I am very on and off this game due to long sessions make my mousepad damp due to the humid temperature.

I was better than I am now at one point but I've never really been able to grasp how to consistently hit crossmap jumps. I must admit, I am somewhat use to high AR's. But just in general, even when I wasn't and basically a hidden only player (I never used DT or HR back in the day). I just simply can't hit cross map jumps. Glancing, I feel like is the only thing I can use in which I feel like I have to somewhat guess unless it's a big circle size. I've been able to fc 5+ stars for a while now. (Not really anymore due to my long break). However, cold green eyes, or even monochrome butterfly, I have so many combo's of almost doing an FC. Cold green eyes I even did a reverse choke ( was adjusting mouse) in a multi and then after I was done playing I went for it again and couldn't consistently combo any of the hard parts. And then when I try on a casual day it just seems to all fall apart and it looks like I'm going for a pass.

Maybe it is the high AR tho. Because when it comes to my hidden only plays, especially my top ones. I never seem to be able to consistently replicate them. Yet my DT and HR plays I find myself always competing in acc. And I also seem to do better at reading cross map jumps with HR, even tho I can't hit them. (IF that makes sense). But admittedly I don't wanna be a high AR player. And I want to be consistent without the need of it.

You just have to practice more cross screen jumps. Very few maps actually feature them so most people struggle to consistently hit them because they don't really play them much. Also, I would say you read them better on HR because it's easier to read on HR.

I figured that would be the case. I think my question would there be any efficient methods for training lower AR's? Obviously I'm not asking for anything crazy, AR 9 is the sweet spot but I seem to struggle reading it with higher star ratings.

i dont

JUSTAHOLiDAY5 wrote:

I figured that would be the case. I think my question would there be any efficient methods for training lower AR's? Obviously I'm not asking for anything crazy, AR 9 is the sweet spot but I seem to struggle reading it with higher star ratings.

What I imagine you're struggling with is the higher object density you generally find with higher star ratings so I'm going to answer in regards to that.

You have 2 options for improving your reading capabilities; either you try to FC maps that are slightly out of your comfort zone and slowly but surely improve your reading that way or you can train reading object densities specifically by editing maps that you can FC comfortably down 1 or 2 ARs.

What Almost said. I highly recommend playing AR8 maps and going down in star difficulty to maps that are quite comfortable to get a feeling for it and then slowly start playing AR8 maps around your current rank as you get more used to it, it'll really improve your reading. What helped me learn to read AR8 was to precisely look at every object as I have to click it, my eyes would be snapping to every single object and directly look at it, almost in sync with my aiming. It's difficult at first and takes tons of concentration, but after a few days it gets easier. After I did that, when I moved back up to AR9 and 10, I focused on reading maps the same way I read AR8 and AR7 and it really feels like it boosts consistency, even reading AR10.3 felt easier afterwards, seems to have really trained my eyes to practice AR8 like that.

Almost wrote:

JUSTAHOLiDAY5 wrote:

I figured that would be the case. I think my question would there be any efficient methods for training lower AR's? Obviously I'm not asking for anything crazy, AR 9 is the sweet spot but I seem to struggle reading it with higher star ratings.

What I imagine you're struggling with is the higher object density you generally find with higher star ratings so I'm going to answer in regards to that.

You have 2 options for improving your reading capabilities; either you try to FC maps that are slightly out of your comfort zone and slowly but surely improve your reading that way or you can train reading object densities specifically by editing maps that you can FC comfortably down 1 or 2 ARs.

I really appreciate this advice so much. I was thinking of the same thing, but I think it's reassuring to hear others thoughts.

Kyomaku wrote:

What Almost said. I highly recommend playing AR8 maps and going down in star difficulty to maps that are quite comfortable to get a feeling for it and then slowly start playing AR8 maps around your current rank as you get more used to it, it'll really improve your reading. What helped me learn to read AR8 was to precisely look at every object as I have to click it, my eyes would be snapping to every single object and directly look at it, almost in sync with my aiming. It's difficult at first and takes tons of concentration, but after a few days it gets easier. After I did that, when I moved back up to AR9 and 10, I focused on reading maps the same way I read AR8 and AR7 and it really feels like it boosts consistency, even reading AR10.3 felt easier afterwards, seems to have really trained my eyes to practice AR8 like that.

