Generating the worst case fot quicksort C++ - c++

Question

I need to create the worst test case for standard quicksort: an array from 1 to N with given size (N can be from 1 to 70000). The key element is the one in the middle. I wrote a recursive function that puts the largest element in the middle (so the algorithm has to compare every element on the left with it) and then splits the array into two parts to put the next biggest elements in the middle of resulting parts. However, my code doesn't pass every case. What could be a problem here?
P. S. my goal is to make the quicksort to do as many comparisons as possible
#include <iostream>
#include <fstream>
using namespace std;
int antiqs(int* array, int start, int end, int maxElement, int* time){
if(end - start < 2) {
return maxElement - *time;
}
int middle = (start + end) / 2;
array[middle] = maxElement - *time;
*time = *time + 1;
antiqs(array, start, middle - 1, maxElement, time);
antiqs(array, middle + 1, end, maxElement, time);
}
int main() {
ios_base::sync_with_stdio(false);
cin.tie(NULL);
int n;
ifstream fileIn("antiqs.in.txt");
fileIn >> n;
fileIn.close();
int array[n];
for(int i = 0; i < n; i++){
array[i] = 0;
}
int time = 0;
int max = antiqs(array, 0, n-1, n, &time);
ofstream fileOut("antiqs.out.txt");
for(int i = 0; i < n; i++){
if(array[i] == 0){
array[i] = max;
max = max - 1;
}
fileOut << array[i] << " ";
}
fileOut.close();
return 0;
}

Answer 1

Generate a pattern of increasing even numbers followed by decreasing odd numbers. For example:
2 4 6 8 10 7 5 3 1
2 4 6 8 7 5 3 1
2 4 6 7 5 3 1
2 4 6 5 3 1
2 4 5 3 1
2 4 3 1
2 3 1
2 1
1
Example Lomuto partition scheme that uses middle element for pivot:
void QuickSort(int a[], int lo, int hi)
{
while (lo < hi){
std::swap(a[(lo+hi)/2], a[hi]); // use mid point for pivot
int p = a[hi];
int i = lo; // Lomuto partition
for (int j = lo; j < hi; ++j){
if (a[j] < p){
std::swap(a[j], a[i]);
++i;
}
}
std::swap(a[i], a[hi]);
if(i - lo <= hi - i){ // recurse on smaller, loop on larger
QuickSort(a, lo, i-1);
lo = i+1;
} else {
QuickSort(a, i+1, hi);
hi = i-1;
}
}
}