randomod
advice:
watch the following pishi videos:
for your rhythm:
basic rhythmirregular rhythmovermappingfor your consideration:
fun vs goodfor your jumps:
basic spacingflow + circlesspacing emphasisjumpsIf this is too much for you, that's totally fine - just don't ignore them. No matter whether it's all in one day, one a day, one a week, or one a month, you should seriously watch and interpret all of these videos. They are all relevant to the problems I see in your mapping.
Overall:
Pure white combo colors are unrankable.
Taiko, CtB, and standard tags are conflicting!
Preserved Valkyria is not needed in tags, as that is already the song title.
Valkyrie is unneeded in the tags.
Your hitsounding is very unrankable.
[Valkyrie]
General:Right off the bat, I see you using the Normal sampleset. This is sometimes acceptable, but the default normal-hitnormal is an
extremely strong sound, and using it during a song that doesn't have much in the way of regular drum makes the hitsounds abrasive, as if they are competing with the song instead of adding to it.
Also, here's a good simplification of the word 'structure:'
1) Make shapes out of patterns of notes. That is, to say, star patterns (pentagons), monstrata maps (triangles), etc. use this method of structure to make the map solid.
2) Stack notes. Use the same spot for multiple hit circles.
3) Place notes relative to others. This means blanketing, distance snap, etc.
Of course, there are reasons to break these - spacing emphasis among those. These are the basics, though. These will help you tie your patterns together so your maps are more cohesive.
This entire map seems to lack in all 3 of these - especially making shapes. This patterning is found almost nowhere in the map - rather than a structured map, it seems more like a constant stream of notes.
Beyond this, the rhythm has some pretty serious issues. You will need to work on making sure you are actually mapping what the song provides instead of what's in your mind (map to the song instead of warping the song to your own intentions).
And please, for the love of God, do not map high difficulties if it compromises your use of basic ideas like flow, rhythm, spacing emphasis, and structure to this degree.
Specific00:03:143 (1,2,1) - The problem here is the difference between spacing on the map and spacing in the song. These 3 notes are close to equidistant, and yet 2-3 is half the timing of 1-2.
00:10:692 (1,3,6,1) - Just to exemplify those rules of structure I brought up, these 4 notes, for example, look very messy.
00:12:434 (1,2,3,4,5,6,1) - Similar to the previous point, this seems thoughtlessly placed: try stacking the start of the stream on 00:11:982 (5) - perhaps?
00:14:563 (1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8) - There are very few ways to make a stream this long look good, especially with such prominent spacing changes. On top of this, many of the spacing changes, such as 00:18:434 (1,2,3,4,5) - , are noticeably off and inconsistent. You could make nice circular shapes, but things like 00:18:047 (5,6,7,8,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,1) - look more like a potato.
00:19:208 (1,2,3,4) - As I said before, patterning will help things like this immensely.
00:19:982 (1,2,3,4,5) - Try stacking the start of this stream on the end of 00:19:595 (3) -, or blanketing it around the head of the same slider.
00:20:369 (6,7,8,9,10) - Similar folly, but with 00:19:789 (4) - .
00:20:756 (1,2,3) - People may see this as an extension of the previous very fast streams, it may be beneficial to find some other way to differentiate this from the other streams: it could be just making it straight, or raising its spacing, or one of many other things.
00:20:950 (3,4,5) - While this looks good, 00:21:531 (1) - seems almost entirely unrelated to it, which gives the danger of making the map seem separated from itself.
00:21:724 (2,3,4,5,6,1,2,3,4,5) - Try to pick one spacing for this part, there is almost no variation in intensity here. I can imagine raising spacing on 00:22:498 (2,4) - these two, because there are
very strong cymbal crashes here, but otherwise, it's pretty plain.
00:24:724 (1,2,3) - This triple generally seems to be spaced a bit too far and curved a bit too much, and doesn't fit in in the section.
00:23:563 (1,2,3,4,5,6,7,1,2,3,4) - More on patterning: this looks pretty random, but would be much nicer if you found a certain shape to make this into. Maybe a star pattern would work?
00:26:079 (4,1,2,3,4) - Yes, the rhythm here is alright, but 00:26:175 (1) - is very strong - are you sure you want it to just sit in the middle with 0 playing emphasis on it at all?
00:27:723 (1) - ^
00:29:272 (1,2,3,4,5,6,1,2,3,4,5,6,1,2,3,4,5,6,1,2,3,4,5,6,1,1,2,3,4,5,6,1,1,2,3,4,5,6,1) - I cannot stress enough how bad of an idea making one of the softest parts into the most difficult thing to play in this whole map is.
