Featured Rookie Mapper: Cyrix

Welcome to this week’s edition of BeastSaber’s Community Profiles! Today, we have Cyrix, a rookie mapper! He recently began mapping on 09/05/2020, and focuses on some pretty niche genres, like Metal and Folk. It’s great to see a new mapper bring the music they love to Beat Saber! With 7 maps published already, I can’t wait to see more from him. I hope you enjoy learning more about Cyrix, and that seeing these highlighted rookie mappers can inspire you to start your own mapping journey!


BeastSaber

YouTube

Discord: Cyrix#1060


Q. What inspired you to start mapping?

A. The first reason for me was simply that not many of the songs I wanted had been mapped. I recall this exact idea being mentioned in an FAQ for people complaining about too many anime maps. While anime certainly has some great tracks, I happen to have another area I like a little better which I felt was under-represented.

The second reason was that modding and customization is always something I’ve been heavily into in games. I’ve previously made mods for the Elder Scrolls games, for example, and always extensively customize anything I can whenever I’m playing a game. When I got my hands on VR, and then Beat Saber, I was pretty sure I’d end up spending some time on mapping.

Q. What map of yours is your favourite? What do you love about it? Is there anything you’d change?

A. My current favourite is “Elvenking – The Horned Ghost and the Sorcerer“, though I suspect it will change as I get more experience and make more maps. I think like the violin parts came together very nicely, and also have a distinct gameplay feel that I enjoy.

Q. Do you have any mapping idols? What aspects of their maps do you love?

A. I think Timeweaver has some very fun patterns, and really shows how you can make  difficulty work without just adding more speed. Learning good complexity on slower patterns, that also isn’t awkward to play is something that I hope to implement in my own future maps.

Q. What were your initial impressions of mapping? How have they changed since?

A. A lot of my thoughts at the time were on the community tools built around mapping. I’m really glad I started mapping when the Wiki, Tutorials, MMA2 and Mod Assistant were already made. I found it very intuitive once I got past the initial setup, and the usual hurdles that new mappers experience there. There was a good deal of stuff to learn, but having modded other games previously, I wasn’t put off by it.

Once I learned the basics patterns and practices outlined by the wiki, I was a little surprised at how long it can take to make a solid map.

Now that I sort-of know what I’m doing, I definitely understand the time commitment. Not too much has changed on my thoughts on the tools and the process itself though. The biggest shift was how I look at the maps I play, especially those from the earlier days.

Q. What has been your favourite part of mapping? What has been your least favourite?

A. One of the best parts for me is getting feedback from a test-play, and being told that it works well. It’s usually not the first test that turns out this way, but when it does finally come together, it’s very satisfying to know that other people enjoy what I’m making as well.

As for the least, it’s definitely when a mistake has a kind of “butterfly effect” on the rest of the map. One misplaced block can cause the flow of the entire section to need reworking at times. While it doesn’t quite frustrate me to have to rework a large segment of a map, it is a shame when something that may have otherwise been good has to be discarded, along with the time spent on it.

Q. What has been the most challenging hurdle you’ve had to overcome in your mapping journey so far?

A. Properly timing notes to things that aren’t perfectly on beat. Vocals and certain instruments are nearly impossible to align 100%, and this carries over when trying to map it. Especially when a sound has a softer start and end, getting the placement right is still a struggle sometimes.

Q. What have you found to be the most helpful while learning to map? This could be a specific resource, a specific person, or even a mindset you may have developed.

A. I still consult the BSMG wiki quite often, since it usually has pretty much everything I need. Although it is less about patterns now, and more for environments and .dat edits, it still has most of the answers.

Q. Do you have any advice for new mappers just getting into their first map(s)?

A. Besides of course consulting the excellent community resources, it would definitely be to not pick your favourite song as your first map. Your first map will probably not be your best, and having to listen to the same song repeatedly for hours can take away from it as well.

Q. When you play for fun, what sort of maps do you play?

A. I either go for charts with large, slower movements, or long but easy streams. Both feel nice to execute passively when I’m not in the mood for more challenging maps.

Q. What does the future look like for you as a mapper? Is there anything you hope to accomplish next?

A. Aside from just making more maps and getting better, I have a goal that I want to map a specific 12-minute song some day, using a different lighting colour for each of the many singers that appear. I’m waiting for both my experience to catch up, as well as Chromapper or similar tools to be available for me.

Q. Is there anything else you’d like the Beat Saber community to know about you, or anything else you’d like to add?

A. I’d like to highlight the importance of playtesting maps, as it’s helped me a lot on my journey. If new mappers are reading this, I implore you to do the same, especially when just starting out. A shout-out to all the testers on the BSMG discord for being an excellent help to new mappers.


Thanks so much to Cyrix for his time, and for helping to make the Beat Saber community the great space that it is. Please feel free to ask him any questions in the comment section below.

Make sure you check back in next Wednesday for a Community Profile from Pug, the newest ScoreSaber admin! Thanks for reading, and see you next time.

Comments (2)
  1. penguin012 says:

    Nice to see Cyrix on here!

  2. Sp234 says:

    An amazing mapper, awesome Rock and Roll songs that as described , felt missing at the time but fortunately got a bit more love with packs that Cyrix himself participated in.
    I personally benefited from his feedback when he tested several of my maps – which have his name on them.

    Looking forward for more of his amazing work ! 🙂

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