I agree with you. You could make an argument that the plucks echo + the hihat tripple.
It still doesn't allow for such spacing, so I decided to go for a reverse-slider here.
I’m open to adjustments if you can explain why certain spacings don’t work. For instance, if 00:34:398 (3,4) is fine because it emphasizes the rhythm, I’m unclear why some patterns you listed under 'not fine' are treated differently, as they serve the same purpose. I’m not unwilling to accommodate; I just want to understand your reasoning so I don't randomly nerf patterns that I disagree with (based on given explanation).
The average spacing in this difficulty is around SV x1.2–x1.5, while the patterns you pointed out are at SV x2.0—a roughly 33% increase. You mentioned being fine with slight variations in hard difficulties, but I’m wondering why particular increases, which highlights both melody and percussion, feels problematic and others don't bother you. For example 00:34:398 (3,4) - has nearly identical spacing and didn’t raise the same concerns for you.
Please keep in mind that the patterns you originally mentioned in the mod as well as others were already nerfed. I feel a bit cheated that I have drastically reduced all the spacings that were mentioned and now I have to reduce them again. ORZ
I'm struggling to explain this precisely, but there are clear rhythmic distinctions in the song that are reflected differently in the map through patterning and spacing. Regardless of the SV applied here, each section plays fundamentally differently. Adjusting the SV in the second section wouldn’t impact gameplay, as the sliders—whether kicksliders or longsliders—don’t change the aiming requirements. Even if I made the adjustment, it wouldn’t affect gameplay but would compromise the map’s visual coherence and weaken the pattern design.
The intro is drum-heavy with loud atmospheric pads, while the next part is clearer and more melodic. Whether to emphasize the melody or the drums is a matter of interpretation, and this is where mappers naturally diverge. Just because you prefer a more relaxed approach doesn’t mean everyone experiences the song the same way. This isn’t a 'problem'; it’s a subjective difference, and I happen to disagree.
For these reasons, I don’t see why this mod should be followed. Especially in a top difficulty, this change wouldn’t significantly impact gameplay, and the current design reflects the intended structure and emphasis.
Hmm, I actually nerfed it by a lot. I would be happy if you could provide examples / parts that you want me to change so I know what I can do about it.
About spacings, the beatmap is very consistent in it's spacing, it's not like it has 1/3 or 1/4 jumps/transitions, so all 1/2 or 1/1 rhythms are consistent and easy to read. 🤔
Alright, I turned 25% of the tripples into sliders and another 25% of the tripples into reverse-slider. I don't want to remove *all* tripples as some of them highlight the melody and also kiai has them too, so it would be odd to have no tripples for the entirety of the map and then have them in the end.
Also I silenced some sliders in top difficulty, not many, just some 3/4 in kiai + kicksliders in 1/2 rhythms. I left most of them unsilenced because of the constant 1/4th hihat rhythm in the background - I don't want to mess with the hitsounds and I think having the feedback for most of the parts is necessary, just the straight up 1/2 rhythms don't need feedbacks on the red ticks.
Damn, I'm really not a big fan of going up to 95% volume 😭
Also the spinner volume changes only works for difficulties that actually placed a spinner there.
I did (my own) volume changes for every difficulty except captin's, since he's using his own hitsounds + normal sampleset, and it just appears louder by default, so I don't want to mess with his hitsounds in particular.
I tried my best understanding what his NCing is here. I though it was 1,2,3,4 - 1,2 - 3,4, but I guess it isn't, because next section is NCed differently. So I assume that he NCs his pattern designs. Since he NCed most of his streams, I assume it's intended and doesn't require a change here.
I think the idea is to have both synths being stacked, not necessarily having the percussions emphasized. I tried to change the patterning so the contrast from flow sliders to snappy circles is a bit more obvious and works as emphasis here.
00:11:637 - Introduce flow aim (bell melody starts).
00:33:706 - Introduce snappy aim (kick + snare sets in).
00:55:775 - Combine both gimmicks (advanced melody + DnB rhythm).
Adjusting the entire section by lowering the SV wouldn’t make sense, as the concept is to start with a high SV first slider, with the rest of the section's SV matching its respective elements (rhythms, patterns, etc). The entire difficulty is built around this concept - introducing the gimmick here in the "slow section" sets the tone for the map, ensuring everything afterward feels cohesive.
High SV doesn’t inherently create difficulty spikes; most sliders are designed to minimize aim movement due to their twisting and winding shapes, meaning players aren’t aiming across the full slider length. The gameplay for this section is perfectly reasonable as it transitions into the next part.
There are synth-arpeggios in the background and the spacing decreases and increases based on the phaser / filter effect, so there is literally something in the song.
The naming follows Sound Voltex conventions, where ADVANCED is "The second tier of difficulty that targets intermediate players" and aligns with a Hard difficulty. It reflects its tier in the mapset rather than strictly star rating. Smoothie's ADVANCED (3.6SR) does not aim to be a "light" Hard (2.8–3.2 SR) or "light" Insane (3.8-4.2 SR) what typically would count as Advanced or Light Insanes in osu! terms. I hope that there is no confusion in the wording here, since it is fairly common when making mapsets for Sound Voltex or any other rhythm game songs. Considering it's an avarage Hard difficulty, I don't see a reason to nerf it, as it follows the ranking criteria.
I really don't think it's a problem. It got kicks, snares, cymbals (hit-finish) and hitwhistles on the bell synths. Everything else is optional, but I'm not interested in adding more hitsounds to it. Also I don't get what you mean by 1/4 hs across the map. It's hitnormals you're talking about? What's the issue with that. :o