00:33:918 (2) - This slider shape could really use some fixing. To put it bluntly, it is aesthetically rated as very bad.
00:35:466 (1) - ^
00:39:982 (2,3,1) - Considering the low SV, such high spacing on this triple doesn't seem to have any effect.
00:39:337 (1,1) - Do these slider shapes have any relation with each other? They really should.
00:40:885 (1,2,3,1,2,3,4) - Here we see multiple different rhythms, and yet the spacing on each is the same. This is counter-intuitive to reading and to playing in general.
00:43:208 (1,2,3,4,5,6,1,2,3,4,5,6,1,2,3,4,5,6,1,2,3,4,5,6,7) - There are some intermittent soft piano notes here, but every other note in this stream does not exist in the song in any meaningful, noticeable way, and is thus only implied - mapping a 232.5 bpm 25 note stream to what is largely nothing is a very poor way to represent the song in any capacity to the player.
00:47:118 (1,2) - Stacking these, or at least moving them closer together, would probably look better.
00:56:826 (1,2,3,1) - The player is exiting a 220 bpm spaced stream, it will be extremely hard to instantly cancel that motion and go the exact opposite direction, then do the exact thing again 5 times in a row before a single slider. The jump spam here is extremely hard on the player for what seems to me like no reason, and the spacing between notes does not follow any sort of emphasis or consistency.
01:01:463 (3) - Despite what the timeline says, the end of this slider is stronger than the head of it, and sliders should start on strong notes and end on notes of equal or lesser strength.
01:03:509 (2) - This slider starts on nothing, repeats on nothing, and ends on a strong note.
01:05:009 (1,2,1,2) - At this speed, and with these angles, it is extremely hard to hit these kick sliders and get 300s. Try ctrl+G ing 01:05:145 (2) - and 01:05:418 (2) - so that both sliders move in the opposite direction.
01:05:963 (2) - As I stated further up in this mod, this slider needs a makeover.
01:10:600 (6,7,8) - Mapping a star and then mapping 3 notes like this in a partial pentagon perfectly overlapping with the previous pattern is both hard to read and changes the pattern for what seems like no reason. As the notes being played do not change, why would you change the spacing you use to represent them? (Though I am personally against the very high spacing you used to represent these.)
01:11:554 (1,2,1,2,3,4,5) - Referencing the structure pointers from the start of this mod: you could make some great shapes out of this! Maybe blanket a circle on the outside of 01:13:054 (5) - .
01:16:872 (3) - This note does not exist. It is an extension of 01:16:736 (2) - which should be mapped with a slider.
01:16:872 (3,1) - There is almost no difference in spacing between this and 01:17:145 (1,2) - despite one being twice as fast.
01:17:690 (2) - I could hardly even hear the note this was mapped to on 25% speed. The player will definitely not detect it - this circle is effectively mapped to nothing. Yes, a sliderend would be acceptable, but otherwise, this doesn't deserve a note.
01:17:145 (1,2,3,1,2,3,4) - All of this part could use all of the rules of structure: stacking 01:16:736 (2,3) - well, maybe making an equilateral triangle out of 01:17:145 (1,2,3) - , etc.
01:18:100 (1,2,3,4) - This is an example of good patterning: this is made into a perfect square. However, it doesn't seem to relate to the preceding or antecedent parts at all. It doesn't flow out of or into them, either.
01:18:645 (1,2,3,4,5,6,7) - The intensity in this section increased with the introduction of a new instrument - why did spacing decrease?
01:19:463 (6,7) - Try to center this in your pentagon at 01:20:009 (2,3,4,5,6) - . Otherwise, the pentagon looks less balanced and these notes seem to belong much less.
01:20:827 (1,3) - Maybe make these parallel, or curve one and blanket it around the other? There are plenty of ways to make these 2 sliders look better.
01:23:281 (2,3,1,2,3,4,1,2) - Half of these notes (namely 01:23:554 (1,1,2) -) are mapped to nothing. Also, you should try to pick a single track and follow that. Changing the line you are following is often necessary, but flip-flopping between them is the worst possible way to do that, especially when you're just looking for an excuse to spam jumps.
01:25:190 (1,2,3,4,1,2,3,4,1,2,3,4) - I have a lot to say about this jump section. Unfortunately, there are no good things within that.
