Consistent bad play..

[Demetori]

Don't understand this, and it makes me incredibly angry at times. I'll be playing a shmup, say Crimzon Clover, the day before and be doing really well, consistently well in parts of the game you've practiced and know pretty well. The day after you go to play, die on the first stages of the game, to stupid bullets and parts that were always easy are randomly hard no less. Lately I've always been able to get to the Stage 2 boss or mid-way Stage 3 with not a great amount of difficulty. This morning I've lost all my lives by the time I reach the Stage 2 mid-boss.

Do not understand it... I can't even get in to my high scores list today. Floating in to random bullets which I would never usually hit.

[zak]

Try not to masturbate before playing....

[Demetori]

[mjclark]

For me it's a bit like cooking- my play reflects my state of mind. If i'm feeling calm and together then I play well and my cakes turn out beautifully too but if I've got loads of unresolved shit going round in my head then scores, survival and chilli con carne all end up as useless.

[ShmupSamurai]

It's all in your mind....

If you're really stressed or in an upset mood, 8 times out of 10 you'll preform badly

Oh, and being physically tired doesn't help etheir.... xD

[neorichieb1971]

Get tunnel vision, don't smoke, make sure your hands are warm.. Take a breather between levels and don't rush into the next level. Make sure you don't need a piss. Even if your bladder has the slight twitch it can be distracting. Make sure lighting is appropriate. Play during the time of day that you feel most relaxed and awake. Make sure all joysticks and buttons pass strict tests before play. Make sure your testicles are in the central position and not under stress. Any sign of headaches take a pill just in case. Anyone walking around the room shoot them in the head or tell them to fuck off during the mid level interval. If you suffer from allegies and snivel alot blow your nose or have a hanky nearby. If your tend to scratch during play, take a bath first.

I think that covers the basics.

[xris]

It really does work as a good barometer to see what kind of state of mind you are in. Happy and relaxed, I play well. Upset or distracted, it's not going to be pretty. Drunk? Better stick to Novice modes. Shmups will tell you how you are feeling better than any other game types out there. Part of being good at something is your ability to put that aside and focus however. Yes, it's all about the state of mind. There is a certain zen to be found through the bullet patterns.
edit: snacks help. You brain needs allot of glucose to work sometimes.

[ShmupSamurai]

I'd hate to see a drunk trying to play Donpachi second loop. That would be brutal...

[mesh control]

Definately about your state of mind.

I tend to play better after a gram or two of psilocybin mushrooms.

[third_strike]

Don't understand this, and it makes me incredibly angry at times. I'll be playing a shmup, say Crimzon Clover, the day before and be doing really well, consistently well in parts of the game you've practiced and know pretty well. The day after you go to play, die on the first stages of the game, to stupid bullets and parts that were always easy are randomly hard no less. Lately I've always been able to get to the Stage 2 boss or mid-way Stage 3 with not a great amount of difficulty. This morning I've lost all my lives by the time I reach the Stage 2 mid-boss.

Do not understand it... I can't even get in to my high scores list today. Floating in to random bullets which I would never usually hit.

This always happens to me.
Tip: train all again.

Try not to masturbate before playing....

I would say the inverse.

[crackfox]

I find that just 2 pints of Guinness makes me play much better!!!
Any more than that and things start to go wrong!!!!
Which does happen!!!

[Demetori]

Known things to happen after. You suddenly need to learn everything AGAIN. Albeit a bit quicker.
On the subject of smoking; I have played after smoking and several people asked me if I was okay, of course I was just really wasted and having the time of my life. On the "Please Insert Credit" screen.

[Aquas]

So true about being in the right state. I've heard playing fighters at a high level that you also should be in tip-top shape, but shmups seem to take the cake. Honestly I won't even bother playing a shmup where I'm trying to pull off a crazy feat if I'm not at all in the right condition. If I do, it's just for kicks.

I've heard KET say that he doesn't get tired when he's playing shmups, which can be true, like staying awake by playing a first person shooter. Both games have your eyes being stimulated a lot and will generally keep you awake, but for me it's not optimal if I am trying to break a previous score or do anything serious.

