Styles

Learn how to develop a mapping style

WARNING

It is recommended to read this document before proceeding.

Introduction

A style is a way of producing patterns for maps. Different mappers may have different understanding of what mapping is, or reasons to map, such as:

• Self-accomplishment
• Public recognition
• Pushing the skill ceiling further up
• etc.

In this document, we'll go over the main mapping styles in Rhythia.

Styles and the style spectrum

The style spectrum is a general concept that most (if not all) rhythm games subtly include, which classifies maps depending on their patterning on a gradient scale, or an alignment chart, among other examples. The "categories" in this case are treated as the edge cases, meaning a map will normally fall in between them.

Since this game shares gameplay similarities with "Mania" rhythm games (such as "osu!mania"), we will be using that spectrum as a reference to define ours.

According to it, there are 2 main types of maps:

• Speed
• Tech These can be applied to Rhythia as follows.

Details

For the sake of making things clear, the examples showcased here could be considered edge cases.

Mainstream/Speed

The most basic style, involving simple patterns which rely on stamina/drain, consistency and speed.
Most maps follow this style because players barely struggle at playing it.

• Example[1]:

Tech

This style focuses on technical patterns, which require great reading and wrist control skills.
Although it can be very complex to fully understand, we can subdivide tech into categories based on the skill requirements:

• Light tech: Focuses lightly (as the name implies) on both skills
  • Example[2]:
    
• Heavy tech: Focuses on both skills
  • Example[3]:
    
• Unconventional: Focuses heavily on reading
  • Example[4]:
• Antiflow: Focuses heavily on wrist control
  • Example[5]:

Summary

• You may develop your style depending on your gameplay experience, your own ideas and how you envision maps.
• Although not all maps fall strictly into one category, they may be recognised by their closest end on the style spectrum.

Sources

[1] cexiria - うんちをしていない時のMashcore
[2] Remo Prototype - Sendan Life (katagiri Bootleg)
[3] Rotteen - The Last Machine I Trusted
[4] katagiri - 1KNITE
[5] iyowa - Kyu-kurarin (7_7 bootleg)