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Are some games too fast or am I too old?
Xiaou2:
Negative 1,
What you described is simply "Lazy" individuals. They didnt want to roll the ball faster, because that would be "Work".
And... considering that the last +15 yrs of the majority of popular games have been made to be BABY-LEVEL EASY...
most people are not used to even being Challenged. Its the Snowflake Generation, these days, as a Result.
You are Partially correct.. that a person whom is extremely skilled, dedicated, and motivated... can and will attain
success in a game, even with poor / broken controls. Just like some famous guitarists, learned to play a busted
up guitar, that was missing a string, and was not able to be fully tuned properly.
That said... the MAJORITY of people, are not Eddie Van Halen... not matter how much efforts we put into what we love.
There was a dude that was flown over NYC "ONCE" and he was able to draw the entire city, with accuracy, on a giant
mural. He had mental issues, and wasnt social. But he had a level of skill and ability, that others will never be able to
duplicate... even with 1000 yrs of efforts.
I met a dude that was similar, in my martial arts days. His name was Jeff. He had learned about 7 different martial
arts systems, and was 100% Flawless, in the LIVE Sparring execution, all of them. He could go from JKD, to
Shaolin Longfist, then to a Chi-Na grapple... one to the other, effortlessly, and made all of it work perfectly, as was
designed.
He was also a Sick breakdancer, was crazy good at the Bongos, and he was a masterclass level Airbrush artists,
able to paint pictures with photorealism. He could have easily have been one of the top level Hollywood
Prop makers... had he not been super Religious.
He said that he former teacher called him, the KungFu Sponge... because he would would learn and replicate things
so quickly.
One day I had bought a Chinese Manuscript on one of the Kung Fu styles, just for the novelty of it. It was written in
only Chinese... but had a lot of hand drawn pictures, with little arrows to show the movement directions. Even as
good as an artists as I was... I could not really make out everything they were trying to depict...
Well, I brought the book to show Jeff. He flipped through the pages, and started to replicate the instructions. In
about 8 min or less.. he had fully learned this new form, and he performed it, as if he had been practicing for
a decade. It was Insane.
Trying to spar with him, was brutal and futile. In a 45 min session.. I probably managed to Graze him twice. Both
times... he made me pay Dearly for it, with heavy counterstrikes, that blasted me through the air, crashing to the
mat. He knew virtually everything I did, and a LOT more. But even if he hadnt... his execution was flawless.. where
mine was still progressing towards masterclass levels.
The one thing Jeff wasnt so good with, was trying to teach. I tried to get him to teach more some things... and when
I would do something incorrect.. he would say so, but he could not explain what was wrong, or why. He just
knew that the result wasnt right. So in this case, he seemed to be a fantastic replicator... but... he seemed to lack
a certain level of conscious depth of understanding / awareness. It seems people like him, almost always
operate on a mostly subconscious level.
Anyways... It seems like you are similar to Jeff. Able to pick up something fairly quickly, and attain an excellent
result, within a fairly short amount of time.
That said... If I gave you a real Leafswitch, and challenged you today... with a game of Haleys Comet... I can assure
you that your scores with the Leaf, and with a standard Microswitch, would be Vastly different.
Haleys Commit is one of the rare games that gives you a lot of powerups, based on your continued high fire rate.
In the fist 2min, you could miss about 70% of the potential powerups, if you are not firing fast enough. The game
will reward you greatly for your fire-rate and skills... and will punish you, for your lackings.
The problem with Micros, is the level of the switches spring tension resistance, to activate it. Its not bad for the
occasional fire. But to try to maintain a constant stream of fire at high rate? Its way too fatiguing. Your fingers
and hand will be so cramped and tired, that you will want to give up.
Where as a leaf switch, is just two thin metal pieces.. that you can literally vibrate between being open and closed,
with virtually no pressure or effort, at all. You could continually "Feather" the button for an hour, at MAX speed,
without getting any fatigue.
