ADOFAI wip v2
wip v2: When "Work in Progress" Means "Welcome to Suffering"
So I've played rhythm games for... a while. Years maybe. osu!, StepMania, all that jazz. Thought ADOFAI's "one key" thing would be... simpler? Ha. Funny joke, past me.
This wip v2 level - work in progress version 2 - is basically my life right now. I set up these focused practice sessions where I just... grind one section. Over and over. Trying to get from "can clear 8-difficulty" to "can clear 10-difficulty". It's a whole thing.
***THERAPIST VOICE*** "So tell me about your relationship with failure. How does it make you feel when you miss the same note for the 47th time? Let's set some realistic goals here. Maybe today we just aim to get through the first 30 seconds consistently. That's progress."
Yeah I'm basically my own therapist at this point. Gotta manage the frustration, you know?
And man, that warm-up period. The first 30 minutes where your brain and hands are like two strangers at a party trying to make conversation. "Hey hand, remember how to do this?" "Uh brain, I'm trying but you're giving mixed signals." It's awkward for everyone.
Then you play for three hours straight and get that level hangover. You stand up and the real world feels... wrong. Like, why isn't everything pulsing to a beat? Why are people just walking normally instead of moving in geometric patterns? Disorienting.
My family keeps asking about the "thock-thock-thock" noise from my room. "Are you... building something?" "Sort of? I'm building skill. And frustration. Mostly frustration."
But watching a level evolve through beta testing is cool. Seeing it go from "literally impossible" to just... "inhuman". Progress! Sort of! This wip v2 feels like that - someone's still tweaking it, making it slightly less murderous with each version. Maybe.
Random thoughts during practice: What niche DOES ADOFAI actually fill in gaming? Like, it's not really a traditional rhythm game, not really a puzzle game... it's its own weird thing. And how does it affect stress levels? For some people it's relaxing (???), for others it's pure anxiety. And how does that audio calibration tool even work? Should I be using it? Am I missing out on crucial milliseconds?
wip v2 is solid practice material if you're trying to level up. It's unfinished but that means it's honest about being a work in progress. Just like my skills. We're both works in progress, me and this level. Growing together. Or failing together. Mostly failing.
But hey, progress is progress. Even if it's just getting through the first 30 seconds without crying.
