Thank You Scientist - Everyday Ghosts by Froslass

it's a bit silly to review my own map, and even sillier to review an unfinished map. perhaps i could've gone to the comment section instead, but i just wanted to yap a bit about this one.

mapping as an artform is something that does fascinate me quite a bit even if i could never bring myself to grasp properly the concepts that some mappers use for self-improvement. i did mention this in the comment section of my session map, but i feel like this approach to mapping makes it inherently less fun to me, and while i do pride myself in the fact i've spent so much time in this game, i do still see it primarily as a way for me to have some enjoyment in life.

regardless, in this song, i saw an enormous amount of potential for me to do something far greater than anything i've ever done, perhaps mistakingly as this song doesn't really qualify as anything that could make it a remotely popular map, be it for players or mappers. so it was already kinda doomed from the start, really. either way, i tried.

the main concept i used on this, which is quite obvious, is creating a bridge between the background, the song, and the hitobjects themselves, through the structure itself. while this isn't really executed in a really clever way throughout the map, it is presented with the centering of many patterns, inspired by wyit's Hum - Stars map. things like 00:36:620 (1,1,1,1) - and subsequent patterns, 01:28:135 (1,2,3,1,2,3,1,2,3,1,2,3,1,2,1,2,3,1,2,3,1,2,3,1,2,3) - , 01:40:135 (1,2,3,4,1,2,3,4) -, and some key elements such as 03:03:773 (1) - are always centered or structured in a way that brings the focus to the Y axis. i feel like this is a good concept in theory, but executed in an underwhelming way, as it isn't really invoked too often and could be explored more. the main problem with this is that i genuinely could not think of ways to put it into the map without shoehorning it and making it really obvious, which IMO separates a good concept from "just another gimmick map".

i've never been known for proper negative space usage / visual spacing consistency, and while this map is an attempt at improvement in that sense, it's still far from what you'd consider good in this regard. it feels sometimes like a pattern/slider gallery, and even then, the distribution of these patterns on the screen doesn't really feel visually satisfying. i feel like this is something that could only be improved by being mentored by mappers who are extremely proficient on this, however, as mentioned before, this is not a way i feel like i'd enjoy doing mapping.

while it seems like i'm mostly bashing the map for its creative decisions, there's a reason why it is the way it is. my style has always been known for being... "iconic", you could say. in the past this could mean that certain basic patterns were always used to the point of being recognizable, but over the years i believe this evolved to a point where it's a bit more than that. before "vibe coding" meant doing shit with AI, i loosely used the term "vibe mapping" for maps that simply do whatever they want in a rather inconsistent, but engaging way. i think of maps like big black as the biggest example of this - it's crude, it's technically flawed, but you can clearly see what it was going for and it has its own indistinguishable charm. this is due to "spontaneous" mapping decisions, for the most part. "this feels like it'd make for a cool pattern" or "oh i guess this follows the song enough" are the kind of thoughts i had when making a lot of maps over all these years.

this mindset, i feel, directly contrasts and goes against the principles of 'properly mapped' maps - think anything raikozen or xarr could make. mapping isn't really supposed to be this thing where you're just throwing your cursor around and seeing what sticks while having the most basic possible structure, it's more than that... for some people. you could see grandsenpai maps getting clowned on for having this idea while extremely focused on the player side of things, people making "mapping speedruns" and things of the sort. it's tough to realize you're simply not meant to create something great because of your own principles being wrong, but once you do realize it, there's always that layer of self-awareness that comes through and seeks improvement, as small as possible, in the execution of whatever you're doing.

this map is quite the result of that. it is an attempt at building upon things i've always felt i was lackluster at - proper pattern building without abusing copypaste, more visually loose structure while maintaining a sense of cohesion, more varied slidershape usage, noticeable contrast between sections, making use of (relatively) complex rhythm to bring forth a more dynamic playing experience, and "proper song representation" - whatever that means.

in the end, the result is... obviously underwhelming, for several reasons. i guess it just isn't meant to be a good map, at most, a decent one. it's served more as a sketchboard than anything else. but it was extremely useful in building confidence and showing myself what i was capable of without pushing myself too far into the realm of outright not enjoying what i was doing. it required an absurd amount of mental effort for me to even think of the quite basic patterning in this map, so i can't say it was exactly "fun", but it was certainly something i could see myself doing again at some point, perhaps even finishing this.

i almost wish i could highlight this map to everyone as an example of what i'm capable of, but instantly i realize that i could say the same about at least 5 other maps i've done in the past, where now i just look at them and i'm like "yeah they were defining moments in my mapping career but.. they just look like any mismagius map". and i guess the same applies to this one. while it's not inherently bad to build an identity and a style, it does feel upsetting that i feel completely stuck to my ideals at some points, even when i try to get away from them. for example, i can't bring myself to make something that i outright would not enjoy playing in any way. this ends up affecting the logic behind all of the patterns in any map i make, and causes what could be perceived as bland mapping.

in the end, this map perfectly exemplifies my journey of "mapping self-improvement" - it's not finished. it showcases improvement, but only in a superficial way. it makes me question what really is "good enough" for myself. it could be considered a "good enough mismagius map" for a lot of people, and i mean absolutely no offense by that, that can be a good thing! but many established mappers would look at this and say "yeah this is a good enough mismagius map" in the sense that... it's just another one. it doesn't really scream anything outstanding in itself other than in the context of its own journey, which is like... whatever bro, an outsider isn't going to care about that in 99% of the cases.

am i taking this too seriously? maybe. but it's fun to think about it once in a while. when you spend 99% of time being ignorant about the intricacies of what you've spent most of your life doing, i guess it doesn't hurt to self indulge sometimes. i might do a writeup on some other maps i've made with a similar feel, but i guess i'll have to be in the mood for this again.