This tutorial covers some advanced concepts. Beginner mappers beware!


Flow in beatmapping is a concept that doesn't have a true definition - many mappers have varying opinions on what flow is and how it should be. In this tutorial I'll explain my understanding of flow. WITH PICTURES!

I think of flow as a combination of three separate types of flow: Linear Flow, Oval Flow, and Drop-Off Flow.

Linear flow is where from object to object, the player has to turn either very little or not at all. This can be combined with sliders to 'catch' players after large jumps, or combined with how lenient sliders are to make otherwise complex sliders play easily.

Oval flow is when the player can move in an oval shape from object to object. Ovals are fluid, intuitive, and fun, and from what I have seen lots of people love it.

Dropoff flow is a bit confusing, but it's equally as important. Dropoff flow is when the player uses the lenient slider ball on sliders to move onto the next object before the slider is finished. This lets the player be completely stopped when playing the next object, allowing them to move in any direction afterwards with ease.


These different types of flow can be combined to make patterns that play smoothly.


Now for some examples.


Open the box for lots of helpful images!

Shiro has also compiled a post with some neat topics and great examples. Check it out here.

If you have any questions at all, feel free to ask in the thread. (inb4 the thread gets buried)


Oh, and if you have any types of flow that you personally use, please mention it here.

EDIT: One more thing I wanna clarify. 'Bad' flow is not a bad thing to have. The only difference between good and bad flow is how smooth the movement is. 'Good' flow is smooth while 'Bad' flow is more jagged.

Chinese Translation

Reserving a spot for images and contributions

ok, I'm too lazy for that.

Suscribing to topic.

This is amazing

well shit

rsvp

You've left out a couple types here that I'd like to mention.

1. Central focus - where all notes in a combo lead to one particular area or note

2. Infinity flow - also known as figure 8 flow, where the notes loop around and intersect each other while still forming a constantly curved shape.

3. Shaped flow - in which the notes form a basic shape such as a star, an octagon, a heart, etc. Mostly used to be evocative of either the "feel" of the music, the lyrics, or something symbolic to the song

I'll add screenshots later.

last example sucks and bad for "tutotial", others - agree mostly.

This basically covers how to make your map not suck (at least not completely). Subscribed.

I wholeheartedly endorse this thread. One thing I'd like to note is that smooth flow is not and probably should not be followed 100% of the time: occasional more awkward to play angular patterns can create interesting and memorable sections of the map against particularly dramatic bits of the music. Should be done sparingly, though.

This is great. Somebody please sticky this.

I'm still not getting it.

Jacob wrote:

This is great. Somebody please sticky this.

Done

ziin wrote:

I'm still not getting it.

It's hard to understand ;_;
And how to improve bad flow?

How can you recogize it's bad or not?

Miya wrote:

It's hard to understand ;_;
And how to improve bad flow?

How can you recogize it's bad or not?

It's okay, we learn through experience, right? So people that understand this can teach you through your own map when they mod it. But the first step lies with you being open to suggestions.

those wrote:

Miya wrote:

It's hard to understand ;_;
And how to improve bad flow?

How can you recogize it's bad or not?

It's okay, we learn through experience, right? So people that understand this can teach you through your own map when they mod it. But the first step lies with you being open to suggestions.

I open to any suggeston, but i want to keep my point of view too. >.<

Back to the topic..
If i look into the pic, pattern that makes very extreme angle makes the flow bad, is it right?

I think those definations are really great... though there's always more kinds of flows than you could think about, but the main ones are explained well.

Something i'd like to add (All my opinions):

A linear flow works best when it curves a bit from a note to the next one, a totally linear placement usually feels too straight and not flexible enough.
Also, this could be recognized as a kind of linear flow too. (constantly curve to one side)

Oval flow does not only included slider-slider patterns, circles could be used there too. (I know spacing may looks random to some of you guys, but try to get how the track works.)

Dropoff flow is usually combined with the first two mentioned, in fact.

If you could use the flows mentioned well and have your idea to the music you map, you're already a decent mapper.

(About "how to judge good flow/bad flow): Well... map/play more ww.

(About some back-forth patterns, some shaped patterns): Flow is not what the mapper pays most attention now, they will still play good when the patterns is limited in a small area, example:

This pattern won't have a good flow, but it provides another kind of feeling to the players (when it follows the music, or in a slow pattern), in the picture, 5-6-1 gets a simple linear flow to be out of the pattern area.

