Splatoon Fundamentals: Questions About Awareness

[Krozo]

I think the biggest trouble I have in this game is staying aware, and If I am aware, responding to that awareness. I am rank
S 43 so I think I'm not doing too bad so far, but I still catch myself from game to game being stupid. I have no experience in other shooters, so this is my biggest toil as of now.

So first off, what is the best mental process to go through to stay aware, at the beginning of the match in the middle throughout until the end. The word that describes what I am going through is Autopilot. I want to know how to shut Autopilot off and throw it out the window. What I mean by autopilot is simply just playing the game without thought. This usually leads to rushing towards the middle/ the objective and getting killed many times in a row and wondering "why your team sucks so much to let you die like that."

The main question here, how to I get in the mental state of even trying to be aware? Telling myself? And how do I turn the autopilot off?

The next question I have for you guys is: what should I be looking for? When do I know I have the advantage? I find myself going in to secure a kill, thinking I have advantage, but get killed anyway from the target or someone off to the side. This also dips into other fundamentals, such as aim, spacing and movement, but how can I stay aware enough to keep the guy from the side out and secure at least one kill?

Again. How should I go about responding to situational awareness and knowing what will and won't work?

Hopefully this thread will bring some good discussion about one of the core fundamentals in splatoon and shooters in general.

 

[Ellocus]

I'll try to answer as best I can, as I know I sometimes have trouble with this as well, and I find it hard to explain but I will do my best.

The main question here, how to I get in the mental state of even trying to be aware? Telling myself? And how do I turn the autopilot off?

Stop. Take a second to just stop moving and look. The longer you keep moving and stay in high intensity situations, the more you lose that awareness and lose the big picture. When you get to an advantageous position, take a little time to stop and look and judge whether it is best to move on or hold your position.

The next question I have for you guys is: what should I be looking for? When do I know I have the advantage? I find myself going in to secure a kill, thinking I have advantage, but get killed anyway from the target or someone off to the side. This also dips into other fundamentals, such as aim, spacing and movement, but how can I stay aware enough to keep the guy from the side out and secure at least one kill?

Again. How should I go about responding to situational awareness and knowing what will and won't work?/QUOTE]

You have the advantage when you either: A) Out range the opponent (this includes having high ground), B) Out number them or C) When they don't know where you are.

You have to be careful when pushing in for a kill that you are not exposing your flanks, only do this if you know that the other opponents aren't in a position to exploit that. Otherwise, consider holding them there, giving a teammate an opportunity to flank or find yourself a better position.

It mostly comes down to map awareness and knowing where the enemies are likely to be. You should also consider whether it is worth pursuing an enemy, ie if you have the splat zones, there is no point overextending to try and get a kill and putting yourself at risk in doing so, better to hold the stronger positions.

Seriously though, point C is the most important. No point being able to out range someone you can't see coming. Easy splats abound when an opponent is unaware.

 

[Wrexsoul]

I'm no pro at all, but I recognise the situations you describe well from the way I play myself. One tip I have that might or might not help is: I've noticed I play with a very different mentality depending on what weapon I'm currently using. So something I do when I notice I autopilot too much is to change to a different weapon. There are two weapons in particular I've noticed really help me be more aware of my surroundings: One is the .96 cal deco (long range, slow rate of fire and Splash Wall all make me keep better track of where everybody is), but the real star for me was the Nozzlenose. Due to the nature of the weapon, with very pinpoint, precise and rapid bursts and the ability to actually strafe at full walking speed (Run Speed Up is awesome for it btw) I really had to get into a mindset where I thought things through before acting, and having the Disruptor also helped me get aware of where people were before engaging, since hitting somebody with it before trying to kill them is such a godsend.

I dunno, it will probably bomb your ranking a bit, but trying out some different weapons at the high level where you play might give you valuable strategies to turn off your autopilot when playing with your Splattershot.

 

[SlimyQuagsire]

You just need to take it slow and think. Pay attention to what you're doing and think about it. Be conscious of all your decisions, and try to take note of your mistakes and habits. And work to fix it. It might help to find a team, or even just friends to play with, and talk with them while you play, to help you think more actively. Or try talking to yourself out loud? You need to find a way to get past this mental block yourself, and autopilot can be hard for anyone, but you just need to keep a conscious mind.

As far as awareness goes, keep an eye on your surroundings, who has died, what your teammates are doing, etc. In pubs, don't let your guard down or rely on your team to do certain things. Make sure things go your way. Keep an eye on the ink around you, any paths the enemies can take, etc. If your role and the situation allows it, take it slow. Peek at the map when you can. Look around and keep an eye out. Make sure you don't focus on one thing, that will essentially limit your field of view and allow people to sneak up on you and get an easy kill. Higher level players think in an entirely different way than lower level. It's all about thinking. Keep an eye out, consider all options, and cover them.