Eat a meal, have a cup of tea or coffee (this works wonders for me, and even builds my confidence), be rested, warm, cut yourself off from distraction, yep, all are important to getting that 1cc or high score!! As far as smoking, a cigarette is nice between runs to cut some tension a failed run may have caused.

Sometimes I screw up on the earlier stages because I grow impatient, this is a sign for you to stop and re-assess yourself. Patience is also key, especially if it's a long game *COUGH*GRADIUS V*COUGH*

[Ganelon]

There are physical, mental, and experience-based factors that can affect your performance. You can't control pure physical factors so you'll have to keep your mind sharp and keep practicing:

1. Don't stress yourself too hard (e.g. I must clear stage 3 without dying before I have to leave in half an hour).
2. Don't distract yourself (e.g. Is that a bug I see in the corner of my eye?).
3. Learn the game more so you feel confident knowing what to expect (e.g. For this next part, I'm staying by this building to destroy the upcoming enemy wave before it's out).
4. Learn the game beyond 3 so that playing it comes naturally and more common maneuvers are lodged into muscle memory (e.g. Ah, bullet pattern time: left, right, right, left - yeah, thin crust with pepperoni please - right, left...).

[krokodil_final]

Yeah, I know these days. Had one today ...

[TrevHead (TVR)]

As others have already said shmups are a great bariometer to the state of your mind. Usually if im tired or have an headache and want to play shmups, ill just pratice a single stage so im atleast not waisting my time. And then theres times were i get serious in wanting to beat a shmup and become very focused, its usually those times where ill manage to progress allot further in a game or even 1CC it.

Sometimes ill do things to help me become focused like before a shmup session ill pop over to You Tube and visit an page were all the comments made piss me off. Then channel the anger in my shmupping endevors. That hardest video game boss ever vid is a fav of mine as its full of dumb ass comments, infact now more touhou players visit its like a fine wine getting better with age

[Observer]

Well, I don't know you guys but I refrain from playing shooters during the mornings (unless I wake up super early, like when I used to go to work, which implied getting up at 6:00 or a bit earlier... I would end up playing RayCrisis or G-Darius on my PC during lunch breaks, lol) because even if it's an easy game, my eyes fails to coordinate properly and all the dodging becomes futile.

Playing something like Crimzon Clover (let's not even mention the Unlimited stage) or DDP-DOJ during the mornings would be suicidal for my poor ego.

And talking about consistent bad play, after my success of 1ccing DoDonPachi (take that, Cave) I jumped straight to Dangun Feveron. Died consistently on stage 1 to the point I ended playing Starcraft 2 for one week.

[RNGmaster]

If you're doing badly at one game, go play another. It's not like you need to practice every day to stay competent. To quote Icarus, at the end of the day you're playing a game. If you have fun playing it, then you'll be better and you'll get more out of the genre as a whole.

[marus]

If you're doing badly at one game, go play another. It's not like you need to practice every day to stay competent. To quote Icarus, at the end of the day you're playing a game. If you have fun playing it, then you'll be better and you'll get more out of the genre as a whole.

It doesn't necessarily need to be even playing another game. If I find myself playing a game and either doing unusually bad or not enjoying it, I'll stop playing and do something else entirely. What exactly I do depends on my mood - it's usually something like go for a walk or swim, or cook something, or just take a nap if I'm tired. You'll need to figure out what works for you, but basically what RNGmaster said is true - if you're not having fun playing, then you're wasting your time and need to do something else until you're ready to play again.

[Kollision]

If this is happening:
- dying stupidly when you know you shouldn't
- dying in last health-sprite of bosses
- don't see that bullet coming
- get surprised by new patterns

It means you're not yet prepared to advance in this particular game.
The game is actually telling you you need to practice more.

I myself get angry at how poorly I perform at times.
But later on I realize I DID need more practice.... It's always like this.

[Reverie Planetarian]

I like this quasi-mental look at shmupping and I sort of use it myself.

Shmup is a state of mind.

All you need to do is relax and get a clear picture in your head of what you're doing, just like doing anything else.

Picture the bullet patterns and wave after wave of your bullets going up to meet your targets and never forget the mindset that you WILL do what you set out to do.