9 ms·

I had the same experience when I was competing in eSports. I played a very fast paced and unique first person shooter that required complex and perfectly timed

by ryanar 4y ago

I had the same experience when I was competing in eSports. I played a very fast paced and unique first person shooter that required complex and perfectly timed button sequences to dodge and attack at the same time. The game sent packets p2p so you had to predict where your opponent was about to be based on your ping to them, the shot was a hit based on where the character was when the packet was received. I played at the highest level and while I was normally not as good as my opponents, I would go into a zen state like what you described where time seemed to slow, I could predict my opponents movement easily and land shot after shot. I would either be the mvp of my team if I could get into the zone or be a non factor if I couldn’t. I never could figure out how that worked but I do feel like “flow” when coding is similar.

ricv 4y ago
curious to which fps this is? painkiller? ut? quake? reflex? diabotical?
- eru 4y ago
  UT and Quake don't sound like they would require complex button presses. They are mechanically fairly simple.
  - beebeepka 4y ago
    Heh, some people's strafing in Quake is anything but simple to track. Good players don't just move left and right in consistent patterns. UT2003/4 fights can be very taxing mechanically
    - ricv 4y ago
      ah, you beat me to it. I linked some videos that highlight strafing in quake. Here's my favorite ut2k4 vid that would highlight what you're saying https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uSoE44v1CTQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uSoE44v1CTQ
      - not1ofU 4y ago
        holy crap, that was exciting. so much to say, but would only spoil it for others.
  - ricv 4y ago
    strafe jumping in quake is far from trivial also various weapon aided jumps are required to play at the highest level, ut also has its own dodge jump mechanics and shield jumps. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A1MJPMl8B5Y https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A1MJPMl8B5Y the engine physics explanation is explained here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rTsXO6Zicls https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rTsXO6Zicls being unable to execute this during a match like a duel means being at a massive disadvantage. example of good strafe jumping coupled with a plasma jump to secure map/item control and pressure the opponent on the back-foot. https://youtu.be/GFTmYD95-cQ?t=1592 https://youtu.be/GFTmYD95-cQ?t=1592
  - spookie 4y ago
    You should watch some quake 3 compilations, I'm sure no game today matches them. Even if they're more "complex".
  - grog454 4y ago
    >They are mechanically fairly simple. Compared to an RTS, yes. Compared to tactical shooters like CS, no. Once you reach a certain level of aim, movement and the associated mechanics become the main distinguishing factor along with using the sounds in the game to track your opponents position and conceal yours.
- DavidPiper 4y ago
  I'll add Tribes to the guess list - professional games of Tribes were insanely fast.
  - craigseeman 4y ago
    Shazbot!
- Ennea 4y ago
  I'm assuming no FPS. A fighting game, rather.
  - mtrpcic 4y ago
    The OP said, "I played a very fast paced and unique first person shooter", so it's definitely an FPS of some kind.
- KronisLV 4y ago
  > curious to which fps this is? painkiller? ut? quake? reflex? diabotical? Hah, that description kind of reminds me of Gunz, where some bugs in the game lead to players being able to climb walls, basically fly around and attack rapidly while moving. Here's a timestamp in a video that talks about it: https://youtu.be/zvC67kmYxPA?t=82 https://youtu.be/zvC67kmYxPA?t=82 Though it was a third person game. Imagine creating an entire way of playing a game because of bugs in your code, though.
  - otikik 4y ago