I think it's funny, you basically explained how I use to play before I played a lot of mods. I use to just constantly SS everything and I got so many plays based off of my acc. I was so consistent at getting around my top pp plays, however I could never surpass it. I think that's what frustrates me. I remember when I had a 97pp play, 98 pp play, 99 pp play, 99.4 pp play, yes all in a row. And I was so mad for not getting the milestone of 100.

Kinda irrelevant but it just brings me back. I've always thought about doing AR 8, because I know my issue with it, is not only reading. But my cursor just doesn't go in straight paths, it kinda curves. I'm not sure on why I do it, ig it's just because I panic or try to make the curve feel more comfortable to where I don't have to slow myself down. Because I don't do it when I'm passing hard maps. However, I question how difficult the skill would be, and how much it's really worth due to the fact I'm a hidden main.

I can do HT cross map jumps pretty consistently, but for higher AR I usually just know my tablet area so good that I basically don't think about it and 90% of the time hit cross maps jumps. But Almost is probably right.

JUSTAHOLiDAY5 wrote:

I really appreciate this advice so much. I was thinking of the same thing, but I think it's reassuring to hear others thoughts.

Kyomaku wrote:

What Almost said. I highly recommend playing AR8 maps and going down in star difficulty to maps that are quite comfortable to get a feeling for it and then slowly start playing AR8 maps around your current rank as you get more used to it, it'll really improve your reading. What helped me learn to read AR8 was to precisely look at every object as I have to click it, my eyes would be snapping to every single object and directly look at it, almost in sync with my aiming. It's difficult at first and takes tons of concentration, but after a few days it gets easier. After I did that, when I moved back up to AR9 and 10, I focused on reading maps the same way I read AR8 and AR7 and it really feels like it boosts consistency, even reading AR10.3 felt easier afterwards, seems to have really trained my eyes to practice AR8 like that.

I think it's funny, you basically explained how I use to play before I played a lot of mods. I use to just constantly SS everything and I got so many plays based off of my acc. I was so consistent at getting around my top pp plays, however I could never surpass it. I think that's what frustrates me. I remember when I had a 97pp play, 98 pp play, 99 pp play, 99.4 pp play, yes all in a row. And I was so mad for not getting the milestone of 100.

Kinda irrelevant but it just brings me back. I've always thought about doing AR 8, because I know my issue with it, is not only reading. But my cursor just doesn't go in straight paths, it kinda curves. I'm not sure on why I do it, ig it's just because I panic or try to make the curve feel more comfortable to where I don't have to slow myself down. Because I don't do it when I'm passing hard maps. However, I question how difficult the skill would be, and how much it's really worth due to the fact I'm a hidden main.

then play old maps and really focus on snapping

UnnamedBeast wrote:

JUSTAHOLiDAY5 wrote:

I think it's funny, you basically explained how I use to play before I played a lot of mods. I use to just constantly SS everything and I got so many plays based off of my acc. I was so consistent at getting around my top pp plays, however I could never surpass it. I think that's what frustrates me. I remember when I had a 97pp play, 98 pp play, 99 pp play, 99.4 pp play, yes all in a row. And I was so mad for not getting the milestone of 100.

Kinda irrelevant but it just brings me back. I've always thought about doing AR 8, because I know my issue with it, is not only reading. But my cursor just doesn't go in straight paths, it kinda curves. I'm not sure on why I do it, ig it's just because I panic or try to make the curve feel more comfortable to where I don't have to slow myself down. Because I don't do it when I'm passing hard maps. However, I question how difficult the skill would be, and how much it's really worth due to the fact I'm a hidden main.

then play old maps and really focus on snapping

I think trying to get straight lines in your cursor movements is a bit of a waste of time. All that really matters is whether or not you're hitting the circles consistently or not. You can have perfect straight line movements but still have poor consistency. Having straight line movements doesn't guarantee or improve your consistency in hitting the circles.

