I have been a PC gamer for the majority of my life. But before that, i was a console player on the NES. But NES mainly had platformers, and no 3d games. So i am not used to movement and camera controls simultaneously at all.

I have purchased a Steam Deck OLED and it’s phenomenal at playing platformers and twin stick top down games. However, i am absolutely sucking at FPS games on it. Can’t make shots on the controller which are like muscle memory on my PC. I’m also having a slightly hard time on 3rd person over the shoulder games (not as bad as FPS though). It’s probably because of my age (30+) I guess.

My question is that is there a way to improve other than ‘git gud’? Example, is there an easy FPS game where I don’t have to move or shoot too fast? Or a sample controller exercise game, like we have AimLabs for mouse movement.

Thanks.

  • talEnglish
    1·
    5 months ago

    Your age 30 is fine. Age is always an excuse, but mostly not true.

    It’s fine for single-player shooters, which are less demanding, but speaking as someone who has packed on some decades, your reaction time definitely becomes a noticeable factor over the years for competitive multiplayer games. I definitely can’t play competitive twitch shooters nearly as well as when I was 18, which is about when your reaction time is at its best.

    That being said, there are shooters where twitch time is less-critical or roles or play-styles that focus less on it.

    And I don’t see how someone couldn’t learn to play with a dual-stick or trackpad (or trackball, for that matter), which is what I think OP is talking about. I haven’t had any problems picking up new input methods…that just takes time. Took time to learn when I was 18, too.

    • thingsiplay@beehaw.org
      1·
      5 months ago

      I don’t agree here. Playing for long time means you get better, more experienced as well. Reaction time is not all. Plus the differences of reaction time we talk about is usually only important for world class players. Normal humans like us are similar in reaction time between the ages we talk about (30 vs 20 in example). Lot of older people are playing and are better than younger people.

      Having said this, every human is different and will have different degradation or changes in their body and mind. I am just generalize here, knowing that individuals might differ strongly. Have in mind, I am talking about normal players like us, not professionals or world class players, where differences in weakness are much more amplified.

      And off course it depends on the games as well off course and in what rank you are. My point is that age is often an excuse without realizing the real issues, pointing it to reaction times and aging, when maybe something different is the problem.