Sorry if this isn't the best advice, but I hope you can take something from this. :]

 

[Kat]

As someone who plays CS:GO at a very high level, semi professionally at one point, my best advice would be to always have to ask yourself, why are you doing what you're doing. Don't just do anything randomly. Splatoon isn't nearly as punishing as CS etc. so it can be really easy to fall into bad habits because you aren't being punished immediately for it. Passivity is a common error of a lot of players too. Constantly be on the look out for opportunities you can take advantage of, being able to recognise these and why you'd want to be taking them is key to understanding your own play and how it affects the game.

Make concise decisions that have an impact on the outcome of the game, don't just adopt a strategy to benefit yourself. Maintaining an awareness of your team by constantly thinking about how you can best contribute to the overall outcome of the round is a good way to improve as you constantly know what you're doing and why so if it doesn't work you have something to build off of.

 

[StaffofSmashing]

The Dual Squelcher (avatar ftw) is a weapon heavily reliant on the players sense of instinct and attention. If I blindly rushed in to where the rainmaker is, the fact that my weapon isn't the most ink efficient even with an ink saver main, means the explosion or one of the people not shooting the rainmaker killing me.

Thus, in a situation akin to that, I'll mainly dart and flank the enemy side if they don't have any weapons that can do signifficant damage easily, or arrive quickly, throw a bomb for pressuring away, leading to a splat. Thus I usually think before an action my chances of succeeding for a split second.

IMO the golden rule of Splatoon is "If you think what you're doing has a higher chance of you dying than succeeding, you should seriously consider doing said thing."

Coming from a guy who plays Halo on a competetive level (sorta) and has a high KDR on CS Original, it's good advice maybe.

 

[Helio]

This is a small fishbowl melee where communication is impossible, predetermining roles is impossible, you are probably within range of one or two enemies most of the time, you have to adjust your gameplan every second based upon the situations as they are that second. (TL/DR)

I'd assume you 'got güd' and have skills(the ones you learn in story mode plus more) my suggestions for vision are:

Play Your Role: Blasters gotta blast in close combat. Rollers gotta roll, or kill close combat. Chargers gotta snipe. For example, If you're deep in enemy territory with a charger you might be doing it wrong (although sometimes you aren't). If your hiding up high with a roller and camping, maybe there is a better use for your weapon.

Adjust Your Role From Start: see what weapons your team has and adjust your role based upon that. For example, if your team is all chargers, you can guess they're not gonna spread paint and might not rush in for close combat (spreading paint is obviously too banal for charger users). Or if your team is all rollers, they are probably not playing defense but just mindlessly rushing forward (love rollers).

See What Your Teamates Are Doing: if they're all charging in or pushing to far forward, hang back. Most maps have two or three ways to get to the center see where your mates are going.

Do What Your Teamates Aren't: if they're not playing defense, do it. If they're not rushing in, do it. If they're not taking out snipers, do it. If they're not spreading paint, do it. Most maps have two or three pinch points, or two or three corridors. Make a path and go to the one your teammates aren't at. Your teammates will draw enemy attention and then you can come around from behind. Every start, I take the path my teammates aren't (except tower control etc. )

See What Enemy Is Doing: while squiding or anytime peek at the map. After death I squid to front looking at map, maybe it is five seconds longer than super jumping but that five second peek at map is priceless (maybe less useful for splat zones, tower control). Look at the edges and see enemy ink increasing, that's your enemy locations. Maybe you should be somewhere else based upon where they are. For example, if you see lines of enemy ink popping, and teammates deaths, maybe there is a sniper nest and you should stop what your doing and rush it. Or you can see an enemy paint roller near your start, go take care of it.

Try a Different Weapon: you can't really understand a different weapons role in a map until you've tried it in that map. For example, the weaknesses in a sniper nest in a certain map become clearer if you try to use it. Or learn that rollers can't climb a certain wall if another weapon doesn't ink it.

Recognize Why You Lost: what strategy was it by the enemy team that made you lose. Especially in ranked battles your team is always good enough, never blame it on team as that is not helpful. Maybe recognize what weakness or strategy the other team used to win. Can't emphasize this point enough, you can't change your strategy to win more consistently if you don't understand why you lost. For example, did you let a roller get in your territory. Or was your whole team rushing the tower but nobody supported. Or did the other team timely use special weapons. There is a counter....