I highly disagree on that one (perfect straight lines are kinda a waste, but snapping and practicing sharp linear movements is absolutely not), it trains your hand to be able to do difficult and awkward movements. The same goes for snapping to every object.

Long explanation incomming, feel free to skip to last paragraph:
I have a little background as a mapper, and one of the many things we use when making maps is "flow theory", movements and objects at certain angles are more comfortable, more natural and thus easier to do than others. Of course it is highly important to learn to break flow etc to create contrast and properly reflect the music in your map, but that's beside the point right now.

What I want to get at is, that patterns such as squares or angles past 90°, especially linear jumps after another, are really difficult to jump to, as you have to stop your movement and continue it in the same direction afterwards (unless if you just smooth aim, but that's not really precise imo), back and forth patterns, stopping and moving back is part of the same motion, which is way more comfortable and naturally supporting movements like these (same for triangles etc).

And now I'll finally get to the point. When you snap aim onto every object, you are forcing yourself to practice stopping on objects a lot and to do sharp movements, even when you could use natural circular, flowing movements and while this can be uneccessary and smooth aim can certainly be better for fc'ing certain patterns in some cases. But then, when a map throws these uncomfortable patterns at you, which are often intended as part of the difficulty spike and harder parts of a map, you will be ready, you're fully used and comfortable doing them, as they're like any part of the map to you. In general, moving around on maps will be much more comfortable, as you're constantly increasing the amount of motions that you can do comfortably from this.

@Kyomaku

I fully agree with your points there but I'm more trying to point out that trying to get perfectly straight line movements is a waste of time. If you've got a slight curve when aiming, it's okay as you can still make snappy movements like that. The way you aim is generally based on the way you read the map any how. If you look at each circle directly before you hit it, your aim is going to tend towards straight line movements but you don't need it to be a perfect straight line. I personally make more misses if I try to get my aim as straight as possible. The focus should all be on trying to hit the next circle not trying to make a straight line.

Kyomaku wrote:

I highly disagree on that one (perfect straight lines are kinda a waste, but snapping and practicing sharp linear movements is absolutely not), it trains your hand to be able to do difficult and awkward movements. The same goes for snapping to every object.

Long explanation incomming, feel free to skip to last paragraph:
I have a little background as a mapper, and one of the many things we use when making maps is "flow theory", movements and objects at certain angles are more comfortable, more natural and thus easier to do than others. Of course it is highly important to learn to break flow etc to create contrast and properly reflect the music in your map, but that's beside the point right now.

What I want to get at is, that patterns such as squares or angles past 90°, especially linear jumps after another, are really difficult to jump to, as you have to stop your movement and continue it in the same direction afterwards (unless if you just smooth aim, but that's not really precise imo), back and forth patterns, stopping and moving back is part of the same motion, which is way more comfortable and naturally supporting movements like these (same for triangles etc).

And now I'll finally get to the point. When you snap aim onto every object, you are forcing yourself to practice stopping on objects a lot and to do sharp movements, even when you could use natural circular, flowing movements and while this can be uneccessary and smooth aim can certainly be better for fc'ing certain patterns in some cases. But then, when a map throws these uncomfortable patterns at you, which are often intended as part of the difficulty spike and harder parts of a map, you will be ready, you're fully used and comfortable doing them, as they're like any part of the map to you. In general, moving around on maps will be much more comfortable, as you're constantly increasing the amount of motions that you can do comfortably from this.

Honestly, I love this explanation because it was something I always had trouble explaining it, squares are the most perfect example.

And Almost, I think I should make clear. I tend to panic to a point it's really severe. I can't do it on high AR's because it's purely reaction speed. This is also why I get so incredibly frustrated if I don't FC a map first try. I tend to purely react, if I know there is a pattern I'm not comfortable with, I completely curve due to fear of missing. So this happened a lot with square jumps, first time, I would FC the fuck out of it. And then say I would choke at the end or beginning, next time I would completely fail due to my timing being so fast and my cursor trying to go as fast as possible (this is why I curve) in order to hit the jumps.

High AR's I never fear this, I'm so incredibly consistent with high AR's, I always compete with acc with my HR. Yet if I don't fc a 5 star no mod first try it's over, and I won't be able to.

