Speed Reading Tips?

[DragonmasterX]

I find I usually have to set the speed of auto-scrolling text to a notch below average to catch up with all the text; I am ashamed of myself.

Can those of you who set the auto-scrolling text at a higher level provide some tips on how to read so fast?

How about the maximum speed setting? I find that completely overwhelming. Maybe it's for native Japanese who've mastered the art of "speed reading?"

[Agilis]

Two things, first, reading speed is mostly practice and training, speedreading classes that I've heard about used to be that there'd be a machine or program that forces you to read words in a sentence at a given pace, as they slowly ramp it up. After awhile, you just learn to keep up. If that's what you want to do, then just keep at it, raise the auto-scroll speed in increments as you learn to catch up to it.

Second, but why?

Reading quickly takes more concentration that idly going about it. And to me that takes away from the whole experience of listening to the voices, pondering over the occasional meaning of a phrase, or simply admiring a particularly pretty, important, or confusing section.

And finally, I doubt anyone but trained speedreaders can keep up with the highest autoscroll settings on most games, and even then. There just comes a point where the things stop being a reading w/o clicking tool to just a "let unimportant text zoom while my hands are busy" tool >_>

[DragonmasterX]

Originally Posted by Agilis

Second, but why?

In my 2 most recent visual novels, Amagoushi no Yakata and Fate/Stay Night Realta Nua, I had to bring down the speed from the normal setting. I suppose the default setting is something that native Japanese can deal with. And just to know that I cannot handle that speed is upsetting. That's why I wanted tips from you visual novel veterans on reading faster.

I used to think that JLPT1 was the magic ticket to video game comprehension. But no, absolutely not, even though I've passed it, geez, I still have to look up tons of vocabulary in Fate/Stay Night Realta Nua. It's just very depressing. Perhaps I just need to keep on building my vocabulary base for a few more years and keep on reading novels(both print and visual), then maybe I'll be handle the higher speed settings.
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However, one problem with the speed of the auto-scrolling text is voice acting completely throws it off. The text doesn't move on until the voice acting finishes, so it can create a peculiar situation: the prose/narrative scrolling by too fast, and the dialogue way too slow.

[Asura]

here's how i trained.

if you have glasses (sunglasses doesn't work) put a pencil on your glasses, so that it's resting on the legs of your glasses, between the lenses and your nose.

from there, slightly look up, and move your eyes rapidly along the bottom edge of your pencil. do this for a while, and your eyes will be used to moving in horizontal motion.

[Wuya]

i must be doing it wrong...

i got dizzy, not faster reading skills

@-@

When I use auto mode it's usually set at 1.2-1.8 seconds.

Just read a lot and it pretty much comes naturally, much like reading while walking.

i suggest not drinking alcohol before reading....

[zalas]

Maybe it's just me... but I generally make the text appear instantly so that I don't have the scrolling text fade-in to distract me. It also allows me to skim first and then read (and also verify whether the current line is important or not <.<)

[Agilis]

Originally Posted by zalas

Maybe it's just me... but I generally make the text appear instantly so that I don't have the scrolling text fade-in to distract me. It also allows me to skim first and then read (and also verify whether the current line is important or not <.<)

「いやあああぁぁぁぁぁんっっ!!」

Admit it zal, you know you like to see that slooowly fade in, as if to keep you in suspense as to what might be the next word.

Anyways, auto-scrolling, and smooth scrolling, are like reading a book at the same time as someone else. Either they're too fast or too slow, and never the right pace.

[zalas]

Though that does bring up a good point. Sometimes scrolling is great for a surprise joke at the end of a sentence. However, I think sometimes they have separate delays for those kinds of things. :/

[Agilis]

Come to think, lately, I've been coming across more and more games where certain special sections, the "Big Finish" to a story or section if you will, are lock-stepped to music or some kind of video clip, so those are hard-coded scrolls. Often those aren't that bad since they're also voiced for most of it, so it doesn't zoom by particularly fast.

[zalas]

Now you reminded me of the last parts of AIR, where I couldn't read all the stuff scrolling by on the Dreamcast >.> (as it was before I could read fast and when the text was also kinda blurry at times that I had to look it up by its pronunciation)

[DragonmasterX]

So I played a little Phoenix Wright today and felt insulted at the slow speed of the text. There seems to be no option for controlling the speed of the scrolling text. I guess this is the opposite end of the spectrum, being fustrated with overly slow speed rather than being fustrated with not being able to catch up to super fast speed.