Even the modern low-pressure micros, and modern leaf buttons, cant compare to the original leafswitch... because
they both "Bottom Out". When you bottom out, you are suffering resistance and get impact fatigue. Where as
an original leafswitch.. you find the activation spot.. and lightly bounce / vibrate the thing... without ever bottoming
out the button. Like lightly bouncing on a very flexible diving board, squeaky loose floorboard, or light spring pressure
trampoline.
There are also other controllers, that will also give you far more advantages in performance potentials.
Just like anything.. sure... you can still manage to get decent with poor equipment. But with the best
equipment... you can do so much better... with far less effort and fatigue.
Xiaou2:
And for the record...
I personally have never cared about my scores. I grew up playing in the 80s arcades, so I got
to play most all of the well known classics.
Back then, I wasnt that good, as I often just tall enough to see over the control panels.
But I used to enjoy all of these games, despite their brutal challenge.
One of the few games that I actually got good at, was Sega's "Turbo". I believe I once got to
the 3rd or 4th Extended Play round. To me, it was merely about how far I could get,
and the fun in doing so.
Back then, I swear I only beat the first level of Congo Bongo, twice. To me, it was a Glorious
victory... even if I couldnt get past the 2nd stage.
There are a few games, that sort of force you into caring about the score. Target Earth, for the
Sega Genesis, is one of them... because, at the end of a level... if your score is high enough,
you get more weapons available to you, for the next level.
The only other game I can think of, off hand.. that I cared about the score, was when playing
something like Skee Ball. (Both real, and Virtual)
I did participate in a few Pinball competitions, merely just to play... but I was always far outclassed,
as these dudes spent a lot more time playing, than myself. I always had fun playing, no matter
what score I got. But it was fun to try to beat my own top score.
I think, if a game is fun enough... certain people that dont really care about score.. might actually
notice it. But a lot of the time, people like myself, will just note the stage level that we managed to
reach. For example... I think I got to level 34 on a Robotron machine once. That said, it was probably
set to an easier difficulty level, rather than standard / normal.
RandyT:
--- Quote from: Xiaou2 on October 11, 2022, 07:48:34 pm --- Even the modern low-pressure micros, and modern leaf buttons, cant compare to the original leafswitch... because
they both "Bottom Out". When you bottom out, you are suffering resistance and get impact fatigue. Where as
an original leafswitch.. you find the activation spot.. and lightly bounce / vibrate the thing... without ever bottoming
out the button. Like lightly bouncing on a very flexible diving board, squeaky loose floorboard, or light spring pressure
trampoline.
--- End quote ---
Every original, factory installed leaf button on my original Williams Defender panel sitting right next to me "bottoms out" easily. The old leaf switch buttons come in a number of varieties. I swear that we have had this discussion before.
But you don't need to press a button, be it leaf or microswitch, all the way to the bottom, only enough to close the contacts. The difference between a micro and a leaf is that the micro will always have a specific reset distance, regardless of how soft they are. This distance is part of the manufacturing spec of the switch. There is also a change in resistance as the spring tension is overcome, which is more of an issue on heavier micros than the lighter ones. But these two things combined can make it much more difficult to rapidly cycle a microswitch with a high degree of repeatability. A true leaf-switch, on the other hand, has a zero-length reset distance, and does not present a change in physical resistance near the point of actuation, which makes it easy to oscillate.
PL1:
--- Quote from: RandyT on October 13, 2022, 12:46:21 pm ---The difference between a micro and a leaf is that the micro will always have a specific reset distance, regardless of how soft they are.
--- End quote ---
Top shows a microswitch. Bottom shows a leaf switch.
Scott
bobbyb13:
I suck at all of them- and still love playing them!
Prioir to joining this community I had no idea there were different types of switches, only that the ones I used to play as a kid felt better than what I first bought for building as an adult.
What a difference a few years makes.
And now... no substitute for a properly adjusted old school style leaf switch (for buttons OR sticks) as far as I'm concerned.
Change my mind
>:D