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Kotzugi

Physical setup for a speed run

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Hey there speed runners and speed running aficionados :)

I'm pretty new here. Been making a few of my own runs, but sometimes, control is a bitch. The top guys seem to move so smoothly all over the place. So I was wondering, what kind of setup do you use? More specifically:

- Do you use a gaming mouse? If so (or if not): which? I prefer something light with no batteries (run of the mill cheap Microsoft), as it otherwise hurts my hand. But maybe I've just been trying the wrong ones?
- Do you use some kind of wrist support? If so, what exactly? (I do.)
- How do you set up your chair and table/desk? Do you also sometimes sit on your bed? (I do.)
- What time of the day works for you?
- Do you drink lots of coffee beforehand? Energy bars? Exercise? Or do you just need to be relaxed but wide awake?
- Do you set your mouse up to be very sensitive to movement or not as much?
- Do you take regular breaks in between learning and practising your run? Or do you just sit there, perhaps for many hours, until you make some progress?

No need to answer all these questions. Basically I just want to hear what you, Mister/Miss Speed Runner, do to improve your experience and produce your awe-inspiring stuff!

Cheers :)

K

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I aim 150% better if I'm high on that monster energy crap that's probably produced by illuminati, ask gggmork for details. I recall actually recording only one demo while high on it. The rest is just personal preference stuff without too much effect if you ask me.

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That's one sick demo j4rio. You were definitely high on something, that's for sure. Like a squirrel on double espresso. One very dangerous squirrel. I felt a little nauseous after watching it, and I mean it in the best possible way. :)

The readme file made me think you're somewhat of a perfectionist. Perhaps that's a quality that's required of any good speed runner.

Personally I think the right setup can make just enough of a difference if you're serious enough about beating that world record by another second. Just my opinion. As for myself I just want to suck a little bit less than usual. :)

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Kotzugi said:

- Do you use a gaming mouse? If so (or if not): which? I prefer something light with no batteries (run of the mill cheap Microsoft), as it otherwise hurts my hand. But maybe I've just been trying the wrong ones?
- Do you use some kind of wrist support? If so, what exactly? (I do.)
- How do you set up your chair and table/desk? Do you also sometimes sit on your bed? (I do.)
- What time of the day works for you?
- Do you drink lots of coffee beforehand? Energy bars? Exercise? Or do you just need to be relaxed but wide awake?
- Do you set your mouse up to be very sensitive to movement or not as much?
- Do you take regular breaks in between learning and practising your run? Or do you just sit there, perhaps for many hours, until you make some progress?

- cheapo microsoft lasermouse (pic)
- nah
- uh not sure, my chair has arms though, I only play at my desk
- any time of day
- nothing more than when not playing
- windows mouse settings at 6 dots out of 11 from the left (enhance pointer precision off), prboom-plus mouse settings are 20 horiz 0 vert
- depends how long it takes, what mood I'm in

Also, I use windows XP (my vista computer still has mouse acceleration even when I disable it in windows and prplus).

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If you dig around this forum you'll find some discussion of control set-ups and discussions of how to plan and prepare runs, and how to train generally to run better.

On a practical side, you might want to make a toilet visit before any long attempts, and ensure that you're unlikely to be bothered by pets or family members during the attempt (maybe a "do not disturb" sign). Maybe have a plan for if the phone rings and it's something you want to answer - what pausing options you have will depend on the exe you're using, but even pressing the pause key isn't too bad, as you can edit out almost all of the pause tics if you know what you are doing (as long as you delete a multiple of 4, you're OK, I think - 256 to be really safe).

If you have a tendency to swear loudly during recording sessions (or particular types of runs), you might want to make sure you have the place to yourself for those ones. Maybe this is more of a problem if you are recording pacifist runs.

But overall, good route planning is perhaps the main thing. It's easy to waste time and effort otherwise. And practice, of course.

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Thanks TimeOfDeath and Grazza. I don't swear out loud usually. I go like "shiiiii" quietly, close my eyes, lift my head and make grunting noises.

Usually I don't get calls mid to late night, which is when I mostly play. I do close down mail, Skype, etc. That pausing thing sounds way complicated though. Never done anything like that.