Try New Solutions: when you play a map for a while you may recognize common problems. Try a new solution for that common problem. For example, if a sniper nest gives you trouble find a spot that is in range of your weapon to take it out. Or if bomb rush 30 sec before the end has gotten you a couple times try something new like know where they set up and hit them from behind or don't let them get close enough to bomb rush.

PS Some of the examples are theme specific, like Turf Wars, but you get my point.

 

[Kat]

It's complicated, my suggestions....
Do What Your Teamates Aren't: if they're not playing defense, do it. If they're not rushing in, do it. If they're not taking out snipers, do it. If they're not spreading paint, do it.

Honestly got to disagree with this one. Unless it's holding like one specific angle, spreading yourself thin usually isn't a good idea. Just stick with your team, a bad group decision is better than a good individual one. All the other points are solid though.

 

[FlareHabanero]

Honestly got to disagree with this one. Unless it's holding like one specific angle, spreading yourself thin usually isn't a good idea. Just stick with your team, a bad group decision is better than a good individual one. All the other points are solid though.

I think he meant more so that you shouldn't follow your team depending on the context. Like if your team is constantly jumping to a specific area and getting slaughtered because of it, a better choice would to to find a detour and backstab the other team or claim turf while the opponent is distracted.

 

[BluEyes]

In a nutshell, it is identifying,knowing and understanding ALL weapons. While the core of your technique remains the same, strategy differs across the maps. Its a hard hitting fact that some types of weapons are just more effective on certain terrain types. When you accept and realise the strengths and weakness of ALL weapons, you will read the game better.

 

[Krozo]

This is all very good. Thanks a ton! I definitely understand the concepts much clearer now, hopefully I'll be able to apply those things in my gameplay/in the moment.

@SlimyQuagsire @Kat @Helio @BluEyes

 

[WydrA]

Honestly got to disagree with this one. Unless it's holding like one specific angle, spreading yourself thin usually isn't a good idea. Just stick with your team, a bad group decision is better than a good individual one. All the other points are solid though.

Unless you're an incredible player (such as myself) and take on full teams on your own just for warm-ups :p

Also I don't know if what people are saying about weapons is good advice for autopilot. Autopilot is something that happens in almost every competitive game to players at every level, but playing characters/builds/weapons, etc. that require a lot of focus is not typically how the issue is combated. If you're not focusing, playing a tougher weapon will often mean you just do a worse job because you're still on autopilot.
The question you've asked, as i just mentioned, is a pretty common on not only in gaming but even in sports. If you look it up for s couple different games you'll see people talking about it and some possible solutions (although sometimes they are specific to the game - not really helpful).
I think the most general advice that apparently Dr. PeePee has given in a smashboards post (source: )

EDIT: Holy crap, when did that happen?!?! So fancy! :D

is to focus on having fun and learning. Of course everyone wants to win or play at their best and sometimes to style, but those things will often cloud your judgement make you do things you regret which ultimately just frustrates you and makes you play even worse, which just frustrates you, which just makes you play even worse, which just frustrates you, which just makes you play even worse, which just frustrates you...

I actually haven't tried this for splatoon (or smash, where autopilot is much more of a problem for me) but i probably should. I did it when I played tennis (actually pretty similar to playing smash lol) and definitely helped me keep calm and play my best a lot (and of course focus).

Which brings me back to your original point. It may kind of seem like this advice is more geared towards improving in general, but it really isn't. Remember focusing on those two things is doing just what you really asked for - giving you an easy way to focus on your gameplay. Autopilot is a kind of fatigue as I'm sure you know, so a great way to counter it to focus on things that are hard to get tired of. Fun and learning are probably your best bet - even learning if it's about something you enjoy!

 

[Helio]

Honestly got to disagree with this one. Unless it's holding like one specific angle, spreading yourself thin usually isn't a good idea. Just stick with your team, a bad group decision is better than a good individual one. All the other points are solid though.

I find that when I follow my team they all disappear anyway. Of course splat zone, tower control, rainmaker everyone races there and super jumps.

In ranked, and turf wars, do you all assume that everyone runs to the midpoint and then holds it?

 

[WydrA]

I find that when I follow my team they all disappear anyway. Of course splat zone, tower control, rainmaker everyone races there and super jumps.

In ranked, and turf wars, do you all assume that everyone runs to the midpoint and then holds it?

