Good at:
Shooting games
Arcadey FPS like Quake
Shit at:
Grand strategy
2D Fighting games
2D Platformers

Good at: MOBAs. Grand strategy
Bad at: FPS, fighting games.

>>11325
>FPS
The three things FPS require:
Situational awareness
Aiming
Mobility
If you have one, you'll be getting somewhere. If you have 2, you'll be competent, and once you have all 3, all you need is practice.
For situational awareness, you can improve by increasing your settings and how you view things. Turn up game sounds, turn off music, and turn your graphics down. Listen and look very carefully for any signs of anything around you.
For aiming, practice offline. Go into a 1 person offline map, and run around the map shooting at things to train your muscle memory. Do it right before you sleep so that the muscle memory builds faster.
For mobility, it's much the same. Jump around the map, really learn the physics of the game, know what types of movement tricks can be done, learn every map, and lastly build the muscle memory for efficient movement.

I'm good at FPS like RO2 and Battlefield but suck at CSGO, TF2 etc

>>11327
Go offline and practice moving about. TF2 and CSGO have much more of an emphasis on how well you can move about compared to things like Battlefield. Learn tricks like bunny hopping, rocket jumping, etc.

>>11324

For grand strategy, really depends on what you are playing. But it requires you to have a deep understanding of the rules so you can optimize. It's usually just a complex min maxing game, unless it's real time strategy.

Bad at:
Everything
Good at:
Nothing


I guess I'm average enough to stream some games without being laughed at.

>>11324
How about 3D fighting games like Tekken or Virtual Fighter?

1 year later and I haven't played GTA:SA at all because I'm still stuck on the learning to drive an airplane mission. Any tips?

>>11352
What control scheme are you using? I've found keyboard works best as in the default of:
W-S for forward and braking
A-D for yaw
Left-Right for roll
Up-Down for Pitch
That makes it very easy to control, as you can do minor adjustments in direction. Is there any specific part of that mission you're stuck on?

>>11351
Never played any.

Besides pure ingame practice, something that really helped me improve my aiming in shooters was playing osu.

Keep in mind that this will only really help you with hitscan weapons, things with projectiles where you have to lead the shot are a whole different ball game. The only thing I can really say for that is practice makes prefect

>>11330
This. And I'm not sure about the not being laughed at part as I am extremely pathetic at some genres/games.

>>11355
I think my controls are already like that.

Im stuck at the one where you need to go through a circle of hoops then land again. I can go through the second hoop like 10% of the time. The plane is really hard to control.

>>11356
3D fighting games usually have lower execution barrier. So you can focus on the important part of the game ~ defeating your opponent.

Here's how to improve at card games;
http://games.on.net/2015/03/magic-duels-origins-announced-the-first-free-to-play-magic-the-gathering-game/
Free to play.

>>11386
Tekken and Virtua Fighter have anything but a low level execution barrier, what are you talking about

>>11426
Virtua Fighter is pretty easy bro. Few 1-frame links, large input buffer, easy throw tech, even the fastest things in the game are slower then 10 frames. I can teach you a launcher and half-decent combo in 30 seconds.

>>11426

the combo based system of 2d fighters like meltyblood and guilty gear require significant amounts of memorization, and then certain characters having unique hit boxes such that you need specific variants of those combos, and that's just to reach the lower end of the bar.

to even reach the "basic" level of performance, meaning your hit confirms result in a full combo, requires an extensive time and effort investment to execute them.

3-d fighters may have combo systems equally difficult, but there is much more of a focus on the positional aspects (and one additional dimension of movement to allow for it!) than simply mash and poke and then follow-up execution with the muscle memory combos like you get with the 2-d fighters.

I'm extremely bad at shmups. I know it's mostly down to practise and memorising patterns.

>>11438
For a lot of games it's about planning. For instance, planning through where to bomb, when the extends occur, etc. ONce you have everything predictable, then it's a matter of practicing over and over.

How do I play 2D platformers? I can't even clear the first tower in SMW.

>>11470
Practise.
Do it one step at a time, then put it all together until it becomes instinct.

Please note that a wall of text is incoming so don't complain about that.