And obviously route planning is critical. I usually check out other runs first and make sure I know the layout. Then I think by myself whether or not I can do something differently. But I don't do it in any kind of systematic way. Definitely I can learn a lot from other threads.

I guess my main gripe is control. It's too easy to bump against walls, miss buttons, etc. I'm not too bad with combat but yeah, control problems also mean that some battles are really hard and I basically rely on reflexes more than anything. I think some of it is the fact that half of everything is done with your poor hand (keys) and perhaps I also have a bad mouse setup (eg. mouse can slip off the wrist rest, does not move smoothly enough, etc.). So I'm basically just looking into anything technical that I might have missed that acts as a hindrance. For example I noticed that if I'm too low in comparison with the mouse and keyboard, it's definitely more difficult to play. Things like that.

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I have a question too. Is that OK if I sometimes have to reposition my mouse in the air or does that mean that my position is uncomfortable?

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I used to play with a grand total of this much freedom of movement with mouse for quite a while. There was a printer blocking the other side of table so I couldn't push keyboard further. It was still enough to do at least 1000° spin if I moved mousie through all the free space. :p

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Memfis said:

I have a question too. Is that OK if I sometimes have to reposition my mouse in the air or does that mean that my position is uncomfortable?

Sometimes you have to turn a lot (for example if you go up/down spiral stairs or something) so at some point you have to pick up your mouse and put it on the other side again. I guess in some cases that's unavoidable. Of course you can minimize it by making mouse movement super sensitive (which apparently j4rio did with his 1000° spins - dude) but at some point that makes it harder to aim. (That's another thing I'm playing around with. I definitely prefer more sensitivity. What can I say I'm a sensitive guy.)

I've also heard of speed runners who only play with the keyboard. I also used to do that in my very early Doom days but not anymore. Turning too damn slow for my liking. But I guess doable if you time it right.

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Memfis said:

I have a question too. Is that OK if I sometimes have to reposition my mouse in the air or does that mean that my position is uncomfortable?

for longer runs, it happens to me too ;)

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Kotzugi said:

Hey there speed runners and speed running aficionados :)

I'm pretty new here. Been making a few of my own runs, but sometimes, control is a bitch. The top guys seem to move so smoothly all over the place. So I was wondering, what kind of setup do you use? More specifically:

- Do you use a gaming mouse? If so (or if not): which? I prefer something light with no batteries (run of the mill cheap Microsoft), as it otherwise hurts my hand. But maybe I've just been trying the wrong ones?
- Do you use some kind of wrist support? If so, what exactly? (I do.)
- How do you set up your chair and table/desk? Do you also sometimes sit on your bed? (I do.)
- What time of the day works for you?
- Do you drink lots of coffee beforehand? Energy bars? Exercise? Or do you just need to be relaxed but wide awake?
- Do you set your mouse up to be very sensitive to movement or not as much?
- Do you take regular breaks in between learning and practising your run? Or do you just sit there, perhaps for many hours, until you make some progress?

No need to answer all these questions. Basically I just want to hear what you, Mister/Miss Speed Runner, do to improve your experience and produce your awe-inspiring stuff!

Cheers :)

K


- I used to use the same Mouse as TimeofDeath except it was a Mini Version and it began to break down, now I have a Logitech LS1 Mouse obtained for about £5, it's smooth and it does the job, never use Mouse Acceleration just the sensitivity settings.

-Nope, Wrist supports suck they just end up limiting movement, just have the right balance between exercise and playing to avoid strain.

-I have a large wooden desk so theirs plenty of room for everything to sit on top.

-I'd say Afternoon/Evening since I'm tired in the Mornings, but definitely not late night can't guarantee continuous concentration then.

-Never needed energy drinks because I have the right idea when it comes to nutrition.

-I ensure you can do a 180 degree spin with ease so I'd yes some what.

-Depends on the map/difficulty, when it comes to recording just sit there and grind it.

I prefer to use Windows XP where recording goes because their is a definite distinction in the feel of the mouse between 7 and XP, the latter being smoother.

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Also, I use windows XP (my vista computer still has mouse acceleration even when I disable it in windows and prplus).


