🚀 go-pugleaf

Life is cruel - computers make it worse.

I assume the target audience for Video games is teens to thirty years olds.
as is the people who make them.
so I doubt if the developers will ever 'age down' a title/setting.

I guess there are always strategy games ?
(\__/)
(='.'=)
(")_(")  mouse (Old Bunnies Play Scrabble)

On Sat, 24 Sep 2016 09:11:35 -0400, Spalls Hurgenson
<spallsh...@gmail.com> wrote:

>I've never claimed to be the greatest gamer in the world, but I don't
>think I was that bad. But these days, man, it is increasingly obvious
>that my age is catching up with me. Forget keeping up with the kiddies
>in online FPS matches, I have noticed my skills flagging even in
>arcade racers; if I get much above 180mph, I just don't have the
>necessary reflexes anymore... so sad. There's no point in my grinding
>to get the super-cars because I'll never be able to handle them at top
>speed :-(
>
>Of course, given how my generation has grown up with, still plays and
>will probably continue to play games until we die - and that we make
>up a significant chunk of the market - I wonder how long before
>developers start noticing our declining abilities and make adjustments
>to the gameplay in our favor. "Easy, Normal, Hard, Over 50" difficulty
>levels, maybe? ;-)

Never judge your reflexes by driving games alone.  There are so many
factors that come into play with them, even with a proper wheel much
less a controller.  God help you if you're trying to play with a
keyboard.

In some driving games getting the physics model of the car the
properly match up to the controller setting so that it somewhat
resembles the feel of an actual car can take some tweaking.

I think most folks' reflexes don't decline as quick as they think.
I've had friends that start complaining of diminishing reflexes in
their 30s -- the reality was that the amount of time they were
spending on gaming was diminishing from other aspects of life like
raising kids or whatever, and any time you practice less at anything
you become less adept at it, regardless of your age.  Contrast that
with another friend I had, who was disabled and in a wheel chair, and
remained a twitch gamer until he died recently in his late 70's.  Even
up until the last year before his illness and subsequent death, you
would not know he was older than the average gamer by watching him
play.  Why?  Because it was one of the things he enjoyed most in life
and he stayed with it, and his skill increased with practice.

The other day I entered a game of R6:Siege, where there was a guy on
the enemy team that knew the map REALLY well, and he was using it to
his advantage, making life hell for the team I just joined.  So I kind
of watched what he was doing (via the surveillance cameras) and
planned a sneak attack on him by rapelling up the building and trying
to get behind him right after the round beginning (not that easy
because he kept changing which side of the building he was attacking
from, as if he had considered my flank plan and was keeping on the
move as a result.  To make matters worse, he kept entering the
building through different windows).  I basically waited him out a
little to give him "confidence" nobody was coming in behind him.
Meanwhile he is systematically picking off my teammates as they try to
approach the building with the hostage.

So I decide where to attack from, and I rappel upside down down the
building, ready to fire inverted if needed.  I rappeled all the way
down, and he didn't come around the corner of the building until my
feet touched ground.  When he did sporadically come into sight, he was
kind of far away and had no idea I was encroaching.  I was lining up a
good shot when he quickly turned around, spotted me, and started
firing almost uncontrollably too.  I was still about a second behind
being ready for that so I had no choice but to crouch down and return
fire, which was a recoil disaster as we were both spraying all over
the place.  

So he got me and I died.  Properly humiliating after such a well
thought out plan to get the drop on him.  So everyone on my team (who
by that time was so sure I was going to put an end to their plague)
starts chastizing me over the microphone:  "What the fuck dude, were
you even aiming at him"? etc...  so I just said "sorry it didnt work
out".  lol.  And no I don't mind that kind of trash talking shit, its
how teams roll.

But my point is that I had not played the game in like a week and a
half.  My reflexes were not warmed up.  I was playing on a map I was
largely unfamiliar with.  My only mistake was trying something so
brazen before I was warmed up.

I should know by now that gaming reflexes are use them or lose them,
and even if you do use them, they don't just come back to you
instantly.  It takes time to get warmed up.  It was the same for me 20
years ago and its the same today.