JUSTAHOLiDAY5 wrote:

And Almost, I think I should make clear. I tend to panic to a point it's really severe. I can't do it on high AR's because it's purely reaction speed. This is also why I get so incredibly frustrated if I don't FC a map first try. I tend to purely react, if I know there is a pattern I'm not comfortable with, I completely curve due to fear of missing. So this happened a lot with square jumps, first time, I would FC the fuck out of it. And then say I would choke at the end or beginning, next time I would completely fail due to my timing being so fast and my cursor trying to go as fast as possible (this is why I curve) in order to hit the jumps.

High AR's I never fear this, I'm so incredibly consistent with high AR's, I always compete with acc with my HR. Yet if I don't fc a 5 star no mod first try it's over, and I won't be able to.

A lot of people are going to disagree with me but I would advise you not to think of things as patterns. Because you know what pattern is coming up next, you start to read it as a pattern the next time up which is completely different to how you read it the first time round when you actually cleared it with no problems. People usually have problems with squares generally because they play the pattern as a square. For me, ever since I completely disassociated myself from playing patterns, a square is just 4 individual circles. That's it. I literally have no issues playing any sort of pattern because a pattern are just individual circles put together.

Almost wrote:

JUSTAHOLiDAY5 wrote:

And Almost, I think I should make clear. I tend to panic to a point it's really severe. I can't do it on high AR's because it's purely reaction speed. This is also why I get so incredibly frustrated if I don't FC a map first try. I tend to purely react, if I know there is a pattern I'm not comfortable with, I completely curve due to fear of missing. So this happened a lot with square jumps, first time, I would FC the fuck out of it. And then say I would choke at the end or beginning, next time I would completely fail due to my timing being so fast and my cursor trying to go as fast as possible (this is why I curve) in order to hit the jumps.

Like my worse jumps are star jumps because I always can whatever reason only hit the circles I visually see, and when I hit the ones I can't see (cuz of hidden). I suddenly see the pattern and then panic because I get confused due to them overlapping each other. If that makes sense?

High AR's I never fear this, I'm so incredibly consistent with high AR's, I always compete with acc with my HR. Yet if I don't fc a 5 star no mod first try it's over, and I won't be able to.

A lot of people are going to disagree with me but I would advise you not to think of things as patterns. Because you know what pattern is coming up next, you start to read it as a pattern the next time up which is completely different to how you read it the first time round when you actually cleared it with no problems. People usually have problems with squares generally because they play the pattern as a square. For me, ever since I completely disassociated myself from playing patterns, a square is just 4 individual circles. That's it. I literally have no issues playing any sort of pattern because a pattern are just individual circles put together.

No, I actually completely agree with you. But my issue is trying to even find a way to take that mentality away. It almost feels impossible. If you make a map entirely made of squares, I don't really know how to not picture them as such a thing. It's like if I told you a cloud looks like a heart and then trying to unsee that. It's really difficult because of it just being subconscious by nature.

It's not impossible because I've done it.. Just focus on the next circle and nothing else. Don't even think about the 2 or 3 steps ahead. People seem to want to over complicate things by trying to keep track of lots of things in front of them. I mean, I play some of the highest object densities that anyone has ever played and I don't even think that far ahead. All I do is try find the next circle and everything else works themselves out.

I should add, of course you're going to see the patterns on your screen. There's no way to block that. But, if you focus on just what needs to be done next and not what needs to be done 2, 3 or more steps ahead, you'll be golden.

I can kinda read AR7 jumps since like 1 1/2 weeks and I have honestly no idea how my brain comprehends what I'm doing, it's pretty much what Almost said, I just focus on what I have to click right now and I only look at the current circle I'm aiming on, my brain somehow makes sense of the rest, as in where to look next, it's probably just a thing you learn subconsciously as you practice reading lower AR, that your eyes probably pick up little details in your peripheral vision and then with that info you can probably then look more precisely at it to actually aim on it, IDK, just guessing.

But with that being said, there are patterns I have issues with and maybe I'm not good enough at maintaining the way I read when I know that certain patterns that I have trouble with are coming or the second I realize that something is a certain pattern, even in my first play, maybe that kills my concentration, I don't know and I also don't know how to fix it, but I generally read those best in the first play.