    Quake is easy to learn, but difficult to master. People really explored the possibility space for that one.
- caogecym 4y ago
  sounds like counter strike to me.
  - Cthulhu_ 4y ago
    I remember "surf" maps in CS that (ab)used the physics for crazy obstacle courses. IIRC there were similar ones in UT. I see it's still a thing in CS:GO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hMsPf8eSW3k https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hMsPf8eSW3k And I'm 95% confident that surf maps were one of the inspirations behind Titanfall. Here's a completely broken tool-assisted speedrun of the obstacle course: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yXtggqe6oo0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yXtggqe6oo0
    - hardware2win 4y ago
      If you liked surfs then take a look at bunny hop! Or speed runs with auto bunny hop https://youtube.com/watch?v=5BnP99WNtEc https://youtube.com/watch?v=5BnP99WNtEc
- pmontra 4y ago
  Not that painkiller but eSport as pain killer worked for me. Can't sleep because of a teeth and no pain killer drug at home? Lap for an hour at some circuit on my PS and fall asleep at least a little bit. Then pay a visit to the dentist :-) Maybe this is somewhat related to the subject of the post: detach consciousness from what I am doing and the pain gets a little detached too. However I doubt it would work with serious levels of pain.
  - dopidopHN 4y ago
    It does, there is some very promessing studies on patient that suffer massive body burn ( most of their skin is gone ) The traditional approch is pain killers and some meditation. VR helps a lot. On two front : it distract your brain and it can teach you how to reach that distracted from the pain state by yourself. My understanding is that a large pourcentage of the neurons are specialized in image processing. And that keeping those busy with exploring a VR world avoid to have those neurons re-assign to ponder about pain.
- rvba 4y ago
  Sounds like humblebrag
genocidicbunny 4y ago
I think what you're describing with your eSports experience _is_ 'flow' -- the same as you get when coding. It's a state of focus and immersion you can get into with many different activities, not just coding.
- unhammer 4y ago
  two types of flow. One is called absorbed flow and the other is called panoramic flow. Absorbed flow is when you're doing a task, like, minute tasks like taking apart a watch or something. And you're so focused that you enter the world, and then you look up and time has flown. All of a sudden, how did an hour go by? Martial arts has a little of both, but in some ways, to do it, you actually have to go into panoramic flow. You have to let go of your mind. You have to trust that the training, the implicit memories available of the actions, and the physical actions, and then you have to trust that there's this way of organizing information that's faster than thought. And by doing that, you enter into a flow. And that's being done from this awake consciousness. That's the functional feeling of that. And there in itself, just like Csikszentmihalyi, who wrote the book on flow, and gives these qualities of flow as that activity is in itself a pleasure, that there's a loss of a sense of ego or self, sense of timelessness, sense of connection to everything. And so that state, you're doing that activity to find something that I'm saying you can find anytime you want. […] Who, what level of mind is it that can do martial arts at that level? That you that does that, that's the awake consciousness. https://clearerthinkingpodcast.com/episode/093 https://clearerthinkingpodcast.com/episode/093
  - abudabi123 4y ago
    There is also the feeling of being ahead of the flow and showboating like a tourist taking pictures with many "third eyes" on your model of the world as experienced from every angle at once. Kind of like Usain Bolt at one of the Olympics when he broke the world record the first time. Kind of like a window manager with many viewports open on the model.
    - 4y ago