On Sat, 24 Sep 2016 09:11:35 -0400, Spalls Hurgenson
<spallsh...@gmail.com> wrote:

>I've never claimed to be the greatest gamer in the world, but I don't
>think I was that bad. But these days, man, it is increasingly obvious
>that my age is catching up with me. Forget keeping up with the kiddies
>in online FPS matches, I have noticed my skills flagging even in
>arcade racers; if I get much above 180mph, I just don't have the
>necessary reflexes anymore... so sad. There's no point in my grinding
>to get the super-cars because I'll never be able to handle them at top
>speed :-(
>
>Of course, given how my generation has grown up with, still plays and
>will probably continue to play games until we die - and that we make
>up a significant chunk of the market - I wonder how long before
>developers start noticing our declining abilities and make adjustments
>to the gameplay in our favor. "Easy, Normal, Hard, Over 50" difficulty
>levels, maybe? ;-)

I realize this is mostly in jest, but I think what you're describing
started about 10 years ago. There are very few truly punishing games
out now. Even the hard ones like Dark Souls are really just "grindy".
When you die you get put back to where you started. Levels in most AAA
games are linear, objectives are pointed out (and usually blinking).

Was STALKER about the last FPS to give you a GAME OVER, leaving you
screwed if you died and didn't save? That kind of stuff is pretty much
gone.

I'm better at a lot of the truly difficult arcade games than when I
was a kid, but a lot of that may be due to accessibility. I know some
guys here hate old games, but I suggest firing up MAME and play
Robotron for half an hour per day to dust off the old reflexes! :-)

Tim O  <n...@thanks.com> wrote:
>Was STALKER about the last FPS to give you a GAME OVER, leaving you
>screwed if you died and didn't save? That kind of stuff is pretty much
>gone.

I just saw that screen the other day when I decided to see what the game
was like.  I'm not really sure if it makes the game punishing or difficult
though since you can save any time you want.  My last save was a only
a couple of minutes old, and could've just as easily been a couple of
seconds if I was quick-saving though the mission.  In some other game were
you'd respawn instead I probably would've been sent back at least as far.

>I'm better at a lot of the truly difficult arcade games than when I
>was a kid, but a lot of that may be due to accessibility. I know some
>guys here hate old games, but I suggest firing up MAME and play
>Robotron for half an hour per day to dust off the old reflexes! :-)

Ehh.. that game was unplayable for me back when I was a kid.  I doubt
I'd be much better today, even with practice.

					Ross Ridge


-- 
 l/  //	  Ross Ridge -- The Great HTMU
[oo][oo]  rri...@csclub.uwaterloo.ca
-()-/()/  http://www.csclub.uwaterloo.ca/~rridge/ 
 db  //	  

On Mon, 26 Sep 2016 19:13:56 +0000 (UTC), rri...@csclub.uwaterloo.ca
(Ross Ridge) wrote:

>Tim O  <n...@thanks.com> wrote:
>>Was STALKER about the last FPS to give you a GAME OVER, leaving you
>>screwed if you died and didn't save? That kind of stuff is pretty much
>>gone.
>
>I just saw that screen the other day when I decided to see what the game
>was like.  I'm not really sure if it makes the game punishing or difficult
>though since you can save any time you want.  My last save was a only
>a couple of minutes old, and could've just as easily been a couple of
>seconds if I was quick-saving though the mission.  In some other game were
>you'd respawn instead I probably would've been sent back at least as far.
>
>>I'm better at a lot of the truly difficult arcade games than when I
>>was a kid, but a lot of that may be due to accessibility. I know some
>>guys here hate old games, but I suggest firing up MAME and play
>>Robotron for half an hour per day to dust off the old reflexes! :-)
>
>Ehh.. that game was unplayable for me back when I was a kid.  I doubt
>I'd be much better today, even with practice.
>
>					Ross Ridge

To show how easy it has become, STALKER and Dark Souls were the best
examples I could think of. Dark Souls was definitely hard, but I quit
playing due to tedium more than difficulty. I just didn't have the
time to invest to play the same levels over and over again to level
up.

Robotron and Stargate are the two model games for hand independence!
Both are brutal when you first try them, but are pretty fair with
extra lives once you spend a little time with them. I definitely think
a lot of the old school shooters could hone reflexes!

