Concentration - "zone" effect

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Wolfe2x7
Sometimes I get into a slightly different kind of "zone" when playing a racing game...for example, I can hold conversations with friends and other people while racing around the Nurburgring, only to eventually "snap back" and realize that I've driven through over half of the course without even realizing or being able to remember it. :lol:

And the laps aren't horrible, or strewn with mistakes/crashes, or anything...they're just subconscious. :D
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That happens to me too! Have you noticed as well, that certain corners you cannot do while concentrating on, are simple when you don't? I'm no expert, but I'm sure that there is another level of brain function in use when playing video games. I know it sounds odd, but I've long been able to play a game and have full-blown conversations. Infact, the more I talk, the better I play!
 
Wolfe2x7
Sometimes I get into a slightly different kind of "zone" when playing a racing game...for example, I can hold conversations with friends and other people while racing around the Nurburgring, only to eventually "snap back" and realize that I've driven through over half of the course without even realizing or being able to remember it. :lol:

And the laps aren't horrible, or strewn with mistakes/crashes, or anything...they're just subconscious. :D
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Yup me too, it's the only zone I get into. Sometimes I'm just thinking, not simple stuff, but for example after I had a fight and I'm frustrated. After coming back to the game I often see myself at lap 17 or something like it if I'm drifting in free mode. I often cant recall anything of the laps, but I know I havent made any huge mistakes.
 
RICHARDO
Am I the only one here that DOES blink when playing GT4? Wow, you gotta learn to blink when racing (at least on the straightaways). I typically blink more because the microwaves from the television make my eyes dialated and sore.
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You are absolutely right there, especially on Nür I tend to blink when I'm on one of the short straights, but never in one of the corners.

Especially after I tried an LMP on Nür and wanted a quick time, I can recall that it took me several days and about 7 laps on the last to get a 5'39.107 with my GTOne on Nür, after the last (and fastest) lap, i was worn out and couldn't turn anymore laps because my body relaxed and wouldn't get back into the tension I needed to run another, faster lap. That was ... odd.

magburner
Though I'm not the greatest GT racer, I do get into the 'zone' occasionally. Whilst there I have observed many times (and with other games) that I play better if I'm thinking about something else!
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Since my brother also has GT3/4 and has played some time now, I could watch him several times to do the same thing - if you watch another person doing the "zone"-thing, it's even more impressive. I didn't tell him he was because I wanted to see how much he improved, he really did some faster laps than before and the fastest lap of the race he (and I) never did reach until the end of the race.

Another interesting thing is the attention you pay as you are racing. After some 10-20 laps it seems like you'll think about everything except the race until you attention recovers and you'll focus on the race again. Until you'll start to think about anything again ... on two hours races, I noticed that I tend to "relax"/recover two times.
 
That is so true :)
Good to hear other people are experiencing these same feelings too when they're racing, "in the zone" feeling is the most important aspect behind GT racing and it's the reason why people start growing deep affection for GT.
it's the reason why we always want to get back behind the wheel :)
 
This is all so true! Great write-up. When I get in the zone, I have a driving face like Petter Solberg, with my mouth wide open. :lol:
 
This is reall quite interesting to see how different people can 'zone in' in GT4. Unfortunately, my eyes don't last long enough to get in the 'zone':ouch:.........:boggled:. This is a strange request, but do you have any tips?

FormulaGT
 
Well, maybe you're expecting too much from it. I mean I guess I'm always in "the zone" when racing. But I always race consistant laps, and I can never listen to someone when he's talking during a race. But I just drive to the straight as soon as possible and then just pause the game and ask "what did you say":)

But it's not exactly like I'm glued to the screen, I just pay attention to when I'm racing. I always follow the racing lines.
 