by ryanar 4y ago

ricv 4y ago

curious to which fps this is? painkiller? ut? quake? reflex? diabotical?

eru 4y ago
UT and Quake don't sound like they would require complex button presses. They are mechanically fairly simple.
- beebeepka 4y ago
  Heh, some people's strafing in Quake is anything but simple to track. Good players don't just move left and right in consistent patterns. UT2003/4 fights can be very taxing mechanically
  - ricv 4y ago
    ah, you beat me to it. I linked some videos that highlight strafing in quake. Here's my favorite ut2k4 vid that would highlight what you're saying https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uSoE44v1CTQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uSoE44v1CTQ
    - not1ofU 4y ago
      holy crap, that was exciting. so much to say, but would only spoil it for others.
- ricv 4y ago
  strafe jumping in quake is far from trivial also various weapon aided jumps are required to play at the highest level, ut also has its own dodge jump mechanics and shield jumps. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A1MJPMl8B5Y https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A1MJPMl8B5Y the engine physics explanation is explained here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rTsXO6Zicls https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rTsXO6Zicls being unable to execute this during a match like a duel means being at a massive disadvantage. example of good strafe jumping coupled with a plasma jump to secure map/item control and pressure the opponent on the back-foot. https://youtu.be/GFTmYD95-cQ?t=1592 https://youtu.be/GFTmYD95-cQ?t=1592
- spookie 4y ago
  You should watch some quake 3 compilations, I'm sure no game today matches them. Even if they're more "complex".
- grog454 4y ago
  >They are mechanically fairly simple. Compared to an RTS, yes. Compared to tactical shooters like CS, no. Once you reach a certain level of aim, movement and the associated mechanics become the main distinguishing factor along with using the sounds in the game to track your opponents position and conceal yours.
DavidPiper 4y ago
I'll add Tribes to the guess list - professional games of Tribes were insanely fast.
- craigseeman 4y ago
  Shazbot!
Ennea 4y ago
I'm assuming no FPS. A fighting game, rather.
- mtrpcic 4y ago
  The OP said, "I played a very fast paced and unique first person shooter", so it's definitely an FPS of some kind.
KronisLV 4y ago
> curious to which fps this is? painkiller? ut? quake? reflex? diabotical? Hah, that description kind of reminds me of Gunz, where some bugs in the game lead to players being able to climb walls, basically fly around and attack rapidly while moving. Here's a timestamp in a video that talks about it: https://youtu.be/zvC67kmYxPA?t=82 https://youtu.be/zvC67kmYxPA?t=82 Though it was a third person game. Imagine creating an entire way of playing a game because of bugs in your code, though.
- otikik 4y ago
  Quake is easy to learn, but difficult to master. People really explored the possibility space for that one.
caogecym 4y ago
sounds like counter strike to me.
- Cthulhu_ 4y ago
  I remember "surf" maps in CS that (ab)used the physics for crazy obstacle courses. IIRC there were similar ones in UT. I see it's still a thing in CS:GO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hMsPf8eSW3k https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hMsPf8eSW3k And I'm 95% confident that surf maps were one of the inspirations behind Titanfall. Here's a completely broken tool-assisted speedrun of the obstacle course: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yXtggqe6oo0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yXtggqe6oo0
  - hardware2win 4y ago
    If you liked surfs then take a look at bunny hop! Or speed runs with auto bunny hop https://youtube.com/watch?v=5BnP99WNtEc https://youtube.com/watch?v=5BnP99WNtEc
pmontra 4y ago
Not that painkiller but eSport as pain killer worked for me. Can't sleep because of a teeth and no pain killer drug at home? Lap for an hour at some circuit on my PS and fall asleep at least a little bit. Then pay a visit to the dentist :-) Maybe this is somewhat related to the subject of the post: detach consciousness from what I am doing and the pain gets a little detached too. However I doubt it would work with serious levels of pain.
- dopidopHN 4y ago
  It does, there is some very promessing studies on patient that suffer massive body burn ( most of their skin is gone ) The traditional approch is pain killers and some meditation. VR helps a lot. On two front : it distract your brain and it can teach you how to reach that distracted from the pain state by yourself. My understanding is that a large pourcentage of the neurons are specialized in image processing. And that keeping those busy with exploring a VR world avoid to have those neurons re-assign to ponder about pain.
rvba 4y ago
Sounds like humblebrag

genocidicbunny 4y ago

I think what you're describing with your eSports experience _is_ 'flow' -- the same as you get when coding. It's a state of focus and immersion you can get into with many different activities, not just coding.

unhammer 4y ago
two types of flow. One is called absorbed flow and the other is called panoramic flow. Absorbed flow is when you're doing a task, like, minute tasks like taking apart a watch or something. And you're so focused that you enter the world, and then you look up and time has flown. All of a sudden, how did an hour go by? Martial arts has a little of both, but in some ways, to do it, you actually have to go into panoramic flow. You have to let go of your mind. You have to trust that the training, the implicit memories available of the actions, and the physical actions, and then you have to trust that there's this way of organizing information that's faster than thought. And by doing that, you enter into a flow. And that's being done from this awake consciousness. That's the functional feeling of that. And there in itself, just like Csikszentmihalyi, who wrote the book on flow, and gives these qualities of flow as that activity is in itself a pleasure, that there's a loss of a sense of ego or self, sense of timelessness, sense of connection to everything. And so that state, you're doing that activity to find something that I'm saying you can find anytime you want. […] Who, what level of mind is it that can do martial arts at that level? That you that does that, that's the awake consciousness. https://clearerthinkingpodcast.com/episode/093 https://clearerthinkingpodcast.com/episode/093
- abudabi123 4y ago
  There is also the feeling of being ahead of the flow and showboating like a tourist taking pictures with many "third eyes" on your model of the world as experienced from every angle at once. Kind of like Usain Bolt at one of the Olympics when he broke the world record the first time. Kind of like a window manager with many viewports open on the model.
  - 4y ago