How to try hard?

[TLB]

Trying hard at video games is something I'm not good at doing, but when I do it, I can do well at shutan games. There's a distinct difference between not being able to pay attention to the screen and being able to pay attention to the whole damn thing, and I'm curious as to how you guys invoke this ancient-secret-super-ninja-killing-deathblow-ninja-info-cards technique.

The answers are probably all going to turn out to be "it's just natural, bro, try harder", but hey. I'd rather just ask the question.

[UnscathedFlyingObject]

It boils down to practice. Spend 300 or more hours with anything and you'll become proficient.

[Ed Oscuro]

You may select 1 option

[Specineff]

^^ Heh heh. Yeah. I've selected the same option thrice already.

I listen to l33t music, because nothing gets me pumped up more than Eye of The Tiger and St. Elmo's Fire.

[Davey]

The answers are probably all going to turn out to be "it's just natural, bro, try harder", but hey. I'd rather just ask the question.

Probably not, actually. The good players always say it's mostly practice, reading guides, studying replays (both superplays and your own), and developing strategies from there. While I realize the importance of all that, I think innate talent has a lot to do with it, although if you're naturally talented it's easy to take it for granted IMHO. General dodging skills build over time, although they'll only get you so far, and scoring varies a lot from game to game.

Notes about the poll:
- Waiting to see how many people are sikraiken. Turns out, he's really like 7 guys.
- Obvious missing option: "Why don't you?"

[TLB]

Good point. I'll add that straightaway.

I'm not talking about learning to play. I know how to play. I CAN score at some games, it's just a complete and utter bitch to pay attention to the game for more than three seconds.

I can, for instance, no-hyper stage 1 of DOJ, full chain stage 2, and chain the first half of stage 3, and all of these things are pretty easy for me.

However, if I can't pay attention to more of the screen than four square inches (on a 20'' TV), I can't do any of that. At least not in a run. Sometimes I'm up to condition, sometimes not, and I have no idea what exactly makes the difference. Weeks when I get decent sleep are not always the weeks when I can play a shooting game. Weeks when I don't get sleep aren't always good weeks, either.

And about the poll, I made it so you can change your option, for the lulz. You can't really vote more than once, just move your vote around. Silly geese :)

[Ed Oscuro]

My previous post is my answer to this thread, not really interested in vote manipulations

I'll vote when the I'M BATMAN option appears.

[CStarFlare]

I'm not talking about learning to play. I know how to play. I CAN score at some games, it's just a complete and utter bitch to pay attention to the game for more than three seconds.

I'm so glad I'm not the only one who does this. I have a terrible attention span with just about everything I do.

[Davey]

Okay, I misread the question then.

If you're talking about devoting your focus to the game (i.e., getting in the zone), I don't think that's something that can be forced or learned, it just kind of happens from time to time. If anything, trying to focus too hard sometimes makes you fuck up more. I seem to reset a lot more often when I adopt the "alright, I'm going to do awesome this time" mentality.

Regarding your eyes and where to focus them, that just comes naturally over time I think. It's been years since I've really thought about that, although when I first got into shmups I wasn't quite sure where I should be looking. It really does just become instinct over time.

Nowadays, the only time I consciously think about where I'm looking is when I play on a cab. I can't see the whole play field when sitting close to a 29" screen. It is pretty awesome for seeing small gaps, though. If I actually owned a cab I'm sure it'd become second nature eventually.

[BryanM]

~10,000 hours is what it takes to master A Thing.

At half an hour a day, that's only a mere 5000 days, or something like 14+ solid years. It helps to start before you're ten.

That's what it means to try hard.

[Udderdude]

Lots of practice. Memorization where applicable (mostly everywhere when it comes to shmups).

Go nuts and try different things when it comes to creative stuff.

[Elixir]

I always look ahead of my ship. Looking at my ship or underaged girl usually throws me the fuck off, unless it's Death Smiles where a lot of patterns can be cheesed through/look difficult but actually aren't.

I don't think constantly playing a game is a good idea. Usually when I know I want to become good at something, I end up doing terribly at it. Casual play is usually where some of my best runs come from. I think it's possible just to play an hour or so a day (on a certain game) along with other stuff, otherwise you'll end up sick of the game and/or end up hating it. I recently did this with Demon's Souls, where I pulled an all nighter just to get through 1-4. I kept dying and doing stupid stuff in co-op because I felt pressured into getting through it. Brute force isn't going to get you better at games.

[Ganelon]

Play with other folks to give yourself additional motivation to not look horribly out of practice. Have a goal in mind and try to follow it (good goals are to finally 1CC the game, to get on a high score list, etc.). Beyond that, make sure that you do get sufficient sleep and that you're not stressed out over other things in your life.

You may also want to make sure that it's your lack of attention that's the issue rather than an excuse for careless mistakes. With enough practice (and warmups prior to a run), you should be pretty consistent at a game.

[TLB]

Thanks for the insight there Ganelon, but by warmups do you mean stage practice? Just wasn't sure :P

I think I'm going to make an ST on Trying Hard once I have enough stuff :P

[Vexorg]

Just target for the weak points of the f**kin machine, and do your best you've ever done.