How should I play Pyro?
I would like to first go over the typical advice that I saw and say some things on each so as to simply get it out of the way.
>flank
I have done this many times and to very little avail. Specifically, the common advice is to take flank routes but in my experience those are usually occupied by strong classes. Sometimes I would travel down said routes to be taken on by two or three people at once from outside of my range and not always were projectiles even there to use against my opponents.
>surprise them
I did do that but the players I went against were often well composed after being lit and could aim just fine, as such, they would do full damage against me.
>catch someone alone
I did try this often. Very often. And very often was there someone behind them. If I checked to make sure nobody was behind them my previously unknowing target became aware of me or, if they didn't find me out, I would be shot and killed by someone who just then showed up afterwards.
>airblast
I also tried doing this. I will admit that I was never very good at this but it seemed like blast damage could sometimes be an issue. I did airblast rockets and grenades sometimes but soldiers were smart in that they would shoot at the ground outside of the area where my airblast would be effective or they would simply use their shotgun on me and somehow kill me faster. Don't even get me started on demos, they would either use the critical from their charge with their sword or they would use stickies.
>flare gun
This seemed like the only useful thing the Pyro had at their disposal so I know I should have gotten better at using that.
>axtinguisher
I think it got nerfed pretty hard, last I remember, and is no longer as forgiving as it once was. Rather, it is more like an altered situational spy knife.
>maneuvering
Never a piece of advice I saw, probably since it would be first assumed that Pyro players were already doing this but I rarely found that Pyro moved quickly enough for that to be of any use. You might say something about the powerjack but I think that only granted speed boosts while it was in hand, not on your person.

In general I found that flanking was unbelievably difficult simply because every base entry and exit was covered by multiple people all who shot bullets and trying to get anywhere to come out from behind would be a major problem because if it wasn't swarming with other players it has a few sentries and every area was completely blocked off.
I feel like the advice I often saw was advice that heavily contrasted with typical circumstance and all of the videos I watched giving advice almost seemed like they were from people who just played against bad players. I would see them play in certain situations and know that in those scenarios. or positions rather, were never so good for me. A youtuber ambushing maybe one or two players running away from the pyro in the same direction not being able to aim at all and the youtuber coming out on top was different for me. I would ambush from that similar area and there would be two or three sentries and several players, most using bullets, all cozy in their defenses all with aimbot levels of skill.
Another thing on my mind because of knowing this was that maybe there were too many players in a single server. Ambushing and flanking seems like good advice but where there were upwards of nine players on a single team (with the one team having more skill and players than the other, I might add) it seemed very difficult.

It has been years since I stopped playing TF2 but playing other games has shown me that Pyro was very unique, with the exception of Overwatch's Mei, and it was a class I always enjoyed playing as and always wanted to play well but never could. It seemed like skill was an issue but more than that circumstance was often against me. It made me think certain things about the game and even the Pyro.
Was there too many players in the match?
Was Pyro really an offensive class and not a defensive class?
Was Pyro even viable to play as?
Did Pyro truly have any use outside of minor support?

While I will try to not go back to the game because of the very unpleasant experiences I consistently had I would still like to have these questions answered. I never wanted to be some pubstomping MLG player with the name on my strange weapon representing my ego and several unusual hats for each class, I just wanted to be a decent and useful player who could even help at all.

Thank you for reading if you did.

>>12626
This could seem rude to you but it's not how I mean it:
>I will try to not go back to the game
I read all of your post and was confused as to why you want and/or expect someone else to put the time and effort to answer all your questions when you specifically stated you ideally wouldn't play the game ever again (which I agree with; Why play something you ultimately find unpleasant?).
>I would still like to have these questions answered
Even if ignoring the previous statement, wouldn't asking this on a board or forum dedicated to TF2 be a better idea? You disagreed with most of the advice you found, so it's likely you actually might be the most acquainted user in this site regarding that game.
>I never wanted to be some pubstomping MLG player with the name on my strange weapon representing my ego
I find odd that you mentioned this. What gave you the notion others might think that?
>I just wanted to be a decent and useful player who could even help at all
In that case, why not just go with the good ol' Doc? When I used to play it was rare for the match to load with someone already a medic.

I'v been stuck on the final level of Embodiment of Scarlet Devil and the third level of Ketsui for a month. Should I practice with easier games?

>>12629
I have heard that Perfect Cherry Blossom is easier than EoSD

I'm good at driving/racing games. Suck at fighting games.

>>12628
>why you want and/or expect someone else to put the time and effort to answer all your questions
I don't know, I just decided to throw the post out there in the hopes that somebody would give me an answer.