Funny... it's very interesting to see how many people had experienced it. Looks like it varies from person to person, but it DOES happen something to us at those moments.
Some people race better in this "zone", others are more consistent, some can stay like that longer than others. Some even have a "zone face" :dopey:
Hey guys, remember to blink once in a while when playing :sly:

I was talking to a friend of mine and he says that when i'm concentrated in GT4 I make a face like when i'm playing Call of Duty on the Lan-parties we do sometimes. Great!! It happens more ofter than I used to think! :lol:

Is there any drifters around reading this?? If yes, could you tell us if it happens when your just having fun out there drifting or not (just racing for winning)?
 
blaze_018
yup the zone is my happy place :P
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lol, agreed. There's noplace better than the zone. When I'm in the zone, time stops but flies by, know what I mean?

When I'm in enduros, I lose all sense of everything. It's like part of my brain shuts off temporarily. Like the 'Ring 24hrs: It seems like I've been playing for just minutes and half the day is gone...and I can't remember the last couple of laps.

It's kinda weird.
 
Wolfe2x7
Sometimes I get into a slightly different kind of "zone" when playing a racing game...for example, I can hold conversations with friends and other people while racing around the Nurburgring, only to eventually "snap back" and realize that I've driven through over half of the course without even realizing or being able to remember it. :lol:

And the laps aren't horrible, or strewn with mistakes/crashes, or anything...they're just subconscious. :D
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thats the kind of zone that i get into, and like you my laps are not that bad, but when a race is really hard thats when i block everything around me.:)
 
Sometimes music can help you get in your zone, I find fast-paced music (Eurobeat,for example) or classical can get you in the driving mood right quick. 👍
 
FormulaGT
This is reall quite interesting to see how different people can 'zone in' in GT4. Unfortunately, my eyes don't last long enough to get in the 'zone':ouch:.........:boggled:. This is a strange request, but do you have any tips?

FormulaGT
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Ummm...........:odd:

All I can say really is just get a car that's hard to drive or really fast (not boring) on a hard track (like nurb or la sarthe, autumn ring, etc) and push yourself focusing only on the road and driving the car on the racing line......after a few seconds of getting it just right things will kinda slow down and your instincs will kick in and you won't notice things around you and you be in the zone. Before you know it 30 minutes has gone by and you've not made one mistake. You have to know the track like the back of your hand and the way the car handles.

you really need a DF or DFP and be in the in car or roof cam. If you make one mistake you'll suddenly snap out of it and you'll have to regain concentration again.

I was just in the zone last night lapping a bone stock Shelby Cobra 427 around the Nurb. I think I put in a 7:35.xxx at some point. I went 5 laps on the edge of control in the zone and didn't put one wheel wrong.

And as for music, the only music that helps me is high paced, upbeat rock music. Doesn't need to have lyrics, just a fast upbeat pace.
 
RICHARDO
Sometimes music can help you get in your zone, I find fast-paced music (Eurobeat,for example) or classical can get you in the driving mood right quick. 👍
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Yep, I just realised that today while doing some arcade mode races. As soon as the music stopped, I started thinking about it and when it'd start again. So on those laps there were about 2 corners that were much slower than usual.
 
I get myself into the 'ZONE' without music, as music seems to disrupt it. If it was constant music, it wouldn't be so bad, but I prefer to drive without music anyway, as what race car have you seen with a stereo? I seem to be able to get myself into a zone at will, but if it gets disrupted, I seem to come out of i really agitated, andneed to stop and settle down, it's like a drug, seriously!
 
When I hit that "zone" or "Zen" state of driving, I completely tune everything out around me. I hear my car, and bits of background noise from the game.

I have no idea what the competition cars are doing, what lap they are on, what place that they are in. All I see is the track before me. There have been numerious occasions where I have flown up behind a car completely un aware of their existance untill I'm right on their bumper. And yes, on occasion I have crashed into them.

I realized one day of the power of being in the zone. As I was racing my wife stepped between me and the TV while I was racing. Both sides of the screen were visable, so I finished off the last half of that lap while she was standing there (I think she was talking, I really don't remember.), and I was only +2 or so seconds off my average lap time.
 
