First try

[Bismuth]

In elma like in every game, that FIRST TRY.
How come the first try is always awesome? Some might say it is just a coincidence, that we simply don't say anything when the first try is bad and that when it is good, we think it's a miracle. Though, I really feel there's more than that. The first try should be the worst, theoretically. But it is quite often very good, and can even win a battle (Pab did a first try win in a 17 minute battle a while ago, even him couldn't beat it).

Discuss: coincidence or not, and how does it happen? I say not coincidence, and wtf how.

[The_BoneLESS]

Two cases:

Already played levels (for example: internals)
People play elma very often. For most of us, we've played more or less everyday for the past couple of years so saying first try isn't really a factor. For example, I usually do good on my earlier runs in internals because i've usually played them like hell on the previous night, comprehended the style, got used to the key combinaisons and everything but was too tired to complete the style. Then, you get some good sleep and when you hop back into the level, your eyes are in shape and your brain is alert.

Never played levels (for example: battles)
A mix of experience, skill, luck and instinct.

[Zweq]

ive noticed this also, especially in pipes the first 3 tries or so are pretty good, then starts nabbing for 5-10mins depending on the level, but after that comes a "new wave" of good results.

[pawq]

Never played levels (for example: battles)
A mix of experience, skill, luck and instinct.

i disagree here
i've noticed that trend too, it happens very often for me and i think its more related to no real stress and no expectations from the level in the first run. you just drive, and you drive like you feel, not really thinking about it. in next runs though you try to think up some nice moves etc, consequently nabbing in the next couple of runs. This is visible especially in pies, where you dont really need any pro moves (unless you playin some tricky one), but you just drive. in multistyle levs this "rule" doesnt seem to work, as you just have to think about some moves/routes

[The_BoneLESS]

Never played levels (for example: battles)
A mix of experience, skill, luck and instinct.

i disagree here
i've noticed that trend too, it happens very often for me and i think its more related to no real stress and no expectations from the level in the first run. you just drive, and you drive like you feel, not really thinking about it. in next runs though you try to think up some nice moves etc, consequently nabbing in the next couple of runs. This is visible especially in pies, where you dont really need any pro moves (unless you playin some tricky one), but you just drive. in multistyle levs this "rule" doesnt seem to work, as you just have to think about some moves/routes

Well, you might be right. Can't really confirm what i've said as i've never been unable to beat my first try in a balle. I'm even having some difficulty to imagine such a thing as possible (if given sufficient time in a battle context).

[pawq]

common lev example:
10mins balle, very long ez pipe. almost always impsy to get further than in 1st try

[Lousku]

i think its more related to no real stress and no expectations from the level in the first run. you just drive, and you drive like you feel, not really thinking about it. in next runs though you try to think up some nice moves etc, consequently nabbing in the next couple of runs.

Agree! On the first tries there is no pressure, but later on you have an idea of the difficulty and styles needed so you start to expect quality from your own playing - you build up pressure. That's my idea of how it goes. It might be merely pseudo-psychological bullshit.

Something distantly related is playing your own level and being relatively better than others at it. That doesn't necessarily mean you've practiced the level. It may have something to do with subconsciously feeling you're on your own ground and getting confidence from this. I find this to be pretty evident when I play my own levs.

/me shrugs. Cool topic.

[NoZKeY]

I agree with zweq, this happens to me more frequently in pipes.. first 3 tries are norm, next tries are bad, and at last balle minutes i totally suck xDD But sometimes i have uber luck and get good ride at first try DDD then i cant even finish...

There should be a reason... sometimes our simple minds cannot understand

[Bludek]

I agree with Lousku and Pawq, kinda what i thought too..

[pawq]

Something distantly related is playing your own level and being relatively better than others at it. That doesn't necessarily mean you've practiced the level. It may have something to do with subconsciously feeling you're on your own ground and getting confidence from this. I find this to be pretty evident when I play my own levs.

or worse than others, because you try to use styles that could have possibly been in your mind while making the level, while actually other styles are waay better ::::;

[Ves]

greatest disappointment to me is when first try contained good moves for some half of a lev, i don't save the rec and then just cannot figure out what exactly i did. sometimes i meet these moves only in winning rec being stucked all the battle

thus trying to not forget to save any decent run. would be nice to have every unfinished run saved automatically.

[Pab]

hah this happens all the time and not with pipes
i remember an umizs balle that i did omgy first try lucky and coulndt beat even looking rec
in that balle i leaded until the last minute of balle, didnt win( sad story

[Igge]

yes. it's elma. first try is always best. no one will ever know why. blugo.

[gimp]

If somebody were to do some statistics on this, i honestly think youd find that this isnt true. like you said, we just dont normally take notice of our first tries, and when it finally happens that we think its a miracle, i really dont think there is more to it than that. i mean, way more often than not, i get my better times within the last like 5 minutes of the battle, and the best times and winners of battles almost always come close to the end of the battle. in pipes i think you can get a lucky run on your first run just as much as you could on your 30th run, we just pay more attention to our first run and absolutely none to our 30th run. sure, ive gotten good runs on my first run, but ive been playing elma for a good many years and thats bound to happen, put it in context with the rest i dont think it happens more frequently to be honest. i do agree with boneless on internals though, the first runs after a goodnight sleep make sense if your familiar with the level, but i do not agree with levels youve never played before.

[trew]

greatest disappointment to me is when first try contained good moves for some half of a lev, i don't save the rec and then just cannot figure out what exactly i did. sometimes i meet these moves only in winning rec being stucked all the battle

thus trying to not forget to save any decent run. would be nice to have every unfinished run saved automatically.

ye that happens pretty often. first try is like "yeah, doing pretty good... yeah alright, gotta remember that move... argh crap died next to flower." then rest of battle is like "wtf I cant even get to first apple, wth did I do in first try???"