1) They're very similar distances - you use absolutely no spacing emphasis here.
2) Despite this, they are very visibly different distances - thus, the structuring is poor.
3) Even if you were attempting to use spacing emphasis, some of the absolute strongest notes in this section actually have the shortest spacing (yes, I checked).
4) If you're following drums here, I honestly can't tell. Some notes are mapped to the bells, some notes are mapped to the strings, some are mapped to the drums, some are mapped to nothing at all.
01:26:827 (1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,1) - I find it very hard to calmly express my discontent with the existence of this widely spaced 225 bpm stream to
nothing. There are no sounds behind it. The drums don't change, the strings only hit a few choice notes here too. No matter how many lines you are following at once, they do not add up to form this.
01:29:009 (1,2,3,4) - Though the idea behind the pattern itself is creative, only 01:29:009 (1,3) - are mapped to the strings. 01:29:145 (2) - has a head mapped to the drums and an end mapped to nothing, and 01:29:418 (4) - is just mapped to nothing.
01:29:554 (1) - Held notes with nothing to emphasize with sliderends should extend to 1/4 beat before the next note.
01:31:736 (1,2,3,4) - These sliders probably deserve to have some relation to each other.
01:29:827 (2,3,1,2,3) - This implies clockwise circular flow, and yet you give entry to a stream at 01:30:645 (1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8) - in a way that both entirely contradicts this and forces the player to make several uncomfortable velocity changes.
01:32:827 (1,2,3,4,5,6) - Isn't this the same spacing you used for the end of the previous stream? The beat snap divisors are different, so find a different way to express this.
01:34:371 (6,5) - Stack these for
maximum structure.01:35:009 (1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8) - Up until the last 2 notes, this is actually a pretty good stream shape! Good job.
01:36:918 (1,2,1) - After lots of overmapped streams, I am shocked that you ignored one of your few real opportunities to throw a stream in there.
01:37:190 (1,2) - overlaps like this look pretty bad. Move the circle away from the slider.
01:37:600 (3) - This slider probably needs some reworking.
01:37:600 (3,1,2,1) - Again, you miss a stream opportunity!
01:40:099 (3,5,2,2) - See my dank stacking tips for aforementioned
maximum structure.01:42:100 (1,2,1,2) - Considering 01:42:236 (2,1) - is probably one of the stronger parts of this jump series, why do they have by far the shortest jump length?
After this point, I don't see all that many issues that I haven't pointed out plenty of times already.
From this point on, I sometimes
will not be explaining the reasoning behind the faults I find. They were all very clearly explained in my mod on the Valkyrie diff.
[Afterlife]
General:If you plan on ranking this (my honest opinion: you won't do so without plenty more experience and some remapping), having 2 custom diff titles is unrankable.
This honestly seems
so much better than your top diff. It looks better, it's more structurally sound, streams are nicer, the map is generally hundreds of times better.
A pure white combo color is unrankable.
Placing 2 very similar combo colors (light grey and unrankably bright white, in this case) next to each other is unadvisable. Changing the order of your combo colors would be better received and would help distinguish between combos in your map.
A lot of this map is atrociously underspaced. It makes for a map that is both harder to follow and much less visually appealing.
This image demonstrates that this diff is indeed very concentrated on the center. Use the full space you are given!
Overlaps generally make things both aesthetically abrasive and hard to read when not executed well. Many skilled mappers avoid them entirely.
Specific:00:01:402 (1,3) - When blanketing, the inner object should be equidistant from all parts of the sliderbody it is blanketing.
00:02:466 (3,1) - In structuring maps and making them all pretty, it is bad practice to:
1) Make the angle of entry for this sort of slow-moving slider more than 45 degrees different from the angle at which the slider begins. In this case, it is closer to 315 degrees off.
00:03:143 (1,2) - The distance between these 2 objects in timing is 1/2, yet it is further apart in spacing than 00:01:402 (1,2) - which is twice the time spacing.
00:02:466 (3,4,1) - Similar issue, where 00:02:466 (3,4) - is a longer distance but 00:02:756 (4,1) - is a longer time.
00:04:305 (4,2) - Make sure all of your overlapping looks deliberate! This looks messy.
00:05:466 (1,2,3) - 00:05:853 (3) - is by far the strongest note here, but 00:05:466 (1,2) - is, for whatever reason, a larger spaced jump.
00:06:143 (1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8) - Try to make stream curves consistent, they look much better that way.