>Even if ignoring the previous statement, wouldn't asking this on a board or forum dedicated to TF2 be a better idea? You disagreed with most of the advice you found, so it's likely you actually might be the most acquainted user in this site regarding that game.
I've kind of tried that already and it's mostly met with expectations of the Pyro player (me) simply "gitting gud" and complete dismissal of circumstance, the knowledge other players may have, map design, number of players on one team, skill stacking, greater numbers on another team, and quite simply thinking that skill is the one and only factor that determines the outcome of a match.

>I find odd that you mentioned this. What gave you the notion others might think that?
I had a reason for why I mentioned this but I forgot. I guess just because it was true and nothing more.

>In that case, why not just go with the good ol' Doc? When I used to play it was rare for the match to load with someone already a medic.
I did that a lot of the time and Medic got pretty boring after a while. In my experience what was equally, if not more, rare was an Engineer on the team so sometimes I had to play to fit the role.
Though when I did get bored of Medic I found myself realizing that the character was well thought out in the sense that you actually start to feel like the Medic after a while, having to babysit the team and hope they actually do something.

First and foremost:
You need to have competition at the level you're at. A friend who's equally ass, or an active online community.
After that, it's all about three things: knowledge, execution, and strategy. Understand that strategy is what ties knowledge and execution together to produce wins. The idea is that at each level, you'll go deeper in all of these categories.
Also, you should always play the coolest character. That's really important. And don't be discouraged by how hard fighting games are, or by how long it takes to get your first victory. They're pretty hard.

>From complete ass to newbie
Understanding
1) Basic universal mechanics: blocking, hit levels, throws, movement, parry/focus attack/faultless defense/etc...
2) Know your character's moves. It's just stuff like "this is a low kick" and "this is a fireball". You don't need to read frame data.

Execution
1) Learn to jump and dash.
2) Learn to not jump. It's easy jump back when you intend to block, but of course, that's a free hit for your opponent.
3) You really have to be able to do fireballs. Anti-air shoryukens are something even pros miss. Don't mind.

Strategy
1) If you manage to block a heavy attack, it's your turn to press buttons. Later you'll learn this is called frame advantage.
2) A read (yomi in Japanese) is when you predict your opponent's next action. At this level, doing something preemptive on a read is the best strategy you're gonna have.

>From newbie to ok
Understanding
1) Every fighting game's gameplay is based on situations. Wake-up situations, pressure situations, mix-up situations, and so on. You have to learn a basic set of situations: neutral, wake-up (oki in Japanese), and pressure. Neutral is when you and your enemy are standing (or moving, if you're smart beans) some distance apart. Wake-up occurs after either of you have been knocked down. You have to learn the basics of surviving your own wake-up, as well as the basics of capitalizing on the opponent's wake-up. Pressure is when either one is limiting the other's options to blocking and little else. You should, first of all, learn some pressure with your character. Then, learn what the options you have under pressure are. Pressure is very dependent on the character, so you need match-up knowledge. Wake-up basically lands the players in a pressure situation, but the difference is that the situation is more clearly-cut. Pressure can be way sneakier, but wake-up is a crystal-clear RPS situation.
2) Learn what beats what. Many games have intricate and somewhat situational rock-paper-scissors games of blocking, throwing, buttons, backdashing, and special moves. Just get the general feel for "counters". It's easy to tell this will make your reads much better.

Execution
1) Learn a combo. Learn another combo. You shouldn't try the optimized ones. Just get some extra off the buttons you most usually connect. Many weak combos are a thousand times better than one optimized one. What combos do is they make your risk/reward ratio better by enhancing the reward.
2) Learn a pressure string, and some variations to it. Tick throws and simple frame traps are a good start.
3) If there's wake-up tech (as the defender or the aggressor), consider learning some. You don't have to do safe-jumps, but you should learn to time a meaty (and to combo from it).
4) Learn to anti-air on "reaction". If you know your opponent is gonna jump "at some point", have some button ready for that.
5) Block punishing. If you block something punishable, you have to get something out of it. That limits your opponent's options, which is the core of good strategy.