Miya wrote:

If i look into the pic, pattern that makes very extreme angle makes the flow bad, is it right?

That totally depends on when and where in the map you are. Oftentimes it's very obvious when it's bad, but other times it fits. It's very difficult to come up with an exact location in time and space because there are numerous ways to interpret something, and some ways are better than others.

@ziin/Miya that's why, the best way of studying map flow is to actually play maps.

Also I hate linear flow.

Orz, hard to understand indeed ;_;
Yeah, the best way to learn flow is by playing the map >.<

Updated the first post with a quick clarification that 'bad' flow isn't actually a bad thing. It just means more sudden movements for the player.

Saturos-fangirl wrote:

You've left out a couple types here that I'd like to mention.

1. Central focus - where all notes in a combo lead to one particular area or note

2. Infinity flow - also known as figure 8 flow, where the notes loop around and intersect each other while still forming a constantly curved shape.

3. Shaped flow - in which the notes form a basic shape such as a star, an octagon, a heart, etc. Mostly used to be evocative of either the "feel" of the music, the lyrics, or something symbolic to the song

I'll add screenshots later.

1. I think that's more of a pattern thing than how the objects are placed in relation to each other.
2. Yes, I love these , I think you could consider it as a combination of two ovals as well.
3. I think this is also more of a pattern thing, and a great example of how 'bad' flow can be great.

RandomJibberish wrote:

I wholeheartedly endorse this thread. One thing I'd like to note is that smooth flow is not and probably should not be followed 100% of the time: occasional more awkward to play angular patterns can create interesting and memorable sections of the map against particularly dramatic bits of the music. Should be done sparingly, though.

Yes totally, 'bad' flow can be great for some parts in music. Having contrasting flow in a map can create memora... well I guess I'm just repeating what RJ said, he's 100% right.

Miya wrote:

If i look into the pic, pattern that makes very extreme angle makes the flow bad, is it right?

If the player has to change direction because of a sharp turn, then yes it would be 'bad' flow. This can be intentional, though, and it's not a wrong thing

NatsumeRin wrote:

>:( I think those definations are really great... though there's always more kinds of flows than you could think about, but the main ones are explained well.

Something i'd like to add (All my opinions):

A linear flow works best when it curves a bit from a note to the next one, a totally linear placement usually feels too straight and not flexible enough.
Also, this could be recognized as a kind of linear flow too. (constantly curve to one side)

Oval flow does not only included slider-slider patterns, circles could be used there too. (I know spacing may looks random to some of you guys, but try to get how the track works.)

Dropoff flow is usually combined with the first two mentioned, in fact.

If you could use the flows mentioned well and have your idea to the music you map, you're already a decent mapper.

(About "how to judge good flow/bad flow): Well... map/play more ww.

(About some back-forth patterns, some shaped patterns): Flow is not what the mapper pays most attention now, they will still play good when the patterns is limited in a small area, example:

This pattern won't have a good flow, but it provides another kind of feeling to the players (when it follows the music, or in a slow pattern), in the picture, 5-6-1 gets a simple linear flow to be out of the pattern area.

Yes totally, small angles on Linear flow is awesome (and prevents the map from becoming rectangular, haha).
Thanks for pointing out that oval flow works on circles, it's really awesome when maps do that.
You're also correct that 'bad' flow patterns don't matter when the spacing is close together (that's basically why dropoff works well)
Really nice post, adds a lot to the thread.


Thanks for the responses so far, going to update the first post later with more information from you guys.

Obviously, "flow" is subjective, but this seems to make sense. It might be worth mentioning the importance of changing the overall direction between patterns, because I see a lot of maps which go around and around in an extremely boring way.

too lazy to read every words, but read all pics and I agree with those.

But I don't think flow is a thing that can be summaried or recorded utterly. with the time flies every second there is a possibility to creat a new flow pattern

As a slightly different approach, can we agree that making the spacing too large or small in relation to the slider velocity is really bad for the feel of a map? I believe that if a map is going to have slow sliders, then the spacing of circles shouldn't cause a jarring slow-slow-slow-QUICK-QUICK-slow feel.

Exactly D33d.

also, t/87284

so.. err... what's the common bad flow in most of beatmaps you saw?
pattern with extreme angle?

nanda2009 wrote:

so.. err... what's the common bad flow in most of beatmaps you saw?
pattern with extreme angle?

Completely random jumps at very severe angles. Second would be completely random anti-jumps that don't fit the music at all. I can do both of those, of course, but that's mainly due to testplaying so many of those while modding.