Some people definitely do. i've lost games because my team all started pushing toward enemy base because they assumed someone else was on tower. I was apparently the only one who noticed their whole team. meanwhile, was riding the tower into our base. I think they clued in when the game judd held up the flag and "knockout" appeared on the screen though. Better late than never right...? :/

 

[Krozo]

Unless you're an incredible player (such as myself) and take on full teams on your own just for warm-ups :p

If you look it up for s couple different games you'll see people talking about it and some possible solutions (although sometimes they are specific to the game - not really helpful).
I think the most general advice that apparently Dr. PeePee has given in a smashboards post (source: )

is to focus on having fun and learning. Of course everyone wants to win or play at their best and sometimes to style, but those things will often cloud your judgement make you do things you regret which ultimately just frustrates you and makes you play even worse, which just frustrates you, which just makes you play even worse, which just frustrates you, which just makes you play even worse, which just frustrates you...

Yeah, I loved that thread PPMD posted. It's funny, because I have been able to eradicate most of my autopilot in melee(It took awhile). You make a lot of great points too, I need to be focusing on getting better. The problem with Splatoon is that it's hard to pinpoint the problem with random teammates and a non-fleshed out meta. I'm sure It'll come with time and experience as well.

 

[WydrA]

Yeah, I loved that thread PPMD posted. It's funny, because I have been able to eradicate most of my autopilot in melee(It took awhile). You make a lot of great points too, I need to be focusing on getting better. The problem with Splatoon is that it's hard to pinpoint the problem with random teammates and a non-fleshed out meta. I'm sure It'll come with time and experience as well.

Yeah that issue is probably why this solution wasn't immediately apparent to either of us. In team games in general it becomes easy to think that others are completely to blame for negative things that happen :P

 

[Fightersword]

I think the biggest trouble I have in this game is staying aware, and If I am aware, responding to that awareness. I am rank

So first off, what is the best mental process to go through to stay aware, at the beginning of the match in the middle throughout until the end. The word that describes what I am going through is Autopilot. I want to know how to shut Autopilot off and throw it out the window. What I mean by autopilot is simply just playing the game without thought. This usually leads to rushing towards the middle/ the objective and getting killed many times in a row and wondering "why your team sucks so much to let you die like that."

The main question here, how to I get in the mental state of even trying to be aware? Telling myself? And how do I turn the autopilot off?

The next question I have for you guys is: what should I be looking for? When do I know I have the advantage? I find myself going in to secure a kill, thinking I have advantage, but get killed anyway from the target or someone off to the side. This also dips into other fundamentals, such as aim, spacing and movement, but how can I stay aware enough to keep the guy from the side out and secure at least one kill?

Again. How should I go about responding to situational awareness and knowing what will and won't work?

Hopefully this thread will bring some good discussion about one of the core fundamentals in splatoon and shooters in general.

Alright, so first thing I want to point out is that some autopilot isn't bad. In fact, in most games you want to usually be running on autopilot most of the time. You want your body and mind to become familiar with common situations so you can just play those without having to invest thought into them, because that is the most efficient way to play. When you're on autopilot you typically do everything you need to do much better then when you aren't on autopilot, you just have to be able to turn it off when you're hit with something unfamiliar, which will typically happen a few times in a game. Your autopilot, however, MUST include being aware, which is a skill some people have a lot more trouble developing. Being aware is a combination of effectively gathering information and being relatively paranoid most of the time, especially when you're on the front line. What I want you to really focus on is your paranoia, because the times you'll find yourself constantly checking around yourself and really staying aware is when your mindset is that you can be attacked from the sides alot of the time. Once you start working in the fact that you can be flanked very often in the game, and constantly think about checking around you quickly to make sure you aren't being flanked, you'll eventually be able to work that into autopilot and gather that information without having to give it any amount of thought.

The problem you listed at first has less to do with being autopilot, and more to do with your play sort of gravitating towards those situations. Focus on playing it a little safe until that's the norm. Don't get sucked into the first opportunity you see. Being on autopilot is not the reason you end up overextending: it's your playstyle and it's likely from habits brought on from playing against worse players. Your playstyle is what your autopilot draws from, so if you change that up through some practice and time, your autopilot will adjust to something more suitable for the battle.

Ok, now for the second thing: you will almost never be able to keep the guy from the side out to secure a kill without dying yourself. You're kind of going at that situation wrong. your aim should be to try to avoid being in a situation where your flank is open so opponent's can scrunch you up between them, and to escape or put them both in your FoV if you end up in that situation. Awareness is mostly used to both avoid those situations, by knowing when you're overextending which can be seen by your position in regards to enemy ink, where your teammates are, etc, and to know how to move to put both of them back into your FoV and/or escape in the case that you're in that situation. Strictly speaking you will almost never end up in a situation where you can win the day with a glorious life saving and game winning double kill when you're being attacked from two directions.

