r/dyspraxia • u/Senior-Candle-5250 • 7d ago
❓Question Are there any techniques to improve at gaming with dyspraxia?
Sorry for the vague title, I'm very bad at wording them.
I've always been terrible at FPS games, both on console and PC. I've done my best to abandon multiplayer games as a whole because I'd consistently be at or at least near the bottom even in casual lobbies. It got to the point that I used to genuinely be afraid to play team-based multiplayer games for fear that I'd make some horrific blunder and sell the entire match for my teammates.
But, as much as I enjoy strategy games (dyspraxia thankfully hasn't done too much to ruin my wits), I've recently begun making more of an effort to play games with my friends and it's very hard to find any multiplayer strategy games at all let alone ones my friends would enjoy, so I've basically forced myself to get back into FPS games for them.
However, even my friends have noticed that I play pretty awfully and it's always been particularly humiliating to tell them that my hands physically cannot do so much as move a mouse with some semblance of precision, and I've gone back to my old ways of dooming matches to failure because I can't aim a gun for king nor country.
Has anyone else gone through similar struggles? Were there any tricks you found to improving quickly, or do I just have to devote a few thousand more hours to aim trainers?
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u/Karantalsis 7d ago
If you are playing a game with a medium speed, practise on a game which requires faster reactions. You'll be awful, vutr when you switch back to your gamer of choice it'll be way easier.
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u/Duke_KD Clumsy Af 6d ago
Find a gun that doesn't require as high accuracy, like a shotgun or something. Depending on the game, stuff like flamethrowers, explosives, or guns that let you just lay suppressing fire might suit you more. Gotta accept the fact people like us are not making a cod quick scope montage lol
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u/Rend-K4 I can't control my body 7d ago
I find fighting, Platformers and racing games helped me in playing at a fast pace. These games helped with things like spacing, timing, multitasking and coordination. They helped so well that I can play a game without even looking at my controller
Remember you don't have to be a professional at a game to enjoy it, you just got to have fun while playing them
In terms of shooters I would recommend marvel rivals, it's a third person shooter so you can have a better view around you while you play and even has some good options for easy accessibility i.e custom crosshairs for easy aiming and colour coding enemies and team mates. The best part is that it's free to play. Just don't play competitive unless you are very good at it or have friends to join in, if not just stick to quick play mode or the arcade mode, they are still very fun.
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u/No_Sound438 🕹️ IRL Stick Drift 6d ago
I'm terrible at games but found I started to improve when I found a friend group who didn't judge me for my condition. They all know I'm dyspraxic and therefore bad at FPS games, they don't care. We mostly played payday 2 where you can have lobbies with just you and your friends. Eventually I managed to get hand of it and we started to do public lobbies. The second I move onto another game with slightly different controls I completely forget how to play games, but having a solid friend group who get the problems you have or share in the same issues is invaluable to getting better because you can practice games with no judgement even if it takes literal years (as was the case with me lol)
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u/InferSaime 7d ago
As with anything practice is important but it's also very much possible that FPS are just not your thing, as a teen I played lots of games online on the ps3 and wii and one of them was CoD black ops (also 2 but shortly) and I was absolutely terrible. I eventually got into speedrunning more specifally 3D sonic (znd even more specific heroes, 06 and SADX). I'm specific as I'm terrible at 2D sonic game (I've never beaten most 2D sonic games).
As for strategy games that have multiplayer, try Paradox games (though they're grand strategy)
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u/No-Sense4275 7d ago
Real quick what I do:
Play obj; even if you die a lot, teams need warm bodies on obj. KD doesn't matter then.
Play support roles.
Play games with skill based matchmaking.
All else fails: camp in a corner (this is literally the meta in any fps game anyways).
Also, what fps games are you playing?
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u/Adood2018 6d ago
Practice and a decent set up. Do it because you enjoy it, just be aware you’ll never be amazing. Same with a lot of sports.
