On the one hand, I can see how games like this would require your hand-eye coordination to be perfect, with lightning reflexes. Of course this is important. On the other hand, I've discovered that I excel in certain types of games if I've got a bit of a... lift?
Is this cheating?
I can see how this would sound pretty ridiculous, but sometimes I get in that mode where I can just relax my eyes and it becomes increasingly easy to avoid all the little incoming dots. Heh. Anyways, you should keep in mind that all of this is coming from a horrible SHMUP player-- that's why I'm curious to hear of your guys' experiences concerning this.
Hope I'm not out of line. Cheers.
Last edited by koda on Tue Sep 25, 2007 7:19 am, edited 1 time in total.
Well, I don't shmup since it's such a shitty word. For "gaming" in general, no surprise... alcohol really makes me a pretty bad player. Sometimes in fighting games it enahnces it. Not for anything of the shooting variety.
Also any type of altercation w/ the wife and I get distracted for hours.
RegalSin wrote:New PowerPuff Girls. They all have evil pornstart eyelashes.
Kind of like some guys in my dorm in college w/ homosexuality.
On topic (or is it Off Topic?), one time I was pretty baked and thought I combo'd into a grab in SFIII. That's the only game where I felt like it helped. That day I got a bunch of perfects with SA finishes in a row (against CPU of course). I also used to kick my girlfriends ass at SFIII on a regular basis while high.
Never tried shooters...I'd probably do really well, wonder why I'm doing so well, then immediately start to suck.
In the end, I think you just realize how good you really were in the first place and are amazed by it for no reason
if were talking alcohol then yeah i can bring my a-game after a few beers, sometimes you really hit the zone after 2-3 bottles. (sometimes not tho )
me and xipe split a bottle of absolut at HEY! once.. went pretty well as i recall, theres always drinks involved when there are gamenights at my place aswell.
more potent stuff and im absoluteley miserable tho.. i dont get people who play games stoned/high at all.
the destruction of everything, is the beginning of something new. your whole world is on fire, and soon, you'll be too..
I don't really take any substances at all, maybe except alcohol but very rarely and only in small amounts.
Lately I have only been playing Mr.Driller.
For that game in particular, I just need to stay calm, which is pretty hard when I am at 1913m on my last life with 16 units of air remaining.
Strangely enough, I play much better after a work out and a day worth of work than I am for the first few hours after waking up (regardless of the previous night)
RegalSin wrote:New PowerPuff Girls. They all have evil pornstart eyelashes.
A beer or two helps sometimes, just because it relaxes my nerves. First time I got 25mil in Ikaruga Normal mode (early 2003) I had about 3 beers in me, it was about 2am, and I was playing in my apartment by the river in the countryside of Aichi Prefecture, Japan. Nice memory.
lol last time I got drunk I played some DDP and did a run so incredibly bad it was even worse than the first times I played. But the run after I tried to focus more and did a nice score T.T
If you are the type of player that is very uptight, one beer might help in the sense that you seem to relax a little, but the reflexes will suffer either way.
Maybe it helps putting the non-game related thoughts aside to fully focus on the game.
I mean, I tried this too, also with my drawing sessions (I am studying illustration). I thought it would give me more "ideas", but I realized it just makes me much, much worse even after one beer. I am happy that no kind of drug gives me superpowers in any sense. People also tend to feel unbeatable on cocaine. But I think the human body is pretty well-adjusted the way it is. The main problem is the pressure you put on yourself. Try to get rid of that without any chemical aid, and you´ll get smooth results
Maybe it helps putting the non-game related thoughts aside to fully focus on the game.
You know, I find it easier to do the opposite. Forget about the game, and just let your hands do all the work. Usually I play the best this way. Then I realize how well I'm playing and mess up
Half a brownie and a good strong beer usually helps, especially right after I get off of work in the morning. Weed seemed to really help my play in Counter Strike because of the reliance on sound. With shooters, it tends to help me focus a bit more and I seem to see patterns better. Of course, I may just think that I'm seeing the patterns better but it's still a good time regardless.
Maybe it helps putting the non-game related thoughts aside to fully focus on the game.
You know, I find it easier to do the opposite. Forget about the game, and just let your hands do all the work. Usually I play the best this way. Then I realize how well I'm playing and mess up
That´s what my friend and I do when we meet to play Mariokart DD (and drink beer) - we talk about all kinds of stuff while playing. The gaming is just the outer setting to meet, in a way.
NAVVARR wrote:I actually have noticed that drinking Coffee makes me a worse Shmup player.
That might be because coffee doesn`t actually give you any energy, but rather causes your body to whip out stress hormones. I quit coffee altogether and while the first week was pretty hard (fatique and headaches), I feel a lot better now.
I think I'll test this. I'll play 10 games of DDP and record my scores. Then I'll drink a beer and play three games. Drink another beer and play 3 more games, etc., up to four beers.
I'll report my results here, but it probably won't be until next weekend.
Zebra Airforce wrote:I also used to kick my girlfriends ass ... on a regular basis while high.
I'm pretty sure you can go to jail for that.
On the uber old forums we had an interesting discussion about the "zen of shmupping" (I think there might have been a few repeat threads since). My contribution was that sometimes it helps for me to have some minor distraction like listening to music or having a conversation with somebody while I'm playing. I'm guessing the way that works is it allows me to play by reaction while my cognitive mind is off doing something else.
-ud