I do know however, that when I know a certain pattern is coming, I can read it as 1-2s and that makes some patterns a lot easier. Or when I have multiple linear jump patterns with big jumps inbetween, I can read them as multiple lines. I notice that when I try to look at all of them individually, I might skip over circles accidently, but when I read them as lines, I keep my movement more stable, I think it's that the next line distracts me a bit, causing me to mentally skip the last circle of the line a little and miss it beacuse of that, so when I look at it as lines, I guess it helps me look at the next line a little later.

In addition to that, I think it takes less brain energy when instead of looking at lets say 4 objects, you only have to look at 2, since you perceive 4objects as 2 1-2s, each 1 action.

But with all that being said, I've never made use of this to actually fc a map, but I have confidence that I can use it, if I ever need to, it's just that I don't really retry maps, I practice for sightreading. I sometimes go into the editor after a map to play the hard part or parts I missed a 2nd time to practice them a little bit (if movement etc was hard), if I failed to read, I'll experiment on it with reading techniques a little, but generally I avoid building too much reading memory.

I know I'm slightly borrowing this thread at this point, but I do wonder how other people practice reading as 1-2s without having played a map a second time. I can only either look at every object individually or blankly stare, latter obviously being bad, so I look at everything individually, but I simply can't read as 1-2s on my first play, I always need to know what pattern is coming up to be able to know where to look and then it's really easy to do, but I'd really like to be able to do it on the first play, too.

I think you're over thinking things still. When I say to read them as 1-2s, I don't actually really mean to actually do that. That's just an easy way to explain things. Your job in each second is just to find and hit the next circle. Looking at the next circle is the key to all of this as all you're doing is: finding the next circle, looking directly at the next circles, moving your cursor to where you're looking, clicking the circle, repeat. You don't need to think of anything as 1-2s; don't even think about anything but clicking the next circle.

How to practice it? It's all just practicing lots and lots of high object density maps. I personally learned through years of playing EZ mod and it just became a habit. I honestly feel like the fastest route to learning it is through playing extremely high density maps because there's so much clutter and noise on the screen that you're forced to play in such a way.

Almost wrote:

It's not impossible because I've done it.. Just focus on the next circle and nothing else. Don't even think about the 2 or 3 steps ahead. People seem to want to over complicate things by trying to keep track of lots of things in front of them. I mean, I play some of the highest object densities that anyone has ever played and I don't even think that far ahead. All I do is try find the next circle and everything else works themselves out.

I should add, of course you're going to see the patterns on your screen. There's no way to block that. But, if you focus on just what needs to be done next and not what needs to be done 2, 3 or more steps ahead, you'll be golden.

Almost wrote:

It's not impossible because I've done it.. Just focus on the next circle and nothing else. Don't even think about the 2 or 3 steps ahead. People seem to want to over complicate things by trying to keep track of lots of things in front of them. I mean, I play some of the highest object densities that anyone has ever played and I don't even think that far ahead. All I do is try find the next circle and everything else works themselves out.

I should add, of course you're going to see the patterns on your screen. There's no way to block that. But, if you focus on just what needs to be done next and not what needs to be done 2, 3 or more steps ahead, you'll be golden.

Almost wrote:

It's not impossible because I've done it.. Just focus on the next circle and nothing else. Don't even think about the 2 or 3 steps ahead. People seem to want to over complicate things by trying to keep track of lots of things in front of them. I mean, I play some of the highest object densities that anyone has ever played and I don't even think that far ahead. All I do is try find the next circle and everything else works themselves out.

I should add, of course you're going to see the patterns on your screen. There's no way to block that. But, if you focus on just what needs to be done next and not what needs to be done 2, 3 or more steps ahead, you'll be golden.

I think that last quote helps quite a bit. I didn't really get to spend lots of time on it, however, a combination of both of your guys advice really gave me some insight.

I did lower star ratings, with the main goal of trying to acc. And I think the combination of being able to play comfortability but also trying to properly do it really helped. I played AR 8.8, with mid 4 stars and while I didn't FC anything, I was really close to doing it. And then I tried 8.5, and slightly less consistent but still able to read well. And anything below that is kinda my threshold as of right now. And ngl, it was fun. A change of pace for the game.