[mortified_penguin]

oddly enough, I'm at my best after I've had a few drinks. (thanks for the option)

In general, I try and get my serious game time when no one is around. No music, no one nagging me for something, just me and the game. Anything else is a distraction.

[KindGrind]

Sleeping on it instead of having yet another "last go at it before you go to bed" and not retrying as soon as you make a mistake.

[jonny5]

I always look ahead of my ship. Looking at my ship or underaged girl usually throws me the fuck off, unless it's Death Smiles where a lot of patterns can be cheesed through/look difficult but actually aren't.

I don't think constantly playing a game is a good idea. Usually when I know I want to become good at something, I end up doing terribly at it. Casual play is usually where some of my best runs come from. I think it's possible just to play an hour or so a day (on a certain game) along with other stuff, otherwise you'll end up sick of the game and/or end up hating it. Brute force isn't going to get you better at games.

this^^

i find i have my best run of a session in the first few credits....i get steadily worse the longer i play

[ZOM]

Don't play a shitload of different games, or you'll be mediocre at all of them.

Ok, that may not necessarily apply to every person but I know that in my case if I keep switching between different titles, I'm not able to learn any of them.

Also, another vote for not playing too long in one sitting.

[brokenhalo]

Just target for the weak points of the f**kin machine, and do your best you've ever done.

^^^^^this times infinity.

for me it boils down to practice. for about the past 2 months i've been seriously working on espgaluda trying to 1cc it. starting out i'd get to maybe the third boss and score around 4 million (sad, i know).i play about 45 minutes a day, and i've watched the superplay dvd about 5 times. now i can get to 5-2 on a bad run and usually score +20 mil. i don't think i'll make the 1cc though. i've been stuck on the last boss for about the past 3 weeks and just can't clear that hump.

it's interesting what you mentioned about having good days and bad days. some days you can just be on fire and there really isn't much rhyme or reason for it. wish i knew how to flick that switch to godlike more often.

[Ganelon]

In general, I try and get my serious game time when no one is around. No music, no one nagging me for something, just me and the game. Anything else is a distraction.

Make yourself play through distractions and you should start to develop a tolerance for them. With enough distracting play, you may be able to drown everything out entirely. I know during fighting game matches, I can pretty effectively zone the audience out.

And by warmups, I mean playing maybe playing the first stage without trying your best; just make sure you have all the mechanics and timing for that game stored into your short-term memory and muscle memory. Then restart and try to play for real. That way, you put give yourself more pressure while alleviating self-produced excuses.

[mortified_penguin]

In general, I try and get my serious game time when no one is
Make yourself play through distractions and you should start to develop a tolerance for them. With enough distracting play, you may be able to drown everything out entirely. I know during fighting game matches, I can pretty effectively zone the audience out.

Good advice if you play with others but I'm just one guy with a dirty old cab and a five year old brother who has an arsenal of questions. Can't just tune the little guy out, gotta train them when they're young.

[Acid King]

I think the key here is relaxation. You shouldn't realy be trying, just playing and see how things go. Watcha video or see a trick and just try it. after you do it a few times, it becomes easier. Just don't approach it like if you can't do it the world will end. That's what separates shooting game players, from the rest of the gaming public. After they fail a few times on the first stage or two, they get frustrated and give up. A good player will just shrug his shoulders and keep playing. Some of my best runs in any games have been products of not relaly caring and just going for broke. I almost broke my RFJ Normal score on my friends X box just trying to show him some score tricks, not really trying. That's why alot of people on here say they play better after a beer or two or smoking a little pot. It relaxes them and takes away the whole fighting the machine aspect. Like Elixir said, brute force isn't going to get you anywhere.

[Ex-Cyber]

I think the key here is relaxation. You shouldn't realy be trying, just playing and see how things go.

This. "Trying hard" is a state of mind, and generally not the best one for actually doing something well. It's much more important to not give up and to be mindful of the errors you make and work to correct them. If you make the same mistake repeatedly it becomes a habit.

[TLB]

i find i have my best run of a session in the first few credits....i get steadily worse the longer i play

This.

We're collecting a lot of data here guys; maybe I'm going to have to start pulling out my lemon drop schnapps before I play :)

[captpain]

Take drugs, cut your fingernails, get drunk, drink coffee, jog, do pushups, do autoerotic asphyxiation, pray, lift weights, meditate.

[ncp]

CONCENTRATE, KID

[lgb]

Do not simply play to win, but play to understand how. If a particular strategy simply does not work, try another.

[TLB]

Geeb, quit while you're only a little behind :)

I'll drink your blood if you ever fail to read a thread again :)




Yeah, about the whole attention thing: Earlier today, I was shutan some stuff when I realized I should be filtering out everything but the multicolored moving things (where applicable, of course). Now I don't fuck up in stupid places half as often as I used to. Or normally do, I guess. But yeah, if I know the stages well enough, paying less attention to the enemies is perfectly manageable.

I'm going to draw up an ST tonight. It's going to be totally silly, but the damn with seriousness. It only does anyone any good sometimes.

[Ganelon]

One other thing to remember is to sit up in a nice, comfortable, but not too relaxing posture. And keep the temperature at a cool enough level that you don't feel like dozing off. Honestly, the more you think about the game as a competition, the better you should be able to focus.