Regardless, I'd argue that the #1 completely-killing-your-map-before-you-even-start-mapping method is using a SV and DS combo that has your 1/1s overlap in an Easy diff on most BPMs. Believe it or not, newbies often don't like that because it makes them think, "OMG I NEED TO CLICK THESE NOTES FAST" when that is not the case. It also makes it much harder for them to read the approach circles because they're cramped together. 'Course, very high BPMs - like 210+ - are a different story, but very few maps have that high of a BPM.

haw to upload beatmap song

How about melodic flow? That is to say, patterns which rise and fall with melodic hooks and the music in general? It's hard to create interesting patterns while doing this constantly, but to me, it feels horrible when a pattern goes entirely in the opposite direction of a key motif.

A similar instance would be using this sense of direction to alternate between the lead and something in the accompaniment. For example, this pattern in OK Go - Here It Goes Again, in which the lead is followed and then there's a huge drop for the floor tom.



I'm also a big fan of back and forth flow, which can be a direct overlap over a previous object:



Or patterns which move in opposite directions:



No wonder this map is so awesome.

For me, the flow means when an object can connect to a previous or the next object and feels intuitive, regardless of the spacing used. Some people interrupt this with (unfitting) jumps or antijumps or when a jump/antijump can fit, they use distance snap. And yeah, /late and most of the stuff I agree with is in the first post anyway, just with less labels.
That's just how I see it. :p

This is complicated, but I'll try to follow it.

Whipping this thread into a coma with another suggestion, which I don't think has been suggested yet.

Self-intersecting flow


Speaks for itself. Patterns which either cross straight through themselves or complete rows/patterns can be very nice. Incidentally, that previous pattern in the screenshot can also be very nice--as in, something which moves out and around in a kind of angular way. The Ouendan 2 map, 'Bang! Bang!', has a lot of that stuff.

Furthermore, patterns such as this are also excellent, of course.



Also, I really enjoy using clever copypaste and rotation to create a more drawn-out rotating flow. When it's used with interesting patterns, this can be very effective, especially if it's done a way which cycles between a smooth curve and sharp directional changes.

I've just discovered a great application of this "slider leniency" for structure mapping. Because structure gets a bad rap for having "poor" flow--a sentiment which I find to be rather untrue when the flow's manipulated in ways which fit the music--I'm going to talk about slider patterns. In particular, moving between two sliders with spaced 1/4. Over time, my hope is to dispel some common misconceptions about the relevance of "iNiS style" to a game which is primarily mouse-based.

First, let's look at an example of an object following a slider directly.



I've seen some complaints about this sort of thing being bad, simply because the circle which follows the slider doesn't overlap or isn't stacked. Personally, I hate sliderend stacking, so I find the latter to be thoroughly out of the question. I also dislike objects overlapping, unless they're part of a tidy stream, so the former isn't a viable option for me. With regards to the gigantic followcircle, let's see how easy it is to get away with larger spacing.



You can see that, despite the larger spacing, the size of the followcircle allows the player to land directly onto the next object, before the slider's even finished. As an added bonus, I've illustrated how this pattern--something that looks incredibly angular--can easily play as one smooth curve. Don't be afraid to use sharper angles! Even if you're not aiming for sharp changes in direction, they can play extremely smoothly.

Note that this sort of thing can apply very well to even tighter angles. The following pattern might be dispelled as being stuck awkwardly between "flow and anti-flow," but look at the smoothness of the path which can be followed:



See? It's possible to have structure and "good flow." It just takes a modicum of consideration to how it will work in practice, as well as some attention during playtests. Of course, this sort of logic can apply to circle patterns on their own, especially when they're large like they are in the examples.

In closing, here are some even more angular patterns.




I hope that this has enlightened some of you about structure mapping. Instead of flat-out dispelling the notion of mapping like this, try suggesting ways of improving the flow when smoother flow is required.

Good tips & Tricks for my next maps & mods (:

Now I NEED apply this "know-how" on Sade - Smooth Operator, which I'm currently remapping, and start building expertise...

Translated into Chinese: t/141227

An error caused a triple post. I apologize

An error caused me to triple post. Sorry.

Added Shiro's tumblr post concerning flow and patterns.

Necro lol but I wanted to ask: sharp angles like back and forth circle jumps are bad flow? They are among the easiest jumps to play o.o

ok, so i've been looking at this for the past 15 minutes and i do not get it at all...
(i sux at mapping )