Kyomaku wrote:

I can kinda read AR7 jumps since like 1 1/2 weeks and I have honestly no idea how my brain comprehends what I'm doing, it's pretty much what Almost said, I just focus on what I have to click right now and I only look at the current circle I'm aiming on, my brain somehow makes sense of the rest, as in where to look next, it's probably just a thing you learn subconsciously as you practice reading lower AR, that your eyes probably pick up little details in your peripheral vision and then with that info you can probably then look more precisely at it to actually aim on it, IDK, just guessing.

But with that being said, there are patterns I have issues with and maybe I'm not good enough at maintaining the way I read when I know that certain patterns that I have trouble with are coming or the second I realize that something is a certain pattern, even in my first play, maybe that kills my concentration, I don't know and I also don't know how to fix it, but I generally read those best in the first play.

I do know however, that when I know a certain pattern is coming, I can read it as 1-2s and that makes some patterns a lot easier. Or when I have multiple linear jump patterns with big jumps inbetween, I can read them as multiple lines. I notice that when I try to look at all of them individually, I might skip over circles accidently, but when I read them as lines, I keep my movement more stable, I think it's that the next line distracts me a bit, causing me to mentally skip the last circle of the line a little and miss it beacuse of that, so when I look at it as lines, I guess it helps me look at the next line a little later.

In addition to that, I think it takes less brain energy when instead of looking at lets say 4 objects, you only have to look at 2, since you perceive 4objects as 2 1-2s, each 1 action.

But with all that being said, I've never made use of this to actually fc a map, but I have confidence that I can use it, if I ever need to, it's just that I don't really retry maps, I practice for sightreading. I sometimes go into the editor after a map to play the hard part or parts I missed a 2nd time to practice them a little bit (if movement etc was hard), if I failed to read, I'll experiment on it with reading techniques a little, but generally I avoid building too much reading memory.

I know I'm slightly borrowing this thread at this point, but I do wonder how other people practice reading as 1-2s without having played a map a second time. I can only either look at every object individually or blankly stare, latter obviously being bad, so I look at everything individually, but I simply can't read as 1-2s on my first play, I always need to know what pattern is coming up to be able to know where to look and then it's really easy to do, but I'd really like to be able to do it on the first play, too.

I'm really new when it comes to forums, however, most often than not, I really don't get any conversations that provide any insight such as this one. And because of that, I don't mind you asking for any advice. But also thank you, including Almost as well.

Almost wrote:

I think you're over thinking things still. When I say to read them as 1-2s, I don't actually really mean to actually do that. That's just an easy way to explain things. Your job in each second is just to find and hit the next circle. Looking at the next circle is the key to all of this as all you're doing is: finding the next circle, looking directly at the next circles, moving your cursor to where you're looking, clicking the circle, repeat. You don't need to think of anything as 1-2s; don't even think about anything but clicking the next circle.

How to practice it? It's all just practicing lots and lots of high object density maps. I personally learned through years of playing EZ mod and it just became a habit. I honestly feel like the fastest route to learning it is through playing extremely high density maps because there's so much clutter and noise on the screen that you're forced to play in such a way.

I know practicing high density would be the best way to form these habits. But for a lot of people, and including myself, it's really hard to picture these things when this is a completely different skill set that we have yet to ever experience. You seem to be able to read high densities but for someone like me, playing AR 8 basically seems impossible, my brain is trained in a way to react to the things the moment I see them, which causes this habit. In a way, it's almost like refraining yourself from flinching. Even if you know it's not a threat, it's just something your body does instinctively without any control or thought behind it. I could also give the example of "trust falls". There's more behind it than just doing it. I must admit, I've always wanted to use the EZ mod, but even low star ratings like 2 stars seem confusing.

I'm not saying it's impossible, and I'm working my way down. But due to it being a skill I have no experience of doing it in, I just feel like working my way down as far as even AR 8, is a meme dream.

I see, so I'm probably already reading that way and just need to get better at it and the 1-2 style I described above is something different.