I use the MarkC mouse fix and it seems to work for me (although I have Windows 7, but there's a Vista version).

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How to sit on a bed with a PC? :P

That's an interesting mental image, but as for myself I use a laptop. You could probably do something like this if you really wanted to though. :)

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-I use a cheap Asda own brand mouse (works well actually).
-I only play on my mattress.
-Night time is usually when I attempt to speed run.
-Coffee? Energy drinks? Why do I want to drink them? I eat wheatabix and chug tea, like a Brit.
-I use the default sensitivity.
-Depends, I often first exit but more recently tried improving and breaking away from cautious play. I usually spend about 15 minutes it rarely exceeds that, as I try it again another day if I can't do it in a few minutes.

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Kotzugi said:

Hey there speed runners and speed running aficionados :)
- Do you use a gaming mouse? If so (or if not): which? I prefer something light with no batteries (run of the mill cheap Microsoft), as it otherwise hurts my hand. But maybe I've just been trying the wrong ones?
- Do you use some kind of wrist support? If so, what exactly? (I do.)
- How do you set up your chair and table/desk? Do you also sometimes sit on your bed? (I do.)
- What time of the day works for you?
- Do you drink lots of coffee beforehand? Energy bars? Exercise? Or do you just need to be relaxed but wide awake?
- Do you set your mouse up to be very sensitive to movement or not as much?
- Do you take regular breaks in between learning and practising your run? Or do you just sit there, perhaps for many hours, until you make some progress?

How late am I?, it's easier to answer questions one by one so this is it.
-Think I've used 5 different mouses since I started recorded, just cheap stuff I get.
-Wrist support?, they exist?
-I pick my laptop, put it on a table, pick a random chair/sofa from my house, put it in front of the table, there we have my space.
-I usually record better when it's late at night
-uhm, nothing of that, but often oranges, cause I like oranges.
-Veery sensitive, yes, I like to not even move the hand :D
-I do all the stuff I can until I have to go, long breaks make you forget the route and lose practice...

And here is the laptop I use to play :D http://www.bbspot.com/reviews/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/HP-Pavilion-G62-144DX-laptop-with-Intel-Core-i3.jpg

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Well, according to X4's datasheet it's larger than your old one. I find it comfortable myself, but size was never an important criterion for me. I was looking for a keyboard with flat, soft keys (no loud clicking) that wouldn't lock on multiple parallel keypresses.

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Ancalagon said:

How late am I?

Very ;)

Ancalagon said:

-Think I've used 5 different mouses since I started recorded, just cheap stuff I get.
...
-I pick my laptop, put it on a table, pick a random chair/sofa from my house, put it in front of the table, there we have my space.
...
-uhm, nothing of that, but often oranges, cause I like oranges.

I like how the good runners (at least those who have replied) don't act all pro and stuff, just grab a chair, a mouse, a computer, and off you go. Still, being a bit of a scientist myself, I was wondering how much you can tweak your performance by looking at gear, positioning, physical condition, diet, etc. Perhaps there are a few insane guys out there (or in here) who take it a bit too seriously.

Ancalagon said:

Nice, here is mine.

Ancalagon said:

-Wrist support?, they exist?

Yes, this is mine. It's quite comfy and assumes the shape of your wrist when in use, and I think it helps prevent injury. At least I feel better playing with it. Having had desk jobs 9-5 or more for the last few years this kind of thing becomes important.

This is my current setup. And often, I even get good results playing on my bed. :)

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dew said:

I was looking for a keyboard with flat, soft keys (no loud clicking) that wouldn't lock on multiple parallel keypresses.


Yep this is the biggest criterion for me, I can press up to 5 keys before it locks like you stated. I heard this is a notorious problem with Logitech Keyboards but their Mice are awesome though! xD

I've only had injury once, well twice now but it's only due to being forced to work so hard at Jewish Nazi Cisco CCNA course, they crammed it into a year with 2 exams per week.

EDIT: The problem with Wrist Supports are the weird gel material their made of, it isn't a smooth surface for a mouse at all. Thus you can't make erratic and quick movements with ease.

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