Anyway, to deal with would be flankers, you need to learn how to mentally track your enemies, or to basically take your awareness and combine it with the knowledge you have in the match, of the game, and how other players will most likely act to understand how to best attempt to handle things. If you're aware of a roller going down your flank, it doesn't matter unless you know how he's going to move towards you, when he's going to get there, and where exactly he's going to attack from. Then you can plan out the best move to make to either put them both in your FoV so you can better handle the situation, or escape, or in some rare situations, kill them both. Mental tracking mostly comes with experience once you have awareness down, and it's like 'seeing' an opponent that's not in your FoV.

I know this is kind of a plug, but my guide has a lot in it dealing with awareness, mindset, and offensive and defensive game sense. I think you might be able to find your answers in it, OP. everyone that has read it has responded to it overwhelmingly well. It's in my sig if you'd like to, but be warned: it's a pretty long read.

 

[Krozo]

Alright, so first thing I want to point out is that some autopilot isn't bad. In fact, in most games you want to usually be running on autopilot most of the time. You want your body and mind to become familiar with common situations so you can just play those without having to invest thought into them, because that is the most efficient way to play. When you're on autopilot you typically do everything you need to do much better then when you aren't on autopilot, you just have to be able to turn it off when you're hit with something unfamiliar, which will typically happen a few times in a game. Your autopilot, however, MUST include being aware, which is a skill some people have a lot more trouble developing. Being aware is a combination of effectively gathering information and being relatively paranoid most of the time, especially when you're on the front line. What I want you to really focus on is your paranoia, because the times you'll find yourself constantly checking around yourself and really staying aware is when your mindset is that you can be attacked from the sides alot of the time. Once you start working in the fact that you can be flanked very often in the game, and constantly think about checking around you quickly to make sure you aren't being flanked, you'll eventually be able to work that into autopilot and gather that information without having to give it any amount of thought.

The problem you listed at first has less to do with being autopilot, and more to do with your play sort of gravitating towards those situations. Focus on playing it a little safe until that's the norm. Don't get sucked into the first opportunity you see. Being on autopilot is not the reason you end up overextending: it's your playstyle and it's likely from habits brought on from playing against worse players. Your playstyle is what your autopilot draws from, so if you change that up through some practice and time, your autopilot will adjust to something more suitable for the battle.

Ok, now for the second thing: you will almost never be able to keep the guy from the side out to secure a kill without dying yourself. You're kind of going at that situation wrong. your aim should be to try to avoid being in a situation where your flank is open so opponent's can scrunch you up between them, and to escape or put them both in your FoV if you end up in that situation. Awareness is mostly used to both avoid those situations, by knowing when you're overextending which can be seen by your position in regards to enemy ink, where your teammates are, etc, and to know how to move to put both of them back into your FoV and/or escape in the case that you're in that situation. Strictly speaking you will almost never end up in a situation where you can win the day with a glorious life saving and game winning double kill when you're being attacked from two directions.

Anyway, to deal with would be flankers, you need to learn how to mentally track your enemies, or to basically take your awareness and combine it with the knowledge you have in the match, of the game, and how other players will most likely act to understand how to best attempt to handle things. If you're aware of a roller going down your flank, it doesn't matter unless you know how he's going to move towards you, when he's going to get there, and where exactly he's going to attack from. Then you can plan out the best move to make to either put them both in your FoV so you can better handle the situation, or escape, or in some rare situations, kill them both. Mental tracking mostly comes with experience once you have awareness down, and it's like 'seeing' an opponent that's not in your FoV.

I know this is kind of a plug, but my guide has a lot in it dealing with awareness, mindset, and offensive and defensive game sense. I think you might be able to find your answers in it, OP. everyone that has read it has responded to it overwhelmingly well. It's in my sig if you'd like to, but be warned: it's a pretty long read.

Thank you! Your post helps a ton. I really do think I know what I need to work on now, the rest seems to be getting experience and applying things. I have read that guide actually, it did help tremendously. I might skim through it again and freshen up on those topics. I do know most of this stuff, the big problem is I usually slide into terrible play if I lose a few games and It is hard to get back on track for me.

 

[Fightersword]

Thank you! Your post helps a ton. I really do think I know what I need to work on now, the rest seems to be getting experience and applying things. I have read that guide actually, it did help tremendously. I might skim through it again and freshen up on those topics. I do know most of this stuff, the big problem is I usually slide into terrible play if I lose a few games and It is hard to get back on track for me.

Glad you liked it! If you see yourself start tilting and sliding into bad habits, then just take a break. I know I perform a lot less well when I'm in a bad mood or get frustrated, so when I do I usually go play another game, like civ or something I can derp around in. If you see yourself tilting, just break for an hour or two and come back refreshed and ready to splat some more fools against the wall.