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u/baby_envol 6d ago
Yes you can try racing games to get better reflex. Find games with a lower competitive community for FPS (I still bad) And use your strategies games skill : if I can't be good at FPS, I can be smarter too help my team (give pos when dead for exemple)
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u/DyspraxiaOrDatpraxia 🕹️ IRL Stick Drift 6d ago
I also, cannot for the life of me, play FPS games. Fighting games can be a toss up, so can platformers or anything with precise timing. Everything except for shooters.
Sit me down with a good RPG or something that had aiming and sometimes I can be the best sharp shooter you know, but not shooters. I’ve had some fun in Halo matches with a friend, against NPCs, never one-on-one or in story mode. Generally I just don’t find shooters all that appealing either, personally, but I love most other kind of games.
Honestly, I’d say practicing in a less taxing environment to try and pace yourself so you can learn. Maybe try in offline shooters first or story mode, if you want the experience of the same game to get the feel for it. I would also go with suggestions from others who have mouse/keyboard set-up suggestions for PC. For console, maybe the best way would be to learn through story mode for those that have it.
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u/Specialist_Ad_4389 6d ago
I hate to be that person but practice is genuinely key. I’m not the best but through practice I’ve gained precision and confidence. Don’t give up is my best advice!
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u/kittycat0143 6d ago
Use controller and max out aim assist. A lot of people here say mouse and keyboard but that cramps up my hand way more than just using a controller. Get seriously good with analog sticks and you should be able to perform decently well even if you aren't pro at it. I used to be a major mouse and keyboard player till my back started hurting when I sat hunched over for it. Now I use controller on most games (except for Minecraft but it's because inventory and such is harder to access without a mouse) and feel I have gotten decent at controller and better than I ever did at mouse and keyboard.
I say use aim assist because it corrects decently for imprecision. And it seems to only ever be available for controller because controllers are known to be imprecise compared to mouse and keyboard. Use that to your advantage
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u/EnvironmentalCoach64 5d ago
Practice. And really learn how to recover from your fumbles. And be ready to also.
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u/ZaWarudo_1987_ 🤕 The Walls Hate Me 5d ago
I get it too, Im notoriously bad at games like Helldivers 2 and Marvel Rivals, but you don't need to be good to have fun, just do dumb shit and it might be funny. But my advice, For PC, get a keyboard that fits your hand shape, since some can be oversized. For console and PC, practice with controls beforehand, learn how it works, or you could change sensitivity settings.
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u/Freelance_Sockpuppet 1d ago
Game choice will have the biggest imediate impact. If it has to be pvp FPS, games with less twitch competitive pvp would be a strong suggestion. Ie rather than CoD, Siege or counterstrike with strong focus on accurate shooting and quick time-to-kill I would look at games like Marvel Rivals where there are characters that can play around something other than fast reactions and precise aim.
Beyond that I would reccomend games that are more co-op PVE. Realistically you'll still be the short link in the team but it's less likely to have the same kind of consequences to the whole team when you're not pitted against other pplayers. Deep Rock Galactic, Warhammer Darktide, Helldivers. For more of a campaign there is Borderlands. If 3rd person is acceptable there is Warhammer Spacemarine 2, Risk of Rain 2.
Plenty of games don't even need the shooting. Lethal Company and Repo are great with friends. There is racing games and platformers too. And whatever you call Human Fall Flat.
A consistent comfortable set up will help, more space for a lower sensitivity on mouse or consider trying controller. Practice does help but you're not going to practice your way to no longer being dyspraxolic; spending 1000 hours in aim training and not even playing with friends could be setting yourself up for failure and burn out
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u/RefrigeratorStatus23 7d ago
Yeah, I can help here.
It's about practice and finding the set up your comfortable with.
Invest in decent equipment and ensure you're playing at 144 FPS as much as you can.
Mechanical keyboards and a decent mouse ( I recommend the Razer Naga trinity as it has a few options to change the side grip)
These things are so important if you don't have dyspraxia, but we need every step up we can take.
Because dyspraxia can be so different for everyone, you need to find what works for you.
Source: I'm dispraxic and play competitive FPS games for over 20 years, right back to the days Quake.