Here are all of my mentorship discussions, starting from 2019. Note that these discussions are informal in nature. If you are interested in becoming a mentee, read my mentoring page. If you want a more streamlined learning process, check out my guides.
I think the main way to execute connections theory successfully is to 1. use diverse slider shapes and 2. overlap large sliders in different directions
blankets are also important, here's another one of halgoh's maps
sliders like this are super common in this style
etc
remember you can use mapping tools to copy any slider you want and it'll automatically make it the correct timing for any song you wanna map
dunno if halgoh does it by hand but you don't have to make every slider by hand if mapping tools helps you map faster with a library of nice-looking sliders
usually these maps are slider-heavy since all the sliders are supposed to feel connected
is another example of overlapping large sliders in different directions
I highlighted more objects so you can see what this mapper is doing with the structure of everything around here but the biggest thing is 1 and 6 (in the olc school of thought this is the "focal element" of this part of the map)
long rant from yesterday but the tl;dr is that I don't like how industrial the nomination process is
in contrast I believe the act of mapping itself allows for far greater intellectual freedom
I feel like part of the reason why so many ranked maps look the same could be because of an "industrialization effect" where mappers intentionally map a certain way to make the nomination process easier for them
whether intentionally or not, these mappers end up following a certain set of rules that increase the chances of certain nominators being interested in their sets (at least until they get to the point where the nominator will nominate anything regardless of the style used)
more on the industrial part: I also dislike how BNs can be "thrown away" if they're not useful
traditionally the BAT position meant you loved maps and wanted to push maps to the ranked section with bubble/heart/flame icons
the modern nomination process feels less personal than the BAT era and BNs aren't kept because of their love for mapping, but rather for their ability to perform a certain amount of activity per month
I dislike this mindset since BNs are effectively "nomination bots" in this sense, although as you know there are some BNs with more passion for the game than others
I've traditionally thought of BNs as the kinds of people to help mappers but in reality how much you help people is up to you
so some BNs may be more willing to help you than others but the main reason BNs exist is to have a certain amount of activity/month to keep a consistent flow of newly ranked maps for players
whether or not certain maps get pushed doesn't matter in the grand scheme of things, as long as you're doing your part in maintaining the consistent flow of new beatmaps
anyway as a modder I modded a variety of maps since I thought BNs were supposed to be knowledgeable of many different things
in reality the role is less serious than I thought and although there are some knowledgeable BNs, you don't have to know as much as I thought you needed to know to become one
to be clear, BNs I consider knowledgeable are those that are capable of modding/mapping a variety of different songs/maps, and are able to do that consistently well
it turns out that being able to mod a variety of different songs/mapping styles isn't something necessary for the role of BN, and the status quo is that BNs should only push what they like so it doesn't feel like a job
the reason I still haven't accepted the role of BN could possibly be because I still think of them as BATs (or beatmap appreciation team)
I assume the name change to BN was done intentionally to emphasize how they focus on nominating maps (not necessarily appreciate them)
basically I'm still in shock by the industrial nature of the ranking process
I'm guessing there's a lot more maps/mappers than even just 3 years ago so that could have affected things
anyway I feel like my love for osu is getting in the way here since when I played osu I would play every map to set a score on it
the reality is not everyone does that and BNs have a lot of freedom when it comes to choosing what to nominate (e.g. "english only", "4* and below only")
basically the experience sucks for non-BNs unless you map for a certain BN's preferences
I don't doubt that's what some mappers do too btw, although I can't help but feel like some of those maps are "artificial"/"fake"
I think this is a good life lesson for creative work in general since I feel like once you get good enough in other fields the same topic comes up
I tend to use the word "generic" here although some mappers prefer to describe generic maps as "meta"
basically "meta" maps are rankable and players might like them although from a mapping point of view they're just that... meta lol
some mappers call it "simple" but I don't think the word simple works here
a generic/meta map can be complex but not do anything that stands out in terms of mapping
in other words, your typical map that plays well but doesn't give you a lasting impression with patterns characteristic of that map
in contrast a simple map doesn't have to be meta, it can be fundamentally simple but still test the player in ways that are unusual, or use patterns that you wouldn't find in other maps
well I still have access to the mentorship channels and the current discussion is why some mentees don't have ranked maps
nao tomori was spot-on btw, I guess there's more people than just me that "farm sets until BN for b4b" lol
as I said I know my maps are rankable (some of them have issues I haven't fixed yet, but I could push them with 2 BNs)
and I'd rather spend my time making sets that I believe are masterpieces than appealing to the preferences of a certain BN
some of my sets aren't as great as other ones but I still upload to show progress (and who knows, maybe someone likes the song with the worse map more)
I also said earlier that at some point you become skilled enough at mapping that you know other mappers are below your current skill level (most obvious with new mappers, although some of you may be better than you think)