Spalls Hurgenson wrote:
> I've never claimed to be the greatest gamer in the world, but I don't
> think I was that bad. But these days, man, it is increasingly obvious
> that my age is catching up with me. Forget keeping up with the kiddies
> in online FPS matches, I have noticed my skills flagging even in
> arcade racers; if I get much above 180mph, I just don't have the
> necessary reflexes anymore... so sad. There's no point in my grinding
> to get the super-cars because I'll never be able to handle them at top
> speed :-(
>
> Of course, given how my generation has grown up with, still plays and
> will probably continue to play games until we die - and that we make
> up a significant chunk of the market - I wonder how long before
> developers start noticing our declining abilities and make adjustments
> to the gameplay in our favor. "Easy, Normal, Hard, Over 50" difficulty
> levels, maybe? ;-)


Just HOW old are you anyway? :)

It might not be you.  I'm experiencing some difficulty with The Crew 
because of lag and controller setup, it's also harder to get the hang of 
than your typical arcade racer.

I just bought another racing game - Gas Guzzlers eXtreme and it plays 
fine even online.  I'd note if you try this one in solo campaign, that 
every time you finish in the top 3 it increases difficulty, and you'll 
always be running against the top cars available to you fully maxed out, 
so can seem fairly hard on medium.  I found it ridiculously easy on easy 
though, so maybe this one is for you :)  I also found it not bad online, 
I finished about the middle in the couple races I did vs. almost always 
last in The Crew PVP.


- Justisaur

I'm old ..
My single player 'shooter' skills have improved in recent years.
But in what little 'shooter' Multiplayer I sometimes dip into I'm
getting killed as quickly & at the bottom of the score player list 
just as much as years ago.  
I have hardly played competitive Multiplayer type.
(\__/)
(='.'=)
(")_(")  mouse (.....Wim...)

Am 01.10.16 um 18:33 schrieb Trimble Bracegirdle:
> I'm old ..
> My single player 'shooter' skills have improved in recent years.
> But in what little 'shooter' Multiplayer I sometimes dip into I'm
> getting killed as quickly & at the bottom of the score player list just
> as much as years ago.  I have hardly played competitive Multiplayer type.
> (\__/)
> (='.'=)
> (")_(")  mouse (.....Wim...)
>
Not that I even like shooters, but that is one of the reasons why I 
never play multiplayer. The few times I dabbled into multiplayer
i got instantly killed. I figured out it was not worth my time to even
try to compete with people sitting 10 hours per day in front of the 
computer and simply playing a multiplayer game.
So far I have found no multiplayer game which had hooked me up more than 
5 minutes not even mmrpgs althpugh i love rpgs generally.

On Sat, 1 Oct 2016 21:53:32 +0200, Werner Punz <we...@gmx.at> wrote:

>Am 01.10.16 um 18:33 schrieb Trimble Bracegirdle:
>> I'm old ..
>> My single player 'shooter' skills have improved in recent years.
>> But in what little 'shooter' Multiplayer I sometimes dip into I'm
>> getting killed as quickly & at the bottom of the score player list just
>> as much as years ago.  I have hardly played competitive Multiplayer type.
>> (\__/)
>> (='.'=)
>> (")_(")  mouse (.....Wim...)
>>
>Not that I even like shooters, but that is one of the reasons why I 
>never play multiplayer. The few times I dabbled into multiplayer
>i got instantly killed. I figured out it was not worth my time to even
>try to compete with people sitting 10 hours per day in front of the 
>computer and simply playing a multiplayer game.

I think multiplayer gaming loses a lot of people to the same idea.
What is less apparent is how quickly you would go from being instantly
killed to getting the hang of it well enough to be scoring near the
top of the board.  And, even when you are near the top of the board,
you can still expect to die a lot, but its the process of seeing
yourself improve that becomes addictive.

Yes it takes a certain level of tenacity at first, but it's like
software development in that regard.  There are some people that try
to write code but never get very far, because the first time the
compiler chokes with 150 compilation errors, they internalize it such
that the computer just doesn't like them or has a personal vendetta
against them.  What they don't realize is that fixing one or two
syntax errors often makes the other 148 errors disappear.

Multiplayer gaming is much like that.  It seems a million miles away
but it's not, but it is one of those things in life that does tend to
separate the tenacious and competitive from others.

The connection between visuo-spatial gaming (like 3d shooters), toward
increasing overall mental agility (and preventing alzheimers in old
age) is pretty well documented.  The effects increase when
visuo-spatial exercises are combined with tasks that keep the reflexes
sharp.

So, if anyone needs a good reason to improve their skill at
multiplayer shooters, there is a legitimate basis in cognitive health
for doing so.  Exercising the mind is a lot like exercising the body,
it's a use it or lose it scenario.