Liquor and Shmups?

[Shogun]

I want to drink and I want to game. However my reflexes are shit when I'm drunk. Does anyone have tips for drinking and playing shmups?!

[Eaglet]

Stimulants.

[rugdoctor]

ice-tea and pocky works well for me.

[Giest118]

Chloroform.

[ratikal]

As an experienced substance (ab)user with shmups, I can give you some details on how certain substances can affect your play!

First off, liquor I feel like when used in small amounts can actually help you while flying. For me, it calms my nerves and makes me a bit less nervous whilst playing. Course if your piss drunk, you are probably gonna suck at everything regardless.

Secondly, Marijuana, more so the "downer" strains can negatively effect your performance by making you too calm. In moderation, it may be okay, I have managed to chain stage 5 in DOJ while being moderately baked. More often than not however, I smoke, I play, I suck, and I wish I hadn't smoked in the first place. I haven't experimented with the "upper" strain.

Thirdly, Adderall/Ritalin can have a slight positive effect on your playing ability. It can help you focus more and for longer, making it kind of useful you want to grind a game for hours without feeling bored. I personally hate how it makes me feel though, dry mouth and sweats suck.

Finally, Ambien will DRASTICALLY decrease your skill. Ambien is just a hell of a drug in general, but it can make for some funny moments (that you won't remember, ever).

Just my two cents...

[Xyga]

Indeed. If the liquor dulls your reflexes you're doing drunken stick wrong.

[Strikers1945guy]

Black coffee & nicotine seem to keep me relaxed but in focus these days. Switch to black tea at night.
Most people might not want so much caffeine, especially at night. Nicotine is another thing all together.

[amdiggywhut]

As with playing pool, a couple drinks will certainly help my game. The law of diminishing returns always catches up though.

[finisherr]

Don't drink if you care about playing well.

[Stevens]

Secondly, Marijuana, more so the "downer" strains can negatively effect your performance by making you too calm. In moderation, it may be okay, I have managed to chain stage 5 in DOJ while being moderately baked. More often than not however, I smoke, I play, I suck, and I wish I hadn't smoked in the first place. I haven't experimented with the "upper" strain.

I will corroborate this.

[MintyTheCat]

A fatal combination

I knew a guy at University who would always program whilst drinking whisky. The guy was not a good programmer and spent a very long time debugging and hence was always pissed

[Squire Grooktook]

Drink something wholesome like soda or fruit smoothies.

[Eaglet]

On weed; sativa strains work great with Raizing games. Just don't smoke yourself retarded and you'll find yourself in a state that's pretty good for practice (being more open to new strategies instead of sticking to the same old routes). Made some tactical progress from moderate smoking sessions.

[MintyTheCat]

A fatal combination

I knew a guy at University who would always program whilst drinking whisky. The guy was not a good programmer and spent a very long time debugging and hence was always pissed

Lest we forget: https://xkcd.com/323/

[gray117]

Drink something wholesome like soda or fruit smoothies.

Since when is any soda wholesome?

[PAPER/ARTILLERY]

Cocaine is good for shooting.

Somebody had to say it.

[JBC]

No more than two beers for me. Preferably cheap bowling alley draft or some special brew if at home. After that I'd be too lazy to shmup.

[cave hermit]

Personally, while a drink dulls my reflexes a bit, on the whole it significantly improves my game by calming my nerves.
However in general I'm a very nervous twitchy guy, so you might not get as much mileage out of the trade off depending on how calm you usually are.

I would guess that there would be diminishing returns if you drink more in one sitting though.

[MintyTheCat]

Cocaine is good for shooting.

Somebody had to say it.

Heroin is good for shooting.

Sorry, I couldn't resist

[Blinge]

Drink something wholesome like soda or fruit smoothies.

Since when is any soda wholesome?

That's the joke..

[Super Laydock]

I want to drink and I want to game. However my reflexes are shit when I'm drunk. Does anyone have tips for drinking and playing shmups?!

Tip: don't upload any plays while being drunk.
For me it shouldn't matter as I suck anyways... but still.