Strategy
1) Transitioning into pressure. It's the core of offensive play. Basically, you move to the distance where you can connect your pressure starter, and then do that move. Characters that prefer this style usually have great speed or special moves that move them towards the enemy. However, that's not always the case. Sometimes it's just patience and smart use of universal mechanics.
2) Denying enemy pressure. It's the core of defensive play. Basically, you aim to hit your opponent when they try to move in, or do something that beats their pressure starter, if they already got in. Characters that wish to play keep-away usually have good tools for it, like projectiles and far-reaching attacks. Note that typically, one player has the advantage in neutral, so they'd rather keep the game there, instead of going to other situations, where they, in turn, have weaker tools.
(1) and (2) here represent "footsies", that is, attacks paired with positioning. In pressure and wake-up situations, the position is fixed - you're very close. In neutral, positioning is much more free-form. Even if the complex and technically demanding pressure situations are very interesting and satisfying, the core of 2D fighter gameplay is footsies, because the possibilities are endless.
3) Gameplan. As much as you need to react (it's a 2-player game, after all), you can plan a lot. There's some situation you want to be in. That's because that situation plays to your character's strengths (or more deviously, to your friend's character's weaknesses). Or it may be that you excel in some type of play (compared to others who are equally bad). That good situation is your goal. You have some set of tools you can utilize to capitalize on that situation (note that the smartest ones also keep it). You can write them down or something. Knowing the goal is one part of the gameplan, and having the tools to capitalize is another. Then there's the set of tools you can use to get in your preferred situation. That's also a part of your gameplan. Then, once you get better, you also know a set of tools to get you out of your opponent's preferred situation.

When you're a beginner, you should keep your gameplan simple.
Basic offensive gameplan:
Preferred situation: in their face, putting on the pressure
Tools to get there (neutral -> pressure): jump-in, dash-in, special get-in tool, anti-air (you should choose an anti-air you can consistently hit, and that will let you pressure afterwards, instead of an anti-air that resets the game to neutral)
Tools once in there: throw, jab pressure (a poor man's frame trap), tick-throw, low kick, another jump or dash (to reset the pressure)
Tools against opponent's pressure: blocking, throw tech, backdash, reversal, jab
Tools for okizeme (opponent's wake-up): throw, meaty low kick (meaty means it hits the instant the opponent wakes up), jump-in
Tools for your oki: block, throw, reversal, backdash

Basic defensive gameplan:
Preferred situation: neutral
Tools to get there (this time, from being pressured): backdash, reversal, block (and punish), jump back
Tools once in there: long punch, fireball, anti-air (reactive)
Tools against opponent's pressure: see tools to get there
Tools for own pressure: jab, tick-throw, throw, low kick, backdash (reset to neutral)
Tools for okizeme: throw, meaty low kick, fireball, but maybe you just want to walk away?
Tools for own oki: see tools to get there minus jump back (since meaty timings always beat it)

It may seem funny that these are so similar, but you have to understand many characters can play many different styles, and that the jabs, lows, jumps, tick throws, and so on may have different properties depending on the character, making some common options way more viable for some characters. Looking at how strong players play gives you an idea of the best gameplans. Learning other characters gives you another way to view the game. Basically, after you've gotten past the scrub stage and can do things intentionally and with a plan (doesn't mean you don't drop combos and miss specials), all there is to do is to is

>From ok to strong
Know more - match-ups, move properties, combos, weird setups, tech, player mentalities, but the most important is SITUATION KNOWLEDGE. There's a lot to learn in just fireball timing and spacing.
Polish your execution - reactions, combos, option selects, tech, whiff punishes, movement.
Hone your strategies. Most importantly, find new, finer situations. Strong players know and see dozens of different jump-in situations, and that's how they're able to consistently do the right anti-air. Deepening your mix-up is also important. When guessing right once isn't enough to save your opponent, they are easier to crack. "When's the throw coming" is a 2D classic. Stagger your jabs to fake a tick throw, or is it to fake a faked tick throw? Broaden your views of what a "gameplan" is. The "goal" isn't what you should necessarily always have your eyes on. You can be a rushdown player at heart, but it pays to be patient. If the opponent is bent on denying any dashing, you can take your time hanging outside of their "far-reaching punch" range trying to bait and whiff punish it. Another similar idea is baiting a 2/3-screen fireball. At about half screen, the reacting to a fireball with a jump will get you anti-aired. However, from 2/3 screen, the opponent will be too far to anti-air a reactive jump, meaning you can land in front of them and start your attack. The defensive player can see what you're trying to do, and walk forward going, back to half screen distance, before throwing his fireball, now putting you again in an unfavorable position, ready to anti-air if you misjudge the distance and jump. And that's why fighting games are fucking amazing.