The map is snapped to 3/4 grid making it effectively 210bpm for gameplay purposes.

I'm mostly writing this to keep the ideas behind the map documented for my future reference. It'd be pretty cool if those will help someone to create his own map though.

The main melody in each part of the track differs greatly rythmicaly and leading instrument changes pretty much every phrase or two. So I decided to give each part a unique (in the context of this map) feel. Still, consistency in relation to music is the number one priority here for me.

Just slapping random mapping style everywhere seemed too incosistent so I decided to "glue" it all together with one gimmick - constant clockwise rotation. It would in turn allow me to make a corny counter-clockwise flow in the most intense part of the music to highlight it more than any boring large spacing ever could. Constant rotation causes mouse-drift (I'm a mouse player) so I am periodicaly breaking the clockwise flow to highlight individual sounds throughthout the map.
General visual style is "place as much objects as possible in as little individual locations as possible". In other words: I like perfect stacking. It is like a puzzle to fit the flow you have in mind into the places where previous objects were placed. Also it looks pretty neat with low AR.


The main melody - synth - is using 3/8 (I don't know shit about music theory so I can be wrong) rythm which is different from the 3/4 percussion is using. The 3/8 is grouped by the even number of notes while 3/4 is by uneven. This creates quite a challenge to balance making both synth and strong drums clickable. I ended up going with filler 3/4 rythm using sliders, while making the 3/8 synth clickable most of the time. When there are kicks or snares, the active rythm switches to 3/4 to accommodate that. 00:34:325 (4) - that snare and the ones similar later on are kind of unique rythm-wise so I gave them counter-clockwise movement. High spaced jumps use really sharp angles for easier aim.

This part is practicaly the same as the first but more intense - I reflected it with higher SV and spacing. There are also new 6/4 triples to raise the instensity. 00:52:039 (3) - this slider doesn't reflect any held note but the estabilished rythm crumbles without it.

I wanted this calm part to be as simple as possible. That's why I avoided placing objects 2/3 into the beat, where the vocals start, like here 00:57:896. The player is not yet familiar with the rythm and different (2/3 and 3/3 of the beat) gaps could throw him off. Also I wanted "Up" in lyrics to be mapped with a slider that does up. Yeah, corny, I know. 01:20:753 (1,1,1) - the 3/8 rythm here is mapped without the clockwise rotation to highlight its uniqueness. It will come back twice later in the map.

This whole part sounds really plain and I reflected that through repeating visuals and rythm. There are a 4/4 "wob" sounds there so I decided to map those to make it more interesting. I didn't map them in the first half of this part to allow player to get used to the new 3/4 rythm beforehand. Where I did map them I've tried to make them as readable and distinct as possible - no clockwise rotation, straight shapes of sliders, new combo on each object. I've mapped arranged them slightly differently every time for more diversity in this boring section. Turned out pretty well, since I've yet to see a playtester who'd struggle with them even with ScoreV2 mod.

Again, this is the previous part, but more intense. There are also new 6/4 hi-hats that I undermapped a bit to keep the intensity in line with music.

This part is mostly a preparation for the next one. They have almost identical rythms. Those parts have a distinct gaps in the otherwise held synth (I think it's called gating) so I break the flow to a full stop a lot here. I use wide angles on similar gaps that are twice as short to give them a distinct feeling.

E - 02:09:610 (4).
02:13:896 (1,1,2,1,1) - those were tricky to map since the rythm is going apeshit there. And when I'm in doubt, I map with sliders for readabilty.

Here starts the chiptune-ish part by the Savant. I've tried to reflect the simplicity of chiptune with simple straight sliders. Oh look - 3/8 is back again - 02:22:467 (1,2,3,4).

This part is full-on chip-tune and it reminds me of carousels or something of the sort. So I mapped this with a lot of rotation. It's here that I noticed that lower spaced full-circle movement is harder than higher spaced since physics, acceleration and stuff. 02:40:037 (1,2,3) - twice the sythm notes frequency - twice the rotation speed. Also there are some bullshit rythms. The quadruplet 02:35:182 (1) - here is fine but 02:37:038 (1,2,3) - this is on another level. I've bookmarked whre the notes are and those are terrifying. I hope that someone will suggest a better way to map those. Both require switching to different bpm to snap. Also also 02:41:465 (1,2,3,4,5,1,2,3,4,5) - this. Grouping by 5 in a 3/4 rythm.

This repeats the 8th part but a bit calmer. Lot's of repeating sliders to make it as simple as possible to reflect that.
02:56:751 (1,2,1,2,1) - the returning of the 6/4 rythm from the 1st and 2nd part. This is very usefull to remind player of it here since the next kiai (part 12) will use them a lot.

I try to teach the player that there are gaps other than full-beat here and than stick to equal spacing to test that knowledge a bit later. Just a little something to spice up a boring part. 03:24:179 (1,1,1) - those 3/8 are using a zig-zag pattern to better reflect their rythm and to further communicate that this rythm breaks the clockwise flow for the final 3/8 sliders later in the map.

The fake-out drop. The percussion here has the same rythm as in parts 1 and 2 but due to the lack of synths it's far more distinct, especially those kicks. So I wanted to highlight them through high contrast between spacing. 03:32:608 (1) - those off-beat snares have returned and are mapped uniquely once again. 03:51:608 (1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8) - this snare-spam serves as a warm-up for the wide-angled jumps that will follow in the "guitar solo" part.

The actual build-up for the most intense part of the track. I've given a slider here exponentialy increasing SV to prepare the player for the Notch-Hell that awaits there.

The "Guitar Solo". Damn, I love this part.

The rythm here is completely non-repetitive so I think long sliders are the most appropriate way to map it readability-wise. Since there are no repeated sounds I have the freedom to map each sound differently, almost free-hand placing. This part is a big diffspike but I like it that way. 04:19:893 (1,1,1,1) - I can't begin to describe how juicy I find those sounds. Hope all the preparation for that 3/8 rythm was not in vain.

Actual drop (or crescendo, if you like) of the track. Rather than being the hardest I want this part to be most satisfying while being still intense. I am trying to achieve it with simple rythm, high spacing and switching the rotation side. Also it's kinda cool that the part with the most repetitive rythm goes right after the most diverse one.

Similar to part 1 but calmer. There is a bass guitar and vocals added here and much less kicks so overall it conveys the feeling of decreasing tension. Plus the synth sounds much softer. I made it easier then the 1st part where the tension is rising.

Outro. Not much to say about it. Gotta get that 5 min mark. Otherwise I'd have to map the very similar intro and I don't want player's every retry to start from the slow-ass part.