Passing out before the last boss is always a good excuse for not clearing a game. Make sure you have that on video so you can prove it really wasn't you........

[Knockworstface]

This thread is fucking awesome.

I can't drink too much and play. Dulls the reflexes. Weed does me okay though.

[Stevens]

Besides weed I do enjoy beer, and black coffee (occasionally with home made Khalua) when I play.

Truthfully though if I am really stoned I prefer to play shit that doesn't require too much skill - like Borderlands or something.

[Xyga]

Adrenochrome is best before a run. Just a tiny taste.

[cul]

Alcohol is so pleb tier guys, get it together.


All my best scores are made on Ritalin.

When I was playing FPS at a pretty high level when younger (15-20) weed was giving me better performances but now it's the complete opposite, but it's still awesome for immersion.
One of my best video game memory ever was marathoning Dead Space 1 and 2 for three days straight while smoking weed nonstop. Just to contextualize, I used to not be able to play ANY horror game because I was shitting my pants. I have to say that this experience was mind blowing and made me love horror game to the point that I did exactly the same with Alien Isolation and gosh it was a blast.
So to me weed is crap for performance, but great for enjoyment.

I put opiates in the same park as weed, although I find it way more manageable to do stuff on opiates.


But yeah, anyway, want to improve performance? Any kind of amphetamine derivates, with of course a preference for "safe" things like Ritalin.
Want to just have fun? Weed all the way.

Want to live older than 40? Don't do any of that shit please.

[Stevens]

One of my best video game memory ever was marathoning Dead Space 1 and 2 for three days straight while smoking weed nonstop.

The next time I can get away with smoking weed non stop for three days I am so doing something similar. Might be the perfect time to yet again revisit MDK 2.

Well done.

[cul]

Secondly, Marijuana, more so the "downer" strains can negatively effect your performance by making you too calm. In moderation, it may be okay, I have managed to chain stage 5 in DOJ while being moderately baked. More often than not however, I smoke, I play, I suck, and I wish I hadn't smoked in the first place. I haven't experimented with the "upper" strain.

Hey didn't see your post.

Here in Switzerland it's fairly easy to get weed, and when there were still weed shops in Biel back in 2002-2005 it was so easy to have access to so many different breeds. I almost only bought Sativa trends kind of weed (what you call "upper" kind of weed), and I can fairly attest that pure sativa breeds are a whole different experience, they give you a clear high, very stimulant. Like indica it enhances physical senses but it makes you want to do stuff. That's what I was smoking when I was playing FPS back then. I personally can't get a similar high even with the modern hybrid breeds I can get my hands on now.

They closed every weed shop in 2005/6 and nowadays I only get downer weeds and honestly, while most of it is even stronger than what we had back then, I miss the sativa high that was way better to me. Now if I smoke weed, I turn into a sloth for half a week, I can't do anything, I barely even go out to buy food. Maybe it's cause I got older, maybe it's cause I have now a decade long history of various substance abuse, I don't know, but that's why I only smoke weed once or twice a year now.

The next time I can get away with smoking weed non stop for three days I am so doing something similar. Might be the perfect time to yet again revisit MDK 2.

Well done.

Ho boy, MDK 1 is such a loved memory, it was so ahead of its time when it got out, I never tried the sequel though.

[Blinge]

Oddly enough, I swear caffeine makes me play a lot worse.

[Zaarock]

Can't say I've ever done better at shmups while drinking unless I was nervous. Can be good fun though. Much worse experience with fighting games, I tend to stop thinking and go on autopilot which any good opponent will punish.

Oddly enough, I swear caffeine makes me play a lot worse.

Same here. With a lot of caffeine I either make unnecessary actions/inputs or worry about small details too much.

[TransatlanticFoe]

Booze doesn't really hinder me any more than my fading 30s reflexes already do. Well, unless I'm completely twatted. I can still play modern games while pissed, but generally forget to save and get angry when I lose a chunk of progress (don't play KOTOR drunk anymore).

Contact lenses are what hinders me most in shmups. Can't focus for very long because of the need for blinking!