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New to Collaborating? READ THIS!

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Lilac
Note: This is a work in progress, feel free to suggest more.

From a user who has mapped only collaborations throughout his whole mapping career. I've seen too many collabs falter and fail when taken off, even some of my collabs are in the grave. So, I'm writing this so that if you decide to do a collaboration, that you can make it a good one.

Having said that, collaborations are one of the most difficult types of mapping to achieve. There are a lot of factors to include... Here are some tips to consider when making a collaboration:-

1. Be sure.

What would that mean?

  1. Be sure of what song you are choosing.
  2. Be sure to split the parts and consider breaks. (It's much more fun if you can split parts evenly.)
  3. Be sure to both agree on the map settings.
  4. Be sure of what mappers you are considering and to ask them before submitting a map. (It's polite.)
  5. Be sure that you can follow through till the end with a collab. (That you can keep on continuing and that whoever is in the collab has to be attentive and present at all times)
This step is, in essence, a confirmation step to see whether that doing a collaboration is right for you. From this, it branches of from the dot points.

2. Song Selection

A step that can be easily dismissed, hazardous if done so.

  1. Choose a song that you can all agree on.
  2. Timing is always an important thing.
  3. Songs that have distinct changes to the music or have distinct parts are usually the ones to choose when collaborating.
3. Partitioning

It is usually good to have parts in which you and the other person/people that you are working with can clearly start mapping.

  1. First, it is advised that you bookmark your section of the song. Preferably even as possible.
  2. Regardless of who starts mapping, it much more easier to go from start to finish instead of you mapping all your parts altogether. That way, it is much more easier to flow and play better.
  3. Remember to partition in breaks. Most people forget that. -_-;
4. Map Settings

Like Ekaru said, if you can't agree on map settings...it's going to be detrimental.

  1. Agree on a Slider Velocity. This was a big killer for Last Time Travel and Gonna Be Here.
  2. Agree on distance snapping and spacing in general. Look at Be Your Wings.
  3. Agree on difficulty settings.
5. Mappers

This is the part where most people go crazy. Getting mappers that you might dream about to have might not be so easy but if you do get them, you must be ready in every aspect before you start.

  1. Develop your own mapping skills. One of the key aspects. If the person you want to collab with doesn't like how you map... You can kiss collaborating good-bye.
  2. Choose someone who has a similar style to you. It can often be easier when mapping, to flow together.
  3. Make sure that you all can contact each other easily... (You know what I mean. -_-) This is important because if the people you are working with disappear for whatever reason, you are left stranded.
Remember, always keep in mind that a good map is one that takes time and is at it's highest potential. Collaborations are often one of the most hardest maps to get ranked. A few reasons being:-

  1. You have more than one mapper, and if modders find a problem in your other mappers section, your other mapper has to solve it.
  2. Parts can clash and the flow of the map can be really hard to pull off.
  3. Collaborations are the hardest map to start off and complete.
Just remember, collaborations, despite being complex to begin and follow through, are often the most rewarding once completed.
Ekaru
Here is an example of what happens when two mappers in a collab don't communicate about what spacing they are going to use (hardest difficulty):

http://osu.ppy.sh/s/6010

To put it simply, decide on what spacing you two are going to use ahead of time. That is the most important thing to decide ahead of time and should be determined before either of you start mapping. Sadly, I learned the hard way. In the map I linked the spacing switches between huge and close because we used different spacing. It's confusing and doesn't play well (among other things).

Also don't 2x your section just because you don't like the slider velocity. Heeheeheeheehee...
Derekku

MarioBros777 wrote:

consider breaks
That really needs to be in the largest font size. orz

I also absolutely hate when mappers start a collab and then let it die. Either they get lazy or they don't push the others to finish. -___-
Gens
Sticky.
Lemon Water_old
It all makes sense now.
Xagrok
I've got a Question. If I do a Collab with another Mapper and if his/ her part gets modded, who will have to correct it: Me or the other one? Because Guest Diffs have to be edited by the Guest Diff-Maker him-/herself and be posted by him/her. Is it the same with Collabs?
Tshemmp
It is always your choice. In general the mapper of the specific part should apply the mod changes for it but if he leaves it to the mapset owner he (the mapset owner) can apply the mods on his own. Btw, GDs don't have to be edited by the GD maker himself, he can decide wether he wants to do it or leave it to the mapset owner.
Sakura
Collabs is quite a hassle to tackle in this regard, since it would be hard to send specific parts of the .osu to the mapper and be replaced correctly, what i suggest if you want your collab partner to do it is to set up an order of fixing, so like he fixes first, then sends the .osu and the mapper updates it, then the next one fixes their part with the already fixed part from the previous member included and sends the .osu and so on. Not sure if there are other easier methods, since i haven't done any collabs through the whole process but that's one way i thought of.
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