Training

[timhett]

I'm curious about what people do for training or to get out of training ruts.  Sometimes if playing daily I start to lose my edge, it's harder to engage with the game, just going through the motions.  If I take too many days off, my game suffers.  My two biggest weaknesses (at this point.. I think...) are lack of endurance and losing focus.
For endurance it's probably time to do some exercising, eat better, etc to get into better physical shape, as well as longer play sessions to get used to the mental and physical fatigue.
For focus I'm considering taking up meditation again, even if it's 10 minutes before starting to play so as to wipe out the extra thoughts and focus on the game more fully.
I also sometimes switch settings (5 man vs marathon/defaults) to force different play patterns.
What do the rest of you do when you reach a plateau?  Any other suggestions or training approaches out there?  What sort of issues do you struggle with?  Particularly interested in marathon prep.
 

[DiggingInNY]

I know what you mean. It has happened to me with a few games. Sometimes I will take a break from them and focus on other things and then get back to it at a later point. That way I fell refreshed and ready to go.

[anningmay]

I'm curious about what people do for training or to get out of training ruts.  Sometimes if playing daily I start to lose my edge, it's harder to engage with the game, just going through the motions.  If I take too many days off, my game suffers.  My two biggest weaknesses (at this point.. I think...) are lack of endurance and losing focus.
For endurance it's probably time to do some exercising, eat better, etc to get into better physical shape, as well as longer play sessions to get used to the mental and physical fatigue.
For focus I'm considering taking up meditation again, even if it's 10 minutes before starting to play so as to wipe out the extra thoughts and focus on the game more fully.
I also sometimes switch settings (5 man vs marathon/defaults) to force different play patterns.
What do the rest of you do when you reach a plateau?  Any other suggestions or training approaches out there?  What sort of issues do you struggle with?  Particularly interested in marathon prep.
 

Interesting question. A day off here and there never hurts, of course, but I have another solution available to me that isn't necessarily available to all: I play a different closely-related game. Specifically:

my blood, sweat, and tears go into Jr. Pac-Man. When I just can't take it any more, I simply walk away from jrpac and switch to Ms. Pac-Man for a day or two. I find mspac to be much easier, and so it feels like taking a break. However, the ghost AI is 90% the same, so I'm still getting training in.

I often find that, after doing this, I go back to jrpac with brand new ideas and a renewed ability to improvise better under fire.

I wonder if a similar thing might be possible with Centipede and Millipede?

Dave

[Verminator]

If anyone has any suggestions to stop my regression on Zoo Keeper... I am all ears!!!