The other bad thing about the zone (concentration one, not relaxation) is when you start to lean into the corners. After about twenty laps you sides hurt from it... or am I the only one who does that?

My wife laughs at me when she sees it. The worst thing is you don't even realise you're doing it.
 
I've found that I'll occasionally do an entire endurance race and not remember having done it when I've finished.

I'm not sure if I'm in the zone, or if I'm just going senile. XD
 
I completely agree with all of the above posts about this "zone" that we GT players get into. For me, I almost lose track of time, in the real world, and only pay attention to the in-game time. Like if I'm doing a practice run around the 'Ring, sometimes when I finish a section of the track, I look at the clock and tell myself if I'm a second or more faster or slower than on my last lap, and from there, comes the motivation to stay focused on my lines I take and so on.

On another note, 2 days ago when doing the Tokyo Route 246 enduro, I found myself drooling at one point. :drool:
 
The zone is my favourite place to be.

Unfortunately, the flashing lights in NFS: U1 make it the easiest game to get in the zone for (as opposed to GT4/Forza). It's strange, i love it. Completely unaware that it's 4 AM and I've set 5 fastest laps in a row.
 
ahh, the old "where the hell did that 12 hours go? effect! It's when I start playing GT or any other racing game for that matter at 8 or 9pm, and then Dad gets up to go to work at 4:30-5am, and asks me what I'm doing still up! (mind you I'm 21 so I can do whatever I want, I'm only living here for the cheap rent)
 
I was driving that 25 laps on the Nurb,and i realised that when i listen music on my pc and drive,i enter the zone,my hands and eyes are working for itself,all automatic,and once i start to sing the song that is playing :D
 
RICHARDO
Sometimes music can help you get in your zone, I find fast-paced music (Eurobeat,for example) or classical can get you in the driving mood right quick. 👍
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I will try to listen music when I'm playing... it can be awesome listen some Eurobeats... maybe I can enter the next level of 'zone':)
 
uchihaneke
I will try to listen music when I'm playing... it can be awesome listen some Eurobeats... maybe I can enter the next level of 'zone':)
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ya i listen to some trance also and freestyle..i can explain if you don't remember what it is lol..trance and euro and freestyle get me in the zone and run similar times off each other by .020 - .150 difference off my best time or .500 all the way a 2 second faster within a span of 15 laps and the cycle resumes after i beat the time or it stops when i snap out of it from an annoying girl calling me. 🤬 :mad:
 
Well for me, it depends of what car I am driving, or which track. I just finished the Speedway 150 miles endurance race with the C60 and nothing really happened even if I was driving a car that requires alot of attention.

But on a track like the Ring with a car I really like, I'm filled with adrenalin, my body gets so tence that when I'm finished, I feel my body all tired from... playing a game ??? lol

But I do get in "Tha Zone" frequently, because I drive alot on the Ring :)
 
I really do better when I'm in the zone, especially now with the DFP it becomes more natural to let my arms a legs do the driving. It's like I see what's happening in the game on the screen in front of me and my body reacts without thinking about it. All that's' really going through my head is what corners are coming up and when. 👍
 
warn you guys right now...the older you get, the less often you zone. I've lost a lot of my zoning ability over time.

i've been distracted while zoned...the second i zone, I'm needed to reach for something that even I have to stand on a chair for.

my longest zone was an arcade run on the 'burg...i'm running a GNX, and the next thing I know, I've done a 9:17, and didn't remember a thing.

real life race drivers zone all the time. especially nascar drivers. after all, they're making the same motions for god knows how many laps. they're even probably auto-responding to the pit crew, for all we know. I've RL zoned while driving my routes as a private drive for Loggers. unfortunately, they choose THAT exact moment to play with my radio :P
 
Wow. The zone is in everyone, noob, pro, all. And you will become the zone once you achieve it.
Saweet.
 

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