Reading as 1-2s intentionally as mentioned in my previous post, does have a strong benefit when replaying a map though and I've tested it many times on patterns. I'd for example go into editor and go to a complex to read pattern and I'd play it over and over, but each time, I would focus on reading in a different way, looking at each object individually, looking in the middle of the pattern, reading 2 circles as 1 line, reading 3 circles as 1 triangle, etc to name a few examples and I did notice that reading patterns as a bunch of lines connecting 2 circles as their start and end was the easiest for consistently fc'ing most patterns. It probably also helps with your rhythm, as you're constantly going 1 2 1 2 1 2 in your mind. I did make sure that it wasn't just muscle memory by trying different ways to read and going back and forth and I'd go back to missing and instantly back to fc'ing when using different methods to read.

So in a tl;dr, it's not the way you meant, but it does have benefits and I still wonder if I can somehow use those benefits while sightreading, without memorization.

Edit:

I'm really new when it comes to forums, however, most often than not, I really don't get any conversations that provide any insight such as this one. And because of that, I don't mind you asking for any advice. But also thank you, including Almost as well.

I know practicing high density would be the best way to form these habits. But for a lot of people, and including myself, it's really hard to picture these things when this is a completely different skill set that we have yet to ever experience. You seem to be able to read high densities but for someone like me, playing AR 8 basically seems impossible, my brain is trained in a way to react to the things the moment I see them, which causes this habit. In a way, it's almost like refraining yourself from flinching. Even if you know it's not a threat, it's just something your body does instinctively without any control or thought behind it. I could also give the example of "trust falls". There's more behind it than just doing it. I must admit, I've always wanted to use the EZ mod, but even low star ratings like 2 stars seem confusing.

I'm not saying it's impossible, and I'm working my way down. But due to it being a skill I have no experience of doing it in, I just feel like working my way down as far as even AR 8, is a meme dream.

You can do it! I've been there not even that long ago, just give it a few days, don't forget that you improve the most during your sleep, so even if you're not doing much better during the session, after a few days of focused practice, you'll suddenly do a lot better, it'll become possible very soon.

On top of that, you can look forward to playing older maps, there are seriously a lot of good AR8 maps out there and I really appreciate being able to play and enjoy them now, they're a lot of fun and all the previously "awkward" movements in maps have become especially fun, which you'll find a lot in old maps, it's such good practice for controlling your aim, too.

@JUSTAHOLiDAY5
Everybody starts from somewhere. There's no shame in dropping the star rating until you get it. I personally had to drop the star rating to just under 3 stars when I first started playing AR0 just to pass a map. Even maps I could FC without any problems with EZ HD I couldn't even survive more than 5 seconds. But now around a year later, I'm managing to pass a handful of 5 star maps with an AR0 edit.

I personally feel it's best to jump straight into the deep end with this sort of stuff rather than easing your way in. It's definitely not something you'll be able to just learn overnight, you're likely going to struggle with it for months until you get it. I also wouldn't recommend learning EZ unless you want to get good at EZ.


@Kyomaku
Do what works for you. To each their own right? Just keep practicing and you'll get it. The idea is you want to keep your reading style consistent and eventually, it'll be automatic.

Good luck to both you guys.

Almost wrote:

@JUSTAHOLiDAY5
Everybody starts from somewhere. There's no shame in dropping the star rating until you get it. I personally had to drop the star rating to just under 3 stars when I first started playing AR0 just to pass a map. Even maps I could FC without any problems with EZ HD I couldn't even survive more than 5 seconds. But now around a year later, I'm managing to pass a handful of 5 star maps with an AR0 edit.

I personally feel it's best to jump straight into the deep end with this sort of stuff rather than easing your way in. It's definitely not something you'll be able to just learn overnight, you're likely going to struggle with it for months until you get it. I also wouldn't recommend learning EZ unless you want to get good at EZ.


@Kyomaku
Do what works for you. To each their own right? Just keep practicing and you'll get it. The idea is you want to keep your reading style consistent and eventually, it'll be automatic.

Good luck to both you guys.

Much respect and love to you. Really appreciate the input and I will definitely look into all that was said here.