you're doing is mapping stuff and never submitting them or getting mods and test plays then all you're going to get out of that is false ideas and misinformed assumptions.
The best way to improve your mapping is to map more. Mapping is a very intuitive process. You can read all the guides you want and get all the tutoring you want but ultimately the best way to improve is to just map more.
If possible try to map different genres so you know how to tackle different rhythms. If you’re constantly making insanes and don’t know how to make easier diffs try learning. Try learning how to make easier diffs like hards and normals so you’re not always stalking the modding queues to ask someone for a guest difficulty.
However do not forget about getting feedback. If all you're doing is mapping stuff and never submitting them or getting mods and test plays then all you're going to get out of that is false ideas and misinformed assumptions.
Don’t be intimidated
A common thing that happens when I’m tutoring newer mappers is they’ll get scared or intimidated. After I tell them what they need to do they’ll say stuff like “Well I’m just about ready to give up mapping”. They feel like whatever they make will always be shit and that it’s impossible to become a good mapper. I’ve no doubt some of you reading this will feel that way too. For that I will leave you with a scene from one of my favourite animes Uchuu kyoudai. Trust me just watch it.
Background info
The scene is from the second episode. Mutta and his brother younger brother Hibito have wanted to become astronauts from a young age. Hibito accomplishes his dream whereas Mutta loses his job at a car designing company after he headbutted his boss. Hibito hears of this and decides to get their mom to send Mutta’s resume off to JAXA (Japan Aerospace eXploration Agency) for an upcoming Astronaut selection exam. Mutta’s resume is accepted but he decides to not even take the first exam because he thinks becoming an Astronaut is impossible for him. He pays his aunt sharon (an astronomer) a visit.
Watch the video before you continue reading
I find this clip very motivational for just about anything I do in life so just thought I’d share it in the hope that you’ll get something out of it too. Mapping is piss easy once you know what to do and what not to do. Don’t give up before you even try.
A common thing that happens when I’m tutoring newer mappers is they’ll get scared or intimidated. After I tell them what they need to do they’ll say stuff like “Well I’m just about ready to give up mapping”. They feel like whatever they make will always be shit and that it’s impossible to become a good mapper. I’ve no doubt some of you reading this will feel that way too. For that I will leave you with a scene from one of my favourite animes Uchuu kyoudai. Trust me just watch it.
Background info
The scene is from the second episode. Mutta and his brother younger brother Hibito have wanted to become astronauts from a young age. Hibito accomplishes his dream whereas Mutta loses his job at a car designing company after he headbutted his boss. Hibito hears of this and decides to get their mom to send Mutta’s resume off to JAXA (Japan Aerospace eXploration Agency) for an upcoming Astronaut selection exam. Mutta’s resume is accepted but he decides to not even take the first exam because he thinks becoming an Astronaut is impossible for him. He pays his aunt sharon (an astronomer) a visit.
I find this clip very motivational for just about anything I do in life so just thought I’d share it in the hope that you’ll get something out of it too. Mapping is piss easy once you know what to do and what not to do. Don’t give up before you even try.
That’s all for the moment. There’re are probably a few things I forgot to mention. If they come across my mind in the future then I’ll edit them into the post.
Realls helps me a lot 