00:07:595 (1) - This is an
extremely intense note in the song, why is spacing so low?
00:13:401 (2,1,2,3,4,1) - This would look much cleaner as a hexagon rather than an amoeba.
00:17:079 (3) - The end of this slider is stronger than the start of it.
00:20:756 (1,2,4) - Make these equidistant and you'll be much happier with them.
00:21:143 (3) - Stack this one on the head of 00:20:176 (2) - .
00:21:531 (1,2) - Try to be consistent in your slider placements. Rotations usually look best at 90 degrees, and sliders that overlap like this are very abrasive to look at.
00:22:305 (3) - This overlaps a bit too much with 00:21:918 (2,3) - . Move it out a lot.
00:23:756 (2,3) - These seem a bit too similar in visual distance to 00:23:079 (1,2) - for their different timing.
00:24:724 (1,2,3,4,1,2,3,4,5,1,2,3,4,5) - As I have stated so many times, patterning is SO important!
00:24:724 (1,2,3) - Why is this wider in spacing than 00:25:595 (3,4) - ?
00:26:079 (1,2,3,4,5,1,2) - This very heavily overlaps. Also, why do you directly contradict implied flow with 00:26:853 (1,2,3,4,5) - ?
00:27:627 (1,2) - This falls into the same trap as the Valkyrie difficulty in that the 2 here is much stronger, but 1 is the start of the burst. Find a way to make that 2nd note really stand out.
00:28:401 (7,1) - More abrasive overlap is in here under 00:27:627 (1,2,3,4,5) -
00:29:143 (3) - ^
00:28:885 (1,2,3,1) - Try to make this into the sort of square pattern you had a few times in your top diff, those were nice.
00:29:272 (1,2,1,2,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,1) - Again, having one of the absolute hardest parts of the map being the calmest part of the map is an awful idea.
00:33:143 - Considering the extremely strong note here, you should probably cut 00:32:369 (1) - short and add a hit circle there.
00:33:918 (2,1) - These sliders could use some work.
00:40:111 (2) - Try to make the starting bend and ending bend of this slider more consistent lengths.
00:41:176 (3,4,1,2) - Again, this spacing is very confusing to the player.
00:42:918 (3,2) - Be deliberate in your overlaps.
00:48:100 (1,2,3,4,1,2,3,4,1,2,1,2,3,4,5,1,2,3,4,5,1,2,1,2,3,4,1,2,3,4,1,2,3,4,1,2,3,1,2,3,1,2) - This is generally a mess of consistency. Try to make 2 measures and keep the rhythm you used for those 2 measures in mind as you go.
00:51:236 (2,3,4,5,2,1,2,3) - Overlaps!!
00:57:100 (2,2) - This is an actual good overlap.
00:59:009 (1,1,1,1,1,2) - Try to keep your slider choices consistent. Throwing in these short, sharp-anchored sliders when almost none exist in the rest of the map is a poor idea.
00:59:827 (1,2,1) - Contradicts implied flow very heavily, but why?
01:01:327 (2,4,2,4) - A few things:
1) Avoid the overlap.
2) Try to make distance the same. These sliders are the same shapes, and the same sounds, but in their own patterns, they are hugely different visual distances from each other.
01:02:827 (1,3) - blankets pls
01:14:963 (2,3,4,1) - The slider here feels entirely disassociated with the rest of the pattern. Maybe stack it on 01:14:963 (2) - or something, and use more consistent circular flow.
01:17:690 (1) - Mapped to nothing.
01:19:872 (1,2,3,1,2,3,4,1) - This pattern seems entirely random, with no visible reasoning or structure behind it.
01:26:009 (3) - This contradicts everything in this intense jump pattern up to this point.
01:27:372 (1,2,3,4,1,2,3,4) - It's clear what you were going for here, but it looks like it was freehanded. You can use create polygon circles for this and come out with a much cleaner result.
01:38:645 (3) - This should be a circle, not a slider. The end has no note on it.
01:40:600 (2) - The end of this slider is much stronger than the head of the slider.
That's all I have for this diff without being any more redundant than I have been already. The diff struggles from circles-placed-with-no-regard-for-relative-position disorder, and most of the same issues Valkyrie has, and I skipped over a lot of stuff I probably should have pointed out, but it was all the same stuff. You obviously have some good ideas, and your streams look pretty nice, but you need to work on a lot of basic concepts (it'll probably be easier to work on them when you map stuff you can play).
Aight, I might mod more diffs later.