Modding writing tips #1

Hello you lovely modders today I will start off by saying, new modding blog to give those who is interested in modding some tips.

These blogs will not be daily but stay tone to see some interesting ideas related to the mapping scene!

Anyways without further ado... 

How to address a map [hard difficulty]

part of the issues a lot of people have when it comes to modding lower difficulties, namely a hard, is not understanding that a hard difficulty has a lot of aspects about it such as:

• Density
  
• Rhythm
  
• Spacing
  
• Contrast
  
• Spread

All difficulties has these aspects but what makes hard difficulties unique in this case is that you not only have to worry about the difficulty being too easy, but you also have to worry about it being too hard.

So how do I address this?

To address a hard difficulty properly when it comes to modding is usually by first addressing the elephant in the room: Spread.

First go look at the normal, and then before looking at the hard difficulty, then look at the insane. Consider the complexity of both difficulties first so when going into the hard difficulty, you already have a perfect reflection of what density it should be.

Example, say you are examining the normal and you notice that throughout it and you notice that it is light in it's density. Now you have that as your base when examining the hard difficulty as now you are sub-consciously thinking about the density as you address your problems and have a better comb through.

After addressing that, usually the second elephant in the room is Density and Contrast.

Density and Contrast in a hard difficulty is tough since it varies from how the spread is made and the bpm but usually the best way to notice the issues in a generalized matter is to think about each section individually like this:

Calm Section usually refer to as Non-Chorus, Calm Measure, 

Intense Section usually refer to as Chorus, Strong Measure.

Usually a lot of  average song structures goes:

[Calm (After Intro) - Medium - Calm - Medium (Usually build up to Chorus) - Intense (Usually Chorus) if we ignore the intro]

So the spacing and density in the map should follow the same format consistently. If the map isn't demonstrating that, keeping mind of the song structure itself is a good indicator of when you should address it.

Now that we moved on from this, now you can address usually what is going to be in the timeline, Spacing and Rhythm!

Usually when it comes to new mappers, commonly spacing and rhythm inconsistencies is the number one issue that people will face, but the order of operation here today is under the assumption that the mapper is competent enough in their understanding.

Rhythm and Spacing goes hand to hand with Density and Contrast but this is mostly speaking more around individual measures or patterning.

For the average osu! ranked map, they usually follow a very simple song structure and patterns. Usually by the indication of the beat and how intense it is.

For the most part any notable melody/drum/vocal/etc that usually loud and noticeable = high spacing
Anything else = low spacing. 

When we speak about hard difficulties, this logic is turn up a notch because spacing especially is highly restricted in nature. Usually you will not see hard difficulties use high spacing unless you are looking at maps below 140 bpm.

So with that said, spacing for an average hard should be relatively simple to look out for which is:

• Make sure 1/2 and 1/1 space gaps is not space the exact same
  
• No obscure overlaps that creates reading hazards.

If the hard difficulty has any more than 3 timestamps of the listed issue, then it is good to summarize it all under a general post instead of spamming the timeline.

Now regarding the rhythm there really is only a couple things to look out for:

• Assuming the song is average bpm (160-180), then make sure the difficulty provides some reasonable 1/2 gaps in each measure.
• Consistent Rhythm Structure.

What do I mean by Rhythm Structure? Well usually the average osu! Rank map follows a basic Song Structure.

Some people focus on the Melody Layer, some people for the Vocal Layer,etc, but the key point here is to be consistent.

Songs sections usually go by 4 measures
1st and 3rd measure is the same.
2nd and 4th measure is the same
The 4th measure is usually the transitional measure to the next section.

If the map usually focuses on the Vocal layer just to give an example, then through each measure that focuses primarily on vocals, needs to show that it is being consistent, leaving only inconsistencies for moments that is "impactful".

let's say the map is transitioning to the next section. Usually transitional measures is the 4th measure and therefore has a lot more focus on the instrumental aspect as much as the vocal aspect. This is part of the song where you usually can do something more variant aside from being Vocal priority.

So with that all said, these things are all you need to keep in mind when modding them out in a map!

Good luck <3