[qqwref]

Originally Posted by Grimer

I hope you realize my advice is in fact directed at high-level stream pattern choice. (mostly)

Sure, but basically if your approach to 200-250 bpm stream is "anything is okay" then you are just not going to make good charts of the difficulties that most active players play.

I don't think anyone would disagree when I say that the difficulty of a file is a combination of the bpm and how tough the patterns are. If 16th stream is the focus of your file, then whether it's at 150 or 220 or 300 bpm, it's important to make it flow well. Sure, the kind of person who AAAs 300 bpm stream files isn't going to care about 220 bpm stream files, but they aren't the intended audience anyway. If you are making a 220bpm file and ignore the fact that a lot of people still have trouble with icky 220bpm stream patterns, you're going to end up with a chart that is only fun to the people who will AAA it anyway, and really unpleasant to the people who will be playing that chart the most.


@Middie: Honestly, there is a lot of disagreement over this, because some people like certain patterns and some like others. For instance hi19 tends to make really rolly streams that he enjoys, and I also know other people who hate playing that kind of pattern. I've heard samurai is really good with patterns, so you could look at his charts for some pointers. In general I think it's fair to say that you should generally avoid one-handed minitrills longer than 3-4 notes, and try not to have any kind of longer anchorjacks, but other than that there's a lot of variation available in how you make the stream feel. I wouldn't want there to be One Way to do it because then all the files would look the same. As long as you avoid the really bad stuff, it's nice to have the variety of different styles.